"Chase? Are you okay? Chase?"

The shepherd had no idea how long he had been standing in place looking at the podium like it was a sacred relic. He was aware that Rubble was trying to reach out to him, but for some reason he had no interest in acknowledging him. The only thing going on in his mind was the opportunity to take the podium himself. The chance to say whatever he wanted to say about his sworn brother Marshall.

Throughout the entire service Chase debated on whether or not to come up to the podium. For any sort of reason Chase didn't know of, he couldn't think of anything to say. It tore on him for so long that he couldn't motivate himself to go up and speak his mind about Marshall. But now, only now, after being a shoulder to cry on for a dear friend of his, did he finally have something to say, but the problem was of course the context of his thoughts.

What he had to say was something so discomforting, so unsettling and depressing about the dally himself, that everyone's thoughts might be shaken to their core, and may make the task of moving on more difficult than it already was. Then again, it may also motivate them more as well.

"Chase? Chase, come on buddy. You're scaring me." Rubble called out with a worried tone. "Come on, say something. Are you okay?"

After looking at the scarly concerned faces of the front row, especially Ryder and Skye, Chase finally turns to Rubble, and acknowledges him. "Yeah buddy, I'm okay. You can go back to your seat, Rubble."

"What are you going to do?" Rubble asked curiously.

Chase looked back at the podium and answered. "It's my turn now. I finally have something I wanna say for Marshall."

Rubble stood there for a bit, before he nodded at Chase and went to his seat. Chase was the only one on stage as he walked closer to the podium.

When he stepped up on the raised platform and turned to face the attendees, their eyes penetrated him like bullets. He started to have second thoughts of what he was going to say. So many were looking at him with strong curiosity. All of them knew how Marshall was, all of them believed that they knew everything about the fire pup, but they didn't. There was one thing that they either had no idea about, or overlooked it. THe other side of Marshall, the side almost no one sees thanks to the efforts the dally had to keep it well hidden. It wasn't the stress Marshall had, it wasn't the selfless attitude he was well known for, it wasn't the stubbornness that he possessed, it wasn't even the clumsiness that held him back so much.

It was the fearful side of Marshall. More specifically, the fear Chase found out a week ago, at the very spot the funeral was held.

His fear....of dying.....and what the effects would be when he went.

Chase debated on whether he had the right to announce this, he imagined that Marshall himself, wherever he is, is probably begging on his tummy for Chase not to disclose his ultimate fear. Not because he was ashamed of it, but because he knew that it could drive everyone crazy to know that Marshall was scared for them.

Not to mention what Zuma said earlier just before the service. How he believed Marshall was miserable up in puppy heaven simply for the fact that none of his friends was there with him and that he was alone the thought nearly broke the pups down before the funeral even started, including himself what could possibly happen if Chase told Marshall's fear that could add on to Zuma's beliefs? It would definitely make it ten times worse, that was for sure.

With all of this Chase had the urge to just go back to his seat, and never ever tell what he know about Marshall, but still, despite all of the effects it could have one everyone's mental state, to include Marshall's best kept secret for good reason, in all actuality, in a messed up way, it painted the picture of whao Marshall was in his mind.

It was very crucial to know Marshall's fear of what happens after his death, because he was sure that they would undeniably understand why Marshall was Marshall.

____________________________________________________________

It had been close to five minutes since Chase took the podium to speak, But in that time, the shepherd had said nothing since he told Rubble that it was his turn to speak. All he has done so far is stand there and observe everyone like a watchdog.

Ryder was starting to get very concerned. He of course noticed the way Chase walked up to the podium. It didn't look like he had much confidence when he took, like he had much confidence when he took control of the service and now, Ryder could see in his eyes that he was having second thoughts.

This was quite unusual for Chase to say the least. For as long as the boy had known him, Chase was a natural public speaker. He had to be. He's a police pup after all, so his skills in public speaking was a necessity to him. Seeing him like this, tipped Ryder off that something was wrong. He didn't know if it was the weight of the funeral or his nerves, but something had made the shepherd crash like a computer.

While Chase was still silent, Rydr heard his pilot whispering something to him.

"Is...Is Chase okay? He's just standing there." Skye asked with concern.

"I don't know Skye." Ryder replied. "It's not like Chase to freeze up like this."

"Y-You don't think he's going to break down do you?" Skye asked back with more concern than before.

Ryder wasn't really sure what to answer.along with the fact that Chase was professional and would probably want to go hide somewhere before having a nervous breakdown in front of everyone, but Ryder had noticed lately, that everyone had been on edge, and very unpredictable. He quickly got that thanks to him finding out what had been going on the past few days. From seeing Zuma barely hold on before the service, to finding out that Rocky attempted suicide right at the lookout yesterday.

When Ryder thought of Rocky in his mind again, the strong shock came back to him. For the past few days, Ryder had been so reluctantly neglectful to his pups, that he had no idea what was going on with them. He was to busy feeling sorry for himself and planning Marshall's funeral, that when Rocky announced that he had jumped off the very cliff behind them to kill himself yesterday, it blindsided him, and gave him a wake up call that he needed to put himself aside for now, for the sake of his pups. He definitely will talk to Rocky after this along with Skye, Rubble, Zuma, and Chase.

Chase.

Ryder's mind instantly drifted back to his police pup. Apparently, Chase was the one who caught Rocky yesterday, and saved him from falling to his doom. As much as he was very thankful and lucky that Chase had found Rocky when he did, he couldn't help but feel at least a little annoyed that Chase had not told him about the events. THe boy knew for a fact that Chase took suicied sereously, and would feel that it was necessary to at least notify him about Rocky vomiting suicide. But he never heard anything about it until Rocky told everyone a little bit ago.

Why did Chase not tell him? He expected that Rocky wouldn't tell him as bad as it sounds, but Chase. It was completely out of character for him. Then, a familiar thought came across his mind, the same thought that had

Plague Ryder for days with any of the pups.

Does Chase no longer trust Ryder? Even after the shepherd himself had stated otherwise last night? Did he just say that to just keep his job? What about the other pups? And what about Skye?

These questions unfortunately couldn't be answered right now, so after the funeral, Ryder will talk to Chase and get to the bottom of it. Although, he may have to talk to him now. Ten minutes has rolled by and Chase still has said nothing and was still just standing there, completely lost.

But bluntly, before Ryder could make all the effort to get up, and go to him, Chase finally spoke.

"For those of you who have no idea who I am, my name is Chase. I'm a police pup in the Paw Patrol, protector of Adventure Bay, and Marshall's best fr......no....sworn brother."

Everyone's anticipation was back on, thanks to the shepherd finally getting his speech underway.

"I'm up here, to tell you all what I think Marshall was, and why Marshall cared so much for us. Before I move on though, I must say to you all that not everything you will hear. From me it is going to be pleasant. In fact it may change all your views on Marshall in either way. It may be essential to you but it can also be damaging."

When the shepherd said that, the entire crowd gained uncertainty as to what Chase would say. Ryder got worried. From the sounds of it, Chase may say some unpleasant things about things about his best friend. Especially at said friend's funeral. Right?

Ryder could only hope that wasn't the case as the police pup began.

"Now, like I said, Marshall and I were miles about best friends. We believe ourselves as brothers and nothing less, ever since we met and got to really know each other, we were as close as we could get. If you saw one of us, the other was not far away. We talked, we played, we laughed, we worked and we even cried together. It felt like destiny, for us to be friends and I wouldn't want anyone else to take his spot. I can't really say the same for Marshall obviously, but I at least had a faint idea that he felt the same for a while, you could not keep us apart for long. But lately, up to his.....death.....you wouldn't have believed that even if you knew the context of our relationship."

Ryder tensed up. He knew where he was going with this. He then looked at the other pups and noticed that he was sharing the intensity with him. He only wished that Chase didn't make it sound too bad.

"For several months leading up to this point, Marshall and I.....started to drift apart. The pressure of the missions along with the extra training he and I received to expand our talents, was taking a toll on us. We started rarely having time for ourselves, mostly being too busy, or tired after a long day." Chase then lowered his head in embarrassment. "On top of that, there was something else wearing us down. A period of time where we were sure that the bond we had was breaking apart before our very eyes, and believe me when I say that I'm not proud to admit that we were making it worse."

Ryder braced himself for the depression that was coming as Chase's tone lowered down.

"Don't get me wrong, I probably was the biggest offender to it all, while Marshall got the worst of it. You see, Rocky was going up to fix Adventure Bay's broken turbine a few months back. He lost his footing and fell off the turbine. If it wasn't for Marshall, would've for sure died that day. It was the first time we ever had a close call like that, and it scared me."

Ryder of course remembered this. It was around the time Rocky joined the team, as ironic as it sounds. He can still remember the sound of Rocky, screaming as he felt like it was a living nightmare. Chase was brought on the mission obviously to use his net, but by some unlucky drawl, his pup pack wasn't working properly, and couldn't shoot out his net. Marshall ended up practically flying up his ladder and with an amazing catch, Marshall saved Rocky by the scruff of his neck, literally. It was a very traumatizing experience for all who were involved in the mission. Rocky didn't want to let Marshall go for hours, as he was terrified to, and even then, didn't want to leave his side for days. Meanwhile, Chase felt as guilty as a murderer. Blaming the whole thing on him. Even though it was more on Ryder for giving Chase faulty equipment.

Ryder didn't think much of it at the time, but when he really thought about it now, he had enough merit to say that was the starting point of all the near misses and close calls started. They had accidents before, where a pup would get injured, but after Rocky's fall, is where it all started to go wrong for the Paw Patrol.

Chase closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he went on. "Since then, I started having...nightmares. Every night. Nightmares of all of my friends, getting hurt in accidents with most of them not making it. It didn't matter who it was or what they were doing. Things like Zuma drowning, Rocky falling again, Rubble being trapped underground, Ryder getting hurt in any way, Skye.....crashing, and Marshall....falling off his ladder, even us failing to save all of you when you asked for our help and of course.......my father."

Chase paused briefly at the last sentence. The nightmares plagued him in his mind as he went by each one. Getting worse and worse as the seconds rolled by and the more he did, the more whimpers and sad tears everyone had for him.

Ryder and the pups of course were probably the most affected. Not only did the context of Chase's dreams petrify them, but they also had no knowledge that this was happening all this time. It was another thing that boggled Ryder's mind as to why Chase never told him anything. Though after thinking about it for a bit, it made total sense for Chase to keep quiet. He knew Chase had too much pride in himself to mention anything about it, as he more than likely wanted to be strong for everyone around him, not wanting to show his weakness to anyone, including his owner. It was a damaging trait for the shepherd, especially for what happened going forward from that .

The sight of his pups when Ryder looked to his right amplified his sadness. Everyone had a combination of shock and worry on their faces. The one in true horror though was of course Skye who was closest to him. The cockapoo looked as if Chase had dropped dead right on stage. As bad as Chase's agony was, Ryder couldn't help but feel worried for the pilot as well.

Ryder put his hand on Skye's head and slowly pet it, earning a jolt from the cockapoo in response. She looked at her owner with startled eyes as Ryder gave her small smile.

"Don't worry girl. Chase will be okay, I know he will." He assured her.

The cockapoo looked at him for a few seconds, before relaxing a little and slowly locked back at the shepherd who had finally continued his speech.

"I didn't say anything about them, mostly because I thought that I could deal with them myself. I was foolish in thinking that, because they got even worse from then on. Much, much worse. I then feared that they actually would come true, to the point where I started getting really paranoid when we would go on missions. When something would happen, I'd freak out and it would affect my performance in a job, and then later on....more nightmares."

Ryder's heart felt like it was ripped out in guilt. He hadn't paid any attention to what was going on in his pup, that gave him another reason why he didn't deserve to have his pups. He overlooked a troubling time going on with his pups and he never noticed it once.

Chase then stood and spoke firm although there were some nerves in his voice. "I told you all that context to tell you this. Ever since Rocky fell off the windmill, and I started having these nightmares, I thought that the only way I can get them to go away, is ramping up on safety, and since I'm the de facto leader, without Ryder, I felt that it was essential that I make sure everyone was safe in our missions, while also lecturing about how we all could be safe. It was fine for a little while, but as the nightmares intensified and we started going on more dangerous rescues, I started to really stress about safety. I even had power points to go over with everyone. If an accident were to happen, I would make sure that whoever was involved knew what they did wrong."

Ryder and the pups squirmed in their seats at the memory of Chase's presentations and briefings and how long and boring they were. With the context of his nightmares now known, It made them feel so reluctant for showing any resistance to him.

Chase's eyes watered again, dreading what he was going to say. "I-I didn't realize it at the time, but all this caused me to be very irritable to my friends. I didn't care if I was a horrible jerk, I thought it was worth it to me one to my friends than to lose them all. I felt justified in what I did, but I didn't realize that all my efforts were not really working and all it did was make my friends mad at me...and the one who got the worst of it all...." Chase nearly lost it as he uttered out.. "......was Marshall."

Everyone in attendance held their breaths as Chase had to will himself to move on. "Out of all of the pups that I had annoyed, none of their animosity could ever come close to how much Marshall had. Marshall took his job seriously, and definitely was an amazing fire pup. Maybe the best ever, but man can he really scare you. He always made it a point to make sure that whoever we would rescue, be safe and sound when the job was done. It didn't matter to him what he had to do, he would make it his life's goal to save our clients. There's nothing wrong with that, it was our job after all. It's just that he would put himself in unnecessary danger to do so."

A painful pause occured, Chase whimpering on the stage. Ryder dreaded the road they were heading towards, hoping that the shepherd could keep it together along with the other pups who at this point we're whimpering along with him, for they knew exactly where Chase was heading.

"As you would probably pick up on this, with Marshall getting more desperate on missions, and my new found fear getting worse each day, you could only imagine what would happen when Marshall and I would be on a mission together. I would get so paranoid when Marshall would go off on his own to save someone and nearly get himself killed. I'd talk to him every single time to find out what in the world he was thinking, when he would do the stupidest thing that put his life on the line by a thread. Especially when there was no reason to do so. Unfortunately, as we went on, and more and more close calls and accidents happened, our talks became arguments, then turned into fights, and all the while, everyone would see our bond get thinner and thinner. By the time Marshall and I finally noticed how much we were fighting, we expected our friendship to disappear, and what hurts the most..........we wouldn't care."

Whines and whimpered came from the police pup as he struggled to say his words.

"O-One t-time, we h-had a-an ar-argument so b-b-bad, th-that our fr-friendship was g-gone for hou-hours."

Chase's pause couldn't have felt more painful than anything in the world. The shepherd was barely holding on with tears. "It was an-another i-instance where Ma-Marshall had gone off on his own again, and got so close to hurting himself really really bad, I couldn't ha-handle it. I of course talked to him after and tried my darndest to not let it get heated. Not to yell at him, but Marshall was so stubborn. He pushed back against me as much as I was to him. It caused it to go into a big scream fest no matter what we did. It got so bad, that Marshall questioned my trust in him. I.........I couldn't lie to him.......in all this time, I had not only lost trust in Marshall and any of my friends, even Ryder to be safe. Heck, I had no trust in myself." Chase started to weep softly with waterfalls flowing down his cheeks. "I......I told him the truth........I told him that I didn't trust him....that hurt him. It hurt him so deeply, the only way he responded was a phrase I'd thought I'd never hear come out of his mouth.....He-He told me that......He hated me. That he never wanted to see me again before he ran off to his pup house. I still remember the sobs before the sound of him slamming the door."

Gasps from everyone except Ryder and the pups sounded while Chase grimly recalled the devastating end of the argument. Somehow, to Ryder's surprise, Chase was able to continue.

"I.....I know he didn't really mean it, but at the time......I believed it. With everything that had been going on with our training, less time to hang out, the arguments and the fights, and now this......I generally believed that I drove my best friend to hate me. I started to accept that our friendship was gone with those three words alone. I.......I never wanted it to happen that way. I never wanted us to be driven to hate each other. He was my brother. I.....I loved him. I loved him just as much as I loved my father, and I treated him like dirt by screaming in his face every single day and told him he was an idiot. I paid for it dearly by losing my best friend in the whole world."

Chase slammed his face on top of the podium and began to cry for a few minutes. Ryder's urge to run up to him and hug him grew as the sobs of his crying went on. Before he could get up, Chase raised his head back up suddenly, and ceased his crying. He took a few breaths to regain himself before he started back up.

"Not to worry though. This story sorta has a happy ending. Thanks to our friends who didn't want us to fall apart, they convinced us to try again, and talk later that night, at this very spot."

Chase then looked at his friends in question. "I can't thank you all enough for not giving up on us, without you picking up our mess, we may have never reconciled, and I'm sure Marshall appreciated it as well."

All of the pups dipped their heads to them and swished their tails to acknowledge Chase's thankfulness.

"After dinner was over, I of course found Marshall here. Gazing at the beautiful view before him, where I was sure he was lost in it. After establishing that we didn't really hate each other, I sat next to him and.....we talked."

Ryder along with the pups all have very curious minds as they listen to Chase. After Chase and Marshall talked that night, they kept everything to themselves. All they would say was that they talked and were now stronger than ever. They never spoke a word as to what they talked about, which only made the pups want more. They wanted to know for sure that Chase and Marshall were best friends again. But all they got was the luxury of finding Chase and Marshall, laying next to each other and resting their heads on their bodies.

Their hearts melted on sight, as it was a further confirmation that Chase and Marshall's brotherhood was restored for now.

Still, they wanted to know what they talked about and now, they were finally going to find out, but most of them didn't feel good about it, considering that one of them was no longer here to tell.

"We talked about how our friendship was dying and that there may be no hope for us. Then....like he always does, he got me to tell him what had been going on with me. I told him everything. I told him about the nightmares and the fear I gained from it. I also told him about how I would get paranoid wherever I saw him or anyone in danger. It brought me to tears in which he of course followed me. We cried for so long. Not just for me, but for our friendship, which had been damaged more and more because of it. I swear if I didn't know any better, I 'd say that he cried a little bit harder than me. I don't know why I think that, but I do."

Chase let the tears fall down his face with a small smile. "He then told me an easy solution to it all, one that didn't involve any power points."

Chuckles sounded from everyone at that, more came from the pups and Ryder as they rolled their eyes.

"He said that there is no point in worrying about something that hasn't happened yet. The longer I thought that something would go wrong, the more nightmares and accidents would happen. I let my fear control my life and the longer I let it, the more hurt I and everyone will have to endure. He made me realize that and I think it was one of the best lessons I have ever got from Marshall. Possibly my life. I then promised him that I would talk to him as soon as I got another nightmare or freak during a mission, as long as he didn't get himself in more danger than he needed. Just like that, our friendship was restored, and even stronger than ever. I'll never forget that night as I live."

Chase raised his head and smiled at the heavens as tears still rolled down his cheeks. He sniffled and mouthed some words along the lines of "I'm sorry buddy."

As happy as it was to see Chase smiling and make it through, he felt that Chase's speech was a little lacking. From the way Chase dressed it up, he expected him to say something daming about Marshall, but it ended up being Chase's shortcomings. The only one on Marshall was Marshall's carelessness and stubbornness, which everyone knew about. Did Chase change his mind midway? Nevertheless, it didn't matter right now.

Or so he thought. He was proven different when Chase spoke again.

"Now, this would be the part where I would tell you that it ended there. Where I would tell you that Marshall never gave up on me or whatever and ended everything here......but.....I'm not.......because it didn't end there."

The crowd all looked on with confused looks, as nearly all of them thought that Chase was done. But no, Chase was far from done apparently.

Ryder was really confused, what else did Chase have to say about Marshall?

The shepherd's voice lowered into the deep and he went on, pausing at any moment, as if he was debating in his mind to say what was on it.

"There's.....something else.....that happened that night. Something that Marshall said......that turned my view of him around on its head.... something that I feel....you all should know."

Ryder raised his eyebrows at this. Chase must have finally gotten to what he was talking about earlier. About the damning part of Marshall.

Try as he may though, Ryder couldn't think of anything about Marshall he didn't know about. He knew about his stubbornness, clumsiness, always facing danger when he didn't need to be, too selfless at times, and he stagefright to boot. What did Chase find out that changed his view on the dalmatian? Maybe the puns?

Ryder was stumped which made the boy very curious. Although, it may be damning like Chase said, Ryder was all for knowing secrets. But......maybe some secrets were best left secret. He hoped that wasn't the case. There wasn't anything wrong with knowing, right?

Chase stood stern and professional as he eyed the crowd with his amber eyes. "Now, what I'm about to tell you, may be unsettling for you all. It may make moving on more difficult. This is Marshall's best kept secret and while I don't feel good in saying this, I wouldn't be if I didn't think that it was important for you to know for Marshall's sake and our own sake. So I warn you all now, it may change everything you know about Marshall for better or worse." Chase swallowed deep as he finally went on. "After I told him my secret fear.....he-he told me his."

Ryder was very intrigued now. Marshall's fear? As if he had another one besides flying and stagefright? What could it be? What was Marshall really afraid of? From the sounds of Chase, it sounded like it was way worse than the two combined.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryder saw his water pup, Zuma get wide eyed in shock, as if he realized what Chase was about to say. Does he know as well?

Ryder started to get goosebumps as he could only listen on to find out.

Chase swallowed again with his paws shaking in reluctance. "You see....Marshall.....was....afraid of dying."

The confusion of everyone flowed through the air like a gas. They talked amongst themselves in light of this information. Everyone was confused, except for Zuma, who had frozen solid with his eyes bugged out in disbelief.

Ryder himself could have been any more confused as they were. Marshall was afraid of dying? Our Marshall? The same pup who charged into danger every time? The same pup who, as bad as it sounds, disregarded order to do whatever he could to save one in need? The same pup who would do whatever it took to save everyone he loved? He was afraid of dying all this time? Not only did that not make sense, it probably would've never been thought of. As many times as that pup had stared death in the face, it made now sense. There has to be more to it than just being afraid of dying.

"Yes, you heard me right, Marshall was afraid of dying. More specifically, what happens after he dies. Not to him.......but to us."

One combined gasp of air sounded from everyone. Ryder could barely breathe from the shock he got from Chase's revelation. All sorts of questions came rushing by in his mind like a test in a class. Marshall......was afraid for us? Why? What scared him into thinking that....

The answer came to him like a switch for a light bulb. Not only did he know why he had the fear, but how he got it. He got it from his experience with Chase when he lost his father. When he realized that, he didn't really need Chase's explanation for it all.

"Marshall was scared of leaving us behind. He knew that he meant so much to you all as much as you meant to him. He was really terrified of what would happen to us if he passed away before us. He feared that we might not never move on and not take care of ourselves. He feared that everyone would shut down and never come out of our rooms. He feared that we would blame each other and break off our friendships. He feared that Ryder would feel guilty and end the Paw Patrol. He feared that his parents would find out and never forgive themselves. He feared......that we will never be happy again, and think that we couldn't be.....without him."

Everyone's jaws we're down to the ground and eye's were as wide as the moon. Marshall's fear was more horrible than anyone ever thought it was.

Guilt hit Ryder like a wrecking ball. For the past five days, Ryder had been degrading himself to nothing more than a gerbil mound. Thinking that he was no better at leading a team than Mayor Humdinger. He had been putting himself down for letting one of his precious pups parish in a fire and thinking that it was his fault for doing so.

All that it did was make Marshall's fear a reality. He had no knowledge of this at all, and that was what hurt the most.

"The thing that tore him up the most though, was the fact that once it happened, he wouldn't be here to help us. There is no way he could come to us and help us through. No matter how hard he would try, he would never know for sure that we were okay."

You could hear a pin drop on the grass of how quiet it was. Nothing but the birds and trees could be heard over the silence that had befallen the crowd. Everyone had tears rolling down their faces. Some even had hate in their eyes for the shepherd's decision to tell everyone this heinous fear. One of them was Zuma.

By the look on the chocolate lab's face, it surprised Ryder to no end that Zuma didn't lash out. He didn't know for sure, but it seems like Zuma had a big problem that Chase revealed Marshall's fear. Almost like he felt betrayed. Betrayed for Marshall.

Why was Zuma holding back though?

"I'm sorry for scaring you all with this. It was hard for me to process this as well. Especially now. But like I said, I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't think it was important for you all to know. All Marshall ever wanted was three things. To help anyone who asked for it, even if they didn't ask, be happy with his family and friends, and for all of us to be safe and okay. That's all he wanted in his life. Since he obviously has no way of fulfilling that himself, it's up to us to ease his worries. We need to allow ourselves to move on from this or we all will fall apart from each other. As long as we stick together, and never give up, this tragedy would be nothing more than a difficult roadblock in our rear view mirror. That's all Marshall wanted."

The mood of the service changed dramatically. Instead of the discomfort of all, the crowd showed determination as if Chase motivated them. Some of them nodded at the shepherd. Understanding that what Chase was saying was the truth.

All except for Zuma, who had his head down, looking at his paws. The animosity he had was showing, but due to everybody's attention on Chase, no one but Ryder noticed.

The boy made it a point to try to talk to him after this, see what was going on with him.

Chase formed tears as he proceeded to wrap up. "I'll tell you all personally. I'm not going to let Marshall down. He has done so much for me, that I lost count years ago. There is no way I'm going to shut down like I did before. I don't care if I lose everyone else on the same day."

He then raised his head up, tears still flowing down his face. "I'm not going to let you down buddy. I'm going to push hard to be as strong as ever. You have nothing to worry about Marshall. I'll be okay, and everyone else will....." Chase nearly broke as he finished. ".....I love you Marshall.....I'm going to miss you so much.....but I'm willing to pull through.....for you buddy."

With that, Chase's speech had finally come to a close, as he got off the raised platform and made his way off the stage to his seat.

When he passed by Zuma, Ryder was a little worried. Due to Zuma's mood, he feared that Zuma would lose control of himself, and lash out at the police pup, but to his much pleasant surprise, Zuma did nothing but glare at Chase while he walked by.

The shepherd of course noticed the dirty look Zuma was giving him. When he got to his seat, he whispered to Ryder. "Ryder sir? What's wrong with Zuma?"

"I don't know Chase." Ryder whispered back. "He was glaring at you like that throughout the whole thing."

After looking at Zuma for a bit, who seemed to be done glaring as he was looking forward, avoiding eye contact with anyone, Chase turned back to his owner. "I think he's still mad at me for lying to him about Rocky. I have to apologize to him after this. Hopefully, I can at least get him to understand."

"I hope you can Chase, because Zuma looks pretty miffed at you." Ryder replied with concern.

It was very strange how Zuma was conducting himself. It wasn't like him to show anger like this. Normally, when something would bother him, Zuma would usually go to whoever he had a problem with, and talk calmly to say what was on his mind. There we're only a handful of times that he ever saw the lab be truly enraged, so seeing Zuma like this was a rare sight. Although Ryder felt that Zuma didn't want to make a horrible scene in front of friends and fans of the Paw Patrol, which explains why he didn't say a word to Chase. Nevertheless, it was very uncharacteristic for Zuma to give a dirty look to any of his friends, or anyone in general.

"Chase.......you had nightmares......about us? And you never told us?"

Ryder looked right to find that Skye was looking at Chase with watery eyes.

When Chase looked at the cockapoo, he noticed that the shepherd was taken aback a little by Skye's downed face. Almost like it hurt him to see Skye so sad.

"Yeah Skye. I was. Still having them now. They're mostly about Marshall now." Chase admitted.

The pain in Ryder's heart grew at this. He expected Chase and the others to have nightmares for weeks, to include himself. But when Chase stated that he had been having nightmares for the past seven months about the Paw Patrol failing a mission and losing a member, or victim, Ryder felt completely guilty. He again had no idea how he didn't catch on to him, sure he was busy, but surely he would've got the hint when Chase would freak out whenever a mission would go wrong, no matter how small it was. But he never paid it any mind except for calming him and assuring him that everything was okay.

That's all he did.

Another reason why Ryder thought he was not a great leader no matter what anyone said. If he couldn't even notice his FIRST pup's very obvious problems, what good was he in taking care of six of them?

Skye whimpered as she hugged the shepherd. "Chase.....I know you wanted to handle it yourself, but you can't keep us in the dark like that. I know you're strong but you have no idea how damaging nightmares can do to you. Not to mention we all thought you were just being a jerk just to be one. You need to start telling us about this stuff, so we can help you. We won't dare think any differently of you if you do. Please. Don't ever think that you have to deal with yourself alone. We will be more than willing to help you....." Skye then puts a paw on the shepherd's as she looks into his eyes with nothing but love. "....I know I will."

As soon as their eyes met, their conversation was over. Ryder watched as the two's eyes were locked into each other's. Neither one of them wanted to say anything, all they wanted to do was to get lost in each other's eyes.

'Oh no. Not now! Please not now!' Ryder thought. Hoping to god that it wouldn't happen....at least not now.

No amount of doubts he had in his mind would ever convince him that there weren't any affections brewing between Chase and Skye. He started to notice it as soon as Skye joined the team no less. From the day they met, Chase was very obviously but not intently, showing his feelings about the pilot. He was very bad at hiding it from everyone, even Skye herself.

A little farther down the line, Skye herself was getting as bad as him. As the two kept hiding it from each other to no avail.

Ryder didn't really have a problem with this, but his thoughts on life flowing through the Paw Patrol were complicated to say the least. Try as he might, Ryder knew that there was no way he could prevent it from happening, especially when they would get older. He thought that he wouldn't have to really worry about it until later on, but that changed with Chase and Skye.

He wasn't against them being together, in fact, he couldn't be more happy for them. The problem of course would be what effect would this have on all of his pups.

The idea of his pups in love with each other worried him greatly. Especially since Skye was the only girl on the team. He had a slight fear that this could potentially cause a big wedge to appear between them, with Skye being right in the middle of it. Thankfully, the only signs he saw were from Chase and Skye and also the fact that the whole team basically knows about it and would likely want to see it happen. It did make him feel a little better about it, but another problem was amiss and that of course was the fact that they were still young pups.

Anything could happen in the coming years. Feelings could change, things could happen, and jealousy could develop. Not to mention, it could compromise both pups during a mission if one was in danger. That was what Ryder was really worried about. If it somehow didn't work out, and they split, what would that do for their friendship. More importantly, what would that do to the others who would maybe go to pick up the pieces and try their paws. A worry of jealousy would happen, especially since again, Skye was the only female on the team.

Despite all this though, Ryder didn't have the heart to step in the way. As long as they were happy and safe, There shouldn't be any problem with Chase and Skye, or any of the pups being together. Although, he would still make it a point to watch them closely, to prevent his worries and to keep them from getting anything past kissing. Even that was pushing it.

Thankfully, it seemed that it wouldn't happen now. After a few moments of them staring at each other, before anything else could happen, the sound of the Mayor's voice interrupted them and made them scurry back and shoot their eyes to the stage. Their faces were as red as Marshall's truck.

'Saved by the Mayor' Ryder thought, as he looked at his pups with a small smile. 'Someday pups. Someday.'

"Thank you so much for that Chase. I don't think I've had any more motivation than now to move on thanks to you." The Mayor says to Chase, who nodded in response. "If there aren't any more who wish to come up...."

The mayor paused for a good minute to give the chance to anyone else who felt the need to come up. Everyone looked at each other in curiosity, wondering if they were anymore who would come up.

Ryder had to admit deep down, he hoped that someone would go up. If no one did, that meant that Ryder would of course give his eulogy. In actuality, he wasn't really ready. He had it written down, he just felt that he himself wasn't ready.

When Ryder volunteered to give the eulogy, he did it unconsciously. Not really thinking too much about it. He figured that it was only given that he would give the eulogy, but at that time, he was fresh off the death of Marshall. It got a little better as the days went on, but he still had thoughts of denial and disbelief. Even after three of his pups spoke tremendously about Marshall and made it a little more acceptable that he was gone, Ryder still felt unconfident and was very scared that he could even start.

He spent every night trying to craft the perfect eulogy for Marshall. Trying to find a satisfying end to the service. He came up with an "okay" speech, but compared to Rocky, Rubble, and Chase's, it was very underwhelming. Not that anyone would care, just one would, and that was himself.

Ryder hated that and would give anything to step out and compose another one, but there was no time for that, it seems like no one was coming up.

A few more minutes of silence went by, before the mayor felt that it had been long enough and spoke in the mic. "I think we can now move on to the eulogy, provided to us by Paw Patrol's competent, fearless leader, Ryder."

As soon as his name was announced, all eyes landed on Ryder, who looked around slowly in response.

'Thanks for the hyped intro Mayor'

When his eyes met Chase's, his police pup gave him a confident and supportive look. "You can do it Ryder. I believe in you buddy."

The boy didn't say anything in response, as his eyes landed on his father for the first time since the funeral started. The last conversation he had with him, upset Ryder to the point where he debated on whether or not to attend the service, which thankfully, he made the right decision.

He then realized that he may have been harsh on his father. He understood that his dad is unbelievably busy as well as he was. If he crucially needed to go back as soon as tomorrow, it must be very important. He just wished he would tell him what was going on and why he couldn't stay.

His father looked at him with the same comforting and supportive eyes as Chase gave him. He was going to do the same thing admittedly, but his father's supportive manner finally got him to get up from his seat.

Everyone's eyes followed the leard, as Ryder walked up the steps and onto the stage.

The whole journey to the podium, Ryder was zoned out. Besides the plethora of eyes that were on him, his mind was blasted with a recap of everything that had happened.

The city hall fire, Marshall promising him that everyone would get out, Chase falling through the floor, seeing only Chase and Skye get out from the building, Rocky screaming at Skye, Chase finding Marshall's cracked helmet, Zuma almost getting run over, returning to the sight to learn of Marshall's fate, the dreadful announcement, his pups crying and wailing for him, Chase's mental breakdown, the arrival of his father, meeting Marshall's parents, Ashley snapping at Rocky, Rocky reconciling with Sparky and Ashley, looking at Marshall's tributes, seeing Marshall's statue, asking the pups for loyalty, getting mad at his dad, the start of the funeral, Rocky's depressing recall of his life, Rubble's being cut short by his mental breakdown, the revelation of Marshall's true fear, and now....him being called to give the eulogy.

All of them rushed by him in a matter of seconds. The wellbeing of his pups and himself went across his mind as well. The concerns and worries of them ever getting past Marshall's death filled his mind. Then....Marshall himself entered his mind. Wondering if he was happy where he is now. Chase's speech left the possibility. Also Rocky's suicide attemt, Skye's insecurites, Chase's nightmares, Zuma barley hanging on, and Rubble wanting more, and Ryder doubting himself and wanting to end the Paw Patrol. Marshall was probably more stressed then he ever was before, and is scared for them all.

When he finally took the podium, his heart was in his throat. He started to sweat very noticeably, and his breathing slowed to a crawl. His body shook as he felt that he would pass out in front of everyone.

He eyed the crowd nervously, taking in account everyone's anticipating form, wondering what he would say. That was pretty ironic to him. He wondered that too.

Then he remembered the papers he wrote his speech on. He reached in his pocket and pulled out said papers, and unraveled them in front of the mic, projecting it's sound through the speakers.

He then set them down in eyesight on top of the podium and eyed the words he wrote down last night, which he then realized that he was at a later point of the speech, prompting him to awkwardly shuffle the papers around.

When he looked at the start of the words that were written and after a little bit of reading, his body completely froze. He looked at it with total horror for what he had written down was a mess. All it was, was a rumbling mess with no structure and no order. Just random thoughts and memories he had of the dalmatian with no central theme.

How was he okay with this?! What part of his brain thought that this was the best way to describe Marshall? This is what he came up with?!

If Ryder's confidence was down at the bottom before, it was deep down now. He was trusted with providing a feel good eulogy describing the best fire pup in the world, and all he had was this blatant, lazily put together speech, that would've maybe passed for a five year old. Yeah he was ten, but considering how intelligent and competent he was, it was a disappointment.

There was no way to go and fix it now. This was all he had to work off of. The best he had. He couldn't just run away. He had to stand there with what was left of his pride, and make the best of it, for the sake of everyone.

He drew breaths to calm what nerves he had left and finally read out loud in the mic. "I-If....y-you were t-to t-tell m-me t-t-to de-describe Mar-Marsh-Marshall with only one w-word......"

Ryder painfully stopped. His strength to go on was nearly depleted. The urge to run away to his room and cry grew very strong. Almost strong enough for Ryder to do just that. He fought and fought and fought it as he shut his eyes and fought the tears that were now falling from his eyes, along with a sudden sharp sob.

He could hear the many who called out to him in worry. He somehow found the will power to open his eyes and scan the front row that was occupied with the horror and concerned faces on, Katie, he father, Zuma, Rocky, Rubble, Skye, Chase, Marshall, Mayor Goodway, Mayor Humdinger, Ember, Spark.... Wait, Huh?

Marshall?!

Ryder shot his eyes at where the statue was to discover that the statue itself was uncovered, as it was now looking right at him!

He was going to say something until he realized something very strange about it.

When he, the Mayor, Katie, and some nice citizens erected it at the spot where it was now, he was pretty sure that they faced Marshall the other way, towards the view of the ocean, to imply that he's "on guard" forever protecting Adventure Bay. But upon eying the now uncovered statue, he was facing the other way, towards Ryder! In fact, Marshall was looking right at him!

Then.......out of nowhere.......the pup blinked.

A sudden jolt of electricity flowed through Ryder. He shook his head and blinked furiously, knowing that this had to be a trick from his mind, but to no avail, he couldn't blink him away.

Marshall stood there, looking at Ryder and gave him a very encouraging smile. Waiting and believing in him.

Ryder was completely frozen at this point. The dalmatian that this funeral is for, his fire pup who had tragically died in the city hall fire. Ryder's precious pup who was either crushed or burned to ashes, was standing right in front of him, smiling as if nothing ever happened to him.

Of course this is not real. Of course this was his mind projecting this. Of course......Marshall is dead, but suddenly...that didn't matter to him anymore. What did was the confidence and faith that Marshall was giving to Ryder.

It awoke something in the boy, and gave him an instant brainstorm. So much that soon enough......

RIP!

To everyone's bewildered surprise, Ryder abruptly ripped his eulogy in pieces, and dropped the remnants to the side, on the floor of the stage next to him.

To them, Ryder had stopped his speech and locked his eyes on the still covered statue standing in front of him. He was silent for almost four minutes, not taking his eyes off the statue. It worried everyone greatly. Then suddenly, he ripped up his speech, which threw everyone for a loop.

Why did he rip it up? Did he not like it? Why is he just staring at the covered statue? What on earth is he going to say now?

The answer's to all of their questions came when Ryder lifted his head up at them, grabbed the sides of the podium firmly, and spoke with full confidence. No pauses. No stuttering.

"Choosing one word to describe Marshall is a next to impossible task for me. Almost everyone throws up words like selfless, brave, strong minded, unstoppable, honest, and many others. Those are customary good words to label Marshall as, but to tell you the truth, if I was forced to choose one to describe my pup, I would cheat a little and say, a true believer."

Everyone's eyes and ears were glued to the ten year old, whose sudden mood change took them completely off guard.

Ryder continued, not letting go of any of the confidence he received. "Marshall believed in almost everything he cared for. He believed in himself, and thought that he was capable of doing anything that we needed to do. He believed in himself that he could be the best fire pup...no fire dog this world had ever seen. No matter who told him that he needed "help". He blew all of them away to accomplish what he wanted in his life. I have no doubt in my mind that despite any stress he may have had, and all his doubters putting him down and degrading gim, including himself at times, he was never a coward in the corner. He pushed on to the very end, because he believed in himself and as long as he continued, the more accomplished he felt in himself."

Ryder stood firmly, in front of everyone, putting all his feelings in his now improvised speech. No tears in sight.

"But it didn't stop there. It never did. Marshall also believed in his friends, to the point where he would never lose faith in them. He always thought that his friends were no better than he was and then some. He expected them to go as far as he did, and surpass him when he was long gone. He never gave up on anyone he cared for. The absolute best example of this, was what he did for his best friend, Chase."

As soon as Chase heard his name, he looked at Ryder in awe and wonder. He then dropped his head to his paws when he realized where Ryder was going.

"A few years ago, Chase suffered the most horrible thing to ever happen to him in his life. His father, Tracer, was murdered not far from this very spot, by a heartless individual in ties with a crime boss that Tracer was after for years. It was a tragic day like this one for Adventure Bay, but no one was more affected than his son was."

Everyone in attendance had the empathy of sadness for Chase. The memory of Tracer was felt by everyone who was lucky enough to know the proud police dog.

A sudden sharp sob erupted from none other than Chase himself, who was whimpering and weeping in his tears. Skye gave the effort to comfort him with a paw on his and nuzzling his body, which helped a little bit.

The shepherd slowly raised his teary eyes at Ryder, who gave a reluctant look towards him. Ryder then mouthed to his police pup. "I'm sorry boy" in which the shepherd stared on in faith for his owner, with an accepting nod.

"Chase was struck hard by his father's death. All his life, he molded himself after him. His beliefs and values on life attached easily to Chase. He hoped one day to make him proud. But...as we all know now, he never got that chance. When Tracer passed away, Chase shut down. He locked himself in his room and never came out for anything except for dinner. My father and I tried all that we could to get him to even say anything, but nothing ever worked. Due to how young he was, and how attached he was to his dad, Tracer's death broke him to seemingly no repair."

For the first time since his sudden revival, Ryder struggled. He never told anyone, not even Chase his side in full detail. "I...I didn't want to give up on him. But after days and days of getting nothing but silence and being ignored.........I....I could barely hang on, until eventually, I..started to lose faith....in him."

Ryder's eyes were blasted with tears as he looked right at Chase with full guilt. "I...I have to admit to you Chase.....I gave up on you. I thought that you would never get out of that rut and be my Chase again. I truly lost all faith in you after hanging on for so long. I'm so, so, so, sorry Chase."

Chase only bowed his head in sadness and guilt for he couldn't help but have some as well as Ryder pushed on. "All hope we had in my very first pup was gone. We had to move on, and I had to accept that Chase was gone forever. He was as dead to me as Tracer was. I didn't want to accept it, so I ended up the same way, with a broken heart, who had lost his best friend. Everyone gave up.....except Marshall."

The determination returned in Ryder's voice when he mentioned the dally. "Marshall stayed behind for him. He never left Chase's door. Despite many attempts to get him to leave from both me and Chase himself, he stayed put and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed. He pushed so hard to get to him. Never giving in to Chase's despair along with his. He even camped out at his door for a while by putting his bed right next to it. Nothing could get him to accept that Chase was gone. He wasn't going to allow himself to leave his best friend in such a horrible state."

Ryder paused as his mind reflected on all that happened in that grueling month. He then smiled warmly. "I don't know how, I don't know when, I don't even know where, but somehow, Marshall did it. He finally got through after so long. Before I knew it, I woke up one day to Chase, snuggled in my arms. When he woke up, he smiled at me. That was all I needed to know that Chase was back. I hugged him as hard as I ever hugged him before. I couldn't believe it."

Ryder then looked back at his first pup with his warm, grateful smile. Chase inched a smile of his own, as the memory leaked into his mind.

"Then, over Chase's shoulder, I saw Marshall in the doorway. Smiling so happily with tears in his eyes for us. Looking so relieved at our well being."

The awe had returned in the crowd's eyes. The seemingly hopeless story had finally risen up from the very deep. Even Chase lifted up with that same smile he gave to Ryder that day.

"He never gave up on him. He always believed in Chase. Even when I myself felt hopeless, he pushed on more than his limit, to see his best friend smile again. In that instant, I realized that Marshall had not knowingly taught me a very important lesson that I really needed. No matter how hopeless you think you or anyone of your friends are, they are never lost forever. You can't ever give up. Not even if you are powerless, all you really need to do is believe in them and yourself, and always know that there is someone who believes in you. That is the greatest thing Marshall has ever given to me. Just by his actions alone to help Chase showed me to never give in to your doubts and depression. Always believe in yourself, your friends, and your family."

Ryder looked at his pups who were gazing at him in awe. "I will never give up on you pups. No matter how doubtful I am to myself or you all. As long as you all believe in me, I will believe in you. Even if you don't, I'll never lose faith in you. It doesn't matter what you do or what I do. Marshall believed in me, he believed in himself. To me. That is who Marshall is. That is what his other traits go off of. To his very core, Marshall is a true believer."

All of the pups had tears in their eyes, looking at Ryder like a preacher putting all he had into his service. But the one who really had his attention was Marshall. Who was sitting on the pedestal with a very grateful and proud smile with tears, looking as if he would explode in joy.

Ryder then looked right at the mayor. "Mayor Goodway? I know you wanted to reveal the statue yourself but.......can-can I do the honors? Please?"

The Mayor was caught off guard by the sudden request. After a few seconds, the Mayor nodded without any resistance. "Of-Of course Ryder. If you really want to, I have no obligation to object."

Ryder smiled thankfully before he took the microphone off the mount, and made his way off the stage. Though everyone's eyes were not on him, but the statue which had been covered all this time.

When Ryder got to the statue, his pups had unconsciously followed him to it. Their curiosity overflowed any feeling they had. Chase stood right in front of it in the center, while the others flanked his side as if they were in the observatory, ready for a mission.

Ryder acknowledged them with a warm smile before he grabbed the tarp, bringing the mic to his lips when he did. "With the Mayor's blessing of course, I will bring a close to this dreadful chapter of our lives with a request. I ask for all of you to never forget who gave it his all to this city. Always remember that even if Marshall is no longer with us, he still believes in us. He will never stop even in his death. Always keep that in mind that when you feel hopeless and forever trapped in despair, there's always someone up there, who still believes in you."

Then, before anyone was ready for it, Ryder pulled on the tarp and uncovered the statue with a single tug. The sight that he revealed made everyone lose their breath.

No one could move or speak a word in the statue's presence. They tried their best to process what was in front of them but it was very hard to do so. The crowd couldn't believe how close the statue was to the real thing. It was an exact replica of Marshall.

But to the pups who were looking in complete shock and awe, they felt in their hearts that they were looking at the real thing.