(Disclaimer: Mature Language)

Hours passed as the pups slept soundly in their pup houses, Chase sat silently in his, wide awake and ready for what he was going to do.

The pup opened a bag and left it on the floor, throwing in various items in there, such as small snack packs, a small blanket, and the pendant.

The pup was ready to do the hardest decision he ever faced.

He opened his door and caught a glimpse of his pup tag, next to a picture he had with Ryder and the rest. The Shepherd gave it a thought and decided to grab the picture rather than the pup tag, he didn't want any of the pups following him.

Chase walked away from the Lookout and turned to face it, giving a salute to everyone there, the pup sighed and left, heading towards the train station.

By the time the pup reached the train station on foot, the sun was beginning to rise, around that time, the train itself came around back to Adventure Bay.

"All aboard to Boroughton!" The conductor yelled out as some pedestrians entered the train along with Chase.

Chase walked along the train car and hopped in a seat, placing his bag next to him.

"Attention everyone, we'll be moving to Boroughton in about ten minutes, for now just relax and enjoy some music to pass the time as we prepare for the trip." The conductor said over the speaker.

The pup sighed as he waited for the train to start moving, he glanced out the window to pass the time but heard a voice call out to him.

"Chase?"

The Shepherd looked over and saw who it was, it was Katie.

"Hey, Katie." Chase greeted in a depressed tone.

"What're you doing here?" Katie asked as she grabbed a seat next to Chase.

The pup lowered his ears as Katie slowly figured out what the pup was doing.

"Chase, what happened? You can tell me, I'm your friend." Katie said with a worrying tone.

Chase didn't want to tell Katie but he had to let someone know.

"It's...it's something I gotta do on my own, I can't bring Ryder or the pups in it because it's not their problem to handle, it's mine." Chase stated.

"You didn't tell them anything?" Katie asked.

"If I did, they would've done anything to not let me handle it, they would've just told me to leave it. That's the problem they don't understand." Chase replied.

"This problem, is it...illegal? Something dangerous?" Katie asked.

"Something like that, that's why I won't involve them, I don't want them getting hurt because it'll be my fault and I won't be able to live with it." Chase answered solemnly.

Katie looked at the pup who looked away in shame.

"I know, it's selfish." Chase gloomed.

"I don't think so, you're taking things into your own hands and you didn't want them to be apart of it because of what might happen, that's not selfish Chase, that's courageous, it's something you would do." Katie stated.

"Thanks, Katie." Chase smiled.

"No problem, you're my friend, you know I—." Katie was cut off by her phone ringing.

It was Ryder.

<><><><>

As the sun was beginning to light up the Bay, Ryder awoke from his slumber, stretching and putting on his slippers as he made his way to change to his usual outfit. After some time, the boy zipped up his jacket and made his into the elevator.

The boy reached the ground floor of the Lookout and proceeded to fill the bowls up, shortly after, he went outside to wake the pups up.

"Rise and shine pups! Breakfast is ready!" Ryder yelled out.

As usual the pups woke up and walked outside, Ryder noticed that Chase wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Chase?" Ryder called out as he walked to his pup house. The pups heard the boy call the Shepherd's name and went to investigate alongside.

The pups gathered behind Ryder as the boy knocked on the metal door.

"Chase? Buddy? Breakfast is ready, come on." Ryder called out.

The pups looked at each with worry as they didn't hear anything from inside the pup house.

Ryder realized he wasn't getting an answer, so he brought his pup pad to manually override the doors controls.

"Chase, I don't know what's gotten—?" Ryder cut himself off as he noticed the pup was nowhere to be seen. "Oh no..." Ryder and the pups looked at the empty pup house. "Pups get in your rigs!" Ryder ordered as he ran to his ATV.

Shortly after, the pups were heading into the town to look for their Shepherd friend.

"Skye, you and I are gonna look for Chase around the City Hall area! Marshall and Rocky, check Farmer Al's! Rubble and Zuma, check the beach area!" Ryder ordered.

"You got it, Ryder!" The pups said in unison.

Ryder pressed on his pup pad to call Katie, who he was hoping had information on Chase.

<><><><>

Katie looked at Chase as she held out her phone, she remained calm as she answered the phone.

"Hi, Ryder! What's up?" Katie asked in calm manner.

"Katie! Chase is missing! Have you seen him anywhere recently?" Ryder asked in a frantic tone through the phone.

"I haven't seen him at all Ryder, sorry, I'm on the train right now about to leave, Chase couldn't have gotten far." Katie sort of lied.

"Alright, thanks Katie." Ryder hung up as Katie looked at Chase.

"You didn't have to do that." Chase said.

"Well, I did it anyway." Katie smiled as she petted the pups head.

The intercom soon caught the duo's attention.

"Attention everyone, we are now leaving Adventure Bay, we'll arrive at Boroughton in about four hours." The conductor said through the intercom.

"It's gonna be awhile, you should get some rest." Katie advised.

"Yeah, before I do though, why are you going to Boroughton?" Chase asked.

"I'm not gonna be there long, visiting family and to get some hard-to-find stuff for Callie." Katie answered.

"Didn't know you had family over there." Chase said.

"Yeah, don't really talk about them a lot do I?" Katie asked.

"No, not really. Anyway I'm gonna get some sleep." Chase curled up and closed his eyes thinking back then, when he was still with Isaac and Diaz.

<><><><>

Chase found himself in a small room, dog beds and bowls strewn about the room, Chase lied there on his bed until he saw Isaac and Diaz come in, having a conversation.

"You gotta be fucking joking, she got mad at you for what now?" Isaac asked.

"She said it exactly like this 'How can I be with you when your always hanging around with those other dogs, I've seen the way you look at Clover!' I said that I just greeted her, which I did, can you believe that shit?" Diaz explained.

"I can't, I'm telling you, Amber is crazy." Isaac stated as he drunk from his bowl.

"tu significado o mi significado?" Diaz asked as he ate from his bowl.

Upon hearing that, Isaac spat his water out from laughter.

"Diaz! Come on, there's a pup in here!" Isaac laughed.

"Eh don't worry about it, he don't understand what I'm saying, most of you dogs don't anyway." Diaz stated as he headed over to Chase. "So, my little amigo, what are you going to do to pull your own weight around here?"

Chase was still nervous to talk to anyone but Isaac but seeing how casual the two were talking, the Shepherd decided to speak for once.

"What can I do?" Chase asked.

"Heh, you're not a flake, I'll be happy to show you what you can do to help out, Isaac vamanos!" Diaz called out.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Isaac sighed in annoyance.

As the trio made their way through the crowded area, Diaz explained how the system worked in that area.

"Okay, amigo, everyone here has jobs that need done, in exchange, they give you these ration cards which you can use to buy food, or you can bribe dogs with it, ration cards are a staple here in the Den and all over Boroughton, you will always need them and that means some dogs will try taking it from you, just be careful." Diaz explained. As they were walking, Diaz stopped by one of their friends.

"Hey, Avery, new pup over here wants to help out, you got anything for us to do?" Isaac asked.

"Actually, I do, follow me." Avery motioned for the trio to follow.

They soon left the crowded area to discuss business with Avery.

"Alright, listen up, some strays down the road thought they could run away with some of my collars, I worked very hard to get those, they're worth a decent amount of ration cards, you get this done, I'll give you fifty cards and as a bonus, I'll put in a good word for you three."Avery explained.

"By working very hard you mean stealing them right?" Isaac asked.

"Hey! It's business." Avery defended.

"How many strays?" Diaz asked.

"About three or four, nothing you can't handle, by the way, thanks for this, Angus ain't helping out with any of these." Avery waved.

"Goes to show how lazy he is, alright, let's go you two." Isaac motioned as he led them out of room.

"Good luck!" Avery waved.

"Avery!" A voice called out as the trio left.

"Ah, speak of the devil, how are you today?" Avery asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Cut the shit, Avery, I need a job and I need it now!" Angus demanded.

"Ooh, how unfortunate for you, I just gave my last job to Diaz, looks like you're just gonna have to starve for a couple more days." Avery mocked. "Look on the bright side big guy, if you starve, that's gonna be one less mouth to feed around here."

Chase trailed behind the two as they followed the road downwards and into where the strays were last seen.

"You got a scent, Diaz?" Isaac asked.

"nada aún, amigo." Diaz replied.

"I think I got one!" Chase called out.

"Well, look at that! Lead the way kid!" Isaac gestured.

Chase followed the scent of one of the strays, eventually leading him and the two to an alleyway, the pups hid as they heard voices nearby.

"Can't believe we sacked all this today! We're gonna get a pretty penny today!" One of the strays examined the collars.

"That's them! What's the plan?" Diaz asked.

"Alright, Diaz, you distract them and I will rush these pups, giving Chase an opening. Chase once you see an opening, grab the collars and head back." Isaac planned.

"Alright, got it." Chase said with some nervousness in his voice.

"Alright, suave Diaz coming right up." Diaz said as he walked in the alleyway. "Amigos! Amigos! I heard from un parajito that you got some real beautiful collars!"

"Well, ya heard wrong! Get out of here!" One of the strays threatened.

"Now hold on there, maybe we can strike a deal." The other stray protested.

"Ok, say it." Diaz listened.

"We'll give you two collars for seventy five ration cards." The stray explained.

"Seventy five? You got a deal, here ya go." Diaz pulled out some of his ration cards from his satchel but rather than giving it to the stray, he clawed at his throat. "Puto pinchazo!" Diaz rushed the other stray and Isaac rushed in to help, giving Chase an opportunity to grab the bag and run.

Chase ran for some time until he stopped in an alleyway to catch his breath, Chase placed the bag down and looked inside, seeing multiple collars with gorgeous designs on it, as he was examining one, he heard paws clacking behind him.

The pup immediately turned and saw Isaac and Diaz, who were out of breath.

"Man, you can run kid, let me see what we got." Diaz gestured for the bag as Chase placed it down and unzipped it.

Diaz examined the collars as did Isaac.

"I think Avery's gonna be happy with us." Diaz proclaimed.

"I wouldn't think so." Isaac added.

"Why? We got these collars back for him." Diaz asked.

"Look! These are fake as fuck! These are real! Open your eyes man!" Isaac sighed in frustration as he noticed the fake collars mixed with the real ones. "Alright look, we get them back to Avery and he'll pay us regardless, don't say shit about the fake collars, you two got it?" Isaac asked.

Diaz and Chase nodded their heads in agreement and headed back to The Den.

The trio walked through the crowded area and made it to Avery, handing the bag to the Grayhound.

"Haha! You three are amazing, not even a scratch on these things, here's your pay, plus a bonus for bringing back without any scratches!" Avery placed the collars back in the bag and hid them as the trio got ready to leave. "You three did good, I'll have some more jobs for you down the line, but for now just relax and enjoy those ration cards." Avery waved goodbye to the trio as they left.

The trio made it back to their room and lied down on their beds.

"Man, that was pretty fucking stressful." Diaz stated.

"You're telling me." Isaac looked at Diaz.

"Any reason why you're staring at me? I mean I know I'm good looking but come on." Diaz proclaimed.

"I'm waiting, Diaz." Isaac teased.

"What?!" Diaz was annoyed at this point.

Isaac nodded his head towards Chase's general direction.

"What'd you think of Chase's first job?"  Isaac asked.

"You know, I don't say this often but you're good kid, you can run and you're just a pup! I could imagine how fast you'll be when you grow a little more." Diaz said truthfully.

"Holy shit, a genuine answer from you? That's rare." Isaac sarcastically said.

Chase smiled at the duo's friendship, it was something he can get used to overtime.

"Alright, get some rest, we're gonna get some food later but just rest a bit." Isaac briefly stated.

Chase closed his eyes but couldn't, he noticed that Diaz and Isaac were just staring at him, they soon walked towards him as the pup as wounds started appearing on their bodies, Chase was hyperventilating at this point.

"Chase!"

"No! Stop!"

"Chase!!"

"No! No! No!"

<><><><>

"Chase! Wake up!" Katie gently shook the pup as she heard the poor Shepherd whimpering.

"No!" Chase woke up instantly in fear and soon caught his surroundings, remembering that he was on the train with Katie. "Oh...sorry Katie." Chase apologized.

"It's alright Chase, you wanna talk about it?" Katie asked.

"No, no I'm fine, how long was I asleep?" Chase asked.

"About three hours, might arrive to Boroughton in about an hour, might not." Katie answered as Chase sat in silence. "Does that happen a lot?" Katie asked.

"More recently, yeah." Chase answered in shame.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about. Everyone has nightmares once in awhile." Katie calmed the pup.

"I know, Ryder told me the same thing, it's just...I just get flashbacks that turn into nightmares, like some sort of cruel joke." Chase admitted.

"Nightmares can be like that, I wish they weren't but we can't decide that." Katie tried comforting. "Anyway, we should be there soon."

<><><><>

The pups have been searching Adventure Bay for almost three hours and still had no luck finding the Shepherd, with every hour passing by, Ryder and the pups hope were dwindling down to nothing.

Ryder and Skye were up in Jake's mountain after not finding anything down in City Hall, the boy asked around but no one saw the police pup anywhere.

Ryder pulled out his pup pad and called the pups.

"Everyone, head back to the Lookout, Chase isn't anywhere in Adventure Bay." Ryder stated.

"How can you be so—?" Rocky was cut off by Ryder.

"I said head back to the Lookout! We need to figure out where he went before it gets out of hand and besides, you pups need rest." Ryder ordered.

"Right, sorry." Rocky apologized through the pup pad.

"Come on, Skye." Ryder put his pup pad away as he got back on his ATV. "Skye?"

Ryder looked over and saw the Cockapoo sitting in the snow, hunched over as she looked down at the ground.

"Skye." Ryder called out.

The pup perked up as she heard her name being called out.

"Sorry, Ryder." Skye apologized as she dusted herself off and got back in her rig.

"It's fine, let's just get back to the Lookout." Ryder got back on his ATV and headed back home with Skye.

Ryder and the pups gathered around, all drained out from searching Adventure Bay top to bottom.

The pups hopped out of their vehicles, most of them stumbling to the ground out of exhaustion.

"Couldn't...find...anything." Marshall stammered.

"Pups, go rest, we'll discuss this later." Ryder ordered.

"What about Chase?" Rocky asked.

"We'll worry about Chase later but right now, I need you all active, we've been searching for a while, just go rest, all of you." Ryder dismissed.

The pups went inside the Lookout to fill up on the breakfast they missed, Skye, on the other hand, didn't join them. The Cockapoo walked to Chase's pup house and lied down inside it, quietly crying to herself as she took in the thoughts.

"Skye?" A pup called out.

It was Rocky, the pup walked toward the Cockapoo in an attempt to comfort her.

"Skye, everything's going to be okay, we'll find Chase, don't worry." Rocky tried calming the pup.

The pup was still crying as more thoughts hit her mind.

"It's not that...it's just that Chase...Chase lied to all of us." Skye wiped her tears from her eyes. "I thought it was over, I thought I could finally be with him but he played me, played all of us." Skye whimpered. "Maybe...maybe if I paid more attention, I could've prevented him from leaving! It's my fault! I could've done something but I was too distracted!" Skye yelled out as more tears strolled down her muzzle.

"It's not your fault, Skye." Rocky pulled the pup into a hug. "None of us could've prepared for what Chase did, it's not your fault." Rocky comforted.

"He...he swore, he swore to me that it was all over." Skye cried as she buried her face into Rocky's shoulder.

Rocky was skeptical about this whole thing, mainly about Chase. He hated the fact that Chase just left everyone but at the same time, he knew there was a reason behind it, he just didn't know exactly what it was.

"Skye, come on, I don't want Ryder to worry, he already has enough to worry about." Rocky tried persuading.

"I...can't, I just want to be alone." Skye calmed down and wiped the tears from her eyes again.

"Okay, I get it, just make sure to eat something alright?" Rocky reminded.

"Okay, thanks Rocky." Skye hugged the pup.

As Rocky was heading into the Lookout, he noticed a black unmarked SUV come up the roadway.

The mix had some notion of who it was but regardless, the pup pressed his pup tag to call Ryder.

"Ryder, I need you outside right now." Rocky called as he eyed the people leaving the vehicle.

Ryder immediately ran outside the Lookout to see the men approaching.

Rocky walked back to get behind the boy as the men approached him.

"Ryder? Leader of the Paw Patrol?" One of the men asked.

"Yeah? What can I do for you?" Ryder asked.

"We need to ask you some questions."

<><><><>

The train finally screeched to a halt as the conductor announced the trains arrival.

Chase looked out the window to see the bustling city, hearing cars passing by below him and the chatter of the citizens close by.

The pup hopped out of his seat and grabbed his bag, along with Katie who followed him out.

The two stepped outside of the train and gazed at the city.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways." Chase stated.

"Yeah, take care Chase." Katie hugged the pup.

"You too." Chase hugged back. "Be careful out there, Katie." Chase advised.

"Don't worry about me, you should be careful, you're the one dealing with things by yourself." Katie sighed. "Just be safe, Chase." Katie petted the pup before parting ways.

"I'll try." Chase said to himself as he watched Katie walk away.

The pup was alone again, in a big city and with no one to help him. The pup left the train station and went to find the one place he used to call home.

The Den.

~~~~~~

And that's a wrap for season one everybody! Hope you enjoyed the finale, if you guys have any questions feel free to message me, once again I'd like to thank Singularity_Writes  for the elite cover.

Anyways everyone, till next time on Season Two of Separate Ways.

Stay Safe!