Origins - A Skase / Evershall Story

Origins - Chap 2

Origins - A Skase / Evershall Story - Chapter 2

Everyone had finished up dinner so Marshall and Smudge were cleaning up the dishes.

"You really didn't have to help me Smudge," said Marshall, "It was my night for dish duty anyway."

'I didn't mind," said Smudge, "So, I take it you're a little protective of your sister?"

"Maybe a little," said Marshall, "is it that obvious?"

"A little," laughed Smudge. "Don't sweat it. I have a little sister, obviously not as close as a twin or anywhere near as close as you two. But I can be a little protective when it comes to her. I get it. But hey, don't worry, I have the absolute best of intentions with Cinder. We've hit it off nicely with the training and all. I wouldn't want to jeopardize that."

"I'm sorry," said Marshall, "I've been very protective since, um, since we got back to seeing each other regularly."

"It's ok we got to talking one night," said Smudge, "She's great, I'd love to see something develop. If it does, great, if not I hope to remain great friends for years to come. I'd also like to be friends with you. I promise I won't do anything to give you cause to unleash your Shepherd friend."

"Ha, yeah Chase can be a little gruff until you get to know him," laughed Marshall, "but I'd worry more about Everest. Her and Cinder have become really close in the last year. I don't know if Cinder told you or not, but Everest lived at the South Pole by herself before moving up to Adventure Bay. She has the strongest instincts out of all of us, if you get my drift.

"Good to know, I'd like to get to know all of you more," said Smudge, "especially Chase. My best friend in London, Bruno, is a Malinois that works for Scotland Yard. We've seen some crazy stuff over the years."

"I'm sure we'd all like that," said Marshall, "Well, the clean-up went much faster with your help, thank you. Let's go see what everyone is up to. Have you ever played Pup Pup Boogie?"

"Played yes," laughed Smudge, "But I just can't ever get the tail spin to work out."

"I hear you there," laughed Marshall, as they walked into the TV Room.

***

Marshall and Smudge walked into the TV Room. Skye and Zuma were going head to head. They both flew through the moves. The tail spin came up and both performed it with precision. The music wound down and the screen flashed "TIE."

"Aw, I thought I had you for sure," said Zuma.

"Actually I thought you did too," laughed Skye.

"Is it possible that both of you are actually getting better?" asked Rubble.

"Yeah, I'm not going up against those two," whispered Smudge, leaning over to Marshall.

"No, anyone else you might have a chance," laughed Marshall, "But those two live to beat each other. No one except maybe Liberty can keep up."

"Yeah, says the one who has never successfully performed a tail spin," laughed Rocky, "even though you can perfectly balance on the tip of your tail in Pup Fu, which still amazes me."

"That I have to see sometime," said Smudge.

"Come on Smudge," Cinder giggled softly, "you can go against me. I'm not really that good."

Cinders 'not really that good' turned out to be much better than Smudge had anticipated and she beat him fairly soundly. "I guess it is fair to say you are a smudge on the pad now, huh?" Marshall teased.

"Ouch, here come the fire pup burns" Smudge laughed good naturedly.

"At least we don't have to rename you 'Soot' from being burned to a crisp" Cinder softly teased.