Fanfic / Rekindled Anew

"When I woke up in the middle of who-knows-where in a pile of smashed gear with a few bruises... well, no-one was more surprised than me, lemme tell you."

—Marshall

Relight the Fire and Rekindled Anew are a duology of PAW Patrol fanfics written by PyreFly77. Relight the Fire initially started out as a two-chapter short story, but a continuation several times its length was later written in the form of Rekindled Anew.

Relight the Fire deals with Marshall dying in an accident on a Cali rescue gone wrong, something that utterly devastates the survivors, and leaves them wondering how they can possibly go on... or so it seems. Marshall manages to not only survive, but hike his way back to Adventure Bay over the course of three days. And Chase, the first pup he happens to see after this, is... rather pleased about having him back.

Rekindled Anew deals with the continuing fallout of the incident as mentioned in the previous story. Relations are strained within the PAW Patrol, and Adventure Bay in general has entered a period of mourning. With Marshall back, however, everything broken can now start to be mended...

Relight the Fire can be read on FanFiction.Net here and Archive of Our Own here, while Rekindled Anew can be read on FanFiction.Net here and Archive Of Our Own here.

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Both fics contain examples of:

• Anger Born of Worry:
  • Marshall is apopleptic upon hearing that Chase and Rubble didn't eat the entire time he was gone. Zuma has to stop him in the latter instance.
  • Chase later chews Marshall out for running away in panic from a bad nightmare when the wounds of his near-death were still fresh in everyone's minds. He quickly calms down to hear Marshall out, though.
  • Skye also reveals that her bad temper was partly caused by Chase and Ryder withdrawing in grief, adding worrying about their health to her extra responsibilities of leading the PAW Patrol in their absence.
  • Chase is later on the receiving end of this from everyone else when he reveals that he was thinking about leaving the PAW Patrol before Marshall came back, since he'd have nowhere to go or anyone to look after him.
• Big Damn Reunion: These make up a good chunk of both fics, as the cast takes turns learning of Marshall's survival and talking with him about what happened in his absence.
• Death of a Child: Zig-zagged. Although Marshall doesn't actually die, it looks that way for three days, and the entire duology deals with everyone's reactions to potentially losing a pup and the lingering aftereffects of such.
• Determinator: There's no other explanation for Marshall being able to hike through a forest for three days with minimal water and nothing but leaves to eat. Several characters even call attention to Marshall's apparent iron will.
• Everybody Cries: At several points across the two stories do the entire PAW Patrol break down in tears at once. But since they're all young children, it makes sense.
• Family of Choice: A central theme of the fic is that the PAW Patrol sees each other as their family members, with Chase in particular having a sibling-like dynamic with Marshall and Skye, and even explicitly saying that Ryder is like their dad.
• Fell Asleep Crying:
  • Skye and Rubble are both revealed to have done this in Relight the Fire, judging from the "large, dried puddle underneath both their heads".
  • The entire PAW Patrol is revealed to have done this at the beginning of the next story, though this example is out of joy and exhaustion rather than grief.
• The Glomp:
  • Marshall is on the receiving end of several, one from Chase in Relight the Fire and one from just about every other pup at various points in Rekindled Anew.
  • Marshall later gives one to Chase in Chapter 19 after the latter explains the nightmare he had.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Just about everyone! But among the worst are Chase, Everest and Ryder, who all shut themselves away to mourn, never reacting to any outside stimulus. Except for Ryder, who tended to react... poorly.
    • Ryder deserves special mention, since despite his initial happiness, his BSoD lasts for almost the entirety of the two fics, since he's so upset for supposedly allowing the whole thing to happen in the first place. Now he's not only convinced that the pups hate him, but also not allowing them close to him so they can tell him otherwise. It takes an intervention from a chunk of the human cast to get him to finally open up.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Chase and Marshall repeatedly refer to each other as brothers throughout the fic, and Chase was among the ones worst-affected by Marshall's supposed death (being witness to it notwithstanding). And on his return, Marshall makes it a point to help Chase with bringing himself to talk to the other pups again.
• Hurt/Comfort Fic: Both fics are labelled as such, with the hurt coming from losing Marshall and the impact it had on everyone, and the comfort coming from his return and the group's healing.
• It's All My Fault: Chase and Ryder both believe that Marshall's fall happened because of them, since they were both there to see it happen. While Chase is talked out of this mindset somewhat early on, Ryder takes until close to the end of the fic to truly get over it.
• Inelegant Blubbering: At several points in the two fics do the pups/Ryder devolve into hysterical, crying messes. To name one character's examples, Chase goes through this upon Marshall returning, seeing the extent of Skye's anger towards him and seeing Ryder going through Inelegant Blubbering of his own. Justified given the young ages of the characters involved.
• Leave Me Alone!: Ryder is established to angrily reject any attempts at speaking to him through his locked bedroom door during his Heroic BSoD. Katie gets off lightly with silence greeting her attempts, but Skye and Rocky establish that they were downright yelled at for trying, with Rocky's tongue-lashing being shown in Chapter 24's flashback.
• Living Emotional Crutch: The PAW Patrol are established as being this for each other. Despite their prowess in rescuing people, they're a group of co-dependent children at their core, who completely lose hope at one of their own seemingly dying, and struggle to do much of anything when just one of them is in a bad way. At one point, Chase even downright tells Marshall "I need you.". Justified given how young the PAW Patrol is.
• Not Quite Dead: Marshall. Despite falling into an incredibly fast river and being washed three days downstream, he managed to survive with nothing but a few bruises.
• Tears of Joy: At several points in both stories do the PAW Patrol cry out of happiness, but this is predominantly due to Marshall returning alive.
• Too Unhappy to Be Hungry:
  • Just about the entire PAW Patrol goes without food while mourning Marshall. Including Chase and Rubble. Marshall really lets the two of them have it when he hears of this.
  • This later has an adverse effect on Ryder, as three days without food causes him to nearly collapse right in the middle of Katie's. This time, it's not just Marshall tearing someone a new one for not looking after themselves (though the hypocrisy of the other pups is acknowledged in the text).

Relight the Fire contains examples of:

• Dramatic Drop: Ryder drops his flashlight in shock upon seeing the still-living Marshall.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Platonic variant. Marshall's final words to Chase and Ryder before falling in the river are "I love you". Subverted, however, in that Marshall survived.
• Jaw Drop: Chase and Ryder both have dropped jaws on seeing Marshall alive.
• Say My Name: Chase screams Marshall's name at the top of his lungs after discovering his survival.

Rekindled Anew contains examples of:

• Antagonist in Mourning:
  • Mayor Humdinger is revealed to have been hit just as hard by Marshall's supposed death as any citizen of Adventure Bay, and is in a period of mourning all his own, telling Skye that he'd never wish that kind of fate on any of them.
  • Subverted with Sweetie. It's shown that she signed Barkingburg's condolence letter, but Skye theorises that the royal family made her sign it and that she was probably delighted with the news of one of their deaths.
  • Sid and Arrby were revealed to be similarly upset near the end, thanks to the Villain Respect they hold for Marshall.
• Attending Your Own Funeral: A variation. While Marshall's funeral was planned anyway, he gives his blessing for it be carried out anyway, but with the change of it being about Adventure Bay being thankful for what they still have rather than mourning what they lost. Marshall even lampshades how awkward giving a speech at your own funeral is.
• Bear Hug:
  • Skye gives one to Marshall in Chapter 3 during her Big Damn Reunion with him.
  • It's said that Everest's hug in Chapter 9 could've "paralysed a lesser pup".
  • Chase gives Skye one in Chapter 17 as they finally make amends with each other.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Marshall fires off one of these in Chapter 6 when Chase says that he should've fallen in the river instead of him.
• Book Ends: The Prologue begins the fic with a brokenhearted Ryder narrating what has gone on since the rescue that supposedly led to Marshall's death. The Epilogue ends the fic with a much-happier Ryder narrating what has gone on throughout the month after the funeral and Marshall receiving Ash's letter.
• Curse Cut Short:
  Chase: It-! It isn't working! W-Wait-! ROCKY YOU LITTLE-! WHEN I FIND YOU, IT'S NOT GONNA BE PRETTY, YOU HEAR ME-?!
• Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon:
  • Marshall makes this kind of threat before going after Chase for insinuating that Everest is his girlfriend.
    Marshall: ...I'M GONNA GRIND YOU INTO PUP CHOW, BUB!
  • Later, Rocky threatens Chase into silence regarding why the former was dressed like a sunflower in one of their old photos.
    Rocky: I WILL BITE OFF YOUR EARS AND NAIL THEM TO YOUR BUTT, MISTER!
• Doorstopper: The story is around 135,000 words long, spanning 32 chapters. More notable when the prequel to it was around 6,500 words long, spanning 2 chapters.
• Easily Forgiven: Zig-zagged. Marshall is quick to forgive Cali for the accident that kicked off the plot, knowing that it was just that; an accident. Ryder and the remaining PAW Patrol, however, react with immediate hatred to the cat's presence, and even when Marshall asks them to at least stop hating her so much, they clearly struggle to do so. Everest, however, didn't blame her to start with, and Tracker isn't indicated to particularly care to begin with.
• Embarrassing Old Photo: Chapter 22 reveals that the PAW Patrol has a whole album full of them, including cute photos (Chase and Marshall sleeping together) and bizarre ones (Rocky dressed up as a sunflower).
• Even Evil Has Standards: Mayor Humdinger is revealed to have been seriously upset by Marshall's supposed demise, saying that he wouldn't wish the PAW Patrol to be broken up or killed or similar. He's also visibly wounded by Skye's initial rebuff of him during his flashback in Chapter 12. He even adamantly insists that he's a troublemaker not a monster, and even contributes towards Ryder's recovery. His last line in the fic is promising the give the PAW Patrol a head start the next time he starts causing trouble, and the Epilogue reveals that he made good on that promise.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: Chapter 21 is an intermission chapter devoted to showing off how Ryder, Chase and Marshall all came to meet a very young Zuma.
• Friendly Tickle Torture:
  • After Tracker tells Marshall and Everest that the PAW Patrol would be better off without him and Carlos in Chapter 10, the two other pups do this to him in response to how ridiculous he's being by gently chewing on his sensitive ears.
  • Chapter 26 has Skye do this to Ryder by crawling under his shirt.
  • Chapter 31 has Ryder doing this to Marshall, Chase and Skye, before having it done to him by Rocky, Rubble and Zuma in one last scene of the PAW Patrol having fun together before going to bed.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Chase wakes Marshall up from his nightmare-induced panic in Chapter 18 with a head-clearing slap.
• Gratuitous Spanish: Tracker and Carlos pepper their dialogue with Spanish phrases, just like in the show itself.
• Had the Silly Thing in Reverse: Marshall says this word-for-word when driving his truck for the first time in a while in Chapter 28, only to accidentally reverse into the wall before recovering.
• I Have to Go Iron My Dog: As part of Marshall's plan to make Chase and Skye reconcile, both Marshall and Rocky excuse themselves from the Lookout in this way. Rocky says that he needs to go iron all of his vests, while Marshall says that it's his turn to clean the toilets.
• Like Brother and Sister:
  • Chase and Skye have this kind of relationship, where they're supportive and affectionate towards each other post-reconcilliation, but not romantically involved, as Chase makes very clear when Marshall walks in at an awkward moment.
  • Marshall and Everest view each other similarly, not only having the same reaction to Chase playfully teasing them with the whole "Girlfriend" business, but Everest even tells Marshall that he's "like the little brother [she] never had".
• Madness Mantra: At the end of the Prologue, Ryder repeats "Make it stop" in his narration, begging the pain of losing a pup to end.
• Motor Mouth: Everest briefly engages in this when driving with Marshall in a bid to get away from a couple of stunned pedestrians of Adventure Bay (who at this point are unaware of Marshall's survival).
  Everest: OH! This guy! No, th-th-that's impossible, he-he died, after all, I-I mean, there are more dalmatians in the world SORRYCANTTALKGOTTAGOBYE!
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • After Rocky puts her through the wringer for lashing out at Chase, Skye feels so bad about what she said that she avoids talking to Chase altogether out of guilt, even rejecting his apology to the pups on the grounds of "not deserving it". Rocky and Marshall have to conspire to literally trap her in the Lookout with Chase to get her over it.
  • Ryder later yells at Marshall for his insistence on coming on a rescue, only to immediately realise what he did and feel even worse than usual.
• My Greatest Failure:
  • Chase views having to watch Marshall fall seemingly to his death as this, believing that he failed to save him. It's so bad that before Marshall returned, Chase was contemplating running away in shame.
  • Ryder feels the same way, revealing in Chapter 7 that he was expecting angry mobs to run him out of town for supposedly allowing Marshall to die on his watch, which he would've welcomed. Despite Katie explaining that the townspeople were actually worried about him.
• Not What It Looks Like: In Chapter 20, Chase and Skye get carried away while playing, making fake attempts at kissing one another. Cue Marshall walking in and getting the wrong idea.
  Marshall: YOU DIRTY, ROTTEN MUTT! YOU GUYS ARE UNDERAGE!
• Original Character: Ash, Marshall's distant father, who sends his son a letter in Chapter 30 expressing gratitude for his survival, and his pride in the pup that Marshall has become.
• Phrase Catcher: In the first half of the fic, Marshall gets "We all thought you were dead!" directed at him several times. It happens so often that Marshall starts lampshading it after the first couple of times.
• Precision F-Strike: At the beginning of his explosive rant in Chapter 25, Ryder calls people's attempts at consolation "insincere, overplayed crap". A milder example than usual, but Marshall's horrified reaction indicates that this is language far stronger than any of them are known to use. For good measure, the offending word is even emboldened and capitalised.
• Platonic Life-Partners:
  • Chase and Skye, who are very close to one another (moreso post-reconcilliation), but do not exhibit any romantic affections towards each other (except jokingly while playing in Chapter 20).
  • Marshall and Everest, too, for the same reasons (minus the play-kissing).
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
  • Skye pulls this off twice in her rage in Chapter 6.
  • Chase also does this in Chapter 14 when telling Marshall that no-one could replace him.
• Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: When Cali gets into trouble again, Ryder uncharacteristically refuses to rescue her and hangs up on Katie, still sore over the fact that Marshall's accident was caused by Cali in the first place. The pups that aren't Marshall, Everest and Tracker are all similarly unwilling, until the above-mentioned three call Ryder out for it.
• Replacement Goldfish: Discussed and Defied. Chapter 14 has Marshall bring up the subject of a replacement for him if he didn't return (which Rocky said would make him sick in Chapter 4). Everyone is immediately enraged at the idea of replacing Marshall, and Chase explains that no matter how hard they tried, they'd never be able to get along with a replacement for a pup that they were incredibly close to, because that same pup would be completely unable to fill the void that Marshall would have left behind.
• Riddle for the Ages: Just why WAS Rocky dressed up like a sunflower in that old photo?
• Sequel Escalation: While Relight the Fire was only 6,500 words long and spread out over 2 chapters, Rekindled Anew is several times as long, being almost 135,000 words long over 32 chapters.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Twice!
  • During Everest and Marshall's reunion, Chase teases them by calling them girlfriend and boyfriend, leading to the two loudly denying it and later pursuing Chase around the room in embarrassed rage.
  • In Chapter 20, Marshall gets to return the favour towards Chase with Skye, leading to a loud session of sibling-like bickering, followed by Chase pursuing Marshall around the Lookout.
• Shout-Out:
  • Carlos' joke in Chapter 10 is greeted with a single word from the pups:
    "Caaarlooos!"
  • Marshall and Chase's favourite show, Ultra Rescue Squadron, is described in a similar fashion to Power Rangers and other shows of its ilk.
  • The third chapter is given the Punny Name of "Shattered Skyes".
  • Chapters 23 and 24 are respectively named "Beyond Hope-" and "-Lies Absolute Despair". A downright strange reference considering the cartoon that the fic is based on.
• Stepford Smiler: Deconstructed. Skye is mentioned to have put on a brave face to try and lead the PAW Patrol through one of their darkest hours while also taking on the responsibility of arranging Marshall's funeral, not even allowing herself to mourn. However, this has an adverse effect on her mental wellbeing, and results in her becoming bitter and unpleasant at the start of the fic.
• Suddenly Shouting:
  • Chase in Chapter 3's flashback when telling the bad news of Marshall's supposed demise
  • Ryder loses his temper in Chapter 23 and the flashback of Chapter 24 due to Marshall's insistence on coming on a rescue and Rocky mentioning Marshall's name respectively.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Numerous times throughout the fic does one character tear into another:
  • Skye attacks Ryder and Chase in Chapter 4 for withdrawing and leaving her to lead the PAW Patrol all by herself, which only led to undue stress and grief from having to console everyone and handle Marshall's funeral, whilst trying to put on a brave face all the while.
  • Rocky rips Skye a new one in Chapter 6 when she makes Chase cry by shoving him to the floor and telling him to stay away from her.
  • Chase and Skye trade speeches in Chapter 17. Skye goes over Chase giving her more to worry about and essentially abandoning the team and leaving her alone, while Chase counters by saying that none of this gives Skye any right to act the way she did.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Skye. Her stepping up to lead the PAW Patrol after Chase and Ryder's withdrawals resulted in her becoming a bitter shell of her former self out of stress and grief. It takes Rocky laying into her after she lashes out at Chase for her to start to shake this off.
• Unreliable Narrator: Mayor Humdinger gets his own flashback sequence, but it takes a detour of Humdinger suddenly acting heroic and Skye falling over herself to praise him. Marshall and Skye have to tell him to knock it off, and the latter even says that the story was correct up to that point.
• Villain Respect: After Marshall and the rest of the PAW Patrol got the better of them in the canon show (in the episode Sea Patrol: Pups Save Their Pirated Sea Patroller), Sid and Arrby have come to respect Marshall in particular, and were also saddened to hear the news that he had apparently died. And although they're late to the funeral, they take the time to admire the PAW Patrol's statue alongside Marshall and Skye while barely causing any disruption (save for Sid declaring his intention to steal it, but he sheepishly backs off when called on it).
  Sid: Hey! Ya can't blame a buccaneer fer tryin'!
• What the Hell, Hero?: Marshall, Everest and Tracker give Ryder a combined one in Chapter 27 for outright refusing to rescue Cali in light of her being the one to cause Marshall's accident, however accidentally.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Due to nearly drowning in a river, Marshall has picked up a case of hydrophobia far worse than Rocky's. It starts out with him being uneasy about taking a bath, and leads to him having a meltdown on getting caught in the rain in Chapter 15. It takes a swimming lesson with Zuma in Chapter 16 to get Marshall past this.
• You Are the Translated Foreign Word: Tracker and Carlos do this frequently whenever they're focused on. Even among themselves.
  Carlos: ¡He tratado! I've tried! He's not answering his Pup Pad, Katie and Jake haven't seen him in days, I don't know what else to do!
  Tracker: Pero por que?! But why?! He needs us now more than ever!

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