himself to wakefulness. She wanted to run to him, to greet him, to tell him how glad she was he was alive, but something held her back.

<i>If Balto’s been changed like this, who knows what else might have happened to him?</i> This thought remained in Jenna’s head, gnawing at her mildly.

She watched as Balto finally managed to sit up, head tilting back in a surprisingly huge yawn. The action caused the bandanna to completely slip off him, falling about his feet. As he finished yawning, he tilted his head back down, a sleepy smile on his features. Slowly, he blinked open his eyes. Against her will, Jenna audibly drew in breath.

The sound seemingly alerted the pup; eyes half open but now mostly awake, he turned his head in Jenna’s direction. He kept his head in that position for a second, blinking the rest of his eyes open. Then, he cocked his head, looking straight at Jenna. Finally, he smiled, straightened his head, and, with his tail wagging, chirped out a single word:

“Hi!”

Jenna started; Balto’s voice was energetic, childish, and playful, indicative of his puppyhood. It was so different from what she was used to, Jenna could only stare dumbly in bemusement.

 Finally managing to shake off her shock, Jenna slowly walked towards Balto, who was busily scratching an ear with a leg. She stopped a few inches away from him. Mustering up her courage, Jenna spoke softly: “Balto? Is that you?”

The pup stopped scratching and looked up at Jenna. “Yep! That’s me! Who’re you?” Balto cheerily replied, completely missing Jenna’s shocked expression.

Jenna, caught off guard by the strange question and reaction, momentarily stuttered. “I…you…You don’t know who I am?”

Balto raised an eyebrow. “Why? Am I s’posed to?” The question wasn’t sarcastic or mocking; the pup’s tone was genuinely curious as he sat there, apparently thinking hard. Finally, he looked back up at Jenna. “Nope, I don’t know you.” The pup shifted nervously. “Sorry.” Balto’s expression was so forlorn and apologetic, Jenna couldn’t help chuckling softly. Immediately, she moved to reassure the pup.

“That’s okay, Balto, really.” Her tone was soothing and comforting, and quickly caused Balto’s expression to soften to a satisfied smile. Jenna laid herself down, allowing herself to be at Balto’s level. “You wanna know my name?” she asked softly.

Balto nodded, tail beginning to wag again. “Sure! The enthusiasm he exhibited for such a small thing was surprising, but Jenna nonetheless smiled.

Chuckling again at the pup’s exuberance, the husky replied. “My name’s Jenna.”

Balto laughed, walking up to Jenna and looking up at her. “Nice to meetcha’, Jenna!” His tail was wagging much faster, now. “That’s a nice name!”

Almost immediately, though, Balto’s cheerful expression contorted into a comically puzzled one. “How didja  know my name, anyway?”

Jenna winced; she should have expected this. What was she supposed to say? An idea occurred to her; it was a gamble, but it would have to do.

“I’m… a friend of Boris’,” she stated, uneasily. “He told me about you.” She hoped he at least remembered his caretaker…

She needn’t have worried. “Boris?!” Immediately, Balto’s ears shot straight up, and his little tail began wagging at breakneck speed. “Whereishewhereishewhereishe?!”

Jenna stepped back, startled at the enthusiasm of her strangely regressed mate’s inquiry. He really was a puppy now…

“He’s, um, over there,” Jenna slowly told the puppy, getting up and turning towards the cabin. “I’ll go wake him up.” She started in the cabin’s direction.

She had only taken a couple of steps when Balto ran at her, circling around her paws. “Ooh! Ooh! Lemme do it, Jenna!” Without waiting for an answer, Balto darted into the cabin. Jenna called after him. “Balto, wait…” Before she could complete her sentence, Balto ran back out. There was a slightly frightened look on his face.

Jenna’s alarm quickly turned to concern. She once again lowered herself to the ground, and, with a tender voice, asked, “Balto? What’s wrong?”

Balto looked up, his frightened eyes softening slightly in Jenna’s warm, caring gaze. He turned his head toward the cabin, ears folded back. “Bears,” he muttered softly, fear beginning to creep back into his features.

Jenna blinked. ‘He’s talking about Muk and Luk,’ she realized. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you,” she said reassuringly. “They’re Boris’ friends, too.”

Balto, clearly confused, looked back at the cabin. “They are? He never told me ‘bout them…” Once again, his expression softened, and he smiled brightly. “But he never told me ‘bout you, ‘neither, so I guess that’s okay.” He paused. “Can I go wake up Boris, now?” he asked, tilting his head.

Jenna was once again taken off guard, this time because Balto actually asked for her permission. Shaking this off, she answered the pup. “Um, sure.”

“Yay!” Needing no second bidding, Balto dashed back into the cabin. Jenna, despite herself, poked her head in to watch things unfold. She couldn’t help smiling as the pup bounced around the goose, who was lying separately from the two bears. Balto continuously nipped at his legs, wings, and anything else that came within reach. All the while, he tried to urge the goose awake.

“Boris!” he called, his movements becoming even more energetic. “Wake up, Boris!” As the goose mumbled something in his sleep, Balto began pouncing on him. “Borisborisborisborisborisboris!”

“Ugh… I am waking up, I am waking up!” the goose grumbled, stumbling awkwardly to his feet. His eyes were still clenched shut.

“’’Morning, Boris!” Balto yipped, eyes gleaming.

Boris shook his head. “Who said that?” Groaning, Boris turned to his side, opening his eyes and rubbing the sleep out of them. Once his eyes were fully open, he turned his head back towards the direction of Balto’s voice.

Boris did a number of things in that moment; he widened his eyes, let his beak drop wide open, and muttered something in Russian.

“Hi, Boris!” the pup exclaimed cheerfully.

Boris said nothing, save for some unidentifiable sound coming from his throat. Balto, puzzled, tilted his head. “Boris?”

 The goose replied, albeit in a small, barely audible voice, “Please tell me this is a dream…”

The goose continued to stand still for a few seconds, still trying to process what he was seeing.

Now utterly lost, Balto began sniffing Boris. “Boris? It’s me, Balto!”

“I can… see that…” the goose mumbled, trying to put together an appropriate response. Aside from that, silence reigned supreme for the next few seconds.

Then, a shout rang out that roused even Nome’s heaviest sleepers, dog and human alike.

“VHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?”

This outburst caused Jenna to jump back, and Balto to lose his balance and fall backwards onto his rear. Muk and Luk also snapped awake, disturbed by the noise.

“Uncle Boris, what’s wrong, what’s wrong, is Balto okay, is he okay, is he…” Muk immediately let loose a stream of questions, attempting to clamber over his larger sibling to get to Boris. Unfortunately, this led to Luk  losing his balance and falling on his stomach, inadvertently crushing his sibling under his weight, much to the latter’s annoyance.

Boris smacked his forehead in annoyance at the two’s antics; Jenna merely shook her head. However, Balto, still sitting down, blinked and tilted his head. “Boris, those bears are kinda weird…” he whispered to the goose, still tilting his head in various directions as he attempted to get a glimpse of the smaller polar bear  who, at the moment, was squirming around, attempting to wriggle out from Luk’s considerable bulk.

“You are not saying anything new, Balto…” Boris grumbledd, before he remembered the situation at hand.

“You are thinking that’s weird? What’s weird is what has happened to you, Balto!” the goose shouted, though not unkindly, at his ward.

Balto frowned. “Whadda ya mean, Boris?”

Boris pretended to think, all while Muk and Luk continued struggling. “Hmm, let’s see. Yesterday, you were big half-wolf, and you were bleeding like crazy.”

Jenna grimaced. “Boris…” she tried catching the goose’s attention.

Boris held up a wing. “Be with you one moment, Jenna.” With this, he returned his attention to a rather perplexed puppy.

“Today, you are half-wolf <i>puppy</i>, and you do not have so much as a scrape!” Boris paused mid-rant to take a deep breath. “And you are not thinking <i>that</i> is weird?!”

Balto, still frowning, blinked slowly for a few seconds before replying. “What’cha talkin’ ‘bout, Boris? I’ve been little for…for…”

His little face suddenly screwed up. “Don’t know how long it’s been, but I’ve been little since we met. Don’tcha ‘member?”

Boris raised a wing to reply, but faltered, at a complete loss for words. “Uhhh…”

Deciding to