retribution.

"I just wanted my sister safe. I wanted everyone to be safe," he replied. He turned to Kari for support, but none came from her.

"Spitz, we were so close. Balto was so close to bringing me home, but then you… you," she said, unable to bring herself to say the rest. She shook her head and ran home, leaving Spitz with no other ally.

"I already had everything under control. I was going to bring her home, but you had to stick your nose in and ruin it all," Balto growled. His hackles were raised, and his fur bristled in anger. Kaltag, Nikki, Star and even Jenna took a few steps back as they could tell that Balto was moments away from blowing his top. All his anger and frustration with Spitz had started to boil over, released by his latest and greatest failure. It was just like with Steele; someone had gotten in his way because they couldn't handle the idea of a wolfdog saving the day. It wasn't about what he was doing, it was about what he was, and it enraged him. "Why? Why would you do this?" he bellowed, resolved that if his answer wasn't good enough, he would sink his fangs into Spitz and unleash all his fury on the husky. "Why would you put our lives at risk like that? Why-"

"I was scared!" Spitz cried out, catching Balto off guard as that was not the answer he expected. "I was scared that the wolves wouldn't agree to your idea. You said yourself that they didn't seem to like you much, and I was afraid that they'd refuse your offer. I was afraid they'd do something to you, or something to Kari. I was scared, and I'm sure you've had your moments when you've been scared too," he finished.

Balto stopped when he heard this, as he knew he was right. He did have his moments were his fear had taken hold... and the result wasn't pretty. One year earlier, Steele had threatened to ensure that not even Jenna would care about him, and the idea of losing one of the few friends he had at the time scared him so much that he lashed out and attacked Steele, almost killing him. That time, he was saved when Jenna appeared and snapped him out of it. More recently, he had been scared that Rosy would die after he fell over the cliff with the medicine, and that fear led him to give up. It wasn't until the white wolf appeared and made him accept his wolf side did he pick himself up and save the day. In both cases, he had given in to his fear, but in both cases he had someone that had saved him from himself… but Spitz didn't have anyone to stop him. He'd let his fear control him, and that led to him taking the actions he did. He was still upset at Spitz, but most of his anger faded when he saw his side of it. "You're right, I have had times where I was scared… but this time a life was lost… you're lucky that Maska came to our aid in time," Balto said.

"I know… and I thank you for everything you did," Spitz replied. "I thank you and your friends. You may not have gotten us the deal we wanted, but you tried your best and you still got us home alive. Kari's safe, and that's all I wanted."

To see a usually proud husky like him be so humbled moved Balto. He may not have entirely saved the day, but here was someone who was still thanking him for his efforts. "He's right Balto," Kaltag put in. "You may not have entirely won the day, but you still tried your best, and I'm thankful for it too."

"Same here," Jenna said as she nuzzled him. "You did more than we could have asked for. It wasn't your fault that it went wrong."

"You're welcome," he replied. "C'mon, it's getting late, we should get to bed; all of us," he added, looking right at Spitz. The husky nodded, relieved that he was not about to be banished from town. He went to follow the others, but Balto briefly stopped him. "Don't take this as me forgiving you," he said sharply. "You're still on thin ice, and if you cross me again… let's just say you'll get to know my wolf side a lot better." Spitz understood him and nodded, so Balto let him go on his way.

He started to walk towards his boat, and he remembered Tikani's last words to him. "I won't forget what you've done to me." What did he mean by that? Would he simply carry a grudge… or would he do something worse? Would he try to exact revenge against him and the town? If it came to that, there would be massive casualties on both sides. Balto didn't want that blood on his paws, be it from the wolves, Kaltag, Spitz, or even… Jenna's. "I can't let that happen. I can't let anyone else get hurt because of this."

---

Epilogue

One Week Later

It had been a week since Balto had tried and failed to reason with Tikani's pack, and since then, life had simply resumed as usual - for most of them at least. There was still some residual anger towards the wolves for their actions, so there was less regret towards Kisa's death in the general public than that felt by Balto. That, along with Spitz's repentant feelings towards it meant that he wouldn't have a severe punishment. He would still be watched over in a sort of probation, but Kari was more than happy to volunteer for that.

Today found Balto and Jenna accompanying Rosy and her mother on another one of their walks, which had helped improve his mood over the past few days, but there were still a few things eating at his mind. First there was the issue of the sled team; if they couldn't hunt in Tikani's territory, then what would they do for their family? The second was Tikani's vow to never forget what had happened. They day after their escape, Balto expected him to storm the town, but he did not come that day, or the day after, or the days after them. "He doesn't strike me as the type to let this go; I know I wouldn't if anything like that happened to Jenna. Should I be afraid of him? Should I-"

"Balto, you've been very quiet for the past few walks. What's on your mind?" Jenna asked, cutting off his train of thought.

"Heh, and I thought Boris was the only one who could read my moods well," he thought. "I'm just wondering if Tikani would be angry enough to try to take revenge on me. You heard what he said; he's holding me responsible for what happened."

"I know, but if he was going to do anything, I would think that he would have done it by now," Jenna replied. "After all, he was always very prompt in his response when Spitz's team entered his territory. I think he's simply going to be more protective of his land from now on."

"You have a point," Balto admitted. "Speaking of Spitz, I'm also wondering what his team will do for their hunting now that Tikani has essentially closed his borders."

"Actually, you can ask them yourself; I think that's Spitz and Kari over there," Jenna replied, and sure enough, there they were, walking down the street. Balto and Jenna trotted over. "Hello you two, how are things holding up?" Jenna greeted.

"They're going just fine, thanks for asking," Kari replied with a smile. Spitz put on a smile as well, albeit a slightly forced one, and said a quiet hello to them.

"Are you sure? Without the deal, you two will have to find somewhere else to hunt meat for your family," Balto replied. "If you want, I could ask Maska if there is anywhere else you could-"

"We don't need that, we can manage on our own," Spitz cut in sharply, but when Kari gave him a stern look, he toned it down a little. "What I mean is… we can find caribou ourselves. We've done it before, and we're quite good at it… thanks for the offer though," he said.

"It's okay. If you change your mind, don't hesitate to tell me," Balto said.

"We will. It was nice seeing you again Balto, and if you see your wolf friend again, tell him we said hello," Kari finished, before leaving with her brother.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Jenna asked him.

"Yeah… they've managed to go along this long without my help, and I'm sure they'll do fine," he replied. He and Jenna continued their walk, with Balto breaking into a grin. That had been the first exchange with Spitz in which the husky had not been outright hostile with him. Some battles had been lost, but others had been won. He may not have been able to make peace with Tikani's pack, but the dogs felt more trust towards their ally in Maska and his pack. He may have made a new enemy in Tikani, but he had managed to mend fences with Spitz. It wasn't a perfect situation, but Balto was content with it, and if trouble ever came to the town of Nome again, he would be there to face it down.

---

Spitz, Kari, Kisa, Tikani, Anya, Maska, Trip, Dale and Harry all belong to iWolf231, and may not be used in any way without my direct permission.

Balto, Jenna, Nikki, Kaltag, Star, Doc, Dixie, Rosy and Boris belong to Universal Studios and Amblimation.