The small town of Nome sat quiet and still as a light snow fell from the night sky. The houses were dark, the soft glow from the street lamps providing the only light. Usually, the town would be lively and all the houses lit, people inside them chatting and laughing with family and friends. For it was Christmas Eve, but no one in the town felt the usual cheer of the holidays. A air of gloom had fallen over the town for the past week, for a great tragedy had happened.

The towns beloved hero, Balto, had passed away.

Indeed, everyone in the town felt the sting that came with the passing of a loved one, and Balto had been very much loved among the towns people. 

The Winter's family took the hardest blow. Not only had Balto been adopted as their dog after he had saved their daughter Rosie's life, but Jenna, their husky, had also passed. Having lost the cherished pair of dogs, Rosie sought comfort in Fawn, the youngest pup from Balto and Jenna's last litter.

Balto and Jenna had had two litters, and some of their children already had families of their own. Balto and Jenna had been lucky to see some grandpups before they passed, but this knowledge did little to comfort their children.

However, Balto and Jenna's family had also just grown, and the new arrivals had been welcomed into the family earlier that day.

A small candle sat in the window of one house, it's small flame casting a small glow onto the back porch. The light danced across the back of a dog. He sat on the porch, amber eyes starring out into the falling snow. His coat was rich chestnut in color, with a light tan undercoating. His copper tipped ears flicked occasionally to the door, responding to the soft sounds coming from inside. He smiled softly.

The door creaked behind him and he turned to see a pale gold female slipping delicately through. Her eyes, as blue as the summer sky, sought his, and her gentle face was furrowed in concern. "Talto, you've been out here all night," she said, her voice as soft as a butterfly's wings, "Are you okay?"

Talto smiled as she sat down next to him, her golden fur brushing against his chestnut coat. "I'm fine," he assured her, "Just thinking."

Sonya sighed softly and leaned her head against his shoulder. "You miss them."

Talto flicked an ear and sighed. Nothing got past Sonya, something he'd learned very quickly. "Yeah," he admitted quietly.

"I know it hurts, I felt the same when mom and dad died," Sonya said gently. "It's okay."

Talto smiled softly at her, grateful she was so understanding.

The two sat in silence, watching the snow gently fall, until a loud yip made them both look at the door. Sonya chuckled. "Their awake again."

The two dogs slipped inside the door, and Sonya went over to the basket by the stove. There, nestled amongst some blankets, lay four puppies, squirming against each other. Smiling tenderly, Sonya carefully climbed into the basket and laid down. The pups immediately began crawling towards her, their tiny bodies bumping into one another.

Talto sat by the stove and watched as his mate nudged the pups one by one to her stomach, giving each one a gentle lick on the head as she did so. Once the pups were nursing, she looked up at her mate.

"How are your siblings doing?" she asked, continuing their conversation from the porch.

Talto looked into the fire, the scarlet and orange flames dancing over the logs. "Their taking it as well as I am, I guess. I have no clue how Saba feels, but Robin's missing them a lot."

Talto's older sister, Saba, had cut all connections with the family after she had decided to become mates with Tanner, Steele's son. Though Saba had objected, her daughter Robin had become very close with Balto and Jenna.

"And Fawn?"

Talto sighed heavily. "Duke went to check on her after he came by, but she's still the same."

Sonya bit her lip in worry. Out of all of Talto's siblings, Fawn had been the closest to their parents, especially Jenna. Their death was proving to effect her the most, and everyone was concerned about her. Fawn hadn't left Rosie's house since their death, not even to meet the new pups.

"I know it's only been a week, but she's hardly acknowledged any of us, even Rosie can barely get her attention." Talto said, the worry for his little sister evident by his expression.

Fawn had been the runt of Talto's litter, always sticking close to their mom or dad, rarely playing with the other three. Everyone in the family was protective of her, Duke especially. Not only was Fawn the smallest, youngest, and terribly shy, she had also been born mute. Many dogs didn't grasp this right away, and mistook her silence as being snobby or rude. Poor Fawn had taken to staying with Jenna at all times. Now that their mother was gone, Talto wasn't sure how Fawn would handle it.

"All we can do is be there for her," Sonya told him gently.

Talto nodded, but he frowned with worry. "I know, but I think what she really hates is that mom and dad won't be around when she has pups. She was looking foreword to her own pups meeting their gandparents, and you know how badly she wants to be a mother."

Sonya nodded in understanding. "She just needs to find the right dog," she assured him, "She's a natural with pups, she'll make a great mother."

Talto nodded, and smiled as one of the pups whimpered and Sonya lowered her head to lick it.

"I still find it uncanny how much those two look like mom and dad," he said, looking into the basket at two of the pups.

"Well, they are their grandpups," Sonya replied, nudging the pup she had been licking to her stomach. "It's not unheard of."

Talto agreed with her, but he still found it supriseing, if not a bit weird, that a week after his parents die, two pups are born with striking resemblance to them.

Royal, the eldest, had a deep red coat with a tan underside and pale, gold patches around his eyes. Aside from his colors, he could have been his grandfathers clone.

Sven, the second born, obviously took after Talto and Duke. He had a fine chestnut coat with a creamy underside, red paws, and a darker brown marking across his face. He also had his mother's special marking on his forehead, only black instead of tan.

Caylenne, the oldest female, had a lovely golden coat, red ears, creamy markings, and resembled Jenna as much as Royal did Balto.

Hope, the youngest, was the spitting image of Sonya, with a few minor differences. Like Sven, she to, bore her mother's special marking, only in scarlet red.

When Talto's siblings had come to see the new pups, they too, had commented on how similar Royal and Caylenne looked to Balto and Jenna (Duke had joked that Caylenne would be as popular with the males as their mother had; this was not a pleasant thought for Talto).

His own children, a year old now, and with their own homes, had been eager to see their new siblings. Talto felt a slight pain that Nalani, the second youngest from the first litter, had moved away before Sonya had even known she was pregnant again. She would never know she had younger siblings, and they would never know her. Such was life, he knew, that a dog went were it's owner did, but it still pained him to think he'd never see one of his daughters again.

"Talto, look."

Sonya's voice brought him back from his thoughts, and Talto looked over at her. She was smiling that tender, motherly kind of smile, and she beckoned him to look. He obeyed, peering into the basket. There, his four pups were huddled up against their mother's stomach. He smiled as well, because if one looked closely, the pups almost looked like they were in a four pointed star huddle.

     *~*~*~*

Sonya awoke with a start. Blinking, she looked around the room. The candle in the window had gone out, but the fire still burned brightly in the fireplace. Talto was sound asleep on the rug by the basket, so what had woken her? The golden female looked down at the pups, but they to, were sleeping peacefully, aside from the occasional twitch of a leg.

Yawning, Sonya slowly got up, careful not to disturb the pups, and climbed out of the basket. She stretched, her muscles a bit stiff from laying down all day. She smiled down at her sleeping mate, then padded quietly to the door. She slipped out, breathing in the cool night air. The snow had stopped falling, and a fresh, white blanket lay over the town.

Sonya shook her fur out a little, a soft breeze ruffling her fur and making her shiver slightly. She was just about to go back in, when a odd sound made her ears prick. Frowning, Sonya looked around. Nothing except black and white, but she heard the noise again. It was coming from the back.

Slowly, Sonya stepped off the porch and made her way behind the house. The snow crunched beneath her paws and there was hardly any light. Sonya felt her spine tingling, but the sound had grown louder, and she knew what it was: a pup's cry.

Why a pup would be out at this time of night was beyond her, but she wasn't about to leave it alone to freeze. Cautiously, Sonya looked around the corner of the house. Nothing was there as far as she could see, but the pup's distressed whimpers were louder then ever, so she slowly stepped closer. The pup's cries where coming from behind a crate, and Sonya had a bad feeling. The crates stacked back here were old, and April, her owner, had often asked her father when they were going to get rid of them.

As Sonya approached, she began to notice a faint smell, mostly washed away by the snow. Uneasy,