Chapter 1

"Dad... Dad... DAD!" someone yelled. Kenai woke with little alarm knowing who it was. A hyperactive Maxwell was getting desperate for attention. "Uh-uh? What is it?" Kenai groaned wearily. "Dad, wake up! You promised to take me to the mountain!" he chatted enthusiastically. "Okay! Okay! I'm up!.." he moaned. A complaining grunt followed. Beside him lay a beautiful creamy white female. "Morning hun." he cheerfully whispered as he leaned forward to kiss her. Tori replied with a smile with still closed eyes. "I never knew I would give birth to a walking alarm clock." she laughed. Yawning, she clambered up tiredly, and walked to the entrance of the cave. A magnificent view it was. The entrance was close to a fresh water lake. The sun's warm and welcoming glow reflected off the water every morning, shining a golden light into the cave. Tori sat down at the entrance to the small cave, smiling to herself in the view. The young Maxwell playfully leapt onto his father's back, and sniffed his fur deeply. It tickled him slightly. Maxwell climbed up to his head, sitting on top of his father majestically. He soon became attracted to Kenai's flicking ears.

Kenai started walking carefully, so his son didn't fall. "See you in a few hours, love." he said, as he kissed her and walked off. Tori smiled and walked back into the cave. The both of them failed to notice two wolves lurking in the cover of the bushes.

"Dad, where are we going?" Max asked with his young voice-box. "We're gonna get some dinner. And, I've got a story to tell you." he explained. Max's smile beamed. His father's stories always obsessed him. "It's about a half dog, half wolf named Balto, just like you. He used to be my friend, but, there was something wrong." Max listened on in memorization.

"He was an outcast. No-one liked him, he didn't have any friends, and everyone bullied him. But then one day, a lot of little kids got very ill. The only medicine was in a town hundreds and hundreds of miles away. So, a team of dogs led by a very horrible and glory-mad one, who's name I won't mention, went to get the medicine." Maxwell proceeded to listen on in awe. "On the way back home, the team got lost in a storm and were stuck for days. But Balto, that outcast that no-one liked before, went out into the wild, and saved the medicine, and brought the team home. When he got home, the children got better, and Balto became a hero. Even after a fight with a bear, thrown into a rock, and falling off a cliff, he still never gave up. In the end, he finally got the medicine to the stricken town, and saved a lot of lives." "Really?" Max gasped. Kenai hummed in truth. "I knew him aswell, I used to be friends with him when I lived with my humans." he explained with a smile. Maxwell turned. "What's a human?" Kenai sulked in regret of his words. "We should head off back home now.", completely ignoring his son's question.

Kenai caught a rabbit a while later, and the two walked into a complete circle after a few hours, and came back to the cave to eat. "Tori, we're back. Tori? Love?" he called without a reply. "Hugh. She might've gone for a walk or summat." Kenai hummed. The two of them sat down for a rest, and ate.

Many hours passed, and the sun was now preparing to fall behind the enormous mountains. The two woke up to find the golden light of sunset beaming into the cave. Kenai sighed worriedly. "Tori's been gone an awful long time." Thinking for a moment, he took a long sniff of the air, and detected his mate's scent still blowing in the wind. He stood up suddenly and started jogging slowly. Max followed him closely as they walked back into the wilderness.

After about half an hour of solid walking, they stopped. "The trail ends right here, but I can't see her anywhere." he said, sniffing. Maxwell copied his father. "Tori? Tori?" Max looked around, not seeing anything familiar. "Dad, I think we're lost." he said worriedly. His father shook his head. "Once we find your mother, we'll start looking for the way back." he said anxiously.

"Dad! Behind you!" he yelled. A stranger leapt onto his back and went for his neck. Kenai reared up and threw him off in time, just to see two more wolves approach from the side. They chewed at his legs. One went up for Kenai's neck again. He put up a decent but inadequate struggle. One of the wolves saw the pup and tried to corner him, but Kenai threw his chest into the wolf, knocking both of them over. "Max! Run!" Kenai called. The pup hesitated. "NOW!" he called again as a final and fatal blow hit his throat. He finally obeyed his father's order and ran as far as he could. He didn't dare look back. The roaring and screaming had long stopped. He felt a slight nausea and a need to vomit. He tripped on a small branch and tumbled forward down a shallow hill like a football. He struggled up and carried on running.

Three wolves came to the top of the slope. They all looked at the pup, crying and scared, running as fast as he could. A wolf named Akiak turned to the middle one. "Shall we subdue him, commander?" he asked obediently. Valdez, the overgrown and muscular one, looked at the sky. He saw snow clouds approaching from the north. He grinned. "No. Nature can do that by herself." he spat, not taking his eyes off the pup.

I don't belong here, I gotta move on dear,

Escape from this Afterlife,

'Cause this time I'm right to move on and on,

Far away from here.

Chapter 2

"Haha! I got it!" Dusty shouted. Ralph had just tossed a small football into the woods. It just skimmed her reach and flew into a small clearing. "No she hasn't." Kodi joked as she nearly fell over trying to catch it. She laughed at him and stumbled up. "I'll get it." she said happily. 

She marched merrily into the trees. The glowing red ball was sitting comfortably in the snow, waiting for her. Prancing up to it joyfully, she suddenly stopped.

She looked to her side to find a few hairs poking out of the snow. An eyebrow heightened and she leaned forward. Everything went eerily quiet. She automatically walked towards. "C'mon, Dusty, hurry up!" an enthusiastic voice called. She gulped and brushed away some of the snow. More brushing like a detective looking for fingerprints revealed a large patch of white and black fur. She pushed away a lump of ice, and she froze in an awkward combination of fear and curiosity. A pale and lifeless face lay comfortably in front of her. "Kodi! Kirby! Come, quick! There's a boy in the snow!" she wailed. They looked up and followed her voice. They dived through the snow like a herd of elk. Dusty didn't feel any fear, but the shock of such a find made her shiver. Kodi and Kirby gasped and trotted closer cautiously.

The three of them looked over the body. It was no younger, no older than them, and had been frozen at least the whole night. "What do you think his name is?" Kodi asked. "Where did he come from?" Kirby continued. Dusty shrugged her shoulders at them. 

Kodi turned and ran in a rush, and Kirby and Ralph followed. "I'll get my parents. Dusty, you wait here see if he moves or anything!" he called back. Dusty was too mesmerized in the body to hear him. She would've stayed anyway. As motionless as the corpse itself, she sat next to it, gazing at the black and white fur. She felt herself gulp as she reached out a paw and ran her claws over his chest lightly. She tried to clench his paw. 

Suddenly the boy sprang into life, grabbing her wrist and gasping. Dusty flinched. She looked into his eyes. "It's okay, help's on the way. I'm Dusty." she assured the stranger. "M-Maxwell..." he stammered under a lack of air. "Help's coming, don't worry." she repeated. It was immediately after this that this Maxwell he claimed his name was passed out again, drifting back into the snow like a leaf and his eyes fading as a snowflake would on warm ground. Dusty took another moment to absorb the adrenaline. She heard a slight crunch behind her. It was the snow collapsing under Balto and Jenna's paws. They rushed up to them. "He told me his name is Maxwell and he went to sleep again." she uttered naively. Jenna reacted similarly to as Dusty did. She brushed away yet more snow and felt his wrist. "He's frozen solid. We have to get him some warmth." she startled out.

Balto gently wrapped his teeth around the pup's shoulders and picked him up. The body dangled lifelessly from his jaws. They ran to the city as fast as they could. The boy's pulse was slowing.

"Dad, when will he wake up?" Kodi asked anxiously. "When he needs to, son. The poor boy's been frozen like that at least a day." he answered calmly. They were in the kennel, sitting next to the fire. A plump and soft basket beheld the still body, and a fresh slice of meat lay next to him. The only sound that could be heard was heavy breathing and the crackling of wood over the fire. The mystery pup tossed and turned, but still showed no sign of waking up after half an hour. Dusty was showing a particular interest in the boy. She sat patiently next to the basket, glaring at him. Balto and Jenna talked quietly to each other. "Looks like

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