Balto asked, “How did you win the Golden Collar the first time?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Replied Steele, who always delighted in being able to brag about his past achievements at any opportunity he could. “It was three years ago, and the reigning champion at the time was a husky named Rainier. I had heard that Rainier was a really tough opponent, but had no idea what kind of a race I was in for. Rainier had a pretty fearsome reputation, and I believe he had won the Collar multiple times. I was only two at the time, and this was my first championship race. We had raced all the way to the narrow pass, being neck and neck at the time. Rainier and I were staring each other down, when suddenly he tried to bite one of my legs. No one does that to me and gets away with it, so I returned the favor. I may have..uh..drawn a little blood.” Steele finished with a chuckle.

“Steele…” Balto replied, clearly not impressed. Balto remembered when Steele used that move on him, and now knew where he had learned it. Still, it seemed very unsporting, even in that situation. “Winning isn’t everything.”

“What?” Steele replied, trying to appear innocent. “He started it! Besides, it served him right for trying to bite me. I think he retired after that race; I have never seen him again.”

“And the second time I won the Golden Collar,” Steele proudly continued, at this point being completely unable to refrain from showing his pride. “There was a so called champion team from White Mountain. They did not stand a chance against a true champion team. We beat them by four minutes, and it was all due to my stamina and leadership. After all, I am not only the best sleddog in Nome, but also the best sleddog in all Alaska.”

            Balto tried not to chuckle as Steele bragged about his past victories. Despite being an outcast, Steele was still full of himself, and the fact that his huge ego remained in light of all this was almost humorous. Yet it was also sad at the same time, as it was his ego that had landed him in hot water during the serum run. If he was unable to tone it down, it would surely cause trouble in the future. Balto wondered if Steele had always been like this. Did his parents act this way? Is that where he learned to act like that? There was only one way to find out.

“Steele,” Balto inquired. “What were your parents like?”

“My puppyhood is off limits, half-breed!” Steele roared back at Balto, coming to a complete stop and clearly insulted by the query. “I am descended from the original line of Siberian Huskies imported from Russia during the gold rush. I am a purebred, pedigree, champion Siberian Husky. That is all you need to know!”

Balto was taken aback by the response, and even more confused. He had no doubt that Steele was a purebred husky, or about his lineage; that was well known. But now he wondered if something had happened to Steele when he was a puppy, something that could explain why he was so mean. It was obvious that he would never be able to convince Steele to tell him, so he decided to leave it alone. The dogs continued walking towards the dredger.

“Since you are so interested in talking about family, why don’t we talk about yours?” Steele smirked. “How’s Jenna?”

“She is fine.” Balto replied. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“You know I am the best dog for her.” Steele said, emphasizing the word dog.

“Steele!” Balto angrily replied, coming to a complete stop to confront the husky. “You had your chance. Jenna loves me now.”

“But she a purebred husky, like me. Why should she not love me?” Steele retorted.

“Steele, do you really want to know why she doesn’t love you? It is because you are full of yourself. The only thing you cared about was yourself. You didn’t care about Jenna, you just saw her as a prize that you could win. Did you think that other dogs would find that kind of attitude attractive?  Love goes both ways, when will you finally learn that?”

            Steele growled and stared Balto down, but eventually looked away. He hated to admit it, but Balto was correct. Steele had treated the other dogs like prizes in the past, being only concerned about himself. Maybe he should heed Balto’s advice this time?

“You’re right, Balto. I’m sorry.” Steele hesitantly apologized, staring at his paws. “I guess it would be better for everyone if I did change.”

“Come on, Steele, let’s get to the dredger.” Balto replied.

The dogs continued walking towards the dredger, about three quarters of the way there. Balto sniffed the air.

“That’s funny; I smell smoke.” Balto said. “Maybe the butcher is cooking something?”

            The gold dredger was where all the dogs gathered for warmth and to socialize. It was frequented by both sled dogs and regular dogs alike. Balto and Steele began walking towards it when they noticed something was amiss; smoke was coming out of the windows.

“There’s a fire.” Balto said. “Quickly, we have to check if anyone is trapped in side.”

Both Balto and Steele ran up to the closed door. Balto tried to remove the hinge bolts on the door but it was too hot. He yanked back his paw in pain, barely escaping getting burned. Balto threw himself against the door but was not large enough to knock it down. He backed away and turned towards Steele, trying to catch his breath.

“You want to be a hero again?” Balto asked Steele. “Well here is your chance.”

Steele immediately leapt at the door with all his might and knocked it down. Steele coughed as a rush of hot air and smoke flew in his face as more oxygen fed the fire. The entire building was filled with smoke and there were flames around the furnace. Embers from the furnace must have set some of the timbers on fire. The fire was beginning to spread, but the smoke was of more immediate concern. Steele hesitated for a second, knowing that he could suffocate from the lack of oxygen.  But the prospects of remaining an outcast if he did not do something compelled him to proceed.

Back outside, Balto started to follow Steele in to help, but he stopped. He knew Steele could handle it, and this was his chance to redeem himself. If Balto went in to help everyone would all think Balto was being a hero not Steele, and the last thing that Balto needed was to be on Steele’s bad side again.

Inside the entrance to the dredger, the heat and smoke were really getting to Steele. His eyes began to water and swell up; he better make this quick.

“Is anyone in here?” Steele called out, coughing because of the smoke.

“Yeah, over here!” A voice called out. “We can’t find the door!”

Steele ran towards the voice to find Kaltag and about ten other dogs trapped on the far side of the building. Steele was struggling to keep his eyes open at this point, as the smoke nearly made them swell shut.

“Steele! What are you doing here?” Kaltag said. Nikki, Doc, and about seven other dogs were with him.

“There’s no time for that!” Steele hastily replied. “Come with me if you want to get out of here.”

The dogs all followed Steele to the door. No one could see anything at this point, yet Steele remembered the way he came. It was a fairly linear path to the doorway, but with the prospect of smoke filling the room it became a monumental journey. There was also the possibility of a roof collapse as the fire started to reach the rafters. As they reached the exit and came out of the dredger, everyone gasped for air as they cleared the smoke.

“Is anyone else in there?” He asked, coughing furiously and gasping for fresh air.

“I don’t see Star anywhere!” Kaltag replied, also coughing and trying to catch his breath. “He must still be in the building!”

At this point the fire was becoming worse and more noticeable. Steele hesitated, but started heading towards the door again. He wanted so much to be a hero once again, that he didn’t care if it killed him. Anything was better than being an outcast and being ostracized by everyone.  Balto ran up and stood in front of Steele’s path.

“Don’t do it, Steele.” Balto warned. “The fire is too hot; you’ll burn to death!”

“Out of the way, Balto.” Steele said, shoving Balto aside.

Steele ran into the burning building. At that point, many more dogs had begun showing up. Among them were Jenna and Shadow.

“Balto,” Jenna said. “What’s going on?”

“Steele went back in there to try and save Star.” Balto explained. “I tried to stop him. The fire is too hot.”

Just then there was a loud explosion as the rest of the building began to burst into flames. The fire must have spread to some of the kerosene used to heat the