at the newly abandoned dog and his father.

“If it weren’t for red fur I’d say you two were twins!  Balto, he looks just about as wolf as-.”

“As me, I know, we’ve established that.”

“I see…  And he was kicked out of home because of this?”

Balto looked to Dingo, who hung his head as he knew this was the truth.  He then returned his attention to Boris and answered for him.

“Yeah, that’s what we’ve gathered…”

“Hmm, this is all sounding very familiar…”

The goose rubbed his chin with his feathered hands, almost as if to tease the one everyone knew he was referring to.  The wolf-dog in question, however, wasn’t amused.

“Yeah, I get it.  But Dingo knows that things could still look up for him, he has us here and has his mother in town.”

“Oh no…Mom!” Dingo let himself fall to the wood floor of the deck again, putting his paws over his eyes once more.  “She’s gonna kill me; she probably knows already because her owners are friends with Kyle!”

“That’s right, she probably does…  Well, guess we’ll have to deal with that too…”

Boris came waddling over to Dingo and wrapped a feathered arm around him, even patting his scruffy shoulders in reassurance and comfort as he then removed his own paws from his eyes and looked up to him.

“There there, Dingo.  It will be alright.  Do you remember your Uncle Boris, boy-chick?  It’s been long time, has it not?”

“I-I call you Uncle too?” Dingo replied, blushing and averting his glance. “I-…I thought that was just something that Muk and Luk did…”

“Nonsense, I’m your uncle too!  Same with the rest of Balto’s children!  Now, we must go start on road to get your life back on track.”

“N-Now?”

“Yes now, we go, go!”

Dingo was then ushered out of the shelter and across the deck, looking back to his father before Boris pushed him down the plank.

“W-Well uh…I’ll see ya later Dad.”

“Bye son, and don’t worry.  You’ll be just fine.”

The two of them went further down the plank and out of sight, heading straight for whatever plan the old goose would dish up.  Balto took a seat and continued staring at the entry point up to his home, making sure they were gone.  Already knowing this fully well, the wolf-dog gave a hopeful sigh and looked to his remaining polar bear company.

“Well, there’s one less thing to worry about.  Now, I should probably go check on Jenna.  You know…before she comes to me in concern.”

“Right, well…what should Luk and me do?”

“Hmm…maybe go follow Boris, keep an eye on him and Dingo for me.”

“Will do!  Come on Luk.”

As the two bears traveled down the plank for safety, Balto found his own way down among the snow and rocks surrounding the vessel’s exterior.  Reaching the solid ground after a few descending leaps, he then started on his way toward town and toward Jenna’s.

- - - - -

For years now the wolf-dog’s presence in town had no longer been a strange and unwelcome occurrence.  Ever since his first and greatest act of heroism, Balto had been able to pass through the streets of Nome with little to no complication and hassle from others.  But even still, every time Balto considered it a blessing after being exiled for so long.  He looked to one of the sides of buildings on the street, the glass of some windows gleaming and glistening with the sun’s reflection.  He set foot onto the snow-covered main street of Nome, indented with and almost perfectly separated by the two parallel lines of the sled team’s travels.  He assumed they’d already left, or could even already be back.  He didn’t ponder this for very long, as his son Kodi wasn’t priority at the moment.  The wolf-dog got himself back on track and treaded to Jenna’s.

It was nearing mid-day by this time, so Balto knew that the purebred husky’s household would be awake and undisturbed as usual by his arrival.  He proceeded to the side shack of the house where Jenna usually resided, looking to the second-story window foolishly looking for some sign of her.  Obviously seeing none at his low angle, he decided to tread quietly towards the big wood doors that lead inside.  When he got close enough, he saw the doors open at the hand of the husky herself.  She just smiled at him affectionately, in her glossy coat of red and white fur as always as well as her orange bandana that looked practically devoid of color by comparison.

“I heard you coming.”

“Was I that obvious?  Hmm, must be getting rusty...”

Smiling as well while he entered her residence, Balto looked to her the whole time even as she closed the door behind him.  He turned to her completely and took a seat on the round-shaped rug in the center of the room, and she turned back to him after the door was shut tight and once her affectionate smile turned into an expression of concern.

“I was about to head to you as a matter of fact.  I…wanted to know about Dingo.”

“Yeah, I figured you would…”

“So?  What did happen?”

“Well uh…”

Balto paused, blushed, and looked away, allowing time for his ears to droop before continuing.

“You-…you know how he takes after me and all?  Well uh…it seems my side of the family’s responsible for…another one of our pups not having a-…a proper home.”

“Oh no…  They kicked him out because he looked like you?”

“Yeah, that’s basically it…”

“Oh Dingo…”

Jenna looked off in the same direction as Balto but not a similar location, also in thought rather than embarrassment.

“I uh…I told him it wasn’t his fault.” Balto said in his own defense. “His owners didn’t want him to change, and…well…they were rather foolish for that…don’t you think?”

Jenna returned her attention to him, looking a little uncertain but in agreement nonetheless.

“Y-Yes.  You were right to tell him that.  Well…how is he doing?”

“Well, he stayed with me last night.  He’s alright.  Seeing as he takes after me and all, he should be right at home.”

“And right now?”

“Well, right now…he’s with Boris.”

“Boris?”

“I thought maybe he could help.  He took care of me, and look how I turned out.”

They both formed a smile at Balto’s spry comment.

“Well if he really is that much like you,” Jenna replied, “then I’m sure he’ll be alright.”

“He’ll be fine Jenna.  Sure there was a bit of a bump in the road, but we all have our ups and downs.  I-…It was at least good to see him again.”

“Yes, I’m glad you two could finally meet again after so long.  I know you’re very attached to our kids.”

“Of course I am.  I’m the dad, that’s my job isn’t it?”

“Yes, and you’re a good one at that.”

Jenna smiled and nuzzled her mate affectionately, Balto returning the favor.

“They’ve all got at least a little bit of me in them,” Balto continued in reassurance, “they’ll all be just fine…”

- - - - -

“Boris, why are you bringing me here?”

Dingo and his life coach for the time being hadn’t gotten too far, remaining in the boundaries of No Man’s Land between Nome and the wilderness.  The red wolf-dog was quick to realize that they weren’t heading back into town, but rather to Boris and Stella’s little love-nest the couple had constructed to call home.

“Because,” the goose answered sternly then shamefully, “I…did not say goodbye to Stella.”

“What???”

“Bears dragged me away with your little ‘problem’ before I could say anything to her.  We say goodbye, THEN go into town.”

“You couldn’t have said ‘hold on’ or anything to say goodbye to her?  Why do I have to be dragged into this goodbye???”

“Because YOUR problem dragged me away.  So, I bring problem here.”

“Yeah, and that’s just what your relationship needs…”

Boris then ruffled one of his feathered arms in Dingo’s face in response to his wisecrack, punishing the mutt and making him flinch for saying such a thing.

“You have no business in Boris’ relationship!”

“But you brought me-“

“Ah-!  No!  Now we go.”

“Alright, alright…”

Dingo sighed as he was ushered along, Stella eventually coming into sight along with her impatience.

“Boris, there you are!  And who is this with you?”

Boris stopped and gathered his composure, still smitten with her beauty after all this time.

“O-Oh!  This is Dingo, he is Balto’s son.  Dingo, say hello!”

He ushered Dingo forward and in front of him, the mutt still aggravated by the situation but