carelessly by the bear. It caught Steele with its teeth, sinking 3 inch fangs into Steele's lower back, causing him to let out horrifying sounds, he was released by the bear and tried yet again to run away, only to be rammed into and then shoved meters away. The bear continued to "play" with this potential threat to her young. Carelessly ripping flesh off, biting and breaking Steele. The ordeal lasted 30 minutes, and Siku could do nothing back hide and watch as she cried at the horrific scene happening in front of her.

She wouldn't let anymore happen, almost instantly the tiny white wolf sprang forward and latched all teeth into the back of the bear's neck. The bear was in shock and bellowed out a loud long growl-like scream of pain. Siku continued her attack, taking advantage of the bear's futile efforts of shaking her off, to spring upwards and again sink her teeth into the bear's muzzle. She was thrown off the bear and finally met her paws to the ground, before jumping yet again at the bear, this time biting into its ankle causing the bear to fall down. This proved fatal as Siku bit down hard on its neck, the bear let out a cry of pain with his last breath. Siku's eyes shot open and she whimpered at the sudden torrent of copper-tasting blood. She backed off and took a second to be both proud, and angry that she killed a bear by herself! She didn't take the time to check on Steele, and ran back to her hiding place.

She returned to her spot from earlier and smiled. "I took on a bear by myself!" She thought. Her parents would be so proud, while at the same time very angry. Her smile faded at the thought that her parents were no longer around, but enough tears have been shed about it over the past months, so she easily put the thoughts aside. She didn't know what else to do, go and check on the downed dog? Should she run for help? Or just sit there staring, She was already doing that. A smell entered her nose, a familiar smell. Balto. Her heart pounded fast as her favorite wolf came and checked on Steele. She always liked Balto, for reasons that will be explained later. She giggled as Balto looked around, and for a split second, right at her, then proceeded to lick Steele's wounds. Then she watched Balto drag him off on a makeshift sled.

"Clever, Balto" she muttered to herself.

Balto

Balto couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following him as he dragged Steele towards town. 10 min past until he reached the forest edge. The feeling shook off as soon as he left the closed forest and entered an open stretch of land and ice roughly 2 km to reach the small settlement of Nome.

Balto ran past his boat and headed into town, a quick sniff of the air told him that people were up and busy now. Past the homes of various canines that Balto would recently called them friends. It has been a month or so, but people still came up to greet Balto, still thankful for the wolfdog saving their children. This time was different, a small boy ran up to pat balto, but he was stopped by his mother. They both watched as Balto ran past them, ignoring them, and dragging a motionless dog on a sled-like branch.

"That Balto, never ceases to amaze me, he's still a hero, doing hero things..." The mother said to her son.

"I want a dog like Balto!" the boy cried.

"Heh, I don't think we'll find a wolfdog quite like Balto, dear." The mother and son turned back to their home.

Balto neared his destination, the Vet's office. Stomach still a bit sick after the earlier event, he curled up a bit, then let go of the sled, and with it, Steele. The Vet's office was still closed. Dr. Osnik had no set business hours, he seemed to open up whenever he awoke, which today was a bit late for Balto's liking. He barked and scratched at the door, then, remembering how he saw a cat do, he turned around and beat the door with his back leg. This got Osnik's attention.

The man sat up in his bed, wiping the sleep from his eyes. He was surprisingly well rested, and knowing what the signals at his door meant, he quickly got up and went to open the door. Still wearing night clothes, he winced at the site before him. He knelt down to pat Balto, and examine the victim.

"What have you brought me boy?" The man said in a deep heavy german accent. Balto's reply was a low whimper and a tilt of his head to the left, and raised his right ear up.

"Haha, Balto still saves lives would 'ya look at that!" His mood left from happiness when he got a closer look at the unconscious dog.

"Man this guy isn't in good shape… I know you wouldn't do this Balto, but… What could have? Oh never-mind I've wasted enough time as-is." He went inside to grab a stretcher-type device to carry Steele inside. Balto let out a relieved sigh as the vet pat him again, then closed the door, carrying Steele inside. Balto didn't stick around long, but he passed Steele's owners as they entered the Vet's office. The owners were told that Balto was dragging Steele into town by the mother from earlier and they still did not rule out that Balto was the one to attack Steele, but with no evidence, they simply ignored him. Balto did the same; after-all he still had his mind set on visiting Jenna, plus to tell her of this event.

Siku.

Siku sat at the edge of the forest, she watched Balto bring Steele to Nome, when he was out of sight behind a faraway building, Siku brought up her courage and was set on going to town… For the first time since…

She mentally scolded herself for thinking about it, and took a breath. Her plan was to run as fast as she possibly can, and low, using the hills to cover her approach to the town. She breathed out a long quiet lung full of air then ran off. She aimed in-between two of the higher hills, which cleared about 400m from the trip to the town. She peeked out and looked for her next destination, this time a small bush that was just enough to cover her. She bolted towards it with success. She was less than a kilometer from the town now. There was nothing between her and the town but Ice now. The huge lazy riverbed of the summer has now frozen over with ice that blended with the snow of any islands that formed in the river. She stayed behind the bush for a few minutes, her mind not coming up with any good ideas. She peered towards town for any Humans or dogs, and after learning that this left side of town was completely empty, she bolted off towards it. As she got closer, she centered her destination as a small alleyway between two houses. The 900m or so approach was closed within minutes by the wolf; her short legs did the job of running just as well as someone like Steele would for that matter. She entered the alley and looked around for a hiding place. She snuggled under a table that was somewhat closed off by the snowfall. Siku lay down comfortably on her paws, she figured that it was best to wait until Balto was alone to talk to him, and it shouldn't be long at all until Balto would come alone from the Vet's office and walk right through this alley.

Balto.

Balto was still caught by the townspeople before he was left alone. This time a man gave him some leftover Bacon from breakfast. He couldn't resist, both because he was hungry, and because it'd just be rude. He carefully ate the bacon strips from the man's hand and gave him a nuzzle and a lick. The man returned a pat to his head and let him off. Balto did like all the new attention he was getting, people liked him being there, it was nothing like the old days. If he could recall, that same man once kicked him before he ran off towards his boat. He trotted off towards Jenna's house, he couldn't wait to meet her. He only wished he had something to give her, but shook his head and continued walking.
"4th street. I wonder why such a small town would bother naming the streets." Balto thought. He didn't pay much attention to the streets anyways. He took an alleyway shortcut, one that he rarely took. It wasn't everyday that he was coming to her house from the Vet's side of town, it was usually a straight line from Balto's boat to Jenna's home.

Balto stopped halfway through the alley. He was being watched, and he knew it, his senses tingling, telling him that something was near, and was hidden. He let out an involuntary growl, it was instinct, and even though he was sure whatever was hiding probably wouldn't harm him. The hidden "threat" was hiding under a table on the far side of the alley; Balto approached it in "kill" mode. Head, ears and tail down, Lips raised to show huge wolf dog teeth.

"I know you're there" he said through his teeth, maintaining a low growl.

There was no response, Balto inched closer, to the point where he would have been able to take a snap at the being had it not been sheltered by snow and table. His aggressive stance weakened when he heard a tiny whimper come from the source. The snow gave and slid down a bit revealing a scared to death wolf pup. Any form of aggression Balto had was now absent.

"Hey, hey, hey, I won't hurt you, I'm not like the other dogs." Balto knew she wouldn't just believe him, he know all too well that strangers couldn't be trusted. To his surprise the wolf pup uncurled, and stared into Balto's eyes, as if trying to say something without using words. Balto was lost in her eyes, her blue and brown pupils were a rare oddity but it complemented to this wolf's beauty.

"Uh, hello to you too." Balto shook his head, he had no idea why he replied that way, the wolf hadn't said a thing yet!

He put the thoughts away then assisted the wolf in leaving her hiding place by swiping away the