“Strider? Strider, wake up!” came a voice. Strider opened his eyes. Standing in front of him was Aleu. “Strider, some of our scouts have returned with reports of some strange new land.” Strider sat up, his ears pricked in interest. “A few of them diverted from their patrol route with the warriors to explore this cave high up in the mountains. They say they walked down this long dark tunnel before they came upon a cavern. There were two tunnels and they took the one on the right. Not far ahead, it split in three paths. They went right and came upon a fast – flowing river. It was then that one of them fell in. the other two swam after him and when the river reached its end, they managed to catch him. They looked up and saw the island, not far away. They didn’t go over there because there were some unfriendly looking lynxes near the beach. I paid a visit to some old friends to see if they’d help in checking it out. Would you like to be a part of the team?”

“Would I?” said Strider happily. Aleu smiled.

“In that case, in order to combat the river, you’ll need this.” Aleu dropped an ordinary looking stone at his feet. Strider looked at her curiously. “It’s called a Warm Stone. You drop it in a hot spring and it becomes a Hot Stone. Drop it in an ice hole, it becomes a Cool Stone. You’ll need that to freeze the river.” She explained. Strider took the stone and walked out of the cave with her. Aleu went over to some animals. Strider recognised Balto as one of them, but the other five looked like dogs. “This is Jenna, Kodi, Dusty, Kirby and Ralph.” Said Aleu. Jenna and Kodi were the same colour, so were dusty and Ralph, more or less. And Kirby was brown.

“hi.” Said Strider.

“So this is your assignment.” Aleu said. “Find this new land and kill those hostile lynxes near the beach. See if this land is sustainable for us and, if so, mark out a territory for the pack.” Strider and the others nodded. They understood. With a quick look to each other, Strider turned and began to walk off towards the ridge, the others close behind.

They reached the cave and wandered down the long tunnel. They reached the cavern and went down the right tunnel.

“Where are we going to get ice from?” Strider wondered as they reached the section with the three tunnels. Then his eyes turned a darker shade of blue. He turned down the left path and followed it until it lead out onto a snowy field. Strider looked around confused, his eyes dimming. Why was he here? How did he even get here? Then his eyes grew darker and he wandered through the field of igloos to the gate that protected them from polar bears. He pushed it open and stepped out into the freezing cold. For a second his eyes dimmed and he shivered at the freezing cold, but then that dark blue glow returned and he set off, wandering towards one of the polar bears. He dodged around it and headed towards an ice hole; dropping the Warm Stone in. it bobbed in the water, and then turned blue. Strider picked it up and walked back through the gate and back into the cave, then back to the three tunnels. His eyes faded, returning to normal.

“Where did you go?” asked Balto.

“somewhere.” He said, confused. Balto smiled, thinking he was just being cryptic. They walked down the right tunnel and Strider dropped the Cool Stone into the river. It sank and the river froze over. The Warm Stone, now ordinary looking, came bobbing up through the ice. Strider picked it up and took it back to the cavern where he put it on top of a rock they’d passed when they took the tunnel. Then Balto, Jenna, Kodi, Dusty, Kirby, Ralph and Strider walked, shakily, down the river to the river mouth. They stood on a piece of ice at the end that looked like an alluvial fan. Across the water was the island. Strider jumped in first, followed by Balto and the others. They swam across to the island.

“So what now?” asked Kodi.

“Find the lynxes.” Said Strider, moving towards the mountains.

They climbed so high, there was snow on the ground. A snowstorm started almost as soon as they got there. Strider found a puddle and drank from it. Then they explored the cliffs further. After it started raining, they took shelter in a cave. Afterwards, the snowstorm started up again. They headed off and Strider managed to find another puddle to drink from. He sat bored. “I think we’re in the wrong place.” he said. Balto nodded.

“All we’ve found is blinding snow.” He said.

“I would have thought lynxes would be up here…” they started to move away from the mountains when they saw two big cats. “Lynxes!” Strider growled and attacked them. They were much fiercer than he expected. And there were two. Strider was no match for them both. He fought as long as he could, then limped away, scratch marks all over one side.

“Strider!” Balto yelled. He attacked one of the lynxes to get its attention off Strider. Balto’s plan worked and he killed the lynx. Jenna and Kodi worked together to kill the lynx attacking Strider while Dusty, Ralph and Kirby attacked another that had come over the hill.

“Phew. Thanks Balto.” Said Strider

“Anytime.” Balto replied. Strider limped away to where he smelt some food. Strider saw a dead animal and walked over to it, just before it started to rain. He devoured it hungrily. They climbed up to the cliff to see if they could spot any more food. Then suddenly the cliff ledge cracked.

“Uh guys I think we should back away…” said Jenna they began to move backwards when the ledge crumbled and fell away. Strider leapt for safety just in time, but the rest of the ledge was weak and the part he grabbed fell too.

“Strider!” yelled Kodi leaping for him, but he was too slow. “no.” he whispered. He charged off.

“Kodi wait!” yelled Dusty running after him, the others not far behind.

Strider pulled himself up from where he lay. He was hungry and had no idea where he was. He could smell a carcass nearby though, so he got up and had a bite of it, before heading over to a stream to drink. It started snowing again, but he continued on this journey. He reached a canyon and saw some food outside, so he decided to eat it. Strider knew he needed to find the others, so he walked back up to the snowy mountain. He looked in the cave they’d stayed in, but they weren’t there. Strider decided to go looking for them, but he left a scent marker near the cliff so that if they happened by they could find him again. On his way, he drank from a puddle he passed before walking into a cavern. After searching that too, he decided to leave two markers in there and call it a day.