The peaceful silence of a white Alaskan morning softly floated in the air and tickled the ears of listening animals savoring the quiet before the first predator runs, the first small animal falls prey, and the first spark of noise pricks the air and needles its way through the serene quiet. Ever silent, ever peaceful…

“Rooooooooaaaaar!!” A deafening roar jolted Balto awake and Jenna rolled over and blinked as the sound echoed and re-echoed through the cave. Balto jumped up and ran over to the iced-over entrance of the cave and stopped suddenly as the blurry dark shape on the other side of the ice screeched its claws down the glassy wall. White scars scraped their way down the ice wall where the bear had pulled his claws. The sound seared through Balto’s teeth, and another fiery roar blasted through the ice and nearly knocked Balto a few inches back. Balto dropped his head and lowered his voice. “Oh man.” The bear growled uproariously as if in agreement and continued its sabotage of the cave.

Jenna pushed herself up with a cry of pain, and Balto rushed over to help her. “What is it?” Jenna asked worriedly as Balto nudged her legs up with his nose.

“A bear,” Balto explained hurriedly, “This must be its den. The storm last night must’ve hidden the den from it so it couldn’t get back, but now it’s found it again, and it’ll kill us if it finds us in here! We need to get out of here fast!”

“But, Balto, there’s no other way in or out,” Jenna stated softly. Balto sprang up and rushed around the cave in a panic, checking the walls for holes and scratching at the cold stone, but Jenna was right. They were trapped.

Balto stopped running around and stared down at the floor, thinking hard. “Great. Well, that means we’ll have to fight our way out.”

“Fight?” Jenna shuddered slightly at the word. “Balto, I can’t fight. You know that, and anyone can tell. I’ve never fought in my life, and I’m not part wolf like you are.”

“Then just get out of here as fast as you can. I’ll deal with the bear.” Balto flinched as one of the bear’s claws smashed its way through the icy covering.

“I can’t leave you to fight alone!” Jenna protested. Balto ignored her protest and watched as four more claws ripped their way through.

“Jenna, there’s no time. Just get away as fast as you can and forget about me!” It hurt both Balto and Jenna a lot for him to say those words, but there was no time to argue anymore. Ten dagger-like claws dug themselves in and ripped the ice away, and as the huge window of ice was tossed aside, the full force of the bear’s fury came into view. The grizzly was huge, a dark brown furry mass with blazing yellow eyes and shining sharp claws and teeth, and it shot another hot roar at them before lumbering forward and swiping. A claw whipped past Balto’s nose, and he felt it tearing into his flesh to leave a burning red cut. “Jenna, get out of here!” Balto yelled. He slammed himself into the bear’s stomach and scratched and bit. The bear shrieked, and it threw him to the ground with earth-shaking force. Balto scrambled up and nimbly leaped for the bear’s throat.

It caught him in mid-leap and scraped its claws along his neck, and Balto struggled to get free. Something down at the bear’s feet grabbed its ankle, and the bear roared as it came tumbling down to shake the ground. Balto rolled himself out of the bear’s claws, accidentally pushing one of the claws into his skin and making a deep cut just above his hip. Blood poured from the huge cut to drench his leg in red, but Balto couldn’t think about that. Balto vaulted onto the bear’s chest, but the bear refused to cooperate and swiped its claws around in the air, whistling past Balto’s muzzle. Balto ducked beneath the flailing paws and bit the bear’s neck HARD.

The grizzly roared, choked halfway through, rolled its burning eyes back into its head, and gave a last, retching cough before it slumped to the side. Its death rattle hissed through the cave. It was dead.

Balto spat out the bear’s fur and blood, and before he could look up Jenna was at his side, licking his wounds and asking him if he was alright. “Jenna!” Balto exclaimed in surprise. “I thought you had run away!”

“And leave you behind? No, Balto!” Jenna examined his cuts and licked them up as best as she could. Balto felt a stinging sensation whenever her tongue touched one of his cuts, but he didn’t care. At least she was alright.

“Were you the one that pulled the bear down?” Balto asked suddenly. Jenna nuzzled him, which sent a warm feeling through him. She looked at him with those red-brown eyes, and he knew the answer was yes.

“How could I leave you there and run away like a coward?” Jenna said firmly, “You saved my life, so I had to save yours. Now we’re even.”

Jenna, for some reason, didn’t feel afraid or awkward at what she had done. Balto, with his gentle ways and heart made of gold to match his eyes, would understand. In fact, he smiled.

“Now we’re even,” he repeated, and laughed a little. Then he slunk around the bear and studied it, but looked away when he saw his own teethmarks as a circle of red wounds on the bear’s neck. “Just remember, if you ever get attacked by a bear, go for its neck, or somewhere around that area. That’s one of the best ways to get rid of it.”

Jenna smiled slightly but backed away from the dead animal. “I’ll try to remember that if I ever see a bear.” Her eyes twinkled up into Balto’s eyes. Little did he know she would try and use the same tactic just a few months later in order to save his life once again so he could go after Steele and the missing team.

Balto stepped away from the bear to stand at the entrance of the cave, and Jenna joined him. They looked out at the Alaskan landscape, all snow-covered and white, with glittering diamond snow gems pressed everywhere into the land. Rabbit and wolf tracks made dark depressions in the whiteness, and green pine trees towered haughtily over the cold ground and perfumed the air with their calming needle scent. From somewhere far away a snowbird sang out a trilling lullaby to the barren land, and a moose bawled lazily and listened sleepily to the ghostly echo bouncing off the high cliffs. Icicles tinkled as they clicked against each other. Jenna sighed.

“What my father would give to see Alaska just like this, just one more time,” she said softly. Balto watched as she pushed back clear crystal tears and with a quiet deep breath she stepped out into the open. He thought of how brave she had been with the bear and her fear of fighting, and he found yet another virtue to like about her. Bravery, pure and true as her eyes when they seemed to shoot straight through his head and read his innermost thoughts.

He quietly padded up to Jenna and nudged her face gently. “Let’s get you home, Jen,” Balto said softly. Jenna realized he had called her by a nickname, but she didn’t mind; in fact, it made her like him even more. Balto, this kind, brave, valiant, gentle, noble wolf-dog friend of hers. She could barely remember never knowing him or trusting him.

Balto suddenly froze, then rushed over and began sniffing the wolf tracks in the snow near the cave. Jenna sniffed to get rid of the last of her tears, and a whiff of something horrible whirled up her nostrils. It was pungent and sickly at the same time, and it made her stomach jump about and spin around inside her.

“Balto, what is it?” she asked. He ignored her and kept sniffing, his pointed nose blowing the snow around in crystal puffs. “Balto, what is it?” Jenna asked again in a fiercer tone. This time Balto looked up, and his golden eyes were huge with alarm.

“Trouble,” he said simply, and dashed off into the woods. Jenna sped after him, and their legs pounded out a jerky, uneven rhythm on the frozen ground.

“Balto, what trouble? What do you mean?” Jenna yelled from behind him.

“You’ll see when we get there,” he yelled back, “I’m not absolutely positive what’s happened, but we’re going to find out. We’re heading for my pack’s cave.

“Or my ex-pack,” he muttered under his breath. If he was wrong about what had happened, all he needed was the other pack members taunting him and Rora chasing him around and threatening to kill him! And right in front of Jenna, too!

He glanced back to make sure she was with him, and he found himself admiring the way she slipped past trees and dodged rocks and stones and still managed to keep up with him. True, she was panting hard, and you could tell she wasn’t used to running this fast, but she was keeping up and holding her pace steady, and Balto turned back to face front with a small smile dancing on his face and his spirit feeling so free. Jenna was certainly one of a kind, and the prettiest canine, wolf or dog, that he had ever met.

As for Jenna, she watched Balto in wonder as he skimmed ahead of her like a silent brown-gray needle through lace, twisting and ducking expertly past trees and rocks and all manner of obstacles. He was graceful like a swan through calm waters, and his strong legs and tail swished almost noiselessly through the forest as she ran clumsily behind him. She wished she could run beside him, both of them together, racing light, sound, time, anything…just so long as they could stay side by side, a brown-gray streak and a red-and-cream comet flying through the universe, with stars and planets shooting past them in a blur of colors.