~*~ Chapter One ~*~

The Birth of Balto

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Authors note: I imagine Balto is full wolf, so in this story, he is

full wolf.

North was taking a usual morning walk in the forest. It was the time of year when most animals give birth-spring. The birds were chirping and singing, everything was green, and if you were there, you'd thing you were in a magical world.  Ebony, who

was an all black wolf with amber eyes, who was North's mother-in-law,

rushed to him. She had a look of excitment in her face. "*pant, pant* North...*pant*, Aniu...had... her..puppies," Ebony

said catching her breath from her run.

North ran to the cave on the cliff of which overlooked the whole

forest. He climbed the cliff into the cave, where he saw Aniu, laying

with 11 newborn puppies by her side.

"Aniu, they're...so beautiful...just like you," said North happily and

quietly as he nuzzled Aniu.

"There are four boys and girls. The boys are Amaroq, Alaqua, Rimachi, Lutah, Keno

and Balto, and the girls are Amitola, Aponi, Chumani,  Aiyana, Pocahontas, Neha, and Olathe (these are Native American names I found in a name book, I know some sound wierd).

16 older pups were gathered around their new half-siblings. Aniu snapped them away when anybody got too close-one of the clan members, Tomahawk (who looks just like Balto except slightly bigger and bulkier), was bitten for being an inch away from Balto.

The wolf clan celebrated the arrival of the new members.

~*~Chapter Two~*~

The Untitled Chapter

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(Balto is 3 weeks old)

Balto could walk, hear, see, and smell a little now.

He strayed a little too far from the cave, and on his way walking through the forest, everything was unfamiliar and frightening-he'd never left the "porch" of the cave before.

He bumped into something. It was the width of a stick and had a hard cloven hoof at the bottom. It was a deer leg, and beside the fawn was a buch of other animals: a colt, a bear cub, 4 other fawns, 3 puppies, a fox kit, a rabbit kit, and a skunk kit. They all towered over Balto, except  2 puppies, but all Balto did was sit and look up in awe.

"Hello!" they all said.

"Um...hello, my name is Balto," said Balto nervously.

The animals introduced themselves. The colt's name was Spirit, the bear cub's name was Koda, the fawn's names were Bambi, Faline, Gobo, Ronno, and Karus, the puppies names were Copper, Lady, and Tramp, the fox's name was Todd, the rabbit's name was Thumper, and the skunk's name was Flower. (I know all these characters come from different time periods, locations, etc; but bear with me!)

They soon became great friends, and did many things.

(Read Puppy Balto and his New Friends for that. It's a midequal of this).

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~Chapter 3~

The Forest Fire

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(Balto is 6 months old.)

It was the crack of dawn. Balto was awoken by the smell of smoke.

He skipped outside to see what it was. It was a fire that was spreading

rapidly!

He ran into the cave and screamed, "MAMA, PAPA, EVERYONE, FIRE!"

Everyone rushed outside.

"Run, everyone!" cried Aniu.

Balto ran with the pack, feeling the heat of the flames on his fur. The smoke sometimes got trapped in his throat and made him cough. He wondered if his friends were alright.

A few minutes later, while they were running, a gun fired as Aniu fell

to the ground.

Everyone attended to her. "Leave me, you have your own lives to

save!," Aniu said to the pack.

Everyone left her but Balto.

"Mommy, get up!," Balto cried.

"I can't..," Aniu said in a fading voice.

"You always could before, and you can again," said Balto.

"Balto, listen to me!," Aniu said to Balto in an urgent voice, sadness

gleaming in her eyes. "You must live for me and take care of the pack. I

will always be with you...even when you can't see me... I'm....here," said Aniu.

"Mommy, MOMMY!" cried Balto.

It was then Balto realized that his mother was dead.

Balto turned to go, looked over his shoulder, and said

"Goodbye...Mommy...."

With a tear is his eye, Balto ran to catch up with the pack. There was

a drop off in the trail. Balto jumped it, and bumped into a russian

snow goose, along with 2 polar bear cubs. and they quickly introduced eachother. The goose's name was

Boris, and the polar bears names were Muk and Luk.

"Come on, we've got to go!" Boris cried as he flew up in the sky.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Boris puzzled.

"We can't fly," said Balto.

"Oy..." sighed Boris.

He swooped down and picked up Balto in his beak.

"My family is that way,"

Balto said to Boris, pointing forward.

Boris flew over the trees, Muk and Luk running as fast as they could on the ground.

Balto was bawling and his eyes were flooding in grief. If you were in the forest, you'd think it was starting to rain.

When Balto saw the pack, he told Boris to let him down, which Boris

did. Muk and Luk were not far behind.

"Balto, where were you!?" Nava (from B2) exclaimed.

But before Balto could answer, a tree fell down and separated the pack

from Balto.

Balto and Boris ran under a huge boulder for shelter, followed by Boris, Muk, and Luk.

Balto cried himself to sleep.

~*~Chapter Four~*~

Balto Finds the Pack

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When Balto woke up, all was in ashes. He didn't expect anyone to be

alive, but Boris, Muk, Luk and Balto searched for the pack anyway.

Everything was lifeless. There were fallen trees, trees without leaves, and nothing was green.

Balto worried even more about his friends, and he felt like the world had ended, and he felt very alone. He would never get over the grief of his mother, nor would he forget the blazing fire that killed all plant life, maybe even burned a few animals to death-or the smoke choked a few animals to death.

Balto thought about the days when Aniu was alive.

She was there when times were tough, she was there to comfort the puppies, she sang songs with her voice that sounded like a heavenly choir, she would sometimes play with the pups, or let them tumble and wrestle on her, nip and tug her ears, even join in tug of war once in a while.

Balto looked into the distance and saw a familiar figure-his father, North!

"Balto, we thought you were dead!" North cried when Balto found

the pack.

Balto told them what happened to Aniu, and introduced the pack to Boris, Muk, and Luk, who were a bit skeptical at first.

"Well, as long as the bear don't eat us, they can stay," said Ebony. The pack chuckled a little, even Balto did. It was just what he needed from the tragedy.

~*~Chapter Five ~*~

The Dream

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It was the night after Aniu's death, and everyone was getting ready for sleep.

Balto saw his father on the edge of the porch, laying down and looking into the stars.

"What are you doing?" Balto asked him.

"I'm looking at the stars," North replied, not looking at Balto.

Balto jumped on top of North to join in stargazing.

"So, why are you looking at the stars? You never have before?" asked Balto

"The stars remind me of your mother. Snow white and luminous, just like her. They make me feel like...she's here.

"Why did she leave, Daddy?" Balto asked North.

"She didn't leave. She's still in our hearts," North reassured Balto.

"She told me she would be here...even when I can't see her," Balto recited.

"It's true," North said.

"What's that?" Balto asked, looking at a tuft of white fur.

North sniffed it and said "Why, it's a tuft of fur from your mother!"

"Can I keep it? It's all I have left of her...," Balto said, nervous of his father's reply.

"Of course! If you take good care of it," North said.

"Oh, I will, Daddy! I promie!" Balto promised, meaning what he said.

"We should go to sleep now," North said, getting up with Balto on his back.

They went in the cave and settled down.

Balto had a dream. He was being carried by rapids in a river, screaming "Help me!!"

A white wolf looked at him and pulled him to shore. It was Aniu!

"Mommy?" Balto said, grinning. He started nuzzling Balto.

"Balto, you will have an interesting and dangerous future...," Aniu said.

Before Balto could answer, he woke up.

~*~Chapter Six~*~

Balto and his siblings were a year old, and Nava had moved away to lead

another wolf pack (which is where you can find Nava in B2).

One morning, Balto announced, "I'm going to Nome to be a sled dog."

The pack was astonished.

"You'll get yourself killed!"

cried Aiyana.

"No I wont," said Balto.

"As if! Do you know what humans do to us!?" Chumani cried

"Dad says some aren't bad," Balto reasoned.

After much deliberation, Balto convinced the pack to laet him go to

Nome, the nearby town, to follow his dream.

 Boris, Muk, Luk, and Balto went to Nome together. There was a rocky hill seperating

the forest from Nome. Balto gracefully climed down it as a mountain goat

would.

"I'll find a place to stay before I explore the town," said Balto.

"Good idea," said Muk, looking timidly at the town.

But before they could move, gun shots fired at them.

Panicking, Balto ran one way, and Boris, Muk, and Luk were running another way.

Balto ran through the town, confused and not getting his head straight, and managed to break through a door into a boiler room.

He ran into a whole, and found it dark, but safe and cozy. In fact, he felt so safe here, he dozed off into a nap.

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"Balto? Balto, wake up!" Boris shouted, shaking Balto vigorously until he was awake.

"Hi, Boris," said Balto sleepily.

"Balto, we found a place to stay," Boris said.

"Follow us," Muk told Balto.

It was night, to Balto's relief-nobody would see them meandering through the town.

They led Balto to a large wrecked boat.

"Here we are," said Muk.

"This place is