wolverine and one of the traps. It had her on her leg. The wolverine started to advance toward her, and Dingo jumped in front of the wolverine angrily. He growled at it and it snarled back. Anger rushed through Dingo's blood and he charged at the savage creature, and tackled it, making it skid across the ground and into another trap. But this trap got the wolverine on the neck, killing it instantly. He shook his head and looked over at Pyro, who was getting up. He sniffed her wounds and she sniffed his, and they both licked eachother's wounds. After both of their had stopped bleeding, Dingo got the peg out of the ground and opened up the trap with difficulty. Pyro turned and limped away from Dingo, but he stopped her by stepping in front of her. He stammered and hesitated as he tried to speak to her, and she just looked at him with the same blank look that she always wore.

Finally, he took a deep breath and looked Pyro deep into her unwavering eyes and asked, "Pyro....I.....I um......that is.....why did you come looking for me?" he changed his question quickly, hoping her answer would give him more courage to ask the real question.

"To see if you were alright," she told him, "Your father was worried about you when you left last night."

Dingo growled to himself, he wanted nothing to do with his father at moment, "What does he care anyway? He treats me more of an outcast than the whole town did before he became famous."

Pyro's face changed to disappointment and she spoke in her sad, mother-like voice again like she did last night, "I'd do anything to have a father worry about me now. Mine was killed when I was still a pup; same with my mother and brothers. Be happy for the family you have, even if you do hate them," she walked around him and went back towards the town. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look and Dingo with her blank face back, and answered his previous question, "Your father sees more of him in you than you know; that's why." and she trotted of into the morning fog, leaving Dingo behind with the dead bodies and his own demon.

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Dingo was walking through the forest sulkily, thinking about what Pyro said to him before she left back towards town. He wasn't really concentrating on what she said, but just Pyro. When he thought about her he would get a warm feeling in his body and would have a smile on his face, even when he didn't know about it. Now his thoughts were of no doubt correct, he loved Pyro; wolf or not. He stood up straight and ran towards town, wanting to see the pretty wolf again, but as he was running the bushes started to move and a sense of fear over-whelmed him enough to stop running and stand still. He looked all around the area, wondering what the source of his fear was. Another rustle in the bushes caused Dingo to look over at it in time to see the glowing eyes of the creature.

The eyes were reflecting the little light in the darkness of the bush, making the eye color uncertain.

"Pyro?" he asked to the bush, hoping it was her. But it wasn't. As he steeped forward one pace, the figure jumped out of the bush in an amazing rage, one more aggressive than the wolverines'. The figure was a very skinny Husky with some remains of a beaten up leather collar. The Husky was black and white, much like the new dog he saw in the boiler room, and had blue eyes. But that wasn't the worst part, the Husky had foam spewing out from its mouth like a small stream, and his pupils were diolated in insanity. Dingo was wide eyed and staring at the Husky he recognized, and he only muttered out one word before running out of the forest with the rabid Husky running behind him.

"Steele!"

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Balto was on his boat, talking to Seam about what his past was like, and in more detail this time. Seam's voice was more kind and calm this time than gruffy and hurried.

"My mother was a black Malamute and part of a sled team. But one day she went into the forest for a walk and was raped by a rabid Husky; my dad. My mother knew who that husky was when she was living here in Nome, I think that's why he didn't kill her. I was born a rabid pup, and I was the only one who survived the birth too. But I was given many shots when I was eight weeks old and I still need them monthly in order to not hurt anyone. My master forgot to give me a shot when we moved here, so that's why I was foaming last night. One day, my mother left me when I was a year old to find something to eat from the woods; I followed her to make sure she wasn't leaving me, and when I found her she was dead; shot down."

Balto was saddened by Seam's story, yet it seemed a bit familiar to him; almost as if it had happened to him too. Returning to the present time, he asked Seam, "What about your father? Who was he, if you don't mind my asking, and how did he die?"

Seam just chuckled happily and took a loud deep breath and explained more to Balto, "My father's not dead physically, but he is mentally. The rabis infection went to his mind and now he lives just to kill for fun instead of for food. To me, he's dead. And my father is-"

"HELP! RABID DOG ON THE LOOSE!" a voice yelled.

Balto and Seam looked at where the voice was coming from and saw two dogs running toward them. One was Dingo and the other was a Husky that Balto recognized at once; Steele. He and Seam walked off of the boat and ran towards the two running canines, Seam squinting his eyes to see who the rabid dog was. When the large mutt saw who it was, he only growled and bared his fangs. Dingo ran past them and Seam said only one word before colliding into the rabid dog for battle, "Father."

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Dingo slid to a stop as he watched the two identical Huskies fight on their hind legs, fangs snapping and claws ripping chunks of skin and fur off of eachother. Seam knocked Steele to the ground and he lunged at him, only to be bitten on the muzzle and thrown to the side like a twig. Seam yelped in pain and stayed in the snow, breathing heavily from exhaustion. Steele only glared at him while panting and advanced slowly toward him. Balto leapt onto Steele's back and bit down on his ear, pulling and yanking on it to drive Steele away from Seam. Steele barked and growled in anger and finally, stood on his hind legs and fell backwards with Balto hitting the ground first. Steele rolled over to the side and stood up, while Balto was laying on his back motionless from the crushing impact.

Steele grinned evily and looked at the paralyzed Dingo. Steele grinned wider and advanced toward him, foam dripping from his mouth. Dingo snapped out of his trance and bared his fangs, growling at the rabid monster. The two circled eachother threateningly, and finally they both lunged at eachother at the same time; both on their hind legs nipping and clawing at eachother. Dingo was getting the most damage from the battle. Whenever he would dodge Steele's bite, the rabid dog's claws would just scratch at him more powerfully than the bite would do. Dingo then felt a large paw with claws extended swipe across his cheek forcefully, knocking him to the ground, bleeding badly. Steele landed heavily on his front legs and walked toward the wounded hybrid. He stood over Dingo almost torturing him by not ending the pain now. As the monster opened its jaws for the final blow, a new opponent came running into the field and head-butted Steele in the ribs; knocking the wind out of him and causing him to roll in the snow until he finally stopped on one of his sides. Steele winced in pain and stood up slowly snarling angrily at the new combatant. Dingo looked up to see who saved him. He smiled as he looked at the face of his rescuer, for it was none other than Pyro.

She had her fangs bared and was snarling, her fur bristles raising toward to setting sun, and her eyes lost their warm shining look as they were dull and full of rage. She advanced slowly toward Steele with her fangs bared still and her snarling growing louder and louder with each step. Steele just growled back and circled her, while she kept Steele in her full field of vision. Steele paused for a moment from behind Pyro and lunged at her. But she saw him pause and she drated away from him attack, running toward the frozen ocean that Balto's boat over-looks.

Dingo got up as quickly as he could, thanking that his legs were unharmed, and wacthed as his father stood up caughing and weezing from the crush. Seam also got up, his strength now returning and watched as Balto staretd to trott after the Husky and wolf with a worried expression on his face. Dingo ran up to him and looked at his father, "What's wrong dad?"

"The ocean..." he panted, "It's thawing.....it won't hold them!"

Dingo's eyes widened and he ran after Pyro and Steele, hoping that he'll reach them in time to tell them of the bad news. As he followed the prints left behind in the snow covering the ice, he could hear the frozen land grumble and crack under his weight. He slid to a different portion of the ice and ran after them with some difficulty. He could still see them perfectly, making out