Note- Shima is my version of Balto's father, just to clear up any confusion.

Nome- 1923

Shima looked forward as flakes of snow shot past him. The lead dog of the team in front of him snickered with laughter as he looked back and nipped at Shima's heels. Dodging nips left and right, Shima could feel the pressure of anger and ambition rising in his chest. As he and his team reached the small town of Nome and turned the final bend, a small voice inside him played over and over in his head,"Come on, Shima! Just a little bit more and you'll beat em' to that finish line!" With the thought of success lingering in his mind, Shima gave one final push toward the finish line.

"And Shima makes it!" the reporter shouts toward the estatic crowd. They had won. All around him, Shima could hear happy voices saying,"Wow, Shima!" and "Good job Shima!" Shima collasped on the freezing cold snow, exhausted, but also happy. He heard a gruff voice from behind him. "Hey Shima!" It was Striker, Shima's best friend. Striker was also on Shima's team, but he wasn't nearly as good as Shima. He actually had a secret dream to be a lead dog, one day. "Hi Striker." Shima replied. "Some race, huh?" Striker asked proudly. It was obvious to Shima that this golden dog was way too obsessed with himself. But he was still Shima's best friend. "Yeah, they were good, but we were better!" Shima and Striker laughed together and gave each other a high-five. "Oh! That reminds me of somethin' I was gonna ask you!" Striker exclaimed. "What?" Shima asked excitedly. "Well, I know you've got little food n' all," Striker went on,"So I was wondering if you and I could go down to the Meat Shop and get you some nice tasty meat!"

"That sounds dangerous......." Shima said gloomily. "Besides, if we get caught, we'll get into serious trouble........"  "Don't worry about it!" Striker chuckled cleverly. "If we get caught, I take 100 percent blame. No questions asked." Shima looked up into Striker's eyes. "Alright, if you say so." "Great!" Striker cheered. "Meet you there!" Shima paused to think. There was something about Striker's offer that didn't seem right. He decided to wait and see. Only time would tell. While Shima was still in contemplation, Striker walked into an alley. He gave himself a sly smile. He said to himself, "Striker, you've got him eating out of your paw!" He gave out a slight chuckle and walked away.

Shima met Striker at nightfall by the Meat Shop. Shima was tired, but hunger overwhelmed his exhaustion. The brown dog might have been famous, but he had no master. He had died suddenly many years before. Since then, the dogs and mushers on the team treated him as family. Right now, he needed as much food as he could get. "Here's the plan." Striker whispered to Shima "I distract the butcher, you grab the meat, and we both run back to that old boat on the Beach." "Right." Shima yawned. "Here we go...." Striker said. He crawled behind the building and started to bark. The butcher opened a window and shouted at Striker. While Striker continued to bark, Shima crawled into the building and grabbed a hunk of meat. As Shima ran away with the meat, Striker stopped barking and ran behind another building. As Shima ran away from the Meat Shop with seven beef shanks in his mouth and ten strands of sausage around his neck, he stopped to notice that Striker wasn't behind him. Remembering that he didn't want to get caught, he continued to run. He was nearly halfway to the Beach when a dark figure stuck out it's leg in front of Shima to trip him. Unaware of the leg in front of him, Shima tripped and fell onto the hard ice. Forgetting his situation, Shima noticed that awkwardly, the figure that tripped him looked a lot like Striker. "No, it wouldn't be Striker, not my best friend!" Shima said to himself disapprovingly.

Shima lay on the ground for what seemed like forever, entangled in sausage strands. Unable to get up, he soon  heard the voice of the angry butcher, his footsteps getting nearer every minute. Shima had a nervous nature naturally. He was now more nervous than ever. Suddenly, Striker appeared just over the next hill. Shima gave Striker a grateful glance. All Striker gave him back was an evil smile as he walked away. First Shima felt angry, then betrayed, then sad, then nervous again. The fateful time finally came when the butcher found Shima passed out from hunger, the sausage and beef shanks spread out around his body. The butcher gasped.

A few seconds later, Shima woke up to a ranting butcher. "You thief!" The butcher started to shout. "Get out of here, and take your meat with you! I can't use it after a filthy animal like you touched it!" Soon all the dogs in Nome watched Shima sit in despair, shocked by his banishment. Instead, of happy voices, all Shima could hear was disapproving mutters of shame. Striker appeared. Shima's eyes got red with fury at the sight of that traitor. "I sure am glad I caught him before he stole anything else!" Striker boasted and looked into Shima's red eyes. Shima walked up to Striker, anger visible in his eyes to all that saw him. He didn't stop walking until he was muzzle-to-muzzle with Striker. "Mark my words, Striker," Shima's voice was cold and unforgiving. "I'll never forget what you did to me, and one day I'll be back for revenge." These were the last words anyone heard Shima say: "From now on, we're rivals." To this very day,  many dogs believe that Shima will one day come out of the shadows and seek revenge on his newfound rival, and former best friend Striker, proving that even the strongest friendship can turn sour from betrayal...........

To Be Continued............

Note- Striker is also my version of Steele's father, I didn't want to put this at the beginning because it would give away some information.