Haywire and Ambyr stood glaring at each other, none of them saying a word, or making any movement at all. Ambyr had his eyes focused in on him, trying to read his thoughts as Haywire tried to do the same. Suddenly, Haywire’s gaze was distracted as a tiny fly began to flutter around his muzzle. He tried to shoo it away with making as little movement as possible, but the fly wouldn’t piss off. It landed carelessly on his nose, creating a very irritating itch that Haywire would’ve wanted more than anything in the world to scratch...but he couldn’t. He tried to concentrate on focusing back on Ambyr. She had an unwavering smirk sitting on her face.

Haywire wriggled his nose, trying to get the fly off, but it merely rubbed its back legs together, cleaning itself. CLEANING ITSELF?! ...As if that stupid fly would ever be clean. The corners of his eyes began to water as the itch was now starting to transform into a sneeze. I...can...hold it...I...can...hold......it...

The sneeze was about to explode. ...I can’t hold it. “Uhh....UUUHH...WAAAAA-CHOOOO!!!” Haywire shut his eyes as the misty spray echoed throughout the boiler room. The fly was obliterated.

Ambyr laughed and fell to the ground. “HAHAHAHA!! That was priceless!! It was way too easy!! I thought you said you ere good at staring contests?”

Haywire sniffed. “I am...it’s just that stupid fly...UGH!!!” He rubbed his nose furiously. “I demand a rematch!! That was totally unfair!!”

Ambyr smiled and shook her head. “I don’t think so....alright, come on. A deal’s a deal. Hand it over.”

Haywire whimpered. “Awww, gimmie a break!! I wouldn’t have considered it a loss if the fly landed on you.”

Ambyr narrowed her eyes.

Haywire lowered his ears. “...You’re right, I would have.”

Ambyr held out her paw, and Haywire whimpered again as he reached behind his back. He pulled out a banged-up chew toy. It was a rubber mouse, which gave off a very satisfying squeeeeeek when bitten down on. He looked sadly at it. “Goodbye, Jeff!!” He sobbed as he tossed it over at Ambyr’s feet.

Ambyr took one look at the chew toy. Its color was fading, and teeth dents on the rubber were all over the body. Half of the tail was missing, and a part of the pointy nose was chewed off. She grimaced. “You know...on second though...I’ll just take the bragging rights.”

Haywire’s ears perked up and he grinned. “Really? Gee, thanks!!” He took the rubber toy in his mouth, getting slobber all over it. “Yew’re teh beshed,” he said.

Ambyr rolled her eyes unapprovingly. “Yeah...I know.”

Suddenly, the door to the boiler room burst open. Ambyr snapped her head sideways, and Haywire almost choked on the chew toy.

An unfamiliar white dog with brown spots stood at the doorway. His fur looked greasy and uncombed, his ears flapped down to the side of his head...and his tail didn’t curl up. It was obvious this dog wasn’t a Husky.

He shook the snow off of him, scattering it everywhere in the boiler room, then cleared his throat nervously. “I’m, uh, looking for a dog named...Blitz. Is he here?”

Ambyr grimaced as she flicked off a dirty flake of snow off of her fur. She wasn’t sure if the brown spots on this dog were just the color of his fur...or something else. She shook her head, and then turned to Haywire. “Do you know where he is?”

Haywire spat out the chew toy on the floor. “Yeah...he said he’d be at the track, practicing...”

“That dog takes himself way too seriously,” Ambyr said with a sigh.

“Yeah...he, among other dogs I know,” Haywire replied with a smirk.

The white dog cleared his throat again. “Well, if he comes by, tell him his old friend, Gill’s here to see him.” He threw them a careless smile, then walked away, not bothering to close the door behind him on his way out.

Ambyr walked over and closed it. “Sheesh...what a mutt!!”

Haywire started laughing. “I wonder what he wants with Blitz.”

“I’ll give you one good guess...but did you see that he wasn’t a Husky?”

Haywire gave her a confused look. “No...what’s that supposed to mean, anyway?”

Ambyr thought a moment. “Nothing, I guess,” she said with a shrug. “It was just something I noticed.”

“Yeah, well...” Haywire lay down and yawned. “I don’t know why Blitz bothers to run laps when it’s already late in the afternoon...it’s bedtime!!”

It was Ambyr’s turn to laugh. “Maybe you could learn a thing or two from him...unless you’ll always be happy being third-runner-up.”

Haywire yawned again and closed his eyes. “Not at all...that’s what’s so good about being a dog...you’ll always be wanted, just as long as you’re good for something.” Before long, his light breathing started filling the room.

Ambyr watched, hardly being able to keep herself from laughing at the sight of him snoring with his beloved chew toy wrapped between his paws. She wasn’t at all tired, so she decided to check up on Blitz at the track.

Blitz readied himself at the starting line, and slowly started counting down. His tail wagged with anticipation. Five...four...three...two...one...GO!! He dashed forward, gliding over the ground as fast as his paws would carry him. He rounded as sharp curve, and continued sprinting forward until he saw the large boulder blocking his way. After sucking in a deep breath of air, Blitz leapt in the air, and cleared the rock, flying clean over it. With a grunt, he landed on all fours, and jolted the last one hundred yards to the finish line. Blitz dug his paws in the ground, shifting to a halt. He looking down at the ground, panting loudly, but smiled to himself. ...Is that a new record? I believe it is!!

“Fifteen seconds,” said a voice behind him. Blitz spun around to see Ambyr coming over to him, a smile stuck on her muzzle. “New course record.”

“Th-thanks,” Blitz said, returning the smile. “You know the Iditarod race is coming soon, right?”

“Of course I know.”

“I want to shape up for Mr. Drago, so we’ll win!!”

“It’s in a month, Blitz. Why don’t you take it easy? You’ll work yourself out!!”

Blitz frowned at her. “You’re not acting very Ambyr-ish right now...is something wrong?”

Ambyr turned away. “Me? Oh, yeah, I’m fine...we have a mail run tomorrow...to Teller again.”

“Yeah, I know...you sure everything’s okay?”

Ambyr turned back to him, her faux smile returning. “Yeah, I’m great, thanks.” Her ears perked up. “Oh, yeah...some dog came looking for you earlier today.”

Blitz gazed at her, a little shocked. “Really? Who?”

Ambyr shrugged. “Some guy calling you his old friend...does the name ‘Gill’ ring a bell?”

Blitz stared out into open space for a while. “Gill...Gill...” Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his ears shot up. “Oh, yeah!! Gill!! I remember him!! How’d he look like? Did he sound happy to hear me? Where is he? Well, come on!!”

Ambyr put her paws in the air. “Whoa. Chill out, okay? He found us at the boiler room, then skulked away from there...if you’re lucky, you can sniff him down.” Before she could say anything else, Blitz jumped up and pounced on her. She grunted painfully as he landed on her chest, then happily started licking her.

“Thanks!! Thanks a lot, Ambyr!! Yes, this is totally awesome!!” Before she could tell him to get off, Blitz sprinted away, a wide smile plastered onto his face. Ambyr staggered on all fours, deeply confused.

...Wonder what HE’S so happy about...

Minutes passed, and Ambyr slowly took her time as she thoughtfully made her way back to the boiler room. Before she pushed open the door, she expected everything to be normal, and Haywire still snoring as usual. But she suddenly stopped as she heard a sound come through the door. What is it? She leaner her ear in closer, and heard it again...it was laughter. Haywire’s laughter. No, wait...there were voices too...many of them...at least three. ...What in the world?

Ambyr pushed the door open all the way and stared inside.

Haywire was still sort of laughing by the time he saw Ambyr. He was sitting, down, listening intently to the dog before him. Right in front of him, laying down casually on the floor, was Gill, and right beside him, was Blitz. They turned to her.

“Oh, hey, Ambyr!” called Blitz. “I’m sure you’ve met Gill already. Gill, this is Ambyr. Ambyr, Gill.”

Gill threw her a weak smile. “Pleasure.”

Ambyr recoiled at the sight of him. Ugh...Blitz sure knows how to make friends with good-looking guys...at least Haywire had some taste in him. She remembered a certain wolf that she had been trying to force out of her mind for weeks. “Umm...yeah. Nice to meet you too,” she blurted at him.

Blitz smiled as he turned back to Gill. He swung a paw over his shoulder. “Gill and I go waaaaay back!! We used to live in the same apartment in that one place humans call...uuuhh...what was it called again, Gill?”

“New York,” he replied, not giving it much thought.

“Oh, yeah! Yew York. We used to have so much fun there...that was, until we