lonesome howl, calling all the pack to bed. She went to the biggest den and sat down. She took a picture frame and stared into it. Her father and mother grinned back at her, lovely Jenna and brave Balto. In the corner of the picture, she had inserted another picture. A decent picture of Kotan howling. She nuzzled the picture, and then lay down sprawled across the den. Her eyelids slipped closed, with the picture frame leaning against her side. She shifted, and the picture frame slipped, and the glass cracked. Thunder roared and lightning flashed, then all was quiet except for her breathing and the rain. It was almost as if the link between her, her parents, and Kotan was broken forever, like the crack on the glass of the picture.

Chapter 5: I'm Lost Without You

Kotan woke that morning to stretch and look beside him. "It sure is a rainy morn', yeah Highway?" Kotan turned to look beside him. There was no Highway, just a pile of stored, yet rotten and fire-scorched meat beside him. Then Kotan remembered being banned. He growled to himself,  and looked around at the cave walls. He hadn't taken a good look of the den. He saw paintings on the walls, done by acient humans. He put his paws up on one of the walls, and saw a carving of two wolves nuzzling and pups playing at their sides. Kotan sniffed the carvings. It smelled of rust, water, and the very very faint scent of humans from long ago. Kotan stepped back. The carvings began to move as a glowing light shone from behind him. "Wise teachers, powerful creatures, and the voice that speaks inside you..." whispered something behind him. He turned and gazed at a teen-ish field mouse.

He growled.

The mouse simply flicked his tail. He was sitting on a few crystals that hadn't been there before. Kotan watched the mouse scurry up and give the crystal a push. Light shone and lit the cave painting with the two wolves and their pups. "When every creature is born in the world, a spirit comes to teach them and guide them. I am that spirit, for you. I am Konato, son of Muru and Serenay. And you must be Kotan." he said with a smile, then he lept onto a crystal and turned it just right. The light flashed over and lit the painting of hunters. "Dangers lurk ahead for you. But I'll be sure to help you. Remember it's your fate you're sealing."

Kotan lifted an eyebrow. "You're not making sense."

Konato grinned back. "Is that not the sole purpose of us simple mice?" He leapt onto another crystal and backflipped off of it. The whole cave lit up in brilliant colors.

"You may be wolf, but something inside you is different. Something more powerful than the world itself."

"What? What is it?"

The mouse chuckled. "What are they. Two things- the first is love. And then the second is that you are the Spirit Whisperer." Konato sat down against the crystal, and it slipped, causing a bright light. Then the mouse turned around. He smiled and moved the crystal again, and the light dimmed.

"When an animal dies, it becomes a guide. But some do not make it as guides. They are the ghosts. A Spirit Whisperer can summon spirits do do their bidding, or they can tell the ghosts to go home. The latter is for the heroes and the good guys. The first choice, well, the bad guys usually do that." Konato suddenly shined that special crystal back at Kotan. Kotan roared, and turned his eyes away. "Only Whisperers and Guides and Spirits like us can see that light. That light means that you have come upon something magnificently holy and treasured. Only spirits can touch it, and the bad spirits die at first sight of bright light. So, only us good guys can hold or obtain the Crystal Of Good." Then the bright light died away. Kotan turned back to the crystals, but they were no longer there. He looked around, and looked on the cave walls. Konato was in the cave wall, with his finger ponting at the cave entrance. "You must win back Aleu's trust." spoke Konato before his mousy-white fur turned into the brown color of the wall. Kotan nodded.

"And I will! For I'm lost without her!"

Kotan raced out of the cave, each step taking a steady, slow stretch before touching the ground in an easy lope. He hurried back to Aleu's pack.

Meanwhile Aleu was sitting on Leader's Rock during her freetime. The rain had stopped its fall, and Aleu sat nearby Hanya. Hanya was still slightly wounded from the scrabble with Steele and Niju. Hanya was licking her paw gently, wincing as her own toungue ran over the deep cut. "I won't be able to hunt for a while." she stated. She perked her ears.

Aleu sighed. "It's Kotan's fault, not mine."

Then Aleu perked her ears. She heard the clear battle cry of the Gaurd. Aleu and Hanya trotted, circling their pack. "Battle positions! Highway, you're a little bit crooked there."

Aleu finally turned her head, and resumed the loud call of acceptance and of note that she was coming. Aleu raced forward, each of her warriors and members stretching their legs and preparing to battle, throwing themselves forward in an all out run.

But still she could not keep her mind off Kotan. Something about him hung over her like a cloud. A dark cloud that would never ever leave. Aleu decided to forget about Kotan, and get ready for the fight. She arrived at the scene and stood to a honored halt. She snarled at the opposing three dogs.

"Oh Kotan..." she whispered under her breath. "I'm lost without you."

Chapter 6: Kotan... I Love You

It was only then Aleu saw the face before her. Kotan was not growling, he was boxed in by Niju an Steele. But the two other dogs were snarling, not attacking, just snarling. "We have made a special treaty with Kotan." growled Niju, not liking the idea. "We will let you go as long as Kotan is punished. He wanted to protect you, and we can't refuse."

Aleu walked up to him. "But Kotan, you shouldn't have, I mean, you could die, they will treat you as slaves. It isn't right, Niju, Steele!!"

Kotan sighed. "I have to do this to set things back to the way they were... before I met you and upset you. I never meant to betray you... I was a servent and had no will of my own. But they also promised if you objected, you could be let go and I will be let go too." Kotan put his front paw on hers. "We were friends. Best of friends, perhaps more than we think, and... I guess I betrayed you, got you mad. I deserve it."

Aleu came up to him, and sighed. She touched her muzzle to the side of his nose, and drew back. She growled at Niju and Steele. "I OBJECT!"

Niju and Steele gasped. "But... But..." Aleu growled, and pounded her front paws down. "Scram!" she growled. She turned to Kotan and smiled.

"Kotan, I have to tell you something, very important. Meet me at my den tommorow at one pm. You are officially unbanned from the pack." She swept her husky-like tail under his chin, and then seeing that Niju and Steele were still there, she lept on top of Niju, tore at his flesh, and pushed him away, sending him flying into a rock. She snapped at the thin air to Steele, and that was enough to make him run after Niju. She looked at Kotan, who was blushing, and she smiled a sweet smile. "Catch ya later, gator." She trotted back to her den.

The day had come. The hour had come, and the minute had come. Kotan stood at Aleu's den, and Aleu came out. "Ok, this is important, so..." She howled all the pack members together. She looked into Kotan's eyes for a second, then looked among her pack. "Kotan is officially UN-banned. And today a very special announcement..." She smiled and her cheeks got a little red.

She turned toward Kotan. "Kotan... I... I love you."

Kotan couldn't believe his ears. He smiled, and said, "I love you too Aleu."

Wolf and quarter-wolf touched noses.

Chapter 7: Someday (-End Chapter-)

Aleu was saunturing down the beach beside Kotan. She smiled at him. "You're an alpha now. How does it feel, Kotan? Do you like the idea, being so... rulerly now? Before you were only a second-in-command in your old pack."

Kotan grinned. He nuzzled her. "It ain't half bad. Anything to stay with you, Aleu honey." Aleu chuckled and turned her head, lowering it a little bit in a flattered pose. "Kotan... I'm so happy everything worked out between us. If not, someday would not be today." She turned to look into Kotan's eyes. What used to be teen youth in Kotan's eyes now brimmed with wisdom and love.

"Aleu, I never knew things would really work out. But I'm glad it did. At first, I thought you'd be mad at me forever. Now I have you." Aleu laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. Kotan licked her nose. Aleu giggled. "Kotan!" she said in between giggles.

Aleu smiled, and sang,

"Someday, we'll make a life,"

"Someday we'll live on the quiet little hill in the summertime." Kotan joined in.

"Someday the truth will come."

"Someday, oh just someday..."

"Someday the world will turn. The eternal flame will burn."

"We will have dreams sprouting, big and small."

"Someday I wish to be with you." whispered Aleu.

"And someday I hope that too." added Kotan, touching his ear to hers.

Aleu smiled and looked out on the moonlit sea. "Our dreams can only guide us now. where the world will take us, we do no know, but we will always stay together."

Above on a cliff Niju overlooked the beach. "Oh I'll get them alright. Someday. And that day just might be the day after tommorow."

But a strange white wolf was also watching, and in a poof of smoke, the white wolf turned into a raven and soared away.

THE END.......................................................................

Where will Aleu's adventures take her to next? What surprise is up Niju's sleeve? And someone special from Balto 2: Wolf Quest will return in Aleu's Return- (Part 2: The Dream Of The Gem)