goodness, and he’s not even yours, eh? Let’s see where he belongs...” He checked Blitz’s collar. “He’s part of the mail team...lead dog!” He stared at Blitz.

Blitz blinked back. Hello? What about that cold drink? Aren’t you gonna offer ME anything?

The woman started sobbing again. “I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. The man got up and put his arms around her.

“There, there. Was anyone else in that house with you?”

She shook her head.

“Thank god. Come now, let’s wrap you up. There’s some warm blankets in the bedroom over there.” He led her away to a room. Before he disappeared from sight, he turned to Blitz. “And you, boy! You’re gonna be a hero!”

Blitz cocked his head. Me? A hero? GONNA BE?! ALL I WANTED WAS A COLD DRINK AND SOME FIREWOOD!!! 

Ambyr stirred from her sleep. She looked over to see Haywire had forgotten about rolling up in a ball, and instead had sprawled himself across the floor lazily. The fire that had once been in the heater was now nothing but ashes. Great. She’ll be sure to thank Blitz for letting her almost freeze to death last night. Where was Blitz anyway? The whistling wind outside the door was now silenced, and everything lay quiet.

...Well, almost quiet.

Ambyr perked her ears. She could make out the sound of a cheering crowd outside. She got up and stretched, yawning loudly.

Haywire also stirred. His eyes fluttered open, and he groaned. “What’s all that ruckus?”

“I don’t know,” Ambyr replied. “I’m going out to see. Are you coming?”

“Is it still storming outside?”

“No, genius. It’s not.”

Haywire also got up, stretched, and yawned. “What the who, I’m already awake. Hey, where’s Blitz? I thought he’d come back with more wood after we fell asleep.”

“I thought that too.”

Right then, the door creaked open, and a black cat came purring inside. It quietly slithered in, and perched itself on top of the heater. “Hiya.”

Ambyr frowned, but Haywire yipped at her. “Mewnlight! How’s it going?”

The black cat, Mewnlight, casually licked at her paws. “Oh, the usual. Catfights over morning scraps at dawn, humans hustling and bustling on their way to work, dogs saving lives, you get what I mean.”

Ambyr shook her head. “Come again on that last part...?”

Mewnlight directed her shining green eyes at her. “Didn’t you hear? A house went up in flames last night. I guess that blizzard drove the humans to do some crazy things, huh? Anyway, no one was really crazy enough to go outside, but this dog did. He went in and saved a woman. I don’t really know the details. Town gossip isn’t exactly my sort of thing.”

Haywire looked at Ambyr. Ambyr returned the gaze. She looked up at the cat. “So who’s the mystery dog?”

Mewnlight jumped down from her perch, and pushed the door open. A large crowd was gathered at the other end of the street, cheering and clapping. They were all huddled around something.

“Why don’t you go and see for yourself?” Before Ambyr or Haywire could reply, she smirked and ran off.

“Any idea who?’ Haywire asked.

Ambyr didn’t answer. She quickly leapt forward, and dove among the people in the ecstatic crowd.

“Hey, Ambyr! Wait up!” Haywire jumped in after her. The both of them pushed their way to the front, dodging legs and struggling to see who was in front. “Ambyr! Hang on a second! ...Ow! Hey, watch the paws!” He burst through the crowd to see Ambyr staring up. “Y’know,” he panted. “It’s much too early for this. And it woulda killed you to just wait up a few seconds.”

Ambyr’s gaze didn’t shift.

Haywire waved a paw in front of her face.

Ambyr still didn’t move.

Haywire frowned and reluctantly looked up also. His jaw dropped. Standing proudly on a miniature stage stood Blitz, smiling and barking happily down at the crowd. Mr. Drago was behind him, shaking hands with some people.

Suddenly, Haywire waved a paw in the air. “Blitz down here! Hey, lap dog!! Over – “ His sentence was interrupted when Ambyr forced Haywire’s paw down. “Hey, what gives?”

“Don’t call him over here, you numbnut!”

“Why not?”

It was too late. Blitz turned his head to them, his smile broadened. “Hey, guys!” He jumped down from the stage, and walked over to them. People reached out to pet him as he walked. Ambyr stiffened as he drew near. “How’s it going? You’ll never guess what happened last night.”

“Actually, we can,” Haywire said. “Not bad for a lap dog. I couldn’ta done that.”

Blitz shrugged. “Well, I was the only one out there.” He turned to look at Ambyr’s apathetic countenance. “Hi, Ambyr!”

Ambyr twitched. “Thanks for the firewood last night.”

Blitz recoiled. “Sorry, I was too busy saving someone from a burning building. Is that a legit excuse?”

Ambyr remained silent.

“Blitz,” Mr. Drago called from the stage. “Over here, boy! Let’s get a picture of you!”

Blitz barked happily up at him and ran up the stage without another word or glance back at the two staring in appalled disbelief. Then, Haywire turned to Ambyr, grinning from ear to ear. “You are soooo full of it.”

Ambyr narrowed her eyes. “What?”

Haywire continued to grin. “Ambyr, look at yourself! Before last night, it took only a glare to make Blitz go out for firewood, now you tense up, and wince whenever he talks to you!”

“So?”

Haywire also narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer to Ambyr’s face, staring deep at her eyes, and not removing the smirk off his face. “You’re not jealous, are you?”

Ambyr gasped and shoved Haywire back. “You dumb mutt! Of course not!” She glowered at Haywire. “Jealous...Humph!!” Scowling, she then turned around and disappeared into the thick crowd.

Haywire got up and stared back at the stage. Blitz was standing with a bunch of humans, smiling as the flashes of people’s cameras exploded continuously. Even Haywire had to admit, he wouldn’t mind being up there. It not that he wasn’t jealous, unlike Ambyr, but something about Blitz simply annoyed him while he came down to talk with them.

Was it that smile? Oh please. Yeah, I’m TOTALLY jealous of Blitz’s smile, he thought with a roll of his eyes.

Maybe it was the way he talked to Ambyr? Saving people is a legit excuse for letting Ambyr – and me – suffer for one night...I suppose.

Or could it be the way he simply just upped and left at the sound of his name being called?

Blitz was annoyed with Ambyr and vice versa, no doubt. And Haywire, of all dogs, knew how long Ambyr could hold a grudge. But when Blitz simply seemed to forget all about them to go have his picture taken, it seemed to gnaw him to shreds.

Haywire shook the thoughts of his head. Naww...Ol’ buddy Blitz would never do that...heh, heh...err......would he?

Haywire continued to worry until some people pushed ahead of him to get a good view, blocking his way until eventually, he was forced out of the crowd. He skulked back to the boiler room to find Mewnlight sitting patiently inside.

“New town hero, huh?” she said.

Haywire shook his head. “No...He’s just a pup.”

Mewnlight lifted an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. And I take it Ambyr didn’t take it very well either?”

Annoyed, Haywire quit the boiler room and went out for a walk -- a very...long...walk.

Hours passed, and Blitz’s day of fame was coming to a close. The warm winter sun fell heavily down the sky before finally tucking itself behind the crevices of the mountains afar. The pictures were taken, the stories were told, the scratches were given, and the crowd slowly dissolved away as the chilling night breezes began to grip it cold fingers around the small town of Nome.

Blitz felt blind. With all the flashes he’d had to stand up to, it’s a wonder why he hadn’t completely lost his vision at all. It took him a while to focus in a few things. He casually shook himself off as Mr. Drago and a few other people were already finishing shaking hands with the last few people who’d come by to show their thanks. He had to admit, it was fun getting all those people to scratch him in all his favorite places. Is this what Balto went through after he delivered the medicine?

Around and around, Blitz’s thoughts churned and swirled. One topic led to another, reminding him of another...and another...and another. He had lost track of his thoughts by the time Ambyr and Haywire finally came to mind.

Why didn’t they come see me today? Blitz thought. Suddenly, his face fell. Oh yeah...they did.

Of all people and dogs in Nome, they were the ones he’d hoped would be the most proud of him. Blitz was quite disappointed in them when they didn’t exactly act the way he thought they would. Despite the fact that they weren’t very supportive, it struck Blitz as odd when he suddenly realized he still wanted them around. Staring down at the emptying crowd, he felt as though he wanted the two of them to be standing right there, next to him...beside him...near him...on him. Just as long as they were somewhere there.

But they weren’t.

The last couple filed out, and all that was left was an empty patch of crushed snow and footprints. The crowd was empty. Gone. Dissipated.

Blitz lowered his ears. A giant