Steele:After the Exile

The boiler room was warm, but not because of the hot fire that burned from it. But of shame and grief that tore at Steele, he knew from the begging who was responsible for this whole thing, he knew who he must show no mercy to. While thinking about this, all the rage and hate cut through him like a bears claw.

"I swear, ill be back for you wolf dog, and when I return.....I will enjoy the taste of your blood."

He knew he had to leave Nome, if he stayed, more shame would be brought upon him. As he left into the coldness of the snow, not only did Steele leave, but his fame, respect, and popularity was swallowed by the darkness.

"Its freezing out here, Its to cold out.". Steele growled.

He knew his actions wasn’t the best but......still. His ego, and what was left of his pride, was to big, to strong to believe that he caused this upon himself.

"Its that wolf dog! He did this to me, he took what I worked so hard for! Every thing I had, all of it is gone. Balto, you took my love, I was doing fine, you had to be so stubborn and take it for yourself, just so you could show off to Jenna!"

Of course, it was really the complete opposite to what really happened. Everything he said about Balto was really him. But he wanted to play as the victim, even though he knew that he was responsible for his own actions. The snow that blew into his face felt like sandpaper, stinging his flesh, but he paid no attention to it, another stinging feeling was irritating him.

"I need to find shelter fast, or ill never take my revenge."

Just the thought of never making Balto suffer the way he has, to never see his fearful eyes and seeing death grasp his throat, made Steele all the more determined to fight to stay alive.

"I will not stop, I will not be die here, I wont! Nothing shall convince me other wise, and god have mercy on all those who dare to stand in my way!"

Steele found an abandoned cabin, small, but if gets him out of this freezing hell, he’ll take anything. He stopped for a moment.

Steele laughed at this ridicules thought.

"Who cares who lives there! I am not some scared puppy. If someone lives there, and even tries to move me out, that will be their last move....ever."

Steele did not care who was there, man, women, child, dog, wolf, they will all die the same. He smirked at this, he then moved toward the cabin. He bared his fangs and his mucels tensed, he was ready for a fight. As he entered, no one was there, the place was in a terrible state of disrepair. The fire place looked as if it hasn’t been used in years, dusty, and a hole in the ceiling that let a little bit of snow in, and a cool breeze. Steele relaxed and laid on an old couch. As he laid down, a cloud of dust flew up. The flying dust was like his respect and pride, it flew away, further from his grasp until it was gone. Steele turned his head and fell into madness, which was actually the best sleep he ever had in a long time.

====================

The slamming of a body against a rock and cracking of bones was music to him, but these were no ordinary bones, these were Balto’s, it relaxed him.

"Now you see how I feel!? Now you see all the shame you brought to me!?"

Immediately after he said that, he bit Balto’s scruff and swung him into another rock. Balto tired to fight back but was easily outmatched, Steele was bigger and stronger than him.

"Come on, I really thought this was going to interesting, but I guess not." Steele taunted.

Balto bit Steele’s muzzle, Steele yelped and kicked him as hard as he could in his chest. Balto wheezed and gasped for air, now Steele had him pinned to the ground with his paw.

"Before I kill you." Steele said with baring fangs and a demotic look that Balto has never seen before.

"Tell me why you didn’t think I would come back for you! Did you actually think you were safe from me!? All you did was deny the inevitable, and angered me!"

Balto didn’t answer, but gave him a look, more of a smile that taunted him.

"FINE! You want to die so bad, ill make you suffer!" Steele growled.

He could feel his teeth sink into his throat, it was the best feeling he ever had. Excitement surged through his veins and he trembled a little bit at his accomplishment. As soon as he pulled, he awoke.

=====================

"Dammit.....that was one of the best dreams I ever had."

He rose up from that wretched couch and gave a slight growl at the fact that his dream was not true. He sat there for a minute and looked out the window, he saw some birds on a tree branch, and the sun that warmed his body.

‘Maybe I should just go back to Nome and finish what should be done.’

"No." Steele said

he knew if he went back now, all the other dogs would stand up to him and help fight.

"Maybe if I stay away from Nome long enough, the others might forget about me."

It was a stretch, but it was the only thing he could do at the time. Steele did not want to stay here for that amount of time. He wanted to leave, he left that cabin and walked through the snow. The weather was good today, not a cloud in the sky and not the slightest bit of wind. Steele had no idea where he was going, but he knew the way back, that’s all that matters.

"How did this happen to me? I was the prodigy of sledge racing, the envy of all teams. Once my deed has been done, these questions will be asked later."

He walked for what seemed to be a eternity. Steele has never been this far away, but he did not care, he had other thoughts that were pounding on him. He finally came across a small town, it was a little bit bigger than Nome, none the less, it was still new to him. As he walked through the snow covered streets, other dogs looked upon him as a stranger.

‘Good.’ He thought ‘Nobody knows who I am.’

He was not like the others, Steele was much larger and looked more stronger. Some watched him, others just ignored him. He came to a building that had a storm drain coming from the roof to a small bucket. Steele suddenly realized how thirsty he was, he could feel his dry throat stick together. Steele walked to it and drank it, he could feel the stick loosen and become more wet. After he was done, he looked in the reflection and looked at himself, admiring his self. As the ripples set, he saw a figure behind him, he suddenly turned around and his nose came to another. He was now face to face with a dark blue eyed, pure bred husky.

"Oh im sorry." she said blushing as the words came out.

"No, not at all." Steele replied, he had to admit she was very cute.

"I apologize, I did not mean to startle you."

"Its perfectly alright, let me properly introduce myself, my name is Steele. And you are?"

Steele, for a brief moment forgot all about Balto. He was to busy showing off to this new, young husky.

"My name is Niska." She replied. "Are you new around here? I’ve never seen you before."

Time suddenly froze to Steele, he couldn’t tell her where he was from. He would risk getting discovered, he had to think of a lie. Thoughts went through his head quicker than the wind. Only one place came to mind.

"Im from Nenana" He said, it was only 600 miles from Nome, he knew it well, all to well. The serum run flooded his mind. She looked at him with a questionable expression.

‘Oh no, does she know who I am, am I exiled from here to!?’ Steele thought to himself.

"Hmmmm.... I’ve never heard of that place." She said.

A silent sigh of relief came from Steele. He was not exposed, he remembered what he was really doing here. He was only here to blow some steam off and return to Nome when the time was right. He then remembered Balto, and a scornful look wiped across his face, he was looking over Niska, so it wasn’t directly to her.

"Are you ok? What’s wrong?" Niska asked.

Steele then was awoken from his trance of violent thoughts against Balto. He looked at her and saw she was worried. He smiled at her.

"Oh, im sorry, yes im fine." Steele said.

"Oh, ok. Hey, why don’t I show you around town!" Niska said excitingly, wagging her tail.

Even though Steele knew he needed to stay focused on why he was here, he could not resist. It reminded him of the old times, before Balto. She stayed at his side most of the time, she showed him the little places like the post office, the veterinarians, and the bakers, and so on. Steele was paying attention, he needed to know this new place. He never did ask where he was, he didn’t care, all he knew was that he would start a new life here, for the time being. It was getting dark, she showed him everything she knew.

"Its getting dark out. I have to go home to my masters." Niska said.

"I see....I thank you for showing me this beautiful town." Steele replied, although he did not think it was so great.

"Do you have masters as well?"

"No...im a stray I guess you could say." As he said this, Niska looked sorry at him.

"Oh, I did not no, I hope I did not offend you." she said with her head hanging down.

Steele walked up to her and she could see his paws.

"No, not at all, in fact, I prefer to be on my own." That was a terrible lie.

"Ok, will I see you tomorrow?" She asked, her face showed that she wanted to see him again.

"Of course, ill see you where we first met."

"Alright. Goodbye!" She said happily, and trotted off.

Steele didn’t know what to think at this point. He wandered off in search of a place to sleep for the night. There were no empty houses, and Steele could not afford to cause any trouble. He saw a forest, and went into it. The trees would provide some shelter, he later came across a cliff that overlooked the whole town. Across the town was a large slope, it was as large as a mountain, but not rocky what so ever. He