The next morning, Marr had returned, a large bucket of water in his mouth.  The team took turns drinking from the bucket, Spyro going first, then Aleu.  It wasn't until Aleu had taken a few gulps of water that she realized how thirsty and hungry she was.  She hadn't eaten or drunk anything scince yesterday night, when she had left her pack.  They seemed so far away now.  How in the world was she supposed to return to them?

After everyone had drunk their fill, Aleu decided to become more aquainted with her supposed teammates.  "So..." she said to Artemis, "When did you come here?"

"Well, it turns out the girl that adopted me, Ann, lived in a small house.  One day, the house accidentally caught fire.  I managed to escape the blaze, but Ann...Well, I never saw her after that.  I spent about a week walking around town, until a man, the man that captured you, found me.  He nursed me back to health, and raised me along with Spyro, Violet, Kyma, Elric, and Marr.  I barely remember Ann's voice, much less what she looked like." Artemis said, shaking his head.

"I'm...sorry." Aleu said, nuzzling him, "It must have been terrible having to..."

"It's all right.  Violet helped me get through it.  I'll admit, I owe her a lot." Artemis said, staring into space.

"Hey, wait...You like her, Violet, don't you?"

Artemis blushed, then stammered, "W-what are you talking about?  Of course I don't-" he stopped when Aleu raised her eyebrows slyly, "Well...Yeah, I do.  A-a lot.  Just don't tell anybody, alright?"

"Sure thing, Artemis." Aleu said, giving a smal snicker. 

It was then that the door opened, and bright sunlight flooded into the room, nearly blinding the dogs.  The man stepped in, several bowls and a large bag that smelled of food in his arms.  All of the sled dogs hurried forward, panting and wagging their tails excitedly.  The man called something out, and the dogs backed up a few steps.  He then bent over, pouring some of the dry food into each of the bowls.

The human proceeded to place the bowls in front of each of the dogs, ending with Aleu.  He smiled at her, then pet her head softly.  After he had left, Aleu devoured the food ravenously, licking up every scrap.  She sighed, and got up to speak to Spyro.

"Um...Excuse me, Spyro, but what happens now?"

"Well, the Master usually prepares the sled, and hitches us up to it.  Then, we train for a while and return here." he said, looking at the door.  Aleu nodded, and laid down to wait.

Sure enough, the "Master" came in a few minutes later, placing thick collars on the dogs.  Then, one by one, he led each of the dogs outside.  When the shack was empty (besides Aleu), the human came in for the last time, grabbing Aleu's collar, and leading her out the door, which was closed on their way out.  Outside, the sled team was hitched up, all the places filled except for an unused place in the front; behind Spyro and to the left.  Aleu was placed in this spot, the rope scratching at her throat.  Beside her was Marr, and behind her stood Artemis.  Beside Artemis was Kyma, and behind Kyma was Elric and Violet.

The man then called out something that sounded like "Hike!", and the dogs began pulling.

It went on like that for several weeks: Aleu would wake up, drink the supply of water that Marr always seemed to bring in the morning, eat the food that the Master brought, and begin training for the day.  After training, the dogs would be unhitched, drink, and eat before going to sleep.

After a while, it seemed that the Master grew more and excited, pushing the team further and further.  Aleu began to wonder if all this excitement was because of the so called "Big Race".  Sure enough, on the day the Race was to be held, the Master seemed especially jittery, making small mistakes like mixing up where the dogs were supposed to be hitched up.

Finally, after re-arranging the dogs, they were set to run.  Even in the outskirts of town, the air of excitement was intoxicating.  At the starting line, young children sat on their parents' shoulders to get a better veiw of everything.  Men made bets on which team would win.  Aleu had never seen so much activity in her life. 

She looked over the other teams, wanting to know what sort of competition she was up against.  A few teams looked nervous, peering around at the other teams, like she was, and a couple dogs were actually shaking. 

She sighed, and looked at the team to her left.  The dogs looked excited, which was to be expected, and their lead dog faced the track with a frown.  His eyes were deep red, with light brown eyepatches surrounding them.  His brown pelt was scruffy, and his paws, the same color as the eyepatches, were huge, much larger than a normal husky's.  He looked slightly familiar to her, but she couldn't put a paw on where she had seen him. 

He caught her gaze, and his eyes widened with shock.  The dog shook his head, and kept staring at her.

"Hey!" he called to Aleu.

"Hm?  What do you want?"

"Is...is your name Aleu?" the dog whispered, so low that Aleu's ears had to strain to catch his words.

"Yes.  Who are you?" Aleu said, now a bit confused.  Suddenly, two and two met, and Aleu realized where she had met him before.

"P-papa!?"