Grand Design

Chapter One:  Hard Knock Life

Disclaimer:  I do not own Balto, Balto:  Wolf Quest, Balto:  Wings of Change, any of the characters from the movies, or the designs for Faelan, Nessa, Evvie, or Brava. I also don't own Nava, Aleu, Niju, Nuk, Sumac, Yak, or any of the other characters from the above listed movies. Universal does.  However, I do own the character personas for Faelan, Nessa, Evvie and Brava.  I also own the plot idea for this fic, and all original characters introduced in it.

The foot falls pounded the ice in synchronized beats, all at once harmonious, but moving freely to their own rhythm.  Only a few slid along the ice bridge that had formed, mostly just the new leader of the band of wolves. She stumbled, her paw pads not used to running on frozen water, but was caught for what seemed the tenth time by the enormous male, Nuk.  The burly black wolf wasn't pleasing to the eye, but he was dedicated to the pack. Since Niju's plan had been revealed in totality and rejected vehemently, he had aligned himself with the safety of the pack and new Alpha female.  He smiled kindly at her.

"Aleu, you must be careful.  Don't want you to fall in again.  We know you aren't used to this.  We can slow down," he said gently in his gruff voice.

The light brown hybrid shook her head slowly, recovering from what must have been her fourth or fifth slip of the journey so far.  She'd been slowing down the pack almost constantly since the beginning of their crossing.  Her ears drooped considerably as she realized this fact.

Her breath came in ragged gasps, as she replied, "No, keep moving.  It'll be far worse if we don't make it across before the ice bridge breaks apart."

Nuk nodded and glanced up to the rest of the pack as the continued forward slowly, leaping across the ice as if it were just dirt and grass on a warm day. Momentarily, the Alphess entertained the thought of being safe at home on her father's boat, where she had two fluffy white polar bears to keep her warm and nothing could hurt her.  But then she thought determinedly, 'No, this is my home now.  These are my new family members.  No sense in complaining about how things used to be.'  And with that thought in mind, she leapt forward onto the next patch of ice and continued on, slipping and sliding as she went but somehow managing to stay upright.

Within minutes, another wolf had dropped back with her.  His coat was mix of burnt umber and white and she recognized him easily, for he had usually been close to Nava whenever the former Alpha of the pack had allowed company.  Though he was considerably shorter than Nuk, he held both his head and tail proudly aloft. At the sight of him, Nuk quickly curled his ears and tail down and sped up, trying to make himself smaller and give the other two wolves room at the same time.  He looked similar to a fluffed up chicken, which made Aleu want to laugh and caused her to slide again.  This time, the brown and white male caught her.  She shot him a thankful glance, gazing into his icy blue eyes as she straightened and laughed apologetically.

"Alphess, forgive me if I’m being a nuisance, but we need to move faster.  I realize that you are having difficulty with the ice, as anyone who has never dealt with its complications at length would, but is there any way we can coax a bit more speed from your legs?  You could be carried, if you think it will help us get to the other side more quickly."  He looked meaningfully over to Nuk, who was still just within earshot. The burly black wolf glanced back and nodded.

Aleu concentrated on regaining the cadence of her steps back for a few moments before answering in shaking breaths.  "Faelan, r-right?" She stuttered out.  "N-no.  I don’t t-think that will be n-necessary.  I think I’m getting the hang - "

Her left forepaw hit a thin patch on the ice flow and punched through it like paper. Unfortunately, the rest of her body had built up enough momentum so that it kept moving forward as her leg sank through.  She cried out in pain, but luckily the ice was so thin there that it broke and freed her.  This still left her sliding across the ice bridge and within seconds, she'd careened spinning into a couple of the wolves at the back and pushed them and herself into the icy water. At first, the water hit her like a thousand needles punching through her fur and skin all at once. It had a burning and a freezing sensation all at the same time, exactly like the first time she'd fallen in. Her paws pushed against the water, propelling herself upward and within moments her head burst through the surface.

She took several gasping breaths before looking around to find that the other wolves she'd knocked about were already being helped back onto the ice. One of the wolves she recognized as the black male Yak, who'd been another one of Niju's underlings. He didn't look her way, but the strange greenish gray and brown female next to him shot her a menacing, poisonous glare. Aleu gulped, shivering from the hostility already and sighed deeply. She swam toward the edge of the ice flow where Faelan and Nuk met her and grasped the scruff of her neck. Soon they'd hauled her shivering body up out of the water.

"Are you certain that you don't want to rethink your decision, Alphess?" Faelan asked her quietly as the other wolves picked themselves up and readied to depart again.

Aleu shifted her gaze from the pack to Faelan and finally nodded.  "If you think it would get us over the ice and into the new territory faster, then I suppose I can’t refuse," she whispered.

Faelan bent down to allow her to climb onto his back, but Nuk nosed him aside and knelt before the Alphess.  The larger wolf grinned at the wolf mix reassuringly when she hesitated and said, "I’m sure you are light weight, but eve so I carry you.  You will be safe on my back."  Aleu took a breath and climbed up and across immediately feeling like a deer carcass when he stood and her legs could no longer reach the ground.

"Thanks," she whispered quietly to him.

"Alright, wolves, we’ve wasted enough time on this wretched ice.  It’s high time we finish crossing and get to our new home.  Let’s move out!" Faelan ordered.

The pack obeyed, immediately re-forming their lines and continuing across. Aleu marveled at how quickly the pack had responded to him and remembered the looks of disdain she’d received as she’d surfaced.  Already she was embarrassing herself and proving to be a poor leader, like Niju had predicted she would.  Was she really cut out for this new life?

About an hour later, the pack lay on the banks of the new land, resting and recovering from their arduous trip.  Aleu glanced around at the tired faces around her, still feeling more than a little guilty about having to get a ride from one of her subordinates.  What would become of them now that they had made it across the water?  She stood and padded over to ask Faelan, remembering that Nava had once mentioned him being a "beta," whatever that meant.  Was he one of the wiser wolves among the pack?  It certainly appeared that way, since everyone listened to him without question.  Her maw opened, but before she could utter any words, he turned to her.

"Orders, Alphess?"  He asked.

With a wide-eyed, startled expression, Aleu replied, "Oh, actually I was just coming to ask you what you thought we should do next."

"Me?  Why would you ask me?"

"Well, Nava told me that you are a beta, so I thought that meant that you were, well, wise and knowledgeable."  She frowned.  "Did I get that wrong?"

Faelan stared at her for a moment, then let his lips part in a wide grin with a laugh following.  "Of course, my apologies, Alphess.  I keep forgetting that you were not raised in a wolf pack and so you don’t understand our customs or society.  Yes, I suppose Betas can be considered wise in some instances.  One of their purposes is to give advice to the Alpha. We are more like proponents, or seconds.  But I suppose my job will heavily rely on advising you and teaching you.  Though," at this point he lowered his voice to a whisper, "let’s keep our lessons to ourselves, shall we?  The pack is still fairly restless and in a state of upheaval due to our sudden move and new leadership.  The last thing we need is for anyone to decide that Niju was right after all, especially since Nava went through so much to empower you."  He eyed her for a moment as though he still wasn’t entirely sure himself that she was a good choice.  "But I trust his judgment.  He was always the wisest of us, and especially if he spoke with Aniu, then this must be the correct course for our pack."

Aleu smiled.  "You and Nava were close, weren’t you?"

"Well, not as close as I would have liked, but in my own mind yes.  He kept to himself a good deal, often conversing with the spirits.  But he was my best friend, the wolf I’ve known the longest out of the whole pack. My father was his Beta before me." At this, Aleu’s jaw fell open, but Faelan shook his head gently, still smiling.  "That was when Nava was much younger,