Jadze: The Blessed Curse

 

(started 5/26/08 -)

 

Summary: Twice before, that name has led to the deaths of two young females, both vibrant and filled with life and promises of happy lives within the areas that they wished to be a part of. But now a third pup - the only survivor of Aleu's final litter - will receive this name, despite past tragedies and sorrowful memories left behind because of their daughters and sisters long deceased. What will become of this cursed daughter as she grows within the safety of the Talbourne Clan or will she succumb to the same fate as her other two namesakes?

 

(Based on Rotramel's Balto fanfictions - yes, I did get his permission to write this. Thanks, RTW! You are wonderful!)

 

Rating: PG-13 for a birth scene, blood, a bit of language and possibly some violence. It's nothing you haven't read in a Balto fic before.

 

Disclaimer: Official characters and events from Balto, Balto: Wolf Quest, and Balto: Wings of Change are the property of Universal Studios, Inc.

 

The characters of Shadow, Melody, Timbre, Dash, Jadze and the Talbourne Clan (and the many, many others that I have missed), the many events, places and other things mentioned within this story, as well as the created personalities of Balto, Aleu, Jenna, Saba and Aniu are all the creative property of Rotramel the Writer (Thanks again for supporting this idea! He is the main inspiration for this whole thing! *bows*).

 

Any other characters (including the personality of Jadze III herself) as well as the main idea for the story itself are the property of Juuchan17.

 

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Author's Note:

 

The only reason why I'm writing this story is because I took a liking to the way RTW created this character of Jadze. He didn't really describe her in detail, but the fact that both children (one being Balto's daughter from Jenna's third litter. and the other being his granddaughter, born from Melody and Timbre) that were given this name were lost at such a young age made me pity her character, thinking that perhaps there would never be a third daughter with that name.

 

So I chose to do it. Third time's the charm, right?

 

Also, to you guys that are up to date with his fics, this tale mostly takes place after Aleu steps down as Alpha, allowing her sister Saba to take the title. (prior to the events of RTW's recent Aniu Trilogy - mainly after "Balto: . . . Must Come To An End" as well as after “Balto: Though We Be Apart”) I hope this will help set some sort of setting for you guys. However, other events mentioned from previous tales by Mr. Rotramel are also being remembered, so good luck catching them all! (I should make that into a contest or something . . .) So yes, there are loads of spoilers for many of Rotramel’s previous works, so beware if you haven’t read up to his fics!

 

Also, also, if you’ve read up to the beginning of Rotramel’s “Aniu Trilogy” (both “The Fall of Aniu” and “Children of Aniu”), just pretend that it never took place while reading this. This is mainly a side-story that you could say takes the place of the Aniu Trilogy. I hope you don’t mind this change, Rotramel!

 

So, yes – this is what you would call a “fanfiction-of-a-fanfiction,” I suppose. This is just my version of tying the events of Rotramel’s wondrous and rather ground-breaking epics together in a way that only I could manage to imagine. But still, all credit goes to you for making this possible.

 

RTW: I hope I did you proud with this. It's not that good, but I've enjoyed creating your world through my eyes! And if any of your characters are not up to par, just tell me, okay?

 

Just consider this as payback for “A Forbidden Love” – all right, RTW?

 

- Juuchan17

 

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Prologue

 

A few months ago . . .

 

It was hard for the quarter-wolf to give up her title of Alpha to her little sister, but it was what she wanted . . . and Aleu knew that her reign as Alpha couldn't last forever.

 

She wanted to be with her family now - with herself as Alpha, she had been through many risky and dangerous battles and situations . . . she had even died a couple of times before, and she didn't enjoy the feeling.

 

It was always darkness, always the pain of feeling life slip away like the wind using its breath to pluck off the last leaf from a tree’s branch. She shuttered at the thought. Aleu never enjoyed dying, and never wanted to feel that until it was meant to be her time.

 

Not yet . . . I don't want to leave the ones I love yet, she thought. They need me here . . . and they need me alive . . .

 

That's why her sister had returned to her. Aniu had restored her lost sister's life and gave her a chance to step down only a couple of nights ago. It was still strange to see Saba in the form similar to that of the white wolf Aniu, but it was indeed her. She was no longer red and white like their mother, but Saba was still inside there, no matter what her body looked like, Aleu knew that. The only major differences were that Saba’s face was marked with what looked like a crossed black lightning bolts on each of her cheeks and that her voice was still the same old Saba.

 

Thankfully, this chance to be with her family would give her that feeling yet again . . .

 

"Aleu?" The familiar voice called her as she lay on the ground of her new den. It was a wolf, one with that familiar color that she knew far too well.

 

"Oh, I'm still awake, Shadow," she replied back, lifting her head up with a smile. "You can come on in."

 

He stepped in, still in serious mode as usual, and laid down beside his mate. "How are you feeling, Aleu? I mean, do you still feel strange after, . . . you know, . . .”

 

Aleu didn’t need him to babble on like that. “I’m fine . . . relieved, actually. It’s nice not to have such large responsibility for once.” She smiled back at him. “I believe Saba will be a good leader – she has Aniu on her side, as I do after all, and I trust her with my very life.” She paused for a moment. “I have faith that she will do what is right for all of us, and that’s why Aniu brought her back to us.” It is what I wanted, after all, Aleu added to herself. I asked for it, and Aniu provided the answers to my prayers . . .

 

Shadow could only nod back. He understood why Aleu stepped down. Her skills as a fighter had started to wane after the arrival of Lima and Sheik, their two children, and the adoption of Thunder, an orphan that Aleu had rescued. In battles around those times when her children were old enough to be weaned from her, she suffered scratches and bloody wounds, clearly showing her weakening status to her enemies and rivals. She was still strong strategically, but her main care was for the future of her Clan – Aniu’s Clan – but most of all, her family.

 

She has faced so much, Shadow thought as he looked at his quarter-wolf mate endearingly. She’s fought in so many battles, endured so much heartbreak within our Clan and her own family . . . I never want her to feel such pain again. I love her far too much to lose her . . .

 

“I still can’t believe that Saba is back,” he replied. He was there when Saba perished to her death on that ice bridge while training the once-tamed-now-exiled quarter-wolf to become in tune with her wolf breeding, but somehow she had been revived by the grace of the White Wolf spirit and with Aniu’s assistance, she had defeated Shade once and for all from their world. The new Saba would take some adjusting to, but now she was here to stay. “but yes, I feel she’ll be a great leader, but she’ll be nothing like you were, Aleu.”

 

“Of course – there’s only one of me, and I’m sure we don’t need another stubborn Alpha around here, right?” Aleu joked, but she soon let out a sigh as she heard the din of her three children pass by her den. She loved them so much, wanting to be there for them and protect them from any harm, just like any parent naturally would, . . . but it was time to allow them to defend their Clan as she had for many years. It was dangerous, but it was a natural part of life, and life was not without its own set of risks. “Oh, the kids are old enough to take care of themselves now. They’re no longer pups anymore – far too old to even be considered as pups actually . . .” Her light-beige cheeks began to flush pink. “and I’ve been thinking . . . since I’m no longer Alpha, maybe we should . . .”

 

“Expand the brood again?” Shadow completed her thought. Aleu was silent, blushing brighter than before and nodding her head. The dark wolf could only smile back. “Well, if you’re okay with it, so am I.”

 

Aleu’s face beamed. For once, the all-serious wolf was being sensitive. This was the Shadow she loved and adored. “Oh, I love you, Shadow.” She buried her nose into his dark red neck, allowing him to do the same to her.

 

She loved seeing pups, just like her father did. Perhaps that’s why he’s had four litters thus far, she thought as she felt the warmth of Shadow’s touch on her back. Maybe another litter of bouncing baby pups is just what the Talbourne needed to welcome a new Alpha into its midst. I know Saba’s children would enjoy having playmates around their own age. Most of the pups that she had seen only moments after birth had grown up long ago, following their own destined life paths and risking their mortal lives to protect her and their Clan. It nearly brought her to tears as she remembered that a few of those pups were now walking with Aniu now . . . But alas, life

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