A Bitter Heart Needs Tender Love
-Note: Parts written in normal font were written by SilverKia. Parts written in bold font were written by Iditarod.
In the early morning light, all was quiet and still in Nome. That was just the way Kale liked it nowadays...free of other dogs to have to communicate with. Normally he took pleasure in enjoying the sounds and smells of the little town as he took his customary stroll, even if he was a little shy. But now that Amore was gone...it just didn't seem worth it.
Just don't think about her, he reprimanded himself. She's with...with Teirm now, so don't...
Just the thought of Amore made his heart swell with anger and pain. How stupid was he to think she'd ever even consider being his mate? He growled to himself, "You moron.."
Nearby, the town was slowly but surely waking up. Curtains were thrown back and lamps lighted, but outside was one solitary dog, prowling around the trash cans. Tipping one cautiously at an angle, she found it empty. Snorting with barely concealed disappointment, the weiarmaraner-husky crossbreed turned away...and found herself face-to-face with the last dogs she ever wanted to see.
"Why, hello, KC," sneered a malevolent voice.
Kale turned the corner, muttering angry words at himself. He heard voices and froze. Amore was sitting with Teirm, only a few feet ahead of him. His heart swelled, not wanting to face her, he ducked into a alley. Taking slow breaths, he tried to calm himself.
"Why, hello, KC."
Kale froze. He didn't recognize the name, or the voice, but the voice sounded vicious. Cautiously, he peered around the pile of crates he had ducked behind. A light brown female dog was facing several others. He ed his ear to listen better.
"What do YOU want?" KC had meant to say it quietly, to be in control, but it spilled out of her in a flurry of anger and pain. She spat the words as if their taste were too bitter to hold in. "Just...get out of here!"
"And why should we do that?" Kale chanced a peek at the speaker and was quickly forced to control his strong feelings of boiling fury and dislike; though he didn't know why, he was suddenly and completely rooting for the brown-gray female in the fight that he was sure would come. The canine speaking was a large, bedraggled beast with a gray pelt (if you could even call it a pelt, it was so filthy and flea-bitten) and dark socks. The tip of its dark tail twitched with cruel amusement. "We could have plenty of fun right here."
Kale noted with admiration that the female had been taking this with incredible coolness. A wall of ice seemed to shut her off from the dog and his cronies: A small black-and-red female and a black-and-white male. Both looked to be wiry huskies. She must've had to face these filthy dogs before, Kale's thoughts flashed, or else she must be very brave.
"Oh, really?" Kale's head whipped back to where the female's voice had sprang from, and he found that she was much closer to him than before. He waited, body tense, breath bated. "I don't think that's going to hap-"
"AARGH!" Suddenly Kale was howling and propelling himself forward without realizing it; the large dog had leapt straight for the female's throat. As he clawed towards her beating heart, Kale send a chilling blow across the back of his head, sending him spinning. "Who are you?" the brute rasped, with a voice like sandpaper, or flint against stone.
"Leave her alone." The command was coming from Kale's own lips, which, he realized, were drawn back in a leer.
The other sneered furiously and set down a paw, one step closer to the slightly trembling female.
"I said, LEAVE HER BE!" With a start the leader of the group leapt backwards, knocking his comrades over in the process. They, too, scrabbled back, trying not to yelp out loud. Kale tried to gather his jumbled thoughts as he watched them scurry away.
KC stared in amazement at this grey dog who had come out of nowhere and ran off the thug and his goons. "Who is he?" she asked herself. She couldn't help but think he looked familiar. Clearing her throat, she took a step closer. "Um, thanks for that," she said softly.
When the dog turned to look at her, she found herself admiring his dazzling blue eyes. Which she thought was rare in border collies, which he looked like. "I'm KC."
"I-I'm Kale," stammered Kale, noticing her admiration. "Would-would you like me to get you out of here? It's dangerous." He blushed.
"Well, okay...Kale." KC's voice was slow and gentle. Even though she seemed in a hurry to leave the area, she had a way of going that indicated she had all the time in the world. She began to walk, and Kale hurried to keep pace, trying to ignore her curious glances, directed mainly at his luminous azure eyes.
"So...tell me a little about yourself," she said after a time.
"I, uh, well." Kale stumbled over his words. He took a small breath to calm himself. "Well, I come from Colorado."
"Oh?" KC seemed interested, so he kept going.
"Mhm, my parents where part of a Border collie breeding farm. They were the owner's favorite pair, so he kept them in the house a lot. I was born in their first litter and the owner was pleased with me and my siblings. He liked me a lot, so he kept me around for a year before giving me to his friend's daughter for her birthday."
He froze. Amore was walking their way. Teirm was no longer with her and she was with her instead.
"Hello." KC, either ignoring the sudden tension between Kale and Amore or simply not noticing it, flashed a smile at the attractive daughter of Balto and Jenna.
"Hi...?" Amore shot the pair a curious glance, first at Kale and then more surreptitiously at his companion. "I...haven't seen you around here."
"I, uh..." Suddenly KC seemed awkward, for the first time that Kale had ever seen her. "...I don't get around this side of town much."
"Ah, well...could I speak to you for a moment?" The sudden outburst was directed at Kale, KC could see that. She stepped aside, looking expectantly at Kale. Glancing at KC out of the corner of his eye, he nodded.
"Good." Amore pulled him over several yards away and began muttering to him. The Border collie looked so edgy that KC knew something was up. In spite of herself, she scooted closer, unnoticed.
"-Look, Kale, I didn't mean to hurt you, you know that-"
"-I don't want to talk about it-"
"I just wanted you to know-"
"I said I DON'T want to talk about it!" Kale burst out, not really caring how the words came out. With a great effort he bottled his anger and tucked it away. He couldn't face it, not now, probably not ever.
Amore sighed. "Kale, please." Kale glared at her. "I don't care." His words were icy and hard. Amore was hurt. "Kale..." Kale didn't let her finish. He turned and ran.
Amore sighed heavily. "Excuse me." Amore whirled around. She had forgotten about the brown female. "I'm sorry, but, how do you know him?" KC asked. Amore glanced down, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "He, sort of had a crush on me." she said softly.
KC nodded slowly. "But you didn't feel that way about him did you?" Amore shook her head. "No. I didn't."
"I don't think it's your fault," KC said quietly.
Amore only nodded gratefully, staring off into space.
"I think I'll go after him," stated the gray-brown dog, smiling faintly at the red wolfdog by way of good-bye.
"'Bye," murmured Amore, and as the other trotted away, she added, "and good luck."
Kale was feelng rather savage when he spotted KC ambling towards him over the dunes of the beach. He opened his mouth to shout, but when he saw her flinch a little, all his destructive thoughts melted. He heaved a sigh and sat down on the damp sand, glancing at her and noting for the first time that she had lovely eyes--blue, like his, but of a more silvery hue. They became larger and larger as she approached, and he thought that he needed to tear himself away from them so she wouldn't think that he...so short a time...Amore's hurt was still too fresh in his mind...
"I know." The simple words coming from KC's mouth washed over him with a tone of understanding, bringing him back to the present. "I know you're hurt. I'm sorry."
"Never mind." Kale tore himself away from her gaze and stood up. "I'm going home." He padded a few steps away, then turned back as he was struck by a thought. "I...don't know where you live. D'you want me to take you home?"
KC nodded slowly after a second's hesitation. "That would be wonderful," she murmured.
After Kale had escorted KC to a small but tidy house on the edge of town, he wandered home, thinking about Amore...and KC. He knew it wasn't the last time he would see either of them.
KC stared after Kale until he disappeared around the bend. She felt sorry for him, having his heart broken, but there was something else about him she couldn't figure out.
"I wish I could help him," she murmured to herself.
Kale's paws crunched the snow beneath his paws as he headed home. His head felt heavy as he walked up the porch steps to his house. He didn't know why, but his heart felt torn. A crunch from behind him made him wheel around.
His eyes scanned around, but he saw nothing. He suddenly felt alert and uneasy. Something was wrong.
"Who's there?" he called out.
No one answered. He shifted uneasily. Slowly, he made his way down the porch steps. His ears swiveled, listening for
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