The characters Taya and Deema are © by me and are not to be used without my permission. The rest are © by Universal Studios.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Tell mom... I finally found my home," Aleu said, stepping to the edge of the ice block, tears forming in her eyes.

She took a last look at her father and Nava before diving into the cold water.  She knew she would miss her father and mother along with her five siblings.  Aleu glaned back at her father and saw him looking back at her.  The young wolf/dog turned back toward the wolf clan-- her wolf clan, now.

As Aleu got closer, she felt a pang of guilt.  She would never see her family again.  Her memories of the things they did together as small pups-- things she had been trying to forget-- flooded back to her.

*                    *                    *

"Let's go play!" Aleu barked to her siblings.

"Aleu, we're tired.  Go back to sleep."

She looked out of the shed seeing the adventures that awaited them.  The young pup looked up into the dark sky waiting impatiently for the sun to raise so they could play together under its warm rays.

Jenna stirred, causing Aleu to jump.  "Mom," she said seriously, "I want to play."

"Go back to sleep dear.  It will be time to play soon enough," her mother told her without opening her eyes.

Aleu sighed and walked over to her brother Kodi.  Laying down next to him, she gently pushed her muzzle into his side.  Kodi was the sibling she was closest to by far.  They did everything together and she liked it.  Soon she drifted off to sleep.

"Aleu," a voice called, "wake up."

The young pup snapped her eyes open to see Kodi's muzzle just inches from her face.  She jumped to her paws, smiling.

"Well look who slept in," Saba, one of Aleu's sisters, laughed.  "And you were yelling at us for sleeping last night."

Aleu laughed, too, and licked her sister's ear.  "It's not my fault," she said, smiling at them all.  "Let's go play."

All the pups charged out of the shed barking happily with Aleu in the lead.  The six of them ran to the top of a nearby snowy hill and pounced at one another, their tails wagging the entire time.

"What are you all doing?" Jenna's voice rang out.

Aleu lowered her tail.  "We only came out to play mom."

The female husky let out a low warning growl.  "You all ran off out here withough me.  What would you have done if one of you got hurt?!"

The pups looked from one another with their tails held low.  They all knew they should have waited for Jenna, but not one of them spoke up.

"Can we stay out here, though, mother?" Kodi finally asked.

Jenna sighed.  "I guess you six do need to get out some of that energy somehow, don't you?"  She sighed again, glancing at all six of her pups who were now looking up to her with hopeful eyes.  "Oh, all right."

"Thank you mother!" the pups all cried in unison, running up to lick their mother.

Jenna smiled and nuzzled them all in return.  "Now you all go play."

The pups did not need further prodding from their mother.  They all scampered off in pairs:  Aleu and Kodi, Saba and Dingo, and Taya and Deema.  Jenna smiled again as she watched her young pups play as she remembered playing with her two siblings.

"Bet I can beat you to that tree over there!" Aleu teased her brother.

Kodi looked around and spotted the old tree.  It was huge with a large trunk and just fifty yards away from where he and his sister were standing.

"I bet I can beat you," he told her laughing.

Aleu laughed.  She knew she could beat her brother.  "On the count of three," she told him, smiling.

Kodi nodded.

"One."

The two pups croutched down, ready to run.

"Two."

Kodi dug his claws into the dirt flexing his hind legs.

"Three!"

The two siblings dashed off towards the tree.  Aleu took the lead within a few moments.  Looking behind her, she saw sadness on Kodi's face about to lose another race.  Aleu looked ahead and smiled, but instead of speading up, she started to slow down.

"Come on Kodi!" she barked.  "You can do it!"

The red husky pup looked at his sister with a big smile.  He started to run a little faster and soon caught up to Aleu. 

"I can do it," Kodi said to himself quietly.  "I can really do it."

Kodi started to pull ahead of his sister more, joy spreading across his face.  Soon the two pups came to the tree, Kodi still ahead.

"You did it!" Aleu cried, leaping on her brother.  "You won!"

Kodi smiled, panting.  "I did, didn't I?"

The two laughed and went back where the other pups where.

"Hey Aleu," Taya, the white muzzeled pup, called.

Aleu dropped her ears a little and walked over to her sister.  "What do you want know?" she asked.

Taya laughed.  "I think that was very nice."  She smiled looking over at Kodi.  "Heck, that was probably the best thing you've ever done."

Aleu smiled and nudged Taya a bit.  "Thanks sis," she said, wagging her tail a little.

Taya nodded and Aleu walked back over to her brother.  She laughed as she pounced on his tail.

Kodi laughed.  "What was that for?"

Aleu smiled.  "You're my brother.  It's my job to do that to you."

The two siblings laughed, rolling around in the snow.  Aleu stood up, snow falling down her muzzle.  Kodi laughed and flung more snow at her using his paw.  The two ran around until they both collapsed with laughter.

"Hey guys!" Saba called, "Mom said it's time to get home!"

Aleu and Kodi exchanged glances.

Kodi nodded with a slight grin.  "I'll race you there."

She laughed.  "It shouldn't be any other way."

*                    *                    *

Aleu looked up.  She was finally to her clan.  A few of the wolves came to assist her in getting on the ice block.  Turning to face her father, she let out a long howl, her new clan joining in.  The new leader let a single tear fall, wishing she could see her family one last time.

I'll never forget any of you, she thought.

The young wolf/dog turned toward their destination.  Aleu was now starting new.

 

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