Across the frozen plains of Alaska, a single sled team moved across the land at an unbelievable speed.
    At the same time, in a human developement known as Nome, a wolf-dog was being taught to hunt by his grandchildren.
    A silver wolf in a cave north of the town had a visitor. A grey and brown wolf with strange red markings sat in front of the silver wolf.
    On the sled team, the lead dog was doing most of the work. The other dogs were barely keeping up.
    Aleu, thought the dog,Since we have some time, why don't you tell me about yourself? Like, what did you do while you were gone, and who was your mate?
    The dog could feel the other presence in her mind, and she knew it wasn't going to leave soon. This particular dog was the victim of a dual conscienceness in one body. One of the beings was actually this dog, the one that was supposed to be in that body. The other was a guest, a visitor from another body. They were sisters, but not littermates.
    Still, the guest conscienceness, Aleu, didn't say anything. She had been silent for some time, almost all day. That was a long time to go without a thought. The home conscienceness, Susan, felt a strong feeling of sadness wash over her. It was coming from Aleu.
    Or not. That's all right, too.
**********
    "Sira, Kodi, how long do I have to do this?" Balto complained. He really wished he hadn't agreed when Aleu had asked him to do whatever Kodi and Sira, Aleu's children, asked. They had made sure to make him miserable for the past two days.
    Sira glanced up from whatever she and Kodi were doing. "Until you learn patience. Keep at it Grandpa."
    The two yearlings had Balto staring at a very boring scene: the side of his boat. This was supposed to be some sort of hunting exersize, but Balto couldn't see how this would make him a better hunter. He also didn't know why he needed to know how to hunt.
**********
    "Storm, I come to you with the understanding that you wish to see me." Blaze said, bowing. He was smokey grey and brown, with several flame-shaped red spots on his back and legs.
    "You understand correctly. As you know, I am your Alpha. I wish to stay Alpha, so I need you to do me a favor. I have a meeting you the other packs' Alphas today."
    Blaze sat forward in anticipation. Was she asking him to watch the pack while she went to her meeting?
    "I need you to attend with me, and make sure the Alphas never return to their respective packs."
    Blaze's heart sank. "What do you mean?"
    Storm, a wolf with a silvery coat, looked at him. "I think you know what I mean."
    Blaze gulped. "I'm afraid I do."
*********
    Kodiak looked ahead. He hoped that nothing bad would happen with his sisters in the lead.
    He had caused a crash while in the lead, and now his younger sister and an inexperienced wild sister, also his, were leading at an incredible rate. They had been two days early for their last stop, but had started hours late.
    The musher called for them to stop. The sun was going down. The musher unhooked the main lines from each dog.
    Kodiak crawled over to his sisters. "Okay, I don't know where or when you guys learned to run that fast, but don't. You're making us look bad."
    Kodiak's sisters were actually two in one body, at least for the time being. They let themselves be called Susan, though they were really Susan and Aleu, tame mail runner, and wild wolf Alpha.
    "We don't know how we run so fast, so we cannot stop it." Kodiak winced at his sisters's dual voices, each belonging to one of them.
    "Is there any possible way you can choose one voice or the other, rather than using both at the same time?"
    "We cannot. We have tried. We can also not refer to ourselves as one being, we have tried."
    Kodiak glanced around, and saw Dusty listening to the whole conversation from between the roots of a tree. "'You guys'? 'We' I knew something was up with her! Tell me! Who else is in there?" She tapped on Susan's head with her paw while Susan watched with apparent amusement.
    Kodiak hung his head. "I guess I'll tell the team."
    Susan said,"They already know. We have just told them."
    Kodiak looked up in surprise. One of Susan's eyes was just dimming from a yellow glow. Still, after the glow was gone, a yellow tint remained on the white.
    "Your eye! It turned yellow..."
**********
    Balto stretched his sore muscels. Sira and Kodi had had him doing stretches for hours on end, then made him sit perfectly still until he cramped up.
    Then, Balto heard the last thing he wanted to hear, and that wasn't more stretches.
    It was a female voice, seemingly out of nowhere, saying,"Your fears."
    "Aw, great. Just what I needed. The voices again." Balto thought hard. What animal was supposed to represent his fears.
    Remembering, Balto got a chill down his spine. Wolverines. He spun to see if he could spot the dangerous intruders. He spotted them, watching him from the entrance to the small ship's cabin.
    "So, I see you've found your daughtor. Or have you? We will see, in a few days' time. Beware the inner knowing." The three wolverines vanished.
    Balto found that he was no longer sore. "What happened? The aches are gone, and I feel...stronger."
    Worried, Balto went to the shore to look out to sea. As soon as his paws touched the sand, the water turned glassy smooth.
    Balto looked at his paws. Something was different...the colors! They were changing!
    Balto ran to the water to see his reflection. What he saw shook him to his very core. His face had the same basic size and structure, but one half was wolf- and the other, dog.
*********
    Kodiak panted as the team came to a stop. Nome, sweet Nome. The entire team exept Susan colapsed. The run was too much to do in less than a week. They had just finished running it in just over two days.
    That morning, Dusty had discovered Susan sitting outside her snow-den rather than sleeping inside. This was unusual, since Dusty always got out first.
    Susan had been sitting out in the cold, staring straight up at the sky. When Dusty got closer, she saw that Susan's eyes were, in fact, closed as if in sleep.
    Despite her appearance, Susan had started talking to her. Using only Aleu's voice, she had said,"Well, you're up early."
    Kodiak wondered how she had done that. Susan wasn't willing to say. Nobody wanted to press her.
**********
    Kodi and Sira bent over Balto. "I guess we worked him too hard. He's sleeping pretty heavy."
    Sira nodded. "Kind of makes you wonder why he keeps twitching like that."
    Kodi and Sira walked away, leaving their grandfather where he slept. "He's probably just dreaming."