desperately tried to get back to him.

She suddenly fell to the floor in tears. One of the dogs grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and proceeded to drag her unceremoniously as she continued to sob.

Balto stamped one of his paws, stood up, and growled. “Don’t you dare harm her!”

“Balto! Sit back down or you will be held in contempt!” Henry yelled near the top of his lungs.

It took Balto most of his willpower, but he was able to regain his composure and sit. After all, he had become very protective of Jenna since their last ordeal, and he couldn’t stand to see her being treated the way she was. The crowd watched, awestruck at this display. But Henry quickly grabbed their attention again.

“Now that that is settled. Doc, would you please come with me? You know the residents better than I do, and I want to make the right decision.”

The St. Bernard lifted his head from the crowd and began to walk through them, his old, tired eyes shifting between each dog as he passed. He walked away with Henry silently. The assembly began buzzing as soon as the two had left. Most were still in complete shock of the whole entire thing. Balto watched on with a sense of dread. He knew that this was going to end horribly. After a few minutes, the two returned, and Doc stepped forward. He glanced back at Balto sympathetically before turning back to the assembly.

“This Council finds the defendant, Balto…” Doc paused and tried with all his might to not show a single emotion. “Guilty with all three counts of murder. The sentence… Banishment… He has ten minutes after this meeting ends to leave town, and he is to never return under any circumstances. If he is found anywhere in town, he is to be…” Doc took in a heavy breath and swallowed quietly, “…Exterminated… Also. If any dog is seen leaving, or coming to his boat, they will be punished severely. And on another note.. Jenna and Kodi are to be placed under house arrest for one week for disturbing the peace… This meeting has come to a close.”

The crowd began to exit the boiler room, most in silence and grief. Doc walked over to Balto and sighed.

“I’m so sorry Balto. I didn’t want it to end like this, but I had little to no choice with this, since Henry is now the official judge. I’ll try and pull strings for you to-”

“Doc.. You don’t have to do anything for me. I just want you to help Jenna. It’ll be hard, but I can get by. Could you do my one favor though?”

“Anything.”

“Could you tell my kids, and Jenna, that I love them with all my heart at least once a day? I don’t want them to ever forget that.”

“I will. Every day that I am able.”

Balto nodded as he began to walk out. Even though he tried, he found it difficult to hold back his tears. After today, he would never be able to see his loved ones again. It felt like his heart had just been ripped clean from his chest. The gathering tears began to blur his vision as he stumbled from the door. Jenna had been waiting outside along with Kodi and Saba, and she frowned when she saw how Balto looked.

“Balto.. What did they say? What’s going to happen.”

Balto gulped and blinked away the tears. “I’m… banished Jenna… I-I’m never allowed to see you or the kids again… You and Kodi are also under house arrest.”

“No… No… You must be joking. You have to be!” she cried pleadingly.

“Please Dad, say it ain’t so,” Kodi said.

Balto shut his eyes tightly and shook his head, and Jenna immediately broke down crying. Tears streamed down her face as she moved closer to Balto and cried into his chest. His own breaths came out ragged as he felt the stinging sensation in his eyes. Saba and Kodi turned away, both trying to hide their own hurt. Balto nuzzled Jenna tenderly and they tried to get as close to each other as they could for what little time they had left. A frigid, bitter wind blew around them, freezing their tears to their faces. Their sobs echoed through the near empty streets. Doc exited from the boiler room and saw the four.

“Balto.. I’m really sorry to say, and I truly am, but you’re time is up. They can walk with you to the edge of town, but you must leave. I… I wish you the best of luck… Good night.”

Doc walked away from them, shaking his head sadly. The walk to the outskirts of town seemed so long, yet somehow, not long enough. The setting moon looked down upon them, before covering itself with a cloud. The two nuzzled each other. Balto looked into Jenna’s glassy eyes.

“Please Balto. I could hide you at home. That way we wouldn’t have to be apart.”

Balto shook his head from side to side. “You know that wouldn’t work Jen. They’d find me, and you would get in some series trouble. I couldn’t live with myself if I did that to you.”

He turned away from Jenna and his two children. He began to walk away before stealing one last look at them.

“Just, be careful you guys. And don’t forget, I love each and every one of you dearly, and I’ll be thinking of you every day.”

Kodi and Saba ran up and held Jenna up as Balto ran off. They watched him disappear into the darkness.

“Don’t… Don’t worry Ma. We-We’ll think of something,” Saba stammered as she and her brother tried to hold themselves together.

Their mother looked up at each of them, pain and despair in her eyes. Her children began to lead her back home, their paws shattering the snowflakes below them. Crushing them into nothingness…

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Star moaned as he tossed and turned until finally awakening. His head pounded dully over and over again, just like it had been all of yesterday and last night. He had barely gotten a wink of sleep because of this pain. It had never let up, and it hurt just to even think about how much pain he was in. He kept his eyes closed shut tightly even as he felt the presence of another figure move up to him. At first, the words that were spoken to him were drowned out by the thumping of his own mind, but eventually he could make sense of them.

“How about now? Can you hear me now?” Star nodded his head slowly. “Good… We’re going on a little trip. All four of us. Here, let me help you up.” Hal began to lift the small dog up before ‘accidentally’ knocking him back to the ground. “Silly Pup. You simply must learn to use your legs,” he chuckled quietly.

Star grunted as he opened his eyes weakly. His vision was speckled with different colors and blurred together in one grand mess. Star’s legs trembled along with the rest of his body as he managed to stand and right himself. He could hear Hal walk over to another dog.

“Arise Nikki.” Star’s vision finally came into focus and he saw Hal lift a paw over Nikki’s head. “I said get up!”

Nikki rolled over and growled. “Don’ chu dare think ‘a hittin’ me.”

“And if I do?” Hal asked teasingly.

“I’ll break yer ankles and snap yer neck.”

Hal laughed and patted Nikki on the head. “Excellent! I thought that you, the brute, would be the first under my control.”

“Who says you have any control over me?”

“No one Pup. But you seem to be the more violent one, which makes it much, much easier to drive you over the edge,” he snickered.

And with that, he left the chow, and headed over to Kaltag. Without warning, he gave a sudden bang to the top of Kaltag’s skull. He awoke with a howl of pain and he grabbed his head instantly.

“That’s for trying to betray me my dear Pup. Next time we won’t try and pull the wool over Hal’s eyes, will we?”

Kaltag shook his head furiously as he began to roll around, gnashing his teeth together. Hal watched on with a silly grin on his muzzle.

“Ooh, Nikki, it looks like you may have a little competition.” Hal chortled. “But now that all of you are awake, it’s time to give you the agenda for today. After I give you a little nourishment, you three are heading into town. I overheard that the mail run will start today, so as to seem normal, you three will be pulling that sled. Of course, I will be with you the whole trip to White Mountain, you just won’t see me. If a single one of you mentions me, then I will surely be in earshot to hear it, and I will make you hurt so much that this will seem like a picnic.” Hal sneered at them. “And that’s pretty much it.”

He walked over to a small pile of meat he had swiped from the butcher’s meat locker and began to toss pieces to the other dogs. He, himself, began to hungrily rip through his tender steak. Hal looked up for a second and saw the other three just staring at their food.

“Eat up my pups, because you don’t know when you’ll be eating again,” he laughed before he returned to his own meal.

~-~-

The trio walked down the now busy street, each showing concern and discomfort. Star was the first to see the sled, and he jogged to it clumsily, nearly tripping a few times. The other dogs had already been strapped in, and Mr. Simpson had been tapping his foot impatiently. When the musher finally saw his last three dogs come to the sled, he quickly strapped them in. While he walked back to his place, he lifted the mail sack, surprised by how heavy it seemed, and dropped it onto the sled. As soon as he was ready to go, he called out the special command, and the dogs immediately began to run. When the reached the outskirts of town, Saba, who was still being used as a replacement, noticed something. Nikki, Kaltag, and Star weren’t looking the best, almost as if they could collapse at any moment.

“Hey! You three doing alright!?” she called.

Kaltag looked back at her and his eyes fluttered. “Maybe… We’ll be okay though.”

Somehow, she didn’t seem so sure about that.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Lilith exited her home a few hours after taking her medication, and she walked down the street. A pleasant wind ruffled her fur gently as she disappeared into another building. Immediately after she did so, she was being jumped on by the three pups. She laid down on the cool floor and sighed happily as they began to chew on her tail that whisked about.

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