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Fang and Sally looked to one another, then back to Balto. "We'll stay here with you, if it's all the same," he explained, thinking things out. "Strength in numbers."

Sally nodded. "Besides," she said, lifting her tail and taking her warning stance. "I'll be here," she said, relaxing. "A grizzly will go running if it gets a face full of musk, I have a feeling you'll be a lot safer with me here than we'll be at the mill."

"I'll just go to Rosie's, I'll be safe there," said Jenna, nuzzling her mate. She was actually happier to have Sally and Fang staying with Balto, he'd be safer with them. Plus, she didn't doubt that Sally could send most predators running for the hills with a few blasts of her musk. "But yes, let's go check on Moris, that's the important thing, see if he's heard anything about Kodi."

Fang yawned and curled up with his mother. "I hope you hear something about Kodi, Balto," he said, looking up to his teacher.

-----------------

"You do realize there's a vitally needed vain running through where I'm treating to tear you open, right?" asked Dusty. "Sure, your buddies would probably get to us, but you'd bleed out before they could do anything," she warned, just in cast he tried something. She looked up, seeing a large pile of snow on a roof nearby, directly over the majority of the dogs. She subtlely motioned to Kodi, who had a just the right sized rock at his feet, to throw it at the snow so it fell on the dogs and they could get out of here.

"But we'll just leave and you do... whatever the heck it is you do around here, and no one gets hurt. And word to the wise, in the future, mark your stupid territory so someone doesn't get into it!" she barked, she didn't trust this mutt to just let them go. She slowly jumpped back, taking her paw off him, though she knew he'd still be in too much pain to move for a bit. "If they try anything, hit the snow on that roof with the rock and we can get out of here," she whispered to Kodi. She started for the exit, staying close to Kodi.

“Yeah, so do I.” Balto replied to Fang. He walked over to Boris, who impatiently looking back and forth between Balto and the glowing lights of Nome in the distance. “I’ll be back, soon OK?” He gestured to Jenna, motioning to the city to the left of the boat. “Shall we?”

With that, the three began ambling towards town. Boris, instead of waddling alongside Balto as he usually did, slowly began inching his way in front of the other two, his hurry made apparent. Balto noticed this, but didn’t say anything. Despite the bird’s sometimes off-kilter attitude, Balto didn’t feel like antagonizing him further when Boris was already stressed.

Not too long after, and with nary a trace of a monster to be found, the trio found themselves basking under a warmly lit lamppost, one of many dotting the main road that held their destination.

“Looks like Fang and Sally aren’t the only ones calling it a night.” Boris observed. It was true; many of the lights were out in the homes outlying the road. Glowing multi-colored lights could be seen softly filtering through several windows, a sure sign of the holiday decorations within.

“It’s almost Christmas. It doesn’t really feel like it, does it?” Balto said aloud. He couldn’t speak for Jenna or Boris, but the past couple of days had been so hectic, celebrating the holidays was one of the last things on his mind.

Boris, however, had something else in mind. “Tck! Christmas…” he grumbled.

“Not a fan of the yuletide season, Boris?” Balto asked curiously, as they passed by Raleigh’s Ropesmith, which, from the sight of errant garbage caught in a snowdrift in front of the alleyway, still had a mess behind the store from earlier.

“I’ve already told you, Balto. It makes no sense! Some fat, unshaven man climbing through chimneys to put things in peoples’ houses? It sounds like a call to the People’s Militsiya is in order, not giving out baked goods and milk! H-How do humans come up with this stuff?” Boris sputtered, trying to comprehend the concept of one of the more popular aspects of holiday lore.

“Is it any wonder that there aren’t any more geese around Nome this time of year?” Balto commented slyly as he stopped in front of the Communications Office. Boris shot him a dirty look.

Balto issued a quiet bark to the window. The lights were still on, so that was a good sign. Balto could hear several small barks, followed by the rapid clicking of paws as they approached the door. A moment later, Morse’s head popped through the flap.

“Hello? Hey Balto! Jenna.” He added.

“How’s it going Morse?” Balto asked politely.

“Can’t complain, can’t complain. What can I help you with?” Morse asked innocuously.

Balto tilted his head, confused. “Umm… I was here earlier, remember?”

“What? Oh yes, that’s right! You know that thing I told you about buying stocks earlier today? Scratch that, that was some bad information. Really bad information.” Boris snickered behind Balto.

“Riiight…” Balto nodded in the affirmative slowly, not quite sure what Morse was talking about. “Anything come in about Kodi?”

Morse looked upwards, a strained expression on his face as he lost himself deep in thought. “Kodi… Kodi… not clicking any keys, sorry.”

Frustratingly, nerves already frayed from the day filled with worry, Balto asked again, pleading urgently.
“Nothing? Nothing about Kodi, or White Mountain-”

“White Mountain!” Morse interrupted. “Now you’re speaking my language. We got a call in about two hours ago, the postal sled team arrived safely!”

Balto sat backwards, the relief in his sigh palpable. “That’s good. And are they-”

“Mr. Simpson also wished to relay that the postal sled team would be staying in White Mountain for the evening, to return tomorrow.” Morse finished, oblivious to Balto’s line of questioning.

“I was just going to ask that, thanks.” Balto said gratefully, albeit somewhat irritably.

“That’s everything from White Mountain after you dropped by earlier today. Is there anything else?” Morse asked, rubbing the side of his face against the wooden frame of the opening in the door.

“That’s all I wanted to know. Thanks again, Morse.” Balto answered.

“Anytime, Balto, anytime! Come back again soon, you hear?” Morse called back to them, pulling his head through the door, eager to escape from the chill in the air.

Balto, Boris and Jenna all stood on the deck, the comforting yellow glow of the offices lamp in the window illuminating them. Balto’s expression looked relieved, yet it was evident there was something still bothering him.

“That’s good to hear. Of course, once I - once I can speak with him again, that’ll be better.” He said absentmindedly. He looked over at Jenna, eyes shining with the reflection from the lamp. “How about you, Jenna? Are you about ready to get home? I’m sure Rosy and her family are worried about you too.”

Boris, cantankerous as ever, interrupted Jenna before she could get a word in edgewise. “Balto, what about me?”

With a wry smile, Balto told him “You’ll like this Boris, another human tradition. ‘Ladies First’.”

With a groan, Boris looked downward, feathered wing covering his face, defeated.


-----------------------------------

Kodi acknowledged Dusty’s plan with a very subtle nod, eyes quickly shifting to the rock at his feet before returning to her. He hoped that this ordeal would finally be over, as the two began to walk towards the entrance, or in their case, their exit.

“I won’t forget this. Thank goodness for mercy.” The Dog said behind them, still unable or unwilling to move.

A large malamute was staunchly sitting in front of the gap, and didn’t appear to be moving.

“If you’ll just excuse-hey!” Kodi tried to squeeze past the dog blocking his path, but was met with a throaty growl, and not a budge from the other dog. “Let us go! We let him go!” Kodi pointed backwards with his left paw to their leader, still lying on his back. “You owe us this, come on!” he pled.

The Dog groped upwards with his paw, as if trying to grasp the stars that filled the night sky. “I owe you something alright, Balto junior.” He brought his paw down to his chest, and slowly, gingerly, began to turn onto his stomach. “You could have killed me, if I recall.”

Flustered, Kodi repeated. “But we let you go, we let you live! Just let us go, and we can put this behind us! We’ll stay away from your territory, if you just let us go!”

Ignoring Kodi’s reasoning, The Dog instead singled out just a line from Kodi’s panicked putburst. “You let me live BECAUSE you could have killed me. I’d go so far to say as though you willfully tried to.” He stated, his eyes fixed on Dusty, a rage so unlike anything Kodi had seen before. Even when his father had exploded at him, he wasn’t afraid for his (or more importantly, Dusty’s) life like he was now.

“Tried- Tried to?” Kodi stuttered, his fear oozing out of his speech. “No! That’s not right, we were defending-”

The Dog snapped back to Kodi, eyes burning. “Defending yourselves? You jumped at me first, mutt. We didn’t strike first, YOU did. Wearing your heart on your fur for this dog like that… Look at you now, shaking in your paws. You can’t keep your emotions in check at all, can you?” He guffawed. “Make no mistake, you tried to kill me. And now, I – WE – will return the favor.”

He slowly lifted himself off of the ground, cackling. “Miss Dusty, I know another vein that’s vital too; the jugular. Right on your pretty little neck. I won’t make the mistake of showing mercy, good riddance to it.”

“Hyaaaa!” Kodi lunged to the right, surprising the leader by not leaping right at him. Instead, Kodi aimed for the rock that Dusty had pointed out where had been standing. Unfortunately, Kodi overshot his jump, and cursed his poor timing as he felt the rock graze his paw underneath him. Kodi rotated to the left as he found himself on a collision course with the wall that he had been beat against earlier. Bracing himself for impact, his body rammed into the wooden siding with a loud thud.

Despite missing the rock, Kodi had achieved the same effect. The force of his impact provided enough vibration that chunks of frozen snow and ice lodged from the scaffolding were subsequently dislodged. The Dog, laughing at Kodi for his mistake, suddenly found himself being buried under thick snow made heavier from the semi-frozen ice pieces that had mingled with it.

Kodi had done what he had planned to do, but what now? The malamute with a shocked expression on his face still blocked their egress, and they still appeared to be boxed in. Then, it hit Kodi. He had been boxed in before by their leader’s henchcanines, and the only way he was able to escape was by using the dogs themselves as a platform to jump from. There was a section of wooden fencing to his right that had presumably made up the other opening to the alley before it had been sealed off. It was a ways up, but Kodi didn’t see any other options that were nearly as plausible.

“Dusty! On me!” He cried out as he leapt forward onto the shifting snow mound, the scarred dog who was still reeling from Dusty’s previous endeavor lying underneath. A bit of a shaky jump, but it was enough. Kodi’s upper chest collided with the top of the fence, and he scrambled over it.

The Dog’s mouth filled with snow, he somehow spat “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP STANDING THERE AND DO-ACK!” He was interrupted as Dusty followed suit, using his head as a springboard. Kodi heard a loud thud behind him as Dusty landed the same way he did. He looked behind him, and saw Dusty clambering down into the heaps of snow that had been left untouched for the past two months.

“Are you - Are you okay?” Kodi panted as Dusty made her way to him.

“AFTER THEM! NO! DON’T JUMP OFF ME, GO THROUGH THE FENCE IF YOU HAVE TO!” The hound’s leader shouted.

The rest of the dogs, all larger than Kodi or Dusty, began ramming at the wooden fence. Within only a few seconds, several planks began to splinter until-

“Oh no… Come on, let’s get out of here!” Kodi said frantically. The unused alleyway, fraught with large drifts of snow proved a much more formidable obstruction than Kodi had anticipated. There was a loud crash as the wooden fence gave way, followed by barks and snarls from their pursuers.

Kodi looked left and right as they made it into the street. He hadn’t been on this side of town before; he didn’t know where to go! There were a lot of crevasses between the buildings, and any of them could be a dead end. Kodi wouldn’t always have the luxury of being able to jump off his attackers heads, and this was not a time he wanted to push his luck. On the opposite side of the street, there was a marked trail that appeared to lead out of town, for hikers to peruse at their leisure. The sign advertising it read “White Mountain’s Nordic Trail! See the wilderness with your family!”

“Out here, we’ll lose them in the trees!” Kodi said to Dusty. The two sprinted down the trail out of town as the first of their attackers slid into the street.

“This way! They went this way!” He called out to his cohorts and gave chase immediately after.

“STOP. I SAID STOP!”

The dog giving chase stumbled to a stop reluctantly, losing his balance and falling forward. “They went this way Boss, we can catch ‘em!” He argued.

The leader stepped forward from the alley, the snow covering his back falling off in sheets.

“We won’t need to. Let them run out there. It saves us the trouble.” He said coldly. “Let’s go back to our base. Our real one, not the shanty we were just in.”

The chaser sat up and grumbled as he walked past the sign. His tail brushed the wooden post, filing off a layer of snow.

Jenna looked to Boris. "Christmas isn't JUST about Santa Claus delievering presents, Boris," she replied to him. "It's a lot more than that, it's about people coming together, family and friends coming together for the holiday. Humans who follow a certain religion also celebrate the birth of their savior on Christmas. So to humans, it means a great deal, even if us animals don't quite understand," she said, having spent a great deal of time with Rosie and her family on Christmas. "And are you saying you didn't like that bird treat Rosie made you last Christmas?" she stated, knowing the opposite was true.

She turned to Balto and nuzzled him. "I'm glad Kodi is safe and sound in White Mountain, that's makes me feel calmer too," she stated, happy to see her mate calmed even a little bit. She gave him a nod. "Yes, I'd love to get to Rosie, they're probably getting the Christmas tree set up and I would like to be there for that I suppose... What are you going to do for Christmas, Balto?"

------------

A low pitched snarl would be heard by the dogs, along with the sounds of something circling them in the surroundings.

-------------

Dusty panted heavily, following Kodi closely as she could. "What a jerk, I spared that mutt and there he goes, I wish I'd fixed him when I had the chance, if they were going to do that anyway, we should've let them have a "parting gift"," she growled lowly, looking over to Kodi as they ran. "Hey, I don't hear them anymore, I think we lost them," she said, looking back and seeing nothing. "Yeah, it looks like we're safe now-" she said, not watching where she was going and tripping, going face first into a hole. She gave a sharp yelp and pulled out quickly, yelping loudly, her nose full of Porcupine quils.

Boris muttered underneath his breath, but Balto didn’t hesitate to answer Jenna’s question.

“Just being together with friends and family is the important thing about the holidays with me. That includes you, Boris.” Balto added at the bird’s distinctly displeased irritation.

“Arghh… I already spend too much time with you as it is! Why humans need a specific date to do it is beyond me.” Boris humbugged.

“It’s a tradition, Boris.” Balto echoed Jenna. “Besides, you might get another treat from Rosy, remember? You loved that last year.”

Boris shrugged as they sauntered past a pile of wood covered in a light blue tarp, nearing their target. “FINE… I’ll be there, whenever or wherever this Christmas thing is.”

The light of the shops passed behind them as they ventured forth towards Rosy and Jenna’s home. “Kodi should be back by tomorrow, just in time for Christmas Eve.” Balto reassured Jenna (and himself). “Is your family still having their Christmas party? I remember it barely happened last year, everything was so busy.” He asked.

Balto had gone the year before, and so did Boris. It was a small gathering, but it didn’t matter to him. The atmosphere itself was worth the hassle. Much to his surprise, Balto was allowed inside of their home with Kodi and Jenna, and got to experience what it was like to live as a normal domesticated dog would, if only for a short time. Balto secretly missed it, but didn’t want to impose. Besides, he enjoyed the freedoms he had, and he was sure Boris would miss him if he wasn’t out there.

“Here’s your stop.” He said. They were in front of Jenna’s home, lights still on, with much commotion commencing inside. They were probably preparing the tree, like Jenna suggested.

------------------------


“Boss, did you hear something?”
“Hmm?” The Dog looked behind him. “No. I didn’t he-”

He then heard it. The growling. It didn’t sound like the two they had just run out of town. He couldn’t tell where it had come from, it sounded like it was right on top of them. He looked up, and saw nothing.

“Alright, alright! Enough of this foolishness! Balto, is that you? Dusty? The tough dog act didn’t work before, it’s not going to work now!” He barked, making his way to the center of the road. “Did you hear me?”

Suddenly, tufts of snow crashed to the ground behind him, accompanied by heavy pattering of paws moving away from up above them.

“I think it’s on the roof!”
“No way, I just heard something over there!”
“Maybe there are two of them?”
“What if it’s three?”
“Can you see anything?”
“No!”

The group of dogs started a panicked chatter amongst themselves, not knowing what to make of the ominous sights and sounds surrounding them.

“SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!” Their leader barked. “Are you their friends?” He called out. “Come to save them? They are already gone, already ran to their deaths in the woods! So why don’t you come on out?” He stopped, listening to the silence around him, whipping his head to try and catch a glimpse of their stalker.

“I said, why don’t you show yourself? Enough of these stupid games, you don’t scare-”

There was a crunch in the snow to his left, on the rooftop above him. He whipped his entire body around, and stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw looming in front of him.


---------------------------


Kodi heard Dusty’s yelp. “Dusty, are you – DUSTY!” He saw the quills that had pierced her nose. “Are you alright?”

Kodi didn’t know how he felt. Obviously, he was concerned for Dusty’s well-being. Ever since they officially started dating, he swore he’d protect her. Three times in one day, he had failed. For that, he was disappointed in himself. They nearly died trying to get away from a bunch of lunatic hounds, and then this happens? Now, Kodi was angry.

“OK, that’s enough. Where are you?”
Despite Dusty just receiving numerous stabs to the nose, Kodi recklessly charged the small opening at the base of tree that Dusty had tripped into.

“I have had it up to here with everything today, and you’re just another in a long line of- huh?” There was no sign of movement in the dark nook. He shifted his head so the moonlight could more easily light the interior, and he saw nothing inside. No prints, no quills, nothing. “Where did it go?”

He poked his nose in the hole, and couldn’t smell anything either. It was like it wasn’t even there, evidence to the contrary by the barbs planted in Dusty’s nose. He looked around the trees, and aside from Dusty’s soft whining, he heard and viewed not a thing.

He felt a peculiar rush of air, and turned his head away from it, coming face to face with Dusty. His anger vanished, and his panic ensued.

“Dusty!? Everything is going to be fine, ok? OK? Here – let me get those out.” Kodi’s wild shaking as he chomped the exposed tip of the quill only served to elicit a sharp yip.

“Oh no… the barbs. We have to get you back to town, maybe Mr. Simpson can help. But what about those dogs? But we can’t stay out here!”

Kodi paced back and forth, losing the argument with himself at every syllable.

He knelt down in desperation. “I’m sorry, Dusty. Sorry I let this happen, and sorry that I don’t know what to do…” The panic left him, and a barrage of disappointment mingled with defeat swiftly replaced it.

Jenna gave a nod. "I'm pretty sure, whatever this creature is, it's in the woods, not the town, so I don't see why they'd change their plans," she replied. She then smiled to Boris. "I'm sure she'll give you one, she knows your Balto's "daddy"," she said with a chuckle.

"Jenna!" called Rosie, in her coat and familar hat, running out and hugging her dog. She then saw Balto, constantly grateful for the dog who saved her life. "Hello, Balto!" she said, giving the hybrid a hug as well. "Oh! I got you something! Wait here!" she said, running into the house. She ran back out with something behind her back. She first looked to Boris. "Boris, marry Christmas to you too!" she said, rolling him a popcorn ball treat, like she had last year. She knew that Boris was a bit less social to humans than Balto was.

Rosie looked to Balto and smiled. "I know you're lonely out there on that old boat, so me and momma made you this!" she said, holding out a stitched together doll of Balto. While not perfect, it was easily identifiable as Balto.

----------------------

Kira towered over the dog and in one quick motion, smashed him with her paw, sending him flying and smacking into a tree. She quickly was on top of him, pressing down on his head with her massive paw. "Hello there," she said, speaking with a Russian accent. "I heard you chasing those two dogs. Heard the things you were saying. I won't be lying, I do not like eating dogs and canines, they're too chewy, but those two. I am needing them around," she said, pressing down harder, but not enough to crush his skull, not yet. Truthfully, however, she hated creatures like these, who'd try to kill a dog and forcebreed his mate for their own amusement. It sickened her.

One of the dogs was brave enough, or foolish enough, to leep at her in defense of his leader, only to find a claw swipe to the face, costing him an eye. Not removing her paw from the leader, she lashed out with her jaws, crushing the foolish dog's throat in one bite, letting him fall limply to the ground.

"Now this is what is going to happen," said the massive tiger, glaring at the terrified dogs, not stopping but to lick blood from her maul. "You are not to be speaking of this, you are not to be bothering those two again. If I find out you have been, I will be paying you all a visit personally," she said, glaring at them as she roughly took the leader and put his head between her paws. "Like this," she said, pressing her paws together with tramendious force, trying to crush the scarred dog's skull.

------------------

Dusty looked to him, trying not to react to the horrible pain in her nose from the quills. "Kodi, it's alright, you got me away from those dogs," she stated. "And this was all my fault for not paying attention to where I was going, there's nothing more you could've done. If I'd gone to that clearing alone, I'd... Well I'd rather not talk about what they'd have done to me. So you helpped me a lot," she said, nuzzling him, but wincing when one of the quills twisted in the process, causing a jolt of fresh pain. "But what are we going to do about these stupid quills?"

"Perhaps I can help," said a kind, compassionate voice. Behind the two, having snuck up without any sound, was a female dog, primarally grey with a white under belly. However, close examination would shot several wolf traits, including slightly larger paws and rougher fur, but overall, she looked like a dog. She was quite beautiful.

Dusty blinked in surprise. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sable," said the female, walking over. "I heard yelpping and came to check it out. I can see why now, run in with a porcupine?"

Boris stuck his head up at the offering, offering resistance to the glazed ball that lay at his feet.

“Humph. A Christmas gift? You won’t tempt me so easily!” With a soft kick, he pushed it away from him, a kernel sticking to him in the process.

Balto, on the other hand, was immensely grateful for Rosy’s thoughtfulness. He licked her face enthusiastically, and barked excitedly. He couldn’t tell her so, but he wanted to make sure that he meant to say “Thank you!”.

After he was finished, giving the laughing girl a break, he gently accepted the doll from her hand. “It looks a lot like me, doesn’t it?” He asked Jenna, slightly muffled. The craftwork on it was actually quite sturdy considering the handmade materials and techniques used.

“But, I suppose…” He continued. “We should probably be on our way. Before this miser gets too upset.” He looked at Boris, who was gobbling popcorn pieces as ravenously as he could muster.

“What?” He asked defensively.

Balto shook his head and laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?” His head fit alongside hers as he embraced her in a nuzzle, like two puzzle pieces snugly fitting together. “Have a good evening, Jenna.”

----------------------------------

The scarred dog grunted in resistance to the hefty paws clutching at his skull. His grunts became filled with desperation, and his desperation to panic. His legs flailed, kicked helplessly. There was a soft crack, and then nothing. He stopped moving completely. His legs, hair missing in patches were limp at his side. Blood dripping from his attacker’s mane landed on his mangled countenance.

The other dogs watched horrified as their fearless leader lay before them, rendered inert by the monster with such little regard and effort. The ones at the back began to back up slowly at first, before sloppily bolting away as fast as they could. Heeding the beasts’ demands, they made no barks or sounds, aside from the crunching of the snow beneath their paws. The rest of the dogs followed suit, the broken bodies of their comrades left behind in the street.

---------------------------


“Oh thank goodness you’re here!” Kodi exclaimed. She seemed very friendly, but also had an air of wisdom about her. Kodi wasn’t quick to trust new dogs in new towns, especially considering the greeting the local dogs had just given him, but she appeared to want to help them. Kodi wasn’t about to turn that down.

“Yeah, there was a porcupine.” He started. “Well, there was, but there… wasn’t? I don’t know…” Kodi said, still confused about where it could have gone. As it long as it wasn’t here to antagonize them further, he didn’t care.

“Please, you have to help her! We can’t get them out… I can’t get them out.” He corrected himself. “I don’t want to hurt her, but we can’t go back to town to find out owner. It’s a long story…”

Kodi realized he was probably being most enigmatic and unhelpful, but it really was a long story.
“Is there anything you can do to help? I know I’m asking a lot right now, but…” He couldn’t think of any rational reason why someone they had just met should help two complete strangers out in the woods to such a degree. Hopefully, she would be willing to show mercy to the couple, unlike the wicked leader in town.

Jenna nuzzled Balto back and licked his nose. She looked to Boris, giving a chuckle. "You know Rosie likes you too, Boris," she said, then looked at the little doll, which was quite cute. "That was sweet of her, wasn't it?" she asked with a smile. She look to her owner, nuzzling her lightly. "I'll see you in the morning, Balto," she said with a smile.

Rosie petted Balto on the head. "Momma says that this is a time of year for us to be thankful," she said, hugging him. "I'm thankful for you Balto, thanks for saving me," she said, smiling. She then ran back inside when her mother called her.

"Goodnight, Balto, Goodnight Boris," said Jenna, smiling as she headed inside after her master.

----------------------------------------------------

Kira chuckled lowly. "That's what I thought," she stated, then looked to the two limp canines dead at her paws. "Can't just leave them to rot... That is being a waste of food, in this wilderness, you can't be affording to let food be going to waste," she stated, picking up both bodies, throwing them over her back and heading back into the wilderness.

----------------------------------------------------

Sable walked over, looking Dusty over, gently touching the quills and giving a light tug to see how deep they were. "I see..." she said, giving a look of concern. "Follow me," she said, leading them along.

"Where are you taking us?" asked Dusty, concerned. Like Kodi, she didn't particularally feel like trusting some random dog, but at this point she didn't see many other options.

"My cave," replied the dog. "It's dangerous out here, what with the wild animals, bears, and the like. My cave has some herbs spread around the entrence that repel predators. They won't come into it.

Balto listened to Rosy’s comment, and pawed the ground, slightly embarrassed. Rosy rarely missed an opportunity to thank Balto for saving her life three years ago. Yes, he was glad that she still remembered, but Balto thought that just maybe… she thought too highly of him. Such praise clashed with his modesty, he sometimes felt uncomfortable. It was the same way when Duke came to visit.

“Alright… see you in the morning. I love you.” He said to his mate as him and Boris slipped away into the night.

Boris continued to nosh on his popcorn ball, which had been reduced substantially in size. “Balto the hero, eh? You know, sometimes I think she would marry you if you weren’t already with Jenna.”

“Very funny, Boris.” Balto said, not amused. “How’s your snack?”

“It’s delicious, if I do say so. Maybe you two should get married, she can make these all of the time then!” Boris laughed.

“…I think you need to get some sleep.” Balto replied, mildly concerned.

“Me? Balto, don’t think I didn’t notice you traipsing about today. Your eyes look like they weigh more than I do! You aren’t having those dreams again, are you?” Boris scolded him, as though it were his fault. In a sense, it was, but not how he meant.

“You can’t dream if you don’t sleep. I had a rough night last night, that’s all.” Balto said evasively, wanting desperately to avoid this conversation.

“It’s about your boy, isn’t it? Is it Kodi? You've been fretting about him all day.” Boris pried.

“What difference does it make? I’d like to get some sleep once I drop you off, alright?” Balto snapped, getting irritated. Sometimes, Boris didn’t know when to leave well enough alone.

“Balto, you know I only do this because I care. I can’t stand watching you suffer like this! Something is clearly bothering you, and I want to know if I can help.” Boris told him earnestly.

Taken aback, Balto apologized. “I’m sorry, Boris. I’ve been blowing up a lot recently. I know you meant well.”

Boris raised his left wing, and flapped it in the air dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. Keep it to yourself if you want, but just know that I’ll be here for you. Both of you.” He said, grabbing the doll hanging from Balto’s mouth. “You know, this actually looks like you. Not bad for a human.”

The two ascended the incline leading up to the front doors of the mill, light from the furnace still glowing inside. “Good, we’re here. I trust you’ll be able to find a place to sleep inside on your own?” Balto said sarcastically.

“I’m sure I can manage. I suppose I should thank you for bringing me out here.” Boris replied, ignoring Balto’s sarcastic delivery.

“Don’t mention it. Good night, Boris.” Balto said hurriedly, eager to return to his boat to sleep. The running with Fang had exhausted him more than he let on, on top of his lack of sleep already.

“Don’t forget your gift, hero!” Boris lightly tossed Balto’s doll to him, Balto catching it with utmost care to not clamp down too hard with his teeth.

“Thanks. See you in the morning, Boris.” Balto said tiredly. With that, the wolf dog began his short expedition back to his boat, travelling one more time through the snowy streets of Nome that evening.

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“A cave?” Kodi asked warily. Her subtle wolf-like appearance probably wasn’t just for show. Nevertheless, despite his suspicions, he and Dusty followed her through the snowy woods. He was only dimly aware that there was supposed to be some monster in the woods. He had forgotten completely in the rush to escape their attackers, but as his adrenaline died down, the though travelled further and further to the front of his mind.

“Are you sure it’s safe to be heading further out in the woods? I mean, I don’t know how often you hear news, but there’s been reports of some creature attacking people. I know we aren’t ‘people’, but still. Do you know what I mean?” Kodi rambled, his nerves frayed. His paw caught on a protruding branch, nearly tripping him.

“Whoops! But like I was saying, how safe can your cave really be? What if that thing caught our scent, and followed us? We’d be boxed in, nowhere to go and – WOW, what’s that?”

A strong aroma siphoned into Kodi’s nostrils. It was unpleasant, but not intolerable. It was more pungent than anything. Oddly, it reminded him of the musk he had scented when Sally attacked Saber and his gang. “Are those the herbs you were talking about? I guess we should be alright after all…” They were obviously near the cave now, but Kodi didn’t know where it was. He was on his guard, lest this Sable character was less good-natured than she was letting on.

“Is there anything you need me to do, to help Dusty out? Oh yes, this is Dusty by the way. My name is Kodi.” He asked her, simultaneously introducing themselves to her.

Jenna was lead inside and given her nightly food. She then helpped put up the decorations on the Christmas tree. She handed Rosie the star to put at the top, Rosie's father lifting the young girl up to put it on. Jenna loved spending time with her masters, now was one of the best times to do so.

-----------------------------

Fang, exshausted from the hard training, had fallen asleep on the deck of the ship, his mother curled protectively beside him. Even if he was an adult, Sally was still an ever protective mother. No one would ever lay one finger on her boy if they ever tried to hurt him. She'd protected him all his life, she wasn't going to stop any time soon, that was sure.

She smiled as she looked out over the tundra at the moon, thinking of the days events, of her son's struggle to train and become a sled dog. She knew how much this meant to him. She knew the training was bond to be hard, if it was easy, anyone could become a sled dog. But she knew her adopted child could do it, now that he had someone to teach him the rops and guide him along the way. She was greatful to Balto for his help. She wondered how she would thank hime for his kindness. All she could think of is wait for a time he needed help and she could provide it.

-----------------------

Dusty grimioused at the rather nasty smell. But it was standable, however. "That keeps predators away?" she asked, confused. "It's bad, but it doesn't seem THAT bad."

"It's a special herb," replied Sable. "It smells bad to canines, but the mixture smells worse to other predatory animals," she explained, looking back. "It's rather difficult to explain, but it's like a dog whistle can't be heard by humans, but hurts our ears terribly."

Dusty nodded, though wasn't sure what that meant, she didn't care, so long as she got the quills out of her nose. "So you live in a cave? No offense, but you look enough like a dog I can't understand why you need to."

"None taken," the wolfdog replied. "It's because of those nasty mutts in town, they're always looking for a female or some hapless dog to pounce on. Besides, I prefer the woods, it's much more peaceful."

Sable lead them into her cave, the mixture they'd been smelling was spread all around the entrence, smelling a good deal worse at that point, but difficult to smell inside. "I spread a different herb in here. You see two different smells normally interact with one another, two can cancle each other out. So we're safe in here and don't have to deal with the odor."

"You know a lot about herbs, don't you?" asked Dusty, interested by the female's knowledge.

"My mother was half wolf, owned by a native medacine man, she taught me a great deal about it," explained Sable, sitting down and getting to work with some herbs. She then looked at Kodi, her eyes almost piercing him. "You and I are alike, aren't we?"

Balto retraced his steps as he continued his sojourn to his boat. It would have been faster to cut straight through the town, but he wanted to see Jenna again. He felt bad for how deceitful he had been to her. He could tell that she knew something was awry, but she also knew, unlike Boris, to leave well enough alone. Balto couldn’t wait to clear his conscience the next day – Christmas Eve of all days!

He approached the quaint home, but didn’t get too close. All he wanted to do was see her, to see her happy. It would comfort him to know that at least one of Kodi’s parents wasn’t a complete wreck. He couldn’t see Jenna at first glance, but he could see Rosy, elevated high above the ground with the help from her father, placing the star on the Christmas tree. He paused for a moment, for the image struck him as a powerful one. It was one that showed the bond between father and child.

Balto thought grimly of how Kodi was really the only one of his children he saw anymore. He didn’t even know where the rest of his pups were. What kind of father was that? On top of all that, he had threatened to sabotage the only relationship he had.

He tore himself away from the sight. He couldn’t bear it, the memories he had contrasting at odds with what he witnessed. Ironic how such a joyful sight could insight such despair.

Balto, slower than ever, trudged away from the house back to his boat. He hoped he could sleep tonight, and stave away his self-pitiful anguish for a couple of hours at least.

Quicker than he had anticipated, he arrived. He saw Fang sleeping on the left, curled into as small a ball he could. He was on the deck, completely exposed to any winds should they feel like blowing. But where was-

“Hey, Sally.” Balto mustered to the skunk, propped against the edge of the boat looking out across the frozen plains. “Why are you still up? Not tired?” Balto couldn’t imagine feeling anything but.

------------------------------------------------

“Me?” Kodi asked surprised. “How can you tell?” It wasn’t impossible, he supposed. Maybe all of the double takes he had taken on himself when he compared his paws to others wasn’t just him imagining things. She looked experienced enough to be able to notice such details.

“We are alike, in that way. For me though, it’s not on my mom’s side. My dad’s the one who is half-wolf. He… uhh…. He lives in Nome. They both do.” He was going to introduce his father as the great Balto, like he used to do. However, his father’s name had a penchant for causing more problems than anything. The thoughts of his greatness that were typical for Kodi were dimmed slightly, and he could hear the word “selfish” playing back in his head.

Eager to shift the topic from himself and his parentage, he observed the odd plants lining the ground. “So, how do these things work? How are they going to get those quills out?” He hadn’t heard of plants being used in raw form as a type of medicine, and considering WHO was being treated, Kodi felt he had every right to be skeptical.

Sally jumpped in surprise, going into pre-spray stance before realizing it was Balto and calming down. "Oh... Sorry, Balto, but you know, you should be more careful not to sneak up on a skunk," she stated, greatful she hadn't accidentally sprayed him. "Skunks are naturally nocternal," she explained. "I slept a bit while you all were gone, quick nap. I've adjusted to being mainly active in the day for Fang, but I nap when I can so I can see the night, it's a beautiful thing," she said, looking up at the sky.

She then looked to him. "Balto... Somethings bothering you, isn't it?" she asked, looking at him. "Like I said, I'm naturally nocternal, I saw you hadn't slept much at all last night. Something like that doesn't just happen. You didn't find out until this morning Kodi had to go on the new route and all that. So I know something is bothering you. Remember, I'm a mother, mothers have a way of picking up these things."

Sally looked out across the tundra. "You don't have to tell me, I probably don't need to know at all," she said simply, before looking back to Balto. "But let me ask you a serious serious question. If Steele were to come back here, completely repentent for everything he's done and begged you to forgive him, would you?"

-------------------

"The herbs don't," said Sable, with a simplicity. "A gentle hand will do that, well gentle jaw, as it where. The herbs are for the wounds. You see, the quills are covered in all kinds of gems and other nasty things. These herbs will kill all of those so the wounds don't get infected," she explained, looking to Kodi. "And that's interesting, it's nice to meet another wolfdog," she said, giving a smile.

Dusty sniffed the herb mixture and gagged, pulling back quickly. "Peeyew! That stuff reeks!"

"Herbs normally have a bad taste, smell, or hurt a lot, but they're very effective," replied the wolfdog, continuing the mixture with patience. She then walked over, looking to Kodi. "This will hurt a lot, but she'll be in more trouble if I don't. So I'd suggest doing whatever possible to make her relaxed and comfortable. You know her better than me."

“Ha, maybe Boris would have safer here after all.” Balto said.

Sally’s razor sharp observations caught Balto off guard. Perhaps Balto’s eagerness was a bit too obvious. He had to admit, he wasn’t expecting that she would be awake at night, but it made sense, given her species. He wondered how much she really knew, if she was able to observe him as he lay wide awake with him noticing. Her question about Steele was rather keen too, given the timing.

“I’m just a bit bothered by what happened when you first got here.” Balto lied again. “I want to apologize again for Kodi’s reaction to Fang. That was my fault. I told him so many things about Steele, so many horrible things.” He joined Sally on the railing. “They were true, but I can’t help feel that I sort of… skewed things. It makes me wonder what other things I said that I shouldn’t have. I should have been more careful.”

He sighed deeply, pondering best how to answer the next question. “You mean, if Steele came back right now? I really don’t know how I’d react. Sometimes, I don’t know if what I remember about Steele is true at all, or if my own memories warped it. Some of the things he did were unforgivable. But if he really felt sorry, really wanted to beg ME for forgiveness…”

Balto imagined for a second being in that position, Steele begging for his mercy, Balto holding absolute control in that regard. Could Balto be a better dog and let their discrepancies go? It would probably be beyond satisfying to deny Steele his one request, and watch him suffer. Especially after all of the years of torment Balto endured at his paws. Balto was sickened at himself for even thinking such a thing.

“I don’t know, Sally. I just don’t know.”

Balto walked slowly to his cabin, and lifted his brown blanket off the floor, trading it for the doll he received from Rosy. Blanket in his mouth, he walked over to Fang, and slowly draped it over the sleeping wolfdog. Fang deserved it more than he did, he thought. Fang didn’t let bitterness get to him, not like Balto did.

“It makes me feel better.” He told Sally as walked back to his cabin, and curled into a ball of his own, paws wrapped around mini-Balto.


-------------------------------



Kodi nodded shakily, eyes watering from the strong odor of the herbs. “Right… I can do that at least.”

He looked at Dusty, who seemed to be taking the whole affair better than he was. And she was the one with the injuries!

“Well, ju-just stay calm, ok? She’ll have you fixed up in no time.” Kodi couldn’t expect her to follow, given the state he was in himself. Kodi was about as calm as Mel was when the power went out. “I’ll be right here. Right here if you need anything!” He tried to energetically reassure her, as though there was anything he could actually do if she needed something.
He felt like a third wheel on a pulling cart. There, but his function unclear. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. All he was doing was making the situation worse. A strong whiff from the herbs invaded his nose.

“That’s not going to hurt her too much is it? Is it?” Kodi asked frantically. Again, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference whatever the response would be. Kodi paced furiously back and forth in the small stone chamber, and he finally stopped. This wasn’t doing Dusty any good. She already had enough to worry about without him acting the worried mother at a hospital. He needed to be strong for her, and for himself.

With a surprising air of calm, he approached Dusty, who had laid down on the floor in preparation for the quill removal. “Here, hold on.”

He lowered himself to her, and wrapped his front legs around the base of her neck, taking care not to hurt her further. Slowly, he lay down. His chest atop her shoulders, he head aligned next to hers. He could see Dusty’s face out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to give her a quick lick on her muzzle. He took a relaxing deep breath, not noticing the fumes from the herbal mixture in the comfort of their embrace.

“I’ll be right here with you. Together.” He whispered softly to her.

Sally looked to Balto. "Balto, the fact you're unsure at least means you wouldn't just shoot him down without question, meaning you're at least willing to consider forgiving him," she explained, smiling. "That takes a lot of courage... Whether you told me the truth there or not about what's bugging you, remember this, if you're willing to even consider forgiving Steele at all, don't you think it's right to forgive yourself?" she asked with a serious tone.

Sally then gave a smile. "We all do things we're not proud of, I'd be lying if I said I haven't, but the important thing is we learn to get past thoses things, forgive ourselves, and try to set things right. Blaiming ourselves for something we regret and want to fix won't do any good, it STOPS us from moving on and actually setting it right. It's good to learn from your mistakes, not dwell on them... Night Balto," she said, giving a smile at the blanket now on top of her adopted son. She turned back, looking into the distence at the night.

-------------------

Dusty smiled as her mate laid down close to her, comforting her. She was happy to have him there. "Thanks, Kodi, I needed that..." she said, giving him a lick on the cheek before holding still for Sable.

Sable gently took one of the quills in her mouth and worked it slowly to a proper angle and then with a sharp tug, pulled it out, having aligned it with the entry wound in the first place so to mimize the damage. Dusty naturally yelped when she did this. "This will sting a little, but it's important," she said, putting some of the mixture in the wound, which made Dusty wince, the mixture bubbling in the wound as it did it's work.

Sable repeated this process until there was a pile of bloody quills on the floor, none in Dusty's nose any longer. The herbs did there work on her face, but were still bubbling. "You should stay here for a bit, until things calm down in town and the herbs can do their work good. Not overnight or anything, just a few hours till you can find your way to your master where you'll be safe. I suppose we could just talk a bit."

Balto lay still in his ball, his head standing tall. His eyes were positively wide as he listened to Sally’s nigh-omniscient advice. His ears twitched. Was there something she wasn’t telling him?

Balto laughed to himself. It would be ironic, but most fitting, if she wasn’t telling him the whole truth. Considering he had just lied to her, he had no reason to be upset. Did she see him explode at Kodi? Balto thought she left with the others to the town meeting? Balto didn’t see her around then, but he also didn’t notice when she was awake last night.

It might have been just a hunch, but somehow… it seemed too specific to his situation.

Regardless of what she knew or didn’t know, her advice was sound. Nearly everyone close to him noted how odd he had acted that day, and he could feel how tired he was himself. He knew it wasn’t healthy getting so worked about something he couldn’t deal with at the moment, but it was inordinately difficult to simply put it out of his mind. Trying to forget about it was only making his guilt worse, as though he was trying to write off what he had done.

Balto laid his head down to the cold wood serving as his bed. He could feel sleep’s embrace creeping up on him. He couldn’t wait for his son to return tomorrow. The sooner he could explain himself, and earn his son’s forgiveness, the sooner he could sleep soundly again. “There was nothing he could do now”, he repeated to himself, to stave the guilt threatening his rest. Before long, he drifted into an uneasy sleep.

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“Thanks, Sable.” Kodi told her. “At least it’s safe in here.” Even though the hard part was finished treating Dusty’s wounds, he didn’t get up. There was comfortable warmth laying there with Dusty. He could feel her breathing, a slow steady rhythm. Despite being in a relatively foreign locale, he felt at home, just being with her. He looked at the quills lining the floor, still wondering where they had come from.

“One of my dad’s friends said that it was really dull in White Mountain” Kodi said. He was referring to Boris, who, during the race against Duke’s plane to deliver the mail, had been lampooned there for a very short while. “He couldn’t have been further off the mark. Dusty and I were hoping for a nice quiet date, and we end up getting chased out of town by a bunch of crazy dogs. They would have killed us if Dusty hadn’t acted so bravely.” He tilted his head, and rubbed his soft ear against hers, a silent show of gratitude.

“Of course, once we get out of there, we happen upon some ghost porcupine, until you found us. I think that resting here has been the best part of our evening. Who knew White Mountain was such a dangerous place?” He continued. “It wasn’t quite what we were expecting, was it?” He laughed to Dusty.

OOC: Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) to all our readers!

"I know how nasty those mutts are," said Sable, cleaning up the herbs and quills. "Brutes, they think they can do whatever they want because they've got more numbers than anyone else in town. But truth be told, I bet without a strong leader holding them together, they're turn on each other in an instant," she replied, thinking it out. "But everyone is too afraid to challenge that mongrel for power. Oh well, I'm sure someone will turn up."

Dusty sighed. "I nearly "fixed" him back there, believe me, I wanted to," she stated, growling. She then nuzzled Kodi. "But Kodi got us out of there, he lead the way, I just helpped out a bit," she stated, then turned to Kodi. "And yeah, it was a lot more than I expected, oh well, we can have a real date when we get home I guess."

Sable gave it some thought. "Well, I can't give you back your date, but I know a place I could take you that might make for a good one," she stated, giving it thought. She got up and lead the way into the cave. "Please, follow me."

Dusty looked to Kodi. "Well, she did fix me up, think we can trust her?

OOC: Sorry for the short post, Dusty and Sable are the only characters I have to use right now.