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Blue Eyes won't need the pack's help... all he do is destroy the trees with his Burst Steam of Destruction and find them cowering together!

Great ideas guys. But sorry Ninetailsuk, I'll have to go with Lone-wolf-fanwriter's idea of using the Ice River Pack - who is, by the way, totally SWEET - rather than using BEWD - even though it would be AWESOME to watch him vaporize those fools! MWA HA HA HA HA HA - whoops sorry about that! My evil side likes to pop up every once and a while.

As with Newcomer, sorry about the no updates thing, but yesterday I was concerned with getting a good score on my Algebra 2 test along with giving an oral presentation of part of this fic for my English class - who, by the way, loved it. My teacher says I have the potential to become a REAL author! How sweet is that?

Promise the next two chapters will be up soon!

Well... there were a few more Duel Monsters that would like to have 'fun' with those fools... Slifer the Sky Dragon... Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beggining... Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman... Red Eyes Darkness Dragon... Come to think of it, the Elemental Heroes would love to pound justice to those who did something evil.

So... when is Newcomer and this story going to be updated...?

Haha! Clearance granted!
Ice River Pack! FOR-WARD! (The Ice River Pack, by the way comes into being at the end of my fic Dark Eyes, in case you didn't know! )

Sorry I haven't been updating like I said I would guys, but my schedule's really hectic at the moment - although I did kick butt on my Algebra test - and I hardly have the time to write this. I'll try to post to BOTH stories very soon - possibly tonight - but I can't make any promises.

Oh, BTW Lone-Wolf-Fanwriter, I was wondering if I could use the Ice River Pack in Newcomer to, you know...help inflict justice upon those evil enough to threaten Balto and the gang? If so, then thanks a bunch - and maybe I'll put them in Newfound Emotion as well!

Sure you can use them, do you want a list of the important characters (aka the two or three with names)?
Just mention somewhere that they're my characters and you can do whatever you want with them, savy?

Ryder: Black male. Former lieutenant to Steele and his Dark Mountain Pack, now leader of Ice River Pack.
Sadera: Silver female. Former second-in-command to Steele, lost sisters Sena and Vella to Steele's elites. Now second-in-command of Ice River Pack.
Ishmael: Young dark brown male. Not much else about Ishmael is known to the reader presently, so you can have fun with him.

I hope that was enough. (You can find more in Dark Eyes, if you need to.)
Good luck!

By the way, have you read Dark Eyes, Cold Heart?

If the dragons can't go... then the Elemental Heroes can! FORWARD!!! CHARGE!!!

And Lone Wolf... PM, LW...

And I can't wait for the next update!

Chapter 3
The Companion

The sun rose higher and higher in the sky as the day went on, the passage of time marked by the lengthening shadows of the team as they raced across the snow. Kodi, Ralph, Kirby and Forest – can’t forget that rude, arrogant little S.O.B now can we? – Had all started the run off in a bad mood, their anger still brewing fresh and hot in their guts. Though, truth be told, the sources for the negative feelings in Kodi and the rest were quite different from those of Forest. Kodi, Ralph and Kirby were still pissed at Forest for his attitude towards Dusty. The albino Husky, on the other hand/paw was still fuming about Kodi’s intervention between him getting at Dusty. Despite this, they all found a common way to blow off their anger whilst still being productive. They used it to fuel their muscles and push themselves harder than they normally could, thusly achieving a greater speed.

Kodi’s upper lip involuntarily curled slightly as he risked a quick glance over his shoulder at Forest, who was running right behind him. ‘Gosh darn it!’ he fumed. ‘Why did Master have to stick him behind me?’ He supposed it was just his rotten luck but that did little to sooth his still active temper. He could already tell Forest didn’t like him at all and all Kodi had to say on that subject was that the feeling was reciprocated. Forest was – among a great many other things – a bully, plain and simple. The way he’d acted towards Dusty…Just thinking about it made Kodi even angrier and he unconsciously picked up his pace.

Across from him, Kirby sent him a message by way of touching the tip of his tail to Kodi’s for a brief instant. ‘Slow down a little. You’re gonna hurt yourself if you keep this up. He’s not worth it right now. Save it for later.’

Kodi sent back his own little message in the same manner; ‘I’ll be fine. Besides, seeing and hearing him work harder is worth it. I can handle this pace.’

‘But we can’t. So slow up a little bit or we’ll blow ourselves out before we’re even half-way there.’ Ralph sent in reply from where he ran next to Forest, sending his message in almost the same manner as Kirby, though he substituted the tip of his nose for his tail.

Kodi mentally sighed and dropped his pace the tiniest bit. Almost immediately Kirby and Ralph began to run with more ease. After a few moments, what Kodi feared would happen if he showed signs of possible weakness finally did; Forest spoke to him. Well, truth be told, it was more an insult of sorts.

“What’s the matter…Lover-Boy?” he taunted smugly from behind Kodi in between gasps for breath. “You…getting tired already?” Kodi could hear the infuriating sneer in the Husky’s voice, but did his best to ignore it. Kirby was right; getting mad and upping the pace again wouldn’t solve anything right now…and that was exactly what Forest was trying to do. Kodi guessed that Forest figured that by driving Kodi to pull the sled at a psychopathic pace, he could wear him out, thus making the russet Husky all the easier to snuff out if Forest was stupid enough to try such a move. There was one flaw in Forest’s plan however; Kodi had decided a while ago not to give him that particular piece of satisfaction.

Besides, what would Dusty say?

Ah, poop.

There he was. Thinking about her again.

He’d been doing it on and off for the last three or four hours, mind straying back to dwell upon the only female member of their little four-dog team. He told himself that he was just worried she’d hurt herself again without him there to watch her and, as a friend, he was naturally concerned. These thoughts however, did little to shut out the once-little-now-medium-sized voice that insisted that his worries were merely a sign of growing affection for Dusty...

But that was absurd! He didn’t feel that way about Dusty! And she sure as heck didn’t feel that way about him…Did she? Forest’s words wormed their way into his head nonetheless. ‘If I didn’t know better…I’d say you’ve got a thing for little miss ‘I-got-beat-up-by-a-bunch-of-stupid-mutts…’ Maybe…

Kodi shook his head, trying to empty his mind off all thoughts regarding Dusty and concentrate on the task at hand; running. Doing his job. And doing it right at that. For a few moments, he assumed victory was his, but you know the old saying, ‘assume makes an *** out of u and me’, and his mind dragged him back to contemplate his companion once again. And as they breasted a slight rise, with the sled coming down with a large, unceremonious whooshing-thud, he realized, with a slight, unidentifiable twinge in his heart, that he missed her…

((()-()))

Dusty’s blue eyes opened and then immediately snapped shut again. Dang, but that sun was bright when it hit you full in the face. With an irritated little grumble, she quickly rolled over, only to discover that when she tried this, she upset her little basket and tumbled out with a small yelping-whine of dismay. Her eyes popped opened and she found herself on her back staring at the ceiling, her head slightly woozy with rekindled pain. An instant later, a large, white something appeared an inch from her face and asked, in a thick accent that was decidedly Russian; “You all right?”

Dusty, taken completely by surprise, yelped involuntarily, and attempted to spring to her paws, forgetting her wounded body in her sudden panic. Her injuries quickly reasserted themselves however, and upon trying to quote ‘spring to her paws’, her legs merely buckled, sending her sprawling on the floor with another low yelp. Her soft yelps, coupled with her sudden, unexpected movements, caused the strange creature to cry out as well and back haphazardly away, stumbling over someone’s chew-bone in its hurry, causing it to tumble over onto its back with another cry.

Dusty looked toward the creature and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a large, rather old-looking Russian goose sit up, rubbing his head, and kick the bone out from under himself, all the while muttering curses in his native language. Dusty couldn’t help but utter a slight giggle, getting the goose’s attention to snap back to her in an instant. His eyebrows knitted together in obvious irritation. “What’s with all the screaming, and the yelling, and the ‘Aaaaahhhh!’?” he asked, clearly put out to some degree. His accent was thicker than ever.

Dusty’s own brows met and she replied, with a slight huff; “You scared the crap outta’ me, that’s what! Haven’t you ever heard of ‘personal space’?” she said, putting special emphasis on the last two words.

This only seemed to heighten the white bird’s annoyance, for he replied; “Scare you? You almost gave me stroke!” He let out a little ‘hmph’ and waddled over to stand somewhat sulkily next to her.

“So…” Dusty ventured, when the silence between them started to get to her. “Who are you?”

The goose’s facial expression of annoyance melted away and he sat down with a soft ‘flump’ of feathers. “My name Boris Goosinoff and I am Balto’s friend.”

“Okay…” Dusty said. At least she was getting along with him – at least so far it seemed. She decided to go further. “So…what exactly are you doing here?”

Boris gave her a shrewd – but not altogether unkindly – look before replying, with an exasperated sigh, “I was asleep on old trawler when Kodi came running up – maybe 7 or 8 of clock – calling ‘Dad! Dad! Dad!’.” Boris seemed to mull over how annoying this had been before continuing. “Finally, I get out to tell him Balto gone with his brother Kavik to talk with his other brother Kemo in the woods, and not come back till end of the day…”

“And?” Dusty prompted him, raising her eyebrows slightly in annoyance at his casual delivery of all this tantalizing information. “What’d he say?”

Boris mumbled something she couldn’t quite catch (even with her highly acute ears), something like “…no respect. Not like in Old Country…” Dusty ignored it. “He say ‘Where’s Dad?’, so I tell him Balto left and he get all worried-like, start pacing back and forth through snow in front of boat. So, I ask; ‘What wrong? What you need Balto for?’ and he say, ‘I came to ask him if he could go in town and check on Dusty for me sometime in afternoon or evening.’ or something like that.”

Dusty’s heart swelled once again and she didn’t need a mirror to tell that she was blushing at least a little bit. Kodi? Asking his dad, Balto, to come and check on her? She didn’t know weather to feel gratified or slightly embarrassed by his request, and in truth, she felt a little of both. But it could also be said that gratification was defiantly the larger of the two. Gratified…and maybe something a bit more towards…

She shook her head slightly, her cheeks flaring a deep red for an instant as she banished the thought. She was kidding herself! There was no way she could possibly…well…um…go beyond liking Kodi as a friend. But still…

‘No, no, no, no, no Dusty,’ she thought, scolding herself for being such a pup. ‘You stop right there young lady! That is Off-Limits territory!’

With her mental limits somewhat resolutely set, she looked back to Boris whose expression had changed from that of annoyance to curiosity, one thick, bushy eyebrow raised in silent question.

“Something wrong?” he asked, striving for a completely nonchalant tone. He knew what the feeling he was getting from the canine next to him meant all too well, oh boy you bet your you-know-what he did. He’d gotten it from Balto often enough when the big mutt had been around Jenna…and we all know how that ended. ‘Oi, great, just what I need,’ he mentally griped. ‘A soon-to-be love-struck dog…Arg, Shieza, it’s worse than the BEARS!’ Yet he was slightly amused, and this he couldn’t deny, even to himself. He’d been wondering when one of Balto’s children was going to hit the Jackpot…

“N-no, nothing’s wrong,” Dusty assured him, hearing the slight stutter in her voice and hating it while at the same time helpless to gain control her stutter. “G-go on.”

Boris arched both brows before continuing, causing the upper portion of his face to crease in a dozen places. “Well he say ‘What about Mom?’ and I tell him she went off to help Angel and Star with something and it take most of the day. Then he ask - this was after a little fidgeting - if I come down and check on you.”

“And you said yes? Why?” Dusty asked, though in truth it really didn’t matter all that much to her; just the fact that Boris had even considered coming here was enough for her to count him as a good person and possible a friend.

Boris seemed almost to be checking for eavesdroppers before cupping a wing to his beak and replying, in a confidential undertone, “Between you and me, I do anything to get away from Muk and Luk. They crazy!”

Dusty’s laughter pealed outward in a loud, long, melodious burst that she was helpless to hold back. And Boris joined her, his laughter equally loud. When it had all died down, she got to her feet, wincing with pain, although, she noticed, it wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier. She was getting better, and quickly too. At this rate, she surmised she’d be back on the team and pulling with the rest in about a week, maybe less!

Then, with a slight jolt, reality reasserted itself with a twinge of pain, as it often seemed to prefer to do to her as of late, and she sat back on her haunches. Darn it!

She suddenly snapped her head to the window, wanting to clarify what her internal clock had already registered. If the sun had been low enough to shine though the window and hit her in the face then that must mean…it was true. By the slant of the now molten orange ball of gas and flame, she could tell her fears had been confirmed; she’d been asleep for most of the day…

She hardly heard Boris say that he had to go - something about meeting someone named Stella - and didn’t take note of the way he took off, flying low to the ground, which was odd for a goose. She was sinking into an irritated sort of depression. If she had slept this long…then she’d be out for something more like three weeks rather than her preferred single week...

“Kodi…” she sighed softly, and was not ashamed to admit it to herself this time; she missed him. She missed his radiant smile, his sense of iron will and unshakable determination, his little pranks that always made her laugh. She missed the broad, understanding and protective feeling he seemed to radiate throughout the whole team. Mostly, though, she missed the way he made her feel safe and – dare she say it? – loved whenever the two of them were together. Like last spring, when they’d gone for a romping, playful wrestle in a large clearing of Timothy and wild Wheat after she’d watched Kodi and Balto get themselves soaked in the attempt to help Muk and Luk overcome their fear of water…

Yeah, you could say that she missed him a lot…

((()-()))

We’ve heard from our two lovers-to-be…but now, let us take a slightly more twisted approach to the story, you and I, shall we? Let us see what our little friend Forest is thinking…as we all already know that he will be up to no good…

((()-()))

*****, ***** it all to Hell and Back! Forest cursed over and over again in his mind as he kept pace with the rest of the team, the sled bumping and bouncing occasionally behind them in their wake. His mind drifted back, attempting to make sense of the mess he’d gotten himself and two of his friends into.

When Forest had heard that little turd Kodi talking about how some dog had gotten beaten up in the middle of the night, needless to say, the first person to cross his mind was Dusty. After all, hadn’t he and his two friends been the ones to royally bust her up? But he’d though surely that it must be a coincidence, and that some other dog had gotten beaten up as well. I mean, come on! There was no way anybody could’ve survived what the three of them had done to her. Yet she had. Somehow, she’d defied all logic and survived, curse it all!

That’d got him going again. When he’d seen Dusty come around the corner of the house this morning, he’d thought ‘Crap! I though Sabbath finished the job, but I guess we’ll have to deal with this problem now that we’ve already gone and screwed it up.’

The whole ordeal had started as a sort of sickly twisted joke, really. Pride was a big Husky/Malamute mix who was as strong as he was mean, which meant he was both as strong as an ox and had the temperament of a wounded grizzly. He had seen Dusty trotting past them on the opposite side of the street the other night and had immediately taken interest. The big stupid lug was always after one bitch or another, and Forest now supposed that it had simply been their misfortune for him to chose Dusty. Forest, not really caring what happened but too bored to find any reason to object – not that he’d tried very hard to find one – had followed after Pride along with Sabbath. What the heck, it would at least give him something to do in the wee hours of the morning.

As the large Malamute continued to mull all this over while keeping pace with Ralph – disgusting mutt. He needed a good thrashing. Maybe later – who was running beside him, he came to realize Sabbath’s motivation to come with them had been the prospect of torment. Looking at him, you wouldn’t have said the small white Samoyed wasn’t capable of harming a fly. With his large golden eyes, glossy snow-white fur, and overall aura of suave charm, the ladies were all but throwing themselves upon him wherever their master went. Sabbath was, in some ways, the busiest of the three of them; he was almost always at it with some bitch or another - as Forest himself could attest to; he walked in on Sabbath more than once...let's just say Sabbath liked, shall we say, 'interesting' positions... Ugghh...there's a thought that made you want to yark.

Forest knew the saying ‘Appearances can be deceiving’ and knew the old proverb was in no dog more apt than in Sabbath. Hidden beneath that innocent-looking exterior lay the mind of a cold-blooded loner who took nothing, gave nothing and expected nothing. Forest had seen him beat down other dogs with nothing more than a snarl and a flash from his eyes. Now you had to admire a dog who was so good at what he did. In short, Sabbath had turned intimidation into an art form.

He had been the one to lay the bulk of the beat down on the mightily resisting Dusty, and he’d grinned like a sadist with a maddening sort of gleam in his eyes that had said quite clearly that he had enjoyed every yelp, every scream of pain and despair that the gray Husky had uttered before that little whelp Kodi had come to the rescue and forced them to make a hasty retreat.

Kodi. Just thinking the name caused Forest to utter an involuntary growl deep in his throat. His out-and-out hatred of the dog currently leading him and the rest of these yahoos had bloomed in all its malignancy when Kodi had stood in his way of Dusty. His hatred had only increased when he learned that Kodi had been the one to drive them off, the mongrel! Sticking his nose into things that were none of his business! Forest’s boundless anger sprang forth again, this time with a vengeance. He promised himself that Kodi would die by his fangs, or Sabbath’s or Pride’s, but most preferably his own. Yeah, him and that little bitch of his too. They could die together, locked in each other’s bloody embrace. Forest grinned like a shark. ‘How sweet.’ He thought mockingly.

So engrossed in his own thoughts was Forest that it took him a full five or ten minutes to realize they were coming to their pick-up point and therefore, would have the opportunity to rest up and eat. Good. He couldn’t wait to be out of the traces. He needed a break from these filthy creatures. As if in answer to some unspoken prayer, the Master unhooked him and the others for feeding. With a flick of curiosity, Forest saw Kodi pick up his ration of food and quickly trot over to a low hill, whereupon he simply sat, staring off into space. What’s with this? Has Lover-Boy gone coo-coo?

Moving with the slow, agonizing care of the unobtrusive, Forest crept over to within hearing distance of his decidedly hated enemy. The fact that this spurning hatred was returned ten-fold by the one to which his ears were now tuned would’ve made him almost smile with glee. After all, it was more fun to kill an enemy when the blind, unpredictable battle rage held sway over you both.

Wait, Kodi was saying something, the words coming out almost in a sigh. Forest strained his hearing with all his might, willing the workings of his head to pick up and identify the vibrations traveling through the air and translate them into words.

“…Dusty…” Almost a whisper and –

“…God…do I miss you…”

Forest was helpless to stop the smile from spreading on his face. Oh, this was going to be so much fun! ‘I’m gonna’ bring you down, Kodi.’ He thought, sparing the Hated One a last, furtive, over-the-shoulder look before carefully slinking back to the others, who hadn’t noticed his disappearance. ‘I’m gonna’ bring you down, you and you little Dusty in one shot, with one god-almighty smash and then, little buddy, you’ll go down in flaming glory!’

((()-()))

Yeah...sorry about not giving you guys more than this chapter, but I was really bussy this weekend. We had to decorate...dun,dun,DUN, the TREE! (and I know some of you can relate to how much of a hastle THAT is.) So please, try to understand. I'll try to have the 2nd chapter of 'Newcomer' posted by tonight. As always, nothing but love for all my devoted friends and constant readers!

LoL

BaltoLuver63

Well Style is good...but somehow I think I will know what will happen after all... ouh well who cares goo by the way

Sorry for the unapropriately lengthy delay, but shcool is a warzone right now and I've had my hands full over Christmas break. But I figured it was time to throw a little something to all the rabid KodiXDusty fans my fic has no doubt attracted so, here you go! (please note, that, due to the amount of posting I want to do, the work itself may seem a bit rough but I just wanted to get this out here for you guys.)


Chapter 4
The Realization

Kodi sat, watching the sun go down behind the mountains, seeing but not really caring about how the last golden rivulets of light were staining the white fluff around him in a color that could almost be classified as amber. He blew out a breath, almost a sigh, and looked down at the pound and a half of dried fish at his feet. His stomach growled urgently, but Kodi himself felt no particular urge to eat. Besides, the clamor of his innards seemed far away…unimportant at the moment. He was very confused. Normally, he would’ve wolfed down his ration with everyone else, and then they would’ve had a good romp in the snow before bed to let off any after-supper energy.

Yet this evening he’d taken his food over here, on some hilltop to watch the stupid sun go down, a sight he’d seen a million times or more. Why…why had he? With a slight shrug, he shook this little notion off, summing up all his preoccupation as simply an irritation caused by Forest’s attitude. He didn’t like that dog. No, not one bit. ‘He may be a sled dog, and a good one at that,’ Kodi thought in a darkly, ‘but he’s got a heart darker than the fur on a Kodiak bear.’

The unintended irony of this thought caused a brief flutter of chuckles to burst forth from him in a sudden rush, a smile playing it’s way across his face. But the expression felt false, almost wooden, and he felt it slip from his face without much interest. This little show of unknown cheer apparently attracted attention, for Kirby came over to join him.

“What’s so funny?” his teammate asked, his own small smile – that day’s first and last Kodi noted – flitting across his features. He added to his overall feeling of curiosity by adding a raised eyebrow, his body relaxed.

“Nothing…” Kodi replied absently, still looking off into the distance, his own smile returning, though only briefly.

“Sure?” Kirby asked, the tinniest edge of a laugh working its way into his voice. “Cause if you’re not, you mind sharing what’s got you in such a good mood? The rest of us,” he spared a single glance back over his shoulder to regard the rest of the team, “could use a good laugh after all the crap we’ve been puttin’ up with all day…” his voice fell into an uncharacteristic tone of contempt as he finished.

“Forest?” Kodi asked. It almost wasn’t a question. Who really needed to ask? All you had to do was look at the body language of the team to see that the white Malamute wasn’t liked.

“Forest.” Kirby confirmed dryly. There was the slightest tone of disgust in his voice. “I’ve never seen or worked with such an impudent mongrel in all my life pulling the line.”

Kodi smiled bitterly. ‘Pulling the line’ was a term used only by their team, a sort of trademark saying if you will. It meant – in the most basic sense – running the mail. “I know how you feel. I don’t care for him either. He’s got a bad attitude.” His smile which had already been faint to begin with, melted away to be replaced with an un-Kodi-like frown.

Kirby nodded in slight agreement. “You got it. But it’s not just his attitude that’s bad.” Kirby turned his head to regard the younger dog sitting beside him. “It’s his entire personality. I don’t care what he’s like even when he’s not pulling; that Malamute’s got a heart colder and harder than the Rocky Mountains.”

Kodi was at a momentary loss for words. Kirby had put to speech what had been resounding in all their minds over the course of the day’s work. Forest did indeed have a dark, almost contemptuous, feeling to him. ‘Yeah, like someone who’d see a dog getting beaten in the street and not even twitch a whisker to help.’ The thought, with its again unintended echoes of what’d befallen poor Dusty made him uneasy. He said, “I can’t believe we’ve got almost three whole days left before we can dump him off again at Nome.”

“Another few weeks, you mean.” Kirby corrected him.

“What!?” Kodi asked, ripping his gaze away from the now rapidly fading sunlight to stare unbelievingly at his friend. “What’d you – ”

“You forgot about Dusty.” Kirby said simply. “Even with her strength, it’ll take her at least that long before she’ll be good enough for the traces.” Kirby’s smile fell away and his face crumpled. “Crap…” he said despairingly, “I don’t care what anyone else thinks, that Forest’s a real son-of-a-you-know-what. I don’t like him.” He repeated.

Kodi’s face likewise morphed, his eyebrows drawing together and his mouth turning down in another frown. “I agree, I hate working with him.” He sighed heavily, “Our job used to be fun, until Dusty got beaten to a pulp and we got stuck with Forest,” he said, the name rolling off his tongue as though the dog in question were something slimy he’d just discovered on the bottom of his foot.

“Speaking of Dusty,” Kirby said, in an almost conversational tone, “you…miss her…don’t you?” His eyes locked with Kodi’s and the red and cream colored Husky next to him felt put out of place by the quality of that glance.

Kodi’s eyes widened slightly, and he looked back at Kirby, ready to protest…But what for? It wasn’t as though he was…well…it wasn’t as though he was embarrassed by it or anything. So…why? His mouth opened, but instead of protest, what came out was the truth. “Yeah…I do…” Kodi said, eyes involuntarily lowering.

((()-()))

“Speaking of Dusty,” Kirby said, in what he hoped what sounded like a ‘just-passing-the-time’ sort of voice, “you miss her…don’t you?” He turned and gave Kodi a look that, he again hoped, said it was okay for him to admit it, that he wasn’t going to tease him about it like Ralph may’ve perhaps done were he the one pose the question instead of himself.

Kirby was at first relieved, then strangely disappointed with Kodi’s response. “Yeah…I do…” He didn’t know why either. He hadn’t expected anything else, save for protest, and Kodi was smart enough to know protesting would only make his feelings all the more obvious.

“Hey,” he said, giving Kodi an understanding smile. “Don’t look so embarrassed. She’s your teammate, after all, so it’s only natural. Don’t forget, I’ve been doing this longer than you have, so I kinda’ know how it feels.”

“Do you?” Kodi shot back in a voice that surprised Kirby a little. Was that…annoyance or maybe frustration? Then Kirby realized what it actually was, not annoyance, but anger. In truth, Kirby was a little uneasy. Kodi wasn’t usually the type who got so easily upset. So why –

Shutting the rest of these thoughts out – he was being foolish for a dog his age anyway – Kirby was helpless not to shrink back a bit at Kodi’s tone. “Hey…you don’t have to get so angry.” he replied, in a voice that sounded meek even to his own ears. He’d never seen Kodi angry before. Annoyed, yeah. He’d looked and sounded annoyed whenever they were late with the mail, like those times before all that business with Duke and the Bush-plane. But angry…no, almost never. Well, Kirby allowed, unless you counted that time when Kodi had stormed out to help his dad find Duke when the rest – including Kirby himself – had thought it to be a lost cause.

Come to think of it…Dusty had been the first to follow him out the door, hadn’t she? She’d also been the one to get the other six of them off their butts and on their paws to help Kodi too, hadn’t she? Yeah…Kodi’s concern for Dusty suddenly came to mind – from both just now and during the events of this morning with Forest – and he swiftly formed the connection between the two. They liked each other, but neither knew it yet.

‘Ah, nuts,’ Kirby thought distractedly, ‘why is it that whenever two dogs have a thing for each other, everyone can see it but them?’ That in turn got him going on what an unpredictable sort of thing Love was, but Kodi was speaking again and Kirby forced the thoughts from his head, hoping he hadn’t looked too vacant. “Sorry, Kodi, I was thinking…what’d you say?”

Kodi looked slightly unsure of himself but went on anyway. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have gotten mad, it’s not you fault. I wasn’t only worried about her just now…I’ve been worried about her all day. And it’s not just that,” he went on, voice hardening slightly, “I’m…angry.”

Kodi shook his head, as if dispelling the thought. “No…I mean, I…I’m the one who found her after she was beaten up and left for dead in the alley. And when she talked to me, the way she sounded…” Kodi’s voice trembled for perhaps a second, then firmed, but Kirby caught it nonetheless. “I was mad, I mean really mad. I felt like I wanted to find the dog or the dogs that did it to her and rip them apart. And I still feel that way…” He turned a slightly puzzled face to Kirby. “What’s happening to me? I usually never feel this way…”

Kirby was momentarily thrown completely off-kilter by the sheer oddity of this statement. They’d gone from belittling Forest to Kodi talking about how he’d felt all pissed off and ready to brawl when he found Dusty. Kirby considered his options. For a wild moment, he almost gave into the insane but powerful urge to push his face up to Kodi’s until they were brow-to-brow and then scream into his face, ‘You LOVE her! That’s what’s gotten into you, you twit! And she LOVES you! Are the two of you so blind that you can’t see it!?’

But then logic reared its head and reasserted itself. It wasn’t his place to tell Kodi something like that. Kodi would have to figure something like that out on his own…or have Balto or Jenna help him out with it. Having Dusty help would be the best of all, but logic also told him Kodi’s mother and father would be just as able and willing to explain all this to him. Besides, Kirby admitted to himself if to no one else, he was no good when it came to the Game of Love anyway.

What he said was. “Hey Kodi that’s okay. You were mad, I mean really boiling. I would’ve felt the same way in your position, Ralph too for that matter.” He smiled. It was slightly harder than usual to do, but he managed to pull it off. “You want revenge for Dusty. I’ll be honest; so do the rest of us. But nobody knows who did it, so we can’t chase em’ down and make them pay, much as we all want to.” Kirby smiled hopefully. “Now c’mon. Enough talk for tonight. Let’s go and bed down for the night before all the good spots are taken.” Kirby chuckled and was relieved when Kodi joined in.

“Yeah, let’s.” Kodi agreed and then as if struck by sudden inspiration, “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Forest will catch a cold or something and be miserable for the rest of the trip.”

Kirby snorted. “I like that a lot but I doubt it’ll happen.”

The two of them laughed as they made their way back to camp.

((()-()))

“Yeah…I do…” Kodi admitted. He felt embarrassed and knew not why. He lowered his gaze and could almost feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He prayed that Kirby wouldn’t notice.

His older team member apparently didn’t need to get a clear view of his friend’s face to know how he felt. He said, “Hey, don’t look so embarrassed. She’s your teammate, after all, so it’s only natural. Don’t forget, I’ve been doing this longer than you have, so I kinda’ know how it feels.” He garnished the remark with an understanding smile.

“Do you?” Kodi retorted, the anger he heard in his own voice surprising himself as well as Kirby. He saw and was concerned at the look of slight unease he saw on Kirby’s face. Kodi was now not only embarrassed by angry with himself as well. ‘What’s the matter with you?’ he mentally scolded himself. ‘You didn’t need to get mad at Kirby! It’s not his fault you’re concerned about Dusty!’

“Hey…you don’t have to get so angry” Kirby replied, and Kodi was dismayed to hear a touch of defense and submission in that voice. Had he really sounded bad enough to make Kirby nervous? He knew it to be true and it only served to make his embarrassment grow.

When he found the courage to look directly at Kirby again, he saw his worries regarding him had been for naught; Kirby was apparently lost in his own thoughts. “I’m sorry…” Kodi said, causing Kirby to snap out of his own head and back to reality. Kodi vaguely heard him mumble some apology and then went on, still a little unsure. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. It’s not your fault. I wasn’t only worried about her just now…I’ve been worried about her all day. And it’s not just that,” he went on, his voice hardening slightly with his anger at what’d happened to Dusty. “I’m…angry.”

He shook his head. No, that wasn’t it. Not all of it, anyway. . “No…I mean, I…I’m the one who found her after she was beaten up and left for dead in the alley. And when she talked to me, the way she sounded…” He heard his voice threatening to tremble and caught it before it could catch and forced his tone to firm. Besides, he wasn’t done yet. “I was mad, I mean really mad. I felt like I wanted to find the dog or the dogs that did it to her and rip them apart. And I still feel that way…” He turned his slightly puzzled face to Kirby. “What’s happening to me? I usually never feel like this…” He was at a loss for words now. He couldn’t make it any clearer, even though the whole thing sounded like nothing more than a garbled mess to his own ears.

Kirby seemed to go through many thoughts in his mind, some of them apparently not what he wanted, for at times he shook his head, and stayed silent for several seconds. When he at last spoke, what he said was. “Hey Kodi that’s okay. You were mad, I mean really boiling. I would’ve felt the same way in your position, Ralph too for that matter.” He smiled. It looked to Kodi like it was hard work. “You want revenge for Dusty. I’ll be honest; so do the rest of us. But nobody knows who did it, so we can’t chase em’ down and make them pay, much as we all want to.” Kirby smiled hopefully, the gesture now appearing true. “Now c’mon. Enough talk for tonight. Let’s go and bed down before all the good spots are taken.” Kirby chuckled and looked relieved when Kodi joined in, their soft exclamations of humor carrying softly back to camp.

“Yeah, let’s.” Kodi agreed and then smiled. A sudden very-happy thought came to mind. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Forest will catch a cold or something and be miserable for the rest of the trip.”

Kirby snorted. “I like that a lot but I doubt it’ll happen.”

The two of them laughed as they made their way back to camp. But part of Kodi’s mind was still turning his feelings for Dusty over and over…whispering that what he felt was more than mere concern…it was Love he felt instead. And, as he dug in and lay down to let sleep spirit him away from the world…he realized, with a glad, but furiously beating heart…that what the voice had said…was true.

He, Kodi…was in Love…with Dusty…

He welcomed the fact, and embraced it with open arms as his exhausted mind drifted off to Dreamland…

((()-()))

Forest sat, far away enough from the fire so as not to attract the Master’s attention, but still near enough to feel the warmth spreading along his back. He was lying on his stomach, head lowered onto crossed paws, eyes closed, looking to be deep in sleep. He was chuckling mentally to himself at the stupidity of his ‘teammates’. Those other five losers over there thought he was asleep but it was only a sham; in truth, he was listening with all his might to what those other two, Kirby and Lover-Boy were saying, for they were talking about him if his ears served him right.

He had to use all of his willpower to keep from growling with rage as the two traded insults about him to one another. How dare they! How dare they! Those lowlife scumbag hicks! To think that they could talk about him in such a manner and continue to draw breathe…! It was infuriating, but he dared not move for fear of discovery. Besides, he was gaining valuable information.

He’d taken the time on the trail to give little personal insulting nicknames to the rest of his ‘team.’ Kodi was of course Lover-Boy. Dusty was – oh, and this was his absolute favorite, the one he’d brooded over the most – Little Miss Bitch. Kirby was Mr. Cocky and Ralph was Mush-Brain. The other two weren’t important and so he hadn’t wasted time in thinking up nicknames for them. They were just two Huskies who never talked, even to any of the others, loners, in other words - insofar as he could gleam at any rate.

While it was indeed true that Forest couldn’t read minds – no dog alive could for that matter, none that he knew of anyway – his nose told him all he needed and more. With his eyes closed, he could practically smell what Lover-Boy and Mr. Cocky were thinking. And it brought him a veritable wealth of knowledge, even juicier than what he’d originally suspected. They didn’t know it was he who’d done the horrible deed, him and his friends, but if they had, Mr. Cocky said the six of them would’ve hunted down and punished whoever had done it.

‘Ha! Ha! Fat chance, half-wits!’ he thought with the ghost of a smirk. ’The first thing Sabbath did was brain Little Miss Bitch so hard she wouldn’t remember a thing!’ He couldn’t help but let lose an insane little titter of macabre giggles, despite the risks. It was just too darn funny! Wait, okay, wait, Lover-Boy and Mr. Cocky are talking again. Gotta be qui-et now, or they’ll hear you and we can’t have that, now can we? No, it’d spoil all the fun, fun, fun! No, we certainly can’t have that! So just lie in wait, and listen.

What came next was so deliciously good, so enthralling, that the albino Husky almost yipped with glee. ‘Looks like I was right! Lover-Boy and Little Miss Bitch do have the hots for each other!’ He grinned, helpless to stop himself. ‘Oh, this is gonna’ be even better than I thought!’ Already a plan had begun to take shape in Forest’s twisted mind, one that involved both Pride and Sabbath, and the other two Lovebirds… But the timing would have to be just right for it to work! But that was no problem. The three of them were old experts when it came to action at the precise moment…

So thinking, Forest lay, pretending to sleep near the fire, listening…and scheming about the double murder he was itching to commit…

((()-()))

We’ve heard from our more interesting canines – not to mention the Peanut Gallery, ha, ha, ha – so now let us take wing and fly back with all speed to Nome, where we may find some more of our interesting little canine buddies…

((()-()))

Dusty sighed, a big and depressed ‘whoosh’ of air expelling from both mouth and nose. She’d been lying here for hours and she still couldn’t get to sleep. Her tired mind ran itself crazy with nonsense, as anyone’s mind will do when they are kept awake by loneliness or if they happen to be suffering an Insomnia attack late into the night. Fortunately for Dusty, this latter wasn’t the case; it was loneliness. Which, she now realized, was somehow much worse. And the hell of it was, she didn’t know why! That was the most frustrating part of all! She rolled over, wincing a bit as her wounded body grumbled at the sudden movement, and frowned, looking at the wall.

Maybe…if she could just remember what’d caused her to feel this way, she could put it behind her, at least for now, and get to sleep. She cast her mind back to the end of the day, a few minutes after Boris had left…

((()-()))

She went outside – she could manage that much at least, thank GOD for some small favors, can you say Amen – and watched as the last rays of the sun spilled over everything, the precursor of twilight hour, her favorite time of the day. As she stared at the sun with her blue eyes, the pupils catching and magnifying that dying brilliance, she felt such a pang within her that she actually felt tears close to the surface. ‘What is it?’ she asked herself, and finding no answer, repeated the question; ‘what’s wrong with me? Why do I feel this way? Am I sick…?’

She squeezed her eyes shut, searching inside herself, willing her distracted mind to come up with the answer. After a few minutes, however, she ceased trying… It was a waste of time anyway…

“…Kodi…” she sighed, the word barely audible even to her own sharp ears. “…I miss you…” She was startled by her own words. What’d she said that for? Yet she knew. Deep inside her, within her very being, inside her very soul, she sensed that some true, indisputable part of her knew the answer…the answer was…she missed him…missed Kodi…or, could it be something more than that…? She didn’t know.

What a start it would’ve given her to know that almost 120 miles away, a certain Lead Dog was thinking almost those exact words, his eyes turned aflame by the fading light as well. Kodi and his team really had covered that amount of distance seeing as they’d been running almost flat-out the entire day

‘You miss him…’ a voice deep within her whispered. She thought it was the voice of Triksey, her mother.

‘Yes…’ she thought back, realizing what her heart and soul had already confirmed and had simply been waiting for her head to catch up on. ‘Yes…I do miss him…God, do I ever…’

‘Yet…mayhap, you more than miss him…’ Triksey’s voice went on, ‘…maybe…’

“Dusty?” A voice asked, nearly making her jump right out of her fur in surprise. She gave a small yelp of shock and spun around, the quick movement proving too much for her still-recovering body, and her vision swam in and out of focus, first muddy, then clear, now muddy again. She teetered, on the edge of balance, scolding herself for acting so in her condition. ‘This is it, I’m going to fall…’ she thought with dismay. The last thing she wanted to do was make an even bigger fool over herself in front of whoever had crept up on her, albeit without meaning to.

She reeled…but did not fall. Instead, she felt herself steadied by a broad muscular back. She looked up, vision clearing, bringing the world back into focus…and she saw Balto, Kodi’s father, supporting her, looking at her with concern blooming in his yellow/brown eyes.

“Balto?” she asked, sounding to herself like the world’s biggest idiot.

“What’re you doing out here Dusty?” he asked, and she saw a rueful smile grow on his face. “You should know better than to push yourself so hard in your condition…” He helped her to stand so she could sit down. Looking around, she was surprised to find she’d walked all the way out to the old trawler, Balto’s off-and-on residence. ‘I…walked all the way out here?’ she thought, staggered by the distance.

“You okay?” Balto asked, concern seeming to rise.

Dusty’s cheeks were immediately aflame, embarrassed by her little mishap. “Y-yeah, I’m okay.” she replied, flustered.

Balto smiled. He could see easily why Jenna said Kodi might have a ‘thing’ for her. Though she was clearly badly injured, she’d managed to make it all the way out here. She had strength and determination, you had to give her that. But there was more to her than that, he realized. Even in the fading light, he could see how her physical beauty – as well as her free, all-enduring, relentless spirit – might’ve had something to do with Kodi’s possible – make that probable – attraction to her.

‘I’ve got to hand it to you Kodi,’ Balto thought, still smiling, ‘if you really do love Dusty like Jenna says, you’ve got excellent taste...but then again, you are my son!’ His smile broadened to a grin as he thought of the look on Jenna’s face and of what she would say if she only knew what he’d just thought! How embarrassed she’d be!

“Something funny…?” Dusty asked, her own smile appearing as she saw Balto’s widening one.

“Nah…nothing in particular.” He replied his tone dismissive, adding to the effect with a light flick of a brown forepaw.

Dusty giggled. “Sorry…I didn’t mean disturb you or anything…” she began apologetically, but Balto’s chuckles quickly quieted her.

“Disturb? Nah, you didn’t disturb me at all!” he assured her, smile flashing out again. It was so like Kodi’s, that smile…it was strangely comforting. Kodi even laughed like he did! It was all so…ironically silly in some strange and wondrous way. “I just got back to the trawler to check on Muk and Luk before I went home to Jenna when – ”

At the sound of their names, the two polar bears came pounding out of the ancient naval structure; their simple faces alight with curiosity. Laughing, they came pelting down the gangplank calling “Balto! Balto! Batlo! You’re back!”

Balto was helpless to contain himself upon seeing Boris, spitting curse after curse in Russian, come scrambling after them, calling “Idiot bears! Get back inside trawler this instant or Boris go crazy on you!”

“Hey, Boris!” a voice called disapprovingly, almost laughing in spite of the tone, “watch what you say! We’ve got a lady present!” a gust of laughter followed after. An even bigger surprise followed on Boris’ heels. Kavik, a large three-quarter wolf/German Shepherd mix with blinding snow-white fur and faded blue eyes. They were scary at first glance, those eyes, but held infinite kindness and a boundless good nature in their depths once you looked closer. He wore a large stainless-steel silver crucifix on a thick chain around his neck that served as his collar. And – as if to top it all off – he was the largest dog in Nome; 3 and a half feet in height from the shoulders to the ground and a full head taller than Dusty herself.

Yet Dusty wasn’t scared or even worried; she knew both Boris and Kavik – though the latter she’d know for her entire life as opposed to the recent meeting of the former. Muk and Luk, however, were completely new to her. Well, maybe that was a bit unfair; she’d never seen them in the flesh before but she’d heard plenty about the two from Kodi in his stories of trying to help the brothers overcome their fear of water – which to-date had only been marginally successful.

“Oh, Balto, you’ve brought a friend!” Muk cried in absolute glee, bounding forward and sniffing Dusty’s nose with his own pink one. “What’s her name? What’s her name?” He sounded more than excited; he sounded hyperactive. Without waiting for an answer, he introduced himself. “I’m Muk and the big fellow behind me is Luk – he’s my brother!”

“And a mute.” Kavik added, coming to a stop alongside Balto, whom was still a head shorter than the white hybrid, even when sitting next to him.

“Your names be Pain and Suffering by time I done with you!” Boris called, trying to get to the two childishly curious polar bears, but was stopped – gently – by Kavik, who insisted Muk and Luk get to at least talk to Dusty.

“After all,” he said, with a smile. “Since when do they get to see friends of Kodi’s?”

“M-my name’s D-Dusty!” Dusty managed between sporadic bursts of laughter. She couldn’t help it. The two of them were just so sweet it was funny!

“Ooooh! Dusty! Her name’s Dusty!” Muk said, positively delighted by this news. Luk enveloped the still laughing gray Husky in a bear hug and spun her around in lazy circles. (A/N: no pun intended people. That would be lame of me, and the last thing I’m sure you all know I am is LAME.). Dusty, who would’ve expected the action to be much more unpleasant, was delightedly surprised by the comfort it brought her. This was fun!

“Careful now, she’s injured!” Balto called in a warning to the three blissfully happy new friends.

“Ooooohh! We know who you are, you’re Kodi’s friend!” Muk said, as thought this was the greatest thing in the world.

“Oh really?” Dusty asked. Her loneliness had dissipated for the time being and she was in good spirits. She tired to remember the last time she’d had so much fun and was a little amused to find that it had been during last spring, when she and Kodi had gone wrestling in a field while they and a few others had been playing tag.

“Yep, yep, yep!” Muk replied, grinning broadly. “He talks about you all the time!” he said as Luk released Dusty from the hug and the three of them began a game of Leapfrog, with Luk going over Dusty first so she wouldn’t have to strain herself.

“Oh?” she asked, still laughing. “And what does he say about me?” she was wild with mirth.

“He says you’re smart…and you’re pretty…” Muk said, pausing to jump between phrases “…and you’re the best girl doggie on the team” – Kodi’s actual words had been ‘best female on the team’ but Muk was…err…’special’ and couldn’t remember exactly what his friend had said.

“Does he?” Dusty asked, leaping neatly over Muk.

“Mm-hmm!” Muk said, totally caught up in all the fun he was having with his new friend.

This unfortunately, meant he wasn’t exactly aware of what he was saying.

“What else does he say?” Dusty asked, not taking much interest in thinking the question out but just asking whatever came into her head.

“He says you’re strong…and that you have the most beautiful eyes he’s ever seen…and you’re more gorgeous than the Northern Lights and…and…” Muk suddenly became aware of what he was saying and Luk tripped over him, sending the larger of the two polar bears into the snow. Dusty was likewise thrown out of whack by the bland delivery of this statement, and so being she too stumbled and went sliding into the snow beside Luk.

Luk made a few grunting and mumble-like whistles as Muk – who Dusty had accidentally sent onto the other side of Luk – appeared over his brother’s broad back.

“What he say?” Boris asked, beak hanging open in shock.

“Luk says ‘He said one more thing…’” Muk interpreted.

“What’s that…?” Dusty asked. Surely it couldn’t be any worse than what she’d just heard. She bet you could’ve fried an egg on her face it was so hot. She’d never been so embarrassed…yet so pleased at the same time.

“…That we weren’t s’posed to tell you that…” Muk finished, grinning sheepishly.

((()-()))

Dusty couldn’t help but let out a tiny stream of giggles at the thought of Muk and Luk, but the thought of what Kodi had told them about her made her cheeks blaze and her giggles peter off. Well, at least she knew what’d been bothering her, she supposed, her feeling of loneliness…her missing Kodi, in other words…

She tried to make sense of it, even as her eyes began to drift slowly closed as sleep took her into its welcoming embrace. She gave up as she entered the land were dreams are made…and there, she saw Kodi, and the two of them rolled together in the grass again, playing tag and laughing…

‘Kodi…’ she thought as her mind kept filling her head with sweet dreams. ‘I…I think I’m in love with you…’

((()-()))

Well, what do you think? Lemme know!

I've gotta hand it to you, this just keeps getting better and better, and better!
It's like that annoying Energizer bunny, 'cept this isn't annoying!
What I really like is your little personall narrations at certain points like scene switches. This was my favorite:
We’ve heard from our more interesting canines – not to mention the Peanut Gallery, ha, ha, ha – so now let us take wing and fly back with all speed to Nome, where we may find some more of our interesting little canine buddies…
And I really liked Forest's, shall we say, 'off-color' nicknames for Kodi and the rest of the team. I can't wait until he gets royally busted up by whomever you choose! I would esspecially like the lucky dog to be Kodi!

Keep up the incredible (and incredibly funny, at parts) work!

LWf

Love IT!!!!!!!! Keep up the good work!

Thanks guys! Your praise means a whole lot to me right now what with school being the way it is and all that junk - I hated having semester finals right before Christmas break! It's like the worst possible time to give them to us! Why you might ask? Well, I'll tell you; IT JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE THE ONE TIME OF YEAR THAT I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANTHING RELATING TO THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM!!! (plus, I'm already stressed out from the holiday approach by then, so I'm running around like a constopated weiner dog to get all my friends and family a present - it's the only time of the year you have to pay full price for anything and everything, as I discover the hard way this year. (My empty wallet pains me). Hope my update is pleasing to all you guys!

Chapter 5
The Dreamer

Kodi was deep in sleep, dreaming sweet dreams, the sweetest he could ever recall having. In his dream, Kodi was walking into a field of wild Timothy and Sharproot Hay, smelling the faint aroma of Spring in the air, the scent of life beginning anew tickling his olfactory senses. The trees were ripe, the air reeking of the sickly sweet smell of pinesap…and of another, more husky smell. The smell of dogs, Kirby, Ralph, Axel, Carlos, and many others, all of them his friends and family. But buried beneath it, woven into and around the scent, was the one of the same…yet this one carried with it the smell of Wild Flowers and red luscious Roses.

And instanly, instictively, he knew it to be her smell, the only one he’d ever known which had the ablitiy to drown him as he was now being drowned. Yet this was a different kind of drowning, one far more beautiful than anything he’d felt before. It was her smell…Dusty’s smell. And suddenly, he wanted her, no needed her, needed her more than anything else in the world. He felt that his heart would simply crack and shatter if he could not be with her.

And so, he spurred his legs to propel him forward, into the stretch of plantlife, the laughing, calling voices of the others boring into his ears. Yet he heard them faintly, as if from a great distance, or through murky water. All his senses were tuned to her smell, her voice, the melodious sound of her laughter…He grew hot, his soul burning within him, pushing him, throttling him to even greater speeds in his desperate desire to be with her…

There was an abrupt flash of gray to his right, a giggle like the sound of Angels, and suddenly his nose was assaulted by her reeking beauty, and his head grew strangely light. Yet this did not hinder him, and so he turned, following the flash of color, the vuluptious scent, his mind screaming to him that he must reach her, must be with her, if only for an instant and no more. He went on and on, the chase enveloping every fiber of his being. He could feel his rapidly beating heart, could feel the way his paws passed and thudded on the ground. But none of it mattered…all that mattered was her…He could even see her gray tail and the way her paws stirred up little puffs of dust, and oh, what he would’ve given to pause and breathe deeply of it, the very knowledge that she’d blessed it with her touch seeming to magnify his need and he pushed himself harder than he’d ever gone before, harder than he’d thought possible by any canine…

She turned, the startling about-face making his franticly beating heart freeze for an instant in his chest. And she saw it happen, and it that instnat, she jumped upon him, laughing madly, tumbling him from his feet with an almost gentle push of her shoulder. He was helpless to stifle a startled cry of amusement and then he was lost, swimming in her smell as the two of them wrestled and rolled together in this place, his laughter now joining hers as they played. The ground suddenly took a slight dip beneath him and abruptly, he found himself lying atop her, with his smiling face struck dumb by the sight in front of him.

He could not believe what his eyes were telling him, and for a moment,could only stare and gape, mouth hanging open like a door left ajar. She lay before and under him, smiling and still letting lose the occasional flutter of giggles. She lay on her back, the dust motes cuaght in the sunlight streaming from above drifting around them. And then he was drowning. Drowning, drowning in a pool so deep and sweet he felt sure he would never be able to resurface. Nor did he want to, so sweet and glorious was the feeling, and all the more did he want to, so great was his need to not simply lay here, mouth open, gaping at her.

All this he knew she saw by the way her eyes widened slightly and her giggles slowly ceased. She herself was falling into him as he was into her, and a savage kind of truimph and pleasure filled him with the thought. He leaned his long, corded neck down close to her. Her smell…God. This close, her scent was…intoxicating and now so thick and strong it was almost a liquid he would’ve drank if given the chance. He would’ve drank and drank until his stomach simply burst.. Her mouth opened, lips curving into that heavenly smile once again, and her voice flowed forth, ripping him from the pool of her beauty with the sound.

“…Kodi.”

The name, spoken by so many others and said in so many contexts and implications, was somehow made unearthily smooth and sensual when coming from her mouth, spoken in the tones of deepest love and affection which he now heard. No, he realized, it was more than that, much, much more! Her voice was exhilarating, too great for words to describe. The spoken description would do not even a tenth of justice to her, not so much as a hundredth!

“…Yes Love?…” he heard himself reply, and was astonished at his ability to form intelegent words or even sylobls so close to her. He felt he would do anything she asked of him, no matter the cost or the effort required! His love for her would make even the most daunting of obsticles seem like nothing!

She stared into his face, into his eyes as though they were portals to his very soul. And his gaze was likewise as deep, just as all-seeing as hers was. And in her eyes he saw his, and in both he saw the same emotion. An emotion too great to be given justice as to be described hence forth merely as simpe Love. The feeling he saw within her eyes, within her soul, was more like a physical nesecity to have him, here, now, with her, forever and for always. As a blind man requires a cane to survive life’s chalenges, so too did he need her as she herself needed him. The depth of feelings passing between them could not be described by any means of communication other than sight and smell and touch. All else fell short of their reality.

“I love you…” the words, so simplistic, sent a typhoon of emotion crashing through hiim. She spoke that as though they themselves came from the very mouth of God. "I love you, Kodi..."

“And I you…” he replied, now breathless as well as mystified. He would’ve stayed this way forever if time permittied it, simply looking and seeing her Love for him would’ve been more than enough.

He was seized by an instinct so powerfull and so urgent, that he couldn’t have ignored it, even under threat of death. He needed to show her see how much he loved her, how deep his feelings ran, deeper than the blood coursing through his very body. His head lowered, and he nuzzled her, her fur seeming to carry with it an electrical charge as it slid against his own. She responded, pushing her head long the underside of his jaw and sending jolts of energy down his back, seeming to fry his nerves.

"God, I love you so much Dusty..." he said and nuzzled her soft neck again. He licked her cheek, the fur, now free of the grime and blood and dirt when he’d first done it, was the sweetest thing he’d ever felt or tasted. She licked his own cheek in return, sending waves of heat through them both.

Suddenly, the sky darkened as clouds, blacker than tar, spread throughout the sky, blotting out the sun. The wind picked up, seeming to snatch at their bodies as it ruffled their thick coats. He looked towards Dusty and saw her love replaced by fear as she looked over his shoulder, seeing what he, for the moment, could not. He rolled swiftly off her, his need to protect her instantly filling his mind. He would do whatever it took! He couldn’t live without her! He would die before he let anyone ever touch her again!

As the clouds grew darker still, lightening and thunder ripped through their velvety undersides to flash and stirke the ground and shake the earth. Kodi’s lips peeled back in a snarl as his saw a dog-like shape materialize itself out of the grass to stand before them. It was now so dark that Kodi was unable to see who it was, and his nose was already overloaded with a million scents as to be useless.

“Well, ain’t this cute?” the figure asked derisively, sick laughter booming out again. “Lover-Boy and Little Miss Bitch about to go at it, huh? Hope I didn’t interupt anything important…” Kodi could hear the smile in the beast’s tone and it made him all the angrier and he growled ferociously. The canine chuckled again, and Kodi was dismayed to see that the light was growing steadily darker, the blackness closing in all around them as though at the beckon of that hideous sound.

“Hey, hey! No need to get hostile!” the voice boomed mockingly. “What’s the matter? I get here before you could stick it in her or something?” And he laughed again.

Kodi was very frightened now. The darkness was all but complete. He turned to Dusty, thinking that, if he could not protect her, than he would die with her, die with the one he cherished more than life itself. But he was horrified to find that he could see nothing. Only darkness. He called her name over and over again, voicing his cry until his throat hurt but still he kept on, fear intensifying with every unanswered invocation.

“Ah, don’t worry, Lover-Boy,” the voice, coming from all around him, almost like the voice of God. “We’ll make sure to break her in for you before I kill you both...not that you’ll ever get the chance to do your own breaking in!” Laughter resounded all around him and Kodi screamed for Dusty and cursed the unknown, yet somehow farmilar demon…

And as he asscented from the deep resovoures of slumber, he heard the nightmarish cries of his Dusty calling for help, and the beast’s disgusting, grunting crys of pleasure, mixed with the shouting jeers of two others, both unfarmilar but equally cruel. Their cries muffled her sobbs, but not completely…And oh, how much better it would’ve been, how much more bearable, if only they had...!

“Kodi! Kodi! Help me, Kodi! Please…help…me…”

((()-()))

Kodi awoke with a start, eyes wide, panting for breath as the screams repeated inside his head, seeming to rebound off his skull to reverberate like distant echoes…He lay there in his hole, gasping for breath, heart thumping wildly. Such a nightmare…He’d had them before yes, but never one that had been so frighteningly realistic…He shook his head, trying to dispell the bad parts and remember the good ones. He found it helped, a little. Not much, but a little anyway…

He felt the dream seeming to detiriourate from his mind and instincitively clutched at it with a wild, frantic sort of panic. But as he soon realized, it was like trying to hold an all-out sprint forever, as it slowly began to fade into indistinct blurrs and swirls of color, live phantoms seen in fog…But, if remembering nothing was what it came down to, than that was better than remembering the final –

“Hey Kodi…you okay?” a voice asked, making the dog in question jump into the air and nearly shriek with startled fright. Breathing heavily once more, Kodi jerked his head around to look behind him only to see Kirby stitting at the edge of his hole, looking concerned.

“Y-yeah,” Kodi replied, voice stuttering and he helpless to stop it. Not that he cared much at the persent time, however. “I…I had a bad dream, t-that’s all…” he went on, voice low. He could feel his body trembling slightly and welcomed the feeling. Anything to get rid of that insane voice…

“You sure…?” Kirby asked. Kodi’s reply only seemed to have caused Kirby’s concern to grow rather than shrink. “…Because you were…” he paused as if unsure weather on not it was a good idea to continue. “…You were screaming something awful in your sleep…” he said, clearly uncomfortable. Kodi didn’t blame him. After all, he had been screaming in his dream, and if what he could remember was acurate, then Kirby and the others must’ve though he was in the grips of an indecribable agony.

‘God, I must’ve scared the poop outta everyone…’ he thought and another shiver slipped donw his spine, this one smaller than the last. “Such a horrible nightmare…” he whispered, his voice shaking. So real…

“Sorry Kodi, I couldn’t hear you, what’d you say?” Kirby asked gently.

“N-nothing…just clearing my throat...” Kodi replied lamely, unable to think of anything else. He felt heat rising to his cheeks, but couldn’t bring himself to do anything but look down at his paws. His heartbeat had finally slowed to its normal pace though and that was something.

He stood abruptly, and leapt lightly from his hole in a single liquid motion, pausing only briefly to stretch and releave the stiffness in his joints. He turned to a slightly puzzled-looking Kirby and said, “Well, c’mon! Aren’t we going to miss breakfast?” and then trotted off towards where the others were already gathered and awaiting the morning meal.

((()-()))

Kirby remained where he was a moment longer, still puzzled. He shrugged, after a few moments of consideration. Kodi was obviously uncomfortable with something in his dream/nightmare and couldn’t talk about it just yet, so that was that. Besides, it was none of Kirby’s business to press his friend about anything like that…Such things were personal, and sometimes best kept private.

Discarding these bothersome thoughts, Kirby quickly followed in the younger dog’s footsteps, towards where their Master was preparing to dole out the morning’s ration of fish and dry food.

((()-()))

They were hitched and moving along the trial once more in the usual fifteen or twenty minutes. Breakfast had almost been normal. Almost. Forest, having finished his portion and after looking around and spying Nova’s not quite finished one, made his move. The result had been a short, but furious scuffle, one which – thankfully – had ended in a draw, as their Master, in no mood for unnecessary delays, had laid the lash into Forest, who swiftly backed down, affording Kodi and the others ample time to snigger as the bad-tempered brute received his long overdue reprimand.

This incident had put Kodi and his friends in unusually high spirits – their morral had lessened somewhat with the removal of cheerful and good-natured Dusty in return for the foul-tempered and stingy albino Husky – and for most of the day they made better than their usual time; Kodi himself felt as light as a feather, and was almost able to forget his horrible dream in the aftermath of such a pleasing sight.

But the dream never completely left him. Something about the situation, or more specifically, something about the voice troubled him. It was so familiar that it was weird. Yet he couldn’t for all the life of him, figure out who it was. It’d been a…bad voice. That was all he could say for sure, it’d sounded…like some hideous monster. The Boogeyman maybe…or…

He pushed the idea away. Best not to think about it for now…besides, there was work to be done. Yet all the same, while he managed to push the dream itself away, thoughts of Dusty, of his newly beloved, rose to take its place. He felt the pang in his heart again and this time recognized it for what it truly was; he didn’t just miss Dusty, he needed her. Hell, let's be honest; he downright wanted her. ‘I…I love her…’ Kodi thought and as if at this very invocation of the truth, some immense mental wall seemed to crumble and suddenly, he felt better than he had for longer than he could recall, even before the horrendous addition of Forest.

But with this mental let-go, something new came to take the place of the wall; a seed of doubt, of worry, had been planted within his heart and he thought ‘I love her…but what if she doesn’t return it…?’ This in itself was, at the moment, too depressingly horrible to think about, so he did his best to store it to the junk-bin at the back of his mind.

He pushed on, now building the pace until they were traveling as fast or faster than they had the day before. He tried to use his now slightly achy body to distract his troubled, milling thoughts of Dusty but didn’t succeed quite fast enough to stop one last troubling whim:

What if she didn’t love him…? What would he do then…?

He didn’t know, and the realization sent a shiver of unease through his body.

((()-()))

At the end of their first half of the day’s run, Kodi and the rest of the dogs instantly halted at their Master’s command and sat or lay in the traces, panting with their tongues lolling from their mouths, the hot air from their labored respiration condensing into small individual clouds as they rested. All were too tired for the usual little dose of good-hearted horseplay, and even Forest did nothing but eat his ration of food before merely lying down and seeming to pass out. Kodi was barely able to eat his own ration before simply collapsing on the snowy ground where he lay, exhausted and mulling over the various thoughts swimming throughout his head one last time before allowing sleep to claim him for a brief catnap.

A deeper dislike of Forest had been growing within the Husky all morning, albeit a simple cause of an unknown effect; he was plagued by a feeling that the albino Husky had something to do with Dusty, a suspicion that seemed ludicrous even in his own head. He attempted to dismiss the idea, using the excuse that Forest wasn’t that kind of dog. Oh sure, he was mean, and he could be very infuriating at times, but Kodi just wasn’t able to picture Forest as someone who’d be cruel enough – let alone have guts – to take on someone like Dusty all alone. ‘Stupid turd would probably chicken out and go running home to his Mommy if he tried to take on Dusty.’ This thought, combined with the mental image of Forest doing just that while Dusty followed behind, throwing insults at him and literally nipping at his heels, was enough to make Kodi smile broadly.

Dusty had been beaten, yes. But by Forest?… Nah! He just couldn’t buy that…besides, it wasn’t like he was evil or anything…

((()-()))
Allright, alright, blah, blah, blah, same-old, same-old. Let's move on to someone else before little Kodi starts infecting us with his worries...
((()-()))

Dusty’s eyes opened and this time, were not blinded by sunlight – she’d been careful to pull her basket out of the reach of the radiance that would spill through the window in the morning last night before turning in – and she rolled out, yawning expansively and licking her muzzle. She got to her feet, and felt relieved when not jolt of pain sprang through her body when she tried to move. ‘Looks like I was wrong! I’ll be back on the team in no time!’ she thought with utter glee. She was even tempted to let out a little barking yip, which she did with great pleasure. In truth, she was very thankful; after her somewhat chaotic little romp with Muk and Luk, she’d feared her tumble over the smaller polar bear might’ve only made her injuries worse.

Very happy, she went outside, even going so far as to hum a little tune as she did. After doing her business she walked out front to watch the sunrise, something she’d grown quite fond of recently. But this morning’s was different somehow…and then she knew why; Kodi, that’s what was different. She was helpless not to stare at the spectacle and wonder if he too was gazing at the blazing ball of orange flame or getting ready to head off, or even just finishing breakfast for that matter. She sighed. She supposed now that she’d finally recognized her feelings for what they were, she would be helpless not to think or worry about him…

‘Until…Until I tell him how I feel, that is…’ part of her thought and at the mere idea she felt her innards clench. She’d never be able to work up the courage to tell him…besides, what if he didn’t feel the same? Come to think of it, why would he in the first place? She was no particular treat for the eyes to begin with and now, she supposed, even less so with the numerous wounds and the scars they would leave, however faint…

‘And why would he want me after I was nearly rapped anyway?’ she thought, ‘after all…I’m unclean…’ This was, as we know very well, not at all true. She had been beaten, yes, and badly too, but the monsters who’d done it to her had never gotten the chance to fulfill their last, and most disgusting need; Kodi had come to her rescue just as they were about to, and so she judged that she had been a little too hard on herself. She wasn’t dirty…

’…But it was a near miss all the same…’ that agonizingly childish part of her thought again, and this time, instead of listening to it, she swatted it aside as if it were no more than a fly. She didn’t care, and knew from experience that Kodi wouldn’t either. If he loved her like she loved him then none of that would matter. But what if… And that was the pure hell of it! That stupid ‘IF’!

“ARRRGGG!!!” she growled, letting loose a guttural cry of frustration. She’d never imagined that a single two-letter word could cause her so much grief! An old proverb suddenly came to her, one created by her life-long friend Kavik – who was also Kodi’s Uncle - go figure. Nobody'd seen THAT one coming. As she could best recall, it went something like this:

If, the only word in the English language a thousand letters long…

It had always made him laugh. Then it hit her; Kodi’s Uncle, of course! Kodi must’ve tried to explain how he felt to someone, and if not his parents than she could at least ask Kavik if he’d said anything about her to him. As far as Kodi’s parents, Balto and Jenna went…yeah, like she could just waltz on up to them and ask a question like that. She giggled as she played out the possible line in her head.

‘Hi, I’m Dusty. Remember me? I’m on the Mail Dog Team with Kodi. Anyway, listen I’ve got to ask you guys something; did Kodi ever say…oh, I don’t know…that maybe he was in love with me or anything like that?’ She snorted with mirth. Yeah, right! She’d be caught dead before she just went off asking people stuff like that right out of the blue! Then a sudden, shockingly logical idea came to her, and it when it did, it seemed so obvious that in truth, it was a little scary.

‘Why not ask him yourself, then? After all, what could be more perfect?’ her Mother’s voice resounded in her head, thought this time it sounded more like when she and her brothers and sisters had been planning a prank on Dad that their Mother had been in on more often than not. And she had to admit…it did sound tempting…But no, fist she would confront Kavik and then, if he didn’t give her the wrong kind of answer…she would ask Kodi himself…

‘I must be going crazy!’ she thought as she started off in the direction of Kavik’s place of residence.

‘Love makes us do strange things, Dusty…’ her mother’s voice replied, chuckling. ‘Trust me, I of all people should know!’

((()-()))

Well, there you have it. The plot thickens... I really liked this chapter myself and I think the whole dream sequence between Kodi and Dusty is one of the best pieces I've ever done! I'm hoping I'll be able to update this soon!

LoL

BaltoLuver63

What confuses me is WHY did you make Dusty the daughter of Kaltag and Tricksy...? She never look part wolf, part husky to me... it was an intresting twist to me when this was on FFNet...

Anyway, good job on the last two chapters as usual! Keep it up!