Animation Source Forums

Jenna heard the howl, reconizing it as her son's. She knew the boy needed a good talking to, but yelling at him wasn't going to do any good. She'd need to play it right to get through his stubborn head. She got Rosie to let her out and headed over, seeing Kodi in a the distence. She approached her son, having decided to soften the mood first. "Kodi," she said softly, looking over her boy, noticing the scent of the woods on him, and that he looked like he'd had been running. "Oh Kodi, what happened?" she asked, now concerned. Motherly instinct overoad disapointment for the time being. She licked a scratch on his cheek he'd gotten when he fell. "Are you ok?"

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

"So Saber ran with his tail between his legs," recounted Sally to Boris. "His gang following him, I don't think he'll be bullying for awhile!"

Kodi was so grateful to his mother for not making accusations or asking questions. Some form of comfort after a long day of feeling mild to severe, to even MORE severe discomfort was exactly what he needed.
He hadn't noticed the scratch on his cheek amidst the rush of adrenaline surging through him at the time when he had recieved it. Her tongue gently tickled it, bringing the scratch to light in the form of a dull sting when she stopped.

He nuzzled his head in the thick fur on the side of her neck, his nose slightly disturbing her orange bandana.

"I'm..." he paused. He didn't want his mother to worry about whatever it was that attacked him, so he downplayed what had happened. "I'm fine. There was some wildlife out in the woods that scared me a bit, but I'm okay. Not a scratch!" He added at the end, hoping to alleviate any additional worries, despite the evidence to the contrary on his cheek.

His legs were shaking. The soreness of his muscles were slowly notching up to full effect. Kodi had hoped to try and preemptively explain himself about Fang to her tonight, while she was in a good mood, but his body screamed at him to stop.

"Hey Mom?" he asked, a crack of desperation squeaking through, however much he attempted to conceal it. "Would it be alright if I... if I stayed here with you tonight?"

He hoped that puppy dog eyes still worked, even though he wasn't a puppy anymore.

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


"OHOHOHOHOHO!" Boris laughed out loud at her tale of the transpired events, causing a nearby sleeping Balto's ear to twitch repeatedly.
Turns out that Balto was right to think that he and Sally would get along swimmingly, they clicked very well. Since they had arrived back, they exchanged stories of their respective youths mishaps and accomplishments. A skunk and a goose are vastly different creatures, but as any parent would attest to, raising children was an event that forged a bond between parents the world over. It was also a very good conversation piece.
He covered his beak, and when he had stopped long enough to speak, he did so with haste, and a slight whisper.
"I can't believe I missed that! For the love of this cleaning this boat!"

He hadn't actually done a thing to tidy the boat up, he didn't need to. Since he had left Stella, he had nothing better to do other than clean, which he had done almost daily. The real reason he didn't want to go was because he didn't want to see if Fang was Steele's son or not. Unlike Balto, he wasn't overly concerned about overseeing the crises of others, namely their family affairs. Estranged though he was, he discovered that getting involved in family matters was rarely a good idea. When Balto had pleaded for advice to help tell his daughter Aleu that she was actually part wolf, Boris took no part (thanks to Muk and Luk). Some would call it ignorance, he called it "minding his own business".

This was only the case when he was directly involved. He enjoyed listening to stories from friends who heard it from a friend. As long as there was no real risk of entanglement, he loved to partake in the gossiping. A "grapevine goose", if you will.

When denied information from Balto when he and Sally returned just around sundown to which Balto immediately traipsed to his blanket and curled up, he was desperate to know more. He was sure that Balto would tell him Fang's origins in the morning, if there was anything to tell about it, but he had a good feeling that Sally might be able to help sate his curiosity right away. He was sure that the aftermath of the bully encounter was coming up next, but he prodded in the right direction for good measure.

"So, it is obvious that you aren't Fang's mother, yes?" His feathers on his wings intertwined, as though he was using them as a sort of tic to show a sort of mild curiosity, a passing interest. (much like when nervous humans twiddled their thumbs)

"I never got to see young Balto's parents, did you uh.. did you meet Fang's?"

Jenna smiled. "Yes, Kodi, you're always welcome here," she said, though still a little worried. "Kodi...I love you with all my heart, don't ever think you can't come to me..." she continued, trying to think of how best to deal with it. "...I won't lie, I'm disappointed at how you acted to Fang, but I won't yell at you, I know it's not your fault, we demonized Steele and you didn't know what Fang was like," she said. "But in all the stories we told you about Steele, remember this, he never fooled me," she explained. "But that's something I've never taught you, I wish I had now," she said, slowly moving her son's snout with her paw to look into her eyes. "Now you will learn, my son..." she said, warming up her throat.

“My son, in your life you’ve come so very far.
You’ve grown from a tiny pup to the teams shining star!
No mother could ever be more proud than I am of you.
You can believe in your heart that much is true!
I’ve been by your side when you were sick and weak
I’ll always be there whenever it seems to be bleak
I could never find it in my heart to hate you
But there’s something now we must do!
Look deep into your heart, my little one.
And you’ll know what you must learn, my son.

You’ve done wrong, look and you’ll escape that trap
You’ve made a mistake, there’s no shame in that.
Being perfect is something no one can do
Not your father, not me, and not you
Trust your mother, I know you better than anyone
I know in your heart you’ll do what is right, my son.
I can see the path before you, I know it’ll be long
That’s why you must learn is to see when you’re wrong!
If you could look into my heart, my little one
Then you’d see what you must learn, my son.

You’ve been hurt for what you are, not who you are in here (puts paw over his heart)
You know that pain very well because you've been there.
I know your eyes have been clouded by hate, and rightfully so
But while the father did our family wrong, but has the son? No.
See into your heart, you know it is true.
How would you feel if it happened to you?
I saw his father with my own eyes, I was the one who told you the tales
But his son is not him, none of us can be anything but ourselves
If you could look into that child’s heart, my little one
Then you’d know what you should learn, my son.

Inside your heart, there can be no lies
To see into the heart, just look in the eyes.
The eyes give away all there is to tell
So look into my eyes, and listen well
In my heart, I know this thing is true.
That child means no harm to me or you
But I know how you feel, I know how he seems
But I’ve seen it in his eyes, all I saw was dreams
Dreams to make up for his father’s sins and to atone
In this world for all his life he’s been all alone
If you saw into his heart, my little one.
You’d learn the thing I’ve learned, my son
When I look into your heart…my little one
I know that you can learn this, my son…” she sung, keeping a comforting, loving voice the entire time. Her eyes would show one thing, love for him, that reguardless of anything she did she loved him with all her heart. "You can trust me Kodi, if Fang was fooling us, I'd know. I can see in your eyes how you feel, that you just want to protect us from a threat...but Fang is just a scared little kid who came to your father for help...he just wants live out his dream...the same one you have."

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

"Not his mother, sadly," said Sally. "Just his dirtbag father, that monster kicked poor Fang out just for being 1/4 wolf, I'd like to spray him so much he'll never wash it off."

Her words poured over him, accompanied by a wave of emotions from seemingly every facet of what he'd learned over the last twelve hours.

The most impactful was guilt. His stomach (empty as it were) clenched tightly. His mother was right.
Fang was essentially Kodi. Born to a purebred husky, and a half-wolf/half-dog. The only thing they both wanted was to be accepted by their fathers', and for their fathers' to be proud of them. They both wanted to accomplish this by doing what their fathers had done; joining a sled team.

Kodi had recieved an inkling of teasing from Saber about his heritage, who only knew because Kodi naively told them who his father was. It was very difficult to tell otherwise that Kodi had the slightest bit of wolf in him.

Unfortunately for Fang, he essentially wore his parents. Although Kodi had not met or seen Steele, the similarity must have been quite striking if his parents had both been able to tell. It was also obvious that Fang had wolf blood in his veins. The teasing for him must have been cascading.

Kodi could imagine that in some alternate universe, he had been born to Steele, and Fang to Balto. He imagined their roles reversed today, and hurt that he inflicted on Fang transferred directly to himself, the same words he used, words he couldn't get out his head.

Kodi felt sick to his stomach. You couldn't choose your parents, and you most certainly weren't your parents, for better or worse.

He softly started sobbing, not for himself, but for the powerful imagery that vividly replayed in his mind of Fang with crystalline clarity. An overwhelmind sense of pity and shame threw themselves over Kodi.

"I-I I'm... I'm so so-sorry" he choked "I shoulda- should have know better...what came over me...".

With that, Kodi's day was over. He had experienced a full spectrum of emotions today. From joy, anger, fear, sorrow, and everything in between. He curled up next to his mother, vowing to apologize to Fang at the first sign of dawn, and drifted to a hard sleep.


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

"Ha yes, well uh... that's 50 percent of his at least! Better than my zero, right?"

Sally's answer was not the one he had hoped for.

He wasn't sure if she had omitted the names on purpose, or if she was just answering his question as he had asked it, no more, no less.. She probably would have been suspicious of Boris' line of questioning were he to ask for specific names.

As much as he enjoyed talking with her, and he genuinely did, Boris decided that he could wait until morning to find out. It had likely been a long day for everyone, especially Sally.

"Oh ho ho ahhhhhh... it's been fun! But ack! How rude of me to keep you awake! This goose needs his sleep, and I'm betting you do too, yes?"

'How rude of me' he had said, and he couldn't have been closer to the truth. Without waiting for even an answer, he had flapped to the roof of the navigation chamber where Balto was sleeping mid-sentence.

In a rather cheeky attempt to seem more hospitable, he raised his wing and said cheerily "Good night!" to a most likely confused Sally.

Rosie came over and covered both dogs with a blanket, not sure why Kodi was here but not questioning it. Jenna rested her head on her child's back tenderly. "I know you're sorry, Kodi," she said. "But I know you'll make it right," she explained. "For now, just sleep," she continued, her loving mother side reemerging and she curled closely to her son. "I love you, Kodi," she said, letting herself start to drift into sleep.

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

Sally sighed, knowing well about Steele. She decided not to continue and simply curled up asleep on the deck.

OOC: Want to skip ahead? I'll be going to bed soon and it seems Kodi's got something major for the next day so maybe you should do the skip.

The moon had fallen from the sky, but the sun had not yet risen.
The alaskan landscape appeared in a state of limbo, grey and desolate. One couldn't tell where the ocean and landscape had met, as both were silver and motionless.


Slowly, rays of light ravaged the landscape, illuminating everything not shielded by another obstruction. Shades of blue aggresively replaced the grey filter that had engulfed the town for a fleeting window.

Kodi was already awake. He felt his mother's steady breathing across his back, still aching from the evening prior. Her warmth was certainly a great comfort, and the blanket that Rosy had placed over them had created a sort of vacuum of heat. The difference in temperature between the two sides of the blanket was staggering; one of Kodi's paws had slipped out from their cocoon, quickly retreating back to safety where he would stay until he absolutely needed to shed his protection to start the day.

He hadn't slept well. notwithstanding the downright heavenly conditions offered to him. The one time his body need to rest so vastly for recovery, his mind simply would not allow it. He awoke several times throughout the night, his thoughts nagging at him, willing him awake whenever he had manage to silence them enough to drift away.

He contemplated Fang's whereabouts. He hadn't asked his mother where Fang was, or if she knew at all for that matter. Kodi hoped for his own sake that he was close by, so he could quell his conscience raging at him. He wondered how Steele could tolerate himself, as purportedly malicious as he was, feeling like this all of the time.

Something that had taken a backseat in his deliberations, yet had been far more volatile with it's presence, was the creature that had attacked him. Kodi could have been killed, but he didn't dwell on that now. Physical pain, Kodi discovered, didn't have the all-encompassing effects that emotional turmoil did.

Jenna's breathing was maintaining it's steady pace, a relaxing pattern of exhalation and inhalation. Wishing not to interrupt his mother's apparantly peacable slumber, Kodi decided to wait until she had begun to rouse herself from sleep before he would also "wake up" at a coincidentally similar time, where he could ask about Fang's whereabouts.

Waiting anxiously for her to exit the inert state Jenna was in, Kodi tried once again to get some last minute shut-eye, however futile he knew the effort would be.


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

Ralph was laying on his back, his front paws curled against his chest. A sunbeam slowly crept his upon face from the opening above the main door, commanding him to wake up.

He rolled over, looking at his compatriots still sleeping, and at the new resident as of last night, Fang. Ralph's gaze settled upon an empty set of bedding not too far from where Dusty lay. Kodi hadn't come back home last night, or if he had, he didn't stay.

The floor seemed harder against his forelegs through the bedding then normal, and he remembered why. They didn't have any spare bedding sets for Fang to rest on, so each of the three had given up a segment of their own bedding to form a new one for Fang to stay on. Ralph had given up the extra bedding layer that he claimed he "needed for his back". He couldn't remember if Kirby had given up the blanket or pillow, or which was Dusty's doing. Kodi's remained unpilfered, which Kirby said would be a sign of "good faith" when Kodi eventually returned. Ralph didn't say anything to Kirby about this, least of all not while Fang was within earshot, but it would take more than an sign of good faith for Kodi to accept Fang in the room as him, much less be willing to sleep in it.

He yawned loudly, purposefully. Nearest to him, Kirby had opened one eye lazily to examine the source of the sound, knowing full well that it was Ralph's doing. He stopped the vision of Ralph's satisfied grin by closing his eye, and opened the other to examine the rest of the room. The other two dogs were stirring, but Kodi's bed lay empty. In lieu of the change in sleeping arrangements (Kirby had given up a spare blanket he usually slept with), he asked the group "So... how did everyone sleep?".

Because Ralph was already awake, he answered first. "You know, I think having a harder surface to sleep on is actually better for me!". Kirby rolled his eyes, both open now.

"Dusty? How about you. Fang?" Kirby asked the remaining two, placing special care in addressing Fang. He wanted to make sure their guest was comfortable.


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


Boris had always slept perched on the roof of the boat. Never on the crows nest (he hated heights), but the roof was a much more balanced solution. He could get a good view of the surrounding area, and it served as a safe zone from Muk and Luk, whenever they arrived. The downside is that his schedule for sleeping was dictated entirely by the sunrise. He couldn't hide his face, like Balto had done. Boris looked upside down at the large lumpy blanket through the viewing window, sans glass, and called out to Balto.

"You are awake now?" he asked, though he knew the answer.

Balto lifted his head, snout exposed from the blanket, but the rest of his face still covered. He shook it off and peered up at the upside down goose watching him from above.
"I am now" he yawned.

Balto stretched his legs, and stepped out from his room, feeling the weakened sunshine rolling down his back. He looked on the deck of the ship, and then looked to the back of the boat, the town of Nome serving as a backdrop.

"Did you see where Sally went?"


Boris snapped upright, and looked around from his vantage point.

"I am not seeing her, where do you think she got off to?" he asked.

Balto shrugged his shoulders, and he replied. "Not sure. Maybe she went to go see Fang, make sure he's alright?"

Boris agreed with him. Balto stretched his back legs once again, before making his way down the ramp, his destination back to the gold refinery, where he would hopefully find Kodi, Sally, and Fang.

He jerked his head to Boris, motioning him to follow.

"Did you want to come and meet Fang finally?"

Boris glided down from his perch, landing alongside Balto, before ironically exclaiming "Would I? I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

Jenna yawned widely, having been tired herself from worrying about Kodi. She'd been afraid that he might run away, as Aleu had. That was a fear now permently engraved in her mind. She was rested now and woke up slowly. She looked down at her son's sleeping form, knowing the poor boy's conscious must be killing him. He's been hypocritical and hurt someone for the very pain he knew all too well, few things made you feel worse than realizing that. She slowly got up, trying not to disturb him, knowing he needed his rest. She rearanged the blanket so her half now covered him more completely, not wanting her child to be cold.

Rosie soon came in with Jenna's breakfast, but also had a bowl of food for Kodi, putting it in front of him and petting the hybrid. To the young girl, Kodi would always be the puppy that had stayed with them till he'd been given away. Jenna smiled and nuzzled her human, loving Rosie with all her heart. She then turned to Kodi and nudged him. "Kodi, wake up, it's time for breakfast," she said softly, smiling.

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

Fang woke up slowly, stretching his back. "Morning, I slept pretty well, actually," he said politely. "But you really didn't have to give up your bedding for me, I've slept on much worse than this..." he explained, feeling a little guilty.

"It's no problem, Fang," said Dusty. "We didn't have any extra, other than Kodi's, and giving you his bed wasn't going to ease any tensions around here," she stated, still ticked at Kodi for what he'd said to poor Fang.

Fang nodded. "Alright...thanks though," he replied. "...This is probably the first time since I was pup I've actually slept in a real bed, me and Sally just slept in a cave or anywhere else we could fit. I once even slept in a trash can, I probably smelled like a skunk myself after that," he joked.

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

Sally trotted back up to the group, a fish in her mouth. She set it down to talk. "Just getting me some breakfast," she said. "The Polar Bears helpped me out, such nice boys," she said. "They should be right behind me, said they wanted to see their Uncle Boris."

Jenna nuzzled Kodi lovingly. "No, I slept fine, I think you helpped me sleep to be honest," she said, smiling. "I was so worried about you when you ran off...after what happened with your sister Aleu, I always worry about you," she continued. "Having you come and stay with me made a great deal of difference," she stated, then pushed his food bowl closer to him. "Now eat, then we can go clear your conscious with Fang..." she said, then gave a motherly smirk. "Then you're going back to bed, you look exshausted," she stated. "Remember what I said about the eyes?" she asked with a chuckle. "Can't hide anything from your mother," she continued, starting to eat her own breakfast.

Rosie petted Kodi's head and gave him a hug before heading off to have her own breakfest.

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

Fang's stomach answered before he did, causing him to blush. "Yeah, I'm starving..." he said, getting up and jumpping down to the floor. Like Steele, he was well built and sterdy, but was skinny from his lack of neutrition. "Sally could barely catch enough food for herself, it was a struggle to feed me."

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

While the dogs in Nome got their breakfests given to them, Kira stalked the woods on the prowl. She came across a hunter going through the woods, an evil sneer crossing her face as she slowly crept up on him. What the dogs hadn't noticed is some people had gone missing in the woods recently, ever sense Kira had arrived near Nome. Not many, only three so far, four soon enough, she so rarely inclined herself to this prey to keep herself unnoticed. She hadn't shared this trait with her partner in crime, but he didn't need to know that Kira could have her revenge and a meal at the same time. She crept up behind the man and pounced, claiming another victim.

OOC: Hope that isn't too dark...

"Uncle Boris?"

It could only mean one thing. A lump formed in Boris' throat, and his fears realized upon witnessing two polar bears bounding at top speed towards him.

"Oh no, NO NO NO! Please no!"

"Uncle Boris!" Muk exclaimed, Luk sounding a similarily enthiused pitch behind him.

The goose leapt atop Balto, trying vainly to hide behind Balto's visage. He pleaded "Balto! You have to help -wowwwwww!"

Balto shook him off, laughing at his reaction.
"Sorry Boris, a wise wolfdog always minds his own business", he echoed.

Boris lifted himself off the ground, about to scold Balto for it, before he was grappled by Luk, the larger of the two bears, from behind.

Muk and Luk were a bit of an enigma to Balto. From what he could remember, they had always followed Boris wherever he went. Unlike the young Balto though, they didn't appear to need anything from him. As far as he could tell, they could survive on their own without needing Boris to help procure food.

He imagined that Boris had encountered the two somewhere in the wild on their own. They couldn't swim (or rather, "didn't" swim), and in a moment of feeling sorry for them, and his species natural maternal instinct, he told them they could come with him. They never left.

That maternal instinct was covered a good portion of the time by Boris' cantankerous manner. He very rarely expressed anything other than annoyance to the two, but that didn't phase the two. Inherently good natured, if a bit mischevious, they loved attention. Playing games with Boris was a game in itself, but their hearts were in the right place.

"These two," Balto said to Sally while Boris disappeared between the two bears sandwiching him "these two are Uncle Boris' adoptees."


Luk cooed happily while Boris' shouted, muffled by the blubbering bear stomach. Muk gripped Boris from the other side, and then cocked his head as if heard something.

" 'Ang on Luk. I think Uncle Boris said he can't breathe!"

"mm?" 'asked' Luk.

Boris was still shouting into Luk's stomach, blocked from moving away my Muk's own body holding him in place. Muk tilted his head, right ear facing Boris and Luk while Boris continued to cause a silent uproar.

"Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, 'e definitely is saying 'e can't breathe!" He paused for a second, not loosening his grip on the goose.

"Well, what are you waiting for, let 'im go why don't you?" He scolded Luk accusingly as Luk leapt backwards, scared that he had hurt his uncle. While Boris gasped for air, Muk let go of him too.

"Awful rude of you, not giving 'im any room to move!"

Luk whimpered apologetically, unaware that his brother was just as guilty.

"Yeah, you'd best be sorry. Don't let it happen again, or Uncle Boris won't want to see us anymore!"

Boris nauseatingly collapsed to the ground when he heard Muk say that. He knew THAT would never happen.

Balto laughed. "I could watch this all day" he told Sally.
"Just not today, we're going to see Fang. I'm sure you like to come?"



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

Kodi was something of an anomaly as he ate his food. His voracious appetite had him scarfing down the food provided to him, but the rest of his body appeared to want nothing to do with it. He lay on the ground, positioned so that his mouth could eat his breakfast, but so he didn't actually have to stand up. His head was supported by the ring of the bowl while his tongue acted as a spoon, pulling food in the dish towards him for easier access.

He knew he looked like the laziest dog in Nome, and he was sure his mother didn't approve of his rude 'table manners', but he didn't care. His aching muscles prevented him from standing properly to eat. He knew that he would have to get up to leave to find Fang, but he decided to do it when it was required, and drew it out for just a bit longer. As long as he was moving and had momentum, he could walk just fine (slower than normal, a given).

He finished his meal rather efficiently, beating Jenna to the bottom of the bowl, despite her head start.

Kodi raised himself onto his legs, wincing slightly, but he was still standing. He hobbled past his mother, into the kitchen, where his benefactor was eating her own meal. He approached her from under the table, and licked her hand that was dangling at her side, thanking her silently for the meal.

He turned around, batting her leg gently with his tail for extra emphasis, and went back to the den where his mother had finished eating.

"Alright... I'm ready. Do you know where he is?"

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

"Now THAT is a sound that we really need to fix!" laughed Ralph.

Fang's stomach growling brought attention to his gaunt figure, convincing the dog sled team to make their way to their feeding ground post-haste.

Mr. Simpson would, like clockwork, fill up their dishes in the alley alongside the post office at specific times. The food dishes were placed their for his convenience; he lived in the back of the Post Office, but kept the dogs in the refinery on the edge of town. It would be a hassle, and an interference with his schedule, to have to run dog food to where they slept. He taught the dogs to come to him for their meals.

Even though the dogs, save Kodi, weren't as regimented in timing, they tried to coordinate when they ate with when he set it out. The other dogs in the town knew well enough to leave the food alone, except for Saber and his posse, so it was a bit of a race to make sure they got there in time.

Kirby figured that with the humiliation doled out yesterday, Saber would lay low for today, and that their food would hopefully be safe.

Kirby led the way, Ralph chomping at the bit behind him, to the post office. A loud ruckus down the street disrupted the normal quietude that defined the city at that time in the morning. The city hall was bustling with activity, a number of the towns' denizens appeared gravely worried and upset.

Unphased (and urged by Ralph to stop rubbernecking), they continued to their destination.

Sally chuckled at this. "Remind me of some baby ducks I cared for once, except they eventually flew south," she said, following Balto. "Think anyone will find me following you around confusing? I mean a skunk hanging out with a dog isn't something you see everyday," she said, not wanting to be a bother.

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

"He's staying with the sled team," said Jenna. "Dusty was quite incistant on it," she explained. "She suffered having her father leave her at a young age, so she knows what Fang went through," she continued. "Oh...whoops, that was probably privite..." she said, feeling bad for saying it. Her ears then twitched as she caught a conversation her owners were having.

"Another one disappeared today," said Rosie's father, coming back in, rubbing his head. "That old hunter that lives on the left side of town, that's the fourth one."

"Have they found a body yet?" asked her mother, the two in the den so Rosie wouldn't hear them.

He shook his head. "No, not yet. But he didn't come back from hunting early this morning, they're fearing the worse. Something dangerious is out there and its killing people."

Jenna gasped worriedly. "What could it be she?" she asked, not worried.

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

Fang gave a worried look, as did Dusty, but both continued on. "What's going on?" he asked. "Why would people be so worried all of a sudden?"

Dipsy trotted up to the trio. "Three people have disappeared in the woods outside of town in the past month," she explained. "They found only blood and some great big paw prints. Whatever it is, its not native around here," she continued, worriedly. "They're thinking about changing the mail route a bit to avoid going through the woods to protect the mushers and the dogs and transfering the runoff to Duke," she explained. A truce had been forged with Duke so to speak. He carried vital supplies and such while the mail team carried normal mail.

Balto laughed at this.

"No, it's not a problem! I've got Boris following me a lot, so the townsfolk are no strangers to wierd...company!"

He looked back at Boris, who appeared to have his hands full with Muk and Luk.

"Except maybe... you might want to stay hidden." He put a moment to think about what had happened yesterday, and no less than six local dogs had been sprayed by a skunk.
Boris didn't have much faith in them, but Balto was certain that if the townsfolk (or worse; the owners) saw a skunk, they could put two and two together.

"We might have to go the long way, around the outside of the town to get to the refinery." he told her after explaining the situation at hand. "Is that alright with you?"


-------------------------------------
Jenna might have felt bad, but Kodi felt worse. Already he had wondered how his team would react to his outburst next they saw him, and knowing that Dusty had an indirect personal stake made it that much worse. Like he suspected, Fang WAS with them. This rendered the difficult task of apologizing to Fang for his attack much more daunting than he originally anticipated, adding the scrutiny of his teammates and captive audience... it wouldn't be easy.

He wondered why Dusty never told him about his father. Of all of the team, he got along the most with her. When he inspected more closely, he probably had some part in it. Constanltly bragging about his "great, wonderful dad" whom he saw almost everyday likely offered no comfort to Dusty, and she probably felt more ashamed about it each time Balto had been brought up. It wasn't his fault - how was he to know? - but he felt terrible anyways.

The revelation strengthened his resolve to finally confront Fang and his team, and he quickly started out, eager to get to the refinery and explain himself. When he saw the sun gleaming through the windows at that particular angle, he remembered that, if the previous days actions hadn't significantly changed anything, they would be eating breakfast by the post office now if they hadn't finished already. New destination in mind, he started up again, but not before ceasing once again. Stopping and starting again was a painful affair given his condition, but he noticed he was alone in the entryway. He doubled back to the doorway, and saw Jenna standing utterly still, ears moving listening a conversation that Rosy's parents were having. Whatever they were discussing, it could wait. Kodi needed to do this before he lost his nerve.

"Mom? Are you ready to go?" he asked with a slight inflection of impatience.

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

Despite the shocking news that the long eared Dipsy had just revealed, Kirby took away one thing, and one thing only.

"A new mail route? You gotta be kiddin' me! I hate learning new routes!"

Ralph, instead of helping Kirby realize the seriousness, chose to argue.

"Good thing that Kodi's lead dog then, huh? You can just follow him and blame him if we get lost! Now, let's get going and get some grub, I'm starving!"

The four of them bade Dipsy farewell, who no doubt had plans of her own to purloin some snacks from the general store during the hubbub, and inched further to the Post Office.

When they arrived, they saw four full dishes. Kodi hadn't come yet to eat his, from wherever he was.

Jenna snapped out of her daze and looked to Kodi. "Oh, right," she said, still worried about what had been said, but figuring the humans could handle it. "Let's go, I'm sure it'll be ok," she said, leading the way out of the building house towards town. "Kodi, don't be worried," she said. "They're your friends, I'm sure they'll forgive you. If they're real friends they will," she explained. "I know you're sorry, it's obvious that you are. They'll see it plain as day," she continued as they headed that way. "Just try to calm down, and watch your step," she said, guilding him around some black ice. "You're exshausted and hurt as it is."

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

Sally nodded. "Don't mind one bit," she said. "Me and Fang came all the way from Ancourage to get here, a little walk isn't a problem," she explained. "Long way, but it was worth it to see how happy seeing you has made Fang, thank you."

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

Fang merely set back and watched, not wanting to eat from anyone's bowl without permission. He wanted to be seen as a polite and kind dog, which he was. A few of the older humans walking by gave him rather mean looks, clearly seeing the resemblence he had with his father. These looks got a whimper out of him, as it upset him even the humans held their hatred of his father against him.

Dusty started eating, hungry herself. She looked up at her friends. "Well, whatever is going on, Mel should be having a fit about...now..." she said, right as Mel, from inside, went on a tangent about every possible bad event possible. She looked to Fang. "That would be Mel, most paranoid dog in history," she explained. "Still, this time he might have a point, I mean if people are disappearing out there, some dangerous animal might be loose."

Kodi and Jenna made their way across the short patch of tundra in between her home and the main part of Nome.
It was slow going, Kodi's smarting muscles didn't allow for his normally hastened pace. His mother expertly kept pace with him, so as to not pressure him into changing his speed from what was comfortable for him. The journey was mostly silent, not a word was exchanged between the two. Kodi contemplated how he would approach them, if they were at the post office. He earnestly hoped they would be - as they walked down the main street, he didn't think his heart could take another bout of nervous anticipation that had materialized as the proposed advent grew nearer, only to discover that they were elsewhere, and that he would need to relive the tension again.

The post office was not too far now. He could hear Mel frantically hypothesizing like he always did over the dull roar of the crowd further down the street at the City Hall. A familiar voice rang through his ears, the sound of Kirby arguing with Ralph (he heard the word "food" thrown around). He was seconds away from finally coming face to face with the group once again.



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

"There is something wrong, something really, really wrong!"

Mel had found his perch in an open window overlooking the alley, the dog's food bowls positioned almost directly underneath. Once a week, though usually more, he would talk to the mail crew over breakfast (he rarely et with them - nervous stomach), sharing the news of the day.

Seldomly the news was ever positive. Matched with his flair for the dramatic, and his penchant for unusual hyperbole, many dogs that would potentially sneak a bite or two of what Mr. Simpson put out avoided doing so. They felt it wasn't worth the hassle of listening to Mel ramble incessantly for a bite of food. In a way, he acted as a guard dog for the mail crew. They didn't tell him that though; he'd probably think that the playful title would later entail tangling with wolves rampaging through town, specifically to grap the dogs' rations, and would cause him harm along the way.

His eccentrities meant he was often left to his own devices; Mel rarely recieved any visitors, apart from the gossip soaked omnipresence of Dipsy. Mel was a great source for her. Being in the mail room all day, he netted his fair share of worldly stories that, once stripped of the exaggerations, made excellent fodder for the the chatty cathy's around Nome. The dog team didn't mind him. To the contrary, his stories provided a great deal of conversation to chew on while they chewed their own meal.

Kirby in particular liked to downplay what Mel told the pack. Mel's active imagination would usually kick in, and the story grew more dire and harrowing each time Kirby let on he was convinced otherwise.

"That sure has a familiar ring to it" Kirby said, emphasis on the word "that". Emphasis on the most general term typically led to Mel revealing the content of the story instead of reiterating how awful it was, like he tended to do.

"Oh nonononono" Mel said quickly, determined to prove Kirby in error. "Wrong is when the mail is missorted, and a letter of job termination is accidentally in the hands of the newspapers, that's wrong! This is like... ten-NO- a hundre-NO!" He seemed to be learning this information at the same time he was speaking it. "This is like... a THOUSAND times more 'wrong' than that!"

"Really?" Kirby feigned disinterest "What is it THIS time?" The emphasisis again.

"So, some locals have gone missing."

Ralph spoke up this time, in between bites of his food. "We knew that, Dipsy told us."

Increasingly frenzied, Mel retorted "She did? I bet she didn't tell you that..." he stopped and swiveled his head from left to right, as if to make sure no one else was listening
"I bet she didn't tell you that... a terrifying MONSTER was behind it all!"

"Actually, she kinda did. Big paw prints, or something like that."

Mel looked incredulously at the two. He couldn't believe they were eating at a time like this.
"Big paws? This beast has claws - huge claws! - it rips things to shreds before eating them! It's not natural, it's a sort of secret project gone wrong - I'm sure of it!"

Kirby raised his head from his emptied bowl, licking his chops as he assured Mel.
"Whatever it is, we dogs can handle it. We're dependable that way!"

Mel yipped "You can't seriously consider going out again? Not after the disappareances?"

"Ha! Neither rain nor... snow nor ice nor... snow can stop the US Mail! If a couple of humans got lost, and a fat bear stumbled about in the snow, that's no-"

Mel stiffened, and a more sinister air surrounded him. Not his usual over-the-top sinister, but a darker, more serious sinister.
"These weren't just normal humans you know, they were hunters, locals, experienced navigators, th-the-THEY don't get lost!"

Kirby and the rest of the dogs perked up.

"All I know is, I'd do everything I could to avoid being something's lunch if I didn't have to!"

"Speaking of which, I wonder when lunch will be ready?" Ralph asked.

Kirby turned to look at Ralph incredulously "Lunch? You just ate a bunch of food for breakfast, is that all you-"

Kirby looked behind Ralph, where Fang was sitting. He had been so quiet during the meal, and with Mel and Dipsy distracting them, the dogs forgot that he was even there. Kirby looked at the food dishes. Aside from Kodi's unblemished pouring, the rest of the bowls were spotless.

"Good going, Kirby. Way to offer our guest some food." Ralph said sarcastically.
"You're blaming me? You're bigger than all of us, you could afford to cut back!"
"Why should I? Why not Dusty? I heard that girls are always watching their figures"
"You got to be kidding me!"

Though Kirby tried to assign blame, they were all equally responsible. They all also knew that Kodi's food was off limits. He was already in a bad mood, and going without food was not going to alleviate it.

"Listen, maybe Dipsy can filch some from the store, you know she'd love an excu-"

Kirby stopped. Kodi was standing at the opening of the alleyway.

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

"Well, here we are again!"

Balto stood on his hind legs and pushed open the door with front paws, the warm air from the furnace in the refinery greeting them in passing as it escaped to rise in the cool Alaskan skyline.

The beds were all empty, and it was quiet, aside from the complacent buzzing from the furnace vibrating.

"Hello? Kodi, Dusty? Fang?"

Balto looked distraught at Sally beneath him. He had thought for sure that they would be here, this was where they rested on their days off!
Previously, Kodi had always told him about when he and the team would have to go to deliver the mail, in case Balto wanted to see them off, which he usually did.

Kodi hadn't mentioned anything before about any potential mail trips today from yesterday, although that wasn't surprising. He hadn't seen Kodi since he'd run off angry, so if they DID have a delivery today, Balto wasn't informed about it.

If Fang wasn't here, and Kodi had returned to rest at night, then he might have chased Fang off in the night. Saber had shown a lot of gumption in willing to attack him with several other defenders around, he wouldn't pass up to get a chance at revenge after yesterday, especially if Fang was on his own.

Balto didn't say any of this to Sally, as he didn't want her to worry further. Instead he said "I think know where they are, follow me!"

The two left the building, Balto careful to close the door behind him.

As much as he'd loved the fracas that Sally had finished last night, it's consequences were more far-reaching than he'd originally anticipated. The fastest way to the post office was straight through town, but at the risk of Sally being spotted by a furious owner of one of her victims, it simply wasn't a safe choice. They'd have to continue circling around the outskirts, until they reached a more deserted part of town where they could slip through alleyways and in-betweens with minimal risk of exposure.

They continued in their circle around Nome, now walking along the fresh pine scented, yet abnormally dark, woodland edge of the town.


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

Kodi left his mother's side, and walked past Fang and the others.

He could feel their stares, and could feel their discomfort in the air around him. He approached his food dish, feeling very awkward all the while.
Straining his neck, Kodi bent down as if he was about to dig in to his second breakfast, but he didn't.

The bowl inched it's way across the the track laden surface of the snowy ground, with Kodi's nose guiding it's capricious path to it's end at the base Fang's feet.

Kodi slowly raised his head, careful not to jerk too quickly, and looked into Fang's wolfen eyes.

He gestured to the bowl with his right paw.

"...Please... take it. I-I've already eaten"

It wouldn't have mattered if Kodi hadn't eaten or not. With the amount of guilt surging through him, there was almost nothing Kodi wouldn't have done to alleviate it.