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Alright, first to point out, this has little connection to my RP of the same title, I wrote this first and thought I couldn't post it here but I can. This is rated PG-13 for some violance and blood. There is MENTION of gore but it not gone into great detail, there is not actuelly gore in it. Here's chapter 1, if you wish me to continue, please say so. And if I go against the rules, just tell me and I'll fix it ASAP. Also Balto won't appear till chapter two but this is still a Balto fic, IMPORTENT this fic takes place between Balto and Wolf Quest. Here we go!

Prologue

New York City, 6 am, June 13, 2008

Three men walked through a steel door, they found it odd that it was so thick. They were handed automatic rifles as they walked in. They were all criminals on death row, chosen as test subjects. If they participated, they would be set free. What they hadn’t been told, is that is only if they survived would they be set free. As they stepped out into a large room, modeled after a rain forest. High above in a control room, a man in a military uniform walked in. “Sorry I'm late, I had things to take care of. Are the test subjects in the room?” he asked.
“Yes sir, General Damien.” replied a female scientist.
“Seal the room and let the Outsider in, it’s feeding time.” said the Damien with a smirk.
The metal door slammed shut behind the convicts, trapping them. They looked around wondering what they were supposed to be shooting at, they needn’t wait long. The floor before them opened up and a nine-foot metal cylinder with OXCOM2 imprinted on it came up. Smoke poured out as it opened. Standing in it, arms crossed over its chest like a mummy’s, was an eight foot reptilian creature. Its long arms ended in frightening three fingered claws, it had a short snout attached to a wide menacing head that faced downwards, a long tail curled around its legs, and it looked as if under its scales were solid muscle. It snarled as it’s head moved upwards, revealing a pair of sadistic eyes, its mouth opened, showing razor sharp teeth and emiting a roar. A clicking noise comes from it and a nine inch metal blade emerges from each of its claws. “Shoot that thing!” yelled one of the convicts. They open fire but the Outsider leaps out of its cylinder, almost 20 feet into the air before landing easily on a tree limb, cracking the branch. It leaps around with a strange grace in its movements. The criminal looked around, frightened. Suddenly, one falls to the ground, three bleeding holes stabbed in the back of his head. As the others look at the dead man, another is lifted off the ground, impaled on the monster’s blades. It throws its victim away and advances on the final one. He opens fire with his rifle, all impacting on the creature’s chest but merely bouncing off. The monster retracts the blades on one hand and uses it to grab its prey by the neck and lifts him into the air. Its other hand is thrust forwards, stabbing into the man’s chest and quickly ending his life. The monster throws the dead man to the ground, its mission was complete now it was time to play.
In the control room, the female scientist nearly threw up watching the Outsider’s actions. Every test they did, it always tore its dead victims apart, which was what it was doing now. The scientist shoots an angry look to the general. “How could you do that?” she asks.
“Those men were on death row any way, besides, the Outsider’s killing tactics are quick and painless.” replied Damien, “You didn’t seem to oppose testing its power on animals. Speaking of which get that dog, we can’t go to phase two until she is trained properly.”
In the other end of the laboratory, a wall of cages lined the walls. In one was the dog the general spoke of. She was a young red and white husky with a tuff of white fur covering her right eye and a faded, tattered, red bandana tied around her neck. The humans had given her a comfortable cage compared to her fellow prisoners and intelligence on par with them. What they hadn’t given her is the reason how they could be doing this to her. She felt the Outsider, knew where it was, even saw its gruesome work, and it knew where she was at all times, planning the murder of any human near her. All she wanted was a kind family and because of the actions of the humans, that was not possable. How could they see an animal that was supposed to adore humans as a way to get other humans killed? She changed her thoughts, pictureing in her mind her role model, her hero. “I wish you were here, you’d know what to do.” she said to herself. She knew it was impossible since her hero had been gone for nearly 80 years but she could still dream. She could feel the Outsider’s plans, it would enact those this day and there was nothing she could do to stop it. A worker came to open her cage.
“Come on Tina, the time for your training.” said the man.
Suddenly, a red right flashed on and off and an alarm sounded. “Attention, the Outsider has broken loose and is killing anyone in its way, all units report to subdue the creature.” said a voice over the intercom.
The man ran off, leaving Tina’s cage open. She finally had the opportunity to escape, she took it. She ran out the door and prepared to flee the lab but turned back to the other cages, her hero wouldn’t leave those other animals trapped would he? She hears a burst of gun fire and quickly nudges a button on the wall with her snout, causing all the cages to open. “Quick, get out of here now!” she yelled.
The Outsider had lept through the glass separating its test room from the control room. Once it had done that, it showed no mercy and only one remained alive. Damien was looking into its hate filled eyes as the monster lifted him to eye level. "You can't kill me! I created you and this is what I get in return?!" he yelled. The Outsider thossed him, knocking him clean through a wall. The Outsider felt Tina was escaping, only it did not know her as Tina, to it she was called the decoy because her job was to lure prey to their doom by tricking them into staying close to her so it could find them. It had to follow her as long as she was alive, it was its programming. If it allowed her to live, she would try to warn its targets and thus defy her prime function, it gave her the new identification of traitor and smiled at the thought of what it would have to do.
An hour later, Tina was in central park. She fell to the ground, out of breath. She had run non-stop because she couldn’t let it catch her. She knew it would kill her if it did, she had never been more frightened in her entire life but not just for herself. “It can’t find me. I’m the only thing holding it back, without me it will kill everyone.” she told herself, forcing herself to her feet, finding herself facing a statue of her hero, the wolfdog Balto. She looks it over, she’d never seen it before but she knew everything about it. The statue put up in memory of Balto and his team that saved the children of Nome in 1925. Once again she wished for his help, he was her idol and she thought he could do anything. She is stirred from her thoughts by another feeling, she had let the Outsider get too close. She couldn't escape it, not here, in an open stretch on the ground she was faster but not with all the trees it could jump through. She’d have to stall it there somehow. Before she could think further, she was roughly picked up by her neck by the horrid creature. She knew the Outsider had her right were it wanted her and she didn’t want it to have the satisfaction of her fear, so she fought. She bit and clawed at the infernal beast but was unable to pierce the surface of its hide. It extended the blades of its free hand and raised it towards the cloud covered skies. Before it could bring down the weapon, thunder roared and a lightning bolt crashed down from the skies. It hit the Outsider’s extended claw, the beast’s body crackles with electricity, causing the monster to roar in agony. Tina felt the electricity but it was diminished through the monster’s thick hide, only burning the fur of her neck. Everything around the two seemed to contort and bend, as if reality itself was warping. In a bright flash both disappear, leaving only a scorch mark on the ground.

Nome Alaska, 3 am, 15, 1925

There were no lights on in the town, everyone was sound asleep despite the thunder and lightning in the skies overhead. The storm seemed to come out of no where without warning during the night. It hadn’t started to rain or more likely snow yet but the wind was growing pretty strong. Jenna snapped awake after a particularly loud thunder clap. After she regained her senses she checked on her owners, she found they were still sound asleep. As she returned to the living room, she thought that maybe the thunder wasn't the only thing that had woke her. She looked out at storm with a concerned expression, she was worried for Balto. She wished he’d stay with her like she asked, Rosy and her family let him come and go as he pleased. She sighed, he could be really stubborn sometimes. She guessed she couldn’t blame him for not wanting to leave were he’d spent his whole life, except for before Boris took him in and not even Balto really knew what happened before that. "Maybe I'm just worrying for nothing." she said, trying to calm herself even though she knew her fears weren’t completely unjustified. All Balto had to protect him from the weather out there was an old blanket and a rickety ship, and the weather wasn’t the only thing she was worried about, not everyone liked what Balto had done. Since Balto saved Nome, Steele had become more and more obsessed with revenge and Jenna, he didn’t just want to beat Balto in a fight, he wanted to kill him or steal Jenna. Balto always avoided Steele when he could and ignored him when he couldn’t and Jenna loved Balto too much and knew Steele too well to give in to his advances. Still, Steele never stopped making fun of Balto and even though he had pride in his wolf half now, it hurt him when Steele taunted him for it, maybe it hurt worse now. She told Balto to stand up for himself but he said that was just what Steele wanted him to do, get mad and fight him. Jenna knew Balto could beat Steele easily but she had to agree that if Steele got him mad enough, he couldn’t think clearly and Steele knew it. He knew Balto wouldn’t start a fight unless he was mad and ambushing Balto would probably just result in Steele losing and making Balto look good. The only time Steele would stand a chance in killing Balto was if he was angry or asleep. Was Steele really that desperate for revenge to sink so low as to kill Balto in his sleep? Jenna didn’t think so but she still couldn't bare for Balto to be so upset. She put her head down out of saddness, it broke her heart that there was nothing she could do to help her mate but try to comfort him. She suddenly had an awful feeling, she couldn't figure out what it was but something bad was going to happen and part of her thought Balto would get caught in the middle. "Balto, please be ok." she said, trying to put her fear aside. She laid down and tried her hardest to slip back into sleep.
On the outskirts of Nome, a lightning bolt struck the ground beside the main road into Nome. At once the storm thunder and lightning stopped and snowflakes began to gently drift to the ground. As the smoke from the strike cleared, a red and white shape was left unmoving in the snow…

What do you think?

I'm not sure, I don't now what month Wolf Quest takes place in, I know the first one took place in Fabury. Anyway, here's chapter two! This one is probably rated lower than the first because there isn't violance.

New Arrival

Nome Alaska, 7 am, 1925;

Balto leaped from his boat, he was running late. He started into a dash as soon as his paws hit the ground, “I better make up the time or Jenna will be worried.” he said, smiling at the thought of his mate before jumping onto the top of a fence then onto a roof and making his way across town. He had traveled the country for the past few months along with Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and the other dogs on the team. Everywhere they went, they were met with a hero's welcome. It was fun but Balto missed his friends in Nome horribly. When the humans with them saw him sad one day, they correctly guessed he was homesick so the other dogs were still traveling and he’d been taken home. A few things had changed while he was gone. Jenna had told him her friends Dixie and Silvie’s families had moved away in his absence due to the overflow of tourists into the town, she didn't know if it was for good or not. Likewise Boris hadn’t been able to handle all the tourists poking around the boat so he had left, naturally Muk and Luk had followed their ‘uncle’, until Balto came back or the tourists thinned out, both of which had happened so he had sent word with the last sled dog team that had gone out to the town Boris was staying near, one that the dogs, all young ones on their first run, had wanted him to lead but he turned them down. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was no secret he’d wanted to be a sled dog since he was a pup, he’d just been away from Jenna too long already. That was also why he was late, because Boris wasn't there to wake him up. Balto stopped, his paws sliding on the new fallen snow, he had been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't noticed he was running towards the edge of a roof with the next one being too far for him to jump. He slid to a stop right at the edge. “That was close.” he said, turning to get back on his path, his right front paw slipped on a patch of ice, causing him to lose his footing and fall off the roof. Luckily he landed in a pile of soft snow. “I guess I better be more careful, won't always be a pile of snow to break my fall.” he said, crawling out and shaking the snow off his coat. “Good thing Boris wasn't here, he would of given me an earful for that.” He laughed, thinking of just what the goose might of said when he remembered something. The town were Boris was staying was only a day or two away from Nome. Maybe the sled team would be coming back soon and even though he guessed his friends probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with them, he still wanted to know if they had gotten the massage. It wasn’t too far out of his way so he ran down the main road.
As he ran, he heard some people ,most of them looked like tourists, talking about his heroics, he even slowed down when some reached out to pet him. To be honest, he really didn’t care about the fame, all he had really wanted to do was save Rosy for Jenna and he had done that, not that he wasn't glad that the towns people didn't hate him anymore. He then saw something that made him stop, Steele was walking down the other side of the street. No collar hung around his neck anymore, his owner and friends had disowned him after finding out what he had done. Some people pet Balto on the head as they pass, sparking a glare and snarl from Steele, whom they were ignoring completely. Humans might not of known everything that happened that night but it didn't take them long after Balto and the sled team returned to figure out Steele had abandoned his team in the middle of a blizzard. The tables had been turned, Balto was the hero and Steele was the hated outcast and Steele didn’t like it one bit. Balto didn't know if it was that or the fall Steele had taken after their fight but Steele was becoming almost insane. Balto looked around for some way to avoid Steele, no such luck, he’d have to do his best to ignore him. Balto had to walk at a slow pace, there were more people in this area or else he might of just dashed past Steele. As he passed, Balto braced himself as best he could for Steele’s insults. “Stupid half-breed, why don‘t you just go back to your pack like a good wolf ? I promise I‘ll take good care of Jenna, even if she has horrible taste in mates.” said Steele mockingly, making sure Balto heard him then letting out a rather disturbing laugh while his face turned to an almost demented smile.
Balto didn’t respond in any way, he just walked past the larger dog. Once Steele was out of sight, Balto hung his head and tail low, he was sad, angry, and confused. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, no matter how many times he heard the same insults, Steele’s words always cut like a knife and hearing Steele wanting to take Jenna away just made him furious. He really didn’t want to fight Steele, that was just what Steele wanted, but he wished Steele would stop, that’s why he didn’t show Steele that he was upset, that would only get him picked on more. He was proud of his wolf half and he and Jenna loved each other too much for anything to get between them so why could Steele always get to him? He dug his nails into the ground in an attempt to vent some of his anger. He drove it out of his mind as best he could, if the sled team had came back he didn’t want to look upset when he met them and he definitely didn‘t want to look it when he saw Jenna. He went back into his run once there was enough room to do so, the sooner he checked the sooner he'd get to Jenna and Rosy. He reached the edge of town and looked around, he didn’t see anything, not even tracks in the fresh snow. “Well, maybe in the morning.” he said, slightly disappointed. Boris was the closest thing he ever had to a father and those two polar bears were like family too, he just wanted to know if they were on their way home yet. Balto laughed, he had a pretty weird family, his mother was wolf, his father was a goose, his best friends were polar bears, Jenna was the only normal one in the bunch. As he turned to head back into town, he caught smelled something. It wasn’t very strong but he recognized it as the smell of burnt fur, he remembered it from when Jenna had burned Steele a few months ago. He looked back into town and then in the direction of whatever he was smelling. “Well it can’t be far besides someone might be hurt and I can’t just leave them out here.” he said and ran after the scent. At first he didn’t see anything until he almost tripped over the red and white dog buried partway in the snow. He looked it over, at first he was worried it might of been Jenna but then he realized that it was too small to be her, whoever it was they were younger than he and Jenna were. He could tell from the scent that it was a female and strangely she smelled similar to his mate, he thought she must just be another husky. Then it occurred to him, the amount of snow on her meant she’d been unconscious out in the cold for awhile, a lot of times that was when someone died, was she still alive? “Hello?” he asked, he was happy to see some response in the form of a small twitch on her eyelid. He nudged her with his nose.
Tina began to wake up, the first thing she noticed was that she was freezing cold, it made her entire body ache. She couldn’t remember what happened, she was in too much pain to concentrate on trying. “If you don’t wake up, you’ll freeze to death out here.” said a voice as something gently nudged her shoulder. She opened her eyes with a groan but her vision was blurred for a few seconds. When her vision focused, she was surprised to see Balto. She had no reason to believe she was face to face with her idol, she was just startled to see a wolf dog of any kind. She tried to get to her feet but she was shivering too badly and her legs felt numb from the cold. Balto saw this. “You must be freezing, let me help you to the boiler room, you can warm up there.” said Balto.
He helped Tina up and let her lean on him for support. “Th-thank y-you.” she stuttered.
A few minutes later, Balto set her down in the warm boiler room and managed to find her a blanket. Balto then laid down near by. Normally the sled dogs stayed here when not on runs but all the sled teams were out at the moment so the boiler room was empty. Balto then noticed the burn on Tina’s neck, the shape of it was strange, like whatever burned her had grabbed her to do it. That was strange but not as strange as how much she looked like Jenna, the only differences was her age, the tuff of fur over her eye, and the eyes themselves. Her eyes were strange, it wasn’t that he hadn’t seen eyes like them before, in fact it was because they seemed so familiar, he just couldn’t remember where he’d seen them before. “Feeling better?” asks Balto in a concerned voice after letting her warm up for a few minutes.
“Yes, thank you very much, if you hadn't found me, I probably wouldn’t of lasted much longer. I owe you big time.” said Tina, getting up and shaking a combination of water and unmelted snow off her fur before stretching her legs to try to get the blood flowing threw them again.
“You're welcome but you don't owe me anything, I was just doing the right thing.”
“It was still a nice thing to do, one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.” Even though she was very grateful, Tina hadn't been looking at Balto when she said that, she was still wondering where she was. Even though she wasn't hurting anymore, all she could remember about what happened was at the moment was that she was in New York City in the summer before she lost consciousness and she woke up outside a town half buried in snow. Her enhanced intelligence on the other hand seemed unaffected. She looked around the room, looking for some inclination of her location. Then she spied a newspaper clipping on the wall. She had seen it before, it was one of the newspaper articles from Nome about Balto’s sled run. What shocked her was that it looked so new. “Excuse me, how old is this?” she asked pointing to the article with her nose.
“That’s from the newspaper a few months ago, why do you ask?” asked Balto, he found it strange considering nearly everyone in the country knew what he had done.
“I’m just trying to figure out how I got here, where is here anyway?”
“Nome, Alaska.” Balto noticed the shock on her face when she heard that. “Why are you so surprised?”
“Because before I lost consciousness, I was in New York City.”
“You're pretty far away from home.”
Tina was in shock, Balto was right she was very far from home but that wasn't as surprising as the fact that from the looks of things she was in 1925, about 83 years in the past. Had she really went back in time? Then it hit her. She was talking to a wolf dog in Nome, Alaska in 1925. “Your name wouldn’t be Balto by any chance would it?”
“That’s my name.”
“The same Balto that on February 2, 1925 lead a sled dog team through a blizzard, past many obstacles including his long time tormentor Steele to deliver a load of desperately needed diphtheria antitoxin to the town of Nome, thus turning from a despised outcast to the town hero?”
Balto was surprised by how specific she was. “Yes, that's me.”
“Amazing…oh sorry I haven’t even introduced myself. My name is Tina.”
Tina’s expression completely changed, she had looked rather confused before she found out who he was but now she was very happy, if not a little embarrassed for not introducing herself earlier, this confused Balto a little. “Glad to meet you, I have a feeling you’re glad to see me.”
“Yeah, you’re my role model, I wish I could do all the things you’ve done and a few things you haven’t done…yet. By the way has Jenna had her first litter?”
“What? No.” said Balto, a little unsettled, what she had said was strange and her question seemed to come out of nowhere.
Tina wondered, if she really had came back in time then she could alter history but sense she was never supposed to be there she had already done that, the truth was no one knew what would happen because she was the first one she knew of that had gone back in time, maybe she was even supposed to have come back or the universe was going to implode, human time travel theories were confusing. She guessed as long as she didn't reveal too much it would be ok. “Really? You’ll be very proud of them, two in particular take after you a good bit. One in looks, the other well you know what they say, like father, like son.” said Tina.
Balto gave her a confused glance. “Well I’m sure I will be proud. Sorry but did you get hit on the head or something?”
“No, but I seem to remember lightning for some reason, everything else is a blur right now.”
“Well that explains that burn on your neck but how could you know about kids I haven’t had yet, are you from the future or something?”, he thought Tina was joking.
“Actually, yes.”
Balto just stared for a few seconds. “You’re serious?”
“Nah, I'm just pulling your leg...or then again maybe I‘m not.” said Tina with a laugh and a mischievous smirk, she decided maybe she’d better wait a little while before telling the truth, at least until she could completely remember what happened before she went back in time, but she couldn‘t resist fooling around and she seemed to remember that Balto had a good sense of humor.
Balto looked at her cautiously, what did she mean by that? He decides she was joking and laughs. “You had me going there for a minute, I'm still not sure about you but lets go see what Jenna has to say.” he said, a little unsure of what to make of Tina.
“Ok, I’ve always wanted to meet her too.” said Tina, making sure her bandana was on tight and biting off what burnt fur she could reach, Balto noticed her bandana strangely looked like Jenna’s, only aged.
“Nice bandana, my wife wears one like it.”
“Really?” Tina said, after Balto turned around a smile crossed her face. “You have no idea.” she whispered.
Balto looks over his shoulder. “What?”
“Oh nothing.” she said as he lead her out the door…

What do you think?

it's beautiful!!!good work^^I hope you will continue the story

You bet I will, I actuelly have 12 more chapters already writen and ready to post but I'm not going to do that all at once. Oh and another thing, this is a crossover fic between Balto and a monster movie series from the 80s call The Watchers but you don't have to know anything about it to understand this one. Thanks for saying nice things!

Sorry to double post but here's chapter three!

Now and Then

Nome, Alaska, 7:30 am, 1925;

Now that she had regained her senses, Tina noticed how quiet it was compared to New York City. The noise of the loud city seemed so far away in the calm of this small town, Tina had to admit it was a lot easier on a dog‘s sensitive ears, an improvement in her book. “It sure is a lot less hectic here than where I come from.” she said, relaxing a bit.
“About as exciting as it normally gets around here is when a sled race is going on, everyone loves to watch those, including me but I‘d much rather be in one.” said Balto. He caught site of the time through a nearby window, he was late. “We’d better pick up the pace, Jenna is probably worried about me. Think you can keep up?”
“Keep up? I could ask you the same thing.” Tina smiles before she takes off, Balto quickly runs off after her.
“You don’t even know where you’re going.”
“I know a thing or two about this town, you’d be surprised what you can find out with the right source. You said you liked races didn‘t you? Well you‘re in one now!”
Balto wondered again, Tina had never been to Nome before but she was heading in the right direction and she knew it, he began to rethink what she said earlier. He smiled, they probably would of made better time if they took a shortcut across the roofs but she’d pretty much challenged him to a race and he couldn‘t resist accepting. He managed to catch up but couldn‘t get ahead of Tina, she was every bit as fast as he was, he was impressed. “You’re pretty fast.”
“Thanks, that means a lot coming from you.” They kept neck and neck for the next few blocks. Balto leaps over a bit of ice on the road, Tina didn’t see it and slipped. She goes face first into the snow and going in up to her front shoulders. Balto stops and waits as she pulls herself out, he couldn’t help but laugh, nether could Tina. Both had enjoyed the race. “Guess you win.”
“Let’s call it a tie, you just didn‘t watch were you were going, it happens.”
“Ok then. I‘d ask for a rematch but you said you were late.”
Balto leads her off the main road and behind a row of houses, he was going to try and get them up on the roofs so they could make better time and avoid…“Hey half-breed.” called Steele from behind them.
“Oh great, Steele.” said Balto, clearly irritated.
“Steele? Oh you mean that bully who always picks on you. Big dog with a bigger ego, used to be the fastest dog in Nome, back when they didn‘t count wolf dogs.” said Tina, trying to sound respectful when she mentioned the wolf dog part, knowing Balto was sensitive about it.
This made Balto even more curious about Tina, he and Steele’s former team were famous but Steele himself wasn’t all that well known outside of Nome yet Tina seemed to know a good bit about him. “Just ignore him.” he whispered to Tina.
Steele walks up between them, when he got a closer look, he looked surprised. He had thought Tina was Jenna but now he realized he was wrong, though Tina was just as beautiful. “Well wolf, who’s this? Does Jenna know you’re cheating on her?” asked Steele in an accusingly tone, he then turned to Tina. “What do you say about coming with me instead of this mangy half-breed?” Partly he did want Tina because she looked like Jenna but mostly he just wanted to get her away from Balto.
“I found Tina hurt outside of town, I’m taking her to see Jenna right now so we don’t have time for your insults.” said Balto, he was trying to keep his feelings hidden but Steele had gotten to him again with the insults about his wolf half and Steele had really made him mad with that comment about cheating on Jenna, he would never even think about doing something like that.
Tina was mad too, only she wasn‘t making any attempt at hiding it, she had her teeth bared and was growling at Steele. She hated males who only wanted her for her looks, the last dog who couldn’t take a hint needed 30 stitches afterwards, not only that but evidently Steele couldn‘t tell that he was almost twice her age. She spots a rock on the ground and gets a mischievous look. “Steele, shut up.” she said and kicks the rock into Steele’s mouth as he opened it to respond. He stops to pull the rock out as Tina smiles. Tina turns to Balto, losing her grin when she saw he was upset, no one deserved to be disrespected and hurt like he just was. She wanted to do something but she couldn’t, she had taken a risk to history with what she just did. “I know this is supposed to happen but that doesn‘t mean I have to like it.” she thought, growling to herself. She didn‘t know what was less fair, how Balto was being treated or that there wasn’t much she could do.
When Steele managed to dislodge the rock, he could see he had Balto mad and Balto had his back turned. Steele dashed forwards and jumps through the air, aiming to sink his claws into Balto’s back. Balto saw Steele out of the corner of his eye. He quickly kicks with his hind legs, catching Steele hard in the bottom jaw. Steele falls to the ground but quickly gets to his feet. He spat out some blood and a string of frankly unmentionable words, his jaws had been slammed shut on his tongue when Balto kicked him. “Lucky shot.” said Steele once he stopped cussing.
“I still don’t want to fight you Steele but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you throw me around like last time.” said Balto, he and Tina turn to leave but Steele tries to bite Balto’s hind leg, Balto jumps out of the way. Steele keeps trying to attack but Balto keeps dodging. Steele was beginning to lose his temper. Balto jumped backward to avoid another bite. He places himself between Steele and a pile of wooden crates. Steele charges and Balto side steps him at the last moment. Steele ended up pinned beneath a heap of broken wood, his ego was more hurt than he was but he still couldn’t force his way out. “There Steele you got what you wanted, we fought. Now leave me alone and keep your paws off Jenna, come on Tina.” said Balto, he was still upset but beating Steele had helped and hopefully taught Steele a lesson.
Tina had been glaring at Steele, that sneak attack was the last straw. “Ok, just a minute.” she told Balto. She walks up to Steele and looks him in the eyes with a sudden seriousness. “Want a tip Steele? Give up and move on. You’ve never beaten Balto and you’re never going to beat him, trust me I know.” Balto wondered again, was Tina playing mind games or did she really know? Tina's face turns to anger. “And about your offer…” Tina smacked Steele in the face in the dog equivalent of a strong slap and then hit him in the snout with her tail as she turned to walk over to Balto, leaving Steele to seethe in his anger. “It probably altered history in some way but if Steele listens maybe it will be for the better, for both of them.” she thought as a smile crossed her face.
“I’ll get you for that!” growled Steele, anger and embarrassment obvious in his voice and a demented look in his eyes. He tried to pull himself out but only succeeded in causing a board to fall off the pile and hit him in the head.
Balto and Tina walk away, Tina stopped once they were out of earshot of Steele. “I‘m sorry Steele treats you like that, you don‘t deserve it, no one does.” she said.
“I‘ve been made fun of all my life for being half wolf, even now that I‘m a hero I‘m still being picked on and not just by Steele.” said Balto, still quite upset.
Tina puts her paw on Balto’s shoulder in a comforting gesture, Balto thought it felt heavier it should. “Hear me out. I know it hurts but don‘t worry about it. Those other dogs are just making fun of you to make themselves look big and tough, to make them feel better about themselves, or because they‘re jealous, probably all three in Steele‘s case. All that shows is you’re a better dog than them. Now try to cheer up, you don‘t want Jenna to see you like this do you?”
Balto smiled, he was really starting to like Tina. “You‘re right…What do you think about me being half wolf? I just want to know. Please be honest.”
Tina looked at him like it was a weird question. “What do you think? I like it, heck I’d give anything to be like you. Let me ask you something, could you of saved Nome if you weren‘t a wolf dog?”
“No, a dog couldn‘t of done what I did, Steele proved that.”
“That wasn‘t the only reason you succeeded where he failed. You did that run to save lives. Steele did it for his own ego. So it looks like you have Steele beat 2 to 0.”
“I guess nice guys don‘t finish last after all.” said Balto with a laugh. What Tina had said made him feel better, it didn‘t make the pain go away completely but it helped. “Let’s get going.”
Jenna set in the living room, her eyes centered on the door. She yawned, even after the storm calmed down, she hadn’t been able to get to back to sleep and she was having trouble keeping awake. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen and Balto being late didn’t help things. She always worried when he was late, she couldn’t help it. “Bye Jenna.” said Rosy, the little girl pets Jenna on the head, Jenna smiles and barks a happy reply. Rosy and her parents were going to the store, Jenna would normally go with them but she was just too exhausted and she just didn’t feel safe to go out without Balto because of Steele. She usually wouldn‘t worry about Steele but with the shape his mind was in right now, there was no telling what he might do to her if he found her without Balto, she was afraid to find out. She wasn’t too worried about Rosy, attacking a little girl definitely wouldn‘t benefit Steele’s standing with the humans, one of the two things he cared about, the other being himself.
“Come on Rosy, we've got to go.” said Rosy’s father.
Rosy ran to her parents. Jenna was relieved by what she saw when they opened the door to leave, Balto had just walked onto the porch. Balto walked through the door, receiving a pet on the head from Rosy in the process. “Hello Balto.” said Rosy with a smile. Balto returned the smile and let out a happy bark. He took Rosy's hat off a nearby chair and handed it to the girl. “Thank you.” Rosy hugged the big wolf dog’s neck.
Balto smiled again, just seeing Rosy cheered him up. She was the only human that had always been able to see more than just half of him, he had to prove he was good to everyone else but Rosy had always known and treated him like it. When Rosy let him go, he ran over to Jenna, who nuzzled the side of his head as the family left. “Where are they going?” asks Balto, confused.
“Just to the store, they‘ll be back soon. Where were you?” asks Jenna.
“I’m sorry I’m late, I’m still not used to getting up without Boris’s help and then I got into a scrap with Steele.” Jenna snapped back as soon as she heard him.
“You fought Steele? Are you hurt?” she asked, concerned.
“I’m fine, he tried to attack me when my back was turned but he didn’t even hit me. I just got out of his way until he got himself trapped under some crates, He‘ll find his way out eventually.”
“I’m more worried about you.”
“Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself.”
Jenna nuzzled him again. “I know, its just I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”
“You won’t have to find out, Jenna, I promise…Not to change the subject but there was another reason I’m late.”
“Which is?”
“I found this dog unconscious outside of town, she has a really strange burn on her neck but other than that she looks fine. She’s waiting outside, mind if I let her in?”
“I don’t mind Balto, she can’t be any stranger than your other friends.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Balto thought as he pushed the door open. Tina had stayed outside because she didn‘t want the family to see her, she didn‘t say why. “Tina, you can come in now.”
Tina and Jenna almost fell backwards when they saw each other and they looked each other over, almost mirroring the other, both very surprised. Jenna had instantly seen how much Tina looked like her. The eyes also caught her attention, like Balto she recognized them but couldn’t remember were she’d seen them before. Balto suddenly burst out laughing, Jenna and Tina looked at him confused for a second before realizing how funny they must of looked and start laughing as well. “Hello, I‘m Jenna, this is rather strange.” said Jenna once she managed to stop laughing.
“I’m very happy to meet you, I’m a huge fan of you and Balto. I wish I was as brave as you are, I’m not sure I’d be able to attack a grizzly bear to save anyone.” said Tina with a smile, Balto might have been her idol but she knew that Jenna played a big part in what happened that night. “You’re right about this being strange, this is a 10 on the weirdness scale.” She was surprised because she’d been told how much she looked like Jenna but she had no idea just how much they looked alike. She got an embarrassed look. “Sorry, I can’t seem to remember to introduce myself today! My name is Tina.”
“That’s alright. Where are you from? I’ve never seen you before.”
“New York City. I have no idea how I got here, I just remember being in New York, I was running, lightning, I can‘t remember anything else about what happened.” Tina’s memory was coming back in bits and pieces, what was she running from?
“Well you can stay here if you like, I’m sure the family won’t mind an extra dog for a little bit. Where’s your owner?” said Jenna.
Tina looked unsure of the answer. “I don’t have one, well I do but he’s…let’s just say I have issues with him.” Tina suddenly looked scared, she remembered seeing what happened to Damien through the Outsider’s eyes. “The Outsider…” she muttered, in her excitement she had totally forgot that monster. The rest of her memory surged in. She remembered looking into the Outsider’s eyes as it was struck by lightning, reality warping around them. Where was the Outsider? She dove into her mind, she was surprised, the Outsider’s twisted thoughts were gone, she couldn’t feel it at all anymore, what did that mean? She needed to think.
“Tina, what’s wrong?” asks Balto.
“Trust me, you don‘t want to know. I need to be alone for awhile.” Tina ran out the door before Jenna or Balto could reply to her.
“Balto, what’s going on?” asks Jenna, for some reason she was scared. That last thing Tina said made a chill go up her spine…

There you go, comments are welcome!

Wow. I've never read anything quite like this before.
The Outsider, however... Is it inspired by maybe the Predator or something? I feel like I've seen it somewhere...
Anyway, I really like this fic. The way the Outsider referred to Tina in the begining was a nice touch, and I like the little bits of information Tina keeps thinking or mentioning or hinting at. Nice way to build suspense and foreshadowing.

Keep at it. This is getting good.
Write on.
-LWf

hey!!!amazing new chapter!!!I'm waiting for the others^^

Its actuelly from a movie, this is a crossover. The Outsider changes in each film which gave me some freedom with it though this one is based off the one in Watchers 3, which has been called a Predator ripoff, though this is diffrent. Just wait till later, when the Outsider returns it will show just how dangerous it really is. Thanks for the kind comment!

Sorry to double post but here's chapter 4!

An Acceptable Risk

Nome Alaska, 7:55 am;

Tina ran to the outskirts of Nome completely opposite of Jenna‘s house, she was panting heavily but she didn’t want to risk Balto and Jenna's lives if the Outsider was around. She tried to piece things together. “Ok, I probably forgot because of shock, no surprise there.” she said. “The Outsider was caught in the warp too so it should of came back but why can’t I feel it anymore? From what I know about the Outsider‘s durability, the lightning probably didn’t kill it but the time stream might have, probably easier for me to survive the trip because of I‘m smaller. That could also mean it is still in the time stream and could still make it out, just later than I did, the link will probably reform in that case so that isn‘t so bad. I might be stuck here but that isn‘t necessarily a bad thing as long as I‘m careful not to mess up history to much, not hard to do that when you‘re a dog.” She thought of something that terrified her. “Ok, worst case scenario; it was sent back and the link was severed by the warp, unlikely considering how the link was designed but still…” She heard someone walking behind her. She snapped around so fast she fell over. Tina let out a sigh of relief, it was just a human walking by. “Well that almost gave me a heart attack, as if I didn’t have enough problems.”
She walked back to Jenna’s house slowly, thinking over her situation more. Once she reached the house, she nudged the door open enough to see through. The humans weren’t in the room but Tina could hear their voices in another room, probably having breakfast. Jenna and Balto were lying in front of the fire, Jenna had her head resting on Balto’s front paws and appeared to just be waking up, she got to her feet with a yawn. “Did you sleep better?” asks Balto.
“Yes, its easier to sleep knowing you’re safe.” said Jenna, nuzzling Balto.
“I’m sorry I worry you, this is a nice place but I’m just not an inside dog.”
“I know, you’d probably have as much trouble sleeping here as I would sleeping on your boat. We’ll find some way to make this work.”
“Yeah…that‘s not the only thing on your mind is it?” he knew Jenna better than anyone and he saw something was bothering her.
“Balto, I‘m not sure if we should trust Tina.” Jenna felt awful for saying that but something about Tina just didn‘t feel right, so did how much she knew.
“Jenna, I trust your instincts a lot but Tina really looks up to us and she‘s lost a long way from home, that‘s probably why she was scared. We can‘t help her home, New York is just too far away, but we can try to make her feel at home.”
Tina understood how Jenna felt, she showed up knowing everything about them and then ran off, she’d be untrusting if the roles reversed. She wasn’t scared that she was lost, she didn’t have anything to get back. Even if she liked her old life, Damien was dead and the lab had probably been leveled by now in some kind of cover-up. Still she needed them to trust her, if the Outsider had came or was coming back, she couldn‘t stop it alone and they were the only ones she could turn to, she couldn‘t speak human. “Ok, the Outsider may be here already or it might show up, if that’s true, I‘ll need their help which means they have got to trust me, that‘s easier if they know.” she told herself, she took a deep breath. “Come on Tina, you can do this, there is no other choice, even if the Outsider doesn‘t show up, I might be stuck here and its better they find out sooner than later…” she groaned. “Please don‘t let this destroy the universe.” She nudged the door open more and barked, Balto and Jenna looked in her direction and she motioned to them.
“Glad you’re alright.” said Balto as they walked outside.
“Sorry for running out like that, I just needed some time to think.”
“Its fine.”
“…Look, I overheard you guys talking.”
Jenna looked down at her paws. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t of said that, its just I‘ve had a bad feeling all day and then you showed up and you kind of scared me back there so I wasn‘t sure what to think.” said Jenna, she felt ashamed for what she had said.
“Its ok, you had every right to be cautious, I’m a stranger and I’ve done nothing to earn your trust.”
“You haven’t done anything to betray our trust ether.” Balto pointed out.
“Yes I have, I’ve kept something very important from you but I’m not going to keep it a secret anymore.”
“What is it?”
Tina suddenly looked very serious. “Balto, I wasn’t fooling around earlier, well I was but not about what you thought.”
Balto realized what she was talking about and would of thought she was joking again but he saw how serious she was. “You’re saying you really are from the future?”
“Wait, what?” asks Jenna.
“Something I told Balto earlier and then told him I may of been joking, I wasn’t. I am from the future, Sunday, June 15, 2008, if you wish to be exact.”
Jenna and Balto looked shocked. If she had told them that when they first met her, they might of thought she was joking or crazy but not after seeing the things she knew. “I’m sorry Tina, I‘m just not sure if I believe you or not.” said Balto, confused.
“Same here.” said Jenna, just as confused as her mate.
Tina chuckles. “I didn’t expect you to believe me, I wouldn’t believe it if it wasn’t happening to me. I’ll just have to prove it to you.” said Tina with a smirk.
“How are you going to do that?” asks Balto, slightly curious.
“I could tell you some things that should happen soon but if I‘ve learned anything from watching Doctor Who, its tell someone too much about their future and the universe might implode…sorry, that hasn‘t been created yet. I was very close to one of your descendents, so I know every detail of your run. Go ahead, ask me anything you think I shouldn‘t know about it.”
Something instantly came to Balto‘s mind. “What did I meet when I fell off that cliff that night?”
Tina thought for a second. “I believe you met a white wolf.”
Balto and Jenna looked at each other with shock. Jenna was the only one Balto had ever told about that, he hadn’t even told Boris. “You’re right.”
“If you still have doubts about my story, I’ve got something else to show you. Jenna, do you know what this is?” asks Tina, slipping her bandana off and laying it on the ground in front of Jenna.
Jenna looked it over and sniffed it. After a couple seconds, her eyes grew wide when she realized that she did recognize it. She looks at her own bandana and back to Tina’s. They were the same one, except Tina’s was torn and faded which would make sense if Tina was from the future. Jenna knew for sure it was the same one, she had only taken hers off once since she got it and that was to give it to Balto that night. “My bandana?” she asks even though she knew the answer.
Tina nodded and slipped it back around her neck. “This was a going away present from your descendant, I’m surprised it looks this good after 83 years. As to why we look alike, I have absolutely no idea. You don’t have to believe me but I hope you will.” Tina wanted to tell them about the Outsider but she needed to make sure it was there first. Even if she was pretty confident the universe wouldn‘t implode, she didn‘t want to scare Balto and Jenna for no reason and she needed time to think up a plan so if it showed up, they had a chance against it.
It was a few minutes before Jenna and Balto could reply, needless to say, they were stunned. “I believe you Tina.” said Jenna, it was all she could think to say.
“So do I.” said Balto.
“Thanks, you have no idea what it means to me to hear you say that.” said Tina.
“You’re welcome, you can stay here as long as you need to.” said Jenna.
Tina shook her head no. “I’d love to but sorry, I still might get back to the future and if I meet Rosy, I might bond to her like you have and then I‘ll have a hard time leaving, it will be better if I stay on Balto‘s boat until I can figure out everything out.” That wasn’t the only reason, she also didn’t want to risk bringing the Outsider there if it showed up, Balto should be safe considering it doesn‘t see dogs as targets.
“That’s fine with me, its been lonely out there lately but I should warn you, it isn’t the most comfortable place to sleep.” said Balto, he laughed. Even if she was from the future, he didn’t see any reason not to treat Tina like any other friend he had.
“I’ve probably had worse. Life hasn‘t been good to me.” Tina seemed upset.
“I’m sorry to hear that…but I‘m sure things will get better.” said Jenna, trying to cheer her new friend up.
“Thanks, I’m hopping it will. Well you’d better go be with Rosy. I think I’ll go check out the town. I’ve seen lots of maps about Nome but I want to see the town for myself. I’ll meet up with you later.” said Tina, smiling. She wasn‘t just going to see the town, she had to find proof if the Outsider was in Nome or not. If it was, it wouldn‘t be that hard to find, there weren‘t many places in town for it to hide and the fresh snow would make it easy to find footprints if there were any, Tina prayed there wouldn‘t be.
Balto, Jenna, and Tina walked up to Balto’s boat later that night, talking about the day. They all broke out laughing at the part where Tina slapped Steele. “Well see you tomorrow, Tina can you make sure Balto wakes up at the right time?” asks Jenna as Tina jumped up to the deck of the boat. She felt better knowing Balto wasn‘t alone, especially since it was someone that wasn’t afraid of Steele.
“I’ll try but I‘m ahead of you guys by a few hours.” said Tina, she hadn‘t found any trace of the Outsider so she was in a good mood but she was still cautious.
“Goodnight Jenna, I love you.” said Balto.
“I love you too, goodnight.” replied Jenna before nuzzling her mate.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home? You know how Steele is getting.”
“Balto, I’ll be fine. Steele is probably still off sulking from your fight.” said Jenna, despite the fact she was still scared of what Steele might do if he caught her alone.
Jenna walks back towards her house as Balto jumps onto the deck of the boat to find Tina staring up at the sky. “I forgot how beautiful the stars are, the last time I saw them was when I was a puppy, kind of ironic considering I won‘t be born for over 80 years.” said Tina, smiling.
“Yeah. Wait, how long has it been since you saw the stars?” asks Balto, confused.
Tina turns her head to show a small, black tag in her ear that Balto hadn‘t noticed before. “I’ve been a research animal for a long time. I’m in such good shape cause they trained me so hard. This might sound weird but could you please tear this tag out?”
“Won’t that hurt?”
“Yeah, a lot, but if I do get back to future, I don’t want them to be able to find me and this tag has too many bad memories anyway. Plus, this thing itches like crazy.” Tina scratches her ear with her hind leg. “Just grab it and rip it out but please make it quick.”
“No problem, hold still.” Tina grits her teeth as Balto bites down on the tag before jolting his head to the side. Tina yelped when the tag was torn out of her skin. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve had a lot worse and I’m a fast healer. Thank you.” Tina smiled, it had hurt and her ear was bleeding but the whole time she‘d had that tag in was a living nightmare, she felt relieved it was gone. Tina looked back up at the night sky, Balto joined her. After a few minutes, Tina looked at Balto. “Do you know what constellations are?”
“No but your going to tell me right?” asks Balto, smiling, he was intrigued.
“You bet. They’re shapes humans made out of stars. For example, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the big bear and the little bear.” Tina traced the stars with her nose.
“Like Muk and Luk.” Balto laughed, he’d have to show them that. He then watched intently as Tina pointed out more constellations. “Is there a wolf?”
“Not that I know of.”
Balto looked disappointed by that. “No wolf? Oh well. You sure know a lot.”
“Trust me, it wasn‘t worth what I went through to get this smart.”
“I‘ll take your word for it.” Balto yawned “we’d better be getting to sleep.” Balto goes to crawl under his blanket but stops and looks back at Tina. He grabs the blanket and puts it over Tina. “You’re my guest, you shouldn’t have to be cold.”
“I appreciate the offer but you need it more.”
“No I don’t, I’m used to the cold, you’re not.” before Tina could argue, Balto lays down on opposite side of the deck. Balto didn’t say anything but something was bothering him. After few minutes of trying and failing to get to sleep he decided to ask. “Tina…earlier I promised Jenna that I’d never leave her, do I keep that promise?”
Tina didn’t know how to respond. “I’m sorry Balto…”
Balto’s heart sank when he heard her say that. “Oh…”
“No, its not that, I’m sorry that I can’t tell you because I don’t know. Jenna’s history isn’t recorded very well and your descendent didn’t get that far before I left so I don’t know if ether of you lives longer than the other one.” Tina hid her head under the blanket. She was sorry but not for that reason. She knew the answer but she didn‘t want to tell him too much about his future, some things she knew might of already changed.
“Sorry for asking, I just wanted to know, Jenna means the world to me.”
“I know…You think everything I know will happen?” Tina chuckles, causing Balto to shoot her a confused glance. “Think of time like that race you won, well you know except for what Steele did after. The other dogs only knew one path to take…” She drew a curving line in a patch of snow on the deck. “But that path wasn’t right for you so…” She draws a line from one of the curves to the end. “You made your own.”
Balto smiled, he understood. “Actually I got knocked off the racetrack and had to catch up but I know what you mean. Thanks for telling me that.”
“I should really be thanking you just for existing. I started life as a stray and ended up with a cruel man as an owner who made every moment up to this point a living nightmare but I survived thanks to stories about you. If I may quote a close friend of yours; ‘Balto, I’d be lost without you.’”
“You’re welcome. Goodnight Tina.” said Balto, he knew who she was quoting, Rosy had told him that after she was cured by the medicine he and the other dogs brought all that way. He had came through for her when she needed him most and in the process had unknowingly done the same for Tina and that felt wonderful.
“Goodnight Balto.” Tina could tell she’d made Balto happy by the sound of his tail wagging and hitting the boards. Once she knew Balto was asleep, Tina got up and put Balto’s blanket back on him before going back to her spot and going to sleep…

There you go, comments welcome!

Is there any more of this to be posted here, or is it on the site already?
I certainly hope you haven't stopped; this one was just getting good...

Write on.
-LWf

Of course there's more! I just didn't want to do three posts in a row. Here is chapter 5 of 14! You shall learn more about our little Balto fan! Enjoy!

Fact or Fiction?

Nome, Alaska, midnight, 1925;

Balto was sound asleep, having a dream about being in a sled race. He was just about win when something woke him up. He yawned and looked around, there wasn’t a light on in town, it must of still been night. “Why is it the good dreams you can‘t finish?” he asks himself with a laugh. That’s when he noticed his blanket. “How did? Of course, she wouldn‘t take no would she?” He walks over to where Tina was asleep, she looked frightened and was mumbling to herself, he guessed she was having a nightmare. “Tina? Wake up.” He nudged her with his paw. She jolted awake quickly, her head slammed hard into Balto’s. He fell backwards but caught himself. He shook off the impact and turned back to Tina. The young husky was panting and gasping while looking around her, frightened. “Tina, calm down, you just had a bad dream.”
“A bad dream? Yes, that’s right.” said Tina, she calmed down and began to rub the top of her head with her paw. “Ow! What’d I hit?”
“Well…” Balto rubbed his own head.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry.”
“Its fine, accidents happen.”
“Thanks for waking me, that was a pretty freaky nightmare and trust me if I say something’s weird, its weird.”
“Want to tell me about it? It might make you feel better.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Alright but if anything’s bothering you, I‘ll listen. That‘s what friends are for.”
Tina nods as Balto turns back to go to his spot on the deck. “…Balto?”
Balto stops and looks over his shoulder. “Yes?”
“I do want to tell you…”
Balto walks back over to her. “Alright. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help, I’m not the best when it comes to telling what dreams are supposed to mean.”
“Yes, I seem to remember that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What do you think?”
Balto realizes she was referring to something in his future. “I get it. Now tell me about this nightmare.”
“This dream, it was scary because I didn’t understand it. It was just…I don‘t know. Maybe I should just tell you the whole dream.”
“That might help.”
________________________________________________________________________

Tina woke up and looked around, to her shock she was in an ally back in New York City. “Warp must of worn off. Shame I didn’t get to say goodbye to Balto and Jenna.” she said. As she got to her feet, she heard something coming from the next ally. She quickly ran over. She saw a rather large, gray, male husky walking down the ally, grumbling to himself.
“Daddy, wait up!” yelled a soft female voice. The male looked back and Tina follow his gaze to see a red and white husky pup running up to him, Tina thought the little dog looked rather cute but was strangely familiar. Her paws lost their grip and she fell but got right back up and chased after her father. The father however, didn’t acknowledge her and just continued to walk away. The little dog cocked her head in confusion. “Daddy? Where are you going?” Her father just kept walking and she continued after him. “Can’t you hear me?” Her father deliberately sped up, irritated. “Why won’t you talk to me?”
The adult spun around with anger in his face. “Don’t you understand you worthless mutt?! I don’t love you or anyone related to you! Especially that lying mother of yours!” he yelled.
The pup backs away, whimpering with her tail tucked between her legs and tears in her eyes. “Did I do something to make you mad? I‘m sorry.” She began to cry.
Tina felt like crying herself, she felt sorry for the young dog. “Poor thing.” she said and tried to put her paw on the pup’s shoulder but to her shock, it just passed right through. She tried repeatedly but the same thing kept happening, she began to get scared.
“I hate you! Now go home, I never want to see your face again!” yelled the father. The pup refused to move, she only cried harder. “Fine then.” He roughly grabs his daughter by the back of the neck with his teeth, making sure he drew blood before violently throwing the helpless animal into a trashcan nearby, knocking it over. Tina thought she heard the sound of breaking glass and a loud yelp of pain. “Good riddance.” said the male before walking away.
Tina couldn’t believe what she had just seen, that dog had just tried to kill his own daughter. She tried to bite the male but had a similar effect to when she tried to touch the pup. “What is going on here?” she asks herself, she was starting to get really scared. She went to check on the young dog.
The pup was bleeding severely as she staggered out of the can and collapsed. She had landed on a broken bottle, several shards remained lodged in her back, a rather large one in her right shoulder. Tears streamed down her face and mixed with her blood on the ground. “Why’d he hurt me? Did I do something wrong?” she asked, confused.
“Poor thing.” Tina looked the little dog over, when she looked at the head, she recoiled in terror. The pup had the exact same marking as her and the same tuff of fur over the eye.
________________________________________________________________________

“So the pup was you?” asked Balto.
“Yeah, that’s what’s so strange. I don’t know why I’d have a dream like this, I don’t remember anything like that happening to me and I’ve never seen it happen but it seems so familiar.” replied Tina, clearly upset.
“You’re right that is weird. I’ve never had a dream like that ether.”
“I just don’t know what it means. I’m so confused and…” Tina didn’t know why but she just wanted to cry. She didn’t want Balto to know but he saw it anyway.
“Its alright if you want to cry, I’m the only one here and I won’t make fun of you, I promise.” He made sure his voice sounded reassuring.
Tina broke out crying, Balto put his paw over her back to comfort her. Tina cried for she didn’t know how long before she stopped. “Thank you.”
“For what? I didn’t do anything.”
“Yes you did, do you know anything about your father?”
Balto recoiled slightly, she had caught him off guard. “Just that he was a purebred husky and he made me feel safe, can‘t remember much else.”
“I can‘t remember anything about mine, I remember my mom told me he left when I was very young but I know he didn‘t do what happened in that dream, he couldn‘t have. When he wasn’t there for me, the stories about you were. In a way I guess, you were like a father to me, thank you for that.” She didn’t know if her father had done that but she prayed he hadn’t.
Balto didn‘t know if he deserved that but he felt proud. “You’re welcome.”
“And thanks for listening, no one listened to me except my mom and my big brother and I haven’t seen ether in a really long time.”
“Why?”
“I haven’t seen my mom since I was adopted by the cruel man I mentioned before and my brother…he died right in front of me.” That was one of the most awful memories she had and she’d never stopped having nightmares about it ether.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He could see that deeply distressed Tina, that she blamed herself. “It isn’t your fault, bad things happen.”
“Thanks…Think we should be getting back to sleep?”
“Yeah.” Balto turned to get back under his blanket but stopped. “If you’d like, I think there’s enough room under here for us both. Rosy goes to sleep with her parents when she has a nightmare, well Jenna told me she does and I hear most human children do. You said I was like a father to you so maybe it would keep you from having another nightmare.”
“Maybe…”
“And evidently, that’s the only way to stop you from being cold seeing as you won’t take the blanket yourself.”
Tina chuckled nervously. “I didn‘t want you to be cold” she said.
“I understand.” said Balto, smiling. The two crawl under the blanket and go to sleep.
The next morning, Balto and Tina were walking to Jenna’s house, both panting some. They’d raced again, Balto had won but it was very close. “I’ll beat you next time.” said Tina.
“We’ll see.” said Balto. He caught sight of his reflection in a puddle, it reminded him of something Steele said, it bothered him so he decided to ask. “Do you think I look mangy?” He felt a little awkward asking but he had to get it off his mind.
“Not mangy, you’re fur is messy but it’s a good look for you.” Tina smiled and caused Balto to smile. “And I think Jenna would agree.”
“Balto!” called Jenna happily as she ran out from behind a corner, she slipped and ended up coming to a stop with her nose touching Balto’s. She steps back and both smile, embarrassed, Tina breaks out laughing.
“Jenna, we‘ve got to stop meeting like this.” said Balto, remembering the last time.
“Actually, I kind of like it.” with that, Jenna licked Balto on the cheek.
Balto smiles, he would of blushed if dogs could. “Well…Did you sleep alright?”
“Yes, I felt better knowing Tina was there with you. I was coming to visit you for a change but you’re early.”
Balto smiled. “Tina got me up on time and we managed to avoid Steele.”
“That’s good, think he’s given up?”
“I doubt it, Steele doesn’t seem like one who gives up without a major fight.” said Tina, if she remembered correct, Steele messed with Balto until Balto’s pups were born.
“She’s right.” said Balto, a little upset by that.
Jenna decided she better change the subject. “So Tina did you sleep well?”
“Pretty well. Thanks for asking.” said Tina.
“Your welcome.”
“Tina, do you want to tell Jenna about your dream? She probably can give you a better answer than I can.” asks Balto, Jenna was better at this kind of thing than he was.
“Yes, I would if that‘s ok with you Jenna.” said Tina.
“I don’t mind, I’m glad to help if I can.” said Jenna.
Tina tells Jenna about her nightmare and her own father, managing not to cry this time. “What do you think?”
Jenna thinks for a few minutes before coming up with an answer. “Just so I’m clear, you have no memory of your father?” she asks.
“Right, come to think about it, most of my younger years are a blur.”
“Tina…do you think this could be a memory you didn’t want to remember?”
Tina looked stunned for a minute, she hadn’t even considered that. “A suppressed memory? I suppose that’s possible.” Tina didn’t want to believe it could be true, that her father could do that to her.
Balto thought of something. “Tina, let me see your shoulder.” said Balto. Tina complies and Balto parts some of the fur with his snout. He looks shocked. “Tina, if that glass cut into your shoulder, there’d be a scar right?”
“Yes there should be.”
“Like this one?”
Tina looks in a puddle of melted snow to see that there was a scar going across her right shoulder in the exact same place the pup in her dream was cut. She gasped, it was true but she wished it wasn‘t. “So my dad really did that to me?” Tears began to form in her eyes, she thought she could feel her heart breaking, she felt sick.
Balto and Jenna nod grimly. “It looks that way.”
Tina begins crying even harder than before. Jenna put her paw on Tina’s back. “I’m sorry Tina, I shouldn’t have said that.” said Jenna, feeling a little guilty.
“No, thank you, I needed to figure it out.” said Tina, trying in vain to wipe the tears out of her eyes with her paw. “I always thought he loved me but he beat me up and left me to die, I was such a fool.” she said quietly, she was furious at herself for letting her think that lie for so long.
“You just wanted to think your father loved you, you wanted him to, no one can blame you for that. I probably know better than anyone what its like to want to be accepted by someone who won’t, there are still both dogs and humans in this town that don’t trust me. If anyone’s at fault here, its them, not me or you.” said Balto, offering what comfort he could and getting a smile from Tina.
“Thank you, those stories I was told were there when my father wasn’t, both of you are so brave and that encouraged me to keep going. I guess your still here for me huh?”
“I’ll help you as much as I can.”
“Me too.” said Jenna, smiling.
“I‘m not sure what to say except thank you.” said Tina.
“Your welcome.” said Balto with a grin.
“So what should we do with the rest of the day? Wish I had been sent back in time for a sled race.”
“Well I’ve got to see if Boris is on his way back, Tina you said Jenna’s history isn’t recorded well, why don’t you get to know her better?”
“Fine with me, what could happen?” Of course Tina knew something very bad could happen, just because the Outsider hadn’t shown up yet didn’t mean it wouldn’t but it was alright for the moment and she was still very determined to enjoy her time with her idols.
“Alright, just don’t take too long.” said Jenna as she nuzzles Balto.
“I’ll do my best.” said Balto before running off.
“You’re very lucky to have him Jenna, hope one day I can find one like him one day, wolf half and all but so far all I can find is dogs like Steele.” said Tina, faking a disgusted face at the end.
Jenna laughs. “I think we’re going to get along just fine.” she said.

What do you think?

Oh goody, I was hoping we'd learn more about Tina and her past at some point.
It seems characters in her position can't really have a happy childhood, or they wouldn't have ended up the way they did, huh? Still, poor Tina...
And now, I'm really starting to wonder what sort of ramifications Tina's interaction with Balto and Jenna is having... Is she changing the future, even by exerting as little historical influence as possible?
Will she eventually change so much that she ceases to exist?
Oh dear.

Keep this up! I'm becoming addicted to this story.
-LWf

I'm glad, yes I intended for you to feel bad for Tina, also her lost memories are forshadowing something. I'll just post the new chapter right now, once this fic is done, I'll post it in its entirely on the main site. This chapter is a lot lighter and it contains a moment which will make you Enjoy!!!

Girl Time

Nome, Alaska, 7:15 am;

Jenna and Tina set in an alley, just talking. “So I just jumped on the bear, if Balto died, so would Rosy and the other children and I was in love with Balto, to me my life really wasn’t important at the time.” said Jenna, she was glad Tina really wanted to hear her side of the story, her friends and Balto were the only ones who ever asked. She was also happy because she hadn’t had another female to talk to since Dixie and Silvie moved.
“Cool, I wish I was that brave.” said Tina, she was excited, she’d heard parts of what Jenna had done that night but there really wasn’t much she knew about her.
“I’m sure if it was someone you loved pinned under its claw, you could.”
“That’s just it, there really isn’t anyone that matters to me in the future.”
“No one?”
“No one, the only ones I ever cared about were my mother and siblings, haven’t talked to any of them since I was a pup. I used to love my dad until I found out what he did. Most of my brothers and sisters got loving owners, I got a heartless man who only saw me as a tool, what he did still gives me nightmares.”
Jenna felt bad she brought it up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Its fine, jerk got what was coming to him.”
“What happened to him?”
“He’s dead, he liked to make very dangerous weapons, one finally did him in.” Tina didn’t want to tell Jenna about the Outsider yet, telling her it was a monster would need an explanation so she called it what it was, a weapon.
“Oh…” Jenna understood Tina probably was better off that her owner was dead but talking about it made her feel uncomfortable, she thought she better change subjects. “Do you know how Rosy is doing in the future?”
Tina thinks for a moment. “Last time I checked, she is living happily in New York City with at least one granddaughter.”
Jenna smiled, knowing that made her happy and feel even more grateful for Balto saving Rosy’s life. “Thanks for telling me that.”
“You’re very welcome, I know Rosy is very important to you, I wish I had ended up with someone like her. A nice human child, children have so much more energy and are a lot more playful than most adults, my old owner, in addition to the other reasons I didn‘t like him, would never let me have time to play.”
Jenna agreed, her and Rosy always had a lot of fun together, Rosy also liked to play with Balto which was just fine with Jenna. “They are a joy to be around, though you have to keep an eye on them sometimes.” Jenna chuckled, Rosy wasn’t that hard to keep safe, she didn’t stray far from Jenna or Balto when they were with her but there were times she would of got herself in trouble if it weren‘t for them.
“I wouldn’t mind, as long as they don’t do what my last owner did to me, I’m fine.” Tina didn’t want to think about a lot of the stuff Damien had done to her.
Jenna wondered just what Tina’s owner had put her through but she knew it would probably upset both of them to talk about it. “…You know if you can’t get back to the future, I don’t think Rosy’s parents would mind another dog.”
“I’d like that, I’m trying to figure out if I can get back, its really complicated.” That was an understatement, Tina was doing her best but the calculations were so hard it made her head hurt and the human ideas of time travel could be false, that was the problem with being the first at anything, theories about it could be completely wrong.
“Well I hope we’ll get to know you better before you leave.”
“I hope so too…Can I ask you something important?” Tina felt more comfortable talking to Jenna than Balto, maybe because she was a female like her.
“Sure.”
“ Do you think I’m a bad dog for hating my old owner?” The question bothered Tina because despite the enhanced intelligence, she was still a dog, dogs were called man’s best friend, did that apply when the man wasn’t friendly?
Jenna had hoped not to be asked that question. Of course she didn’t think Tina was bad, Jenna could tell Tina needed a better answer than a simple no. She had been with Rosy’s family almost her entire life, the only reason she‘d dislike a human was if they did something to hurt Balto. Tina on the other hand was adopted by a terrible man, something Jenna had never met. She thought over the question. “I don’t think you are, you are a good dog who met a bad human. To be honest you’d be better off asking Balto, he has more experience with being mistreated by humans.” said Jenna.
“Yeah, guess its kind of my fault I ended up with the jerk.” said Tina.
“What do you mean?”
“Well you see I was a stray in New York, it wasn’t easy and my mom wanted a better life for me and my siblings. She made it look like a human was giving us away so we would get adopted. One of my brothers had died earlier in the week and I was pretty torn up inside, didn’t stray far from mom…”

Flashback start

At the entrance to an alley in New York, a red and white, adult female husky set over a cardboard box beside which she’d set an old sign with the word ‘free’ on it, she had dug it out of the trash. Inside were four puppies, two were black and gray males and the other two were red and white females. Tina’s younger self was laying sadly near her mother on her bandana which was bigger than she was. She looked over at her siblings, they were close to the side nearest to the sidewalk, barking happy at the passing humans. She wanted to join them, their mother had worked very hard to set this up and was hoping it would work but Tina was too sad. One of the males saw this and walked over to her. “Tina? What’s wrong?” he asked confused and concerned.
Tina lifted her head to her brother. “Hey Tucker, its just…there should be five of us here.” said Tina, visibly upset, she was the only of them that had seen their brother die, she wished she hadn’t.
Tucker lowered his head and whimpered, that made him sad too. “I know. It wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. I’ll be over with the others if you need me. I’ll say goodbye first if someone wants me.”
An hour later, Tucker and Tina were the only two left. A man picked up her brother to take him. “Bye Tina, I hope we see each other again.” called Tucker as his new owner took him away.
“Me too.” said Tina, she hadn’t moved from her mother’s side.
The mother watched till Tucker was out of sight before looking down at Tina. “Well you’re the only one left, you know this is really hard for me to do but its for the best, you don’t have to live out here, you can have a home and that makes this worth it.” said Tina’s mother, Tina couldn’t tell if she was happy or sad.
Tina got ready to say something when a voice interrupted her. She peeked over the corner of the box to see a tall, rough faced man talking on a cell phone. “Yes, I’ve been looking…Unfortunately the age we need seems hard to find, the pet stores are completely out of pups this week…Why can’t we just order one, we have government funding…I see, Damien out.” said Damien, hanging up. “Cheapskates at the Pentagon, they’ll fund a project but won’t pay for the small stuff.” He looks over at Tina. “That‘s convenient.” He kneels down and picks Tina up. He peels back her lips with his fingers, inspecting her teeth and gums, he looks over the rest of her, this made Tina a little nervous but she knew how much it meant to her mom for her to be off the streets. “Looks healthy, a little undernourished but that shouldn’t be a problem. Huh?” Tina’s mother handed the old bandana to him in her mouth. He takes it and the larger dog points to her daughter. “Oh, got it, this belongs to the little one. Well I guess I’d better keep it.” He turns and drops some money into the box, ignoring the sign. Tina was happy someone wanted her but she was sad to leave her mother, she waves goodbye with her paw, her mother replied in kind. Damien carries Tina down the street in one hand and dials the cell phone. “Its Damien, I found a dog.”

Flashback end

“So if I hadn’t stayed so close to my mom, I probably would have been adopted earlier, not picked up by Damien.” said Tina, it had upset Tina a little to talk about it but it felt good to get it off her mind.
“But wouldn’t one of your siblings of been taken instead?” asks Jenna.
“Maybe, maybe not. I only know my siblings got good homes and Tucker became a police dog, he’s doing a good job, saw him on the news once or twice with his teeth in some crook‘s arm. I guess my mom is probably still there too, she’s tough. If I do get back, Tuck is the only one I could probably find, hey what do you know? I do have something to get back to!” Tina smiled, she couldn‘t believe she‘d forgotten about her brother.
“Glad to hear it.” Jenna had some questions about this Damien guy but she didn’t feel good asking, she didn’t want to upset Tina, she was also confused as to what a cell phone was but guessed it served the same purpose as a telegraph.
“Aw, isn’t that sweet?” asks Steele mockingly as he walks up to Jenna and puts himself between her and Tina, receiving a growl from the latter, he replied by kicking snow in Tina‘s face. He’d only heard part of the conversation but he really didn’t care. “So Jenna, why don‘t you leave that mutt and come with-”
“Not another word!” yelled Tina, interrupting Steele. She was furious, she didn‘t care who he had called a mutt, her or Balto, it reminded her of her nightmare, of the horrible thing her father had done to her and she couldn‘t stand that. “I think Jenna would rather hang out with a ‘mutt’ than a selfish, insensitive jerk like you.”
“Big mouth, can you back up it up?” Steele bared his teeth, he did think Tina had the same beauty as Jenna but he really didn‘t like her and would love an excuse to get his paws on her.
Tina snarls. She goes around him to go back to Jenna. As she walks behind Steele she stops for a second. “You’re not worth my ti-” Steele kicks her in the stomach with his hind leg hard enough to take her feet off the ground for a moment and knock the wind out of her. Tina hits the ground with whimper.
Jenna ran to check on Tina while Steele laughed before leaving. Tina was still coughing and gasping for air. “Tina, are you hurt?” asked Jenna, concerned.
“What do you think?! Of course I‘m hurt!” yelled Tina, angrily. Tina manages to catch her breath and realized what she‘d done. “Jenna, I…I didn’t mean it. You were trying to help but I was angry and I just…I‘m sorry.” Tina put her head down in shame.
“After what you’ve been through today, no one can blame you for losing your temper, what Steele did was just uncalled for.” said Jenna, she couldn‘t blame Tina, Steele had really upset her. “What about you?”
“I think I‘ll live.” Tina sits up and covers her aching stomach with her front leg. “Steele is a jerk, what did I ever do to him? Well I slapped him but he deserved it.”
“Yeah, he didn’t hit Dixie when she slapped him a few months ago, then again he wasn’t going crazy.”
“You know what? I think we should get him back, I can’t hurt him without endangering the timeline but I can pull a prank on him.” Tina gets a mischievous smirk.
“Count me in.”
Looks at Jenna, slightly confused. “This isn’t too immature for you?”
“What? I don‘t like Steele and I could use a good laugh.”
Fifteen minutes later, Jenna and Tina watch an alley in front of them, safely in the shadows, Jenna didn‘t have her bandana. Steele walked down the alley, he didn’t suspect a thing, he was following Jenna’s scent, that was part of the plan. He stopped were the scent was strongest and sniffed around. Tina cuts a rope near her with her teeth. A rope came up out of the snow under Steele’s hind leg and pulled him upwards before coming loose and dropping him near a wall. Jenna pulls another rope with her mouth, causing cans of pink paint on a shelf above Steele to overturn and pour on him. “What the heck just happened?!” he yelled before seeing his reflection in a broken piece of glass leaned against the wall, almost his entire body was bright pink. He looked himself over to make sure he wasn‘t mistaken, he tried to hide his humiliation and took off to find somewhere to wash the paint off and avoid further embarrassment.
Once he was out of sight, Tina and Jenna started laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe. “That was priceless, did you see the look on his face?” asked Tina, trying to stop laughing.
“I know, that was fun, he had that coming a long time.” said Jenna, having just as hard of a time stopping herself. She walked out and dug her bandana out of the snow were Steele was sniffing and slips it back on, she hadn‘t wanted to use it at first but they needed something with her scent on it, it had worked quite well.
“We’re lucky he’s so obsessed with you or that never would of worked.”
“What’s so funny?” asked Balto walking up to them. He was dripping wet and shivering.
At first Jenna was worried because he looked sad but then she realized it wasn’t his feelings that were hurt but his pride, he must of felt embarrassed to come up to them looking like he did but he probably wasn’t as embarrassed as they just made Steele. She tried not to laugh, Tina didn’t, she laughed rather loudly. “What happened to you?” asks Jenna, giggling some.
“I meant to get back earlier but this fisherman was drowning so I jumped in to save him, he’s fine but man that water was cold!”
“Good job. Sorry for laughing but its kind of funny to see you like this.” said Tina.
Balto shakes himself off, purposely drenching both Jenna and Tina. He starts laughing himself, they join him. “Very funny, come on, lets go dried off and get warmed up.” said Jenna.
A couple seconds later in the boiler room, Balto was laughed hysterically at what they had done to Steele. “I wish I had been there.” he said.
“Yeah, it will wash off but in the meantime he‘s going to be pretty embarrassed. That should teach him a lesson.” said Tina, chuckling.
“So I‘m guessing you had a good time.”
“Yeah we did, we learned a good bit about each other.” said Jenna, she’d enjoyed herself quite a bit, she didn’t think she’d ever laughed that hard in her life.
“You bet I did.” said Tina, her mischievous side was loving this.
They all turned to leave the room when a deep, menacing voice echoed inside Tina’s head. “I’m coming back.” it said.
Tina looked around, not sure where it came from. “Did one of you say something?” Jenna and Balto shook their heads no. Tina tried to detect the Outsider, no such luck. “Must just be hearing things.” she hoped she was.

What do you think? And yes the evil reptilian monster named the Outsider is soon coming back!