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Should I go on with this? It's a sequel to my other fanfic, "The Battle for Nome". I'm coming accross a major writer's block, and haven't worked on it for weeks. Let me know if I should go on.

The Quest to Save Aleu


It was mid-afternoon, and Balto and Jenna were simply relaxing on the boat, where they wanted to forget their troubles for a while. It was something that they did a little more often after the incident with fighting the humans from invading Nome. The only thing that they hadn’t really thought about was Aleu, their daughter. Balto still hadn’t seen her since he left her with the wolf pack some years ago, but the thought of her would give Balto a funny feeling in his gut, but about what he didn’t know.

Up North, Aleu was leading her pack towards a herd of caribou. It was a prime hunting opportunity, since they hadn’t actually killed anything in the past two weeks. They had to survive off scavenging, which felt extremely degrading to all of them. All eyes were now scanning the herd for any weak ones that were young, very old, or limping. It wasn’t until one of the wolves touched her shoulder with his nose and motioned towards one of them. There was a very old caribou, which was weak, and seemed almost unable to stand on its own. Aleu looked at the wolf, and told him “You have good eyes.” She saw a prime opportunity to jump on the entire herd, and to also single out the old one. When it looked like the herd was on the move, the wolf pack sprung their assault. They scared the entire caribou herd out of their wits and went running, leaving the old and weak one behind, limping as fast as it could, but unable to get anywhere. Aleu, being the Alpha female, got the honor of dealing the killing blow to it. The caribou let out a dying gasp for life, and died. The blood spilled onto the snow, staining it, and some of the grass underneath it red. Suddenly, before they could begin feasting on it, they heard a stick snap. Always alert, they snapped their heads around and looked to where the sound was coming form.

Kodi sensed something. It felt strangely familiar, but he could not point out where or when he had felt it before. He looked around and noticed that a small amount of dust was coming up from under the door of the boiler room he was in. He was there because he wanted some heat for a change after being out in the cold for so long. As the dust kept coming through, he suddenly remembered when he had felt that feeling before! Like before, he ran to Balto and Jenna, except this time he did this because he knew they would be needed, not because he had been told to. As Balto and Jenna got to the boiler room, the dust cloud had gotten significantly larger, and had started to take a humanoid shape. It suddenly spoke, “You have been called here on account of one of your kin. She is in grave peril of hunters, as is the rest of her pack. Your abilities you had earlier will be granted to all of you again, even to the one you are to rescue, with limitations. You will not have magic abilities, and you will not have the powers until you are in sight of each other.” Then, as soon as it had started to talk, it disappeared.

Balto was frustrated. “Who the heck is that? And how does it know all this stuff?” he thought, “… I wish that it had told us all of that, but oh well, too late now.” He spoke, “It’s Aleu that thing was talking about. Kodi, Aleu is your sister. She was the only one of your siblings that takes after me, and she ran off up North and joined a wolf pack. She has been up there for a couple years, and, well, I guess this is the first time that we’ve known what was going on up there…” “Something that I wasn’t all too happy about,” interrupted Jenna. That was something that Jenna always said one way or another whenever Aleu going to join a wolf pack was mentioned. The thing was that she had expected Balto to bring Aleu back from running away, not allow her to join a renegade wolf pack. Balto, however, did not dwell on this. “Jenna, Kodi, we must go. If what that thing said was true, then we have no time to lose.” With that, they all headed off.

As they went through the woods on the outskirts of Nome, Jenna was feeling uneasy. Were they supposed to save Aleu and then leave her there with the wolves? Or were they supposed to save Aleu and then bring her back home? She assumed that that choice was up to them and Aleu. Still, Jenna kept those thoughts to herself. She didn’t want to start an argument. They pressed on, and at times, Jenna saw places that she remembered as places where she and Balto had met up during the time when he was attacked by the bear, and where she gave him her red bandana, her sign of truly loving him. Right now, she hoped that there wasn’t a bear near them at that time. She kept a close watch on their surroundings as they went.

Night fell upon them, and the trio agreed that Kodi should keep watch. Kodi didn’t object to that, as he wasn’t really tired anyway. As Balto and Jenna slept next to each other, Kodi looked around. Back with the mail dogs, he was always told by the others, mostly by Dusty, that he was able to see things in the dark that others could not see. “Maybe that’s why Mom and Dad chose me to watch tonight,” he thought. He continued to sit there, and watch his surroundings for anything that would appear dangerous to them. Suddenly, he heard a noise in the distant trees. Then he saw it. It was a huge bear that made him think of the bear that attacked his Dad, only he knew of the bear through the stories Balto told him.

Balto awoke to the noise of Kodi yelling at them to get out of there. Balto heard the bear coming and didn’t waste any time in helping Jenna get up. As she got up, he saw Kodi standing there, staring at the bear, which was now coming towards him. “Kodi! Run for it!” Balto ran up to Kodi, but he seemed to be in shock and unable to move. Balto called Jenna over to help him lift Kodi and take him away. It took too ling, and they realized that they had no other choice to fight the bear if they wanted to save Kodi.

The bear was right in front of them. Jenna tried to remember how she and Balto had beaten the bear before Balto went off to find the sled dog team on the Serum Run. She remembered that it had fallen into a frozen lake. This wasn’t good to know, because there wasn’t any body of water near where they were, so they now had to actually kill it with their teeth. Jenna looked over to Balto, and gave him a look that said that she had an idea. With that she bolted to the back of the bear.

Balto knew what she intended to do, so he went and started to attack the bear from the front to distract it from Jenna. He immediately went for one of its paws, as it might be disabled if he hit it right. He went for it, and was able to sink his teeth onto the pads of it, causing blood to seep out of it. The bear, in pain, threw Balto, who hit a tree not too far away. Balto almost blacked out, but he saw something that was kind of blurry to him, but after a couple seconds, he saw clearly. Kodi was helping Jenna fight the bear.

Kodi wasn’t really sure what made him do this, but he was sure it had something to do with helping out his mother when his father was unable to. He went for the other arm that Balto did not attack, hoping to disable that one as well. The bear raised his wounded paw, and just as Kodi thought he would be thrown for sure, it made noises of agonizing pain. Kodi looked up and saw that it was his mother, biting down on its neck!

Jenna continued to bite down. To her, it didn’t really feel right for her to be killing something, but she had to in order to save the others. She could sense the bear was getting weaker, and its life, as well as its blood, was draining out. She continued to apply more and more pressure on the bear’s neck until it fell to the ground, completely lifeless. She stood on top of the bear and looked around for the others. Kodi was standing right next to the bear, not too far from Jenna, but Balto was wounded over by a tree. She knew that the bear had thrown him, so the injuries might be pretty bad.

Balto got up. He remembered being thrown around by Steele when he tried to help him and the rest of the sled team get back to Nome. He was thrown, and he would get up every time, but this was a little different. The bear was stronger than Steele was, and there had been no frozen body of water for the bear to fall in this time, unlike last time he and Jenna fought off a bear. Balto felt he had bruised something, but he couldn’t see where. Jenna came rushing over to min, and nuzzled him. “Are you hurt, Balto?” she asked. “Yeah, I’m fine for now. I just need time to heal these bruises I have from hitting that tree. Is Kodi all right?”

“Yeah, Dad, I’m fine,” replied Kodi. He walked over to Balto and smiled. “You OK, Dad?” “Yes, I’m fine, Kodi,” replied Balto. “Well, come on guys, let’s get going! You said yourself, Dad that we have no time to lose, and besides, if we stay here, the rest of the bear’s pack might come.” Balto and Jenna looked at each other in agreement. They then looked to Kodi and nodded. With that they headed off.

It got colder as the trio pressed on further north. They were all prepared for this, but Jenna was the least prepared for it. She hadn’t been this close to the Arctic Circle before, and the cold was getting unbearable for her. She hoped that they would reach Aleu soon. She was sure that fighting the way she was during that incident (Which she referred to when talking about fighting for Nome.), would make her body heat up, and therefore, make her warmer. As she and the others passed into territory that was unfamiliar to everyone on the trio except Balto, Jenna was getting worried, yet she was confident that Balto knew where he was going.

Balto and the others came to the last place he had seen Aleu, right before the pack she joined crossed the great water. He wondered if Nava was still alive there, being too old and weak to do it himself. He came to the pack’s old meeting place, and saw the cave there. He led the others into it, and there, they saw Nava, yet he was looking older than ever. “Nava,” began Balto, hoping he wasn’t disturbing anything he was doing, “do you remember me?” Nava got up from what looked like sleep, but slowly. “Of course I remember you. You are the father of Aleu. I sent those spirits to you to give you your abilities to save those whom you love.” Balto was shocked. “How do you know what’s going on in Nome and where Aleu is if you’re here?” he asked “The spirits who are sent to you are also the ones who tell me of these things,” he answered. “Aleu,” he continued, “is over the great water, and since you have come here quickly, so you should be able to follow her scent with ease.” “Thank you, Nava,” said Balto as he bowed his head to Nava respectfully. Balto and the others started to head out, but Nava had one more thing to say. “Balto,” he began. Balto and the others stopped and turned around. “…I am very old, and I doubt I will live much longer. I need to tell you all that this is the last time you will be able to use the abilities you will use to defend Aleu and the pack. Use it wisely…” Suddenly, Nava started to cough violently. When he could speak, he would only tell them, “Go. Don’t - worry – about – me.” His coughing went on, and it got so bad that the others rushed to his side. Nava seemed to have lost hope in living. The coughing suddenly stopped. Nava uttered his last words, “Save her, you fools!” and died.

Kodi became chocked up. He did not know Nava as well as Balto or Aleu did, but he was sad because he had seen someone die right in front of him, and he could do nothing to prevent it. This also gave him more reason to find Aleu, the sister of his that he didn’t really know. He also wanted to prevent more death from happening to those wolves out there under Aleu’s command. He made this point to his parents, who replied that it was a good incentive for them to go and save Aleu and the pack. They headed out of Nava’s cave, and looked for the crossing of the great water. They looked around for the pieces of ice that would allow them to cross, but they were nowhere to be seen. Just as they thought they had no chance, the ice slabs suddenly floated into position! Kodi looked at the sky. He wasn’t sure if he believed spiritual intervention or not, but he leaned more towards believing it after that. They wasted no time in crossing the ice slabs to the other side of the great water.

We now return to the story of Aleu. She and her pack have been pursued by hunters for days now. Aleu and her pack only had sleep when they thought they had evaded the hunters, which turned out to be wrong when they heard gunshots behind them. None in the pack have been shot, but Aleu doubts that it will remain that way for long. It started when the pack had made the kill mentioned earlier. The snapping of a twig turned out to be a hunter group who decided that where there is a caribou herd, there are wolves too. They have been without hope of surviving this for the entire time, and Aleu is unaware that her family is coming to her. It was the third day since the hunters showed themselves to the wolves. Aleu was completely without hope, until she looked into the distance while running, and saw three distant figures. Aleu blinked to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination, and they were still there. She could see that they were not humans, but other wolves. She turned the pack towards the figures, hoping that they could help them somehow. The figures came closer to her, and as that happened, they became clearer to her eyes. There was an air of familiarity around them, but she was not sure where she had seen them before. Closer and closer she and the pack got to them. Then, she saw who they were, and almost stopped running. “Mom, Dad?”

As Aleu got closer to Balto, Jenna, and Kodi, Balto felt proud of his daughter now that she was leading a pack of wolves that were following her to what looked like any end. He was sure that their human-like abilities haven’t come to them yet because he couldn’t see her clearly. Soon enough, though, she was close enough that Balto could recognize her by her looks, and not by scent or simple reasoning. “Aleu,” he whispered to himself. Just then, Balto and the others felt a sudden surge in their bodies. Light started to emanate from them. This went on for a couple minutes, and then it was over. Balto, Jenna, and Kodi were standing on two legs with the balance that only humans have mastered before. They all looked to Aleu, and to their shock, Aleu was doing the same thing that they were doing! Aleu was carrying the same two swords that Balto had used to defend Nome with earlier. Balto was confused, as he thought that they all had different weapons, but when he felt for his own two swords, he found that he was carrying a single hand-and-a-half sword. It was light enough to maneuver fast enough to block bullets, so he didn’t worry about that very much. From his past experience with this, he was sure that Aleu could also handle blocking bullets and such.

Kodi was a little shocked. It was the first time he had seen his sister. He was sure that she looked a little more wolf-like than his father, and her bright blue eyes filled him with awe. She now seemed kind of spiritual to him with the swords in her “hands” now. He noticed the swords in his own “hands”, and saw that, unlike his father’s swords, he had the same ones that he had used to defend Nome. He wondered how his father thought of Aleu now that she was the leader of a wolf pack. He had told Kodi that he had allowed Aleu to remain with the pack, so his father’s feelings towards her now weren’t bad, seemingly. Still, he wondered how a wolf pack allowed a wolf-dog mix to lead them. It probably wasn’t his business, as he concluded. His thoughts then turned to the hunters that could be approaching them at any moment from any direction. He thought that the hunters wouldn’t be stunned for too long if they really intended to kill them. “Um, I think that we should get moving. The hunters probably won’t delay in firing at us if they are really trying to kill us all.”

Jenna had to agree. After a hunter had taken aim at Aleu before she ran off to the wolf pack, she didn’t want the next hunter to do the same to her now. “He’s right. Aleu, you need to get your pack to a safe place.” Jenna stopped. She thought about how Aleu was now a leader of a pack of wolves. It suddenly didn’t feel right to tell her what to do now, despite the fact that she was Aleu’s mother. “No,” she corrected herself. “If you want your pack to fight the hunters, then that is your decision. You command them, don’t you?” Aleu responded, “Yes, but why do you seem to doubt them, mother?” Jenna sighed, and then answered, “Because we are more suited to fight humans with firearms than we would be without these weapons. I will not doubt anyone, since I know you are a good leader, and I am sure your pack is full of brave fighters.” Jenna smiled and bowed her head a little.

Aleu looked at all of them sternly. “They have followed me this far, and I think they will follow me to this battle against the hunters. Armed like we are, or not.” She was thinking that the rest of her pack was still getting what had just happened to their leader through their heads, and the fact that they were looking at part of her family. Most of them were already aware that she was not all wolf, but some of the newcomers did not, and she often wondered why they hadn’t figured it out by what the others would say. Still, she had to have an idea of what they would do to launch a counter-attack against the hunters with her parents, and with the other one, who she recognized by smell as her brother, separated at childhood. She thought that now wasn’t the time to ask questions.