Aleu snorted.  Whoever was trying to hide didn't do it very well.

"Come on out!  I know you're there!" she called out into the dark alleyway that was facing her.  She knew it was almost useless, as whoever (or whatever) was hiding wasn't likely to jump out and introduce themself at her command.  She sighed.  Maybe it was nothing.  Aleu shook her head, and resumed walking, despite the strange feeling that something was watching her. 

A sudden touch on her hind quarters made her jump, and whirl around.  She started snapping wildly, trying to bite whatever had touched her.  She soon found her teeth sinking into human flesh.  A male voice cried out, and Aleu felt a hand striking blows to her head. 

She let go, in shock of what had happened, then felt her noze enter a cloth tube that prevented her from biting, or even barking.  'A muzzle!  He's got me in a muzzle!' Aleu thought.  She felt the human drag her foward.  'Whoever he is, I'm not going anywhere with him' She thought, and planted her paws firmly into the melting snow.  When the man felt her resisting, he gave a sharp tug on the leash connected to the muzzle, and Aleu felt herself be dragged forward, bit by bit.  She finally gave up, and walked, reluctantly, with the man. 

Around half an hour later, Aleu caught sight of a small wooden house, smoke drifting into the air from a brick chimney.  A few yards from the house stood a slightly smaller shack.  The occaisional muffled bark or yip made it's way to Aleu' ears as they drew nearer.  When they had come close to the shack, the human yelled something indistinct, then opened the door slowly.  All of a sudden, there was a whirlwind of tails, paws and noses.  Aleu gasped in shock; the shack held around six or seven sled dogs. 

Six or seven sled dogs that asked a lot of questions.  Through the madness, the human somehow managed to leave the shack, closing the door behind him.

"Who are you?"

"You smell funny!"

"Are you a wolf?"

"She can't be a wolf, you dolt!  The master would have never put a wolf on the team!"

Aleu frowned.  "I-I'm Aleu.  And what do you mean by 'the team'?"

The dog that had mentioned 'the team' looked up at her.  He was a large brown husky with deep blue eyes.  He had several scars from what seemed to be many battles, and part of his right ear was torn.

"What, you didn't know?  The master gets a new dog every couple of months.  He plans on racing in one of the biggest races of the year."

Aleu gasped again. "N-no!  I can't race!  I belong somewhere far away from here; I never intended to join a sled team!"

The husky laughed, as if Aleu had missed some big joke.

"Neither did I," he said, "I'm Spyro by the way." he nodded to a German Shepherd sitting near one of the corners of the room "That's Elric."

"Why do you have a German Shepherd on your team?" Aleu questioned.

"Don't underestimate him by his breed.  He's very strong, much stronger than you give him credit for," Spyro said, giving Aleu a small glare, "Now to continue...That red wolfdog, with the light tan muzzle is-"

"Artemis!," Aleu cried out, "He's one of my brothers!" She raced forward, smiling at her sibling.

"Aleu?" Artemis said, shock clouding his eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"That's what I was gonna ask you." she answered.  Spyro then stepped forward.

"You two know each other?" he said, looking from Aleu to Artemis and back. When they both nodded, he continued, "Well, this is a nice surprise.  A family reunion." he smiled, then continued pointing out the other three dogs left.

"That light gray one, with the white muzzle and purple eyes is Violet," Violet nodded with a warm smile to Aleu, "And the gray husky is Kyma.  And...wait, where's Marr?"

"He's outside," Violet said, yawning, "Said something about looking for more drinking water."

"Well, anyway, Marr is a white husky with brown ears and eyes.  That's just about everyone." Spyro said, shaking his pelt. "You might as well get some rest, it's no use trying to escape.  Believe me, you'll only waste your energy." he said, eyeing Aleu as she approached the door.

"And it wouldn't be very good if you didn't have any energy, not when tomorrow you'll begin your training." Spyro said, yawning and flopping on a large pillow.  Aleu nodded, scanning her eyes over her surroundings once more, just to make sure that there really was no possible means of escape, then layed down with a sigh.

'Will I ever escape?' she thought before closing her eyes.

•••

Just a quick note: The character Elric is based off a real dog that my family used to own.  He died about a year ago. I love you, Elric!