Chapter One

Outside, huge gusts of wind blew, giving the surrounding areas a mighty chill. In a rather spacey shed, Jenna was in a corner, licking little miniature wolf/dog-like forms. Balto, who was sitting nearby, wagged his tail slightly to show his pleasure. The puppies were trying to get as much milk as they possibly could, and were yelping in protest whenever another sibling had pushed them away to get a drink. Balto laid his head down next to Jenna’s box, where she and the puppies were. He let his tongue hang out as he dozed off.

Meanwhile, Jenna was looking at her puppies with satisfaction. There were five; two creams, three reddish (like Jenna). Their eyes hadn’t opened, so she would only be able to tell them apart by scent, not looks.

An hour later, Balto awoke, and, shaking his head, he got up. He glanced at Jenna and the puppies. They were asleep; Jenna curled up slightly; the pups snuggled close against her warm body. Balto smiled to himself as he jumped onto a bench in the shed. The bench was situated right below the window, so he was able to peep through. The snowstorm had, by then, stopped. His heart fluttered with joy as he raced out of the dog-door (A/N: just pretend there is a dog door in the shed) and into the snowy world outside.

Before Balto could get far, however, he stopped dead in his tracks. His family. He turned back without hesitation, heading back to the shed. He was never really interested in what he called “family affairs”, as much as he was part of the family. He never knew what he could do for the puppies until they grew old enough to be played “rough” with, which meant tackling, biting and stuff like that. He had thought of talking to Jenna about such things, but never got the chance to. When he did get a chance, however, he thought she would get mad at him if he asked, for she believed that bringing up children were both parents’ responsibilities, not just one’s alone.

Balto re-entered the shed and flopped down on his belly. Jenna was still asleep. She stirred a little after half-an-hour, and woke up after forty-five minutes or so. She smiled happily at Balto. Her puppies lay sleeping by her side. A cream one kicked out, indicating that it was probably dreaming. Balto grinned upon seeing this. He nosed the puppy gently and it soon relaxed.

“Why are you still here?” Jenna asked incredulously.

“Well, I thought I’d just stay here a while…” Balto began.

“You know you don’t have to,” Jenna smiled.

“Oh, but I don’t mind,” Balto replied.

“Okay, then,” Jenna said, then continued, “How’s everyone else?”

“You mean Boris, Muk, and Luk?” Balto asked.

“Yes.”

“They’re doing great. Luk has learnt to say a few words, like ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.”

“Really? That’s great!”

“It is,” Balto agreed. By now, Balto and Jenna had run out of things to talk about, and so Balto’s mind drifted off to Aleu. Aleu had been one of his favourite children. She looked so much like him (except for the eyes), but yet she was different. She wanted to be “wild”, and free. She got her wish about a year after she was born. She led a wolf pack across the water, and was now (hopefully) leading a happy life there.

“Balto,” a calm voice said, striking his thoughts.

“Huh? Wha-?” Balto jumped.

“Are you all right?” the reddish Husky asked.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” Balto replied hastily, not wanting to worry Jenna.

“You’re thinking of Aleu, aren’t you?” Jenna got up and nuzzled him, the puppies now at another side of the box.

“Yes, I just kinda… I kinda miss her…” Balto sighed.

“I do too,” Jenna said.

Chapter Two

“Daddy!” a cream-coloured, blue-eyed puppy bounded towards Balto.

“Hey there, Bandit,” Balto laughed, too lazy to get up.

“Where’s Bane?” Bandit asked, referring to his cream-coloured, green- eyed brother.

“I don’t know; why don’t you go find him?” Balto nosed him to the left.

“Okay,” Bandit scurried off, nose to the ground, to find Bane.

The puppies were almost four weeks old now, and Balto played with them more than he did when they were younger. Bane was the largest of all the puppies, and seemed to be the “bully”. Balto was quite sure that Rosy would keep and train him to be a sled dog, but he never really knew what was going on in a human’s mind. Bane had a tail which hung down, but he had trained himself to make it rise high to show his “dominance”. Bandit was the most naughty, and most playful puppy. He had lots of energy, and, according to Balto, was “bouncing off the walls”. It took a lot to keep up with that cream coloured, blue-eyed, tail-curved-over-like-a-Husky pup! When he asked Balto why he had blue eyes while his parents didn’t, Balto replied, “Your grandmother had blue eyes.” Then there were the three, Jenna- looking puppies, Acacia, Nikhe (pronounced Nigh-kay), and Arianna. Acacia had the same kind, brown eyes that her father (Balto) had. Her tail was curved, like a Husky. Both Nikhe and Arianna had green eyes and a tail that hung down. The only way they could be told apart was that on the tip of Arianna’s tail was a patch of white. Sometimes Nikhe, the second fiercest next to Bane, would tease Bandit about his fur colour. Nikhe never teased Bane, for fear of getting punished (which meant getting a biting or two from Bane, which hurt a lot), and so poor Bandit was his victim. The two girls, Acacia and Arianna, were both spared the “torture” of being teased and beaten, which meant that they had the advantage of teasing Bane and Nikhe. They never teased Bandit, as they believed he had had enough teasing and beatings from his two brothers.

Balto yawned and shook himself. He felt stiff, as he hadn’t really been walking for days. He just walked a little, but not too much. He had just been lazing around the shed, watching the puppies while Jenna was out on a trip in the forest with Rosy and her family. The puppies and Balto had enough food, for Rosy had filled all of the puppies’ food and water dishes before she left (They didn’t share the same food and water bowls, especially since Bane was so protective of his own stuff. However, luckily, Bane did not steal from others.). They were running low on food and water, now, as it was the sixth day that Jenna, Rosy, and her family had left. Balto decided to get food from the butcher; he could always beg for some scraps there.

So Balto set off to the butcher’s. The butcher frowned when he saw Balto; he didn’t like it when dogs, or hybrids, begged for scraps. He seemed to think for a minute, and then gave Balto two chunks of meat. He said, “Now don’t expect this much next time, Balto. I heard Rosy say Jenna’s husband – you – have five puppies to care for!” (Don’t ask me how Rosy knows that Balto is Jenna’s husband…)

Balto then returned to the shed, carrying the two chunks of meat in his mouth. Bane was there, and jumped up to get the meat. He had never tasted meat before, but he could smell it, and he knew it was good. He growled and jumped up again. Balto raised his head a little higher, just so that Bane couldn’t get to the meat. Balto then warned Bane off with a growl. Bane retreated, but not totally. He sat a few feet away from Balto, getting ready to pounce once the meat touched the ground. Balto gave Bane the “evil eye” – just to warn Bane the punishment in store for him if he dared jump to the meat before Balto gave him his portion. Bane growled in resentment, but stepped back even more to show he wasn’t going to pounce once the meat touched the ground; instead, he would wait for his portion.

Satisfied, Balto carefully put the meat down. By then, the other puppies were in the shed, back from their play day. The sun was soon setting, and the moon would be rising soon. Balto tore off chunks of meat and placed them into each of the puppies’ bowl. Bane, who decided to be good for once, kept his silent promise to Balto and waited, like the others, for his portion. When it came, he sniffed at it suspiciously before diving in. Bandit didn’t want to touch it. He was convinced there was something wrong with the meat after scenting its strange scent, but Balto coaxed him into eating it.

After managing to get the puppies to eat the tasty meal (which was pretty easy – Balto only really had to coax Bandit, and coax Bane a little), Balto settled down and started nibbling on his. He was soon done. The puppies, too, were done with the meal. They were now thirsty, and being extremely whiny. Balto smiled to himself, and then cleared his voice, saying, “Follow Daddy. Follow whatever I do, okay?”

“Okay!” a few puppies yelled in reply. He only didn’t get an answer from Bane and Nikhe, but he shrugged it off and continued anyway. He first thrust his mouth into the snow, letting his mouth fill up with snow, which melted in a few seconds. All of the puppies followed suit, even Bane and Nikhe. They were soon full of water, and grateful to their father, who had taught them this “skill”.

“Come now,” Balto said. “Let’s go for a moonlight walk.”

“Wow, really?” asked Acacia. Balto nodded in reply.

“COOL!” Bandit exclaimed, his tail wagging in the air. He was immediately pinned down by Bane who snarled in his face, saying, “I’m the only one who gets to say ‘cool’.”

“Get off me,” Bandit growled, but the only response he received was a quick, sharp nip on his hindquarters, and Bane’s snarl. Bandit tried to push Bane off but to no avail. Bane, finally getting tired of Bandit’s attitude, got off him. But before he did that, he snarled once more and bit Bandit hard on the muzzle. Bandit yelped, and blood started flowing down his muzzle.

Balto, who was in the front and unaware of the fight, came over to see what the fuss was about. The puppies had crowded round Bandit, who was still yelping from the stinging pain of the bite. Balto knew at once who had caused all this. He looked sternly and fiercely at Bane before lowering his head to help Bandit. Balto knew that the scar would most likely stay with Bandit forever, and, knowing humans, they never wanted a dog with a scar. Not even if it was a tiny one.

“Well, puppies,” Balto sighed as he nosed Bandit to follow him at his side. “Let’s go on the walk.”

“I’m so glad we’re still going, Daddy,” Arianna commented.

“Shut up,” Nikhe muttered.

Arianna was taken by surprise by her brother’s reply. He would never tell his own sister to shut up – he used to have so much respect for her! For both of his sisters, in fact. Arianna was speechless, and said nothing. Balto overheard this, but knew he couldn’t settle everything, and so he just let it be.

On the moonlight walk the puppies had found numerous amounts of interesting creatures, scents they’d never scented before, met some new dogs, and much more. By the time they returned to the shed, it was way past their bedtime, and they fell asleep right away at their designated sleeping corners, which they had chosen by themselves.

Bandit was asleep beside Balto. Balto decided to sleep by his son to ensure Bane didn’t try attack him again that night. Balto looked around at the pups. He loved playing with his puppies, but he knew they were too active for him. Jenna was due back the next day. He would discuss the idea of having a puppy sitter with her. Hopefully she would agree.

Chapter Three

Balto turned around. He lowered his muzzle, letting it graze the snow on the ground. Jenna, who was behind him, barked and told him to go ahead. He turned forward and padded towards a bell, tied to a tree. He sniffed the bark of the tree and sat down patiently to wait for the puppysitter. Jenna joined him in a while. She lay down on the ground and rested her head on her paws, also waiting, with Balto, for the puppysitter.

“She hasn’t been here earlier,” Balto commented. “I sniffed the bark; no one has been to that tree in days.”

“Okay, then,” Jenna replied simply. “What’s her name, again?”

“Michelle,” came a reply. It wasn’t Balto’s. Jenna spun around and came face-to-face with a black Husky, obviously Michelle the puppysitter. Michelle bore a huge grin on her face. A scar ran down her face, from the tip of her right eye to the end of the left side of her muzzle. She smiled cheerfully.

Jenna frowned in obvious dislike. Balto nudged her, telling her to “give the kid a chance”. Jenna never really wanted a puppysitter for her pups; she and Balto could manage on their own, or so she claimed.

Michelle saw the frown on Jenna’s face and the smile vanished from her face. She muttered, “Hey, I’m Michelle. You must be Balto & Jenna.”

“Yes, we are,” Balto said loudly. Jenna snorted, but politely said, “Hi.”

Michelle didn’t feel too comfortable with them, especially Jenna. She definitely could feel Jenna’s dislike for her, and so she kept quiet. She had nothing to say, although she probably would’ve – she wasn’t one to keep so quiet. Balto sensed the uneasiness of Michelle, and shifted uncomfortably. He knew Jenna could be very “hard” at times and she liked things to go her way. She didn’t want a puppysitter, and she made it clear. But what happened a few days ago made her reluctantly agree with Balto, but even so, she clearly disliked this “Michelle”.

The day that terrible incident happened, Jenna and Balto had gone for a walk with Rosy and her family. The puppies were allowed outside, as they were thought to be “old enough to take care of themselves”. However, Balto and Jenna were wrong. The puppies got into huge trouble with Logan and Gwinnett’s new litter of puppies. Logan and Gwinnnett were definitely two Malamutes not to be messed around with. They were harsh to others not in their family, and once even killed another dog for trespassing into their property when the dog was only trying to retrieve its master’s Frisbee.

But anyway, that day, Bandit had been fooling around near the crate of barrels stacked neatly beside their house, pouncing on them while growling and snarling at the same time. Bane had stalked over, with his head high, to the barrels while Bandit was still having a fun time playing on them. Bane had expected Bandit to stop, but of course, Bandit did the opposite. He had no idea that Bane was there and waiting for him to get off. So, naturally, Bane got mad and bared his teeth at Bandit. Bandit, alarmed, turned around and the next thing he knew, Bane’s teeth had sunk into the loose flesh on the back of his neck. Bandit let out a terrified bark, which attracted attention from his siblings. Nikhe sat down and watched the fight with interest – he had no intention of helping Bandit. If he had to help at all, he would help Bane with the stubborn, (what he called) wimpy Bandit. But he knew from experience that Bane wouldn’t need any help at all.

Then, a puppy that none of the five puppies had seen before, entered the alley. He looked like a Malamute, and he watched, like Nikhe, with interest at the two fighting puppies. His tail twitched with excitement as he watched the fight ensue. Finally, seemingly unable to bear the “suspense”, he jumped in and began to fight as well. The two girls, Acacia and Arianna wrinkled their noses and turned their backs to the fight, walking off to find something more interesting to do. They had NO idea how serious this fight was getting, and soon, they were “out of the picture, or, what you’d call “gone to do their own stuff/mind their own business”.

Meanwhile, the three puppies were fighting vigorously (if you could ever do that). Bandit was the one who was most wounded, and blood was already pouring out of a deep cut in his back. His tail was tattered and patches of blood stained the beautiful creamy coat. On his muzzle, the wound that Bane had given him not too long ago was now open again and he was bleeding from there, too. Bandit managed to give Bane a hard bite on the shoulder and crawled out of the “battle”. Bane, thinking it was the Malamute puppy which had bitten him (and not Bandit), bit the Malamute hard on the ear. He thought the Malamute deserved the bite, as it had bit him more than eight times in various places, most of them on the tail. The Malamute snarled in pain and anger, and when Bane finally released his grip on the puppy, its ear was torn to shreds. It hung, limp, by its eye and blood was flowing into the eye, blocking on of the pup’s eyes’ vision for a few minutes. The puppy shook its head, its ear flinging from side to side, and snarled with rage and hatred towards Bane.

Bane whimpered, for once in his life, with fear. The Malamute began barking for his parents, and soon enough, they came. Bane had no time to escape. As soon as the Malamute started barking, he tried to run but felt someone grab him from behind. He yelped and tried to escape, but to no avail. The Malamute’s parents had come.

Bandit growled, and so did Nikhe, to try and warn off the parents of the Malamute, but obviously it didn’t work. The father grabbed hold of Bandit and flung him towards the barrels. With a loud crash, Bandit landed on the barrels. He was now bruised, and bleeding. He tried to get up unsuccessfully. The father then proceeded to grab Nikhe, but this time, tossed him to the side of the house. Nikhe hit the brick wall with a thud, and didn’t move.

Bane snarled angrily upon seeing Nikhe get thrown to one side – and he felt hurt for Bandit, too. The mother of the Malamute pup then threw Bane to the ground and advanced on him. Bane turned over, his legs no under him, and tried to stand and run away, but he was no fast enough. The mother closed her jaws on Bane’s back, and Bane cried out loud in pain. It was a few minutes before the mother finally released hold of Bane.

Bandit, by then, had managed to get up. His breathing was shallow, and he couldn’t make a very long run, but he would try. Just for his brother, or should I say brothers. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the male helping his pup up. Bandit growled to himself, and then charged at the female.

“Gwinnnett! Look out!” the male yelled.

“It’s all right, I can handle two puppies, Logan!” Gwinnnett shouted in reply, dropping Bane and twitching her jaw, ready to snap Bandit’s body in two once it was in her grasp. Bandit knew it was the end of his days once he reached those jaws, and his mind fought for a solution to help him stay alive. Then Bandit remembered. He had learnt it while playing with his brothers, or rather, while they were torturing him. He ran faster, although he could not keep it up for long as he was already gasping for breath. Then at the last minute, as Gwinnnett poised for action, Bandit swung to the left and went around her. Gwinnnett was taken off-guard and snarled angrily. She stalked after the puppy, but could not find him. She didn’t know that he was right beside her, hiding in another barrel stack.

Logan, seeing his mate unable to find the puppy, tossed his head up in frustration. He walked slowly, steadily, and carefully towards Bane. When Logan reached Bane, he raised his head, opened his jaws, and aimed for the throat.

“Logan! Stop!” a sharp voice came from the end of the alley. Logan whirled around. There was Balto. Balto snarled a warning to Logan. Logan growled in reply, but sulkily stepped back. He motioned to his mate to get the puppy, and when she did and was gone, he turned around and said to Balto, “Your puppies shall pay for what he’s done to Jerik’s ear. Especially that cream one with the green eyes.”

Balto then gathered the three puppies and took them home. The girls, Arianna and Acacia, were unhurt. Nikhe had a bad bruise on the side which hit the wall, but other than that, he was fine. Bandit was bleeding severely, and Bane was no better. Bane got a good scolding at home, especially for ripping Jerik’s ear apart. So did Bandit and Nikhe, although they both had done nothing to start the fight. Bane’s tail drooped, and he seemed defeated. Bandit, under normal circumstances, would feel happy at that, but, today, he felt sad… To put it more accurately, he felt like crap.

Balto broke the silence. Jenna was being very hard to handle and Michelle was quiet. “All right,” he said, “Let’s go meet the pups.”