Ania yawned sleepily. She looked at the greenery around her. She had slept the night in a bush. She had gotten separated from her pack the day before. From the outside, the bush didn't look like it was hollow inside. It was, though. Ania heard sniffing. She walked outside to investigate. It was a husky. The husky spoke up first. "Hi, uh, I've never seen you around here before." He didn't say anything about her being a wolf; he just accepted her for what she was. Ania liked that. "Hi" Ania said "The reason you haven't seen me before is that, well, I'm kinda new here, and, um, my pack kind of abandoned me, and I didn't know this bush was so close to a town. What town is near this bush, anyway?" "Nenana," the dog said "What's your name, anyways?" he said, "Mine's Oni." "It's anyway, not anyways" Ania corrected him. "My name's Ania." "Weird name." Oni said. "Not as weird as yours!" Ania teased. "Hey!" Oni laughed. Pretty soon they were chasing each other across the tundra. After about two hours of this, Oni stopped, winded. Ania was surprised. In the pack, no one got tired before twenty or thirty miles. "Whew"' Oni gasped. "I don't want you to think I am weak, but I ran around 15 miles earlier today. Ania smiled. She put on a fake look of surprise and interest. She liked this husky. He was nice, and he thought she was worth something. Then, Ania heard a voice,"ONI" it called. "Gottago" Oni said " Seeyalater" and with that, he ran into the town. Ania walked back to the bush in a daze. Her thoughts were in a flurry of emotion. She liked this husky a lot, but she was wondering if she should hang out with him because, after all, they were so different.

Ania woke early the next morning. She rembered the events of the previous day, and wondered if she should meet Oni again. She yawned. Then she heard a bark. It was Oni.  Ania smiled. She was surprised at how glad she was to see him. "Hi" she said. "Hi" he grinned back "Hey, I've gotta go practice soon, and I just wanted to ask you if we could, uh, meet at the beach tonight, heh heh." "O-okay" Ania said. "Wehell, sssee ya, heh." Ania was grinning with out even knowing it. Oni ran off.  Ania hoped Oni would want to take this a bit farther than friendship. She thought about his deep, brown eyes, his strong, muscular body. She sighed. She shook her head, scolding herself for her own thoughts. Who was she kidding. She was a wolf, he was a husky. How could they ever mate? Ania didn't realize until now how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten since day-before-yesterday. She walked off in search of food. Then she remembered the famine. That was why she ahd been left in her bush at all. She had been too weak to move on. Tears dripped down her cheeks. She thought of Aniu, her sister, and the rest of the pack. She wasn't going to find food in the forest, that was for sure. She sighed. There was only one way to go, and that was into town. Ania ran until she was at the outskirts of town. Then she began to creep along an alley. She saw a big, all black husky. He came closer. "Hey" he said "I've never seen a wolf on this side'a town." He emphasized the word wolf. Ania curled her lips back, showing her teeth. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I offend you?" He said this with sarcasm, although Ania stopped growling. "What's yer name?" He asked. "Ania" She managed to growl out. "May I please get past?" "Of course." He said, "Anything for such a dazzelingly beautiful a wolf  as yourself."  Ania snorted and ran off. For the first time, she noticed that there was a delicious smell in the air. At the end of the alley, there was a person selling sausages. Ania creeped behind him and stole five links. She snuck off. She managed to get out of town before anyone could stop her. She ate the sausage in her bush. After three links, Ania stopped.  She lay down, and pretty soon was asleep. Ania woke at sunset and raced down to the beach. Oni was not there yet. The beach was snowy, and the water frozen. The wind was fierce and cold tonight. Ania heard a bark. She turned around. It was Oni! Ania ran toward him. "Oni!" She called. "Hey" he called back. They raced down the beach together, laughing and barking. "Hey" Oni said again. Then he said, "You smell different than usual. Did you go in to town?" he asked suspiciously, almost with concern. "I was hungry. There is a famine in the wild." Ania tried to sound offhand, but she could tell that Oni was not fooled. "It's not just that. You smell like another dog. Did you meet Bandit, the big black husky?" he asked. Ania looked at the ground. "Apparently you did." Oni answered for her. Ania raised her head up. Their noses touched. In that moment, Ania felt she might burst with happiness.

"Should we do it?" Oni asked three weeks later. "Okay" Ania nervously breathed. Oni pinned her on the ground, licked her, and got off. Ania sighed nervously. They were in the bush. "Sausage?" She said, shattering the nervous atmosphere in the bush. Oni nodded. She broke a link in in half and gave one to Oni and kept one for herself. They ate in silence. Ania was, for the most part, living off of sausages now. She would catch an occasional rabbit or bird, but that was very seldom. She had discovered a small stream near her bush, and that served as her water source. "Walk in the woods?" Oni asked " Sure" Ania smiled. They started off. Ania wondered if their pups would live like her, or like Oni. She was a bit worried about what would happen to them. She wondered if they could live in the wild with their half-blood heritage. She thought of her sister, Aniu, And wondered what might be happening to her and the pack. Ania wondered if the famine had killed them.  Then she thought of something. When she had been left in the bush, Aniu and the pack were about to leave this place and find better hunting. She had been too weak to go. Aniu had left her in the bush, saying that for sure, they would meet someday again. Ania's eyes filled with tears. Oni had obviously noticed this, because he said, "What's the matter, Ania." Ania answered softly, "I was just thinking about the pack." "Oh. What happened?" Oni asked. "They left me in this bush because I was too weak to carry on. They were going to find some new place because of the famine." The sun began to set. "I've got to go." Oni said. He sounded sincerely sorry, not just sorry to be polite. He ran off. Ania walked slowly to her bush, and cried herself to sleep. 

Winter passed quickly into spring, and soon the time came for Ania to have her pups. The night that Ania had her pups, it was unusually cold. That night was all pain for Ania. She strained, and seven pups came out. She nuged one with her nose. It didn't move. She gasped and proceded to prod the other pups. She found that only two pups were alive. At that moment, Oni rushed up to her. "Ania!" he gasped, "Are you okay?" Ania began to cry. Oni nuzzled her and lay down beside her. After a few minutes, Ania managed to choke, "Only-only one pup sur-survived, and...... Oh, Oni." Her words dissolved into sobs, and Oni nuzzled her again, and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, Ania. Everything will be fine. At least these two made it. What should we name her?" Ania managed to stop crying. "I d-don't know. I'll name one and you can name one." "Sure" said  Oni, anxious to agree. " I'll name her Siena, after my mother." They smiled at each other. "Siena'' Ania sighed, " Our pup"  Siena had odd markings. The top of her muzzle was light brown, but the white  did not slope down to her chest. Part of her chest was white, though. All of her legs and tail were white, along with her stomach. Part of her back was white, too. "What was your father's name?" Oni asked curiously. "Oh, his name was Stone." Ania answered. "He was very handsome, my mother told me. My mother  also told me he was very solemn, but that he saved her life one day. I never met him. He died before my litter and me were born." Oni looked rather tacken aback at this sudden rush of words from Ania. She was usually pretty quiet. He managed to hide his surprise, and said, "Oh." Ania looked on the verge of tears. Oni did not notice this. "He must have been a pretty bad father, then." Ania rounded on him. She suddenly looked more wolfish than Oni had ever seen her. "Don't you dare insult my father, husky. " She whispered ominously. "My mother once told me that he-" But Oni cut her off. "I don't want to hear what your idiot wolf mother said to you!" Oni growled. "Okay" Ania sounded if she were trying hard to keep from jumping on Oni. "That's it." And with that, she marched out of the bush, with Siena in her mouth, leaving Oni completely stunned. 

A year had passed, and Siena was growing rapidly. Ania was living in a hole in the side of a hill, deep in the forest. She had nearly forgotten about Oni. Nearly, but not totally. When Siena were out playing, sometimes she would lie outside of the hole and think about Oni, only consoling herself thinking to herself, "You new that would happen, Ania. He was a husky, you are a wolf. What were you thinking?"  She refused to face the fact that her life was now totally miserable. Ania was sitting just inside her burrow. Siena was playing in the small creek that was near the hole. Her thoughts drifted. She was getting more and more worried every day. Her pup did not know why she was different, why she couldn't hunt easily, why she didn't look like her mother. Siena was not as tough as Ania was when she was Siena's age, not as thin and wolflike. She didn't know, but Ania did. She felt guilty, but she felt as though she could not tell her, that she would be hurt and offended by the truth. "But, ah, she feels hurt and offended now, because you haven't told her." said a nasty little voice inside her head. Ania, however, ignored this little voice, though it troubled her often. "Mama! Mama!" Siena rushed into the hole. 'I think that I am part husky! Please tell me that's not-" At the defeated look on Ania's face, Siena stopped. "You're not saying I'm.... right?" Ania nodded. "What? It's true?" Siena sounded hurt. "Why? How could this happen. Who was my father? Did he die?" Ania sighed. "No, he did not die that I know of. We got in a fight. I left him then. I don't know where he is, what he is doing, or if if he still even remembers me." "Why did you have to mate him? Why?! Didn't you think how your pups might not fit in to any world, dog or wolf?!"Siena's voice was getting sharper all the time she spoke. Ania answered her calmly, "I loved him." Siena looked like she was trying to decide weather to cry or to scream. Then she said in a would-be calm voice, ''Mama, I love you, but I think it's time for me to go out on my own. I think I should go and find a mate and some friends. I hope you'll forgive me for screaming at you, and I hope you will let me go and not get mad at me. You've taught me everything I need to know. I think I'm ready." Ania sighed. She knew her daughter was right, so she answered, " I think you are right. I do forgive you for screaming at me. I will not be mad to let you go. However, before you go, I need you to know one more thing." Siena looked puzzled. "What?" she asked. Ania nuzzled Siena, and replied, "I need you to know that I love you and that I wish you good luck.'' Siena smiled and nuzzled her mother. She walked out of the den and bounded into the distance.

Winter had come, and Ania was begining to wish she had not let Siena go. She was very lonely, and was often sick. Ania coughed and wheezed a lot. She had dug her den much deeper into the hill so it was warmer. When Ania was well, she would hunt as much as she could and store it in the back of her den for the days when she didn't want to get up. It was one of the days when Ania felt like she could get up and hunt, when Ania came back to the den with two rabbits in her mouth and smelled a husky in her den. The scent was vaguely familiar. Ania dropped the rabbits and went to the back of the den to investigate. There was a husky lying still at the back of the den. He looked up and saw her. Ania suddenly realized that she new this husky from somewhere, and the only husky she could remember was...."Oni?" breathed Ania, not daring to hope. The husky looked hard at her for a moment and said, "Ania. It's me. I thought you were dead! Anyways, I was missing you." Ania grinned, remembering their first meeting, said, "Anyway, Oni. I've missed you, too. She walked over to Oni and lay down. She did not say anything. Everything that had needed to be said had been said. After a few minutes, Ania began to wonder why Oni was here. "Why did you come here? Is something wrong?" she asked him. Oni sighed and looked her. "Yes," he said. "Something is very wrong. Let me tell you. My owner was going to try my team out with another man. Everything went fine until we crashed. Oh, Ania, it was awful. Our sled banged against a rock. The man yelled, and we heard a rumbling sound. We were at the foot of a mountain, and we saw an avalanche coming down. We all ran as fast as we could, but the avalanche fell faster than we could run. It overtook us, and we were buried in it. Some time later, I woke up and dug myself out of the avalanche. Apparently, I had slipped out of my harness when the avalanche fell on us. My team was nowhere in sight. I had no choice then but to try to get home. I walked for a long time. My side was hurting, so I began to search for a place to spend the night. I found your den, Ania, and by then I was so tired that I did not care whether an unknown wolf came and ripped me to pieces. I had been lying there for a very short time when you came and found me." Oni laid his head down and did not say any more. Ania was shocked. Did Oni really need to stop because his side hurt? He was a champion sled dog. Ania did her best to hide her anxiety. "Does your side still hurt?" she asked, trying valiantly to sound offhand and failing. Oni looked at her suspiciously. "Yes. Why?" Ania looked at the ground. "Oh....I....was just wondering...." Ania faltered. Oni didn't look convinced, but accepted her answer. "Do you want something to eat?" Ania asked. Oni nodded, but when she brought him his food he didn't touch it. He asked her suddenly, "Where is Siena?" Ania was expecting him to ask a question like that, so she said immediately, ''She has left to go find a mate and some friends and to try to survive on her own." Oni looked a little disapointed. Both he and Ania were silent. After a few minutes, Ania got up. She nodded at Oni and walked to the entrance of the cave. She was very worried. Oni was weak and sick. If she took him on a journey back to the town, he might not make it. If she kept him here, he might not make it either. For now, Ania decided, he would stay, and she would try to help him as best she could.

A few weeks later, Oni was no better. If anything, he was worse. He and Ania were both coughing and weak, and Oni's side was hurting him worse than ever. Ania was standing by the brook, staring into it, thinking. Ania was worried about Oni's side. She didn't know, but she suspected broken ribs. She was also worried about how sick Oni was. He had been eating and drinking very little, sleeping or talking to her most of the time, and only coming out of the den (with help from Ania) for an occasional drink at the brook. Ania spent most of her time outside hunting. She couldn't do much or go very far now, because most of the time she was sick. Ania never caught much, because she spent most of her time outside sitting by the brook and thinking about Oni. He kept trying to persuade her to not go hunting so often, and that they already had pleanty to eat if she got very sick, but Ania had her own reasons to spend most of her time outside. She hated to see Oni so sick, so helpless, when he had once been a famous racedog. He was now injured beyond Ania's help, and she was beginning to wonder whether that she could only watch and wait until......She shook her head. She did not want to think about those things. She heard Oni softly calling her name. She walked into the den. "Ania, I'm hungry, do you think you could get me something to eat?" She took this as a good sign. If Oni was hungry, he must be getting better. She brought him a rabbit from their little pile. He ate a few bites and said to her, "I've been feeling odd lately. I wouldn't call it weak, just...tired; almost floaty." Ania laughed nervously. She wasn't sure what was wrong, but she knew that this was very odd and she couldn't help thnking....Still, all she said out loud was, "Oh. I'm sorry.'' Oni looked at her and said, "It doesn't feel uncomfortable, just odd." He turned back to his food, and seemed to be trying to choke it down, but somehow it did not seem that he could manage it. He managed to eat a little bit. Ania was pleased, but she was also worried. He ate something of his own will, something that hadn't happened for a few, long weeks, but it also had seemed very hard to do so. Oni looked at her, obviously expecting her to walk out of the den, but she had no such wish. Suddenly, Oni said, "Ania, I think I'm going to die. This.....feeling that I told you about, I think the reason I feel unusually tired is because my body can't take my being so weak and sick any more." Ania felt a rush of panic. She wanted to tell him to stop talking like that, but her throat felt too dry. She wanted to run as far away as she could, but she knew she couldn't. She knew she had to stay with Oni and see him through this. Oni looked at Ania and said, " I am giong to die soon no matter what you do, but before I go, I want you to know how special you are to me. If I were to choose one death, it would be lying beside you." Ania couldn't control herself anymore. "I don't want you to die!'' she cried. Oni looked at her very calmly and said, ''Ania, I am going to die." His voice was growing raspy. Ania almost said 'no' but changed her mind and said, '' Oni, I love you and I want what is best for you. If you want to die and not be in pain, rather than stay alive and be in pain, I accept that. Goodbye, Oni. You were a great friend. Oni looked at Ania. He couldn't speak, but Ania knew what he meant. His head fell back, and his last breath left his body. Oni was dead.