The snow glittered as the sun's rays shone down upon it. The bitter cold nipped at the black and white dog's fur. He kept his sights ahead of him as he walked, trying to distract himself from his thoughts. But, his thoughts kept dragging him back. The memories. Those horrible memories.
He hated to remember them, but he couldn't help it. The memories angered him. That malamute. He couldn't put in words how much hatred he felt for that mutt. What he did to him was unacceptable, but he got away with it. His thoughts drifted to the red husky he had tried to win over so many times before. Jenna.
He remembered how that mutt, Balto, stole her from him. Balto had attempted to save him and his sled team from certain death when they were supposed to bring the serum to Nome because of the diptheria breakout, but Steele wouldn't allow it. He wanted to do it himself. He wanted the glory.
Steele felt that he had deserved the glory and fame that would come out of saving the children of Nome. Heck, that was the only reason he wanted to do it. The fame. Not to mention he would've won the heart of the most beautiful dog in Nome. Jenna.
He hated the fact that Balto had thrown him off that cliff and took the sled, managing to bring the serum back to Nome. Jenna fell in love with him as well, and became his mate. After losing his friends, Steele left out of depression and anger.
Steele trudged through the deep snow, being extra cautious when his paw landed on ice. After nearly breaking his paw when he carelessly stepped on a patch of black ice and slipped harshly, he learned to take his time around ice. Being used to eating food his master provided for him, it proved difficult for Steele to find any food. Let alone catch any.
His stomach growled, telling Steele it was time for a meal. But he couldn't fulfill his desire for food unless he found something. After taking a few more steps, Steele looked to his right and found what he was looking for: a small rabbit.
It wasn't much, but it would help. He slowly advanced on the animal, laying low to the ground. He was about to pounce when he heard a loud, familiar noise, scaring the rabbit off. He growled and looked behind him, seeing a truck. He watched as the truck abruptly stopped and a human stepped out.
Steele turned his body around until he faced the human, whom was advancing on him, a rope dangling from his hand. Steele backed up a bit, growling threateningly. The human showed no signs of submission and kept picking up the pace, leading Steele to back up quicker. Soon, growing frustrated, the man lunged forward and grabbed Steele by the scruff of his neck.
Steele growled and snapped at any body part he could get to. He felt pressure around his neck. The human backed away, allowing Steele to try to run. But something kept him back. He looked to see the rope around his neck, the other end being held by the stranger, who was smiling.
"The name's Lucus," said the man. "I know you can't understand me, but I need to entertain myself, and talking to you is the only entertainment at the moment." Lucus pulled on the rope harshly, dragging Steele forward a few steps. Steele, seeing no point in trying to get away, hesitantly followed him to the truck.
Once the two reached the back of the vehicle, Lucus picked Steele up in his arms with a grunt. Steele took this opportunity to bite Lucus on the upper arm, causing him to yelp and drop Steele onto the end of the doorway of the back of the truck. Steele managed to right himself before he fell off.
He made to jump out of his formerly meant-to-be prison, but the man recovered and grabbed him again, throwing him into the truck and slamming the door behind the pedrigee. Steele desperately scratched and bit at the door, but it wouldn't budge.
It wasn't long before he started to tire, and he stopped once he saw red liquid on the door. His claws were bleeding from continuous clawing and overuse. Steele snorted in defeat and made his way to the middle of his prison, allowing his body to slump to the cold, hard ground beneath his aching paws.
Steele awoke to the vehicle stopping abruptly, gravity pulling him to the side a bit. Light suddenly poured into the prison, blinding Steele momentarily. Once he could see properly, he found himself outside of the back of the vehicle, having been dragged out on a rope by Lucus.
He allowed himself to be pulled into the building they stopped to visit. As he searched his surroundings, he noticed that the building didn't look very inviting. Cages lined the walls, various animals warning him to leave immediatley. Steele wished he could.
He was taken to an empty cage, and Lucus pushed him into it, untying the rope from around his neck and closing the cage door, locking it. "You fool! You should have bit him!" a dog barked. "You must find a way out of this terrible place, before it's too late!" a cat meowed frantically. Many warnings and insults toward his failing to escape were shouted at the imprisoned pedigree, and he felt foolish for not taking his chance.
Steele listened to a few more of the accusations and warnings before caving in. He bit at the bars of the cage, trying to tear them off. When that attempt failed, he worked at the lock, trying to break it with his powerful teeth, but it was all in vain.
He whimpered in defeat and laid down in the back corner of his prison, ignoring the continued yowls, whimpers and barks of fear. He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep, to escape from this nightmare temporarily, but the animals prevented him from doing so.
Steele growled in frustration and stood up. Again he bit and clawed at the cage, putting all his effort into it, only to fail a second time. "You may as well give up, young one," a deep voice sounded next to him. "You're wasting your energy trying to accomplish such a helpless task." Steele turned to see a black labrador staring at him in amusement. He bared his teeth, angry that this dog was trying to tell him what to do.
"I won't be staying in this cage without a fight," said Steele. "I refuse to give up on this 'helpless task,' as you so eloquently put it." He turned his back on the dog and sat down. "You should have taken the chance when it was given," the labrador continued, ignoring Steele's refusal. "Instead, you allowed that human to bring you to a place where you'll wish you'd never been born."
Steele stood up and whirled around on the dog, advancing as far as the bars seperating them would allow. "I was a fool to not do so," he said, glaring into the dog's eyes. "But maybe I didn't want to. Maybe I saw no point in fighting."
The amusement in the labrador's eyes were replaced with shock and confusion. "No point in fighting? I can see just by looking at your body," he pointed to the muscles showing through Steele's skin. "You could've easily broken free of that lead and ran off. You just chose not to, which I find very foolish of you."
Steele let a low growl rumble from deep in his throat. "You think I wanted this to happen? I assure you, I never intended to get caught. I didn't fight because I was weak." he pointed his muzzle toward his stomach. His ribs stood out beneath his skin, and his stomach growled loudly, begging for food.
"I haven't eaten in days. I'm not used to having to hunt down the food for myself." The black dog eyed him. "So, you have chosen the soft life of a pet, I take it?" he questioned his new companion. Steele softened his glare and backed off, sitting down with a sigh. "It's a long story."
"I've got time." the labrador said, sitting down himself and listening intently for a story to be told. Looking up, Steele told the dog how Balto had found his team, stolen the serum, and making it back to Nome, stealing the glory Steele believed to have deserved, and most importantly, stealing Jenna from him.
When Steele had finished, the labrador was shaking his head disappointedly. "Young one, you clearly still have so much to learn." he looked up at Steele. "There's more to life than fame. I'm ashamed of you for your selfish acts, and to be honest, I'm glad Balto showed up when he did. You didn't deserve the fame you had wanted so desperately, that you went to the extremes to use the advantage of the serum run to save the sick children in Nome."
Steele looked at the dog calmly, letting out a small chuckle of amusement. The labrador stared at him. "What's so funny?" Steele let out another chuckle before responding. "You think I haven't realized my mistake by now?" he was now staring at the labrador, speaking in all the seriousness he could muster. "That mutt didn't ruin my life. If anything, he improved it for me."
The labrador stared at Steele in complete confusion. "But... how...?" Steele interrupted. "Balto made me realize what a fool I've been. I was being an idiot. I used my friends, took the diptheria epidemic to my advantage, nearly causing the death of hundreds of children. I was wrong to put fame before everything else in life, and to go to such extremes to aqcuire my desire. I realize that now."
The confusion that once occupied the labrador's expression was replaced with a look of understanding and pride. "That's good." he said simply. "I'm proud of you for your realization, and your change in demeanor." Steele looked at the dog. "By the way, I never caught your name."
"My name," the dog responded. "Is Ayreon. And yours would be?" Steele nodded in acknowledgement before replying. "Steele." Ayreon nodded at the pedigree. The room suddenly went quiet. Confused, Steele approached his cage door and looked at the horror stricken faces of all the animals. Following their gazes, he too was struck with terror as he watched a flame colored cat slowly being disected.
He froze in place, realization hitting him like a brick. 'That's why everyone was angry with me for failing to escape,' Steele thought. 'If I don't make it out of here, that'll be me soon, along with everyone else here!'
Steele now knew that he needed to find a way out of this horrid facility, along with the others. And fast.
End of part 1! Watch out for part 2!