Author's Note: If you don't have an open mind then don't bother reading this fanfic or any of my fanfics for that matter. Because in this story the characters may seem off-character, but you have to remember that they're younger and have yet to develop into their character like they had in the movie. So if you don't like it, then piss off.

Hunting isn't an easy task for a young wolf dog hybrid. Especially since his brown fur wasn't very good camoflauge in the snow. Ever since his mother left him on the abandoned boat, he had to fend for himself by eating dead fish that had washed up on shore. The food got tiring for him since that was all he ate for almost an entire year, give or take a few days where no fish would wash up on shore and he went hungry.

One morning, the cub was sitting at the bow of his boat, staring off into the distance until he seen a white furry animal similar to his size. It was a fox. He remembered mother telling him what a cunning trickster a fox could be, so he never walked up to one and trusted him. The cub looked at the fox again and noticed that it was carrying something in it's mouth. It looked like the kill of a rabbit or some other small animal. The cub licked his lips at the thought of tasting something other than fish. He watched the fox trot around the meadow of snow, it stopping once and a while to claw at the ground. The fox eventually stopped and began digging a hole. The fox put it's kill into the hole and buried it. After the fox left, the cub scurried out of the boat and to the hole where the fox's food was. He dug at the snow for a few minutes, looking up every now and again to make sure the fox wasn't returning for the food. Once he found the kill, he ripped off pieces of the meat and ate them. It tasted so good and wanted to take all of it for himself, but if he were to do that, then the fox would follow the scent back to the boat. The cub didn't want that, so he ate his fill, buried what was left of it back where it originally was, and went back to his home. It felt nice to have a full belly for once, so he began to walk to the captain's quarters to take a short nap. But he heard the sound of barking dogs in the distance. There were two lines in the distance and the cub knew that they were racing dogs. He always admired the race dogs from afar. He watched them run into the town that was nearby.
He always knew that the town was there, but he never had the courage to enter it when he was younger. He thought to himself, "I'm older, now. I'm brave enough to check it out!" And instead of napping, he patted off the boat and towards the town. When he finally reached it, he hoped that maybe he could play with the dogs and humans there. Mother always made the humans sound fascinating. She never really told him why to avoid them, but it's about time he found out.

|The cub entered the town, slowly and quietly made his way along the buildings, and studied the inhabitants from afar. He seen many dogs, but none really his own age. That never discouraged him, though. For the next few days, he kept coming back and eventually got acquainted with the area. He often seen dogs and humans playing together. He envied them. He wished he was a dog, and often considered himself one, more than a wolf.

One day, while visiting the town, the cub finally seen a dog his age. He wasn't exactly his age and was a bit older than himself, but he came closer than any other dog he seen. The pup was with a gruffy-looking man that was dressed in thick clothing and had a deep throaty voice. He sounded mean, but the pup was happy to be around him. The pup was black and white and had piercing light blue eyes. He was a bit taller and had a curly tail and pointier ears too. The cub approached the pup in a playful way.

"Hi!" said the cub. "I've never seen you around here! What's your name?"

"My name's Steele," he said with a cocky smirk on his face. "What's yours?"

"I...I don't have one," the hybrid said, embarrassed.

|Steele laughed. "No name?! What are ya, a mutt?"

The cub frowned at his comment, not sure if he meant it as a joke or not. Steele just scoffed and followed his master and didn't even bother to say good-bye.

The following morning, the cub went into the town to see what it had for food. He sniffed around trying to find any scraps of meat lying about in the snow. His "hunt" got off track when the cub seen something out of the corner of his eye. It was a young female red and white husky. She was very cute and petite, even for a pup, but on top of that she seemed very close to his own age. He was too nervous to talk to her, but he decided to show off in front of her. He grinned when her attention seemed a bit focused on him and he trotted around until he smelled something interesting. The scent led him up to the porch of one house and the scent was coming from a green bowl outside of the door. He sniffed the food inside of the bowl. It smelled good, but it looked awful to eat. He decided to try it anyway, but before he could get a good taste of it, a large grey and white malamute charged from his doggy door and chased the cub off the porch. He ran into an alleyway and the malamute ceased the chase and went back to his precious food. The cub looked around to see if the red and white husky seen him, but he couldn't find her around. He wimpered from hunger and embarrassment as his quest for food continued. Eventually he came across a smell even better than the first one. He looked into a building and seen all kinds of meat everywhere. He licked his lips at the sight of suculent sausage links, dripping with it's natural grease and flavor and spice. He quickly entered the alley leading to the side of the building. He looked into the cans to see if the human inside had thrown anything like the links out. He sniffed around and pulled some trash out to get a better look inside of the cans.

"Hey! Git outta there!" yelled a large man with a moustache, who was holding a broom. The cub gasped and went to run away, but he tripped over the trash he had thrown and landed right in front of the man. The man lifted the broom to strike him, and the cub closed his eyes and expected to feel a beating, but instead he felt little arms wrap around him.

"Wait, sir, please don't hurt my dog!" exclaimed a little girl with large innocent eyes and long red hair.

"YOUR dog, miss...er, Rosy?" the man seemed to have trouble remembering the girl's name, like he had only met her once before. "Well, YOUR dog is one heck of a garbage-picker."

"Sorry, sir. But...yes, he's my dog." Rosy smiled innocently, petting the timid hybrid.

"And what's your dog's name?"

"Balt..." Rosy thought for a moment. "Balto."

"Hm," the man looked at her suspiciously, but decided to let them go. They entered the main street and Rosy patted him on the head.

"See you around, Balto!" she smiled, skipping off somewhere. Balto liked this girl. She was the first one who was ever nice to him, so he decided to follow her, discreetly and eventually followed her to her home. He watched her skip up to her door and open it. Out pranced a familiar red and white husky, who yipped and barked happily. The cub felt his nerves tremble. The husky made him so nervous and giddy. So Rosy was the husky's owner. He hoped that the husky was as nice as her owner.

Just then, the cub seen Steele passing by Rosy's house, who was also eyeing the red and white husky. The cub brushed that off and trotted up to him.

"Hey, Steele!" the cub smiled.

"Oh, it's you." Steele rolled his eyes. "The mutt, by night known as 'garbage-picker." The cub frowned at Steele knowing about that. Word certainly got around fast in this small town.

"It's Balto..." he frowned. He smiled on the inside, knowing he had a name now.

"Oh," Steele snickered under his breath. "Balto."

"Anyway," Balto looked at the red and white husky, who was still playing with Rosy. "Do you know that dog? What's her name?"

"Her?" Steele almost laughed at Balto even having the nerve to ask. "Don't worry about her. She'll never talk to YOU."

"Well, I didn't ask if she'd TALK to me..." said Balto, with a hint of vexation in his voice. "I asked if you knew her name."

"If you MUST know, her name is Jenna. But if I were YOU, I wouldn't even bother addressing her." Steele arched his eyebrows even more. "She's way too good for a mutt like you, anyway. You have your parents to thank for that." Steele chuckled and walked away.

Balto didn't hurry to get home, since it was only late afternoon. He walked the whole way, thinking about where his parents were. It was how the people in town ignored him, and Steele's attitude toward him that kept making him think that his parents abandoned him. He barely remembered anything before he woke up on the boat. The only thing he remembered was his mother's scent and her tranquil voice. The gentleness of her voice made him feel safe, so he knew that she couldn't have possibly abandoned him. But then that led to the thought of his father. He wondered why he never met him before. He knew that he could not have been a wolf because he wasn't white like his mother or her pack-mates. He must have been a husky like Steele. By the time he made it his home, he felt less depressed and he kept thinking about what his father was like. He smiled at the thought of his father being kind and devoting. The thought of his father being a famous racing dog, like he the kind he had seen many times before, inspired him to want to run faster than any of them, like how his father may have. He looked up at the sound of honking geese flying in the sky. He laughed at the thought of chasing them. Then he pictured his father being tall and muscular, having brown and white fur and a happy grin. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt himself being pushed from his perch. He landed roughly onto the snow below along with the body that had pushed him. Thinking it was Steele, the cub turned around with a growl.

"Watch where you're growling to, собака!" scolded an old goose regaining his tubby posture and smoothing out his grey feathers.

"What did you call me?" Balto asked, half accusingly, half confused.

"I call you, 'dog." the goose pointed at the cubs furry chest. "That is what you are, no?" This goose talked funny. Balto never heard anyone talk like that before.

"Sorta," said Balto. "Why do you talk like that?"

"Talk like what?"

"Like...nevermind." As he made his way back into the boat, he asked the goose. "Shouldn't you be catching up to your friends?"

"I should be," said the goose. "I ask them to stop so I could take break, but they say they have much ground to cover and they leave me behind. They have no respect!"

"I know how ya feel." Balto sighed. The goose followed him into the boat and the cub looked at him quizzically. "What? You're not staying here, are you?"

"Why not? I cannot go out THERE! I'll be eatten by bears!"

Balto stared at the goose. He looked pitiful, and in a way he did pity him. But he was in the same boat he was (no pun intended) and he figured that how the way his luck was going with making any new friends, the cub figured that this good was going to be the only friend he was going to make for a long time. He sighed. "Fine, you can stay." Balto curled up in an old blanket inside of the captain's quarters and looked at the goose again. "So, what's your name?"

"Boris," the goose said, rolling his tongue with every R he spoke. "What are they calling you?"

"You don't wanna know what they call me," Balto chuckled, under his breath. "But my name is Balto."

"Balto, huh?" Boris asked. "Like the Baltic Sea?"

"Sure." Balto replied, a bit confused.

"So, you have any friends in town, Balto?"

Balto thought about this. Steele was a definate "no." Jenna was a definate "maybe." And Rosy was a "Yeah, she's GOTTA be considered a friend." He said, "Yeah. Well...sorta. This human girl saved me from being beaten by a butchershop owner. So I guess she's kind of a friend...And one other, but I'm not sure, yet." Balto felt his heart in his throat at the thought of the ever-so-cute Jenna.

"Who be this?" asked Boris.

"Well...it's this other girl." Balto's ears lowered in embarrassment. "She's a husky and her name is Jenna."

"You talk to her?"

"No,"

"Then go talk to her!" Boris encouraged. "She'll like you!"

"How would YOU know?" Balto retorted. "You don't know me."

"Ah, but Boris is EXCELLENT judge of character." he winked.

"That may be," Balto chuckled. "But this other dog is trying to get to her too."

"Eh, I bet he's just a big pushover!" Boris brushed it away like it was nothing. "You go talk to her tomorrow. And just be yourself." The goose smiled.

"Mmm...ok." Balto smiled to himself and layed his head down to sleep. Maybe Boris was right.

The sun finally rose from the horizon and Balto waited for the town to stir awake. When it did, Boris wished him luck as he sprinted towards the town.
Balto dashed to Rosy's house, first thing. He waited near the house nextdoor and readied himself to talk to Jenna. He didn't have to wait long for Rosy to let Jenna outside to roam about. Balto took a deep breath and paced toward her with his head held high. She stopped in her tracks and glanced at him. She had large beautiful auburn eyes and a slender figure, but was still pleasantly plump with puppy fat. And her face the cutest thing he had ever seen. Balto felt his nervousness get the better of him and he stopped a couple of feet away from her. He lowered his head in submission and slowly wagged his tail. He gave her a smile.

"H...Hi." he said, embarrassed. "I'm Balto."

"Hello, Balto." she said sweetly. "I'm Jenna."

"I know," he said somewhat quickly. "I mean, I heard your name from someone before. Heh heh..." His ears lowered in embarrassment. "Stupid!" he thought to himself. "Think of something better to say!" There was a moment of silence.

"Well, I'm gonna get going." Jenna said. "I shouldn't be talking to strange dogs." She said good-bye and walked back into her house.

"You think I'm strange?" Balto thought to himself. "Great, Steele must've spread rumors about me."

Balto went back home early and vented to Boris about his day. Balto was depressed again and figured that he wasn't meant to fit in anywhere except his boat. He figured that he was too wolf to fit in with dogs and too dog to fit in with wolves. He hated being stuck between the two animals, but he never cursed his parents for it.

Boris said, "You need to have a bit of confidence in yourself, kiddo! You aren't going to be friends with her if you keep acting like a coward. Nobody likes a coward!"

Balto took what he said into thought. He was right. No one liked a coward. And he especially didn't like himself to be one. "Yeah," was all Balto said, not really wanting to admit that the old goose was right. "Should I try again tomorrow or wait?"

"What's to wait for? Go talk to her again now! It's not that late yet."
Balto looked at the sun beginning to lower itself to the ground. He was right, it was late afternoon and was still light out. He looked at the town and said to Boris, "Be back later." He raced his way back to town as fast as his thick paws would carry him and he made it there in a matter of seconds. He projected around town trying to find Jenna and get a better start with her. He wanted to at least make her not-nervous around him and show her that he wasn't so strange. He found her coming around a corner and he beamed. But his grin left his face when he seen Steele walking next to her. They both seemed happy talking to each other, but Jenna seemed more fidgety. He gathered his courage and began to approach them. Before he started, Jenna spotted him.

"Balto!" she exclaimed, happily. And trotted over to him. She seemed a bit relieved to leave Steele's side. Steele pouted at her actions.

"Hey, Jenna," Balto smiled at her approach. His ears folded back when Steele approached as well.

"What are YOU doing here, wolf-dog?" Steele growled jealously.

"I just came to talk." he replied.

"I don't think we wanna talk to you," Steele said, trying to usher Jenna away.

"Steele, stop it," Jenna cried. Balto didn't like that Steele was trying to ruin his chance at friendship with Jenna and he wasnt about to let him. So Balto came in between Steele and Jenna and stepped up to him, showing a very cross face. He growled at the cub and pressed his nose against his forcibly.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you, Steele," Balto retorted, pushing Steele's nose off his own. The black and white husky was about ready to pounce on the wolf dog, until he heard his master's gruffy voice call to him. Steele turned his head to his master and went to him. Then he looked back at Balto and said they'd finish later. Balto didn't say anything and watched Steele's leave, until Jenna got his attention by addressing him.

"Thanks, Balto," Jenna smiled. "That was very daring of you to stand up to Steele."

"Thanks," Balto smiled at the rare compliment he received. Maybe now she wouldn't find him weird. He wasn't sure because when he went to walk closer to her to walk her home, she backed off a bit. He didn't really pay it any mind because he knew that meeting someone new was nerve-racking. She started up the stairs to her porch of her house after they said good-bye.

"Maybe next time, I can show you my home." Balto suggested, hopeful.

"Maybe." Jenna said simply. After she went inside of the house, Balto raced back home and his happiness made him race faster than ever. He made it onto the boat's deck in no time and seen Boris perched on a box, smiling down on the cub.

"So, I'm guessing your talk went better?" Boris smirked.

"Yep! It did!" Balto grinned, looking back to the town, wagging his tail. "Do you think she'll lighten up a bit more tomorrow?"

"I don't doubt it." the goose smiled. "Who said a goose can't be Cupid?" he thought to himself.