VOICES:

-Nero: John Cusack

-Yukon: Toby Maguire

-Atka: Jennifer Morrison

-Balto: Kevin Bacon

-Buck: Mark Harmon

       My sister, Atka, brushed past me and bounded out of the yard, giving me no time to stop her. What had gotten into her?! She didn’t even notice me sulking! And that was heard work!

            “We need to go after her” Yukonsaid simply.

“I know” I moaned. “Why did she have to go?! I was going to be a lead dog! I was pretty good when led!”

            “I know. I ran behind you. Remember?”

Yukon stared after Atka Then used his front paws to take off his sled dog collar. I looked down at my sled dog collar. Was it worth it? Atka could die on her own… but I loved leading my sled team.

“Alright” I sighed. “Let’s go”

            Yukon looked at my collar quizzically.

“Just because we’re going into the wild doesn’t mean that I have to take it off”

Yukon shook his head. We trotted away from Atka’s house and past the other dark houses. We trotted down the main street and by the finish line we had crossed not even a day ago. But I had to stop as we reached the town’s outskirts. I looked over the town and picked out the bright light that had guided us during a snowstorm. Yukon, finally realizing I wasn’t with him, doubled back.

            “If we’re going to catch up with Atka, we have to hurry”

I nodded my head but didn’t say a word. I was terrified of leaving. Yukonand Atka were more wild then me anyway. We could starve out there! Or get attacked by something! Yukonrolled his eyes and set out toward the old shipwreck. Not wanting to be left behind, I snapped out of my trance and scampered after. Yukon might be wilder then me, but I was still faster! Even if it was only a little bit. I caught up to him, passed him and flew up the ramp first.

“Dad! Dad!”

            “I’m right here! What are you shouting about!?” Balto said, wincing. “I’m wide awake!”

“Did Atka come by?”

            “She left five minutes ago. She’s going to find Buck”

“Who’s Buck?!” Yukonsaid suspiciously.

            “He’s your uncle… don’t ask” Balto smirked.

“We’re going after her” I declared, ready to take any argument against him.

            “I figured you would” Balto said simply.

I let out the air that puffed out my chest.

“Am I really that predictable?” I sighed.

Balto ad Yukon both smiled.

            “Be careful and take care of each other” Balto said, nuzzling each of us.

Yukon and I both nuzzled our father back and said a quick goodbye before trotting down the ramp towards the woods. We ran across the snowy fields and kicked the powdery snow out from under our feet. My sled dog collar bounced against my chest, reminding me of the life I had just traded. I took one look at the beach I ran on when I was a puppy. Then, bristling pine trees covered our view as we entered the woods.

“Now what?” I moaned, turning to Yukon.

            “This”

Yukon put his nose to the ground and started to follow his nose. I probably hadn’t used my nose to track anything besides food. I looked around nervously and Yukonnoticed, picking his head up, blue eyes meeting my brown ones.

            “You sure you want to do this?” he said seriously. “No turning back after this”

I gulped and nodded. Yukon smiled, then put his nose back down to the ground and started to pick up speed. Cautiously, following close behind, my nose began to pick up wild scents. The strongest smell was that of wolves, but with a shiver, I smelt something I’d only smelt once before. Bear. Chills ran down my spine even though I was used to the cold of winter. The trees, mostly pine, seemed to reach out for us. My breathing started to come rapidly. My eyes darted through the trees. Suddenly, I bumped into Yukon. He was peering over his shoulder past me.

“What’s wrong?!” I almost whimpered. But realizing how scared I sounded, I swallowed and puffed up my chest. “I mean, what’s wrong?”

Yukon raised an eyebrow but shook his head.

            “Nothing, just thought… nothing. Let’s keep going”

Yukon sniffed the air and continued to move, a bit faster then before. We walked for a little longer before Yukon stopped, twisted around and his ears pointed directly behind us. Once again, I bumped into him.

“What?!” I said, this time not bothering to mask my fear.

            “There’s something following us. I’m sure of it”

A chill ran down my spine again. I focused on Yukonand watched his ears swivel around like mad, trying to pick up any sound. Now that I thought about it, I did here something rustling behind me before…

            “Let’s keep on moving” Yukonsaid determinedly.

With renewed vigor, Yukon set off, but kept peering over his shoulder. However, he was a lot braver then I was now… if anything jumped out now, I was sure I’d faint. My eyes left my brother and started to search the trees. Then, once again, I bumped into Yukon.

 “You have to give me some kind of warning when you’re gonna stop!” I barked frantically.

Yukon looked at me and gave me a half smile.

            “Are you scared?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“No!” I said, voice cracking.

Yukon laughed to himself and turned around.

            “It’s not a bear, if that’s what you’re thinking. It sounds smaller” he said, squinting out into the dark.

“How can you tell?!”

Yukon didn’t answer me, but tilted his head back and let out a short howl. On the inside, he had to be as much wolf as our dad. When he stopped, nothing answered. Yukon’s ears slowly dropped back.  

            “We need to move now” Yukon ordered with more urgency eyes darting between the trail in front of us and the thing behind us.

I didn’t need any more encouragement. Yukonstarted to trot, and I went faster too. A stick broke behind us and I barreled into Yukon, sending him flying forward. I ran right past him, not even trying to listen to what he was yelling. To my horror, something was crashing after us! Yukon darted after me, eyes wide.

“Something’s behind us!!” I yelped.

            “Just run!” Yukonyelled over his shoulder.

My feet flew and adrenaline kept Yukon beside me. Finally, out of breath, I skit to a halt in the slick snow and Yukon slid to a stop next to me, puffing and looking frantically around us.

            “I think we lost it” Yukon huffed.

Suddenly, a dark blur moved through the bushes and jumped in front of us, howling. I closed my eyes in fear, but then I realized… I knew that howl…

“Atka!?” I said, opening one eye.

Atka smiled and strutted toward us.Yukon looked like he was going to explode, but held it in.

“How long have you been following us!? Why couldn’t you have just come out and said hi or something?!”

            “Well that wouldn’t have been any fun!” she smirked, like it was common sense.

Yukon didn’t say a word and pushed past her. He was really furious. He hated to be made an idiot of. Atka watched us for a second and smiled.

            “That’s not the right way” she sang.

“I know that” growled Yukon, turning around, even madder.

Atka’s expression softened when Yukon brushed roughly past her.

            “I’m really glad you guys came after me” she said nuzzling us both.

Yukon still didn’t say anything and clenched his jaw.

“So where are we going then?” I said, trying to break the silence.

            “We’re not going anywhere tonight. We should rest before we do any more traveling” Yukon growled again. He stomped over to a tree stump, and curled into a ball. I followed him over and curled up next to him. Atka looked at us but kept pacing around, sniffing the air every now and then.

“Atka, give it a rest. I can’t sleep when you’re going back and forth in front of me” I moaned. “Sorry” she mumbled. She walked over and lay down next to me.

            The next morning was better. Now that it wasn’t dark, the trail didn’t seem nearly as creepy. Atka led our little pack, Yukonfollowed her, silent as always and I followed them. It was easy to see that Atka was happy to be wild. She held her tail high in the air and almost pranced. I was anything but happy.

“Shouldn’t we have found him by now?” I complained.

            “No, I found his territory hours ago. I think he left. We’re still following his scent and I think we’re getting pretty close”

“Oh” I mumbled.

We followed Atka a little longer, but my stomach started grumble. Now that I had thought about it, I was really hungry. When was the last time I had something to eat?

“Can we stop and eat?” I whined.

            “Do you have food with you?” Atka said over her shoulder.

“No”

            “Then I don’t think I can help you” she shot back. “You’re in the wild now, get your own food”

“Is that a river down there?” Yukon asked, finally talking.

            “Yeah, why?”

“What are in rivers?” Yukonsaid, smiling at his own brilliance.

“Water?” I guessed.

            “Fish” Atka said slowly.

Slowly, we picked our way downward to a river that trickled nearby. When we were in the clear, Yukon and Atka raced toward the river. I hated not being as well adapted as them… but running was one thing I was best at! I charged past them and leapt into the shimmering water. Too late, I realized it was still winter.

“COLD!” I barked as soon as my feet touched the water. As fast as I was in, I was out, like my feet had skipped over the water. Yukonand Atka just laughed.

            “Are you sure you’re part wolf?” Atka grinned.

I shook off and glared at her. Yukon lay down and started to lick something.

“How did you catch that?!” I sputtered.

Yukon dropped the fish and smiled.

            “That’s for me to know and you to learn!” he replied.

“Then teach me?!” I shot back.

Yukon just smiled and started to eat his fish. I watched Atka as she watched the fish and leapt in after one. She didn’t catch anything at first, but after a few attempts, she trapped a fish and proudly pulled the wiggling thing out and started to eat.

“What about me?” I whimpered.

Yukon shook his head. “You are such a pup!”

Then he got up, did what Atka had done, but stood still like a statue. His eyes followed one fish, and like a flash, he pulled it out and threw it at me. The fish flopped around, but I smacked it down with my paw and gulped it down. Still, Atka and Yukon were finished and ready to go before I was. We found our way back to the trail and picked up our pace. We walked for what seemed like eternity. When night finally, fell, I couldn’t have been more relieved.

“I thought I’d never be so happy to see the sun go down!” I sighed sitting down. “Now where are we stopping?”

            “If we’re going to find him, we have to move at night” Atka said, glancing at me.

Yukon mulled it over but nodded.

“You’re not going to ask me what I think, are you…” I droned..

            “Nope” said my wilder siblings.

“Didn’t think so” I said mostly to myself

                        “Just pretend you’re on a long sled race” Yukonsuggested, trying to ease my exhaustion.

            As we continued on, I started to fall asleep as we walked, and we didn’t even stop once the sun came up. And someone would have thought I’d be able to see Yukon in broad daylight with bright white snow around us. But once again, I bumped into him. In front of us, Atka stiffened.

“Whatsgoingon” I mumbled, eyes just managing to stay open.

            “Look” he said pointing a paw.

Off the trail, a lonely wolf figure travelled the trail towards us. But it wasn’t just a wolf- it was a hybrid… and a very familiar hybrid at that.

“Aleu?!”

The figure snapped to attention and trotted towards us.

                        “What are you guys doing out here?!” she asked, looking between us.

I bet she thought we came out here just for her… but she was still my sister and I felt bad that she was all alone.

            “We’re going to live here. What are you doing?!” Atka said, brown eyes cold.

Aleu, a little apprehensive, started talking slowly again, but as usual, started to ramble on again.

“I’m going back to Nome. I hate it out here! At first I liked it, but its not-.”

It was clear that Atka was starting to lose patience. But Aleu couldn’t take the hint.

            “Would you just stop talking for once in your life?!” Atka snapped.

Aleu snapped her mouth shut and laid her ears back.

“Sorry” Aleu mumbled, clearly confused. Atka had never been this mean to Aleu before. But then again, there was nobody to stop the fight. It was always a power struggle between the two of them… it might finally be ended today.

            “Out here, you’re not the center of attention” Atka spat “That’s why you hate it!”

Aleu glared at Atka, but when Atka took a step toward her, the smaller sister backed off. She didn’t want to fight. I let out a sigh of relief and I was sure Yukon did too.

            “You always had to be the center of attention for everything” Atka spat, following Aleu. “You had to be special and had to have all of Mom and Dad’s attention! That’s probably the only reason why you ran away too, isn’t it?! We’re just as much wolf as you are! Deal with it!”

Aleu’s ears flopped sideways and she stared at the ground in front of her. In a way, I did feel kind of bad for her.

            “Let’s go” Atka growled, turning away from the disgraced Aleu.

“See you” I murmured to Aleu, hurrying so I wasn’t left behind.

            “Yeah, see you” I heard Yukonrepeat.

Leaving her felt bad, but Atka was stronger and she seemed to know where she was going.

When we were far enough away from Aleu, Atka let us take a small nap, which was way too short for me, but at least I wasn’t sleep walking after I woke up. Walking in an almost straight line was starting to crack down on me. Suddenly, Atka stopped and dove into a bush. Yukondived in after her, not giving me enough time to think properly.

“What’s going on?!” I yelped as I jumped into the bush after them.

            “I don’t know” Yukonmumbled, watching Atka.

 Her ears twitched then she crouched and crawled, ears laid back. Yukonand I exchanged looks, but mimicked her, so far, she’d done everything right. She stopped just enough to be able to see out of the bush but still be hidden. Yukon and I followed.

In the clearing was a black wolf with a white chest and paws, sniffing around furiously. I looked at Atka, who looked confused, like she was making a decision.

            “Is that Buck?” I heard Yukonwhisper excitedly.

                        “I don’t know…” Atka answered. “Dad talked about some bad wolf that was black and I have no idea what Buck looks like… I only know what he smells like”

Yukon and I just stared at her. She noticed us looking at her and met eyes with us.

            “What?!” she snorted.

We turned back to the wolf, but he was gone.

            “Where’d he go?!” Atka said, worried.

Before either of them could stop me, I walked out into the clearing. I was tired of being the scared, tame one. This was a simple enough way to prove I was brave. Whispering for me to come back, Atka and Yukonfollowed me but didn’t come out into the icy clearing.

“I guess he’s gone” I shrugged, like I didn’t even care.

Atka and Yukon just looked behind me, eyes wide and mouths open. I let my tail drop and laid my ears back. Someone was breathing behind me.

“He’s right behind me, isn’t he” I gulped.

A low growl behind me answered my question. I whirled around and sank my teeth into what ever I could reach for. It seemed like it had to effect at all! The wolf grabbed me by the back of my neck and simply threw me. My feet didn’t stand a chance on the snow and I slid across the snowy ground, yelping in shock. I heard a snarl and turned just in time to see the wolf grab Yukon’s front paw and send him sliding right into me. Atka jumped out as well and snagged the wolf’s tail. The wolf muffled a yelp and grabbed Atka’s tail. She yelped and dropped the wolf’s tail. He dropped her tail but smacked into her. Her light body was no match for his muscled one. Just as Yukonand I were apart, Atka ploughed into Yukonwho flattened me once again. As we untangled ourselves, the wolf came closer.

“Haven’t you done enough damage!?” he growled.

We had no idea what he was talking about. But still, the wolf’s eyes blazed as he closed the gap between us.

“I know who sent you” he spat.

            “You know Ba-.” Yukondidn’t get to finish before the wolf grabbed his foot and dragged him away.

I jumped at the wolf and knocked him down. But he just stepped right over me as I slid away on the patch of ice. That was stupid… I should have seen that…

“You guys picked the wrong day to mess with me!” said the wolf, mouth twisting into a cruel smile.

Atka snarled and jumped, but the wolf was expecting it. He tried to get out of the way but their shoulders clipped. Atka’s front paws hit the ground, slipped and her chin slammed into the patch of ice. The wolf pushed her onto her back and put all of his weight on his paw at her chest. Defeated, she froze, pinned against the ice- covered snow.

“If you want her to live, don’t move” the wolf said quietly.

What did he want from us?! Yukon and I froze where we were. We didn’t say a word. The wolf shrugged and went for her throat. My blood ran cold and at the same time, Yukonand I scrambled to our feet but it was impossible to get any footing on the ice. Suddenly, the wolf let go. Yukonand I stopped moving again. The wolf closed his mouth and sniffed Atka.

“Atka?”

He jumped off of Atka, who was astounded and shocked.

“Yukon? Nero?” the wolf said, looking between me and my brother.

I cocked my head and tried to understand. So much had happened in two seconds.

                        “Are you Buck?” Atka inquired.

The wolf nodded, expression blank.

“Sorry” Buck said plainly. “You guys just caught me at a really bad time”

He turned around and started walking away. When he noticed we weren’t following him, he looked over his shoulder.

“Are you coming with me or not? If you guys stay on your own, you’ll be goners”

 We all hurried after him, trying to find powdery snow instead of the slick ice-snow. Atka and Yukon led, I followed. Something was missing though… my collar! Panicked, I looked down at my chest for the familiar slivery glimmer. It was gone. I really was in the wild now…

Buck, Nero, Atka and Yukon (c) me

Balto and Aleu (c) Universal