Sister Rivalry 

(started 9/30/07 – finished 10/2/07)

Summary: From the moment Kiona was born, she knew something wasn’t right about her family . . . more especially about her older sister, Aleu. When the muzzled pup runs off into the woods during a playful day at her father’s, her sister follows, only to begin a grudge that would never go away for the rest of Kiona’s life. (one-shot) 

Rating: PG-13 for insults and some foul language. We all know Kiona hates Aleu, so I’m following along . . . just in a more . . . eh, tamer way, of course. And besides, this is Kiona we’re talking about – she’s a mean pup! Gotta protect the kiddies from this one!

Disclaimer: Balto, Balto: Wolf Quest and all official characters are the property of Universal Studios Inc. and Universal Cartoon Studios. The character and personality of Kiona is the fan property of Catwhohas14tails, and yes, I was given permission to use her character for this story (Actually, she requested me to write a story with Kiona in it, so I took up the challenge.). Also, all of the other fan names used in this fic (such as Dakota and Una) are also Cat’s, based on her personal characters and fics. However, the events in this story are not true . . . but I used Cat’s ever-popular Kiona fics to base my story though. 

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I never could stand that smell . . . that wild scent of something that made my fur stand up on end. I felt that anyone that smelt like that was a danger to my own life . . . and someone like that was not meant to be trusted. 

Ever since I was born, I can remember being surrounded by it, and for some reason, I grew to hate it secretly. Apparently my mother didn’t mind the smell and neither did my siblings, but I could sense it wherever I went with my family. Without them noticing, I gurgled a low growl, lowering my body to the ground and ready to pounce on whatever was the source of the wild musk. Once, I accidentally clawed my father because of my senses; I got in a nip on the ear from Mother as punishment for it, but I knew what I smelt: trouble.

My father didn’t look a thing like any of us when I first got a glimpse of him after Mother took me to his home a little bit outside of town. His dark grayish-brown fur looked tattered and scruffy, not like Mother’s well-groomed light burgundy coat. Father had light yellow-tan markings around his eyes and on his nose, down his chest and stomach to his tail, and painted up to his ankles from his large paws. There was one part about my father that I really couldn’t stand: his eyes were fiery red, surrounded in a pool of yellow gold. I always considered his golden stare . . . and anyone else with those yellow eyes as a threat to my own life. If you add the musky perfume of the wilderness that surrounded him, just catching a whiff of him from afar made me stay far away from him when I could after that one attack. 

Strangely enough, he wasn’t the only one with those eyes and that smell.

My elder sister resembled Father more than any of us. She was called Aleu, but every time I heard someone mention her name, I cringed as my ears lowered in rage. She’s like Father, I told myself whenever I laid on the ground and gaze at her with my dark lowered eyebrows. Her coat was a much lighter shade of gray-brown, with her markings a creamy beige, but she was still as scruffy as Father was. Her rough face markings clearly made her seem much wilder than the rest of us, but her bright blue eyes surrounded with that yellow tint and her slight scent of the forest were the final nails in the coffin to me.  

She’s a threat to the rest of us, and I hate anyone like her!

Mother always had us playing together, me with my four other siblings – Dingo, Saba, Dakota, and Kodi. I connected more to them than my other sister – probably because I looked more like them. I was a darker shade of burgundy-brown than the other four, and my ivory-white markings were only surrounding my nose and mouth on my face, not to mention on my chest, tail and legs. Compared to them, I was more in tune to the scents of other dogs than anyone. To me, they smelt safer, much like Mother’s comforting potpourri, so I tended to stay by them rather than be with my father and sister. 

One day when I was about six weeks old, I followed Mother and my siblings to Father’s grounded boat; why he lived in a boat instead of a home like Mother, I did not know, but I had always thought perhaps the humans could sense his wild scent like I could, exiling him from the human homes. Aleu was in front of us, quickly greeting our grizzly-haired patriarch with a yipping, giggling pounce. Dakota, Dingo, Kodi and Saba quickly followed her example, just like a bunch of lemmings about to fall down a cliff, but I stayed behind with Mother, at least until another foot race on the beach began.

I felt a cold chill come over me as Mother murmured into my ear. “Go on!” I turned my head, realizing that her wet nose was nudging me towards my siblings and the two threatening scents that filled my nostrils with their strong perfume. “Go on. Stop being so shy!” She repeated in her kind, motherly voice. 

I’m not shy, Mother . . . I just don’t want to play with them! I groaned softly, but I was thinking the truth – I really didn’t want to play with anyone associated with that . . . that wild smelling creature I had to call my sister. However, after much coaxing from Mother, I had no other choice but to follow her orders, walking slowly toward the four red puppies and the mousy-brown leader that yipped back at me with the others.

“Come on, Una!” They called me with their high-pitched voices. “Let’s play! Let’s play!” 

How about . . . not? God, I wish I could have stuck my tongue out at them without being able to get in trouble for doing so . . . because I would!

“Wanna race, Una?” I heard my brother, Dakota, coax me with his encouraging voice. “I betcha I can beat ya this time!” 

A race, huh? Heh-heh-heh . . . He knew I couldn’t resist a challenge, but I knew I was the fastest of us all. Dakota was fast, I would admit to that, but he was a sluggish snail compared to me.

“You’re on!” I barked back, ignoring the scents of the my sister and father. Well, that got me excited. I let out a frustrated sigh, just realizing what had done. Oh great. Way to go, me; you’ve just fallen into a trap by your own brother.Instinctively, I galloped to my siblings, squeezing in between the burgundy bodies of Dingo and Kodi; they were the weaker siblings of the litter, so I knew that they weren’t any competition to me. My eyes were clearly on beating Dakota, my older brother by only several minutes. 

“Ready . . . .” Dakota’s words slipped slowly out of his mouth, as he and the rest of us leaned our heads close to our out-stretched legs in front of us. Six tails waved in the air as we awaited the starting call. I felt a toothy smirk grow on my face as I glanced to my side, gazing at my competition . . . but my expression suddenly changed to complete surprise when I saw my sister. Her dainty brown-gray head was confidently lowered and her gold and blue eyes looked straight ahead . . .

“Go!” 

At Dakota’s call, the six of us leaped forward, running towards the edge of the forest that bordered the town limits from the towering mountains that seemed so close to the beach where we were. My focus on Aleu caused me to start a little bit later than the others – even Kodi and Dingo were ahead of me! Damn it! Damn it all to that stupid sister of mine! I growled as I ran as fast as I could to try and retrieve my champion status amongst my siblings . . . and to give my sister some revenge if I lost.

“Don’t wander off into the woods!” I could hear Father shout back at us as we began to vanish towards the forest. I swore I heard him say something else, but we were too far away to hear anything else; I was more in tune with the steady pounding that my paws made on the once sandy, now grassy ground that lined the edge of the shore in between Nome and the sea. I felt like I was one with the earth and the wind, swiftly soaring almost like I was barely touching the ground as I ran. I could hear myself pant as I rushed forward, easily passing by Kodi and my brown-eyed sister, Saba. 

Hmph . . . what weaklings, I thought as my hind legs threw back some clouds of dust and dirt into their faces. They didn’t have a prayer to defeat me or even think that I couldn’t pass them anyway! As I ran further ahead, I could hear Saba and Kodi cough and slightly curse me for the dirty trick, but all’s fair in racing your siblings, right?

My other red brothers were only a few feet in front of me, but Aleu was nowhere to be found . . . but I could smell that she was close. Perhaps she was camouflaging herself with her coat as she ran in front . . . I didn’t know; it was just an educated guess, but just catching a sniff of the wild scent of my sister made me growl as I felt a new strength surge through my body, urging my running form of dark burgundy and white forward. My heart was pounding against my chest as I finally reached my target and pushed past the weaker form of Dingo. I heard him let out a grunt as he collapsed onto the ground, then he quickly ran back to Mother and his other ousted siblings with tears in his eyes. 

I clearly heard Dakota chuckle meanly beside me as I tried many times to pass him. “What a weakling!” He laughed again. “Nice attack, Una . . . but it’s not good enough to pass me!” He lunged forward, covering me in dirt and sand clouds and leaving me in the dust.

I coughed as I recovered, but quickly returned to the race. I had to beat him . . . and her . . . I knew Aleu was still in the race because I didn’t see her with Mother and Father. Her scent was weaker now, but it still smelted of forest pine and trouble. Urging myself further, although my young body was beginning to feel a bit fatigued after running, I felt it was necessary to keep going . . . 

I have to beat her . . . I have to make her pay!

Without really noticing, I brushed past Dakota, barely feeling his medium-burgundy fur brush against my own as I zoomed by him. I let out a growl once I realized that I was past my challenger, turning to give the gesture to him, warning him to not follow me. I could feel him slow to a trotting halt, stopping as I continued forward on my pursuit for my sister. 

“Hey, Una!” I could hear my brother calling me from behind with a slight tinge of worry in his voice. “You won, all right?”

Well, I did beat you in your little challenge . . . but not that golden-eyed weirdo of a older sister!  

“Come on – get Aleu back to Mom and Dad before you guys get in trouble!” He completed.

I refused to answer back, especially since I had something I wanted to get off my chest to my older sister. I didn’t care if he was worried about my well-being and if I got into trouble. I really didn’t give a damn, to tell you the truth. Actually, why was he so concerned about her for? I’m better than her, and they – well, at least Dakota for starters – should have known that by now! 

I heard him call out my name again, but the sound was faint as I watched my sister’s giggling brown form leap into the forest. Now Dakota was calling Aleu’s name . . .

Great, I knew she was a little troublemaker, even if she is my sister, I scoffed away from my siblings’ ears. She has to be the center of attention, doesn’t she? Always making a scene . . . Hmph! I knew none of my brothers or my other sister would dare break Father’s orders, so I followed suit with Aleu, jumping right into the woods after her.  

I could easily track her through the greenery of the forest; her fur seemed to taint everything she brushed against with her pungent, wild odor, so it didn’t take me long to catch up to her. Surprisingly enough, Aleu had finally stopped running and was lapping up some water in a small forest pool. I felt a ray of sunshine fall over her and the tiny lake, almost as if the heavens themselves worshipped her as a freakin’ saint.

This is ridiculous! I growled to myself as I continued watching the almost pastoral sight from a nearby bush, waiting for the right time to strike. What, is God trying to tell me that my dangerous-smelling sister is supposed to be some sort of high and mighty figure? Ha! If that were true, I’d be the world’s most popular dog by now . . . or something similar to that, at least. 

I couldn’t suffer this any longer, so I leaped out of the bush and landed into the shallow water, glaring at my sister with a look of pure hatred.

“Una . . .” Aleu said quietly to me in a shocked yet cheerful voice, almost as if she paid no attention to the fact that I was evilly glaring at her with my brownish-red eyes. “you followed me!” 

“Of course I did!” I answered back, totally lying as I spoke. “You ran in and no one else would! You know Father’s gonna kill you for this.” Not unless I kill you first, dearest sister! Well, I knew she was my sister and all, but I really felt like hurting her in some way. Was she so dense that she couldn’t sense how different she was? Her scent was stronger now, as if the forest was becoming part of her the longer she stood in it. “You could get us both in big trouble!”

“Oh, Papa wouldn’t mind, really,” She giggled at me, surprising me with her sudden lack of the seriousness of the situation. “I just wanted to find a quiet place where I could practice my singing. He doesn’t like it that much, and I have no idea why.” 

I sighed, rolling my eyes at her as she began to lift her head up into the sunlight that shone above her. Her blue and yellow eyes were engulfed by her eyelids as her nose seemed to reach the sky. A noise came out of her mouth, but I couldn’t exactly understand what it was. It sounded like a tornado of wind, mixing with the melodies of times past . . . except it sounded like a total broken record, all high-pitched and scratchy. I quickly lowered my head to the water, placing my front paws over my ears to block out the horrid din from my eardrums. Before closing my eyes in agony, I remember seeing my sister lift one of her creamy beige paws in the air as she cried out in her ‘song’.

My God, is she completely tone-deaf? I asked myself as I waited for her to stop. Gah, no wonder Father doesn’t like it when she sings – she’s absolutely horrible at it! I wonder if anyone has ever had the nerve to tell her . . . 

Finally, I got the nerve to uncover my ears and attack her while she was completely unaware of my presence. Her scent was the strongest I had ever smelt it while she sang, almost as if something wild was clearly assimilating with her while it happened. I knew if I wanted a chance to strike her, now was the most perfect chance ever. I leaped from the water and pounced on top of her with my claws out. I growled as I stood atop of her, silently threatening to claw her mouth shut if she ever dared to sing again.

“Una! Wha-what are you . . . oof . . . doing?” Aleu had the nerve to speak to me, looking up from her now-weakened state. 

“What does it look like, Aleu?” I replied back with a growl. “You’re a threat to me, and you must pay for it!”

“I . . . ooh . . . I don’t understand,” she groaned as I continued to push her down into the ground with my large white paws and upper body strength. “Why am I such a threat to you, Una?” 

Wow, she really has no idea how much trouble she is, I thought as I began to smirk at her maliciously. “You can’t smell it, sense it, even notice it?”

Aleu nodded her head. “No, not really. I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding –” 

Before she could say anything else, I placed a clawed paw on her throat, pressing it down to the ground. “You smell like Father! You’re dangerous to be around! Everyone seems to like you because they don’t understand how different you are like I do! I hate you! I hate you!” At the end of every sentence, I continued to apply pressure to her neck; hearing her gurgle and nearly choke made my raging flame grow stronger. “I could have won that race today if it wasn’t for you! It’s your fault I lost – you’re so . . . grr!” I couldn’t even complete my thought at all, so I loosened my grip on her neck, allowing her to catch her breath. She sat up, clutching her paw to her throat as she panted rapidly.

“You don’t really hate me that much, do you?” I heard her weak voice murmur out quietly. “We are sisters after all . . . and we shouldn’t . . .” Her head fell almost limply towards the ground, her cheeks slightly flushed with a strange shade of pink. “I mean, we shouldn’t hate each other . . . right? I mean, . . . I really like you, Una . . . and I admire your strength.” 

She likes me?! What the hell? Now I know she’s completely crazy! I only huffed at her as I began to walk out the way I came. “Well, I don’t care for you, Aleu – either as a sister or as anything else! I never will like you, ever!” I could hear my sister whimper sadly behind me, so I decided to add one final comment that she hadn’t heard yet. “Oh, and by the way, your singing really sucks. You should take my advice and never sing again.”

I could feel her self-esteem sink as I walked away, smirking viciously as I looked forward. My evil grin quickly turned to a fearful gasp as the much larger form of Father growling above me. He quickly reached his muzzle down and grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, much to my own disapproval. I heard him whistle to Aleu to follow him as I felt Father turn back, leading both of us out of the woods with an angry growl gurgling down his throat. 

I knew he was upset with me for disobeying his orders, but I thought about what my sister had told me about Father not minding about her running away . . .

“Papa wouldn’t mind, really . . .” 

I growled and barked as Father brought us out of the dark woodlands and back into the bright sunlight and the sandy beachside shore by the nearby sea. My anger at Aleu was causing my blood to boil.

There’s no way she would get away with this. It’s impossible! It’s – 

“Aleu, what do you think you were doing, going out into the woods when I said not to?”

Father had placed me down, allowing me to run back to the safety of Mother, my brothers and sister before he began to speak to his little wild-smelling clone. I growled beside Mother when I could hear what Father told my sister, much to the confusion of the others. 

Ooh, now she’s gonna get it!

I continued to listen on as Mother tried to move the rest of us away, still my chest burned with fury, . . . but something was totally wrong with this picture. 

Why is he not scolding her? If it were me, Father would have nipped me in the flank by now!

“Sorry, Papa. I just was looking for some time alone after that race. Una just . . .” 

Oh no – don’t you start getting me into your problems, Aleu! You’re the one who broke the rules, not me!

“What did Una do, honey? Did she do something to you?” 

I did nothing, Father! With exception of nearly choking my own sister to death with my own paws . . . but hopefully she won’t say that.

Will she? 

“Uh . . . no. Nothing happened, Papa. She just followed me to hear me sing, that’s all.”

Hmph! That loud crap? I would never . . . Well, it sounds better than her telling the truth, I guess. 

Maybe he didn’t hear those things that I said to her . . . I’d be dead meat if he heard those! Not like I really care . . .

“Oh, that’s it? She didn’t say anything to you?” 

Gulp . . . she would tell him, wouldn’t she?

“Uh-uh.” 

Huh? What the h—

“Well, I guess there’s no big deal about that. As long as you didn’t get hurt.” He gently placed his large paw on her forehead, messing up her head tuft with a smile on his face. “Come on, Aleu; let’s all race back to your mother’s, and we’ll all have dinner together, okay?” 

I let out a very low growl as I heard the giggles of my older sister’s response. She leaped up happily to touch his nose and try to scratch it with one of her front paws. Father soon leaned down towards her and rubbed his own nose to hers in a lovingly manner. I stuck my tongue out with disgust as she took the kiss and quickly dodged away, yipping as she ran back toward Mother and the rest of us.

As we traveled the five minute trek back to Mother’s house, many questions wandered through my head . . . many of them about my sister and how Father treated her. 

Why didn’t she rat me out . . . especially after what I did to her in the woods? Why did she lie about the real reason I came into the woods after her?

Why does Father let her get away with what we both did? 

“Ow-ow-ow . . . that hurt!”

Oh yeah, and he gave me a nice teething to the flank for disobeying him. Of course, he did nothing to Aleu . . . because she’s so special and all. 

I let out a deep sigh once we finally got home. I gave my sister an evil look, but I don’t think she thought anything of it. I couldn’t believe she just got away with breaking the rules! I didn’t understand a thing at all . . . especially the fact that she didn’t tell Father what I really did to her out there. I breathed a sigh of relief about that, but it’s not like I planned on thanking Aleu for doing that anyway. I wasn’t going to stoop that low for her!

But still, that was how things were for her: she breaks the rules and gets away with it, while the others involved get punished in her place. Apparently, she was on both Mother and Father’s good side with things . . . okay, it was mainly Father’s. Sure, Aleu was much similar to Father than the rest of us were – not just by looks, but by smell as well – but she was his favorite.  

Daddy’s little girl . . . ugh. Damn the concept of stupid favoritism!

I hated her . . . not just because she was the favorite of our litter, but because Aleu was so . . . I don’t know . . . oblivious. Her naïve nature was something that everyone else in our family seemed to love . . . except for me, of course. God, was I the only dog on earth that noticed this? I mean, naturally I was a fast runner and a very cautious pup that seemed to notice things that others couldn’t – that was me in a nutshell. She was too wild, too much like something else to be like the rest of us . . . but why couldn’t she see that? 

Was she that blind? Seriously?

Thus, my rivalry began . . . I swore that one day I would seek my revenge on the sister that everyone loved . . . yet smelt like a total threat to my life. I was going to make her see how different she was . . . even if it killed her. 

I truly hated my older sister . . . but I never expected our rivalry to go to this . . .

END (finished 10/2/07)