It was a peaceful night, the stars were shining, the moon was bright and the dogs were all asleep in their cosy beds. Jenna was woken by a loud coughing.<br />"Rosie dear, are you alright?" asked Rosies mum, coming into the room. Rosie was sitting in her bed, with Jenna by her side.<br />"Mum, my throat hurts!" complained Rosie, she seemed very ill.<br />"Ok dear, lets take your temperature," Rosies mum replied. She slowly walked out of the room. Worriedly, Jenna rubbed her nose against Rosies arm. Rosie stroked Jenna's head gently. Soon, her mum came back in with a thermometer. She slowly put it into Rosies mouth. Her daughters coughing got worse...<br />"Oh dear.... Honey, come take a look at this!" called Rosies mum. In no time at all, Rosies dad came rushing through her bedroom door.<br />"Whats a matter?" asked Rosies dad. Her mum showed him the thermometer.<br />"Oh... This is not good..." said Rosies dad worriedly. Jenna shot him a worried look. Could it be....?<br /><br />"She's got it back... She's got the Diphteria back!" the doctor told Rosies dad. Rosie held her throat in pain. It seemed worse this time!<br />"Is she going to be alright doc?" asked Rosies dad, a worried look covered his face.<br />"Well.... Sorry.... This time it could be more..... Fatal..." the doctor replied sadly.<br />"NO!" cried Jenna unhappily. Balto heard her shout and came running through the fence.<br />"What?! Whats the matter Jenna?" asked Balto, he was as worried as ever!<br />"BALTO! ITS ROSIE! SHE'S GOT THE DIPHTERIA AGAIN!" cried Jenna, tears trickled down her soft cheeks.<br />"Huh?! What?! Its back?!" gasped Balto. Jenna nodded miserably. Balto opened his mouth about to say somthing comforting, but a loud, flemmy cough rang through their ears. Another sick child rushed into the hospital. The cough sounded contagious. Balto looked around, all the children of Nome were heading towards the hospital. He was shocked!<br /><br />"Ok, I agree!" said one of the mushers that morning.<br />"Ok, so your team can deliver the medicine!" said another.<br />Marina was hiding behind the door. She was listening to the whole convernsation.<br />"But with Balto as lead dog...." the musher said. Marina stared at her musher wide-eyed. The fact that Balto was going to take her place upset her a lot. So, she decided to find Stash.<br />"STASH!" called Marina rushing towards him. Stash woke up and yawnd loudly.<br />"Huh? What is it?" asked Stash tierdly. He yawned again.<br />"You know that dog legend.... Whats his name..... Balto!" Marina said.<br />"What? Oh, yeah, I think so..." Stash replied.<br />"As you know, Im lead dog on my sled team..." Marina said. Stash nodded.<br />"Well... The mushers have decided that my team should deliver the medicine.." Marina explained.<br />"Huh? What medicine?" asked Stash puzzled.<br />"The children of Nome have caught a contagious flu called Diphteria. They have picked my team to bring the medicine to Nome..." Marina said. Stash stared at her, with a blanked out look on his face.<br />"They have picked Balto to be the lead dog!" Marina said. Stash's face dropped. He knew how much being lead dog meant to Marina. He could see that she was upset by the look on her face too.<br /><br />"Jenna? Did you hear? They picked me to be lead dog of the team that is going to deliver the medicine to Nome!" Balto told Jenna excitedly. He could remember the wild adventure he had last time. Jenna smiled at him.<br />"Oh, thats great news Balto!" Jenna replied joyfully. She was proud for him.<br />"OI YOU!" shouted an angry voice. Balto turned around to see Stash running towards him. Stash's head was bowed down. He hit Balto with it, pushing Balto to the ground.<br />"Hey! Back off!" shouted Jenna angrily. Stash growled at her angrily. Balto got up and looked at Stash with a puzzled look.<br />"Hi... You alright?" asked Balto.<br />"YOU HURT MY MATES FEELINGS!" spat Stash showing his teeth.<br />"What..." Balto was even more puzzled now.<br />"You took her place in her sledge team! Do you know how much being lead dog means to her?" snarled Stash bursting with anger.<br />"Huh.... Oh.... Listen, thats not my fault! The mush...." Balto began.<br />"I dont want to listen to your excuses!" interupted Stash. He charged at Balto angrily. Stash swung around on his front paws with his feet in the air and kicked Balto heavily, causing Balto to fly backwards.<br />"Listen buddy, I dont want to fight!" said Balto, trying to end the whole thing. Stash didnt listen and charged at him again. Balto moved out of the way as fast as he could. Stash turned around, causing dust to fly through the air.<br />"Please... Its not my fault! If I had a choice, I would'nt pick to be lead dog if it meant I would upset someone!" Balto said quickly. Stash came to his sense and stopped frowning.<br />"Ok... Im sorry... I dont know what came over me..." Stash said. Balto laughed.<br />"Thats alright, I forgive you!" Balto said. With that, Stash smiled and walked away calmly.<br /><br />"Stash... I saw you last night... With Balto..." Marina said the next day.<br />"What? Oh..." Stash said, embarrised that she saw it all.<br />"I would like to talk with you, meet me by the cliff in the Woodland forest." Marina said, then she walked of.<br />When she came to the cliff, she waited a while for Stash to show up. A rustle came from behind her.<br />"Stash, please stop being so 'protective'. I mean, you didnt have to attack Balto last night." Marina began. She swung around to find that it was Balto who she was talking to.<br />"Oh... Excuse me. I thought you were Stash.." Marina said embarrised.<br />"Thats alright.." Balto laughed.<br />"What are you doing here anyway?" asked Marina.<br />"Well, I heard you say you wanted to talk to him. So, I came to see what you wanted to talk about." Balto replied.<br />"Thats being a bit nosey, isnt it?" said Marina smiling.<br />"Yeh, I supose so... Sorry!" Balto replied.<br /><br />At Nome, Stash was prepared to meet Marina.<br />"Ok... I think I'm ready..." Stash said to himself. Steele saw him and heard what he said.<br />"Hmmm..." Steele thought for a moment. Stash began walking away.<br />"He could be up to no good!" Steele said and followed Stash, sneaking and hiding behind trees. Stash came to the cliff, he was surprised to see Balto.<br />"Balto?" Stash asked confused.<br />"What?" Steele stared at Balto and growled. He then jumped out from behind a bush.<br />"STEELE?!" Balto was shocked. Steele snarled angrily.<br />"Thanks to you, all my popularity, all my friends have left me just because YOU were the one who delivered the medicine!" Steele was furious.<br />"Please Steele, I really AM sorry!" Balto said. Steele just growled and jumped towards Balto, ready to attack him. Balto quickly moved out of the way, Marina was behind him. Stash gasped with fear. He knew what was going to happen!<br />Steele attacked Marina instead, he grabbed her neck and through her off the cliff. She started faling down, screaming as she did so.<br />"W- What have I done?" Steele looked at Stash who was growling, he was as furious as ever now! Steele looked back down the cliff and breathed deeply. He did'nt want to hurt Marina, expesially because she's a girl.<br />"Oh no... Stay here, I will get a human to help!" Steele said, trying to stop Stash growling at him. But, Stash wasn't growling at Steele, he was growling at Balto. Balto was the one who moved out of the way in the first place. He stared at Balto and snarled a bit. Steele ran off to find a human. Stash growled angrily, and jumped towards Balto, but Balto moved out of the way of Stash's attack. Stash tumbled town the cliff, his foot hit a massive chunk of loose rock. The loose rock fell down with him, ready to crush him. He hit the floor. THUD! Stash looked up, he could see the rock. Quickly, he moved out of its way. Wait, Marina! Stash grabbed Marina and tryed pulling her out of the way. But it was too late. The rock fell on top of her, sqaushing her body. Stash looked at Marina, tears rolled down his cheeks.<br />"Marina...?" Stash asked worriedly. She did'nt respond. Marina was uncontious. He pushed the rock off her and sat down sadley. Stash put his head near her mouth. She was'nt breathing propally. Then, Stash look up at Balto. Balto was staring down at them, watching them. Stash frowned, he was bursting with fury.<br />"BALTO! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! EVEN IF ITS THE LAST THING I DO!" screamed Stash angrily. Moments later, Steele was barking as he ran towards the cliff.<br />"WOOF WOOF!" Steele barked. A human came to the cliff's edge. He saw Stash and Marina.<br />"Over here!" the human called. Another human came from the tree's with a sled. He put the harness'es on Balto and Steele.<br />"Are you alright down there?" called the human. Stash whimpered as a sign of saying he was in pain. He was'nt hurt on the outside, but he was on the inside. Stash was afraid he might lose Marina. The humans put down a rope with a bone on the end. Stash grabbed hold of Marina and put her on his back. Then, he put both of his paws on the bone and held Marina on his back with his teeth. The rope slowly made itself up towards the cliff's edge. When he was up, the humans took Marina off his back and lay her down on the sledge. They put the harness on Stash and both stood on the sledge, Marina was laying at their feet. The three dogs ran all the way back Nome. After a couple of minutes running, they all managed to make it to Nome. The moon was hanging bright in the sky. The stars twinkled and the darkness filled the streets. All the dogs and humans decided to have a rest.<br /><br />The next day, Stash and Marina were taken to the vets as soon as possible. The vet examined them both.<br />"Well, I see nothing wrong with this one here," the vet said, pointing to Stash.<br />"However... This one on the other hand..." the vet began as he pointed to Marina who was now contious.<br />"This lovely husky has broken a few bones. I'm afraid she can't deliver the medicine to Nome. You will have to replace her" the vet wrapped a few bandages around Marina's front leg. Stash walked out of the vet and waited for Marina to come out. He waited for several hours until Marina came out. She had a bandage on her front paw, a bandage around her neck and a bandage around her tail.<br />"Marina..."Stash looked at her, hoping she would say somthing. But she was silent.<br />"Ok, I thinks its time the team get the medicine," Marina's musher said as he walked over to the two dogs.<br />"Ok, I'll get them all strapped up," said another teams musher.<br />"Here boy! Come on! Stash come on little bow wow!" the musher tried to convince Stash to come over to him. Stash looked at Marina and shrugged. Then, he walked over to the musher.<br />"Thats a good boy!" the musher said as he got a lead and collar out of his bag. Stash took a few steps back. He did'nt like the look of this.<br />"Come on! I wont bite!" the musher walked up to Stash and slipped the collar and lead around Stash's neck. Stash squirmed and tried to slip the collar off, but the musher fastened it so it would'nt come off. The musher led Stash towards the sledge and put the harness onto him quickly before taking the collar and leash off.<br />"Ok, the team's ready!" said the musher as he got onto the sled. Stash looked around. People were waving at him and the other sledge dogs. He then realised he was chosen as one of the sledge dogs to bring the medicine back to Nome.<br />"MUSH!" shouted the musher. All the dogs began running. Stash tried to slip his harness off, but he could'nt do it very well with the dogs running at the same time. Stash then remembered Balto was lead dog. He bit Balto's foot, making Balto fall over. Balto skidded towards a slope and the whole team started sliding down it.<br />"Easy boys!" the musher said. Balto tried to stop, but he could'nt. Just as he wasabout to fall of the edge of a cliff which was at the bottem of the slope, he stopped as oneof the sledge dogs yanked his harness back. Stash managed to slip his harness off. Balto took his harness off and walked over to Stash.<br />"Put your harness back on Stash," Balto said.<br />"NO! Your not the boss of me!" growled Stash. He pounced on Balto and they both begn fighting.<br />"Woah! Heel boys!" called the musher.<br />In no time at all, Stash and Balto found themselves rolling down the cliff. It was'nt long before they hit the ground. Balto got up and looked around. No sight of Stash. Then, Stash sprinted from behind Balto and landed on Balto's back. They both began rolling around in the snow, fighting eachother viciously.<br />"Balto? Are you alright?" called one of the sledge dogs from above the cliff. Balto quickly scrambled towards the cliff and began climbing. Stash was eager for revengance on Marina, and followed Balto. Balto tried climbing faster, but Stash was to fast. BITE! He bit Balto's tail and tried to pull him down the cliff. Balto kicked a heavy kick at Stash's face. Stash let go and began falling down the cliff. Balto climbd up a bit more and looked down. Not an inch of Stash's body moved. He climbed down the cliff and walked towards Stash. Stash still did'nt move. Balto felt the wind breeze across his face.<br />"BALTO! Come on! There's lives to save!" called the dogs. Balto grabbed Stash and put him on his back. Then, he climbed all the way up the cliff.<br />"Lay him down here boy!" said their musher. Balto layed Stash on the sledge. He then realised Stash was uncontious.<br />"Right.... MUSH!" said their musher as Balto put his harness back on.<br /><br /><br />"Here, you can rest in my bed for a while," Jenna offered Marina.<br />"Thank you Jenna," Marina said as she got into the basket.<br />"I'm going to check on Rosie," Jenna explained as she walked out of the room. Marina made herself comfortable in the basket. Jenna came to the hospital window and starred at Rosie. Rosie was coughing even more than last time, and she looked very pale. Then Jenna looked at Rosie's parents. They had tears in their eyes. Jenna knew if the medicine did'nt show up soon, she would lose Rosie forever!<br /><br />Later that night, the sledge team were awaiting a dangerous surprise.<br />"I'm hungry!" whined one of the sledge dogs. He stopped a couple of times before walking again.<br />"How much further Balto?" asked another.<br />"Not sure, but the smell of Nome is strong. So I say we're pretty close!" Balto sniffed the air.<br />"What was that sound?" asked another dog shaking with fear.<br />"What sound I did'nt hear nothing...." said another<br />"Shhhh... Listen..." Balto said. They all listened carefully. A twig snapped. Then footsteps came thudding towards them, making them all quite scared. Balto gasped, a bear roared and swung its paw towards them. Balto quickly jumped out of his harness and avoided the attack. The other sled dogs went flying from the bears scratch. It looked at Balto and began walking towards him.<br />"Huh?" Stash said as he woke up. He looked around, everywhere he looked dogs were laying on the floor hurt. He then spotted Balto, about to get hit by the bear. When a familiar voice came from the tree's.<br />"STASH!" called the voice. The bear looked up. Marina was limping towards Stash. Stash looked at the bear, it had its paw in the air. OH NO! Stash sprinted towards Marina, getting in the way of the bears attack. WHINE! Stash fell to the ground, a big scratch scarred his back.<br />"STASH!" cried Marina.<br />"Look out!" Balto called. Stash looked up. The bear was about to attack him. Balto dashed towards the bears attack.<br />"BALTO! NO!" yelled Stash. Balto thudded to the ground.<br />"You saved my life!" Stash was shocked.<br />"Yeah, I supose I did!" Balto laughed.<br />"Balto, all of the dogs are hurt. What are we going to do?" asked Stash. Balto looked around.<br />"Gather them up!" Balto said. Stash did as he was told. Soon they were all laying in one heap.<br />"Thats not exactly what I had in mind..." Balto said.<br />"Come on Balto! We have medicine to get!" Stash smiled.<br />"We have already retrieved it..." Balto said. Stash looked around. Then, he spotted the medicine.<br />"THE BEAR!" cried Stash he looked around again. No bear in sight. Then, he quickly ran to the medicine and dragged it onto the sledge.<br />"We ar'nt going to carry that on the sled..." Balto said. He got up, trying not to stumble to the floor again.<br />"What do you mean?" asked Stash.<br />"Help me put the dogs on the sledge.... Wait.... THE MUSHER!" cried Balto. He looked around, the musher was lying in the snow under a tree.<br />"I'll put the dogs onto the sledge, you get the musher!" Stash said. Balto nodded and ran towards the musher. Grabbing hold of the mushers cloths, Balto dragged the musher towards the sledge.<br />"We'de better hurry! That bear could be back any minute.<br />"Marina, get onto the sledge!" Stash said as he puthis harnes on. Balto did the same.<br />"Lets go save some children!" Stash looked back. Balto nodded to say he was ready.<br />"I hope Rosies alright..." Balto whispered to himself as he started running.<br /><br />After a long journey, Balto and Stash arrived at Nome. People crowded around and cheered. Steele growled jelously. Balto was twice the hero he was before!<br />"BALTO!" Jenna called.<br />"JENNA!" Balto cried back. The couple ran to eachother and hugged. Stash smiled happily and turned towards Marina. They both began hugging just like Balto and Jenna.<br />"JENNA! JENNA!" shouted the cheerful voice of Rosie. Jenna barked joyfully and ran to a fully recovered Rosie. Stash looked around. All the happy faces made him grin. Mabe he could be a hero JUST like Balto!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; THE END!<br /><br />Thanks for reading my fanfic. Your more than welcome to leave a comment. Any of you who put my gallary on faves, THANK YOU! :)<br />