Author's Note:

IT IS VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you read redwolf03's fanfic "Finding Destiny" prior to reading this fanfic. This is meant to be a direct sequel series to "Finding Destiny", meaning your experience will not be as great as it could be (Mainly references to events in Finding Destiny). Generally, reading most if not all her fanfics prior to this will provide the best experience.

I don't claim to be the best writer but I hope it will be good enough for you to enjoy the story. :)

Enjoy,

~ Lupinus

PS: For whatever reason the formatting is not saving correctly and I haven't the slightest clue how to fix it so I ask that you bear with how bad unformatted it is.

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The Midnight Sun Pack - Pt. 1

Winter

“Ugh…” I moaned upon feeling a wincing pain on my side feeling that had likely bruised on impact. I let out a weak whimper hoping it would help make the pain go away but with no avail. As I lay out on my side whimpering and scared, I slowly open my eyes to the sight of a cave that I have all but grown sick of; I had been beaten down every day of my existence in this godforsaken cave by my two kidnappers, my tormentors. I prayed for mercy as I stayed in my weakened position while I hear the sound that had accompanied my beatings: cackling. It seemed the joke of me getting physically battered provided amusement for Roan and Soran, my personal devils, a joke that has yet to lose its touch, and in my mind it felt like it never would. “Awww, little puppy get hurt?” mockingly shouted Roan holding back his cackling. I thought to myself: ‘What did I do to deserve this? Why me?’ these thoughts echoed and echoed inside my head until something hit me: their voices and laughter suddenly ceased as well as all other sounds. No cackling? No insults being thrown at me? No sounds of my own being breaking a bone against a wall? -- Silence. I opened my eyes – Nothing. ‘Am I dead?’…

My question had gone unheard as I waited patiently in pitch blackness for an answer when suddenly a feeling of warmth swarmed over my body; I panicked over this sensation wondering what was happening to me. A voice followed in pursuit of this feeling saying something I couldn’t quite understand. “De.... He…, …iny—WAKE UP!” I shot up with a small yelp, gasping for air to find myself in a cave… but it wasn’t the same cave that I saw a few moments ago. A conclusion hit my mind that second with relief: ‘I must’ve been dreaming’. “Glad to see you up and about sleepy head” said a grey coated wolf with a sigh. “Next time be sure to huddle closer to me if you’re shivering your pretty little tail off!” the wolf said jokingly.

“Oh stop it Cyan” I exclaimed. Cyan wore a worried face in reply. “I’m fine Cyan alright? I just had a bad dream that’s all”… That’s right. A bad dream, a haunting dream of my pup hood -- with Roan and Soran, memories were flooding back as if a water canal had just bursted open but I quickly thought to myself: ‘These are thoughts of the past, that poor pup isn’t who I am anymore, I am Destiny and I will find a path to the future!—“. Cyan had moved in to nuzzle me around the neck as I thought deeply, I exhaled in satisfaction. ‘Ah, good ol’ Cyan, my mate, a wolf that is a part of my family, my future.’ He fancied a coat of grey fur over his body except for where the fur transitioned into a brown-grey at his hips

It had been days after setting out on a adventure across Alaska in search of my long lost brother, and only hours since I met him and chose Cyan to be my mate just a few minutes afterwards, yet there was still so much to do, yes… so very much to do.

“HEY! EARTH TO DES-TIN-Y???”

Cyan had screamed into my ears in a bewildered tone sending me flying across the cave to land on the back of my head where my body had laid vertically putting all its weight onto my neck. I jumped up from my startled state and roared at the top of my lungs “WHAT?!?!?!”

“Just checking if my mate was broken, and boy oh boy what would I do if my mate could hardly keep herself in this lifetime” chuckled Cyan with a widened smirk. “Then again, I don’t blame you for being completely drained after the adventure you went through, but we should get moving as the days only just begun and I’m sure you’re eager to meet your brother and his family. What was his name again? Barto? Birdo?—“

“Balto” I finally said. “Ah yes Balto, I’m sure you have a lot of catching up to do being separated at birth and all” said Cyan wearing a dumbfounded expression on his face. I felt a little giggle slip up at his expression; “Don’t worry about it Cyan, you only just met him a several hours ago”; “Hah, so you say when you also only met him just ‘several hours ago’ as well!” responded Cyan. We both laughed at Cyan’s expense followed by an everlasting smile as we gazed into each other’s eyes. His eyes were bright blue with a black center, and as I continued gazing I saw a reflection of my own eyes in his sea of blue, my golden eyes, similar to that of my brother Balto’s eyes. “Well, what are you waiting for Destiny? I’m sure Balto is just as dying to see your pretty little face again” teased Cyan.

“Well would the companion of this ‘pretty little face’ escort her to the said persons?” I said pompously.

“Nah, I’m not one for mushy family reunion moments, and if I came, you wouldn’t be able to tell me about your first visit without me sounding genuinely curious” Cyan pointed out with a grin. “Anyways, I got to accommodate your ‘pretty little face’ with some food to keep it healthy. Not to mention marking our territory so other wolves don’t get any ideas”. I made my way to the entrance of the cave and turned around; “Alright then, I hope you won’t be too tired so I can tell you about today’s events!”

“Oh no need to worry, I should be finished just before the sun sets. Have fun with Balto!” I smiled to myself at the thoughts of what a role Cyan would be in my life as I padded outside of our cavern. A sudden call erupted from the cave, feel myself tensing up I turned around. “Oh!—and Destiny tell Balto I said hi!” “I’ll be sure to do so!” I responded, smirking even wider at how we were acting.

As I made my way to Nome, it appeared to be but another beautiful Winter day in Alaska, snow-covered landscapes as far as the eye can see, all forms of trees appearing in no specific pattern, accompanied by a lush sky of light blue with the sun just making its way by a group of clouds revealing the beautiful landscape ever more. This is Alaska, wild, beautiful, and free. Realizing there was no need to rush on such a peaceful day I made my way West towards Nome at a trotting pace. On the way my mind proved to be pretty clear, considering my past where my life had been in shambles, my mind hectic with fear, be it my time spent with Roan and Soran or even my experiences with the White Storm Pack – a shiver shook down my spine, “Heh, seems I’m still not over it” I whispered to myself, but it’s something I will never forget as that is where I first met Cyan… and a certain wolf who does not deserve to be named.

My once thought to be clear mind was clouded with these thoughts as I made my way through the forest. Scaling out of the foliage my eyes locked on the large clearing of hills covered in snow with a cozy town held in the with wooden buildings and tiny black specks moving around as the surrounding hills seemed to act as a snuggly blanket surrounding the town of Nome. I had only arrived to this town in the dead of night a few hours ago, but to see it during the morning was light looking at a painting of scenery, the town seemed gentle and tranquil. To the south of Nome however was a large shore with some kind of large object stranded in the middle of the shoreline which seemed to be a wooden ship. Regardless, I pressed on into the outskirts of Nome and moved toward the same little cottage that I had met Balto in, Jenna’s house wasn’t it? While I approached Nome making my way to Jenna’s house, the town appeared lively with its populace going about its daily schedule, they barely even noticed me as I made my way around. Approaching the cottage I examined at how odd the structure looked, how it was piercing into the sky with a brown roof that seemed was pointed life a spear. ‘I wonder how Balto has managed to live among these strange buildings’.

As odd as it looked I approached until I was next to the structure. I scratched at the door but with no answer, the assumption came to mind that the human from last night had left to go out. I made a move to the nearest window and peered into the house seeing wooden furniture positioned around the room before I saw a resting red and cream colored husky laying on the carpet in front of a fireplace sleeping with four little pups to her side also sleeping. Trying to wake the husky up I started banging on the glass, just then I saw her eyelids lazily raise and a look of confusion on her face as she looked around. I started calling to her: “Hey you! You’re Jenna right? Balto’s mate?” She looked so confused from the sudden noise but nodded, I continued “Where’s Balto?” She lifted her paw and pointed south with my eyes following I noticed she was pointing to the wooden ship I saw earlier. As I turned back to thank her I noticed one of the pups just as lazily holding her head up, a tiny brown-grey dog with golden eyes nudged Jenna and faintly whispered “Mom, what’s with all the noise?” Wanting to leave before I caused her more trouble I blurted out “Thanks Jenna!—and sorry for waking you up!” and ran off towards the ship in the distance. “Oh its nothing Kaila, go back to sleep” said Jenna giving Kaila a little nudge with her muzzle. Afterwards she did so herself as well and went back to a cozy slumber.  Although confused at first, I held my wits about and reason ‘So that’s why it was Jenna’s house, not Balto’s House. Well he lives on a ship, seems better to me than a cramped up house!’ I thought.

The scent of a familiar wolf dog had filled my nostrils upon reaching the ship, Balto was there for sure. I quickly dashed up a lopsided plank onto the deck of the ship. And there he was, Balto; staring off into the ocean. My scent had perked his ears and switched his eyes from the sea onto me with a gentle-hearted tone: “Welcome back Destiny”. I feel as though tears were on the verge of my eyes as I hadn’t really have had a place to go back to. “Thank you Balto”

I looked around the ship and inquired: “So, you live on a ship huh?” he claims “It has its ups and downs, but home is still home right?” I concur with a nod and smile. ‘Well here I was sitting on the deck with Balto… but what the heck am I suppose to ask?’ Balto piqued his curiosity when he didn’t see a accompanying wolf.

“Hey Destiny, wasn’t there another wolf with you last night? Cyan I think, your mate?” he asked.

“Oh, he decided to stay back and prepare our territory”

“He sounds like a good mate” he chuckled a little. “Yes he is isn’t he?” I dreamingly assured. “Say Balto, seeing as I gave you the story of my life last night, how about yours?” “Well I don’t mind, but it’s a long story” he replied. “I have all the time in the world now brother”

He gave a small smile and redirected his gaze back onto the ocean. “Heh, well I suppose the earliest I could remember was when I was just pup…” He drifted onto his life story, his encounter with rabies within his pack, the meeting of Jenna when he ran off, to his long life on this very boat, and numerous of his amazing adventures like the Nome Serum Run. It had seemed that the world placed itself before him as he embarked on one adventure to another without hesitation. While he was continuing on with his stories, I sat eagerly listening. He had accomplished so much in life it had left me sitting there thinking and hoping that I could one day catch up with adventures of my own.

By the time Balto finished with his adventures it was late in the afternoon, he had only covered his journeys across Alaska with me asking an occasional question now and then, then he had shifted gears to telling me on how he and Jenna had started a family together with not one, but two litters of pups. Family. My head started clicking just then when he mentioned family. I worked up my lungs to interrupt him with a question: “Say Balto” “Hm?” he said turning his head directing his golden eyes onto mine “I was wondering as to when I could get to meet the little guys?” “Hah, our first litter is far from little anymore” he answered in a joking tone. “And my second litter is with Jenna at her house right now” A mental image of the little pups next to Jenna had come up, slipping into a coma because of how beautiful and cute that moment looked, my face had begun to reflect this. “Well I can see that you want to see them in person, days still young anyways and I can bore you with my stories some other time” I nodded with a smile.

Balto turned around and headed for the railing of the ship and jumped off, I followed jumping off and landing with a thud. “Ugh” I moaned. Balto turned around to check on me “You alright Des?”

“Yeah, I’m alright, just the height caught me off guard”

“Sorry about that, I guess I got so used to jumping off the ship that I forgot to mention the drop” explained Balto in a semi apologetic and humorous tone. It seemed Cyan’s silliness had reached me. “Nothing about it Balto, I was jumping without looking” I said while laughing a bit at myself. Chuckling he replied “Well I’ll be sure to mention any other jumps along the way”. We continued our way towards Nome laughing at the first goofy moment between me and my brother. I was thoroughly satisfied with thought of family life being exactly like this and more.

Within a few moments we found ourselves just outside of Nome, Balto tilted his head and swayed his head towards the town making a ‘let’s go gesture’. We headed into town, although I hesitated a bit at the fact that I was entering a human settlement with humans running about. I had only really been comfortable around a single human at a time since I’ve only really seen a handful in my life. Jenna’s owner last night, and… Mark… “Something wrong sis?” inquired Balto. I tensed up a bit as I tried to muster up an answer “Oh. Uh nothing” I felt him peering into my eyes trying to find out what was wrong. An idea popped into his head, judging from the slight ‘eureka’ look on his face. “I’m guessing it has to do with so many dogs and people around?” he asked. “Well eh… not so much the dogs but… the people…” I trailed into an awkward silence at the end of the sentence “It’s alright Des, I understand. We can head around town instead” suggested Balto. “Yes please, erm I mean it’s preferable” I reluctantly answered. Balto gave me a gentle nod as his understanding golden eyes focused on the new route.

When Jenna’s house was within sight I felt a warm mushy feeling inside me as I pictured the pups with their mother. I wondered how it would feel to be cuddling next to my mother… or cuddling pups. “Well here we are”. I followed Balto as he ran around to the back of the house and used a doggy door to get in the house. ‘I guess I didn’t notice this door here before’. As we came through to the other side into the kitchen it seemed Jenna’s owners were still out for the day, but as we made our way around a corner, sounds of playing and squeamish voices loudly reverberated around the house. We turned the corner to enter the living room where Jenna lay supervising over the pups playing with each other; turning her head towards us as we entered the room. “Balto!” she ran up to nuzzle him as if he had been gone forever, soon the pups caught on and started yelling ‘Dad’ and ‘Daddy’. A real family portrait was painting before my very eyes; a happy father and mother, energetic pups yipping in joy around them; real perfection.

After they had finished embracing each other, Balto went on to relieve Jenna of pup duty while Jenna made her way toward me. “Hi Destiny, how are you?”; “I’m doing well, and you? I see you’re not as tired” I replied. Jenna let out a small laugh at my remark “I’m good myself now that I got some rest” I then shifted my eyes to the four pups playing momentarily amongst themselves. Jenna was watched me as I changed my focus from her onto the pups “I think it’s about time you met your extended family Destiny” Jenna said happily. I turned back to Jenna to give her a nod as a large smile started to creep onto my face. “Alright, settle down and come meet Destiny” called out Jenna, and within moments the four pups lined up single file in front of her as if it were a tiny puppy brigade. ‘That sounds so cute’ I thought as I pictured an army of puppies.

“First off we have Dusty, the youngest of the batch” she said in a prideful tone and stance. He was a pup with white fur that had a thin layer of red sprinkled about. As I examined Dusty he stood shyly trying to avoid eye contact. “He’s a little shy” assured Jenna.

“Next we have Chase” continued Jenna in the same prideful tone. Who was an even tinier pup than Dusty and had ruby red fur with white patches. Scanning her physique, it seemed like she was going to grow up as beautiful as her mother; gazing on, I saw her left hind leg was twisted and bent unnaturally. I began to worry about her future. I’m sure that Jenna too was a little worried as she lowered her head to Chase and licked her on the cheek, responding with a giggle.

“Your turn Balto, I’m going to get these two some fresh air. Come join us after your done” Jenna picked up Chase by the scruff of her neck and laid Chase on top of her back. Afterwards Jenna began making way outside with Dusty. “Sure thing Jenna” called out Balto as they left the room.

“Next off we have Copper” Copper had the creamy colored fur with copper patches around his ears, legs and back. Copper widened his eyes as he observed me and asked “Whoa! Where’d you get those cool looking scars?”; “Over a long period of time Copper” I replied. He seemed a bit like a fighter, to be amazed by the slightest of scars, especially mine. “Alright Copper calm down, each scar has a story behind it, maybe your Aunt Destiny will tell you them someday” interjected Balto. Personally I was not looking forward to recounting how I got my scars.

“And lastly but certainly not least we have Kaila, my little girl” a smile was erupting as he said that. “Oh stop it daddy, I know I’m the oldest”. Kaila blushingly pointed out. Kaila was the only pup that seemed to inherit physical traits from their father. She had a coat mixed of brown and grey that had a darker tone than Balto’s; she also had his golden lupine eyes. Balto sat and stared with great pride at his and Jenna’s creations. “Alright you two, time to join your mother outside”. Kaila and Copper yipped in delight and agreement as they headed for the back door. “So what do think?” questioned Balto.

“Their adorable Balto, little bundles of joy each and every one of them” After all of the introductions I took a peek outside; it was getting late figuring that Cyan would be finished by now and waiting for me. “Say Balto, it was great meeting your family but I should probably call it a day”.

“Alright Destiny, stay safe” he replied.

Balto and I went out the backdoor as we went our separate ways, him to his family, and me to mine. As I began making my way towards the forest across the hillside Balto had called to me: “Oh yeah Destiny I almost forgot, tell Cyan I said Hi!” My memory recalled something that I had forgotten about throughout the course of the day. “OK I will! Cyan says hi to you as well!” I said. We exchanged glances as we both smiled and headed our separate ways. Upon reaching the top of the first set of hills, I turned back and watched Balto join Jenna and the pups frolicking around. I knew I wanted to feel that form of unity; it was just a matter of time I thought.

After climbing up the first hill I started dashing back to the forests not wanting Cyan have to wait another second. The sun had begun setting on the horizon, leaving the sky consisting of a ball of faint yellow accompanied by shades of orange all around it, the sun was growing weary and so was I, though this day wasn’t as physically draining as past days, it was a lot to swallow.

By the time I had reached our cave it was night, with nothing but moonlight lighting the path. Approaching the cave my ears flicked up to the sounds of a faint chewing noise. ‘I guess he got hungry waiting’. The thought of food made my stomach rumble making me realize that I hadn’t eaten anything all day either. Entering the cave the mouth of the cave I saw two beady bright blue eyes gleaming at me. “Destiny!” shouted Cyan in joy, though some of the phrasing was butchered as he had something in his muzzle. Within moments he bolted towards me and leapt onto me causing us to roll as ball of fur around the cave.

After the momentum finally gave away we, unhooked from each other laughing. Getting up I noticed blood drops splattered on my fur, I gave out a panicky yelp “You okay Cyan?!” Cyan momentarily got up and was still chuckling; he came into the light where the moon could reach revealing himself with a half-eaten, bloodied snowshoe hare hanging from his muzzle. He dropped the remains in front of me and nuzzled into my neck murmuring “Don’t worry Des, it’s not my blood” I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked at the kill. “I have to admit though, this is kind of embarrassing to bring back only a single hare but this is all I could really find out here, being so close to a town has probably scared the wildlife out if they haven’t already been hunted out, not to mention hunting alone is a lot trickier than I thought” he continued on with his list of excuses. I stepped toward him and nuzzled him with the top of my head against his neck in satisfaction and gratitude. “It’s fine Cyan, better than nothing right?” He closed his muzzle at that point and smiled, and I returned it. “Besides hunters scaring away the wildlife? I think we may have scared them away” I said with a grin. “Say you’re not too tired yet are you Cyan?” “I’m wide awake and I can guess where this is going” He trotted over to the mouth of the cave. “Come on I know you’re just dying to tell me about your day” he chuckled, we both made our way outside of the cave and bathed in the moonlight on top of the caves entrance as we – well I talked and ate. As the night went on along with our mingling, it eventually had to end as we went back into the cave and cuddled into each other’s side exchanging glances. “I love you Destiny”, “I love you too Cyan” and with that we closed our eyes and feel into a blissful sleep in each other’s embrace.

*                            *                            *

A strange, but familiar voice started calling out to someone. “Shannon! you alright girl?”

‘Hmmm…?’ I drowsily thought as a hand stroked my back.

“That wolverine didn’t hurt you too bad did it girl?”

‘Shannon…?’

“C’mon Shannon, I’ll take you back and fix you up good so we can get back to hunting” continued the mysterious voice.

‘Is that… Mark…?’ I opened my eyes out of curiosity only to find myself in a small wooden cabin. The very same cabin I stayed in for a couple of months after my encounter with the Winter Storm Pack Rebellion… and him… Jaydor.

 I shuddered at the thought. Refocusing on the cabin I was in, everything remained the same from when I had left it. The same fireplace, the same rocking chair Mark would sit on, and the same old Mark… it had stayed exactly the same as when I left it.

“Hey there Shannon, finally up are ya? Hope you didn’t get too hurt with that wolverine. Would’ve left me even more lonelier” Said Mark in his old trembling voice.

That’s right; I left only a few weeks prior to finding Balto. Leaving Mark all the more lonesome I gathered. I felt guilt for leaving him behind when I did, after living together for months… but how did I get back here? I scanned the cabin again and it was missing someone. Cyan was missing. I started to panic: ‘Where’s Cyan?!’

Starting to lose my composure, the cabin suddenly went blurry while pictures of Mark’s gentle face started fading into the black. Mark muttered one last thing before disappearing: “Go on, Shannon”

And in a flash I was back to reality, my eyes adjusting to the newly found sunlight that entered our cave home. Hearing a faint snoring noise beside me, I checked to find Cyan snoozing. ‘Cyan? Check. Cave? Check. Reality? Check’. It seemed that my past was haunting me through my dreams while as I started to get a little annoyed by them. ‘What’s next?’ I thought to myself. ‘Dreams of Shadow and Fire-Eye?’

My dream of Mark did raise a concern to me; ‘I wonder what he’s doing now…’ He was a nice, gentle old man who nursed me back to health. Of course this was when I was “Shannon” though. An identity I assumed for his sake.

Cyan’s body started to move, namely rolling onto his back yawning while he stretched his paws up into the air. Rolling back over so he was on his belly, his eyes averted to me as his body relaxed. “Morning Destiny” said Cyan with another yawn breaking in the middle. “Morning to you too Cyan” I replied. “I can see you had a goodnights sleep”

“Heh, you can say that”

We greeted each other with a peck to each other’s cheek. “So what’s the plan for today?” inquired Cyan

“Well, you and I are going to visit Balto, and then we’ll be on our way” I replied

“Wait what? We’re leaving already?” asked Cyan in a confused tone.

“I’ve already asked him about his life, I told him mine. I met his family, now all that’s really left is for him to meet you” I explained.

“Meet me? But you literally just found him two nights ago”

“I went searching to find out if I was alone in the world”

“But as it turns out, there are actually two individuals with me in life; my brother and well… you” I said blushingly. Cyan returned the affection by nuzzling me on the chin. We made our way outside the cave to see the world seemingly come alive. The sun was up from its overnight slumber and shined high above the ground as the trees in the forest started to gently sway from a morning’s breeze.

“And as you may recall from last night, I met his family” I said.

“Jenna, Dusty, Chase, Copper, and Kaila” listed Cyan.

“That’s them… but that was only half Balto’s family. His entire first litter were scattered around Nome with their own lives already and when I saw Balto and Jenna together with pups… well I want that. I want to experience that feeling”

“Either way, we had to leave someday right Cyan? You said it yourself; the local wilderness could hardly sustain the two of us, let alone a pack”

‘… not to mention how odd human towns are’ I thought. I’ve been raised as a wolf and I very well will live like one; as a pack.

“Wherever we end up Destiny, just know I’ll always be there” He said with a sheepish grin.

His words comforted me as I returned the grin replying: “Thanks Cyan, I appreciate it”. I looked up to see it was late in the morning giving us plenty of time. “Say, how about we race to Balto’s place huh Cyan?” I challenged.

“Well that’s fair seeing as I have no idea where that is” He responded sarcastically.

“I guess you’ll just have to come in last” I teased.

“Oh it’s on!” said Cyan with immense anticipation.

“Alright then; Ready, Set, GO!” We both launched ourselves towards the direction of Nome as our cave started to shrink within seconds.

 I looked out to my right seeing Cyan right next to me, “Try and keep up Cyan!” I provoked, he simply gave me a wide grin in response. The outline of Nome was beginning to appear as we made our way through the forest and within moments the ever so familiar snow covered hills were before us. Turning around to check on Cyan noting he was only lightly panting, “Come on, just a little bit further” I said before I ran off in the direction of Balto’s ship. Cyan let out one last sigh forming a small misty cloud of air as he began running as well.

Approaching the stern of the ship Cyan let out a comment: “Balto lives <I>here?”

“Yeah” I responded. “It’s not too bad”. Padding towards and up the plank placed on the ships broadside me and Cyan stopped. “What’s that sound?” asked Cyan.

“It sounds like… humming?” We stood and waited on the deck trying to figure out what it was as the “humming” got louder and louder accompanied by a sweeping noise.

“Hmmm, doo do do doo…”

The source of the sounds approached ever closer from the compartment that lead into the bowels of the ship by the captain’s wheel. An unfamiliar scent followed… one that smelled of a certain avian variety…

“EEEK!” shrieked a middle-aged goose with ruffled feathers. His eyes met mine, then Cyan’s. “So you wolves think I am easy prey eh?” the goose spoke with a Russian accent. “Well I’ll have you know that I’ve tangled with grizzly bears, two of the most evil polar bears in all existence and maniacal red-eyed moose before!” he warned. “Not to mention my body is stronger than steel from all the battles I’ve had with the legion of teething wolf dog pups! “

“So I say this: WHAT YOU SAY?” as the goose took a Popeye fighting stance waving his clenched wings around as if ready to box. In the middle of the gooses odd warning a familiar voice come from the trapdoor opening. “What’s with all the noise Boris?” sighed Balto as he made his through the opening in a tired tone. “Balto! Defend yourself! We have guests!” responded Boris. Balto looked over to a reluctant me and a confused yet hysterical Cyan. Balto let out a sighing breath. “Calm down Boris, their friend’s, well family actually” prompted Balto. “EH? How so?! I found you by yourself when you were young!” questioned Boris.

“It’s a long story Boris,” Balto lifted his paw and pointed at me; “But in short: that’s Destiny, she’s my sister”. He shifted his paw leftwards, pointing to Cyan; “And that’s Cyan, her mate” explained Balto.

Boris’s expression changed from vexed to surprised and then to glee after Balto explained the details. “Today is happy day! Family reunited, pasts intertwining…” proclaimed Boris as he made his way over to us. He then wrapped his wings around the base of our necks and pushed us together. “But the stories I told you of are still true”

“You can’t be serious right?” asked Cyan chucklingly, “I mean evil scheming polar bears? Legion of PUPS? That sounds ridiculous!”

“I am telling you the truth!” responded Boris wide-eyed. “You need to see these beasts at work first hand! They’ll never sto—“. Just then a voice in the distance echoed towards the ship. Everyone turned to attention at the direction of the voice. It came again. “… Uncle BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORIS” echoed the voice with an emphasis on the O. Out of the tree line shot two white blobs dashing towards us. “AHHH THEIR HERE! AGAIN!” shrieked Boris. Hurriedly Boris began picking up some of his belongings (not that he had any) as if ready to hit the road. The calling got louder “… UNCLE BOOOOOORIS”.

“You’re not going to leave behind your two favourite nephews are you Boris?” asked Balto in Boris’s rush. “No. Not favourite nephews. ONLY nephews” corrected Boris. A large thud hit the ship as a small blur followed by a larger blur blazed past me and Cyan. “UNCLE BORIS!” screamed the smaller blur mid-air as it leapt. “NOOOOOOOOO—“. The two blurs collided into Boris head-on, clearing him across the entire ship’s deck to the other end. Upon looking through the trail of feathers in the air, there were two polar bears sitting next to Boris. “Did you miss us Uncle Boris? Did you?” blurted out the smaller polar bear.

“I think these are the polar bears he was mentioning earlier” whispered Cyan. I nodded in response. “They don’t look all that menacing”.

“NYET!” shouted Boris. “MUK! How many times have I told you? Uncle Boris does not enjoy it when you come crashing in here! More so when you end up crashing into ME!” During Boris’s lecture to the smaller bear Muk, the larger bear had inched towards the left ending up behind Boris. “Now you and your brother need to stop doing that!” finished Boris “Now that I mention it… where is Luk?” Luk had then let out an incomprehensible squeal as he leaned down from behind Boris and gave him a bear hug, and judging from how Boris was reacting, it didn’t feel too good. While focusing on giving the bear hug, Luk had started losing balance and started falling backwards towards the railing. “LUK WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING!” blurted Boris promptly before Luk went over the railing with Boris in hand and landed in the snow causing a large polar bear-with-goose-in-hand imprint. “Cannonball! Weee--!” shouted Muk as he went running towards the railing as well jumping off.

Sounds of playing and Boris strongly disapproving echoed in the air as things had quieted down on the boat.

“Sorry about that Destiny, but as you can see Boris sure loves visits from his nephews” said Balto with a laugh.

“Haha, yeah I can see that” I replied. “Well without further ado,” gesturing my paw towards Cyan, “I present to you Cyan my mate from two nights ago. I don’t believe you’ve formally met each other yet”

“Hello Cyan” said Balto with the same warm tone in his voice. “Nice to meet you”

“Pleasures all mine Balto” replied Cyan. As they exchanged greetings, I noticed the sounds of Muk and Luk have yet to cease nor did Boris’s complaining; ‘Family love huh?’ I pondered. “Hey Des, it’s your turn” called out Cyan.

“Hey Balto,” I approached.

“Hey Des”

“It’s been great meeting you Balto” I said; “I mean I’m really grateful for the miracle I found you at all… it’s just after seeing your pack, I started feeling that I wanted that too—“

“It’s alright Destiny, I understand” Balto said in a gentle tone. “It’s been great meeting you and Cyan as well and I hope what you find in Cyan is like what I found in Jenna”

Tears started forming around my eyes; “Thank you for everything Balto” I said softly.

I started to pad my way towards the plank, turning back briefly and saying: “Send Jenna and the pups my best wishes, and to Copper that I’ll tell him the stories about my scars some other time”

“Will do Destiny, make sure you visit… and uh, take care out there” replied Balto in a more compassionate manner.

I nod. I turn to Cyan: “Let’s go Cyan” I said. He responds with a nod and accompanies me down the plank. As we silently made our way back to the tree line a lone howl erupts from Nome’s direction; it was Balto. A small grin forms along my face. I look to Cyan raising his eyebrows for a brief second, shortly after we turn to Nome and respond with a howl of our own.

As the howling died down Cyan and I proceeded into the forest with one realization in mind: we were embarking on a new chapter in our lives.

-END-

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Copyright © Universal Studios: Balto, Jenna, Boris, Muk, Luk

Copyright © redwolf03: Destiny, Cyan, Kaila, Copper, Chase, Dusty, Mark, Roan, Soran, Jaydor

Part 2 in the series is a long way out; I actually worked on this in May-June in 2011 and then never really got around to finishing it as a whole. So I'm going to be doing this in a series, no ETA on the next part but hopefully a burst of passion comes some time soon.