In the memory of Avenged Sevenfold's Jimmy 'The Rev' Sulliven.
The moon was at it highest. It was white a Aniu's snow white fur. It beamed down on the Alaskan town of Nome and brought light to the darkest alley. it gave Balto the light he needed to navigate his way to Jenna's house.
Jenna. Balto thought in a daze. That name brought warmth to his body on the coldest nights. His love for he deeper than the ocean and higher than the heavens. The same when for his pups: Stark, Saba, Kiona, Kodi, Dingo, and Aleu. The thought of his daughter echoed through his mind. For about ten minutes of every day, Balto would think of her and hope that she was as happy as the day he saw her leave from his sight.
Balto turned down an alley and let his paw sink into to snow beneth him. When he reached the end of the alley, he started to move his body to the right. Jenna's house awws just another block away. But Balto froze to a faint but fowl smell that his hybrid nose could only pick up. He tunred his head down the oppisite direction and widend his eyes to what he saw. Tracks of bloody paw marks in the middle of the street. Balto moved his head back to the direction of Jenna's house.
"Sorry, Jenna," He sighed. "Someone could be hurt and leaving someone to die would be the worst thing I've ever done." He said to the wind hoping it would carry his message to Jenna's ears. He spun his head around and bolted up to where the bloody trial started. He looked over the paw prints and knew that it was a dog. He took in a sniff of the print so he could get a scent. His inner wolf started to kick in: He broke out into a full sprint and sniffed the air as he went. Balto didn't needed to know where he was going. He knows Nome by heart and let his nose lead the way. He turned down Main street where the scent got stronger. Balto was getting close. He started to slow down, when he ran past to post office. The trial lead down alley next to the hardware store. Before he looked down the alley, Balto closed his eyes and prayed that he wasn't goanna see something horrific. He peeked down the alley and saw that his prayer was worth less than nothing. The moon was bright enough to beam some light in the alley. There, lying on the ground was a husky covered in cut's, bruses and blood all over the place.
"Oh no." He said in a tone that was rich of dispair. Balto slowly walked up to the dog and looked down on the body. Feeling that he could have gotten there sooner, Balto drew in a large amount of air so he could howl to Aniu above him.
However, he was stopped by a groaning sound that was coming from right in front of him. Balto snapped his head down to the dog twitching his paw.
"My god." Balto whispered breathless. "He's alive." Balto knew he went for help, he;d come back and it would be to late. There was only one option: Balto reached his head under the dog's body and mounted it on his back. Balto's inner wolf strength was amazing. Much to Balto's suprise, the dog was really light. He felt like he was giving his pups a piggy back ride. He''d do that alot when they were young and that was fun for all of them. It was nearly midnight, the vet closed at that hour. There was only one place where he could take the dying dog: Jenna's shed. Balto ran, at half speed so the dog wouldn't fall off his back, to Jenna's house. The blood slowly pouring out of the dog's cut moved down Balto's gray fur.
Balto was a couple yards away from Jenna's she when he started to call out her name.
"Jenna!" Balto called alarmed. The door to the shed didn't open. "Jenna!" He called again. He got closer and the door started to swing open and Jenna was there.
"Balt..." Jenna started to say but screamed when she saw what he was carring on his back. Balto slowed to a stop and set the dog down. "What is going on!?" Jenna said in total confusion.
"I found him in an alley," Balto explained. "I thought he was dead but then I saw him move. The vet's not open at this hour so I had no where else to bring him."
"You did the right thing." Jenna assured him. "But are we supposed to do?" Balto moved his head away from Jenna's beautiful face and looked out the small window and saw the snow lightly falling from the sky. He saw the stars dance and shine like they were having a party. Then it hit him. Balto looked back to Jenna.
"I got an idea." Balto said. "But I'm goanna have to do it here, alone."
"Why" Jenna asked.
'"It's kind of privite." Balto told her. Jenna squinted at him for a bit and sighed.
"Ok." She whispered. "What shoudl I do?"
"Go get the pups. They'd wanna see this." Balto suggested.
"All right." Jenna said moving around him. "I'll be back." She whispered and left the shed. Batlo watched until she was out of sight. Balto stepped out of the shed and looked up to the moon and the stars beamind down on him and the rest of Nome through the think clouds.
"Aniu." Balto said. "Mother." He corrected. "I need your help. I found this dog and he's dying. I'm asking as your son, please let him live. He's young and no one, dog, wolf, or human should die at such an young age." Balto finished spaeking and heard nothing. He hopped that his prayer had worked. Balto tunred back into the shed. All of the sudden, a sharp gust of wind came up behind Balto. They wind passed by him and moved over to the dog. The enitre shed was caught in the gust of wind, for a minute or two. Balto turned back to the nameless dog and saw that the cuts and bruses on his body started to heal slowly. "It'll take a while for him to heal." Balto said to himself. He looked back to the sky. "Thank you." He uttered. his ear then picked up the sound of footsteps coming and looked out the door. He saw Jenna, followed by, Kodi, Stark, Dingo, Kiona and Saba coming to him. He walked outside to greet them
"Hey Dad" Dingo said with a smile. The girls all went up to him and gave him a nuzzle.
"So where'd you find this guy?" Kod asked.
"He was i the ally next to the hardware store." Balto explained.
"How bad are his bruses?" Saba said looking over Stark's shoulder.
"Pretty bad. But I'm sure they'll heal in the next few hours." Balto added.
"Did you ever find out what his name was?" Stark asked. "Did he have a dog tag?"
"No. He's been knocked out eversince i found him."
"Can we seen him?" Kiona asked.
"Sure, come on." Balto said turning back into the shed and the others following him. They all gethered aaround the stranger. Looking at him he looked maybe a few months younger than the pups, his fur was a pure brown color with a darker underbelly. Each of them had there own thoughts for him.
This guy must have been through hell. Kodi thought.
He's cute. Kiona thought.
Poor guy. Dingo thought.
Someone must have really had it in for this guy. Stark thought.
We must what ever we can to help him. Saba thought. Jenna kept her head close to Balto. She was scard for all of them.
"Do you think we should give him a name?" Kodi asked.
"That's a good idea." Balto agreed. "At least until he tells us his name when he wakes up." There was a moment of silence.
"How about Zack?" Stark suggjested.
"That works." Balto agreed.
The other's mumbeled in agreement.
"Why don't you guys get some rest?" Kiona asked. "I can watch him." Stark yawned and that told the others that he agreed with that. They all scattered around the shed. Jenna laid right next to Balto. Kiona sat in front of Zack and watched over him.
"It's ok, Zack." She said hopeing that he would here her. "Your goanna be fine."
the moon passed over the sky and shrank into the sea. The sun rose over the hills and sent it's bright beams down on Nome. Kiona had fallen asleep and hadn't woken up since. She heard something move and she opened her eyes to Zack groaning and moving around. Kiona jumpped up, in alram.
"Everybody, wake up!" She shouted. Everyone opened thier eyes and look to KIona and saw that she was looking down on Zack.
"He's waking up." Kodi said suprised.
"It's about time." Stark mused.
The all gave Zack some space so he could get up.
Zack, started opening his eyes. Everything was blury.
Oh, my head. He thought to himself as he tried to get his paws to stand him up.
"Is he okay?" A voice called out. Zack gasped and scurried up to all fours. His eye sight became more clear. He looked around him and saw seven dogs all looking at him.
"Wha..." He said in confusion. "What's going on here!?" He said in a panic and started backing away from them.
"It's ok." Kiona's said and that brought Zack to look to her. the vey sight of Kiona's face made him feel like he was goanna pass out agian.
"Wh...Wh...who are you guys?" He said looking around.
"I think the better question is who are you?" Jenna stated.
"What are you talking about?" Zack asked.
"I found you," Balto said stepping forward. "In an alley. You were practiaclly dead."
"I was?" Zack asked.
"You don't remember?" Saba asked.
"No. I don't remeber anything."
"Perfect." Stark said dissapointed.
"Who are you guys and where the hell am I!" He said in a near panic.
"It's ok!" Balto said taking a step forward. "My name is Balto and this is my family."
Zack started to calm down her looked around the others and saw that they all had concerind lokks on their faces. He could tell by that, that were telling the truth.
"Ok." Zack sighed before getting his thought back together. "So where am I and how did you dinf me again?"
"I found you in an alley a block or so from here," Balto explained. "I carried you here on my back and my mate Jenna here went and assembeld my pups. Kiona here stayed awake most of the night."
"You did?" Zack asked in a flirty voice.
"Yes." Kiona blushed.
"So do I have a name or something?" Zack asked.
"We all thought of a name for you until you get your memory back." Kodi said.
"And that name is..." Zack pushed.
"Zack." Stark uttered.
"Zack? Cool. So your Balto, Jenna and Kiona?" He asked pointing at the three of them.
"That's right." Balto said with a sligh cheer in his voice.
"And the rest of you are?" Zack said waving his paw around the others.
"Kodi."
Dingo."
"Stark."
"Saba."
"Well it's nice to meet you all." Zack said showing a smile to the ones that saved his life.
"So now what do we do?" Dingo asked with a tone of impatience.
"I guess until Zack can get his memory back, he could stay here." Jenna suggested.
"I could," Zack agreed. "I don't want to be a bother."
"Nonsense." Jenna enforced.
"So..." Kioan sang in a nervous voice that everyone caught almost instantly. "Can I show you around town."
"I'd love to." Zack nodded and joined Kiona at her side. Kiona and Stark walked out of the shed side by side and the others watched them as they left.
"Ahh." Saba sighed. "Young love."
"That guy must have hit his head really hard if he's falling for Kiona." Dingo joked. Saba rolloed her eyes and used her hind leg to kick Dingo in the chin.
"Nice one." Kodi commented.
"Thanks." Saba smiled.
"So now what?" Jenna asked Balto looking on.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see how long it will take for Zack to get his memories back." Balto said speaking his mind.
"Until then, I guess we join move on with our lives." Kodi said before walking off.
"I'm on his side." Stark said and moved into a yawn. "I'm tired. I need to get some sleep." He added before walking off towards home.
"But you just woke up!" Dingo said after revocering from Saba's attack.
"I know. Now I'm tired again. Later." Stark said before dropping out of sight.
"I'm starting to question how I'm related to him." Dingo scoffted as he stepped out of the shed and walked off. Saba looked to her parents and smiled.
"I'll see you then. I'll come back in a little while and see how Zack's doing with his memories." Saba said.
"I'll come get you if anything happens." Jenna said. Saba nodded to her mom and moved over to Balto and gave his a might nuzzle. Saba walked off. Balto and Jenna staired at each other in a romantic daze and started nuzzleing.
"Do you think Zack will get his memory back soon?" Jenna asked in a soft voice.
"I hope so." Balto said. "We've been through alot of things in out lives that puts to the brink of death. But this time, however, i dont see how blood will be shedded." Balto and Jenna turned back into the shed and closed the door behind them. Across the yard, there was a small hole in the tall wooden fence. A pair of blood red eys were watching them the whole time. The eyes belonged to a dog. On the other side of the fence the dog backed away with a suprised look on his face.
"He's alive?" The wolf said to himself. "I don't beleive it." He turned his muzzle into a smile. "Adrian's goanna love this." He mused. The wolf then lurked from the allies and up to the rooftops. He snuk himself out of Nome without being spoted by any human or dog. As the hours passed, he found himself on the slops of the pass. At the base was a small cave entrance bing enogh fro only a dog to fit in. He entered the gave and was surrounded by multiple pairs of eyes that all looked like they were goanna kill him. On top of a large bouler that was under a skylight, sat a tall musculer husky with light gray fur.
"Adrian." The dog called out. The dog in front of him turned around.
"What is it?" Adrian snarled.
"He's still alive." The dog informed.
"What? Where?" Adrian said like he was ready to kill something withouth thinking twice.
"Nome." The dog added. "Alought from the look of it, it seemed that he lost his memory." Adrain brought himself to get calm and walked passed the dog.
"Ge the others," Adrian said still walking away. "Were going to Nome. Let's pray we can get there before he gets his memory back."
The dog watched as Adrian was surrouned by the same pairs of eyes that were looking at him when he arrived. Adrian walked out of the cave an into the light.