Author's Note:
This story is inspired from 2015's 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises film The Revenant (the movie and original story belongs to 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises also from novel The Revenant).
The most of the characters belong to Universal Pictures films: Balto (1995), Balto II: Wolf Quest (2002), and Balto III: Wings of Change (2004) (the movies and characters belongs to Universal Pictures).
Chapter 1
Hunting, Fishing, and surviving was the only tools that I had to survive the harsh winters of Alaska. As a "The Great War" veteran, I only returned to an incoherent state in the Northern Washington State near the Canadian border to find no work. As I had to leave what I had to, except for survival. For the last few years from 1927 and 1928, I have been living in the snowy desolate woods of winter into the green cool woods of summer. I didn't have a transportation of any car when I got into the Yukon Territory, at that point I had no choice but continue on foot.
As I was continuing on through the Yukon Territory, I only had a Springfield Rifle with a 1911 Colt handgun, a Bowie Knife (that I had when fighting in trenches), a tent, furs from animals that I have hunted (for coats, blankets, and pillows), and other survival kits that you would need to survive on your own journey into the woods. Thinking back from my past hunting experiences, I shot my first prey back near from my home at a forest in Washington State years ago. While growing up, I continued to hunt deers, rabbits, even squirrels. While adapting these skills, I continued to learn how to live in the woods until the U.S. entered "The Great War". At a firing range, under military training, I mostly aim my rifle and fired at the bulls-eye and head-shots. Time goes by and finishing my basic training, I was shipped to France to fight against the so called "German Huns". While being part of a world war, I didn't have any idea I was fighting for, but for survival. In one occasion at a trench, my unit was outnumbered and gunned down while they're still firing from another distance. However, when the Germans came to clear out the trench, I was the only unit to survive the rampage of back-to-back firing. In covered with blood of my fallen comrades and dirt; I went stealth, with my Bowie Knife, and knifed every German soldiers of that unit, who came to inspect the trench. Afterwards, I had to collect every I.D. tags of my fallen brother-in-arms and try to find my way back to Western France. My injuries slowed me down and took me over two years to fight my way back to the west. Following two years into 1919, the Americans advanced and defeated Germany, as I was rescued by my fellow American troops.
After returning home, I could only do was to deliver the I.D. tags of my fallen unit and disappeared back to Washington.
Years of guilt from the made my choice since starting 1925, I decided to head out from home. Under the shame of failing to save my brothers-in-arms was the worst mistakes that I had experienced. Years after I was settled back at home from my military life, I had been despised and rejected from everybody after that I tried to fight for my country. Others see me as a vile and a vermin.
In every stops as I journeyed through Canada to the Yukon Territory, I made trade bargains with some Natives that live in the North if I had tons of fur that are unneeded. Some of which they would accept or reject. However, one native tribe offer me a place to stay and they did a blessing for safe journey (even I said it was unnecessary). In other occasions I was offered food, horse, or even Native American handcrafts. One time, I was given a necklace that displays a wolf and told me a short story about a wolf and a man come together as a ally and ability to talk to certain animals. At the time, I didn't understand what it was, until I got to Alaska.
When I reached Alaskan border, I had a short amount of supplies and I had to find a general store in any town to buy supplies and ammo for my rifle. Luckily enough, I found a general store in Anchorage. I entered and found supplies that are food, camping materials, snow gear, and others.
"Are you in trouble of finding something?" a man asked me as I was searching.
"I was searching for bullets and clips for my rifle." I said.
"We don't have any firearms and hunting weaponry here." The man replied.
"Is there any other tools or arsenal for hunting?" I asked. The man looked around and noticed that a bow and arrows were on sale. I looked through my wallet and I only had enough for it.
"Would that be all sir?" the man asked.
"Yes that'll be all." I replied with a small supplies of hunting equipment and snow gear I also shopped for. As I exited the store, I could see very few cars and see some sled dogs riding about. I explored around the town a little more until I saw an river crossing to the other side.
I had a used canoe I was given through a barter trade with a Native American for furs. I started to set up the canoe and started to gear up in snow gear. Soon afterwards, I started to walk onto the freezing water and climbed aboard to the canoe and started rowing. The temperature of the air started to get cooler as I continued to row towards the snowy hills and mountains. Until reaching to the landing, I got my feet into the snowy water and I started to tie up the canoe onto my bag, made of fur. I started to walk along the hills to climb up.
As the sun begin to go down from walking miles entering Fairbanks, it will be the best time to find game before they may return to their homes. First, I set up camp at an empty cave, hopefully no bears could reside there. Afterwards, I brought my rifle and a bow and arrow to find some food. For a few minutes after searching, I had no luck, until I saw another deer like any other hunting for food. Despite of the deer was close, I guess with no reason, I decided to try the bow and arrow. At a visit to a Native village, I was given an opportunity to shoot a bow and arrow, however after practices, I went from fail to success.
I begin to draw my arrow alongside the bow, the cold wind began to blow another direction. I moved my arms slightly towards the wind. The deer begin to look around for any danger, I took at that time let go the bow and the arrow flew as it was blown towards the deer. The arrow impaled the deer and it started to take slow steps to safety, however the deer dies down onto the snow. I thought the bow and arrow shooting practices paid off. I walked over and took the fur and meat, before a gunshot was fired. Out of suspicion I looked around where the shot came from, until a bullet pierced into the tree. I leaped over into cover behind a tree.
I made a few glances to find another huntsman or a hostile Native, who may wanted the deer. Another shot came by and hid behind the tree, before I peeked again and saw another hunter reloading his rifle. Quickly, I loaded up my rifle to find the hunter, but he wasn't rather after I glanced over. I started to run to find another cover behind the trees. Hearing the cracks and bushes starting to fall above me, I looked up to see he was climbing. Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger, but the gun was jammed. I tried to fix the jamming problem, as he saw me repairing my weapon. He began to draw his hunting knife, I was in fear to make a hustle before my hunting days are over. Successfully, I rearmed my weapon and aimed as the man attempts to jump down on me… I fired my rifle without looking through the scope. The man surprisingly, fell over me and I collapsed.
In about five minutes, my eyes were closed in thinking I was dead. My breathing was fast as if I was having a heart attack. I rolled the huntsman over to see there was a bullet hole right in his upper left chest. His eyes were frozen wide open, I tapped the lifeless hunter with my rifle and he wasn't even moving. I checked his pulse and started to search him only to find a relic of a bear emblem that was probably from a Native tribe. I gasped in frightenment to a possible that he may came back as a bear form to kill me.
"What have I done?" I thought to myself. "I need to leave before his tribe could come after me or himself in a animal form." I took a very short time to bury the man with respect and a little moment of silence to ask forgiveness. I hurried to find my encampment in time before the sun draws into set. On the way, I managed to collect a few scattered sticks and a small branch in effort to make a fire in the cave.
When I got back to the cave, no one was there and no other animal as well. I set up a bed of furs and started a fire to cook the deer's meat for a evening meal. The skies outside begin to turn darker as the snow blew harder.
As my meal was ready, I took a few bites to fill my appetite. The sound of little feet started to draw towards, only to find it was a small wild mouse. I gave the mouse a small piece of meat and the mouse begin to eat and withdraws to the shadows. It was the first time I ever fed a small meal or any meal to anyone or anything. Back at my Washington State woodlands, I was responsible to hunt food for my family. My family was cut short due to illnesses, that I couldn't be able to provide more for them.
The fire was still warm to give me warmth as the cold air from outside fills the room to have a some fresh air. I lied down slowly to my bed and covered myself with furs as blankets. My eyes begin to droop downwards and feel sleepy, I started to fell asleep as the spark of fires was almost started to make music for a lullaby.
The cold would most of the time wake me up from my slumber or noises from outside. I woke up as the campfire was died down and I started to pack up the furs to continue on my journey. The snow falls from the sky slowly like soot or ash specks fall from the burning large bonfire.
The journey brought me from Washington to outside of Fairbanks. I was about of few meters from Nenana and I started to see a railroad tracks that could probably lead to the town. I holster my rifle to keep myself on guard as I near a small lake that was unfrozen, meaning that animals could come out to drink some water. I walked over to scoop up some water into a water container. The groans of cubs was distant until I see two cubs with their mother. Falling back from the lake to distance myself to take my aim on the bears. The bears were still making more noise to attract for their male father bear. The crush of snow begin to draw to glance what is coming from behind.
All the sudden, a male grizzly saw me and my rifle that draws immediate hostility. The bear was too fast to give me the chance to stand on my ground and the bear pounced on me. At first I begin to question if it was the spirit of the huntsman seeking revenge. The bear started to claw me violently as it was starting to bite me and threw me around like a ragdoll. It rolled me over to the snow as the bear bite and clawed my back as I could do nothing, but scream in pain. The grizzly crushed my back as it was smelling me to see if I was dead. The cubs and the mother bear roared as the grizzlies came back to it's family.
I was weak to move, I could only do was crawl like a city beggar. I saw that my rifle was near towards the tracks. The grizzly started to come back as I grabbed my rifle and fired at the bear and entered it's raging rampage. It nearly clawed my throat, but it clawed under my throat. I was trying to make a grab for my knife, at first the bear took a bite out of my elbow and started throwing it. Finally, I successfully grabbed the knife and started stabbing the grizzly's weak spot where it was shot from my rifle.
My mouth was nearly choking blood and decided to holster your handgun and shot the bear multiple times, until it collapse on me. As I was disoriented, the horn sounds and the smoking from the smokestacks was a sign that a train was coming near me. I was weak to scream or shout, I decided to fire my handgun until the last three bullets was out and I could only was wave, until it was tired and I was near to death. The train started to slow down until it was near to my head, closely almost squashed it like a tomato. A small group of people rolled over the dead grizzly (the man, who may came back in animal spirit to tried to kill me) to see me under a critical condition of external bleeding from my wounds. The men tried to use some of my furs to cover my wounds and climbed me aboard to the train. I could only hear a few men arguing about what they should do with me. Some argued that they should take into a town where they could find a doctor, as for short amount of men in the group may want to make an end of my suffering.
However, they agree to have the train move on to Nenana. I continuously rocked over back and forth from the train moving. I started to fall asleep only have a dream that could rest in peace.
As I was still asleep, the train stopped and the men started to unload me to a dog sled. I overheard that they have someone, who has experience as a musher to mush the sled dog team to another town westward. I felt like I was about to be in a carriage to be paraded in the streets when we arrive.
As the musher was traveling in for an hour, he was nearly following the path streams of Yukon River, the sled dog team were navigating to stay away from mountains and heavy snow. The last town we had stopped was at Kaltag. The musher had to grab more equipment, bandages for my wounds and food for the dogs, me, and himself. In about an hour after leaving Kaltag, the snow began to rain down hard that causes blindness on the musher and the sled dog team. Somehow unfortunately, the dogs somehow lost balance of direction for unknown reason, that causes the musher lost balance from his sled having him fall. The dogs fell over that caused me to be tossed off from the sled. I fell down the snowy hill as I was still strapped carrier. From that fall, I have been rolled over repeatedly until I passed out down hill. Ten minutes later, I woke up to find that the straps were weaken and they were nearly full cut. Still feeling weak, I began to move slowly to unstrap myself. The ropes now cut loose, I started to crawl over to grab some of the equipment that were with me as I was falling down hill. Luckily surprisingly, I have enough furs to warm myself; I also managed to grab very few equipment for food and a lighter.
After I grabbed everything, I started to crawl to find a town and/or safe haven I could stay for a while until I recover. With amnesia however, I couldn't be able to find my way to town or know where I was. The important thing I could only do was to find a water source like a lake or a river. The bleeding was ceased and the scars in my body is permanent for now, I still feel the pain as I was crawling on the snow and it causes stings in my wounds.
For hours after hours, I finally find a river path that leads to Norton Sound. I managed to crawl down some of the hills to reach for the river. I buried my head into the water to drink some of the water, but until I started to choke from the scar that was between my neck and chest. The clear water I drink turned to blood when the water came out of my throat. There were a few scraps of mud on the side of me, that had me to put some mud onto my throat to try to have that would not go infected. Some of the animals came by mostly elks were crossing the river. The meat inside those elks caused me to go hunger for food. A long stick was suitable to use for walking, I grabbed the stick and tightly wrapped it with furs. Distant howls warn me that wild wolves are nearby to drink water; the trouble is these wolves could pick up the blood scent. I started to scoot over to the water to hide, but the wolves found my scent and a pack was drawing closer that my only way to live is to swim the currents.
The wolves ran towards the spot where I was at, but none of them could go into the water. The currents kept pulling me up and down under and above of the water level. I try my best to swim eastward to find a shore, but the current keeps pulling me north. The more I battle with the ocean's current, more distant from shore I would be pulled away. What I try to do was to swim where the current is pulling towards until I could see a current that could pull me to shore. The temperature of the water was nearly below zero degrees and I kept swimming in effort to keep my body and blood moving. The wind however started to push eastward and I started to swim where the wind is pushing. The direction is pulling to shore after a half an hour of being stranded on the ocean's waters. My body was starting to give in to the freezing water and I started to feel too tired to swim. As my eyes nearly begins to freeze over, I saw a shoreline that could be an only way to find land. I started to swim towards the shore more quickly to get out of the water as the tide begins to die down. The water started to become shallow as I swam, until reaching onto land. My body was shivering fast from the cold temperature of the elements that would have got me to become a frostbite. I tried to move my body, arms, and legs to keep myself warm as possible.
My legs started to recover little that I could use my stick from the river to gain some stand to walk, despite of being crippled. As I was walking to see what town it was, a sled dog team hurried over to the isolated small town where there are very few people living there. To come to a think of it, I could be able to find a doctor in town as well. However, my body was still exhausted from crawling and swimming for countless hours that craved for my hunger and rest. I head over to the forest, not far from where I came on shore to grab some broken wood to make a fire.
After I made a fire, I was started to get warmed up from the flames. My stomach made a rumbling noise to create hunger. The only food I had left from the sled was a can of raw meat, but I couldn't be able to open the can. I searched through my pockets to find something sharp, my knife was strapped to my leg. As I took out my knife, it still have a few blood tarnishes from the grizzly. Carefully, I used my knife to cut the top of the can, while holding the can down with my walking stick to open it. I started to cook the meat on a rock, as I was cooking the tundra plains were further out from town and the clouds began come down from the mountains. Some of the meat, slid off from the rock to the fire's ashes. There was only a few of meat scraps left that were still on the rock as it got greasy. I started skewing the meat into the knife and started to eat it off from it. At one point, I nearly got myself burned from the hot metal edge of the knife, that made me to grab the meat from my frigid fingers.