January 01, 1928
Nome, Alaska
"Aleu's Return Pt. 2"
Chapter 1: "Finding Kodi"
"Well, Spring is almost here and I don't even want to leave yet. I haven't visited my brothers and sisters, let alone know where they live. Maybe mom knows where Kodi lives?" Aleu thought to herself as she left her fathers home.
Aleu saw her father sleeping, "Dad should know where he lives, should I wake him up? Nah, he's getting old and needs to rest." Aleu set off for her mother's house, hoping that she'd find out where Kodi lives and maybe get to see Rosy again.
Aleu was on her way into the city limits where she met Mel, the local mail dog. She had heard from her mother that Kodi works for the mail now, "Huh, maybe I can ask Mel where Kodi is."
"Oh, what if the dogs were attacked by wolves, or fell off the mountain trail?" Mel was worrying like usual about the mail being a little late.
"Umm, you're Mel right?" Aleu nervously asked.
"Yipes! Don't scare me like that! Yes, I'm Mel, what can I help you with?"
"Oh, sorry didn't mean to scare you. I was hoping you could tell me where my brother Kodi is, I had heard he helps deliver the mail and was hoping you would know?"
"Wait, hold on. You mean to tell me that you are Kodi's sister? You look nothing like your brothers and sisters though."
Aleu quickly took offense to this remark, "Don't question me, or I promise you, you will be in for early retirement. I took my father, Balto's looks."
"Well, if you want to know that badly, he's on his way here on his way back from Anchorage. You do know where that is, right? I've never seen you around town until just recently?"
Aleu tried to think, but nothing rang a bell, "No, this is my first trip to Nome back from my other home back with my pack. Could you tell me where Anchorage is?"
"I've never been to Anchorage before, but I know the way there." Mel told her the way to Anchorage and she started to walk off. "Wait, you aren't going to Anchorage yourself are you? The trip is a deadly and tiring one, you'll die for sure!"
"No of course not, I'll ask my father to go with me. Surely he'll be up to the task."
Aleu knew that he was an old and tired dog, but she had faith in her father.
Chapter 2: "Can I make the journey?"
Balto woke up, stretched and yawned, "Huh? Where's Aleu at? She's usually around here when I'm asleep." Balto looked for Boris but couldn't find him, "Oh yeah, he's out with Stella, man he's gone all the time now that Stella came to Nome." Balto was still feeling tired and took this as a chance to sleep a little more.
Aleu arrived at her father's home and saw that he was somewhat awake, "Papa? Hey, papa, are you awake?"
"Oh, good morning Aleu. Where'd you go this morning? I didn't see you when I woke up earlier."
"Well, I was looking for Kodi, so I went to the post office to see if Mel knew where he was."
"Oh, he should either be on his way to or from Anchorage by now, wait a minute, what day is it today?"
"Huh? Uhhh, it's January 1st?" Aleu knew something was going on and was starting to feel the need to find her brother even more now, "Why? Was today something important? Was the mail supposed to be back by now?"
Balto knew exactly what was going on, but didn't want to frighten his daughter any more than she already was, "Well, the mail was supposed to be back yesterday evening, so Kodi should have had the day off today, maybe I should go and try to find him."
Aleu took this as her chance to ask him, "See, that's why I came here, I wanted to see if you'd come with me to try and find Kodi."
Balto definitely wanted to, but his old age would slow them down, "I don't know if I can make the journey this time, Aleu. I'm much older than I used to be, and I get tired much easier than usual now."
"Please, Papa? At least try, what have we got to lose? You could use to get up a little more often, you know." Aleu tried her best to persuade him, but she still saw some doubt it his eyes, "Come on Papa, he's your son and my brother. What if he and the other dogs are lost? He could be dying right now for all we know."
"Well, alright, point proven. First, before we go, let me go see if your mother is awake yet."
Chapter 3: "The journey begins." *Balto and Aleu's POV*
Jenna woke up to the sound of scratching at her door and quickly got up to answer, hoping it was Kodi. "Oh, hey Balto, Aleu. What's up? You usually aren't up and about this time of day?"
"Well, me and Aleu are going to try and make a trip to Anchorage. We both suspect something happened to the team on their way back here, and we wanted to see if you'd like to come along with us."
Jenna knew something was wrong too, but couldn't see herself going despite wanting to go, "I have been worrying about Kodi and his team too, I think I should be able to go, but I have my doubts because I'm only a year younger than you and am still somewhat brittle."
"Hey, it's your choice, I know you are probably a lot more energetic than me in more ways than one. But, as you said we're both getting to the end of our days soon and if you'd like to stay home, you're welcome to."
"You know what? What have I got to lose? My humans are out of town for the next 3 days so, lets go. Oh! I forgot, Aleu I bought you this blue bandana for you, it's made of the same material as mine, so it should keep you warm. Balto, I bought you this brown bandana, it'll keep you warm for the trip. Now, lets go!"
The three set out for Anchorage, not knowing of the obstacles that await them ahead.
Kodi and his Team's POV
3 Hours earlier….
"Come on guys, we can make it! Just keep pushing!" Kodi tried to keep pushing his team, but suddenly Ralph plopped down.
"Kodi, I don't think we can make it, the storm is too harsh. We'll die if we keep going!" Ralph was too weak, and too tired to keep pushing.
"Yes we can! Neither snow nor rain nor sleet nor hail will stop the US Mail! Remember our motto guys! Ralph, keep pushing! Kodi started to move a little quicker, but couldn't see the edge of the cliff ahead of them, and slipped on the ice.
"Noo! Kodi! WHOAAAA!" The team shouted, but all started to fall with Kodi.
"Oww, I hit my head on something, guys? Where's Ralph and Kirby?" Kodi looked around and tried to get up, "Ouch! My leg! I cant move, it's no use."
Dusty called out to Kodi, "Kodi! Is that you? You're still alive?!"
"Dusty? Come quickly! I can't move, my leg is broken and so are my front paws!"
Dusty followed Kodi's scent, but saw blood leading up to his scent, "Ralph, Kirby?! Where are you guys?! Oh my….NOOOOOOOOOO!" She stood there looking at Kirby and Ralph bleeding out on the floor next to her, when she put her hear to their chests, she heard absolute silence in their cold, dead, bodies.
"Dusty, where are you? Are Kirby and Ralph okay?!" Kodi started to worry for them, he had a little bit of faith that they were still alive.
"They're bleeding out, they died from gashing their sides on a rock on the way down. Where are you? Keep talking so I can find you." Dusty listened for Kodi's voice and sniffed around for him.
"I'm over here! Why couldn't it have been me?! They were under my orders, and that killed them! I'm a bad person, I cant ever use my head!" Kodi started to cry over his two dead friends.
"Don't beat yourself up! You aren't a bad leader! You tried to save our lives by pushing us to our limit! Now, we're going to die the same death as if we would have kept following the trail!" Dusty found Kodi and started to comfort him and help him up, but he couldn't stand up.
"All we can do is wait now, Dusty. Maybe Dad knows something is up and is on our trail right now."
Chapter 4: "Onward, to Anchorage!"
Balto, Jenna, and Aleu started to head out for Anchorage. "I've got their old scent, let's go! Remember, we don't give up until we find Kodi and the others!"
As the three walked through the forest, with Balto marking the trail back home since he had the chance to now, "The team passed through here for sure, come on let's keep moving."
"Papa, why are you making marks on the trees?"
"He's marking the trail back home, so when we do find Kodi and his team, we can get back home with ease." Jenna knew exactly what he was doing because she had followed his markings when she tried to find him during the Diphtheria outbreak.
"Good observations Aleu, while I do have their scent, it's always good to prepare a backup plan, just in case."
2 hours later…
Balto was just getting ready to mark another tree when he heard something moving in the bushes, "Huh? That's a familiar sound, and smell too. Jenna, Aleu, get down now!" Balto knew exactly what the sound was and couldn't afford to start fighting another bear with Aleu and Jenna with him.
"Come on, run as fast as you can until I tell you to stop, ready? Come on, run!" They all ran as fast as they could through that section of the forest until Balto eventually lost the scent of whatever was in those bushes. "Alright, I still have Kodi's trail, is everyone alright?" Both Aleu and Jenna nodded, trying to catch their breath after running nearly a quarter mile. "Alright, let's keep moving, Kodi and his team can this way."
Chapter 5: "Kodi?!"
Balto and the other two followed Kodi's scent up the mountain trail until Balto came upon a different smell, "Blood? Wait, KODI!" He saw Kodi and Dusty lying at the bottom of the cliff buried in snow, he slid down the ice with Jenna and Aleu right behind him.
"Unngghh… dad? Mom?" Kodi woke up, forgetting about his broken legs, "Ouch! Hey, Dusty, Mom and Dad found us! Come on, Dusty get up!"
"What? Your dad found us? How?" Dusty asked, feeling as though she had a hangover.
Balto and the other two walked over to them, "Is anyone hurt? Where are the other two that were with you guys?"
"Dad, they died on the way down. How did you find us? In this storm especially, and with you and mom's old age?"
"I followed you guys' trail, I didn't expect two of you to die here, but what's important is that you survived, can you walk?"
"No, but Dusty can. She couldn't find our musher, and the sled is broken into little bits and pieces. Maybe we could use something around here to pull me on?" Kodi looked around.
"Hmm, which of your legs are broken? Maybe I can carry you on my back, I know how to get out of here with you on my back."
"My two front legs are broken and my back-left leg is broken. Hey, there's a big chunk of the sled left and the harnesses are still attached. It looks like there is enough room for me to lay down."
"Alright, Dusty I want you to take the front-right position, Aleu and Jenna take the back two, and I'll lead us home. Come on Kodi, you guys aren't dying today."
"Hang on, Aleu, is that you? You're my sister right?"
"Yeah, we used to play around a lot when we were kids until we were separated when you got your home. I was never adopted, so now I live in the woods with a pack of wolves where I belong."
"We need to catch up when we get home, and once my legs heal up then we can go wrestle around and play like when we were kids." Kodi suggested.
"Alright, we can catch up later, for now we need to get you on that sled." Balto lifted Kodi up on his back and dropped him on the sled, he strapped up and gave the order to mush."
January 02, 1928
01:28 a.m.
Nome, Alaska
"Aleu's Return Pt.2"
Chapter 6: "Finally Home!"
The dogs had managed to pull Kodi back home to the boiler room to warm themselves up and get Kodi's legs fixed up.
"Thanks for saving my butt Dad, thanks for saving Dusty too." Kodi thanked his dad with gratitude, hut couldn't hug him because of his broken legs.
"Yeah, thanks Balto, we would have died if you hadn't come along. Is there any way I can thank you?"
"Nah, all I want is a good nap. The journey lasted for 10 hours and I am ready for a nap." Balto looked like he was going to pass out.
January 21, 1928
12:47 p.m.
Nome, Alaska
"Aleu's Return Pt.2"
After 2 ½ weeks of recovery Kodi and Aleu went to a nearby park where they caught up and played all day, Dusty went back to her house, and Balto and Jenna went to the boiler room to sleep.
"So you're telling me that you lead a pack of wolves and came back here for winter to visit?" Kodi asked surprised.
"Yup, after dad told me the truth about my heritage, I got upset and ran away to find where I belong. I felt as though I didn't belong here in Nome and went to find a place where I would fit in with the crowd."
"Well, I'm glad that you found a home, but when are you going back home? It's a long journey and I haven't seen you in 3 years now. I've missed you all these years." Kodi asked, upset to know that he wouldn't see his sister again for a good while.
"I don't know, but I was thinking of abandoning the pack and staying here, I left my best subordinate in charge and I think he could handle it." Aleu said reassuringly
"Well, that's a relief, I just can't believe Ralph and Kirby are gone now. They were my two best friends and now they're gone just like that." Kodi started to cry again.
"Hey now, you did all you could do, I think they'd be happy that you and your girlfriend made it out alive."
"You really think so? *sniffle* Hey, you're right. Let's leave the sad stuff behind and go have some fun!"
The End!
Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed the sequel to "Aleu's Return" There will be aa sequel to this one coming out tomorrow! I guarantee you will enjoy it and see you tomorrow for more, have a good one