DISCLAIMER: I own this story. All characters and certain elements are the property of their respective owners.

Pride Comes Before The Fall

Prologue

On a cold, winter night, a team of sled dogs huddled together to stay warm. Several hours ago, their lead dog led them astray and they tumbled down an icy incline on the mountain side, and came to rest in a small clearing near the edge of a cliff. With only a small lantern providing minimal warmth, sharing body heat with each other was necessary. Their Master was unconscious, and was in serious condition. To make matters even worse, they were carrying extremely precious cargo: a crate full of diphtheria anti-toxin. This anti-toxin was expected in the town of Nome to help combat an epidemic, one that already had its grasp on twenty-seven young children. Without this medicine, many lives would surely be lost. Since the sled team was now stranded and off of the beaten path, the deaths of those children became a real possibility.

As the night progressed on, the winter storm seemed to let up. The snow was gently falling from the sky, and the wind had drastically died down. The sled dogs were covered in a light blanket of snow, and were trying desperately to keep warm. One of these dogs was a skinny, raggedy husky named Star. His stamina, speed, and endurance made up for his lowly appearance, which made him a valuable member of the team. Star was particularly concerned about the well being of his Master, who was still incapacitated after falling down the icy slope. He sat a few feet away from the downed musher, shivering. His eyes were glued to the man, hoping to see something that would let him know he was alright. Occasionally, he would lean down and nudge the man's hand with his muzzle, hoping to get some kind of response. But he never did. Star had come up with the thought of two possibilities as to his condition. One, the musher was dead. Or two, he was out cold. He silently hoped for the latter. Star shut his eyes, and sighed in defeat. There was no way anyone would find them all the way out here. Sooner or later, someone would have to get the guts to tell Steele that they needed to try to get moving. He looked over at Steele, who was sitting about ten feet away with his back turned to everyone, breathing slow and deep. Star had learned many times to not bother Steele when he was angry. "Fat chance we're getting out of here alive," he thought to himself. Suddenly, Star heard the sound of something scraping on ice and looked up. He was stunned at what he saw sliding down the slope.

"Balto!" he exclaimed, surprise and shock evident in his voice.

The other dogs quickly shed the snow off of themselves, and like Star, could not believe that Balto was indeed there. Questions and statements were thrown about among the dogs. Nikki and Kaltag, two other members of the group, hit Balto with questions at nearly the same time. "Is that Balto?" Nikki asked, one eyebrow shooting up in disbelief. "Balto!" How did- How did you find us?!" Kaltag cut in. Balto smoothly slid to the base of the slope and jumped forward to assess the situation. "Is anyone hurt?" he urgently questioned. All heads turned to the menacing voice that came from the malamute sitting alone. "Everyone. Is. Fine." Star walked up to the musher, and quickly explained his condition to Balto. "Yeah, but our musher hit his head- and... he didn't get up." Star nudged the man again as Balto walked up to the harness and grabbed it. "Alright, follow me. I can lead you home," he said, his words muffled due to the harness in his mouth. The line suddenly went stiff, which was accompanied by the loud clap of Steele's paw on top of it as it hit the snow covered ground.

"We don't need your help," Steele angrily muttered. He started breathing a bit harder now. Star, attempting to diffuse the situation, said, "M-Maybe we should listen to him." This caused Steele to become even more angry, and he started to growl. He snapped at Star, who threw his paws over his head in fear. Nikki questioned Balto on how he would get them home. Balto walked over to a tree. "Well, I marked the trail... like this." He stood up on his rear legs and used his front claws to scratch a chunk of bark off of the tree, exposing the wood underneath. The other dogs responded to this with oohs and ahhs, clearly impressed by the technique. Steele lunged in front of Balto and forced him back. " I'll get us back. I'm the lead dog. I'm in charge!" he said. Balto was stunned. "Pshh. Then let me take back the medicine. They're getting sicker." Balto then moved toward the sled. Again, Steele jumped in front of him and growled. "Touch that box and I'll tear you apart," he said menacingly. Nikki turned to Kaltag and gave him a mischievous look. "Two bones says Steele takes him," Nikki said. Kaltag chuckled, before responding with, "You're on."

The other dogs sat in a circle, anticipating a fight. Balto began to pace in front of Steele. Head low, he addressed Steele in a serious tone. "Steele, I'm not leaving without that medicine." Balto then walked toward the sled again. Steele reared back and slammed his front paws into Balto's side, causing him to tumble over and nearly lose his balance. "Who do you think you are?!", Steele spat, starting to show signs of losing it. Nikki piped up to Kaltag again. "This is gonna be good!"

Balto was still catching his breath from the offensive move. It left him winded. "Since.. *gasp* Since when do you need a pedigree to help someone?" he said, confidently walking towards the sled again. Steele lunged in front of him and snapped at Balto. He began to growl, hoping it would deter Balto from making any more moves. Instead, Balto collected himself and spoke to the malamute again. "Steele... Let me help you." The expression of sincerity was obvious in his voice. For a split second, Steele seemed to acknowledge it. Balto made another move towards the sled. Steele, coming back to his senses, drove his head full force into Balto's side, knocking him over this time. In addition to a loud grunt from the wolfdog, a crack was also heard. Steele let out an evil laugh, knowing he broke a rib or two that time. Balto was down on the ground now, and he was gasping for air. The atmosphere of the situation changed at that instant. Nikki and Kaltag were no longer joking around about the fight. All of the dogs were now silently watching as Steele casually walked towards the wolfdog, who at that moment finally managed to steady himself as he lay on the ground. Steele wasted no time in sinking his teeth into Balto's shoulder, which elicited a howl of pain from Balto. He then proceeded to throw him against a rock. Balto hit hard, and pain shot through his entire body. He rolled down the rock and hit the ground. The impact nearly caused him to black out. At this point, Balto's vision was blurred and he was not fully aware of his surroundings. The grey fur on Balto's shoulder was now turning red as blood steadily flowed out of his wound.

Steele moved in towards him again, and grabbed his rear leg and drug him over to the edge of the cliff, leaving a trail of blood mixed in the snow. Balto yelled out in agony, but could not muster the strength to fight back. Balto's suffering was music to Steele's ears, while the other dogs flinched at the horrific sight in front of them. They were in complete shock as to what was happening. Star quickly snuck over to Kaltag and Nikki, asking the question that every dog was unknowingly thinking. "He.. he wouldn't d-do that... Would he?" Kaltag quickly shushed him, and all eyes were back on Steele.

A few feet from the edge, Steele dropped Balto's leg and grabbed his scruff, yanking him up into a sitting position. Balto was in shock due to all the other pain he was feeling, so he barely felt it at all. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, which caused his eyes to open and close. "Keep your eyes open, you filthy lobo!" Steele growled, biting harder on Balto's scruff. The additional pain caused him to gasp and involuntarily spasm, bringing him to his senses. Steele dropped him and Balto tried to sit up, but found that everything he did caused excruciating pain to shoot through every nerve in his body. He opened his eyes to see Steele with an unnaturally evil look on his face. Steele slowly paced in front of Balto, a sadistic smile growing on his muzzle every second.

"You shouldn't have come here, you filthy mutt. I'm done with you. I've put up with your crap for far too long, and I just... can't take it anymore! You are destroying my reputation... And you're turning her against me. Jenna... she... she is... mine... MINE! Always was and always will be. I've seen the way you look at her. You don't deserve her. A wolfdog and a huksy? HA! In your dreams, lobo."

Balto felt Steele tug at the silky orange scarf that was around his neck, loosening it's hold on him. Deep down, Balto knew what was about to happen, and for the first time in a very long time, he was scared. "Please, St-Steele," Balto sputtered, "Let's just take the medicine *cough* back and then we'll t-talk about this."

Steele grinned. "The medicine will be taken back. And we're done talking. For good."

With a swift move, Steele pulled the scarf off of Balto and spun around to deliver a hard kick to his chest with his rear paw, sending Balto flying off the edge. Chills went down the spine of every dog there, and every mouth was wide open in disbelief. Balto screamed out in fear before disappearing from view. Suddenly, there was complete silence. No one dared make a sound. Seconds later, a sickening thud rung out, echoing through the air. There was no doubt as to what made that sound. Steele walked over to the edge and looked down. "Hmph," he muttered. He turned and practically screamed at the other dogs to come to him. In complete submission due to fear, the dogs complied, and slowly trudged over. Once they stood before him, Steele barked at them. "Take a long, hard look down there, boys." He nodded toward the drop off. The dogs initially hesitated, but Steele yelled at them so loud that fear had taken complete control over their bodies. "I SAID LOOK DOWN THERE!" The dogs looked down, and they started feeling sick.

A hundred feet down lay the motionless body of Balto. He did not tumble on the descent, but instead fell straight down and hit the ground hard. The snow surrounding him resembled that of a crater, which gave the dogs an unpleasant idea of how bad the impact was. Steele spoke up, his voice causing the others to flinch. "If any of you say anything about this to anyone, you'll meet the same fate as that piece of trash. Do I make myself clear?" Every dog nodded instantly. "When we get back to Nome, I will do all of the talking. You will back me up on everything I say. Now, ready up. We're leaving. Nikki, Kaltag, get the musher on the sled." The two dogs didn't question Steele and immediately rushed over to complete their task. The others quickly strapped onto the harness. Steele took one last look off the edge before stuffing the orange scarf in his golden collar. At long last, the pathetic nuisance that is Balto was gone. Steele had never felt more alive. He felt invincible. There was nothing stopping him from having Jenna as his mate now. He would bring the anti-toxin back, and be the hero of Nome, and Jenna would not be able to resist him. No other dog would compete with him for her, or for anything; if they did, it would be their last mistake. Steele began to laugh maniacally as he walked over to the front of the line, causing the others to whimper in fear. The wind had picked back up, and fortunately masked the sounds from Steele's ears. With a quick maneuver, Steele was secured in his harness and howled, signaling the team that they were departing. Kaltag looked back at the area where the traumatic events had just taken place. In addition to the blood trails and distressed snow, he saw patches of grey fur everywhere Balto had been attacked by Steele. What had occurred that night did not need to happen. Balto only wanted to help, and he lost his life because of... that psychopath. Steele was now unhinged, and Kaltag was afraid of him. No doubt the others were as well. A lurch on the harness forced him to start running. His heart was heavy with sadness as they crept up the slope. Within a minute, they were out of the small clearing and back on level ground. With one last pause, Steele looked back down at the clearing. He felt no remorse for what he did. It needed to be done; it was long overdue. Steele then took off running, setting a rigorous pace to get back to Nome, eager to claim his long desired prize.

A/N: Well, that's the prologue. Spent most of my day in class planning it out (slow day, nothing better to do). The first half of it is practically right out of the movie, and then the second half takes an alternate storyline which the story will run with from here on out. This is my first fic that isn't a one shot, and I've been working on the overall plot for some time. I wanted to end the prologue with some suspense, and I think I did a good job of that. Let me know what you think of it, though. This story will be a T rating, obviously. I'll try my best to keep everything within that rating. Anyways, enjoy! To keep you satisfied until Chapter 1, check out my other stories I have. Until next time!