Chapter 1: The Long Run After

Nome, Alaska December 10, 1922

It was a cold winter's night when a mother gave birth to her litter of pups. She had been expecting these little miracles of life for awhile now. Her owner had been eagerly awaiting their arrival. The house she was in was home to a famous musher. Other than him there was her mate. He had Dark Brown fur with two darker brown fur spots on his green eyes.

"Fly they're beautiful." He said. "They have light brown fur just like their mother."

Fly saw one of them whimper for attention. This one had one brown spot on his eye like his father and blue eyes like his father.

"Kal this one almost looks like you." She smiled at her mate. "Little brown spot on his eye and all. Why don't we name him Kal jr?"

"Why not Kaltag Fly?" Kal wanted to make it the same but different.

Fly smiled and nodded as her pups went back to feeding. Little Kaltag fed happily with his brothers and sisters.

Present day 1927 Nome Alaska

It's the afternoon on warm but yet chilly day in the little town Nome, Alaska. The whole town stands in front of city hall cheering on for Balto and the sled team for saving Duke a bush plane pilot. A tan husky going by the name of Kaltag walks by the town square where the ceremony was being held.

Kaltag was one of the original dogs that took part of the serum run. He is middle aged now and still has the desire to run and be apart of team. But from him getting older the town needed new dogs to keep the mail running. Kaltag sighed as the town cheered Balto`s name along with his son's name.

Kaltag moved on from town square and head for his mothers house who once a grand prize winning show dog while his father on the other hand was a sled dog just how he was. Kaltag walked into the doggie door and heading into the living room where his mother would normally be. With his father now passed away and his brothers and sisters now moved on with their lives besides one who still lives in town and was one of the original dogs on the sled that went for the serum.

"Hi mom." Kaltag said to his mother who was curled up by the fireplace. She looked very old but still had her beautiful looks. Parts if her fur were a brown gray color but that didn't take away from he gorgeous fur. When she saw her one son who was still here she smiled. "How did your day go?"

"It went very well my baby Kaltag." She responded in a slightly tired voice. That was the thing about age. It affected everything. "You get any new sled jobs while you were out?"

"No mom still unemployed." Kaltag sighed. "I hear Star got a new sled job in White Mountain though. Him and Nikki are now co-lead dogs."

Ever since the Serum run Star and Nikki went on to do better things. It turns out that they worked really well as a team. The downside was that it meant they moved around Alaska a lot. Kaltag would have gone with them but that was the same time his father fell ill. He couldn't leave him behind with his mom to die with none of his pups around. So he stayed.

Kaltag took a deep breath and looked at his mother. "I'm sorry mom I'm just a little out of it today," Kaltag answered but feeling unsure about his answer. His mother smiled, "I'm sure you'll find something to do your talented when it comes to sled dog racing," his mother explained with another smile. Kalta g nodded as a tear fell from his muzzle.

His mother then stated to lose her smile. "What's wrong sweetheart?" His mother asked. Kaltag looked at his mother "something's wrong I can see it," fly said worried. Kaltag looked away from his mother for a moment to think of what to say. Kaltag then looked back at his mother and started remember something from his past.

Nome, Alaska February 9, 1922

"Kaltag is something wrong?" Fly asked her two month old pup who appeared to be pouting. "You're giving me the sad puppy frown."

Kaltag shook his head. He was sad but it was nothing that he should make a big deal about. So what of his younger brother had friends and he didn't? Star only had so many friends because he was pretty much a class clown. Kaltag had to frequently bop him on the head to reset his naive younger brother's mind. It never worked to long though. That idiot never learned.

"Kaltag baby I know something is wrong." Fly pressed. "I'm your mother I know when my children are troubled. You can tell me anything sweetheart."

"Well mom.." He began. "I don't understand why Star has so many friends while I have none. He's always causing trouble."

"Well maybe that's why." Fly responded. "Most troublesome pups get attention. But that's the bad kind of attention. If you want a friend seek out the pup that's most like you."

Kaltag thought for a moment. A pup most like him? That would mean trying to find a pup who was lonely like him. That shouldn't be too hard. Kaltag nodded and scampered off in search of such a pup.

Nome, Alaska 1927

Kaltag looked at his mother and chuckled. "I know mom you're good at that," Kaltag answered. " I'm fine really," Kaltag said forcing a smile. Fly raised one eyebrow making eye contact with her son. "Really I am mom honest," Kaltag continued. Fly didn't want to upset her son and she didn't want to have a fight about it, like him and his father had when he was alive. The had a fight about that wolf dog pup kaltag met that same day when kaltag felt down about not having any friends.

Nome, Alaska 1922

Kaltag ran down the busy streets with a happy look on his face. Today was the day he'd find a friend. This proved a little difficult though when he realized not every pup was quiet and reserved like him. In fact most of them were like Star, very hyper and active.

He ran around all over the town hoping to spot a lone pup like him. Turns out it was much harder than he thought. Not that many pups his age were running around. Most of the pups in Nome were born in the summer months. Kaltag was determined though. He was going to find a friend today or it was going to be a sleepless night.

It seemed like hours of searching. It probably was considering the sun sank lower and lower almost touching the ground. Kaltag sat down in an alley way feeling very tired. He looked up at the setting sun with almost lost hope. With a sigh he stood up ready to leave. As the pup walked out he heard a small whimpering sound. It came from around the corner.

Kaltag walked over to the corner and found a small grey wolf dog pup about his age. "H... Hi," kaltag said as he got closer. The grey pup looked up and backed away from kaltag. "Get away!" The grey pup said scared. Kaltag lowered his ears and backed up. "I'm sorry didn't mean to scare you," Kaltag said as he sat down of where he was standing. The grey pup sniffed.

"You didn't scare me..." Said the gray pup as he paused and sniffed again."I just don't want you to hurt me," the grey pup explained. Kaltag cocked his head to right in confusion. "I wouldn't hurt you. Why would I ever do that?" Kaltag asked.

Before the pup could answer Kaltag's father walked up behind Kaltag and pushed him a side getting very angry at Kaltag.

"Kaltag!" His father flared up. "What are you doing hanging out with that Wolf mutt?! He's too dangerous to play with!"

The little grey pup whimpered slightly. "I'm not a mutt my name is Balto!"

"Get out of here you little terror or I'll rip you apart!" Kaltag's father barked making Balto run off in tears. "Kaltag don't ever hang out with his kind ever again you understand? He's half wolf son. Wolves kill dogs.

Kaltag dropped his ears and nodded. His dad lead him home quietly. He looked behind him at the spot where he saw the pup his age. After a moment's thought he knew what he had to do. He was going to see for himself if the pup was bad.

Atticus A/N: Hurray we've finally got our debut on here. I'm so glad we've been able to get this collab running. Please rate and review this best you can! Atticus out!

Kodiwolf321 A/N: Yes! We love our readers so much to keep the fun going I hope you all liked this as much as we loved writing it! And don't there still more to come! Kodiwolf321 out!