Aleu scrambled to the other side of the pack's iceberg. The waves, becoming ever more violent, threatened to throw her, and all the other passengers, off. The ever-worsening weather made her wish she had not eaten breakfast.
"Mommy," screamed a pup, as he slid right off the edge of the ice. A wave brought him up and over, back onto the ice.
"KODI," screamed Aleu. This pup had been named for Aleu's brother of the same name. He was one of only two survivors of her first, and only, litter.
Suddeny, a huge wave came and swept Aleu right off her feet. She was washed out, away from the ice. she found that they had been closer to land than she had thought as she was dashed against rocks once, twice, three times. Aleu saw a raven flying overhead, but it looked strange, like the raven itself was echoing as it flew over the shore. Then, everything went black.
Balto sat up quickly. It's ok, it was only a dream, he told himself. The images stuck in his mind like a bad aftertaste, and he shook himself as if to shake them off.
It had been almost two years since Aleu left, and Balto was still having nightmares of a horrible accident, where Aleu drowned. This one, however, was different. The puppy that had almost washed off the iceberg was new, Balto was sure of it. And that raven had never been there before, either.
"Balto? Balto, are you in there?" Jenna called,"The pups are waiting for you. You promised to take them on a picnic today! Balto?"
"I'm here, Jenna," Balto said, crawling down the side of his boat,"I just can't seem to stay asleep at night anymore. not since Aleu left."
"Agh! Zeez puppies are crazy! Zay szeem to think zat I am chew toy," a cranky Borris grumbled," And besidez zat, zoes dreamz are not letting you sleep again."
"Borris, you weren't supposed to tell Jenna!"
"Balto, what dreams?" Jenna inquired," What about?"
"Nothing, just probably something I ate doesn't agree with me," Balto lied. He could tell that Jenna could tell that he was lying. She had that look again.
Borris gave in to Jenna's stare, even thought it wasn't directed at him," Balto is having dream of Aleu drowning over, and over again. Last time Balto iz having same dream over, Aleu left to be with wolves. I sink eet also came true."
Jenna gave Balto an angry look for some reason.
"What?" Balto cried.
Jenna never got a chance to answer. A grey-brown streak pounced Balto from the side, and it growled playfully. A trio of red puppies ran to catch up with their brother, who was wrestling with Balto.
Balto tried to pin his young son, but was startled when his yellow and blue eyes lost all color except yellow and seemed to glow, despite the bright sun.
After a split second, the dog's eyes returned to normal, and he asked," What's the matter, dad?"
Balto, still stunned, said,"That thing you just did with your eyes...How'd you do that, Nat?"
Nathon, the only brown puppy of his litter, looked confused."What thing I did with my eyes?"
Balto marveled at how much Nathon looked like Aleu. If Nathon were female, he could be Aleu's exact twin.
"You made your eyes glow, Nathon," Jenna cut in, I saw it, too."
Nathon frowned. He shook his head, saying,"I didn't do anything with my eyes. I think you imagined it. C'mon, let's go on our picnic!"
Balto grimmaced as the puppys, already more than a year old, ran ahead to find a good spot on the beach."The last time I saw anything like that happen was right before Aleu left. Aleu saved us from an angry bear by reading the bear's mind."
Kodi yawned as he let himself get hooked to the harness."Morning, everybody. Ready for the return trip?" Kodi smiled as affirmations came forward from all the dogs strapped in behind him. He loved being the lead dog for the mail team. It made him feel important, and he got to hear all the humans gossiping better. The driver was stopped as a friendly neighbor started talking about a familiar subject- wolves.
Kodi sighed. He was sick about hearing about wolves. Balto had started telling his younger siblings about wolves ever since they could talk. He was preparing Nat for when he found out 'how humans viewed him.' Even so, Kodi got sick of hearing about it. Then Kodi heard something that got his attention.
"-Wolves disappeared from the Bay Islands. The same ones that came out of nowhere two years ago," the friendly neighbor was saying,"and scientists think they wandered onto an iceberg that got caught in a storm. They found most of them, but a few are missing. Those ones may have escaped to land, and are thought to be roaming the area. Be careful."
Kodi was confused. Was this the same pack Aleu was with? If it was, where was Aleu? Was she all right?
Kodi rushed the team home that day, so he could tell the news to Balto and Jenna.
Dingo waited for his father. He had some news from his job at the newspaper office.
Since he didn't know where Balto was, he could only wait.
Dingo hated waiting.
As Dingo looked for Balto, he saw a greyish lump floating lazily on the waves.
Having nothing better to do, Dingo waded out to inspect it. It was furry. And alive. And looking very tired and knocked out. Dingo dragged it onto shore.
'Great. Now I have to make sure whoever this is doesn't die,' Dingo thought crossly. He pressed on the strange creature's stomach, and it spewed seawater.
And then, it spoke, in a soft, tired voice.
"Paws off, shrimp. Don't touch me!"
Feeling annoyed, Dingo retreated a few steps. The shape stood up and shook the water out of it's fur.
It was a female, obviously a purebred wolf.
"You probably expect me to thank you for saving my life," she said.
"Not really," was Dingo's reply," I've heard that wolves aren't ones to talk to dogs all that much."
With an angry growl, the wolf whirled and stuck her nose in Dingo's face. "Who told you that?!"
"My dad," said Dingo calmly, "Here he comes now."
"I'm gonna give him a peice of my mind, is what I'm gonna-"She stopped mid-sentence. Looked at Dingo, the at Balto, then back to Dingo. "Your father is Balto?"
Dingo stared the wolf straight in the eye, and said "Yes. Why act surprised?"
Balto approached and studied the wolf, then asked, "Who is this, Dingo?"
Dingo explained the situation, and the wolf introduced herself as Snow Tracks, of the Western Ice pack.
"I was chosen to deliver unfortunate news to one Balto of Nome. Seeing as how I've found him, I will now deliver my message."
Lina sniffed around for any sign of her mother. Finding nothing, she slowly walked back to the beach where her pack had landed. Her brother, Kodiak, came back at the exact same time from the other direction. Seeing he had also found nothing, she sat and shook her head sadly. After almost a whole day of searching, the only thing uncovered was that they were indeed back on the mainland.
A sudden yell from the woods startled Lina out of her thoughts. Two polar bears burst out of the woods, hugging Lina for some odd reason.
"Aleu! Aleu, is it really you? Please tell us it is, oh, please tell us it is!"Screamed the smaller bear, while the other one just whimpered as if he was crying, though that wasn't the case.
"KODI! Kodi, help! Kodi," shrieked Lina at the top of her lungs. 'These bears are trying to suffocate me,' thought Lina with a gasp.
The bears looked confused. The bigger one whimpered some more, and the smaller one said," You're right, Luk. Kodi's still in Nome, so why is Aleu calling him?"
A redish-brown blur, and the small bear was pinned to the ground. Kodi was on top, and growling angrily.
"Claws off my sister, bucko!" Kodi roared.
The bear shuddered, then exclaimed,"Your sister! I thought it was Aleu, I swear!"
Now it was Kodi's turn to look confused. "Aleu is the name of our mother. How do you know her?" demanded Lina.
"We know her parents. I'm Muk, and this is my brother, Luk. He can't talk," stated the small bear, "Where is Aleu?"
"We don't know. For all we know, she is..." started Lina, then stopped herself,"No. She's fine. She has to be! We already lost dad, so we can't also lose mom."
Aleu opened her eyes. She slowly lifted her head, then flinched. She was hurt, but she didn't know how badly.
"Oh, good, you're awake. For a while, I wasn't sure you would make it."
Ignoring her pain, Aleu spun around. The voice had come from a wolf with black fur and a grey underbelly.
"Niju? You saved me? Why?" Aleu was confused. This was the same wolf that had attacked her on the first trip...Wasn't it?
"Let's just leave it at it wasn't my idea." Niju intoned as he sat on the other side of the cave where they were.
Aleu grinned. Nava. It had been Nava's idea to save her. Niju's thoughts told her so.
Niju suddenly jumped up and backed away from her. "Creepy! Creepy eyes! Get away from me, you!"
Aleu ignored Niju's reaction and said,"I see you still think as much about Nava as you did when I left. You say he left this morning, and said that I was not to leave? Interesting. I think I will anyway."
Aleu got up and started walking toward the cave exit, only to be hit with a seering pain in her left foreleg. She muttered and limped toward the cave exit, only to be blocked by a grey mass.
Balto screamed,"What do you mean, you lost her?! She is supposed to be your Alpha, and you lost her? I'm glad I didn't lead! You might have lost me!"
Snow Tracks waited for a moment, the said,"Are you done?"
Balto took a beep dreath and muttered,"For now."
"Good. We were returning across the sea on a homemade iceberg when we were caught in a storm. We lost several good wolves to the angry waters, including your daughter only minutes before we struck aground. Before I left, we had found all the other wolves swimming toward shore. The only one still missing is-was- Aleu. We did find where she washed ashore, but she herself was not there. She appears to have been dragged further inland."
"Could you follow the trail?" Balto seemed worried.
"For a short while. It was lost when it went into another pack's territory. No one dared follow it further."
A distant voice called, getting louder. It seemed to be approaching quite rapidly.
"It's Muk! He seems excited about something," Balto noted.
Soon after, Muk, Luk, and two wolf-dogs, one male and one female, climbed onto the boat. The male was grey with a red tint, and the other looked exactly like Aleu.
"Balto, these are Aleu's pups! We found them when we were playing in the forest! Well, we actually found them and thought we had found Aleu and so we hugged her and she called for him and-" Muk started to talk excitedly, but Balto interupted him.
"Before you get talking about your entire day, let's first get everybody knowing each other and comfortable," Balto said before Muk could try to talk over him.
`"Right, as always, Balto. This is-" Muk was interupted again as Nathon wandered in, eyes all aglow.
"Sira and Kodiak," he finished. He was obviously hoping to scare the guests.
"Hey! Our mom can do that trick," exclaimed Sira.
"And it doesn't scare us anymore,"added Kodiak," Please, call me Kodi."
"I'm afraid that might cause problems,"the other Kodi said from the corner,"since my name is also Kodi."
Snow Tracks already had a solution. "We'll call the older Kodi by his full name, Kodiak, and the younger one, Kodi. Problem solved."
"That might work for now, but I'm not going by Kodiak for the rest of my life."
"You won't have to. Sira and I are leaving as soon as we find mom."
The argument between the two Kodis continued in the background for a while, while everyone else discussed what to do about the missing Aleu situation.
"Nava! You scared me half to death! Now," said Aleu determinedly,"get outta my way. I've got to get back to my pack."
"Aleu, you are not going anywhere until the help I've sent for gets here."Nava was determined, too. "You broke your leg and several boves during your little swim, and several other bones besides."
"Nava, you should just let her go. She's got her father's legendary stubborness."
"Normally, I wouldn't agree with Niju, but for this case, I'll make an exception." Aleu was leaving whether Nava allowed it or not.
"Aleu, you can barely walk. How are you expecting to get past me?" Nava had a point; she couldn't walk easily. She wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop her. She tried to limp past Nava, knowing full well that he would move to block her.
As Nava moved one way to block her, Aleu used her three good legs to vault herself to the wall of the entryway, then up and over Nava. One thing Aleu hadn't counted on, though, was how she was going to land with just three legs.
Moon Waters was upset. First, she had allowed the pack's Alpha to wash overboard, then she had lost her children. She was going to get in huge trouble by the Beta, the second in command.
If Gasi Mordos, the Beta wolf, found out, Moon waters would be demoted from Delta, fourth in command, to Chi, twenty-second in command, in charge of only the Psi and Omega, the lowest ranks reserved only for traitors and thieves.
Frightened by the aspect of even more demotion, Moon waters ran in the direction of where they had lost Aleu's trail: another pack's territory.
After examining Aleu, Nava declared,"Aleu, this is why we don't perform flips with a broken leg. First, you broke your leg, and now you gave it the matching one for company. Congratulations, you are the only creature on four legs that I've heard of to break two legs at once."
"Ow. It sure smarts. OW!" Aleu grumbled.
"Of course it smarts. You have two broken legs!" Niju shouted from his watch post outside.
There was a sound of footsteps, then, "Who are you? What do you want?"
A voice said,"You don't recognize me? Well, I recognize you, Niju."
A very confused and stunned Niju backed into the cave, followed by a less-confused but more-angry Moon Waters. The two were growling at each other, but as soon as Moon Waters saw Aleu, she left Niju alone and walked toward Aleu.
Aleu watched as Moon Waters saw her wounds and looked first surprised, then upset, and finally scared.
"Aleu! I...uh..."Moon Waters stuttered.
"Oh, so you can talk,"Aleu stated conversationally.
"Can I?" Moon Waters said stupidly.
"Why are you here?" Aleu was demanding,"We agreed that if anything happened to me, you would keep an eye on the pups."
Moon Waters sighed. There was no escape. She would have to explain to Aleu what had happened to her pups.
Balto inched toward Jenna's house. He had to tell her what he had learned about Aleu's whereabouts. She saw him and came out.
Nathon was talking to Kodi. It was his job to be polite. So far, he wasn't getting much cooperation.
Kodiak was keeping an eye on them, so they didn't get into trouble. He wasn't succeding, either.
A raven flew through town, leaving ghosts of itself behind it. Balto, Jenna, Kodi, Kodiak, Sira, Luk, Snow Tracks, and Muk say it and started to follow it, knowing that it held some importance.
"You what?!" Aleu said, trying not to scream.
"I...er...misplaced your children. I saw who they left with, but they went into another pack's territory and I lost them." Moon Waters cowered just out of Aleu's reach.
"Describe who they went with," challenged Aleu.
"Two polar bears. One was big, and couldn't talk, and one was small and very talkative." Moon Waters braced for an attack from Aleu. None came. In fact, Aleu was laughing.
"Muk and Luk. Those idiots are still hanging around! They will take my babies to my father, and he will take good care of them. Moon Waters, You did good letting them follow instead of calling for them to stop. Remind me to give you a promotion."
"Now we are being lost," said Borris grumpily," and I am missing date with Stella. You-"Borris whirled to face Balto,"had to follow raven. Then raven is disappearing, and leaving us lost in middle of forest!"
"When we got lost on the island, mom taught us a song that somehow got us un-lost. We have nothing better to do. Want to hear it?" Sira was trying to be helpful.
Jenna sighed."Sure. If nothing else, it will cheer us up."
Sira took a deep breath and sang in a sweet, clear soprano:
Praise for the high tide,
Praise for the seaside,
Praise for the sun at high noon.
Praise for the lightning,
Praise for the singing.
Praise the father sun and sister moon.
As Sira sang each part, Balto's eyes and ears were tricked. He saw and heard what Sira was singing about.
Sira kept singing, and Kodi joined in with a beautiful tenor.
Praise for the red dawn,
Grass that we walk upon,
Praise for the river's whispered tune.
Praise for the wind brother,
Praise for the earth mother,
Praise the father sun and sister moon.
Praise the father sun and sister moon.
As the last notes cleared, Balto suddenly picked up a familiar scent drifting on the wind. One he hadn't smelled in two years, but still remembered well. Aleu.
Balto looked around, and saw that the others had the trail, also. He started following it.
Sira and Kodi ran ahead and fell through a hole in the ground, then were chased out by a wolf with black fur.
"Niju! Guess who," Balto called.
Niju spun around, then moved aside as Nava came out.
"Balto! I thought that was you! Come on in, Aleu is here!" Nava called back, though Balto probably could have heard him without the shout.
Balto heard Aleu's name and picked up the pace in order to see her. He went into the cave and skidded to a stop, horrified.
"Hello, papa." Aleu spoke calmly, but Balto could tell that she was in great pain.
"We need to get you to Nome," Balto heard Nava say.
"Good luck with that. I wouldn't expect too much help from me, not with these broken legs."
Balto noticed for the first time that Aleu seemed to have an extra knee on both forelegs.
Suddenly, from just outside the cave, Niju said,"We get anymore dogs out here and this place'll be a suburb."
Balto and Jenna went outside to see Dusty hooked up to the mail sled. She was the only one hooked to the sled, but the other harnesses were attached.
With a smirk, Dusty flicked her tail and said,"Somebody call for a special mail pickup?"
It took everybody to get Aleu onto the sled. When they finally got her on, Aleu fell asleep.
Balto slipped into one of the harnesses, Kodiak slipped into another, and yet another was filled by Jenna. They were still two dogs short of a full team.
After a moment's hesitation, Kodi stepped forward and attempted to get into one of the harnesses. Nava stepped in and helped, then helped Sira climb into the last one.
Kodiak snuck up behind Dusty and shouted,"Boo!"
Dusty shrieked and jumped high in the air.
After Dusty calmed down, Kodiak asked,"How did you know we needed your help out there in the forest?"
"Actually, your little brother, Nathon told me. He said,"she frowned, trying to remember,"that a little birdy told him. He said that you would know what that means."
"Actually, I do. The same little birdy told us where to find Aleu."
Aleu stirred. She could hear voices. Human voices.
"She suffered six broken bones, including two broken legs, fluid in the lungs, and a minor concussion. If Balto and them hadn't brought her here when they did, she wouldn't have made it. As it is, she's barely alive."
Somehow, Aleu know they were talking about her. She smiled, then fell back into a deep sleep.
She was going to make it, after all.
You don't get to be Alpha for nothing.
Songs used: Muru's Chant (from Balto 2: Wolf Quest)
Balto, Aleu, Jenna, Kodiak, Dusty, Dingo, Nava, Niju, Borris, Stella, Muk, Luk, the Raven, copyright Universal Studios
Snow Tracks, Kodi, Sira, Moon Waters, Nathon, Gasi Mordos, copyright Aleuisbest (.org)/JackOdd()
