Balto: And Life Starts Now

Part 1

Chapter 1 the Hands of Men

They say that all dogs go to Heaven, but Balto's eyes flickered open revealing nothing but darkness all around him. Slowly out of the darkness, rose a circle of flames that danced evilly around him. He blinked rapidly as the unrelenting heat radiated and cut through his body. He almost instantly began to sweat. The flames moved closer. Balto tried to roll over from his side; but wait; he was tied by the ankles. He struggled and fought trying desperately to break free. His heart raced and his breath shook, genuine horror masked his eyes. He screamed as the first flames licked his back singing the hairs and sending a foul smell into his nostrils. He fought harder and harder as the flames inched closer to his nuzzle. They reflected in his eyes as they moved in close enough to begin roasting his skin under his fur. Seconds later, they engulfed his whole body, slowly burning him alive. Hysterical laughter bellowed out of the darkness in a thunderous echo as he let out a blood curdling scream. He began slipping away as he slowly lost feeling in is body.

Balto's eyes shot open and his head snapped up. He glanced around and found himself in a small, but cozy room that had a small rug in the center, two silver bowls on the floor close to the door, and an old wooden chair. He stood up sorely from his bed made from an old blanket balled up inside of a small low topped crate and hobbled over to the two silver bowls and found one filled with dry kibbles and the other filled with water. He stared into the water at his own reflection. Who was this hybrid that stared blankly back at him? He quickly put it out of his mind and buried his nose into the bowl lapping greedily at the delightfully cold water within.

After half the bowl was emptied and a small bit of the kibbles sat in his stomach, he quickly felt life wash over him once again. Now; where was he? He'd never seen this place before and he especially not the man that walked through the door shutting it loudly behind him. This man was tall and blonde with a young boyish face and a bright lively smile. Balto eyed him suspiciously, glued to the floor with surprise.

"Hey boy, nice to see you up and around." His voice was soft and comforting. "You know, I still can't figure what you were doing washed up on the side of the river like that. What were you doing all the way out there," he asked, reaching out to pat Balto on the head.

Balto sensed no danger from these hands but flinched despite himself.

"You okay," the man asked, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Balto couldn't understand but he figured that this strange human meant no harm.

"I'm Duke," the young man began with a smile, "I still don't know what to call you, but I'll think of it," he said letting go a chuckle. "How about Shadow?"

Shadow, was that his name? It seemed to fit. Balto lolled his tongue showing his pleasure.

"Alright then, Duke beamed, "come on Shadow, I wanna show you something," Duke said opening the door. Balto followed the man to the outside of the house and came upon a large machine that resembled a bird with its wings spread out wide.

"This is my bush plane," he began proudly, placing his hand on the body, "I can soar high above the clouds and leave this world behind me. When you're in the air all of your troubles disappear and all that is left is happiness and freedom."

Balto, who had been keeping a short distance, crept up slowly to the strange machine and smelled it cautiously.

"Come on up boy," Duke said patting the wing with a gloved hand.

Balto jumped on the wing and smelled around in the cockpit. Duke hoisted himself up onto the wing and walked over to Balto, patted him on the head and climbed into the cockpit. He looked over at Balto and smiled. Balto gazed back knowingly.

"It's okay boy; come on in," he said patting the seat behind him.

Balto reluctantly clambered in and sat down. A loud grinding sound occurred and the whole machine began to vibrate, startling Balto who nearly jumped down and ran. Duke quickly calmed him down assuring him that everything was okay. After the machine was running for a few minutes, Duke gripped the gears, checked the equipment, and looked back.

"Hold on tight," he said joyfully.

The plane lurched forward, turned toward a bare field, and began its coax along the snow and began to rise. Balto smiled happily, looking over the side and down at the shrinking ground below him.

A/N

Any questions you have will be answered in the next chapter. Also, I'm not sure if Duke's plane was a two seater or not. If it wasn't, it is now.