DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN BALTO NOR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

THE NEXT DAY

As promised, Mr. Simpson was there bright and early to get me. I walked down to the team at his side. Without hesitation, he slipped me into the harness just behind Kodi. I said nothing to anyone, not really feeling like talking this morning. My outburst last night hadn't been enough to quench my anger. I was still furious with their assumptions. I had a feeling that our teamwork wasn't going to be the best today.

The postmaster loaded us up and we were off. Ignoring everyone else, I just focused on Kodi. When he sped up, so did I. When he slowed down, so did I. When he turned left or right, so did I. My only focus was to get where we were going, then get back home. After that, I'd leave behind this harness and go back to being alone. That, I felt, was how it was going to be for a very long time.

The mail run ended swiftly enough and I found myself shrugging off the harness, back at the postmaster's office. I went to walk away, but felt a hand on my head. I looked back at Mr. Simpson.

"You did well today," he told me. "That's the first time the mail run's been on time since I had Balto as lead dog when we raced the bush plane."

I nodded, then, again, turned to walk away.

"Serena," he continued. I turned around and sat down, waiting for him to completely finish this time. The rest of the team was watching me and him very, very carefully. "You seem troubled. Can you give me a clue as to what is wrong?"

With a frown, I merely pointed at his team, then turned and left. I heard him mutter something about 'why can't we all get along' but just shook my head and ignored it. I simply walked to the edge of the forest again. This time, Balto came over, along with the two geese and polar bears.

"Kodi said the mail run was actually on schedule," he commented. I nodded.

"That's what the musher said," I answered. Ever since last night, I felt a great deal more comfortable around him than I had before. "Balto, you must be the only dog I've ever seen with such strange companions."

"Oh, this is Boris and Stella," he said, gesturing to the geese, both of whom gave me friendly smiles and waved. "These two are Muk and Luk."

The two bears smiled warmly.

"Boris is the closest thing to a father that I've ever had," he continued. "The others are my closest friends."

I nodded, a warm, welcoming smile on my face.

"A friend of Balto is a friend of mine," I stated. All of them smiled.

"You don't get along with many people, do you?" Balto asked finally. I shrugged.

"People will think and believe anything they want," I answered. "Even if the truth is laid bare before them, they won't see anything they don't wish to see. I'm satisfied just being left alone to do as I please."

"Don't you have a family?" Boris asked. I sighed.

"Not much of one," I answered ruefully. "My mother and I have an ongoing war, one that will only end when one or both of us is dead. My brother only cares for himself and only seeks personal gain in all that he does. My sister is my mother's precious little baby so she has very little to do with me. My father is the only one that will even care that I'm gone. No other will."

I shook my head.

"I'm used to being alone," I finished. "Life's much simpler that way."

None of them seemed to know what to say to that. It was silent for a long, long time. Then I spotted the mail team as they came out into the open to play and run around. I was content to watch them for the longest time. Then, the mother came walking up to me, all the pups in tow.

"I never got to introduce myself," she said. "I'm Shiva."

I smiled, lightly nuzzling the pups for a moment.

"Would you mind watching them while my humans and I run to the next town?" she asked. I smiled and nodded.

"Have fun," I told her. She smiled, said her farewells, then ran back to her humans. The pups were soon wrestling on the ground, making tons of noise. I just smiled, amused. After a few moments, I turned to Balto and company.

"If you'll excuse me," I said, then got up and walked away, the pups staying very close by. I walked through town with them, ignoring the looks I was getting from humans and dogs alike. They were of little concern to me. The pups eventually began to tire and I led them to the shed where the dogs met at last night. I laid down in front of the boiler and they all cuddled around me. After making sure they were all comfortable and asleep, I laid my own head down... and joined them far from the waking world.

I'd been watching her for roughly two months now, taking notes. She was wonderful with Shiva's pups, a natural mother. She was generous with Balto and his companions... Perhaps it was time to reveal ourselves to her. I highly doubted that she even knew we had changed, too. I looked at my companion. Both of us were stark white, just like... Serena's her name now, wasn't it? Made me wonder what our new identities would be... With merely a look, she nodded back at me. It was almost time to make ourselves known.


I woke much later in the afternoon, feeling the pups stirring nearby. Slowly, they all woke as well. I smiled fondly, nuzzling each one. Then I heard a quiet chuckle. I looked up and saw Shiva looking at me. She smiled warmly.

"I may put you in charge more often," she commented. "This is the most behaved I've ever seen them."

I smiled warmly back at her.

"I'll gladly babysit more often," I answered, rising to my feet.

A loud scream suddenly split the air. After exchanging looks with Shiva, I bolted outside. The sight that met my eyes left me momentarily frozen on the porch. All of the dogs had their hackles raised, teeth bared as they stood on the edge of town, facing outward. Sitting calmly a few feet away, were two white wolves like me. As soon as I stepped out into the open, one of them smiled.

"Hello Serena," came an impossibly familliar voice. "Miss us?"

"Lilliana!" I cried, running forward, past the dogs, out to embrace my friends. She laughed and hugged me back.

"Love the new name," the other said with a smirk.

"Demona," I said warmly, hugging her, too. The dogs, I sensed, had calmed a little, but not much.

"Friends of yours, Serena?" Mr. Simpson asked. I looked back and nodded. "Well, bring 'em over. Let the vet take a good look at them for now."

I nodded again, then walked with my two best friends to the clinic. Several children didn't hesitate and petted them as they walked by. My friends soaked up the attention. Dr. Antos got them in, checked out, and out in an hour. My friends were amused. I laid down on the porch outside, each of them on either side of me, facing the street.

"How?" I asked. They smirked.

"Same way as you," Lily answered. "We've been hiding out, watching you. We wanted to make sure it was safe before we entered town."

I nodded, accepting that answer. These two never lied to me unless it was completely necessary. Even then, the two were horrible liars. You could always see right through each one. I looked up as I saw Rosie drawing near. She pet each of us, then pulled out three beautiful, hand-crafted collars. There was a spot on each of them for a nameplate. I smiled warmly at her. Mine all ready had my nameplate. She put it on me, then stepped back to look at it closely. She seemed pleased with her work. She then looked at my companions.

"Do you two all ready have names?" she asked. They both nodded. "Could you nod when I get to each letter in order of it?"

Again, they nodded. She got out a pen and paper and got ready to write. She looked at the companion to my right.

"A... B... C... D... E... F... G... H... I... J... K... L-"

My companion immediately nodded. Rosie wrote the letter "L" down, then started again. It took about fifteen minutes to get both of my companion's names down. Rosie smiled and looked up at the vet. He smiled and handed her the nameplates. He'd made them as she spelled out their names. She eagerly put them on the collars, then put them around my companions' necks as well. Mine was made of a black-lace material, sewn with numerous beads and a few fake-emeralds to bring out my eyes. Demona's was made like a choker necklace for a human, black with silver chains on top of the fabric. Hanging from the middle of it, was a skull and crossbones. She was highly amused by it. Lily's was a dark, dark blue, like her eyes. It was made from sturdy fabric. All of them had elastic bands so there was no buckle to drive into our skin all the time. We each gave her thank-you licks, then made our way down the street after she walked away. Side-by-side, we explored the town I'd become quite familliar with. None of us said a word, just observed. Several times, the other dogs moved out of our way. It was both intiguing and annoying.

"You'd begin to think they were afraid of us," Demona commented dryly.

"In their defense, Serena did take on a grizzly alone and win," Lily pointed out. I just smirked.

"Is that all?" I asked, mocking innocence ringing in my voice. The three of us burst out laughing. I smiled the first true smile since I'd been here. Now I had reason to not be so alone. My friends were here now.

"Serena!" called Mr. Simpson. He stood next to another sled. This time, there were only three harnesses. Demona and Lily exchanged looks with me.

"Wanna give it a try?" he asked, hope in his voice. With a shrug, we all three nodded and let him put the harnesses on us. I was lead dog this time. "This time, to White Mountain and back. We're doing a second mail run."

The three of us nodded.

"Mush!" he called. Time flew. This morning's run seemed so slow in comparison to how fast we were going now. My companions and I had always loved to run, even before we came to Nome. We often sprinted just for fun, raced to see who the fastest was... Lily was undeniably the fastest, but she tired quickly at a constant speed. Demona was the strongest. I had the best endurance. Together, we were an unspeakable team, bringing together three important elements that make a winning team. We were back in Nome in record time. The Postmaster seemed surprised to see us, considering we weren't even out of breath. We weren't even sweating. We hadn't bothered running full speed. We didn't need to. We all sat down as Mr. Simpson removed the harnesses.

"These three may just become our new mail runners," the postmaster commented. We exchanged amused looks. "I've never seen mail delivered so fast."

"We can make this team our night runners and my team the morning runners," Mr. Simpson said. "I'll just need to find a replacement for Serena on the morning haulers."

The postmaster nodded and we each grabbed a part of the harness, pulling the sled and Mr. Simpson all the way home. We dropped it off, then left to go off on our own. Soon, we came face to face with the morning mail team, none of them wearing a friendly expression.

"Trying to take our jobs?" a male snarled.

"Afraid because you know we can?" Demona egged on. I gave her a warning look.

"We don't want any trouble," I told them. "Mr. Simpson asked us to run with him another load of mail. We simply did as asked. No one's losing any job around here. If it comes to that, we won't take them. You've had them longer."

None of them believed me, not even Kodi. I exchanged exasperated looks with Lily, then we three merely shouldered our way through their line. We were, after all, bigger than almost all of them. Ralph was the only one that even came close to our size. Once past them, we simply walked the rest of the town, going home to Rosie's. Once there, we all laid down in front of the fire, watching the mother cook. She didn't think twice as she set a plate in front of each of us. We ate quietly, nodding at Jenna and Balto as they entered and soon finished eating. I then laid down and relaxed. I knew that expression on Balto's face well.

"If you have something to say, say it," Demona told him. He frowned.

"Do you three just aim to be overall unfriendly?" he asked. We shrugged.

"Friendliness is a matter of perception," Lily answered.

"A perception I think every dog in this town fails to see because it is not their own," I added. His and Jenna's frowns deepened.

"You know, everyone thought you were beautiful when you first stepped out of Rosie's after recovering from your injuries," Jenna revealed. "Several of the dogs hoped to get to know you. Now, the number of dogs willing to allow you to continue to stay here has dwindled dramatically. Very few remain that defend you."

I just shook my head.

"I have done nothing to earn their disdain," I stated, completely baffled. I treated them no different than I treated my friends...

"You're taking the mail run from the mail team," Jenna started. "Whether you realize it or not."

I just laid there and listened.

"When people try to speak to you, you are unfriendly," Balto added.

"You make no attempt to speak to others," Jenna continued.

"And you've proven that you have a terrible temper," Balto finished. I merely looked at them.

"That's it?" I asked. They looked taken back.

"Sweetheart, that's how she is to everyone," Demona said.

"Unless you approach her first, she's not going to talk to you," Lily added.

"She's kinda shy like that," added Demona.

"She's only fierce when she needs to be," Lily continued.

"She may have a temper, but it's only brought out by unfairness," Demona continued.

"As for the mail run, forgive us for wanting to use our speed and stamina to aid this town, even if it's merely the nightly mail run," I finished. "If we cannot use our basic abilities, what's the point in having them?"

"And the unfriendliness and rudeness?" pressed Jenna. I sighed heavily.

"You all have to see it from a point of view that is not your own," I answered. "I'm in a strange place with strange new people. I don't feel at home here and if I don't feel comfortable around you, I won't be kind to you."

I looked away from them.

"In my life, I've learned not to trust anyone," I revealed finally. "The last place I tried to call home is how I came to be in the condition I arrived in... Balto, the last town attacked me, all of the dogs and people combined. I can't count how many bullets I took nor how many bones were broken by teeth... Forgive me if I seem rude, I don't mean to be, but... I can never let my guard down like that again. This time, I may not live to tell the tale."

No one said anything to that, Balto and Jenna being too shocked to speak. My companions remembered that particular moment. I finally got up and placed my front feet on the window sill... then froze. Almost every dog in Nome was outside the window. All of them had been listening. All of them wore horrified gazes. I got back down and shook my head.

"I've learned it's safer to simply be alone," I stated, laying down again.

"It may be safer, but it isn't better," Jenna finally answered. "Serena, no one in this town is like that."

I sighed heavily.

"I don't know that," I answered calmly. "Not to seem rude, but I tire of this conversation. We have a long day tomorrow. We need our rest."

With that, I closed my eyes and blocked everything out. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.