Chapter 4: The Wolf-Dog.
7:00 A.M. Friday, December 1st, 1922:
As the sun slowly rose over the horizon, a brown-furred wolf-dog watched as a sleeping town awakened, ready for a brand new day. The hybrid sat on the edge of his trawler, both intrigued and annoyed at the same time. Balto sighed, watching from a distance as the humans walked up and down Front Street. He knew why the humans were so busy that day, it was the first day of December, Christmas Day was now only twenty-five days away.
The wolf-dog hybrid had only been living near Nome, Alaska for two years now, but he already knew about all the human's traditions, either from watching them from afar, or from learning about them from his Uncle Boris. Christmas was a day when the humans celebrated the birth of their savior, a man named Jesus Christ, who had supposedly lived over two thousand years ago. Despite his knowledge of human tradition, Balto still didn't understand human religion yet. He was a very skeptical person, not one to believe in magic or spirits.
"Watching the humans again?", a curious, cantankerous voice asked.
"Yeah Boris, I just don't get it, what's the big deal about Christmas?", Balto answered, turning around to look at the snow goose who was standing right behind him.
"Well boychic, Christmas is a magical time when the humans all get together to celebrate each other's well being, and to spend some quality time together", Boris explained, taking a seat next to his adopted son.
"Really? Cause I always thought it was just about kids getting presents", Balto teased lightly.
"Well, I guess it's that too", Boris frowned.
Balto laughed huskily, but Boris only frowned again, the old goose never was one for humor.
Balto knew the reason the humans were so busy this morning, was so they could get their Christmas shopping done early. Though Christmas was once a religious holiday for devout Christians, it was now reduced to a holiday mostly about gift giving and tremendous feasts (which was how most of the humans liked it, especially the children).
Still, Balto had other thoughts on his mind, his birthday was coming up, it was only three days before Christmas. December 22, 1920, was the day that Boris had found Balto in the wild, and since the pair of them had no idea when the hybrid was actually born (he was already a few months old when Boris found him), they had both agreed that this date would serve as his birthday.
Balto was a wolf-dog hybrid: his mother was a wild wolf, and his father had been a domesticated sled dog, but that was the only thing he remembered about his parents. It had been so long since he had last seen them that their faces had literally faded from his memory, lost in time. Balto wished everyday that he could be with them, instead of stuck there in Nome, where every man, woman, and dog hated him.
During the 1920s, wolves were still highly indigenous to Alaska, and often traveled in large packs of ten or more. Many of the humans claimed that wolves would sneak into their villages and murder their children, but Balto doubted that. The wolf-dog knew that wolves were shy and defensive animals that tried to avoid humans whenever they could, but he just couldn't understand why the humans would make up such lies about him and his kind. Balto suspected that many of the humans and dogs fabricated stories about wolves simply because of their prejudices. Either way, the humans that lived in Alaska didn't trust wolves, and would either shoot any on sight if they met any or they drive them away, including wolf-dog hybrids like Balto.
Balto had came to Nome when his parents died two years ago, when he was first adopted by Boris. Boris had raised him inside an old abandoned fishing boat, and treated Balto as his son. But during his first day in Nome, Balto had learned the hard way that the local dogs didn't trust wolves either.
On his very first day, the half-wolf pup had been harassed by some of the local dogs, who were all older and bigger than him. This particular quartet of dogs, Balto never forgot their names, because he hated them more than any dog had ever hated another. Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and Steele. The four pups had called him names like 'lobo', 'freak', 'half-breed', and 'creature'. These names had hurt him, but not nearly as bad when their lead dog, Steele, had insulted his deceased mother. Balto had wanted to fight the bullying malamute and make him pay for his words, but the dog was a coward, never traveling anywhere without his three-dog gang to back him up. While Balto could have fought one or two of them, he couldn't handle all four at once, and was forced to retreat to his home with Boris.
In the days that followed, Balto had tried to ignore them, run away from them, and sometimes even avoid Nome entirely. Still, Balto was forced to brave the village of Nome whenever he got hungry, because there was no other source of food nearby. Since he was raised by a goose instead of a wolf pack, Balto had no idea how to hunt or stalk prey, and stealing food from the humans was his only chance of surviving, even if it meant risking another encounter with Steele and his gang.
Balto sighed again, this time from the painful memory. The day he had first met Steele was over two years ago, back when he was still just a pup. Now he was lanky two year old dog (around fourteen in dogs years) and was healthy enough to face Steele again if he had to. But during his time in Nome, Balto had become a sort of pacifist, not wanting to have to fight anyone unless he absolutely had to. Instead, Balto chose to spend most of his time either in the woods exploring, or inside the trawler with Boris, sleeping the day away. The old boat was his one place of sanctuary.
Much like the famous French novel, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", Balto came to the old boat whenever life became too hard from him to handle. Several times, Balto had broken down crying inside the old boat after being dealt cruel words or a vicious beatdown from Steele. Even though crying was often considered undignified for a man, it helped to release some of the pain and frustration that he felt everyday. The boat was the one place in Nome's vicinity where Balto felt he could be himself without facing judgment and ridicule from the other dogs.
Balto slowly walked past Boris and into the cabin on top of the main deck. Inside, Balto found his faithful blanket. He often used it as both a rug, and a way to keep warm at night. Balto had spent several sleepless nights crying underneath the rug, icy cold tears flowing down his cheeks from an uncontrollable breakdown.
In his darkest hours, Balto sometimes wished that he had never been born and that Boris had never found him or taken him in. Still, Balto's suicidal thoughts always passed after he had a few hours to calm down. There was no need to do anything drastic. After all, his life wasn't always that bad, he had shared some pretty memorable moments with Boris, and his only other two friends, Muk and Luk. The polar bear brothers always managed to put a smile on Balto's face with their playful antics. Even though the bears were in no way related to him, they still referred to Boris as their 'Uncle Boris'.
While Balto pondered these fond memories of his few friends in the world, a loud noise caught his attention, which he recognized as the sound of seven dogs barking, and close by too. Realizing that another sled team was passing right by his trawler, Balto immediately ran back on deck, and peered over the edge of the boat, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever it was that was leading the team.
The wolf-dog was fascinated by the world of sled dog racing, and how often humans relied on such simple animals as dogs for their basic survival. The wolf-dog even dreamed of leading his own sled team sometimes, but he knew that it would always be nothing but a dream, a distant fantasy that would never come true. Balto knew that because of what the humans and the dogs thought of him, he'd never even get to be a wheel dog, and that it was pointless to even dream about something that would never happen. It was hopeless, but still, as Balto continued to watch the loads arrive, he couldn't help but fantasize about being down there, pulling a large wooden sled behind him.
To Balto's surprise, instead of just one big team, there were three separate sleds below them, each with at least seven dogs pulling them. The first one was driven by a man, and seemed to be carrying food and other precious cargo. The second one was driven by another man, which carried light furniture and rugs, and Balto could tell the furniture was obviously not from Alaska. And the third one contained four human passengers, a man, a woman, another man, and a little girl, who looked to be no older than four or five years old. But it was really the fifth passenger that intrigued Balto.
"Little Amy" by Murray Gold begins.
Sitting in the lap of the little girl was a young husky dog. She had a red and white fur coat, one that was the exact same color as rust and cream, and looked to be around the same age as Balto.
To Boris' surprise, Balto leapt off the side of the boat, and onto the snowy ground below them. "Wait, where are you going?!", the goose shouted, conerned.
However, Balto simply ignored him and continued to follow after the sleds, completely fascinated by them. Balto could tell that the humans were new arrivals, but why anyone would travel hundreds of miles to live in a tiny village like Nome, he didn't understand. Balto had to know more about them, even if he had to risk being seen. Balto especially wanted to know more about the beautiful husky the little girl was playing with.
After a few more minutes, the teams of three arrived at the edge of Front Street and the sleds gradually came to a halt. After taking a minute to stretch their tired legs, the humans passengers began to climb out.
Worried that the human family would see him, Balto quickly ducked behind a nearby barrel and peered around the corner.
"Well, here we are guys! Nome, Alaska!", a man announced proudly, raising his arms at the town around him.
Another man climbed out the sled, followed by the woman and the girl. "This is Nome? We rode across hundreds of miles of this frozen wasteland, with a bunch of dogs, just so you could move out here?", the second man asked sarcastically.
"Oh, stop complaining Joe, you know I've always dreamed of living here, out on the last frontier", the first man replied with a frown.
The woman was the next one to speak up, smiling. "Thanks for coming out here to help us set up our new home, Joe, I know this is a long way away from your ranch in South Dakota", the woman said.
"Aw, it was nothing Evy. Ever since you married my little brother all those years ago, you're an honorary part of the family now", Joe replied, shaking Eve's hand.
Balto tilted his head to the side, he was beginning to understand now. The small human family were immigrants from North America, who had came to start a new life in Alaska.
Joe turned to look at his younger brother and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Now, Tom, I want you know that I'm not staying here long. I'll help you fix your new place up, and maybe even look for a good farming dog while I'm here, but after that, I'm going right back to the family ranch", Joe declared.
Thomas nodded his head, understanding clearly, and turned to look at the empty sled. The little redheaded girl who had came with them was trying to climb out of the sled, and her pet husky was helping her. The dog was allowing the girl to step on top of her head, since the infant girl was still too short to climb out on her own. "Come on Jenna, just boost me up a little bit higher", the girl asked with anticipation.
Balto immediately pushed his head out further from the barrel, so he could see more of the girl and her dog. "So, Jenna's her name", Balto mused silently, even more curious now.
"Careful now Rosie", Tom laughed, before picking up the little girl in his arms.
"Dad, I could have made it", Rosie whined.
"You don't need to get a concussion on your first day here", Tom replied, tickling the girl's stomach.
At first, Rosie laughed, but then the girl started to shiver. "Brr, it sure is colder here than it was back in America, dad", she observed, displaying a surprising amount of vocabulary for someone her age. Balto could immediately tell this family was not like any he had ever seen before.
After a few more seconds, Tom carefully put Rosie back on ground, so the little girl could walk on her own. "You're right, dear. We've gotta get you inside before you catch pneumonia", Tom decided, grabbing some of the suitcases from the sled. Evelyn and Joe did the same, while their guide uncoupled the other sled dogs so they could roam free.
Though some of the other sled dogs showed interest in the husky named Jenna, her eyes mostly stayed focused on her owner, Rosie, showing love and affection for the girl. Balto was surprised by this, it was very rare to see a dog that devoted to his or her master, or at least it was in a town like Nome, where dogs were mostly bred to work instead of play with their owners. It was becoming more and more obvious that they were foreigners from America.
Alaska would not become the 49th state until the year 1959, before then the United States was considered to be another nearby country to Native Alaskans, like the independent countries of Canada, and Mexico (and at the time, Hawaii). Balto's thoughts were interrupted when Joseph suddenly spoke up again.
"Still, maybe this place isn't all bad, I'll be the only one in South Dakota who can say that he has a little brother living in another country", Joe chuckled, while carrying several other suitcases.
Balto saw that the family was walking towards a nearby house, which he assumed was their new home. The house was painted dark red and had a decently-sized yellow fence with a broken gate planted around it.
"We'll have to do something about that gate", Eve muttered, straining to carry her own share of the luggage.
Tom slowly managed to pull a small, golden key out of his pocket and opened the door. Normally, he would have loved to help his wife carry her share of the luggage, but his hands were just as full as hers. Balto watched as all four humans entered their humble abode, followed by the red husky.
The house was much too dark inside for Balto to see the interior, but he could tell that it had a lot of room in it. After making a few more trips outside to retrieve the rest of the luggage, Thomas closed the door shut, and locked it with a small metal key, in case someone tried to sneak inside.
Balto stood in the same spot for a few more moments, trying to comprehend what he had just seen. He knew that it was a human family, and he knew that they were from another country, but the humans weren't the ones that were really interesting to him. The red husky he had seen with them was all he could think about, ever since he had first saw her She was the most beautiful female dog he had ever seen, and from what he could tell, she was kind to both her owners and to her friends. He would love to meet the girl, befriend her, and maybe even go on a date with her.
"Roman Paradox" by Murray Gold begins.
As Balto walked down Front Street, the wolf-dog hybrid wasn't aware that he was now out in the open, putting him in full view of every dog that was passing by him.
"Hey everyone, it's that wolf-dog again!", someone shouted, shattering Balto's dreams and his newfound peace of mind.
Balto turned around to see that every dog on the street now had their eyes fixed on him. Some of them looked surprised, some looked goodnaturedly curious, some looked horrified or disgusted, some just looked away, and others looked downright angry with him.
"What are you doing here?", one female dog asked, with earnest curiosity. The dog was a whole lot shorter than the others, and Balto could tell by her proper grooming that she was a show dog. Balto had seen her before, and recognized her as being a Brooklyn immigrant named Dixie.
"Isn't that Balto, the wolf-dog?", an afghan hound named Sylvie asked, just as puzzled.
Balto chuckled sheepishly, as he realized that so far the dogs didn't seem to making an aggressive moves against him. That was a good thing. "Um, hi ladies", he said nervously.
The two dogs raised their eyebrows, not knowing whether to flattered or offended.
"Hey wolf-dog!", someone shouted from a distance.
Balto looked behind him to a see a black husky sneering at him, an angry expression on the dog's face. The dog was considerably younger than him, no more than a year old, but was surrounded by three other dogs. The angry mutt immediately reminded Balto of Steele and his gang, and he realized that he had seen the dog talking to Steele several times before.
"Blaze", Balto said bitterly.
The dog worshipped Steele and wanted to be just like him, he was like the unofficial fourth member of Steele's gang. Since Steele was the lead dog of the local sledding team, many of the dogs in Nome looked up the malamute and gladly shared his prejudice against wolves.
"Derek, go find Steele. He'll be glad to know that the half-wolf is back in town again", Blaze sneered to one of his friends.
The brown husky known as Derek nodded his head and then ran inside the Old Mill.
Balto's heart immediately stopped. The hybrid knew that if he was still there when Steele arrived, a fight would immediately follow, one that he would surely lose. Balto looked at Blaze, and then at the crowd of dogs that were surrounding him, and he saw a small opening on the eastern side of the crowd. However, Balto knew that if he tried to run, Blaze would just catch up with him from behind. There was only one way out now.
"What's the matter wolfy? Are you scared?", Blaze sneered, advancing forward.
Balto took one last look at the young husky, braced himself, and then ran right towards him. Blaze stepped back in shock of Balto's unexpected retaliation, which was exactly what the clever hybrid had wanted him to do. Balto quickly ran past Blaze and then bolted down Front Street, not willing to risk another confrontation with Steele so soon.
Realizing that he had been tricked, Blaze growled in annoyance, and set off after the wolf-dog, with his two other friends right behind him.
"What was that all about?", Sylvie asked, confused, and Dixie simply shrugged in reply.
A few seconds later, Steele and Derek emerged from the Old Mill.
"Where is he? Where's the wolf-dog?", Steele asked, eyes gleaming with a dark sort of anticipation.
"He went that way, Blaze and his pals are in hot pursuit", Dixie replied, blushing at the sight of the muscular, manly lead dog.
"Excellent", Steele rumbled, before dashing off in the direction that Blaze had just left.
"You could say 'thank you', you know!", Dixie shouted after the sled dog, frustrated.
"Hey, Blaze, save some for me!", Steele shouted, ignoring Dixie's cries like she wasn't even there. Steele was ready for action. He enjoyed the days he would meet up with the wolf-dog, because when he did, he could put the half-wolf in his place. The malamute would not tolerate wolves trying to sneak into his town, especially not half-wolf freaks like Balto, which he considered to be even worse than purebred wolves. Steele also knew that Blaze was still too young to try and handle Balto alone, so the younger dog would just have to sit back, relax, and watch an old pro do the job up right.
((()-()))
Balto ran as fast as he could. He could see the trawler in clear sight, only a few meters ahead of him. Balto looked behind him and saw that Blaze and his gang was right on his heels, followed by Steele and a few other dogs.
"Oh shoot!", Balto exclaimed, pushing himself ahead even faster.
On top of the old boat, Balto could see Boris was still waiting for him, a look of absolute terror on the snow goose's face. "Come on, come on kiddo, you can make it!", the goose shouted, terrified for his son.
Balto kicked with his hind legs, rapidly propelling himself forward, and quickly ran up the ramp that led to the boat's deck. But the hybrid knew he was not out of danger yet. Using as much strength as he could summon, Balto kicked the ramp with all four of his legs, sending it flying away from the edge of the boat. The ramp tilted upwards, and then fell backwards, preventing anyone from climbing up the boat after him.
As Blaze realized that the plank was going to land right on top of him, the husky yelped and avoided it by jumping to the side. Steele and the others did the same and the plank crashed against the snow.
Steele snarled and looked up at the triumphant wolf-dog. "You may have won this time, lobo, but one day I'll catch you on my turf, in my element, and then your little wolf ass will be mine!", Steele swore, seething. Shooting one last hateful glare at Balto, the enraged malamute reluctantly turned around and began stalking back towards Nome.
"Did I do good Steele?", Blaze asked, sounding pathetically hopeful.
"Better than you've done before, someday we'll get that wolf", Steele replied, though he sounded distracted by something.
Blaze wagged his tail, pleased that he had earned the approval of his idol.
As Steele, Blaze, and his lackeys left, Balto and Boris shared a collective sigh of relief.
After taking a few minutes to catch his breath, Boris looked Balto, scowling. "What were you thinking, son?", Boris scolded.
"I wanted to see this human family, and this husky that was with them, I didn't notice that Blaze had seen me", Balto explained himself, while still panting a little. He turned to look at the gangplank that was now lying on the ground. "If I hadn't tipped that gangplank, we'd be dead by now", the hybrid observed, a tad shocked.
"Well, nice work kiddo, except for one thing. How are we supposed to get the plank back up?", Boris asked sourly.
"I'll think of something", Balto replied, though he wasn't really concerned about their current predicament. He was still thinking about the husky, and thinking about meeting her. But then reality hit him. He was half-wolf. The close call he had just had only proved that the dogs of Nome would always be after him. No other dog would ever love him, and after Jenna spoke to the other dogs, she would know all about him. But not the real him, just what the other dogs thought of him. The lies.
Balto sighed, and walked away, completely exhausted. A good nap would allow him to rethink the recent events of the day, and clear his mind of that little heartbreak for a few more hours.
((()-()))
8:00 A.M. Monday, December 4th, 1922:
The weekend was fairly normal for the wolf-dog and his adoptive father. When Muk and Luk visited the trawler the next day, they helped Balto and Boris to lift the gangplank back onto the ship. But besides the polar bears' brief visit, Balto kept mostly to himself for the rest of the day. Throughout most of Friday and Saturday, he was depressed about the husky he had came so close to knowing. Eventually, the half-wolf got hungry, but he didn't dare risk going back into Nome, not after the close call he had had with Steele and Blaze. Instead, he chose to venture into the forest and scavenge for food.
Being a pacifist, Balto refused to kill any kind of living creature, even the smaller, weaker animals. Despite his carnivorous instincts, Balto found it impossible to kill another innocent life, to cruelly take away someone else's fate simply so he could keep on living his own miserable existence. So instead of a normal wolf diet that consisted of rabbits, deer, and caribou, Balto chose to eat twigs and berries. It wasn't very filling, but it kept him going throughout the weekend. He even made a long trip to a meadow that he had found a few months earlier, a huge field located at the base of a mountain that seemed to come alive whenever the sun reached it's highest point in the sky.
By Sunday, Balto's spirits had lifted slightly, but he was still unwilling to venture into Nome. Boris didn't know what to do about his son, he had never seen Balto so afraid of Steele and his gang before. "The incident with Steele must have shaken him up worse than I thought", the goose thought, watching as Balto let himself grow hungrier and hungrier all weekend.
Finally, when Monday morning came around, Boris watched as Balto laid underneath his rug, ignoring the feeling of churning and turmoil inside his stomach. Eventually, Boris worked up enough nerve to say something. "Kiddo, it pains me to see you like this. You can't just lay under that rug forever", Boris said, concerned.
Balto sighed and placed his massive paws over his head. "Well, what else can I do Boris? I can't go in the woods, the other wolves would kill me on sight if they caught me in their territory, and I can't go back into town either, Steele's still there, and I know he's just waiting for me", Balto explained, sounding just as depressed as he looked.
Boris sat next to the wolf-dog and rubbed his back with his left wing. "Come on kiddo, you can't just lie here and let yourself die", Boris insisted, a bit desperate.
Balto simply looked up at the snow goose, and considered the possibility of Boris' words. The idea of putting an end to his misery was sounding more and more enticing everyday.
"Your mother would want you to live", Boris encouraged him.
Balto's ears perked up at the thought of his mother, and he knew that Boris was right. Whoever his mother had been, she had given up her life to save her son, and she wouldn't want to him to waste his life away, living in fear.
"Alright, I'll go", Balto sighed, standing up. "Besides, Steele can't possibly make me feel any worse than I do now", the wolf-dog added, gloomily.
((()-()))
A few minutes later, Balto peeked around the corner of a building. He didn't see anyone so far, the street was empty. Nodding to Boris, Balto quickly crossed the street and ran to the nearest place to find food, the butcher's shop ran by James Avery. Balto knew that the butcher was always leaving scraps of food outside for the local dogs to eat. After all, the younger dogs were the future of sled dog racing, and thus had to be kept well fed. Since their future depended entirely on these dogs, the citizens of Nome often fed the local canines some of their leftover food. But Balto was crafty, and often found the scraps before the other dogs did.
Balto was lucky today, he had found a small pile of food in the alleyway outside the butcher's shop. Balto and Boris looked up and down the street again, and then moved towards the leftovers. As Boris feasted on the food, ravenously gobbling it down, Balto reluctantly chewed on a bratwurst.
"I still can't believe it, a vegetarian wolf", Boris exclaimed, scrutinizing Balto.
Balto ignored him, and continued to chew, savoring the first taste of meat that he had had in days. Still, he felt a little bit guilty about eating something that had died of unnatural causes.
"How can you not like all this delicious meat?", Boris asked with a full mouth.
Balto simply shook his head, not really having an answer to the snow goose's question.
Boris shrugged, but as he was about to bite down on another juicy tenderloin, Balto heard the distinctive sound of dogs growling.
"Meat that should have been ours!", an angry voice shouted behind them.
Balto sighed. The wolf-dog had already recognized the voice and didn't even bother turning around, since he already knew who it was. However, that still didn't stop Boris from freezing and looking behind them in fear.
Four angry sled dogs were standing behind them, each of them only about a couple months older than Balto. Balto knew the group of dogs all too well, Steele, and his cronies - Nikki, Kaltag, and Star. The three subordinate dogs were standing behind Steele the way wolves would stand behind their alpha male, flanking him on either side and waiting for him to make the first move so they could attack. Nikki, Kaltag, and Star smirked and prepared themselves for their latest attack on the wolf-dog.
Balto threw an annoyed glance at Boris, since the hybrid had already known that this would happen from the minute he had wandered into town. Balto wished that he had ignored Boris earlier and just stayed inside his boat all day, but his depressed mood kept the wolf-dog from feeling any genuine fear of Steele that day. Instead, all Balto felt was annoyance and impatience.
"Alright Steele, let's just get this over with already", Balto sighed, his voice flat and hollow.
Steele ignored Balto's impudence, and continued to growl at him. "WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?", Steele yelled, sneering.
Balto just continued to roll his eyes, he had already heard Steele's speech about his inferior breeding at least fifty times before in the past two years, and the malamute's insults really didn't have that much of an effect on the hybrid anymore.
"GET OUT OF THIS TOWN, LOBO! YOU TAKE OUR FOOD! YOU TAKE OUR WATER! YOU TAKE OUR SPACE! THIS IS OUR TOWN, YOU FREAK! NOT YOURS!", Steele insisted, growing more and more impatient, and more surprised by Balto's lack of fear that day. Usually, the wolf-dog ran away from the very sight of them, but for some reason, the hybrid seemed uncharacteristically defiant that morning.
However, the word 'freak' did manage to catch Balto's attention. It was something that he had never Steele call him before, and it reminded him of something. There was something Balto had always thought about, something he just couldn't figure out about Steele, but had never thought to ask him. So instead of running away from the malamute and his gang, like they had expected him to, Balto simply remained in his place and acted as if he hadn't heard the lead dog's threats, totally defiant.
The wolf-dog cleared his throat. "Steele, why do you even hate me so much? I've never done anything to you", Balto asked calmly.
Boris nervously looked at the four dogs, who were all smirking and snickering now, as if they knew something that Balto didn't. The old goose didn't like where the confrontation was going, but he knew he was helpless to do anything if a fight broke out.
Steele chuckled darkly at the hybrid, mockingly, before finally answering. "I don't hate you Balto, I hate what you are! You think you can just live here with dogs? When you should go and live with your kind, the wolves?", Steele replied hatefully.
Balto flinched slightly, feeling the enormous amount of spite and resentment that was rolling off of Steele's soul at that very moment.
At that, Steele's mouth curled into an evil smile, and he subconsciously starting licking his teeth with his tongue. "Hah! Your mother was lucky to have died when she did, so she wouldn't have to see what a disgrace you were. Not that that bitch would have cared anyway", Steele laughed evilly, smirking.
Balto, who up until then, had been turning the other cheek to Steele's insults, immediately snapped his head around at the mention of his mother. The hybrid's whole body began to quiver and shake, and he could feel a small flame inside his soul grower stronger and stronger, the flame representing the immense anger he felt that moment.
"Um, Balto, what's wrong with you?", Boris asked, nervously.
However, Balto just ignored him and his eyes began to glow, causing the old goose to fall backwards in shock. Ignoring Boris' fear, the wolf-dog turned to face Steele.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?", Balto growled tensely.
"Balto, where are you going with this?", Boris repeated, standing up again.
"You heard me, Bingo, she was a whore", Steele huffed slowly, putting emphasize on the slur before he burst out laughing. Nikki, Kaltag, and Star all started did the same, their laughter blending in with Steele's.
"NO ONE TALKS ABOUT MY MOTHER LIKE THAT!", Balto roared with a snarl. At that moment, Balto wanted to kill Steele, to tear the malamute's heart out of his chest.
Realizing that they had pushed the wolf-dog too far, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star quickly ran in front of Steele to back him up.
Knowing that a dog fight was about to break out at any second, Boris stepped back, giving Balto enough space to maneuver. With Boris finally out of the way, Balto grinned and unleashed the largest growl he could muster.
Seeing the sight of the enraged wolf-dog, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star stepped back, flinching, momentarily forgetting their commitment to their boss.
With nothing standing between him and the arrogant malamute, Balto smirked to himself and chuckled loudly. "You're not so tough without your gang. Some lead dog, are you too much of a coward to do this dog to dog?", Balto uncharacteristically taunted.
Outraged by Balto's boldness, Steele growled back, and beckoned for his gang to re-join him.
Petrified with fear, Boris forced himself to move as far away as possible, and could only watch as all five dogs pounced on each other.
Ignoring all the others, Balto leapt forward and aimed right for Steele's throat, but Nikki rushed in front of him and shoved the hybrid against a brick wall. Balto struggled to free himself from the sled dog's grip, but the chow-chow was both older and stronger than him. Realizing that Balto was pinned against the wall, Steele grinned and sauntered forward, towards the helpless husky.
"Who's the coward now?", Steele taunted, baring his teeth.
Kaltag and Star quickly joined him, while Nikki released Balto. Since Nikki had placed his massive paws directly on top the husky's neck, he hadn't been able to breathe for more than thirty seconds. Balto gasped for air. But when he looked up however, he realized that he was boxed in, all four dogs were blocking any chance of escape. Coming in from all sides, Steele and his followers quickly backed Balto up against the wall.
Realizing what was about to happen, Boris closed his eyes and covered his ears, as the dogs relentless bit and slashed Balto. During which, Steele shouted the words, "You're going to wish you were never born wolf-dog!".
Realizing that there was no escape, Balto considered an aerial retreat and looked around him for any low-lying roofs. He then realized that the roof of the butcher's shop was covered with freshly fallen snow. Seeing the unstable snow lying precariously on a slanted roof, Balto remembered the number one cause of accidents and sudden deaths in Alaska.
"An avalanche", Balto realized, a light bulb going off inside his head.
Moving before Steele or his gang could strike again, Balto lifted his head up and howled as loud as he could.
Amused, Steele simply stared at the wolf-dog, confused. "What are you doing now? Calling your filthy wolf kin to come save you?", he jeered evilly.
But to Steele's surprise, Balto grinned back at him and then leapt into the air. Before Steele and his gang could stop him, the wolf-dog leapt over their heads and out of the immediate danger zone.
"What the?", Kaltag exclaimed, shocked.
"How did he?", Star stuttered, confused.
"Don't just stand there like a bunch of idiots, get him!", Steele barked out an order.
But before Steele or his friends could advance any further towards the hybrid, they were suddenly crushed underneath a foot-full of snow and buried alive. Balto's howling had caused the semi-melted snow to slide off the roof - essentially creating a mini-avalanche.
"That was amazing! I've never seen such quick thinking!", Boris exclaimed, surprised.
But instead of answering, or even stopping, Balto ran up to the goose and grabbed his right wing in his mouth.
"OW! What are you doing?!", the goose snapped, shocked.
"We've got to move, NOW!", Balto answered, before running out of the alley.
Boris watched as the familiar buildings of Nome faded away, but was shocked when Balto still didn't stop running when they reached the old trawler, but instead kept going, towards the woods.
"Where are you going?", Boris shouted, hopelessly lost.
"Somewhere safe", Balto explained, his voice a little calmer now.
After running through the snowy forest for a few more minutes, Balto stopped outside the mouth of a large cave and released Boris from his grip.
Boris immediately shook his wings and his legs to stretch his muscles, and then turned to scowl at his son. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!", Boris demanded, furious at the boy.
"I had to get out of there, Boris. I had to get out of there before it happened again", Balto clarified, the hybrid's voice growing solemn as he retreated in on himself again.
"Before what happened again?", Boris inquired.
In response, Balto lied down so he could talk to Boris face-to-face. Balto seemed to still be worried about something, but Boris still didn't understand what.
"I shouldn't have let Steele get to me, I shouldn't have let my temper get the best of me like that", Balto muttered shamefully.
Boris gaped before he started laughing in disbelief, causing the wolf-dog to snap his head up again. "Are you kidding? With talent like yours, you could have easily whupped their tails", the goose argued in amusement.
"I wanted to kill them Boris!", Balto abruptly shouted, standing on all four legs again.
Shocked by his son's sudden outburst, the snow goose took a step backwards.
"I wanted to tear them apart and feast on the pieces!", Balto confessed. He looked at the snow goose, hoping his father figure would understand. "The reason I don't like fighting people is because every time I do, something inside me makes me want to kill someone", Balto elaborated, admitting to his own inner demons. "Steele might be a bully, and a cruel one at that, but he still doesn't deserve to die, no one does", Balto sighed, lying on his stomach again.
Boris nodded slowly, understanding the wolf-dog's words. But still, a chill went up the old goose's spine, since he had never seen this side of Balto before.
"So when are we going home?", Boris asked, hoping to break the awkward silence.
"We can't return to the trawler right now, Boris, they would just follow us back there. I've just made Steele's list", Balto explained, before staring back at the village of Nome, which was now far off in the distance.
The hybrid had always felt distant from the town and it's inhabitants, but today, the feeling was very literal.
Balto sighed, and closed his eyes, hoping to just sleep the day away like he had originally intended to do.
((()-()))
Back in Nome, a lone paw began to claw it's way out of the snowdrift. Soon, the paw was followed by a head, and then a face. Piece by piece, Steele clawed his way out of the pile of snow he had been trapped under for more than fifteen minutes. Nikki, Kaltag, and Star soon followed him, shivering from the intense cold.
"That half-breed freak will pay for this!", Steele snarled, seething with rage. "HOW COULD YOU LET HIM DO THAT TO ME?", he bellowed at the trio, outraged.
"Hey, we were as shocked by that avalanche as you were, boss", Kaltag reasoned nervously.
"I DON'T CARE!", Steele snarled through clenched teeth. "THE NEXT WE SEE THAT WOLF-DOG, YOU'RE GOING TO HELP ME KILL HIM, OR I JUST MIGHT GET RID OF YOU THREE NEXT!", Steele commanded furiously..
Nikki, Kaltag and Star all gulped at the same time, they had never seen Steele like this before. They knew that their boss liked to pick of weaker dogs like Balto and often tried to dominate over people. But today, Steele seemed completely obsessed with revenge and was acting like a tyrant. Now he was talking about forcing them to help him take someone else's life, just because he embarrassed him.
For the first time in years, the three dogs began to wonder about their leader's sanity as they watched him sniff the ground, following Balto's scent across Nome.
"Where are you, Bingo?!", Steele growled.