Qimmia looked into the den and told the pups, "Now you be good and stay here. I'm going to go look for your mother before the weather gets any worse." So, the Alaskan Native girl left the den and then ventured out as the snowflakes grew in bigger numbers.

"MOTHER!" Qimmia called out as she walked a little way; back the way she and Balto ran. There was no answer. "ANIU, WHERE ARE YOU?" Qimmia cried out. Still, no answer.

Back in the den, Balto was growing more and more worried about his mother and his human friend. So, he slowly walked out of the den and into the snowy atmosphere. "Balto, where are you going?" one of his sisters asked.

"Yeah, Qimmia said to stay here," added a brother.

"But I gotta go find her and Mama!" the smallest pup insisted. So, he ran off and tried finding Qimmia and Aniu.

In the meantime, Qimmia was wandering around with worry and fear that Aniu was gone for good. "MOTHER!" she cried out, "Where are you?"

Just then, some running could be heard not too far away. Qimmia felt a combined sensation of fear and surprise. Was it the Hunter or Aniu? But when she turned around, she saw Balto running for her. "QIMMIA!" he cried with excitement in his voice, "You're okay!"

The pup ran to her and nuzzled her leg as the girl looked down at him. "Balto, what are you doing here?" Qimmia asked with surprise.

"You and Mama have been gone for a really long time," the pup answered before his expression dropped, "Where is Mama?"

"I-I don't know," Qimmia replied, "Well, come. We must find her before the winds pick up!"

As the two of them walked on, they started hearing some soft, shallow breathing. Soon, it wasn't long before Balto and Qimmia both saw something that made them gasp with shock and fear. Aniu had a big red spot on her back, and she was lying on the ground!

"Oh, Mother!" Qimmia cried as she and Balto ran to Ainu's aid.

"Oh, Qimmia," Aniu breathed, "Balto!"

The pup nuzzled his mother's chin and asked, "Mama, can you get up?"

"I… I don't think I can, Balto," Aniu said weakly.

"Yes, you can!" Balto pleaded with a broken voice, "Get up!"

Aniu moved her forelegs and tried to stand up again, but she couldn't; she collapsed into the snowy ground.

Qimmia knelt down by Aniu and looked at her with tears in her eyes; it was clear that the wolf was mortally wounded, possibly by the Hunter's gun. "Mother, what has that man done to you?" Qimmia asked her surrogate wolf mother.

Aniu looked up at her and said with shallow breathing, "Qimmia, you have been… a very good friend to me and my… pups. Especially little Balto. You… watch over him."

Balto sniffed and asked his mother, "Mama, what are you talking about? Aren't you gonna come home and be with us?"

Aniu looked at her pup and told him, "I'll be with you… even if I'm not really here."

"What do you mean, you're not here?" asked Balto as his eyes became moist, "You're always here."

"Qimmia," Aniu said to the girl, "Listen to the spirit… within. It guides you… it will be there… with you… and Balto." The wolf mother gave one last small smile to her pup, and to her human friend, and then she closed her eyes and stopped moving.

Qimmia and Balto looked down at Aniu's lifeless body with tears flowing down their cheeks and muzzles. "Mama?" Balto asked as he nudged his mother, "MAMA?"

The Inupiat girl looked at him sadly, and then she stroked his back before hugging him. A tear fell down Qimmia's cheek as she realized that she was now completely alone – she had already lost her parents and grandmother, and now her secondary wolf mother was gone.

After a few minutes of mourning, Qimmia suddenly saw that the snowfall was turning into a blizzard. "Come, Balto!" she said to him with urgency, "We must return home!" She took the pup into her arms, and then they turned around to run home.

But as Qimmia and Balto were heading that direction, a massive gust of wind and snow blew them down to the ground. "Oh, Qimmia, I think we're lost!" Balto wailed with worry and despair.

Qimmia picked herself up and carried the pup in her arms as she tried reassuring him, "No, it's okay, Balto… we'll be home soon… I hope!" She tried not to sound afraid, but deep in her heart, she felt very frightened, alone, and lost. So, she and Balto picked themselves up and began to go back the way they came.

The Inupiat girl and her wolf-dog pup wandered through the growing blizzard, but no matter how hard they looked or smelled, they couldn't find the other pups' den. "I hope we haven't gone too far," Qimmia said to her pup companion with worry, "This blowing snow is making it harder for us to find your brothers and sisters!"

"Oh, Qimmia!" Balto cried out with moist eyes, "I wanna go home!"

"Balto, don't worry!" Qimmia said as she tried to sound brave, "We-we're gonna get home soon… I just don't know…" She looked around in every direction, but the dark sky and vast amounts of snowflakes made it difficult for her to remember the way back to the den. Finally, Qimmia got down on her knees and said to the pup with a defeated sigh, "Balto, I'm afraid we're stuck here until the snow stops falling."

"But, Qimmia!" Balto whined, "What about my home? My brothers and sisters?"

All Qimmia could do was hug the little pup as she said sadly, "I'm afraid we're lost, Balto. The blizzard has separated us from your siblings." She then held Balto tightly into her parka and awaited their fate of ever finding their way…

Several minutes later, the blizzard had died down, and Qimmia and Balto were shivering among the snow. About twenty feet south of them, a snow goose was digging through some snow upon the tundra. "Oy, Mama!" the goose said with a Russian accent (this was the same goose Qimmia had rescued from the Hunter's trap sometime before), "A hard blizzard, and my flock just gets up and leaves without Boris Goosenov! Not only that, but now all the best food is gone and buried!" He let out an irritated sigh as he kicked a bit of snow up into the air. Then, the goose calmed down and lamented, "Hardly anything khorosho ever happens on the tundra anymore."

Just then, he heard the sound of a sneeze to the north of him. "Chto eto?" the goose asked himself, "I'd better investigate." So, he waddled over to where the sound came from.

The goose got closer and closer, and soon saw Qimmia and Balto shivering. Balto let out another little sneeze, and Qimmia just hugged him as she said through chattering teeth, "B-bless you, little one! Th-th-thankfully the blizzard has s-s-stopped!" As she slowly began to stand up, Qimmia saw the snow goose standing in front of her and Balto. She gasped and asked, "What are you doing here, snow goose?"

"Eh, my name is Boris Goosenov," the goose introduced himself to her and the pup, "I heard someone sneeze, so I thought I'd…" As he gazed into the girl's gentle brown eyes, he looked down and saw her jade necklace hanging around her neck. Boris gasped and honked as he waved his wings about and then fell on his tail feathers. "A-Aren't you… that same dyevushka who saved me from that poacher's trap sometime ago?" Boris asked with disbelief, still not understanding how necklaces and understanding animal speech was connected with Qimmia, "And… h-how did you say that necklace let you understand me?"

Qimmia smiled at him, cleared her throat, and explained, "This necklace was a gift from my grandmother before she died. I've always had a strong love and connection with animals just like she did, and I wanted a necklace like hers. But one day, several months ago, she got very sick and died, so she left me this necklace, and I promised her to use it wisely." She looked down at Balto, who was keeping warm in her arm, and continued, "Sure enough, it seems that the path I followed led me to a pregnant wolf, who had fallen and got hurt, and I helped her. She even let me be a godmother to Balto, here. You see, he's the runt of the litter, and he and his siblings all have husky's blood in them, so they're wolf-dog hybrids."

Hearing Qimmia speak of his late mother and his lost siblings made Balto's eyes moist, and he let out a sad whimper.

"Hey, what is the matter with you, mal'chik?" Boris asked the wolf-dog pup.

"It's all her fault for leaving us!" Balto cried out as a tear fell down his furry cheek.

"Who's fault?" Boris asked.

"Mama's," Balto sobbed, "She should've came with me and Qimmia when we ran from that hunter!"

"Shhh, Balto," Qimmia softly said as she hid her own tears back, "It's not her fault – or yours."

"Exactly," Boris said to him with a sympathetic look, "Now, you listen carefully to Boris Goosenov. It is NOBODY'S fault. I'm sure your mother was an amazing animal – putting her life before yours and your siblings' lives."

Qimmia nodded at her furry friend as she stroked his fur and asked, "Do you want to go home, Balto?"

Balto sniffed and answered sadly, "But I don't know where my home is. The snow covered up all the scent tracks of my siblings and my den! I'm nothing but a dumb dog!"

"Balto, you are NOT a dumb dog," Qimmia said to him, "You are a very smart and loyal animal, and maybe someday, you will do good for others!"

Boris, meanwhile, thought of something, and then said to the girl and her pup, "You know, I live in an abandoned ship near Nome. Sometimes, these two polar bears think they own the place, too, but really, I do! How would you and your friend like to live with me until you find your feet?"

Qimmia looked at him and asked, "You mean, you're returning the kindness I showed you when I freed you?"

"Exactly! And, if you need any food for yourself, you just trod on over to Nome!" Boris continued with a smile.

"Thank you, but I can hunt for my own food," Qimmia said, "But I don't think Balto and I would mind."

Balto stopped crying and managed a little smile before nodding slowly. He was lost for now, but with Qimmia and their new friend's help, he believed everything was going to be okay.

Boris then waddled to the west, and Qimmia and her pup followed him. "So, what are these two polar bears like?" the Inupiat girl asked the goose as they walked along.

"Well, they're like clumsy human boots!" Boris answered, "They're too dim-witted to hunt people, and they don't know how to fish, because they're scared of falling in the water and drowning!"

Qimmia just giggled at the thought, and Balto managed a small chuckle.