Dingo's Tale III: For the Love of Family

Chapter 1: Preparing for the Perilous Journey

April 13, 1927 08:12 a.m.

Saba's Old Home – Basement

Dingo woke up, yawned, and stretched. "*yawn* Wow, I can't believe I'm traveling halfway across Alaska on my own, I already feel old." Dingo said. Saba woke up, and did the same as Dingo, "Morning, Dingo." Saba said. "Morning, sis, why up so early, you should be resting." Dingo said. "I couldn't sleep, the pain was so bad, and the thought of losing mom, Kodi, and your mate and puppies, it's like I just can't bear the thought of it." Saba said, starting to tear up. "Aww Saba, don't cry, I'll come back in one piece, I promise. Just promise me one thing," Dingo said, holding her head up, licking the tears off her face. "*sniffle* What is it?" Saba asked. "Make sure dad and the rest make it back in one piece." Dingo said, smiling. "I promise, they'll make it back if it's the last thing I do." Saba said. "Make sure you make it back too, don't let anyone or anything get the best of you, okay?" Dingo said. Saba nodded and the two went outside and sat on the porch of the house.

Balto woke up, along with Yukon, the two joined Dingo and Saba on the porch, and Dingo spoke up, "Alright guys, I think it may be time for us to go, we can't wait until night like before. We'll start out by heading South and set up refuge in a cave or an old tunnel, once there, Dad will lead you guys home while I go and free mom and the rest who are captured-," Balto raised his paw to stop him, "No, son, if you're going, then I'm coming too." Balto said. "No, dad, you are in no condition to do this kind of journey." Dingo said. "If Jenna's in there, I'm coming too, that's the end of it!" Balto said. "I should be coming along too." Yukon said. "No, especially not you, who else will lead Saba home?" Dingo said. "She can come-." "NO! She can't see out of her left eye, and she's covered in cuts, bruises, and she's got two bullets in her legs!" Dingo shouted. "He's right Yukon, you'll need to lead her home, but for now, I want you two to rest while me and Dingo get ready for the journey ahead." Balto said. "Alright, point proven. But how will we get home, there's no trail or anything?" Yukon asked. "There doesn't need to be a trail, there's already one, the trail we created, travel back to the tunnel that led us here, go through the mountain ruins, travel back through the forest, past the lake, then you should arrive at a train station, follow the rails back to Nome, and go to my ship, the journey should only take about 2 days. We'll be home in one week, so don't wait up." Balto said

"Alright, dad, let's go inside and get some supplies. We'll need water for sure, and maybe some medical supplies." Dingo said. "But how will we carry all of those things?" Balto asked. "Well, the water is usually in a canteen, we can wear it around our neck, as for the rest, we'll have to find some kind of vest." Dingo said. "Alright, let's go find something that we can use." Balto said. "Dad, when we first came in, didn't you notice that there was a picture frame of the man in a military outfit? He probably worked with dogs, he may have brought home his dog's military vest." Dingo suggested. "Good idea Dingo, but where would it be?" Balto asked. "My best guess is the guy's room, either that or the basement." Dingo said. "You'll have to check the basement, you're the only one who can use his back legs completely, I can only use mine to walk or sprint." Balto said. "*sigh*Alright, I'll go check down there, anything else?" Dingo asked. Balto shook his head, and Dingo went to the basement door, "Here we go, *gasp*" Dingo took a deep breath and dived into the water. "Let's see, maybe around the washing machine?" Dingo thought to himself. "Crap, I'm running out of breath!" Dingo thought, hurrying back to the stairs to catch his breath. Dingo reached the stairs, "*gasp* Woah! That was a close one, note to self, don't think, just swim!" Dingo said to himself.

Dingo dived back into the water and swam around to the hatch entry, "Let's see, no way out, hey, there's an olive drab vest!" Dingo swam to the vest and looked at it, "This is it alright, *choke* better get back to the stairs!" Dingo thought. Dingo swam back to the stairs, almost drowning. "*cough* ugh, I hate water, Dad! I think I found the vest!" Dingo shouted. Balto walked into the room, "Really? Look over it again, I think I already found it." Balto said, dropping the vest. "They….both look the same?" Dingo said. "But there was only one dog in that picture." Balto said. "Wait, bring Saba here." Dingo said. Balto nodded and went to go get Saba, and quickly returned. "Oh, you guys found it, heh…" Saba said, scratching her ear with her front paw. "I thought so….Saba, was this why your owner was abusing you? Did he try to bring you into military service?" Dingo asked. "Y…..yes. I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner I know, but I didn't want to upset you guys any further." Saba said. "Don't worry about it, in fact, now we may be able to hold even more supplies, this should fit me, the other one is a tighter fit, perfect for dad." Dingo said. "What's that supposed to mean?" Balto asked. "Oh, don't be so dense dad, you don't eat very much, you drink more water than you eat food." Dingo said. "True enough, before I ate that fish, I hadn't eaten in two days." Balto said. "Alright alright, enough of this, we need to fit these vests and get going, pretty soon people are going to start investigating the smell." Dingo said. "Good point, Saba, could you help me fit this thing?" Balto asked. "Sure, you'll need to lay down on all fours first." Saba said. Balto did as he was told and Saba laid the vest on his back, "Now, roll on your back, aannnnddd…..*snap* got it!" Saba said, clicking the latch. Alright Dingo, your turn!" Saba said. Dingo nodded and did the same as his father, the vest fit perfectly. "Alright, we need to find some water, maybe some different supplies as well." Dingo said. "I don't think canteens are going to work, we may as well bring bottles." Balto said. "Well, there may be some around the pantry." Saba said. "Well let's go look." Sure enough, there were a few water bottles in the pantry. "Alright, we have three water bottles each, and a bag of jerky in your front pocket." Balto said. "Come on, time to go!" Dingo said. Balto nodded and walked towards the door where Yukon sat. "Dad, are we going to die?" Yukon asked. "You and Saba won't, me and Dingo might, this is a dangerous journey son, and I don't even feel comfortable bringing Dingo." Balto said. "Come back alive dad, don't let anything keep you from coming back." Yukon said. "Alright you two, time to head south." Balto said. The group nodded and followed Balto through the city, people started to come out of the house, but that didn't stop the dogs from going. "Everyone is looking at us, dad." Yukon said. "Don't worry, they won't hurt us as long as they don't know what happened." Saba said. The group continued through the southern end of the city, and made their way to the outskirts of town.

Prepare yourselves, for this will be a long journey…..

To be continued…..

A/N Well guys, this is a fresh story for a fresh new plot! This one will be a much longer story since I don't plan on writing a Dingo's Tale IV. This one should have 10 Chapters like Dingo's Tale II, but each one should have at least 2,000 words(not counting this one) It might have more than ten, it depends on how it goes, I know, Thomas didn't help with this one, but I feel like this first chapter was something I needed to establish and do for myself. Anyways, see you guys in Chapter II tomorrow!