Chapter 7: To Be or Not to Be

Sunset was now reaching closer than ever. The illuminating ball of light now sat just at the horizon, filling the sky with a bright yellow-orange hue. As Richard and Balto both sat together, Boris arrived in their presence.

"Hey, fellas, come over here," Boris called to them.

They both obeyed his command and left the edge, following his path. Both of them walked over to where the bears were resting, and Boris pointed to them with a mischievous grin.

"Let me show you something," Boris chuckled. "Watch this."

He turned his head to the bears.

"Hey, boychiks, uh, let's play a game," Boris said.

Muk and Luk were ecstatic for another game and got right on their feet waiting for it to begin.

"Yes, please, Uncle Boris," Muk exclaimed.

Boris gave a toothy grin and swiftly waved his wings to his left. "Race you to the shore. One, two, three go!"

And off they went. Richard tried to join in the fun until he stopped himself when he saw them leap off the edge of the boat. It looked too high for him to jump off. He stood still while Muk and Luk raced together to the shore.

Boris had a proud look on his face and looked Balto in the eye. "They win."

He walked away, thinking he was finished with the job. Then suddenly, a small splash and cries of help could be heard in the distance.

"Help! Help! We can't swim!" Muk cried out.

Richard heard the panicked screams and turned back to the entrance, stepping down the steep wooden plank and running to the rescue. Balto heard their cries too and leaped off the deck, while Boris ran after him.

Richard, who worried the most about the bears, made it to the shore first. When he saw that they were just splashing around in the shallow end, he facepalmed in disbelief. The others caught up to him shortly after. Balto stared at them with amusement while Boris was dumbfounded at how dimwitted they were.

"Bears! Fellas! Idiot balls of fluff!" Boris yelled at them.

"Easy, Boris. You know how they are," Balto said to him.

Boris waddled to the panicking bears while Balto tried to deescalate the situation.

"Muk! Luk! Relax! Hey, come on, you're okay. You're not drowning," Balto called out to them.

The bears eventually calmed down and stopped flailing around after realizing how shallow the water was. They also noticed Boris speaking from the water's reflection

"He has point, bears," Boris said.

Muk slowly looked up to him as he continued. "You are not drowning because, if you will pause one moment you will observe, perhaps…"

Boris's break pressed hard against Muk's snout.

"Tide is out!" Boris yelled, pointing to the wide-open sea.

He shook his webbed feet dry and waddled off to the sandy shore off the coast.

Luk leaned over to Muk's ear and let out a small whimper. Boris heard it quite clearly and turned around.

"He said what?" he asked with one eye closed.

Muk nervously rubbed his arms and translated, "Oh, the shame of the polar bear who fears the water. No wonder we are shunned by our fellow bear. Woe is us!"

Richard couldn't believe that all this came from just one sound.

Muk pointed at his brother. "It's what he said. Kind of pathetic, really."

Boris had enough of their nonsense and turned around, walking back to their boat. "What, more whimpering? Between you and Balto, it's like Dostoyevsky novel around here. Lighten up."

After that, both Muk and Luk shook themselves dry and hopped out of the water.

"Wow, these bears are a lot dumber than I thought," Richard remarked.

"You can say that again," Balto said.

Soon after, Richard saw a small glow appear from his neck and called to Balto, "I'll catch up with you later."

"Okay!" Balto responded.

Balto went on his way back to the boat while Richard stayed behind. He pulled out the gleaming crystal from his neck and saw it as an opportunity for more clues.

"All right, now, show me what you got," Richard demanded to the crystal.

Nothing happened. He clenched the crystal tightly in his fist, desperate for any sign. Just one sign.

"Come on! You got me into this mess! There's gotta be some reason you're glowing again!" he yelled in frustration.

Still, nothing happened. He was now on the verge of giving up. It was no use.

He was about to put back his crystal when he noticed something different for a change. The crystal began to adjust to a different shade of color. It slowly transitioned from a clear, transparent, colorless look to a dark, opaque, crimson color.

Red. Others would think of it first as the color of blood, but Richard thought it looked just like the color of Jenna and Rosy.

"That's it. There must be some clue to.." Richard muttered to himself.

"Is everything okay back there?" Balto interrupted.

Richard looked up at Balto who was sitting at the same spot on the boat as he was earlier. "Yes!"

He looked back at his crystal and gasped when he noticed that it reverted to its original appearance while his head turned away. He let out a long, disappointed sigh and tried to figure out a connection. Why would it show the color of a familiar pair?

"What are you trying to tell me?" he asked.

Richard hid his crystal and went back to the boat. He went straight to where Balto was and stared closely at him. Balto smiled and stared blankly like his head was in the clouds. Richard waved his hand in front of his eyes to get his attention but to no avail. He placed his hand on his right shoulder, which startled him.

"Gaah!" Balto jolted in surprise.

"Whoa! Didn't mean to scare you, buddy," Richard said.

"No, it's fine," Balto muttered softly.

Richard sat down by his side and let his legs dangle over the edge of the boat. They both watched as only a sliver of light remained from the horizon. Richard turned his head to Balto and noticed that he had a dreamy look on his face.

Could it be?

Boris joined in with them and hopped onto the edge of the deck. "And what is so interesting?"

Balto sighed and didn't hesitate to admit it. "Jenna."

"Is love." Boris finished. "So, go make move."

He waddled along the edge of the deck. "When the angels' balalaikas strum the sweet song of love, mambo!"

He shook around his body and wings with a little dance. Richard couldn't help but get a little entertained by his Latin dancing.

"Nah. She's not my type," Balto denied.

"What do you mean? I saw with my own two eyes how you and Jenna were acting. You two definitely have a thing for each other." Richard winked at him.

Balto tried and failed miserably to hold back his romantic feelings towards that wondrous husky. His warm smile said it all.

Boris scoffed. "This wolf business again? What's wrong with being half and half, I'd like to know? Sometimes I wish like crazy I was half eagle."

"Why?" Balto asked with a little chuckle.

"Better profile, for one thing. Hmm," Boris explained. "And no one eats you, for another."

"True," Richard nodded. "See, Balto? Even Boris sees the positive from half and half.".

Balto breathed through his gritted teeth. "I don't know. It did seem like she enjoyed my company."

"That's right! Haven't you known her before?"

"Well, I mean, only for a little while. She just moved here not too long ago."

"Oh."

Richard finally understood what his crystal was trying to tell him. It must have been instructing him to get Balto to meet Jenna. But how? He had to come up with something quick to get them together again. Balto walked away from the edge when he saw Richard clutch his stomach hard.

"Ohhh.." he groaned.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Balto rushed to his aid.

"No, Richard groaned, "I'm still hungry,"

"How? We saw you eat all that food."

"Those fiber bars were barely enough to satisfy my hunger."

"Then how can we…"

"You can get more from town. They have food there don't they?"

"Yes," Balto let out a long sigh and narrowed his eyes. "You have such a big appetite, don't you?"

Richard shrugged and answered, "I guess so."

Balto then put some careful consideration into how to get Richard more food. "I know that there's a butcher that owns a meat locker."

"That little svoloch almost chop my head off," Boris interrupted.

Richard gasped in surprise. "He did? I am so sorry to hear that."

"Don't mention it," Boris said.

Balto continued to speak. "Anyway, he's not too particularly keen on my kind."

"Because you stole from him?" Richard asked.

Balto's eyes widened from hearing Richard guess correctly. He exhaled through his nose in shame. "Unfortunately, yes."

"But he closes shop at night, right?" Richard asked.

Balto nodded. "Yeah, you're right about that too."

"You can't do that without bumping into Jenna though," Richard raised his eyebrows with a sly grin.

Balto sighed in defeat. "All right, you got me there. I guess I'll give it a try."

Richard applauded and jumped for joy. "Yes! Yes! You...got...yourself...a date!"

Balto chuckled at his energetic state. "Okay, stop that."

Eventually, they decided on what their current plan would be.

"We'll go meet up with Jenna first and then I'll get you some food afterward, okay? Maybe I can also show you my trick on how to break into his meat locker. Just so that you can feed yourself later on," Balto said.

"Okay!" Richard exclaimed with a wide grin.

Richard and Balto were now set to go. He left his backpack behind and asked the others to make sure they watched over it while they were gone.

Balto glanced back at the town as a bunch of lights went out across different areas."Okay, the lights are going out. That means it's time for us to go."

They both walked to the plank at the entrance. Before they left, Richard turned back to Boris and gave him a wink. Boris winked back as they climbed down to the snowy ground. Richard waved goodbye to his friends, and he and Balto headed out to town together.

While they were on the way to town, Richard asked out of curiosity, "Do they have bacon there? Bacon is my favorite meat."

Balto thought about that for a moment. "Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't."

"Okay," Richard said.

Later on, Richard asked another question.

"What's the first thing you plan to say to her?" he questioned Balto.

"Hmm," he said. "I'm not quite sure. I'll figure that out when we get there."

Richard kicked some more snow as they kept walking.

"Do you like to fetch sticks?" Richard said. "You know, since you're part dog?"

Balto rolled his eyes with a smile. "I guess from time to time. Boris doesn't like it when I take the sharp ones back home. Reminds him of those wooden skewers the butcher has."

"Oh, wow," Richard snickered.

They continued on their conversation until they reached the first few buildings.

A/N: Be on the lookout for Chapter 8: The Epidemic's Toll, coming soon.