Chapter 9 - Crossing Paths
"Balto!" Steele shouted after him. "Where are you going? Have you gone mad?"
"No," he said, slowing his pace a little and turning his head towards Steele, still running. "I know where we're going, trust me."
"HOW do you know where you're going? Give me one way."
"Just follow me. Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I do. I just don't want to end up lost incase you DON'T know where you're going after all."
It was then that Balto stopped running and sniffed the air.
"Hey, Steele? Do you smell something?" Balto asked suspiciously, pawing at the snow gently.
"No. Why, do you?"
"Yeah... yeah, I do."
"Well, what does it smell like?" Steele asked. He was beginning to think that Balto had lost his mind.
"I'm not too sure... it smells like... wolf," Balto said, looking around sharply and quickly.
"No... please no!" Steele yelled as he saw four sets of beady eyes coming towards them. They both stood their ground and waited for the fight to begin.
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Meanwhile, while Aleu struggled through the buffeting snowstorm, without knowing, she had turned around. She was heading south; the same direction as her father and his ex-foe.
All of a sudden, she began to lose faith with every step she took. She dropped in the snow and laid there for who knows how long before she smelled a different sort of smell... one she had never smelled before. Her ears pricked up, and she thought she saw a small shadow before her. She slowly raised her head and the hair on the back of her neck rose up and her teeth bared. But the strange creature did not move a muscle.
Suddenly, the snow started to calm down a bit and she could see clearly now. The creature was one that she had never seen before... it was plump, and it had spiraling horns on the top of its head. Then, it spoke to her.
"Hello. I am Aries the ram. I have come to show you the right direction."
Aleu's teeth bared even more and she backed up a bit. Aries still did not move. All that did move were his black, knowing eyes.
"Aleu. Please try to understand. I am here to help you."
"H-H-How do you know my name?" Aleu asked, now beginning to get worried.
"I see and know everything."
Aleu furrowed her brow slightly. "H-How?"
"Never mind that. Now," he said, turning around to face the southerly direction, and backing up behind Aleu ever so slightly, "You must go that way to find your destination."
"How do you know my destination? Why should I trust you? Who are you?"
She looked around, but the wise ram was nowhere to be found.
"Aries? Aries?" she shouted, looking around frantically. She continued to call out his name, but there was no reply. She sat in the snow and thought.
Who was that? she thought. How did he know so much about me? How did he know where I was heading? The thoughts circled around her head like leaves blowing on an autumn breeze. She finally decided on what she was going to do. She was going to follow his advice. She didn't care anymore about what was going to happen. She would rather die than to never see her mother or Saint again. She would rather die a happy life, in front of a warm fire, with a few small puppies by her side, not out here in cold, hard, menacing snow.
She would rather die than to never see her father again. As much as she hated to admit it, she could never live on without her father. She would never live a full life without her father. And she would never feel safer with anyone but her father.
It was this thought that kept Aleu trudging on through the snow, in the way Aries had told her to go. She was willing to accept his wise words; she had a feeling deep inside of her that in some odd way, some strange, awkward way, she somehow knew him.
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"Who are you?" Balto asked, the leading wolf's figure blocked by the blinding snow.
"Why do you care? You're on our territory. Get out while you still can," the leader yelled. Balto scowled and stood his ground, while Steele growled and snarled at the others.
"I'm only passing through to find two animals that are very close to me. Please... let me through."
"If you want through, you have to go through all of us," one wolf said, coming up behind the leader.
"Bring it on!" Steele yelled. Then the goon wolf jumped up onto Steele's back and clawed and bit at him. Steele yelped in pain; he was helpless. Balto growled and his teeth bared as he took the goon wolf by the leg and swung him off of Steele's back and into the snow with a loud thud a few feet away. He laid motionless.
"Thanks, buddy!" Steele said as another wolf approached them. Oblivious to Balto and Steele, he was merely just a distraction as another wolf came up behind Steele and sank his teeth into the back of his neck. Steele started to breathe heavily and he dropped into the snow, motionless, the wound in his neck bleeding heavily. He could not get up... he was paralyzed for a brief moment. Now it was Balto's battle.
As soon as he saw Steele lying down on the ground in horrid pain, he switched to complete battle mode. He sprang up onto the wolf who attacked Steele and his fury and young spirit came flooding back to him. He was nothing but strength, fury, and anger now.
With one blow, he had the wolf down on the ground, also paralyzed for a moment or two. He was now out of this battle. Two down, two to go... then came the leader.
Another wolf, this one brown with black spots and huge, mighty paws with piercing claws, rounded Balto, trying to intimidate him. Balto stood his ground and showed no fear. At this, the wolf backed down a bit and then sprang. Balto ducked and the wolf sailed right over his head into a rock, breaking it in half with his head. He instantly stopped breathing and stopped moving. His head began to bleed terribly and Balto looked away.
Three down, one to go... then came the leader.
The next challenger had piercing red eyes that shone with fury and many battle experiences. He was much taller than Balto... but his muscle tone was weak, meaning that he had clearly no experience. This one was going to be easy.
The brown wolf jumped up in the air and hit Balto in the face with his hind legs, sending a scratch from Balto's right eye all the way down to his shoulder. It hurt badly, but Balto ignored the pain and charged towards his foe. He couldn't give up now.
He slashed the wolf two or three times and he fell down onto the ground. Balto pounced on top of him and bit his ear mercilessly. The wolf yelped in pain and stopped fighting.
Four down... now came the leader.