Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, the Characters, or any Game, Movie, or TV Show content that are mentioned in this FanFiction story. They belong to their respective owners and I honor & respect their great works.
It was now night time in Nome and the town was quiet. But it was not a pleasant night for the town. It seemed as though practically overnight, the children of Nome have come down with a strange sickness. The hospital was filled with dozens of sick children as they all sat in the waiting room with their parents and families. Each of them had terrible coughs, sore throats, and high fevers.
Rosy was among the sick, sitting inside the waiting room with her parents as they awaited her turn for a diagnosis. She wore a yellow shirt and dark blue overalls. The little girl soon heard barking coming from outside. She recognized it as her dog, Jenna.
"Jenna?" Rosy says
Excited, Rosy goes over to the window and looks out to see the lovely husky standing outside, anxious to see her human.
"Jenna! Jenna!" Rosy says
Rosy runs over to the door of the hospital and runs outside to her dog.
"Hi, girl!" Rosy says happily
The young girl runs around and plays with the female husky for a brief moment before she falls into a violent coughing fit. Jenna looks at Rosy with a worried expression and she nuzzles her nose against the girl's elbow in concern. Rosy pets her hand along Jenna's soft fur just as her father comes out for her.
"Rosy! Rosy, come on. You're gonna catch your death out here." Rosy's Father says
"Okay, dad." Rosy says
"Come on, honey. The doctor is waiting." Rosy's Father says
Rosy and her father step back inside the hospital while Jenna was left outside in the snow. The female husky looks into the large window of the hospital and saw dozens of children along with their families either sitting around in the waiting room or coming out after their check up. Jenna heads into nearby alleyway and looks in through the windows, searching for Rosy. She soon found her in a room with the doctor. Rosy sat on a medical bed while the doctor felt her throat with his hands. The young girl's parents stood close-by, watching with worried expressions.
Devon and Balto walked through the dark, quiet streets, going for a stroll together. They soon saw Jenna standing at the side of the hospital. Balto looks over at a frozen puddle and glances down at his reflection. He rubs his head with his right-paw to flatten out the spikes which stood out, but they kept themselves up.
"Jenna?" Balto greets
Balto clears his throat and spoke in a lower voice.
"Uh, Jenna." Balto greets
"Oh, Balto, Devon. Hi." Jenna says
"Hi, Jenna." Devon greets
"Look, uh... just a shot out in the dark, but I was wondering if, uh, I don't know, maybe you'd like to go chase a few sticks by moonlight." Balto says
Balto chuckles nervously, but sighs when he saw that Jenna wasn't paying attention to him. Both he and Devon soon noticed her sad, upset expression as she continued gazing in through the window of the hospital with her ear drooping back.
"Jenna?" Balto says concerned
"Are you alright? What's wrong?" Devon asks
The Keyblade Wielder and wolf-dog went up to Jenna and they joined her side, looking into the hospital through the window.
"Rosy's in there." Jenna says
"In the hospital? Why?" Balto asks
"She feels warm. She has a terrible cough." Jenna says
The trio watched Rosy as she had a thermometer in her mouth before the doctor took it out. She then coughed some more and held her throat with her right-hand. Devon could feel Jenna's concern for Rosy. Just seeing her sick like this made him worry about her.
"Poor Rosy. She really doesn't look good. She seemed perfectly fine yesterday. How could she have gotten so sick all of a sudden?" Devon says
"Balto, Devon, what's wrong with her?" Jenna asks with a worried voice
"Uh, I'm not sure, but I know a way to find out. Come on." Balto says
Devon and Jenna follow Balto as he leads them around the side of the hospital to a boiler room in the back. When they got there, the door was closed off by lock and chains.
"I have the keys to the city." Balto says
Using the claws on his right-paw, Balto pulls the pins out of the hinges of the door, opening the way into the room.
"After you." Balto says gesturing to the room
Jenna looks down at Balto's paw, surprised by how he was able to open the door.
"Balto." Jenna says amazed
Balto chuckles.
"Big paws kinda run on my family. At least, uh, one side of my family." Balto says
Devon, Balto, and Jenna enter the boiler room where on their left was the large boiler itself, standing close to the entrance of the room. Balto leads Devon and Jenna to an open man-sized hatch in the room, which led to the underfloor area of the hospital.
"In here. This should take us right under the hospital. Stay close." Balto says
"No problem there." Jenna says with a nervous chuckle
The trio crawl in through underfloor area, moving over pipes and past cobwebs. Balto and Jenna were able to make their way through easily enough. Devon followed the two dogs in a crouched stance, even getting down on all fours a few times. There was a lot of dust, dirt, and cobwebs all throughout the underfloor area.
"It's so gloomy down here. Not that I'm scared or anything." Jenna says
Jenna stopped and gasped when she almost walked into a cobweb. Balto looks back and flicks it away with his tail.
"Gloomy? You're kiddin' me? It's the most beautiful spot in the world. Dogs travel for years just to be right here." Balto says
"Here? I can't see why." Jenna says
"That's 'cause you're looking at the bowl half empty." Balto says leaning closer to Jenna
The trio soon reach a space underneath the hospital where there was a vent above them, offering some light from the room above them. Balto walks over to a pile of broken bottles, each of different colors, and moves them under the light with his paws.
"See this? It's the polar ice caps." Balto says
"Balto, those are broken bottles. And they're not half empty, they're all empty." Jenna says
Balto glances up at the lamp in the room, which was the source of the light.
"The sun." Balto says
"Uh, Balto..." Jenna says
"And... to the north." Balto says
Balto moves away, allowing the light to shine down on the bottles, creating a beautiful shimmering display of yellow, orange, red, purple, and blue colors on the wall across from the trio, which resembled...
"The Northern Lights." Jenna gasps in awe
The female husky gazes at the wall in wonder.
"Oh, Balto, you're right. It's beautiful." Jenna says
"Yeah. Beautiful." Balto says in a soft voice
Balto and Jenna turn to each other and they share loving glances. They inched closer together and their noses touch. Devon smiled at the romantic moment that Balto and Jenna were having. He knew all along that they were made for each other.
Suddenly, the light on the wall disappears as there was movement in the hospital above the trio as footsteps could be heard. Devon looks up through the vent and saw the doctor and Rosy's father in the room above them. He glances back towards Balto and Jenna and calls them over.
"Guys! Come here!" Devon whispers quietly beckoning for them to come over with his left-hand
Balto and Jenna crawl over to Devon as he points up to the vent and they look up towards the room.
"Good night, Rosy." The doctor says
"I'm so cold." Rosy says
"I have another blanket for you right here. You stay warm and get some rest." The doctor says
The trio watches as the doctor and Rosy's father walks over the vent, then look over towards another vent in the underfloor area. Heading over to the other vent, they look up and saw the doctor walk into his medical office with Rosy's father in tow as he gave him his diagnosis on Rosy's condition.
"Doctor? How is she?" Rosy's Father asks
"Exhausted from coughing. Her fever is getting worse. Looks like Diphtheria. She's the 18th case this week." The doctor says
The doctor looks through some medication bottles in a medicine cabinet. He looks at one spot that read 'Diphtheria Antitoxin', but there was no medicine. The doctor's hand goes over another spot in the cabinet that read 'Salicylic Acid', which had bottles of Aspirin pills. He picks one up only to put it down on his desk as he sits down rubbing his temple with his right-hand, letting out a sigh.
"And I'm out of antitoxin." The doctor sighs
Devon, Balto, and Jenna were shocked by what they heard. The hospital was out of medicine for Diphtheria.
"They're out of medicine? Oh, no. This is bad." Devon says
Jenna starts trembling and she walks off while Devon and Balto turn towards her.
"Jenna. Jenna, I'm sorry! I... Jenna, I..." Balto says
The trio come back out into the boiler room.
"I didn't mean to upset you. I shouldn't have taken you down there." Balto says
"No, I'm glad you did." Jenna says
Suddenly, there was a loud crash outside, which caused Devon, Balto, and Jenna to look out towards the door of the room. They saw Steele under some planks of wood with a long string chain of stolen sausages in his mouth.
"Steele." Jenna says
"Ugh. What's this creep doing here?" Devon groans
Steele pushes off one wooden plank off his back and kicks the other one away with his left-leg, then waltzes into the boiler room and approaches the trio.
"Well, well. What's wrong with this picture?" Steele says
Steele walks over to Jenna and wraps the sausage chain around her body.
"Jenna, join me for dinner. You start at one end, I'll start at the other. And when we get to the middle, well..." Steele says
Steele chuckles and yanks her closer to him.
"You tell me." Steele says
Devon and Balto got angry when they saw the way Steele was flirting with Jenna and they were just about ready to intervene and defend her.
"All right, Steele." Balto growls bearing his teeth
"If you think we'll let you..." Devon says clenching his right-hand into a fist
"No, Balto, Devon." Jenna says stopping them
Jenna decides to play dumb and she gives Steele a giggle and a stroke on the chin with her tail. The female husky looks towards Devon and Balto and subtly gestures her head over to the boiler. The human and wolf-dog look towards the boiler and they catch on to what Jenna was planning as smirks formed on their faces. Jenna begins advancing towards Steele in a flirting manner, rubbing up against his body and causing him to back up.
"Gee, Steele... I have to admit, you offer is very tempting." Jenna says
"It is?" Steele says
Being too distracted by Jenna's lovely body, Steele had no idea that he was backing up towards the boiler behind him.
"But these days I prefer my meat... cooked." Jenna says
Steele's rear end soon comes in contact with the hot boiler, which sizzles and burns. Steele soon realizes and he howls in pain.
"Come on! Let's go!" Balto says
Taking advantage of the situation, Devon, Balto, and Jenna run out of the boiler room and shut the door behind them. Steele gives chase and crashes through the door, tackling the trio to the ground with the sausage chain wrapping around his body.
"What's all the noise?" A voice asks
The sounds of the scuffle attracted the attention of Rosy's father and the butcher, who came out of the hospital to investigate. A beam of light shines on the side of the building next door and it makes it's way towards the Keyblade Wielder and the three dogs.
"I think it's over here." A man says
"Jenna, Devon, come on." Balto says
Devon, Balto, and Jenna quietly slip away while Steele watches nervously as the beam of light comes towards him. He then looks over towards Balto and comes up with an idea. Acting quickly, he throws the sausage chain off him and sends it towards Balto and assumes a pointing dog position just as the beam of light hits him. Balto was knocked down and wrapped up in the sausage chain. Devon saw Balto get knocked down and looks back and saw Rosy's father and the butcher coming with a lantern in the father's hand to light up the alleyway. Moving fast, he quickly hides in another alleyway to his left and sticks to the shadows just before the light could hit him. He then watches as the light hits Balto, revealing him to the two men. Seeing him with the sausages on his body made them believe that was the thief responsible for stealing the food.
"Looks like Balto's found his way into your meat locker." Rosy's Father says
"It's a good thing Steele was here." The butcher says
The butcher grabs the sausages and gives them to Steele, who accepts it gladly.
"Good boy, Steele. You've earned these. Besides, I can't do anything with 'em after that wild animal's touched 'em." The butcher says
"Go on! Get out of here, you thief!" Rosy's Father yells
The father kicks snow at Balto, forcing him to flee the alleyway. Jenna tries to pursue Balto, but Rosy's father grabs her and holds her back by her bandana.
"Come on, Jenna. Let's go home." Rosy's Father says
Jenna could only watch as Balto takes off out of the alleyway. Still unseen, Devon works his way around the other way of the alleyway he was in and comes out into the street. Once he was far enough away from the two men, Devon calls out to Balto.
"Balto!" Devon calls
Devon searches for Balto, looking left and right up and down the street. He soon did a double take and saw Balto running off to his left.
"Balto!" Devon calls
The Keyblade Wielder gives chase and runs off to catch up with Balto as heads for the outskirts of town, passing the hospital. A man walks up to the hospital door and puts up a sign, which was covered in snow. He brushes off the snow with his right-hand, revealing the word 'Quarantine' in big red letters. Once he was done, he walks off down the street. Devon came back around to the hospital and approaches the door, reading the sign. His heart nearly froze when he saw the red letters. Devon gasps as he stood in utter shock, staring at the sign.
"Oh no..." Devon says
That night, an urgent request is sent out by telegraph by the Nome Telegraph Office to Anchorage, a town on the other side of Alaska. Inside was the doctor and the telegrapher, transmitting news of the diphtheria crisis with the telegraph wires beeping. Also in the office was a male bulldog named Morse, who belonged to the telegraph operator, was laying in his dog bed. His ears clicked in response to the telegraph beeping as he listened to the doctor's message.
"Anchorage. Stop. Repeat, urgent request. More diphtheria antitoxin. Stop. Nome in grave danger. Stop. Please help. Stop." The doctor says
Nome's distress call was heard all across the country. At a seaport in Anchorage, a cargo ship tries to sail out for departure with a crate of Diphtheria antitoxin onboard, but the snowstorm proved impossible to overcome. The weather conditions was too hazardous. The waters were rough and pack ice was closing in. The ship rocked violently back and forth on the water. Thus, the shipment by sea was aborted. The bad news came back through the Nome Telegraph Office with the operator reading the message.
"Nome. Pack ice closing in. Cannot ship antitoxin by sea. Will try by air." The operator says
Elsewhere in the country, a Standard J Biplane preps for take-off from an airstrip at an airport with the antitoxin onboard. However, the winds were too harsh and the water-cooled engines were unreliable in cold weather, making it virtually impossible to attempt a safe air delivery. Again, Nome recieved the bad news by telegraph.
"Nome. Storm at airport. Planes grounded until snow clears. Many regrets." The operator says
In a medical building at Anchorage, glass vials of Diphtheria antitoxin were being placed into a case and then packaged into a crate marked 'Fragile'. From there, the medicine was brought out by two men, braving the storm as they exit the building and head for a nearby train which awaited them at the train station. The medicine was loaded onto the train and the locomotive departed the station, beginning it's journey through the snow for the town of Nenana.
"From Juneau, office of the governor, we are shipping antitoxin by rail. Stop. Trainline ends at town of Nenana. Stop. Select fastest dogs for sled team to carry antitoxin from Nenana to Nome. Stop. God willing, train will make it through. Stop." The operator says
The next day, the people of Nome gathered together as a race was organized to determine the fastest dogs for the sled team for the serum run. Steele would already be on the team since he was the town hero. The musher, the same one that was on Steele's team, acted as a referee for the race.
"To select the fastest dogs for the sled team to fetch the antitoxin, the race will run the length of front street... To the shores of Snake River... Then east to the Gold Dredge... Past the telegraph office... Then return here to the finish line." The musher announces
Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and a bunch of other dogs all lined up in single file from one side of the street to the other. Star got tangled up in his harness, but he stood up straight as Steele came around. Steele walked infront of the dogs like a drill army sergeant with a proud, confident expression. Not far from the starting line, Jenna laid ontop some barrels on the left-side of the sidelines with Dixie standing up on a barrel next to her.
"Just look at him. He's gonna save the entire town. He's positively... Magnesium!" Dixie says
"It's not exactly a one-dog show, Dixie. They're racing to see who's going to be on the dog sled team." Jenna says
"What's with you, Jenna? Steele's a genuine hero. But do you give him a sniff?" Dixie says
Sylvie comes up and joins the female dogs.
"That's because Jenna is running with Balto." Sylvie says
Dixie looks over at Jenna with a shocked gasp, then looks back at Sylvie.
"She was seen in the boiler room the other night with Balto and a human boy. And they went in together and they left together. And I heard it all from a very reliable source. And don't bother to deny it." Sylvie says
"Well, then I won't." Jenna says
Sylvie gasps with a slightly surprised expression.
"I'm speechless." Sylvie says
"All mushers, get your dogs ready! The race is about to begin!" The musher shouts
On the other side of the street in an small alley, Devon sat up on a pile of logs while Balto and Boris stood on a fence behind him. Boris was constantly trying to maintain his balance as Balto paced back and forth on the wobbly fence.
"Wait! Balto! Racing is a spectator sport. It requires very little preparation." Boris says
Boris wobbles over to the nearby window on his right and sits down on the window sill.
"You sit, you arrange refreshments." Boris says
The goose picks up a white box in his right-wing, reaches in and takes out a white flake.
"You like potato chip?" Boris asks
Boris eats the flake, then a bubble floats out of his mouth. Turning the box over, he saw that it was soap flakes made for laundry.
"I'm not watching the race, I'm running it." Balto says
Boris sputters when he heard that.
"You said what?!" Boris exclaims surprised
"Hey, look, I wanna help Rosy get better. I can get that medicine through." Balto says
"First of all, get it through your head that they wouldn't put you in a sled team even if you did win, which won't happen, and if it did, it wouldn't matter." Boris says
"Boris... Did you ever think maybe you're the reason the other geese fly south?" Balto asks with a smile
"If only your feet move as fast as your mouth." Boris mutters
"Hey, Boris. At least try to have a little faith in Balto." Devon says
Devon slides off the pile of logs and turns around to look up at the goose and wolf-dog.
"If he believes he can win the race, then let him win. And if he believes he can help deliver that medicine, then I believe he can too. I know I'd do anything to help Rosy." Devon says
Soon, a whistle blows and the crowd cheers.
"Dogs to the line!" The musher says
"Hey! They're starting!" Balto says
"Alright, Balto. You better get out there." Devon says
Balto nods and he jumps down and heads over towards the starting line.
"Wish me luck." Balto says
"Luck? I don't wish you luck! I wish you sense!" Boris exclaims
Boris soon calms down.
"Good luck, kiddo." Boris says
"Don't worry, Boris. He'll win. I'm sure of it." Devon says
Balto joins the dogs and assumes his position at the starting line, standing in-between Kaltag on his left and Nikki on his right.
"Whoa!" Nikki exclaims startled
"What? Balto? What are you, nuts? If Steele catches you out here, he's gonna turn you into kibble!" Kaltag says
"Why not let the half-dog run? It will be fun making him eat our snow." Nikki says
"Get set!" The musher says
Soon, the musher shoots off the starting gun and the dogs take off down the street with incredible speed. Jenna, Dixie, and Sylvie watch the race and notice Balto going past them.
"Balto?" Jenna gasps surprised
"What does he think he's doing?" Dixie asks
The dogs raced down the street with Nikki, Kaltag, and Star up front. Balto was behind Nikki and Kaltag and was catching up on them, but they huddled together to block his path. It didn't stop the wolf-dog as he came around on Nikki's right and came neck and neck with him.
"Ohh, Balto, come on, come on! Balto, go!" Boris cheers
"C'mon, Balto! You're the fastest dog out there! Go, go!" Devon cheers
The dogs soon head out of the street and cut around the turn to a lake area where the water was frozen. As they turn, Nikki kicks Balto in the head with his right-leg, sending him off the track and onto the ice. No one saw this, except for Devon and Boris.
"Hey!" Devon exclaims
"That's a foul! Where's the referee? Is he blind?" Boris exclaims
Balto was spun around on the ice until he fell down on his stomach, coming to a stop. He looks up and saw that the dogs were quickly getting further and further away from him. He needed to catch up fast. Fortunately for him, he was close by to some wooden pillars that were sticking out of the ice, which would make good footholds to help him across the slippery ground. And so, the wolf-dog climbs onto the pillar infront of him and jumps onto the next one and the next. Boris and Devon watched Balto over the fence and they cheered him on.
"Go, Balto! Go! Jump, jump, jump! Hey! That's my boy!" Boris cheers
Jenna crawled out through an open space in the fence and she cheered Balto on.
"Go, Balto!" Jenna cheers
Balto jumps off the last wooden pillar and lands on a barrel, which nearly sunk into the ice from his weight. He quickly jumps off the barrel and ran to catch up with the other dogs. Just as he was about to get back on the track, he saw a bunch of large wooden boats to his right. Changing direction, Balto heads for the boats as he takes a shortcut.
"Wait. Where are you going? That's the long way! Balto, get back in the race!" Boris exclaims
Balto goes under one boat and climbs up along the ladder of another boat, moving up above the dogs. He jumps across from boat-to-boat until he lands right infront of Nikki and takes the lead of the race. Nikki slides to a stop, shocked by Balto's sudden appearance. This moment of distraction caused another dog to jump onto Nikki, filling his mouth full of snow.
"Who's eating who's snow now, mutt?!" Boris says
Balto and the dogs came back onto the street and they cross the finish line. The musher stops the time on his stopwatch as the lap was finished.
"Time!" The musher says
The musher stares at his stopwatch with a surprised expression. Balto had come through as the fastest dog.
"What?" The musher says surprised
Boris jumped up and down on the fence, kicking his heels.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho! Did I teach him well? I could kiss that crazy pooch." Boris says
Devon smiled and he made his way over to Balto as he slowed to a stop. The Keyblade Wielder kneeled down to the wolf-dog and gave him a rub on the back.
"Awesome job, Balto! I knew you'd do it!" Devon says
Balto looks up at Devon and gives him a smile. Then, he looks over and saw Jenna smiling at him. They soon turned around and saw Steele walking towards them.
"Alright. Nikki, Kaltag, Star, strap up. We're setting off." Steele says walking past Devon and Balto
"Hey now. Just a second, Steele. I was the fastest dog." Balto says
Steele stops dead in his tracks and cracks his neck. His eye twitched in anger and he turns around to face Devon and Balto.
"You were the fastest what?" Steele asks
Devon and Balto glared at Steele with angry looks on their faces.
"Are you for real?" Devon says
"Do you honestly think any musher would ever put you on his team? You're even more mixed-up than I thought." Steele says
"Hey! Balto won that race fair and square! He earned his place on the team!" Devon exclaims pointing at the finish line with his left-hand before pointing back at Steele
"You really gonna defend this half-breed, aren't you?" Steele says
"He's a lot more than what you are, that's for sure." Devon says
"Devon, was it? You just dug yourself your own grave." Steele growls
Jenna saw the argument that was going on between Devon, Balto, and Steele and she comes to their defense, belittling Steele for his arrogant behavior.
"Steele! It doesn't matter who's on the team as long as the medicine gets through. Stop being such a glory hound!" Jenna says
Steele stood silent for a moment, but soon responded to Jenna.
"You're a hundred percent right, Jen. I-I-I wasn't thinking about those children. The-the important thing is to get the medicine through, and that's just what I'm going to do." Steele says
Steele turns around and gets up in Balto's face.
"And when I come back, I'm gonna fold you five ways and leave you for a cat toy." Steele growls
Then, the Alaskan Malamute turns to Devon.
"And as for you, I'll make sure you're buried deep in six feet of this snow and turn you into a frozen boycicle." Steele growls
The confrontation between the young teen and the two dogs soon ended when Steele's musher and the judges approached them.
"Good dog, Steele!" The musher says
Steele turns to his musher and barks happily.
"Good boy! Now, let's take a look at our winner here." The musher says patting Steele on the head
The musher and the judges move past Steele and approach Balto, who looked nervous. Steele growled and glances back at Balto with an angry look on his face. The two men notice Devon standing next to the wolf-dog and look towards him.
"Is this your dog, son?" The musher asks
Devon and Balto share smiled glances with each other, then looks back at the two men. Although Balto wasn't actually his dog, Devon played along to help him be on the sled team. He kneeled down to Balto's left-side and rested his left-arm on his back and rubbed his neck with his other hand.
"Yep. Balto's a good dog. He's well-trained and an incredible runner. I'm sure he'd make a great addition to the team." Devon says
"Alright. Let's take a look at our winner." The musher says
Just as the musher was about to pet Balto, Steele stomps on his left-paw, causing him to growl in pain and bear his teeth. This immediately caused the musher and judges to back away, believing Balto to be dangerous.
"Ah, we can't trust this one. He's part wolf." The musher says
"You see those teeth?" The judge says
"He might turn on me." The musher says
Walking away, the musher calls out for the dogs.
"Nikki, Kaltag, Star, let's go!" The musher calls
Steele gives Balto a grin and walks off with a sinister chuckle, following his musher. Devon and Jenna watch him go, then look back towards Balto.
"Balto, I'm sorry..." Jenna says
The wolf-dog backs out of Devon's arms and turns around and walks away.
"Better not talk to me, Jenna, Devon. I might turn on you." Balto says
"Balto, that wasn't your fault!" Devon says
"Balto, wait. Balto!" Jenna calls
Balto ignores them and runs off to be on his own. Devon and Jenna share deeply concerned glances with each other, then watch as Balto heads for the outskirts of town.
Later that night, Steele, Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and several other dogs were strapped onto a dog sled and they stood outside the telegraph office, ready to start their journey to Nenana. The operator of the telegraph office takes a lit match and lights up a lantern that hung on the side of the building. The lantern gave off a bright red light in the dark cold night.
"Yep. As long as there's hope for those kids, I'll keep this lit. It'll guide the team here." The operator says
The entire town gathered to watch the dog team off as they made their final preparations. Rosy and her parents watched from a window inside the hospital.
"Steele! Hyah! Giddap! Hyah!" The musher says
And with that, the sled team was off. Steele and his team run down the street and out of town, heading out into the Alaskan wilderness. Devon stood not far from the telegraph office, watching Steele and his team race out of the town and into the outskirts. He soon looked over to his right towards the shipwrecked boat in the distance to his right, feeling concerned for Balto. Ever since he had been disqualified due to his heritage, Balto's been more alone than he had been before. Of course, Devon knew that it was Steele's fault he wasn't put on the team. That dog would do anything to make sure he was number one.
Out in the outskirts of Nome, Balto watched Steele and his team leave Nome from the abandoned shipwreck, sitting all by himself. He wanted to prove that he was not dangerous, that he was more than what his heritage says about him. But now, with the dog sled team heading out into the wilderness, that opportunity was gone. Balto's ears drooped and his head hung low with a sad expression.
Steele and his team traveled for many miles across Alaska, not stopping for anything. Soon, they reach the town of Nenana, where the train that had the medicine onboard awaited them. The dogsled team stood next to the train as the train conductor and another man brought the antitoxin out and placed it carefully onto the sled.
"All right, now make sure you lash her down tight." The musher says
The men strap heavy fragile box onto the sled, securing it with lots of rope with a lantern ontop for light. With the antitoxin secured, the dogsled team begin their journey back to Nome.
"Giddap, Steele! Giddap! Mush!" The musher says
Steele and his team take off from the town of Nenana while the two men watch them go.
"Take care now, y'hear?" The train conductor says
"Good luck!" The other man says
The team dashes off into the night as the snow continued to fall.
The snowstorm quickly turned into a terrible blizzard as the cold, snow, and wind beat down hard on Steele and his team. Visibility was extremely poor as they could barely see a few inches infront of them.
"Steele, maybe we should go back! We're lost!" Star exclaims
Steele quickly turns around and got up in Star's face.
"I am not lost!" Steele snarls
The snow that covered Steele's head fell onto Star's face and the skinny husky looks up at him with a nervous expression.
"Lost? Heh heh. Did I say lost? No, you didn't let me finish. See, what I wanted to say was..." Star stammers frantically
"This way!" Steele says
Determined to find his way back to Nome, Steele pushes onward against the raging storm, pulling the rest of the team forward. He would not let some storm deny him his destiny as becoming Nome's greatest hero.
Unknown to Steele and the rest of the team, they were being watched by the Dark Echo. Hidden within the fierce blizzard, the shadowy wraith floats above the ground radiating a black-red aura of darkness, gazing down at the dog sled team with it's glowing red eyes, which shined brightly piercing through the thick blinding snow. Specifically, it's gaze was set on Steele as it sensed the darkness within the Alaskan Malamute. Hatred, jealousy, and pride made up his heart. Steele would make a great asset. The Dark Echo soon vanishes into the blizzard like a ghost, fading out of view. It's evil eyes lingered for a moment before it disappeared completely.
Author's Note: Quarantine! The town of Nome faces an epidemic! Thanks to the Dark Echo, the children of Nome have been infected with Diphtheria! Slowly, the dark sickness eats away at their health, drawing worry and concern to many, including Devon, Balto, and Jenna. Steele and his team retrieve the medicine, but now they face the challenge of finding their way back through a terrible blizzard. How long before the children succumb to the Dark Echo's grip? Will the medicine make it back to Nome in time? Or will it and the children be lost to darkness forever? Let me know what you guys think. No flames please. Hope you guys like and don't forget to review!