Chapter
4
The Party
Balto ran up the road, tongue lolling out of his mouth in his hurry not to be late for the party. 'I love you Boris, I really do,' he mentally grumbled to himself 'but sometimes you drive me crazy with the stuff you ask me!' Balto had been about to leave Boris in charge of the children on the old Trawler, which was quite an undertaking in itself, not to mention the world's biggest risk. The minute before he'd been about to leave, the goose had cornered him with all these questions about what to do in any and all types of impossible situations, ranging from fires to a grizzly bear attack.
Balto, completely stumped by some of the particularly impossible ones, had only stared at him before telling the irritable Russian goose to simply send word with a dog – any dog – for Balto to the Boiler Room if something should go wrong. Partially satisfied, Boris had released him to sprint off towards the old mill. It had been hard enough to convince Jenna to let Boris watch all six of their pups at once.
Balto skidded to a stop and walked through the door and into the Boiler Room where most everyone else was already gathered and stood or sat in little groups chatting and laughing away. He smiled warmly as Jenna walked over to him and licked his face. "I thought you'd never get here." She said, smiling.
"Well Boris held me up with a few ill-timed questions so I was forced to sort of sprint here." He swept his gaze across the room, cocking his head slightly.
"What is it?" Jenna inquired.
"Nothing…it's just Kavik's not here yet…" he replied. "I was kind of hoping he'd show up, but I guess…"
Jenna touched her nose to his cheek in some sort of quick kiss. "Hey, he'll be here," she assured him, "it's just that he probably met someone 'special'…"
Balto laughed a bit at that. "Huh, Kavik finding someone in this town? I kind of doubt it. So does he if you want to know." He quickly added as his mate gave him a slightly disapproving look.
Their discussion was interrupted as Steele, that semi-arrogant Malamute, walked over, accompanied by both Nikki and Kaltag, who both greeted Balto happily. Steele's lips curved into a smile. "Say Balto," he said, amiably enough, "where's this wolf-dog that I keep hearing about all over the place? Didn't you invite him?"
"I did," Balto replied, stepping forward a bit. "He's just a little late is all."
"Oh, late is he?" Steele retorted, half-joking, half-serious. "I think he just heard of my reputation and turned chicken." He sniggered at his own joke. "the big-bad wolf-doggie decided not to come cause he knew I'd show him up. Wolf-dogs are SO predictable. He's probably running home with his tail between his legs!"
He continued on in the vein for a few moments, drawing the attention of all the dogs present in the room with his charismatic and sexy demeanor. All eyes and ears were focused solely on him, and all other talk had ceased, making Steele the center of attention, which was just the way he sometimes liked it.
Or so he thought.
Placed as he was, with his back to the still open door and facing the interior of the room with almost all the rest before him – not to mention really getting off by hearing himself talk – the un-banished Malamute failed to hear or see a certain Wolf/German Shepherd hybrid walk into the room, accompanied by a small golden-furred dog roughly the size and shape of Star. Steele thought all eyes were focused on him, when in reality, all of the dogs' attention was focused on the doorway behind the boasting Malamute and on the slowly approaching Kavik, whose tread was like that of…well…a wolf; velvet- footed.
Draco, who happened to be seated next to Balto, muttered from the corner of his mouth; "Oh man, is this gonna be good!"
Kaltag, who happened to have taken a seat just behind Balto, muttered back; "You bet. I've been dreaming of this day for a long time!."
As much as part of him wanted to see Steele get the living poop scared out of him, a slightly larger part of Balto wanted to save Steele the large embarrassment he was about to receive. Balto even went to far as to try and warn the newly befriended Malamute.
"Steele…"
Steele – totally absorbed by his self-promoting spiel – continued on with his prattle and failed to get the hint that Balto was trying to give him. "I'll bet he's cowering in a basket somewhere, with his paws over his head!"
"Steele…" Balto tried again, now a bit more urgently.
"– He's worried that I'll make a fool of him, that's what it is! How big can he be anyway? I'll bet–"
"Steele." Balto said, now very agitated, seeing as Kavik was only five feet away.
"– ran home and now he's cowering behind his Master's boots or better yet, under his bed! They're so self-centered and cowardly–"
"Steele." Balto said, in an extremely imperative voice, finally managing to attract the other's attention, only he was just a wee bit too late; Kavik was already directly behind the Malamute.
"What?" Steele asked impatiently, then noticed the way everyone was still starring, although not directly at him. A split second later, he heard the slightly deep, slightly imperious voice speak from directly behind him.
"Excuse me, sir."
Steele whirled around, only to be confronted by a dog easily twice his weight and size.
"Hello Steele." Kavik said in a falsely pleasant tone with a grin that showed an unnaturally large amount of his teeth and even some of the gums. Balto was glad that grin wasn't directed at him.
Steele's eyes grew slightly wider with fear as he understood that Kavik had heard every word he'd said. "Uh…Hi…" he said nervously, the rest of his sentence fading away as Kavik took a menacing step forward, making Steele take a corresponding one backwards.
"Now, what was that you were saying about being, hmm, what was it again? Oh yes; 'self-centered and arrogant'?" Kavik asked in what Balto instantly recognized as false anger. Having known Kavik for as long as he had, he could see that the angelic wolf-dog had an instant liking for the Malamute. Steele, however, was not so observant.
"Oh, well…I…heh heh, uh…you see, uh…I wasn't…talking about you, uh, ha ha…" he rambled, even as Kavik continued to move forward whilst he continued to move unconsciously backwards for every step the larger hybrid took forward.
Soon he was out of backing room, the dogs having parted so that Steele was finally faced with the, cough, 'fatal' knowledge that his curly tail had just come into contact with the wall and there was nowhere left to go. The dogs – now thoroughly entertained by Steele's obvious fear of Kavik – were enjoying the way once proud canine was visibly preparing to beg for mercy when Kavik stopped and looked at him with eyes that blazed with 'anger'.
"Now Steele," Kavik breathed in a deadly whisper, reaching up and patting Steele's furry cheek with one of his large front paws. "I'm going to tell you something, and I want you to listen very carefully. Comprende?" He was a very good actor. You had to at least give him that much, Balto thought as he watched it all unfold with a small smile spreading across his face.
"S…sure." Steele said, gulping and unconsciously sitting on his haunches. He would've been sweating by now (if dogs could sweat that is,) and was clearly prepared for the worst.
"…I'm…just playin'." Kavik whispered confidentially in the stunned Malamute's ear. He tipped his nose downward to indicate the small puddle of liquid spreading outward across the floor from where Steele sat. "Want some free advice? Go clean yourself up, bro. You reek" He stood back and waved a paw in front of his nose as if to emphasize this. He gave his victim a warm, and somewhat apologetic smile as his eyes shone with mirth.
There was a burst of laughter as Steele looked down, saw the puddle of wiz collected on the floor, and hurriedly exited to clean himself, thoroughly embarrassed. When he reentered the Broiler Room, everyone was still laughing, only not quite so hard as before. Steele, his pride deeply wounded, was left with no alternative but to slink away and lay with his back to the heat belching broiler, every once and a while shooting dirty looks in Kavik's direction. Kavik, in turn, walked over, and – it came as something of a surprise to Steele – apologized for causing him to suffer the soon to be widely known embarrassment. Steele's only reply to this gesture of unusual kindness was a grunt and Kavik at once ceased all attempts to have a conversation with the obviously pissed-off Malamute.
"That guy," he sighed, shaking his head as he walked over and sat down next to Balto and a few others. "You'd think he'd know how to take a joke…"
"He's got a lot of pride, that Steele. But don't worry he'll get over it eventually." Balto said, looking amusedly in Steele's direction. "Right now, he'll just be in a sulky mood for most of the night!"
"Oh no, what a shame." Angel said and they all got a good chuckle out of that.
"Oh, where're my manners?" Kavik said when most of the laughter had died down somewhat. "Balto this is Angel, Angel this is Balto."
"Pleased to meet you, Balto." Angel said brightly, stepping forward and shaking paws with the Hero of Nome. "Kavik's told me all about what you did for those kids. I thought it was really cool."
"Thanks, but it wasn't much of anything, really." Balto replied, slightly embarrassed, as he always was whenever someone brought up the subject of his heroism.
"Oh, don't be so modest Balto." Jenna chided, fluffing him with her bushy tail. She turned to regard Angel. "Hi," she said pleasantly, exchanging a pawshake with Angel. "I'm Jenna, Balto's mate."
"Nice to meet you Jenna." The smaller dog replied, smiling. "So, do you and Balto have a lot of kids?" she asked.
"Yes, we've got a few…" Balto admitted. "They're as energetic as I'll get out though."
Kavik snorted laughter. "Boy, is that the understatement of the century!" he said, smile breaking into a grin. "Those six little angels are devils in disguise! They're even worse than you are when you get too excited!" he said jokingly to Angel, making everyone but Angel chuckle.
"Ah c'mon," Kaltag said, nudging Kavik with one paw. "I'll bet she's no worse than our lot!" he let out a long low whistle. "Man, I'm still trying to get used to being woken up at the crack of dawn everyday!" He sighed. "But then again, they do get their sneakiness from their mother…"
"And just where do you suppose they get their stubbornness from, pray tell?" Triksey said, glaring at Kaltag who only smiled and shrugged.
"Search me." He replied, earning him an eye-roll from his mate.
"You're hopeless…" she sighed, turning her attention on Angel instead. She smiled "Hi, I'm Triksey and this big idiot of a mate next to me over here is Kaltag, the stubborn one." She looked pointedly at Kaltag during this last, causing Angel to giggle.
"Well, you already know who I am, so I'll just say I know how being around a friend who's really stubborn can get to you after prolonged exposure…" she looked at Kavik.
"What?" he said defensively. "Who's stubborn?"
"I'll give you a hint," Angel said. "He's big, white, has blue eyes, happens to be sitting five inches from me, wears a cross bigger than your head –"
"Are you calling me stubborn?" Kavik interrupted, feigning innocence. "Gee, I guess I'm not the one who made us spend three hours looking through her house for her chew-bone."
"Well I guess I'm not the one who kept trying to convince me how chasing squirrels is somehow good for their health in some way I 'just 'wouldn't understand due to my sunny disposition'." She shot back with a crafty smile.
"Hey! No fair! Below the belt!" Kavik cried indignantly, and they all laughed again. When the little group had quieted somewhat, Kavik looked around seemingly perplexed.
"What's up?" Balto asked.
"Nothing…it's just…where's Star?"
The rest of them looked up in surprise. "You've got a point," Triksey added, sweeping her gave round the room. "I haven't seen him since this morning…"
"Where could he be?" Jenna wondered aloud, while Angel only looked puzzled.
"Who's Star?" she asked Kavik. "Is he a friend of yours or something?"
Kavik opened his mouth to reply, but just then Star staggered in through the Broiler Room door – still ajar from Angel and Kavik's entry – breathing heavily. The little dog's arrival was met with a chorus of greetings from many of the onlookers, and he strode quickly over to where Balto and the rest of his little group. He took a seat – if you'd call 'taking a seat' falling flat on the floor with you tongue lolling out, that is – panting like a steam engine.
"Star! What's wrong? What happened to you?" Balto asked, hurriedly moving to check his pooped-out friend.
"S-sorry I'm late guys…" Star panted, swallowing hard and looking nervously over his shoulder, eyes still wide with fear. "But a bunch of wolves saw me when…I went to look for the Northern Lights around 8:45 and…started chasing me. I just managed to get into town right when one of them…was about to pounce so…I guess I was lucky that they didn't dare to follow me in…" He trailed off, finishing this short, but frightening tale with a shudder that racked his whole body like a tremor.
"Man, I'm thirsty." He said abruptly, chest and lungs still heaving. "Anybody…know where I can get anything to drink?" he asked, looking hopefully up with eyes seeming to plead.
"Oh, you poor thing!" Angel said compassionately, moving first to help Star to his shaky paws and then to hobble over to a corner where some smart-thinking dog had filled a large bowl with snow and brought it inside where the heat from the Broiler had melted it into it's purest form. Star, after offering his thanks, lay down and began to suck down the cool, nourishing liquid. After depleting something like three-fourths of the bowl, he got up and, with Angel's willing assistance, made his way back to Balto and the others.
"Are you okay?" Balto and Kavik asked in unison as soon as Star sat back down, still breathing deeply, although not as rapidly as before.
He looked to the concerned faces around him and said; "Gimme a sec while I catch my breath, okay?" After perhaps a minute, when his breathing had slowed considerably, he looked up at them again and was bombarded with questions.
"Are you hurt?"
"Are you okay?"
"What did these wolves look like?"
"Did they bite you?"
"What were you–"
"One at a time, for goodness sake!" Angel cried loudly, causing all to stop and give her a surprised look. Even Star seemed taken aback by this a bit. "What?" she asked defiantly, looking right back at them all "Give the poor guy a break, sheesh! He's just been cross-country chased by a pack of wolves! I'd be a little shaken up too!"
All was silent for a moment, then Steele, who'd decided to come out of his seclusion and join the little group out of concern for his friend, asked. "Are you okay, Star? They didn't hurt you or anything, did they?"
Star shook his head, and then stopped in mid-shake and looked behind him to his tail, where a tiny pool of blood, really no bigger than a quarter, had formed around the tip. "Well," he said, turning his still slightly shaken gaze back to his friends again. "I didn't think they did, but one of them must've bitten off the tip of my tail. I didn't even notice it till now…"
Kaltag let out a long low whistle. "Man, Star! If they were close enough to nip the end of your tail…" he dropped off, realizing the implications of what he'd just said.
Star finished it for him. "I know…they would've eaten me alive if they'd gotten any closer…" He seemed to be on the verge of a nervous collapse
Silence spiraled out after this before Balto finally asked; "What…what did they look like Star? The wolves that attacked you, I mean? Could you give us a basic description?"
Star's brows knitted together, and he cocked his head, trying with all his might to remember. "Well…let's see…I really only got a good look at the leader. He was kinda big – no, really big, almost-the-size-of-Kavik-big'." He shuddered again before continuing. "He had lots of muscle…and he had…two different colored eyes…"
Kavik started violently, as if woken from a trance. "This…this wolf, Star. He had two different colored eyes, you're sure?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure, but why–"
"Can you remember what colors they were? Was one of them gold?" Kavik asked, almost spitting out the words.
"Yeah! And the other one was a sort of…I dunno…like a bluish-black color…" Star said brightly, seeming to recall the incident with more clarity.
"And did he have a bunch of scars? A big slash mark across his chest and a couple on his neck?" Kavik asked, almost eagerly this time.
"Yeah! They were really nasty too!" Star grimaced as if the memory of them was like mud in his brains. "How do you know?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Balto said.
"I think we all would." Triksey added.
"Who is this guy? Did you know him?" Steele asked. His eyes were bright and sharp, as if he wanted to set out at once to find whoever did this to his friend and make him pay.
"A wolf who should – by all accounts – be dead. Real evil mongrel, he was…or is. Had a bit of a problem controlling his temper, beat up a lot of females–"
"Band? Are you telling me that Band–" Jenna started to ask in horrified disbelief, but Kavik gently interrupted her, shaking his head slowly.
"No, no, although he's another one I met once – near a place called Pine Cove, this was – that I wish I'd had the good sense to snuff out right then for the good of the rest of the world." Kavik gave the ceiling a single, hate-congested look before continuing. "I can almost remember…Nah." He said, shaking his head. "Sorry. It's right there in my mind, but I just can't get it now. I know I should remember who this guy is, but…" he sighed and shook his head. He growled in frustration. "Darn it! I know him from somewhere, I'm sure of it! I just can't get the friggin' name…"
"That's okay Kavik, really," Star assured him. "I'm not real concerned about who it was as long as I never see them again." He smiled. "Besides, if you all went off looking for whoever bit me and somebody got hurt then it'd be my fault."
"You're wrong there, little buddy," Kaltag said, nudging him with a paw. "It wouldn't be your fault at all."
"No?"
"No." Kaltag smiled thinly. "It'd be the fault of that idiot who was stupid enough to bite you on the butt and think he could get away with it."
"Enough of this bloody revenge talk for tonight," Angel said. She stood and yawned expansively. "I think…YAWN…we should all sleep on this for now. If Steele here–" she jerked her head in the Malamute's direction "–still wants to take revenge for Star, then let's do it in the tomorrow…if Kavik can remember that is."
"Ah, don't worry. It'll come to me sooner or later…" her large white friend assured her.
"Angel's right." Balto seconded. "If we were to all go out there now, at night, it'd be like walking right into their paws. We'd be in their territory as it is, but they'd have the added advantage in the dark; they know it. We don't."
"It wouldn't matter anyway." Star piped up. "As it's not important enough to risk any lives over. I already told you guys, just let it go."
"On that note people, I suggest we all head home. It is getting kinda' late…" Kavik said decisively, standing and stretching. He turned to Star. "You good to walk home by yourself Star? Or you want somebody to come with you?" he gave the little dog a kind smile. "I got your back if you want." He raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Oh back off and go with Balto and the others, you big fuzzy guard-dog you!" Angel chided him. "I'll go with Star if he wants." She looked to Star, who blushed at being acknowledged.
"Fine! Fine! Suit yourself." Kavik said and walked out with Balto and Kaltag, both accompanied by their mates. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied Star sneaking a sidelong peek at Angel as they exited after them. 'Well, well.' He thought, smiling to himself. 'Looks like somebody has a crush…' His smile broke into a grin.
"What're you so happy about?" Balto asked, eyeing Kavik's grin.
"Nothing much," Kavik replied, in a lowered voice. "But…" He sneaked another peek over his shoulder to make sure the other two traveling in the opposite direction were out of earshot. "Looks like Star has a crush on a golden-furred, blue-eyed somebody…" He snickered.
"Ooh, Star's in lo-ove" Kaltag said, stretching out the last word into a kind of singsong thing. He finished with a soft laugh.
"Good thing too," Jenna added, looking to Balto. "As I know he had a thing for Dixie but I don't think she knows he even exists."
There was another flurry of good-natured chuckling at this. Finally, Triksey asked; "Kavik, how did you meet Angel anyway?"
Kavik smiled. "Oh, that's a whopper of a story." He looked from Balto and Jenna on his right to where Triksey was walking instep with her mate on his left. "Do you want to hear it?" A unanimous affirmative arose form the four. "Alright, but I warn you, it's a doozy…"
((()-()))
Star waited a few seconds, and then stole another quick glance at Angel. He couldn't get over her beauty. Earlier, when he had run into the Broiler Room, injured, scared out of his mind, and out of breath, he had been too preoccupied with convincing himself he was still in one piece to have taken much notice. Now however…
"So…" he ventured, praying to anyone who would listen not to let him botch this, "how long are you staying here?"
"I don't know exactly. I think forever, seeing as my master has nowhere else to go." She replied, her blue gaze flicking to him for an instant and then back ahead.
Star couldn't help but mentally cheer. 'Yes! Yes! Yes! Go Sta-ar! It's your birthday – wait, no it's not.' He shook his head a bit to clear his mind. Can't afford to say anything stupid now, can we? "How long have you known Kavik?" he asked, then immediately kicked himself for asking. 'Great,' he though miserably, 'now she probably thinks I'm gay or something.'
Angel smiled. "I've only known him for about two or three weeks. We met on one of the trains taking us here." Her face became suddenly clouded. "Actually, it was kinda' scary…"
"Why, what happened?" Star asked. Knowing Kavik, it probably didn't have anything bad to do with him treating her badly or something, so no worries there. But she looked so preoccupied…
"A…a bunch of dogs forced me into a corner and…they were…were going to rape me…this one kept telling me 'You'll like it. It'll hurt a little a first, but you'll like it'." A single tear slipped from her right eye when she next blinked. Without thinking, without even knowing he was going to do it, Star leaned his head over and licked the tear from her golden-furred cheek. She giggled, making him blush and turn away, muttering 'sorry.'
"It's okay," she assured him. "It was kind of cute, if you want to know the truth." She giggled. "You're funny, Star."
The small dog's heart leapt in his chest and he felt lighter than air. 'She thinks I'm funny! Go me! It's my birthday – wait a minute, no it's not! Darn it! I've got to stop thinking all these weird thoughts!'
"Anyway," Angel continued, "like I said, all these dogs were about to take advantage of me when Kavik showed up." She smiled widely. "He was so cool! He just jumped in and started beating the living crap out them! He was like a Grizzly bear, only ten times worse!" (Star made a mental note never to give Kavik a reason to be mad at him.) Her smile slipped slightly. "But…he accidentally killed one of them. He never meant to, I know that. It really hurt him, I could see it in his eyes. He never wanted to kill anyone, only to protect me…"
"I'm…sorry." Star said, seeming to catch Angel's gloom like the Common Cold. "I haven't known him as long as you have, but I cab he's not the type of person that would kill anyone in cold blood with out a good reason…unlike some other sled dogs I'm sorry to say I've met…"
"I know…" Angel said, mood lifting a bit. "He's so kind and gentle. I can't imagine why he had such a hard life other than the fact that he's part wolf and some dogs just can't seem to get past that part of him." Her brow furrowed. "It makes me so mad!"
"I know how you feel." Star assured her and they both giggled slightly.
After a pause, Star said; "Okay, so go on. What happened next?"
((()-()))
"So, you know, by now, this idiot's really starting to make me mad." Kavik said as narrated his tale to the attentive two on either side of him. "So, I asked him to leave us alone, and he snaps at me. I ask him again and he actually bites me on the nose."
"Ouch." Balto said, grimacing.
"But I'm still hanging in there and he laid the final insult. Do you know what it was?" Kavik asked, raising one eyebrow.
"What?" Triksey asked, almost dreading the answer.
"He spit in my face." Gasps from the other four arose at this.
"He didn't!" Jenna exclaimed in disbelief.
"He did." Kavik assured her grimly. "He spits in my face and then says, 'Get up. I'm gonna grind you to a pulp' or something like that." Kavik smiled thinly. "So I do, and as soon as this monkey sees that I outweigh him as well as being at least twice as strong as he is, he sends the whole pack in on me. At once."
"And you survived? How?" Kaltag asked in awe. He had been in fights before, no lie there, but against 18 or 19 dogs all at once? No way, brother, he would've been doggie-chow in a matter of minutes against those odds.
"Well, luckily for me, they were all sort of stupid, and none of them could get it through their heads that they couldn't get me off my feet, no matter how hard they tried." Kavik snorted in disgust. "It also didn't help that a lot of them were real wusses. I mean I've fought some really bad fighters, but these guys took the cake." He laughed.
"Seriously? How bad were they?" Triksey asked.
"Oh man!" Kavik said exasperatedly. "All I had to do was knock them down and bite them on the leg or something and they started freakin' out." Kavik shook his head. "I tell you, most of the dogs of the world have grown too soft for their own good. Except for here, I've yet to find a town where most of them aren't pushovers."
((()-()))
Star listened in awe as Angel related the events that'd taken place on the last train. He'd thought Kavik to be strong – heck, you only had to look at the guy to tell that he could've taken almost anyone with no problem at all – but now he knew different. Kavik wasn't strong. Kavik was a beast. Just the though of taking on almost 20 dogs at once made Star's legs feel numb and weak in the knees.
"Wow." He breathed when Angel had finished her tale, "that's amazing, him being able to fight off all those dogs at once like that…"
"Yeah, he's pretty neat." Angel admitted with a giggle.
The two walked in silence for a few moments, just enjoying the companionship of their being together. Then, Star stumbled over a rock buried in the snow and crashed sideways into Angel, her giving out a soft yelp of surprise as they crashed to the snow, landing in an awkward position. Angel mentally laughed as Star, purely embarrassed and flustered beyond all reason, got quickly off her, apologizing over and over as he helped her to her feet. 'He's cute when he's embarrassed.' She thought and then realized what she'd just thought. 'Get a grip, Angel! You've only just met this guy and you're already falling all over him!' True, but it didn't change the fact that he was cute…and funny…and –
'That's enough! No, no, stop right there little missy!' She mentally scolded herself as they continued on, the silence between them now carrying an almost physical weight as they continued down the street, now nearing the shed where Star and a few of the other dogs owned by his Master slept.
They stopped by the door, Star walking a little ahead and then turning so he was face to face with Angel. He looked nervously away, wondering what good-bye he could use that wouldn't make him sound like a complete sap. 'See you later, baby,' was just a little too bold for him at this point…Wait scratch that. It was too bold for him at any point. Plus, it didn't really sound like the sort of thing he could say to Angel without her getting a lasting impression of him being a total slob or something.
"Well…thanks for walking me home." He said lamely. 'Way to sound like a 3 month old puppy!' his mind screamed. "I-I mean, uh, thanks for, uh–" But nothing came to him. 'Way to bomb Star!' a voice in his mind scolded him. 'Shut up! I didn't hear you offer any constructive suggestions!' he shot back. The little voice apparently had nothing to say to that, for it didn't speak again.
"I…didn't mind." Angel said, cheeks burning. "It…it was fun. I haven't gotten a chance to tell anyone about what happened on the train…" She look up, giving him a heart-melting smile. "Thanks for listening."
"Sure! No problem! It was a good story!" Star said, the little voice in his head practically shouting, 'Way to sound like a pervert! She'll really go for that man!' "Leave me alone!" He involuntarily yelled, causing Angel to start and making him turn thirteen different shades of red. 'Oh damn it! I said that out loud! Oh my GOD…hole-ly CRAP!' "I mean the part with Kavik busting all those dogs, not the part where you almost got, you know…" he said. "And I didn't mean you, I was talking to the voice inside…my…head…" he added hurriedly, sentence slowly fading off into nothingness as he realized the stupidity of what was coming out of his mouth. 'Okay, I'd like to be shot now…' He thought.
"I kinda figured that…" she replied, laughing and making Star feel as if his brains had turned to mush. "Well…goodnight." She turned to leave.
"Um…uh…wait a minute!" he called, running a few steps and catching up with her. "Do…would you…. Uh…maybe like to go with me to check out the Northern Lights tomorrow? They weren't out when I was looking tonight…and they're…really pretty…" He waited for her answer with mixed feelings, part of him dreading the 'no' and the other part waiting with baited breath for the 'yes'.
"S-sure…" Angel replied, just as flustered as he was – although she did a better job of concealing it than he did. "I've…never seen them before and I've always wanted to…I hear they're absolutely gorgeous…"
"Yeah…they're real pretty…" 'A lot like her body…' 'Shut UP!'
A pause followed by awkward seconds of silence spun out.
"…How's your tail feel?" Angel asked, as if searching for something to say.
"It's a little better but it still kinda hurts…" Star said.
"Oh, let me see what I can do…" she replied. 'This'll be fun!'
Star was thrown into a whirlwind of conflicting emotions that totally blew every gasket in his brain. At first wincing and then sighing with contentment as Angel bent and licked the bitten end of his tail where the blood had all but slowed to a trickle, completely sealing the wound with her sanitizing tongue.
"There," she said, smiling slightly. "How does that feel? Does it still hurt?" Her cheeks were tinged with red. Now just what in the name of GOD had ever convinced her to do that?
'Not when you touch it, it doesn't!' were the words that first rose in Star's mind, but he'd be banished before he'd say that to her. "It feels a lot better, thanks." He said instead, smiling with slight embarrassment, cheeks flaming.
The silence spun out again. Finally Star said; "Well…I'll see you tomorrow then…"
"On the hill overlooking the town?" she asked, almost hesitantly and Star realized she was as nervous as he was. It gave him a strange sense of pleasure to know it.
"Yeah…on the hill…"
"Okay…"
"Well…goodnight…"
"Goodnight…"
With their good-byes finally exchanged, Angel headed up the road and Star pushed through the doggie-door into the warm interior of the shed where Steele, Nikki and a few others were already asleep. 'Angel…' he thought as he curled into a ball between Nikki and another Husky. 'She really is an Angel…An angel…from…Heaven…' thinking this, he dropped off to sleep.
((()-()))
Kavik turned over yet again in another vain attempt to find a more comfortable position at the foot of Maverick's bed. He couldn't get to sleep, and he didn't know why. For some reason, something was keeping him awake…And then he did know; the wolf, the leader of the wolf pack that'd chased Star, and even gotten close enough to bite off the very tip of his tail. He knew the name of the wolf yet it eluded him. He pursued it, hunting and shifting through his thoughts.
The eyes, something about the two different colored eyes…
But why should that mean anything? There were plenty of dogs with eyes that didn't match. So how could he possibly narrow it down with just that? 'But there's something else,' he realized. 'I've been focusing too much on the fine details. There are three more things I know about him. One; he's gray furred.'
"Yeah, way to go Sherlock," he muttered to himself. "Come on! Focus here!"
'Okay, okay. Two; he's got scars on his neck and chest that I gave him.' But that was just as helpful as the last; there were plenty of dogs and wolves that'd tried – and failed – to kill him simply because they viewed him as a threat and decided he had to go. Almost all of these were sent limping away, with various wounds dripping blood as a mark of their retreat. So that was out…
'But the most important thing is I tried to kill him.' He realized. There was only one wolf or dog he'd ever intentionally tried to kill…but maybe that wasn't necessarily true; after all, he'd been in combat with wolves before and they were viscous when it came to fighting. Luckily, so was he when the need arose and he had no other alternatives…So that was out the window too…
Damn…
For a moment, he was sure all was lost, that he would never remember. Then…it was like magic; for an instant, it wasn't there, and then the next he had it clear as day. And as he grasped the name, all the old identifying traits and scars came falling back into place, all the old despicable deeds and a host of other things came flooding back.
Energized with this knowledge, he got swiftly, but silently to his feet, padding through the rectory until he came to the door, where upon he was forced to jump to his hind legs, forepaws braced against the stout wood. He slid the lock back – no doggie-dog for him, no sir, he was far too big – and slipped silently out onto the now deserted street. Once outside, he raced off, paws crunching and thudding in the new snow as he pounded up the street.
He came upon the house where Jenna and Balto lived, both owned by a little girl named Rosy and her family. It was a simple thing with two floors surrounded by a white picket fence, and he wasted no time in bounding up the porch to front door. He was far too large to fit through the doggie-door, so he improvised, managing to stick his head in through the flap. He began to whine and growl making sure to keep his voice low enough so as not to wake the humans, yet imperative enough to rouse Balto.
After a few moments, he heard stirring in one of the rooms off to his left and his body tensed, but relaxed when he caught Balto's familiar scent moving towards him. Balto came out of the living room, yawning and blinking sleep from his eyes. "Hey, Kavik." he greeted, yawning loudly. "What're you doing here? It's the middle of the night…"
"Come on out here for a minute, we need to talk." Kavik replied, and from his urgent tone of voice, Balto knew that this must've been important.
Just when he was about to ask what this was about, Jenna followed in his footsteps, whispering in a worried tone, "Balto, what is it? Is everything okay?"
"I don't know yet. Please, go stay with the kids. I'll tell you as soon as I find out." He licked her cheek and she disappeared back the way she'd come.
Kavik removed his head from the small opening in the door, allowing Balto to slip silently out onto the snow-covered porch. "Well," he asked. "What's up? I know it has to be important for you to come here and wake me up, all in the middle of the night."
"It is." Kavik assured him, and from his low and anxious tones, Balto got a feeling of impending bad news deep in his gut. "Remember how I said I couldn't remember the name of the wolf that bit off the tip of Star's tail?"
"Yeah…" Balto said uneasily, his sense of impending doom only strengthening with every word the larger hybrid spoke.
"Well, I've been racking my brains for the last two hours now and…it finally paid off." He looked at Balto gravely, blue bombardier's eyes cold and unblinking. "The wolf that chased Star for a mile and a half and scared the poop out of him is a wolf by the name of Juji. And I know where his scars are because I put them there myself while trying to kill him a year ago near a place called Anchorage."
