Chapter 5

Confirmation

Balto stared at Kavik, mouth hanging open and his throat going bone-dry. He seemed incapable of speck and his mouth opened and closed, Goldfish like several times before he got it right. "What?" he finally asked, when his brain finally registered that he had the ability to speak by using his mouth to form syllables, which in turn, formed words.

"Hard to believe, I know." Kavik replied, still staring solemnly at Balto, his blue eyes unblinking. "But I swear, it's the truth."

Balto shook his head. "It's not weather it's the truth or not that's bothering me. I believe you, 100 percent…it's just that…" he trailed off momentarily, shaking his brown-furred head again slightly. "I'm just having a little trouble believing that we've got another version of Band hanging over our heads…" he sighed.

"I wish…" Kavik snorted, stealing a glance in the direction of a copse of trees that marked the beginning of the forest that lay just outside the outskirts of Nome, seeming almost to scan them with his eyes as if looking for spies of some sort.

"You 'wish'…?" Balto asked, not sure if he'd heard Kavik right, but desperately hoping and praying the albino hybrid had said something entirely different. 'Please let my ears be wrong…'

Kavik nodded, face becoming slightly clouded with worry. "You heard me right." His lips curved downward in a slight frown. "If you thought Band was bad enough…" he uttered a low, distressed whistle. "Man…Juji's worse, much, much worse…and no, I'm not exaggerating here…"

"Please tell me you're joking…" Balto pleaded, though he knew in his heart-of-hearts that this was no joke; Kavik wasn't one to make light of things as serious as this and he could tell that Kavik was wishing it was all just a big joke too from the look of dread on his face.

"Sorry but…we both know I'm not…" Kavik replied. He gave Balto a hopeful smile. "At least…I know I don't have Alzheimer's disease…" They laughed together shortly, both trying to ease the tension each they could sense rising within themselves. The uneasy silence spun out.

"So…this Juji." Balto said. "You said he's worse than Band…How much worse? 5 times worse?"

Kavik smiled. There was no humor in it. "Hah! Try more like 10 or 15! He makes Band look like a tame kitten and makes most wolves look like Saints!"

Balto groaned hopelessly. "So…we've got a bit of a problem; A big, bad wolf– "

"Roughly my size and weight with almost the same amount of strength." Kavik put in. Balto's heart seemed to sink somewhere down into the vicinity of his ankles.

"Right, a big, bad wolf, roughly your size and strength that makes Band look like a kitten…" he sighed, the warm air condensing into steamy vapor before their eyes. "Great…what more do we need…?" he concluded sarcastically.

"Not much…" Kavik replied smartly, one corner of his mouth twitching.

Balto smiled. "True enough." He replied, making Kavik's smile widen slightly. "So…what're we supposed to do?"

"It's quite simple, really." Kavik said. "All I've got to do is track him down and hit him so hard and so fast I'll either kill him or drive him out…I'd prefer the latter but I won't hesitate to go for the kill option if I've no other choice if and when it comes right down to it…"

"Don't you mean 'we'?" Balto asked, getting a bad feeling all over again. He didn't like where this was headed, not one bit.

Kavik smiled grimly. "No, I mean I, me, nobody else…an encounter with Juji's too dangerous for any ordinary dog to survive."

"Now wait a minute!" Balto interjected, concern rising. There was no way he was going to let Kavik do what he knew he was thinking of doing. "Are you saying that you–"

"Yes," Kavik gently interrupted. "I am saying that, and I know I could do it…and maybe I'll get it right this time and actually get him for good…" his gaze flicked off in the direction of the Forest again.

"No way!" Balto objected. He didn't like the idea of Kavik going into the woods alone, and liked the idea of his large white friend having to fight off maybe a dozen wolves at once even less so.

"Balto– " Kavik tried, but brown hybrid overrode him.

"No, I don't like it and neither do you, and don't try to act like a hero and say you 'enjoy the thrill of danger' or some cheap rap like that." Balto looked at Kavik fiercely, face set, eyes flaring with determination.

Kavik sighed in defeat. "Okay, you're right; I like the idea of me going into those woods alone even less than you do…But I know Juji must've come here looking for me, it's the only rational explanation." He paused, studying the look engraved into Balto's face. "It seems…we're at a Stalemate." An amused smile danced its way across his features and he chuckled quietly.

"You've got a point…" Balto replied, his own smile returning. You had to hand it to him, Balto thought. Kavik did have a wonderful way about him of making even the worst situation seem better. "Although, there might be another way…" he said thoughtfully.

Kavik's smile broadened. "Care to speak what's on your mind, oh Savior of the children of– "

"Oh hush you!" Balto said, giving him a light tap on the shoulder with one paw. "It just so happens that my brother's a wolf and– "

"What?" Kavik asked sharply, eyes flashing. "He's a– "

"Yes he is," Balto cut in, giving his friend a slightly hardened look. "His name is Kemo and he happens to live in the Forest outside of Nome…"

"I'm sorry Balto," Kavik said, obviously embarrassed and ashamed of his immediate reaction. "I've just…got this thing…about wolves…it wasn't always like that but you can thank Juji for my attitude change. Still, I'm smart enough to know they're not all bad…"

Balto gave him an understanding smile that shone with forgiveness. "Hey, lighten up will you? It's okay, you're not the first one to have that reaction before…" He grinned, thinking back to when he'd first told Jenna about the identity of his only surviving blood relative to date. "Anyway, he's a pretty good guy, knows almost everything going on in his territory. We could ask him if he's seen anyone fitting Juji's description around here in the last few days…and maybe get him to lend us a paw if the time comes…"

"Sounds good…I like this plan of yours…" Kavik replied, smiling.

"Well, it's sure as heck better than the one you were wanting to follow." Drawled a female voice from just to the left of the porch, making the two canines seated in the snow literally jump six inches into the air.

Kavik and Balto were on their feet in an instant, Kavik preparing to spring if the unidentified canine should try anything 'funny', but relaxed at once when he recognized the scent.

"Triksey?" he called out in dumbfounded disbelief. "Is that you?"

The quarter-wolf hybrid came trotting out from behind her hiding place, a sly smile playing across her lips. "Yep, that's me! You pretty much hit the nail on the head."

The two males sat in stunned silence for about ten seconds before Balto finally asked. "Triksey?"

"Yo?"

"What are you doing here?"

Triksey giggled, green eyes flashing with mirth as she replied, "That's easy; I just followed Kavik."

"But how…?" Kavik began. He was utterly flabbergasted that someone had actually heard him. He was an expert when it came to moving with both speed and stealth, so…?

Triksey rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Man, Kavik, you really have to work on your listening skills! I was running behind you for about a block and a half!" A giggle or two rippled from her again.

'Man, I must've been in really deep to not have heard her behind me all that time.' Kavik thought, but then reminded himself that all or most of his mind had been focusing on Juji at the time and he hadn't been bothered to take in much else.

Triksey's voice interrupted his thoughts. "So…you guys are going to see Kemo to ask him if he's seen this Juji guy, huh?" she asked. "Com on, fess up…"

"Exactly how much of our conversation did you hear?" Kavik asked, heart sinking. He really didn't want to have to watch out for someone else in addition to Balto during their little excursion into the woods.

"Pretty much all of it, more or less." she replied, chipper as ever.

Balto groaned. "This is going to make things rather difficult…" he sighed, looking to Kavik.

"Why's that?" Triksey asked as she walked up to join the two males seated on the porch. She cocked her head.

"Do you remember when I told you Kemo isn't fond of being woken up at night, that he likes his sleep…?" Balto asked. Triksey nodded.

"So?" she replied, "this is an emergency! Nome could be in real danger here!"

"Yeah…but that's the thing." Balto replied. "He…doesn't particularly care for you ever since you…you know…kind of made his life a living hell when he tried to teach you how to be more 'wolf-like', remember?"

"Oh Balto, I'm sure he's forgotten all about that!" Triksey assured him. Balto didn't really think so, but decided to keep his peace; some things were better left unsaid. Triksey jerked him from his thoughts. "What are we waiting for, let's go and see Kemo already!"

Balto sighed, resigned to his fate and hoping Kemo wouldn't just refuse to speak to them when he saw Triksey. "Alright, just lemme' go tell Jenna where we're going…" he replied, turning and slipping back into the house. 'God, I already miss my big soft, fluffy pillow…' he thought somewhat miserably as he walked down the hall with a yawn to tell Jenna where he was going.

As the hero of Nome was conferring with his mate, Triksey turned to regard Kavik, who had turned his attention yet again to the distance copse of trees and seemed almost to be searching them…

"So…this Juji guy…what did he do exactly that made you try to…" she trailed off, unable to complete the sentence, despite her deep reservoirs of courage.

"What made me try to kill him, you mean? That is what you're asking, right?" He fixed her with his blue-eyed gaze, the irises almost seeming to burn with his innermost feelings.

"Well…yeah." Triksey replied, a bit unsure of her own boldness even now.

Kavik remained silent for a few moments before replying, almost in a whisper; "He…took something from me…" He swallowed slightly and Triksey pretended not to notice. "…Well, he took someone special away from me…" He blinked, and in that instant, Triksey could see that he was trying with all his might not to cry. "Please…let's…leave it at that." He finished.

"Oh…I understand." She replied softly. A lover or somebody close like a brother or sister, then. She could easily understand why Kavik, a normally non-violent and peace-loving dog, would try to commit murder. It was really relatively simple to grasp once you understood the driving force behind his intended actions.

The uncomfortable silence that followed remained until Balto returned, yawning and stretching even more, from his conversation with Jenna. He looked like he was about to collapse. "Come on," he said. "Let's get this over with…" he was too preoccupied at the moment to notice the feeling of tension in the air around him.

((()-()))

The trio of friends plodded slowly across the town towards the outskirts, planning to head for the Old Trawler and check on Boris and then starting to the Forest from there. Upon reaching the boat, they were greeted – and scared half-to-death – by Boris, who had been sleeping deeply just inside the cabin but was startled awake by the sounds aroused from Kavik, who accidentally tripped over the shattered remains of one of the numerous barrels that had once lined the deck and went sprawling into a pile of loose boards. The sharp sound badly startled the Old Russian goose, who flew into a panic, squawking and honking curses and swearing at the top of his lungs. This, as you can imagine, cause the other three to cry out in alarm and leap back. This little involuntary movement only served to heighten Boris's panic, as he now believed himself to be under attack by a bunch of rabid wolves.

The conversation that followed went something like this:

Boris: "Ahhhh!"

Kavik: (Cursing in pain)

Balto: Omigosh!

Triksey: Holyfreakincrap! (She nearly faints)

Boris: So, ugly mongrels want piece of old Boris, eh? Come on then! Bring it on!

Boris assumed a boxing stance, weaving in and out unsteadily on his feet. This sight alone caused Balto to laugh out loud. Boris' panic left him and all the fight melted away at the sound of that familiar laugh.

"Balto!" he gasped, clutching at his chest. "You nearly gave me heart attack! What're you doing here in middle of night? And what's big white thing over there?" he asked. "Oh, it's just Kavik…" he said answering his own question, after looking over Balto's shoulder to regard Kavik, who was still mumbling curse after profane curse under his breath and licking one paw where a splinter from one of the broken barrels had embedded itself.

"Kavik! For Pete's sake! If your gonna' curse, do it so we can all understand what you're saying!" Triksey berated him, with a soft 'flump' on the head with her long bushy tail. Kavik gave her a childish sort of look.

"So what if I curse in Spanish…?" he looked over at Boris, who shrank back a little in spite of himself. The goose had never quite been able to get over the white dog's overpowering size. "Boris cures in Russian all the time and we can't understand it."

"Yeah, but you don't have put up with Muk and Luk…" he shook his downy head. "Bears…ugh." he finished moodily, groaning a bit at the end and rolling his eyes. After a little more discussion, the trio left Boris to his rest. They had decided not to bother him with the knowledge of Juji's identity just yet; it was a bit complicated and they were all already somewhat tired and pressed for time as it was.

Balto lead the way into the forest, picking out the curving, twisting pathway through the trees as easily as if he'd walked it a hundred times before (which, in reality, he had). Sniffing here and there, Kavik followed, nose alight with interest with Triksey behind, she practically jumping out of her skin in her anticipation.

Finally, after about an hour of walking/trotting through the admittedly beautiful forest, they arrived in a clearing on the opposite side of which was located a sizeable cave. Kavik involuntarily stiffened, picking up the scent of a wolf inside, but Balto and Triksey were quick to reassure him that all was well, lest his low growling leave the wrong kind of first impression on the undomesticated canine residing within.

Balto strode over to the cave, purposely making much more noise than was necessary in order to rouse his wolven brother so as avoid having to startle him awake. "Hey…Kemo." He called, in low urgent tones, poking his head into the mouth. "Hey…c'mon wake up…we need to talk…" There was a grumble and the sound of shifting body weight against stone.

Kavik heard a low, wise voice mumble; "What do you want?"

"We need to talk…" Balto repeated. "It's urgent…"

"Is it life-threatening?"

"Well…no, not exactly but– "

"Good, then come get me when I can actually see the sun…'night." The voice interrupted politely.

Kavik rolled his blue eyes at Triksey. "This is getting us nowhere fast." He grumbled and strode over to the mouth of the cave himself. He stuck his head in and bellowed; "Hey, Kemo! Wake up, you lazy BUM of a wolf! We need to talk! It's REALLY IMPORTANT!"

Balto turned his head very slowly to gaze open-mouthed and slack-jawed at the white canine with a look that asked, quite frankly; 'What's wrong with you? Do you have a DEATH WISH or something?'

Kavik's only response to this was a slight raise of the eyebrows, and an idle little swish of the tail as if to ask; 'What, I didn't do something wrong, did I?'

Needless to say, Kemo was on his feet and ambling out in a hurry, rapidly blinking his blue eyes in an effort to rouse himself. He looked at Balto with an annoyed gaze. It was clear from the look on his face that he was not happy. No, not happy in the slightest.

"Balto…" he sighed, shaking himself into a resistant wakefulness and looking at his brother. "Alright…you friend's got my attention." He shot a nasty look at Kavik who, I need not say, was not intimidated by the quality of the other's glance.

"Hey Kemo…" Kavik replied, stepping closer and delivering a companionable flump of his tail to Kemo's snowy head. "What, no 'hello'?" He smirked. "Been almost a year now, hasn't it?"

Kemo's scowl lessened a bit. "Hello Kavik. Long time no see…" And to Balto's utter astonishment, Kemo actually smiled and gave the white hybrid a short, yet affectionate nuzzle. "It's been too long…Far, far too long. I had no idea you were even in Alaska anymore. There's so much we have to discuss…" he said, gazing intently at the wolf before him, their eyes locked.

'Hel-lo,' Balto thought, 'what's this?'

Balto stepped forward, intending to ask just what the heck was going on here, when Tricksey got there first…only, she didn't ask quite the same question as Balto would've.

"Hey Kemester! What am I? Chop liver?" she asked, a touch indignantly, face contracting into a pouty frown.

At the sight of her Kemo groaned aloud. "Oh God." He moaned and turned an evil eye on Balto. "What's she doing here?" he asked in an exasperated tone that told his brother that he already knew the answer to his own question.

"She followed me to Balto's house." Kavik replied.

Kemo's smirk returned. "She followed you all the way from the church to Balto's house? And you didn't hear her?" Kemo sighed and shook his head. "My, you're getting old rather quickly aren't you…? But, then again we're all the same age…"

Kavik raised an eyebrow, a corner of his mouth quirking. "Really? And just what does that have to do with anything, pray tell?"

"If I'm getting old, than so are you and so is Balto here." Kemo replied, eyes flickering with silent laughter.

"Mm…point taken."

Balto could stand it no longer and he finally managed to find his voice. "What in the heck is going on?" he blurted, looking first from Kavik and then to his wolven brother. "How in God's Name do you two know each other?"

"Yeah!" Triksey seconded, walking up to stand next to Balto. "And how come you didn't tell us you know Kemo?"

"One: it's a long, long story and Two: you never asked." Kavik said dismissively with a wave of a paw. "And there isn't time to
you now…maybe some other time but not now…we have more important things to discuss…" He looked at Triksey, whose mouth, which had been open and on the verge of venturing forth a question, closed reluctantly.

"Now then," Kavik said, turning his gaze on Balto. "Balto, I believe you should do the honors."

"Alright…" Balto sighed, resigned. He fixed Kemo with his yellow/brown gaze. "Kemo…have you seen or heard anything about a…a big gray wolf with whole bunch of scars on his neck and chest…? He…sorta looks a little like Kavik…"

Kemo's alert face clouded and Balto's heart sank even lower. This was just turning out to be a great day. "I did hear a rumor or two about someone vaguely fitting that description from a few members of the Black Omen Clan who happened to pass through a few hours ago…" he looked at Kavik. "They kept saying that at first, they'd mistook the wolf to be a baby grizzly or something…said he was too big to be a wolf or even a dog…" Kemo's face darkened as he continued. "He asked them if they'd seen a white wolf/dog about his height and weight with blue eyes 'wears some stupid cross or something' he said. They told him, no, of course, but then went on to say he might try asking some of the wolves in the nearby Forest or send someone into Nome. Then, they saw him lead about two dozen or more wolves across the river towards the town…"

He looked straight at Balto, gaze heavy and grave. "I was going to have someone go down to the trawler and tell you to meet me tomorrow morning, seeing as I knew that anything that sounded as bad as what I think is probably going to happen required immediate attention…but it seems my old friend Kavik beat me to it…the sly mongrel." He cast an amused sidelong look at Kavik whose face had grown darker than Kemo's. "We're both thinking of the same person…Juji."

"It's Juji alright…" Kavik replied, grimacing. "The son of a bitch came all the way out here, looking for little old me. Gee, don't I just feel SO special…" Kavik growled, voice oozing with sarcasm.

Triksey sighed. "Well…that still doesn't help us much…"

"She's right…" Kavik confided. "All this has done is confirmed my suspicions…Juji's here and he's going to try to find and kill me."

"So…what do you intend to do?" Kemo asked. He was looking at Balto.

"Well…" his brother said, regretfully. "We'll have to call an emergency meeting at the Old Mill…"

"Oh goody." Kavik groaned sarcastically, face downcast. "I can't wait to see how everyone will react to my telling them we've got a killer on the loose who's after my blood…"

"Far from thrilled, I can tell you..." Kemo replied, smirking.

"Kemo...just shut up, okay? Please."

((()-()))

The sun arose the next day to find Nome unusually abundant with activity. The news that Kavik had remembered the identity of Star's attacker had somehow gotten out and spread among the dogs like forest fire through dry kindling. Per Kavik's insistence, a meeting in the Old Mill was called, seeing as it was the only place large enough to successfully accommodate almost three-fourths of the canine population.

Balto and Kavik sat in the center of the room watching the dogs arrive, the former looking tired and sleep deprived and the latter looking even worse, like he was about to faint from exhaustion. They had both been up most of the night, conversing with Kemo and Triksey about what the best course of action would be once they successfully managed to get everyone to accept the knowledge of another sadistic canine killer running through the Forest. They had, regrettably, been unable to find a suitable answer.

Balto's spirits rose the slightest bit as he saw Kaltag come walking in, looking tired, but nonetheless ready for action. "Triksey's told me everything." He said as he took a seat beside Balto. "Man, this sucks!" he suddenly burst out. "I mean, why is it that we always get stuck with worst of the canine scumbags? It's not fair…" he grumbled making Balto smile and give him an understanding nudge with his shoulder.

"Hey…c'mon." he chided, smiling thinly. "We made it through Band with only minimal damage…"

"Yeah," Kavik replied, also smiling. "But there's one big difference between now and then."

"What's that?" Kaltag inquired, ears and head cocked.

"Band was just out to kidnap Jenna and make her his own." Kavik's smile widened a bit. "Juji's just here to kill me." He chuckled dryly. "Ironic, isn't it?"

Just then, Jenna, accompanied by Triksey and – what a surprise – Angel walked in, much to the delight/astonishment of all three males sitting in the center of the room. Balto and Kaltag leapt to their feet, worry evident on their faces.

"What're you doing here? Is everything okay? Who's watching the pups?" Balto asked Jenna anxiously.

"I'm here to support you guys. Everything's fine. I got Sylvie to watch the children." Jenna replied, answering the questions in the order he'd spoken them in.

"And Triksey?" he asked, gaze flicking to regard the dog in question.

"Same as me, except that she got Boris to watch her pups for her."

Kavik turned his attention to Angel. "What about you?" he asked. "What's your reason for being here? Or…do I really not want to know…?"

"I dunno." Angel replied, shrugging. "I just came cause that's were Jenna and Triksey were going…"

"That's not true!" Triksey cut in sharply. "You came to see St-ow!" she cried as her sentence was interrupted by a hurried paw-step from Angel who hissed. "Shut up!" though her cheeks were already flaring.

The last of the dogs had walked in and taken his seat so the six friends were unable to pursue the issue further and instead were forced to focus on a much more depressing on in exchange. All eyes and ears were instinctively focused on Balto, who was, admittedly, a little nervous.

Balto sucked in a few deep breathes then turned and faced the assembled dogs. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice, as this meeting deals with something that concerns us all…" he paused to give his words the chance to sink in. "As most of you're aware by now, Star came stumbling into the Broiler Room last night, claiming to have been attacked by a small group of wolves who chased him into town and even managed to injure him slightly…" He stopped as a few dogs chorused out remarks of disbelief.

"Why would wolves try to attack us?" A large Mastiff asked, standing up. "…They've always stayed in the Forest until now…"

"We aren't exactly sure but-"

"And why would as many as a dozen wolves all go after one small dog?" another dog inquired, this one a Samoyed with a patch of black over one eye.

Draco spoke from the crowd. "Hunger maybe. They might've been starving to death and gone running after the first live thing they saw, who knows?"

"But the game's always been good in the north." Nikki stated. "So why would deyse' be starvin'?"

"Not lately, it hasn't." Doc spoke up. "From what I've managed to pick up from my Master and the other humans, most of the Caribou have migrated too far away for the wolves in that area to keep up with. So starvation's a possible motive at this point…"

Kavik decided the time had come to do away with all these silly theories and thrust the truth into the light in all its colossal ugliness. "That may be part of it, but it's not the most crucial part…" he said, raising his voice somewhat so that it cut through the hubbub.

"And what's that?" someone from the back called out.

Kavik inhaled, exhaled, inhaled again, and then swung the axe. "The real reason, the six of us," he gestured to the other five around him, "have come to believe is this; The leader of the wolf pack that cross-country chased Star is a canine by the name of Juji, and he came here…to kill me and everyone and everything I hold dear..."