Two Weeks Later
As the days passed, Qimmia helped Aniu with hunting as the white wolf's foot healed. She also helped to nurture Balto; at feeding time, the Alaskan Native girl would sometimes move the other pups a little bit to make room for their brother, but other times, Qimmia would gently take some milk from Aniu's teats and let Balto suckle the girl's wet finger. And Qimmia always did her best to let Aniu rest with her babies while the girl went out to hunt caribou, hares, bird eggs, or maybe a seal if she was close to the ocean. Two weeks after their birth, Aniu's pups all had their eyes opened and their ears perked up; they were no longer blind or deaf. Balto remained Qimmia's favorite of the litter, because of his high spirit despite his small size. The human girl always shared a little portion of her hunted game with the tiny pup, especially when Balto's siblings managed to eat everything else and left nothing for him. Thus, both Qimmia and Aniu made sure that the runt would grow up to be strong and healthy like his siblings.
Early one morning, Balto was up before his mother, human godmother, or any of his siblings. He happily ran out to where Qimmia was sleeping as he said, "Qimmia! Wake up! Today's the day; come on!"
The dark-haired girl mumbled a bit under her furry cot as the wolf-dog pup tugged at her outfit with his tiny teeth. "Qimmia! Qimmia!" Balto pleaded, "Come on, get up! Let's go!"
Qimmia opened one eye as she moaned, "Oh, Balto…"
"You promised!" the pup pouted.
"Balto, I'm up!" Qimmia yawned before smiling, "Are you ready?"
"Yes!" the wolf-dog pup happily exclaimed.
A few minutes later, Qimmia and the pups were gathered close to Aniu. Qimmia was busy adjusting her spear as the mother wolf explained to her pups, "Now, children, remember. The world outside is wondrous but it can also be quite dangerous."
"How?" asked a light gray male pup.
Aniu looked on towards the horizon for a moment, and then she turned back to her children. "This land has changing landscapes, hidden dangers, and other animals that want to fight us."
"What kinds of animals?" asked a darker colored female pup.
Knowing that her people were known for hunting other animals (including wolves), Qimmia gave a nervous look and turned away.
Aniu looked at the human girrl, and then at the pups as she answered, "Oh, bears, wolverines, some other wolves, some wolf-like animals called 'dogs,' and two-legged creatures we call 'men'." She turned back to Qimmia and saw that the Eskimo looked a little ashamed.
"Qimmia is an exception when it comes to 'men'," the wolf mother told her pups, "She helps me with hunting if I feel weak, and she helps take care of you – especially that brother of yours you put down." She looked over at Balto, and gave a small smile to him.
"Mama, what are 'dogs'?" Balto asked.
Aniu's widened for a moment, knowing about the pups' father. But then she said calmly, "Dogs are like us, Balto, but they depend on humans to help them. We wolves depend on other members of our kind."
"But we have Qimmia," said the smallest pup.
"That is true," Aniu nodded, "But Qimmia has no pack to turn to like we wolves do. I have no pack, either, because…" The mother wolf stopped herself, not wanting to talk about her encounter with a street dog that led to her getting pregnant by him and getting cast out of her own pack; Aniu sighed and finished softly, "Never mind. Come, pups. I must teach you all how to hunt." With the exception of Balto all of the pups followed their mother as she walked towards a hill.
Balto stayed behind, because he was curious as to what Qimmia was up to. "What'cha doin', Qimmia?" he asked with an amazed smile.
Qimmia looked down at him as she held her spear up a bit and answered, "I'm working on a weapon of mine."
"A stick?" Balto asked with confusion, "I thought you used your claws and teeth like Mama does!"
The human girl chuckled and said, "No! Humans aren't meant for hunting animals the way wolves and bears do – we have to cope with our surroundings and use our skills that have been taught by our ancestors from long ago."
"Who told you that?" the wolf pup asked with interest.
"My father and my grandmother," Qimmia answered as she put her spear down, "Usually the males do the hunting while we females stay behind and mind our children and homes. But one winter, we had such terrible snowstorms. My father feared that he may not return one night, because the air was freezing cold, and snowflakes flew around furiously! And indeed, that's how… it turned out… for him and… my mother." She started becoming sad at those last few words, because of the painful memories of losing her parents one night.
"What's wrong, Qimmia?" Balto asked with sympathy.
Qimmia was about to answer when she heard Ainu howling. "Balto, your mother needs you now," she said, "I'll explain later."
"Balto, where are you?" Aniu's voice called, "Your siblings and I are waiting!"
The wolf-dog pup runt turned and diligently called back, "Coming, Mama!"
The dark-haired girl, meanwhile, started sensing moist in her eyes, but she shook the feeling away before she went back to working on her spear.