As the evening started to loom in the sky, Qimmia and her two animal friends were leaving Nome with heavy hearts. Qimmia sighed and said to her wolf-dog companion, "Balto, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I shouldn't have been so rough with you, and I'm sorry those four fools hurt you like that!"
"It's not your fault, Qimmia," Balto said with a depressed sigh, "I shouldn't have fallen in love with Jenna."
"The thing is, Balto," Qimmia explained to him, "My family taught me years ago to never trust the white man – or his dogs." She remembered something and sighed sadly, "For you, I know it's hard to fit in, since you have both wolf and dog's blood in your body."
At that moment, Balto sniffed the air, and then looked over at a hill, where a small pack of wolves were walking. One of the wolves howled as Balto looked at them. But none of the wolves gave Balto much notice as they walked away.
"See what I mean?" Qimmia asked with a sad sigh.
"Not a dog, not a wolf," Boris added as the three of them headed back for their ship, "He doesn't know what he is."
"I know what he is," Qimmia softly told the goose, "He's a headstrong friend who just wants to do good things. And I know he will – someday." She sadly smiled at the last part as she followed her two animal friends up the gangplank of the ship.
As Boris watched the wolf-dog sadly walk onto the ship, he smiled and snapped his feathers, thinking of a way to cheer him up. Boris took a bone and jumped in front of Balto before he gnawed on it. But Balto didn't even crack a smile.
"Nice try, Boris," Qimmia sighed as she saw the goose.
Boris then took up a bowl of water and began lapping it up like a dog, but Balto ignored him.
"Boris, Balto is not in the mood," Qimmia sadly told the goose, "And it's all because of humans like me."
Boris swallowed the water up before he looked at Qimmia and assured her, "Qimmia, none of this is your fault. You have every right to trust your gut instincts. You do not have to follow along with anything that makes you uncomfortable – especially since Balto is thinking about mating with a dog he just met!"
Qimmia sighed and said, "You see, the thing is, Boris, for most of his young life, Balto and I were taught wolf ways by his mother, Aniu. And every once in a while, he'd see dog sleds running past, and he was fascinated by them. I can't blame him, since some of my neighboring villages with people had their own sled dogs to transport goods. But these dogs are only made to run for sport." Qimmia stopped to sigh and finished, "I don't know, Boris. I guess I'm confused, too. I mean, what does everyone have against people and animals who are different?"
"Well, we cannot right all the wrongs of the world by ourselves," Boris said to Qimmia as he gently put his wing on her arm, "But I can continue with trying to cheer Balto up!" He grinned and winked as he took a toy cat and then placed it down towards Balto, who was lying under a blanket.
Balto looked over at the toy cat and didn't smile. Then, he looked up and saw Boris giving him a big grin. The goose then went down to Balto, stood before him, and then did a little Russian dance. Qimmia giggled a bit as she saw the goose dancing.
When Boris finished, he was disappointed that Balto was still down in the dumps. So, he decided to crawl under the blanket and join the wolf-dog in disappointed sighs.
Qimmia also joined her friends and looked at Balto. "Balto, don't listen to any mean remarks everyone gives you," Qimmia said to her furry friend with a sad smile, "Do you know what I see when I look at you?"
"What?" Balto mumbled as he slowly looked up at her.
"I see… a beautiful creature who's one of a kind," Qimmia answered as her smile grew happier, "And he very rarely loses his temper. You prefer peace rather than fighting."
"That is true," Balto said with a small smile.
"Now, look at me," Qimmia continued, "Do you think I'm a bad person?"
"Heck no!" Balto said as he shook his head, "Qimmia, you're very kind, and protective, and loyal, and…"
"And an Inupiat who's always had a special connection with animals," Qimmia finished with a smile, "And so maybe everyone in Nome is wrong about the both of us?"
"Not everyone," Balto told her, "Jenna and her little girl don't seem to see anything wrong with me."
Qimmia was about to frown again when she stopped to remember something. No, neither Jenna nor Rosy ridiculed Balto for having wolf's blood in him. The Inupiat girl sighed and said, "You know, Balto? I guess you are right. Not all creatures different from us have to have the same opinions as others."
Just then, Boris looked up and saw a flock of snow geese honking and flying away in the sky. Balto looked at the goose as they got up and asked, "Homesick, Boris? Ever think about going back?"
"No trekking, Fido!" Boris said as he went over to a mop and bucket, "I'm sticking here until you can stand on all four feet! And until Qimmia stands up on her hind legs!"
"Boris, you silly goose!" Qimmia chuckled, "I already am able to stand up perfectly straight!"
"You're taking care of us?" Balto chuckled.
"Don't thank me," Boris said as he began mopping the deck.
"Well, either way, we still do," Qimmia smiled at the goose, "Balto and I would've died from the cold if we hadn't found you!" Her smile dropped a bit as she finished, "You guys are the only family I have left."
Balto then sniffed the air and commented with a grin, "Hmmm… I smell… herring."
Boris dipped his mop into the bucket and asked as he mopped some more, "The herring are flying south like the geese, too?"
"That's the strangest thing I've ever heard in my life!" Qimmia smirked as she crossed her arms.
"Say, must be Muk and Luk!" Balto cried happily.
"I wonder what they have in their fur this time?" Qimmia wondered out loud with a smile.
Boris ignored them until he heard a familiar voice cry out, "UNCLE BORIS!"
"Oh no!" Boris shot up with fear as he held his mop up to act as a weapon.
"How sweet," Balto grinned, "Uncle Boris!"
Boris just took his bucket and used it as a shield before he pointed the mop forward like a spear. "No hugging!" the goose warned, "No Eskimo kissing! No licking!"
Muk, the smaller polar bear, ran to Boris as he called out, "UNCLE BORIS!"
Boris cowered behind his bucket and held his mop out in defense, but Muk stopped a few inches away from the mop. Boris let out a sigh of relief until he felt himself begging hugged from behind him!
Luk, the larger polar bear, had taken Boris in his arms and hugged him very tightly. Qimmia laughed as the poor goose struggled to get free of Luk, and Muk smiled to Boris, "He says he's glad to see you!"
Boris just groaned as Luk licked the goose's head, making some of his feathers come out.
"Alright, Luk, be gentle with Boris!" Qimmia told the big polar bear with a grin.
"We love you, Uncle Boris!" Muk smiled.
Boris climbed out of Luk's grasp and then landed on top of Muk. Boris then grabbed most of his feathers and put them back into his body. Then, he scoffed to see that one of his wing feathers was missing. Boris looked over and saw Luk hugging that feather, and then grabbed it away from the bear's paws.
Luk began crying, and then he mumbled something to Muk.
"What are you talking about?" Muk said to his brother, "Of course he's glad to see us. He loves us!" He then swatted Luk in the face.
Qimmia looked at Boris, who was putting his feather back into his wing, and then asked him, "Don't you?"
"Yeah, don't you?" Muk asked the goose.
Balto looked at Boris in a teasingly way, and Boris sighed under his breath, "Okay, okay." He looked at the bears and called to them, "Hey, mal'chiks! Let's play a game!"
The two bears heard him and became very hyper as if they had too much sugar. "Yes, please, Uncle Boris!" Muk cried with excitement.
Boris stood high and said to them, "Race you to the shore! One, two, three, GO!"
The two bears ran across the deck, and then made their way to the seashore.
Qimmia looked and saw that Boris was standing his ground. "They win," the goose said with a smug smile.
"Boris, aren't you going to catch up to them?" Qimmia asked sternly, "After all, this was YOUR idea."
"I just want them out of my feathers!" Boris scoffed under his breath.
But as the goose walked away, there came the distressful cries of, "Help! Help! We can't swim!"
"Oh no!" Qimmia gasped with concern as she heard Muk and Luk crying for help, "Come, Boris! Come, Balto! They could be in serious trouble!" But then, she saw the situation: Muk and Luk, despite the fact that they were polar bears, had no clue about how to swim, and they splashed around in shallow water, believing that they were drowning.
Boris groaned and rolled his eyes.
"We'd better check on them, anyway," Qimmia told the goose and the wolf-dog; the three of them ran as fast as they could to get to Muk and Luk.