April 16, 1927
Mountain Trail – Nenana
12:10 p.m.
"Dingo's Tale II: A Quest For Vengeance."
Chapter 5: A Steele Move
Kodi, Yukon, and Saba were almost to the mountain trail with Kodi leading, a wild storm was forming and Kodi had yet to find Dingo's scent, "Which way did he go? I don't have his scent or even a trace of him, no paw prints or red hair."
Saba sniffed around, "Yeah, no traces of him whatsoever, maybe you made a mistake? Are you sure he left?" Kodi showed a little bit of doubt, "Y-yeah, I'm sure. There's no mistaking it, where else would he have gone?" Saba looked doubtful, but trusted her brother, "Well, I suppose that makes sense, but don't you think we should at least go through White Mountain first? My old owners live in Nenana and I think the storms that we would encounter going through Eagle Pass would be too severe." Kodi knew that he had been to Nenana before on a mail run and felt as though he knew what he was doing, "No, I've been to Nenana before, taking Eagle Pass would save us time, it's the middle of spring anyways."
Kodi and the other two headed off for Nenana, not knowing of the obstacles ahead. While Dingo wasn't far behind he still had a while left to go before he caught up with them.
April 16, 1927
Mountain Trail - Nenana
12:22 p.m.
"Dingo's Tale II: A Quest For Vengeance."
Dingo started up the mountain, still following his siblings' scent, "Damn, this storm is starting to get violent. I can't give up yet, they could be in danger if this is just the beginning of the storm. I wish dad were here, he'd know what to do." Dingo left his thoughts behind and focused on pushing through the storm.
(Kodi's Point-Of-View)
Kodi and the team were already caught in the midst of the storm, Kodi pushing through while the other two fell behind, Saba tried her best to speak loudly so Kodi could hear him, "Kodi! We need to go back, we can't make it through this storm! It'd be better if we waited, even if it is the middle of spring it's still Alaska we're talking about! Do you even know where we're going?" Kodi could barely make out what she was saying, "Of course I do! We can't turn back now, we're already halfway up the mountain pass!" Kodi couldn't see what was in front of him, but he still pushed the two to keep moving. Yukon had to yell to get his message through, "Kodi! You can't see anything in front of you! How could you possibly know where you're going!? Saba is right, we should at least find a place to settle down and wait for Dingo! If I don't have his trail, then he probably didn't come this way at all!" Kodi though, persisted, "What if Dingo's in trouble right now? Of course we don't have his scent, the heavy storm is blocking our sense of smell! Come on, quickly!" Kodi started to run, with the others behind him. Kodi still couldn't see what was in front of him and he fell down a cliff with the others behind him, "Kodi! Yukooonnnn!" Saba yelled as she fell down the cliff with the other two. Kodi immediately passed out and he started remembering the incident during the race to Anchorage. It was cold, he could hardly make out the other dogs running with him.
January 05, 1926
Eagle Pass
02:59 a.m.
"Dingo's Tale Flashback"
Subchapter 1: The Time Paradox
Kodi was running with the other 6 dogs that were up against him, he was in the back of the pack. He heard screams from up ahead, they slowly faded away. Yukon was right behind him, both started to slow down once they saw a cliff ahead. They saw one other dog run past them fall down the cliff, "Nooooo! Yuke, we need to go help them! We can't let our teammates die!" Yukon nodded and they started down the cliff, Kodi slipped and fell off into a lake, nearly dying. Kodi and Yukon swam back up to the surface, pulling themselves up on an ice platform. Yukon quickly started to look around, "Where are they at? They didn't fall far from here, they were each carrying lights on their collars so they shouldn't be too hard to find." Kodi looked around, but saw no light, "I don't see anything, you don't suppose…" Kodi looked down at the ice. Yukon caught on and said, "No way bro, we'll die if we go back in that lake! We need to save ourselves, at least keep looking on land first!" Kodi however, had something else in mind, "I have an idea, I'll go back in and you go look on land, if I die at least I'll die trying to save others." Yukon nodded and ran off to try and find the other 6 dogs. Kodi dived back in the water and saw a yellow looking light at the bottom of the lake, he quickly swam over to whoever it was that he saw. When Kodi reached the person, he quickly realized who it was, "Dusty! *choke* oops, forgot" Kodi forgot that he was underwater and let out a lot of oxygen. Kodi grabbed her paw and brought her to the surface, Kodi put his ear to her chest and listened, hoping to hear a heart-beat, no response. "No! Come on Dusty, don't die on me now!" Kodi started to push on her chest hoping to get the water out of her, he heard Yukon coming and ran towards him slipping on the ice. Yukon slipped past him and tripped over a crack in the ice and landed on her stomach, pushing all of the water out of her. Dusty woke up with a cough, "Unngh, Kodi? Wait, you aren't Kodi, who are you?" Yukon was startled to see Dusty and figured Kodi had found her in the water, "Oh, I'm his brother Yukon, I didn't drag you out of that lake though, Kodi did." Dusty was confused, "If Kodi saved me, where is he? Where are the others?" Yukon saw Kodi running back to see if Dusty was okay, "Dusty! Are you okay, can you breathe?" Dusty was happy to see Kodi was okay, "Yeah, I'm fine. Did you find the others? Two of them fell in with me, I think it was Soba and Zak. Ralph and Kirby fell somewhere else, they didn't have lights on so it'll be hard to find them." Kodi and Yukon looked at each other, Yukon sighed, "Oh well, I mean if it's to save someone then let's go." Kodi and Yukon dived in the water, quickly spotting two other lights in around the same area as Dusty was. Kodi grabbed Zak while Yukon grabbed Soba and brought them back to the surface. Their bodies were ice-cold, their fur iced over from lying in the cold too long. Yukon looked at Kodi and shook his head, "There is no saving them this time Kodi, they're gone. Ralph and Kirby are the only two who have hope of making it now, I'm sorry bro." Kodi lowered his head in defeat, "NOOOOOOOO!" Without Zak and Soba, who will be on the sled team?
(End of Subchapter)
Kodi woke up with Yukon and Saba standing over him, Yukon had Saba with her head buried in his chest, crying, "I can't believe he's gone, he's actually gone forever! Damn those owners of mine! Damn it all!" Yukon just looked at his brother's body, he suddenly saw him breathing again, "Oh my- Saba he's awake! He's still here!" Saba looked over at her brother's body, "Kodi! You're alive, come on, let's get you over to safety!" Yukon and Saba helped Kodi to a nearby cave that kept the snow and wind out. "Thank goodness you're okay bro, we thought you were dead for sure!" Kodi got a chuckle out of it, "Heh, not me, *grunt* I still have one thing to take care of."
To be continued…..
Well guys, hope that left you with a cliffhanger! See you guys in the next chapter!