Chapter 3

The Companion

The sun rose higher and higher in the sky as the day went on, the passage of time marked by the lengthening shadows of the team as they raced across the snow. Kodi, Ralph, Kirby and Forest – can't forget that rude, arrogant little S.O.B now can we? – Had all started the run off in a bad mood, their anger still brewing fresh and hot in their guts. Though, truth be told, the sources for the negative feelings in Kodi and the rest were quite different from those of Forest. Kodi, Ralph and Kirby were still pissed at Forest for his attitude towards Dusty. The albino Husky, on the other hand/paw was still fuming about Kodi's intervention between him getting at Dusty. Despite this, they all found a common way to blow off their anger whilst still being productive. They used it to fuel their muscles and push themselves harder than they normally could, thusly achieving a greater speed.

Kodi's upper lip involuntarily curled slightly as he risked a quick glance over his shoulder at Forest, who was running right behind him. 'Gosh darn it!' he fumed. 'Why did Master have to stick him behind me?' He supposed it was just his rotten luck but that did little to sooth his still active temper. He could already tell Forest didn't like him at all and all Kodi had to say on that subject was that the feeling was reciprocated. Forest was – among a great many other things – a bully, plain and simple. The way he'd acted towards Dusty…Just thinking about it made Kodi even angrier and he unconsciously picked up his pace.

Across from him, Kirby sent him a message by way of touching the tip of his tail to Kodi's for a brief instant. 'Slow down a little. You're gonna hurt yourself if you keep this up. He's not worth it right now. Save it for later.'

Kodi sent back his own little message in the same manner; 'I'll be fine. Besides, seeing and hearing him work harder is worth it. I can handle this pace.'

'But we can't. So slow up a little bit or we'll blow ourselves out before we're even half-way there.' Ralph sent in reply from where he ran next to Forest, sending his message in almost the same manner as Kirby, though he substituted the tip of his nose for his tail.

Kodi mentally sighed and dropped his pace the tiniest bit. Almost immediately Kirby and Ralph began to run with more ease. After a few moments, what Kodi feared would happen if he showed signs of possible weakness finally did; Forest spoke to him. Well, truth be told, it was more an insult of sorts.

"What's the matter…Lover-Boy?" he taunted smugly from behind Kodi in between gasps for breath. "You…getting tired already?" Kodi could hear the infuriating sneer in the Husky's voice, but did his best to ignore it. Kirby was right; getting mad and upping the pace again wouldn't solve anything right now…and that was exactly what Forest was trying to do. Kodi guessed that Forest figured that by driving Kodi to pull the sled at a psychopathic pace, he could wear him out, thus making the russet Husky all the easier to snuff out if Forest was stupid enough to try such a move. There was one flaw in Forest's plan however; Kodi had decided a while ago not to give him that particular piece of satisfaction.

Besides, what would Dusty say?

Ah, poop.

There he was. Thinking about her again.

He'd been doing it on and off for the last three or four hours, mind straying back to dwell upon the only female member of their little four-dog team. He told himself that he was just worried she'd hurt herself again without him there to watch her and, as a friend, he was naturally concerned. These thoughts however, did little to shut out the once-little-now-medium-sized voice that insisted that his worries were merely a sign of growing affection for Dusty...

But that was absurd! He didn't feel that way about Dusty! And she sure as heck didn't feel that way about him…Did she? Forest's words wormed their way into his head nonetheless. 'If I didn't know better…I'd say you've got a thing for little miss 'I-got-beat-up-by-a-bunch-of-stupid-mutts'…' Maybe…

Kodi shook his head, trying to empty his mind off all thoughts regarding Dusty and concentrate on the task at hand; running. Doing his job. And doing it right at that. For a few moments, he assumed victory was his, but you know the old saying, 'assume makes an ass out of u and me', and his mind dragged him back to contemplate his companion once again. And as they breasted a slight rise, with the sled coming down with a large, unceremonious whooshing-thud, he realized, with a slight, unidentifiable twinge in his heart, that he missed her…

((()-()))

Dusty's blue eyes opened and then immediately snapped shut again. Dang, but that sun was bright when it hit you full in the face. With an irritated little grumble, she quickly rolled over, only to discover that when she tried this, she upset her little basket and tumbled out with a small yelping-whine of dismay. Her eyes popped opened and she found herself on her back staring at the ceiling, her head slightly woozy with rekindled pain. An instant later, a large, white something appeared an inch from her face and asked, in a thick accent that was decidedly Russian; "You all right?"

Dusty, taken completely by surprise, yelped involuntarily, and attempted to spring to her paws, forgetting her wounded body in her sudden panic. Her injuries quickly reasserted themselves however, and upon trying to quote 'spring to her paws', her legs merely buckled, sending her sprawling on the floor with another low yelp. Her soft yelps, coupled with her sudden, unexpected movements, caused the strange creature to cry out as well and back haphazardly away, stumbling over someone's chew-bone in its hurry, causing it to tumble over onto its back with another cry.

Dusty looked toward the creature and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a large, rather old-looking Russian goose sit up, rubbing his head, and kick the bone out from under himself, all the while muttering curses in his native language. Dusty couldn't help but utter a slight giggle, getting the goose's attention to snap back to her in an instant. His eyebrows knitted together in obvious irritation. "What's with all the screaming, and the yelling, and the 'Aaaaahhhh!'?" he asked, clearly put out to some degree. His accent was thicker than ever.

Dusty's own brows met and she replied, with a slight huff; "You scared the crap outta' me, that's what! Haven't you ever heard of 'personal space'?" she said, putting special emphasis on the last two words.

This only seemed to heighten the white bird's annoyance, for he replied; "Scare you? You almost gave me stroke!" He let out a little 'hmph' and waddled over to stand somewhat sulkily next to her.

"So…" Dusty ventured, when the silence between them started to get to her. "Who are you?"

The goose's facial expression of annoyance melted away and he sat down with a soft 'flump' of feathers. "My name Boris Goosinoff and I am Balto's friend."

"Okay…" Dusty said. At least she was getting along with him – at least so far it seemed. She decided to go further. "So…what exactly are you doing here?"

Boris gave her a shrewd – but not altogether unkindly – look before replying, with an exasperated sigh, "I was asleep on old trawler when Kodi came running up – maybe 7 or 8 of clock – calling 'Dad! Dad! Dad!'." Boris seemed to mull over how annoying this had been before continuing. "Finally, I get out to tell him Balto gone with his brother Kavik to talk with his other brother Kemo in the woods, and not come back till end of the day…"

"And?" Dusty prompted him, raising her eyebrows slightly in annoyance at his casual delivery of all this tantalizing information."What'd he say?"

Boris mumbled something she couldn't quite catch (even with her highly acute ears), something like "…no respect. Not like in Old Country…" Dusty ignored it. "He say 'Where's Dad?', so I tell him Balto left and he get all worried-like, start pacing back and forth through snow in front of boat. So, I ask; 'What wrong? What you need Balto for?' and he say, 'I came to ask him if he could go in town and check on Dusty for me sometime in afternoon or evening.' or something like that."

Dusty's heart swelled once again and she didn't need a mirror to tell that she was blushing at least a little bit. Kodi? Asking his dad, Balto, to come and check on her? She didn't know weather to feel gratified or slightly embarrassed by his request, and in truth, she felt a little of both. But it could also be said that gratification was defiantly the larger of the two. Gratified…and maybe something a bit more towards…

She shook her head slightly, her cheeks flaring a deep red for an instant as she banished the thought. She was kidding herself! There was no way she could possibly…well…um…go beyond liking Kodi as a friend. But still…

'No, no, no, no, no Dusty,' she thought, scolding herself for being such a pup. 'You stop right there young lady! That is Off-Limits territory!'

With her mental limits somewhat resolutely set, she looked back to Boris whose expression had changed from that of annoyance to curiosity, one thick, bushy eyebrow raised in silent question.

"Something wrong?" he asked, striving for a completely nonchalant tone. He knew what the feeling he was getting from the canine next to him meant all too well, oh boy you bet your you-know-what he did. He'd gotten it from Balto often enough when the big mutt had been around Jenna…and we all know how that ended. 'Oi, great, just what I need,' he mentally griped. 'A soon-to-be love-struck dog…Arg, Shieza, it's worse than the BEARS!' Yet he was slightly amused, and this he couldn't deny, even to himself. He'd been wondering when one of Balto's children was going to hit the Jackpot…

"N-no, nothing's wrong," Dusty assured him, hearing the slight stutter in her voice and hating it while at the same time helpless to gain control her stutter. "G-go on."

Boris arched both brows before continuing, causing the upper portion of his face to crease in a dozen places. "Well he say 'What about Mom?' and I tell him she went off to help Angel and Star with something and it take most of the day. Then he ask - this was after a little fidgeting - if I come down and check on you."

"And you said yes? Why?" Dusty asked, though in truth it really didn't matter all that much to her; just the fact that Boris had even considered coming here was enough for her to count him as a good person and possible a friend.

Boris seemed almost to be checking for eavesdroppers before cupping a wing to his beak and replying, in a confidential undertone, "Between you and me, I do anything to get away from Muk and Luk. They crazy!"

Dusty's laughter pealed outward in a loud, long, melodious burst that she was helpless to hold back. And Boris joined her, his laughter equally loud. When it had all died down, she got to her feet, wincing with pain, although, she noticed, it wasn't as bad as it had been earlier. She was getting better, and quickly too. At this rate, she surmised she'd be back on the team and pulling with the rest in about a week, maybe less!

Then, with a slight jolt, reality reasserted itself with a twinge of pain, as it often seemed to prefer to do to her as of late, and she sat back on her haunches. Darn it!

She suddenly snapped her head to the window, wanting to clarify what her internal clock had already registered. If the sun had been low enough to shine though the window and hit her in the face then that must mean…it was true. By the slant of the now molten orange ball of gas and flame, she could tell her fears had been confirmed; she'd been asleep for most of the day…

She hardly heard Boris say that he had to go - something about meeting someone named Stella - and didn't take note of the way he took off, flying low to the ground, which was odd for a goose. She was sinking into an irritated sort of depression. If she had slept this long…then she'd be out for something more like three weeks rather than her preferred single week...

"Kodi…" she sighed softly, and was not ashamed to admit it to herself this time; she missed him. She missed his radiant smile, his sense of iron will and unshakable determination, his little pranks that always made her laugh. She missed the broad, understanding and protective feeling he seemed to radiate throughout the whole team. Mostly, though, she missed the way he made her feel safe and – dare she say it? – loved whenever the two of them were together. Like last spring, when they'd gone for a romping, playful wrestle in a large clearing of Timothy and wild Wheat after she'd watched Kodi and Balto get themselves soaked in the attempt to help Muk and Luk overcome their fear of water…

Yeah, you could say that she missed him a lot…

((()-()))

We've heard from our two lovers-to-be…but now, let us take a slightly more twisted approach to the story, you and I, shall we? Let us see what our little friend Forest is thinking…as we all already know that he will be up to no good…

((()-()))

Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn it all to Hell and Back! Forest cursed over and over again in his mind as he kept pace with the rest of the team, the sled bumping and bouncing occasionally behind them in their wake. His mind drifted back, attempting to make sense of the mess he'd gotten himself and two of his friends into.

When Forest had heard that little turd Kodi talking about how some dog had gotten beaten up in the middle of the night, needless to say, the first person to cross his mind was Dusty. After all, hadn't he and his two friends been the ones to royally bust her up? But he'd though surely that it must be a coincidence, and that some other dog had gotten beaten up as well. I mean, come on! There was no way anybody could've survived what the three of them had done to her. Yet she had. Somehow, she'd defied all logic and survived, curse it all!

That'd got him going again. When he'd seen Dusty come around the corner of the house this morning, he'd thought 'Crap! I though Sabbath finished the job, but I guess we'll have to deal with this problem now that we've already gone and screwed it up.'

The whole ordeal had started as a sort of sickly twisted joke, really. Pride was a big Husky/Malamute mix who was as strong as he was mean, which meant he was both as strong as an ox and had the temperament of a wounded grizzly. He had seen Dusty trotting past them on the opposite side of the street the other night and had immediately taken interest. The big stupid lug was always after one bitch or another, and Forest now supposed that it had simply been their misfortune for him to chose Dusty. Forest, not really caring what happened but too bored to find any reason to object – not that he'd tried very hard to find one – had followed after Pride along with Sabbath. What the heck, it would at least give him something to do in the wee hours of the morning.

As the large Malamute continued to mull all this over while keeping pace with Ralph – disgusting mutt. He needed a good thrashing. Maybe later – who was running beside him, he came to realize Sabbath's motivation to come with them had been the prospect of torment. Looking at him, you wouldn't have said the small white Samoyed wasn't capable of harming a fly. With his large golden eyes, glossy snow-white fur, and overall aura of suave charm, the ladies were all but throwing themselves upon him wherever their master went. Sabbath was, in some ways, the busiest of the three of them; he was almost always at it with some bitch or another.

Forest knew the saying 'Appearances can be deceiving' and knew the old proverb was in no dog more apt than in Sabbath. Hidden beneath that innocent-looking exterior lay the mind of a cold-blooded loner who took nothing, gave nothing and expected nothing. Forest had seen him beat down other dogs with nothing more than a snarl and a flash from his eyes. Now you had to admire a dog who was so good at what he did. In short, Sabbath had turned intimidation into an art form. He had been the one to lay the bulk of the beat down on the mightily resisting Dusty, and he'd grinned like a sadist with a maddening sort of gleam in his eyes that had said quite clearly that he had enjoyed every yelp, every scream of pain and despair that the gray Husky had uttered before that little whelp Kodi had come to the rescue and forced them to make a hasty retreat.

Kodi. Just thinking the name caused Forest to utter an involuntary growl deep in his throat. His out-and-out hatred of the dog currently leading him and the rest of these yahoos had bloomed in all its malignancy when Kodi had stood in his way of Dusty. His hatred had only increased when he learned that Kodi had been the one to drive them off, the mongrel! Sticking his nose into things that were none of his damn business! Forest's boundless anger sprang forth again, this time with a vengeance. He promised himself that Kodi would die by his fangs, or Sabbath's or Pride's, but most preferably his own. Yeah, him and that little bitch of his too. They could die together, locked in each other's bloody embrace. Forest grinned like a shark. 'How sweet.' He thought mockingly.

So engrossed in his own thoughts was Forest that it took him a full five or ten minutes to realize they were coming to their pick-up point and therefore, would have the opportunity to rest up and eat. Good. He couldn't wait to be out of the traces. He needed a break from these filthy creatures. As if in answer to some unspoken prayer, the Master unhooked him and the others for feeding. With a flick of curiosity, Forest saw Kodi pick up his ration of food and quickly trot over to a low hill, whereupon he simply sat, staring off into space. What's with this? Has Lover-Boy gone coo-coo?

Moving with the slow, agonizing care of the unobtrusive, Forest crept over to within hearing distance of his decidedly hated enemy. The fact that this spurning hatred was returned ten-fold by the one to which his ears were now tuned would've made him almost smile with glee. After all, it was more fun to kill an enemy when the blind, unpredictable battle rage held sway over you both.

Wait, Kodi was saying something, the words coming out almost in a sigh. Forest strained his hearing with all his might, willing the workings of his head to pick up and identify the vibrations traveling through the air and translate them into words.

"…Dusty…" Almost a whisper and –

"…God…do I miss you…"

Forest was helpless to stop the smile from spreading on his face. Oh, this was going to be so much fun! 'I'm gonna' bring you down, Kodi.' He thought, sparing the Hated One a last, furtive, over-the-shoulder look before carefully slinking back to the others, who hadn't noticed his disappearance. 'I'm gonna' bring you down, you and you little Dusty in one shot, with one god-almighty smash and then, little buddy, you'll go down in flaming glory!'