Rivals
Nome, Alaska, 7 am;
Tina finished her howl and walked over to her ancestors. "Yeah, the descendent I was talking about was my mom. She was so proud to be related to you and so am I." she said.
Balto was a little shocked but Jenna wasn't. "I'm glad to hear it. I guess that explains why you look so much like me." said Jenna.
Balto nodded. "Yeah…I know this is supposed to be happy but that monster is still on the loose…Tina if you're my descendent, what would happen if the Outsider killed me or Jenna?" he asked.
Tina cocked her head a little confused. "Well I'm not sure. Ether I'd simply disappear from existence or nothing because I'm not in the future so changes to the timeline might not effect me, that and it would make a time paradox." she said.
"A what?"
"A time paradox, lets see how do I explain this? Well if the Outsider killed one of you, you wouldn't have pups and as such my ancestors wouldn't be born and nether would I. If I was never born the Outsider wouldn't be linked to me and couldn't come back in time. If it never came back in time, it couldn't kill you and I would be born and it would come back and kill you, stopping me from being born, stopping it from killing you-"
"Alright, I get the point, you're starting to make my head hurt." Balto rubbed his head with his paw to show it.
"I know, time travel can do that to you." she smiled a little.
Jenna smiled in response. "We will stop that thing, I'd rather die than let it kill my family." she said bravely.
"Same goes for me, backing down isn't something that works for me." said Balto.
Tina nodded. "Right, I've had that monster connected to me for a long time, I won't stop until that thing is beaten for good." she said. She saw Jenna's injured paw. "What happened?"
Jenna was confused for a second before she followed Tina's gaze to her hurt ankle. "Oh, the Outsider threw me, I guess I landed hard on this paw." she said.
"Well lets get onto the boat and I'll check you out, I know a few medical facts, this big brain of mine comes in handy sometimes." Tina smiled.
"Thank you."
The three begin to walk toward the boat again. "So Tina, how do you feel about being part wolf?" asked Balto, curious.
Tina laughed. "Well interesting question. I am very proud to be part wolf, even if its rather small. I wish I was more wolf, maybe Damien wouldn't of picked me up if I looked like a wolf pup." said Tina with a laugh.
Balto smiled a little. "Yeah, though a good human might of not wanted you ether."
"I'd rather have no one than a psychopath and a homicidal genetic freak."
"Point taken."
They get up on the deck and lay Jenna down. Tina looks over Jenna's ankle, it was a little swollen. Tina felt it with her paw, Jenna winced a little, it hurt a good bit. Tina continued and when she stopped she gave Jenna a smile. "Don't worry, its not broken, it will be sore for awhile but you'll be fine."
Jenna smiled. "That's good." she said.
Balto nuzzled his mate. "I'm so glad you're safe, it could have been a lot worse." he said. He was about to say something else when something hit him rather hard in the side. He went skidding across the deck, his shoulder getting cut up from splinters. He got up to find Steele standing where he was moments earlier. Steele's white fur was still tinted pink from Tina and Jenna's prank. "What are you doing here?"
Steele growled. "Well I waited all night for you to come sleep so I could kill you but you didn't show up." he said.
Jenna's eyes went wide, she was afraid Steele would try that. "That's low, even for you." she said.
Steele ignored her and charged Balto. Balto tried to get out of the way but his injured shoulder prevented him from being fast enough. He braced himself for the impact. Steele collided with Balto, who stood his ground and pushed back. Steele bit down on Balto's shoulder. Balto returned the favor.
"Balto!" said Jenna as she tried to rise but her ankle hurt too much.
"Jenna, you relax, I'll hel-" said Tina her eyes went wide as she was interrupted by the Outsider's mental voice.
Hello traitor. I am going to share a little secret with you, you know how you think you've lost some of your memories? You didn't lose them, I stole them. said the evil voice.
"Tina, what's wrong?" asked Jenna, something was wrong.
"The Outsider is talking to me, it can do that through the link." said Tina. "What do you mean 'stole them'?" she asked in her head.
Just that, I took your memories, they are in my mind to use as I chose, did you enjoy that bit of your past I gave you while I was in the time stream? asked the Outsider.
Tina gasped. "That was you? You gave me that nightmare? Why?"
I can taste you fear, it is quite a wonderful taste. Now I'm going to give you a bit of info that will give you a new idea of your 'heroic ancestor'.
Tina's eyes went wide before they closed and she collapsed, unconscious. "Tina? Are you alright?" asked Jenna, very frightened.
Steele snapped his head to the side and threw Balto across the deck. Balto quickly got up. "Half-breed, do yourself a favor and just let me kill you."
"I don't want to fight you Steele." replied Balto.
"Then I'll just tear you apart." Steele charged at Balto, Balto jumped to the side to avoid him then drove his head into Steele's ribs. Steele fell to the deck but got up quickly. "I thought you said you didn't want to fight."
"I don't but that doesn't mean I won't if I have to. This is your last warning, if we fight I won't hold back this time."
"Nether will I."
"Don't say I didn't warn you." Balto leapt on Steele and clawed him across the face, leaving a bleeding cut. Steele replied with a swipe of his own, with a similar result. Balto bit down on Steele's leg and yanked it out from under Steele. He pinned Steele to the deck and bit Steele's shoulder. Steele rolled Balto over and tried to bite Balto's throat. Balto avoided the bite and kicked Steele hard with his hind legs. Steele fell off him and Balto latched his jaws onto Steele's back. Steele growled and reached around. He bit Balto's hind leg and threw him, ripping off a sizeable chuck of his own fur in the process. Balto slammed into the deck rather hard. He didn't stay down. Steele growled and charged. Balto bit into Steele's shoulder and used Steele's momentum to throw him. Steele landed near the edge of the deck and got up. Balto ran forwards and slammed into Steele's side, sending the larger dog falling off the deck. Balto flinched as Steele hit the ground hard. Balto looked over and saw Steele laying motionless below, his chest still moved with his breaths, Balto was glad he hadn't killed another dog. "Don't say I didn't warn you." he said, breathing heavily. He walked over to Jenna and looked at Tina. "What happened to her?"
"I don't know, she said the Outsider was talking to her through the link then she just passed out." said Jenna, worried.
Tina's eyes snapped open and she got up, strangely smiling. "Your plan backfired, you've just made me love Balto even more, you should of stopped earlier than that." she told the Outsider through the link, she blocked it out before it could respond.
"What happened?" asked Balto.
"Well turns out I didn't lose my memories, the Outsider stole them. It was the reason I had that nightmare to my puppyhood, it used the memory to scare me. It tried again just now but it backfired."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll tell you, you see, it was trying to make me hate you but it backfired big time."
Flashback
Tina's child self lay were her father left her, badly hurt and crying. "Why papa? What did I do?" she cried.
"Tina? Where are you sis?" called a voice. In a few seconds, a white husky pup moved into the pup's view, it was her brother Alex. He looked at her and his eyes went wide. "Mom, Tina's here, she's hurt." he yelled before running over to his crying sister. "Tina, who did this to you?"
Tina looked at him and cried. "Daddy did this, I don't know why but he did."
Alex looked rather surprised but he went to help his sister up, not caring that her blood stained his white pelt. "Don't worry Tina, we'll get you help."
Tina's mother and her siblings came over, all quite scared. "Oh no, Tina, kids, help Alex with your sister." ordered the mother. The pups all came to help their hurt sister. The followed their mother back to where they lived.
Tina was quiet for a little bit except for her sobbing. She finally decided to talk. "Momma, why did daddy do this to me?" she asked, confused and upset.
Her mother sighed. "Well you see we're part wolf, he just found that out and he doesn't like it."
Tina cocked her head. "Part wolf?"
"Yes, you're great, great, great grandfather was a half wolf named Balto."
Tina looked angry. "I hate him, why'd he have to be half wolf? Make daddy hate us."
"Don't say that. You're father is at fault here. Our ancestor was a dog to be proud of. He saved an entire town in 1925, all out of the goodness in his heart."
Tina's eyes lit up. "Really? So we're related to a hero?" she was excited now.
"Yes, it's a really nice story."
"Tell us please?" Tina wanted to hear it, she was a pup, her curiosity outweighed the sadness and hurt.
Tina's siblings joined in asking. "Alright." said their mother with a chuckle. "It all started in Nome, Alaska in 1925..."
Flashback end
"So my mom told me my first story about you that night. I wouldn't have gotten through that without it." said Tina, smiling.
Balto was surprised some. "Glad I helped you" he said with a smirk.
"Tina…was Alex the one that…died?" Jenna asked, cautious not to upset Tina.
Tina nodded. "Yes, we were playing and I got in the road. He pushed me out of the way of a coming car, he saved my life at the cost of his own. I'm not upset about it any more. I blamed myself but I know it wasn't my fault."
Jenna nodded. "I'm glad of that. Can we head to Rosy's now?" she asked, she yawned a little, that was a very tiring ordeal…
Another chapter down, as you can see, the Outsider messed up. Steele isn't done yet, he'll be back to cause more trouble later. Next chapter we have something you've probably wanted to see Balto vs. the Outsider part one!