Chapter 2

"Maybe the folks in this town will be different," Balto told himself.

After two days of almost nonstop walking, he was tired, and definitely in need of food. He sat, hiding outside of the small town of Nome, understandably weary about going in. He simply sat and listened as the population of the town went about whatever business they had to take care of on that bright, warm, sunny day. He saw many dogs, old and young, all seeming to get along quite well with each other. Balto so desperately wished he could be among them, just to have someone to speak to. The still fresh cut on his shoulder reminded him what happened when he tried to make friends though, so Balto was content to sit outside of the town and just listen, hoping that perhaps someone would stumble upon him.

The horrible hunger pains in Balto's belly though, served as an ever-present reminder of his need to find food, and some of the wondrous smells coming from the town certainly didn't help. Maybe he could sneak in there and grab something. Not that it mattered if anyone found him though, perhaps it would actually be better, they could just put him out of his misery. The thought of actually dying was very frightening, but the eternal peace seemed like it would be almost worth it… no more pain, hunger, hate…

No, do not think like that. You will survive, and someday, somehow, someway, someone will care. You'll be able to laugh in their faces and say 'Ha, I won.' With a newfound determination, Balto pushed himself up and strolled into town, making his posture as confident as possible. Said confidence quickly faded though, when he noticed how everyone, dogs and humans alike, stared at him. It was then that Balto realized truly how small and insignificant he was compared to the seemingly huge buildings and the weary citizens. Not watching where he was going, Balto walked right into a group of young dogs and their leader, a black malamute that would soon strike fear into the heart of little Balto.

"Watch where you're… well, well, well, a little far from our home, aren't we wolfy?" the black dog teased.

"I'm not sure something like this even has a place to call home." The whole group laughed at that. This upset Balto because of how true it was, and he curled himself up into a little ball, sniffing and crying to himself as quietly as he could. No one did anything to help him.

"You're right, Nikki! What's the matter little mutt, did your mother not want you because of how ugly you are?"

A small growl sounded deep inside of Balto's throat. That had touched a nerve, the one that wondered why he had been abandoned. He so very much wished he could remember, and what that dog had just said could very likely be true.

"Getting angry?" the black dog taunted again.

"Please… I just want food…" Balto whispered, so quietly it was a strain for those around him to hear.

"We don't want your mangy paws anywhere near our food, or for that matter, our town. I'll give you once chance, once chance to leave here and not return."

"I just want-"

"You aren't touching our food!"

Steel hit Balto hard, his claw leaving yet another injury on Balto's left cheek. The little pup was sent tumbling from the blow, but despite this managed to somehow right himself and run unsteadily out of town, laughter following him all the way out. Balto ran west towards the ocean. He'd never seen it before, and at any other time would've been quite excited. As it were though, he was presently just looking for somewhere to 'drown' his troubles, and where better to do it than the ocean?

An old and long since abandon boat sat about a hundred yards from the shore, it was sunken into the sand and tilted slightly. A single plank allowed someone to crawl carefully up onto said boat, and it would've made the perfect hiding place. Balto simply went around it and continued towards the ocean. Upon reaching it he staggered a few steps, completely exhausted from having run from the town to here in such a short time. He fell to the ground, allowing the salt water to clean his newest injury. It stung his eyes and the cut, but the pain felt strangely pleasing at that moment.

Balto crawled further into the water and let the peaceful waves wash over his whole body. He stuck his head under, and even though that just made the pain worse, couldn't bring himself to reemerge. He forced himself to stay down, eventually working up the courage to suck in a breath of salt water. Balto couldn't take that though, and he was up immediately coughing the water out of his body. It had enough of an effect though, and the blackness began to consume him. The world felt so very far away, so Balto barely noticed when someone lifted him out of the water, as by that time, he'd been completely consumed by the darkness.

…

Nothing hurt anymore, everything was completely dry.

Am I dead?

Balto opened his eyes and saw that he was on the boat he'd seen earlier. He panicked, how had he gotten here? Balto tried to rise to his feet, but didn't quite have the energy. Days without food, the treatment he had received, along with his earlier suicide attempt had taken quite a toll on Balto's little body.

"Calm down little one." A heavily accented voice said.

"What? Who's there?" Balto began to panic, who was this? And what did they want?

"My name is Boris." A Russian goose waddled out from somewhere on the boat, pointing a feathered wing and almost poking Balto's nose with it. "And you, you must have a name too?"

"Uhm, my name is… its Balto."

"Now tell me young Balto, what possible reason could a pup such as yourself have for wanting to drown himself! You must have a mother somewhere, worried sick about you!"

"No, I don't." Balto said, his soft voice shaking. "She abandoned me. I think she hated me, everyone hates me. I have nowhere to go, so I'd rather die than continue living, if life is about hating those different from you."

Boris hung his head and placed a wing on Balto.

"You can stay here with me; heaven knows I need some company. What with being afraid to fly and all…"

"You don't know how to fly?" Balto asked incredulously.

"I know how to fly, but I'm afraid of heights…"

That managed to elicit a small laugh from Balto, which was exactly what Boris had been trying to do.

"A bird afraid of heights… I'd give anything to fly just once. Just to be able to soar above it all and to look down on everything that looks down on me…"

"Don't give up on your dreams, kid. Just because some narrow minded dogs don't like you isn't a reason to quit."

"I know… but dogs and wolves hate me. Wolves see too much dog, dogs see the wolf."

"I don't hate you; in fact, I think you're kind of nice. As long as you don't try to eat me of course…" Boris said, pretending to be afraid.

That brought out another small laugh from Balto. "You don't have to be afraid, I'm a horrible hunter."

"I can tell…" Boris said, "You're so skinny, we need to find you some food."

Balto nodded his agreement. "But we can't go into town; a dog there said I'm not allowed to touch the food."

"We have to. You cannot learn how to hunt without energy to power you. I've been into that town a number of times, never been caught. Just follow me, and I think we'll be okay."

The sun was already beginning to set, the fiery ball making the whole ocean seem to glow red. It was a beautiful scene, and for once Balto found himself enjoying it. Maybe he could live here. Although he would've preferred a dog or wolf to care about him any day, he was quite lucky to have Boris. Someone that even though he'd known Balto for all of ten minutes, was already willing to risk going into town just to get him some food.

"Balto, are you coming?"

Balto turned away from the sunset, finding Boris already off the boat and making his way toward the town. He took one last glance at the setting sun before turning to follow Boris, hopefully on his way to find some food.