I trudged through hardened snow on my own, my left leg periodically sending shockwaves of sharp pain up my nerves as I continued trying to limp my way to the boat by myself. Once or twice, I found myself glancing back behind me, questioning and doubting my decision to just let Balto venture out into wolf territory on his own, even though there was nothing I could realistically do about it now.

"Ah, there you are!" said a hauntingly familiar voice as I approached the boat with Balto long gone looking for the husky. "Hmm… just you? Where are the others?" Boris asked as his silhouette waddled up to me.

Though his features were barely visible under the faint starlight, I could tell he was surprised to find only one canine returning from town.

"The husky ran off into the woods before telling us why," I replied.

Boris walked up close enough for me to make out his beak and his eyes. "'Us?' Where's Balto gone off to then?"

I felt myself wince. "He…" I paused for a moment, hesitant. "Balto… ran off looking for that dog," I told the goose nervously.

After I finished, I watched as worry gradually surfaced on the goose's face, though he shook it off after a few seconds. "Come now, Lanbur. I'll help you inside and then we talk," he finally said after a long dreadful pause.

Unsure, I nodded as the goose walked to my left and tried to hold me up as we made our way through the last few steps over to the tugboat Balto invited me to live in two weeks prior. It didn't really help at all, but it's not like I couldn't already get around on three paws. With a minor struggle, I managed to squeeze inside the hull, still taking care not to scrape my bust-up leg against anything while I crawled. The goose strode inside not a moment after me, lighting a small oil lamp he pilfered from the town a few days ago.

The verbal absence only lasted for so long.

"Lanbur, what was he thinking!? What were they thinking!?" the goose suddenly yelled straight into my ears, startling me enough to make my fur jump. "The entirety of that place is marked wolf territory and those two idiot fluff balls just stroll in there like it's a country club. How come you didn't stop either of them, huh?" he squawked at me. "Huh!?"

I folded my ears behind my head, which had dropped down in shame. "I would've if I could!" I shot back desperately, in about as much stress the goose was in. "You saw what it took to drastically change Balto's mind a single time" — I eyed my back left leg — "I'm not trying that shit again!"

Boris rubbed his temples, before slapping his wings on my muzzle and shaking my face around as I helplessly laid there on the ground. "Do you know what happens to lone wolves in those woods? Let alone a dog!?" he squawked into my shooken face. I had never seen Boris frustrated to this degree before, though something tells me Balto had in the past.

I shook myself free of Boris' hold. "I know… I do know…"

"SO THEN WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENS NEXT!?" the goose yelled in panic and frustration. "The wolves out there" — Boris gestured northward — "They don't just let you go like a dove in spring-time, no. You step on their property and they tax you with being their midnight snack!"

"That's not-"

"There is a reason why dogs here carry a fear for wolves, boy," Boris continued.

I rolled my eyes. "I can see why just fine, thank you," I told him. "And besides, what am I supposed to do about it? I can't run after them; I can't hunt down an elk who only has two working legs; I don't even have the leverage to talk either of them out of anything they set their mind to…"

…

"But I do," said a voice outside.

My blood froze when I heard those words echo in my head; I immediately recognized who it was right as I watched a dull-silver wolf creep inside through the lamp's weak glow. I felt my heart sink, my ears now firmly pressed downward as my breathing wavered. Boris' gaze shifted away from me as he eyed the wolf approaching us.

"I can help you find those two," Aji told us, but specifically to me.

Despite my fear, my eyes narrowed bitterly at the wolf as I lifted my head off the ground. "What are you doing here?"

"Who?" Boris asked dumbfoundedly.

I kept a glare trained on the intruder even though I couldn't follow through with it. "This bastard is-"

"Aji," the wolf interrupted, cutting me off. "Lanbur here has probably told you a lot about me by now."

My eyes widened in shock. "How do you-"

"Shush," Aji ordered, placing a paw up to my mouth to shut me up like Balto did earlier. "Now… Boris, it's a pleasure to meet you," the wolf said, now extending the same paw over to the goose, who was shaking in so much panic that he looked like he was about to figure out how to lay an egg.

The goose took a step back, still unable to form words.

Aji pulled his paw back to the ground. "Uhh… I guess you're not much for talking today," he said, before turning back to me.

"What do you want, Aji?" I asked aggressively, completely disregarding the fact that Aji could rip my ears off in three seconds if he wanted to. "Are you here to say you guys have Balto tied up in a cave and need me to help feed your useless jaws again?"

Aji frowned. "Well, no… but-"

"How about a herd of elk for Syzek's life?" I continued pressing in.

"Now that's hardly relevant…"

I gave Aji a teethy scowl, lowering my voice to a spiteful grumble. "Yeah, just like how everything you did to me isn't relevant either."

"BLACKMAILING YOU WASN'T EVER MY CHOICE!" Aji suddenly barked furiously into my face to my complete surprise; I slunk down fearfully, thinking I pushed my chances too far. I also realized that in all the time I talked with Aji a few weeks before I had never actually witnessed Aji enraged in any capacity until now. "AND I REALIZE IT WAS MY MISTAKE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH IT, YOU HEAR?!" he continued scolding as whatever was left of my composure sank down further and further, having nothing more to say out of fear of the worst. "I'm sorry… I never had anything against you," the wolf finished.

I looked to Boris, who was silently nodding quickly, even more frightened of Aji than I was.

"Then… then what are you doing here… if…" I tried to ask, trailing off.

Aji gave me a long sigh. "I need your help," he told me simply, like he was trying to swallow his pride.

"You… what?" I said blankly, taken completely aback by what I thought I was hearing.

Aji's gaze shifted away, turning icy in sorrow as he nodded to me while focusing elsewhere. "Xendov… my pack leader… there's something wrong with him," he said with a tone full of genuine concern and anxiety. "He's refused to leave his cave for almost a week now, saying he just feels tired and wants to stay and rest while the other pack members hunt… I suspect he's sick, and I recall you mentioning how humans had all sorts of treatments for dogs and such."

Xendov? The same one that gave the approval for Aji to threaten me all those weeks ago?

"I get it's kind of a bad time to ask, especially after… you know… that, but… not knowing the town all that well I can't retrieve anything for Xendov on my own and could really use you for that," he told me as Boris pulled the tip of his wing he'd been chewing on out of his mouth.

I felt the urge to laugh boiling up to the surface of my hide. "Oh, is that all? You just wanna use me again? Not a full moon after you got my leg totalled by my only friend?" I asked incredulously. "And here I thought I was hearing wrong. I guess that's not the case this time or any time, is it, Aji?"

"No, no, no, no, that's not what I meant-" Aji said, shaking his head. "I truly need your assistance — you know the town's inner workings leagues better than I ever will… can we please move on from what happened in the past?" he continued.

I sighed. "Whatever, though you do have to realize I can't do much for you anymore, right? Why not go to Balto… or that husky… or even Kavval for that matter, he seemed familiar with the area too," I pointed out.

Aji shook his head. "One, I'm just as afraid of what Balto can do as you are, and two, I certainly trust Kavval even less than you trust me," Aji answered solemnly. "And I did go to that dog Syzek earlier today. He shot me down on the spot, though he offered to help me out after he finished some of his own business," he continued. "It's just… I don't have the time to wait for him to find what he wants; Xendov doesn't have the time to wait for him," Aji said as he eyed the mushy ground. "You're the only wolf I know of that might be able to help me out now… and I mean it as equals this time… please…"

My eyes narrowed even further, still anything but trusting of the wolf I was looking at. Eventually, however, I decided to cut Aji some slack; any wolf desperate enough to seek assistance from a dog, let alone a dog like Syzek, was bound to at least have some credibility.

"Hmm… fine," I began. "But first I think you owe me a lot more than the bare minimum of an explanation if you want me to play along. Give me one plausible reason why I'd help the wolf that gave the go-ahead for starving me half to death," I told him.

"I… I can't think of one on the spot."

I gave Aji a victorious smirk. "Yeah, that's what I thought too."

Aji turned away with another sigh. "I get it doesn't exactly look too great that I'm coming to you for this," he said. "But… how about this: in return for your assistance, I will personally see to teaching you everything I know about hunting, or whatever else you'd like," he offered desperately.

I glanced over to where Boris was standing earlier, but found nothing but a single feather and the sounds of clattering tools on the deck above.

Turning back to the wolf in front of me, I didn't respond immediately, considering the offer. It didn't feel right helping the same wolf that approved of threatening me with Balto's life, but at the same time, I had been desperately trying to learn how to survive on my own to no avail. Yet, in the back of my mind, I also wanted to deny Aji's offer just so I could stay there in the tugboat, the place where my life has already led me to and the place where I can continue living off of Nome with Balto like we had for months before. I obviously wanted to learn the ropes of living in the wilderness like I'm supposed to, but at the same time… the only sticking issue I've had with my current life is a husky dog that refuses to leave me to myself sometimes.

Aji could tell I was thinking it over. "And I'll also make it certain no wolf ever lays a paw on you or your friends for as long as I live," he added.

"One friend," I corrected. "You'll make sure no paws are laid on me or my one friend."

"So is that a deal…?" Aji asked hopefully as the lamp's flame noticeably intensified.

I shook my head, the lamplight dying back down. "Not yet," I replied to him as the sullen expression resurfaced on his snout. I stared straight through Aji's glowing eyeshine with a look that meant nothing but cold, hard business. "Take me to Xendov. Let me meet that sack of shit eye-to-eye in bones and flesh, and then we talk."

The wolf's jaw fell down in shock. "You- I… what?" Aji stuttered, having expected anything except what I responded with, though his face quickly took on a look of relief. "Why- why of course! I'll escort you to my pack's home territory as soon as you give your word," he affirmed, nodding rapidly.

"Then we'll leave right now. Sooner you bring me to Xendov, sooner we talk."

I stood up with a painful struggle, watching as Aji started back towards the gap in the boat's hull he entered through.

Suddenly, I remembered something from two weeks ago. "By the way, I recall seeing you running after me the day after the last full moon. Alone," I said as the wolf stopped in his tracks having nearly reached the exit. "Why wasn't there anyone else with you?"

"Because none of my fellow pack members had a reason to find you," he answered without turning. "Not a whole lot of them even knew where all that food was coming from and everyone who did couldn't give half a damn about you…

…except me."

The dark silhouette of a small head and oversized beak pulled itself out of the periphery of my vision, revealing the light of the brightest stars that could shine down through the gaps of the tugboat's tattered deck; the cloud cover had raced past riding what crumbs still remained of the wind howling through the ranges that day.

However, I wasn't actually going to forgive Aji. Not in the slightest; not even a possibility of being a possibility.

Not until the world decides it's my time to leave.

Chapter 14 is currently a WIP

This is a shorter chapter than usual, and it's mostly because it bases its single scene around events that aren't currently happening upfront. While relatively brief, this chapter is far too important (in the context of the rough story I have planned as of writing this) to be left as something that just happened with little to no allusions to it. Making this short chapter completely seperate also makes chronological sense in relation to chapter 12.

Shoot me a PM if you have any questions about anything related to this fanfic.

Reviews are much appreciated! (Because as a novice writer I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing!)