Chapter 8: The Weapon of Words.
"Guys, chill! Steele's not going to do anything", Kodi insisted, quickly putting himself between Steele and his team.
"Are you kidding? He just said he was going to kill you and your family", Ralph reminded him.
"Yeah, I know he did. But he's not going to. Me and him settled this. So he's not going to hurt anybody", Kodi reasoned.
"Then he's lying. You know what Blake and Griff said. He can't be trusted", Kirby growled.
As soon as the malamute realized Kirby was accusing him of being a liar (which was true, but it still hurt anyway), Steele started to push Kodi out of his way. Knowing that he didn't stand a ghost of a chance of holding Steele off, Kodi proceeded to push Kirby and Ralph back instead. But unfortunately, both dogs were twice his size and weight, making it impossible for him to overpower them both. It was then that the rust and cream colored husky went from being worried to full-on panicking, as he realized he couldn't hold his friends off much longer.
"Well if you don't trust him, trust me! I know what I'm doing", Kodi insisted. He then glanced at Dusty, who was watching from the sidelines. While she still looked angry at Steele, who Kodi was so determined to protect for some reason, his wife also looked confused. Like she didn't know what to believe. "Dusty please, help me out here", Kodi begged, as he felt his grip on Steele's fur start to give out.
Though she hesitated at first, obviously wondering whether or not her husband had indeed lost his mind, Dusty barked at her teammates, getting Ralph and Kirby's attention. "Guys, listen to him. If Kodi thinks this guy will keep his word, then I say we trust his decision", Dusty said firmly.
"But…", Kirby argued.
"Might I remind you he's not just a rookie anymore? He's your lead dog now. And if you can't trust the judgment of your own leader, who can you trust?", Dusty asked, raising her eyebrow.
And with that last rhetorical question from Dusty, that was the end of the argument. Kirby and Ralph reluctantly backed off, and let an exhausted Kodi catch his breath and sink to the floor. Steele however, only growled at the pair, as walked past them, rejoining his own team.
When he approached his teammates, he was unsurprised to see they were all still angry with him. After all, he had threatened someone's life yet again, and puts all the necks on the line again just to satisfy his own petty grudge. Their lead dog had once again acted selfishly, and acted on his desires without ever once thinking about how his actions would affect them. The only thing that had surprised them was what Kodi had just said, about how he made peace with the malamute.
And as usual, Blake, being the youngest, was the one who was the most hopeful. "Is it true? What the kid said?", the husky asked.
Steele sighed, and laid down on the inn's rug, sitting as far away from Kodi and his team as possible. "Yeah, I decided not to get rid of the runt after all", the malamute said simply, as he yawned lazily and closed his eyes.
However, he didn't allow himself to go to sleep, because he knew the mood, the atmosphere around him was still too tense, too awkward. He didn't even need to have his eyes open to guess everyone was still staring at him, with those same hateful expressions on their faces. "What?", the malamute snapped, opening his eyes.
Unsurprisingly, Griff was the first to speak up, since he was the one with the most to say. He obviously wasn't as impressed with Steele's change of heart as his boyfriend had been. "Did you really think you'd just waltz back in here, and act like nothing happened? That you'd be off the hook, just because you decided to show someone a little mercy this time and not pound them into oblivion?", Griff snarled, through clenched teeth.
"Did you ever stop and think about what you were doing to us? About how you're ruining all our lives too? Damn it Steele! Just because your life sucks doesn't mean ours have to be just as screwed up!", Jake added.
"No wonder your old team turned on you. They were tired of running with a selfish, ignorant jackass who didn't give a damn whether they lived or died everyday. I'd run with a wolf-dog any day over someone who'd sacrifice their own team just to spite someone", Griff spat.
Now, Griff had insulted people hundreds of times. Sometimes when he playfully teased his friends. Sometimes he did it to make a point. Sometimes he insulted people to get them back for insulting him first. And sometimes he said them just to be mean, like how he used to torment Blake during his 'straight days'. But this was the first time Griff had ever said something of that magnitude, and had been 100% sincere about it. The sled dog truly meant everything he had said, and no amount of snarky comments or mean-spirited barks could hide the pain Steele felt from being on the receiving end of Griff's fury.
That night had been a series of firsts for Steele. The first time he felt compassion for anyone else besides him. The first time he admitted he wasn't entirely selfish. The first time he had listened to a wolf-dog's advice. And the first time he had allowed himself to be hurt by another sled dog using only words as a weapon. Especially since he had just let Kodi talk him into letting down his emotional wall. A bold and stupid move.
Standing only a few feet away, on the other side of the lobby, Kodi and his team watched the spectacle with shocked eyes.
"Oh snap", Kirby thought, grinning as the malamute's team continued to let their lead dog have it.
But while his teammates were all pleased with Steele supposedly getting what was coming to him, Kodi was horrified by what he was hearing. The one thing on his mind was that not even Steele deserved something this cold and harsh. After all, he had tried to make an effort (even if it was a small one) to change. But now it seemed that all of Kodi's hard work had been for nothing. Destroyed by only a few simple words. And Kodi knew things had to be bad, if Steele was too hurt even to be angry.
"Steele?", someone asked.
Kodi and his team reluctantly tore their gazes away from Steele, to look at the other side of the lobby. All the barking and growling had apparently woke up the sleeping humans, including Roger and John.
"You came back", Roger gasped, as he ran up to the malamute and rubbed his dog on the head. As usual, Roger was completely unaware of what had just went on between Steele and the rest of his team, and how the dog was hardly in the mood for happy reunions.
As Kodi watched nearby, feeling guiltier than he ever had in his entire life (even guiltier than that time when he let his father go off in a snowstorm alone), the wolf-dog really wished Steele's owner had a better sense of timing.
((()-()))
Meanwhile, Bane and his pack finally neared White Mountain. Sunrise was only a few hours away, and they now had only less than a mile to walk before they reached their destination. Of course, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star, who hadn't faced a challenge like this years, were completed wiped out and were struggling just to stay awake. But Balto and Jenna paid no attention to how tired and sore their muscles were. They were too busy talking to Bane about a family matter.
"So how is she doing?", Balto asked.
"Is she healthy?", Jenna added, concerned.
"I don't know. I've never met her in person. But I heard all the stories about Nava and his pack, how it's now being led by the daughter of a wolf-dog. I had no idea the stories concerned you and Aleu", Bane explained. "But from what I know, Aleu is doing a fine job as pack leader. She's already led her people to new lands, and new foods. And she's kept them out of danger by keeping them away from the humans. With parents like you two, it's no wonder leading is in her blood", Bane said.
"Do you think you could take us to her, when this is all over?", Jenna asked, the husky's voice brimming with hope.
"Sure thing. If you don't mind long, perilous journeys that last for days, with both nature and the odds against you every step of the way", Bane joked.
"Would we be here if we didn't?", Balto replied, laughing. But beneath Balto and Jenna's joking exterior, Bane could see his new had done a great deal for them. Only a few simple words on his part had been enough to give the couple hope again, something they had been missing for years now, and gave them both the strength they need to keep forging on and find their son. So he could only imagine how high their emotions would be running on the day they finally found Aleu again.
Suddenly, and without warning, Bane split away from the pack, and sniffed a nearby tree. After rubbing his nose against the bark a few time (obviously trying to wipe away the snow to get a good whiff), he returned to Balto and Jenna's side, looking quite pleased with himself. "The smell of man is all over this place. They came here to chop wood not long ago, probably to light a fire for the blizzard. Which means we're almost there", the gray wolf announced.
Sure enough, beyond all the snow, and ice, and wind, and hail, Balto could see dim lights in the distance. Man-made lights, from the lanterns that lit the street at night.
"Kodi", Jenna whispered, running towards the front of the group. Balto was not far behind her, dashing past his sled dog friends along the way.
"Aw come on, it's gotta be 3:00 in the morning or something, and we just walked all night. Do we have to run now too?", Kaltag groaned.
"Don't worry guys, we're here!", Balto shouted, running side-by-side with Jenna as the lights of White Mountain grew ever closer. "I just hope we're not too late", Balto thought to himself, worried.
((()-()))
"God, all this noise is killing me!", Ralph moaned.
"Yeah, that hotel manager guy, Connor I think, he said this hotel's a hundred years old or something. It creaks like this every time there's a snowstorm", Dusty explained.
"So how do the humans sleep through all this torture?", Kirby whined.
"You know how humans are. They have such dull ears, they can sleep through anything. Besides, the inn's been making this noise all night, so they've had plenty of time to get used to it", Dusty reminded him.
"Yeah, but it actually sounds louder now. Like's it getting worse or something", Ralph argued.
Meanwhile, Kodi laid opposite to his wife, saying nothing about his friend's complaints. He heard the loud, ear-splitting creaks the walls were making just like teammates did, but he really couldn't care less about that now. All he could think about was how his plan had came so close to succeeding, only to fall short because of a few words. "It's just not fair", he mumbled.
"Hey, you're not still moping just cause that Steele guy got told off, are you?", Kirby asked.
"The guy's a creep, and a bigot. He got what was coming to him", Ralph added.
"Why do you care about him anyway?", Kirby asked, glancing at Steele, who was resting by his owner's legs on the other side of the room. It was where he had been for the past hour or so. And uncharacteristically, Steele hadn't said anything since then. He hadn't gotten angry over Griff's insult, nor had he given any indication about how upset it had made other than the sad look in his cold blue eyes. Like the malamute was an even hollower shell of a man than he had been before.
Kodi sighed, and stood up to look at his friends. "Steele's been the same for years now, he's been living with regret his entire life. I wanted to help him because I thought it was the right thing do. Because it was the kind of thing my dad would do. And for a moment, one silly, stupid little moment, I actually thought I could save him", Kodi explained, his voice low and downtrodden. "Still, it was a fool's dream", the husky resolved, before he felt two large paws rubbing his face.
"Hey, I think it was sweet that you tried to help. Not a lot of dogs would do that", Dusty reasoned, softly touching her husband's cheek with her hands. "And the fact you'd care so much about someone you don't even know proves I made the right choice when I married you", Dusty added sentimentally, before nuzzling her beloved on the chin.
Kodi smiled, and as much as he wanted to enjoy his wife's embrace, he couldn't. Because there was still something left unsaid between them. Something that needed to be said. "Dust, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you lately. I've been trying to be a good husband, and a good father. But so far I'm doing a horrible job", Kodi sighed.
"How so?", Dusty asked skeptically.
"By getting you involved in this whole mess with Steele. I thought staying away from you would keep you safe, but with this blizzard and everything, I'm not even sure that's the right thing to do", Kodi explained, frustrated.
"Hey, we're supposed to face stuff like this together. That's the whole point of the wedding vows. Have you completely forgotten everything Balto and Jenna told us, like two days ago?", Dusty asked sarcastically, grinning.
Kodi smiled again, and return his wife's affection. "Thanks Dust", he whispered. "I'll guess I'll have to worry about this Steele thing in the morning", Kodi decided, as he noticed the time on the lobby's clock. It was 3:30 in the morning. He had been up all night without a single bit of sleep.
"We'll have to worry about it in the morning", Dusty corrected him.
"Hey keep it down over there, things are already noisy enough", Ralph mumbled. Despite all the complaining he had just done, the samoyed was still trying his best to sleep over all the noise.
"Sorry", Dusty said, lowering her voice. "Now come to bed Kodi, you'll think better when you've had at least an hour of sleep", Dusty suggested.
Kodi hesitated. Even though he really, really needed to get some sleep, sleeping his problems away was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. Because on one hand, doing so would feel like taking the easy way out, or simply pushing his problems off towards a later date. But on the other hand, he was way too tired to argue right now, so the wolf-dog laid down next to his wife, and finally allowed his heavy eyelids to close shut.
He was out in seconds.
And he was awake again in seconds.
Kodi's eyes snapped opened, and the wolf-dog yelled, putting his paws to ears in an effort to block out the pain. The husky's eardrums hurt so badly they were practically throbbing inside his skin. The groaning noise the inn had been making all night had just got a thousand times worse, so bad the humans had all woke up from their naps to find their ears bleeding. And if the noise was that bad to them, you could only imagine the kind of damage it was doing their sharper-eared companions/
"Dear god, where is that noise coming from?!", Kodi screamed, writhing in pain on the rug. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his wife doing the same. The pregnant husky rolled across the floor, moving further and further away from her mate as she struggled to hold her paws to her ears. The pain in Kodi's head was suddenly nothing compared to how it felt to watch his wife suffer through such agony.
And as the seconds dragged by, the noise still didn't cease, nor did it get any better. Quite to the contrary, it only seemed to grow louder, and more high-pitched. Like whatever was causing it was getting stronger…or weaker.
At the back of his mind, Kodi dimly registered the fact he recognized that noise. He had heard it before. Several times actually. But it's hard to think straight when your ears are bleeding. Finally, Kodi remembered where he had heard that noise before, and when he realized what was coming next, he almost wished he hadn't.
It was the sound of wood bending to it's limit, and then breaking.
He had heard it dozens of times before back in Nome. When he was a kid, roofs would sometimes cave in when too much snow was piled on top of them. It had never happened to house owned by Kodi's family, and the puppy had been quite happy about that. But as far as Kodi knew, the sound had never been this loud or this painful before. A simple rooftop couldn't be the cause of all this. And even if it was, it should have collapsed a long time ago, and the noise would have stopped by now. Which meant, more than just the roof was starting to give way.
Kodi remembered what Dusty had said, about how the inn was over a hundred years old, and how it always made this noise during a snowstorm. And how Kirby had commented on how the creaking had gotten louder and louder all night. If the wood had had an entire century to be worn down by the wind and rain, then the whole foundation of the hotel could collapse at any minute.
As he got to his feet, Kodi tried his best to ignore the pain and focus on what was important. After all, how could he think about how much his head was hurting him when he had to get his friends and family out of there, before it was too late? "DUSTY!", he shouted.
The canine inhabitants in the lobby had split into two. Dusty was all the way on the other side of the room, with Blake and a few other members of Steele's team, not to mention all the humans, who were desperately trying to find something to stop the bleeding. Meanwhile Kirby, Ralph, Steele, Griff, and Jake were all on Kodi's side of the room, having rolled their during the confusion.
"We've got to get out of here!", Kodi shouted, though he doubted anyone had heard him since their eardrums had stopped working a long time ago. After all, the boy barely even heard his own voice come out of his mouth, only a loud, constant ringing. If this continued for much longer, he would surely go deaf.
And then the noise climaxed, and all hell broke loose.
Kodi's eyes slipped away from his teammates, and he focused his vision on the ceiling above him. There was a large crack in the second floor, and little pieces of wood were starting to fall down into the lobby. And then those little pieces of wood started to become big pieces of wood. And then those big pieces of wood started to become jagged shards, mercilessly raining down on the humans and dogs as they tried to find cover. But unfortunately, there was no time to run, and nowhere they could hide.
The rope holding up the lobby's chandelier snapped, and the glass candleholder hit into the floor at full speed, shattering on impact. By now, whole columns started break, and without their added support, the ceiling started to break loose from the walls. The crack in the second floor grew bigger, stretching from one side of the lobby to the other, until the entire ceiling was split in two. And that's when it fell.
The last thing Kodi had time to do was jerk his head to the right, and watch in horror as a hundred pounds of wood and glass fell down on his friends, his musher, and his wife. There was no way they could survive that. No possible way. And he only had half a second to take in the fact everyone he loved was dead, before the other half of the ceiling fell on him and Steele's team.
"Dusty", Kodi managed to say, before the wood landed on his head. He blacked out before he even had time to feel the pain. And maybe that was a blessing in disguise.
Author's Note:
Now you know what Balto saw in his dream. And now you know why him and Jenna ran all the way to White Mountain in a snowstorm to help their son. I think we would all be willing to do the impossible if we found out our kid was about to be crushed under a hotel. This disaster was actually foreshadowed back in chapter 5, but Kodi and his pals were so busy worrying about Steele that they paid it no attention.