Chapter 6

Saba and Kanai had been following Rusty for the past 4 hours, and it was about to be night once again. Kanai was walking the while time, impressing Saba since they must have crossed at least 20 miles at this point, but he was starting to get tired...

Kanai yawned and looked up at Saba.

"Tired Kanai?"

"A little. My feet are killing me!" He said with a jump, somewhat contradicting his own statement.

"We'll stop here for the night. You two settle in somewhere, I'll bring you dinner."

"Thank you, Rusty."

Rusty nodded to the two, and ran off, leaving Saba staring at a tree as she was lost in her thoughts.

"You like Rusty!" Kanai shouted.

"Haha, I do not. I'm only grateful that he took the time to help us all this... Time."

"Nuh uh, you like him!"

Saba smiled down at the pup... Had it been that obvious? All she did was thank him, and somehow Kanai got the she liked him... If it were the obvious to a pup, she wondered how it seemed to Rusty... Priorities. They had to find Kanai's mother, so for now, she will not say a single word to Rusty.

"You like rusty! You like rus-" Kanai stopped and looked behind him.

Rusty was standing there with a few rabbits hanging from his teeth.

"Oh, hey! That was uh... Fast." Saba said.

Rusty dropped the food for them and once again disappeared into the forest.

"Great you little tyke! He heard you!" Saba said with slight annoyance.

"Maybe it was a good thing." Kanai said.

Saba did find his words a bit confusing, but moved on to the food that Rusty brought. She stripped one of the rabbits, tearing the fur and skin off, then nudged it towards Kanai. She then took the second one and did the same. Both of them started tearing up the small meal, but at the end of it, both were satisfied.

Saba looked up at the sky, I was an amazing dark blue hue and the clouds in the distance were outlined with silver. The sun produced spectacular colors around the clouds, but all it did was remind her of home... Or... What used to be home.

Soon, she found a shallow dip just 20 feet or so from their earlier spot, and dug out a shallow den for the two to sleep at night. She curled up into a ball, as winter did in fact bring with it cold winds and night drops.

Kanai took his favorite spot yet again and jumped right in the middle of Saba, who formed a protective circle around the pup.

"I think I know how it will end up." Kanai said as he tested his head on Saba's stomach.

"Oh?" She asked.

"We are all looking for our home... Maybe our home is together?" He said absentmindedly.

Rusty.

Maybe you've found the love, maybe you're too blind to see it.

Here I was again... Pathetic... That dog and her wolf pup back there will never know about my failure... I only hope they were well enough with a rabbit each...

I sat down now as I watched the caribou run free about half a mile down in a field, and replayed the events that caused me to miss my catch... Replayed and replayed...

I caught large game like that with no problem for the past two years... What stopped me this time?

I shook those thoughts away... Those... Failed thoughts, and walked back. I wasn't walking back to Saba and the wolf pup, no. I wouldn't sleep with them, or anywhere near them. It'd just give them a chance to bother me... But was that what I really was afraid of? No... I'd be lying if I said they bothered me. I've been so distant. Not wanting to even share my origins with the red husky, but one thing was for certain, and it hit me like a brick... Saba was, in fact the daughter of Jenna... And if I wasn't mistaken, daughter of Balto too.

At long last... Someone from Nome. The one place I trusty belonged. But I knew that she was as lost as I was at this point. Perhaps I could at least ask her how... Maddie was doing? And the good inspector! Yeah, maybe she could help me after all. Help me find my home! Or, at least what remained of it.

Not tonight though... I feel as of they are taking a liking to me... Saba cares if I live or die, and that is not how I want things. They do not have to waste their precious memory space on me, for I am nobody, and I should be nobody to them as well.

Tonight I will sleep alone again, and tommorow I will send them off in the right direction. They will have to leave me behind, but they will find something better. Hopefully, the wolf pups mother there. Hopefully, they'll forget about me and I could return to...

No... I don't want to return to that...

Rusty was fighting internally... One side wanted him to stay as far from Saba and Kanai as possible, the other wanted to join them in returning to Nome... He fought, and fought hard. Not even sleeping until 2 am, when Saba and Kanai had long ago slipped away into dream land. Rusty had dreams, sure he did... But they were not peaceful. They were not normal. They were not, happy dreams.

vvvvv

Rusty awoke to a familiar feeling... No, this wasn't familiar? No way it was... He felt like... Wait, out in the distance! It was Nome! At long last he had found his home!

He ran quickly to it with a smile on his face. The first time in over two ears. He barked and howled, not caring at all what the town dogs thought of him. They could all burn in hell. He ran and ran, straight to the little red two story house at the end of Main Street.

It was home...

He took a deep breath and slowly walked up to it.

"This is it... Do I even deserve it? I left them..." He thought.

He slowly... Slowly, walked up the two steps to the front door, and scratched at it.

Nobody answered.

He turned his head at an angle and tried to sniff out any scents.

Nothing.

In fact... No scents seemed to exist in the world. It was like his nose instantly went blind. Something else was not right either.

The town was empty.

He looked down Main Street, and the normal chaos of the midday from humans and dogs alike was absent. Not a single soul existed that day.

Rusty began to panic, and quickly pulled his key from around his neck off and held it in his mouth. He jumped up to the door knob and tried multiple times to put the damn thing in.

Success!

He turned the key and the door knob with it, and stepped back as the door slammed open with enough force to knock him a few feet away had he been right next to it.

"What the hell?..."

Rusty was frozen... This was not his home... Inside of the doorway was a single long hallway.

At the end of it was... A gravestone.

He feared the worse, but walked slowly to it...

"Aubrey..." A whisper called out to him, he ignored it and slowly walked forward.

"No... No... God no..." He thought as he shook his head.

"Aubrey... You came home..." The whispering continued.

"I... I am... I am here! M...Madeline?" He stammered.

Waiting a few seconds for a reply, he walked forward, down the long corridor to meet the one and only point of interest at the end of this hallway.

"N...no... It can't... Be" he said.

Rusty dropped down... His knees were simply too weak to carry him, but he didn't care. He fell to the ground and wept... And wept he did, as he read the tombstone...

Madeline Aubrey.

Fallen while at battle with the Diphtheria virus. May she rest in peace.

1918-1925

All is lost, but not forgotten. We shall remember her not in her time spent in a hospital bed, we will remember her as she was, happy and free, running with her best friend in the world, Aubrey. Her dog, her protector, her partner in crime,, her friend, her everything.

Rusty finally moved after nearly an hour not wanting to even live on at this point... He had nothing to live for... What cruel tricks were God playing on him? Had it all been his fault? Had... Maddie passed because of his selfish need to help? All of it was trivial, in the fact that she was gone... His only human, the only one he could truest love, and trust, and care for. He had failed her.

"I've... F..failed you... Maddie... My sweet sweet Madeline..."

Rusty curled back up, but did not cry... At long last, he was at peace... Maddie was gone... He could finally end his miserable existence on this earth, and not have to worry about someone else missing him.

"You have not failed me... Aubrey." The voice whispered.

"M...maddie?"

"Yes... I am okay Aubrey... But are you?"

"I... God maddie, if you're okay then I am!"

"Good... Now come home Aubrey... We need you."

"I... I don't understand?"

Rusty panicked and ran towards the source of the voice. Out the door and into the middle of the street.

There, at the end of it, just fifty feet ahead of him, stood a little girl.

"What... Madeline!" He yelled with happiness.

He ran to meet her... But she simply vanished.

Rusty fell to the floor, for he was half expecting that... Who was he kidding? He knew she was gone...

With one last look, he read the sign on the building that Maddie had led him too.

Nome children's hospital.

"I... I made it back maddie... I did... I told you I would be back..." He said as tears streamed down his face.

"I never doubted you for a second, dear."

"But... You have to do something for me..." She added.

"Anything... My life is meaningless of it cannot please you... What do I have to do?"

"Find your home... Please, Aubrey... Find your home..."

Rusty awoke with a jump, nearly a foot high as he examined the area around him. He was still in the same spot, overlooking the sleeping husky and wolf pup, but not too close so that they could see him. His breathing was labored, and his heart still racing.

What was his nightmares trying to tell him? He had nightmares, sure, but last nights' was different. For the first time ever in his dreams, he spoke with the one he loved... He spoke to a soul that was not there. What was it trying to tell him?

"Find your home... Please, Aubrey... Find your home..."

Find my home? I have no home... Unless...

"Let's go! Get up." He yelled to the sleeping two.

"Ugh... What time is it?"

"About 8am, now get to your feet. We've got a long trek ahead of us and I'd like to get you there today and not have to wait another night."

Saba nodded with her eyes still half closed, and gently picked Kanai up by his neck. The pup didn't even move as he was too tired to do so.

Rusty already ran ahead of the two, and led them towards a single peak in the distance.

South peak. Black Eye and his pack were about two miles west of that.

Sorry if this seems rushed, but I typed this on my iPhone while on a fishing trip... Yeah...

I'll admit. I love writing about Rusty, but I am limited on what I can write about him, for I only have licences him for a few chapters, and the true meaning of this character can only be portrayed and read by the amazing work of Amari412. If you're reading this, and have not yet read 'What about now', then what the hell are you doing here? Ignore this crap and read her story! Now! lol

Anyways, that June 2015 is an old reference to the 5 disney movies they decided to announce coming 'Soon' being June, 2015... Why they decided to announce that 3 years prior seems like a joke to me. Chapter 7 isn't too far away, don't worry.