So... Apparently I'm a horrible person, for giving you all a cliff hanger. This chapter doesn't have one... Later chapters might. I make no promises, about content. READ, REVIEW, AND ENJOY

There were so many voices. I couldn't sleep through them. Sleep was the only way to escape the pain but the cold was gone. There were dogs barking, people calling out to each other, children laughing, and the squeak of people walking through snow. I kept my eyes closed and assessed my surroundings. I felt the tickle of fur on my back, rather than silky cloth or the material of my uniform. Someone had taken my coat and the top of my uniform, but as I shifted one of my feet I felt my pants ruck up. I was on my stomach, on something carefully padded and then covered in a soft skin. My head rested on a thin silky pillow. I tried to move my shoulders and pain shot through my arm, back up through my shoulder and down my wing. It was then I understood why I was on my stomach.

I moaned softly at the pain, squeezing my eyes tighter closed. A warm hand covered my shoulder and gently rubbed it. "Hush, hush, little one," A deep older voice said, "You are safe."

I opened my eyes slowly, "Where…"

"In a village," Supplied the voice, "We are not part of the fighting. You are safe."

"My people…" I begged. I couldn't see anything, but the side of a skin tent.

"I know…" He cooed, "They have passed on. When our people found you, they buried the others, and left markers so others might know people were lost there. We left one of your feathers and a piece of your uniform nailed to a tree with a short knife one of my people found on you. When you have healed we will take you back to that place, and you may go as you wish."

"How did I get here?" I asked.

"Our people carried you on a sled," He explained.

I moved my arms and tried to lift myself, "I have to get back…"

The man placed another hand on me and pressed lightly. I fell back down, "You are not ready to travel." He pulled the furs higher up on to my shoulders, "Sleep, you still need to heal." His hand stroked my head, and soon sleep took me again.

The man told the truth. I had been taken to a small Eskimo-like village. There were twenty huts with at least five people living in each dome shaped hut. Each of the members of the village weren't any taller than me; even the few men considered warriors were short next to me. I learned that every man had a tattoo on one visible part of his body. Warriors had ones that curled from over their eyebrows to their, temples, scouts had tattoos that followed the line of their jaw. The healer's covered his hands. For everyone else they were scattered. I once saw a woman with half her face covered in the painted patterns. I learned later she was the village's only widow. Most of the other women had simple tattoos ringing their fingers; one on the right ring for their husband, and then the left was for her children.

Everyone in the village knew about the war, none of them however seemed concerned that I was the enemy. Only a few of the middle aged women and men got nervous when I was around, but all the older people showed me a great a degree of respect. The children treated me the same as any other child, until their parents saw me with them. I tried to make nice, after all I didn't know how long I'd be there.

It ended up being six weeks. The first two I was so sick the healer didn't dare move me, I was plagued with nightmares of things that had happened and things that had not. I saw men die who'd I'd never met, and the renewed visions of my friends in danger and dying. After that I finally started to heal. I'd suffered no real damage from the cold, it only added to my fever, which had completely disappeared after the third week. It took me another week to find free time to properly set my wing and knit the bone together.

I actually had to break the already healing bone and put in its proper place. Doing that action alone was harder than I ever thought possible, setting my leg was nothing compared to breaking then setting my wing. I couldn't think straight afterwards. One moment I was, carefully, resetting one spot in my wing then next I was face down in the snow, the healer standing over me. It took me days to get the bones fully reset and repaired. Then I was stuck waiting for the holes to heal themselves, after all I didn't want any of the villages to see the transmutation light. I really didn't want to frighten any of them.

Two weeks after I'd fixed the bones in my wing the Healer and the warriors of the village took me out to the center of the village. I was set in a sled, blindfolded, and taken out of the village. I had understood why they were doing this when I saw the women taking down their huts. They were moving the village so I wouldn't send any military people to hurt them. My sub-conscious asked why? I didn't even know anyone's name, much less where the village was, what it was called, and which set of northern tribes they were. I knew there were many we were fighting, but I hadn't known there were tribes that didn't wish to fight.

Once they'd taken me out for several hours they stopped, and took off my blindfold. I was in the same place I'd been in when my now dead team had been attacked. There was a row of markers, skies with the shoulder markers hanging from them. One man said that someone had come by this place. The healer explained that they'd left the silver necklaces, dog tags, hanging next to the shoulder stars. I nodded understanding that someone would have come looking for my team after we'd disappeared. On the other side of the clearing, I saw the line of a different kind of markers. Those could only have been the enemies' tombstones. They were knives, swords, guns, and in a few places a simple stick.

"Angel-sama?" I turned back to the healer. I hadn't realized I'd been thinking about the two men I'd killed until I was glaring at the enemies' body markers. The healer gestured to one of the three teams of dogs, "These are yours."

I blinked at them, most of them were the surviving members of my team's sled dogs. Seven, two females and five males, I'd nicknamed; there was Queen and Rose, both red but one more so than the other, then there was Ace, King, Jack, Ten, and Joker. Ace was nearly all white, King was black and white, Jack was gray with white, Ten was completely black, and Joker was golden tan and panted like he had a big smile on his face. Ten and Jack where both rear dogs, but they weren't in the very back, there was another set even larger than those two. I went through the line again, Ace in the lead, then king and queen, Joker and Rose were next, followed by Jack and Ten then the two new dogs. Nine dogs in all, I pointed at the last team, "I don't know those two."

The healer nodded, "They choose you. In our tribe the dog teams are made on their own. The two wheel dogs joined and helped protect your pack when they had no leader. They are not dominant but at the time they did not have a pack so when we found them sleeping among your pack, we spoke and decided that they would be best with you."

I nodded after a minute.

The man smiled and continued, "We repaired your sled and when we took your pack we took some of you items as well. You have enough supplies to last three days, a map, one of your tents, a set of skies and poles, and your weapons."

He looked uncomfortable about that last part. During the time I'd been confined to bed, three women had been carefully cleaning my coat and uniform until all the blood was gone. The men who'd found me had brought all my weapons but kept them from me, thankfully they'd let me watch as they cleaned, oiled and again cleaned each item. I wasn't happy about them dismantling my guns, and not letting me put them back together, but then again they weren't happy about me having weapons.

I walked over to the sled checking it, everything was there. I turned to the healer, looking at him carefully. He was maybe older than my father, with graying hair and dark eyes. His gloved hands were covered in tattoos, and a single tattoo the size of one of my nails sat in the middle of his forehead. His clothes were just like the others, plain skins sewn together to make warm coats and pants. After a minute I spoke to him, "Why are you doing this?" I tilted my head to one side, "Why are you helping me? Giving me my weapons back? Aren't you worried that I'll bring men and attack your village?"

The healer smiled, "We do this because it is right, because your weapons are yours, and it is not right to hold someone against their will. I am not worried because you are a good person and you know that harming us would be wrong." He bowed to me, "May your winters be short and your summers long."

I'd learned this was their way of saying good bye. I bowed back, "Good bye." When I stood straight again, the healer had climbed into one of the sleds and the man that had driven my sled was in the other. I watched silently as four men on two sleds disappeared into the still foggy snow covered morning. After they'd disappeared I climbed on to the back of the sled giving the go order and pushing off. I traveled for an hour like that; One of my wings in a sling and the other folded to my back. I was lucky the men of the village and the dog handlers had decided to teach me to drive a sled team, otherwise I was up a creek without a paddle.

I stopped after about an hour, healing the gun shots in my wing joint and then transmuting both wings away. It felt weird not having my wings after six weeks of not being able to get rid of them. I took the time to recheck all the dogs' harnesses, the two new dogs wiggled so much and kept trying to play with me as I checked their harnesses. One looked like he was wearing a brown grey suit and white glove set, the other was just as big as his brother but he was wearing a gray t-shirt and shorts. I decided to call them Goliath and Grendel, the only giants I could remember the names of.

Once we got underway again the dogs pulled me and the sled off and on for five hours. Sometimes I'd pull my skies on and break the path for the dogs. The snow stayed hard for most of the day, making it easier for the dogs to move. Around noon though the snow started turning soft, meaning it was easier to sink in knee deep into it. The dogs started struggling to make any headway with me on the back, so I led them.

I hadn't been doing that long when a blue coated and hooded figure stepped out from behind a snow heavy bush. "Hold it right there," It pointed a gun at me, speaking through a face scarf with tinted goggles over the figure's eyes, "Northerners aren't allowed any further."

I looked up at the figure, my hood pulled just low enough that you could barely see my face, with my face scarf pulled up. I saw the soldier through the trim on my hood. I recognized the shape of it. That large chest, slim waist with three belts holding ammunition slung across both waist and chest, then finally the tall form that made her look well balanced. Slowly I raised my head and looked around other soldiers were coming out of the wood works. I noticed two more figures to my right that I knew and I was sure there was another in a tree somewhere.

I nearly dropped my ski poles in eagerness, I was nearly home. I knelt down quickly untying my skies. The moment I stepped off them I heard four guns cock. I turned my head a little towards them, being careful not to move too quickly. Ace started to growl, that got the others started. Goliath and Grendel suddenly sounded very wolfish. I made a tisking noise at them, drawing their attention then shushed them. Ace went quiet and the others followed, though they never dropped their hackles. I turned back to the soldiers and let the pole bands slide from my wrists and fall into the snow. I had my sword, daggers and guns on me still but I didn't think I'd need them.

"Hey," The first soldier called, "Don't you understand English? Don't Move."

I edged closer to the soldier. Snow went flying as a bullet landed in the ground near my foot. A moment later the gunshot sounded. I smiled, Jacob was good, very good. I finally looked up, my eyes meeting Lam's dark ones. Slowly I reached up and pulled down my scarf.

Lam froze, her eyes going wide. I stepped forward again still going slowly. Lam lowered her gun, pointing it at the snow. I caught sight of others lowering their guns and exchanging looks. I kept going forward, no more snow went flying. Finally I was standing a foot from Lam. My smile grew. I wanted to cry I was so overjoyed to see her. I moved wrapping my arms around her neck. Her dark eyes were wide in surprise. And for a minute she was stiff then she relaxed her gun slipped from her shoulder and her arms wrapped around me. "Dalka," I could feel her sob, "You're alive…"

My hood had fallen off, sending my unbraided hair down my back. I tightened my grip on her, burying my head in her shoulder. I hid my overjoyed tears into her heavy coat. I heard the sounds of people blundering through the snow. More arms wrapped around me, and I identified Ami, and Byan. I started to laugh, the others joining me. By the time we'd pulled away Jacob came crashing through the bushes, his snipper gun in his hands and Anderson right behind lugging the gun's case and the rest of Jacob's things. Jacob paused as he saw me. His eyes went wide and then he stalked across the clearing until he was standing over me, his arms crossed.

I smiled widely at him. He glared then his face softened and he flung his arms around my waist picking me up and swinging me in a circle. "Dalka!" He cried, his gun pressing into my back. He put me down and smirked at me, "Where the hell have you been, Angel? We all thought you were dead!"

I smiled at him, "I've been with some friends."

He looked at me oddly.

I grinned, "They saved me, so they must be friends."

Jacob shook his head, "You are such a child."

I smiled at him, a part of me feeling sad, the other happy to see them. I couldn't tell them what had happened, I couldn't tell anyone. It would endanger the tribe. They took me to the camp, it was four hours from where they'd found me; they'd moved it. Four hours of me answering questions about the attack, and avoiding questions about the people who'd helped me.

When we reached the perimeter of the encampment, more soldiers I didn't know appeared. They pointed guns at me but Lam ordered them to stand down and took me in. I was aware of the people coming out of special heated tents to watch me pass by. I wondered how many recognized me.

I insisted I be allowed to take care of the dogs. Ami and Lam showed me to the front of their tent. I unharnessed the dogs and made sure Ace knew this was where he was to stay. If he stayed the others wouldn't venture far. Some of the other handlers looked nervous when I didn't chain the dogs. I purposefully ignored them. The dogs were as good as mine now, they'd accepted me as their 'leader'. I wasn't going to let anyone take them from me. Ace licked my hand, and whined. He remembered places like this, but he didn't seem comfortable. I stroked his head, looking at him. He pushed his head into my hand, and looked to the outskirts of the encampment. "No," I told him, "This is where I belong." I crouched down to him, speaking to him, "I promise when I leave I'll find a place for you. A place with me."

Well... Dalka's back at home, and Now, I have homework to do. REVIEW!