I know, I know, a lot of confusing important stuff happens here, but don't worry, the action will start in the next chapter. This is more... Character development, and more explanation on my changes to the Balto universe, everything that happens here will be crucial to how future events will play out. And remember, this was supposed to be chapter 2, and two chapters of character development for a story that I expect will be 10 chapters or more seemed acceptable.

Balto, Saba, Jenna and Siku.

Jenna and Saba were playing a friendly game of... Well... "Try and kill each other." Basically the goal was to flip the other over and bite on the neck. A friendly game as long as you don't bite too hard and accidentally killed each other. Jenna was laughing as Saba finally jumped on top of her and went for her neck.

"You win.. Ha.. Ack.. You win Saba" Jenna playfully threw her off, she was about to go for a sneak attack on Saba while she was distracted, then stopped when she realized what Saba was looking at. It was Balto and another strange character, a tiny female wolf puppy. Jenna wasn't the type to be jealous, so it was mostly the fact that it was a wolf, and a rather young one, that was walking pretty much up against her mate, that got her.

"Look at that, my two favorite girls playing together like pups, isn't that just cute." Saba blushed a bit, knowing she wasn't exactly a pup anymore

"Hey I'm almost a year old, I'm not a tiny puppy" Saba tried to be serious, but couldn't fight back the smile on her face.

Jenna looked a bit closer at the wolf pup that remained quiet. Siku answered her question before she could ask it.

"Hello Jenna, my names Siku!" She said proudly, apparently she found her confidence, no longer scared of anything as long as Balto was around.

"Uh, hello Siku" Jenna was still a bit confused. Balto noticed this, but smiled at Jenna's twisted face.

"You're pretty Siku" Saba added.

"Well if I'm pretty, then you're beautiful!" Siku replied, both laughed.

"Say, Saba won't you and Siku go play around, me and Jenna need to talk about... Uh... Kodi." He lied.

"What'd he do now?" Saba obviously caught onto his lie but played along.

"Nvm, let's go see if we can find Kodi, Siku."

"But…" She looked at Balto, his head towering a full foot over hers. "Okay..." Then walked over and followed Saba back through the alley from earlier.

Balto waited until they disappeared around the corner.

"Hey Jenna."

"What?"

"She's cute huh?" Balto smiled, jabbing at Jenna's expense.

"You're funny, who is she? How old is she? Oh, but she is cute I must say."

"I don't know anything other than her name and that she came from the forest" Balto thought for a second. "Siku, that's an interesting name, couldn't have been given to her by any of the packs I know" Balto added.

"She doesn't look older than a year or so, just a pup. I wonder why she's here in town." Jenna seemed to catch onto Balto's thoughts.

"Who knows, I just found her hiding under a table in that alley" he nudged in the direction Siku and Saba went. "I may have scared her shit-less on accident" Balto chuckled.

"She seemed a bit sticky to you."

"I can't lie to you, I feel as though this wolf needs my help, and that I can't leave her. It's a weird complicated thought. I feel like, like she is my own daughter." Balto struggled to say

"I suppose we can't just leave her in the woods, plus she doesn't look too much like a wolf, maybe the town will see her with dogs and think she is also one." Jenna said the walked over to Balto.

She kissed him then suggests they should go check on them.

"Oh and by the way, Steele's dead." Balto joked.

"What? How?" She could shake off her smile as she caught onto Balto's joke.

"I found him as good as dead in the forest, a bear attacked him." Balto said, hiding his smile now.

"Oh dear, what did you do? Was the bear still there?" Jenna was a bit concerned.

"We'll I brought him to the vet. And it was a bit weird, but the bear was nowhere to be found, a bear just doesn't kill it's victims, Steele wouldn't have been unrecognizable if this bear attack was normal. Something must have fought it off." Balto trailed off at the end, seemingly piecing together the info in his mind, he took a whiff of the air, finding Saba and Siku on the other side of the building.

"What is it?" Jenna was puzzled at Balto's look.

"I think... I think Siku was the one who fought off the bear.." Balto was surprised at how blind he was. "I noticed her smell the whole time I was in the forest I ignored it for the most part, it was very faint anyways. And she did have the smell of blood on her just now."

"You're right, I did kill that bear" Balto jumped and turned to meet Siku, Saba and Kodi.

Balto, Jenna, Saba and Kodi too had a stupid looking surprised face as they stared at Siku.

"What? A tiny pup like you fought off a bear alone?" Saba asked.

"Yeah I guess I did." She said, still facing Balto.

Balto was speechless, even he needed help last time he faced a bear.

"I had to do something, I lost my chance to help you when the bear could have killed you all those months ago, but luckily Jenna was there to help." Siku seemed happy she was finally able to say that. Still being stared at by everyone, she let out a long yawn, and Balto noticed dry blood around the edges of her teeth.

"What do you mean?" Balto asked curiously.

"It's a long story Balto, I watched as you fought off the bear, after Jenna was hurt helping you, you made a sled similar to the one you used to drag the black and white dog off earlier."

"So you were spying on me since last winter?" He wasn't exactly mad at her, more, very very interested in what the hell was going on.

"I'd love to tell you everything later, but I'm really sleepy, I did kinda fight off a bear, plus I didn't sleep well last night." She said then let out another long yawn.

Balto grinned then suggested, "Kodi won't you walk her to my boat, be sure to explain to Boris that she's to be welcome to sleep there and to watch over her. There's a blanket there, you can sleep under that and help yourself to some food if you're hungry. Oh and don't eat the goose." Balto smiled at the end, it faded when he thought further about how this wolf has apparently been watching him for a long time now.

"Alright dad, come on Siku" Balto noticed the obvious enthusiasm in his voice, and smiled at the small thought that went through his mind. "They aren't exactly far apart in age from each other" he thought as he watched them walk off.

"Wow" all Balto said.

"You've got a stalker papa" Saba joked

"Yeah he does, why would she secretly spy on you" Jenna asked, in a rhetorical way as she turned to Balto.

"I don't know, we still haven't learned much, other than that she's obviously a good fighter" Balto chuckled. "So far she's doing a good job of raising more questions than answering them"

Jenna nodded in agreement.

"I suppose I should go check on how Steele's doing" Balto suggested

"I'll come" Jenna added then walked up to Balto.

"I'm going to go find Kirby and Dusty, can't wait to tell her that her boyfriend just walked off with cute little female wolf." She said excitedly and quickly ran off.

Balto and Jenna head off back through the alleyway yet again, Towards the vet.

Kodi and Siku.
Love?

Kodi walked slightly behind Siku, he felt the awkwardness between them. She was obviously not happy about leaving Balto; she was quiet through the edge of town.

Kodi failed at making an attempt at breaking the silence, so he just looked over and examined every feature of her. It took him a second to realize just how small this wolf was, especially since the wind flattened her coat a bit. From far away she could probably be mistaken for an arctic fox. Her tail was log and full, reaching down but hovering an inch off other ground. Kodi bent his own tail down to see if it touched the ground, to his surprise it did. Everything else about this wolf was perfect. Legs a little short for a wolf, but met perfectly sized paws, which were already as large, or even larger than Kodi's as he looked down to examine his own. Even Kodi's part wolf heritage didn't give him huge paws, but he was proud that they were the biggest on the sled team, and that helped him run long distances through snow with ease. He looked further up to her head. Ears were tipped with dark gray fur. They were twitching about at every sound, Kodi found this a bit cute, in fact this wolf was beautiful. He didn't care though, he was with Dusty. But he couldn't deny that he was more attracted to Siku than Dusty. He slightly frowned at this thought, and looked to the right, away from the wolf.

"Something on your mind?" Siku asked, causing Kodi to snap out of it and shake his head. Siku noticed the resemblance between him and his father, they both tended to try and shake thoughts from their minds.

"Not really, just thinking about pulling the line." Kodi lied.

"What is that?" Siku asked with genuine curiosity, she still didn't know anything about how dogs lived.

"We'll it's just what I.. We call when we are pulling the sled to deliver the U.S Mail" he couldn't hide the pride in saying this; he's said it that way since he joined the team.

"You look like you can run fast"

"Yeah.." Kodi didn't know how to respond to that, it meant that she saw him at some point, but she has yet to even look at him so far.

The terrible silence started again, Kodi found himself staring at her again, he was staring at her head a lot. Her tiny pointed muzzle was perfect unlike Dusty's that resembled Balto's muzzle more. He compared many other features of this wolf vs. his girlfriend. But those eyes, how they were perfectly different and unique, one side was blue and the other brown. Eventually it got to the point where Dusty was hideous in comparison. He cursed his own mind thinking that way but again just couldn't shake it.

As they got to the last hill towards the boat, Kodi must not have been paying much attention, his feet caught a rock and he let out a yelp before falling down, and into Siku, both rolling down the hill until they come to a stop at the bottom. The event landed Kodi on top of her, ignoring all logic he stared into her eyes, he loved them. Siku did the same, both canines locked into each other's trance. Kodi still aware of everything he examined her under him. He couldn't believe he was given the opportunity to see something so beautiful. Both of her ears flopped down as she looked stupidly up at Kodi and smiled. Kodi thought it was cute how she looked at him, and the way her ears freely fell. He slowly bent down and licked her nose and she returned it a second later. They stay like this for about a minute, exchanging affectionate actions and giggles coming from Siku.

"Oh, ho! Look like I find you at bad time, yes?" Kodi jumped off of her and looked at Boris, left eyebrow raised slightly.

"We fell" Kodi explained, not really caring to explain any further.

Boris looked over at the wolf that didn't show the least embarrassment that Kodi did. She looked at Boris in return and said in a tone full of confidence. "Hello Boris, I'm Siku" then went to match Boris' outstretched wing with her muzzle allowing Boris to pet her a bit.

"My my you are young one, why were you in town? Surely a tiny wolf might be scared of the humans" Boris didn't like saying the last word.

Finally Kodi found his head and talked.

"Balto said I should bring her here, she's tired.. Or something." As if right on cue he looked over at Siku and she let out another yawn, showing off her teeth. He even liked her teeth, they added a bit if fierceness to a tiny seemingly innocent wolf. Boris stepped back a bit at the sight of her teeth, which were not only huge for her tiny form, but huge compared to a dogs.

"Heh, well let Uncle Boris show you where to get comfortable." Siku smiled and followed Boris into the boat, she stopped and turned to Kodi, who also turned and already started heading back. "Kodi, thanks for walking me here" she said, half still unknowing what to say really, everything that happened all today was new to her.

"Yeah, no prob" Kodi said less awkward now, his voice showed another sign, a hint of sadness.

Siku detected this but didn't know what to do about it, so she just offered "I guess I'll see you when I wake up?"

"Yeah you bet" Kodi seemed a bit more enthusiastic. Siku had nothing else to say so she stared blankly at the wall of the boat before walking up the plank to follow Boris. Kodi just let out a shallow sigh and walked off.

"So what does a wolf like you do not being in the forest?" Boris asked as he prepared a water dish for her and moved Balto's blanket over to her.

"Well, I had to talk to Balto. Something... Is going to happen soon, bad things" she was so relieved to finally be able to tell someone, anyone.

"Oh? What kind of bad things?" Boris sound a bit more curious and even slightly worried.

"I can't explain it now; I'll talk to Balto and everyone later."

"Of course young one, you look like you've just run a marathon with tiny legs of yours" he said noticing how tired she looked. Siku just sigh and turned her head.

"I'm sorry Boris, I'll explain everything to you first thing when I awaken." Siku thought she might have offended the goose in some way.

"No matter young one, you need your rest, ignore nagging thoughts in brain, and rest easy." He put Balto's blanket over her and soon after jumped down to the lower deck. His voice was so full of caring, and niceness, Siku felt almost as safe here, then when she was with Balto. She smiled finally being able to rest, and comfortably too. This smile died off right away at the news she'd have to tell everyone soon. Unable to shake the thoughts away, she got up to drink some ice cold water, that she was amazed hadn't frozen solid by now. She watched her reflection for a second before drinking a good half of the bowl. She returned to her "bed" and quickly realized it wasn't easy to get the blanked back on her. She struggled for a good 5 minutes before letting out a soft whimper of defeat. She just couldn't bend her neck back far enough to bring the blanket over her back. It was pretty cold, for the first time, well, in a long time, the cold bothered her. Even though it was spring, the evening air was crisp as it was a few months ago as she watched Balto pass by searching for something. What was this mysterious wolf doing in the middle of a blizzard? Siku stopped her thoughts and tried to slip off into sleep, still shivering every so often. Her eyes shot open as the soothing voice of Boris filled her ears.

"Here, let me get that." Then Boris returned the blanket to its former position covering her whole body, even her head.

Siku didn't say a word but smiled in thanks. Boris smiled and turned and jumped back down to his deck. "What a nice goose, I can tell he did a great job raising Balto." Her thoughts then led to Kodi. She missed him, she might have liked him, but then again, she wouldn't know what to do about it.

Siku was in a deep sleep, dreams that haunted her for months returned. She was running, yipping and whimpering in her sleep. Boris was wide awake anyway and came to her side to comfort her. He knew all too well how to deal with a puppy having a bad dream. He remembers the countless times he sat by Balto's side when he had his nightmares. Boris soothed Siku's dreams by singing a peaceful steady song in his native language and gently stroking down her back with his wings, flattening the fur that instantly popped back up. The inaudible Russian tune worked wonders on her mind. She stopped her whimpering and her legs finally rested. She was at peace.

Boris smiled but then jumped at a sound behind him, he expected Balto to be back by now, but it wasn't Balto, it was Kodi. Boris was quiet as he watched Kodi walk across the boat deck. A look of pure despair on Kodi's face as he focused on his paws moving one in front of the other. He stopped and sat down next to Boris, obviously broken down. Naturally Boris put a wing around Kodi. He just sniffled, but wasn't crying, no, he was too proud to be crying for... What though? Boris didn't dare pry it out of him yet. He watched Kodi stare at the sleeping pup named Siku. He was staring at her but wasn't seeing her. It was a blank stare, as if looking at an invisible entity in front of him. Boris seemed to offer him a chance to say what was on his mind, he ignored it, got up and walked over to Siku and lay down next to her. Boris pieced together the evidence and remembered the moment Siku and Kodi had earlier that day. He just shook his head and sat next to them, now having to comfort both puppies. Kodi soon too fell asleep and Boris smiled as Kodi rested a single paw across Siku's back. Boris understood everything, the old white goose experienced much in his day, he knew Kodi must have only felt comfortable around Siku, for whatever the reason be, Kodi walked all the way to this boat at night just to "cuddle" with Siku. Boris thought about what would have put Kodi in such a terribly depressing state. He knew all too well.

Saba, Sab(a)tage

"I'm going to go find Kirby and Dusty, can't wait to tell her that Kodi just walked off with a cute young female wolf!" Saba said excitedly, Balto just shot her a playful look before walking off with Jenna. Saba ran off with a slight smile, intending to joke around with Dusty for a while before telling her it was a joke. She ran past her house, sniffing for the others, she hadn't really seen them since they got back from the mail run. She figured they were all at home resting. Finally she found Kaltag who long retired, was also Dusty's father.

"Hey Kaltag... Sir, have you seen Dusty anywhere?" Saba asked, not exactly looking at him, she was still looking around.

"Nope, her and the others went to the butchers shop, he was giving away his surplus of food like every week, you could imagine half the towns dogs are there heh heh" Kaltag smiled, he had already gotten his teeth into a warm juicy steak earlier. Saba on the other hand had no idea.

"Aw, why didn't anyone tell me?" Saba said.

"Well he didn't wait for the mail team to get back so-" Kaltag was interrupted by Saba who just ran off as she caught sight of Kirby and Diego.

"Oh, sorry sir, bye" she yelled back.

"Heh kids." Kaltag smiled and shook his head.

Saba almost ran into Kirby as she ran full speed to him. This startled Kirby who didn't see her coming and he instinctively barked at her.

"Holy crap, Saba!" Kirby said, but didn't hide his smile. He had grown to like Saba as his sled teammate like a sister.

"What's the big rush for Saba?" Diego said from behind him.

Saba stared stupidly at her brother, Diego, then back to Kirby.

"Where's Dusty?" Saba said ignoring both.

"I don't know, she wanted to talk to Kodi but she saw something and ran off, I haven't seen her since." Kirby explained, Saba just continued looked at him with the same stupid face.

"Well where were you guys at?" Saba asked.

"We were by the coast, not too far from Balto's boat. Dusty said she saw Kodi from far off, I couldn't make him out, he was at least a mile off." Kirby smiled at the sight of Saba. She wanted to tell her secret so bad.

"Wait, she saw Kodi? Did she see, uh, anything else?" Saba was leading to something.

"Not that I know of, she ran off alone Togo meet him, we just let her go, figuring she'd want to be alone with her.. Boyfriend." Kirby said the last word as he spotted Kodi over Saba's shoulder. He didn't say anything though. Saba had a secret about him and he wouldn't try to ruin it. He signaled Kodi to hide, he got it instantly, training together on the mail run gave them almost telepathic abilities with their signals, Though this time Kirby was using it to his own advantage this time.

"Oh, then she saw something and just ran off. She told us not to follow her, she wanted to be alone, we figured she got in some kind of argument with Kodi, sonar didn't dare pry." Kirby continued.

"Oh, well, Kodi is walking with someone." Saba said mysteriously.

Kirby and Diego were at full attention to her words, almost at the same time both said "who?"

"Well, it's a cute, young, FEMALE, wolf" Saba explained, putting emphasis on "female", then giggled. Kirby and Diego gasped, was Kodi really messing around with another dog... Er, wolf.

"Wolf?" Diego finally asked.

"Yeah, Balto found this strange wolf somewhere and t looks like Kodi has taken a liking to her hehe, he didn't exactly hesitate to walk her to Balto's boat."

All 3 put the pieces together almost at the same time.

"Oh no, she... Saw them walking together." They collectively said.

"I didn't see them just walk together, a voice came from the upper balcony, Dusty has been eves dropping on the whole conversation. It wasn't intentional, they just happened to choose a place to talk that Dusty happened to be above. They all 3 looked up at her shocked, she jumped down with ease, normally dogs wouldn't risk such a maneuver, especially one who was on the sled team. It was too risky to break or even harm your legs if you required them for your job. Dusty didn't care at the moment.

"Whoa, Dusty how long we're you there?" Saba asked.

"Enough to hear that Kodi doesn't like me anymore." Dusty said half crying.

"You said you saw something else?" Diego said, somewhat ignoring Dusty's sadness.

"I saw him... him and that dirty wolf hugging and kissing at the bottom of a hill near Balto's boat." Dusty struggled to say, she held back a few words she wanted to use to describe the wolf. Kodi came out of his hiding place, and Kirby yet again signaled him to hide, he didn't hesitate to hide once again at the sight of Dusty there. This time he ran off through the alley, Saba caught sight of him, and ran off after him. Dusty ignored Kirby and Diego's warnings not to follow her, and ran off after Saba, who was unknowing she was being followed. Sure enough she found Kodi and Saba talking, and hid nearby.

"Saba what happened with Dusty and you guys, she seemed a bit mad..." Kodi asked.

"Oh, uh it was nothing." I wasn't that we was trying to ruin her brothers relationship, she just didn't want to be blamed for it, even though it wasn't her fault.

"So.. did.. did you enjoy walking Siku home?" She said half grinning, it was for Kodi. In her mind though, she knew they might have been kissing or hugging or whatever Dusty said.

"Well... Saba I have to tell.. somebody." Kodi struggled to say all of this. "I... I think I like her... no, I love Dusty... but Siku is amazing... I don't know what to do... Siku is so beautiful but... I can't break Dusty's heart." He was half cut off by Dusty.

"You already have Kodi!" Dusty yelled hysterically from her hiding place.

"Damn Dusty you like to spy on people don't you?" Saba said, not in a joking way, more, she was just as surprised as Kodi was.

"You want to be with Siku, don't worry, I don't care." Dusty said ignoring Saba, then she ran off.

Kodi was stunned. He couldn't believe what just happened, Dusty hated him now. He was sad but couldn't fight of the small happiness that Siku was now a possibility, and ran off after her.

"Dusty wait!" he tried to follow her, but he was slowing. Deep down he didn't want to catch up to her. Dusty on the other hand slowed, hoping Kodi would catch up to her. She didn't get her wish, she turned to Kodi and she shot him a cold look.

It said that they were over. Both sides agreeing at this point, Kodi still hurt from it. He turned and walked past Kirby who tried to talk to him but Kodi obviously wasn't showing signs of wanting a conversation. He couldn't think straight, deep down he wanted to break it off with Dusty, but it still hurt that it had to happen that way. He would have never left Dusty for a reason as stupid as looks. But he knew Dusty wouldn't hear any of it from him. He thought about the last time he was happy today, it was with Siku. His spirits lifted at the thought of her, and turned blankly and started walking toward the boat at a slow pace, it took him over half an hour to reach the boat, he didn't care, he was lost in his thoughts. Dusty was no longer with him, and he might be in love with a certain little wolf named Siku.

He shook his head trying to drown the sorrow in his mind to no avail. He walked up and made Boris jump, he ignored it and sat by him. He wanted to talk to Boris, but didn't know what to say, that he was in love with this wolf? Even he wasn't sure of t yet anyway. Plus he didn't feel like talking, all he wanted to do was be near Siku. He gave a hint to Boris that said "thank you for understanding", Then walked over to Siku. He dared not wake her so he lay down a foot away from her, unlike Siku the cold didn't bother him one bit. He was larger than her and so what his coat. Plus he felt better just being here. He fell asleep soon after with Boris scratching his ears, the goose trying hard to comfort both of them. He didn't mind one bit, Kodi was family, and the fact that he would never turn away a pup in need like Siku, she might as well be family too. He returned to his deck and let himself fall asleep, successful after pushing away the worried thoughts that crossed his mind, it wasn't that Balto was still out this late, he would sleep over at Jenna's house often now, what worried him was what Siku said... Who knew what secrets she held?

Balto and Jenna, Just like pups.

"I suppose I should go check on Steele" Balto suggested, and Jenna came with him.

Saba had her devious face on as she planned to trick Dusty into thinking Kodi was cheating on her. "Heh, kids" he thought as he sent Saba a "don't take things too far" type of look, Then watched her run off in excitement.

Jenna got closer to him as they crossed the alleyway.

"Hey Jenna, I hope you didn't think any-" Balto stopped as Jenna answered his question early.

"Don't even Balto, I trust you more than enough to let stupid thoughts of jealousy fill my mind, plus that wolf was nothing more.. Than a pup" she said remembering how small Siku is.

"Oh good, you trust me then, we'll that sucks because I find Siku b-e-autiful." He said playfully and pronouncing "beautiful" funny.

"You're terrible." Jenna laughed back and chased him, they ran around the block and turned corners fast, evading each other as they took turns being "it". They eventually stopped when they met a dead end, Jenna was it, and she was cornering Balto. Balto smiled at Jenna's futile attempt at acting aggressive, her pretty nose crinkled up to show her small, but sharp teeth.

"Oh no, you've cornered your prey, have mercy on me!" He joked.

Jenna didn't say anything but she hid her teeth again, smiled then pounced on top of him, flipping him on his back. She was biting and acting like he was caribou. "Okay okay ack okay you got me haha" he said I between her bites. Then Jenna bit him hard on the left forepaw, he heard his knuckle crack.

"Aaahhww! Why Jenna? Ow" she jumped off from on top of him and he quickly got to his feet, he examined his paw, it wasn't bleeding, but there was obvious signs indented into the fur around it that indicated a bite mark. He tilted his head and stared at Jenna with a "what the hell?" face. She just walked up to him and whispered "never try to make me jealous again".

She broke her seriousness first and burst into laughter, Balto followed laughing, but also making a mental note not to mess with Jenna. They returned to their normal walking formation back through the same alley since they were playing around and lost track of where they were. He looked at her with a proud smile, and went over to kiss her. She just blushed but returned it.

"That's what I love about you, no matter the circumstances, or puppies are fully grown and we're not as young as we used to be, we can still play around as if we were little pups ourselves. Oh and I also love your 'ruthless' side." He said indicating it was a joke.

"I feel younger around you, it reminded me of when were pups all those years ago when we first met." Jenna said

"Yeah, back when Steele would torment me if I so much as came into town, let alone steal a look at you." He said hiding his smile. "You guys never.. You know.." Balto questioned.

"What? Never! In all the years he's tried to get me, I've only went on one single date with him." Jenna said, Balto was actually impressed with her. It was a full year before he even knew Jenna existed, and he was sure for at least a good portion of that year that Steele was trying to get at her.

"Well... How did it go? "Balto asked, genuinely interested in his mates' previous date.

"Oh it was terrible, for one, he spent the entire time showing off his medals and accomplishments and.. he was just annoying. Then he brings me to his..." Jenna stopped dead in her sentence and tried to play it off like she forgot. Balto caught on to this immediately, but allowed Jenna to try and play it off.

"Balto I think... I think Steele tried to rape me." Jenna said, she didn't want to tell him but figured she shouldn't keep secrets, after all if she could trust anyone in the world, she could trust Balto.

"WHAT? That dirty sniveling *insert random assortment of curse words "describing" Steele*. I should have left that piece of shit to die in the forest!" Balto was furious, even though this happened years ago, the very thought of Steele even trying to force his way onto Jenna made Balto want to kill him himself.

"Balto, he never got the chance, I slapped him and made him leave. I can handle myself, but I can't believe I'm just now remembering it." Jenna said proudly at first, then quietly afterwards.

"I wish you would have told me earlier, the bear would have never gotten the chance to kill Steele, he would have already been dead!" Balto said while growling, he turned his anger down a bit as he noticed he was starting to scare Jenna.

"Balto don't act like that, it isn't you." Jenna said in the most soothing voice.

"I know, but Steele..." He finally stopped growling, and looked over at Jenna and forced a smile, he was still pissed at Steele. His growl returned once they rounded the corner and spotted the vets office.

"Balto stop." Jenna said softly.

"It's involuntary" Balto said quickly then continued growling.

"Well are we still going to check on him?" Jenna asked, she knew his answer already.

"I don't think I'll go in, I might make his recovery a little bit more difficult." He said with a wicked smile.

"I don't really want to see him either then." Jenna agreed, taking Balto's decision as her own was something she was willing to deal with.

"No, I wouldn't mind if you went to check on him, I don't think I can hide my anger, but someone should-" he was interrupted by Steele's owners.

"Oh look there's Balto." The man told his wife.

She knelt down to Balto and pet him, "thanks for saving our Steele, Balto."

The man gave him some kind of treats Balto has never seen before, but they were delicious. Balto only ate one and gave to other 2 to Jenna, she also ate one then after a second, ate the other, unable to resist the delicious treat. Balto smiled as the man laughed and walked off.

"Huh, looks like they finally realized that I didn't attack him, rather, saved him." He said and looked over at Jenna.

"Did they really think the nicest dog in nome attacked Steele?" Jenna said with a smile.

"I don't know, Steele hates me, who's to say their owners don't hate me too."

"So do you want to go check on him?"

"I suppose so." Balto said, and then followed Jenna over to the door. He thought about how much Steele's owners seemed happy for him saving their dog. He decided to put his anger behind him... For now, until Steele recovered.

They entered the vets office thanks to a human couple standing outside to smoke opening the door for them. Balto nodded in thanks and let Jenna proceed him.

"Wow wolf dog Balto even has manners too." The woman joked, her and the other human laughed a bit.

"It's a bit scary how smart Balto is; he's done stuff my stupid dog could never do." The man claimed. Balto smiled as he remembered that they must have been Kaltag's owners.

Balto and Jenna sat patiently in the waiting room. The room was empty except for an old man who sat across, closer to the door. He was reading The Nome Nugget and Balto was a bit relieved that his face wasn't on the front of it like it has been for the past month. The man looked over his newspaper to Balto, and examined him, Balto did the same.

"Well if it isn't Balto! I have been in this town for a few months now and I have never seen you until now." He extended his hand to meet Balto, Balto happily walked over to him, the man pet and scratch behind his ears.

"You know, I just wanted to thank you in person, you saved my little nephew, we had just come to Nome a few months before the outbreak. He loved to play in the snow, heh, we moved here from California, not much snow there. But it turned out to get him into a lot of trouble." He looked down at Balto, who just yip quietly at him.

"You're so smart, I wouldn't doubt it if you could actually understand me and I'm not just a crazy nut who's talking to a dog." He chuckled, to his surprise Balto nodded in agreement.

"I guess you can understand me? No that's crazy talk." He said, and then watched Jenna walk to Balto's side.

"I see you've found a mate for yourself Balto, she sure is cute, well for a dog." He chuckled, and Jenna slightly blushed, Balto agreed with him by licking Jenna and smiled.

He pet them both for a while until the vet asked to talk to him.

The vet was well known throughout Nome, and pretty much everywhere within a 500 mile radius. Dr. Osnik moved here from Germany, having worked on soldiers, and saved many of them. Even though, he secretly only had training as a vet. After the Balto couldn't make out what they were saying through the door, but the man sounded relieved. He walk out of the room with a small smile, and following him was Nikki.

"Heyas Balto, what brings yous here?" Nikki said, he didn't seem like he was in any pain, Balto wondered why he was here.

"I'm checking in on Steele, what are you here for? You look great." Balto complimented.

"Oh, my owner is just a bit overprotective, I tripped and fell off the porch and he thought I broke my leg. It was just a small sprang." He said as he raised his paw to show a soft cast. Nikki, along with Steele, Kaltag and Star were all retired. 4 of Balto's pups, and 1 form Kaltag replaced them for the mail run.

"Wow, did it hurt?" Jenna asked.

"Not even the slightest, the shots they gave me were the worst of it all, and even that was nutin'." Nikki explained. Balto look at Jenna and smiled, Nikki must have went through a lot if he didn't realize his leg was indeed broken.

Nikki opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the vet.

"Aha! There's Balto, you come to check on your old pal Steele?" The vet noticed Balto's agitation; Steele was definitely not an "old pal" of his.

"And you bring your mate I see" he said looking over at Jenna, who just barked in response.

"Well he isn't exactly in a talking state right now; poor guy's been through hell and back with the surgeries. I'll be back in a second" Dr. Osnik said as he walked over to Nikki and his owner. He explained what medication Nikki needed to take and that he would need about 6 weeks to recover fully. They shook hands and Nikki's owner walked out carrying Nikki. The owner struggling to lift the huge dog, Balto chuckled at this sight and shook his head with a smile.

"So, Balto hopefully you'll be able to see your friend tomorrow, he's currently in an induced coma, he probably wouldn't be able to wake up in his current state." Dr. Osnik let of a sigh, he's already charged steeled owners a hefty fine and he wouldn't feel right to charge any more, but Steele required much more work. Balto nodded to him and licked his hand giving him a sign of "good luck" that the vet seemed to understand.

"I'll try my best" he said as he knelt down and pat Balto, then opened the door for Jenna and Balto to leave. As they were leaving, Dusty got their attention, she was jumping building to building, heading right.

Balto saw his younger self in her, he would jump the very same rooftops as he used to sneak around town. He looked far to the left and saw Saba and Kodi. There was something going on, but Balto decided to stay out of it, seeing Kodi meant that Siku was safely in the hands of Boris at his home. He turned to follow Jenna, who seemingly kept walking. Night was starting to wash over town, they were only in the vets office for about a half of an hour, but daylight was scarce in Alaska this time of year. The 4 hour day was coming to an end, and with it, the town settled down.

Balto walked with Jenna back home and spent an hour or so visiting Rosie. Eventually Rosie and Jenna's bedtime came along, so Balto took his leave after kissing them both goodbye. His thoughts as he walked home seemed to go back to Dusty. She looked like him, and acted like him, he was happy that his son was with her. He also knew Dusty was a good fighter. Balto would have to ask Kaltag if he messed around at some point with a shewolf, he laughed at the thought.

As he neared his boat about 10 min later he figured everyone was asleep, so he quietly jumped up on deck and looked for a place to sleep outside on the deck. He figured Siku was sleeping comfortably in his normal sleeping place, he could smell her, but... Kodi's smell also filled his nose, what was Kodi doing here? He walked over to investigate. The sight warmed his heart, Siku and Kodi were snuggled together close under his blanket. They were cute this way, Balto smiled as he almost guessed correct that Siku and Kodi would like each other. But what about Dusty? He entered the room and lay down on the other side of it, near the window. As he rested his head on his paws more questions popped up about this wolf pup. She was going to have a lot of explaining tomorrow, the poor pup was so scared when he first found her, but when Balto was around Siku, it made her as confident as anyone else. "I wonder if she feels as safe around Kodi" he thought, it'd be nice if Kodi could take care of her rather than him. Kodi would better be a more... suitable protector for Siku than Balto would, with Kodi being much closer in age to her than Balto was. He turned over, trying to pry the thoughts out I his head. Eventually he fell asleep too, the cold Alaskan air blowing through the room, though not bothering him in the slightest.

END. CHAP 2.

Holy shit Siku is going to have to answer a lot, it will all come in the next chapter, but it won't take up too much as I've skipped out on the more action, and tragic parts I wanted to already. This story is going to be tainted with terrible things soon, so get ready.

Thanks for reading my stuff and stuff, follow if you like my stuff, so you'll be notified of more stuff² to come! W00T For another active story about Balto! Review for stuff like advice, errors, other... STUFF.

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