Few things to note, this was a long as chapter, it had to be cut, it was well over 24,000 words. What you will be reading is chapter 4, I will upload chapter 5 soon (the other half). Remember, this is my first time writing, well, anything really. So it's my first time writing an action scene (chap 5), first time writing dream scenes, and first time writing tragic scenes.

The following chapter is a bit more character development, I'll admit I'm having fun writing about Siku. I love this character, and you'll see where I got her idea from in the writers notes at the end of this chapter if you're interested. If I do write more stories, she'll most likely be in it.

Tragic, sad, and terrible things happen here, so if you're one to be easily saddened by sad events, I'd suggest you keep a puppy near you for support.

Continue reading, and thanks. As always, I don't care if you leave a review, though I'd appreciate it if you did. It's just the fact that someone read it is enough for me.

Dreams give hope, Nightmares give worry.

Balto was first to wake up, the dark sky showed no signs of daylight, but there was something that proved the sun existed, the Aurora Borealis. Balto watched with amazement at the dancing columns of green and blue light in the sky. Balto remembered the short time he was allowed to spend with his mother; they'd watch the northern lights dance across the sky. Aniu would tell him stories based off the lights, she would say that the lights were spirits returning to earth to guide their loved ones through hard times. Balto sigh and lay his head back down over his paws. After a few minutes of failed attempts to return to sleep, he got up and checked on a few things. First he walked over to where Siku and Kodi were sleeping. Their shifting throughout the night didn't cause them to become any more thinly snuggled together, but did manage to slip the blanket off at some point. He smiled at the sight of the two; Kodi and Siku were adorable together. Seeing them like this brought back his memories of meeting Siku for the first time yesterday. He loved the wolf, but obviously not in the way Kodi might. Why was his mind playing tricks on him? Did he love Siku? Or did he just feel protective of her. His mind agreed with the latter more, so he went with it. He walked over to pull the blanket over the two, and smiled slightly at Kodi's quiet whimpering. He recognized a puppy lost in dreams all too well.

"Ah, so Balto returned last night?" Boris said, he didn't startle Balto in the least bit because Boris was trying hard to speak softly so as not to wake the two.

"Yeah, I got home kinda late; I was playing with Jenna and Rosy." Balto explained.

"Sigh* "Dog who sleeps latest also wakes up earliest." Boris scolded. "Not very good for you to miss out on much needed sleep!"

"Heh, are you ever going to stop treating me like the pup you found years ago?" Balto asked kindly.

"No, I say I'm going to stay here until you learn to stand on own four paws. You can take it any way you want." Boris said.

Balto just laughed slightly and looked back to Kodi and Siku. Boris also walked over to him and looked at the two.

"They are pretty close for comfort, yes?" Boris asked.

"They seem to like each other huh? They're cute together, and I'm just too old for... to take care of Siku." He said with the slightest hint of sorrow.

"Boris, why does my mind do these things? I can't fight off the feeling that I love Siku, but not in the way I love Jenna, or, more obviously how Kodi feels about her." Balto asked, just clueless like the pup Boris found all those years ago.

Boris thought for a few seconds and seemed to formulate a theory.

"Balto let us think about your heritage, you're half husky, yes?" Balto nodded. "And what about other side?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm part wolf, what are you getting at?" Balto said as he turned his head slightly giving a curious look on his face.

"Siku is also wolf, I may not know much about your wolf instincts but I do know that members of a pack love each other and have unbreakable bond. They are to protect each other at all costs." Boris explained, his years of wisdom told Balto that he was right, and the fact that Boris almost matched his exact feelings towards the wolf.

"Huh, I guess that does make sense, I feel like I'm leaving a part of me behind every time I leave Siku's side."

"You and Siku are now a pack. Pack of two? No, Siku is part of your pack, which includes me, Jenna, your children and all close friends." Boris explained.

"Weird. I never thought of you all as my pack. I always used to think how it would be to be part of a one, if I were ever accepted into a pack. I can't deny that I would fight to the death for any of you guys." Balto said proudly.

"Does... Does that mean I'm a pack Alpha?" Balto asked in a cute way, as if he was truly proud of being one.

"Sure you are." Boris sighed and pet Balto on the head. "And That's good that you would protect the members of your pack, Balto, just don't be stupid about it. Now you need to go back to sleep, I can see bags under big yellow eyes of yours!" Boris offered and waddled off.

"Fine, fine." Balto said as he returned to his earlier spot. This time he lay on his back as to stare at the sky. Watching the eternal dance of the lights calmed Balto. It made him feel like his mother was up there, watching down on him. He caught his thoughts before they led him to sadness, but it was a futile effort. Once again he asked seemingly nobody, why his mother would leave him all alone. He shook his head and tried to think about the positives. His mate, children and acceptance of the entire town were an unintended side-effect of it. Still he wondered how it would have been if his mother didn't have to leave him. He sighed and closed his eyes, it was going to be a long night.

Balto froze still, he was now standing outside his boat, how the hell did he get here? He looked around a bit and walked back up the boat, and back into the room he was at before. Siku and Kodi were now gone. He looked around for Boris; he was nowhere to be found. He figured they woke up and were trying to play some trick on him, but they always forgot about one important thing: Balto could smell any of them from miles away. He lifts his nose into the air and sniffed about. Nothing, but then... Dusty? What the hell was Dusty doing near here? He followed her scent; it followed the coast and stopped. Everything beyond this point was black, not a single light or sign of, well, anything could be seen in the infinite ocean in front of him. "Was Dusty out for a midnight swim in subzero temperatures, at night?" Balto put the crazy thoughts behind him. He walked out onto the ice stupidly, but it held him with ease, he roamed the ice for a bit "looking" for Dusty. It was dead night and the northern lights were gone, so he could only use his nose to see and make sure he didn't walk of the edge and into the freezing waters. He walked back to shore after giving up. Dusty's scent all but trailed off at this point.

"Huh, weird" Balto said aloud. But his mouth didn't make a sound. In fact everything was silent. He ignored this and looked over to the town, following the scent of where Dusty came from. The town was as dead as everything else. But the numerous lamps kept the town lit up with an orange glow. Balto walked through town, voices were calling out to him as the humans welcomed him back, but they were not real, as soon as Balto walked up to them they vanish. The entire town was empty, even of smells and sounds. Balto was puzzled, why was everyone gone? He walked past Jenna's house hoping to see if she was awake, but she was gone too. Balto started to panic now, everyone was gone and Balto had no idea what was happening. He picked up Dusty's scent and followed it, it was the only smell he could pick up, and it was an indication of another living being. He desperately ran full speed toward the scent and found himself passing the forest edge. He dared never to go there at night, but he didn't care right now.

Then he stopped completely as he heard Jenna scream his name...

"Baltoooooo!" Jenna screamed. It tore Balto apart, Jenna was in pain. Something hurt her, and god dammit whatever it was Balto would kill whoever it was. He ran as fast as he ever did towards the source. He passed huge fir trees that seemed to extend out of sight, their collective leaves formed a canopy, shielding the snowfall from reaching the ground. He neared the source of her voice, as he passed through a branch barrier between two trees, he finally found Jenna. She didn't seem real, she was frozen, silent, not a single scent coming off of her, and she was facing away from him.

"Oh thank god Jenna, I thought something happened to you! What are you doing in the middle of the forest at night?" She didn't answer, she didn't move. He walked over to her but couldn't get any closer. Something stopped him, he looked back to see what held his leg from walking…. It was Siku...

"Don't touch her Balto, it's a trap..." The word "trap" echoed for a bit as he looked over to her. She didn't seem alive, more; she was a talking demon in disguise. He sensed "it"s intentions and tried to run off towards Jenna, but to no avail. Siku didn't let go of his leg.

"Siku let me go! I have to save Jenna!" Balto yelled, he turned to bite Siku with a growl, but couldn't reach her, his front arm was held back by another figure... This time it was... Kodi. But he was covered in blood, barely recognizable through it.

"K...Kodi, what happened?" Balto asked, but his son didn't respond. Something was going on but Balto couldn't fight back. He accepted their advice and sat down as they let him free.

"Guys, GUYS?! Someone want to explain what the hell is going on here?" Balto yelled at them. Neither of them responded in any way, still starring at Jenna in front of them. Jenna still sat motionless facing the other way, facing the eternal darkness of the forest beyond her. Balto had enough; he sprinted off almost instantly towards Jenna. Kodi and Siku didn't move, they watched with a devious smile as Balto approached Jenna.

"Jenna we have to go-" he was cut off by the sudden laughter that exploded in his mind.

"The cunning trickster is victorious again, Balto!" A mysterious voice in his head. Just as soon as it came, Jenna fell, blood began pouring out of her ears, nose, mouth... She too didn't seem alive, again, just a demon in disguise.

"JENNA! What? WHAT? You can't … What is this shit! Oh Jenna, talk to me!" Tears started down his cheeks as he got down investigate.

"No! No, no no, Jenna!" He yelled, he growled and showed his teeth as he faced Siku.

"What did you do!" He said with fires burning in his eyes, each word spit out like acid. He walked slowly towards Siku and Kodi. They didn't move or respond. Balto jumped up and had teeth shown, ready to kill Siku in one shot. But he didn't satisfy his bite, and instead landed face first into the snow. Siku and Kodi had vanished... He sniffed the air around him... Nothing, it was like they were never here. Then he remembered Jenna. He walked over to where her body was, but she had vanished too.

"What is going on!" Balto screamed crazily into the empty darkness around him, throwing his head around. He didn't believe this was real, but he knew it couldn't have been a dream, though he wished it was.

Dusty's scent returned to his nose. It seemed like Dusty was the only real thing. He hesitated for a second, still thinking about what just happened to Jenna, and then bolted off towards the smell. Another scent filled his nose... Blood. And his heart dropped yet again as he found Dusty's long dead body in the snow near the edge of the forest. Her body was at the end of a trail that formed when she was dragged, it went on for as far as he could see. He threw up at the smell, and tears once again formed in his eyes. He examined Dusty's lifeless body in the snow in front of him, she was killed almost certainly by... A wolf. He looked around, the loose tree barrier circled the opening they were in, he turned to his right and focused on an object in the distance. He growled as a familiar sight formed. It was Siku again, only this time, she was alive and looked as confused as he was. It still didn't stop him from wanting to kill her for what she did to Jenna, and now possibly Dusty.

"Balto, oh my god, I was so scared" she said as she ran to meet Balto, but stopped a few feet away, she saw Balto growling and ready to kill her...

"B-Balto?" She asked cowardly.

"You killed Jenna, and now Dusty?" Balto asked, but he slightly turned down his aggression, he knew Siku couldn't have done this, let alone perform that magic trick from earlier by disappearing.

"What? No! Wait, Jenna is... D-dead? Dusty too? Oh no, they can't be!" She started crying when she caught sight of Dusty's mangled remains. Balto stopped growling now and walked over to Siku to comfort her.

"Siku... I dont know what the hell is going on, but you're the only real thing in the world right now." Balto said as he felt Siku's face bury Ito his chest as she cried.

"Isn't that precious Nehalem?" Balto and Siku jumped at the voice of an unknown entity.

"Yes, adorable, Drago." Said a second voice.

"Who are you? Show yourselves!" Balto demanded.

"Did you like our little present from earlier?" Nehalem asked, and then laughed evilly.

"Yes, yes, using Jenna and Dusty to bring you out here was all too easy a job for my friend Drago here." Nehalem added.

"You... You did this?" Balto said, referring to Dusty's dead body.

"Hmm, yes, she was necessary for the role, but she wouldn't shut her ass up, so I had Drago kill her, we figured her scent was enough to attract you."

"You son of a bitch!" Balto yelled at them, he still couldn't see them, it was like he was talking to the air around him. "Show yourselves you cowards! I'm going make you beg for death for killing my mate! Oh, and Dusty!" Balto added, even to him it sounded a little stupid, but he meant every word of it.

"Aha, Jenna, is it?" Nehalem asked with his evil laugh returning. "But Jenna is safe and sound, what would make you think she is dead?" He added.

Balto hid whatever happiness he found at the thought that Jenna was alive.

"But don't worry, Balto. She will join Dusty soon enough." Nehalem added with a smile.

"No she won't, I won't let you demons touch her! Show yourselves! You won't get away with killing Dusty!" Balto yelled, full of anger.

"In time, Balto, in time..." Nehalem replied.

And in an instant Balto's surroundings disappeared, except for Siku, who was still hiding her face in his chest. She was still crying, the mere sight of Dusty's body shocked her. She stopped as she realized they were in a different place. Both Balto and Siku looked around, there was only white. White for as far as they could see.

"Where…Where are we?" Siku asked.

"I have no idea..." As he answered a figure began to form in the fog beyond them. Balto recognized it right away.

"Jenna!" Balto screamed happily as he ran towards her. But he never reached her, once again he was held back by Siku...

"Balto, it's a trap" she said again. Balto was at a loss, but he took the advice again and sat down.

"What do I do?" He asked desperately. All he wanted was for Jenna to be safe.

"You must chose one." Siku said, it was her voice, but was not her words, she was speaking from her eyes, as she looked into Balto's own.

Just as Balto looked over, a figure of another dog formed. This time it was Kodi...

"What do you mean? I can't choose between them! Please, Siku, what is all of this?" Balto panicked again and ran towards Jenna again.

"You have chosen your mate over our son." Siku said, and as Balto looked over at Kodi, Blood began pouring out of his nose, mouth, and eyes, and then he fell to the ground, dead.

Balto.

Balto opened his eyes and jumped up; he saw Kodi and Siku peacefully sleeping in front of him. He fell back down, exhausted, and cried in happiness that it was just a dream. He was scared to death by his own nightmare, but it had to have meant something. Almost perfectly on cue Boris jumped up on deck and walked over to Balto.

"What's the matter Balto? You look like you've seen death!" Boris said as he looked at Kodi and Siku, half expecting them to be dead.

"Boris... It was nothing... Nightmare..." Balto was still torn apart by the images his brain conjured up. He couldn't sit up for long, his entire body was trembling, and he fell back down and his eyes continued producing tears, he covered them with his paws.

"Oh, Balto, you and your nightmares." Boris said as he comforted the wolf-dog.

"B-Boris, what time do you think it is?" Balto asked, he knew the goose had an internal clock that helped him when he migrated. Even though Boris didn't leave for the winter, he still had the ability to tell time regardless of the suns help.

"It's probably near 10 am." Boris said after thinking for a sec and looking to the sky, it was still dark, and the sun wasn't coming up for another hour or so.

"Boris... I have to go see if Jenna is awake... I need proof that she is... Alive." Balto said very worried.

"Oh, what a terrible thing your mind has done to you, poor Balto, you check on her, it'll get your mind off of terrible thoughts."

"I'll.. I'll be back soon, watch Siku and Kodi." Balto added as he sniffled once again. His body stopped trembling and tears stopped falling, but his mind was still racing. He knew all too well what his dreams meant, and it has been so long since it was a nightmare, especially a nightmare like this...

His mind emptied when he saw Kirby and Saba outside of town.

"Guys, what's up?" He said, hiding the relief in his voice that there were actually real dogs in town now.

"Hey Balto, were looking for Dusty, she didn't come home last night, we haven't seen her since... Kodi and her broke it off." Kirby explained.

Balto looked over to towards town and saw that Ralph and a few others also looked like they were searching for her. His mind filled with thoughts again, what if his dream were real, Dusty was gone... There was only one way to make sure. He ignored Kirby and Saba completely and ran off towards the glowing town of Nome.

"What's gotten into him?" Kirby asked Saba.

"Who knows, but he seems worried, maybe he knows where to look for Dusty." Saba replied.

"Let's follow him then, there is no sign if Dusty out here anyway." Kirby suggested, and as Saba agreed, they ran off after Balto.

Balto ignored everything except for the reassuring fact that the humans and a few dogs were walking around town, unlike his dream. The sun was just barely starting to peak through, but people were awake at the normal hours of the day, returning to various shops and jobs, and going about business like they did every day. He turned the corner and spotted Jenna's house. He hit the door impatiently, and scratched at it, knowing it should only wake Jenna and not her owners. He whimpered and barked softly, she didn't answer... Balto stopped for a second to let Jenna respond to his summoning her. His worriedness turned into impatience. He couldn't stand it anymore, using his full strength, he burst his way into the door, breaking the bottom half of it. He immediately softened when he saw Jenna, who was standing and looked a tad bit surprised.

"Balto! What the hell? You couldn't wait for me to answer?" Jenna asked him but Balto couldn't say anything, he just walked up to Jenna and hugged her tightly. He licked her ears and head, and her nose.

"Okay, okay" Jenna said as she giggled. "What is it Balto?"

Balto let her go but continued to lick and nuzzle her a bit before stepping back.

"I uh..." He said as he looked back at the door he destroyed.

"Jenna, I thought I lost you" he said and returned to hug her.

"What do you mean Balto?" Jenna asked as she comforted him.

"I... I had dream... But it was all too real, I thought it was nothing, but now Dusty is missing, just like in my... Nightmare." Balto struggled to explain, after all, he was acting a bit crazy over a dream.

"Oh Balto, I know you dreams mean something, but I'm fine, and I'm sure Dusty is fine too." Jenna said in a reassuring way.

"I know, it's just... It seemed so real, and it was Siku who killed you at first, but I later found out it was someone else. I don't know Jenna, I'm just happy you're alright." He said and licked her nose once again.

"Well, I'm listening, what happened in this dream?" Jenna said as she sat down in front of him.

"Papa what's wrong?" Came a voice Balto knew to be Saba's, he turned to her and saw she was looking at the obvious signs of the door being destroyed.

"It's.. It was just a dream, luckily you weren't in it at all." Balto told her.

"Wow I guess I'm not good enough for your dreams then?" Saba joked.

"Saba, in this nightmare I saw the deaths of Jenna, Kodi, and Dusty. I could not be more relieved that you were not part of it." Balto shot back.

"Oh dear" Jenna said to him. Obviously hearing herself along with her son and his friend dying made her fear what Balto was going to explain.

"I know papa, but I want to hear about it too." Saba said, and then walked in to sit next to Jenna. Balto sat and thought about the beginning of his dream and began telling the two about it.

Kodi and Siku

Kodi woke up to a wonderful feeling. Under his left paw was Siku, comfortably snuggled into his chest. Had they been sleeping this way the entire night? He thought as he looked around. He heard noises come from behind him and he turned his head to investigate. His father was lying across from him and he wasn't exactly at peace with his sleep. He was running and biting, even barking a bit in his sleep. He was muttering inaudible sounds and growling too. Kodi was a bit embarrassed that Balto saw him and Siku cuddled together like this, but he shot his head back towards Balto as he said something he could make out.

"You killed Jenna... And now Dusty?" Kodi could make out of Balto's muttering. What was going on in his father's head, his mom and girlfriend were dead? He stopped his thoughts when he remembered what happened yesterday, Dusty was no longer his girlfriend. But his sadness didn't stick around, he looked back at Siku. He looked at the back of her head, watching her ears as they flopped down towards the side. There was no fighting it; he was in love with this wolf. If the town wouldn't accept his love for a wolf, he wouldn't hesitate to run away with her, just so that they could be together forever. His thoughts caused him to involuntarily reach forward and lick the back of her head. He stopped and froze, acting as if he was still sleeping as Siku moved and woke up. "Damn she is such a light sleeper" Kodi thought. He held his left eye ever so slightly open as he watched Siku surprised to see Kodi lying next to her. She sat up but tried not to let the blanket fall off of her, she looked down at Kodi, still a bit confused she let out a long yawn, spreading her jaws wide. Kodi expected her to run off now, or at the very least move away from him. No, she just smiled in the cutest way and lay back down, this time facing Kodi, as she returned the favor and licked his nose. She giggled slightly at the way Kodi's nose twitched a bit. Kodi fought off the huge urge to kiss her more, and expose that he was awake. But he lay still and watched as Siku's closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him. Kodi was full of happiness at this point, the thought of Dusty absent from his mind.

He couldn't fall back asleep, so he just lay there and looked up at the sky. It was beautiful, the northern lights were dancing in the sky, he watched, unknowingly to him Siku also watched.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Siku finally said, not surprising Kodi.

"Yeah... beautiful..." Kodi simply agreed, then looked over at Siku. She was already looking at him.

"You're... Beautiful." Kodi added.

Siku turned red under her fur, but licked Kodi on the cheek.

"Thank you Kodi, I'm glad I'm really seeing you when I wake up, although when I said it last night I didn't think I'd literally see you lying next to me." Siku added.

"I don't know, I felt like coming here and… I guess I came to the one place I felt happy, it was with you." Kodi said. Both of them returned to watch the show in the sky. They watched for a few minutes before they both fell back to sleep. Balto on the other hand was just waking up...

The sun finally showed itself as it broke through the clouds and burned into Kodi's face. He wasn't used to sleeping outside, so the heat of the sun woke him up right away. He looked over and saw that Siku was gone from next to him, he looked around for a second before he saw her sitting next to him.

"Morning sleepy head!" Siku playfully said as she ripped the blanket from on top of him with her teeth. She hinted at him to follow her as she jumped down a deck to Boris. He thought about how he even loved the way she woke him up, as he got up and stretched, his aching muscles from the run yesterday were all healed like normal and he felt great this morning. Maybe a good night's sleep worked better than he thought, though it could have to do with him sleeping with Siku.

"Ah, Kodi awake and well rested, are you still mopey mutt from last night?" Boris asked jokingly.

"I'm better now, thanks to Siku." Kodi said as he smiled at her.

"Ah, good, good, well I have yummy food for growing pups tummy here." Boris said as he brought a bowl of food from the other room and placed it in front of Siku, and another bowl placed in front of Kodi.

Hunting was no longer a problem for Balto and Boris, Rosy, along with other townspeople made sure Balto was well fed, and his boat as often overstocked with dog food as well as butcher surplus. This time Boris gave them bowls of puppychow dog food. Kodi was familiar with this, but knew a wolf like Siku wouldn't be. Siku looked at Kodi as if asking "this is food?" Kodi answered her question by digging into his food. Siku tested a bit of it, and then let out a sound of "eh, why not?" then began eating. Both of them finished almost at the same time and walked over to the water bowl. Kodi and Siku almost butt heads as they both bend down to drink.

"Oh, it's all yours" Kodi offered. Siku smiled and drank some of it, making sure there was left for Kodi, who then finished off the rest.

"Haha Kodi is gentleman, yes?" Boris asked, seemingly to Siku.

"He is the kindest gentleman, gentledog, whatever." Siku joked.

"I see Balto is gone, I wanted to talk to him now..." Siku added.

"Oh, Balto was struck by terrible nightmare last night, however bad it was he had to see Jenna for himself just to prove it was only a dream. Poor boy." Boris explained.

"Yeah, I caught him saying something about Jenna and Dusty... Killed by... Someone." Kodi acted like he knew, but didn't.

"What a terrible dream, to have to watch your mate die... Even if I wasn't real, it'd surely drive a guy insane." Siku said, she didn't mention Dusty, Kodi noticed, but let it go, he wouldn't have wanted to mention her either.

"I suppose we should go find him and the others so you can tell them about... Whatever secrets you hold. I don't even know, Siku." Kodi suggested, the last part made Siku look at the ground.

"I'll explain a bit on the way there, just for you, Kodi." Siku added, she smiled, and then looked at Boris.

"No, no, don't trouble, I'm sure Balto will tell me everything anyways, young one." Boris knew she wanted to tell him something, whatever these "bad things" were, if they were important, he'd hear about it sooner or later.

"Anyway I suggest you guys head out, Muk and Luk will come and make my life hell for next few hours." Boris joked.

"I'll come help you with them." Siku offered, she figured he was talking about puppies.

"Hah, bears will love you Siku... Love you to death." Boris said

"Bears?"

"Muk and Luk are polar bears I took care of them just like I did old Balto when he was pup. Hah, they're much more trouble than Balto." Boris explained further. Siku remembered polar bears back when she followed Balto.

"Let's go Siku; I'm sure everyone in town can't wait to see you..." Kodi said sarcastically. It wasn't that he thought the town didn't want to see her; they wouldn't have wanted to see her and Kodi.

"Okay Kodi." Siku said as she walked up to his side. She was so small; she might be able to walk normally under Kodi. He didn't dare test it out though, the sight of Siku sticking to Kodi's side was already suggestive enough. He liked how close Siku walked to him, she felt safe near him, and by contrast, he felt like a strong protector of her, like her bodyguard. They reached the town 5 minutes later, and met Kirby first.

"Hey Kodi, and uh, Siku" Kirby stupidly offered, he was staring at her and making her nervous. "Oh sorry, uh, I have never seen a wolf up close". Kirby said awkwardly.

"It's fine, you're Kirby right?" Siku asked. Kodi thought I was a bit scary how she seemed to know everyone's names before meeting them. He figured Saba, or Balto introduced her to everyone yesterday.

"Yep, I'm Kodi's team leader, we should be getting ready for the mail run soon remember, Kodi."

"You may be team leader, but I'm lead dog!" He playfully interjected.

"Yeah I still don't know how that works. Anyway I'll see you in an hour, that's when we're already late." Kirby used that joke a lot, considering how many times the team members decided to show up last minute to the sled.

"Kodi, I need to talk to you." Kirby asked

"What are we doing right now?" Kodi replied stupidly, trying, but failing at making a joke.

"No no, seriously. Dusty never came home after you and her... You know... Broke it off. All of the dogs, and a few humans have been looking for her the past hour. We're all worried." Kirby said quietly

"Oh no, she couldn't have gone anywhere? Just because of yesterday? Man I feel terrible..."

"It isn't your fault, well, it is, but don't think that way." Kirby said.

"If it wasn't bad enough, we already lost 1 member, we've got a full mail load, and our right center is already out. We can't find a replacement, your dad might use to come out of retirement for a day." Kirby joked, though both he and Kodi knew well that Balto would have no problem pulling the line.

"Ugh, I forgot today was a second run... We usually run every other day, and only had to run 2 days in a row if there was a lot of mail, I was looking forward to resting today..." Kodi said, he didn't sound disappointed, though, he still loved "pulling the line".

"Sucks for you." Siku joked, Kodi loved her sense of humor too, he also made a mental note that he would try to stop pointing out everything about her that he loved.

"Wow I hope Dusty is alright, I can't believe she would run off because of me..." Kodi said, it was mostly to himself, but he allowed Siku to hear it.

"What did you do to make her run off?" Siku asked, it was genuine curiosity.

"Well, Siku, honestly it was in part because she saw us... You know, at the bottom of the hill yesterday..." Kodi was ashamed to have to say it.

"Wait, you had a mate and you were being all cuddly with me? That's terrible Kodi!" Siku was a bit angry, she didn't know much dogs, so she didn't know that dogs, like humans, could changes partners from time to time, unlike wolves she was raised by, who were taught to "mate for life".

"She wasn't my mate, Siku, and... We broke it off days before you appeared out of the forest." He lied to her, but he promised he'd explain later. He didn't want to risk losing Dusty and now, Siku too.

"Kodi, you're cute okay? I don't want you to taint it with lies." Siku said, she called Kodi "cute" he resisted it, but it made him smile.

"The truth is, you're too beautiful to lose, you must know that it was all a misunderstanding, starting with her overhearing me talk to Saba about you, she took it that I was cheating on her with you. But she ran off before I could explain, and I was broken apart." Siku watched him tell his story, her nose pointed at him as her full attention was on him. "Then... I thought about the last time I was happy, it was with you. I don't really remember how I got to Balto's boat, but I came to you when I felt sad, and I was instantly cured."

"That's cute." Siku said, Kodi was starting to think she was mocking him, or more believably, she didn't know how to respond otherwise.

They were walking sort of, "orbiting" the town, until they reached Jenna's house. Kodi saw Rosy and prepared for her to run up to him. But he stopped when Siku did, she froze still, panicking, then slowly moved behind Kodi.

"Kodi I don't trust humans." Siku said full if fear. Kodi smiled at her innocence, but soon realized she was all wolf, and they instinctively feared humans, not to mention that she was a just a pup.

"It's fine, that is Rosy, she is a small human, you can take her." Kodi joked. "She's my mother's owner, and she loves all dogs."

"But I'm not a dog..."

"You might as well be one, look who you're walking with." Kodi assured her. "She'll love you."

"Okay... But I'm not going near her just yet." Siku said, Kodi smiled as he knew it wasn't her choice, Rosy would be the one to come near.

"Kodi! Hey boy!" Rosy called out and ran towards Kodi. He barked in response and got down on his front legs ready to pounce. He ran and barked around Rosy, leaving Siku behind. She just drop down low and maintained a shallow growl. But stopped as she noticed Kodi loved her, as she was petting him everywhere. Kodi got up and barked for Rosy to follow him, and walked over to Siku. Rosy stopped as she saw Siku hiding from view in the snow.

"You brought a friend Kodi!" Rosy said happily. But she knew better than to approach a strange dog, to her; Siku looked enough like a dog. Kodi walked over to her, and nudged her to go meet Rosy. She hesitated but got up and inched her way to Rosy. She kept Kodi's words in the back of her mind, "she's a small human, you can take her if need be." Just in case. This was her first encounter with a human, she was weary of the girl but she did seem nice. She was less than a foot from her and Rosy got on her knees to meet Siku's glare, she extended her hand towards her, Siku paused, but closed the gap herself as she let Rosy rub her nose. Instantly Siku became a dog, she licked her hand and let Rosy touch her whole head and back, it felt great, something like this was rare in the wild, and usually feelings like this would come from a close mate licking you. Kodi came back and played with them, then Siku was flipped in her back as Rosy rubbed her belly. She loved it, it was soothing, like therapy on her apparently aching muscles, the tension released from her and with it, her dislike of humans. She was a dog now, and she loved it. Jenna, Saba and Balto came out from the house behind Rosy, they spotted the 3 of them and walked over.

"It's a cute puppy party!" Rosy playfully announced. The 6 of them played for a while until Balto and Siku stepped out.

"So, enjoy your first encounter with a human?" Balto asked.

"She's great, why didn't anyone tell me it felt so good to be petted?" Siku asked excitedly.

"You wouldn't be able to know unless you experienced it yourself, most humans can be trusted, you just have to overcome your instincts, I grew up around them so it wasn't hard for me." Balto explained, but he knew the inevitably question would have to be asked.

"Siku are you ready to explain what war is going to happen, why you were spying on me?" Balto asked, he knew it was a random time to ask, but he wanted to know as soon as possible. Saba, Kodi and Jenna stopped and walked over to the two, just as Rosy's parents called her home.

"Uh, it's a long story, lets to somewhere else, the wind is picking up..." Siku said.

Kodi suggested they see if the boiler room was occupied, so all 5 walked over and checked the place out. It was empty... Except for Kirby, Ralph, but no Dusty, who was usually with them.

"Good, you guys are here, but Dusty isn't... Here. You guys couldn't find her?" Balto returned to a worried stance as they looked down silently and shook their heads.

"Oh Dusty, what's gotten into her..." Kodi added.

"You're the one who ran her off you ass." Kirby said, he was joking, but under their sorrow, it wasn't easily detected.

"I didn't mean for her to run away forever..." His tone changed as he said the last word. He couldn't believe if Dusty was gone forever.

*sigh* "we have to run in 45 minutes Kodi..." Kirby said, still a bit sad, Kirby grew up with Dusty, and even though she was Kodi's girlfriend for the past months, they were always close as ever.

"We need 2 replacements" Ralph suddenly added.

"You can count on old Balto to run this time, that is, if you guys can handle it." He joked, the last time they ran together, he was all but dragging the entire team with him, and ever since the bush plane race, his abilities were well known.

"Good, now we need another." Kirby added, seemingly feeling a bit better now.

"Well, Nikki is injured, and Kaltag has things he needs to worry about, Jenna? Hah!" Balto added as he looked at Jenna, she smiled at him and shook her head. Then he turned to Siku.

"Me? I can run yes, but I'm... Small." She said as she lowered her head and ears.

"We don't need to break any records, Siku." Kodi assured her.

"I guess I could give it a try, pulling the line." Siku said and looked at Kodi with a smile.

Kirby laughed a bit as he knew that was Kodi's saying.

"First things first, Siku has a story to tell." Balto announced, almost routinely, the group of dogs formed around the boiler all eyes in Siku. They were all interested in the wolfs story. Kaltag, Nikki and a few others joined in.

"Uh..." Siku froze; everyone was staring at her and made her nervous. Kodi got up and sat by her side.

"Go ahead Siku." Kodi said in the most soothing voice, it filled her with confidence again; a look to Balto topped it off.

"So, my name is Siku, but you already know that heh heh." She was no longer nervous, but she didn't know where to start. "I was abandoned by my parents when I was two weeks old." She lowered her ears at the sounds of the caring dogs felt sorry for her.

"It was still night, but I could make out a few things, Balto, Boris and two polar bears. I was terrified, not only by the bears, but by Balto. But something told me he was nice, I didn't know anything, he looked like my father, so I followed him for a while, secretly. I kept trying to communicate with him, but I was unable to. I could barely talk as-is." She looked at the funny face on Balto, who's stood out above the rest. "Well, I followed him till morning, and then a bear attacked him. I was so scared; it was going to kill Balto... I couldn't do any fighting, but I wanted to help anyway, even if I could just be a distraction to the bear. But I didn't have to. A certain brave red and white husky came to Balto's aid. She was so strong and it was amazing to watch her come to Balto's side. I told myself I would try to model after her if I got the chance to talk to her." She looked at Jenna who seemed proud if the fact someone wanted to emulate her. "She was hurt, but still tried to carry on, a tough spirit limited by physical interruptions." Even Siku shook her head unknowing exactly what she said. "I watched as clever Balto got a sled and told the others to take Jenna home. I tried to follow Balto afterwards but he ran too fast, so I figured I'd follow Jenna and the others home at the thought that I knew you'd come back to them. And that's how I found a place in the forest outside town."

"Wow, why didn't you ever come to talk to me?" Balto asked.

"It never came up, I was busy trying to survive, plus I didn't know how to talk to you. I would have eventually tried to say something but a dream forced me to." Siku added.

"A dream?" Balto asked surprised, he thought about his nightmare from last night, dreams could be terrible.

"Yes, the same dream... It haunts me every night. I rarely got a good night's rest in the last month." This all sounded too familiar to Balto.

"Dreams that stick around are trying to tell you something. I learned that too often than not, they... Can come true." Balto said, he was struck with worry as he thought about what he just said, and what his dream was about last night.

"I figured that, but it wasn't until the great wolf spirit told me to talk to you."

Balto was stunned. "Aniu?"

"Yes. She is your mother, I know. She rarely said your name when we talked; she referred to you as her son mostly." Siku added.

"Huh, now I'm really interested in what you've got to say." Balto said, the others made sounds of agreement. They all were silent as Siku started thinking.

"Well... It is clear as life, could not be a dream if you were there..." She continued on as the entire room stared at her at attention.

The Dream. First person, Siku.

My dream always started with running. I was always running, but never knew what from. Whenever I turned to look back, it was nothing but teeth and eyes surrounded by darkness. The dream always started like this, and the running part never ended until I became exhausted, which could last for hours. It would progress when I finally failed the eternal chase and allowed myself to be killed. A horrible pain was always expected, but every time, I would be saved by non-other than, Balto. Of course, at the time I had no idea who it was. I only remembered him as my supposed father, and now he was saving my life multiple times every time I would have died in my dreams. I classified him as my savior and a sign that my dreams were getting better. But every time after this I was left alone in a white... Everything. There was only white, with an ominous fog on the ground. A form of some dog would always pop up, and this dog was always the same one, Nehalem. Nehalem was the worst part of my dream. He would always use his powers to take over my form and use my own body against me. His demons would bring me to Balto's side and forced me to setup a trap using Dusty and Jenna to lure Balto into the forest. Every night I would have to knock Dusty unconscious, and drag her all the way to the forest, then, I would have to do the same to Jenna. It caused me to cry at being forced to betray my only savior in the world. I would have to setup a trap that, if Balto failed, which he always did, would kill Jenna. Often times Dusty would come to and she would be killed by Nehalem's side supporters. It was a terrible thing to watch. Every day I would have to watch, helpless to warn him, as Balto defied my advice and tried to save Jenna. Every time he did this I would scream out to him, crying, but it was all in my mind. I couldn't even turn to look away as I watched countless times. Jenna would fall to the ground before Balto and blood would pour out if her eyes nose and mouth. She pretty much died in Balto's arms. I would be summoned elsewhere, my conscience form stayed behind with Balto, while my body would continue to be used to do Nehalem's bidding. He would use my eyes to spy on everything in the town if Nome. He would force me to break into homes and count the number of inhabitants, both humans and dogs. I would report back to him and he would order his ranks to take parts of the town. His plan was simple; kill any and all opposing creatures that lived in Nome. They were to blame for the caribou shortage and to Nehalem; he was fulfilling the wishes of his own deity. He did not follow Aniu, rather he followed the evil commands of Amarok, the great wolf. By he took extreme prejudice against any and all hunters and dogs. He interpreted Amarok's commands as "kill all humans and human supporters". He was given supernatural abilities to help perform these actions. The ability to use straggling spirits against living beings to take control of their forms, He could also cause them to disappear. The only catch is that he cannot use them to his own advantage, so he himself cannot disappear, or use demon controlled beings to aid him in any way.

Every night my dream would end on him explaining his plot to his minions, I was a lifeless demon controlled body along with the rest, a total of thirty, give or take a few. I would be the only one to break the trance, using help from Aniu, I learned to break free of his hold and every night I would do the same thing, try and run up to kill Nehalem. I would be carried off by his demons and dropped into a pool of acid suitable punishment for treason, Nehalem would explain to me. Thankfully, I am saved every night by Aniu. She talks to me, and trains me how to better prepare for my next encounter with Nehalem. My dream would always end with her disappearance and I would wake as I fell asleep in my dream. Only recently did Aniu stick around, and explained my trip and that it was my duty to carry her message to the town of Nome, to warn and prepare the town for the inevitable. She would say that her son would be there to protect me; I am to put all my trust into Balto and anyone that Balto trusts. She would try her best to pass the same message on to Balto, but all she could do is make Balto believe Siku is his long lost daughter. Often times joking that Balto's head was too thick for any more messages to get through. She would lie down and comfort me as I tried to sleep off the traumatizing actions I had to endure before. Every night I would fall asleep in my dream, I would wake up in life.

"Sometimes I wonder if life is a dream itself, my dreams seem so real, it's hard to explain." She finished off.

"Whoa, Siku..." Balto was at a loss for words, both of them were having the same dream.

"Holy crap, you and papa were both dreaming the same thing!" Saba added, Balto wondered if she read his mind just then.

"You've been having these dreams too?" Siku asked facing Balto. He didn't answer; this defiantly meant something if they both were having the exact same dream, and if it required Aniu to tell Siku to talk to him.

"No, no, no, this can't happen... If it comes true... I can't..." Balto struggled, Dusty was already missing, he looked at Jenna and Kodi. If his dream was to come true, he'd stay by their side forever.

"That's terrible... Poor Siku has been through a lot..." Kirby finally broke the silence. "All this aside, we still have a job to do... Balto, Siku are you coming?" Kirby asked. Balto broke free and finally understood the sounds Kirby was making.

"No... We can't go out there... I mean... I know it's your job..." Balto said. He didn't want to leave Jenna.

"Balto I understand, I'll find a replacement." Kirby offered.

Balto thought for a bit, still disbelieving that the dreams meant something important. He looked at each dog in the room, most of them were focused on him and Siku. He looked at the ground, mouth slightly open, and thought hard before replying.

"No, wait...It's... Just a dream right? Just a silly dream. I shouldn't let it dictate my life." Balto said optimistically. "I'll run with you guys." He said as he turned to Siku. She nodded in agreement and followed the others out the door. Balto stopped before stepping out.

"Jenna, please, stay inside where it's safe, until I come back, stay close to Rosy and her parents. Just in case." The worried sound of his voice turned it into a wish that Jenna was going to fulfill.

"I will, Balto. I'll ask Kaltag and Tricksey to come over and keep me company." Jenna added.

Balto walked back to her and nuzzled her affectionately. "Be safe" he said. Jenna returned his words; after all, he was doing something dangerous too.

They all walk outside, Balto and Siku walked together following Kodi, Ralph, Saba, Diego and Kirby. Their right second was missing. Dusty. Balto shivered at the sight of Dusty's missing position, it was filled by Siku. Balto would be taking center left, replacing an unknown dog; he was always quiet but was friends with Dusty and Ralph. Kodi on the other hand had some sort of a rivalry with him.

"Uh, sorry dad, I may have rigged your spot to pull to the right so that it requires extra effort to stay straight. I'll fix it." He said with a wicked smile, he had secretly caused his rival to waste more than 20% of his energy just to keep straight for months.

"Using intelligence as a weapon, nice." Balto said.

"Kodi sure is a smart one..." Siku said sarcastically. Kodi tapped her with his tail. "Get used to it, Siku, you're going to be staring at my tail the whole time." He joked, and then his smile stopped as he looked at Balto. His father just stared at him with a "you gotta be kidding me" face.

"Oh, I guess you can lead, papa." Then relinquished his thresholds to his father.

"That's more like it." He was mostly joking, but he never followed before, and it would be much easier on everyone if he lead and continued dragging the team like he always does. Kodi in the other hand didn't mind to let his father lead, he was as good a lead dog as Kodi was. And his endurance would easily pull the sled faster and stronger. Plus he'd be next to Siku the whole time. As all dogs were saddled in, Mr. Simpson gave the command and Balto rushed off.

"Please be safe, Jenna." He said aloud as the sight of Nome faded behind trees of the forest. The run was quiet up until about the half-way point. All members of the team were panting frantically; they were exhausted, with the exception of Siku and Balto, of course. got the signal and commanded Balto to stop. The team slid to a stop in the melting snow and was allowed to rest. Everyone lie down in the snow and let the ice cold water fill their fur and felt great on their hidden skin. Balto walked over to Kodi, who was plopped head down into the snow, he was panting, though not as tired as the rest were. He was proud of his son's endurance, it means he took something great from him and his 1/4th wolf content. He walked over to Kirby and Ralph. They were almost dying at the way they were breathing. The others reflected this too. Then of course Siku, she didn't even look tired, she was licking down her legs, a surprising behavior, that cats usually did.

"What's up Siku?" Balto asked, hinting on what she was doing.

"Oh, I learned this from watching a cat, it's a good way to keep your fur clean and slick. It cleans the oils out so your fur can become looser, and it lets cold air into my skin." Siku proudly explained. Balto would take note of this.

"Interesting, I'll try that sometime." Balto said with a smile. Kodi walked over and looked at Siku. She was barely fazed from the run, and looked like she could run four times further before needing any kind of break.

"Well, you sure are a wolf." He said. She was cute looking with her fur cleaned and flattened a bit by her licking it. It looked like she was eating snow and melting it to water to pour in her fur. Smart.

"Yeah, I had to train myself to hunt, well, Aniu used to show me how in my dreams. She was so nice to take the time to teach me. I think she felt guilty that she couldn't teach you, Balto, the same way." Siku guessed.

"Yeah, so how is she?" Balto asked curiously.

"She's wonderful, other than the way she looks; you already know that, her personality matches her beauty. But sometimes she can have a bit of bad temp-" Siku was cut off by Mr. Simpson, who rounded up the others. He waited until Ralph, who always seemed to be the last one to recover, to be ready to run again. And with a command, they were off. They reached their destination an hour later, White Mountain. This happened so routinely the others minus Balto and Siku didn't pay much attention, they just waited patiently until the mail was taken and the return mail was loaded onto the sled. They were allowed to rest again and Mr. Simpson got water for them. He examined the dogs like he always did, checking for anything causing pain stuck on their paws, or any other injuries. Then he got to Balto.

"Ah, how's Kodi's replacement lead dog doing?" He chuckled a bit, both at him replacing Kodi, and at calling Balto a dog. He knew well enough that Balto was as much dog as anyone else on the team... Well mostly everyone. He went up to Siku, but she couldn't hold it back, it seemed to be involuntary. She growled and lowered herself to the ground.

"Woah, girl. Balto, get your wolf friend." He joked, surprisingly to him, both Balto and Kodi seemed to comfort her, and it looked like they were telling her it was alright. She loosened up a bit and stood up to reach the man's hand.

"That's a good girl, mind if I take a look?" He said as he slowly lifted her paw. She quietly whimpered, then looked to Kodi. He looked very worried that Siku might bite Mr. Simpson. She just smiled to reassure that she won't, allowing Kodi to rest peacefully.

"My, my, what big paws you have? Your short legs sure know how to carry you. I didn't see the slightest bit of a problem with you running right center, just the opposite, Kodi's side seemed to be pulling left." Kodi growled at himself in frustration, he didn't quite fix his "adjustments" to his rivals harness and it was making it look like Kodi was falling behind.

"Let's see, paws clean. No scrapes on your legs, I must say, you have a beautiful coat." She just nodded in thanks. "Let's see those chompers of yours." He lifted her lips to examine her teeth. "Wow, scary, but you're all good. Ralph let's see what you stepped in this time..." As Mr. Simpson walked off to Ralph.

"What was the man doing to me?" Siku asked.

"He was just making sure you're in tip top shape. We sled dogs need to be well and fit to run such long trips." Kodi answered as he stretched and flexed his chest.

Both Siku and Kodi stopped and looked at Balto. He was about 10 feet away from the rest and sniffing the air. He had a concerned face on him, a worrisome look.

"Dad, what is it?" Kodi asked, but Balto didn't respond right away.

"Huh? What?" He said about 10 seconds later. "Oh, the wind was with us the entire time, I can pick up scents from a good 20 miles up the trail..." He said, and continued smelling.

"What are you looking for? Or have you already found it..." Kodi asked.

"Blood. Kodi, someone is hurt, they're really far off. Down the trail, I can't get any better info on whom, or even what it is. We would have to check it out on the way back.

The sun seemed to disappear almost instantly. A massive storm cloud covered everything past Nome to the west, and wasn't far from covering White mountain too.

They turned as Mr. Simpson gave a command.

"YEEAAWWW, let's go dogs, and uh, wolves. We aren't running in this storm, my old friend Charlie will shelter us as we wait it out." Mr. Simpson has grown used to talking to his dogs as if they actually understood him, they seemed to understand him, and they listened to him, so it was good enough. The dogs followed Simpson and his friend as they entered the garage of a large house. It must have been the biggest house in White Mountain, its garage alone was more than enough to accommodate 9 dogs. Balto and Kodi sent back with Simpson to help bring the sled inside. Balto was not happy about having to wait a whole night to return to Jenna. This entire thing stressed him out; he was worried the entire time. What was that faint smell of blood from earlier? Was he losing his mind? He ignored his thoughts and returned to the group, they were listening to Ralph tell a story of a past ordeal with Kodi and Dusty as he walked in on them doing something… Kodi was obviously not happy with this story and he jumped on Ralph, tackling the larger dog on the ground, and the others soon followed. Balto sat back and watched, even Siku looked like she was having fun, she flipped Saba on her back and went in for the "kill", before she could, Saba threw her off. The dogs played around for awhile until Mr. Simpson entered the room.

"Alright guys, alright, we're already short 2 members, let's not have to borrow a dog from this town just to return home." He joked, coming down the stairs with a huge bag of dog food. All dogs except for Balto, Siku and Kodi crowded around Mr. Simpson. He threw out a handful to tease them as the dogs searched for each and every small bite of food, then proceeded to pour 9 bowls of food in disposable trays. Balto and Kodi walked up now, and signaled Siku to come over. She was still wary of the Human, though not nearly as much as first. But she knew this dog food stuff wasn't all that bad, remembering her breakfast. On command 8 of the dogs froze, in front of their respective bowls.

"Charlie, come check this out!" Simpson called.

"What?" Charlie said from the other room, he could be heard running down the stairs and when he reached the bottom he smiled at the sight. "Wow that sure is impressive, you got 8 out of 9 dogs to stand still!" he said and pointed at Siku. Siku was oblivious to all of this, she saw the other dogs sit still, and figured they were playing some kind of game. She ignored this and walked up to her bowl and was about to start eating.

"pssst, Siku, get in line!" Kodi said playfully.

"Why? I'm sure we're all hungry, why do you all freeze for this human?"

"Aw, dangit, our new Wolf replacement broke formation. Guess it wasn't fair, I never had her on the team before, matter of fact; I've never even seen her in town. And I'm sure I'd recognize such a cute puppy. Be it Wolf or Dog." Simpson talked to his friend for a while more.

It got quiet for a second, before the door shot open, the wind literally broke its way in. All 11 of them shivered at the cold subzero temperatures that filled the otherwise warm garage.

"Whoa! Let's get this thing closed." Charlie signaled to Simpson, they struggled to lift the door, which seemed to have lodged into the piece of wood on the floor. Balto ran over to help, being smaller; he squeezed his way between the door and the wall, and used his hind legs to push the door with all his strength. All 3 combined efforts dislodged the door and Charlie shut and locked it.

"Wow I can't believe how smart this Balto is. Are you sure he isn't just a human child in a wolf costume?" Charlie joked.

"I have no idea, I knew he was intelligent, I mean, what dog would have did what he did to save the entire town, he wasn't even trained for it!"

Charlie and walked back to their couch, still talking about Balto.

This made Balto uneasy, and he walked to Charlie and barked loud at him.

"I guess he doesn't like us talking about him! Ha-ha" Charlie laughed and tried to pet Balto. He moved out of the man's reach, who, in turn leaned out further. The man was a bit drunk as he leaned towards Balto more. Balto moved his head a split second before he could touch him, and smiled in satisfaction as Charlie fell out of his chair, and lay on the floor laughing.

"Ol' Balto has tricks too!" Mr. Simpson said in-between laughter. Charlie could barely get up, he was still laughing. Obviously a bit wasted from Vodka shots earlier. Balto and a few other dogs ran up and played with Charlie who was vulnerable on the floor. They bit at him softly and tugged at his shirt, Charlie just lay there laughing. He finally got up and pushed Balto away playfully, then returned to his chair.

"Man these dogs of yours, Simpson, I swear." Charlie said wiping dirt and saliva off of his arms.

"Yep they're something alright." added.

This entire time Siku sat back, she observed these dogs, and how they acted with their Human master. She tried to compare them to a normal wolf pack, to no avail. They were too weird for a normal pack, he chose Mr. Simpson as the Alpha of this pack, but Balto showed as much, if not more, power and respect as him. She figured dogs were completely different animals from wolves. But she considered herself a dog now, and she was happy to be part of both worlds. She often wondered why Wolves and Dogs hated each other; it was just as stupid as a white-furred wolf hating another wolf just because their fur was Black. (Familiar?) From what her inexperienced brain, it just looked like dogs and wolves just acted differently, though they looked almost similar.

"Hey, Siku, why are you alone back here?" Kodi asked.

"I was just watching you guys. I won't feel comfortable "playing" with everyone; I might accidentally hurt someone…" She said shameful of her huge canines.

"Nonsense, a cute little wolf like you won't hurt a thing!" Kodi assured her. She smiled and walked over to Balto. Siku noted how Balto was much older than everyone else here, yet he acted like one of them, playing like he was a pup. She got low on her front legs and shook her tail a bit before pouncing on top of Balto. She bit very carefully into Balto's neck and flipped him all the way over, a move that she used to fight off the bear, though, to a much lesser extent. A few dogs stepped back at this impressive feat, she managed to flip a dog easily 3 times her size on his back. Balto was stunned on the floor, what the hell happened? The back of his neck was hurting, he turned over to investigate, Siku was still dead locked into his fur and she was tugging at him. He laughed and tried to reach back taking snaps at Siku, with no luck. She was too far from his reach, finally she let go and ran behind Kodi. Balto got up and put his "kill" face on, stalking Siku. Kodi was scared and slowly moved away, exposing Siku. She only yipped with surprise as Balto grabbed her neck and flipped her. She couldn't move, he locked his teeth into her fur. Balto was just playing, but Siku took it instinctively, she started growling and quickly snapped at Balto's ear. Balto howled in pain at this and tried to shake Siku off, but it didn't work. Siku snapped out of it and let go quickly, hoping she didn't tear it off completely. Charlie and Mr. Simpson got up and went over to investigate, Siku was hiding in the corner and Balto was being examined by Charlie.

"Looks like someone bit Balto a little hard on the ears, he's fine though. " Then they returned to their couch.

He shook his head and looked at Siku, he fought off the involuntary growl that formed in his chest, he wasn't mad at her, and he still wanted to assure her it's alright.

"I'm… I'm sorry Balto, I don't know what… Something took me over, I only felt that way when I had to hunt or when I fought off the bear." Siku was terrified, if Balto was going to kill her, she'd let him do it.

Balto showed his teeth for a second, growling, Siku just curled up into a ball and expected the worst. Balto couldn't hold onto it any longer, he let out a loud laugh that was quickly followed by Kodi, and the rest of the dogs. He nudged her body, what was tightly curled up, and licked her ear to assure her it was alright.

"its fine Siku, haha, that's how dogs play, granted you may have taken it too far, but everyone does every once and a while." Balto comforted her.

"Yeah, I remember me and Ralph were pissed at each other for 2 days because he "accidentally" bit my leg and made it bleed, I couldn't walk on it for a week!" Kirby said.

"You big baby, it was nothing, just a skin injury." Ralph replied. Him and Kirby laughed.

"I guess I have much to learn about dog behavior. In a wolf pack I would have been killed by now." Siku finally said, she got up on her feet and walked over to Mr. Simpson.

"Look, she's going to try and be a dog." Kodi joked to his father.

"Let's watch, shall we?" Balto said to him, and the rest.

Siku tapped at Charlie's leg and gave out a small whimper.

"Ah, the wolf puppy, playing nicely with Balto I see?" Charlie joked. He reached down and pet her on the head, scratching behind her ears. She was uneasy at first, but let herself relax at the magical scratching the human was doing behind her ears. It felt good; she could not reach that spot herself no matter how much she tried. She couldn't fight an incredible urge in her left leg, it started to move on its own, and pounding the floor as Charlie scratched under her chin. What the hell was this? Her leg was going crazy! But she didn't do anything about it.

"Hah, what a cute puppy, I can hardly believe this is a wolf. I wonder if she's a lapdog, err, Lapwolf? Wolflap? Charlie stopped his drunk stammering and picked Siku up. She yelped in surprise, but looked at Balto for confirmation, he nodded to her with a smile, and she smiled back. He placed her on his lap and began to stroke her back; it felt like a massage to her, it made her want to sleep.

"Hah, that's no wolf there, Charlie, that's just a puppy." Mr. Simpson said, even he didn't know what the wolf's name was, and he knew he had no way of asking it.

"Okay, okay, you're defiantly a lapdog." Charlie said as he put her down. She put a paw on Charlie's leg and whimpered a bit. Charlie looked at her for a second, he reached over and tried to pet her but she moved her head down, low to the ground. Charlie was a bit more wasted now, and he seemed to forget Balto's little trick earlier. He reached down lower, and she moved her head from under his hand, he didn't stop moving his hand down, and fell over forward, doing a complete roll before landing on his back.

"Charlie! Charlie, you drunk nut, the dogs tricked you again!" Mr. Simpson said before bursting into laughter. Charlie just laid down and fell asleep, ignoring the dogs licking and biting him everywhere.

"Alright, Charlie, you've had enough for one beer and two more-" Mr. Simpson struggled to finish his sentence, which made no sense in the first place. He leaned over and tried not to fall over, and lifted Charlie's hand around his shoulder. And the two walked up the stairs. "Good night dogs, you have so much to live for you for see what when the sun comes up in the sky to set freedom-"Mr. Simpson said more, but it faded away as he closed the door to the garage at the top of the stairs.

Ralph was already asleep, cuddled next to Saba, Kirby, Diego and the other 3 dogs. Kodi lay down next to his sister, and seemed to ask Siku with his eyes if she wanted to sleep next to him. She nodded and walked over to Kodi, and lay down. Balto smiled at this sight and lay with his back facing the couple, but close enough so that Siku could rest a paw on his back.

Balto drifted off to sleep after putting the fun thoughts of today behind, and finally shooing away the nagging worrisome thoughts of Jenna out of his mind. Siku fell asleep in almost the same matter, finally able to rest easy that she told every one of her dreams. But her hopes of sleeping easy tonight were not going to happen… Neither for her, or Balto.

Balto's dream, Balto first person.

My eyes shot open at the sound of a scream from a familiar voice, Rosy. Why was did I hear Rosy's scream? My mind was playing tricks on me, but maybe it was because I was a bit dehydrated. I looked around for a second before realizing that there was no water anywhere in the garage. I accepted that I would not be able to drink anything, but man was my mouth dry. I examined over the sleeping dogs, Ralph and Kirby were snuggled a bit close together due to the other dogs pushing them closer together, I knew I could joke about it to them in the morning. Then I looked over at Saba, who rested her head on Kodi's neck. I felt a smile creep on my face at the sight of my pups so cute sleeping together, then my smile widened as I saw Siku snuggled tightly next to Kodi. She was so small, it was a surprise that Kodi's seemingly giant body didn't roll over her and crush her. I shook my head at my own humor and looked got up to walk around. I was thirsty and thought about where I could get something to drink. "You thick-headed wolf, there's a ton of frozen water outside!" I thought, then walked over to the garage door. Was I going crazy? I thought I saw rays of sunlight shine through the cracks where ripping winds should have shot through. I pulled the garage door open and to my surprise, the air was calm, and only a steady light snow fell from the sky. The town was dark, much darker than Nome was at this time of night. The smaller population didn't use much lighting at night, so the only lights on the street were from the windows of the houses and buildings. I walked out and checked the sky again, the Moon was high in the sky, and the cloudless night sky showed many stars and also proved that the sun was not out. I guessed that it was around midnight, so the sun wouldn't shine through for at least 10 more hours. The snow beneath my paws was wet, the warmer spring winds that blew softly from the west caused it to melt. I knelt down and scooped a mouthful of cleaner snow along the wall of the building, I did this a few times before licking my lips in satisfaction. I turned to head back inside, but a familiar scent caught my nose… It was Dusty again.

"Okay, I must be going crazy now, what the hell would Dusty be doing in White Mountain?" I jokingly accepted that I was going insane, ignored the smell and turned to head back inside, but the smell was tainted with something else… Blood. I sighed then turned back to follow the smell, it led to the forest. Ignoring all logic, I followed the scent deep into the forest, I didn't care, all I wanted was to find the source, I walked for a long time, following the scent, it was easy to follow, the smell was clear as anything, in fact, it was the only smell I could detect. The forest was starting to look all too familiar, then I walked past the tree line and froze. I stared in front of me at the little town of Nome.

"No.. It couldn't be... I walked all the way home? Impossible." My logic side said, but everything else told me to continue following the scent.

My pace turned into a run as I followed it to the edge of the ocean. I looked to my right and saw my boat, but didn't care to go visit it right now. Dusty's scent wore off and I growled in frustration. I had just followed a scent 100 miles back home for it to just end? I walked into town, I wanted so much to see if Jenna was awake so I could hug and kiss her and tell her how much I missed her. Oh boy did I miss her. I walked past the vets office and snapped my head to the left, knowing that a certain pathetic and perverted dog was laying in there half dead. The humans were back again to cheer me on, as if I had just returned from the life saving serum run. I walked over to one to let her pet me, but she vanished. In fact they all vanished, the town was completely empty, empty of both smells and sounds. Voices echoed in my head as the ghosts of the past chanted my name. It was a bit scary, so I took off to run a bit faster. I ran past the alleyway, the alley I found Siku at, and froze as another familiar scent filled my nose. It was none other than Siku. I stopped at the end of the alley and poked my head out and looked around the corner. Sure enough Siku was walking alone towards Jenna's house. I watched as she jumped through the doggy door.

"What the hell is she doing? Everyone is surely asleep right now." I thought as I walked up for a better look. I found a trash can to hide behind and sat waiting for a few seconds. Just 10 seconds later, I heard Siku growling and she jumped back out of the Doggy door. She was dragging something with her… It was a body. My mouth opened at this sight, Siku had killed someone and was dragging their body out again, towards the forest. I ran after her as she turned the corner and ran full speed with the body towards the tree line.

"Siku!" I yelled. She didn't react, she just kept dragging the body. I ran up to her and saw who it was… I froze as I saw it was the lifeless form of Rosy.

"Siku what are you doing?" I asked stupidly. I knew damn well what she did, but I was not as furious as I thought. Suddenly I felt something take my body over. I felt something cold climb up my back and entered my left ear. I shivered and tried to shake it off, but it didn't work. I felt it enter my very brain, then I froze again.

"You cannot resist the demons inside you, Balto." A mysterious voice rang in my head as I tried to shake free, but my body wasn't responding. I was frozen, as I watched Siku drag Rosy into the distance. Eventually it took hold, my body was no longer mine. My thoughts no longer me. I was walking, but wasn't controlling it. I was under full control of the demons inside of me, I watched helpless as my paws began to pull myself into a full running speed to catch up with Siku. As my body neared hers, I heard the demons talking. Both of us were being controlled by a spirit. The spirit of Amarok.

My body reached down to help pull Rosy's body towards the forest. Siku just continued her blank stare into Rosy's head as she pulled her shirt. My ears perked up as I turned and saw Jenna running after me. I wanted so much to be able to talk to her, to tell her it wasn't me, or Siku's fault, I knew she wouldn't believe me anyway, but I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to hug her, tell her I loved her, but the demons wouldn't allow it. Both me and Siku let go of Rosy and ran towards Jenna. I saw her speaking, but couldn't hear it.

"Balto, Siku why are you doing this? I won't let you take her!" Jenna yelled at Siku, but she didn't hear it.

Jenna was crying at the sight of Rosy's body. She wasn't dead… Yet. Leave that for Nehalem to decide, the demons told my brain.
I watched helplessly as my body sat down and let Siku take care of it. Siku attacked Jenna and fought her off. I was screaming, and crying in my mind, I wanted to protect her, but my body didn't respond. The demons made me watch as Siku took a snap at Jenna's neck, she bit down hard for the kill and Jenna only let out a terrifyingly shallow high pitched scream before her body relaxed. I screamed in my mind, trying to fight off the demons that controlled me, it was no use. I had just seen my love die, but the job wasn't done, my body went back to dragging Rosy into the forest. I didn't care anymore, I let the demons take me over completely. For the next few hours my body worked with other wolves to form traps. I was a zombie in the group as I listened to Nehalem's preaching and planning to kill off the entire town. He dismissed us and my body walked over to a nearby cave and let me free. The spirit slipped out of my ears and shot up towards the sky. I collapsed, tired, not wanting to get up ever again, I just lay down and cried.

"Balto! Oh god, I can't believe it's you!" I knew it was Siku, but didn't care to turn to meet her.

"You are… you right?" Siku asked. I nodded in reply, after all, I know it wasn't her that killed Jenna. I heard her burst into tears as she walked over to me and buried her face into my side and soaked it with tears.

"Balto… I" Siku struggled to say.

"I know it wasn't you Siku, but please leave, I want to be alone." I replied coldly. Deep down I didn't want her to leave, she was the only real thing in this world, and the only thing I could trust.

"W-what? I can't… I need… to be with you." Siku replied. I just turned my head the other way and returned a paw over my face to hide my tears. Eventually I accepted her choice to stay here, and turned my head to her to lick her in comfort. She was still crying, and a single lick threw her into a higher gear and started crying more as she returned her face into my side. I curled my head onto her back and closed my eyes.

We rested for a few hours and eventually got to the point where we stopped crying. It started raining as I heard another scream… Both me and Siku perked up and faced the sound… It was Kodi.

"No… Not again…Please…" I said desperately, and jumped to my feet and ran towards the sound. Siku followed closely behind. A terrible sound filled my ears, apart from Kodi whimpering in pain, new sounds came from the source, I finally reached them and saw as Kodi was being fought by invisible entities. Kodi had fought off being controlled by the demons, and now they were going to make him pay. I was not going to let them, and I sensed that Siku wasn't going to either. Both me and Siku ran to Kodi's aid, and tried to fight off.. Nothing. There was nothing to fight off, Kodi was being harmed by nothing. I looked in his eyes and saw that he was fighting the demons off in his mind. I could only comfort him and cheer him on. I was in full control of my mind and body, but I was still helpless. Even I couldn't fight them off. I watched without being able to help as Kodi snapped, and he fell to the ground. Did he win? Or did the demons finally have enough and ended his life. I got my answer as blood began to pour out of his nose, eyes and mouth… And fainted as my heart couldn't take the loss of another family member. I closed my eyes as I heard Siku cry out in pain, she too would soon be killed by the demons.

Balto woke up as shaken as he was last night. He shook his head more, trying to shake away the thoughts… But eventually just turned to his side and fought off crying yet again. So far his dreams have killed off Kodi, Jenna, Dusty and now Rosy? What were they trying to tell him? He tried to close his eyes again, but found it hard to stay still, his body was still trembling at the sight of Jenna, Kodi and now Rosy, die in his dreams, and this prevented him from sleeping. He opened his eyes instantly at a feeling, Siku was fast asleep, but she was licking his back for some reason. It still soothed him, no matter how weird it felt. Then he rested his head on the ground and closed his eyes one more time.

Balto deleted the thoughts from his brain and finally, this time, drifted into a peaceful sleep.

So just a random story fact read or not, it isn't important.
Siku is loosely based off of a girl that I used to hang out with, at the time she was 13, I was 16, but she wanted to be with me, well that isn't all true, I wanted to be with her too. But the age difference, it just wouldn't work. Plus the fact that she was small, like Siku, it wouldn't look right with a 6'1" man like me. I'm glad to say that she is currently with a younger friend of mine and that I know will do a good job of protecting her. I'm like Balto in this sense, and my friend, who is 14, is like Kodi. Funny right?

Anyway, Chapter 5 coming soon, possibly today.