CHAPTER 6: A LITTLE NIGHT EXPLORATION
Author's Note: Naturally, the bond between an auburn white wolf and half-breed has been a peak of my interest, and I felt like I was almost taken beyond space and time, given residence on land, sea and sky, stuck between the stronger skies of a godly heaven and the volcanic darkness of an infamous hell. But to me...it's only a dream. Actually, the bond between an auburn white wolf and a half-breed are my cup of tea. But do you know what else? I grew very fond of this pairing between Aleu and Taku anytime and anywhere, and to anyone else's interest, Taku has been nothing more than just a teacher but also a friendly figure with an amount of kindness, generosity, and wisdom. What bothers me is that I'm trying to keep myself away from someone who ships Aleu and Niju together, and dear god, I don't know how I'm saying this, but I'm not a fan of AleuXNiju myself, because I thought that Niju might've been a cruel and fearsome wolf that served as a main antagonist in Wolf Quest. Unfortunately, I have no strength to rant on this pairing even if I tried, so I might as well leave it be to the other people. But, even if you are a fan of AleuXNiju pairings, I can handle your opinions as long as you handle mine, and that's no lie. But I wonder what's happened to Niju now. Well, you're in for a surprise. On the Alaskan mainland, Niju was afraid to leave because of the changes that would put him in disaster and his inability to take over the clan has been too impossible, so he gave up his hateful ways, and for the rest of his life, he decided to stay with the former shaman of the pack, Nava. None of this would happen if Niju would redeem himself as spoken by other people, so I'm already taking it very calmly. Believe it or not, Niju had an affection for three powerful she-wolves from afar who respected and loved him: Rangi, Ilya and Kun (again, they're my Balto OCs). But enough about that part, let's get into the entire sixth chapter where Aleu and Taku's date during a summer's evening would be rudely interrupted by Shaun the mountain lion. Also to make sure, the ghosts of Nava and Aniu will also make brief appearances too.
After you read this chapter, please make sure to review and comment anytime. ;)
On this summer night (one of the nights that were different from all the rest), a beautifying sight has been involved where you will imagine that everything is shaded into the color blue. The half-moon shines over the forest, crickets chirping with happiness, frogs croaking, owls hooting while sitting on branches, and small birds flittering and fluttering from branch the branch, while the fireflies danced among the open areas with each other. No night was complete without an evening misty fog that poured completely over the greens. Almost forgetting about Shaun and his takeover of the clan, Aleu and Taku happen to enjoy a nice evening stroll in the forest. And in their chipper emotion, they have nothing to do with the fact that they ended up enjoying themselves when this night was like a flower field where people can run through on a clear afternoon like this. As with this kind of effect, they knew that love is already on the horizon.
"Ahhhh…as I live to breathe, it's things that I have not yet seen in the forest for a year and a half, the invisible wades." Taku sighed of content.
Aleu then cleared her throat. "We've seen them almost every summer, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot that I feel too dazzled by all of this, and all of that." Taku said. "Nothing can go wrong on a late summer evening like this. Now, this is my kind of bathing. Night bathing."
"Night bathing? Doesn't that appeal to you?"
"Of course it does." Taku responded. "The invisible wades are a different kind of forest bathing, and it still grows on to its day since we first came to a new land."
"And I thought all nights were supposed to be dark." Aleu sighed.
"Hah! You were too much to explain." purred Taku. "These nights are different from all the rest."
"You don't say!" Aleu exclaimed smilingly. "As much as I hate to admit, this is a beautiful sight for our bodies. I think I'm feeling it already."
In pure relaxation, Aleu and Taku began rolling around feeling the essence of the moon shower with smiley expressions, chuckling with each other in their own delight due to being felt around by the warm summer's eve.
"That's an excellent way to get rejuvenated now, would it?"
"Our own life of love and leisure doesn't get any better than this one, Taku." Aleu smiled, and they both sighed in heartwarming content.
"Ahhhhh! Take a feeling of this one, you're gonna need to get your mind off your troubles." reminded Taku with a warm smile on his face. "Accept it, wolfy."
"Wolfy?" asked Aleu, but then chuckled pleasurably. "You gotta be kidding me. I don't know why we were like that, but I do know we have our will to take whatever we had right here."
"Really, did you ever think it through?" asked Taku.
"We don't have to. It's all we can think of us not being bumpkins, we could end up in bliss."
"But seriously, THIS is your future, Aleu, and you know better than I do."
"True. True. We may not have our own potential, but THIS is our future. Us against the world."
Taku suddenly gulped when she said that part. "I wouldn't count on it." Taku said worriedly.
"Look at it this way, Taku. We had our own share of our battle with the fiercest. Overcoming all who stood against you."
"All?" blushed Taku.
"Well, not all of them." giggled Aleu.
Still feeling cautious, Taku had been more aware of what was stuck in his mind, and it takes so much to handle and to keep it simple, he thought to use his mate as his stress relief that possibly arouses the two wolves. Not much to expect anything serious other than his problems with mountain lions, and the auburn white wolf had no problem fiddling around with females.
"You let anything overcome you, and even if you weren't paying any attention, it will come and push you on the ground." Taku pins Aleu to the ground as an act of playful affection much to her interest.
"You know, you have a strong physique, don't you think?" crooned Aleu.
"Think? THINK?! Why think when you can fight with an easy enemy?"
"Some, we have enemies, but still, it would've been only Shaun and the old wolf."
"Just only." agreed Taku.
"And to our amazement, Taku, things can never be done if they didn't go away." But then, with a smooth grin, she eyed mysteriously at her mate and whispered in his ears, "Your talk is smooth."
"Okay! You asked for it!" Taku laughed playfully, pouncing on her.
Without doubt, they briefly played around with each other for 30 seconds, laughing, kissing and nuzzling at the same time just like a couple of playful cubs. And then came the part where they were play-fighting each other as an act of domination with Aleu winning and Taku surrendering to her in submission. But as much as they have their unity with each other, they happen to be missing something that the half-breed didn't understand, which is for how long they would live.
"You're thinking that it's wise for a large and wild beast to come after you." said Aleu in happy eagerness while rubbing her head on her mate's chest.
"I wouldn't sneak on to its private spaces if I were you." warned Taku. "It'll snatch at me whenever it can."
"That is the point you're giving me." Aleu said. "Even if you're still brave enough, I could be smart to rub at you all the way, my wolfly stud."
"Stud?" wondered Taku at her words. "Heck, that is nothing. It's only for a living."
"It's interesting how we could end up being made for each other. Maybe we could be heroes."
"I don't want to say this," told Taku sadly, "but your father was already a hero."
Aleu's smile fades and then sighs in disappointment, realizing that her father Balto was already a success in the town of Nome. "Right." she moaned sadly. "Even if heroes are not just born, they were rather created during the old days. We do seem too much to trust, do we?"
"Well…perhaps." replied Taku looking up at the star-covered night sky. "That part got us to thinking."
"Me too." agreed Aleu. They both got up to stand in their hind legs, held each other, and looked up at the sky. "If we were to fade away after growing much older, where would we descend?"
"Up there." answered Taku pointing his paw up in the air.
"For how long?"
"I'd say it would take forever. Almost forever."
"Almost forever." Aleu repeated as they both laid back down. "No matter who we're like the lovers to each other in between, there are spirits that relate to a natural experience."
"I know." agree Taku. "It's a sense that we're made to unite, and we're the first to stand for life and never concede it. The places that we live in best of all."
Whatever they can understand, Aleu and Taku had never been heroes for life, but only lifesavers. They still continued to hang around on the forest's open spaces throughout the invisible wades that are still around. Invisible wades are something much like dense evening fog, only that they were supposed to be any different from the rest.
"Speaking of places, I was dying to know that if someone hadn't even mentioned the hideaway that was right behind the island."
"Ummm, no. But Taku, what do you mean that hideaway?" Aleu questioned, tilting her head in curiosity, trying not to hurt the auburn white wolf's feelings.
"Well, some of the creatures have once lived there," Taku told her, "But however, the spaces laid dormant for many years. It was normally for those who have been exiled. It almost reminded me of something…"
"Let me guess…" Aleu pondered as she thought it over, "you have a feeling that life on the ancient isle makes us think it is wonderful."
"It is, Aleu, it is." Taku nodded and went on. "It's becoming part of our company and our world much more than you know. I see that we had a marvelous way to gain pleasure and excitement and such in all kinds of weather. It doesn't matter if it was the sun shining or even the rain or snow falling. For years it has been giving us animals our need to forget the darkest of all times. We will live on this isle and die on it as we wish. As in the old saying, greater love has no one for when it lays among its friends. Ours is for the world only."
"Ours is for the world only." Aleu once again repeated as they both embraced each other. "You have said the sweetest things to me in my very dear life."
However, their romantic moment had stopped when they honestly heard a similar voice who was mocking its sadness. But I assume that it actually belonged to Shaun, the mountain lion. This somehow bothered our heroes on a peaceful blue night like this, and they were caught recklessly by a big cat. Not because he thought their love for each other was impossible, he thought that he couldn't do much about them. It's strange that he had to go interrupt their date.
"Boo hoo hoo! That was a touching moment if I say so myself! Boo hoo hoo!" mocked a crying voice that came from behind.
"Hey, who said that?" Aleu asked in disbelief, and for no reason, Shaun the mountain lion hops out of the bush to pounce on the half-breed, knocking her down.
"Gotcha'ed in, half-breed!" cackled the big cat.
"Oh no. Not you again." Aleu complained to Shaun. "Look, are you here to spoil our…"
But Shaun cuts her off by saying, "NAH AH! I wouldn't let you say a thing like that! It will ruin my solitude of interest."
"Well, I'm not impressed with you, ruthless cat. You can never live a life more meaningful than the time you wanted to snitch one of our caribou, sooner or later. They…"
"I care about caribou," Shaun interrupted meanly with a smirk, "because I will eat them best of all."
"Oh crud." Aleu grumbled, and then rolled her eyes at the big beast. "Looks like you need a lesson or two."
Taku was beginning to get angry with the big cat. "LET HER GO NOW!", he shouted.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Shaun hissed. "You didn't say the magic word."
Taku went silent for a moment and then replied in annoyance. "Please."
Having already pounced from the bush and onto Aleu, Shaun was told by Taku to get off her, which the big cat already did. The auburn white wolf went to his mate to see if she was hurt or something, but it's a case that she was still fine, only that she couldn't risk being squished flat.
"Ouch." Aleu moaned.
"Are you okay?" Taku asked worriedly.
Aleu then got up back on her four legs, "Yep. He pounced on me, but I'll survive."
Aggravated by what Shaun did, the two wolves and a mountain lion would try and deceive with each other in an unlikely blame game that seemed obvious. Taku then berated the big cat, "THAT WAS VERY TERRIBLE, SHAUN! Picking on my mate that was special!"
"Such manners you got, little wolf." Shaun glared as he pushed Taku out of the way with his left paw, which made the auburn white wolf growl at him. "You give mountain lions like me a bad name. I've been meaning to tell you a little story to impress you two."
"Okay then, I'll bite." Aleu replied to the big cat, just as Taku stopped growling. "I'll get your point."
"I'm all ears now." Taku said. "And you better not scare me out of my wits, okay?"
"Cougar's honor." Shaun promised and began to tell of his story of his bad past. "I shall accept the fact that I am a hater of dogs, and you know why? They're unworthy, appalling, a menace to my life...and quite disgusting too. They nipped and tore at me one after another. One of them scarred my eye when they attacked me. Not to mention that their hunter is with them. How I despise humans! That only happened to me one day. I for one am not going to let one four-legger stand a chance against me, those canine cowards!" He turned over and snarled at the half-breed to finish his story. "And that is you, Aleu." However, Shaun gets whacked in the chest by Aleu's paw in the progress.
"You do NOT call me a coward." demanded Aleu. "I am not like that. My friend here is one as well. He had any experiences with someone vicious like you."
"So what?" Shaun laughed loudly. "I am vicious, monstrous, witty, and I can be doing whatever I please…even for Zaqueun himself. I can be against you because we are the masters of all we see, stupid dog and your leadership."
"Hey! You will not use your mean remarks on her." Taku barked. "You cannot discriminate a half-breed who is indeed special, either. And if you try and lay your jaws at her, I swear to you, I will bite your leg!"
"Taku is right!" Aleu said sternly. "Bad beasts like you should no longer be welcome here, no offense."
"WHAAAAAAT? YOU DON'T TRUST ME AND THE MATTER THAT SCREAMS PURE VILLAINY!?" Shaun bellowed in dismay.
"No way. Not okay." Taku and Aleu replied in unison.
"And if you must know, caribou are the representatives of life." Aleu added. "Even if we did kill one, we give thanks for the good of all. Both species have become sacrificial ancient matters for years. But unlike us, you and your master had no respect for them. *Tsk tsk tsk*. I just don't believe it this time. It's been years for you."
"Mountain lions like me do anything for pleasure and defiance." Shaun rumbled. "And I don't spoil anything."
Aleu snarled. "I don't suppose you would spoil my life as you think to overrule many a day, you heartless feline."
"I won't take any insult from a defensive half-breed like you." growled Shaun.
With their hackles raised, Aleu and Shaun stood face to face with each other, growling and seething in their might as they fiercely circled without ever stopping for so or about 30 seconds with angry expressions, only for them to be startled by the appearing ghost of a shaman wolf who stood no ground with a stern look on his face. His name is Nava, and it was certain that he was once a leader of the wolf clan which is no simple matter. He was depicted as a grey wolf who had dark brows over his eyes, and he happens to be Zaqueun's good opposite which isn't mentioned in the second Balto movie. Naturally, when he was young, it was believed that he and Niju were once friends, but apparently in later years, they became bitter enemies to each other. But because he died of an old age, his ghost shows up and it was a fact that he cannot converse with our heroes until later.
"I wonder why he stopped me in the first place," she thought, "could it be because that he thought I was at war with another wild animal?"
Well, perhaps you can't be sure that Nava had his power of tranquil fury, which meant that he had no right to change his mood. Shaun became surprised at Nava's unchanged mood that he cowered down with his eyes covered by paws, while a startled Aleu lowered herself down with her tail tucked behind as any canine would do whenever it was afraid. Then silence eventually overcame the forest, but the sound of a whistling wind and the crickets chirping can still be heard. Taku eventually gulped with disbelief. It seems to me that they were in disbelief, but not for Nava's ghost. Did it remind you of when Adam and Eve disobeyed God for the sins they have committed? You see, the story of Adam and Eve goes as when God created the heavens, the earth, the plants and the living things, even the two human figures which are a man and a woman. Naturally, Adam and Eve can eat whatever they pick from any tree, except for the tree of knowledge that bears forbidden fruit. Now, with Aleu and Taku, they have natural enemies with two other large species such as bears and mountain lions, but this wasn't all that perfect enough for Shaun had been more than a troubled creature on this whole island far from Alaska.
"Either Nava's ghost must've served as a warning to us, or I might've just been off my nut." Taku thought.
After Nava's ghost vanished into thin air, Aleu then let out a disappointed groan. "Uggh. What am I doing anyway? This face-off would have cost me my respect for my heritage." Aleu turned her head away in shame and said calmly, "It was nice to see you, cougar."
"Yeah…" Shaun replied meanly, "and don't say that I ever warned you, Aleu."
Aleu sighs in an offended defeat. Just as Shaun finally left Aleu and Taku alone, the auburn white wolf had a look of concern about what his mate was about to do, and so he talked her over whatever just happened.
"You can't be serious, can you?"
"Taku, I was serious, not that you ever asked."
"I don't want to mistrust you on this, my lady," scolded Taku, "but like I told you, fighting against a victimized cougar is a bad thing to do."
"I know." groaned Aleu in sadness and hung her head low. "I just can't help thinking why I'm forbidden towards him. Maybe Wren Grey is right, that cougar couldn't stand being hunted down."
Taku's scowl look turned into sadness, and then comforted Aleu with a gentle brush with his paw. "Shaun is the one who didn't want to be hunted down. What I can tell is that he has had most of the bad experiences himself."
Aleu then gasped in disbelief at what her mate said, "You don't mean it?!"
Taku nodded in agreement, "Afraid so."
"Oh dear. Then a new thing has been predicted." Aleu said. "I believe that he could be in some serious distress inside."
"Distress?" Taku wondered.
"That's what I said. Distress." Aleu told her auburn white wolf mate. "And when we're all in distress, we won't be able to live longer anymore, we won't even hunt any longer, and we won't be brave for too long."
"No one knows." Taku said softly. "For the possibility at hand, you and I would wish to be young for good reasons."
"Oh, Taku," smiled Aleu as she hugs him, "Don't you know that we are mature, even though we're both young adults who have a reasoning love for each other?"
"Oh, I guess you're right." laughed Taku. "It is possible that my thoughts can tell I was friends with a compassionate wolfdog for the good of all. I guess we should become a family in our right. After all, it's because I'm nobody's fool when it comes to our upcoming parental instincts."
"Aww, gee! Unlike your siblings, you are never much of a fool, and that's when you come to expect from others." Aleu licked her mate's face with pure love and goodness.
"How convenient." Taku murmured of interest.
But then, a calm feminine voice echoed around the forest, making Aleu and Taku feel startled with amazement.
"The trust, the bonding, and compassionate love. They were all meant to be as one."
"Huh?" wondered Aleu and Taku at the same time.
"A perchance of knowing those whose past were lost, and it shall be you whose appearances are different than others." The voice added.
"That's my grandmother." Aleu thought.
The voice eventually belonged to none other than Aniu, whose ghost appeared for about 20 seconds before howling and vanishing into thin air. Indeed, Aniu happens to be Balto's mother, acting as a vision to him whenever he had trouble repairing the situation when he and the sled team were trying to deliver the medicine to Nome's sick children. At times that she had been identified as the great white wolf who was a reminder to her granddaughter about her wolf heritage, especially Balto's. Due to their unlikely surprise, it is possible that Aleu couldn't explain to Taku about her grandmother too much. However, she would assure them that anything would be safe and unexplained as long as it's a secret.
"Gosh. We must've seen Aniu, have we?" Taku murmured.
"Taku." Aleu reminded. "Sometimes things are truly best to be unexplained, unless you recognize them."
"It's not easy to explain, and I never come to tell too much to the clan members about a spirit guide being...something." Taku tried not to stammer, trying to give in his confidence, but honestly, he blushed and failed to tell her so much.
Still feeling puzzled, Aleu and Taku looked at each other eye to eye trying their best to perish the thought of her grandmother, unless they can still speak to her one of these days...in private, whatever the reason. They continued their stroll in the forest, still appreciating its beauty in the summer's eve, and they also had to focus on something about trying to negotiate with the two fearsome animals by enforcement or confrontation, and they were well unaware that a herd of caribou could be spotted anywhere on the island tomorrow, or the next day.
"We shouldn't hurry to get up in the morning." Aleu recommended, "We shall catch some breakfast any time we want to."
"I guess it'll be a good idea." Taku agreed.
And about Aniu. Even though she died, she had forever remained as her spirit guide to not only her son, but also her future relatives nowadays. Just before she became a great guardian spirit herself destined to help any wolf find its true self, she was a mate to Mintaq (a gold-colored Siberian husky and a better sled dog in his life on Nome), a dog whom she married and gave birth to her two cubs, Balto and his sister Ngalnux (Gal-no, the N at the beginning and the X at the end are both silent). One thing you might understand, Aleu also couldn't mention to the auburn white wolf anything about Ngalnux being her aunt.