For hours Balto had been running back towards Nome. He followed his scent that somehow remained fresh where he left it at and it didn't become any weaker. His instinct kept him up on his fours in order to reach his destination. While this was not something he intended, he actually felt like that fighting for Jenna's love was a good thing all along!
The sun was descending to the west below the horizon, but the darkness could not prevent him from reaching Nome. Also, he just didn't feel like he'd stop by and satisfy his hunger. In fact, as if his stomach didn't dare to do so but let the wolf-dog achieve his goal first! Soon enough he felt the smell of salt water nearby, snowflakes descending from the sky and a familiar place…
"Nome!" Balto stopped on the top of the hill that overlooked the town he'd been living nearby all his life. The old boat was there as usual, but Balto didn't focus on it in order to notice a familiar feathery figure on it or two balls of white fur, being solemny peaceful. In fact, he focused straight at Nome and just how he had one goal in mind.
Whether Steele and his team returned by now, Balto had no clue. If he hadn't, it could be likely that any minute, hour or even day they'd be back. Steele would have saved the town and would try to woo Jenna even against her own will. Balto, however, he'd stand up to Steele formally and challenge him to a fight. If Steele could bully him all this time, did he even dare to pull up a real fight?
He moved silently towards the town. He was going to make a stop at the hospital and see how Rosy was doing. A good hope prevailed in him that she was still alive and strong enough to have her medicine delivered. He heard someone barking not far from the large building he was that was emitting warmth from inside. Not to mention, he sensed the presence of not just one, two or three dogs in it, but at least dozen.
"It's terrible, my friends. Just terrible!" A familiar deep voice came from inside and judging how avuncular it sounded like, Balto immediately recognized Doc. He sounded very concerned about what he'd just heard. He knew that he couldn't just barge in and ask what was happening but instead, he climbed to the window up to the building on some kind of platform and overheard more of Doc's discussions.
"Steele and his team… are lost." Balto glanced at Doc from outside at the exact same moment when he announced those terrible news to the others. "No! Steele?!" Dixie asked, fearing how her beloved malamute had been lost by now! Sylvie was also present next to her and soon enough more questions barged: "What do you mean? When?!"
"They missed the second checkpoint!" Doc further informed them, shocking everyone else inside and even Balto! He got to notice three other familiar figures inside - two of them being his closest friends and even Audrey, who displayed an utter shock. Clearly Balto couldn't think of anything else for her but to think she did so because of Steele.
"They're off the trail." Doc's words didn't sound anymore encouraging, not even when one of the dogs inside asked: "Can't they send another team?" The time didn't allow them in their intentions and Doc assured them all: "It's too dangerous for us and for our men." One last question made the entire situation desperate: "What about them, little ones?"
"The medicine won't be here in time… we're going to lose them." Doc finished telling them. The despair was just not leaving any of them, be it for the safety of children and the team or just one of these factors. They all looked down in horror and grief at what was going to happen to the little children and any other ill citizen in this town.
"Rosy." Balto whispered, looking towards the hospital after hearing enough. This was shocking enough to hear… the chosen team led by Steele lost in the cold wilderness of Nome to save this town, Rosy's health waning… his intentions for returning to Nome could no longer be considered valid, especially after this crisis had gotten worse.
He left the boiler room behind him and headed to the hospital just so he could find in what room Rosy was sleeping. Once he moved across the snow to the first window, he just happened to be fortunate to notice her there! But it wasn't just her there, Jenna was also present with Rosy! Rosy was sleeping though and Jenna laid her head on Rosy's body covered in gray blankets but her head. There were some other children in this room…
...they were all ill, their closest ones by their side if the hospital staff would allow them for their own safeties. Their salvation was lost in the wilderness and if these children weren't going to make it, this would make one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the history of Alaska and humanity… Balto's thoughts were broken by the sound of hammering from nearby.
He headed straight to the source of hammering through the wide fence and found the carpenter in his wood factory hammering something. It looked small and hexagonal and Balto had a better view on what it was when the carpenter placed that craft on the wall. It was a small coffin. There were few of them, each one of them being big enough…
...big enough for children. There were at least four of them! "Rosy!" Balto whispered her name one more time, fearing that one of those coffins was her size! This town seemed to have lost all hope already? That was just outrageous! If this town wasn't going to do anything to help find that medicine or send another team?
It was all clear to Balto - if no one was going to do anything to track down the lost team and bring them back on their trail, then there was only one thing to be done. He made it clear - if he wanted Rosy to get well soon and live a happy life and have her give him kindness and because of… Jenna… then he was going to take the matters in his own paws!
But he couldn't go on this journey all by himself! He needed someone to assist him on this perilous journey. Jenna? No, she had to be with Rosy. Max? Molly? Most likely, but their animosity towards Steele could prevail even if they wanted to save children. Doc? He didn't seem fit for this journey… but of course!
Leaving the town behind only for a little bit, he rushed to the old boat. He could have sworn that Boris was still there, noticing by the sight of a goose on the old boat. He was rather busy discussing with someone and clearly those two were… "Muk, Luk, I'm telling you two, Balto had left to live in the wild! Soon you two will have to learn to live on your own, I can't…"
"Hold that thought, Boris!" Balto interrupted him when he jumped on the deck of the boat, with both Muk and Luk gasping in surprise. They clearly didn't take it well when they heard of Balto's departure and Muk beamed: "Balto! You're back!" Boris didn't hide his emotions: "Balto?! What in d'yavol?! You're back, you daredevil mal'chik! I knew it you'd return!"
"We don't have a lot of time. Boris, I want you to come with me and go see something!" Balto told him, not feeling like he wanted to linger any longer for some heartwarming reunion. Boris tried to stop him, following Balto off the boat: "Wait, what are you doing?! Where are we going?!" As for Muk and Luk, they just remained behind, curious what was just happening.
"Boris, I am going to find the lost team and retrieve the medicine to the town!" Balto finally revealed to him, making Boris go fully alerted by such a decision: "Balto, don't go crazy on me! This is foolishness!" He tried to stop him, but Balto was heading for the slide as a shortcut to the hospital and heard Boris stumbling in the pipeline after stepping onto some kind of lid.
Once making it safely to the other end of the ice slide, he waited for Boris to show up and he actually popped out of the pipe midway and it just progressed with Muk and Luk sliding towards Boris who yelled something to him. The sense of precious time being wasted away didn't fit Balto and it just wasn't the time for playing some foolish games!
He was wondering if he just should go to the window and have Boris come to him, but as it seemed like, he was busy telling something to the bears and only he could hear from him saying something he was regretting: "Oh, no! I'm beginning to understand the bear!" Clearly Boris revealed Balto's plan to these two and this meant one: "Yes! Yes! Count us in!"
"Bears! Dogs!" Boris seemed quite annoyed how he was being dragged into something he didn't want to be in the first place. Clearly Balto couldn't wait for him anymore and once again, he grabbed Boris by his head and dragged him to the window, with Boris protesting: "Balto! Balto! Put me down!"
Balto knew that once he would let Boris see, he'd make sure that Boris wasn't going to feel like he was being dragged into this, but rather he'd accept it so he let him down. Boris just noticed they were in front of the window and let the wolf-dog know: "No brains at all! Might as well be talking to hu… mans?" He stopped midway when he looked through the window.
Boris looked through the window with Balto. He saw a few children lying in their beds, sleeping and struggling with their breathing as the diphtheria made them feel worse. Both of them saw Rosy sleeping in her bed and struggling. Jenna was no longer present with her, possibly being home or so. It was something that made Boris have a change of heart…
"So, let's go get the medicine?" Boris asked him when he turned around and walked down. Balto also turned around to look at him and with his change of heart, asked him: "Wait a minute, now you're coming?" Boris had his reasons and seeing ill children having their fates dangle on a thread couldn't leave him heartless.
"Spending days in bitter cold, facing wild animals, risking death from exposure… is like a holiday in old country!" Boris nostalgically let him know how it was on the other side of the Bering Strait on the west, embracing his Russian origins. Muk and Luk were quite enthusiastic about this idea, even with Luk speaking out: "Oh great! We're going on a holiday!"
Balto couldn't believe it! Persuading not only Boris to come with him, but also having Muk and Luk tag along, the search for the lost team and the medicine was going to be something worth risking in the cold wilderness of Alaska! They headed to the east to follow the trail of the lost sled team as much as they could, if their scents were still fresh.
Just as they were leaving Nome behind, Balto glanced at the town once again and gave it a thought: "Hold in there, Jenna, I'll make sure Rosy is going to recover. I hope that you, Max, Molly and Doc all stay into this together, and anyone else in the town. I will find the medicine and the team for all of you, or at least… die trying!" Seeing how Muk and Luk were enthusiastic to carry on, Balto looked in front and all four of them set off on the journey!
Speaking of Jenna…
She was just outside the hospital, walking to the window from where she could watch Rosy from outside. Grief and anxiety flew in her veins, thinking what was the possible worst case scenario for her human. She was laying there inside, in bed, along with other children. Only minutes ago she'd seen her from close.
She recalled how her owner wanted to have her see Rosy in the hospital after feeling like she'd been away from her for far too long. After being let inside, allowed by the nurse, Jenna walked up to Rosy's bed and licked her in the forehead, she managed to wake Rosy up, who showed only a tiny bit of enthusiasm before her exhaustion forced her to sleep again, weakening Jenna's hopes.
Jenna climbed on the window and watched Rosy sleep. She laid her head on the snow covered windowsill and fearing for the future of her human, she only could think of misery and misfortune brought up these days and at one point she thought: "If only Balto was here to see this…"
However, there was a scent on that windowsill and Jenna's nose actually caught it. It was still snowing outside, but she recognized the pawsteps belonging to a wolf-dog, a Russian snow goose and two polar bears. "Balto?" Jenna asked, sensing that the scent was pretty fresh… was he here all time along?!
More importantly, why didn't he reveal himself to Jenna or others that he returned? Well, he did to Boris, Muk and Luk as those tracks in snow were co-joined. Jenna had the urge to follow his scent and catch up with them, wanting to know where they were leading to. She followed it to the outskirts of the town to the same path where… the sled team left off.
"Could it be…?" Jenna looked down that path, thinking that Balto had a change of heart, returned to see them one last time, but instead opted to go the same path where the sled team was? "Jenna?" A familiar male voice asked and just then she shouted: "Balto! Is that…? Oh, hi Max." She noticed a familiar face from her side.
"Jenna, I was looking for you. Well, I don't know if someone told you, but things have gotten pretty dire! The team got lost on their way home!" Max let her know, already knowing what this would mean to Jenna. She was already distraught by Rosy's ailing condition and she just could scream in disbelief, but instead…
"Max, did Balto come to you when he returned to the town tonight?" Jenna asked, hoping that he'd have talked to one of his rare friends. Max raised his eyebrow and asked: "What are you talking about? Balto has left Nome to live in the… hold on, I sense his scent… and it is still fresh?" Max sniffed the air and just figured out that his friend might not have left Nome at all.
"Did he go after the team?! This is the same road they'd taken!" Max figured out his friend's intentions and even noticed some paw prints in the snow, slowly fading with some more snow accumulating. Jenna told him something surprising: "Max, I'm going after Balto! I am not going to let him go away like the previous time, do you hear me?"
"Alright, let me go find Molly and we're coming with you!" Max decided, but before he could head to their house, Jenna stopped him and spoke: "No, I think you and Molly should stay here in Nome." Clearly Max found this as a pretty foolish idea and protested: "He's our friend out there and he'll need us on his journey to find the team!"
"Yes, but somebody has to stay behind! What if someone gets hurt and there's no one to await? Max, I beg you, stay home with Molly!" Jenna wanted to make sure that there was someone who'd rush to their aid if that someone had to return from this journey after sustaining injuries and harm. He still insisted: "I see what you're saying here, Jenna."
"What are you saying, Max?" Jenna didn't understand, feeling like she shouldn't waste her precious time. "I guess that this is for why Molly and I didn't join the race and the team, you don't want us to go, right? Look, I do care for Rosy as much as Molly does!" Clearly the decision of staying behind was now coming to him.
"Look, it's not like that! I know that both of you care and I really don't want you Steele being vile towards any of you. You don't deserve to be vilified by that glory hound! If anything, I want you to stay home and be on the lookout if something goes wrong and… look after Rosy when I go after Balto, please?" Jenna explained, showing no hard feelings towards Max for not joining the race.
Max sighed, knowing that even if he and Molly tried to follow her secretly, it'd be too foolish so he accepted the defeat. He told her: "Look, I want you to stay safe out there and make sure you don't lose Balto, alright? He ran away once, I don't want to have him run away the second time!" This showed how much he meant to him like a brother.
"I will make sure of that! Now I have to go. You two stay safe and I'll be sure that Balto returns here where he belongs!" Jenna walked off, knowing how her journey to follow Balto was going to be pretty challenging and that she should not waste time anymore. Max, before heading home, told her: "I hope you know what you're doing, Jenna!"
Of course that she knew what she was doing. She was already leaving the town behind, knowing it could be days in between until she got to see Rosy. Marching through snow and night, she had in her mind to reach her friend and accompany him, not wanting any more madness to happen to anyone since the crisis in this town was escalating. "I'm coming, Balto! I won't let you go this time!"
It wasn't just a casual thought from her. It felt rather different when she said that. Was she thinking that ever since she and Balto were under the hospital that night, how earlier that same day Balto accidentally bumped into her with his muzzle and not long after admitted to her friends she was with Balto… she was starting to feel something towards him.
As for Balto…
He, Muk, Luk and Boris were following the trial of Steele's team to the heart of Alaska. While the newly accumulated snow covered their existing tracks, their scents were still intense and it was fairly easy to follow them. In fact, as much as it was easy to find out their position, the journey home was not going to be easy without one factor: marking the trial.
Any tree they could pass on the trail Balto had used his opportunity to claw it and leave his markings behind, knowing that it was the only best way to retrace their steps. Muk and Luk found it pretty admirable how Balto handled the "meanest and toughest" tree on their journey all while Boris explained something about breadcrumbs.
With all due honesty, they encountered very few wildlife animals. It was mostly based on the snow rabbits in their way, playful squirrels on the trees and occasionally some lonely bull moose on the cliffs but other than that, a day after they set off on their journey, there was no trouble for this unlikely company.
The next day, as they were marching through the snow forest, Balto was in front. He heard something swiftly coming at him and he was just fortunate to bow his head down and just saw the snowball hitting the tree. He smiled in realization that both Muk and Luk had some fun in throwing snowballs at one another, even extending it to Boris and Balto.
"Haha! Whoo! Yes!" Muk's excited voice came from behind. Boris was just lucky to bow his head down when the rogue snowball was thrown at him and it hit the tree. He just turned around and shushed them. Instead, he should have looked at the snowball hitting him right in the beak and eventually he fell on his back in thick snow.
Balto found it funny how these two were having fun, hearing Muk's exciting bragging: "Brilliant! Right on the beak! What a bullseye!" Yet Boris didn't find it any funny when he raised from the snow and demanded to know who threw that snowball at him. Clearly Muk was mischievous enough the pass the torch of responsibility to Luk instead.
However, the fun Balto was seeing faded when Balto heard something, like a growl. It didn't come from his stomach nor from theirs. It sounded quite faint when he heard it so he looked around the snow forest and feeling anxiety, told them: "Guys? I think…" The growl was heard again, this time a bit louder and before he could say anything, he saw a large hairy figure between the trees. They weren't alone.
"I think we should keep moving!" Balto alerted them, not liking this place anymore, hoping they were going to find a wider and more open place soon. Boris replied to him with some silent grumbling in the distance when he was getting his back on spot and Muk and Luk were making some more snowballs. The presence of an ominous figure made him very anxious.
"Come on! Let's get going!" He rushed all three of them to follow him, wanting to stay as far as possibly from this unknown beast in the forest. Boris' silent grumbling eventually boomed into: "Easy to say for a guy with four legs!" However, he heard another snowball hitting him in the back of the head and this clearly made him mad.
"OK, THAT'S IT!" Boris knew they had crossed the line this time so as he raised his two legs and turned around. Imitating any human who'd pull sleeves up, he was going for it to make an intimidating impression of someone who'd spank by saying: "It's time for goose to kick a little bear butt!"
He just saw Muk and Luk shivering in fear and dropping their snowballs on the ground, Boris triumphantly yelled: "AHA! Your old uncle Boris is making an impression!" He ignored it when Muk was pointing with his finger at his direction, thinking that he was afraid he'd come at them. He backed up a bit… only to feel something soft on his back.
"Now what…?" Boris asked when he felt something soft and touched with his wing to see what it was. It also felt bouncy and noticed it was black and hairy, Boris knew something like that wasn't before and when he saw above what he was touching, it made his beak drop down in shock and awe.
It was a large and vicious black bear with his evil looking yellow eyes and very large claws and fangs! The bear looked very furious when he caught three of his victims on the way and he was ready to strike. Boris screamed in terror when he was hit by the bear who sent him flying to the hollow branch nearby where he was stuck!
However, the bear, instead of hitting the snow goose that was stuck in the branch, the bear hit the branch and it flew all the way to Muk and Luk, who hugged one another and screamed in terror when they were trapped with Boris. All three of them were screaming helplessly as the bear's attack could end their lives in that moment!
However, the bear was interrupted when something bit his leg and it was seen that Balto came to their rescue by gnawing the bear's leg and it made the bear lose its balance. However, that also made Balto send above and then he was face to face with the bear, who used the chance to turn the tables and pin down the wolf-dog powerfully on the ground!
"No! NO!" Balto struggled when he was being pinned down by the vicious bear in the snow. He tried so hard to break free from the bear's grip but it kept getting stronger and stronger and his roar was spine-chilling to hear at and when the bear raised its paw to finish him off, Balto thought in terror: "This can't be the end… yet!"
It wasn't. Someone else screamed and the scream was feminine. Opening his eyes for a bit, Balto saw the red blur striking the bear's front paw that also kicked the bear in its face with the rear paw! The scent was very familiar: "Jenna?!" Balto managed to get some air to say that when he saw an unexpected guest coming to his aid!
The bear's counter reaction was just throwing the nuisance off him into the show so the bear could finish off his enemy. However, Jenna didn't just give up here and she struck back the bear by jumping onto the vicious beast and biting it into muzzle. The bear lost its balance and trotted backwards so close to the trapped goose and polar bear!
This gave enough time for Balto to break free from the beast's clutches and in shock he saw the bear throwing Jenna quite powerfully at the branch that entrapped his friends! However, things didn't go quite well for him when he saw the bear focusing back onto him and he started backing away from him on his back, being trapped with the branches behind him!
The bear viciously roared at him with the intention of finishing off the wolf-dog in front of him but the bear underestimated Balto's strategy when he let go off the branch he'd leaned at and it powerfully smacked the beast in the face! Balto rolled down the hill, noticing a large clearing in front of him when he rolled down… and kept sliding!
He saw the bear following him down there, coming down the hill as if it wasn't a big deal! His friends, all four of them, watched in terror from above and he heard them screaming: "BALTO!" He was facing this large beast in front of him and it didn't help when he felt the snow, or the surface below him, cracking. He realized one thing - he was on the frozen lake!
This didn't prevent the bear from coming at him and when the bear powerfully stomped at the ice, Balto gazed in shock how the solid ice below him was shattered in tiny little bits and he made a run for it to avoid drowning! The bear didn't stop here, wanting to finish off its victim from the start above!
Jenna, Boris, Muk and Luk stared in shock when they saw the bear raising on its rear legs and stomping the ice again. This was a very bad decision because of the weight the ground below started giving up and soon enough, the bear was trying to reach the surface as the ice was closing in and was sending the large beast underwater, facing its fate!
The stomp had its effect when Balto was encircled with the cracking ice and he tried to desperately escape the same fate as the bear. His friends yelled his name when they rushed fast below and just as they reached the bottom of the hill, they gazed in horror when the ice was closing in and pulled Balto below the ice!
"Balto! NO!" Boris and Jenna screamed in shock when they saw their wolf-dog friend below the ice, fearing that their friend was not going to survive that! However, Muk was heard screaming: "GERONIMO!" and Luk hummed a familiar tune when both of them made a mad jump into the frozen lake and broke the ice in hopes of finding their friend!
Looking at the hole Muk and Luk made jumping in the water, Jenna couldn't just stand there and watch them do the job by themselves and so she rushed immediately to that hole and yelled: "Muk! Luk!" Even less encouraging was when Boris let her know just as the ice below his legs split in two: "They cannot swim!"
"WHAT?! Polar bears who cannot swim?!" Jenna only now discovered this shocking truth, realizing how she never before saw them in the water. Time and hope were both fading and the fear and panic embroiled in Jenna's body. Never she'd have thought that her best friend would be at the gates of death like this! She had to rescue him this instant!
She rushed to the place where Balto was last seen before sinking down below. She saw something there and realizing it was not her reflection, but his friend, she started digging the snow away, yelling: "He's drowning!" Balto was motionless when the current dragged him away from her sight, to which she yelled: "NO!"
As for Boris, he remained in the same place, dunking his head in the water to see where those two polar bears were and if they'd found Balto already. Just as he resurfaced, his head was icy with some ice thorns emerging from his head. "Well?!" Jenna demanded to know, not wanting to lose her friend like this. Boris sneezed loudly as his head warmed up and the ice thorns flew in every direction.
"I don't see them!" Boris told her, trying to come to his senses after having his head dunked in the freezing cold water and Jenna, feeling like the time was up any moment down, asked: "Where are they?!" They looked all over the frozen lake around them, not hearing anything. Jenna was facing the loss of her puppyhood friend, towards whom she started to feel something… something new. Boris was facing the loss of his adoptive son…
But then…
The cracking was heard in the distance and they both witnessed the frozen lake in the distance. First, a large white ball of fur emerged, holding a brownish gray body by his side, then a smaller one followed. Muk and Luk resurfaced, with Balto in their grip! They made it! Hope was returning!
"Balto!" Boris and Jenna simultaneously yelled in joy when they saw that Balto was possibly alive! Jenna rushed towards her best friend, with Boris clumsily following her behind. As she was running, being closer with each step she was making, despite the danger of slippery ground below her, she couldn't care any less, even if Boris rushed, or slid, past her.
Boris was in an advantage, but she knew that she was going to be there in no time! She noticed Boris hitting Muk from behind at a great speed and he hit his brother Luk from behind while trying to revive Balto. Being closer now, she could have seen Balto conscious again! Boris' chain reaction led to him having all that water come out in a Heimlich maneuver like style. He was alive!
Balto was resting on the snow-covered hollow log and he could notice how Boris was rubbing his cheeks with his wings, hoping to get the response. It all happened in a blur when he was drowning and losing the battle under the thick layer of ice, but then some of his closest friends were there to save him and everything was coming clear to him!
"Balto!... I was so scared I got people bumps!" Boris talked to him when he was coming to his senses, realizing how Boris was persistent to look after him after all those years. He raised from the log and started shaking the cold water off him while making some moves. This freezing sensation was still present, but he had very little to move as he couldn't provide himself enough warmth.
"Boris… I know you think this trip is crazy, but… I'm glad you came…" Balto told him, showing how much the grumpy old Russian goose meant to him in his life as he was resting down. Boris smoothly replied to his adoptive son: "Who else should you bring on a wild goose chase but a goose, hmm?" He didn't hide his enthusiasm just like that.
Yet Balto felt the presence of someone who came to his aid in the last second - Jenna. She was coming from his left down the log and asked him: "Are you okay?" Even Balto asked her the same: "Are you okay? Jen…" He didn't finish his sentence because of how he was freezing, but Jenna knew what she had to do - lay down on top of him to provide him the warmth he needed to get himself moving later on.
"I'm fine. A message came, we have to take the mountain trail." Jenna informed him once she was on top of him. Balto felt her warm fur melting down the cold water off him and slowly enough he was getting warm. Balto insisted: "But if we take Eagle Pass, it'll save us half a day!"
"It's blocked. The mountain trail is dangerous, but we can do it." Jenna let him know that they didn't have any other choice left. Balto knew how much this would mean to him if she was going to be his companion on this journey so he complimented her decision: "I'm beginning to see there isn't anything you can't do." She was flattered how much he meant that.
Ever since that muzzle touch on the street, Balto taking her under the hospital and even leaving Nome only for some time, Jenna could feel something new towards Balto. It wasn't just a friendship, it was more than that. But was there a possibility she'd admit that to him, right here? Was this the right time to do so?
"I'm seeing a few things too, and it's making the ice melt." Boris observed their moment as he was rubbing his beak with his wing. Clearly it wasn't just those two that there was something between them, even Boris had a keen eye about something brewing. However, he had to endure the splash of cold water aimed at him when Muk and Luk shook the water off their furs, angering him: "I HATE BEARS!"
Just at the moment Jenna moved from him because he was feeling better than a minute or two ago, yet some more water drops made him wet a little bit. Then again, he couldn't care any less when he told those two polar bear cubs: "You guys outta learn how to swim. You'd be very good at it!" He clearly didn't tell them this for the first time!
Luk consulted this with his brother and it was only mumbling that Muk could understand, to which Muk replied to him impatiently: "Of course we were in the water! We were moving, we got wet…" As he was saying this, it occurred to him what they were doing down there and how they saved Balto. Muk grabbed his face in disbelief and mentioned: "Luk! We were swimming!" Luk's nodding could be only translated as: "I told you so!"
Balto found it funny how Muk just made that realization, but his laughter ended when he heard Jenna yelping in pain and dropping down in snow. Her excuse? "Ooh! Clumsy!" Balto moved closer to her and seeing how she landed there, he told her: "No you're not, you're hurt!" But Jenna contradicted his statement with: "I'm fine!"
Clearly she wasn't. It wasn't until her adrenaline prevented her from feeling pain before. Being thrown aside violently by a bear and adrenaline rushing to her to save Balto didn't let her acknowledge the pain she sustained on her front right paw. She even insisted on carrying on with this journey, but as she tried to make one more step ahead, she dropped down again, yelling in pain.
"Maybe I'm not so fine." Jenna finally acknowledged her pain, realizing that if they were going to find that medicine, they couldn't rely on her anymore. Therefore, she told them: "You should go ahead without me." Balto clearly didn't like this idea, hoping that she'd tag along to find the medicine: "Jenna…"
"I'll be slowing everyone down!" Jenna convinced them that there was no use of them waiting for her and not even after she told them: "Rosy can't hold out much longer…" To think about it how the lives of Rosy and others were at stake after this long, Balto faced it that she couldn't come with them, but at least he could do her a favor…
"Muk, you and Luk carry Jenna back to town on this!" Balto told the polar bear cubs what they had to do as he noticed a large branch shifted like a palm to carry someone, pulling it to Jenna. Boris knew that this was a good opportunity to carry on with the journey without the bears so he joked: "And this time don't take time out for a swim!"
His laughter faded away when Balto told him, as he proceeded ahead: "You can make sure of that, Boris. You're gonna lead them home!" Boris realized how he had jinxed his fortune and now that Balto was on his own, he wing-palmed his own head. Balto looked at Jenna, who was about to be carried back home, and let her know how to return home: "Just follow my marks."
"You're going alone?" Jenna asked him, feeling uncomfortable by the idea that her friend was going to leave again, but at least this time she was going to be there to see him where he was leaving. Even Balto let her know: "Won't be the first time." Jenna felt bad how he was going to be all by himself again, but at least she could do one more thing.
"Here. I'm afraid it won't keep you very warm." Jenna bowed her head down and let her orange bandanna slip off her scarlett red fur on the snow and she grabbed it with her jaws so she could place it around Balto's brownish gray messy fur. Once she did, Balto pretty much appreciated her gesture that he complimented it with: "Yeah, it will."
Before they were going to part ways, Balto and Jenna nuzzled one another. It felt so good and nice that they could nuzzle one another without any unfriendly faces breaking their moment. Well, Luk's crying ended it right on time, realizing that Balto was going to leave them again… but Muk remained optimistic: "Well of course Balto will come back. He's Balto, isn't he?" Luk kept crying all while Muk knew how Balto would not let them down again after he returned not long after he had left for the first time.
"Hey! I'm coming back, with the medicine!" Balto let them know and he made this one for Jenna: "I promise, Jenna." That way he could head on the journey on his own as he was carrying Jenna's bandanna. He made it clear to Muk, Luk and Boris: "Go ahead, guys. Take her home!"
"Balto, I do not like leaving you out here alone! Who's going to tell you how cold you are?!" Boris insisted on coming with him even if Balto told him to go with them. Balto pushed him with his head back to look at Muk, Luk and Jenna, the latter one carefully laying down on the palm-looking branch to be carried on.
"Boris, they need you even more than I do." Balto whispered, knowing that Boris had to go with them one way or another. Then he sighed, facing that there was no other possibility left and so Boris tapped with his feet towards the bears and Jenna. However, Boris had one more piece of mind to share with him, a very wise one, so he turned around.
"Let me tell you something, Balto. A dog cannot make this journey alone…" Boris told him when he turned around again, but not before letting him know with one last bit: "...but maybe a wolf can!" Balto clearly couldn't go with this one, but he accepted it nonetheless. Even if he'd had an encounter with wolves only a few nights ago, he was having second thoughts about his wolf side after choosing to save the town.
"You two balls of fluff, let's move!" Boris yelled at them both in a true Russian manner as they were going to take Jenna back to Nome. Balto knew that it was now all on him to find the lost team and deliver the medicine to the town. He faced some more snow, ice, trees, rocks, hills, mountains and other hazards on his way… but nothing was going to prevent him in finding them and saving all those ill children and people alike… especially Rosy...