Jenna was in her bed, with all six of her puppies already being tucked in and snuggled by her, sleeping soundly. Aleu and Nunivat were sleeping cuddled by her chest, Dingo slept on her head while Saba was resting on her back. Kodi and Yukon were snuggled under her tail by her belly. Jenna wasn't sleeping yet, she was waiting for Balto to come.
It had been a little bit less than two weeks since Aurora had puppysat her puppies with Kane and also the same time it had been since it was discovered that Aurora and Kane were in a relationship. That was the reason why Balto still wasn't at home. He was with his sister and Kane to discuss their future.
Speaking of discussion, it was obviously over when Jenna heard the dog doors creaking silently and seeing a familiar wolf-dog figure coming in. He whispered: "Jenna, I'm home!" She smiled, but remained quiet so the puppies wouldn't be awakened by their mother's talk, even if she was going to say something.
"Awwwww, would you look at that sight? They all had found their soft spots!" Balto whispered, adoring the sight of his six puppies cuddled by Jenna. She let him know: "Oh you know, they just had to take their favorite spots! They may be cute little mischiefs at day, but at night, they're the most adorable puppies in the world!"
He knew that. Any mother or father, or even both, would claim for their puppies they were the cutest ones in the world. Before focusing on them, Jenna asked her mate: "So, how did it go with Aurora and Kane? Are they really going on their date tonight?" Ever since Kane had asked him about dating Aurora, there had been an anticipation after anticipation for that to happen.
"Believe it or not, they are! I helped Aurora in getting pretty for a date and Kane brought a bone for their date. Kinda unusual because we give flowers to one another, but I guess that's his tradition." He narrated her in a nutshell how the things had gone, chuckling at the thought of Kane carrying a large and juicy bone for Aurora instead of a pretty and colorful flower.
"Oh, that is pretty sweet of him! Who knows, maybe it's too early to call it, but do you think that if their relationship becomes as serious as ours, the puppies will have their real uncle one day?" Jenna just figured out where this was leading to. Balto didn't exclude that opinion, but he also knew there was still a whole lot of time for that to happen.
"I have no idea, Jen. Speaking of our puppies, I have an idea for tomorrow morning!" Balto just thought of something, with Jenna tilting her head gently so Dingo wouldn't slip. He asked: "How's this? Tomorrow after breakfast you, puppies and I take a walk around the town and get them to meet some other dogs and who knows, other puppies who could be their friends one day!"
She thought about it. The idea sounded pretty swell and she started it with favorable thoughts: "I like the idea, Balto. Is it me or you're thinking of Max and Molly's puppies they're going to meet tomorrow according to your idea?" That was exactly what he was thinking about, giving her a warm smile as the answer.
"I like your idea, but do you think there could be, I don't know, some other puppies in the town they could make friends with? I'm not trying to discourage your idea, but it's just a thought." Jenna extended his idea in hopes he'd favor them too. In fact, he didn't think of that at first, but then…
"We can try that too. Who knows, if they're not adopted, we might get to meet their parents and see how well their pups will get along with ours, huh?" Balto proposed the idea with another idea. Before both of them hit the sleep with their puppies, Jenna answered: "We can only hope so, Balto. Sleep well." Tomorrow was going to be a pretty big day for the entire family!
The next morning, Balto was already awake. It was around breakfast time for both him and Jenna and even puppies, who recently had switched from Jenna's milk to dog food all because their fangs started to grow and were becoming solid enough for chewing. Once the breakfast was finished, this was going to be a fun morning for the family.
"Jenna, it's breakfast time!" Balto whispered sweetly to her ear, resulting in her opening eyes. She yawned lazily, asking: "Already…? Okay, I'll wake the puppies now…!" So she did, nudging the ones she could around herself and swaying her head to wake both Dingo and Saba up. So far, she was mostly successful.
"Good morning, my puppies!" Jenna whispered sweetly to her bundles of joy. Dingo was first to respond: "Good morning, mommy!" He was always the energetic one and soon enough, Saba and Yukon followed: "Morning, mama." and "Morning, mommy." Then Kodi yawned, waking from his sleep. This was four out of six puppies awake.
"Looks like Aleu and Nunivat didn't hear you well enough." Balto noticed his oldest pup and youngest pup still being cuddled by their mother's chest. Jenna pushed them gently with her muzzle to see if they were going to respond. Aleu did when she felt Jenna's muzzle on her belly, having her eyes only half open: "What is it, mama…?"
"Aleu, good morning, sweetie. Your papa and I planned to take you out for a fun morning walk!" Jenna cooed her wolf looking daughter in hopes that she'd actually agree to go with them like most of her siblings. However, she just stretched on her spot and even asked her, giving the puppy eyes: "Do I really have to go, mama? It's so warm and comfortable here!"
"Let's see what your sister has to say then." Jenna hoped that Nunivat would at least go so Aleu would have to go with them. "Nunivat, wake up, honey. There's a very fun morning for you!" Nunivat woke sleeping cuddled on the other side of Jenna's chest and like her sister, she asked with her eyes half open: "Mama, can I please stay here at home and sleep?"
"You two really don't want to come with us? Your brothers and Saba are excited to come!" Balto asked his daughters one last time in hopes he'd be able to convince them. Nunivat answered: "Can we go some other time, papa?" Then both she and Aleu just continued their sleep by their mother's chest. Balto sighed, lowering his ears down.
"Don't worry, Balto. I'll stay with them at home. You take the boys and Saba with you!" Jenna actually saw the opportunity with only two third of her litter going with their father outside, giving her mate some hope. Balto looked at his sons and middle daughter and hoping for the best, asked them: "So, would you like to come with me for a morning walk in a town?"
"Yes! Yes!" Those four puppies bounced in joy when they were asked that. Balto smiled at Jenna for giving him a great idea. Then he let the puppies know: "Before we go, you four have to get something to eat! Rosy's parents have served you grounded beef for breakfast!" As much as they wanted their mother's milk, the puppies were fond of meat too!
Balto was eating from his bowl whereas Yukon and Saba shared theirs and the same was for Kodi and Dingo. In the matter of minutes, all five of them had their breakfast finished and then it was on to the puppies to greet their mother before they headed outside, Balto holding the dog door with his paw and letting the puppies outside before joining them.
"Daddy, where are we going?" Kodi asked his father once they were out in the open. It was a sunny, yet windy morning. It wasn't a cold breeze, but a warm and humid wind. Balto looked southwards where the sea was and saw clouds on the horizon, indicating a possible rain today, like how it'd been rainy lately. He answered: "Well, Kodi, today you're going to meet a friend of mine and your mom's!"
"Ohhhhhh? Can we play with them?" Dingo always sought the way to entertain himself or the others with games and pranks. Balto laughed at what he said and simply answered: "You can, but they also have their puppies who're your age so you can play with them!" He saw this as a good opportunity for his puppies to make friends!
"Awesome! We're going to make friends with them, right?!" Saba bounced around. As for Yukon, he asked his dad: "Well, if they don't howl that much, I guess they'll be fun to play with!" Balto rolled with his eyes when he heard him say that. He knew that Yukon wasn't having the best times with Aleu because of her howling, but at least he could have kept it back.
"Alright, alright, let's get going! If we're lucky enough, the rain won't catch up with us!" Balto reminded them about the possible rain later that day and let them know to stick closely to him. The puppies were his responsibility during their town walk. He knew that they couldn't be lost in this town because of how small it was, but there was always a risk of dangers lurking in the shadows.
Every little he checked back to see if all the puppies were on number. Dingo was always next to him, then Yukon, then Saba and of course, Kodi was the last one. He was trying his best not to fall back too far. Then there it was, the maze of few alleys they had to pass to reach Max's place.
"Stick close to me!" Balto reminded them the narrowest part of their town journey was ahead of them. The alley wasn't looking puppy-friendly already and Balto could safely assume that none of four puppies he had with himself would even think of straying away from him. That was something he was only assuming… being overly confident about this idea.
Crossing through the trash cans, rotten planks, ropes that were holding buckets of water on the windowsill, mud, thrown glass bottles (surprisingly not broken), old newspapers and many other items, Balto could finally see the end of this narrow maze alley. However, a breeze that was howling through it was making him lose focus on what he was supposed to hear. Apparently he was too busy focused on getting out of these damp alleys.
"Papa! Papa! Wait, we have to go back!" Saba ran around her father, letting him know that something was not right about this place. "Saba, what do you mean?" He asked her, trying to catch up with his daughter. She explained to him: "We have to go back now! Kodi, Dingo and Yukon are lost in there!"
Lost?! That could not be possible! He spoke: "Boys, are you with me?!" No response. Realizing that Saba wasn't making this up, he felt the sense of dread all over his body as soon as he realized that all three of his sons weren't in sight and without snow, he couldn't trace their paw-steps, making his eye pupils shrink in horror: "Oh no!"
Before Saba could tell her father where she last saw them, he noticed another canine running to the alley and judging by the dark brown fur, that was Max. He also had a visibly unnerved look on his face thanks to his shrunk pupils. Balto asked him: "Max? What's happened to you?!"
"Oh, Balto, Molly is so going to set me on fire for this!" Max rushed with his words, not explaining what just happened here. He exhaled and inhaled rapidly a few times and then he explained: "I took my daughter Dusty out for a walk in the town not long ago and while I wasn't paying attention, I lost her in one of the town alleys here!"
"You lost your pup too?! I've lost all three of my sons in here!" Balto couldn't believe if this was all a massive coincidence or not, even telling him: "Jenna is going to be so upset when she finds out and I cannot let her find out!" Just as Max was going to tell him something, he noticed Saba next to Balto's paws, saying: "At least one of your pups is with you! Where are your other two daughters?"
"They're with Jenna at home! Max, now take it easy, I'm going to help you find your daughter while I'm looking for my sons, okay?" Balto assured him that it wasn't the end of the world just like that, even if he was in a deeper hole than him. Max nodded, trying to say a word here, but he was panicking like a frenzy that he couldn't articulate a syllable.
"Papa, are we going?" Saba asked. However, fearing that if he were to lose her in the alleys, Balto would end up paying a huge prize for his lack of attention. He told her: "Saba, I'll take you to a safe place so I can be sure I don't lose you!" This, however, didn't really appeal to her, even protesting: "But, papa!"
"Not now, I don't want to lose you too! Max, you wait here, I'll take her to a safe spot!" Balto instructed his friend what he was going to do now. He gently grabbed Saba by her neck scruff and rushed to the boiler room, knowing that was the safe spot for her. Once they made it inside, he saw it was empty, but he put her on the platform nearby.
"Saba, while I'm gone, you stay here hidden and don't let anyone know you're here unless it's a family friend or a relative, alright?" Balto instructed his middle daughter what to do. As much as she wanted to protest and go with her father to find Kodi, Yukon and Dingo, she sighed and replied: "Alright, if you say so."
"That's my girl." Balto nuzzled his scarlett red daughter and watched her snuggle in the corner of the platform, out of sight. He rushed back outside all the way to the spot where he left Max behind. He was waiting for him so both of them could commence the search for the four lost puppies…
Speaking of the lost puppies, Kodi first, not long ago…
Kodi was following his sister, older brothers and his father in the alley. He was eagerly awaiting to meet new puppies in the town and make friends like his brothers were. He was always the last one because he was a runt in the litter so he had a hard time catching up. Passing through the alley with all those garbage cans and rotten planks looked unsafe enough…
A gasp was heard, but not from his dad or brothers or even him. Kodi heard someone else's gasp in this alley. His instinct would have been to alert his brothers, sister or dad about someone else being present in this alley, but he didn't go for it. Instead, he looked behind him and wondered where the source of that gasping was coming from?
"Maybe I just imagined… huh?" Kodi spoke to himself, about to continue walking down the alley. However, he saw a shadow of the puppy behind the trash can. Who was that? It could not have been Dingo, Saba or Yukon, because they were here with him. However, he looked behind him and much to his shock, they weren't!
"Daddy?! Dingo? Saba? Yukon?!" Kodi felt helpless when he figured out that he was separated from his family. He heard a knock from the trash can behind him. For some reason, he felt the instinct whispering in his ear to go see who was behind the trash can. At the same time, he wanted to find his dad, Saba, Dingo and Yukon… only he didn't know where they were going!
"Hello? Is someone there?" Kodi spoke to the puppy hiding behind the trash can. The gasp from the puppy was the only answer he received. Whether the puppy was messing with him or was frightened was on him to discover. He slowly snuck close to the trash can and crept around to see where the puppy was hiding.
But at the same time, as he was about to see who the puppy was, he saw a slender gray, indigo blue eyed face looking at him, which made them both gasp and back away for a paw or two. For a few seconds none of them dared to come close to one another but then Kodi broke the silence: "Uh, hi? What are you doing here?"
The puppy stopped hiding. A female husky puppy, with slender gray fur, stripe stretching to her muzzle and indigo blue eyes, looked at the male wolf-dog (husky in her eyes) puppy with maroon red fur and brown eyes. She realized he was just a puppy like him so she smiled delightfully and spoke to him: "Hello! I was about to ask you the same!"
"Well, I heard you here in the alley and I had to see by myself! Well, I ended up being lost, I can't find my brothers, sister or my dad now!" Kodi explained to a female in front of him. She tilted her head and asked him: "Did you get lost too? I was walking with my daddy before but then I saw a pretty bird that I chased and then… I couldn't remember where I started chasing it."
"So I guess we're both lost now, right?" Kodi asked, actually showing a slight smile on his face because he was with this unusually cute female. She answered: "Oh yeah! What's your name, by the way? My name is Dusty!" Hearing her name, he was surprised how her name was fitting her looks, but he kept it for himself when he said: "I'm Kodiak, but everyone calls me Kodi!"
"Kodi? That's a cute name you have." Dusty giggled when she heard the name herself, which made him feel a little bit warm in his face, even asking: "You really think so?" The very next thing she'd done was leaping on him and he rolled on his back, leaving him surprised. She was standing above him with a cute smile on her face, answering: "I do think so!"
Did he just make friends with her? She was so sweet and so humorous and the warm feeling in his face made him think about it. He made friends with Dusty! Without paying attention, he suddenly leaped and had Dusty on her back. This had her quite surprised, but he laughed innocently, or at least tried to act like an innocent puppy, saying: "Gotcha!"
"Oh, Kodi, you're funny!" Dusty actually didn't mind that much that she was taken off guard. Even she thought of this maroon red puppy as her first friend. Just as she was about to say something, she heard a familiar voice: "Dusty?! Oh, Dusty! I've found you at last!" It was followed immediately after with: "Kodi! Oh, you're safe!"
"Daddy!" Kodi yipped in joy when he saw his father rushing to him and then he was nuzzled all around his body. "Kodi, you have no idea how frightened I was when you got lost!" Kodi knew what he did wasn't a good idea and even apologized: "I'm so sorry, daddy! I've heard someone in the alley and I've made a friend!"
As for Dusty, she was being nuzzled by her father and he was telling her: "Dusty, don't ever do that again! I was scared to death that something happened to you!" Dusty knew what she did was wrong and answered: "Daddy, I'm sorry I didn't stay with you! Kodi made me company here while I was lost!" Then Max looked at the puppy by Balto's paws.
"Oh, I'll be. Balto, it appears to be that my daughter and your son have already become friends! Hey there, I'm Max, your father's friend! You and my daughter have just met, right?" Max just realized the opportunity to meet at least one of wolf-dog's puppies was now. Kodi didn't know what to do, but Balto pushed him with his paw in front and encouraged him to speak up.
"Hello, I'm Kodiak. Everyone calls me Kodi. Oh yeah, Dusty is pretty fun!" Kodi spoke to Max, who took a certain liking for the maroon red puppy. Balto spoke to Max's daughter: "Hi there, Dusty. I'm Balto, Kodi's father!" Dusty looked at wolf-dog, then at Kodi and then at her father, asking: "Daddy, is Balto the town hero you were telling me in a story?"
"The one and only, my daughter!" Max smiled proudly with his paw pointing at Balto. This made Dusty tell her friend: "Kodi, you're the son of a town hero?! That's so awesome!" Kodi just blushed upon that compliment, even stuttering in his reply: "T-thank you, Dusty! I look up to my daddy a lot!"
"Alright, you two can play a bit later. Kodi, we have to find your brothers. Saba is hidden in a safe spot and we'll go to her when we find Yukon and Dingo, alright?" Balto didn't want to interrupt their fun time, but his brothers were still missing. Max even let him know: "Balto, you helped me find my daughter, I'll help you find your sons!"
"Thank you! Hop on, Kodi!" Balto gladly accepted his offer and then bowed his head so Kodi could hold on tight on it. Dusty did the same thing and it was on both of them to track down Dingo and Yukon's scents. As for Kodi and Dusty, who were on their fathers' heads, they were smiling at each other, widely enjoying their spots!
"Who are we looking for first?" Max asked his friend, sniffing around the alley in hopes of finding a particular scent Balto would also recognize and if it belonged to either Dingo or Yukon. He answered him: "Whoever we come across first! I believe they couldn't have ventured too far from here."
Speaking of Dingo, not long ago…
At the moment Kodi was distracted by the gasp in the alley, Dingo was sticking close to his older brother and sister and his father. He wasn't falling back easily, but the maze of alleys was not a cakewalk. It wasn't until one of the crossings gained his attention and he could hear someone yelp: "Hey!"
He stopped right there. Was that yelp directed at him? He looked at the direction from where he could hear that, but he saw no one. However, instead of carrying on with his father and siblings as if it wasn't any of his business… he had the urge to find out who yelped that "Hey!". Somehow it sounded like someone was in trouble!
He followed the source of the sound, realizing he could be lost now. At the same time, he wanted to know if there was trouble or not? Anyhow, he turned to his left and then moved ahead for few tens of meters before he had a sight on his side to behold. He was right… there was trouble brewing!
A female reddish brown puppy with white underbelly, a stripe that was stretching to her muzzle and with bright blue eyes, was cornered by four other puppie who were deviously and mockingly laughing at her trouble. She told them: "It wasn't my fault the sausages were on a visible spot!"
"It WASN'T my FAULT the SAUSAGES were on A VISIBLE spot!" One of the puppies mocked her talk and tone, repeating what she said. The other puppy let her know: "Now you'll get a lesson from your superiors for coming to our territory!" Trouble was indeed growing bigger, with those puppies showing no ways of backing off from the cornered puppy.
SPLAT! The puppy who spoke about "lesson" had a patch of mud splattered at the rear of his head. Other three gasped in shock and surprise when they saw him tumble down on his paws. He regained his pawing and asked loudly: "WHO DID THAT?!" His companions looked around and indeed, noticed a plum red male wolf-dog puppy, who was whistling there innocently.
"Hey, you! Did you just throw mud at me?!" The muddy pup demanded Dingo to answer him. He courteously let them know: "Who? Me? Maybe I did, maybe I did not… but what did she do to you?" He was playing tricks with them, trying to trap them in his net of pranks, jokes and mischief, something he was best known for in his litter.
"Does it matter? First you answer me if you just threw mud at me and… OW!" The muddy pup tried firing back, but Dingo threw another batch of mud in his face, yelling: "TOO SLOW!" That puppy had it so he told the others: "What are you three standing here for?! Go get him first!" Much to Dingo's delight, he muttered: "This is where the fun begins!"
He made a mad dash across the alleys, knowing that he was being chased by four mean puppies all while he wanted to keep that female safe. He rushed straight to the other alley and saw two puppies coming at him, one who said: "Hah, that's a dead end!" However, he went too quickly to underestimate his wits.
"Gee, you two, this is a nice rope over here! It'd be a shame if someone were to…" Dingo noticed a rope being nailed to the ground, supporting some sheet from above. He moved his paw close to the nail that held the rope to the ground and once those two were close enough, he finished: "...pull this nail!"
Just as he did so, a loud and breaching noise was heard from above and both puppies witnessed the rainwater from the last few days pouring like wild on those two! Then both of them were soaking wet and soggy from the cold rainwater and both were making a run for it. The third one had a fortune he hadn't any water poured on him.
"Nice try, bozo! You aren't getting me any easy on your jokes!" The pup let him know that he was a tougher challenge, but Dingo had an ace up his sleeve for this. He saw something on the window and this gave him the idea: "Oh yeah, watch this!" He placed a rock he found on the ground and positioning the rotten plank like a swing, he was aiming towards the oncoming pup.
He jumped on the other end and sent the rock flying. The pup ducked down out of fear the rock was going to hit him, but it went flying way too high. He laughed at Dingo: "Hah, you missed!" However, Dingo knew that the rock thrown at someone could be dangerous and he wasn't aiming at him, but rather at something he saw on the window.
A clanging sound was heard from above and just as he looked at the source of that sound, he had a pie falling right on him and making a complete mess! "Oh wow, what a waste of a good meaty treat." Dingo wished he had some of that pie, but that pup had it coming when he was covered in a complete meaty mess but then, a voice boomed from that window…
"Oi, that was my pie! I'll get you for that, you rascal!" The woman who made that pie yelled at the pup who was covered in pie and out of fear, he yelled: "WAIT FOR ME! WAIT FOR ME!" That was three out of four, leaving the muddy pup only to face off against Dingo and as he was expecting, the muddy pup showed up.
"You thought we were done for, huh? You've forgotten I'm here left!" The muddy pup was facing off against Dingo in the alley and Dingo was still finding it hilarious how the mud was still on his head. The pup let him know: "When I'm done with you, I'll stuff this mud down your mouth and then deal with that… huh?"
The doors in the alley opened widely with a loud thud and a woman who made that pie came out with an angry look on her face and broomstick in her hands. She looked at the muddy pup and yelled: "You think it's funny to steal my pie just because it's made of meat, huh?! I'll teach you a lesson for taking it!"
"What pie?! Huh?! No, no! Boys, boys! Wait for me!" The pup had no choice but flee because the angry woman was chasing him down the alley. Dingo, who was thankful he wasn't caught by her, could safely leave this alley and head back to the spot where he saw that female husky pup being cornered and taunted.
Instead, as he was heading to her, he saw her halfway coming to him, speaking: "That was actually pretty awesome! How did you do all that!?" While he wondered if she actually saw him doing those pranks or she guessed because of her bullies running away in fear, Dingo smugly told the female: "Oh, I was born to joke and prank around, you know?"
"Come on, you gotta have a secret!" The female puppy wanted to know, making Dingo wonder if she wanted to learn from him. That'd have been awesome, but at the same time, some secrets had to be secrets so he answered: "No secrets here! Besides, why did they corner you back there?"
"Awwww, it was nothing. I was hungry and saw some sausages on the hook, but those four puppies said they were theirs. I told them their names weren't on them and that's when everything went down the drain." She let him how one thing led to another. As for Dingo, not only her reddish brown looks appealed to her, but her bright blue eyes were very pretty!
"Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't bother you again! My name is Dingo, by the way." He introduced himself to this pretty female and she didn't hesitate: "I am Dana! It's nice to meet a friend like you!" Not only she had a sweet voice, sweet looks, but she had a very sweet name. He replied, blushing: "It's nice to meet you too…!"
Just as he was about to ask her if she wanted to play with him, a voice familiar to Dingo spoke: "Dingo, there you are! You had me worried sick!" He saw his father coming, Kodi being on his head, followed by Max who had Dusty on his head. He apologized: "I'm so sorry, daddy! I didn't want to separate, but she was in trouble!"
"Who?" Balto wondered who was that "she" and then he saw a reddish brown female puppy and a smile stretched on his face, asking him: "It looks like you've met your friend too, right?" Dana decided to do it by herself: "Hello, my name is Dana! Dingo helped me get rid of the bullies not long ago."
"Oh really?" Balto asked amusingly and then faced his son. He rubbed his head with his paw and told him: "Now that's my son! Come on, we've got to find Yukon and then we'll go to Saba's safe spot!" He grabbed him with his jaws and put him on his back so he could share his spot with Kodi. He did ask: "Daddy, but what about her? I just met Dana!"
"Well, I… Dana, you aren't lost, are you?" Balto asked the puppy if she needed help. Thankfully, she answered: "No, I live behind the corner here, but I'd like to have some fun in here too!" Balto and Max looked at one another and nodded, Max saying: "Hop on, little one. There's going to be plenty of fun and you and Dusty could be friends!"
"Alright!" Dana saw the opportunity to meet a new friend who was on Max's head so she hopped on his back first and then crawled to his head where she could meet a slender gray, indigo blue eyed, female. Before they headed, Balto told his mischievous son: "Dingo, I'd like you to meet my friend, Max. Max, this is Dingo, my middle son."
"Nice to meet you, little Dingo. I heard you are a mischief from birth, huh?" Max smugly asked the plum red pup, who didn't shy himself from his "gift". Dana giggled when she heard him say that and even Dusty was amused by this. Dingo spoke to his brother: "Kodi, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine I just met, her name is Dana!"
"Sure, and you meet my new friend, Dusty!" Kodi spoke to his older brother so the four puppies could get to know one another before Balto and Max let them know: "Come on, we've still got Yukon to find." When it came to these two brothers, Kodi always looked up to Dingo and hoped he'd run as fast as he could if he weren't a runt in the litter.
As for Yukon, also not long ago…
He was still with his father and sister when they were venturing throughout the alleys, but something caught his attention. It wasn't someone yelling "Hey!" like in Dingo's case, but it was more of a whimper coming from the alley on his right. Was someone hurt? Was someone lonely? Was someone… bullied? The dark red male wolf-dog puppy wondered.
"Sorry, dad, but I have to find this out first!" Yukon thought to himself, knowing what could be the possible outcome of him wandering by himself. Despite being the only pup who started calling his father "dad" instead of "daddy", he was also showing some desire to be on his own too. He followed the source of the whimper.
The other factor that helped him through the maze of alleys was his sense of smell. Only other pup in the litter who had an advanced sense of smell was Aleu, but Yukon's couldn't be underestimated either. It didn't take him too far to find who was whimpering and there was a very good reason why.
In a corner stood a silver female husky puppy with blue eyes. However, what stood out about her the most wasn't the blue collar with an unique pendant, but the fact that one half of her face was black and the other was white, like her underbelly. Moreso, her left ear was also black whereas her right one was white. The reason why she was whimpering was because there were three other puppies surrounding her and making fun of her.
"What a complete freak you are with that hideous face!" The puppy showed a rich vocabulary when he taunted the innocent puppy in the corner. She spoke with the tears on her face: "I'm not hideous!" This made the other three laugh even harder, the second one speaking: "What's the matter? Your parents must have been ashamed to have a hideous looking freak of a puppy!"
"I wonder if they're better off without you!" The third puppy didn't hold it and the poor silver puppy broke down in tears, hearing all those taunts from those three rude puppies. Each echoing laughter she was hearing made her feel like she was sinking in a trap she couldn't escape from their hideous laughter and dark surroundings…
"Hey, leave her alone!" Those three stopped laughing when they heard Yukon yelling at them. He was very unhappy how they were treating this unique looking puppy. The first taunting puppy got the attention of the hazel-eyed dark red puppy and taunted him: "Ohhhhhhhhhh, or else what?"
"I said, leave her alone!" Yukon moved closer to intimidate this group of three and the second one wasn't even buying it, going as far as to ask: "Wow, we're really scared of you, right boys?" They could laugh all the way they wanted, but Yukon remained silent this round. The third one spoke: "Let's get him first!"
"Don't try it!" Yukon warned him what was going to happen if they were to go against him. The first puppy just ignored his call and just leaped at the dark red puppy. He missed because Yukon effectively dodged his leap and quite flexibly, he leaped on him, pushing his head against the humid ground, making the puppy struggle.
"HEY! Let me GO!" The puppy struggled to get free from Yukon's grip. For a month and a half old pup like him, Yukon was incredibly strong. He just let him: "I'll let you go, but first you apologize to her!" The other two were coming at Yukon, but his angry glare towards them made both pups back away, seeing how he wasn't messing around.
"I said, let me go! I can't breathe in here!" The pup struggled under Yukon's grip. The other two were watching in shock while the female pup watched in surprise. Yukon offered him a compromise: "Here's what we're going to do - I let you go but only if you're going to apologize to her! Don't think of trying something funny here!"
It was either a suffocation at the paws of this pup or doing what he was telling him. He spoke with a muffled tone: "Okay, okay!" And as he said, he kept up with his words and released the pup, having mud all over his face. He looked at the female puppy and knowing what was going to happen if he didn't listen to Yukon, he spoke, albeit very reluctantly: "I am sorry I called you a hideous freak."
She didn't say anything but nodded in surprise. In fact, having the mud all over his face made this pup look even more hideous. Then he rushed past Yukon and spoke: "Come on, we better get outta here!" As the three were leaving, they were heard speaking something, but with the day saved for this female, Yukon was at ease.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Yukon spoke to this silver female, who couldn't believe that there was a pup who actually didn't make fun of her looks. She regained her talk: "I am fine, but the things they were saying about me and my looks really hurt me!" To Yukon, her dual colored face wasn't making her look hideous, but rather…
"They made fun of your face? Why? I think you look pretty with it!" Yukon was bold and straight-forward with this, even if he knew what step ahead this was. This made the female's face turn so red that she had to cover it with her paws, but at least she was heard giggling. Yukon moved on: "My name is Yukon, by the way."
She moved her paws and looked him in the eyes, speaking: "I am Yin, it's nice to meet you!"
Then Yukon had some warm tingles in his body as he met a friend. For some reason, her presence was making him smile widely and his eyes were looking dreamy. However, the silence and the moment were broken when a male voice spoke: "Yin! I've been looking all over for you!"
Yukon and Yin saw the dark gray male pup with gray underbelly coming towards them. He was wearing a red collar with an interesting pendant Yin had, only it was black. However, what made this male so special was that he also had a dual colored face and ears! His right side was white and his left side was black!
"Yang! It's okay, I'm fine!" Yin spoke to this male, revealing his name to be Yang. He rushed to her and let her know: "Don't do something like this again! I was dead worried!" For a moment, Yukon was wondering if his enchanted bubble with Yin was about to burst or not. Were these two siblings or what? They had the same face pattern so they had to be!
"Oh, Yang, I'd like you to meet a new friend, Yukon! Yukon, this is my older brother Yang!" Yin introduced Yukon and Yang with each other, thus reaffirming the wolf-dog pup that this other male was her brother. Yang, who had brown eyes, looked at the other male and with suspicion, asked him: "Oh yeah, you're my sister's friend. Explain to me."
For some reason, he wasn't enjoying how Yang was treating him this way, but Yukon kept his positivity: "I saw your sister being bullied and mocked by three other puppies. They were calling her names because of her face, but then I stepped in and made them apologize to her before I had to use my full force on them!"
Yang looked at his younger sister, whose looks convinced him that he wasn't lying to him. Then Yang looked at Yukon and at last, a smile was seen on his face: "Well, what else can I say but thank you for standing up for my sister." If only these two could have started things off well from the start, Yukon'd not have to worry.
"You're welcome. It's the least thing I could do." Yukon showed how much he cared for his friends. Yin and Yang sat close to him. Their looks were saying that this dark red wolf-dog puppy was their first friend in this town! He asked them: "So, wanna play? I should be with my dad, but I guess he won't be mad at me for making friends!"
"Do we want to? Of course!" Yin didn't hide her joy for playing with a new friend of hers. Yang just shrugged it: "Eh, whatever. Let's have some fun!" For some reason, Yukon was wondering why was Yang being so clingy around his sister and always delayed his reactions? Wasn't he trusting the others or what? It didn't matter honestly. This was a very good time for him to play with his new friends! Or not…
"Yukon! At last, I've been looking for you all over the place!" Yukon heard the voice, belonging to his father, talking to him when he saw him in the alley. His brothers were on Balto's head. Moreso, he got to see another adult husky pup and two other female pups on his head. Yukon apologized: "Dad, I'm sorry I ran on you earlier! There was a situation!"
"What sort of situation?" Balto asked. He asked him not because he thought Yukon was making excuses, but he actually believed him. Yukon looked at Yin and Yang and let them know: "Dad, these are my friends, Yin and Yang! There were three puppies who made fun of her looks and called her names, but then I stepped in to stop them."
"And what did you do then?" Balto listened to his son's words. When he heard the last thing, he got intrigued by the fact that one of his pups was already dealing with bullies. He carried on: "I told them to cut that out and one of them even went as far as to attack me, but I gave him a lesson he won't forget! Before they left, I made sure they apologized!"
Once he was done, Balto couldn't stop thinking how his son was already making decisions like these by himself so he rubbed his head with paw and spoke: "Yukon, I'm very proud of you! I'll forgive all three of you that you've been lost if you promise you won't tell mom about getting lost, okay?" Kodi, Dingo and Yukon all found this as a great opportunity.
"Deal!" All three of them yipped in joy. As for the introductions, Balto let him know: "Also, I'd like you to meet a family friend of ours, Max. Max, this is my oldest son, Yukon." The dark brown husky spoke: "Nice to meet you, Yukon. That was a pretty good thing you've done for your friends!" In fact, this reminded him back in the days when he stood up for his father.
"Pleasure to meet you, uncle Max." Yukon didn't hide his courtesy. Balto reminded his friend: "He and the others always call family friends 'uncle', don't worry." Then he let his son know: "Come on, we're going to the safe spot where I hid Saba after I got you lost." But Yukon had second thoughts, looking at the two of his friends.
"Dad, can I at least be with my friends? I mean, we were about to play!" Yukon was hoping his dad would understand. His wolf-dog father looked at his friend, who already carried his daughter Dusty and Dana, Dingo's friend. Max knew what this meant and even asked: "Seriously, two more, again?" He couldn't really argue any further about this.
"Yukon, hop on my back. Yin, Yang, you can hop on Max's!" Balto instructed them what to do. Yin was nagging her brother: "Oh, come on, Yang! There's a lot of time today! We can meet some new friends!" He wasn't really thrilled by this idea and the fact that he was looking after his sister was making it hard to convince him.
Other pups were about to start convincing the dark gray pup before he sighed and raised his white flag: "Fine, Yin. We're coming too then." Yin joyfully accepted the offer and climbed on Max's back whereas Yang did it without much enthusiasm. Then the seven pups had a lot of fun ahead of them, but first things first.
"Come on, let's hope that Saba didn't wander away while we were looking for you!" Balto let them all know, leading the way to the boiler room. At least they were leaving this maze of spooky, humid and dark alleys and replacing them with wide, pretty and bright streets and sights to behold. Question was, would they find Saba in the boiler room?