A simple throat clear. Not from any human in the hospital. From a certain scarlett red female Siberian husky with orange bandanna on her neck and amber brown eyes. In her full glory and beauty she was standing there. She waited for her best friend for so long to return and it showed how much they meant to one another…
"Jenna!" Balto spoke, filled with joy and excitement that she was there. He didn't waste time anymore but rushed straight towards the doors. Their play was a truly delightful sight to behold, seeing one another after days and days and wishing for none other else than one another! In that very moment, something remarkable happened!
Balto's muzzle was touching Jenna's. That warm and tingling sensation both had when muzzles touched, just like the last time, sparkled. It wasn't just a random dog play between them, but it was something neither of them could deny - they didn't like one another… they loved one another!
Silence still creeping around them, Jenna leaned forward to nuzzle him by his side. He couldn't wait to feel her touch after being apart for a good while. He gazed into her eyes and so did she. Her pretty amber brown eyes, a sight for him to behold. Likewise, she was facing his brown eyes and showed nothing else than admiration.
The applause of the human crowd and their cheering gained their attention. There were humans and dogs alike, dogs like Star, Kaltag, Nikki, Doc, Sylvie, Dixie and of course, others like Max, Molly and Audrey in the crowd. As far as Balto and Jenna could see, and hear, Star was the loudest and most cheerful one, screaming: "WAY TO GO, BALTO!"
Kaltag was rambling something in his "speed of light" speech, about Balto having the most endurance, fidelity and intelligence before Star broke his speech: "They should build a statue of him!" Then he realized what it meant for him to interrupt Kaltag when he saw him giving him that look, making the purple small husky cover his head.
Instead… "You said it!" Kaltag didn't do anything else but to agree with his statement and the small dog even asked: "I… did?" What Kaltag said was good enough to convince him it there was nothing to worry about. As the cheering and applause wasn't ceasing anytime soon, one could already know how long it was going to last through the night!
"Jenna, I…" Balto looked at her, thinking that there was no longer any time to waste but to say it: "...I love you, Jenna. Your light led me home and I'd be lost without you." He had his paw placed on hers. Hearing her say "love" really made her face go red, but likewise, she didn't hide it: "Balto, I love you too! If it weren't for you, I would have lost Rosy."
Balto realized that the only human who cared for him up until his arrival tonight was going to live another day. A very warm feeling flew through his veins and it was righteous of him to do. Many others, mainly children, were going to recover anytime soon and this small town was going to live with full lungs thanks to the diphtheria epidemic ending!
"Balto! There you are! Our town hero!" A voice came from a familiar green eyed, gray furred female husky with a black sled collar around her neck, running up to the porch. Balto smiled now that his long time friends were here to see him, answering: "Molly, it's great to see you again… and you too, Max! I have made it!"
"You betcha your inner wolf that you have, Balto!" Max, the dark brown, blue eyed male sled dog husky, agreed when he rushed to greet his friend. Both of them never gave up on their wolf-dog friend that he'd return with the medicine, even if the odds were narrowing down. Then, a dark brown furred, brown eyed female husky, with a patch of dark brown fur in front of her muzzle, timidly showed up from behind Max.
"Oh, hey, Audrey." Balto greeted her, wondering if she was going to go into her typical Steele-desiring mood and try to lament Balto's efforts. Instead, what she told him really caught him off guard: "Balto, I want to thank you for everything! Not only that you have saved our master's daughter, Sigrid, but you opened my eyes to see who Steele really is!"
Balto could actually hear the spite in her words when she mentioned Steele's words. While Balto was aware that his friends had a young human like Rosy was to Jenna, they didn't get enough time to spend with her, mainly because Sigrid was older than Rosy and usually busy with other things going around. He asked her: "Is she here in the hospital, Audrey?"
"On the upper floor. I hope that our master will actually see who you really are, Balto." Audrey told him and when she said his name, all of them saw a genuinely warm smile on her face. It had finally come to her who was the noble one and who was the glory hound. Balto didn't hesitate to tell her: "I… uh, thank you, Audrey!"
It came to Balto that from this night on, nothing was going to be the same. This cheering and applauding from humans and praising from dogs was something he'd never believe in the wildest of his dreams! His thoughts were broken when Kaltag stepped forwards and yelled proudly: "Balto, there you are! The hero of Nome! Come with us, the celebration is getting wild!"
"Youse should not miss a second here, Balto! The town is saved thanks to you!" Nikki also called him to join them. True, he saved the town, but Balto also knew that he wouldn't do this all by himself and yet again, the rest of the team would be unsung heroes for their contribution to save the town. Star, however, asked: "Balto? What's wrong?"
"Yeah, why are you so silent now?" Nikki asked him, noticing the look in Balto's eyes when he saw how many people were there, patting him some more and dogs of Nome waiting for their chance to congratulate in person. He finally mustered the courage to say: "I… I don't know. I never really sought any attention and glory in my life before! This feels overwhelming!"
"Well, get used to it! This is only the beginning!" Star didn't lose his enthusiasm, albeit the others didn't share his opinion with him. Molly broke it down: "I don't think you get it, Star. This is the first time in his life that humans and dogs aren't being spiteful towards him!" The look Balto had given to her was enough to say "thank you" inaudibly.
"So, what do you want us to do? We can give you some air from them if you like." Kaltag offered his advice, to which Balto thought of a potential relief. He answered him: "Yes, please. This is going to take a good while for me to get used to all this." The trio looked at one another and Kaltag's answer was: "Then that's a deal. Come with us, Balto!"
As for Jenna, Max, Molly and Audrey, they also made sure that the town hero was with the closest ones he saw. Jenna told them: "I'll be with him! I mean, you can others be with us, but he needs me more than ever." Balto's slight smile made them acknowledge that it was her with whom he wanted to be the most tonight.
"Balto, young Balto." The voice came from the middle-aged St. Bernard dog by the name Doc, who clearly sat there, patiently waiting for the wolf-dog to walk down. "Congratulations to you and your teammates on your hard-working efforts to bring the medicine to Nome! We the dogs of Nome are in your debt for doing a great thing for this small town."
"Look Doc, what we did tonight was the right thing to do, but I need a lot of time to… get used to all this…" Balto went on to explain how the new life for him in this town wasn't going to happen over one night, but over time, but the St. Bernard let him know: "Why are you being anxious? What you've done this night wasn't something that happens every night!"
"He's right, you know? Come on, Balto, this is a night you should be celebrating and you should thank Jenna for her dedication!" Sylvie, a quite unlikely dog who'd ever be this nice to Balto, let the new hero know what was going to be a life for him in here. Dixie, another formerly fervent admirer of Steele, didn't stop either: "You're positively… admirable to shy yourself away from tonight."
Humans and dogs alike, not including the ones who'd been his friends for a good while… Balto was assured that his former lifestyle of being shunned and bullied was behind him. Yet he wasn't Steele, a glory hound seeking fame and fortune entirely for himself! He was the true hero and yet, being praised and admired by everyone in this town was… a very strange feeling.
"Look, I know how you all are doing me a favor of welcoming me in this town, but I really need some time! I promise, I'm not the one who wants to run away from you." Balto assured them everything was alright. Star looked around himself and other dogs, asking him: "What do you want us to do then?"
"I don't want to be alone, that's for sure, but then again, I do want some space… just for a little bit before… I realize everything is going to be different." Balto let him know. Others around him figured out what he was trying to say and Jenna spoke to him first: "We… we understand. But would you like me to be here with you, Balto?"
"I would love to, Jenna!" Balto knew whom he wanted to be with, but at the same time, he had to think of others around him so he made two more choices: "I think… Max and… Star." I think, for now, that I'd like you two to be with me before I accept everything around me." Two dogs, rivals to one another of rival teams, made sure no animosity sparkled between them when they walked to Balto and Jenna.
"I hope you understand me." Balto looked at the other dogs and Doc replied to him: "Take the time you need, young Balto. The whole night is ahead of us!" Obviously he was right, because other humans came to greet the hero of Nome and some of them even hugged the wolf-dog, showing a massive gratitude for saving their loved ones!
He had a small company with him - his love, his friend who was like a brother to him and a former rival who actually had respected the wolf-dog the most. Star was still oblivious to Balto's decision: "I mean, why are you shying yourself away from the crowd, Balto? I mean, we helped you save the town, but if it weren't for you, we'd have never returned!"
"I know, Star… it's just that, unlike you three, I've never been this appreciated in my life before, at least not by this many." Balto told him, looking back at the human crowd, who were still in front of the hospital, waiting for good news. Jenna came closer to him and just let him know: "Don't forget that you will no longer have to be afraid to hang out with us!"
"She's right, you know? If Steele tries to do something, he'll have it another one coming. Let him feel the taste of defeat he deserves!" Max didn't hide his opinion about his hated rival and even Star didn't hide his enthusiasm. The idea of no longer being bullied by Steele really made him think there was some hope left.
"On one hand, I think I'll live with it and… what's that?" Balto started, but a strong smell caught his attention. Standing in front of the locked butcher's, Balto's muzzle caught the smell of sausages being hung in the rear side of the shop. The following moment, he felt his legs trembling when his stomach growled pretty loudly.
"Agh! I have forgotten how hungry I am! I haven't eaten anything like… in days!" Balto figured out that he had to satisfy his hunger. He looked at Jenna and thought that this could have been a good chance, he said, facing her: "I will be back soon, stay here!" Star let him know: "Bring them for me too!"
Max placed a leg in front of Star, whispering: "Uhhh, Star? I don't think that's what he meant. Didn't you notice that he was looking at Jenna?" Star was clearly not the fast one when it came to thinking. However, when he figured out what was going on between Jenna and Balto, he told them: "Oh. Alright, I understand now."
"Isn't this great, you two? Now Balto has no longer to fear about living in town anymore!" Jenna's joy increased when she knew what her love's life was going to be from this night on. Star smiled widely, answering her: "Oh you bet, Jenna! Now he can be the top dog of the town and… and… what's that smell?"
"Are you smelling the sausages too? Haven't I told you something?" Max asked him, the second question being quieter than the previous one. However, Star let him know: "Max, it's the other scent. It comes from the other alley." Even Max's muzzle caught the other scent, making him think: "And it's a very fresh one too… whose pawprints are these?"
"What's going on?" Jenna asked them, noticing the two of them sniffing the new scent around here. Star could be a slow thinker, but upon inspecting the shape of the pawprint, he told them: "Wait… this is Steele's pawprint? Is he back in town?!" Max answered: "From what I know, Audrey told me that they shut him in the boiler room and… wait, if this is a fresh scent, then…"
Both Max and Star's eyes shrunk in disbelief and shock when they noticed where those pawprints were leading to. "Oh no!" Max spoke out, realizing who else was in that alley and where this was going to lead. "Max, Star? What's going on? I don't like how you're sounding!" And she was right…
As for Balto…
"The sausages… when I find them, I will take them to Jenna's and I hope that she will have some time for us to celebrate tonight!" Balto thought to himself. He knew that the theft was not a good deed, but was the human butcher going to notice the absence of sausages tonight? Besides, he deserved them for saving the town of Nome tonight.
"Great, there they are. I hope I don't eat too many of them though, I will leave some for Jenna… and I hope that Max and Star won't resent me if they don't get any… well, Star at least." Balto thought, looking at the chain of the sausages on the hook under the window. His hunger was evergrowing, but his desire to impress Jenna was larger.
However, just as he was about to grab them with his fangs and bring them back, something sunk deep and sharp into his rear right leg that he was dumbfounded by the pain… and it wasn't any better when he was swished aside by force and thrown against the wooden wall. Once landing on the ground, he had no idea whatsoever what just happened!
"Hello, lobo." A cold and a gleeful voice came from the alley, with the pair of icy blue eyes emerging from the dark, followed with the golden collar, black fur and white underbelly and a familiar Alaskan malamute. "Steele?!" Balto's eyes widened in show when he saw his enemy coming from the dark.
However, as he was trying to get up, Steele violently pressed his paw against his chest to the wall, asking him: "What's the matter? Too good to get all the attention from dogs and humans that was meant… for me?!" Balto didn't stay silent when he asked him: "What are you talking about? What's too good for me?!"
"Don't play stupid with me! I was the one who led the journey to get the medicine and I was the one who had to bring it back, but your meddling and stealing my spotlight crossed the line tonight!" Steele let him know and swiped at his enemy's face, who yelped in pain, but gained his pawing when Steele let go off him.
"Steele! Steele, no! This isn't how it should be! I don't want to fight you. I have told you then, I'm telling you now!" Balto tried to reason with the deranged malamute, but the hatred in his icy blue eyes was saying otherwise: "I don't care. What I didn't finish there, I will finish here now… and that means… YOU!"
If only Balto could react quick enough, he'd not have been slammed backwards to the other street by his foe, who couldn't hide his anger and hatred anymore. If only Steele paid attention that the small purple husky from behind witnessed all this and without hesitation, rushed to alert everyone else in this town.
Balto stood his ground, albeit he was shaking from the impact that Steele had given to him. The malamute fumed with anger, looking at the wolf-dog who he'd seen as someone who had taken everything from him. He taunted him: "If you think you are a hero, then why don't you use your wolfish fangs and claws to strike back, huh?!"
"Steele, I don't want this! This is madness!" Balto tried to convince him, yet he had to avoid Steele lunging at him and surprisingly, he did that pretty well… only to realize that was something Steele intended him to do so. Balto didn't realize that Steele was going to ram him at the full force towards the small alley and the smashed doors over there.
"Say, do you remember what happened over there like… weeks ago?" Steele reminded him with his frighteningly cold voice and before Balto could answer him, he was being violently rammed into his side that he actually ended up parting from the ground for a few seconds before landing in front of the smashed wooden doors.
"Now it is my time to return you a favor!" Steele let him know what was coming. Suddenly, Steele pulled out his dirtiest move tonight. For a few seconds, Balto was dumbfounded by Steele's attack, not feeling anything. However, when Steele's lower lip and front fangs were covered in a red liquid and Balto moved his legs, a piercing pain roared all across him!
"That's right, not even now you dare to use your wolf side to strike me! You think you're a hero, but you're nothing short of a coward!" Steele taunted him further, watching his enemy with pleasure how he was bleeding from his shoulder and trying to stand on his paws, but the pain was too strong to bear. However, that didn't stop him from saying: "Look who's talking!"
The malamute was dumbfounded by what he'd heard, watching the wolf-dog's front leg being stained in blood, while he was telling him: "Steele, the one who thought that everything in this town revolves around him, being the top dog, but nothing short of a weak one when it came to facing real issues! You always had me and others put in misery for your own pleasure just because you are too weak to accept it. I tried to help you, I wanted to show you that there were many lives depending on our help, but you were too self centered to notice!"
So much truth was being said in Steele's face that his cold glee was replaced with the shock to the point that his anger erupted into slamming the injured wolf-dog into the boiler room, where he yelped in a pain. Steele furiously replied to him: "You were the filthy half-breed who was never welcome in this town! You took away what was rightfully mine and… AAAHHHHH!"
Balto, while knowing that he'd pass out from pain and bleeding, noticed that Steele was being attacked by a dark brown male husky - Max! Max leaped at him from behind and strongly pulled him back by his neck scruff away. Steele managed to get himself free for a moment, but then Max struck him again, bearing his fangs out.
"Look at you, disgraceful mutt, I always knew that you were the filthy traitor!" Steele circled around the room while Max was doing the same thing. The sight of Steele's red stained lip and fangs made Max furiously scowl: "You are going to pay what you've done to, Balto, Steele! If you lay a paw on him one more time…"
"Once I get you out of my way, disgrace, no one will dare to interfere me!" Steele warned him, underestimating his choice when he heard Kaltag from behind: "Says who, huh?!" Steele glanced behind him and much to his horror, a pack of dogs from Nome was standing out there, willing to strike him in order to defend Balto.
Yet nothing mattered to Steele when he leaped towards Max… and Max leaped towards Steele… resulting in a cold fight between the two heated rivals with growls and scowls, seeing which one of these two would get the advantage. Steele was the one who got it when he struck Max with his claws. Max yelped in pain when he was clawed in his face, much to Steele's pleasure.
That didn't last long when he heard a furious scream: "Don't you dare ATTACK MY BROTHER!" Before he had a good chance to see it, Audrey violently attacked him from his side by biting his front leg which made Steele scream loudly and fall on his back, landing in front of the big boiler in front.
The sole thought that one of his most fervent followers would ever turn on him left Steele pretty shocked when he laid down, not knowing what just happened. It didn't even help him when he was being surrounded by all those dogs that once were his most loyal cronies, admirers and followers… he was all by himself from this night on.
As for Max, a scratch by his muzzle was visible, oozing a little bit of blood. Then again, he seemed the least concerned about his pain, even if Molly rushed to him and asked: "Oh my goodness! Max, your face! Are you alright?!" He didn't answer her properly because Molly licked the blood off his face, showing how much he meant to her here.
"Molly, Molly! I'm alright! He attacked me, but it isn't me who needs all this attention!" Max assured her when she was done, even if the wound didn't stop. Audrey also came to her brother and noticing the wound on his face, asked him: "Max, does it hurt? If so, I'm going to make sure he pays for this!"
"Audrey, you have nothing to worry about me… I fear for Balto's safety here!" Max let them know that his scratch by the muzzle was nothing compared to Balto's wounded shoulder. In fact, he almost passed out there. He wasn't alone, because when Jenna found out what happened here, she rushed to his aid, with the fear and tears seen in her brown eyes!
"Balto! Oh no… what has he done to you?!" Jenna asked in tears, while Balto weakly responded to her: "Jenna… please… stay with me…" Jenna placed her paw on Balto's wound and with her voice being shaky, she told him: "I won't leave you!" She didn't get her answer back when Balto closed her eyes. Max, Molly and Audrey rushed to help.
At first, panic grew stronger among them, but noticing that Balto was indeed breathing, Molly spoke out of relief: "Oh… he just passed out. He needs to be patched up!" Max looked around himself and found a light brown husky with tuft on his head, standing there among other dogs surrounding Steele. He told him: "Quick, get any human you can over here! Balto needs to be nursed to health!"
"I'm on it!" The husky spoke, noticing the mess going on in here. His loud barking echoed in the alley and it was only half a minute when one of the humans asked: "What's the matter, boy?! What's all this mess and crowd and what the… is that Balto? The wolf-dog who saved Nome!? Who did this to him?!" Balto's closest friends backed away, hoping the human would understand their need.
He did when he told them: "Gosh, look at all this mess. Come on, I'll take him inside to the hospital… why doesn't Nome have a vet clinic for you?" The human took off his fur coat and gently wrapped it around unconscious Balto, not caring if there was going to be any blood stains left behind there. He moved outside and carried him to the hospital.
These four dogs could focus on the glory hound that was encircled by every possible dog around him. It was as if Steele was standing on a rotten tree and trying to save time from hungry savages below without any use. Doc was the one who started it: "Now, after everything you've caused up until now, you will explain everything!"
"As if!" Steele told him off, showing no fear towards the St. Bernard, only for Nikki and Kaltag to pin him against the wall and growl furiously at him, not forgetting what he'd done to them. "What is it that you want from me?!" He asked them, with Kaltag answering him. "Why don't we start from Balto and what you've done to him tonight, uh?!"
"Oh, since when do you care for that half-breed?!" Steele tried to regain his authority over them, but with no avail when Nikki told him: "Oh, we do care, he did something that you told everyone you'd do and that is he saved this town, that is when!" Even Star joined them and he was looking pretty frightening with his furious looks.
"After everything he'd done to me and stole the race I was…" Steele tried to find some more excuses, but Star's loud yell made him silent: "IS THAT HOW YOU WERE LOOKING THIS MEDICINE RUN THE ENTIRE WAY, STEELE?! This was not a championship, this was an important run to save as many lives as possible!" Clearly as he suffered the most abuse, he couldn't take it anymore.
"And we trusted you all the way home. We are a team, or dare I say, we WERE a team?!" Kaltag asked him, wondering how badly he'd be impacted with the fact that he was going to be ostracized from his team. Now it was the turn for girls to talk, Sylvie bringing it up: "Hey, do you remember what he told us nights ago when he returned all by himself?"
"What? What!?" Star asked, not knowing anything about Steele telling them a story. Sylvie told them: "Steele returned to Nome all by himself and sold us a story how you were dying, one by one, being frozen to death and tonight we saw Balto and you others returning with the medicine and then we find you trying to… to…"
Clearly she couldn't bring it up, but Max could: "... to finish him off!" The sole thought of Steele being close to accomplish that ignited the fire in Max's eyes. Yet, no common sense came to Steele when he furiously snapped: "After everything he'd caused to me and this town, did you really think I was going to sit there all by myself in that boiler room?!...
...I wasn't going to let that filthy half-breed take everything away from me. Up until tonight hardly any of you cared for him and now you think everything has changed with his return?! I could have put him out of misery and saved this town from a savage like him!" It was clear that Steele was at the point of no return with his words.
"So you don't deny that you wanted to end his life?! And do you think we are going to let this be unseen, huh?!" Molly asked him, fury in her eyes reaching new records. Nikki didn't hesitate to tell him: "Instead of trying to end Balto's life, you could have accepted his offer and have us tag with him to return home to Nome and save all those lives sooner!"
"Oh, oh, but he decided that sitting on his rear was a more welcome option than accepting Balto's help!" Star revealed one of quite embarrassing moments Steele did, which made him snap on the smaller dog: "And so did you! All of you were doing the exact same thing!" He hoped that his was going to give him some more time, only to realize how false that was.
"You were our leader and you were meant to lead us home, but you wouldn't consider letting anyone go but to do exactly as you did! Does it come to you that with your actions of trying to finish off Balto out there and sabotaging the trail for the medicine would have led to many humans… passing away in Nome, from the ones that admired you too!?" Kaltag demanded him to answer that.
"If you think that you can lead us in the team, you are NO longer welcome and don't you dare come to our place if you know what's good for you!" Kaltag spat on him, showing how he no longer wanted to have anything with this arrogant malamute. None of these dogs wanted it. Audrey even let him know: "And look what you've done to him, have you no shame for maiming him like this?!"
"After all, why don't we give him the spotlight he's been craving for ever since he was born?!" Dixie's high pitched voice came from below. Nothing came to Steele's mind to reply to them. In fact, each one of these dogs he was looking at sent shivers down his spine as the surroundings around him were shifting.
In his eyes, the room became darker and so did the shapes of all these dogs, pitch black. Their eyes were glowing in faint red and as if they were growing and growing. The fear was visible in Steele's eyes when they were muttering something among one another. The menace in their tones made him realize how weak he actually was.
"No." Suddenly, Jenna's voice broke down Steele's nightmarish-vision and everything went back to normal. "I know how much you want to harm Steele for what he's done tonight, but that isn't something Balto'd do. Balto never attacked Steele in his life before and do you really believe he'd do so now?"
As much as they wanted to make the malamute suffer for his wrongdoings, Jenna's voice convinced them otherwise: "In fact, there is only one thing to what Balto'd do if he were here!" Others looked around themselves and Star couldn't resist: "What is it, Jenna?! What is it?" Even Steele was dumbfounded to ask: "Yeah, what is it…?!"
Jenna's cold gaze made him silent, being the most frightening one he'd gotten from any of the dogs tonight and her cold voice was even more frightening to listen to: "Steele, if you know what's for your best, then you leave this town." Everyone else gasped in this boiler room, thinking how the most peace-abiding dog among them all would say this!
"You can't be serious!" Steele hissed, thinking that she'd take that back, only for her to reply: "If you truly value your life Steele, then it is for your best to leave this town and never to return! You will never, EVER, lay a paw on Balto, ever mock him for his wolf side, ever taunt him for his heritage and EVER nag the others to do the filthy work for you! We will give it to you the easy way… or hard way to leave Nome."
He was all alone, no friends, no admirers, no allies, none… not even his human knew where Steele was so… he didn't fall deaf on Jenna's demand, but waited for the line to the doors to get wide enough so he could exit through the doors and eventually set off in the night… leaving this town for good after his disgraceful deeds… hopefully never to return again…
This was the end of Steele's fame and career as they knew of, trying desperately to regain it with lies and violent deeds. The next day they were going to gladly know that he was banished from Nome for what he'd caused. As for Jenna, her brave and amazing words given towards Steele made her receive applause and admiration.
"I… I… I thank you for being here with me. I really wish I could say something else, but I think Balto needs me now!" Jenna didn't really seek applause from anyone when she rushed out there and headed towards the hospital doors. Max, Molly, Audrey and everyone else knew that the show was over here, with Max telling them: "She's right, we better see how he's doing!"
Tonight was not only the salvation of the humans of Nome with the medicine, but the salvation of Balto. His selfless deeds were going to make a history for going all the way to the heart of Alaska to save town and have his closest friends aide him from the villainous mutt that was Steele, who was being exiled from Nome.