Work Text:
Icebreaker
It was bad.
The Diphtheria Crisis had hit the town of Nome hard, and many people, particularly children, had fallen ill. With the number of cases piling up, the local doctors found themselves either quickly running low on medicine, or the ones they were using proved to be ineffective, which proved to be especially detrimental to the waiting patients, a large number reaching critical condition.
One of those affected was a young girl, Rosy, the owner of a red Siberian Husky named Jenna. Balto had known these two for a while now, they had been one of the few people who didn’t look or treat him with scorn, besides his adoptive family. Balto had seen the effects of Rosy’s conditions plaguing Jenna’s thoughts, she was growing increasingly worried for her owner, watching her sniffle and cough while confined to bed. The husky had tried her best to keep the little girl company, a means of comfort in these hard times, but it didn’t look good.
Worse news was to come, far beyond the town, while the delivery of medicine was viable, the weather had taken a turn for the worst as the snow made it difficult for delivery by air, no ships could enter the port as the ice had frozen over it. The only transport that had made any process was by train, but the railway didn’t reach as far as Nome, meaning that someone else would have to carry the supplies through the mountains and back.
One evening, Balto had stopped by Rosy’s home where he found Jenna looking through the window, a depressed look on her face. Cautiously, he approached the Siberian Husky and sidled next to her.
“How’s she doing…?”, Balto asked, trying not to sound like he already knew the answer.
“Not good…”, Jenna replied, her voice low and solemn, “They’ve been trying their best, but…she’s not getting better…”
“Oh…I’m sorry…”, murmured Balto, watching as the girl inside was being tended to by her mother, slowly rubbing her forehead with a warm towel.
“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault…”, said Jenna, “I just…I just want my little girl to be okay…she’s so young and…I love her…and if she goes, I just…I’ll…”
Jenna’s voice began to crack as a tear slowly dripped down her cheek. Balto caught this and felt terrible that he couldn’t do more to help…he thought of showing Jenna the Aurora Borealis trick again as a way to lift her spirits, but in this case, it didn’t feel appropriate. So instead, he opted to nuzzle the side of her face with his nose, in the most calming manner he could muster. Jenna blinked and looked over…before she leaned her head down, taking the warmth from the other canine’s gesture.
“She’ll be alright…I hope…”, Balto murmured, looking between a forlorn Jenna and an ill Rosy, it was a truly heartbreaking scene to watch.
“Thank you…”, Jenna murmured back, “at least…I don’t have to be alone in this…”
Jenna finally decided to pull down from the window, feeling she could look no longer. Balto followed suit, but then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a certain Malamute walking down the street.
“Oh no…” whispered Balto.
“What?”, asked Jenna, looking to her left…and instantly regretted it as she saw the person she didn’t want to see. “Oh…”
Steele looked in their direction and a scowl spread across his face, before he tried to wipe it off with a charismatic grin. “Well, well, if it ain’t the lucky couple ”, Steele said, the last word coming out with barely contained spite.
“Whatever you want, Steele, I don’t, so please , don’t start now”, Jenna scowled.
“Start what ? I just thought ya’ looked a bit down…makes sense, I suppose, what with all this bad news and whatnot, perhaps I can… help with that”, Steele purred, sidling up to Jenna’s left, but the husky was in no mood to humor him.
“You can help by realizing that my owner is sick and emphasizing, but that’s not in your nature, is it ?”, snorted Jenna.
“Though I guess it’s in your nature to hang out with strangers”, Steele retorted sarcastically, though he didn’t look at Balto as he said it.
“At least he isn’t interested in just having me as a trophy!”, Jenna sniped back, catching Balto off-guard at her tone. Steele too felt slightly taken aback, but tried not to show it.
“Well, I, that’s not exactly-”, The Malamute tried to say, but the fierce look in the husky’s eyes made it hard to articulate.
“JUST…go…please…”, Jenna flustered, turning her head into Balto’s chest as she tried not to break down. Steele could see that he wasn’t going to win anything here, so he just looked away and proceeded to walk on, but not before shooting Balto a look, to which the wolfdog mouthed “what?” As soon as he was out of sight, Balto looked down at Jenna.
“Are you alright?”, He asked softly.
“I’m…I’m fine…” replied Jenna, “I’m sorry you had to see that…”
“No, no, it’s fine…”, said Balto, “I didn’t expect to see you get so…mad with him.”
“Well…it just needed to be said…” Jenna affirmed, “plus…I meant what I said, you’re a good friend…better than what I’d get with him…”
“Yeah…” Balto murmured, though he felt a slight pang of guilt in him. He had never told Jenna about what had happened with him and Steele a while back, and didn’t risk saying anything now. After a while longer, Balto and Jenna parted ways and he began to make the journey back to the boathouse…but not without the feeling of being watched. His suspicions proved to be true as a pair of eyes suddenly appeared from the darkness.
“Going somewhere, wolfy?”, came a familiar voice. Balto didn’t have to think twice about who it was.
“Am I allowed to go home?”, Balto asked with an eyeroll, “I’m not in the mood to fight.”
“Who said anything about fighting?”, Steele quizzed, “I just thought we’d handle things differently .”
“Like…?” asked Balto.
“Oh, you know…” Steele gestured by looking over twice, Balto seemed to recognize the symbol and his ears turned down.
“Um…I’m not sure if…” Balto murmured, putting his head down.
“Why not? It’s cold outside, and what better way to warm up than by the fire …” Steele purred.
“It just…it doesn’t feel right after…you know…plus…are you doing it with me because I’m available?” Balto asked.
“Excuse me?”, Steele turned up indignantly.
“I’m just wondering, since you still have your eye on Jenna-” Balto continued before he was cut off.
“It’s not like that ”, Steele scoffed, “...well, not exactly.”
“Am I just a rebound?”, quizzed Balto, “because what happens if she does ever take you?”
Steele paused for a few seconds, what happened in the boiler room had been a interesting experiment, but was that it? A fling with a male while still looking at his prime subject?
“I mean…what happens’ll happen…” The Malamute replied plainly.
“Hmmmmmmm, so it was just a fluke”, Balto frowned.
“If it were a fluke, I’d still treat ya’ like dog chow”, Steele snorted.
“You still kinda do”, replied Balto, “maybe not to the extent as before, but still not respect.”
“Ya’ know I can’t go around courting you like that, that’s why I’ve kept it private . Besides, I’ve a reputation to hold up”, said Steele with his nose turned up.
“Because that’s all that matters to you, isn’t it?” Balto scowled and began to walk away.
“Hey…HEY!”, Steele called out to the departing wolfdog, “where are you going?!”
Steele didn’t get an answer as Balto picked up the pace and disappeared into the darkness. The Malamute was all on his own now.
“Damn it, lobo…” Steele muttered as he kicked the snow, setting back home himself. He thought about the evening’s events all the way back…truth be told, Steele hadn’t been paying as much attention to Jenna for a while now, if anything, it had become more of an act. Of course, he never told anyone his true intentions, not even to Balto, and the recent conversation had left him feeling quite bitter…if only for the fact that Steele had begun to view the wolfdog as more than his personal punching bag, yet couldn’t say so to his face. It was frustrating to say the least, but it turned out Steele would have bigger issues to face.
A few days passed and it was decided that the sled dogs were the most viable option to carry out the mission. Before the run could begin, there was a race held to decide which dogs would be best suited for the journey. Steele himself was absent from the trial run as he was being tended to by his masters, prepped for the journey ahead. He was slightly surprised to see that Balto was nowhere to be found when the final results came in, though it turned out he’d made an appearance prior.
“And yeah, he like came outta nowhere, like a ghost!” Kaltag flustered to the lead dog.
“Dunno how, but I’m sure it was one a’ them lobo tricks!”, Nikki snorted.
“Or maybe you two just need exercise”, Star chimed in cheekily…before Kaltag hit him over the head, “ACK!”
“Shaddup, twerp”, the tan husky snorted.
“So where’d he go?”, Steele quizzed.
“Duuuuuuh, went away shortly before you came”, Star replied dizzily.
“Perhaps he, uh, flew the coop before ya’ could give it to ‘im!”, Kaltag suggested.
“AC-HM!”, Steele coughed, “whoops, uh, sorta let that one out.”
“I’m sorry, what?”, quizzed Nikki.
“Never mind, you bozos ready?” Steele asked in his “leaderly” tone.
“Oh, sure, sure, right behind ya’, boss!” Kaltag affirmed dutifully.
“Without a doubt!”, Nikki added with bright grin.
“I’m here, too!”, chirped Star, puffing his chest up.
“Good…”, murmured Steele as he turned away. As soon as he was out of sight, Kaltag glanced at Nikki.
“ CUH -dork- CUH !”, Kaltag coughed before him and Nikki snickered to each other, Star chuckled too, but they didn’t really take notice of him. While Steele was walking back to his masters’, he noticed a trio of female dogs ogling him with starry eyes. As opposed to giving a confident smirk in their direction, Steele barely exchanged a glance as he walked past them…his thoughts lingered on Balto.
“...Aaaaaah, what does it matter, soon as this run’s done, everything’ll go back to normal…” He muttered, though not sounding entirely confident in his words.
As the sled dogs were gathered together to begin their long run up into the mountains, the whole town had gathered to see them off, ranging from humans to dogs, even a few cats and rodents had managed to find a seat for the action. Steele was at the head of the group, with a brown Siberian Husky; Togo, at his helm. Kaltag and Nikki were behind the two, from them behind were Star, and one of the Alaskan Huskies; Lance, the other Alaskan Husky; Leander with another Siberian Husky; Charlemagne, another Malamute; Drake, with a grey husky; Geoffrey. All of them were ready and waiting to start, Steele, however, kept looking around for some reason.
“Whatcha’ lookin’ at, Boss?”, Kaltag called out.
“Probably looking to see if his precious Jenna will see him”, Togo murmured with sarcasm.
Steele was indeed looking for someone, but Jenna was at the back of his mind. He was more interested in where Balto was, not that he was going to say why aloud.
“Where is he…?”, Steele muttered, a little louder than he’d intended.
“Who’s he ?”, Togo asked pointedly.
“Huh! I said, where’s…wolfy, yeah, yeah, I wanna see his face when we ride outta here in style !”, Steele proclaimed pompously.
“Suuuuuuuure…”, Togo rolled his eyes, clearly not believing a word he said. It wasn’t too long before the musher arrived to claim the sleigh. Steele and Togo took their positions as leads, and once the path was cleared, the cavalcade burst through the streets of Nome, the crowd cheering on as they set off into the mountains.
“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, let’s go, let’s go!”, barked Geoffrey.
Unbeknownst to Steele, watching from a distance was Balto, being just able to point out the miniaturized dogs from where he was standing. He sighed before Boris, the Russian snow goose came flapping up next to him.
“‘Ey, what is up with you, boyo? What is frowny face for now?”, Boris asked pointedly.
“Oh, nothing, Boris, just…oh, nothing”, Balto murmured as he looked away.
“Oooh, c’mon now, you know you cannot hide things from Boris”, the avian prodded with a wiggle of his finger.
“Well…I was planning on joining them, but-”, Balto began, but was cut off.
“YOU! Joining that lot?!”, Boris exclaimed, “even after all de’ backchat and pushing around? Why would you want to be like them, boyo?”
“Well, I thought if I was one of them, I’d be…part of the group, accepted, you know…but I…I chickened out…no offense”, the wolfdog murmured.
“Hmmmmmm, none taken”, Boris replied, “although, it looks like something else is bothering you.”
“What do you mean?”, quizzed Balto.
“What, you don’t think I raise a kid fa’ years and don’t pick up on anything?”, Boris asked theatrically, “I know that look in your eyes.”
“Uhhhhhhh, I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Balto said, a little too hastily.
“Hmmmmmm, c’mon, best say it now and not leave a poor old man hanging”, Boris prodded, tilting his head and giving “that look”.
“Weeeeeeeell…it’s kinda hard to explain, but…”, Balto leaned in to whisper into Boris’ ear. Dixie and Sylvie were walking down the street as a panic-stricken “WHAT?!!!” echoed around the town, or sounded like a loud goose cry to the humans.
“I’ll peck his feet off! I’ll bite his nose off! I’ll shave his face off! I’ll-OOF!”, Balto stuck out his paw on Boris’ chest before he could rant further, “what else did he do?! I’LL-”
“Nonono, it’s not like that, it wasn’t like the other times”, Balto rationalized quickly, “it was…unusual to say the least, but I kinda…enjoyed it? You’re not…mad, are you?”
Boris stood silent for a few seconds…before he took a breath and sighed. “No…I’m not mad at ya’...but are you sure he didn’t hurt you?”
“I swear, he didn’t do anything I didn’t like…although, I wonder if he even cared beyond that…”, Balto frowned, “cuz he was acting all…cold and distant…not like it matters, I guess. Perhaps he just needed an easy time…”
“Well, if he had any brains, I’d tell ‘im what he’s missing out on”, Boris sniffed, “but…don’t let it get you down, boyo…”, the goose put a wing under Balto’s chin, “even if it doesn’t work out, you can always come to me…”
Balto gave a small smile at his stepfather, to which Boris returned.
Meanwhile, the sled dogs had finally reached the station at Nenana, after a grueling journey covering 674 miles. The medicine was loaded onto the sleigh in a large wooden crate, and the team set back on the long journey for home. The route back, however, proved to be more difficult than expected. The weather that winter had been particularly brutal, and the team was experiencing the worst of it. It was a total whiteout, the cold wind flew like knives being struck into their faces, and the snow swirled around so thick, they could hardly see where they were going. It was especially hard to see for the lead dogs, Steele and Togo tried to keep their wits about them through the blizzard, but with how the snow made everything look the same, it was hard to tell which way they were going.
“Bitter cold, bitter cold, bitter cold”, Kaltag shivered.
“STEELE!”, Star called out, “we’re lost, aren’t we?!”
“We’re NOT-” Steele called back before a large gush of wind blew in his face, “-lost…”
“Hooooooo, of all the times to have a blizzard, why did it have to be now ?”, Charlemagne whined.
“I can’t see a-”, Lance began.
“-thing in this storm!”, Leander finished.
“My paws are sinkin’ so deep, I might get stuck !”, Nikki called out.
“Your f-f-fault, fatboy!”, Drake shuddered, trying to brush some snow off his face.
“Cah, this stuff’s thicker than the flour mill!”, Geoffrey called out.
“Will you all PIPE UP?!”, Togo shouted, “We’re not gettin’ any closer to home with you whining and complaining-AK!” The brown husky found himself being dragged along with the others to the left, “Steele, what the HELL are you doing?!”
“Gettin’ us HOME!”, Steele barked back, his paws digging into the thick snow as the other dogs yelped and barked behind. “Gaaaaaaah…this way!”, The Malamute pulled the group then to the right, the musher had to hold on to avoid getting knocked off-balance.
“Woooooooah, boys, WOOOOAH!”, The musher called out in vain.
“Steele, you’re going to get us even more lost!”, Togo sniped as he tried to control the team’s motion. “Everyone, follow my lead!”
Togo pulled straight ahead and the team started to settle, if just barely as Steele’s end kept tugging on the reigns. The Malamute gritted his teeth at the husky’s insubordination.
“You pull where I pull!”, Steele snapped at his co-leader.
“Last I checked, you were driving us off-course!”, Togo bit back.
“Grrrrrr, you piece a’ shhhhh-”, Steele attempted to swear, before feeling the ground shifting from beneath them, “move off, MOVE OFF!”
Steele lurched to the left, causing the team to make a sharp turn that very nearly threw the crate overboard, just as a section of the snow fell into a ditch several feet below.
“Hey, hey, watch it!”, shouted Geoffrey.
“WOOOOOAH, steady, you, STEADY!”, The musher cried out in alarm.
“Where are we going?!”, shouted Star, as the group began to climb up an incline.
“SOMEWHERE…that’s NAAAAAAAAAT-” Steele tried to call back before his legs felt nothing but air for a moment. The cavalcade suddenly began to descend downward at an alarming rate, Steele could only watch helplessly as the slope plunged further and further into a snowy hell, the other dogs howling, barking, and screaming in fright as they fell. With a CRASH, they landed in a pile at the bottom, the musher being knocked unconscious from the impact of the fall, and all around them was a scattered sight of dogs groaning in agony.
“Ooooooooooooh…”, moaned Lance.
“My head…”, groaned Leander.
“Remind me to never go out in blizzards again”, whined Charlamagne.
“Oh, shut up, you…PHEW…pompous windbag…” Drake scowled, blowing snow from his mouth.
Togo groaned as he tried to stand up, looking to his left to see a nearly petrified Steele staring into space.
“Where…where are we…?”, Togo asked, trying to look around for any signs of a path…what he did find was a space of air, looking down to see they were on the edge of a cliff…he backed off quickly.
“What do we do now…Steele…?”, Star asked with worry. Steele just kept looking off into space, not sure what could be done…there were no two ways about it…they were well and truly lost.
The situation wasn’t any better back in Nome, people were continuing to drop like flies, and the hospital found themselves overcrowded with sick patients. It had become so bad that coffins were being made just as quickly, ranging all sizes from adults to children. Rosy had been moved here along with the other sick children, the doctors were doing all they could to keep her stable, but the poor girl found herself going in and out of consciousness. This was especially hard for her parents, holding onto dear life that their daughter would make it out alive.
Meanwhile, Jenna had found herself unable to continue watching her youngest owner suffer like this, and took to the shelter of the local boiler room. The other town dogs had gathered here as a means to escape the cold, Doc, the old St. Bernard, was trying to keep an orderly fashion amongst the restless crowd.
“I tell ya’, it’s freezin’ out there!”, squeaked Dixie in her usual valley fashion, “I can’t even take a walk anymore with all this pilin’ snow!”
“At least you’ve got all that fur on you, just lookit me”, Sylvie droned pitifully, “I will say, I’m glad I ain’t out where they are.”
“I’m just wondering why they’re not back yet”, Jenna murmured anxiously, “at this rate, half of the town will die of this disease!”
“I tell them whippersnappers never ta’ go out in that tundra, but nooooo, go off and freeze yer tails off”, grumbled Arthur, the old bloodhound.
“Surprised the cold hasn’t taken you yet, old timer”, replied Roger, the Retriever, “I heard they’re making coffins fit for canines.”
“Gaaaaah, I’ll see you in one before I give up the ghost!”, Arthur barked back.
“Oooooooh, I just pray for their return, oh, my darling Steele is probably frozen to his paws out there”, Charlene, the Border Collie moaned dramatically. Dixie scowled in her direction.
“Hey, what do you mean ‘your darling’?!”, The Pomeranian sniped.
“Oooooh, it’s about to get feisty in here”, murmured Sylvie in secret delight.
“Oh, you’re still chasing him, what a pity”, Charlene said dismissively, “don’t see why really, he’ll never take a munchkin.”
“Come and say that to my face!”, Dixie barked.
“Or what, you’ll do a trick with those nubs?”, Charlene smirked pompously, “Hmmhmmhmm, face it, darling, he wants someone with style and grace .”
“Gaaaaaaah, females today, I remember when they used to be sensible things when I had ‘em”, scoffed Arthur with an eyeroll.
“You with women isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind when I look at you”, Roger jested.
“You don’t want to know the first that comes to mind when I LOOK AT YOU!”, snapped Arthur.
“QUIET!”, shouted Doc, his voice rising over everyone else. The room became completely silent as the St. Bernard spoke again, “We’re in the middle of an epidemic and you’re all focused on petulant nonsense!”
“Now for the voice of experience ”, murmured Sylvie sarcastically.
“Do ya’ think they’ll make it back okay?!”, Dixie asked with genuine angst.
“My dear child, all we can do is pray for the best, at the moment…I don’t know…I really don’t know…”, frowned Doc.
This was enough for Jenna as she began to make her way out the door, much to the surprise of Dixie and Sylvie.
“Jenna…?”, Dixie asked as the door shut before her.
“Oh dear…”, Doc shook his head knowingly.
Jenna began to walk from the boiler room, she had enough on her mind as it was, and the drama inside wasn’t helping. As she came to the outskirts of town, she looked ahead and something caught her eye; Balto was heading in the direction of the forest, followed by Boris, and the polar bears; Muk and Luk.
“Balto…?”, She asked quietly.
Meanwhile, way up in the mountains, the sled dogs were having no luck in their current situation. The blizzard was still howling around them, and they still couldn’t make out a straight path through the blinding snow. The only source of heat was the small candle in the lantern, and of course, this wouldn’t be enough to sustain an entire group. With no better options at hand, many of the dogs had resorted to rubbing against each other for warmth. Kaltag was so cold that he couldn’t bring himself to bonk Star on the head for pressing against his body.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have been such a scamp back then…”, Togo murmured as a gush of wind kicked up a swirl of snow in his face, “brrrrrrrrr…hmm?”
The brown husky noticed that Steele had taken up pacing back and forth, all while his legs could be seen visibly shaking.
“What are you…doing…?”, Togo asked.
“Thinking…of a plan…”, Steele gruffed back. Truth be told, he was growing more helpless as the time ticked by…the cold was slowly starting to get to him, and he longed for a nice warm fire.
“Can’t come any…s-s-sooner…”, Nikki grumbled and shivered as he brushed against Drake.
“Brrrrrrrrr, I’ll be a dog-sicle by the time before spring…”, shivered Geoffrey.
“Shut up…”, muttered Drake.
Togo looked out towards the mountains…there didn’t appear to be a single life form for miles…for whatever reason, he thought, might as well give it a shot…the husky let out a howl, and it echoed through the landscape…but the only thing that came back was his echo. He tried again…still, nothing came back in response.
“T-The Hell you h-h-howlin’ like a w-wolf for?” shivered Kaltag.
“I’m trying to see if we can get help…don’t see any of you coming up with any bright ideas…”, muttered Togo.
“Hate to…say it because…the man’s got a point…”, Steele shuddered as he wobbled to a stop.
“Well, isn’t that a sight to behold?”, Nikki muttered darkly.
Steele mustered up as much strength as he could…and let out a low howl to the mountains…again, all he could hear was his echo…
“I’ll be damned if resorting to this doesn’t do it…”, The Malamute murmured as he tried again…and the next time, he was accompanied by Togo…suddenly, a howl came back, neither of their own.
“Wait…is that…?”, Star looked up in astonishment. Steele howled again just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke…it wasn’t, coming out from the blizzard, and looking a little worse for wear, was Balto, stopping just a few feet away from the stranded dogs.
“Hey! I’m here!”, Balto called out, and then winced as he took another step forward.
“Doh, I say, looking a bit ragged, aren’t you, old sport?”, Charlemagne observed.
“Ehhhhhh, had a bit of an encounter with a grizzly bear…I’ll say more another time”, replied Balto.
“H-How did you find us?!”, exclaimed Star.
“Well, I was able to track down your scent and…”, Balto trailed off as he looked in Steele’s direction. The Malamute wasn’t looking too good, based on the snow and ice sticking to his body. The wolfdog walked up to the shivering canine, who looked up to see his new company.
“W-W-What the h-hell are you d-doing…?”, Steele shuddered bitterly.
“You’re cold…”, said Balto.
“N-No…kibble, Sherlock…”, came the gruff reply, and then noticed Balto coming closer to him…much to his shock, and everyone else’s, the wolfdog brushed his side against Steele’s. The Malamute began to feel just a little bit warmer, though it was only a little. Balto could sense the chill through his fur, he suspected Steele wasn’t the only one close to freezing, everyone else looked frozen to the feet.
“Don’t worry…I’m going to get you all out of here…”, Balto proclaimed, once again nuzzling Steele’s side to create some friction.
“How do you reckon that?”, quizzed Togo.
“Y-Yeah…in case ya’ haven’t noticed-”, Lance shivered.
“W-We don’t know where we are…”, Leander shuddered.
“You don’t have to worry, I marked the trail back”, replied Balto, “if we just follow it, we’ll get back to Nome.”
“And how do we know the snow won’t just cover our tracks?”, Togo asked with a quirked brow.
“I marked the spots with my paws, and I can smell our way back”, said Balto.
“Huh…that’s..actually kind of…resourceful…”, Togo admitted.
“We’d better hurry, though, everyone’s waiting for you guys, and…you’re not looking in the best of shape”, Balto murmured with concern.
“Hmph, and you are ?”, snarked Drake.
“A b-bit on the ruffled side…”, murmured Charlemagne.
“I’ll be fine…let’s just get you all home…”, Balto affirmed before turning to Steele, “you gonna be alright?”
“Don’t…don’t worry about me…”, Steele murmured as he headed off to get into position, but found it incredibly difficult to walk. Balto looked on with concern, but there was no time for any more talk as he was given a rein of his own, and latched on in front of Steele and Togo. With a deep breath, the group once again began to make the journey home, roughly 55 miles away from town.
The snow was still falling heavily as they made their way through the never-ending blizzard. To Balto’s credit, the path was true to his word, every time they spotted one of his marks, he knew they were going in the right direction. Unfortunately, the weather was still proving to be a challenge, and eventually, Balto found that his little shortcut was turning out to be longer than expected.
“C’mon…c’mon, Balto…ya’ gotta pull through this…”, Balto said internally, “gotta…just gotta keep going…you’ve made it this far…can’t let them down…not Rosy…”
Everything felt like a blur through the wisping snow, everyone was tired, freezing, and hungry…the pain accompanied by the cold was immeasurable…Balto found himself looking back to the rest of the group…they were all thoroughly exhausted…but no one looked more worse for wear than Steele, who seemed to just barely be clinging on…the concern only made Balto more determined to get back home…however, all he could see was an endless trail of white…and every paw step ached…suddenly, as if by magic, something began to illuminate through the pure grey sky…it was…colorful…
“Wait…is that…?” Balto mumbled before the sound of howling could be heard in the distance…the wolfdog squinted his eyes as, right up in the mountains and just barely visible, was a pack of wolves running through the snowy landscape…to Balto’s surprise, at the front of the pack was a white wolf that stood amongst the other greys…it looked…ethereal…almost otherworldly…and it seemed to pick up on Balto’s presence as it looked in his direction, and let out a majestic howl.
Balto, feeling some sense of kindred spirit, howled along with the wolf as it echoed around the mountains, and in the skies, an Aurora Borealis could be made out…in reality, it was a collection of glass shards that Jenna had gathered at the right angle. She had meant for it to be a beacon to guide the team back, and much to her surprise, she could hear the sound of dogs and wolves howling in the distance.
“Balto…?”, Jenna gaped, before her face lit up, “Balto!”
Boris, who stood on a rooftop upon hearing the commotion, held his ear out for a better listen.
“Is that…hehe, HAHAHA, HE MADE IT, oooooooh, boyo, I’m not a disaster parent after all, HAHA!!!”, Boris chortled heartily, as the team came into view. All at once, the townsfolk began to gather outside as the team struggled through the final lap of the long trail. At last, battered, weary, but unbeaten, the dogs pulled into Nome with one last great effort. They came to a stop just in the center of town to a chorus of cheers and whistles. The dogs all collectively breathed a sigh of relief, they were exhausted .
“Hooooooooo, never ask me to run that long again”, panted Nikki.
As the crowd began to gather around the dogs and the musher was tended to by the paramedics, Balto looked all around him…amongst the crowd of happy and relieved humans, before looking back at his fellow canines, he was just in time to catch Steele falling to the ground with a thump .
“Steele!”, Balto gasped in alarm. As the reins were removed from the dogs, the wolfdog tried to prod the Malamute up, “oooooh, c’mon, get up.” The only thing that Balto received was a weak groan from Steele.
“Ooooooooooh…”
“Quickly, someone help me with him!”, Balto cried out. Togo, being the closest, went over to pick Steele off the ground along with Balto, and the two began to carry him away. Star spotted them amongst the flurry of people.
“Hey, where are they going?”, He asked perplexed.
“Nev-Never mind, I just…haaaaaaaa…”, Kaltag groaned as he leaned over to one side and toppled over, taking Star along with him. Jenna had seen the excitement as she passed by the crowd, a sense of relief filling her as now Rosy would finally be well again. Much to her surprise, Balto, along with Steele and Togo, were absent from the group, leaving her quite perplexed.
Meanwhile, Balto and Togo had managed to escort the frigid Steele to the boiler room, setting him down close to the fire. Togo backed off as Balto began to rub against the Malamute in an effort to warm him up…after a few moments, Steele finally regained his senses as he opened his eyes.
“Ooooooooh…what’d I miss…?”, He groaned.
“Oh, just me making sure you don’t freeze to death”, Balto smiled, brushing a paw down Steele’s back. The Malamute let out a murrrrrrrrrr at the gesture, his eyes closed contentedly.
“...I’ll leave them to it”, Togo murmured as he exited the room. Balto laid down next to Steele as the marble canine looked at him.
“Hey…why’d you rescue me?”, Steele asked softly.
“Well, I couldn’t let you all freeze in the tundra, people needed you here”, replied Balto.
“Yeah…but why me in particular…”, murmured Steele.
“Because…because…I had a thought about it and…regardless of what you think, I believe it was the right thing to do…”, Balto said softly, “I just want to know…if you think of me any different…”
“...To be honest, I’ve been wondering that myself…I know I came off as…cold before…”, murmured Steele, “but…thank you…I guess I owe you for this…”
“Well…so long as you’re alright, then that’s fine with me…”, Balto replied as he lay his head down on the floor…before feeling Steele’s head against his own.
“I think I know how to repay it…”, The Malamute murred as he nuzzled his head against Balto’s, “and to say…I know who I’m really after…”
“Which is…?”, The wolfdog asked as he felt Steele’s nose press against his own.
“Oh…you know…consider it a way to…break the ice between us…”, Steele cooed as he managed to push himself on top of Balto. The two canines brushed each other’s noses once more…before it moved onto their lips…there was a quiet smacking noise amidst the otherwise silent room before the two settled down, content to be resting in each other’s warmth for the time being.
With the medicine having been retrieved, things began to turn back to normal in the town of Nome. Any people who were still sick were treated with the proper care, and the epidemic finally began to cease. Jenna in particular smiled brightly as she saw Rosy getting better with each passing day, and was finally able to rest by her side as the little girl could sleep contentedly at night.
In spite of the massive amount of attention being brought to Balto following the run, surprisingly enough, he was absent from most of it. It wasn’t just Togo making sure that he wasn’t the only one receiving attention, Balto was preoccupied with attending to Steele who was slowly gaining his strength back. The sled dogs were given an extended lease from service following the run, some were set free, others stayed around and went about their business.
Kaltag and Star had taken up residence in the nearby post office, the former was especially glad to see that there was a warm fire in the building, and for a while, the two merely spent their time recuperating from the recent ordeal…before things went back to normal with Star saying something stupid, and Kaltag bumping his head for it, though it seemed to have become more teasing than spiteful.
Lance and Leander were sold to an old woman’s residence to keep her company. She found the two quite amusing in how they seemed to bark one after the other, while to each other, they were completing each other’s sentences.
Charlemagne was sold to a sea merchant and became the captain’s first mate, or pet in that regard. He relished the attention he’d receive from the crew, affectionately giving himself the title of “Captain Charlemagne”.
Nikki took up residence near the butcher’s shop, which made it easy for him to feast on whatever fresh meat would come by the place, via begging from the owner or snagging it from the crates himself.
Drake and Geoffrey didn’t receive new ownerships after they had been relieved of service, and no one saw them afterward for quite some time. It turned out they had moved to one of the local towns for a new lease on life.
Togo was residing with a new owner; Miss Elizabeth Ricker, following the transaction from his original owner to live out his golden years. He became acquainted with a mostly peaceful lifestyle, and made sure to keep a close eye on anyone spreading misinformation about the medicine run.
One evening, as Balto and Steele were looking out towards the horizon, they spotted the Northern Lights shimmering in the sky. Balto in particular smiled at the scene, watching the colors dart around like a painting in the sky.
“Truly beautiful, isn’t it?”, Balto murmured.
“Oh…yeah, it is”, Steele replied, giving a rare genuine smile as he looked up.
From the corner of Balto’s eye, he spotted several wolves retreating into the forest…he looked back between them…and then back at Steele…and then thought back to the white wolf he had seen before…it had been a crazy ride thus far, so he wasn’t in a rush to solve any mysteries…but whatever did lie ahead of him, it would certainly be an adventure.
As for Steele, it might not have been the result he expected…or even the result he’d asked for if going back a long time ago, but in his current position, this was the good kind of unexpected…perhaps he’d been lucky enough to have this kind of fate…whatever it was, he found no reason to complain about it.