Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Balto, I don't own ANYONE!

Snowbound

It was a quiet day in Nome Alaska in the year of 1923.

The atmosphere was as cold and bitter as a lemon dipped in ice, each time a cold wind blew by it would turn even the most warm-blooded of creatures into a statue made from ice. The snow was so steep that any human that lived in the local village whom happened to tread in it would be forced to tread the just-below-the-knee-deep snow as though they were wading through miles and miles of cream.

But if you thought the humans had it bad, it was worse for the animals.

The village dogs stayed as warm as possible inside their cosy little homes, the wolves took off to try and find nice little caves to keep themselves warm in, the Caribou and moose stayed in woodlands to try and survive off of what little green was available (as scarce as it was), the woodland creatures decided to hibernate and the bird flew south.

All except for one bird, anyway.

The day was abnormally quiet for a Russian snow goose named Boris Goosinov.

The goose waddled out into the snow, it being so steep that he was barely able to keep his head above ground, as he tried to find himself some nourishment.

Normally he'd head into Nome to get his food to survive but he hated going into that human and dog infested death trap of a town so he'd just try scavenging around for any bread crumb or anything edible that some careless human tossed aside during a dog sleigh race or something. Sure looking for such treats was a fools errand but a hint of optimism couldn't hurt anyone.

He surveyed his surroundings carefully, being careful to avoid predators.

Boris kept on searching regardless of the danger. He was very cautious but also very ambitious and he was going to find himself something to nibble on during this outing! He was determined to get some food to try and survive the heavy snowfall and, thankfully, it seemed that fate was smiling upon him since it didn't take him too long until he managed to find a discarded bag filled with items as well as a few human snacks.

It was a small sack half-buried in the snow.

Upon studying it carefully, Boris surmised that maybe some dog sled musher had accidentally dropped it.

Just seeing the delectable contents made him salivate and his gut clenched in hunger.

He bent down and grabbed the knot of the fabric sack in his beak.

When he accommodated the extra weight, Boris proceeded to waddle (or more like tread) off back towards his home and shelter.

It was an old shipwreck site that consisted of a large wooden boat that looked to have been broken to the point of never being able to set sail in the water again...in fact, if someone were to try and make it go into the water it would sink like a stone because of all the openings and holes left in it. It seemed like the perfect thing to make a nice home out of, though, so that's exactly what a certain goose did.

It only took a few minutes of treading through the snow with his neck hanging out until he finally had the old wooden boat in his sights.

Boris felt his heart soar when his eyes laid upon the wreckage. Each and every time he saw the boat that he called home he would feel this feeling that made the skin beneath his chalk-white plumage tingle out of nostalgia. Upon glancing skyward, the goose could tell that night was evening was giving way for night judging by how the skies had turned a grand mixture of peach and bright magenta —a dark shade of indigo was beginning to seep in as the clouds were starting to fade into nothingness.

He felt exhaustion wash over him like a grand tidal wave and he could feel his body feel like a weight that he'd have a hard time holding up as he carried the bag, which was still in his beak, and he made his way over towards the boat. Each step felt as though he was walking on needles but he supposed that being out in the snow could do that.

It took about a minute more until he finally reached the bottom of the wooden plank that was normally used to step inside the nice, warm shelter. He somehow dug his way out and managed to get himself just above the snow and he prepared himself...but as he was just about to put one of his flat feet on one of the wooden planks to climb aboard the boat, he froze.

He heard some strange sounds.

They sounded quite peculiar.

"Hmmm...?"

Boris hummed in a mix of thoughtfulness and confusion with the bag still hanging in his beak and he stayed silent to try and get a listen of the strange noises; his heart took a deep plunge into his stomach, like a stone being dropped into a lake of water, and he started to feel deeply confused. He'd thought that all the animals (perhaps except for polar bears and the like) had gone into hibernation.

The noises sounded young.

Boris put his bag on the step and decided to investigate as he waddled right over towards the source of the sounds. Thankfully he managed to not fall into the snow this time around so he was able to keep himself from almost drowning in the thick blanket of white again. He didn't have to travel too far since it appeared that the noises were being caused by a little pile of snow beneath the boat.

The goose tilted his head to one side with confusion written plainly across his beak.

"Bozhe moy, what'd this be?"

Judging by the fact that the snow was moving, he'd have to assume that he was correct in suspecting that whatever this was it was alive and the noises sounded like a dogs whine but more high pitched and squeaky, but they sounded muffled due to the fact that the owner of the whimpers was buried in a heap of snow.

The Russian goose made a careful approach as he tentatively reached forwards and started to try brushing the snow off of whatever was beneath. It only took a minute of brushing all the snow off and a little shuddering lump was unveiled; it was a very fluffy but very cold pup.

But it didn't look like an average pup.

It looked somewhat...wolffish...

The puppy had a slender build, even for a youngster his age (which was a fair estimate of five weeks old) and his grey coat was slightly scruffy in places. He had very scruffy cheek fur which that and his underbelly were coloured a more silvery platinum colour. He had really big front paws. The whites of his eyes were yellow and were complimented by his scarlet/brown irises. And he looked quite...unique. Actually, he was probably just a bit smaller than Boris when he was crouched down and shivering like he was now.

One thing was for certain though, the puppy definitely had a slight Wolf-like streak about him.

Realising this, Boris felt struck by fear and his heart pounded hard in his chest whilst he quickly took several steps backward until he fell right into the snow for the second time today even though he ended up being completely buried this time. He let out muffled yelps and cries of fear as he squirmed beneath the snow.

"AHHH! WOLF! WOLF!" He screeched with terror.

But, even throughout all of Boris' panicking, the pup did nothing but sit there.

He looked sad.

It took a long three minutes until Boris finally ceased struggling altogether and popped his head up out of the snow, a small pile atop his head as he poked his long neck out and studied the little one closer from where he was. Actually, looking at him again, this pup didn't look dangerous in the slightest. He could feel his heart crumble slightly when he saw the sad little face and all traces of fear melted away instantly.

Boris finally calmed down and climbed out the snow once more as he stared wearily at the youngster, whom did nothing but sit and shudder from the cold as he pulled the muscles of his body close together to try and keep warm since his little gray coat was doing practically naught.

It took a long few moments of silence until the Russian goose decided to try and start conversation. He'd hoped that this pup could speak.

The goose asked the small pup, "So where is your family, shchenok...?"

His response, though, was one that made him feel his heart sink down into his stomach in pity; the half-wolf puppy's eyes drifted down to the floorboards and his little ears flattened against his head. He sniffled as he avoided eye contact from the Russian-accented bird. A low, rather saddened whine escaped from the young wolf dog's throat as he looked down to the floor.

Judging by this, the pup was probably too young to talk just yet.

Boris' eyes widened and he frowned solemnly when the realisation hit him: It seemed that he was separated from his family and pack or there was no family to even speak of.

Either way, it seemed that this poor pup was orphaned and all alone.

"Oh..."

Fate had dealt this poor little guy a bad stack of cards; he'd been left all sad and somewhat dejected by many and everywhere he went probably resulted in the reaction of fear and taunts. When the goose looked closer it became more and more clear that the little one did, in fact, appear to look like a hybrid between both wolf and dog.

All the pup did was cower before the goose, scared that he would hurt him or something, whimpering and whining softly as he lay down on his stomach and curled his bushy tail around his body.

Seeing such a tiny pup in such a sorry state of affairs made the goose's gut gnaw in response.

Then an idea struck him.

To be honest he hadn't really considered the idea of having anyone live with him since he had been by himself for quite some time and food was scarce enough right now, he didn't exactly know how he was going to provide for both himself and a young orphaned pup but how could he turn a blind eye when something so small and innocent needed him?

That was when he'd made up his mind and he gave a resolute nod to himself.

The question came flowing out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"How would you like to stay with me?"

That seemed to do the trick and the pup instantly perked up right after those words left his beak. Despite him hiding in the darkness, Boris could see the little wolf dog's ears perk right up and for a moment he wondered whether doing this would be a good idea.

He would be taking in something that could be potentially dangerous —even though he didn't look too dangerous right now, probably due to his youth— into his care and guardianship when it could one day turn on him and pick feathers from its teeth the second he turned his back...but he couldn't (in good conscience) let the poor thing die in the snow either.

Before the goose could even blink, the pup suddenly found the strength to leap out from the darkness of his little shelter beneath the boat porch and started to attack Boris' face with affectionate licks to the face. Boris squirmed as he tried to get away from the sign of affection coming straight from the little wolf dog, laughing and giggling all the way so his eyes were filled with tears of hilarity.

"Alright, alright, alright!" He somehow gathered the strength to shove the pup off of him and looked down at himself as he was now dripping with yucky saliva, this made him want to venture into the boat as soon as possible to dry himself off before the snow and ice in the air made it freeze and stick to him.

He wiped a lingering tear from his eye as he smiled gently at the orphan.

"Now, moy mal'chik, I suppose that I should come up with name for you..."

The young wolf-dog puppy sat on his haunches and looked at the goose as though confused. Boris sighed since he wasn't quite used to doing things like this as for most of his adolescence he'd been a solo bird whom never fit in with the other geese...but he couldn't help but start to realise that he didn't want to live on his own anymore. Who knows? Maybe the company would be beneficial for the both of them.

He raised a wing and used a primary feather to thoughtfully scratch at his head.

"After everything you've been through, you had struggled through many hardships and you did so with such courage and bravery..."

The pup somehow seemed to understand his words since he suddenly assumed a rather proud look as he raised his head, closed his eyes, smiled and puffed out his chest to make himself look as big as possible. What downplayed his attempt at looking big and brave was that his cute little tail was waggling non-stop and it was something that made Boris bite his lower lip/beak to prevent a burst of laughter from escaping his vocal chords.

Boris' eyes lit up when inspiration struck like a bolt of lightning.

He smirked at the puppy.

"I know! How about Balto?"

The name seemed to roll off of the tongue really well and he nodded resolutely to himself as he decided that Balto was a great name; the pup —now named Balto— also seemed to like the name as he wagged his tail so fast that it seemed like nothing but a gray blur.

He smiled wide so as to expose his cute, teeny canine teeth to the goose.

Boris found himself growing more and more attached to the little mongrel by the second, even though he was half wolf he couldn't deny the fact that Balto was incredibly cute! It wasn't until a slight sliver of wind caused his little body to start shivering and he instantly started to press his body right up against Boris for warmth and comfort and the goose was taken aback by this. He hadn't comforted a child before, nor did he ever see himself as a father figure but clearly the pup now did and was seeking his protection from the elements.

The goose couldn't hold back a smile.

He relaxed a wing then rested it atop Balto's little fuzzy head and started stroking it as a way to soothe and reassure him. Brows knitting together, he sighed a bit (his breath was a fog thanks to the weather) and suggested to the shivering puppy.

"Shall we go home?"

Even though Balto still huddled close up to him, he gave a whine of confirmation.

Boris picked up the orphan as best as he could and he almost staggered under the weight of the bundle of fur, but he kept himself upright as he felt himself plunge once again into the snow so his neck was sticking out once more and he made sure to tighten his hold on the heavy ball of pup cradled in his wings to prevent dropping him and losing him amongst the depth of the snowy ground and it was as he carried the pup, Boris' mind suddenly cast itself back to the sack he'd put on the large wooden boat.

Finding food would probably be more difficult with two mouthes to feed but he'd try and make it work because it would most likely be worth the effort.

Balto needed him and he was going to care for the little one if it killed him.

Boris almost stopped once again when he suddenly felt something rubbing up against his chest, and he had a good idea what it was even though he couldn't quite see due to his body (except for his neck) being buried in the snow so he simply surmised that Balto must have started to snuggle him and rub his cheek fluff right against his chest.

Boris' mind felt overwhelmed by the adorable mental image of the pup snuggling him for warmth. He felt his heart melt at the gesture of affection and he couldn't help but smile wide.

"Come now, Balto," The goose told the much-happier wolf/husky puppy, "let's go home."

A/N: This is how I think Boris found and came to adopt Balto as his own son.

I never made a Balto fic before but I'm pleased with how it turned out!

I also added as much fluffiness as I possibly could.

Hope you like it! :D

-Chloemcg