Chapter 1.

The spring dusk completely surrounded him.

It surrounded Balto in the very ends of daylight. The sun had gone down over the curve in the earth, and now left the very trail ends of blue sky to the west. A warm southern wind blew up over the ocean, across the last bit of ice that still hugged the land, and surrounded Balto. Balto found the salty air rude as it invaded his nostrils and mouth.

The old fishing trawler loomed up behind him, and seemed to become taller as the night went on and grew darker. It became a hidden scary place where ghosts might hide and lurk.

But everything around Balto was not scary as he lay in the cool moist grass. He was surrounded by friends and family who were laughing and smiling just as he was. Directly next to Balto lay Jenna, her entire body stretched out the length of his and pushed exceptionally close to his. Her head lay against his shoulder, her eyes half closed in a euphoria. Across from Balto lay his son and three friends, Kirby, Ralph, and Dusty. All of them silhouetted in the long gone sun, and by the lights of town.

All five of them were quiet, and this gave Balto a moment to reflect, and notice his friends and loved ones around him. It also gave Balto time to reflect on the hero stories that had been told all evening by Kodi and his friends.

"Oh, I got a story!" dusty stated out of the darkness, her face obscured by the position of the light. Balto focused in on her teeth, which were the only part of her body that he could spot in the low light, and prepared himself for one of her true stories about her time pulling the line.

'Pulling the line' had become a common fraise that the mail dogs had come up with in the past few months. They used it all the time, and whenever they could, like children using a bad word for the first time and not being punished for it. Balto wondered if pulling the line would permanently replace mushing, or was it just until they got bored of it and moved on to something else.

"Well anyways," dusty started. "It was about two weeks ago on what we didn't know would be the last mail run of the season. Out fearless leader." she turned her head to eye Kodi.

Kodi glared back at her, ready to pounce at the first slanderous remark that she would throw his way. He knew what had happened on the run, and knew that she would rub it in his face.

"He lead us out across the ice of the large wide river towards this island covered with washed up trees. Then halfway across the river, guess what happens?"

Everyone unknowingly leaned in for the punch line that was coming.

"The ice broke." she said it without any care.

"Oh my," Jenna stated in surprise, raising her head off of Balto's shoulder and leaving her mouth open slightly.

"Suddenly water was all around us. We were running on fragments of ice that seemed like nothing was holding them up. Dark brown water flowed up over the ice, and came up through the breaks. We began diving and running and jumping from one ice flow to another. One minute you were running on the ice, the next you were being drug through the water. I have no idea how we made it to the island"

"Why it was my fearless leading." Kodi interjected with a million dollar smile.

"Yeah your fearless leading that nearly got us killed!" dusty yelled back, slightly annoyed of his arrogance, even though it was in fun.

"Well it was my leading that got us across the ice to the island."

"Yeah well"

"ok you two, knock it off," Balto said stepping in as ref. he had found himself doing it all afternoon to keep the small squabbles from turning into full fledged battle royals. Balto just shook his head wondering how they every functioned by themselves.

"Well we make it to the island okay. But we were wet and cold. Our master, Mr. Simpson, knew that we had not time to warm up. He ran to the front of the sled and grabbed Kodi by the collar. He then pulled us up onto a tall pile of washed up wood; and by the time we got to the top the water was running over the island." dusty then stared directly at Jenna, as if speaking right to her. "Then all these male dogs started whining and wetting themselves."

"I was not wetting myself," Ralph interjected, causing everyone to stare awkwardly at him.

"It, it, was just water, that was flowing off of me."

Before anyone could say anything Ralph started up again.

"No guys, I'm serious, it was just water"

"Ralph."

"Just because we were in a life or death situation"

"Ralph."

"Doesn't mean that."

"Ralph!" dusty finally had to yell, shutting Ralph up. "We don't really care Ralph, it was an expression."

"yeah, yeah, I knew that," Ralph seemed really embarrassed by the whole thing and made himself into as small a figure as he could while the story went on.

"So were stuck on this log jam for several hours, teetering on the edge of a cold water grave. When guess what happens upstream?"

Everyone leaned unknowingly in again.

"A ice jam, quarter mile up the river. The jam instantly stopped all the water, and everything became shallow; in some places right down to the bare riverbed. Mr. Simpson knew exactly what to do. He grabbed Kodi by the collar and pulled him down the logs, across the island, through the river, and to the other side … that was the end of our line pulling for the winter." dusty paused to look at Kodi. "And possibly our lead dogs career"

"Hey now I told you it wasn't my fault. You didn't know the river was going to break up at that exact second. Did you?" Kodi jumped to a confrontation.

"Well I'm not the one who's supposed to know that. I'm supposed to stare at your butt, and pull the sled."

"Well maybe if you spent less time staring at me, and more time doing your job" Kodi said very snooty.

"Oh, he got you dusty"

"Shut-down." Ralph and Kirby said at the exact same time.

Dusty was deeply embarrassed by the whole moment. She turned her head away from the crowd and laughter that began to scratch at her ears. The laughter went on for several seconds

"Enough!" Jenna instantly broke into the conversation seeing how much they were hurting Dusty, and making her cry, or so she thought she was. The three young boys were instantly quit. But Jenna wasn't done with them yet, she still had an ace up her sleeve. "I seem to remember a young Kodiak, who had a crush on someone special, and was absolutely terrified, that she would even talk to you."

Kodi gulped and looked sidelong over at dusty.

Dusty could see the sheer terror in his eyes as he glanced meekly at her. It was time to tear him down.

She turned and gave Kodi a gleam that froze him in his tracks. Kodi clenched his teeth as tight as he could and no longer looked at dusty. But dusty didn't need the eye contact to melt him. She got right next to him and lightly rubbed her shoulder against his strong muscular shoulder. "Is it true?" she said with a smile.

Kodi gulped hard and dared not answer. But the silence that persisted told everyone everything they needed. And then a great belly laugh started in dusty as she turned away with a huge grin. Ralph and Kirby instantly broke into laughter with Dusty, and now Kodi was in the spotlight he had created.

"Now you know how to stop him in his tracks." Jenna smiled at dusty, as dusty turned back to her sitting spot, still laughing at her newfound dominance over Kodi.

Kodi loosened up from the whole moment and tried not to let it get to him. But Kirby and Ralph's snickering went on for a time more.

Balto smiled with advice for his son. "Women, they tie you in knots, don't they?"

Kodi smiled and looked at dusty who eyed him out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah."

A long silent, awkward, moment fell over the dogs. As the night had carried on the moments in between stories had grown longer and quieter, filled with passing glances and unspecified movements of fidgeting dogs.

"You know." Jenna started out of the blue. She looked out to the sea, away from everyone. "This is the same time of year that Balto came to Nome." she paused as if waiting for an answer, but carried on before anyone could have answered. "Did you know that Balto didn't have a name until he came to Nome?"

"Really?" Kodi spoke up. Moving his gaze from his mother to his father. "Then who name you dad."

Balto paused, trying to remember the face of the old man who had named him. His face was small and compacted into his head, and was always covered with a rough five-o'clock shadow, but the man seemed distant and fuzzy to Balto.

"He was old." Balto started. "And he owned this boat behind me." Balto turned his head, motioning to the side of the boat that loomed up right behind him. "It happened shortly after coming to Nome in the early reaches of spring, several years back. I was living on the boat at the time, and he came walking up the plank onto the boat, and just looked at me. It had been a total surprise to see this man standing there. I had my head sticking out around the corner of the helm at him. He moved closer, and I backed away. He kept doing this until he had me clear of any obstruction so he could see me clearly. I was very thin and weak looking, the old man could see that."

Balto paused to see the four faces of his son and friends watching with great interest and intent.

"So, he left the boat and headed back to town. I didn't fully understand, or trust, the man animal." Balto paused; he hadn't used the term man animals in such a long time. "So, I left the boat and ran to a safe spot to watch from. Nearly ten minutes later he returned with something in his hands. He walked up onto the boat, then back down and away, but this time he didn't carry the thing he brought. I waited for several minutes until he was out of site, and safely back in town. Then I went back up onto the boat to see what he had left. He had left a silvery tin dish filled with scraps of meat. I devoured it and waited for his return … then next day he returned with a small sack of meat. This time I stayed on the boat and watched him put the food into my dish and leave. Of course I stayed on the opposite end of the boat. We kept doing this for several days, until one day he decided to stay. I waited for him to leave, but he didn't. I stood there for several hours until I was sure he wasn't going to go anywhere. I then slowly inched my way closer to the plate; and when I got within ten feet of him, I made a silent vow that if he tried to touch me I'd rip his hand clean off." Balto smiled at the grim comment.

"I stuck my head into the meat and slowly began to eat, but I didn't keep to my vow …" Balto let it trail off.

"Well what did you do?" Kodi asked.

Balto gave a long satisfied smile. "I melted in his hands."

"What happened next?" Kodi said anxious to hear more.

"Well, every day after that the Man Animal returned, and we went through the same process, but it took a lot less time. He began bringing me other things, like a wool blanket on a cold morning. And he also brought me some weird little wind up cat; I don't think I ever played with it." Balto lowered his brow to the memory of himself staring at the small little wind up cat that made the most obnoxious squeaking as it moved.

"Then what?"

"Huh?"

Kodi smiled at his fathers drifting of thought, then waited for his father to continue.

"Then one day he showed up to the boat, and fed me as usual. Then he smiled as I ate. 'I have thought of name for you' he dug some grime out of his fingernails. 'Yup, Balto is a handsome name for you. I will spread it around so others know of you as my dog.' then three weeks later he said he was getting on a boat; and he never returned."

For the first time Balto realized how intently Kodi and his three friends were listening to him. Their eyes were fixed on Balto and their ears were stuck straight upright, constantly listening, and comprehending, every word that had left his mouth. For a moment a lingering silence hovered over there little circle.

"What did the dogs in town call you before you got a name?" Kirby kick started the silence.

Balto sighed. "They most often called me 'wolf dog'. But a few times I had been referred to as 'puppy killer' 'mate stealer'."

"oh how cruel." Dusty's female virtue shining through.

"What about your mother that you've told me about when I was younger?" Kodi's mouth, eyes, ears, and nose, ready to listen.

Balto wondered why Kodi seemed so anxious to know, but maybe he was just curious of his past. "Well my mother was a white wolf with soft velvety fur. And even though I never met, or knew, my father, I know that he was all dogs; because I'm half dog."

"Your father must have been into the wild type. Huh Balto." Kirby quickly interjected after Balto stopped. A laugh quickly fallowed Kirby's humorous antic-dote.

But Balto didn't think that Kirby was that funny. Something inside Balto broke, a shield, a shield that kept Balto from letting his true thoughts and feeling about things and friends out. He could feel it break across the side of his skull and scatter across the bottom of it. His mind scrambled to put it back together before he did something he would regret, but it wouldn't happen in time.

A low growl began down within Balto's stomach making its way up into his chest and throat, where it first became noticeable. Jenna first noticed the low rumbling coming through Balto's side and vibrating her whole body. She had been laughing with Kodi and his friends, but knew that if Balto was growling he wasn't happy.

The growl came out of Balto's mouth, making him stand in a crouched position. Balto's from paws dug down into the soft soil ready to pounce. His ears flattened back against his head, and his upper lip curled up over his front teeth, showing them to everyone who would look.

Dusty, Kirby, and Ralph, all stopped silent when they caught the hatred in Balto's movement, but Kodi didn't catch it in time. Kodi continued laughing, eyes closed, as if the world had been trying to make him laugh. But he didn't laugh to much longer then his friends.

"You little insignificant scab of a son." Balto's anger rained down directly on Kodi.

Everyone's jaws dropped, their eyes widened, and they stared at Balto in shock.

Kodi could see the anger in his father's eyes. He could feel himself shrivel up inside himself, the fear of his father's teeth and words impending on him. Kodi's legs tucked up under his body until they were touching one another, balancing him like a top. His body shrunk in with a expelling of air, causing his shoulders to come close around his lowered head. His ears dropped back in a puppy like submission, and his smile sucked into his mouth where he locked it tight between his teeth.

"But."

"But nothing!"

Why had Kodi tried to talk back to his father? Was it his conches coming to the surface to prove that he was right and his father was wrong? Kodi didn't know exactly what it was that had made him speak out, but he knew he was going to talk back more.

"Dad"

Balto answered with a growl which made Kodi bite his lips harder between his teeth. Balto grinned at the power he still held over his son, the way he could silence him with just a few simple words. Balto turned and walked off, his eyes crossing Jenna's momentarily. He knew Jenna would soon be fallowing and she would have a thing or two to say to him.

As soon as Balto had turned and was moving along the side of his boat for the darkness, Kodi raised his ears and wrinkled his upper lip involuntarily up over his teeth. But he dared not growl, unless his father heard him and returned ten fold. He dropped his ears, and lip, and head in defeat.

"Kodi, I swear, I ... I, just don't know what's gotten into him … something must be bothering him." Jenna said trying to reassure Kodi that it wasn't his fault, but Kodi didn't seem to care.

Kodi looked at his fathers back end vanish into the darkness a hundred feet in front of his boat. "Like I really care." the words were hollow and unfamiliar to his tongue, but he didn't show it. "Come on guys, I think we've had enough fun for one evening."

Kodi turned past his mother, "Kodi, it's not your fault, something's just bothering him, that all."

Kodi didn't answer.

Dusty, Kirby, and Ralph, all stood as Kodi moved in between them. They then took up a V shape pattern behind him, all of them quietly fallowing their leader back to town.

Jenna watched her son walk off broken, and she could feel an anger building inside her, but it was held to a degree. She turned her head and looked at the spot in the dark where Balto had vanished. She would find out what was wrong with him. Jenna ran after him, her bushy red tail bouncing along behind her like a fox.

She came up on Balto, still walking off towards some unknown place, and set herself in stride next to him.

"Balto?" she was very calm.

Balto didn't answer, never even turning his head to see who was talking to him.

"Balto, what was that." still calm.

"What was what?" Balto didn't even turn his head, afraid to look Jenna in the eyes.

Jenna could feel the frustration building insider her from Balto's child-like, coy behavior. "That back there, what was that?"

"It was his fault."

Jenna bounded forward until she was ahead of Balto. She squared herself right up with Balto's shoulders, and face, so she could look him in the eyes while she yelled at him. "It was not there're fault!"

Jenna's words spiked Balto in the nose, but he had little time to listen to her. Balto moved to the right and brushed along side of her, and kept going. But Jenna wouldn't hear of his silence.

She ran ahead of him again, and squared her shoulders with his. "Now don't think you're going to walk away, and everything's going to be fine. Now your going to let me speak my mind or else." 'else,' turning into a low growl.

Balto eyed Jenna down. Her feet were dug into the soft soil, pointed forward, ready to attack, her teeth bared with her feminine, un-scary, growl. Balto knew that she would be able to get the first blow, but after that Balto would be able to bring her down.

Balto's mind suddenly kicked back on when he realized what he was thinking about. He realized what he had done to Kodi in front of his friends, and he lowered his head in embarrassment. He looked at Jenna under his brow, she was still ready to attack, he knew that he had to tell her what had been going on lately to straighten everything out.

"I've been having dreams."

"Dreams?"

Dreams had always been a signal of something bad. The first time she had heard about Balto's dreams was when he returned without Aleu. That was the first time that Jenna began to realize that Balto's dreams may mean something. The next time Balto had dreams was of flying. Then the bush pilot came and challenged her son to a race, which Balto lead, and won. Then the pilot crashed with Boris in the plane, and Balto had to go after them both, and almost died if Kodi and friends hadn't showed up.

"What do you mean dreams?"

Balto could see the worried look in her eyes. She had lost the attack stance and growl, which was replaced by the worried feet together and curious open mouth.

"Not so much dreams, as memories." Balto said reassuringly

"Memories?"

"Being spring and all, I've had a lot of thought about my parents. And really just a lot of thought about what happened to them."

"So you blew up on our son over it?" she turned annoyed.

"I really didn't mean to … I mean … I just slipped."

"Slipped is right. Do you remember what you said to our son?"

Balto shook his head. "Kinda … maybe I should go and apologies."

Balto and Jenna both looked towards town where they could see four dogs coming into the light of town, their body's small to the buildings.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea. Kodi's really mad."

"And he should be. I acted like a complete …" Balto trailed off with the frustration of not being able to find the right word. "What should I do Jenna?"

She looked at him for a moment, seeing how much he wanted her help. "How much does your past hurt you?"

Balto looked inside himself. "A lot, it hurts a lot."

Jenna sighed with an idea brewing in her mind. "Didn't you say that your mother was the white wolf that helped you at the bottom of the cliff? The one you saw after Aleu went across the ice?"

"Yeah, my mother Aniu. Why?"

"And didn't you say that Nava spoke of your mother before you knew she was your mother?"

"Yeah?"

Jenna smiled through the darkness at Balto. "Well what if you go out and find Nava, and ask him about your mother. Unless you've already done that?"

"I haven't." Balto thought about what Jenna was asking him to go do. It wouldn't be too hard to find him. It may take a day or two, but that would be relatively short time to find the answers to his past.

She smiled and giggled, brining Balto from his thought. "So why don't you just go find out what happened. Then you can come back and apologize to Kodi. And this will never happen again."

Balto thought deeply about the journey at hand. It would take at most a week to find Nava in such a great big country, but it wouldn't be impossible. The only thing he had to worry about was Jenna, and being gone only a week nothing would happen. Everything was already set for him to go and discover his past, providing Nava knew enough about it.

"Ok, I'll go find Nava, and ask him about my mother."

It was decided.