Foreword

For the past year or so, I have been writing stories that have served as introductions to several ideas I have had surrounding the Balto movies. Now I am going to take some of those ideas and follow through with them to see where they can go. This story will be the first of many that will follow the events of my first fanfic "The First Day", but it also takes place a little bit before "A Second Chance". The town doesn't know what has happened to Steele yet, and Kaltag has just been pushed into replacing him, a job that he might not be ready for. While Balto may have saved the day, there are still those who don't like the idea of having a wolfdog hanging around their town, so - oops, I almost spoiled the story there. :P

Much like the stories preceding it, this one jumps between the past an the present to tell the backstory of the centric character. This time around, we're looking mainly at Kaltag to see why he, Nikki and Star joined up with Steele, and how they progressed into the trio that seemed to support him, but secretly dissed him behind his back. However, this will probably be the last story that also delves into character backstories, ditching the two stories in one format (unless I can think of something really compelling for Jenna) in order to focus on the present.

There are two things I have been grateful for while writing this. The first was my beta reader, Walto Disney (which is a name some Balto Sourcers may or may not recognize), who helped work out the kinks during the writing process and helped to alleviate any doubts I had about this story (I can sometimes be my own worst critic). The second thing I'm grateful for – Flash Drives. I did quite a bit of work on this during my spare period at school, and having a flash drive to quickly transfer it from school to home and back saved me a lot of time and effort. So, without further delay, I bring you my fourth Balto story – "Finding Your Place".

Chapter 1: A New Day

The first rays of the morning sun passed across the frozen shore, on which an old fishing trawler had been beached years ago. The light entered the wheelhouse, illuminating a young, brown canine. His tail twitched as he dreamed of innocent days gone by; of his days as a puppy when his mother was still with him…

"Your father was a sled-dog too you know. In fact he was a lead dog, and in my eyes, he was the greatest champion of them all," his mother, a snow-white wolf told him as they watched a group of sled dogs run on the beach for their training.

"My dad was a dog?" he asked.

"Yes, and you look so much like him too," she replied, smiling.

"But if he was a dog, and you're a wolf, then what am I?"

"You are both; a mix of the two. While you may come from two different worlds, that doesn't mean you are inferior to anyone. You have the strengths of both in you, and you can choose which path you wish to follow," she replied.

The young pup looked back out onto the beach as the team passed by, and saw how their powerful legs propelled them at lightning speed. He wanted to run like the sled dogs. He wanted to run as fast - no, faster than any of them. He wanted to be a champion and to go on the adventures his father went on, "They're so fast; I wanna be as fast as them! I'm gonna be a racing dog," he said excitedly. "I'm gonna be the fastest and the strongest one of all. I can be champion for you momma, just like dad."

His mother smiled down at him, "Tell you what, if you want to run around, why don't we race around the beach. A champion has to start somewhere…"

As the sun continued to rise, its light started to pass over him, waking him from his dream. This canine's name was Balto, and those scattered memories were all that he had left of his long gone mother. It was for that reason that he treasured those memories; his mother had disappeared when he was a small pup, and he had never learned her fate. She left one morning to go out hunting and never returned. For most of his life, he had been an orphan, but there were times when it felt as though his mother was still with him, watching over him. However, after she left, one of the aspirations that made her so proud of him left with her. When Balto tried to enter the nearby town of Nome, he was pushed away by the humans and the dogs because of his half-breed status. He was an outcast because he was half-wolf, and that had convinced him that he really was worthless. After all, what kind of wolf would be a champion?

However, there was still one dog that saw through the labels put on him, and stuck with him through all the ups and downs of their youth. This dog was a female husky named Jenna, and while Balto had held feelings for her since he was quite young, his thoughts about his outcast status caused him to hold back his affections. It would take quite a while before he would finally admit his love for her, but in the end, it was worth it. In fact, that morning Balto woke up with her snuggled up to him, cozy in his thick chest fur. He had rested so that one leg was under her neck and another was over it, holding her in something resembling a hug through the night. Balto looked over at her, and saw that she wore a calm smile on her muzzle. Traveling down from her head and along her back was rust-coloured fur, which smoothly transitioned into a cream underside, ending with a fluffy tail curled towards her back. Topping it all off was a bright orange bandanna, which only complimented her appearance.

While his outcast status had caused him to hold back his feelings for her, he still held onto them in the hope that one day, he would get the chance to say those four powerful words to her: "I love you Jenna." Balto had loved her for a long time, but it was only recently that he saw any hints that she felt the same towards him. It had been a week or two ago, and he had found her looking into the window of the hospital. Noticing that something was upsetting her, he came over to find out what it was. She told him that her human girl, Rosy, was sick. She had developed a deep cough, along with a fever. Wanting to help her find out more, he took her into the crawlspace underneath the hospital in the hopes of listening in on the human's conversation. However, while under there, he was distracted by his desire to impress her…

"That's 'cause you're looking at the bowl half-empty. See this? It's the polar ice caps," he said, pushing pieces of broken glass onto a mound of dirt.

"Balto, those are broken bottles; and they're not half-empty, they're all empty," she replied. However, he ignored her misgivings and continued his demonstration, knowing that this would be worth it.

"The sun…" he said, indicating the lamp shining through the grates in the floor.

"Balto…"

"And… to the north," he finished, moving away so that the light would shine through the broken glass. She turned and gasped as a colourful display was projected inside the small crawlspace, resembling the real northern lights.

"The northern lights… Oh Balto you're right, it's beautiful," she said, amazed by it all.

"Yeah… beautiful," he said, not looking at the beautiful lights, but at the beautiful husky beside him. She noticed his glance and turned towards him, starting to inch towards him. He would have nuzzled her and confessed his love there and then if fate hadn't intervened. Someone above them walked in front of the lamp, ending the light show, and they were quickly reminded of why they were down there in the first place. They listened to the doctor, but the news was grave. Rosy had come down with diphtheria, a very serious illness, and the doctor had run out of the antitoxin used to treat the disease. It was this information that prompted Balto to take action. He wanted to help Rosy and the other children get better, so he entered the race that would decide who would be on the sled team that would fetch the medicine.

It was at this moment that his childhood aspiration started to return. He would be a true sled dog, but this time, it wouldn't be for the glory of being a champion; it was to help those that he cared about. Unfortunately, despite coming out on top, he wouldn't get to run on the team. A large husky named Steele made sure that the humans would only see him as a vicious wolf, and he was left behind while Steele led the team. They made it to Nenana to pick up the medicine, but got lost in a fierce blizzard on the return trip, prompting Balto to make one more attempt to help. Going out and braving the elements, a nasty grizzly, a self-centered husky, an avalanche and a collapsing cave, Balto managed to lead the medicine back to Nome. On the last leg of the trip, he saw, projected on the mountainside past the town, the northern lights. It was a beacon, set up by Jenna to guide him home. Balto made it, howling his heart out, and the medicine was delivered safely. He was hailed as a hero, while Steele, who had tried to sabotage Balto's return trip in order to get rid of him, was exiled from the town.

"Well Balto, you saved the day, defeated the bad guy, and got the girl of your dreams. Now what are you going to do?" he asked himself. Days after the fact, he still didn't have an answer to that question. While he had wanted to earn Jenna's affections for a long time now, he had never really thought of what he would do if that did happen. He had been an outcast for so long that he had always thought that Jenna would be out of reach, "But she's not out of reach any more. She's right here, snuggled up against me," he thought, and nuzzled her softly.

His nuzzle brought her out of her doze, and she slowly opened her eyes to see the brown wolfdog that she loved so much. To a stranger, he may have appeared wild, but she simply thought of him as 'rough around the edges'. Even as a pup, she had carried a bit of a crush on him. She saw past what others said about him, finding a kind dog who only wanted someone to care about him. He had many of the features of a wolf, such as the long, narrow muzzle and amber eyes, but those features only served to make him more handsome in her eyes. Plus, despite all the hardship he had gone through, he had still managed to hold onto his kindness, instead of becoming withdrawn and bitter. It was this that prompted him to go and find the medicine in order to save her human girl Rosy.

"Good morning love," she said.

"Morning Jenna," he replied, and continued to gaze at her.

"What? What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Just you," he replied, "I never thought that I would actually get to be with you, and yet here I am."

"So, what now for you?" she asked, "What will the hero of Nome do with his morning?"

He laid back down and groaned, "I don't know. Maybe I'll spend it with you, or maybe I can go into town," he said.

"Well, Rosy is coming home from the hospital later today. I'm sure it would mean a lot to her if you came too, considering what you did for her… and for me… " she trailed off.

"Jenna?" he asked, noticing her change in tone.

"I almost lost her Balto," she said, "I almost lost my girl." Balto held her closer to him and gave her a nuzzle to comfort her. Even though a disaster had been averted, Jenna would still remember how close they had all come. While Balto was racing home, she stayed by her girl's side and watched as she desperately clung to life. She hadn't believed Steele's story that Balto and the team had died at first, but as time went on, even her hope had started to fade. She watched every breath that Rosy took, praying that it wouldn't be her last.

"I thought I had lost her too," Balto replied, "After I went over that cliff, I was sure that I had failed Rosy and all the others. I was sure that I had failed you... until that wolf appeared," This was a part of the story that Jenna was very familiar with by now. After being led down the wrong path by Steele's false marks, Balto had gone over a cliff, but was given the courage to go on by a snow-white wolf that appeared out of nowhere. So far, she had been the only one that Balto had told about the wolf, mostly because that event was so bizarre. It was almost as though the wolf knew what was going on and was urging Balto to keep moving.

As Balto thought back to that moment, he remembered the sense of strength that wolf gave him as he howled with it. Never before in his life had he felt such a sense of purpose. It was as though something in his soul that had been confined was suddenly unleashed as he howled with the wolf, "That wolf made me feel a way I have never felt before Jenna," he continued, "It made me feel strong; it made me feel like a part of me had been found. It sounds strange, but it was as though it was calling for me to join it; wanting me to run in the wild with it. After all these years of being pushed away, there was finally something that was pulling me towards it, and when I answered that howl, it felt like I belonged with it; with the wolves," For the longest time, he had rejected his wolf side due to the teasing from the dogs in town, but when he let out that howl, he had made peace with the other half of himself. After embracing that, it gave him the strength and the inspiration to sniff his way home, but the memory of that event remained. A Pandora's box of sorts had been opened, and Balto was starting to wonder if he should try to explore his wolf side further… "Maybe you should go for it, you might like what you find," he thought, "Besides, it would be a good alternative if things don't work out in town." While it had seemed like the town had changed it's mind about Balto, there were still those that distrusted him because of his wolf side. "I sure hope it doesn't come to that... but knowing my luck, I shouldn't hold my breath. Anything that went well in the past would only be short lived- all because of my wolf side... still, I should give them a chance..."

"I'm glad that you've made peace with yourself," Jenna said, breaking Balto from his thoughts, "Though, I don't quite know what you mean when you say that you had failed me as well," Jenna said.

"Rosy was your girl, and if she died, I knew you would be devastated too. You were one of the few who believed in me then, and I couldn't let you down," he replied, "If I let you down, you might've never forgiven me, and I never would've have seen you smile again."

"My smile? I didn't know you liked my smile," she said.

"I don't just like it; I love it," he replied, "I love it because it always made me feel better, even when I was a pup. I figured that as long as you were smiling, everything was okay."

Hearing that, Jenna started to break out into a grin, and just like when they were pups, it instantly improved both of their moods. "So…" she started, "Is there anything else about me that you love? My smile can't be the only thing."

"Ah… well…" he stammered.

"Balto, you can say what you want about me. I love you and I want to know what you think," she replied, and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Besides, there's no one else here except us. You can go into as much detail as you want," she said coyly. She was right; they were alone that morning. Balto's normal bunkmates, a Russian goose named Boris and two polar bear cubs named Muk and Luk had decided camp out on the beach that night so that Balto and Jenna could have some time to themselves.

"Oh Jenna, there are so many things that I love about you. I love your spirit, and your kind heart. I love how your bandanna makes you stand out in a crowd. I love… your beauty. I don't know how to describe it, but when I first saw you when you had grown up, I thought that you were the most beautiful dog I had ever seen. It was all of those things and more that caused me to fall in love with you," he said.

"Aha, I had a feeling that you had been admiring me from a distance," she said.

"Okay, I admit it. The big hero thinks about females just like regular dogs do," he said, causing Jenna to chuckle.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have the odd thought about you too Balto," she continued, "For some reason, I always felt better about you than some of the other males in town."

"That's probably because I'd didn't follow you to the creepy level that Steele did," Balto suggested, referring to Nome's former champion.

"That's true, and I thank you for that," she replied, "Though, I wonder what Steele is up to now. I half expected him to come back after only a day, begging for another chance."

"Steele isn't the type to beg; he's too proud. Remember, he wasn't willing to admit he had gotten the team lost on the serum run," he replied, "Despite what he did, I'm still not going to wish any harm to him. Wherever he is, I hope he's okay." She nodded before putting her head back down, and he rested his head on top of hers, letting the morning sun wash over them. A peaceful time like this would have been unheard of for Balto only a week ago, and he wanted to savor every moment of it. Having the sun warm his back while listening to Jenna's soft breathing was very soothing, and he wanted it to last as long as possible. He may have been the hero of Nome, but he still deserved a little personal time with the one he loved. Besides, the day had already been saved, so there was no rush to get up this morning.

"Hey Jenna, you were asking what I was going to do with my morning," he said softly, "I think I have an answer for you."

"What is it?"

He started to grin, "I'm going to sleep in."