HERITAGE OF THE WOLF

By Cyberwulfe

Based on the motion picture

BALTO
by Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment



Dedicated to those who need to 
come out of the darkness and find
out who they are.


INTRODUCTION

	The year was 1925. The first World War was over, but that did
not affect the small town of Nome, Alaska, a town so far north that
it's almost on top of the world! Though the killing of war was over,
the threat of fatal disease is always around. One particular disease,
diphtheria, had infected the children of Nome in one of the worst
epidemics ever, infecting over eighteen people in one week. The local
hospital was out of antitoxin and a terrifying blizzard had cut off
all routes of transport; except one. A railway went from Juneau to
the town of Nenana, over 600 miles from Nome. They would have to send
a dogsled team to Nenana to get the medicine and then endure the
freezing cold, blizzard, and darkness to return home. Then, something
went terribly wrong. The team slid down a steep icy slope, hitting
the bottom hard and knocking the musher unconscious. The dogs were
stranded. When the news reached Nome that the team had missed the
second checkpoint and was missing, a dog named Balto, who was
rejected by other dogs and the people of Nome because of his
half-wolf heritage, made the decision to brave the dangers and find
the team. He survived blinding snow storms, a grizzly bear attack and
almost drowned, but he finally found the team. Even then, the dogs
still wouldn't accept his help. The lead dog, Steele, tried to fight
Balto. He grabbed a bandanna that Balto had around his neck and
tugged at it. The fight ended when the knot in the bandanna came
undone and Steele, still pulling, fell down a cliff. Balto took the
lead position and the team was on their way back to Nome. Steele
climbed back up the cliff and vowed to get even. Balto had been
marking a trail by scratching the bark off the lower parts of trees,
so Steele just scratched every tree he saw. This resulted in Balto
leading the team the wrong way and he and the medicine dropped off a
cliff. Meanwhile, Steele had returned to Nome and told everyone that
Balto was dead and the medicine was lost. At the bottom of the cliff,
after Balto had dug himself out of the snow, he was approached by a
white wolf. Balto, ashamed to be noticed by such a majestic animal,
turned away. Then he noticed the medicine sitting on a snow bank. He
was filled with new energy. He and the wolf howled together then
Balto pulled the medicine up the cliff. Once it was secure aboard the
sled, the team once again headed for Nome. When they encountered the
trees, Balto used his nose to follow his own scent. After crossing a
collapsing ice bridge and being chased by an avalanche, the team took
refuge in an ice cave. A loud noise inside the cave caused the
ceiling to rain sharp ice stalagmites. The team narrowly avoided
losing the antitoxin. Finally, the team made it back to Nome and the
children were saved. Now we begin a new story. It is about one who
had such a little part in the first, but such an important past......


CHAPTER 1

	One year. One long year since we first met in such a long
time. The last time I saw you, you were being carried by your mother
from the pack to the town that she was from. The human town. The same
humans who made sport of our kind and killed your father. I still
remember the beginning.

	I was born. From a dark world of warmth, to a bright world of
cold. There were four others in my litter, two brothers and a sister.
My parents named me Kemo. They were the leaders of the pack: Alpha
male and female.
	 My father's brother, Rahn,  had found a wandering, lost
husky from a far away town. He argued with my father to help the dog
of man, but my father would not help man's beast who pulls his sleds
during the hunt. So my uncle took her to a secret cave and brought
her food until he was sure she could make it back to her town. They
had fallen in love, and while all the other females in the pack had
their litters, Rahn's was born in secrecy. When he approached my
father to tell him, my father was outraged. He fought my uncle for
half an hour. As Rahn lay bleeding on the frozen ground my father
banished him from the pack. 
	Rahn began to move his small `pack' to a better place. With
three cubs, the husky, and himself, he would soon have a real pack.
When my father saw them leaving, he regarded the pups. How strong
they looked, and big too! He wanted them in the pack to be the strong
fighters and hunters that the pack required. He was the leader of the
pack after all and he canceled Rahn's ejection. The pack came to know
the husky, not as a weak, starving, animal, but as one of the pack.
Her pups grew very fast, and one of them, a grey one, caught my
attention. Three weeks after I was born and I opened my blue eyes,
the world was nothing I had expected. Everything was white.
Everything was cold. The only warmth came from my siblings, so we
always stayed huddled together. Food was brought by other members of
the pack and we soon developed strong teeth. We would wrestle with
each other to win dominance over the litter and once I had I started
working on some of the other litters. The litter of the husky was
closest. I pounced on the grey one. His blue eyes flashed in the
midday sun and he curled over me and pinned me with his large front
paws. Make that huge front paws. I knew I was beat so I rolled on my
back, pulled my tail and my legs to my chest and stomach and started
whimpering. That is how our friendship began. We both grew as most
wolves should but since he was also part husky he was smaller than
the others. Another thing was that while we all had faded yellow
eyes, he had the brightest yellow eyes in the pack. Though his name
was Balto, he had been given the nickname `Sunny'. Balto and I did
everything together. When we were eight months old, we chased a
squirrel for three hours. When we noticed that we had wandered far
from the pack we began to head back. That was when we had our first
encounter with man. There were five of them. They tried to capture us
but we bit them and ran. The pack had sent three wolves to find us.
Lead by Rahn the wolves tried to distract the men while we escaped.
As we made our escape I heard the loudest sound I had ever heard. I
heard a cry of pain and Rahn fell. Balto went to see what was wrong
but one of the wolves grabbed him and took off. Back at the pack, my
father was very angry with us. Not only had we disobeyed and left the
pack, but Rahn had been killed by the men. Once again, Balto and his
mother were in trouble. This time the punishment was less severe. I
was not allowed to spend any time or even talk with Balto. That
night, realizing their situation, Balto's mother took him away, into
the darkness. The next day when they were found missing, a search
team was assembled. They had tracked Balto's mother to a town far to
the west of the pack. There was nothing that my father could do.
Balto's mother had returned to the human race.

	I recall our first meeting in years, when we howled at the
bottom of the cliff. As soon as it had started, it was over. I
watched as you pulled the box up the cliff you had just fallen down.
I decided to follow to see where you were going. I just managed to
see your sled team disappear into the blizzard. The trail went dead
when I encountered a collapsed ice bridge. The tracks of your sled
had gone onto the bridge, but the bridge had collapsed. I looked
frantically about looking for proof that you were not dead. I saw paw
prints on the other side of the chasm and was filled with new hope. I
backed up and jumped across the void, hoping not to follow the
bridge. The trail went cold again. An avalanche had roared down a
valley. I saw your team run into a small opening in the mountain.
Then I never saw you again. Then, you came to me. Three weeks later
you had found me in the middle of a blizzard. Half frozen and nearly
dead I barely recognized you. My father had saved your life in the
pack, now you had returned the favor. We spent a week in an old
grizzly bear cave where I kept warm and ate food you brought me. The
smell of humans on your fur was not comforting but it was still good
to see you. We talked of old times and things of late and caught up
on the past few years. You told me of your ridicule and new found
fame. I told you of how I had lost my mate, my children, and my small
pack to humans and their traps. I can still hear the metal teeth
snapping shut on their legs and breaking the bones beneath soft
flesh. 

 Now we meet every week to talk and be alone, but today, you have
brought friends....


CHAPTER 2

	Balto lead the group of dogs, beside a rust and cream
coloured husky. Behind him waddled an old goose, sided by two young
huskies. Behind them were two larger huskies, a chow-chow, and an
Alaskan Malamute. He and Kemo greeted each other as always, running
then tackling each other into a snow bank. Once they got up, Balto
introduced his friends. "Kemo, I would like you to meet my mate,
Jenna."
	"A pleasure," Kemo said looking her over.
	"The pleasure's all mine," said Jenna," Balto's told me a lot
about you."
	They sniffed each other, then Balto continued with the
goose," This is my dear friend Boris."
	"Hello," smiled Kemo.
	"Hmph," grumbled Boris. He was obviously in a bad mood.
	"These are my pups, Jenner, and Kala," Balto motioned to the
two young huskies with his paw.
	"Ah, the hero's children. This is indeed an honour!" 
One of the pups, Jenner, dropped his front end on Boris," Gee I'm
hungry Uncle Boris!"
	"Me too," cried Kala.
	"You're always hungry, that's the problem with kids!" shouted
Boris.
	"Boris, they're still growing," said Jenna," Why don't you
take them into town and find them something to eat."
	"Sounds good to me," said Boris, trying to manage a smile,"
Alright you two balls of fluff, first one back gets dibs on food."
	"Oh boy!" yelled the pups excitedly, and they raced towards
town.
Boris snickered as he waddled after them.
	"They probably would have rather stay home anyway," said
Balto.
	"I see."
	"These are my friends, Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and Steele."
	"Pleased to meet you,".
The chow spoke first," So you're Balto's wolf pal, dere eh? Nice
meeting you too."
	"Yeah!" said the smaller, and skinnier, of the two remaining
huskies.
The bigger husky stepped up and dropped his front paw on the other's
head. The small husky fell down into the snow," Just ignore Star,"
said the husky," He often gets out of control. We think he eats
nothing but sugar."
	"What's sugar?" asked Kemo.
	"Never mind," said Balto," Kaltag and Star have never really
liked each other."
	"I wonder why."
	"So you and Balto are both from the same pack of wolves?"
said Steele," Two years ago I would've laughed, but I've got new
respect for Balto. I'm lucky to have friends after what happened."
Steele remembered how he had told all the lies about Balto being dead
and the medicine being lost. When Balto arrived at Nome, the dogs
turned on him, then they walked out of the room. He was a hero no
longer.
	"Steele," said Kemo," If this were two years ago I would have
ripped you to pieces. How could you do such a thing. You loved Jenna
then." Jenna turned her head away. " You were willing to sacrifice
those children just so you could be a hero in the eyes of your
friends! I'm glad it all turned out and the kids were OK but it
doesn't make it alright. Still, you've made your peace with Balto and
I'm sure you're sorry for what happened. Let's just leave it at
that!" 
Steele looked at the snowy ground and Star slowly rose to his feet
and moved behind Kemo.
	"You don't curl your tail on your back like the rest of us,
except Balto that is," he said.
	"Neither do you I see," said Kemo, looking at Star's bushy
tail lying limp from his skinny rump.
	"I'm not a wolf!" blurted Star. He almost seemed ashamed.
	"I never said you were. I was only making an observation."
Still. He had a strange feeling about Star. The way his ears perked
up at everything. Was it a sense, a reflex, or was it because he was
afraid of everything. Kemo looked at Balto. He had gone to comfort
Jenna. Obviously his little talk with Steele had upset her. "I'm
sorry about what I said Jenna."
	"It's alright," she said," I just need to go back home. It
was nice meeting you though." She turned back to Balto," I'm going to
check on Boris and the kids."
	"Alright, I'll see you shortly," said Balto. They nuzzled
each other and Jenna ran toward Nome.
	"She'll be alright. It's just that she seems to have
nightmares around this time of year. It is the first year since the
thing at the hospital. Her girl, Rosy, was almost killed by the
disease."
	" I know what it's like to lose a loved one." 
	" I'm afraid our little engagement will have to wait until
next week. Jenna seems more upset than usual. I'll see you next
week."
	"Yeah," said Kemo, standing up," Good-bye. I hope I see you
guys again."
The group of dogs returned the farewell and they disappeared into
town. Kemo howled, then headed to his den in the nearby mountains.
Something smelled eerie. A type of eeriness that bothers you and
won't go away. He just let it brush by and picked up speed for his
den.