The Wolf and the Dog

2

~~~~REBEL POV~~~~
Balto, Boris, and I walked together towards our boat when I smelled something in the air. I stopped and sniffed the air before turning to our left. On a snowy hill, there was a wolf pack of four. Three adults and one cub. They stopped to stare at us and the leader howled, waiting for us to howl back. Balto stared at the wolf pack before turning and continuing to walk to our boat. Boris and I followed after him as we walked up the ladder and onto the deck. Boris started chewing on a bone and drinking water, me having no idea what he was up to, as Balto just walked past him. I sent Boris a confused look before I went over to my corner and crawled under my blanket. Balto crawled under his blanket and dropped his head on his paws, still having a sad frown on his face. I glanced over at Balto as a toy cat squeaked as it rolled by before crashing and shutting off. I watched in mild amusement as Boris stood in front of Balto and started doing a weird jig. When Boris got no reaction from Balto, he dropped his head before crawling under the blanket with Balto and dropping his head down beside him, both of them letting out a deep sigh. I closed my eyes but opened them when I heard birds squeaking above us. We looked up to see geese flying in formation, migrating south.

"Homesick, Boris?" Balto asked with a grin. "Do you ever think about going back?"

"Don't fret, Fido." Boris said as he stood up and ruffled the fur on Balto's head. "I'm sticking here until I'm sure you two can stand on own four feet."

"You're taking care of us?" I asked from where I lay.

"Don't thank me." Boris said, continuing to mop the deck. Balto sniffed the air and grinned at Boris.

"I smell........herring." Balto grinned.

"The herring are flying south too." Boris nodded.

"Say, must be Muk and Luk." Balto said.

"Ah! Good news!" Boris said.

"Uncle Boris!" We heard a faint voice yell.

"Oh, no." Boris gasped as he held the mop in defense as he frantically looked around.

"How sweet. Uncle Boris." Balto teased.

"No hugging! No licking!" Boris said as he dumped out the water in bucket and used it as a shield while he aimed the mop at the approaching Muk.

"Uncle Boris!" Muk smiled as he raced towards the cowering goose. Boris closed his eyes as he braved himself but opened them when Muk stopped in front of him. Boris let out a sigh of relief but Luk appeared behind him and captured him in a suffocating hug. "He says he's glad to see us. We love you, Uncle Boris." Muk smiled. Boris squeezed himself out of the hug and started snatching his floating feathers from the air and started putting them back in their respected places. Boris realized he was missing a wing feather and snatched it out of Luk's paws before walking away and screwing it back into place. Luk made some mumbling noises as he patted Muk. "What are you talking about? Of course he's glad to see us. He loves us. Don't you?" Muk asked Boris.

"Yeah, Uncle Boris. Don't you love them?" I teased the goose. He glanced at the polar bears before rubbing his beak.

"Aye, okay, okay. Hey, boy chicks! Let's play a game." Boris called to Muk and Luk.

"Yes, please, Uncle Boris." Muk said as he and Luk got ready to run.

"Race you to the shore. One, two, three, go!" Boris called. Muk and Luk ran and jumped off the boat as I got up and walked to stand beside Balto and Boris. "They win." Boris shrugged.

"Help! Help! I can't swim! Help, help! We're drowning! We're drowning! Save us!" Muk yelled. Balto and I exchanged grins as we jumped off the boat and slid to the shore, where Muk and Luk were splashing frantically in the barely paw deep water, thinking they were gonna drown.