The Wolf and the Dog

6

~~~~REBEL POV~~~~
We ran alongside Balto but we stopped when we arrived at the forest. But something was wrong. There were more marked trees than there was supposed to be. I sniffed the air before growling.

"Steele was here." I told Balto.

"Which way, Balto? Which way! Which way?" Star asked.

"Uh.........this way." Balto decided. We followed him as he lead us down a trail but after a few minutes we realized we had just gone in a circle. Balto slide to an abrupt stop, making the others slide into him.

"Balto, why are you taking us in circles?" Kaltag asked.

"I'm not! I mean.....I don't know. It's Steele." Balto frowned.

"Maybe we was better off with him there." Nikki said.

"No! Come on! Mush!" Balto ordered and he took off, dragging Star after him and the others soon following. Balto was going to fast for the others as they struggled to keep up.

"Balto, slow down!" Star yelled frantically.

"Hey, hey! You're goin' too fast!" Nikki yelled. I raced alongside Balto and my eyes widened when I caught the sight of a cliff ahead of us.

"Balto! Stop! There's a cliff!" I yelled. Balto seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and he tried to stop, making the sled go backwards as everyone else tried to stop too.

"Look out!" Nikki warned. The ropes holding the medicine crate to the sled snapped and it started to tip over the side. Balto quickly jumped out of his harness and caught the rope of the crate before it went over the ledge while I latched onto his tail, ignoring his pained groan.

"All right! Good catch, Balto!" Star cheered. The snow beneath Balto suddenly broke and he started falling with the crate, making me let go of his tail.

"Balto!" I yelled as I ran to the edge. I watched in horror as he fell down the cliff and into the darkness below. The wind started blowing harder and the snow fell faster, forcing us away from the edge if we didn't want to fall. We huddled together to try and protect ourselves from the cold as we shivered. I pressed closer to Kaltag as the wind slapped my face, making me shiver harder. Howling suddenly rang through the air and my ears perked up.

"Oh, great. Things are not bad enough. Now we got wolves." Nikki complained.

"Wolves!" The others yelled as they huddled closer together. I pulled away from Kaltag before sticking my nose in the air and howling.

"Hey, hey! Hey, over here!" Kaltag called.

"What? What is it?" Star asked as we all gathered around the ledge. Balto was making his way up the rocks of the cliff, dragging the medicine crate with him.

"Balto?" Nikki gasped.

"A-and he's got the medicine." Kaltag stammered.

"Come on, Balto! Yous can make it!" Nikki encouraged. We gasped when Balto slipped on some snow but he recovered and continued moving.

"That's the most amazing—the most fantastic—that is the most incredible—that's the most phenomenal—I-I never—" Kaltag rambled.

"That's good! Oh!" Star groaned when Kaltag sat on his head.

"Hey, he has got the feet of a wolf there." Nikki observed.

"Yes he does." I grinned proudly.

"Come on, Balto."

"That's it."

"Come on, Balto. Keep trying."

"Come on."

"That's it. You got it."

"You got it. You're almost there!"

"Go, Balto."

"Let's go! Yes! Yes!" We cheered as Balto made it to the top. The guys grabbed the medicine crate and dragged it away from the edge while I helped Balto up. Everyone then crowded Balto and complimented him on getting the medicine back. We then loaded it back onto the sled and tied it before they got back into their harnesses and followed Balto as he started leading us again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We ran across empty plains of nothing but snow, over tall hills, before reaching a forest. Balto and I looked around at the marked trees before sniffing the air. We sniffed around before looking at each other and nodding. Balto glanced back at the others and nodded at me before following me as I lead us the right way. I ran ahead of the others and came across an ice bridge. I inspected it before quickly running back to the others.

"There's an ice trench up ahead. Only way to the other side is an ice bridge. The bridge is a little thin. We should go slowly as to not break it." I informed. Balto nodded as slowed down as we approached the ice bridge. I went across first before waiting on the other side for the others. It was going good at first but the bridge suddenly cracked, making us gasp.

"Come on! Mush!" Balto yelled. They made a run for it but the bridge broke when the sled got to the end, make the sled start to fall. Everyone yelled as they slid towards the trench but Balto grabbed onto a roof sticking out of the ground, stopping them from sliding further. I ran to Balto and grabbed the leash connecting his harness to Star's and started pulling, helping them pull the sled up. We got the sled onto stable ground before pulled the sled around the corner and stopping to catch our breath.

"Is everyone all right?" I asked.

"I'm good." Kaltag nodded.

"Me too." Star agreed.

"As are we." Nikki said for himself and the other dogs on the team.

"Good. Let's keep moving." Balto said. We started walking again when Star suddenly sneezed loudly, it echoing through the air. As we walked, I heard rumbling behind us and turned to see what it was. I froze as I watched the avalanche race towards us.

"Uh, Balto?" I called.

"Hmm?" He hummed and turned to see what I was staring at. "Run!" He yelled. The others saw the avalanche and we started running, hoping to try and escape it.

"Balto! To the right!" I yelled. He steered us to the cave opening on the right and we raced into it, just escaping the avalanche. We panted as we slowed to a walk and continued through the cave, with the sled's lantern lighting our way. The ice cave was beautiful with the light from the lantern bouncing off of the ice. That was until we noticed the giant spiky ice stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

"Shh!" Balto warned. He started leading and I walked beside him.

"This cave would be really beautiful if we didn't have death hanging above us." I whispered as quietly as I could to Balto. He nodded in agreement as we glanced at the ice spikes threatening us. We walked over a small ledge but glanced back when a loud thud echoed through the cave. The sled had slammed back onto the floor from dropping off of the small ledge. We gasped when a stalactite broke loose and crashed to the ground behind the sled, breaking the handle bars the musher holds onto.

"Mush!" Balto ushered. We took off running and raced for the exit, dodging falling ice stalactites. A stalactite fell and broke the side of the medicine crate, making a bottle of the medicine fall out and break. Balto tried to run towards the sled but he couldn't because of the ice.

"I got it, Balto!" I called. I pushed off of a stalactite crashed into the ground and slid towards the medicine crate, pushing the board back into place so medicine couldn't fall out anymore. I raced after the others as we ran out of the cave, dodging the stalactites that fell from the exit, and making it out alive.