[Closed to YFWE]

[Baya]

The engine of the pickup truck roared as it traveled across the snowy landscape. The human driving it was singing quietly to himself along with the radio. Sitting in the passenger seat of this truck was a large white wolf. He was looking out the window of the truck at the snowy scenery of his soon to be new home.

"Amarok. I don't think you'll have to try to hard to get used to this place boy." The human said as he stroked the wolf's head. Amarok yawned, revealing his razor sharp teeth and then continued looking out the window, whilst wagging his tail. Prior to moving out here, they lived on the other side of the woods but it had become too secluded. No one dared live on the other side, because that was where the wolves were usually inclined to go for food, due to the low population of humans. That made it far more dangerous.

Now, they were moving to this new village of Nome. Amarok sat up in the seat, with his paws against the door, and his face looking outside. They were driving through the village itself now, and Amarok took note of several dogs in the area, and smiled slightly, wagging his tail. At least here he wouldn't be so bored or lonely, as it seemed there were others like him!

The truck screeched to a stop near a medium sized cabin around the borders of Nome. Amarok barked excitingly and wagged his tail. "Calm down boy! I'll let you out in a moment!" The human said as he turned the key, silencing the great mechanical beast. He then stepped out of his car, and went around to the other side. The human opened the door for Amarok and the young wolf jumped out of the seat, rolling around in the snow.

"Haha! Boy o boy! I think you love this place more then I do!" His human said as he stroked Amarok's head with both hands. Amarok wagged his tail and quickly ran up to the wooden door of their new home. Amarok's master quickly opened the door, and went to the back of the truck to get some of his belongings.

Amarok's claws clicked against the wooden floor as he entered his new home. His eyes scanned the room for a comfortable spot for him to call "bed". He looked to a mat in front of the currently dead fireplace and walked towards it. He walked around the mat for a bit and finally laid down on it. He was exhausted from his trip, considering he couldn't sleep because of all the bumps and rough turns. Amarok closed his blue eyes slowly, and eventually dozed off.

When Amarok awoke once more, he looked around the cabin to see all the furniture and personal belongings of his master were in their place. He gazed at the heads of game animals that he hunted over the fireplace. A deer, a moose, and a grizzly bear. Amarok shuddered slightly, as he had encounters with all three of the creatures those heads belonged to, and it wasn't at all fun.

His master walked back into the cabin and put a leash on Amarok. "Come on boy. We got to go to the post office."

Amarok was confused what the string around his collar was for. He never had to wear it, and when his master began to walk it dragged him with his master. Amarok had no choice but to follow.

Amarok walked through the village of Nome, his massive paws leaving deep prints in the snow. Several dogs looked over at him, he smiled and they ran off quickly. Amarok figured those were the weirdos of the neighborhood.

Amarok and his master reached the post office, and Amarok's leach was tied around a sturdy post. Amarok sat down near the post, knowing if he tried to get away he'd just choke himself. His master went into the post office and Amarok let out a deep sigh.

He looked around for any trace of the dogs he saw near here as he was driving, but nothing. No one was here anymore.

[YFWE]

Balto stepped out into the glaring sunlight which reflected into his eyes off the new-fallen snow that had blanketed Nome only the previous evening. His paws sank deep into the snow as he stepped off the stairway from which he came. He had slept late that day, as he often did those days due to both not having much to do and, well, his old age. Balto had certainly aged quite a bit by then, and the time was quickly approaching in which he would be unable to do anything at all if he was needed. That said, he saw to it that he remained at least somewhat active, this including a brisk run around Nome one day, perhaps assisting his son Kodi with the mail service another.

As he padded out deeper into the snow, Balto decided he would take a walk around Nome to witness the happenings of that day, though he doubted that there would be anything of great importance. Nome had been quite quiet and inactive since the big race a few years prior. It was developing, like any normal town might be during that period, but things had certainly calmed down. Balto did not mind this; as he had gotten older, he had learned to appreciate tranquility.

He rounded the corner and onto the main road through Nome. As with any other day, there were people out and about, along with a few of the animal variety as well. Conditions for Balto had vastly improved since he first saved the town's children from the diphtheria epidemic; nowadays he was greeted enthusiastically by almost anyone who passed him. "Hello, Balto!" and "Good afternoon, Balto!" were common cries heard from the humans, and occasionally other animals would stop to have a bit more of a conversation. As Balto watched his son Kodi near, he knew that this day would be no different.

Kodi was a bit flustered, as were many of the other animals he both passed and spoke to. Kodi did not tell Balto why this was at first, but instead directed him to the post office. Bidding his son a bemused goodbye, Balto padded off toward the post office, his mind swirling about as he wondered what the problem could be, what had been bothering the others so much. And then he saw it.

There was a white wolf tethered to a pole outside the post office. Though it seemed docile from a distance, Balto knew from his past dealings with wolves that this was rarely actually the case. Still, Balto's tensions were eased by the fact that the wolf seemed harmless enough, but given the reaction from the other animals, he did not want to take any chances. He would at least greet the wolf and welcome him to their town. At least then he would no longer be running on preconceived notions of the canine.

Balto walked hesitantly toward the wolf, until he knew that he was in the wolf's line of sight. "Er... hello there," he cleared his voice before speaking. "Sorry if I'm bothering you. I just... saw you were new in town and wanted to welcome you. My name's Balto," he said, sending the wolf a curt nod.

The wolf-dog paused, allowing time for the wolf to reply before continuing. "What brings you out here, eh? I don't think I've ever seen anyone of your kind... tethered up like this."

[Baya]

As some dogs passed by Amarok, they all steered clear or ignored him. His ears twitched in confusion, desperately wanting to know what was going on, but unfortunately no one would even bother to approach him so he may ask. He looked to his right, and noticed that a strange looking dog was padding through the snow towards the post office. Amarok waited to see if this dog would run off at the sight of him, but was surprised to see instead that this dog got closer to him then any of Nome's inhabitants. The dog introduced himself as Balto.

Amarok could tell Balto had wolf heritage from his eyes, paws, and of course the infamous incisors. Amarok wanted to ask what mix he was, but he didn't want to be rude about it and fixate his attention on that. "My name is Amarok." Amarok said in a calm tone, proving the elegance of the arctic wolf by being as cool as possible regardless of how others treated him.

"I followed my master here. He is a game hunter and life has not been to prosperous when he didn't have many customers to come for the meat or fur of the animals he hunted. He decided that Nome would be a better place to set up trade." Amarok explained. Amarok looked to Balto for a sort while then opened his mouth to ask the question he'd been yearning to know the answer to the moment he got here.

"Could you explain to me why the dogs in this village are so strange? You are the first to even get within speaking distance of me, let alone the fact that you spoke to me." Amarok said with a forced chuckle. He was not amused at all the truth be told about his situation. He had been excited to meet the other dogs he spotted on the way through Nome in his master's truck. They all seemed so happy and kind. Amarok learned this lesson before, but he guessed it had to be repeated for the sake of emphasis. Looks can be deceiving.