Chapter Two

Sometime during the night, Laska slipped out of the tent.

Drachen heard her go, but kept silent. He crept after her, unable to sleep as well, gently pushing the tent flap open and being greeted by an icy chill. It was a foggy, cloudy night, and the gray clouds hung low over the dark horizon. It wasn't snowing anymore, but the ground still was covered in layers of white.

He peeked around the corner of the tent, seeing that Laska and him were far from the only ones awake. Most of the dogs had slipped out of their harnesses, and were huddled in a group talking. He spotted Laska, standing next to a lean, grey-black husky.

He must be the father of her pups, Drachen thought. Suddenly curious, he crept closer, trying to catch what the older dogs were talking about.

"But it's not bad," he heard one dog saying, a younger female with dark, fiery eyes.  "Just...different. There's nothing wrong with different, I should know."

An older-looking dog sitting off to the side shook his head. "You young ones. Thing you know everything. Wolves are one of sled dogs' worst enemies. They simply cannot race with us."

"Well it's not up to you is it?" the feisty female shot back.

"Enough Lilie," spoke a new voice, one Drachen instantly recognized from the night he was found. "It isn't our choice, you're correct, but Stefanski has a right to share his point."

Lilie glared at both Stenfanski and Falke, but said nothing.

Laska glanced at her mate, then quietly said, "I think they are fine pups. Felize and I wouldn't mind standing in as their parents."

A few nods and gasps came from the crowd of dogs. Some gave disdainful glances, others gave Laska and Felize encouraging yips. Falke gave Laska a thankful glance, then said a few words to her that were inaudible to Drachen. Then the dogs slowly broke apart. Falke headed off with Chazi, deep in a conversation that he guessed was about Blitzen and himself. Others returned to the immobile sleigh and slipped back into their loose harnesses to rest.

Drachen slinked back toward the den, trying to avoid being spotted by one of the team.

But of course, just as he was about to draw back the tent flap, a voice sounded behind him.

"Drachen?"

Author's Note:
Second chapter is finally up! I'm thinking of making some art or reference sheets or sumthin' owo

Chapter One

The sled bumped along the icy forest paths, twisting and turning constantly. The howls and yips of the dogs ahead were muffled, and the heavy fog made it sound like they were far away instead of close enough to touch.  All though the sun was shining and it was a cloudless day, the air was still chilly and a thick layer of snow still lay on the ground.

Blitzen was awakened by the bumpy terrain, and turned over to see his brother laying next to him, sound asleep. His ash-colored fur was speckled with bits of white snow. Blitzen was about to prod him awake, but a soft tail wrapped around him and kept him from doing so.

"Blitzen, let your brother sleep," a soft voice whispered, obviously the owner of the white, fluffy tail.

Blitzen turned around to see the narrow face of a she-dog, who pretended to give him a stern look. He could still see the laughter in her eyes, though, she wasn't good at hiding it.

"I know, Laska, it's just it's so boring in this sled...." the little pup complained. "I want to be out there helping, not wrapped in blankets while the other dogs are doing the work."

"That's quite grown up of you, Blitzen," Laska answered, licking the discouraged pup's little golden  head. "I want my own pups to be as determined as you when they're born. But you'll start your training soon, summer is almost here. You may be able to race by next winter, if you try hard enough."

"I will! I will!" Blitzen barked, thumping his tail against the bottom of the sleigh.

"I guess I should just give up on sleeping, then," a new voice groaned.

"...Sorry Drachen," Blitzen said, turning around to face a very ruffled and unhappy pup glaring at him.

"I guess it's okay, they are stopping anyway," he mumbled, as the musher ordered for the dogs to stop then hopped off the sleigh. He came to release the sled dogs from their harnesses, and then gave them each a bowl of food, which was gone almost the minute he set it in front of them. He checked them for injuries, and patted each of them fondly. Finally, the musher loosely reattached the dogs the sleigh, where they started to dig and make their snow dens for the night.

After he was done tending to the team, he busily set up a tent, which he led the pups and Laska into. The tent was lit with lanterns, and held a small cot and two blankets for the dogs. He fed himself and the dogs, and soon deep rumbling snores filled the small tent.

The three dogs watched this ritual in awe, all though it happened every night.

Drachen broke the silence, shaking his head. "Why to they have to be so organized?"

Laska laughed in her soft way, then curled up on her blanket to sleep. Drachen followed her, and his breathing became steady almost instantly. He was the opposite of Laska, scrappy, ashy fur standing out against her thick, creamy white coat.

Blitzen, though, still full of excitement from today's journey, laid on his blanket and watched the lantern light dance off of the tent's fabric walls. As he was drifting off, he thought he heard a soft howl whistling through the trees.

He didn't give it much thought, though, because sleep overcame him soon after that.


Author's Note:
Yay! First chapter done. I hope you liked it. I will start of switch off the point of views of the brothers :D

Prologue

The earth colored female wolf ran quickly through the forest, two small bundles firmly gripped in her jaws. Snow was beginning to fall, glazing the whole forest with flecks of ice, and making her hot breath look like puffs of smoke. 

She eventually set the bundles down in the base of a hollowed tree, branches completely covered in a thick layer of white. They both started a chorus of squeaks and grunts, cold and confused in this new damp place. The mother ignored their squeaks, and gently began to cover the small opening of the tree with leaves and moss so the scent and cries of the pups would be muffled. She knew they would not survive, not in this harsh winter storm. But facing the alpha would be worse, after the crime she had committed.  At best, she would be shamed and made an omega, or sent away to live with a pack of lesser value. At worse, she would loose her own life.

She looked at the two pups carefully. The smaller, darker pup had his father’s eyes, but was beginning to take on the shape of a lanky, skinny wolf, like herself. The slightly taller and bigger one had his father’s dense husky coat, and milky, hazel, wolf-like eyes. They would have been a beautiful addition to her pack if they weren’t half-dogs. But it was her mistake, and she had to face the consequences if she were to survive. She gave the helpless pups one last mournful glance before she covered the remaining open space and trotted off into the fog.

                                                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two men walked along the snowy trail nestled deep in the forest of the northern Germany, wrapped in warm furs and deep in conversation. They're loud voices, thick with German accent, and crunching boots could be heard from all over the forest. 

They were followed by two dogs, one a silvery Siberian husky with vibrant green eyes, and the other a leaner, fluffier female river husky. The two dogs fell behind the humans, then started to have a soft conversation of their own.

"Falke, do you think the men are talking about our team?" asked the female to her companion.

He grunted in response. "Isn't that all they talk about? We need more members, Chazi, it's not a secret."

"But Laska will have her pups soon," she gently reminded him. "Even if there are not many, that will be an addition. And if we could just convince the musher to go to the sled auctions…"

"But even if Laska has her pups, there is no guarantee they will be good racers, or if the musher will even keep them to be race. And how would we convince the musher anyways, we ware not capable of human speech. And to me, it seems like the man that is walking with him is already trying to---"

"Wait, Falke, sorry to interrupt but the humans have stopped…" said Chazi, running off to meet the men a little farther ahead. 

Falke looked up to find, indeed, that the humans had stopped, and they were inspecting the base of an old tree. 

He ran to meet them too, and found what the humans were so engrossed in. Inside the hallow base of the tree,  two eyes were staring back at them. 

“There are pups in there!” Chazi whispered fiercely to Falke, just as the musher pulled two little scraps of fur out. The two men now took each pup and inspected them. Falke picked up a few words, such as "wolf" and "mixed" and "risky". The tree didn't just smell of dog scent though, there was something else, something familiar…

Chazi glanced over at the pups, and spoke, interrupting Falke's thoughts. "Those pups are so big already, even the smaller one. They must be crossed with something. Something tells me they are…"

"…not full dog." Falke finished her sentence for her. " You're right." 

He sighed, his mixed emotions reflecting in his eyes, and received a startled glance from Chazi. 

"They're half-dogs."