Blizzard's Soul Mate

Avalanche by Tundrathesnowpup

Blizzard: Avalanche's Mate

A sort of sequel to Pups and the Kidnap Caper showing the aftermath related to Blizzard's life. Please do not edit this. I have the whole idea in my head. I just can't finish it all in one day.

It had been a week since Blizzard had tried to kidnap his sister's puppies, and most emphatically failed. He had severely underestimated how much they cared for their pups, since he had never experienced the feeling himself. What Tundra had said "Have fun with being alone," had hit him in the soft spot, because he knew it was true. How Rocky had threatened to tear him apart and how he himself had been frightened that it was true, had left a mark in his mind.

He walked down a sidewalk, lost in thought, when they were interrupted by a loud clang. He looked into the alley to find a Siberian husky with her eyes closed and a piece of a gutter on top of her. Blizzard was overtaken by her beauty and he felt a feeling he had never felt before. His heart pumped quickly and his face felt hot and sweaty. He got closer and realized that she was unconscious. He started to get worried and tried to wake her up.

"Hey. Hey! Wake up," Blizzard beckoned, and she slowly opened her eyes.

"Who are you?" the pup said, obviously frightened.

"Easy, I don't want to hurt you. I'm Blizzard."

"Really? That's ironic. We both have names of disasters that involve snow! I'm Avalanche."

"What a nice name."

"Thanks."

"So what are you doing out here?"

"I live out here. I'm a stray."

"Really? I would never had guessed. You look so pretty and well groomed," Blizzard said, then felt like face-pawing. Why did he just say that?!

Avalanche blushed and said "Thanks. You're pretty handsome yourself. Of course, we look like twins but, still."

Blizzard looked at himself and then at her. She was right! They looked like twins, only she had the most amazing dark blue eyes. She let down her front left paw, and then winced. "What's wrong?" Blizzard asked.

"I broke my paw. I'll have to let it heal," she responded glumly.

Blizzard thought hard for a few seconds then decided. "I know someone who can help. You stay here." And with that, he made his way over to the Lookout.

"I just hope Rocky doesn't answer the door," Blizzard thought as he made his way over.

Blizzard made it to the Lookout and nervously gulped. What if they kicked him out as soon as they saw him? He could fail Avalanche! No. That couldn't happen. She was the first one to not shrug him off as soon as she met him. He had to help her. So he took the risk and knocked on the door.

As soon as the door opened, he was stumbling over his back paws. It was Rocky, and as soon as he saw him, he bared him teeth and anger filled his eyes.

"What are you doing here?! Have you come to try and steal my pups again?!"

"Look! Look! I'm sorry! That was stupid of me! But I have an emergency!"

"Are you trying to separate me from my puppies again?! Because it won't work!"

"No! I'm not! I'm not that stupid to try again! There's a puppy with a broken paw and she needs help! Tell you what! You can leash me! You can not let me out of your sight! Just help her!"

All the yelling attracted Tundra and the other pups and when they saw Blizzard they were outraged. The puppies looked at him as if he were a monster, which, for some reason, made his heart hurt, but he pushed the feeling aside and after a good lot of yelling, stumbling over his back paws when Rocky threatened him, convincing, and an agreement to wear a leash, he managed to be able to show them the way to Avalanche.

When they got back to the alley where Avalanche was hiding, Rocky, Zuma, and Ryder seemed to be surprised that he was telling the truth, and when they got back with Avalanche, the others, who had stayed to take care of the puppies, also seemed surprised.

"Can you let my friend off of that leash, please?" Avalanche asked politely, since they had tied Blizzard's leash to the table, just to be safe.

"Once we've taken care of your paw," responded Chase, as all of them gave Blizzard the stink eye, and Avalanche had had just about enough.

"No! You let him go now!" Avalanche yelled and stomped her broken paw, then winced.

"Hey! Calm down!" Chase yelled.

"No! Not until you LET HIM GO!" she yelled, then kept on stomping on her bad foot. Blizzard, nor anyone else, couldn't believe it! She was defending HIM!

"Okay! Okay! We'll let him go! Just calm down!" Chase exclaimed, tired of this behavior.

"We will?" everyone, except Chase, Blizzard, and Avalanche, said simultaneously.

"Yes, we will," Chase said and gave everyone a death stare, and no one dared object, except Rocky.

"He is the enemy! Did you forget what he did to my pups, Chase!?" exclaimed Rocky, clearly outraged.

"No, but maybe you forgot that if she keeps stomping, she's going to break her paw off completely!" Chase yelled back.

"Stop! I'm not going to let my brother make my friends argue like that," Tundra said.

"This isn't Blizzard's fault!" Chase responded angrily.

"He's right, it isn't. Rocky is the one that started it," Avalanche said with a smirk, "Why don't you just let Blizzard go and this whole problem will be solved." And they listened to her. With a bit of convincing, she had Blizzard free and leash-less in just a few minutes, much to her pride.

About an hour later, Avalanche was all bandaged up and ready to leave.

"Well, see you all later," Avalanche said and just as she was going to walk out with Blizzard, she was stopped by Ryder.

"I was wondering... How would you like to join the Paw Patrol?" Ryder asked Avalanche.

Blizzard knew what was coming. She would accept and he would be left alone again. Ryder waved the collar in front of her and Blizzard knew that she would accept. A home, a caring family, constant food. What was there to not like? He let his head limp and he looked away and as he started walking out the door, he heard something he never thought he would hear.

"No. I don't want to be a member of the Paw Patrol. That would mean I would have to leave Blizzard and I definitely don't want to do that."

Everyone's mouths hung open as she turned her back to the rest of them, to the Paw Patrol, and walked happily away with Blizzard and they both knew, they all knew that Blizzard had found his soul mate, and he couldn't be happier.

So it turned out, Tundra was wrong. He wouldn't always be alone, and now, he knew that.

After that, Avalanche never went back to the Lookout.

Until that fateful day...

Blizzard's Soul Mate- And Then There Were Five and an Adopted Sixth

Blizzard walked down the sidewalk towards Avalanche's alley. As usual, at sunset every day, Blizzard would go and visit Avalanche. He had been visiting her for about a year, but they had only been dating for five months. Recently, she had been acting strangely whenever he came, as if she had a secret. He had been worried, not because she was keeping a secret, but because she seemed under a lot of pressure and stress. He had asked if anything was wrong, but she had denied it.

When he got to the alley, she was wearing an obviously sad smile. That made him worry, and was the trigger to ask again.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes. Something is wrong." Blizzard started to worry.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news." Blizzard started to really worry.

"What is it?" he asked nervously.

"I have to move in with... the terribly good, awfully nice... Paw Patrol," she responded, disgusted about what she had to do.

"W-w-why?!" He said, dumbfounded.

"I need constant food and a good home now more than ever," she responded glumly.

"W-w-why?!" Blizzard repeated, baffled at her sudden need. Of course, she had always wanted these things, but she would never do something without a good reason.

"Because," she paused and started blushing, "I'm... pregnant," she finished bashfully, "And you're the dad."

"WHAT IN THE WORLD!?" Blizzard exclaimed. He felt as if his whole world had gone spinning out of the solar system after someone used it as a top. "Are you serious?!"

"Yes. SO, I was wondering if maybe YOU could help me explain it to them?" Avalanche asked, then batted her eyelashes in a really cute way, that Blizzard just couldn't refuse.

He blushed then said "O-of course. Anything for you. But it might be dangerous."

"Danger? I laugh in the face of danger! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Avalanche quoted from a movie that Blizzard told her about a few days before.

"Then let's go. Just brace yourself for a fight."

"I can't fight."

"Then I'll fight for you. You'll just cheer."

"Sounds bad to me. I love fighting, but if it's all I can do?"

"It is."

"Fine, Mr. Protective."

"You know it. Now let's go. The sooner you get there, the better."

"Please, not again," Blizzard prayed to himself that Rocky wouldn't answer the door, and thank goodness, he didn't. It was Chase, and he didn't give Blizzard the usual stink eye. That told him something was wrong and his theory was only proven with Chase's first words.

"Come on in, we're just going to have dinner." Avalanche went right in, but Blizzard waited for a few seconds until Chase responded.

"You too, Blizzard."

"What is going on?" Blizzard thought.

Chase calmly led them into the Lookout, were they found all of the others waiting for them.

"I was waiting for this," Tundra said calmly, "I knew it would happen eventually."

"I didn't and was hoping it wouldn't," Rocky said with the usual distaste.

"Now, Rocky, don't say that," Skye responded sweetly, but firmly.

Chase looked at the others and then at Blizzard, who had a confused look on his face then smiled, chuckled, and started explaining.

"You see, we knew that Avalanche would eventually turn up pregnant, and that she would come here for food and shelter."

"How did you know?" Avalanche and Blizzard asked simultaneously.

"You kind of just know after having lived it twice," Marshall said, butting into the conversation. Blizzard opened his mouth to say something, but immediately shut it. He didn't want to ruin it for Avalanche before she even asked, so he just decided to keep his mouth shut, for once.

"What was that, Blizzard?" Rocky asked, sounding genuinely worried about Blizzard's sudden change in decision, but it didn't sound like that to Blizzard.

Blizzard grit his teeth, while smiling, and said, "Nothing, Rocky," in a voice with a growl that made a normally harmless statement sound like "Drop dead." Tundra's pups were frightened and ran behind her, and Tundra, as usual, gave Blizzard the stink eye, who, in return, did nothing, instead of the usual growl. Everyone could tell that if Blizzard was so nice, then this must be important for him.

"Can I talk to Blizzard for a few minutes?" Rocky asked with a worried look on his face, which he quickly turned into a smile when his pups' confused faces turned to him.

"Sure," Blizzard responded, with an annoyed look on his face, that he also managed to turn into a smile.

"Okay. Let's go, pups," Tundra said and walked out of the room with the rest of the Paw Patrol and Ryder.

"I know how worried you can get when your mate is pregnant. Don't worry. Here, she'll be perfectly safe and we'll take care of her. You can count on it," Rocky said, giving Blizzard the reassurance that he desperately needed.

"Good. Thanks, Rocky," Blizzard said, glad that there was someone that understood what he what he was going through.

Later the girls entered, and Avalanche was given the warm welcome she deserved, and Blizzard left, happy to know that she was in good paws. Rocky's paws.

A few months later, Avalanche gave birth to three perfectly healthy pups, thanks to the Paw Patrol, all of which lightened up Blizzard's mood immediately, and made him feel happy for the first time in years.

He left that day, proud and beaming, happy for the first time in a few years. He couldn't wait to go back the next day, but little did he know that the next day, everything would change.

The Fight...

Blizzard was walking towards the Lookout to see his mate and pups again. He still couldn't believe that he was a father. Lost in his happy thoughts, he was given a shock when he heard threatening growls coming from an alley. He looked in quietly and saw two Dobermans and a large Pit Bull growling at something that he couldn't see, and that something giving off little high-pitched barks. The sound rang a bell, when suddenly it hit him. He climbed up an old ladder onto the roof of the next house and looked down from the roof. Just as he thought. It was a little puppy, scared out of its wits.

"Look! A little appetizer," the first Doberman, who was a boy, said, "Let's get him!"

"No! Wait! If we wait for its parents to rescue it, we'll have a full course meal," the second Doberman, who just happened to be a girl, said, and she was right.

"I agree. Now get that thing and let's get out of here!" the black pit bull said, who seemed to be the leader, and just as the male Doberman was going to pick up the little thing by the scruff, Blizzard jumped from the roof, onto his snout, clamping his jaws shut, then jumping in front of the pup and the dogs.

"Leave. Him. Alone." Blizzard said firmly, and since he was in the male Dobermans face, the poor dog freaked out, and ran out of the alley, screaming.

"Hey! Wait up!" the girl said, but he ignored her as she looked out of the alley to see where he was, then she yelled, "SIT!"

He immediately sat down, then turned around, and walked back into the alley, but before he could get back in, Blizzard got in his face and yelled, "OUT!"

The dog ran out again, and this time, the 'sit' command didn't work.

"Get out of the way between us and our snack," the black pit bull said, calmly, but firmly, but what he didn't know was that acting 'soft' was not in Blizzard's mind.

"No! You get away from my son!"

"This is your son?"

"Yes!"

"I didn't know. But I don't care," he said flatly, then the girl's eye went wide, then she said nervously, "I have to, um... find my brother. I'll be right back," then she darted out of the alley as fast as her paws could carry her.

"It's just you and me now," the pit bull said, then lunged at Blizzard and bit his neck. Blizzard let out a mighty howl, then his eyes started flaring with anger. He stuck out his paw, claws out and sharper than knives, and smacked the pit bull in the face, and off of him. They both looked at each other, eyes on fire, when the girl Doberman spoke up.

"Demon, let it go. Just give up."

"No! I will never give up a fight!"

The Doberman cowered away and slinked out of the alley. It was starting to get dark. Avalanche must be worried. He growled at Demon, and then jumped and lunged, as Demon did the same. They intercepted in mid-air, and then Demon bit Blizzard's side, to which Blizzard returned a nasty scrape across the face, followed by a bite on the neck. Demon recovered at an amazing speed, then retuned the bite, followed by a flurry of scratches across the face, which hit Blizzard hard, then a hard shove on the backbone knocked Blizzard down for good.

Demon smiled to himself, and walked to little puppy, when a hard force brought him to the floor. Blizzard jumped on him, then bit his side and clawed him until his claws went dull, but these attacks were all returned, and even stronger than he had originally launched them. Blizzard fell to the ground and as Demon pounced on him, he grabbed him mid-air, and bit his leg. Demon let out a sharp yelp, then he got bit again and again, yelping each time, until finally, he had had enough, and scurried the best he could out of the alley, shooting dirty looks at Blizzard the entire time.

Blizzard tuned to the little pup, who was still scared.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," Blizzard told the little pup, then picked him up, "It's okay. I'm Blizzard. Who are you?" he said softly, and an eerie voice responded instead.

"He doesn't have a name. His father didn't bother to give him a name. Do you want to hear his story?" the voice said.

"Would I ever? I really want to know who he is, and where his parents are," Blizzard responded.

"Then I hope this pleases you," the voice said, and a young girl appeared.

"To understand his story, you must know mine."

Blizzard stared in awe, as she waved her hand, and everything dissolved and changed.

"I used to live here, in Adventure Bay, but I had to move away after my father died, since my new step-father worked in another town. When the pup was born, his mother was too weak, and died. His father was heart-broken, and tried to kill the pup, which explains the scar over his left eye. When he realized what he had done, he drowned himself in the bay. I couldn't take him, since my step-father was allergic to dogs. I died in a car accident on the way to Foggy Bottom, and the pup has been alone since."

"So, you're a ghost?"

"Yes, I am. He is not. He needs a home."

"I can take him home."

"You will?"

"Yes."

"Then what is his name?"

Blizzard thought for awhile, then decided. "His name will be Snow. Snow can become anything, depending on who sculpts it, and what it's sculpted into, and so can he."

The girl smiled. "I love it. Take care of my pup, okay? Take care of our Snow."

"I will."

The girl smiled at him one last time, then looked into the moon and smiled again, more to herself this time. "It's getting late. You TWO better get home. And thank you, Blizzard, for giving me the privilege of telling Snow that."

"You're welcome," then she dissolved into many little specks of white glitter and rode a breeze into the moon, then it hit him. "Wait! I didn't get your name!" He sighed as he got no answer, then his ears perked up as a light breeze whispered into them.

"Sapphire," the wind whispered, and Blizzard smiled to himself. Despite how weak he was, he put Snow on his back and whispered into the wind.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"He then looked at Snow, who looked happy with the wind blowing in his face, then said to him, "Come on, Snow. Before we go home, I want you to meet your mom and uncles and aunts, especially your real aunt," then whispered to himself, "Especially your real aunt."

Blizzard was almost at the Lookout when he remembered something. Avalanche was much to weak to take care of a fourth pup! He looked at Snow, who was fast asleep on his back. He smiled at his new son, then decided to take him home, instead. He could visit Avalanche tomorrow. He took his sleeping son to his home and set him down in his bed. He covered him in the blanket. Then he heard a noise from outside.

"Blizzard! Are you there?" Tundra called out. She had probably come to see why he hadn't gone to see Avalanche.

"Yes," he said, then covered Snow completely in the blanket, "I'll just be a minute. Go wait for me in the Lookout. I'll be there soon. I just have to take care of something."

"Oh, okay! See you at the Lookout. Bye."

"Bye." Blizzard looked at Snow. Poor little thing. He couldn't leave him alone. Suddenly a breeze blew and whispered yet again.

"Go see your mate. I'll take care of him."

Blizzard smiled. "Thank you. Take care of him."

"You know I will."

And with that Blizzard walked towards the Lookout. On the way, he looked into the alley where he had rescued Snow. Where Snow had sat, now there was just a little puppy skull, stripped clean of its meat. Blizzard gulped. Demon must've found another victim. He looked away and continued to the Lookout.

When he was halfway there, he felt a painful sting in his neck. He put his paw on it, and it came back drenched red. Then the same sting hit his side. He used his other paw, but the same thing happened. He limped the rest of the way to the Lookout with bright red paw prints. When he got there, he made to the TV room, where everyone, including Avalanche and the pups, was, smiled, then collapsed out of weakness, onto his side, so everyone could see the bites and the holes penetrating his skin, his back, and even his face and they were all scratched up so badly, they almost looked like they were supposed to be that way. He could here everyone gasp as he collapsed, and could see Avalanche crying above him, and felt a single tear splash on his face, then he closed his eyes and let everything, the pain, the worry, the world, fade away.

He woke up looking into Avalanche's beautiful blue eyes. Avalanche smiled when she noticed he was awake. Her eyes were slightly red, it was obvious she had been crying. He smiled when she did, and then she called the others. Blizzard's injuries were bandaged up, but there was a long deep gash in his side, and it was unknown if it would leave a scar.

"Am I still bleeding?"

"No. You're not."

"Then get this bandage off o' me!"

"Why?! Don't you want to have that wound covered up?"

"No way!"

"Okay..." Avalanche said, uncertain, and took off the bandage. There was a long scar replacing the gash on his right side. If you could take the scar off of Scar from the Lion King's face, made it bigger and placed it in the middle of Blizzard's right side, spanning the height of it, that's what it would look like.

Avalanche gasped. She looked at Blizzard, who was admiring his scar, then asked the exact question Blizzard had hoped she wouldn't ask.

"What happened?!"

Blizzard winced then said "I got into a fight."

"With who?!"

"A dog!"

"I know that! Who?"

"I don't know his name!" Blizzard lied, hoping it would end there, but it didn't.

"Why!?" Avalanche exclaimed, worried.

Blizzard winced yet again, then said "He just attacked me out of nowhere!"

Avalanche stared into his eyes and said "You're lying. The truth. Now."

How was he going to get himself out of this? "I was protecting a puppy that they were trying to eat. I won the fight, but not without a price, and went home to get some rest, but then Tundra came and got me, so I came, and on the way, I found a pup's skull in the alley. They must have attacked it afterwards," Blizzard said, and was pretty sure this would be the biggest lie of his life.

Avalanche's expression softened, and she nodded her head in sympathy. She left the room, after saying she would tell the others, and as soon as she was gone, he let out a huge sigh. He had told his mate a gigantic lie, and he was sure he could only keep it for a while, but 'for a while' was a lot longer than he had originally thought.

A Few Years Later

The moon shone brightly on the surface of the water, and Avalanche sighed as she looked out to sea. Blizzard silently walked up to her side.

"Is everything okay?" he asked her. Lately, she had been glum and been distancing herself every night.

"Yes, but I miss the Northern Lights," she responded, not looking back at him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Blizzard asked her, curious. She almost never told anyone about her past, and he was eager to learn more.

"You see, from the moment I was born, I was trained into dog-sledding. My owner would always take the long trip from Alaska to the Arctic during Christmas to see the Northern Lights, and they always took me. These past few Christmases, I've missed the Northern Lights." Avalanche turned around and walked back to the Lookout without another word. That left Blizzard time to think.

Suddenly, he had an amazing idea. If he could make a mini Northern Light display, it would be the perfect Christmas gift for Avalanche. He went back to his house and called his second-in-command.

"Snow! Come here! I've got news," he said when he arrived at his home.

"Yeah, dad?" the teenage wolf-dog said casually. Even though his father was a supporter of pure-breeds, Snow was a very important exception. Especially since his father didn't ignore the fact he was a wolf-dog like you would expect him to, he cherished it. He thought one of the things that made Snow so special for him was the fact he was a wolf-dog, and Snow loved that.

"I've decided its time for you to meet your mother," Blizzard said, which immediately caught Snow's attention.

"Really, finally?!" the dog said, wagging his tail and panting, two things he almost never did, since he was cool, calm, and collected, not to mention mature, and believed wagging and panting were puppy things.

"Yes, this is also the best time, because I need your help to make a present for your mom, so are you going to help or what?" Blizzard said calmly, trying to get his son to calm down. Snow caught himself, and sat formally and responded in a calm voice.

"Of course I am," he responded formally, "What do you want me to do?"

Blizzard gave a smirk, and took of his collar, and put it on Snow.

"I want you, to look around the alley for bottles. Any shade of blue, purple would be nice. I want to make a mini Northern Lights show for Avalanche."

"Yes, dad," Snow said then walked out and to check all the alleys, while Blizzard went to check the local restaurants, and they both came back at sunrise, Blizzard came back with everything but the color purple.

"I've got everything but purple," Blizzard growled to his son, who wore a smug look.

"You mean, this purple?" he said smugly, and pulled a single purple bottle from behind his back.

"Snow, you're a life saver!" Blizzard exclaimed then took the bottle from in front of Snow.

"Last time I checked, you were the life saver," Snow said, remembering the stories his father had told him, and looking at the scar on his father's side. That scar was his fault.

"It doesn't matter. Now let's get to work," Blizzard grabbed a bottle, and smashed it against the fence.

That night, Christmas Eve, he put all of the shards in a heavy duty bag, and handed it to Snow.

"Now, you know what to do," Blizzard said to his son.

"Yes, I do. Sneak in while you're distracting them, place the bottles like we practiced, and then I call them in and turn it on as soon as mom steps into the room, then introductions," Snow said, reading his father's mind.

"That's my boy," Blizzard said, and patted Snow of the back, "Now go and get ready."

Snow snuck around the back of the Lookout, nodded at his dad, and waited.

Blizzard took a secret path from the Lookout to the beach, and called out.

"Hey guys! Come here!"

All of the dogs looked down and started to walk down the side of the beach. Meanwhile, Snow snuck into the Lookout, and into the TV room, only to find a sleeping Ace.

"Oh man, that, that... what is he, a German Shepard or what? Oh, it doesn't matter. He complicates the plan. Rats!" Snow thought, but stays silent and set up the glass. When he was almost done, Ace started waking up. Snow ran behind a wall and stayed quiet, hoping he would go outside.

Ace woke up, and noticed he was alone.

"Hey, where is everyone? Hello? Is anyone there?" Ace called out, with a hint of worry in his voice, "Oh, what's this?" he said, looking at the glass, and reaching out to touch it, but Snow was a quick-thinker.

He kicked a nearby can and it clattered into the view of Ace. Ace turned to look at it, then started walking towards it. Snow ran out of view, and found a recycling bin. He picked it up, and left a trail of trash all the way to the top of the Lookout, which Ace followed, and when he was at the top, Snow climbed onto the roof, and snuck behind Ace's back, and back down the Lookout, then gave his dad the signal.

"Avalanche, you go first," Snow heard his father's voice say, and as soon as the doors opened, he turned on the flashlight under the glass.

"Let the show begin," Snow whispered to himself.

When Avalanche looked at the display, she couldn't help but gasp. It was amazing.

"Blizzard, did you do all of this?!"

"Not alone, he helped," Blizzard said pointing at Snow, "He's your other son."

Avalanche, and everyone else, looked at him like he was crazy. What was he talking about?

"Remember that pup I said I had tried to protect but failed. I didn't. I took him home and raised him as my own."

"So, I've had a second son, and not known about it," Avalanche asked, accusingly.

"Yeah, pretty much," Snow interrupted, "I'm Snow."

"Hi! I'm Snowstorm! I can't believe it! I have a BROTHER!" Snowstorm yelled and pulled Snow into a tight hug, and forced all the air out of him.

"Hi! We're Arctic and Antarctica! We're twins! And your SISTERS!" they yelled out, and hugged Snow like Snowstorm did, and Snow looked at them as if they were all CRAZY.

"DOG PILE!!!" Snowstorm yelled out, and all of the teens, except Ace, Aurora, Sage and Winter, crouched down.

"Dog pile?" Snow said softly, more to himself than anyone else, then got trampled by a bunch of dogs jumping on top of him. Ace and Winter looked at him, and his "These dogs are CRAZY!" expression, then Ace spoke up.

"Guys, you're crushing him. Stop it."

No one paid attention to him, so he barked and Chase's megaphone came out and he told Snow, Sage, Winter, and Aurora to cover their ears, then yelled.

"GET OFF OF HIM!!!" No one dared to not follow that order.

All of the others, except Ace and Winter, introduced themselves with wide grins, to which Snow responded with a nervous "You're all crazy" laugh, then looked at Ace and Winter.

"Hi, I'm Winter," she put a paw to her chest, "And this is Ace," he gave a slight nod and Winter put her paw out with a small smile. Snow smiled back, and took her paw calmly and comfortably, and nodded to Ace, who smiled back.

"You want a tour of the Lookout?" Ace asked, keeping his smile small, which, strangely, he found easy.

"Sure, that would be cool," Snow responded, cool and calm. Ace and Winter led him to the top of the Lookout.

"Wow, the inside of the top of the Lookout is much different than the inside. And I know the outside well." Snow said.

"How so?" Ace asked, curious.

"At night, I play around here a lot. Especially the roof."

"And how do you get up there?"

"Follow me," Snow said, and jumped onto the railing then threw a string up and climbed onto the roof, and Ace followed eagerly. He looked out to view, which was incredible.

"Boys, time for bed." Skye called out.

"Snow, you can go." Blizzard called out.

"Go where?" Ace asked.

"Wanna come?" Snow asked "It's the only way you'll find out," Snow said, brandishing his claws.

"Sure!"

"Way ahead of you. Dad, can Ace come?!"

"If it's okay with Chase," Blizzard said raising an eyebrow at Chase.

"Fine with me."

"Yes!"

"Yes!" Ace said then Snow said "Follow me," and jumped off the roof and into the trees, closely followed by Ace. They jumped from branch to branch and had the time of their lives, until they got to the edge of a cliff. Snow jumped and hung over the edge and grabbed two suits out of a crevice.

"Put this on." He handed Ace a suit. Ace put it on. It was black, with two flaps between the front and back legs.

"Okay, jump off the cliff in a cannonball, but about half-way down, hold your legs out, and get used to steering. Put these on, too." Snow handed him goggles like Tundra's, but black, "Okay, on the count of three. One, two," Ace took a deep breath, "... THREE!" and they both jumped off, and they soared though the air.

They did loop-de-loops and figure eights and even had a contest for who could do the best trick. They stayed like that until 1:00 am when they landed on the roof of the Lookout and fell asleep on each other.

They both woke up slowly, and Winter was standing in front of them, on the roof. She looked at them then smirked. They looked at each other and noticed that they were paw over paw. They both retracted and blushed then Snow looked at Winter, who was smiling.

"Be quiet." Snow said, obviously annoyed. Ace kept quiet, and gave a meek smile.

"What are you wearing?" Winter asked, looking at the black suits, "You look weird in black."

"Well, I think you look cute in any color," CJ said, who had somehow gotten onto the roof, as well.

Ace steeped back from CJ, who was getting a little too close for comfort, and Snow saw this as the perfect time for a prank.

He went behind CJ and silently tied a string to her tail, and to the rail below the roof. Then he pulled the string from the rail, and CJ of the roof. She gave a weak scream, more of a yelp, and she ended up dangling off of the edge of the Lookout.

Ace looked down, and started laughing, as did Snow.

"Mom! Dad! Help!" CJ yelled, as Ace and Winter jumped down from the roof and they all stuck their heads over the rail and laughed at her expense, except Winter.

"I hope your tail doesn't rip off!" Snow called out, and they laughed even more.

"Shouldn't we help her?" Winter said, worried about CJ.

Ace thought for a second. "Nah!" And kept on laughing.

Just then Zuma and Princess came up and helped CJ up.

"Why didn't you help her?" Chase asked Ace in a stern voice and just as he was about to answer, Snow grabbed him and pulled him off of the Lookout. They flew away and Snow said "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Ace decided to just follow along. But as they flew off, Ace couldn't help but think one thing.

"I am SO grounded."

After the Zuma and Princess left to make sure CJ's tail was okay, Chase stayed on the top of the Lookout. He looked off of the edge angrily. Why would his son run away from punishment? It just wasn't like him. Then a voice spoke up.

"Don't worry. It isn't Ace's fault. It's Snow's." Chase turned to see who had said that, and realized it was Blizzard.

"You weren't expecting Ace to defy your rules, were you?" Blizzard said, smirking, then let out a small chuckle. Chase gave him a confused look, but then felt a tear run down his cheek, which he quickly swatted away.

"No, I guess I wasn't." Chase replied, amazed that he had began crying so easily. Truth was, when Ace had run away, it had kind of broken his heart. Ace had always made him proud, always obeyed him. And this time he hadn't. Thing was, he wasn't even planning to punish Ace. He just wanted to ask him to be a little nicer.

"Don't worry. Like I said, it wasn't his fault. It was Snow's. He's sort of like his mother, able to trick others into acting how he wants them to. The thing is, he's one of a kind. He's not like other pups, and when he tries to make friends, they shove him away, so he's been led to believe that the only way to make friends is to make them like him, but they never fall for it for long, so he just drags them away. When he realizes that here, no matter who he is, he's loved, it'll all stop. So I ask you one thing."

"And what's that?"

"Don't punish Ace for something he didn't do." And with that, Blizzard walked back into the Lookout, leaving Chase alone again.

And even though no one saw him, he slowly nodded.

Snow and Ace had been flying for some while. Then they saw a giant spurt of red liquid burst from the ground about 50 feet from them.

"Okay, this is where you turn back, and if you get it trouble, I'm sorry. Usually my 'get-out-of-trouble" campouts last a few months, but not this time," Snow said them grabbed Ace's wing, and ripped it, sending him off course, and back to the Lookout. And Ace couldn't help but think.

"Thank goodness I'm going home."

But he spoke to soon, and ended up crashing head-first into the Lookout.

"Ow." Then he passed out and fell down the side of the Lookout.

Chase had stayed on the top of the Lookout, and he thought about what Blizzard had said, and the appearance of Snow.

Blizzard had been hiding Snow since he was a pup, covered it with a lie, left him home alone every sunset he had come to visit them, and every time he had out with his owner, who had no idea he had two dogs, and still had gotten to know him better than he probably knew his own son. Blizzard had almost died for Snow, and left him alone for long periods of time, but had bonded with him so well, it seemed as if he was following the boy 24/7. It kind of freaked Chase out, but he got the feeling he didn't know all the facts. There was something that Blizzard hadn't told them, and Chase had to find out. It kind of pained him to know that the mean take-all-prisoners pup who had bullied Tundra for so long, and he had fought off several times, was now telling him how to take care of his own son, because his father-son bond was stronger than his own.

Suddenly, Chase broke out of his trance, because of a strange black figure flying towards the Lookout. He squinted his eyes, and noticed it was Ace.

Chase gasped as he noticed Ace didn't have control and crashed into the Lookout, and started falling. Not thinking, he jumped off of the Lookout, and tried to reach the ground before Ace. Thanks to the Ace's suit, his fall slowed down, allowing Chase to succeed, and he landed right under Ace, who crashed hard on top of him. Chase noticed Ace was unconscious, but black spots were dancing in his own vision, as well. He managed to get up, but his front right paw felt funny. He ignored it, and walked into the Lookout.

"Chase, I thought you were at the top of the Lookout," Blizzard asked, worried.

"I was, but he crashed into the Lookout, and managed to beat him to the bottom and caught him," Chase replied, then he collapsed, but he managed to get one last look at his injured paw. Was it supposed to bend like that? Then everything went black.

Snow steered towards the spout of red liquid, which he knew was blood. Yes, it was gross, but that's what he got for being friends with the wolf that controlled death, guilt, pain, and blood. He landed safely, and walked out to the spout, and grabbed a rock at aimed at the center, then threw it in as hard as he could, then an "OW!" was heard, and the spout stopped. When it was gone, a black wolf appeared, rather large, with pearl white teeth, excluding the tips of his top fangs, which were blood-stained, and red eyes, with weird markings under then, that looked as if he had been crying a lot, only they were blood red, rubbing his chin.

"What was that for?!" the wolf said. This wolf's name was Blood Tears, the keeper of death itself. He was sort of like Hades, only he was a wolf.

"Well, Hades, it was so no one discovers you, before I introduce them to you," Snow said, knowing he had pushed some of his buttons. Some dogs would think it was dumb to try and get the most deadly wolf in the world, who could kill you with a mere thought, angry, and they would be right, but Snow didn't care.

"I've told you, I'm nothing like Hades. His signature color are black and grey, while mine are black and red, blood red. Sure we both have similar jobs, but that's about it." He responded as calmly as he could, which wasn't very calmly, considering it was afternoon and he was in werewolf mode.

"But you can't say those rumors about you being Hades' dream pet aren't true, can you?"

"They aren't true." He said sternly and started pacing, and Snow rolled his eyes. Wouldn't this guy ever loosen up? Then, he got another idea of how to get him mad.

"Won't you please loosen up?! Or do you have to go insane again?" Snow said cockily, and Blood Tears froze in his tracks. He had hit the bulls-eye. Insanity was a touchy subject with Blood Tears. There was a time were he had gone insane and was a big happy ball of goofy sunshine, the opposite of what he really was. He had made a fool of himself, and he hated it.

"What did you say?!" Blood Tears exclaimed angrily, turning towards Snow, snarling.

"You heard me. Insane." Snow said calmly, and Blood Tears snapped! He charged towards Snow at full speed, his teeth bared. Then, all of a sudden, he jumped towards Snow, mouth wide open, ready to bite. Snow was calm, confident he could dodge it, until he had a flashback. He remembered when Demon had been attacking him, and Snow froze in place, while Blood Tears was in mid-air ready to bite, and Snow couldn't dodge.

All of a sudden, a black muzzle with chains appeared out of nowhere and fit itself onto Blood Tears. Snow snapped out of his trance, and looked around Blood Tears, who was struggling and trying to get out of the muzzle, and saw a white wolf, slightly smaller, with black paws. He smiled.

"Shadow Paw, glad you could make it. Good job cutting it close, but next time, ummm, don't do that. You kind of freaked me out."

"Well, if you didn't get him mad in the first place, I wouldn't have had to save you, so I wouldn't cut it close, therefore you wouldn't have been scared," she responded calmly, much to the annoyance of Snow.

"Well, I have to go, so, see you later," Snow said, and walked towards the Lookout. Little did he know, he was walking straight into trouble.

Meanwhile, in the Lookout, Chase and Ace had both regained consciousness, and they were bandaging up Chase's paw, and Ace had an icepack on his head.

"Ace, are you alright?" Winter and CJ asked at the same time.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I still don't know why Snow ripped my wing."

"Wait, Snow ripped your wing?!" CJ asked, outraged.

"Yeah, he said that was where I should turn back, and then ripped my wing."

"When he gets here, I'm going to-"

"Hey, everyone. What's going on?" Snow said as he walked in.

"So, you ripped Ace's wing and got him hurt, right?" CJ asked Snow accusingly.

"You mean saved his life? Yes, I did." Snow said walking into the room, lifting his paws fairly high, holding his chest high, with a cocky smile on his face. How he loved a good fight.

"Saved his life? More like lost your mind!" CJ called out angrily, wiping the smile off of Snow's face, and freezing him in his tracks.

"Well, I'll have you know that if he had followed me, he could have been killed. As a matter of fact, I was almost killed, so I saved his life, so loosen up." Snow said, smiling, then pulled a rose out of his sleeve and offered it to her. She swatted it away, taking the smile off of his face.

"Hey, it took me years to learn that one! I think I deserve a little respect!"

"Respect?! I'll respect you when pigs fly!

He smiled again, then got a piece of pink paper out of his other sleeve, folded it in a few seconds into a pig, and waved his other paw over it, then put it down, and gently blew it, and it sprouted little paper wings, oinked, and flapped away, and out of the Lookout door.

"Good enough?" he asked, with a smile, and looked at an awe-struck CJ.

"How did you do that?" she asked, amazed.

"It's just," he pulled another rose out of his left sleeve and offered it to her, "magic." This time she took it, just to throw it away.

"Still, you hurt Ace, and you're not going to get me to let it go just because a little magic trick!"

Snow rolled his eyes, then looked at her sternly. "Seriously, I told you I saved his life. What more do you what?!"

"For you to get out of my sight, that's what."

"Okay then, I will." Snow said and walked towards the door, but stopped when he got there.

"But please," He ripped off his sleeves, put his paws together, then opened them and a bouquet of roses appeared, and placed them on the floor, "Reconsider your position." And he slid the flowers to the ground at her paws, and walked out of the Lookout doors.

Snow looked up to the moon. He had wandered some ways into forest, and by some ways, he meant a mile or two, or half a dozen. He breathed out. He thought about what he had done. Had he really given CJ a bouquet of roses? The moon was full. Time to howl. As he took a deep breath and raised his head to the moon, a voice interrupted him.

"I'm right here, you know."

Snow yelled and fell backwards, and looked to see who it was. It was CJ. Oh great. Even though her company was always pleasant, she was the last dog he needed right now. But he soon realized, she wasn't alone. Ace and Winter were with her, too. Ace had an ice pack on his head, and Snow put his paws to his mouth to stifle a laugh. This was going to be fun. Not.

"So, what are you doing?" asked Ace, helping him up.

"Well, I was going to do my bi-monthly howl, but then I fell down, so..." Snow said, accusingly.

"Sorry, we didn't know. We'll leave." Ace said, not wanting to interrupt.

"No, it's okay, just don't interrupt, and we're fine."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Snow said then raised his head again, only to be interrupted again.

"So why do you this?" CJ asked.

"Oh boy." Snow said then thought, "This is going to be a long night."

"So, why do, you do it?"

"I do it to calm myself down. It's tradition."

"Okay. So, why do you it?"

Snow sighed and simply said "It's a wolf thing."

"Oh, okay."

Snow lifted his head took a deep breath, then howled. It was a loud and strong. It echoed up to Jake's mountain and back, with the same tone and power as when he let it go. It was a mesmerizing sound, captivating the attention of anyone 10 miles around. He kept on going for what seemed hours, but was only 5 minutes. When he was done, he put his head done, and sighed. Tonight was the night. Tonight was a full moon. Tonight he was going to do one of the most babyish things he had ever done, no, one of the most babyish things in the WORLD. He couldn't help but chuckle at his own actions. Tonight was the night.

"What's so funny?" CJ asked.

"No, nothing." Snow said. He couldn't blow his cover. If he did, then he would ruin his whole reputation.

"What is it?" CJ pressured, threatening to snap Snow, but he kept his cover.

"Nothing to do with you, I can assure." Snow said, thinking about the time. Was he late? He had to get going.

"Fine. Well, we're going to go." CJ started, only to be interrupted.

"Yeah, that would probably be for the best. I need to take care of something."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

And with that, CJ and the others walked towards the Lookout, and Snow turned around and headed there, as well. He went to the roof of the Lookout. It was 11:30. He frowned. He still had to wait a half-hour. So he paced. And paced. And checked the time. And paced. And made sure everyone was asleep. And paced. And checked the time, AGAIN, and paced. And finally, 12:00 arrived. He leaped up and looked around. He then remembered something, and quickly leaped down to make sure everyone was asleep, then raced back up.

Then, out of the blue, a shimmering figure of an 18 year old girl appeared. Her dark brown wavy hair was in a neat ponytail with a big black bow, and she wore a battered blue jeans, a green camo shirt, and black laced-up combat boots, though she was all slightly transparent. She kneeled down and put out her arms, and Snow jumped into them. She stood up and nuzzled him, an action which he returned, and they both laughed as Snow toppled her over and started licking her face.

"Stop it! Stop it!" she yelled, playfully, and sat up with Snow in her lap and started petting him.

"Oh Sapphire! It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, Snow. How long has it been?"

"A month. I only see you every full moon, silly!"

"You're right. And that's why this night is special, isn't it?"

"You got that right," Snow said, happily. He almost never got to see his owner, but when he did, he always felt like a little puppy again. She had only recently become old enough, as a ghost anyways, to be able to use the light of the moon to make a solid figure of herself. Since she had died young, like all kids that do, she had to become 18 before she could use any powers, but then she would stop aging.

"Well, guess who I brought," she said playfully, and pulled a small plush toy moon out from behind her back.

"Plushie!" Snow called out, using the name he had given to the small toy. It wasn't much, just a small plush toy moon, which was battered up and faded, so you could barely tell apart the different shades of gray that it was made with. It was patched, made from a bunch of old pieces of scrap of fabric. But it was special. Before she left, Sapphire had hand-sewn him a toy. With the limited supplies she had, the best she could make was a small, fairly round, soft ball with different shades of gray. She had spend an incredible six hours straight, sitting at the table, sewing together a bunch of pieces, and that toy was Plushie.

"Come and get it!" She said, standing up, and waving it around in the air, as Snow jumped up and tried to grab it. All the commotion woke up CJ, who hadn't been sleeping very soundly. She quietly walked up to the top of the Lookout, and peeked over the edge of the roof. She saw Sapphire and Snow playing with Plushie, and though Snow looked pretty ridiculous. After jumping up and down like some super-hyper cat, he manager to catch Plushie, and flopped onto his back and started playing with it like a kitten would play with a ball of string. During this, Sapphire put her hand over her mouth and giggle as Snow tried to chase it around. Suddenly, he grabbed it, hugged it, and laid down on his back, and yawned. Sapphire picked him up like a baby, and started humming "Rock-a-Bye, baby" to Snow, whose eyes closed more and more. She, then grabbed his tail, and placed the tip in his mouth, which he started sucking like a baby would suck his thumb. She kept on rocking him for a few minutes, and when he was sound asleep, put him down gently. She then looked into the moon, and started floating away in the form of flower petals. CJ walked down the Lookout, and laid down in her bed, and slept soundly, thinking about how Snow could explain everything tomorrow.

Snow woke up calmly, at dawn exactly. He always did that, to make sure that no caught him in "baby-mode". He stretched like a cat and yawned. But a voice scared him out of his skin.

"Who was that last night?" CJ asked, making Snow jump three feet in the air.

"Um, no one."

"So, you were hanging out with someone last night?"

"No, I wasn't."

"But you just said you did."

"No, I didn't."

CJ raised an eyebrow, making Snow sweat cold. He sighed, then started to explain.

"Her name was Sapphire. She was my owner, but died a while after I was born, leaving me a stray."

"Oh, well, why were you in 'little-kitten-mode'?"

"Being around her makes me happy. It's one of the best gifts in my life. I just get excited."

"Okay. Well, your secret's safe with me."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, a loud boisterous laugh pierced the calm of the cool morning, and woke up everyone in the Lookout. They all rushed to the top, Snow in front. A black and white wolf looked up at them and seemed to zero in on Snow.

"Mind-Bender! What are you doing here?!" Snow called out angrily.

"Why I'm here for a fight, of course."

"I've told you a hundred times! I'm not going to fight you!"

"As if! If you won't fight me," he said, and jumped onto the top of the Lookout and tackled CJ, "I'll fight someone else." He said, and stuck his claw into CJ's neck, making a small cut, but CJ was writhing in pain. Snow's eyes went wide in anger, and he exclaimed.

"Let her go!"

"Not unless you make me," and he started dragging his claw around her neck, causing her to squirm in agony.

Snow then snapped, and tackled Mind-Bender at a speed faster then he had anticipated, bringing him down, and tossing both of them over the edge of the Lookout. Everyone looked over the edge. In the few seconds they had fallen off of the Lookout and landed on the ground, somehow, they had both scratched each other up so much, that a dozen patches on each of them looked as if they were already red. Their teeth were bared and stained red, and Snow's claws, which he had never taken out, were sharper than knifes and redder than a ripe tomato. They grappled each other, and the others, frozen in fear, couldn't have moved to save their lives.

Mind-Bender stepped back from Snow then tackled him, and shoved him against a wall. Two sharp snaps were heard, and Snow let out a wail of pain. Mind-Bender shoved again, and two more snaps were heard. Then he shoved again, and another. Ace counted in his head. Five snaps. As he looked at Snow, this middle area was slightly punctured from the inside out. Five. Five broken ribs. Ace gasped as Mind-Bender leaped again, but Snow managed to jump away in time. Unfortunately, it was only a mock charge, designed to bring Snow to his knees. As he had jumped away, Snow had fallen down, and was now a sitting duck and Mind-Bender lunged again. This time, he was on the bulls-eye, and three snaps were heard, closely followed by a howl of pain from Snow.

Blizzard was crying silently, at a loss of sound and words, and Ace's eyes had just started leaking. That was his friend down there. He had to help. But no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't seem to make a sound.

Snow somehow managed to get up, but slowly and painfully. His head throbbed, and there were big black blotches dancing in his vision. The only thing he could see clearly was Mind-Bender's enraged face, scratched and slightly mangled, but Snow knew, Snow felt, that his face was much worse. His thoughts blurred and his mind managed to focus on one thing and one thing only.

Anger.

Snow lunged, but much too slowly. That was when Mind-Bender took the last move. Ace saw it in his eyes, and for the sake of his friend, he managed to find his voice, and choke a warning out.

"LOOK OUT!"

But he was a second to late. The next events went by so fast, Ace couldn't process it all until it was too late.

This is what they all saw.

A slash.

A yell.

A scream of pain.

A call of triumph.

A puddle of red under Snow.

And one strong mighty throw.

"Nooooooooooooo!!!" Ace called out, climbing on the rails along with Blizzard.

Blizzard stared out in the direction Snow had been thrown. His face was blank, except for the silent tears running down his face, and just when everyone thought he would jump off of the Lookout and go running after Snow, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed right then and there, unconscious.

A laugh was then heard behind then.

"I thought no one cared about that little wolf mongrel. I only I had known..." Mind-Bender was standing behind them, smiling at his triumph, which was peculiar, since he didn't look much better.

The mere sight of him made Ace's blood boil. That was the wolf who practically disemboweled his best friend.

"I'm not in the mood," Ace said, a threatening growl oozing out of the words.

"Oh, you think I want to fight you? You must be joking. You see... you're not a wolf, or even a wolf mongrel. You're just a mongrel. A plain old regular mongrel. Nothing special."

That was the trigger for Ace. He felt like a bomb just waiting to explode, not enough to kill, but to get a point across. Then he had a revelation that just might give him the upper paw.

"Hey," Ace called, as Mind-Bender began to leave, "Just because you're useless compared to the other wolves, doesn't mean you have to fight to waste your time!"

Mind-Bender froze in his tracks.

Bingo.

"Excuse me! I'm not useless!" Mind-Bender snapped back.

"Yeah, you are! Why would they need a wolf that can control minds?!" Ace called back, trying to get his point across.

"Because, because... Just because, OKAY!"

"Oh, yeah? Name one time where they've given you an important job."

"Um, um, ummm," he said, then looked at Ace, who was smirking. "Be quiet!" He yelled, but Ace kept on smirking. "Fine! I'll leave! But if I run into that mongrel in the woods, I will finish him!"

After those words, Ace's eyes went wide, and after Mind-Bender jumped off of the Lookout and ran into the woods, Ace rushed down the Lookout.

He grabbed a bag off of a hook, and ran into the kitchen. He opened various cupboards and took out non-perishable foods, like cans of vegetables. He then opened the first-aid kit, and took out a few things and stuffed them in his bag. He looked around it, as if trying to decide what to take, but then just took everything out and dumped it into his bag. By then, Winter and a few others had already come down, and as soon as he was about to burst out the door, Winter stopped him.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To find Snow," Ace said and tried to go around Winter, only to be blocked again.

"But if you run into Mind-Bender again..."

"But if I don't go, Snow could get hurt! If I don't find him, he could get..." He left the word hanging in the air, though everyone knew he was going to say 'killed'. Winter started tearing up, and Ace realized that he had been a little harsh.

"Listen, I have to do this. I don't want Snow to get hurt. If I go and help him now, I might be able to save him. Winter, I have to," Ace said, in a calm and soothing voice, while hugging Winter.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Winter said, sobbing lightly.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," Ace said, then gave Winter a quick kiss on the forehead, and ran out the Lookout door. But little did he know, he was running straight into Snow's heart.

The Search

Ace was very cut up by now. He had more bruises that he could count, and small cuts from various things on the way covering his body. But at this point, he really didn't care. All he cared about was finding Snow. The thought of his best friend dying in the woods alone was too much for Ace to take. If Snow was going to die, it was going to be with him. Better yet, he wasn't going to die at all. The sun was starting to go down. Soon, it would be dark, and Snow's black fur might make it impossible to find him. Ace ran faster, forcing himself to keep going. His knees burned from running the past two hours without stopping, and his breath was thin and forced. His heart was pumping so fast and so hard that Ace was genuinely afraid it would pump out of his chest. His back and neck ached from carrying the bag, and his eyes could barely stay open from how tired he was. Black spots were beginning to blur his vision, and if it hadn't been for the fact that he hadn't fallen down, he could was sworn that there were a few times that he was unable to breath. His tongue dangled out of his mouth in exhaustion, and Ace knew that it wouldn't be long until he, himself, collapsed.

He ran past several more trees, until finally, at the edge of a cliff, he stopped, and fell to his knees. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and he panted loudly. He hung his head low, thinking that he had failed Snow, but as soon as he was going to cry, he heard a gentle weeping from afar, and a small squeaky voice calling for help. he turned toward the sound, and a critter popped out of the bushes. It was a little squirrel, and it came running to him, flailing its arms around, as if trying to tell him something. It grabbed his paw, and tried to pull him away, and that was when he realized it was trying to take him somewhere. He followed it as it led him to a small clearing in the forest, and in the middle of the clearing was a black-furred body facing away from him, its left side on the ground, and sitting in a middle in a pool of a red substance that Ace quickly recognized as blood. He then noticed that the black-furred body was Snow.

"Snow! Snow, are you okay?" he said, running to his side.

Snow looked terrible. His head was half in a puddle of blood and the left side of his face was smashed into the ground as if someone had stepped on him. His entire body was covered in cuts, some small, some big, but all of them major. His midsection had the punctures of the five broken ribs, and his two back legs were broken, too. His front left ear was bent in some sort of weird angle, and Ace didn't know how in the world it got broken.

"I-I'm fine," Snow choked out, but then started coughing, and blood came out of his mouth. That sight peirced Ace's heart harder than a spear could have. He took the bag of his shoulder and dumped in on the dry ground a few feet away from Snow. He quickly put makeshift splints on Snow's back legs and ear, and after a longer while, a complete immobilizer on his midsection, but no matter what he did, Snow kept bleeding.

"Gosh, Snow. Why in the world are you bleeding so much?" Ace asked Snow, and his eyes began to tear up.

Snow slowly sat up, removing the left side of his face from the ground. At that moment, it took Ace a few seconds to fully process what he was looking at.

Snow's face looked so different that it otherwise would have. His left eye had a jagged gash going vertically, spanning from his eyebrow to about the same distance, only downwards. It was oozing out blood, and Snow looked so different. Ace thought it was a miracle he could still see with both eyes, but if he didn't patch that up soon-

Snow collapsed into the puddle, weak from blood loss, and that's when Ace was knocked back into his senses. He ran up to Snow, and while he was cleaning the wound, he stuttered over his words.

"Snow. Your-your eye."

"Yeah, I know," Snow said, his voice surprisingly calm, but his eyes were watering, "I-is it bad?"

"Nothing I can't fix," Ace replied, though he knew that he might not be able to help Snow, "You'll be fine."

"You're lying," Snow said, breaking Ace's heart, "I'll stay with the scar forever, won't I?" Snow finished, his voice quivering in fear, and in sadness. Ace didn't know what to say, words of comfort, or words of truth. He decided on something completely different.

"Listen, Snow. You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"And you know I would never do anything to hurt you, right?"

"Right."

"I might not be able to get rid of the scar, okay?"

"R-really?" Snow asked, nearly crying.

"Shh. Don't cry. But I want you to know I will do everything in my power to get rid of it. You are the best brother and best friend I've ever had. If I had to choose between my life, and keeping you safe, I would choose you over myself any day, without a second thought. You mean more to me than the world, and I will always protect you and help you, no matter what the cost, because keeping you safe will always be the main drive in my life. I knew you were special since the first day I met you, and I love you more than anything. I'll try to help, but it pains me to say that there's only so much I can do. If going around the world on foot would heal that scar, I would do it. I'm sorry that I can't do more, but I'll try, my very very hardest, to help you."

Ace was hugging Snow the entire time, and Snow was at a loss for words. No one, except Blizzard, had said anything like that to him. It touched his heart to know he was cared for, and it was the best feeling in the world.

"Now, will you let me patch up your eye?" Ace asked, gently loosing his grasp on Snow.

"Yes, I am."

For the next twenty or so minutes, Ace patched up Snow's eye, slowly, since they were in no hurry. By the time Ace was done, it was already dark.

"It's dark, we should go home," Snow said, and tried to get up, but was stopped by Ace.

"Oh, no. You can't walk yet," Ace said, and bent down, "Get on. You're riding today."

Snow obeyed, and then they set off. Ace's dark pink eyes glowed in the darkness, just like Snow's dark blue ones. They admired the fireflies that lit every step of the way, and half-way there, Snow fell asleep on Ace's back. It was a strange sight, considering that Snow was significantly larger than Ace, and you wondered how Ace could carry Snow, but in the end, it didn't really matter.

After about a half an hour of walking, they arrived at the Lookout, and the bright lights from inside woke up Snow. he looked at Ace, and hugged his neck in a sign of trust.

Meanwhile, the others were rushing down the stairs, since they had been looking for them at the top of the Lookout for the whole time. The second that the two stepped through the door, Snow suddenly felt much more self-conscious.

"Oh, NO! What is CJ going to think when she sees me like this?!" Snow exclaimed softly into Ace's ear.

"Don't worry, I got your back," Ace responded.

After a few seconds, the two were mobbed by all of the others, who had rushed down the stairs at top speed.

"How are you?", "How's Snow?", "What happened?", "Snow! You're okay!", and "OMG! I was so worried!" were a few phrases that they were able to make out in the mess of voices.

Blizzard was still unconscious on a beanbag in the corner, and Snow called out, "Dad?!"

Immediatly, Blizzard's eyes shot open, as if his son's voice had woken him up, and he looked towards Snow, tears of happiness in his eyes. They locked each other in a tight embrace, and Blizzard kissed the top of Snow's head while crying and weeping out,

"Snow, don't EVER do that again."

"I won't dad, I won't,"Snow replied, almost crying himself.

"Snow! Oh my goodness! We were so worried about you!" CJ yelled, causing Snow to blush.

"I'm okay," replied Snow, "Mostly anyways."

"I'm so glad to hear. You did a good job patching him up, Ace."

"Thank you," Ace replied, "I did my best."

Snow yawned, showing off his sharp teeth, and then closed his eyes.

"Snow, are you sleepy?" Ace asked, actually beginning to feel a bit tired from carrying Snow on his back.

"No! Of... course... not......" Snow said, falling asleep in the middle of his sentence. Ace then walked over to the beanbag and laid down, with Snow still on his back.

"Isn't that uncomfortable?" Winter asked, to which Ace replied no, and fell asleep soon after.

Snow's Birthday

"I'm gonna make it! I'm gonna make it! I-"

BANG!

"didn't make it."

Snowstorm muttered a curse under his breath as Snow got off from on top of him. He had to admit, Snow wasn't his favorite brother. He beat him at to many things. This time, it was in American football. He was about one yard away from a touchdown, but he had been subdued. Again. Snow's team, made up of CJ, Ace, Lani, Dylan, Winter, Sage, Aurora, a few others, and Snow himself as the captain, had beaten his own team a number of time. Snowstorm had to admit though, that Snow looked really different than when he had first met him.

At first, Snow had looked a lot like him, perfect solid colored fur, always clean, always awesome, and always the same. If you knew him then, you wouldn't recognize him now. He had two metal, yes, metal, braces on both of his back legs. They had put normal casts on them, but they had never completely healed, so he had to have his casts on all or most of the time. Right now, however, he only had those two, which was a miracle considering that he almost never had less than three extra ones, usually on his left ear, which broke easily, the mid-section of his tail, which also broke easily, and his front right paw, which was also weak from the incident. He always wore a visor, though he had many different colors. His favorite was the one tinted in black, which he was wearing now, but he had yellow, green, red, purple, blue, magenta, pink, orange, silver, white, and brown, not to mention many more. He wore it for a few reasons, the most important of which was the fact that they helped him see better now that he had the scar. Oh, yes. The scar. The thing that had changed most about him. It had lowered his ability to see with his left eye, but it was a miracle he wasn't half blind. It was hard to believe that he had gotten that scar just three months ago, but then again, time flies when you're having fun.

And these months had been fun alright. Yeah, fun. Sure...

Snow had really stepped up his game. Now, he was doing everything. Pup pup boogie, sports, art, anything that could be put into the form of a competition, he would do. And the best part, or worst if you were Snowstorm, was that Snowstorm always got beaten! Snow was now the top dog, the alpha male, the big boss, the hot stuff, whatever you call the guy, or girl, whose in charge, and the best at, everything. And Snowstorm didn't like it. It started after Snowstorm had been beaten at Pup pup boogie for the first time, and Snow liked winning.

Today was a special day, though. According to Blizzard, it was Snow's birthday. Snow didn't seem to notice, but it was. Snowstorm had to admit though, he wasn't jealous of the day Snow was born on. It was April 23rd, a month or two before the blaring hot summer, and that meant that the first few months that Snow was young, he had to live with the pain of summer.

"Oh, SHOOT!" Snowstorm thought. He had never gotten Snow a present! This was bad! Everyone else had gotten him a present, and they were all helping with the surprise party happening later that day. The problem was that Snow was like the others had said Chase was. The only way to keep a secret was to keep them so occupied with work, that they were too focused to pay attention to the tiny details that would give the surprise away. If it wasn't work, and very important work, they would find out in two, no, one shake of a lamb's tail. His, and Ace's, job was to keep Snow occupied. Oh, great.

This would be easy. Right...

"Hey! Me and Snowstorm are going to go jump off a cliff? Wanna come?" Ace asked Snow.

To be honest, Snowstorm was still freaked out a bit by Snow's profound love of jumping off of cliffs. Snow immediately began running off towards the nearest cliff.

This cliff overlooked the sea, and since it was a little while before noon, the water sparkled like a cruise ship full of glitter had gotten shipwrecked. The breeze was calm, and according to Snow, it was perfect weather for jumping off cliffs.

When they got there, Snowstorm began shaking. He still wasn't an expert at landing back on the cliffs, and this part of the sea was well known for its large population of octopuses. He was deathly afraid of octopuses. Or anything with more than 6 legs for that matter.

"Okay. 3, 2..." Snow began counting.

"Wait! I'm not ready!"

"1!"

Snow shoved Snowstorm and Ace off the edge of the cliff.

Snow and Ace immediately began to fly normally, which wasn't surprising, since they had done this plenty of times before. Snowstorm immediately started shaking and wobbling in the air, and because of his amazing steering abilities, he crashed back into the cliff. He promptly fell into the water, and ran onto the beach screaming at the top of his lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF!!! GET! IT! OFF!!!!!!" Snowstorm screamed, while Ace and Snow landed and rolled around on their backs in laughter.

A tiny octopus, no bigger than the span of Ryder's hand, was on Snowstorm's head, clinging on to him like a determined little parasite, freaking Snowstorm out. Ace grabbed Snowstorm's shoulders to keep him still, and Snow flicked the little octopus off his head.

"Wow, Snowstorm. Sooooo brave." Snow laughed.

"Hey! You would do the same thing if it was caramel!" Snowstorm snapped back.

"That is true, Snowy. You can't deny that." Ace interrupted.

"Snowy?!" Snowstorm responded, trying not to laugh.

"ACE! I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!"

"Sorry, I forgot."

"Oh, it's alright... SNOWY!" Snowstorm rolled onto his back in laughter.

"ACE!!!"

Ace and Snowstorm rolled onto their backs and began laughing hysterically. But before long, they heard a yelp of pain from Snow. They both got up immediately, Ace standing up tall and Snowstorm crouching down and snarling.

"Oh, hello. Sorry about the inconvenience," Another... thing responded to their growling. He was sort of a wolf and he was tall like a wolf but one of his eyes was a salmon color and the other was yale blue (Yes, that is a color.). His fur was the classic black and white husky pattern, but inverted, with small black spots littered across his back. He had a sample of Snow's blood in a syringe, which he slipped into a little sack that was slung across his shoulders.

"Why do you even want my blood?" Snows asked, rubbing where he had been poked.

"Oh, sorry," he said, putting a bandage on Snow, "Where are my manners? My name is Yale. I'm doing a study on different types of wolf breeds, including myself. I'm a wolf-husky mix."

"Wow, so am I. But why do you need my blood in particular?" Snow responded, slightly intrigued by this experiment of his.

"Oh, you're not part of the experiment."

"Wait, what?!"

"I have a question," Yale continued, "Do you know a girl by the name Sapphire?"

"Yes, yes I do." Snow responded. How did this guy know about Sapphire?

"Is she a ghost?"

"...Yeah." Snow responded, slightly amazed. How did this guy know about Sapphire?

"Well then, there's about a 99.99999% chance." Yale responded casually, sorting through the blood samples in his bag.

"Chance of what?"

Yale looked up and stared Snow in his eyes. "A chance that we're brothers."

"Wait. WHAT?!" Snow exclaimed, staring at Yale with a look of disbelief.

"Yeah! Last time I checked, we weren't related. I don't this Aunt Tundra had any more puppies," Snowstorm snarkily remarked, teeth still bared.

"Silly husky," Yale giggled, waving his paw dismissively, "I'm not related to you. I'm related to Snow. We're brothers."

"But how can that be? I've talked to Sapphire. She's clearly stated that we're Snow's only family. There must be a mistake. You probably just have the wrong pup," Ace stated, slightly worried about the direction this conversation was taking.

"Oh no, I'm sure this is my brother. My father said so," Yale chirpily responded, a bright smile still on his face, despite the severity of the situation.

"Well, now we know you're lying. Snow's said so many times that his father is dead. You can't possibly his brother," Snowstorm defended, slightly aggravated at this mysterious wolf. How could he possibly even suggest that he was Snow's brother? Snow's real family is a touchy subject; This guy had no right to just waltz in and blow it up.

"Plus, if you really are his brother, why show up now? Why not, I don't know, last year?!" Snowstorm raged on.

"Snowstorm, calm down," Ace warned, not wanting the situation to get out of hand. But thankfully, his futile efforts were reinforced by Snow himself.

"Snowstorm, don't worry about it. It's fine," Snow sighed, desperately attempting to keep the tears from running down his cheeks.

To Snow's major surprise, Snowstorm walked up to him and shielded him with his arms.

"You know, I think it would be better if you just left," Snowstorm angrily remarked.

"No, no, it's okay. You know what, hey Yale, why don't you come to my birthday party later?" Snow asked.

"Sure bro! I would love to come!" Yale chirped, "See ya later!"

"And good riddance," Snowstorm mumbled under his breath.

"Wait, how did you know about the birthday party?" Ace asked, wondering how he had found out.

"Oh come on, it was pretty obvious," Snow replied, a smug look on his face, "Plus, who do you think told me?"

Snowstorm pondered about this for a second before his eyes widened in realization and he murmured in expectation.

"Arctic and Antarctica, I'm going to kill you when I get home."

When they arrived at the lookout, Snow was greeted by a warm party of the family and a humongous cake in the center of the table.

"Wow, it's amazing! Thanks everyone!" Snow beamed.

"Yeah! We really wanted to make something special for you!" CJ replied, a bright smile on her face, causing Snow to blush lightly.

"Well, don't dwell on it. We might be having some unexpected guests..." Snowstorm mused from the corner of the room.

"What do you mean?" Winter inquired, slightly worried at Snowstorm's tone of voice.

"This random wolf-dog ran into us at the beach and claimed to be Snow's real brother. I mean, how pathetic is that?" Snowstorm remarked, strutting into the middle of the room and flicking his tail quite dramatically.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Blizzard asked, his face slightly pale.

Snowstorm quickly replied, "Well, Snow invited him, and Yale, or something like that, said he'd come over and bring his dad."

At that, Blizzard's face turned a pure white. "Um, uh, excuse me for a minute," and with that, Blizzard bolted out of the room to the top of the lookout.

"I'll go get him," Chase assured, and went after Blizzard. He was surprised to find Blizzard pale-faced and panting, near the brink of tears, staring over the railing at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Chase asked, worried about Blizzard. He was usually so strong, but now he seemed so weak.

"What if he leaves?" Blizzard replied, blurry-eyed, not looking at Chase.

"What do you mean?" Chase asked, slightly confused.

"What if he decides to leave? Leave with his real father?" Blizzard sobbed, tears dramatically streaming down his cheeks.

"Blizt, he would never do that!" Chase responded, appalled at the thought of it

"But what if he does? What if he wants to leave?"

"Blizt, look at me. Look at me," Chase sternly said, grabbing Blizzard chin and holding it so Blizzard looked him in the eyes, "Snow would never leave you. You've raised him since he was a puppy. You saved his life. You are the only father that he will ever have. You are the only dad he will ever have. That wolf might be his father, but he will never be his dad. Never. And Snow would never leave you."

Blizzard's eyes lighted up a bit, and a small, nearly invisible, smile crawled onto his face.

"Thanks Chase. I needed that," Blizzard replied, and then he lightly hugged Chase.

"You're welcome, Blizt. You're welcome," Chase responded, and hugged him back.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" a voice spoke up from the door.

Chase and Blizzard looked over to the voice, only to find Sage standing awkwardly.

They quickly parted and brushed themselves, both blushing quite noticeably.

"No, no, it's fine," Chase quickly replied, and began to walk off, "After all, I have to go... set up some cones."

Blizzard stood silently staring at Sage, who returned the action.

"Well... Bye!" Blizzard exclaimed, then ran away into the lookout.

The rest of the party carried out normally. They played some games, listened to music, and danced around. When they were about to open the presents, Yale arrived.

"Hey guys!" Yale greeted, earning quite a few strange looks from the others, and a mean look from Snowstorm.

"Oh great, here comes the party pooper. If anyone needs me, I'll be under the table," Snowstorm moaned, and scuffled off.

Snow rolled his eyes and walked up to Yale, a strange smile on his face.

"Hey Yale! You said you were going to bring a guest. Where is he?" Snow asked, more out of etiquette than wanting the answer.

"Oh bro, you know I said I'd bring Dad. Yeah, he's gonna get here soon. Don't worry your pretty little head about a thing!" Yale said, a bright smile on his face as he wrapped his arm around Snow's neck.

"Yeah, don't worry, I won't," Snow replied, awkwardly glancing around.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone, Snowstorm was glaring in disapproval.

Yale followed Snow around for the entire party, much to everyone's dismay. They conversed for a couple of hours, as Yale told Snow about their father and Snow responded by telling Yale all about Blizzard.

"Wow, he sounds great, but aren't you excited to be coming back with Dad and me?" Yale exclaimed, a large grin on his face.

"WAIT! WHAT?!" Snow exclaimed from under the table.

"Ah, Snow! Come out from under there!" Yale exclaimed, quite worried, "I didn't mean to scare you! I just assumed-"

"NO! You shouldn't have assumed anything!" Snow yelled, hunched under the table, covering his ears desperately with his paws.

"Yeah! You should've known that he isn't going to leave with you!" Snowstorm retaliated.

"No! I didn't say I won't go-" Snow blurted out, gaining a disgusted glance from Snowstorm, and a surprised (yet hopeful) look from Yale, and pretty much everyone else, who had all crowded around the scene. Chase quickly looked for Blizzard, and unfortunately, saw a distraught look glazed over his face.

As there were over a dozen pairs of eyes staring directly at Snow, he coward among them. Snow didn't waste any time bolting out from under the table and into the ominous darkness of the forest that would so often shield him from his problems. The only difference was that this time, no one went after him.

For once in a very long time, Ace wasn't sure exactly what to do. Usually, he would've immediately gone after Snow, with all intentions of comforting him. But this time, he just felt he couldn't. He knew that Snow wasn't thinking clearly and was just bewildered by the situation, but deep down inside, a small part of him was broken. Simply thinking that Snow was even considering leaving, no, abandoning, them after all they had been through. Abandoning him after all they had been through. Even though he really wanted to talk to Snow, he couldn't help but feel betrayed. Half of him wanted to help Snow, but the other just wanted to let him suffer.

And he really didn't know which side to listen to.

Author's Note: Sorry about the late update. Yes, I'm alive. I had to finish the school year before I could update, because reasons. But yeah, I'm back.

Also, I might rewrite the story. Same plot and everything, just improve the parts that make me cringe.

Now that it's summer, I'll probably upload a few sentences a day. Sorry for those who like large updates.