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Morning broke, the sun was rising, starting another long day, with a beak in my face. 'Is he alive?' with a hard Russian accent. I lifted my head from the wood. I felt my face cover, to check if it was still there. Sighing, I stood placing my boots against the ageing wood. After a nights long rest, my armor didn't feel so heavy. I glanced outside to the mountains checking the time. Alaska time was so different than it is near the equator, but I would get used to it eventually. I exited the decaying room to see Balto waking up from his slumber next to Jenna. Seeming to be a little stiff from old age. He looked at Jenna with gentle eyes, skimming her every feature, licked her cheek, then noticing my presence, and nodded a greeting from the long night.

I noticed the clam behavior of the aging couple. though they may be older than 13 years old, they still acted as if they were five. They may have the similar aging pattern than a human. They didn't seem to mind that I had fire arms or a large cutting edge; they acted as if it was oblivious. But maybe that's just my thinking. It might not be the one thing that they're worried about. I neglected my daily exercises to work on my new mechanism that a certain video game has inspired me, showing how many ways a man can die using simple hand to hand techniques, or the mastery of a hidden blade. There should be no doubt to what game it is, but I don't think that canines would be able to know that without playing it themselves. But how - I need to stop before I ask myself to many questions.

I heard the clopping of footsteps walking onto the boats wood floor, just outside the room I'm sitting in. 'Balto?' sounding like a young teen, I felt the fur on my back stirred and rise in shock. The coat on my back rose up with it. Slowly the footsteps got closer, this seemed like a good time to leave, but it was already to late for that. As I turned my head a red headed girl peaked around the corner of the door way to look around the room. 'Balt-' she paused as she looked at me scanning from the bottom of my boot to the neck guard I had on covering my face, then slowly to my guns, to my rifle, looking at everything around me. After a moment,the freckles on her face slowly disappeared in a redness, I could feel the anger ooze out of her being, and she snapped to the middle of the door way. 'WHERE'S BALTO!!' a voice piercing my ears with a crack. I slowly turned and with of calm of voice as i could, said, 'Uh . . . he' not here right now, he went out to find some breakfast. they said they'd be back.'

'When would they be back?' she said with a stern voice.

'They should be here shortly.'

she stared at me for a full minute, I counted every second waiting for them to be back. 'Can I trust you?' she asked her hand firmly on her hips, and a soul piercing gaze. But i gazed back with just as much presence of my soul. Her face softened, and gained a smoother complexion. With the sight of her being calmer, I answered, 'Yes, And my name is Gabriel. Might I ask who you are?' She looked on into my eyes and answered, 'Rosetta', and a smile of relief entered her face, 'call me Rosy.'

* * *

Balto came back, bringing a full elk by himself. I was impressed and greeted him on the still frozen ice shelf, and helped him carry it back; he did look tired after all. I took a knife that I had from my coat pocket and cut off a Piece for Rosy, she was staying there over night. Her parents didn't mind. Unlike Balto and Jenna, she seemed I little more interested in what i was doing in the north. I had a feeling she would ask, so I thought of ways i could answer, without bringing panic. I truly only had one reason. And i had to continue what I do in the north, I am a trained assassin, hunter, and ranger. I had to do what I must.

I have been running from the authority for five years already, and all for the wrong reasons. I have been accused of murder, after stopping a murder, I have been accused of rape, stopping the person just before it happens, I have been accused of terrorism for stopping a bomb before it detonated in a local mall and senator household. For stopping those, the people who have planned it out, who have money and power, have sent me to a life of exile. So at that point, I though, Screw humanity, I want to live with out this, so then the experiments began, for a science experiment to create the perfect anti-human warrior. Ideas from books, games, movies, any inspiration, and put science and quantum physics to work, molding a new creature from an already existing life. I sacrificed my body, to keep my identity while losing the negative human corruption, and gaining what I have lived by for years. My creed, my vows, my life, for her. At every pain staking moment I felt invigorated with new meaning, new strength, and the world I knew started to show its true face. The mask began to break, my life felt less and less worthless. At every moment I had the feeling I was going to die, that I would pass on to the next world, to the next Galaxy, the next universe. The pain grew stronger the further it went, when my shell broke, and I met the bottom of the rabbit hole. My entire life flashed before my eyes. I was reborn, and having people look at me in strange ways, it's normal for me. Everyone looked at me as if I was from another world, and I was fine with it, I felt it was what it was supposed to be. Coming to Nome, everyone passed me by as their own, I felt that my presence disgusted them, that I was lower than them, especially if I said hello, or greeted them formally. I felt outraged. I'll show them what it means to be high and mighty. What has happened to my reality?

'Gabriel?' I heard a muffled but distinct voice.

'Hey, GABRIEL!' I shook to attention, everyone was staring at me, I felt embarrassed. 'Sorry, I . . . was in deep thought.'

'Well' Started Rosy, 'I wanted to ask, what exactly is your occupation, that you need all of those guns and knives, and whatever else your hiding under that thing. You have pretty heavy clothes for just being a hunter. What are you hiding, there's got to be more to you than just a hunter?' There was a long pause before I took a deep breath. Everyone was looking at me. I stood up, making the floor boards creak and groan. 'There's nothing for me to say. Nothing that I can tell you, even if I wanted to.' I walked towards the door grabbing the Canister rifle and maneuvering it through the door.

'The party starting without me?' a familiar voice came sarcastically announced from outside. I jumped from the wreckage down to the snow covered ground. 'Jarock! Bring the rest of the gang?' Jarock shrugged, 'They're out surrounding the perimeter. Nothing's getting in or out without being monitored.' Jarock is a black wolf, large and muscular, but acts like the hard ass, and throws jokes out here and there. He had a necklace of bear claws around his neck counting the number of bears that attacked him. Thirteen claws were present; four were bigger than the rest. He walked on all fours, wore a dragon-skin vest with Kevlar under-armor. A UMP sub-machine gun hung from one side, a Springfield .45 auto on the other. 'Well then, is there a reason you came to me in uniform in the presence of civilians, lieutenant?' He looked over to Rosy and Balto who were sticking their heads out of the boat. 'Didn't think that order was in affect anymore.' I sifted my stance uncomfortably, 'We'll discuss the resignation of that topic somewhere else, till then it's important you kept yourself and the others concealed, well better than you are now. I can smell Heckler from a mile away.' A head popped out from a large snow pile, a bandana surrounded his left eye, a scar protruding from below it. A long-sleeved under armor protruded from below the metal plating on his chest and shoulders, a modified M-1 Conversion Rifle was firmly placed in his hands, a Scorpion on his hip. The white wolf's silver and winter-cammo armor complimenting his green, glowing eyes. "I always keep myself in plain sight, you know that they can't tell where the smell is coming from until they're dead." His voice was soft, but had sternness behind it, a sense of anger with a sense of courtesy, perfectly mixed to give it an un-earthly sound. I looked at him with gentle eyes, 'How's your family doing?' he glanced at me with his eye, a glint shimmered in it, 'They're doing well, my Daughter wanted to give a me to pass a kiss on, but you know how I am with those.' He gave a bit of a smirk. I chuckled a bit, shaking my head. The reaction made his jowls shoot up into a big toothy grin. He looked over to Jarock. 'I'm sure Coal, Jade, and Frac are all doing fine, Rock, you saw them last I think.' Jarock hated the nick name, Rock, but it stuck with him, and never veered.

Rosy came down from the ship and bee-lined it directly towards us. 'I'm sorry but what is going on here, who are they, and how do they have guns, how do they use them, and HOW can you explain ANY of this without sounding like a complete idiot, cause you have to explain this to the town, do you know what they'll do? What happened to this trust?' She sounded so distressed that I thought she was just going to burst out in a loud scream, like the Hiroshima bomb. I turned towards her, Our eyes met, I felt a urge to yell, but pulled my eyes away, closing them and taking a deep breath. "Look, there is a lot going on right now, I need to talk to my men and have them ready to do whatever they need to if a threat come by, or else a lot of people will be in a hole so deep they can't even fathom the amount of crap they will have to dig themselves out of." Before I could continue, wings flapped overhead, 'Oy! I leave for a few minutes and everything turns to chaos! I can't leave you alone for a second." Balto looked up at him, "any News?' He took a deep breath, preparing his words and having everybody wait in anticipation, except Rosy, still glaring at me. Despite the tension between us, he continued to say the news, "She is coming home, Aleu will be back to visit!" The name shot my focus to him.

'Wait, who?'

Rosy spoke up, 'You haven't answered me!'

'Who's coming?'

'ARE YOU LISTENING!?! I ASKED YOU-'

Balto tried to calm us. "Hey, now come on this is good news-"

Tones started to rise, I forced my questions on to Boris. 'WHO IS COMING! PLESE TELL ME!!!!'

The voices persisted to escalate till a argument began ringing out echoing towards the hills.

Seconds later a flash came out from the corner of my eye, Jarock's scent turned from calm to panicked, and to excited.

The last thing I remember hearing before the bullet hit Balto in the leg was HUNTER.