Balto couples: Kirby and Kodi redun (sad ending.)
A Story Of The Forbidden Love
The wind started to pick up. Kodi was just standing in the outskirts of the town of Nome and could see the mountains. He saw the sunset right behind it and just stared, wishing it would have ended another way.
~ o ~
About 6 months ago, Balto waited for his son and the team to arrive from the delivery they had to make. It was his job and he was very proud of him. The lead dog was named Kirby. He was fast but not as fast as Balto or Steele. He was just fast enough to deliver the mail on time. Kodi was the second fastest dog. He was only on the team for almost a year, but got to be second best only because Kirby taught him as a pup, when he was first brought into the family. The next two dogs are Dusty and Ralph. They had something going on between each other. They looked happy together and they were. They are mates. The next two are Kano and Hank. They're wheel dogs and they are great friends. The only problem they had was that they were prejudice and they hated anyone different from them, like wolves or half-breeds, like Balto.
Balto stood at the porch of the Post Office. He wanted to see his son Kodi since he was almost never in Nome. He would go with his team and make deliveries. He was always busy. He woke up early today just for Kodi. He then saw Jenna walk up to him from a couple of feet away. She's so beautiful he said to himself. I'm so lucky.
"The team is not suppose to be here for about another hour" she said as she walked up the stairs of the porch.
"I know," he replied with a smile "but I want to be here just in case he gets here early."
Jenna smiled and then yawned. She laid down next to Balto and waited together for their son's arrival.
~ o ~
About five miles away from Nome, Kirby and his team were running back home. Kodi couldn't wait to see his parents again. It's been so long. He could now see the houses near the outskirts of the little town. He smiled then looked at his left. He saw Kirby with a serious face. He's been a bit serious lately but nobody knew why. He remembered how he used to run with him across the beach and train him to become a great runner. They would run everyday. If it wasn't for him, he would never be second best in such a short amount of time. Kirby was only a year and a half older than Kodi. It would take a lot of work to make him top dog. He would need to make his master and musher to notice he is the best and that is what he intended to do.
Kodi looked forward again and could see the Post Office in front of him. He saw his parents in the distance waiting for him.
"Finally," said Kirby "we're home again."
"Yeah" said Ralph
The musher stopped them in the front of the building and untied the dogs from their harness. He then took out six bowls and laid them down in front of all his dogs. He went in and came out about a minute later with food. He placed the food in the bowl and took the mail inside. Everyone started to eat, but Kodi just left the food there to go talk to his parents.
"Mom, Dad!!" Kodi yelled with joy.
"Kodi!" They both said in unison. Kodi then nuzzled his mom and then dad.
"You're going pretty fast. Sooner or later, you'll make it to be top dog" said Balto with a smile.
"How was your trip? Was it great?" Jenna said with excitement.
"Thanks dad and yeah, my trip was great. How are you doing?"
"We are doing fine. You should go eat your food or else you'll starve. You must be really hungry." said Jenna with the tone of a worried mother.
"I am actually. I think after I'll go to bed and sleep afterwards. There will be more mail and we need to get some rest before we go out." he said with a sense of responsibility.
"That's great." Balto said "We will be at your mother's house if you need anything. I hope to see you later in the day."
"I think you will. I'll only rest for a while then I'll catch up with you later" He said and Balto and Jenna left him to finish eating his food.
He walked up to his teammates that where almost done eating. He has his bowl filled to the top with dog food and walked up to eat. Halfway done he lifted his head and noticed that Ralph, Kano and Dusty left to go and get a long rest for tomorrow's delivery.
"We'll meet you in the boiler room." said Dusty looking back at Kodi.
"Ok. We'll catch up later."
They continued eating until Kirby broke the silence and said. "Oh no, it's going to snow."
Kodi looked up again and felt something cold touch his nose. It was a snowflake, the first of the season. He saw a huge black cloud coming his way from the east.
"You think it will snow hard tomorrow?" asked Hank.
"I think it will start to snow tonight. I hope it doesn't snow a lot. We won't be able to make the delivery if it does." said Kirby still looking up.
"Well, if we do make a delivery then there will be a lot of snow on the ground. We have to go and get some rest. We're going to need a lot of energy for running across the snow." Kodi said trying to sound like a leader.
"Your right. We have to go." Kirby said. "Are you done eating Hank?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
They walked down the street and it started to snow harder. As they walked Kodi couldn't help but notice Kirby wasn't happy. He looked depressed, like if someone he knew and cared about died. Kodi didn't know what to say. He didn't want to hurt his feelings, but he didn't want his best friend to keep it inside. He had to talk, but before he could say anything, Hank was the one who asked him first.
"What's the matter Kirb?"
"Huh, oh, nothing." he responded with a sad tone.
"You don't look to happy. Are you sure everything's Ok?"
"Yeah. It's nothing. Trust me." He said with a growing smile, trying to hide his emotions.
"Well, if you say so." Hank said and then ran towards the boiler room that is now a few yards away.
"You know that smile won't trick me." said Kodi.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Kirby said looking away.
"You know what I'm talking about. You've been like this for a while now, so tell me, what's the matter?"
"Look I'm just tired ok!" Kirby yelled and then walked into the boiler room and laid down.
Kodi didn't understand why he acted the way he did. He used to be playful and happy-go-lucky. Now he is always serious and tuff whenever he is was around him. Was it something I said? What it something I did? he asked himself. He asked everyone if they knew why he was acting so different around him, if anything was wrong. They didn't know and started to get a bit worried.
Kodi then went inside and saw everyone asleep. He looked around to try to find Kirby, but was no where in sight. He walked in and laid down next to the boiler. He gave out a sigh and fell to sleep.
~ o ~
The snowstorm got worse. The winds blowing outside were so strong that some small items inside the room started to shake. The room was staring to get colder and a few dogs started to move closer to the boiler with their eyes closed. Then they would lay down again and fall into deep sleep. They were sleep-walking.
A small wrench fell next to Kodi waking him up scared. He stood up breathing heavily. He looked around to see what woke him up and saw the small metal tool in the floor. He gave out a sigh and then a yawn. He laid himself in the floor trying to fall back to sleep, but with the fright he just had, it was hard for him. He just laid there with his eyes half open looking at the boiler and hearing the snow and wind hit the wall outside. It seemed like the whole room would cave in from all the force the storm had. Kodi then stood up feeling bored and walked around trying not to wake anyone up. They were all now in one part of the room, around the boiler. He noticed that Kirby wasn't there so he took this time to find his best friend.
He tried to look around, but it was too dark. He couldn't see what was in the back. He still walked towards the darkness using his two front paws as his guild. He walked slowly trying not to trip on anything. He closed his eyes, trying to make a better sense of touch. He walked until he felt soft furry flesh.
"Kirby?" said Kodi opening his eyes.
He couldn't see much but the outline of his buddy standing up.
"What are you doing awake? Go back to sleep." whispered Kirby in the darkness.
"Not until you tell me what's the matter with you."
Kodi then pushed his friend closer to light of the boiler. He pushed him until he saw enough of his face to show his expression. He was a bit heavy to push and Kirby made it harder for him since he was resisting the push made by Kodi. He was impressed with the strength that Kodi had.
Kirby didn't know what to do. He didn't want to tell him. What would he think of him? His relationship with Kodi would end. Everybody would make fun of him. He would be an outcast. He would be beaten for this. Nobody would see him the same again.
"Now," started Kodi "tell me, what's the matter? Why are you so serious around me? Why do you treat me different? Is it because I'm part wolf?"
"No. I, I don't treat you differently. I don't, I don't care that you're part wolf." said Kirby a little nervous.
"Stop lying to me. I know that something is bothering you. Tell me, please."
But before Kirby could say anything else, a hammer fell from a self over Kirby's head and knocked him out.
~ o ~
Kirby woke up a half an hour later from something warm on his head. It was painful yet, he enjoyed it. He opened his eyes and saw Kodi's neck. He tried to lift his head up, but found no strength. His head was killing him. The headache he had was almost unbearable. He noticed Kodi was licking his head trying to stop the blood from going down his face.
"....Kodi...?" he said with agony.
"Kirby, your wake." with joy, he stopped licking and looked at his friends face.
"....Kodi....what...happened?"
"A hammer hit your head really hard. You fell unconscious and started bleeding heavily. You shouldn't talk. You need to rest."
Kirby shut his eyes and felt Kodi lick his head again. This gave him shivers all over his body. He felt all his hair stand. His pain was soon overwhelmed by this feeling of pleasure. He opened his eyes again and said "Thank you" and fell into deep sleep.
~ o ~
In the morning the snow was still falling, but not as much. The visibility was now a mile. All the dogs woke up and notice Kodi and Kirby were still sleeping and very close together. They didn't notice the huge cut on Kirby's head. Hank and Kano just giggled at the sight of the two dogs sleeping together. The team knew what they were laughing about, but found no humor in it.
"They are just sleeping. They are not like that" Dusty said at both of them.
They stopped laughing and every one of them walked out. Everyone, but Kirby and Kodi who were still asleep. They saw their musher walk towards them with food. He walked inside the boiler room and everyone followed. They jumped in the air at the sight of their owner.
"Kodi and Kirby must have had a long day." He said as he noticed the two dogs still sleeping as the dogs made noise.
"Well, we won't be going to make a delivery, so I guess you all have a break for today." Mr. Simpson said with a disappointing tone.
He placed the food down and everyone ate their breakfast and finished in fifteen minutes. Only two bowls remained untouched and those bowls belonged to Kodi and Kirby.
After their meal, the dogs left and raced each other in the snow. Ralph ran close to Dusty. Even during a day-off working, they still had to run around. It was now part of their everyday life. The other dogs played in the snow like little pups. They were young too. The snow still came down, but the wind stopped blowing. Everything was white. The children from the town came out and played in the snow. The adults just talked and supervised the little kids.
Back in the barn, Kirby started to wake up. His head was still sore from the accident the night before. He tried to stand up, but fell back down since he still felt weak. The pain from last night came back. Kodi felt the floor vibrate from the drop Kirby made next to him. He stood up and yawned. He looked around and saw Kirby lying on the floor with his paws on his head. His eyes were shut tight with what looked like tears coming down. The pain came back hard and Kirby was in stress.
"KIRBY!!!" yelled Kodi.
He didn't respond to his cry and soon came in Dusty and the rest of the team behind her. They all heard his yell and found Kirby with now tears coming down his face.
"What's the matter with him?" asked Ralph.
"I-I don't know. I woke up to find him like this. We have to send him to the doctor. Now!!!" exclaimed Kodi.
Kodi then ran out the door, passing his team towards the vet's office. He knew where it was.
"Oh I hope he is still there." said Kirby to himself.
He heard barking from behind and saw Ralph running behind him. He then catched up and they both ran towards the vet's office. Once there, both dogs barked at the door. They scratched it with their claws hoping he was there. The vet then came out and they barked at him.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
They continued to bark at the direction where the boiler room was. He looked at the direction and saw from the distance, in the white background, a couple of dogs barking as well. He then went back inside to take his coat and then left with a first aids kit. He knew something was wrong. It had to be since almost the whole dog sled team barked at him and pointed at one direction. He ran with the dogs as they lead him to the boiler room. He went inside slowly to look around and saw a dog down in the far side of the room. He walked up and heard him whine. He looked at his head and saw a huge black bump coming from the left side. He then saw the hammer next to him with some blood on it. He gave out a gasp and picked up the dog with both hands. He was a bit heavy but the vet was strong. He took him to his office trying not to hurt Kirby. The dogs, all five of them, ran behind him. Once the vet arrived at his clinic, the dogs stood outside and tried looked through a window to try to see what was going on. They couldn't see anything since the window was too high up.
Everyone was nervous. They had never seen a dog in so much pain in their lives. He was suffering. He was even crying. The dogs walked back and forth in the snow. Kodi was really worried. His best friend was in tremendous pain and looked like he was about to die. Ralph was also walking back and forth. Dusty was standing up but didn't move. She just looked down and hoped for the best.
After a few minutes, the vet walked out of the clinic to find the dogs looking at him. He patted Kodi's and Ralph's head.
"If it wasn't for you boys, well, he wouldn't be with us right now." He then walked into his office and closed the door behind him. Everyone understood the vet and Kodi leaped in the air with joy.
"HES OK!!!" he yelled.
Everyone wanted to see Kirby, but they couldn't since the office was too small and everyone would annoy the doctor. Instead, they all started to walk away still very happy that Kirby is still alive.
"Thanks Ralph." Kodi said unexpectedly.
"For what?"
"For coming with me. If the doctor just saw me, he would think I'm crazy or something. He wouldn't pay any attention to me and maybe even ignore me. So thanks"
"Oh, no problem Kodi."
They all walked a few yard away from the clinic and started to play around in the snow. The still wanted to see Kirby, but nothing could be done about that. They just were happy that their dear friend is feeling better now.
Everything was going great until about after twenty minutes, they saw their musher running towards them. He had a worried face so they thought he just heard the news on Kirby, his lead dog. The doctor must have called Mr. Simpson. He walked towards his dogs and they were happy to see him. He kneed down and patted their heads.
"Ok, everyone's alright. Now," he stood up "let's see how Kirb is doing."
He then walked into the vet's office. They hoped that when he left, he would bring out Kirby, but he never did.
They all just laid down and waited for Mr. Simpson to come out. Everyone except Kodi. He stood up in attention. He had a horrible feeling about this.
"You should relax." said Hank.
"Yeah" said Kano.
"I should, but, I don't know...." Kodi said without looking at them. He just stared at the office.
After a couple of minutes he saw the door open. Everyone stood up wagging their tails in hope to see Kirby. Mr. Simpson just walked out empty handed. He was really sad. He walked very slowly towards his house. His head was looking down the whole way.
Everyone didn't know what was going on. They were very confused. Some were worried. Kodi was both.
~ o ~
Night came really fast. Everyone went to the boiler room to get some sleep. The snow has stopped falling, but it made no difference. The next day would be Sunday and there were no mail deliveries on Sunday. Kodi woke up during the night and walked out of the boiler room very quite-like. He didn't want anybody to wake up. He couldn't help it, but he was very sleepy. He wanted to get some shut-eye, but he wanted to see his best friend more. Beside the fact that Kodi wanted to see if he was ok, he also had questions to ask him. Why was Mr. Simpson sad? Why was Kirby acting so different?
He then pushed the door open only slightly to let him pass through. It was really dark and very cold. Kodi went from very warm into very cold air, very quickly. He felt the dramatic change in temperature and started to shake, but that didn't stop him. He walked towards the vet's office. He didn't get lost since the office had a lantern on. It would be on all night, just to make the street at least visible. The light from the inside was also on. The doctor didn't leave yet.
Kodi stayed hidden next to the porch and hid himself in the darkness. He waited for the doctor to leave so he would quickly and quietly move inside. He waited and felt very cold. He started to shake harder and he could see his cold breath leave his mouth as he exhaled. He noticed the doctor turn off he light and heard the door open. As the doctor left the clinic, Kodi moved in from behind and went inside as fast as he could and again, he hid himself in the dark. The vet turned around and locked the door for the night.
Kodi couldn't see a thing. He walked around and bumped himself into several unknown objects. He then saw a small light coming from the back and walked towards it. The light of the storage room was on. The vet must have forgotten to turn it off. The storage room held the dogs that had to stay for the night. He walked into the room and saw several small kennels on the floor neatly organized. They were not on top of each others but laid down next to each other. Kodi walked around the room to find his friend. The light from the room was not strong, but it did help in the search.
He found no dog. He looked again and he then saw a ball of brown fur in a far corner of on one of the kennels. It moved as it breathes in and out. Kodi sniffed the cage and he picked up Kirby's smell. He was so happy. He didn't want to be rude, but he had to wake up his friend. He used his front right paw to tap on the cage to make some noise in order for him to wake up. Kirby lifted his head up and saw his friend standing there. He couldn't believe what he saw.
"Kodi?"
"Kirby, I'm here. How are you doing?"
Kirby smiled and stood up and waked towards his friend. Their tails were wagging.
He wanted to get out of the kennel to great his friend with a hug, but couldn't. The big cage was locked and only somebody from the outside could open it. They meet face to face, but felt far away since there were a lot of metal bars in between them. Kodi could see a small white patch on top Kirby's head.
"Kodi..."
Kirby couldn't say anything. He remained shut. He couldn't lie to him anymore. His best friend, who saved his life. What if he would reject him? He also didn't want to tell him the horrible news. The news that would crush his heart. He didn't know what to say.
"Kirby?" Kodi said looking confused. He saw his facial expression and he looked like crying.
"What's the matter? Does it still hurt?"
"No, its just..." he looked up and put on a serious face. "You shouldn't be here. Go back and get some sleep."
Kirby then walked to the back of his cage and dropped himself into the floor.
"I don't understand what's going on in your head Kirby." Kodi was starting to get angry at him so out of rage, he took his paw and with his claws, he broke the lock. Kirby looked at him as he walked into the kennel.
"Tell me. What's the matter with you?" Kodi demanded.
"Kodi you will never understand. You're just a pup."
"I'm not a pup anymore. If you have a problem with me, TELL ME!!!"
Kirby was surprised he yelled at him. After that, Kodi did something that both shocked and relived him. Kodi lowered his head and kissed him. Kirby didn't understand what was going on. Kodi gave him a very strong and passionate kiss. It lasted for a while and then Kodi lifted his head up.
"Kodi....I, I didn't know you where like that." Kirby said silently in the dark.
Kodi just looked back and started to walk out. At the door of the kennel he looked down and said "Well, now you know."
He then ran out of the storage room. Kirby stood up fast and chased him. It stared to get dark and he couldn't see anything. He then tripped and he fell right on top of Kodi. He wouldn't get off him.
"Wait...stop struggling. Listen to me...." Kirby said trying to restrain his friend.
"No. Let me go!"
"Listen to me. I will tell you everything. I will. Stop moving."
Kodi struggled a little and then stopped. Kirby got off him. He stood up and waked back into the storage room where there was light. Kirby followed him.
"Look, this was going to be hard to tell you, but after what you did, I feel like I can tell you now." Kirby said looking straight at his eyes.
"What is it?"
"Ok," Kirby took a deep breath and finally said "Kodi, I-I think I love you."
There was a moment of silence and Kodi just stared at him. He was very surprised and couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What did you say?
Kirby looked down and hoped for the best. He hoped that Kodi would understand him. He hoped that at least, they would still be good friends. There was another awkward moment of silence and he looked up to see his friend's reaction to this. He saw Kodi look away and he then thought about this. He looked back at his eyes and said four words, four words that would finally change their lives forever.
"I love you too." he said with a smile.
"Your really do?" asked Kirby a bit nervous. "Yeah, I just couldn't admit it. I thought you knew about me. I thought that's why you were serious around me all the time. I thought you knew that I liked you and you didn't like it."
"Oh no, It wasn't that. I just acted that way to make you think I didn't like you more than a friend. If I acted myself, I would blow my cover and you would either get mad at me or maybe....never talk to me again."
Kodi then chuckled and said "Well, I guess we both were scared about each other knowing."
They both smiled and looked into each others eyes. They smiled and then, it went away. They knew what was going to happen. They knew what they were going to do next. They couldn't control themselves. They didn't even have time to think. It all went so fast. Kirby walked very slowly towards Kodi. The older dog knew what to do. He licked Kodi's muzzle, then neck, then the right side of his back. Kodi let him do all of this. He just closed his eyes. He enjoyed everything he did to him. Nature then took over and Kodi moved his tail to his left. Kirby noticed and knew that Kodi gave him permission. Kirby positioned himself behind Kodi and mounted him. Once on top, he again positioned himself and started to move. Kodi didn't care about Kirby's weight. He was a bit heavy, but he didn't care. He soon felt Kirby enter him. Kodi let out a small cry of pain. Kirby noticed and went slower, at least until he got used to it. After a few more slow thrusts, Kodi relaxed and Kirby moved faster.
They were one.
Kodi felt some pain, but pleasure overcame it. He wished this feeling never ended. Kirby also enjoyed it. He started to sweat as he moved faster. He closed his eyes as the ritual continued. Kirby also lowered his head to lick Kodi behind the ears. He felt shivers going down his spine. He enjoyed the night even more.
After a couple of minutes, Kirby gave out a fiery release. The mating ritual had ended. He got off and lowered his head. He was breathing heavily and some sweat drops fell from his nose. Kodi fell to the floor and he was breathing hard as well. Kirby then walks a few steps and lies down next to him.
"I...Love...You" said Kirby in between breaths
"I...Love...You...Too"
Kirby moved his head over to rest next Kodi's neck. They were both exhausted. Kodi lowered his head to let his mate sleep as conferrable as possible.
They both fell into deep sleep.
~ o ~
It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun was shining from above with clear skies. People were leaving their houses to go to church and some kids continued to play with the snow on the ground. Some adults were enjoying their day off. They either went to church or go out with their friends and family. It seemed like the most perfect day of the year.
Outside the kennel, Kodi was the first to wake up. He lifted his head and gave out a load yawn. He looked back down to see his mate sound asleep next to him. He remembered the night before and a smile came up into his face. He was in love, for the first time I his life, he felt compete, and nothing in the world could bring him down. Everything seemed to go along perfectly, like if destiny wanted them to be together, and now, they are.
Kodi stood up to stretch his legs. He felt some pain coming from unusual places. He knew why it was so he just ignored it. It wasn't important, it would go away soon. It was a bit cold since they fell asleep in the cold floor. It didn't feel cold the night before since they were hot the whole night. He saw Kirby shiver a bit and went inside the kennel to bring out a nice warm blanket. He brought it out with his mouth and carefully dragged it on top of Kirby to cover him completely. He then stopped shaking and continued his sleep.
Kodi laid down next to him. He started to think about life and how thing will be with him. This came to his mind since he was thinking about the word 'mate'. That meant life with him forever. At first he was thinking about all the great and wonderful things life would bring. He had someone that would protect him from anything to big to handle. He had someone who he can trust with his life, someone who will always be with him no matter what. Nothing bad came into his mind, until he thought about his friends. What would they think? What would they do if they knew? What about Hank and Kano? What will they think of this? They will differently not accept this. We could get banished. All this ran through Kodi's mind. His smile went away. He started to panic; he didn't want his mate to get hurt because of him. He stood up with a worried face.
"We can't be together" he whispered to himself while looking at his sleeping mate.
He looked away and felt tears coming out of his eyes. He knew what he wanted the most in his life, and he will never have it. He opened his eyes and saw the door. He walked out of the storage room and found himself in the waiting room. He looked around to find a way out of the clinic. He turned his head to the left and saw a window that was slightly open. He jumped on the table that was next to it and with his paws, he opened it and jumped out. The long drop down hurt his two front legs, but only for a moment. He ran towards the beach.
When he got there he slowed down and saw the waves coming in. Tears come out one by one until he just collapsed and started to cry heavily. He wept with his paws on his muzzle. This went on for another thirty minutes. He stopped crying and fell asleep.
He woke up in shock. Ralph had pour cold water on his head. He started to laugh at Kodi's facial expression.
"Wha-what happened" he said looking around with his fur all wet and his eyes wide open.
He just laughed and said "Nothing Kodi, why did you come to the beach? Couldn't sleep last nigh in the warm boiler room?"
Dusty walked up next to him and so did Kano and Hank. Kodi stood up and remembered that they don't know that we went out and spend the night with Kirby. He stood up and looked at his friend.
"Uh, no. No, I couldn't. I, uh, I got way to hot in there so I, uh, thought I should go out and cool off." He lied.
"Oh, ok then" said Ralph.
"Are you hungry? The musher came and left us food and we all ate. Your food is still in there if you want." said Dusty. Kano and Hank left after she said that. They started to race each other in the beach. They got bored and left.
"Yeah, I'm going to go eat then. Ill see you guys later." He walked slowly toward the boiler room. His head was hanging from his neck. He looked down and his eyes were still watery. "Good thing they don't know anything., and they'll never find out" he said quietly to himself.
~ o ~
The day went by really slow for Kodi. While everyone was outside running around and talking to the local dogs, he stayed inside thinking and crying in the dark corners of the room. He would go outside for a moment to feel the gentle and quiet cool breeze. He then went inside and continued to think.
"What can I do? What will I do? I really want him. I really want to be with him. Why dose life have to be hard? Maybe they will except me, but the counsel, they will hurt my best friend, my mate. What is he thinking right now? Dose he miss me as much as I do? Is he thinking about the consequences of our love, or dose he not care? Is he worried? All this was going through his mind. He wanted these thoughts to go away, but they never did, and they never will.
~ o ~
Days passed and Kirby was still in the clinic. He still needed time to recover. "It was only a small bump in the head, how long dose it take to recover from THAT?" said Kano.
The team has been going much slower than usual. Kodi is now the lead dog of the team. Everyone thought he would be happy about this, but they would always find him lost in his thoughts. He would be quiet and just stare into space. The team started to get worried about him, Hank and Kano were worried as well, but they didn't do anything about it. All they cared about was running fast and impressing the female dogs in Nome.
"Are you ok Kodi, you've acting a bit stage buddy." said Ralph.
They had just walked into the boiler room to get some rest. They've been racing all day and it was Saturday again.
"I'm ok Ralph, thanks." He looked away and then laid down.
"Are you sure, you know, me and Dusty had noticed that you've been sad and you're not that type of person that would be sad most of the time. There is something wrong. You know you can tell me anything. That's what friends are for."
Kodi didn't say anything. He started to think for a while and then thought of a test.
"Hey Ralph," he stood up and faced him, "my, uh, friend is in trouble. He is in love with this dog. They want to be happy, but they can't because the family and friend think that what they have should never be. What do you think they should do?"
He started to think hard. "A friend you say....well then, if they really love each other, they should try to do the impossible to be together. They should meet up and not let them get caught, but I don't know what kind of family and friends they have if they don't accept them for what they have."
Kodi thought for a moment about what he said. He was right. We can hide our relationship; we can keep it all a secret. I don't care if my family and friends don't understand us, I LOVE HIM!!!"
"Thanks Ralph, you were a big help" he smiled and ran towards the door to go to the vet's office to see his mate, but before he could leave, he saw his owner come in. In his arms was Kirby with a white bandage still on his head. His owner must be really strong to carry him from the vet's clinic all the way to the boiler room.
"Here you go old buddy" he said as he placed Kirby on the ground. "Don't worry, Ill find a good home for you." He left and nobody in the room understood what he meant with that last comment.
Kirby looked at his team mates and then to the floor. He started to cry, softly at first, and then when his friends came closer, he started to cry harder. They walked up to him and Kodi was the first to nuzzle him. He walked back and asked "What's the matter Kirby? Why are you crying, and what did he mean by 'finding you a new home'?"
"I'm...I'm...I'm so sorry Kodi." He said while he cried.
"Sorry about what?" asked Dusty.
"I...I....can't run...with you guys anymore." After sating that he fell to the floor and cried even harder.
"What? Why?" asked Kodi as he walked next to him to comfort him.
"They said....that the hammer, hit some part of my brain.....that controlled my muscles and ....and....I cant run as fast anymore!!!"
"Oh my goodness...."said Dusty.
"Kirby, I'm, I'm, so sorry." said Kodi with sympathy in his voice.
~ o ~
Later that night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Kodi stood up and walked to where Kirby had fallen asleep. He moved only a few inches from where he had fallen earlier today since he was tired after crying for almost an hour. He wanted to be a sled dog all his life and it only took a second for his dream to shatter into millions of pieces. Once he saw his body, he walked very slowly. He didn't want him to wake up, but a part of him did want him to. He wanted to talk to him and ask him so many questions. He came close to him and saw him asleep. He laid down next to him and closed his eyes.
"Kodi?"
Kodi opened his eyes and looked at Kirby who had his eyes half opened.
"Sorry Kib. I didn't mean to wake you up. Ill move so you can go back to sleep and be more comfortable." He whispered as he picked himself up.
"But Kodi, I was already comfortable next to you. You can sleep with me." Be whispered back.
Kodi gave a smile and laid back down. They both snuggled to together. They heard each others heart beat. That lullaby made them very sleepy. Soon after, the fell asleep.
~ o ~
Morning came. Everyone woke up, yawned and stretched out their legs. Kirby lifted himself up but didn't stretch. That would bring him heavy pain to his muscles. Kodi lifted his head and looked at Kirby. He was still sad about everything that happened to him, but now that he was with his team and the person he cared about the most, he started to feel better.
"Good morning Kirby. How do you feel today?" asked Kodi
"I....feel a bit better, thanks." He answered and looked away.
Kodi didn't understand what that look was all about. He tilted his head in confusion as his lover walked away into the back of the room. Everyone thought he was still depressed and left to go to the beach. They wanted to take in the sun that was shinning from the sky. The only ones left in the room were Kirby and Kodi.
Kodi walked towards the back of the room and noticed that Kirby was gone.
"Kirby?" he asked as he looked carefully around the room.
Out of nowhere, Kirby jumps at him and the both roll over laughing.
"What was that for?" said Kodi under Kirby. He was still laughing.
"I just wanted to laugh and tell you that I LOVE YOU!!!" yelled Kirby.
"Shhh, they could hear us."
"No they won't. Look," Kirby got off him and waited for Kodi to stand up. His smile went away and his serious face came into place. "I've been thinking about this 'problem' and I think that we should keep it in a down-low. At least until we feel that it is time to tell our most trusted friends and family members."
Kodi completely understood. He was happy that he was taking this very seriously. He understood the consequences of this and knew that nobody should know, for now. Kodi smiled at him.
"Then we should meet up in secret. Away from everyone, so we can talk and do stuff we don't want other dogs to see." said Kodi.
"Yeah, at night, when everyone is asleep. We could go out and....talk." he said with a smile. He knew what he meant and happy to know it.
~ o ~
A couple of months went by. They only met on the weekends since Kodi and his team would go and make deliveries. Mr. Simpson never did find a home for Kirby. He was already happy where he was. He would get a bit lonely but when he did, he would go to Balto and they would have small conversations. At night, he would think about Kodi, the love of his life. He would also dream about him. He was in almost every single one of them. He was so happy. He then would quietly fall into deep sleep.
One night, on a weekend, Kodi and his team came back from making a Saturday delivery. Kodi and Kirby would talk, but nothing big when someone was around. It would be too obvious that something was going on. They didn't like keeping it a secret from there friends and family, but they did what was best for each other. Like every other weekend, after the team had fallen asleep, they would quietly walk out and into an alley. They made sure that nobody was around.
Once that was taken care of, they would meet eye-to-eye and kiss passionately. They've missed each other very much and needed to express their love towards each other.
"I missed you so much Kirby." said Kodi breaking the kiss.
"Me too. God when you leave...I worry sometimes. I know that you're the new team leader and all, but there are some dangerous things out there and I'm not there to protect you. I know that there are dangers out there because I've experienced a few of them myself. I just don't want you to get hurt."
"Don't worry love. I take good care of myself and with you in mind, I'll run extra fast to get home on time to see you. I can't stand being away from you my love."
They walked up together and nuzzled each other. Kodi then licked Kirby in the ear and gave him shivers. This was a hint for what was next to come. This time, Kodi mounted him and so began the ritual. They were unaware though to the eyes in the darkness that watched them silently.
~ o ~
Morning came, birds were chirping, and the snow was melting away. Summer came. Everyone went out to enjoy it by going to the beach and playing in the sand. In the distance they noticed Kodi and Kirby walking together. They were laughing all the way. Once they got close Dusty asked them where they were. They didn't go to sleep in the boiler room that night.
"We went out for a walk early in the morning and catch up in all the things Kirby does when we are not here." said Kodi.
"Yeah......hey, where is the rest of the team?" asked Kirby.
"Oh, uh well, we don't know. We thought they would be with you two. We haven't seen them all day. We woke up alone in the boiler room." said Ralph sounding a bit worried.
"Well they probably left to race around town or something like that. They love to run you know." Dusty said in a calm voice.
Everyone believed her and they started to run around the beach. Kodi was getting fast since he had to run and push extra harder with the lack of one dog, he need to if he wanted to get to his destination on time. The team never got there on time, but Kodi never gave up. He really worked hard. The team did get to their destination only a couple of minutes late. If Kodi didn't try or care, they would get their hours or maybe even days late. He didn't want to give a bad name to the team that Kirby worked so hard to train.
Kodi remembered how fast Kirby used to be. As he ran across the beach, he knew he was much faster than him. Now, with Kirby's muscle problem, he can only run a few yards until he had to stop to take breath and relax his muscles. It was a sad site for Kodi to watch his mate in agony so whenever he would notice this, he would walk up to Kirby who was still taking in breaths, look around to make sure nobody was watching, and lean over to lick his ear. That would make him not only better, but feel loved. It was one of the greatest feeling that Kirby ever had besides running and spending the night alone with the love of his life.
Kirby looked at Kodi's eyes and they both smiled. Kodi blushed and jumped on Kirby to play around in the sand. Ralph and Dusty joined and they acted like puppies. They had fun, until Hank and Kano showed up. They looked down from a foot hill and watched as they played around. They looked at each other and laughed manically at the sight of Kodi and Kirby playing around in the sand.
They knew.
~ o ~
Night came and everyone went to sleep for work the next day. Hank and Kano had showed up in the afternoon, but only for a little while. Before anybody could say anything to them, they ran towards town and have not been seen since.
Ralph and Dusty slept close to each other, like a couple of love-sick puppies. Kodi and Kirby would sleep close, but not too close. They would be a few feet away from each other, but during the night, Kodi, and sometimes Kirby, would wake up and walk to sleep close to their mate and cuddle. They would soon fall into deep sleep listening to each others heart beat.
That night, like every other night Kodi and Kirby were together, one of them woke up and looked around. This time it was Kirby. He walked around silently, trying not to wake anybody up and felt something strange. See looked around and he only saw three bodies. He was no longer the team leader, but he still cared about his friends. So like any other friend, he went outside to look for Hank and Kano. They never disappeared before so he was a little bit worried. I hope nothing bad happened to them, he said to himself.
It was warm, and the wind wasn't blowing hard, so he walked around the boiler room to try to see if they are around. He then heard a noise from a distance. It sounded like a metal trashcan falling. Are those two hungry for something? It came from an alley. It wasn't dark, but it only had one light source and the light was dim. It looked like it was about to burn out.
He walked into the alley and saw the trashcan on the floor. He was now a little bit far from the boiler room where his friends slept. Garbage was coming out from trashcan. He walked very cautiously, sensing that something was wrong. He walked slowly towards it looking hard as if there was something inside that would come out and harm him.
The trashcan suddenly moved and that gave Kirby a small shock. He took a step back and noticed a rat come out. It was eating some of the garbage and Kirby laughed at himself for fearing something small. While laughing he turned around to walk out of the alley and continue his search. Keno and Hank then jumped in front of him and scared him.
"Oh, it's just you," he chuckled and continued, "where were you guys? I was looking for you."
They just smiled, but something about that smile didn't seem right.
"Is everything Ok you guys?" he asked in confusion.
"No, its not. This town is a great and wonderful town, right Kano?" asked Hank with that same smile.
"Yeah." He replied as they started to walk slowly towards Kirby making him walked back in fear. He never felt fear from his teammates, but something about them freighted Kirby. Do they know? he asked himself.
"The only problem is a great and wonderful town cannot have dogs with your taste. This town will be perfect, without queers like you." Hank spat as he said those words.
Oh my goodness, HE KNOWS!!! he said to himself. Will he hurt me? I know he is prejudice, but I'm still bigger than him.
Kirby then stop moving back and stood up strong and firm. He hoped that would make them feel inferior to him, since he knew that he was no longer strong for he has lost almost all his strength in the nearly fatal accident that happened 6 months ago.
They did stop and looked at him. Their smile went away, but they laughed. Kirby didn't know what was so funny, so he unfortunately let his guard down.
"We know that you're weak. We can kill you, and we will." said Hank with an evil stare.
They then jumped on him and started biting him from allover. He fought back, but he just wasn't strong enough. They were just too heavy and far too strong. He couldn't fight back no more. They bit his legs, his back, his tail and his face. They were all screeched up and his muscles were town. When they were done, he didn't look like a dog anymore. He didn't even look like an animal. His face, his body, was covered in blood. He was lying on the ground, motionless. He was barely alive, he was barely breathing.
At that moment, the light bulb went out and everything was now dark.
Hank and Kano was breathing hard. That took a lot out of them. Kirby was fighting back, witch made the prey even harder to kill. They then looked at each other, still breathing heavily, and started to laugh at their success. They laughed for a while until they looked back at their victim. They thought he was dead since they couldn't see any body movements.
"What should be do with the body Hank?" ask Kano with a huge smile on his face.
"We can't leave him in the alley; everyone will know it was us who killed him. We have to take him to the forest outside this nearly perfect town." He said looking at the body.
They both walked towards the remains of Kirby and with their mouths, they bit and dragged him across the town in silence. It took them an hour to finally take him out of town and into the forest. They dragged him deep into the forest and finally, they let him go near a dead tree. He would never be seen here and nobody would ever know. When they let him go, they noticed that while dragging him, they also left a bloody trail. This night would be longer than expected for them.
It took them another hour to clean up the blood and make sure that there wasn't even a hint of it anywhere. The body was left to rot in the forest and if they get lucky, a wolf would find it and eat it.
Afterwards they went into a near by lake to clean themselves up. The washed their mouths and body to get rid of the blood stains on their fur. It was hard to clean themselves up since there wee some spots that they just couldn't reach. They helped each other out with the cleaning until they were finally ready to finish what they started.
The sun was starting to rise. They looked at each other and nodded, and then they ran towards the boiler room and woke everyone up.
"WAKE UP WAKE UP!!!" shouted Hank and Kano in unison as they ran into the room.
Everyone in the room jumped up in surprise to their shouts. They looked around with their eyes wide open.
"What? What's going on?" asked Ralph.
"Yeah, what's going on?" followed Kodi.
"It's Kirby!! He was attacked....in the woods" said Kano.
His name made Kodi listen close, but before anybody can show any reaction to the news, he quickly ran out and into the woods. He sniffed the air in hopes that maybe; he could smell his sent and find him. He ran into the woods, but still nothing. The team was behind him doing the same, even Hank and Kano. They looked allover the place. They found nothing.
Kodi was so worried. He just couldn't give up. He wanted to see him. He wanted to find him alive. You can't die on me. Please, show up, please. Tears started to slowly come down his face. They were cold and uncontrollable. I am nothing without you. You complete me. You said you where always going to be here with me, always, to protect me. Where are you?
He looked everywhere. His master will soon go into the boiler room to get his dogs. He would find nothing, just like Kodi.
The woods were just way too big. Hank and Kano would also look around, but they would never go close to the real location. When they saw someone going to the direction of his body, he would walk up to them and send them to another location. They wanted Kodi to see the dead body and the rotting flesh of his lover so he would turn straight, or at least, into something that would never love again. They knew that they couldn't kill him, since they loved their job as well. They knew the team were going a bit slow, but if they got rid of him, their owner would sell the team and they would lose their job. They couldn't do that, they couldn't harm him physically, but they wanted to harm him. So they decided to harm him mentally, forever.
Something in the air caught Kodi's attention. It smelled awful. Hank watched as he was walking slower into the dead part of the forest. He smelled it too, and looked away, to tell his friend about it. He walked away.
Kodi followed the smell and hoped it wasn't what he taught it was. It smelled like a rotting corpse. He walked towards a dry log and saw fly's buzzing around. They landed on his face, but Kodi didn't care. He then saw what looked like tiny prices of meat, and brown hair. Blood was allover the place and a small trail of red that ended only a few feet from the huge puddle of blood in front of him. The winds started to blow and trees shook. There was no body found, it was gone.
Kodi stood still, he couldn't feel anything. Tears slid down his face. After regaining control of his body, he fell into the floor and wept. He then cried like he never cried before.
He was gone, the greatest dog in his life, gone.
After a few minutes, the dogs found their way to Kodi. They saw everything and walked towards Kodi to comfort him. They didn't know the truth. To them, they lost a good friend that day. To him, he had lost the love of his life.
The owner found them in the woods walking slowly towards the boiler room and had to cancel the delivery for that day. The whole day, Kodi didn't say anything. He was just on the floor and would not get up.
Sundown came and everyone was in the boiler room. Kodi then slowly stood up and walked out of the boiler room. He walked and stood on a foot hill. His teammates knew that he needed some time to think, alone, away from everything. They let him go.
The wind started to pick up. Kodi was just standing in the outskirts of the town of Nome and could see the mountains. He saw the sunset right behind it and just stared, wishing it would have ended another way.