Nova Vita



Chapter One:  Terra Nova



Disclaimer:  I do not own Balto, Balto:  Wolf Quest, Balto:  Wings of Change, any of the characters from the movies, or the designs for Faelan, Nessa, Evvie, or Brava. I also don’t own Nava, Aleu, Niju, Nuk, Sumac, Yak, or any of the other characters from the above listed movies. Universal does.  However, I do own the character personas for Faelan, Nessa, Evvie and Brava.  I also own the plot idea for this fic, and all original characters introduced in it.





The foot falls pounded the ice in synchronized beats, all at once harmonious, but moving freely to their own rhythm.  Only a few slid along the ice bridge that had formed, mostly just the new leader of the band of wolves. She stumbled, her paw pads not used to running on frozen water, but was caught for what seemed the tenth time by the enormous male, Nuk.  The burly black wolf wasn’t pleasing to the eye, but he was dedicated to the pack. Since Niju’s plan had been revealed in totality and rejected vehemently, he had aligned himself with the safety of the pack and new Alpha female.  He smiled kindly at her.

"Aleu, you must be careful.  Don’t want you to fall in again.  We know you aren’t used to this.  We can slow down," he said gently in his gruff voice.

The light brown hybrid shook her head slowly, recovering from what must have been her fourth or fifth slip of the journey so far.  She’d been slowing down the pack almost constantly since the beginning of their crossing.  Her ears drooped considerably as she realized this fact.  Her breath came in ragged gasps, as she replied, "No, keep moving.  It’ll be far worse if we don’t make it across before the ice bridge breaks apart."

Nuk nodded and glanced up to the rest of the pack as the continued forward slowly, leaping across the ice as if it were just dirt and grass on a warm day. Momentarily, the Alphess entertained the thought of being safe at home on her father’s boat, where she had two fluffy white polar bears to keep her warm and nothing could hurt her.  But then she thought determinedly, ‘No, this is my home now.  These are my new family members.  No sense in complaining about how things used to be.’  And with that thought in mind, she leapt forward onto the next patch of ice and continued on, slipping and sliding as she went but somehow managing to stay upright.

Within minutes, another wolf had dropped back with her.  His coat was mix of burnt umber and white and she recognized him easily, for he had usually been close to Nava whenever the former Alpha of the pack had allowed company.  Though he was considerably shorter than Nuk, he held both his head and tail proudly aloft. At the sight of him, Nuk quickly curled his ears and tail down and sped up, trying to make himself smaller and give the other two wolves room at the same time.  He looked similar to a fluffed up chicken, which made Aleu want to laugh and caused her to slide again.  This time, the brown and white male caught her.  She shot him a thankful glance, gazing into his icy blue eyes as she straightened and laughed apologetically.

"Alphess, forgive me if I’m being a nuisance, but we need to move faster.  I realize that you are having difficulty with the ice, as anyone who has never dealt with its complications at length would, but is there any way we can coax a bit more speed from your legs?  You could be carried, if you think it will help us get to the other side more quickly."  He looked meaningfully over to Nuk, who was still just within earshot. The burly black wolf glanced back and nodded.

Aleu concentrated on regaining the cadence of her steps back for a few moments before answering in shaking breaths.  "Faelan, r-right?" She stuttered out.  "N-no.  I don’t t-think that will be n-necessary.  I think I’m getting the hang - "

Her left forepaw hit a thin patch on the ice flow and punched through it like paper. Unfortunately, the rest of her body had built up enough momentum so that it kept moving forward as her leg sank through.  She cried out in pain, but luckily the ice was so thin there that it broke and freed her.  This still left her sliding across the ice bridge and within seconds, she'd careened spinning into a couple of the wolves at the back and pushed them and herself into the icy water. At first, the water hit her like a thousand needles punching through her fur and skin all at once. It had a burning and a freezing sensation all at the same time, exactly like the first time she'd fallen in. Her paws pushed against the water, propelling herself upward and within moments her head burst through the surface.

She took several gasping breaths before looking around to find that the other wolves she'd knocked about were already being helped back onto the ice. One of the wolves she recognized as the black male Yak, who'd been another one of Niju's underlings. He didn't look her way, but the strange greenish gray and brown female next to him shot her a menacingly, poisonous glare. Aleu gulped, shivering from the hostility already and sighed deeply. She swam toward the edge of the ice flow where Faelan and Nuk met her and grasped the scruff of her neck. Soon they'd hauled her shivering body up out of the water.

"Are you certain that you don't want to rethink your decision, Alphess?" Faelan asked her quietly as the other wolves picked themselves up and readied to depart again.

Aleu shifted her gaze from the pack to Faelan and finally nodded.  "If you think it would get us over the ice and into the new territory faster, then I suppose I can’t refuse," she whispered.

Faelan bent down to allow her to climb onto his back, but Nuk nosed him aside and knelt before the Alphess.  The larger wolf grinned at the wolf mix reassuringly when she hesitated and said, "I’m sure you are light weight, but eve so I carry you.  You will be safe on my back."  Aleu took a breath and climbed up and across immediately feeling like a deer carcass when he stood and her legs could no longer reach the ground.

"Thanks," she whispered quietly to him.

"Alright, wolves, we’ve wasted enough time on this wretched ice.  It’s high time we finish crossing and get to our new home.  Let’s move out!" Faelan ordered and the pack obeyed, immediately re-forming their lines and continuing across. Aleu marveled at how quickly the pack had responded to him and remembered the looks of disdain she’d received as she’d surfaced.  Already she was embarrassing herself and proving to be a poor leader, like Niju had predicted she would.  Was she really cut out for this new life?





About an hour later, the pack lay on the banks of the new land, resting and recovering from their arduous trip.  Aleu glanced around at the tired faces around her, still feeling more than a little guilty about having to get a ride from one of her subordinates.  What would become of them now that they had made it across the water?  She stood and padded over to ask Faelan, remembering that Nava had once mentioned him being a "beta," whatever that meant.  Was he one of the wiser wolves among the pack?  It certainly appeared that way, since everyone listened to him without question.  Her maw opened, but before she could utter any words, he turned to her.

"Orders, Alphess?"  He asked.

With a wide-eyed, startled expression, Aleu replied, "Oh, actually I was just coming to ask you what you thought we should do next."

"Me?  Why would you ask me?"

"Well, Nava told me that you are a beta, so I thought that meant that you were, well, wise and knowledgeable."  She frowned.  'Did I get that wrong?"

Faelan stared at her for a moment, then let his lips part in a wide grin with a laugh following.  "Of course, my apologies, Alphess.  I keep forgetting that you were not raised in a wolf pack and so you don’t understand our customs or society.  Yes, I suppose Betas can be considered wise in some instances.  One of their purposes is to give advice to the Alpha. We are more like proponents, or seconds.  But I suppose my job will heavily rely on advising you and teaching you.  Though," at this point he lowered his voice to a whisper, "let’s keep out lessons to ourselves, shall we?  The pack is still fairly restless and in a state of upheaval due to our sudden move and new leadership.  The last thing we need is for anyone to decide that Niju was right after all, especially since Nava went through so much to empower you."  He eyed her for a moment as though he still wasn’t entirely sure himself that she was a good choice.  "But I trust his judgment.  He was always the wisest of us, and especially if he spoke with Aniu, then this must be the correct course for our pack."

Aleu smiled.  "You and Nava were close, weren’t you?"

"Well, not as close as I would have liked, but in my own mind yes.  He kept to himself a good deal, often conversing with the spirits.  But he was my best friend, the wolf I’ve known the longest out of the whole pack. My father was his Beta before me." At this, Aleu’s jaw fell open, but Faelan shook his head gently, still smiling.  "That was when Nava was much younger, barely a yearling.  My father had also been Nava’s father’s Beta. Nava’s father was a great leader, but unfortunately he suffered a gunshot wound while on a hunting trip. He never made it back."  Faelan hung his head in remembrance.

"Nava stepped up to fill his father’s role and earned it with his wisdom, already so pronounced at his young age.  And when I came along, he treated my siblings and I like family.  He was like an older brother to me.  When he chose me to fill the position my father left in old age, it was one of the happiest days of my life."

The Alphess nodded.  "I see. I bet you miss him a lot, then."

Faelan looked up to match her gaze.  "I do.  But I trust him.  He’s given us a chance, and if he could have joined us without endangering us, he would have.  I only hope that he’s found Niju and they’re getting along well. They need each other more than ever right now."

"Niju," she scoffed.  "It’s too bad we couldn’t have left sooner.  All he did was cause you all trouble."

The brown and white wolf’s brow furrowed at this and he shook his head. "Niju didn’t always act so rash. He has a good heart."  He saw the female’s incredulous look toward him and added, "He’s just made some bad choices lately."  His eyes moved away from her face as a light blue-gray wolf, female by her shape, passed by them.  He nodded to her and smiled before turning back to Aleu.  "But don’t dwell on that matter right now.  You should rest and get to know the other wolves. Then later we’ll work on your leadership skills and make some progress with out new home, sound good?"

Aleu replied uneasily, "I guess that would be a good idea.  Though I’m pretty sure some of them hate me already." For a brief moment she remembered the venomous stare she’d been given by the green-gray and brown female.

"Nonsense.  They just haven’t been given much of a chance to get to know you.  If you mingle with them a little and try, I’m sure they’ll come to like you."  He glanced around once more before finishing with, "If you’ll excuse me, my lady, I believe there’s another matter that requires my attention.  But if you need my assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask." With a quick dip of his head, he trotted off to join the female.

Aleu watched him for a moment, almost longing to follow him rather than mingle with the pack.  She’d already thus far proved to be socially inept.  What reason was there in causing her further humiliation?  Despite all of this, she hung her head and walked over to a small group of the pack, three of them to be exact, lifting her paws slowly, uncertainly as she moved.  They were in a triangular formation, all facing each other and speaking in hushed voices.  One was the strange grayish green female whom she’d skidded into earlier.  Her back was facing Aleu, and though she recognized her from the crossing, she couldn’t say she’d ever spoken to her.

On the strange fae’s right side stood a gray and white male and on the left was a mottled tan female.  Aleu didn’t recognize either of the two, but still she smiled, gaining confidence, and padded up to them.  'Maybe this won’t be so bad.  They seem pretty friendly,' she thought.

But as she approached, the tan fae glanced over at her worriedly and raised her eyebrows.  Her eyes widened in alarm and she quickly turned to the others and said, "Shh!"

The male shot a look at the Alphess and quickly fell silent, a hard gaze forming over his lovely blue eyes.  The grayish green female turned her head to the Alphess and sighed deeply in annoyance, however, before turning her whole body to face Aleu.

"Yes, Alphess?" she asked, ice flaking off the second word.  She gave an exaggerated bow following the short statement.

At first, Aleu didn’t know quite how to respond.  She frowned, lowering her ears and tail as she watched the group, and she tentatively edged closer.

"I just wanted to apologize for earlier on the ice.  I didn’t mean to knock you into the water, but I tripped." She let her own deep, ocean blue eyes move up to the fae, whose cynical expression hadn’t changed since she’d spoken. "I was just hoping we could start over. I - "

"Gladly," the female interrupted curtly, taking advantage of Aleu’s submissive stance to raise her tail and hackles.  She took a step forward, bearing her teeth and began growling, "Why don’t you just go back to where you came from?  You aren’t a wolf, you don’t know how to act like one, and you certainly don’t know how to be anything akin to a leader.  I don’t care what that old timer Nava said, I’m not going to leave my life in the care of some stupid brat who doesn’t know how to take care of herself in the wild, let alone a group of others.  I’m more fit to lead this pack than you are."

Aleu backed up nervously, tucking her tail between her legs and thus further submitting to the other female.  Had she known what this cowardly gesture meant, perhaps she would not have done this, but all the wolf hybrid knew was that she was being threatened.

"Hmph, that’s just what I thought.  You’re not even willing to stand up for yourself, or your rank.  I might as well just take it from you." She stepped closer again as her two companions looked nervously from Alphess to friend.  Suddenly, the greenish gray female lunged at the Alphess.

A head connecting with her chest met her and her eyes enlarged, as if a train had just hit her.  The fae landed to the side with a rough thud and began coughing.  Aleu looked to see who had saved her and found none other than Nuk standing perpendicular to her, his own hackles raised and teeth bared.

"Evvie, you know better."  His thick speech was fairly clear for once and his brow furrowed as he watched the other female.

Evvie struggled to her feet, glaring at the enormous wolf and replied, panting still, "You called yourself one of Niju’s friends, and yet you protect this weakling who isn’t fit to rule?"  But she stopped, glancing sharply over to her side and immediately lowering her ears and tail.  Nuk and the others did likewise, though didn’t submit quite as much as Evvie.

Faelan loped over to the group, barking only once to announce himself and stopped in front of Evvie.  He visibly puffed up his chest and raised his tail before speaking.  "Evvie, she is the Alphess whether you like it or not. Nava appointed her and it’s not your decision or right to depose her.  She still has time to learn our customs."

Evvie spat from her lowered position and shot back, "Well, she’d better learn soon, or I’ll make it my business.  This clan doesn’t need a tame housedog leading us; it needs a wild wolf. And it had better have one soon."

Faelan snarled at her and she winced.  "You will hold your tongue or I’ll remove it.  I will teach her everything she needs to know and if she hasn’t got what it takes by the next full moon, then we will figure out something else.  You will deal with that decision or face me.  Understand?"  He glanced without waiting for an answer to the other two.  "Leila, Micah, I expect you two to act with more dignity and respect for our former leader’s choice.  You will do as I have said as well, and keep Evvie in line.  If not, you can all expect retribution from me.  Now go, before I decide I’ve been too lenient today." He snorted purposefully and watched as the three of them nodded and trotted off sullenly.

The beta waited until Evvie and the others were out of earshot and Nuk had moved off out of respect, then turned to Aleu and spoke, his voice calm and reassuring. "You should probably avoid Evvie. She was a big supporter of Niju’s ideas.  She’s still a little angry that he was forced so easily out of the way."  He smiled kindly at her, but his eyes depicted worry, more than anything. "If I can’t teach you how to have more respect for your heritage and how to really be a wolf, she’ll challenge you for your position in a couple of weeks.  That’s not a fight that can be interfered with, except by myself, and the only thing I could really do then is take the Alpha position for myself but…" He trailed off and the light brown hybrid hung her head.  "Listen, I’m going to take some of the pack and scout out the area.  I’ll leave you with Nessa; she’ll look after you and Evvie and the others will come with me.  That way you can take this all in for a bit."

Aleu looked up meekly at this and simply nodded glumly, almost feeling the subordinate in this situation.  She’d already managed to mess up twice on her first day in charge.  Maybe it would get better after this?

With that, Faelan nodded and a lovely blue and gray female trotted over to the two of them.  There was a young, motherly look about her, which was only augmented by the pleasant smile adorning her face.  She was thing, but not wiry or even remotely resembling a stick.  Instead, she had definitive curves, thought her paws did look tiny, for one of her species.  White teeth gleamed as her gray lips parted.  "Hello.  As I'm sure Fae has already told you, my name is Nessa."  Her voice was soft and sweet, flowing like a gentle stream and just as quiet.  It warmed as she spoke the beta’s nickname and this caused a small shift from the male.

"Nessa, would you mind keeping Aleu company for a short while?  Evvie was…well; let’s just say she’s got a rather fiery disposition today.  I’m taking her and the others to scout the area."  Yeah, she certainly was a little inferno.  The brown and white wolf’s face fell into a frown as he spoke this, almost timidly to the bluish fae.  At first he’d been gazing directly into her eyes, but suddenly he’d shifted his eyes lower, as if he were speaking to the tiny blade of grass that sat there.  "I’ll leave Nuk with you two, also.  He seems to have taken a fondness to Aleu rather quickly.  And I’ll probably leave Brava, Styx and Sumac as well.  They’ll be able to back you up, in case a danger arose."

The fae grinned and nodded, although Faelan couldn’t see it. "Alright, I’d be happy to keep the Alphess company.  Just be sure you let us know when you return."

Faelan looked up into her eyes for an instant, nodded, then walked off quickly without another word to them.  A quiet chuckle came from Nessa as she watched him trot off, clearly a little flustered.





While the scouting party was away, Nessa and Nuk taught Aleu the finer points of fishing in the nearby river, a tributary from the body of water they’d crossed to reach this new land.  After failing six times in succession to catch a fish while Nessa and Nuk had each come away with two, the young hybrid had given up for the day.  Not long after that, a low howl reached their ears and Nessa grinned in response, tipping her head to one sides before raising and walking with Nuk towards the origin of the noise.  Aleu followed them, shortly after to be met by Faelan and the rest of the scouting party, hanging behind him.

"We were just searching around quickly, so we don’t have a whole lot of detail to go on. However, we’re dangerously close to two different packs where we are now, and with the positions their territories are in, we’re on a rather small patch of land.  It’s too open here as well; humans and other creatures could easily find us.  Prey will see us coming before we have the chance to hunt.  We need to move on soon and find a new territory."

The group of three, which had by then been joined by Sumac, a dark brown fae and a black male with strange gray markings, nodded to the beta.  Aleu hung her head again, feeling guilt for taking them away from the safe lands they’d always known as home.  There had been no border issues there.  But, there was also no food there, now.

"But, I do have some good news," Faelan continued with a grin.  "We found a small grouping of caribou just outside of one of the pack’s territories.  If we hurry, we might just be able to grab a good meal before we start looking for our new home."

To these news, there were joyous cries from the wolves, and several rubbed noses against friends’ faces excitedly.  Aleu raised her head quickly, looking around at the other nervously and then to Faelan, curiosity and fear both present in her eyes.  The beta excused himself to go and speak with her while the rest of the wolves buzzed with excitement.  "You don’t have to come along with us if you don’t want to. We all know you’ve never actually hunted before, and if you’d like to take more time to learn how and just stay behind for now, it’s ok."

But the light brown hybrid shook her head and smiled nervously.  "No, no.  It’s as good a time as any to learn when you’re in desperate need of food, right?" Faelan made a strange face in response to that and Aleu faltered.  "Err, what I meant by that was, no time like the present.  I’m already in the wild, I might as well learn how to be wild."

"Hmm, alright then.  As long as you’re sure."  He turned away and the usual hunting party, Nuk, Evvie, the dark brown female from before, Micah, Leila and Yak stepped over to him.  He looked at them all, hesitating at Evvie.  "Leila, I want you to stay behind this time.  Aleu needs to learn how to hunt, and most importantly, learn how to work as a member of the team.  I’m going to be teaching her."

The female scoffed as he called her out, rolling her eyes at his reasoning, but moved back without fighting him about it.  The rest of the hunting party turned and took off, Faelan and Aleu speeding to catch up with them.

It didn’t take long to reach the small gathering of caribou, only half a mile from where they’d left the others.  The hunting party hid scattered among sparse bushes and shrubbery, carefully watching the grazing caribou they were currently downwind of.  So far, the beasts were calm and didn’t seem to have noticed their presence.  Faelan tilted his head ever so carefully to the left and Evvie and Micah crept silently the way he’d indicated, flanking the caribou.  Simultaneously, Nuk, Yak and the brown female flanked on the other side, though the female split off from them, circling around the formation.

Faelan’s muscles tensed as he watched the group, waiting for a sign. Within moments he heard a hacking sound and his gaze darted to a thin buck off to the side.  It appeared sickly, certainly easy enough prey for the small group to bring down, even with a beginner amongst them.  A quick look to either side told him that the others had realized their target had announced himself.  With a sideways glance to Aleu, he raised his paw and pointed quietly, mouthing, Wait for my signal.  The light brown hybrid nodded, her own limbs beginning to tremble with anticipation.

The dark brown female crept up, her stomach low on the ground and head almost on her paws as she did.  The others subsequently edge forwards as well.  Faelan opened his maw, turning to Aleu.  No words had issued from his mouth before she moved her paw onto an annoyingly crunchy leaf.  The total silence was shattered by this shockwave of sound, almost like a nuclear explosion to all of the grouping’s occupants.  The caribou’s heads were up and with several loud bellows they’d begun to run. Faelan made a noise between a squeak and a growl, plunging from his crouch into a gallop after them.  The others sprang from their positions as well and gave chase, but despite their quick reflexes, the sickly bull was already gaining speed with the rest of the herd, and in the middle, leaving him unavailable for assault.

The wolves slowed to a stop, only Aleu panting after the short race.  Her head pounded with the rush and noise of the hunt, but her heart fell as she realized what she’d done.  Her ears thrummed so much and her eyes blurred so that for a moment, she didn’t notice a greenish gray and brown figure stalking up to her with a high-pitched scream.  Of course, this was fortunate, as she also missed some of the insulting names the fae was now shouting in her general direction.

" – filthy dog!  You just cost us our only chance at a meal for the moment!  We don’t even know when the caribou will be this way again, and much less if they’ll be in the territory we have to move to anytime soon!" Aleu shied away again, as she was verbally attacked for the second time that day.

"Evvie!  Enough, back off!" Faelan’s sharp voice shouted over the rising clamor as Nuk tried to get over to protect Aleu and Micah began growling.

"Well, she did foul us up pretty - " the dark brown female began, but was curtly cut off by the Beta.

"I’d appreciate it if you kept your comments to yourself for the moment, Brava. We all know we have to teach her and that she’s not used to this.  Just because we lost a caribou it doesn’t doom us to starvation.  We’ll find something else to eat before we head out. Now I suggest we all begin moving back toward the rest of the pack.  Now."

The Beta huffed angrily and glared at them all as they lowered their shoulders and tails and began to trot off, Evvie still scowling at Aleu as though she were some sort of infectious parasite.  He huffed again as they got a little farther away and then looked to his Alphess.  "I’m sorry.  I should have told you to stay behind this once.  I couldn’t risk not having Evvie in the hunting party – she’s one of the swiftest runners we have.  And perhaps I should have clarified a little more before we began."

Aleu finally relaxed, her legs still shaking a little due to the build up of adrenaline and the shock.  She nodded numbly and then replied, "I j-just can’t seem to g-get anything right."

Faelan frowned and shook his head.  "No.  Perhaps I’ve just been a poor teacher."  He glanced up at the sky, noting the low position of the sun.  "We should head back now, it’s getting late."

"Alright."  The pair started after the rest of the hunting party, but within a few moments, Aleu stopped and said quietly, "Faelan, you go on ahead of me, I’d like some space to think."

A puzzled expression crossed his face for a moment, but he nodded silently and trotted on ahead, leaving the Alphess to her thoughts.  She padded slowly along behind him for a while, looking up every few minutes to check that she could still see the tiny group.  ‘Well, I guess I really screwed up this time. I might as well just throw in the towel and hand Evvie the Alpha position.’  Her mind wandered back to the first time she’d unwittingly submitted to Evvie, then to her cowardice just moments before and her failure to stay still so that they could make their catch.  And as she reviewed these memories, a thought struck her.  What if she could redeem herself; bring back food for her pack and possibly gain their trust?

Another quick glance told her Faelan wasn’t looking back at her and with that she wheeled around, running as quickly as possible back to the spot the caribou had been in.  The direction they’d gone was evident – plants had been crushed by the small-scale stampede and the air was ripe with their scent.  Quickly, and as silently as a beginner hunter could, she navigated her way to where they’d run, this time making sure to stay out of sight. But as she followed the more slowly moving herd, she noticed a change in the air’s aroma.  She scented other wolves, quite strongly.  And although she knew that the augmented scent was a warning of some kind, it didn’t seem like any had been here recently.  The hybrid had no idea that she’d just crossed into another pack’s land.

When the caribou finally stopped to graze again, the sickly bull was coughing off to the side once more.  She waited for a moment and then sprang like she’d seen Faelan do.  Of course again the caribou ran, but this time they split. The herd went off to the left and the sick bull went off to the right.  He was running so slowly that Aleu found herself running parallel to him within only moments.  She watched him for a moment, not sure what to do, but the thrumming returned to her head. Instinctively she lurched for his lower leg and her teeth found purchase there.

But she didn’t keep her hold for long.  The bull’s hind leg reached in its stride and kicked her hard in the side, causing both of them to trip.  Aleu let go and they both tumbled onto the ground, the bull rolling over her several times, his weight slamming her head into the compacted dirt.  For a few second they both lay still, but soon enough the bull gained its second wind and leapt, kicking the wolf in the head in its desperation to flee.

Aleu’s vision began to swim, then see-sawed back and forth.  She must have lain there for a little while, feeling the ebbing pain in her head and chest.  In her last moments of consciousness, she noticed movement several yards away from her and a canine voice before her vision went dark and she succumbed to sleep.