The Golden Collar By Shadow-d-husky Steele sat alone in an alley, sulking and feeling sorry for himself. Ever since the dogs found out about his deeds during the serum run, he had been branded an outcast. He had no friends, save Shadow. Shadow was a purebred black and white husky, like Steele, who had moved up in the ranks to become lead dog of one of the sled teams in Nome. Shadow had found Steele sad and alone in the gold dredger (boiler room), where the other dogs left him. He tried to help Steele. "It takes a real dog to have the backbone to admit their mistakes,” Steele remembered Shadow saying. “Is this the legacy you wish to leave of yourself; ‘Steele, the dog who almost sabotaged the serum run and caused the death of half the population of Nome?’ Why don’t you quit feeling sorry for yourself and apologize. Who knows, maybe someday you will even be looked up to again.” Steele appreciated Shadow’s friendship, and even the notion that he was trying to improve his situation. But what did he know? Steele thought his situation was unique; it wasn’t his fault, it was all Balto’s fault. Or was it? All Steele could be sure of at this point was that everyone hated him while at the same time they considered Balto a hero. “That wolfdog gets all the glory and all I get is scorn.” Steele muttered to himself. “If that wolfdog were not around, maybe everyone would take me back.” But Steele would have to do something incredible to win back the respect of the town. Unfortunately the mushers were right; he was losing his edge. He had to cheat to win the race against the opposing team to keep his golden collar. He got lost in the snowstorm and panicked. He even lost in the fight with Balto due to his blind rage. In addition to that, his musher no longer trusted him on the sled team because he panicked and caused the sled crash. They thought that not only had he lost his edge, but that he had also lost his mind. What could he do to win back the respect and admiration of the town? Steele was a dog who had almost always got his way. He always acted on impulse, without thinking of the ramifications, because he never had to take responsibility for his actions. He had been so used to being praised and being the center of attention, that he only saw the world from the perspective of what he wanted. But ever since he had become an outcast he had plenty of time to think about his actions. He no longer constantly had his ego stroked; he was despised by all the dogs in Nome. For the first several days he had plotted his revenge against Balto. But he had also heard about how bad the Diphtheria epidemic was and how it nearly devastated the population of the town. For once in his life, Steele felt a small sense of remorse over his actions. He understood why Balto did what he did, but he still hated him for it. With these thoughts on his mind, he set out to find Balto. Steele spotted Balto, alone, and quickly moved towards him. “Hey, wolfdog!” Steele called out. “We need to have a chat.” “Steele?” Balto said, turning around and expecting the worse. Surely whatever Steele wanted could not be good. Steele closed the distance between him and Balto. “There was a full moon out last night, lobo. Did you howl at it?” Steele teased, not being able to resist antagonizing Balto. “I am sure you mother would approve.” Balto let out a low growl and stared daggers at Steele. Steele had a smug look on his face, satisfied from being able to torment Balto once again. It felt just like old times to Steele, who wanted more than anything for things to be just like old times. “Ooh, I struck a nerve.” Steele smirked. “What’s the matter, wolfie? Can’t take a joke?” Balto, trying to control his temper, wondered what Steele really wanted. Surely he did not come here just to torment him again? “Steele,” Balto replied, trying to keep a cool head. “What do you really want?” Steele was having such a good time aggravating Balto that he had forgot why he went out to seek Balto in the first place. Steele knew what he had to do. “Actually, I am glad you asked, wolfdog.” Steele replied. “I have something for you.” Steele closed more distance between him and Balto, which made Balto back away a few steps. Suddenly, Steele pulled his Golden Collar off and threw it at Balto’s feet. “I think you deserve this more I do. It’s yours.” Steele said. Balto looked at the collar in disbelief. Was this the same Golden Collar that was given to the winner of the sled race, a symbol of achievement and pride? Why would Steele give this to him? “Steele…I don’t know what to say…” Balto replied, still in a state of disbelief. “But I can’t take your collar.” “You’re always so modest, wolfdog.” Steele retorted as he sat down. “But actually, there was something else I wanted to tell you.” Balto was completely off guard and alone. If Steele wanted to get rid of him once and for all, now was the time to do it. It would be so easy, he could rip out his throat and be done with it. But then what? Steele would still be an outcast, and the rest of the dogs of Nome would probably hunt him down. Even more than revenge against Balto, Steele wanted to be accepted among the dogs of Nome once again. He abhorred being an outcast more than anything else. If he apologized to Balto, maybe the other dogs would forgive him. But if he apologized, he would also look weak. And besides, what did the half-breed ever do to deserve an apology? Steele knew what he had to do. “Balto, I…” Steele struggled to swallow his pride, while at the same time trying not to appear weak. However, deep down Steele did feel some remorse, and his face betrayed his feelings. “Balto, I’m sorry.” Balto could not believe what he just heard. Did Steele, the most prideful and vain dog in Nome, apologize to him? Was this just a ploy, some part of a greater scheme to get back at Balto? Steele looked sincere, but Balto also knew Steele was an accomplished liar. But then again, maybe Steele had finally hit rock bottom and was desperate to redeem himself and gain acceptance again. Balto decided to give him the benefit of a doubt. “All is forgiven, Steele.” Balto said with a warm smile. “Thank you.” Steele replied. “Oh, and Balto, don’t rub it in. I still have a reputation to uphold.” Balto chuckled. “Sure thing.” Steele was still a bit confused, as to why Balto did not hate him. After all, he did try to kill Balto and steal Jenna away from him. If Balto had done the same to him, he would be furious. Steele picked up the golden collar and put it back on. “If you do not want it then I will be taking it back.” “By the way, why did you leave me at the bottom of that ravine?” Steele asked. Steele was unhappy, to say the least, when the other dogs left him at the bottom of the ravine after the fight between him and Balto. Though Steele was eventually able to climb up the ravine, the fall had bruised him fairly bad. Steele, being a tough dog, was nonetheless able to make it back to town in order to lie to the other dogs. Steele was still slightly sore from the fall, but he tried to hide that fact. “The medicine had to get back; people were going to die.” Balto replied. “Besides, if I had gone down there you might have finished me off.” Steele looked away and growled, because he knew it was true. “Hey Steele.” Balto replied. “Have you considered apologizing to the rest of the dogs? I think they would take you back and accept you again. Is that not what you want?” “What!? Apologize to them!?” Steele snapped, as he bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes. “They are the ones who abandoned me! They should apologize to me! And I do not need advice from a half breed!” “Steele…” Balto calmly replied. “They abandoned you because they found out you lied to them. They also were angry with you when they found out what had really happened. You owe them an apology.” Steele let out a low growl. He was not going to take that from any dog, much less a wolfdog. But quickly, Steele realized that Balto was right. He did owe them an apology. “You’re right, Balto.” Steele replied with a sigh, hanging his head in shame.” I’m sorry, I still have a difficult time controlling my temper. I will apologize, but I need you to vouch for me. You’re one of only two….dogs….that will do that for me.” Steele struggled to refer to Balto as a dog, because deep down he still harbored hate against him and thought of him as a half-breed. “Walk with me.” Balto said, motioning to Steele with his head. The two dogs started walking towards the dredger, which was on the other side of town.