Shadow stayed in the shadows before finding a paper in the trash. Thanks to years in the human town, he read, "One dog, long distance. Race and risk! Send your dog through the forest to the finish line on the other side! Warning: do not do this if your dog is not a sled dog." Rolling up the paper, he took it over to Hail. "How does this sound?"

"i think it sounds nice" she said hail "when is it" she asked curiosly and looked at shadow

Shadow looked closer. "It starts in a couple days I think. We will have to have your owner let you though. But I have an idea for that." He rolled it up again before slipping it through her collar. "Go to your musher and have him look at it. The forests can be dangerous yes, but I can help you through some of it." He blinked at her, "It's been foorreevveer since I had an adventure." He chuckled.

Hail smiled "okay" she ran to her musher he slipped the paper out of her collar "well girl you ready to do it" he asked Hail barked in yes her owner went to a phone booth to sign her up Hail walked back to shadow

Shadow cocked his head, "Yep that was easy. Would you like to practice? The forest goes for miles in pretty much every direction. We will have to stay off the trails if we are going to get there fast." He walked a couple steps before turning, "And go past the wolf pack too. They can be . . .a bit stubborn when it comes to boundaries." He trotted to a ridge looking into the woods. A mountain loomed in front of him, the forest covering it. "Your finish line is over the mountain. A day's run. Do you think you can run at a steady pace for a whole day like us wolves?" He asked.

Hail followed him "of course" she said sure of herself her ears were perked because earlier she had heard a hunter but continued to follow shadow

Shadow made his way to a spot in the forest where he showed Hail some red berries. "Now, these are what we call poison berries as they could kill an adult wolf. There are several of these over the forest and sometimes, there will be a dead rabbit or squirrel near it. Don't eat it. You could get killed by eating poisoned prey." He took her over to a small path. "Most likely, most of the dogs will stick to the path as they are used to it. We will only use a path once and that is to go through the wolf pack territory. Thankfully, they are more on the west side of the mountain so we can go on the east side. Do you got all that?" Shadow asked, turning to her. He hoped that he could teach her what to look out for in the forest before the race came. Not that it would be dangerous for a dog, that is. He thought, before clearing that thought.

Hail nodded and took a swiff sniff of the berries so she remebered what they smelled like then followed shadow wagging her tail

Shadow circled around, making it back to the town. "Go get rested up now. It will be a long run and we want to make sure you have a good rest. I will meet you tomorrow morning for a hunt in case you get hungry on the run." Shadow said, wagging his tail slightly.

Hail nodded "thanks for helping" she said wagging her tail then walked back to town and to her house she sat on the porch outside and fell asleep