Dragon Riders:Legacy(Book 2)

Chapter 10:Snowdrift:Siku

It was morning, and Siku was helping Amaruq cook breakfast, slipping the cooked, cut up pieces into his pocket.
   When breakfast was done, he helped Amaruq carry the cut up, cooked seal meat to the table.
   Then the four of them sat down at the table, and started eating; Siku had to give Nuniq small, soft pieces so she didn't choke.
   Hanta kept playing with his food by throwing it up in the air and trying to catch it in his mouth. He missed eighty percent of the time, picking up the pieces that missed his mouth and popping them into his mouth every time he missed.
   After breakfast Amaruq went to go clean the dishes, while Siku entertained Hanta and Nuniq.
   When Amaruq was done with cleaning the dishes, he asked the three of them, "Do you all want to go outside or stay inside?"
   "Outside!" Hanta and Nuniq yelled together; Nuniq'a answer sounded more like "Owwsie."
   Amaruq laughed at Nuniq's answer.
   Amaruq and Siku helped Nuniq and Hanta get their parkas, boots, and gloves on.
   Then Siku and Amaruq went to get their parkas, boots, and gloves on.
   Siku went to his room to get his parka, boots, and gloves.
   He gave the baby dragon its meat while he was in his room.
   Then the four of them went outside.
   Once outside Amaruq let his Arctic Wolf out of its dormant state. A white wolf jumped from his chest as it came out of dormant state. The white wolf landed on the snowy ground with a thump. The wolf shook its body, its thick white fur catching the bright sun, reflecting it in Siku's eyes.
The wolf then looked up at Amaruq with an expression on its face that said: Why did you keep me in passive state so long if there were going to be kids to play with?
"I'm sorry Tarkik." Amaruq apologized to the white male wolf; the wolf's name meant "moon" in the Arctican language.
The Arctic wolf looked at him for another moment before forgiving him, and nuzzling his gloves hand with his head.
Amaruq stroked Tarkik's snow-white fur as he asked the three of them, "What do you all want to do?"
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!" Hanta yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Are you sure? Cause I don't want you all getting hurt. Your father—."
"Pleeeeeeeease." Hanta begged Amaruq, who looked torn between protecting them and letting them have fun.
Then Amaruq gave in, and said, "Fine, but Nuniq is not playing."
"Yay!" Hanta yelled with delight that he got to have a snowball fight even though no one was else was playing except for Siku, but usually when one kid started a snowball fight others began joining until their were two armies of kids playing; spirit animals or not.
"Me and Tarkik verses Sike!" Hanta yelled out the teams, and rushed off to the snowball fight zone just outside the village where parents could still keep an eye on their kids.
"Take it easy on your brother." He heard Amaruq said to him as he started to follow Hanta with Amaruq, Tarkik and Nuniq not to far behind.
"I'm not the one who needs to take it easy." He said to Amaruq, looking back at him, who was carrying Nuniq.
Amaruq chuckled at what he said.
And they continued forward with Tarkik running ahead of them.
When they got to the snowball fight zone, he saw most of the forts were still standing after last nights strong winds. There were at least twenty snow forts in the area, ten on one side and ten on the other, each fort being able to shield about five kids behind them.
They had rules in their snowball fight that if you got hit then you were wounded there unless it was a killing blow like to the head, chest, or back. If you got hit on the arm or leg then you couldn't use that arm or leg. Most kids didn't like playing it this way, but others, mostly the older kids, argued that it made it more realistic like an actual battle. Which ever team ran out of players first lost, or who ever captured the other team's flag won; capturing the flag made it much more fun because you had to sneak behind enemy lines to get the flag and get out before you got hit, if you got hit you could pass it on to a teammate close to you, if not then the other team got to take their flag back; spirit animals were not allowed to bring the flag back to their partner, spirit animals could only lend abilities to their summoners and tackle the other team and their spirit animals.
Siku took the left side of the area since Hanta was already on the right side of the area, waiting behind a snow fort; they wouldn't be using the flags since their were only two of them.
Before they started each team was allowed to make snowballs for the fight.
Siku went to the front row of five snow forts, and got behind one and started making snowballs.
Once he was done with that, he asked Hanta if he was ready. He was.
   Just as he was crouching back down behind his snow fort, Hanta threw the first snowball, hitting the lower part of the snow fort Siku was behind.
Siku grabbed a snowball, and hurled it at Hanta's fort he was behind; he was behind a snow fort in the first row, they were the best ones for hitting the other team because they were the closet, but they were also the most dangerous because of the closeness you would be to the enemy, risking getting hit and out, usually those with best aim and reflexes were in the front row.
   Hanta retaliated by chucking three more of them at Siku, one almost skimming the top of his head.
   Siku returned Hanta with five throws, two hitting in the right arm twice, Hanta's dominant hand. And to finish it while Hanta was stunned, he threw one so hard and fast that when it hit Hanta in the chest it knocked him onto his back; he was surprised by the sudden strength and speed that he didn't know he had, like it just suddenly appeared to him over night.
   Feeling really bad he was about to go rush over to Hanta and apologize and let him hit Ermine with a snowball, but something tackled him from behind.
   The beast's claws pressed into his back, pushing his face into the snow.
   He tried to get up, but the beast's weight was too much for him.
   A bone chilling howl came from the beast on him, and he realized it was Tarkik, announcing his victory over Siku by tackling him, ending the game in a tie.
   "Ha ha! I win! Way to go Tarkik!" He heard Hanta exclaim, appearing in his limited line vision to where he could only see Hanta's boots.
   "Actually it was a tie dummy." He said to Hanta, struggling to talk because Tarkik was on his back making it hard for him to breath and talk.
   "Not uh! Me and Tarkik won fair and square!"
   "Hanta it was a tie. Just because Tarkik tackled me doesn't mean you win. You were killed by the snowball, remember. And besides when spirit animals, without their partner still in the game, take out the last person on a team it automatically becomes a tie because there is no one to claim victory." He explained to Hanta.
   "Huh?" Hanta asked, sounding half confused, and he was not about to repeat what he said to Hanta.
   "It's a tie!" He said a bit meaner than he meant, but Hanta didn't hear. "Now tell Tarkik to get off me!"
   "Aww, but I wanted to relish in my victory."
   "Ya, well if you don't tell Tarkik to get off then we're going to see how long you last in the next snowball when I go all out on you!" He said to Hanta with more venom in his voice than he wanted there to be, but he really just wanted Tarkik to get off his back because his claws were really starting to hurt as they dig into his back.
   "Okay, fine." Hanta said with a hurt sound in his voice.
   Now Siku felt really bad by how Hanta sounded. He apparently hurt Hanta more than he meant to.
   "Tarkik can you please get off Siku." As soon as Hanta said that he felt Tarkik get off his back.
   He felt like he could breath again now that Tarkik's heavy weight was off his back.
   He got to his feet, grunting in pain as his sore back protested after being bruised by Tarkik's sharp claws and heavy, large feet.
   "Are you okay?" Amaruq asked him, coming over to him with a worried expression on his face."Did he hurt you?"
   "No, I'm fine." He lied, not wanting Amaruq to feel bad for something his spirit animal did.
   Amaruq studies his face for a minute as if he knew Siku was lying. Siku did his best to keep hide his emotions behind a emotionless mask; which he wasn't really good at, especially when someone was staring right at him.
   Then Amaruq nodded, and turned his attention back to Hanta and Tarkik, and walked over to them.
   While Amaruq was doing that Siku thought he saw some other kids walking over to the snowball fight zone.
   A small group of kids walked over to him once they saw him.
   "Can we play?" Asked the oldest of the group, who had a ermine perched on his shoulder.
   "Ya." He said, looking at the group before him: there seven of them in total. Only two of them had spirit animals, the one he talked to and a girl with a snow fox by her feet.
   He guessed the two kids were at least eleven or twelve. The rest of the group was between five and ten.
   "Well shall we divide up the teams with me on one and Tapeesa on the other." The boy with the ermine said.
   "Okay, that sounds good. He responded to the boy.
   "Okay." The boy finished, and then he and Tapessa divided up the teams since they were the oldest and knew all the kids with them.
   When the teams were dived up, Tapessa and her other three teammates took the left side and Siku and his group took the right side.
   "Hi, I'm Kallik." The boy with the ermine introduced himself with hand out.
   Ermine took it, and said, "I'm Siku."
   Kallik looked at him with surprise on his face like he never heard a kid with the name "Siku" before.
   "I know I got a weird name." He said to Kallik, running a hand threw his hair.
   "Oh, sorry. I wasn't judging you on your name. I realized you were Chief Sangilak's son when I heard your name. You see I don't live in this village, I live in Chief Ujurak's village, and me and some friends are visiting with our families." He said, gesturing to the other kids who were with him. That explained why he had never seen any of them before.
   "Oh, well I hope you're all enjoying your stay."
   "Thanks—."
   "Kallik, are you and your friend going to sit around and talk or are you going to help us make snowballs." One of the kids, a boy about nine years old, asked Kallik.
   "Sorry Yutu." Kallik apologized to the other boy, who looked unsatisfied by his answer, but didn't say anything else when Kallik's ermine hissed at the boy named Yutu.
   "He's a little grumpy because he didn't get much sleep last night according to his younger sister." Kallik whispered , pointing to the only  girl, who was about six years old, in their group.
   "Huh. Well I guess we better start making snowballs if we don't Yutu to claw out of eyes." Siku quietly said, referring to Yutu's name, which meant "to claw."
   Kallik chuckled softly.
   "Siku!" He heard suddenly heard his little brother yell at him from behind. "Can I play!"
   "Sorry kid, but we already got an even amount of players, and you'll get hurt." Yutu said gruffly.
   "But she's playing," Hanta pointed at Yutu's little sister. "So why can't I?" He asked in a half whine, half angrily at Yutu.
   "Like I said kid, we got an even amount of players and you're like two."
   "So, and I'm three! And besides Siku says I count as half a player since I'm so little, and mommy says a storm starts smalls and later becomes huge." Hanta argued, even using a phrase his mother told Hanta one time when be complained about being small.
   "Wow." Yutu said sarcastically. "The pip squeak counts as half a player. The only thing you're going to do pip squeak is make us lose this game." Yutu said, shoving Hanta away, causing Hanta to fall on his back. "See, the little squirt can't even handle being pushed away and just falls down on his back like a turtle." Yutu said harshly, almost making Hanta cry.
   Yutu has gone to far when he shoved Hanta away.
   "That's enough Yutu." He growled at Yutu.
   "Oh ya. Well who's going to make me stop?" Yutu said, putting his face in Siku's, and then shoved Siku back.
   Siku stumbled back, keeping his footing on a patch of ice he stepped on, somehow not falling down.
   "Huh? Who's going to stop me?" He shoved Siku again.
   "Well? Who's going to stop me? A worthless worm like yourself?" Yutu asked him, giving him another shove.
   Siku expected himself to move backwards again, but he felt nothing of the sort.
   He looked at Yutu, who had a surprised expression on his face that Siku didn't move when he shoved him.
   Shaking off his surprised look, Yutu shoved Siku again, and Siku didn't move again.
   "What in the name of Suka are you doing?" Yutu demanded.
   "I don't know. Why don't you step closer to find out?" He growled and at the same time he didn't growl. It was like some forced him to say that, but he didn't want to, but he did it any way.
   "Bring it punk." Yutu said, moving in for a punch.
   Yutu struck at him with his fist, his fist about to hit Siku in the face. Siku closed his eyes, ready for the impact. But to his surprise it didn't happen, and he heard gasps of surprise.
   He opened his eyes, and saw his hand holding Yutu's fist, keeping it from hitting it him in the face. He didn't know how he was doing this, but for a moment he though he felt something in his mind, then it just disappeared.
   "Why don't you leave him alone and focus on the game, or else." Him, not him hissed at Yutu, while squeezing Yutu's fist in his own causing Yutu to grimace in pain as he continued squeezing Yutu's fist.
   "Alright I'll stop! I will! Just please let go of my hand you freak! You're going to crush it!" He begged Siku.
   Not Him squeezed Yutu's fist a little harder, and he said to Yutu dangerously, "Don't call me a freak again, scavenger." Not Him hissed in Yutu's ear.
   Yutu nodded, and Not Him let go of his fist.
   Yutu backed away from him and went to a snow fort on the end of the fort line, massaging his fist.
   As Yutu walked away, the Not Him apparently left and gave him control again.
   Siku looked around for Hanta, and found him on the ground next to Kallik.
   "Are you okay?" He asked Hanta.
   Sokka nodded, and said, "I want Tarkik to eat him!"
   Then getting up, Hanta ran off to find Amaruq.
   "How did you do that?" He heard Kallik ask him.
   "What?"
   "Stop his fist that fast. It would have taken someone with a fast spirit animal to stop his fist, and I'm pretty sure you don't have a spirit animal,.
   "I don't know. Reflexes I guess." He said, wondering himself how he was able to stop Yutu's fist when his eyes were closed. What's happening to me? He wondered to himself, looking down at his clenched fist.
   "Are you okay?" Kallik asked.
   "Uh, ya. Ya, I'm fine." He said, still looking at his clenched fist. The hands that would have crushed Yutu's fist if Yutu hadn't apologized. He didn't know what was happening to him.
   "Hey, if this about Yutu, he'll get over it, maybe, but just watch your back till he leaves." Kallik said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
   He nodded.
   "Hey, are you sissies ready to start? Or are we having a heartfelt moment?" Siku heard the girl named Tapessa say.
   "We're ready when that freak over there stops trying to crush other people's hands!" Yutu responded.
   Siku glared at Yutu, wanting to hurt him. He clenched his fist, feeling a strange cold seep into them like he could just claw head off.
   Wait! No this wasn't him. He didn't want to rip off Yutu's head. He just wanted Yutu to stop being an arse.
   "Just ignore Yutu. He and Tapessa made a deal that who ever loss this fight had to do the other's chores for a month."
   "Why did they make that deal?" He asked, feeling the coldness leave his hands.
   "I don't know the whole story, but apparently Yutu said that boys have harder chores that girls and Tapessa argued that girls have it harder, and then they got into this big fight over who had the hardest. Then they came up with this deal that who ever lost had to do the other's chores for a month and the winner gets to brag and annoy the loser for the whole month and there's nothing the loser can do about it but accept that they were wrong."
   "Huh, sounds like a risky deal to make."
   "Well Yutu tends to get into more trouble that  he needs to."
   "Stop your lallygagging and get ready for the fight of your lives!" Yutu ordered them.
   "See, he tends to get himself into difficult decisions that he becomes angry and determined to beat what ever he's facing."
   Siku nodded, and suddenly Kallik pulled him to the ground as three snowballs soared over their heads.
   "Thanks."
   "You're welcome."
   "See what happens when you're not focused!" Yutu yelled at them. "Get your head in the game!"
   "He's really grumpy today isn't he?" Siku asked.
   Kallik nodded, and started focusing on the game and Siku did the same.
   When the game started, Yutu's sister, who was guarding their flag, was the first one to go when someone from Tapessa's team nailed her in the chest.
   During the game Siku saw Kallik sneaking around towards the end of Tapessa's side. Leaving Siku and Yutu alone to fight off Tapessa's team.
   Unfortunately one of Tapessa's teammates saw Kallik, and they chased him out of there, throwing snowballs at him. Kallik dodged every single one like he had eyes in the back of his head and he was extremely good at doing flips, especially when he did a flip over a snow fort to get to safety.
   Siku guessed his ermine was helping him do all those fancy moves.
   Siku was the next one to go out when Yutu used him as a shield when the two of them were attacking Tapessa's team, and Yutu got behind Siku when Tapessa threw two straight at him and Siku. The snowballs hit Siku in the chest causing Siku to fall onto his back when Yutu tripped him.
   "Sorry, I don't hang around with losers." Yutu said, and be kicked Siku hard in the ribs, Siku cried in pain as it felt like his rib cracked, and then as Siku struggled to get back up, Yutu punched him in the nose. "That's for earlier." Then Yutu marched off, yelling and screaming like he took out a whole army single handily when he took out one of Tapessa's teammates, earning him an outraged scream from Tapessa.
   Siku felt blood trickle down his throat and the taste of coppery blood in his mouth.
   As he laid there on the ground, he thought he felt something cold move under his parka and come to rest on his chest, he was so disoriented that he barely paid attention to it.
   He felt someone shake his shoulder, and he opened his eyes and saw Kallik looking down at him with concern in his eyes.
   "Are you okay? Yutu! What did you?!"
   "Just taught mister big shot a lesson." Yutu replied.
   Siku saw Kallik glare at the back of Yutu's head, and then he got up and faced the other team and let them hit him, and then he helped Siku to his feet.
   Siku groaned in pain as he struggled to get up, he had trouble breathing if felt like someone was stabbing him in the lungs whenever he breathed in.
   "Where do you think you are going?" Yutu demanded.
   "He's hurt because of you! He's just a kid. I'm taking him home. I just can believe you would hurt a kid two years younger than you." Kallik said angrily to Yutu.
   Yutu didn't say anything else as they left.
   "Where do you live?" Kallik asked him.
   Siku was do dizzy that he barely heard him.
   "There." He said weakly as he pointed to his parents' igloo.
   Kallik nodded, and helped him inside once they got their.
   "Thank you Amaruq for watching my children but where is—." Siku heard a familiar voice talking and then stop when he entered.
   "Siku!" He heard a woman say in a shrill voice.
   Then he felt a soft, cool hand touch his cheek and a wet towel being pressed against his bleeding nose.
   "I'm very sorry sir and ma'am for what my arse of a friend did." He heard Kallik apologize.
   "It's okay son. Thank you for bringing my son home." The woman said.
   He felt himself being shifted to someone else as he heard Kallik leave.
   "But before you leave young man I would like to talk to your friend." He heard the man, who was first speaking earlier, say to Kallik.
   "Of course sir." He heard Kallik say, and then leave with the man called "sir."
"It's okay Siku." He heard the woman say to him.
"Do you want some help Sakari?" He heard a new voice say.
"Yes, please can you help be get him to his room and then go entertain Nuniq and Hanta and try and keep them calm. I don't how this will effect them, seeing their older brother with a bloody nose and looking half alive."
Then he felt someone pick him up and carry him into another room and set him down on a bed.
Then he heard two pairs of footsteps leave.
Then the cold thing resting against his chest climb out from underneath his parka, and start licking his face.
He felt a sudden rush of energy go through him, making his throbbing side and nose hurt less.
Then the strange creature ran off when someone came back into the room.
A cool, wet towel was pressed against his nose, causing him to have to use his mouth to breath.
When the towel was removed, someone lifted him up into a sitting position and remove his parka and shirt, then the person laid him back down.
Cool hands brushed a particularly throbbing spot, the same one that the creature made feel better. He winced at the contact, wanting to get away from who ever was poking him there.
"Shhh," a woman said, putting a cool hand on his forehead, keeping him in place after he managed to somehow move a few inches away from her. "It's okay Siku. I won't hurt you." The woman crooned, making him feel better.
Then something ice cold was pressed against his throbbing side.
He groaned in pain and tried to get away, but the hand on his forehead prevented him from moving.
"Shhh. It's ok, it's going to be ok." The woman crooned again.
   Then the woman started humming a song he knew. It calmed him and he knew this woman he could trust.
   The woman continued pressing the cold thing against his side, soothing it.
   When the woman removed the cold thing from his side, now feeling much better, she stroked his hair and said, "Go to sleep now my little polar bear cub." She covered him up with a warm hide and then left.
   Fatigue lured him to sleep, and he soon fell into a deep sleep filled with dreams that felt so real like they actually happened.