It was the morning after the night he talked with his grandmother about a message he received from the Riders themselves. Which resulted in himself and Snowdrift going to the Riders base, Sanctuary, in two years to begin their training.
It also resulted in him finding out that he was descended from a Dragon Rider. And not just any Rider. He was descended from Atiqalaaq, who was his great uncle because his grandmother was apparently his younger sister, and who was also over a hundred years old.
But that also made him wonder what happened to Atiqalaaq, since his grandmother had been taking about death and not leaving when he picked up the sword that must have'd belonged ho his great uncle. She wouldn't tell him when he asked, so she was most likely hiding something she didn't want him to know.
"Enough pondering." Snowdrift interrupted his current thoughts. "You said we could go hunting in the morning." Sounding eager to finally go hunting, if his father let him.
   "I said if my father would allow me to go outside the village on my own. Which he may or may not. It depends on his mood."
   "Well maybe I can be a little persuasive." She said wryly.
   "Snowdrift!" He scolded her. "He'll slice you in two before you even get a chance to get near him to attack him, or Tulok will snatch you up in his jaws and kill you." He said to her, imagining with cold dread of his father cutting Snowdrift in half like butter, or Tulok, his father's Arctic wolf, crushing her small form in his jaws.
"You think a wolf can beat me? Ha! I would like to see Tulok try. I bet if I swatted him on the nose he would turn tail and run with his tail in between his legs, whimpering." Snowdrift said, sounding cocky.
"You can't even fly yet. How do you plan on getting away from a big thing with teeth when you can't even fly to save your life?" He asked, scolding himself for not planning on trying to help her learn how to fly.
"I may not be able to fly yet, I won't be able to fly till I'm around ten or twelve months old. But I still have my claws, teeth, and tail, and I can hide much better a wolf, who's bushy fur will stick up when laying in the snow." She said, sounding like a critic against wolves.
"Okay But you realize Briggan is a wolf, right?" He asked her, talking about Briggan the Wolf, the patron beast of Eura, who died in the First Devourer War ninety-one years ago.
"Wow. I should be scared of a big bad wolf that died almost a century ago?" She asked sarcastically.
"You know if Briggan was still alive he could kill you or torment you with visions for the rest of your life." He defended the fallen beast.
Snowdrift snorted.
"Dragons and Riders have been around longer and are more powerful than fifteen animals with cute little powers. So you need to stop being scared of them. You are a Rider, and a Rider bows to no one, not even a so called Great Beast or a king or queen." She said, making him feel like he would be betraying his people's beliefs and customs.
"What did I just say about not being scared of a bunch of wussy Great Beast, more like Cowardly Beast, that hide, while the world around them goes to war, and they don't do anything about it. They just sit around waiting for someone else to take care of it for them, like the Riders, who have been around longer than the Great Beasts, and have actually been protecting Erdas, instead of just  sitting around for someone else to solve Erdas's problems." Snowdrift growled, totally dissing the Great Beasts.
"Isn't that a little harsh, after all—."
"Where were the great and powerful beasts during the First Devourer War? Oh, wait, that's right they were all hiding while two of their own started the war, and only four of them fought and died in the process to end the war! I can't believe they were such cowards to let four of their own die, and they didn't I anything to stop it! I call that plain cowardice." Snowdrift yelled, hurting the inside of his head from the intensity of her voice. She sounded like the Great Beast caused all the problems in Erdas.
"Don't feel sympathy for them when they wouldn't do the same for you. Now go ask your father if we can go hunting. All this talk about cowards has made me hungry." She ordered him, but in a kind way.
He got off he bed, which he had been sitting on during the lengthy conversation while Snowdrift laid under his bed because Hanta was still asleep, and he couldn't risk Hanta seeing Snowdrift because he would never shut up about it.
He walked into the kitchen, finding his mother cooking breakfast, while his father played with Nuniq.
He walked over to his father, and sat down by him, carefully choosing his words that would hopefully convince his father to let him go hunting with Snowdrift.
   "Father," he started, pretty sure his words would convince his father. "Can I go hunting today? It would be a good chance for me to practice my hunting and tracking skills." How could his father say no to him wanting to practice hunting and tracking skills.
   "No," his father said with an even voice.
   Siku let his head droop in defeat.
   If he couldn't convince his father to let him go hunting by saying he was going to practice his hunting he tracking skills then what use was it trying to convince him anymore.
   "Not without someone." He heard his father add.
   Siku was surprised that his father was letting him go hunting with someone. But who would his father pick to go hunting with him?
   "Amaruq's wife went into labor last night, and he is currently with her and their new born son, so he can't go. But that one kid with the ermine who brought you home after his "friend" kicked and punched you, what was his name?"
   His heart skipped a beat.
   His father was going to let him go with Kallik, the eleven year old from another village that was visiting family in his father's village.
  Then be suddenly realized his father was staring at him waiting for a name.
   "Oh, uh Kallik. Kallik." He said the name more loudly the second time.
   "Kallik..." his father murmured to himself. "You may go with him, but you are both to return at noon, no later."
   "Thank you father." He said excitedly.
   Then not knowing what he was doing, he gave his father a hug, who surprisingly gave him one back.
   "Good luck, my son," his father whispered in his ear before they both let go.
Then he quickly walked back to his room, confused and surprised at the same time that his father could hug despite his rough exterior, he did have love in his heart, not a chunk of coal that he had imagine was in his father's chest when he was four because of the lack of love his father would show him. But now he knew his father did love him.
When he got in his room, he saw Hanta still asleep, and to his horror he saw Snowdrift sitting on his bed waiting for him.
"What are you doing." He hissed at her, baffled why she was sitting on his bed, while Sokka was in the same room as her, sleeping or not.
"No thanks for getting your snow clothes out?" She asked wryly.
"Thank you, but you should've stayed under my bed. You never know when Hanta will wake up." He whispered to her.
"Siku, who are you talking to?" He heard Hanta ask sleepily.
"Hide!" He mentally shouted at her.
Snowdrift didn't wait a second later. She quickly crawled under a blanket, and laid down as flat as she could.
He turned quickly on his heel to face his little brother, who had his eyes slightly opened.
"I was just talking to myself. I do that sometimes. Now why don't you go back to sleep."
Hanta responded by closing his eyes and rolling over so his back faced Siku.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he quietly put on his parka, boots, and gloves, and Snowdrift got into her position she did last night.
Then leaving his room, he grabbed his bow and arrows by his door; even though he wasn't very good.
Then he left to go find Kallik, since his father would know if he took Kallik along or not.

When he got to the igloo Kallik and his parents were staying at, he talked to Kallik about going hunting, and he agreed.
Then they convinced Kallik's parents, and they agreed that it would be good for them to form a friendship, since there were a few tight tensions between Ujurak and Sangilak after the "Yutu incident."
Kallik grabbed his bow, and they left Kallik's, and they walked to the outside of the village.
Once outside the village, they started looking for any tracks that might have been made this morning.
Kallik's ermine helped, walking along the snowy ground with its tiny nose sniffing the air.
"You're so lucky to have a spirit animal." Siku said, trying to start a conversation because it gave him something to do instead of walking alone in silence.
"Thanks," Kallik responded. "What kind of spirit animal do you want when you turn eleven and drink the nectar."
He thought for a moment of what animal he would like to bond with when he turned eleven. But he didn't know if it was possible to be bonded with a spirit animal and a dragon at the once. He didn't think so.
"Uh, I don't know. But it would be funny if I bonded with an ermine."
That made them both laugh.
   "Then we would both have ermines."
They both shared a laugh till Kallik's ermine came over to him and started sniffing him.
"It knows!" He exclaimed to Snowdrift, worried about how Kallik would react when he found out about Snowdrift.
"Tell him the truth before he finds out. I know he can be trusted with this secret." Snowdrift said, sounding confident that Kallik would keep their secret.
   "Kallik I have something to tell you, but I need to know if I can trust you." He asked, distracting Kallik's ermine for the moment.
   "Yes, you can trust me." He said honestly.
   He hesitated for a moment, unsure whether this was actually a good idea.
   "Tell him," Snowdrift said.
   "Kallik if I told you was a Rider, would you believe me?"
   "To believe something like that I would need some proof to believe a claim like that."
   "Well..." He said, as Snowdrift poked her head out from the top of his parka. "Surprise, I'm a Rider."
   Kallik's jaw slacked as he saw Snowdrift appear.
   Then Kallik found his voice back, and said, "You're a Rider?!" He exclaimed. "I thought the  Riders were gone for good. But after I heard about your cousins, I had hope that the Riders would return, and it looks like they are. That's three Riders from Arctica! That's amazing! What's your dragon's name?"
   "I'm not your dragon, you're my scavenger." Snowdrift said, clearly not wanting to be considered belonging to anyone, but the other way around.
   "Her name is Snowdrift, and she doesn't belong to me, I belong to her." He said, smiling wryly at the end.
   Kallik laughed.
Snowdrift climbed the rest of the way out of the top of his parka, and came to rest on his shoulders, her claws slightly pinching his skin as she held onto his shoulders, like how a bird clings to a branch.
"She's really beautiful. May I pet her?" Kallik praised Snowdrift.
He could tell Snowdrift liked people talking about her beauty. He had noticed that she was a vain creature because she was always licking her snow-white scales till they shone like diamonds and crystals.
"I am not vain!" She yelled in his head, making him wince. "I just want people to know how beautiful I am. A female dragon should be beautiful, not have dull scales that don't attract everyone's attention. I want to show those murders and egg-breakers just how beautiful and dangerous I am."
"Murders?" He asked, confused who she was calling "murders."
"Nothing you need to worry about. Now I smell a hare. I'm going to go catch my prey. I'll be back when my stomach is full." She said, jumping off his shoulders, and started towards a snowbank, her long, lithe body low against the snowy ground as she stalked towards her unexpecting prey.
"I take petting her is a no." Kallik whispered as he watched Snowdrift stalk towards the snowbank where she thought the hare was hiding.
He nodded as he watched Snowdrift take smaller and smaller steps as she got closer to the snowbank.
Then Snowdrift stopped and crouched down. She stayed like that for a couple minutes before her long body contracted and she shoved her body off the ground, opening her wings so that the wind helped her glide over the snowbank. Then she pulled in her wings, and arrowed straight down on an animal. He heard the animal screamed, and it sent chills down his back as the animal continued to scream its death scream.
He saw Kallik's ermine rush over to Kallik, scared out of its mind. Kallik rolled up his parka and shirt sleeve, and his ermine jumped up in the air, disappearing in a flash of light blue light, and reappearing as a black tattoo winding from his wrist to his elbow.
He had never seen a spirit animal go into passive state even though it was basically the same as coming out of passive state.
Then the animal stopped screaming, and he heard the soft munch of Snowdrift biting into the hare.
   "Is that enough to sustain you, or do I need to give you some seal meat tonight?" He asked, not knowing if the hare would be enough for her.
   "The hare will last me for a good week till I need to eat again." Snowdrift answered, digging into the hare, content with her kill.
   "Is she going to need to hunt again cause if she needs to I'm okay with staying out here longer or till you have to go back because I'm guessing your father told you to be back at a certain time." Kallik asked, proving he was clever just like an ermine.
   "She'll be fine. And how did you know my father would make me be back at a certain time?" He asked, wondering how he knew.
   "Because it's what I would do if I wanted to keep my child safe." Kallik said simply.
   "I bet you and my father would get along fine."
   "He did kind of seem to like or approve of me when I brought you home after the whole "Yutu thing"." He said.
   "Huh, well be glad. He doesn't approve of someone unless you actually prove yourself to him, and you did. Trust me he doesn't approve of anyone unless you earn it. Other than that he's ok unless you make him mad because then he can become your worst nightmare." He said, thinking of the time when someone challenged his father on a choice he made. His father literally became that man's living nightmare. Every time the man saw his father, the man would go the other direction to avoid his father.
   "Thanks. Remind me to never make your father mad in anyway. I would hate to have my living nightmare haunting me at every turn." Kallik said humorously with a grin spreading across his face.
   They shared another laugh, while Snowdrift continued to chow down on her hare.
   When Snowdrift was done, they headed back, planning on telling their parents that they found nothing to hunt or track.

When they got to Kallik's temporary home, Kallik said bye, and they parted ways, and Ermine and Snowdrift continued on their way home.
When he got home, he found his mother preparing lunch, and his father playing with Nuniq and Hanta, showing much love and affection towards them.
He wondered if he and his father would have a better relationship if his father showed him that much love and affection. All he remembered from his siblings age was loneliness and a feeling of neglect, except from his mother. That would probably explain why he and his mother had a better relationship.
A loud scream tore him from his thoughts.
He looked up from the ground, and saw Hanta running towards him.
He braced himself for the impact. He hoped Snowdrift was holding onto his shoulders, so she wouldn't fall off when Hanta slammed full force into him.
"You need to just keep your footing when your crazy brother slams into you." Snowdrift said sleepily, like she was ready for a nap.
"Okay, but just hang on just in case. But if I fall over get on my chest or slip outside till I can cause a distraction, so you can get back in my room."
"If you fall over try and land on your chest or side cause I don't know if I can slip out or get on your chest in time."
"But what about your tail?" He didn't want to land on her tail, afraid that he might fracture or break her tail bones.
"Don't worry about my tail. Dragon bones are as hard as diamonds. I don't think you falling on my tail will break or fracture it."
"Okay, but I still want you to try and get on my chest or slip out if it seems like I'm going to land you on any way." He told her, not wanting to hurt her in any way, even if it's an accident.
"Fine."
"Than—." He was in mid sentence when Sokka slammed into his stomach.
He stumbled back from the unexpected force of the hit.
He tried to stop himself from falling, aware of Snowdrift still on his back, but Hanta wrapped his arms around his waist, unbalancing him, and the two of them landed on the ground in a sprawled pile.
He had felt Snowdrift scramble onto his chest, not having enough time to slip out from underneath his parka and outside.
Hanta's legs were on his stomach, on top of Snowdrift's tail because her tail was pressing into his stomach. He could also tell Hanta's legs were on his stomach by the pain coming from Snowdrift's mind, even though she tried to hide it from him, but her pain was to great for her to cover it up.
Desperate to relieve her from her pain, he quickly pushed Hanta's legs off his stomach.
Relief spread through Snowdrift as the pressure was removed from her thin, bony tail.
"Thank you," She said great fully to him.
"You're welcome."
"Are you both okay?" His father asked with real concern in his voice that he had never heard in his father's voice before.
Who replaced his father with this sympathy feeling one, he thought to himself.
"Ya!" His brother exclaimed excitedly like he was happy with this new version of his father. "We would have been fine if Siku wasn't so weak. He couldn't handle all my strength." Sokka boasted, flexing his arms.
His father gave a faint smile as Hanta continued to show off and boast.
That was literally the first time he had seen his father smile.
Seriously, who the heck replaced his father with this new one who smiled and cared?! He asked himself.
"Maybe he's always been like this, but had shoved this part of him deep down so he could be a stern and strong chief. Or to set an example for you, since you are to become the future chief, but maybe not because the Dragon Riders need you."
"I'll definitely choose the Riders over being chief, no matter how dangerous it is. I just want to be free and live my own life. I don't want to be tied down here listening to people complain and deal with politics and all that stuff. I want to see all Erdas now that we can once you get beg enough to fly long distances." He said, expressing all his wants and desires to Snowdrift, who listened, and he could tell she approved of his choices.
"Well once you become a Rider, and go on missions and tasks you'll be able to see all Erdas. But I warn you all of out missions and tasks will not be as easy as they sound. They are meant to test our skill with magic, battle, and our knowledge and witts." She said, making their missions and tasks in the future sound harder than they sounded.
"Will we be on our own or will they be watching us from the distance to make sure we don't get ourselves killed or fail at the mission or task?"
"We will most likely be grouped with others our own age into what is called a winglet." Snowdrift responded, puzzling him on what a winglet was.
"What's a winglet?" He wondered. Was it called a winglet to refer to the small size of the dragons, or was it for a whole other reason?
"A winglet is a small group of dragons or Dragon Riders ranging from two to seven. So we will be grouped with the other Riders that have bonded with dragons this year. Like how your cousins were paired with that other Rider from Oceanus."
He secretly wondered to himself if the other kids he would be put into a winglet with would be nice, mean, stuck up, whiny, or self centered.
   "Don't worry about it. What I would worry about right now is your father, who is about to talk to you again, and you still haven't answered his question from earlier." Snowdrift reminded him.
   "Siku are you okay?" His father asked him again with real concern in his voice for him for once.
   "Ya, I'm fine," he sat up, realizing he had been laying on his back the whole time he was conversing with Snowdrift, looking up at the ceiling of the igloo, zoned out, thinking only about his conversation with Snowdrift; during the conversation it felt like time around them slowed down because he had only been laying on his back for a couple minutes when he should have been laying on his back for five minutes while he was conversing with Snowdrift. He didn't know why time seemed to slow down; maybe mental conversations are faster than normal, verbal ones.
   His father helped him up, and said, "Now why don't you go take off your snow clothes, and come eat lunch." Then putting his strong, but gentle hands on his shoulders, his father leaned down towards his ear, and said, "I know I haven't always been the kindest father at times but know that I will always love you, no matter what. I just want you to be happy."
   He didn't know his father actually cared about him that much. He always though his father was a cold, distant person that only cared about him because he was his oldest child and his heir to the chiefdom.
   He nodded to his father, and went to his room.
   He made sure no one was looking  before Snowdrift climbed out from underneath his parka.
   Once she was safe and sound under his bed, he took off his snow clothes, and went back into the kitchen/family room, and sat down at the kitchen table with his family, and ate lunch. Enjoying a meal for the first time with his family.
   His father was actually smiling and laughing every once in a while, like when Hanta stuck a piece of meat up his nose to see if he could get it into his mouth. It was one of the stupidest things he had every done. It took about fifteen minutes to get the small piece of meat out of Hanta nose. He could barley contain his laughter when Hanta started squealing when he couldn't get the meat out of his nose.
   After lunch he spent the rest of the day enjoying his time with his family; it was the first time in a long time he had been happy with is family, forgetting about everything that had happened when he bonded with Snowdrift.

P.S. Tulok means warrior.
Hope you all are enjoying.