Siku was asleep in his bed when he heard his little brother, Hanta, yelling in his ear.
   "Siku! Siku wake up! Daddy told me to tell you to wake up! Are you dead? Daddy I think Siku is dead!" He ignored his little brother as he yelled in his ear and poked him in the back.
   "Hanta for the millionth time Siku is not dead just because he doesn't get up right when you want him to. Just pull off the covers and give him a shove." He heard his father say.
   Quickly rolling over to face his brother, he looked at Hanta, and said, "I'm not dead. I'm very much alive." He smiled at Hanta, earning a smile back.
   With a huge smile on his face, Hanta started jumping up and down, clapping his hands and shouting, "Yay! Siku came back from the dead!"
   He couldn't help but laugh at the way Hanta talked and never listened to anything anyone ever told him.
   While Hanta was jumping up and down like a snow hare, he quickly grabbed the little dragon and stuffed it under his shirt just as Hanta ripped off the covers.
   "Come on! Get up! I want to play!"
   "Okay, fine, but can I get dressed first?" He asked Hanta, hoping he would leave so he could hide the dragon."
   "Okay!" He said excitingly as he thought of all the games he would make Siku play with him, and then he promptly left the room.
   Taking the cold dragon away from his chest, he got up, and made sure Hanta wasn't coming back, and he quickly hid the dragon underneath his bed, and said to it in a hushed tone, "You need to stay here and not move till I come back."
   The little dragon looked at him with its icy blue eyes, but stayed where it was even though he heard in whine in protest as he left.
   "Shhh." He said to the little white dragon, putting a finger to his lips, and the dragon quieted.
   Then changing out of his clothes he went into the small kitchen.
   He saw his father eating breakfast, his mother feeding his sister, Nuniq, tiny pieces of soft seal meat, and Hanta sitting next to his father, eating his seal meat, but it looked more like he was trying to stab it to death.
   He almost bursted out laughing when he saw Hanta trying to eat his seal meat, which involved trying to tear it apart with his teeth, with hands, stabbing at it with his fork and then finally waving it in his father's face and asking for help.
   Siku took his seat by his mother, and grabbed a plate with a piece of seal meat on it.
   Then he heard his father say his name, and he looked at his father and his father looked back, and then said, "Siku for disobeying me yesterday you will be going to your grandmother's to help her clean up her igloo."
   It didn't sound that bad.
   He could handle helping clean his grandmother's igloo the only thing painful about it would be listening to his grandmother talk about stories older than herself. He would also have to go through all the things his grandmother inherited when her mother, his great grandmother, died a year ago.
   "And you will be taking Hanta and Nuniq with. While your mother and I go to your uncle's." His father finished.
   His heart sank. Now he would be cleaning his grandmother's igloo and watching/taking care of his two younger siblings.
   Now he could see why this was a punishment. Watching his two younger siblings and listening to his grandmother blabber on about things he didn't understand; this was his father's way of testing his ability to take care of and listen to others.
   Then there was his other little problem: the baby dragon.
He didn't know what he was going to do with the dragon.
   He couldn't leave it alone all day. It might get hungry or thirsty or might have to relieve itself or it might leave his parents' igloo to find him resulting in it getting killed or picked up by some little kid and taking it home as a pet.
He was so screwed.
Maybe his father already found out about the dragon and was going to kill it while he was at his grandmother's and use going to his uncle's as an excuse to kill the dragon.
   He didn't know what to do.
   Maybe if his cousins were still here he could ask them to watch it, but unfortunately they already left for the Dragon Rider base.
   But maybe his parents really were going to his uncle's to comfort his aunt and uncle. They just got their children back for two months only to lose them again.
   Finally feeling assured his parents were going to his uncle's, he decided to leave the baby dragon where it was, and come back to check up on it around lunchtime. Hopefully he would be done by lunch.
   After breakfast his mother got Hanta and Nuniq ready to go to his grandmother's, dressing them in thick caribou hides to protect from the Norther Arctican winds.
   Then he went into his room and got ready himself.
   He told baby dragon to stay under his bed till he got back, and gave it some seal meat, a bowl of water, and a old caribou hide to go to the bathroom on; he would have to burn it later.
   Once he was ready to go and sure the baby dragon wouldn't follow him, he grabbed Hanta's hand and picked up Nuniq and took them outside.
   He found his parents harnessing a team of twelve huskies for their sled.
   While his parents were gone his father's best friend, Amaruq, would be looking after things till his parents got back, that included him, Hanta, and Nuniq.
   He actually felt bad for his father's friend for having to deal with the three of them. But it was either Amaruq or his grandmother. And his grandmother might forget about the three of them.
   His mother looked up from her work, and said, "Be good for your Grandmother Tanaraq, and no running off from her." That last one was for him. "And no annoying her and be good to Amaruq." Those were for Hanta especially. "I don't want to come back and hear you've been bad." His mother said to them with a serious face.
   "But why do I have to go clean granny's igloo?" Hanra asked in a half whine half confused voice.
   "Because Hanta, you've been bad all week, and this will keep you out of trouble, and listen to your grandmother. If I hear you didn't then you will be in deep trouble." His father warned Hanta.
   Then his parents got on the sled and took off for his uncle's village, who was the chief of that village.
   His brother kicked the snow in front and of him, and mumbled, "Mommy and daddy are mean and dumb and granny is crazy. She don't even know my name."
   He kinda felt bad for Hanta. He was only three years old, but he was an ornery one, always getting into trouble.
   But he had it right with their grandmother. She did call him and Hanta something like Atiqalaaq. He didn't know why she called then that, but she was in her eighties or nineties and was possibly already insane.
   Hanta tugged on his hand, drawing him back to the present.
   He looked down at Hanta and said, "Ready to go?"
   Hanta nodded glumly, and they started walking through the village of igloos, searching for their grandmother's igloo.

   They soon found their grandmother's igloo, farthest from the center of the village, and they entered.
   They found their grandmother sitting alone by the fire, surrounded by the things from her mother, not aware that they entered."
   "Grandmother?" He asked.
   She didn't turn around or respond, but kept looking into the crackling fire like she was seeing something in it.
   "GRANNY AURORA!" Sokka yelled at the top of his lungs. Aurora was their grandmother's nickname since Tanaraq was hard for Hanta and Nuniq to say.
   Hanta's yell must have startled her because she turned around and looked at them.
   "Oh, hello...Siku...Hanta...and Nuniq." Their grandmother said slowly as if she was trusting to recall their names.
   Their grandmother had ice blue eyes, snow white hair, and a crinkled face.
   "Hello Grandmother Aurora." They all said together except Nuniq, who still had trouble talking.
   "Are you all here to help me go through my mother's things?" She asked slowly, her voice sounded like crunching snow.
   "Yes." He answered weakly.
   "Okay, well you boys can start on that pile over there and I'll take care of Nuniq while you boys do that, and if you boys need help ask me."
   "Okay." He said, and walked over to his grandmother and handed her Nuniq, and then started going through the piles of stuff his grandmother got when his great grandmother died.
   While going through the piles he found herbs, mortars and pestles, unfroze liquids in stone bottles, old leather bound books and scrolls, a few gemstone amulets, and last of all a sword with a clear diamond in its pommel and a silver hilt in a white sheath with strange black runes inscribed on it, then there was the white metal shield with a dragon head outlined in white diamonds on it.
   He picked up the sword in its sheath and saw a black belt studded with twelve diamonds ranging from clear white to ice blue-white, wrapped around the top of the sheath.
   "Atiqalaaq?" He heard his grandmother say, and he looked over at his grandmother, who looked transfixed on the sheathed blade in his hands.
   "Don't go...Death awaits you...Don't go Atiqalaaq and Icestorm...Don't go..."
   "Grandmother...Are you okay?" He asked her, concerned for her after all Kumaglak kinda gave their great grandmother a heart attack after he picked up the sword. Maybe there was a curse on the sword that killed the oldest member of his family every time someone from his family picked it up. But he quickly dismissed that idea because it just sounded plain ridiculous, and besides this had something to do with Atiqalaaq because she said his name two times and was basically saying "don't go" and "death awaits you".
   "Grandmother, who is Atiqalaaq?" He asked his grandmother, hoping to figure out who Atiqalaaq was so he could understand why his grandmother cared so much about him.
   Apparently coming back to reality when he said Atiqalaaq's name, his grandmother looked at him, and then said, "You look so much like him."
   Confused, he asked her, "Who? Atiqalaaq?"
   His grandmother looked at him for a moment before grabbing the ice white shield with the diamond outlined dragon head and placed it on her leg, putting Nuniq on her other leg, and placed a wrinkled hand on the shield and closed her ice blue eyes. She didn't move for a few minutes then suddenly her eyes flew open, and she looked at Siku with a gleam of happiness in her eyes, and then said, "One day you will have great need of these." She gestured to the sword in his hands and the shield on her leg.
   Confused by he vagueness he asked her, "What do you mean?"
   His grandmother smiled a wry smile at him and said, "When the time comes you will know."
   Still confused, he was about to ask her again what she meant but was interrupted by Nuniq's wails of hunger.
   Putting the shield down his grandmother picked up Nuniq, and got up out of the chair with surprising ease like she was in her youth again, and went into the kitchen.
   From the kitchen he heard his grandmother say, "Siku why don't you go home and get some seal meat to warm up."
   "Okay." He responded to his grandmother, glad to be going back home so he could check in on the dragon. Hopefully it didn't tear up his and his brother's room.
   He quickly exited his grandmother's igloo and rushed home.
A few minutes later he reached his parents' igloo, and rushed inside.
The igloo looked normal and he didn't smell anything, yet.
   Then he heard a soft growling noise coming from his room, and he went to his room.
He entered his room and saw the white dragon growling and trying to pull a caribou hide blanket off his bed.
"Whoa. Calm down little guy. The blanket ain't going to hurt you." He said to the dragon, while rushing over to it and picking it up and trying to pry its jaws open.
"Let...go! It is not food or an enemy." He said to the baby dragon, sticking his fingers in its mouth and trying to get the dragon to let go of the blanket, but it refused to let go, and continued growling at the blanket.
After a couple more minutes of prying at the dragon's strong jaws, the dragon let go, and he and the dragon went sprawling and he landed on his back.
   The dragon landed hard on his chest knocking the air out of lungs and its claws digging into his parka and into his skin.
He groaned in pain as he struggled to regain his breath. He was, however, lucky that the dragon's claws only pinched his skin instead of puncturing.
He managed to sit up, and he unhooked the dragon's claws from his parka, and set the dragon on the ground while he massaged his chest, trying to sooth his aching lungs and pinched skin.
The little white dragon looked at him with its icy blue eyes, and gently walked over to him and bit his finger.
"What do you want?" He asked the little dragon.
The dragon looked at him, and then he felt a feeling of hunger block out all of his other thoughts.
Coming to a realization he asked the dragon, "Are you hungry?"
The dragon looked at him and tilted its head sideways and looked at him again with those dark icy blue eyes that kinda creeped him out because they looked so much like the same color as his own eyes.
Getting to his feet, he picked up the cool dragon, and placed it on his bed, and sternly told it not to move, and to not attack his blankets again.
Then he left his room, and went into the kitchen, and searched for some leftover meat from supper last night.
   He found some wrapped up in parchment, and he placed it on the table. He unwrapped it, cut off a piece and cut it up into little pieces, and he wrapped it back up, and took the pieces of meat back to his room.
When he entered the little dragon sniffed the air and flicked its blue tongue out, and jumped up in down on his bed, and then jumped off his bed. He placed it under his bed, and the dragon ran underneath his bed, and started devouring its food.
He checked the dragon's water and animal hide to go to the bathroom on.
   They were good.
Then telling the dragon to stay under his bed and not to leave his room. He left his room.
He went to table, and grabbed the wrapped up seal meat, and then left his parents' igloo, and went to his grandmother's.
When he got back to his grandmother's he found her telling his brother and sister a story.
"...and Icestorm dived towards his enemies, his jaws open, ready to spray his foes with his deadly frostbreath.
"He heard his Rider bellow a war cry, that he could tell scared the two-legs, but the two-legged scavengers refused to move. He saw his Rider draw his sword, and when the bright Arctican sunlight caught the blade, it made the sword shine like a glacier as they continued their descent towards the two-legs.
"He drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the cold, icy Arctican air, summing the ice storm within him. He let it spill out out on his enemies, his icy frostbreath tickling the inside of his throat and mouth. His enemies cried out in agony as his deadly frostbreath coated their hard metal shells of armor, chilling them to the bone, some getting frostbite on their exposed skin. He felt pleasure in the harm he caused the two-legs with the Spirit Animals, who tried to take the coastal Arctican villages. No one would ever conquer Arctica as long as he was still alive and breathing.
"Pulling our of his dive, he flew above the scene of the battle, searching for any remaining two-legs and their Spirit Animals. He saw some peak out from behind snowdrifts, stringing bows and firing at him. He felt the tiny needles bounce off his belly as the two-legs tried to take him down with needle-arrows, that were harmful to dragonets, but not to dragons of his large size.
"He roared again at the two-legs causing them to to start running around with their animals like a bunch of headless chickens, or ducking back down behind their snowdrifts, trying to hide.
"Flying in a circle around the disorganized remaining hundred two-legs, he found a clear spot to land, so he and his Rider could exterminate the rest of these intruders. These lands were under his protection since the IceWings wouldn't do anything to to help the scavenger's of Arctica, his Rider's people. Then slightly pulling in his wings, he dived towards his intended spot. Once he was a hundred feet from the ground he opened his wings to their fullest extent and landed on the soft, icy ground on his back legs then dropping down to all fours.
"He bent down for his Rider, so he could climb off. While his Rider was climbing off he saw a two-leg and his snow leopard charge towards his Rider with a lance in its paw.
"Drawing another deep breath, he let out the pent up ice storm in his chest, covering the scavenger and grey spotted-white cat in white frost that seeped into their bones causing them to freeze in place as ice statues due to the intensity of his frostbreath and proximity to him.
"His Rider, now all the way off his back, looked at the two frozen statues, and thanked him, and then ran off with his drawn sword to kill those who attacked his kin and kith.
"Icestorm turned his attention back to the two ice statues, and then swung his tail, sending it whistling through the air and striking the two ice statues, shattering them into a thousand little pieces.
"Then turning around he joined the fray, and he and his Rider quickly killed the whole army of two hundred two-legs with Spirit Animals." His grandmother finished the story and then added, "And that is why the Conquers never sent anyone back up to Arctica. The Conquers used to call Icestorm The Blizzard of The North because his frostbreath was as cold and fierce as a blizzard. And some people from that village say they can still hear the cries of agony and the clashing of swords and Ice storms roars echoing off the nearby glaciers like the battle still rages on, never wanting the people of Arctica to forget this battle because of the spilt blood of are people that turned the snow red from murder because it makes us remember the Dragon Riders that have protected Arctica and Erdas throughout the ages." His grandmother finished, looking ten years younger as if the story made her age backwards.
   Then suddenly noticing Siku, his grandmother said, "Siku you're back. Good, now I can cook lunch. While I do that you boys can continue sorting through the piles."
   His grandmother got up out of the chair, and he crossed the room, and gave her the wrapped up seal meat.
   Taking it she left the room, and he continued going through the piles of stuff with the occasional disorganizing of piles by Nuniq, and he had to fix them again, and told Hanta amuse and play with her. Which he seemed to enjoy more than sorting even when Nuniq smacked him in the jaw with an amulet she was swinging around until he took her dangerous toy away from her, which caused several outbursts and attempts to get the amulet back.
   In the end he had to coax her to sleep by telling her amusing stories that made her laugh so much that it soon exhausted her, and she circled up next to their grandmother's chair, and went to sleep. Leaving him and Hanta back to going through the piles.
   Soon the smell of cooking meat caught his nose, making his stomach rumble and his mouth water.
   He ignored his hunger, and focused on his current task he was supposed to be working on.
   Ten minutes later their grandmother called them in for lunch, which he had to wake Nuniq up causing her to fuss for being woken up.
   They went into the kitchen to eat, which made Nuniq stop having her tantrum and ate with no complaint.
   Afterwards they went back to sorting the piles, while his grandmother crooned Nuniq back to sleep.

   A couple hours later they finally finished, and their grandmother thanked them, and sent them home; where their father's friend would be staying to watch them.
   When they got home they found their father's friend, Amaruq waiting for them.
   Siku quickly gave Nuniq and Hanta to Amaruq, and hurried to his room where the dragon waited for him under his bed.
   "Did they already drive you crazy?" He heard Amaruq ask jokingly from the other room.
   "Me no drive no one crazy! Me a good boy! Mommy and daddy are mean for making me go through granny's stuff!" He heard Sokka yell and complain from the other room.
   He actually felt bad for Amaruq for having to watch the three of them, especially Hanta. Hanta's middle name ought to be "trouble" for all the trouble and mischief he caused on a daily basis. He nearly drove his parents crazy every other week. Hanta could probably drive anyone crazy.
   "Yup." He responded.
   He heard Amaruq chuckle, and then he heard him trying to reason with Hanta to going to bed in a few hours, which he could hear Hanta was not at all pleased about the idea due to all the screaming and wailing he heard coming from the other room.
   He felt really bad for Amaruq, and he wanted to help Amaruq because this was probably more than he signed up for, but he had more pressing matters at the moment.
   He got down on his chest, and looked underneath his bed, and found the dragon curled up in the floor sleeping.
   He saw it ate all its food and drank all its water and used the old hide.
   He would have to burn it tonight when everyone was asleep.
   Then taking the seal meat, he snuck from lunch, out of his parka pocket he placed it near the baby dragon. He would have to get more water tonight too.
   Returning to the other room, where all the screaming was coming, he helped Amaruq settle Nuniq and Hanta down, and he helped cook dinner, sneaking the cooked pieces into his pants pocket for the dragon later.
   After dinner he and Amaruq managed to get Nuniq down after five amusing stories, but Hanta on the other hand was harder to persuade into going to sleep.
   "I want to stay up too! Me not sleepy! Siku gets to stay up! Me want to too!" Hanta screamed, while running away from Siku and Amaruq.
   "Father is going to be furious with you for not listening to Amaruq." He warned Hanta, hoping his father's past punishments would be enough to scare Hanta into listening and going to bed.
   But to no avail Hanta ignored them as if he didn't care how many times his father whooped him on the behind with his belt so long as he got to stay up.
   Finally they had to resort to Siku going to bed to get Hanta to go to bed.

   Siku woke up around midnight, careful not to wake Hanta or the dragon by his side.
   Crawling out of the bed, he dressed in his parka and boots, and grabbed the stinky hide and bowl, and headed into the kitchen, and found the flint and steel, and quietly exited the igloo.
   The midnight sun hit the white landscape with the bright light that made the land look like it was bathe in fire.
   Going to the back side of the igloo, he placed the old hide on the ground, and took the flint and steel from his parka pocket, and struck them against each other till sparks jumped them, and landed on the hide, already starting to burn the hide once they landed. He gently blew on the sparks till they became bigger, and started to engulf the hide in bright yellow and orange flames.
   While the flames burned away at the hide he took the bowl, and filled it with snow, and held it over the small fire.
   The snow melted slowly at first, but once the fire started devouring the hide the fire became bigger and hotter, making the snow melt at a faster rate.

   When the fire burned out on the snow he buried the remnants.
   He went back inside, and quietly took off his boots and parka, and placed the bowl, and another old hide underneath his bed for the baby dragon.
   Then crawling back into his bed, he felt the baby dragon snuggle close to him once he got on he bed.
   He soon fell into a deep sleep, tired from his work he did at midnight.

P.S. The story Siku's grandmother told is from the first Devourer War.
   I will later reveal how old she is and how she knows the story and why she had the sword and shield.