Duskfire Glacier Ilik

Tanaraq was there?

Issorartuyok smiled softly to Veteran.

My sister Tanaraq. I wonder where she is now.

The brown of his eyes swept the distant glacier as he thought of his family. He wondered if all of them had ventured to him, if they had braved the journey together or on their own. Issorartuyok had missed them all. He had not truly allowed himself to dwell on them, knowing that it would make him long for the frozen tundra and the familiarity of home.

Veteran wished to know if there was a northern word for mentor. Issorartuyok returned his gaze to the young man and laughed. It was a warm noise that filled the air.

There is not a word for mentor, but one for teacher. It is ilinniatitsijuk. It might be hard to say, but I would like to see you try, the man spoke gently to the boy. He reached out to nudge with his nose. Something in him said that he had missed Veteran, too, while he had been away with Meerkat. There was a piece of him that longed to be a father.