Kallik
It was the next day for Kallik and that meant only one thing: seal hunting! It was the first day for Kallik and Taqqiq to be in the outside world!
"Come on, Taqqiq." Nisa gently nosed the polar bear in the side.
"I'M AWAKE!" Taqqiq quickly said. He blinked and saw Kallik and Nisa staring at him.
"Let's go outside." Nisa said and walked outside of the den.
Kallik and Taqqiq casted excited glances to each other and ran outside.
Whoa! Kallik thought. Look how bright it is! I never knew there was this much snow and ice in the world!
Kallik smiled and let the coldness sink in. She closed her small black eyes until...
"WALRUS ATTACK!" Taqqiq bellowed.
Kallik spun around and felt Taqqiq pounced on her back, which knocked her down. The two cubs did some playful wrestling. Kallik gently pawed at Taqqiq's belly. Suddenly, Nisa gave a light snarl.
"Aren't you hungry? Then let's try to find seals!" Nisa grouchily said.
Nisa was right; Kallik's stomach growled. It had been a while since Nisa gave off a lot of milk. So she and Taqqiq bounded off to catch up with Nisa. Nisa stopped after a few hours. She lifted her head up and stood on her hind legs.
"Do you smell that?" Nisa asked.
Kallik raised her head. something did smell! It was a fishy, salty smell. Except there was a blubbery scent to it. That meant seals!
"I do smell it, Mother!" Kallik said. "It smells like seals!"
"I don't smell anything." Taqqiq mumbled, looking down at the ice.
"That's because you're not raising your head, seal-brain!" Kallik said.
Nisa stopped her cubs to stop bickering. Then they started venturing forth towards the seal scent. As they were walking to the scent, Kallik saw bubbly shadows moving underneath the ice.
"What's that?" Kallik nervously asked Nisa.
"Ah, those are trapped spirits. When a bear dies, their spirits sink into the ice. When sun-sky comes, the ice melts and the spirits rise up into the sky and become stars." Nisa looked at Kallik. "Maybe one of your ancestors are in the ice."
Kallik shuddered. "I'd rather be up here, on the snow."
The seal scent was very strong now, and Kallik could see a hole in the ice.
"That's a seal's breathing hole." Nisa whispered. "Be very quiet; don't move and carefully copy what I do."
Nisa crouched down and slid onto her belly. She crept towards the ice and neared the hole. Her paws were stretched over near the breathing hole. Kallik turned to Taqqiq.
"This is fun!" Kallik whispered.
"I know! A nice, fat juicy seal to feed our tummies!" Taqqiq loudly said.
"Shh!" Nisa scolded.
Kallik saw the water splash with a gray head bob out. Kallik reached her head out but Nisa was obviously faster and caught the seal. The seal tried to slip back into the hole but she raked the seal's back with her claws.
"Wow!" Kallik and Taqqiq exclaimed.
They helped their mother drag the seal out and took out big chunks of seal. Kallik chewed and savored the seal. The blubber was nice, fat and juicy. The meat was tenderly good! The soft bones crunched in Kallik's strong teeth.
Mmm...
Nisa's ears perked up with alarm. She scanned the area and saw a dark figure moving in the thick fog.
"We must leave." Nisa said. She saw Taqqiq try to drag the seal. "Don't bother. Leave it here. A male bear is coming."
The bears abandoned their food and ran to the top of a snowy hill. They turned back and saw the bear eat the seal.
"No fair!" Taqqiq whined. "That was our seal! Why won't he catch a seal of his own?"
"Quiet, my cub. The seals aren't coming as often now. Maybe sun-sky is coming. It's coming earlier and earlier each world-swirl. Now, roll your fur in the snow so that the male won't follow us. Then, let's return to our den." Nisa replied.
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