Ryker was a bit shocked to receive the hug, but he returned it nevertheless.

And he chuckled sheepishly when Eke paid him all the compliments.

"Eh-heh." he said.

"I... well... heh, all right." he said further.

"I guess I can't argue with those points." he admitted.

"I'm glad you're happy around me."

Ryker looked at the snowflakes, and brought a hand to his chin.

"....hm." he mumbled.

"Well, it HAS been getting colder..." he reasoned. "But, yes, it IS a bit early for something like SNOW to be falling." he admitted, looking around.

"Odd..." he muttered.

"Wonder what's causing this." he said, looking skyward.

Ryker immediately made sure that Eke didn't fall over.

"Careful." he said.

"And someone has it out for you?" he asked.

"I mean, maybe, but this snow? The ice coming suddenly? I dunno." he said.

"Who would... or could... do that?" he asked him further.

".....hm." Ryker muttered.

"I suppose." he said.

He then looked around, checking to see if there were any places that they could seek shelter.

"There's a rock formation over to the west with a small opening." he told Eke.

"Let's stop and sit there so you can compose yourself." he suggested.

"......" Ryker was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"Uh-huh." he said.

He then started to follow Eke, as a tiiiiiny bit of the shard's power pulsed inside him. Barely noticeable, but enough to give him the physical strength to pick up Eke and gently sling him over his shoulder... in an odd 'kidnap-but-pseudo-consensual' sort of way. Like something one would see in a movie.

"Come on." he told him.

"You need to rest, and putting more stress on your body won't help it."

"Nope, don't." Ryker said.

"Do not apologize." he told him.

"I was attacked by a dog once when I was a kid." he then said. "That dictator had attack dogs, and one of them went after me for... whatever reason." he went on.

"Spent most of the rest of my life being afraid of ALL dogs." he continued.

"Something that almost kills you will leave a scar."

"See, that's your problem." Ryker said as they approached the small opening, and he set Eke down inside, so they were out of the snow.

"You keep talking about your mother." he told her.

"How she wouldn't accept this, would do that, would have you do this, that or the other." he listed off.

He then started to look around... as though he was searching for something.

"Nope. Not here." he said, looking in his pack. "Not in here." he went on, looking in the 'cave'. "Not there, either." he continued, doing a sweeping glance of the outside.

"Seems your mother isn't here." he told him.

"So you know what? TO HELL with her." he said.

"She's not here. You're not with her any more. So FORGET what she would want, or tell you, or ANYTHING and EVERYTHING about her." he told Eke further.

"What you need to decide is what one person, and one person ONLY decides is okay." he continued, before pointing to Eke's chest.

"You."

"Ah, ah, ah, stop there." Ryker interrupted him.

"That's something that you'll need to learn to ignore." he told him.

"You say it's like a ghost that keeps haunting you? Well, then you'll need to learn to ignore it, and focus on what's in front of you, as opposed to what is behind you." he went on.

"You say I'm like the family you should have gotten? Does that make me your REAL family, in your mind?" he asked.

"If so, then focus on that. Focus on what makes you happy. And every time you manage to shift something negative from your past to something positive in your present, you put more and more distance between you and that 'ghost'." he explained.

Ryker held Eke close to him, and looked out into the falling snow.

'You talk a good game, Ry...' he told himself mentally. 'Maybe it's time you started actually believing what you tall him.' he then scolded himself with a small sigh.

What he was telling Eke was good advice, surely, but he wondered how much he personally believed it.

He kept telling Eke not to dwell on his past... but his own past was something he had been trying to kill himself over for the past little bit of his life.

But he noticed his desire to do that had dwindled by a considerable amount... ever since meeting Eke.

"...where IS this snow coming from?" he then mumbled, looking around outside again.

'...Eke said his Mom's a witch or something... could she do something like THIS?' he wondered.

Ryker had been worried about how uneasy Eke had been while he was sleeping, but his sudden awakening shocked him.

"Woah!" he exclaimed.

"Woah, easy there, kid!" he said.

"Easy, easy, it's all right, I'm here, you're safe." he assured him further.

"What's wrong? A nightmare?" he then asked.