Aquaman: Time and Tide#3(1994)

An Inupiat teenaged girl, Kako, has attempted to kill a polar bear but has only wounded it. It chases her down and is about to kill her when Orin intervenes. Orin and the bear fight, with the bear giving Orin a scar along his temple that he has to this day, when Kako rejoins the fight giving Orin the chance he needs to snap the bear's neck. Orin passes out from his injuries and Kako takes him home to nurse him back to health. Kako lives with her grandfather and grandmother, her parents having died. Grandfather is a fisherman who prefers the old ways (i.e. hand fishing, dog sleds) to the new ways (i.e. trawlers, snowmobiles) which he views as "white man contamination." Thus is he distraught to find a white man in his home but Kako quickly explains how he saved her life. Aquaman, writing in the chronicles, explains that after he had been abandoned by Arthur Curry, the Lighthouse Keeper, Orin had had enough of humanity and traveled north to Alaska where he lived alone and content for months until encountering Kako. Back to the story. While unconscious in Kako's home, Orin "awakens" in an ocean having been summoned by a female being (later called "Nuliajuk" by Grandfather) who demands payment for killing the polar bear. Orin can either give his own life or she will take someone dear to him later on. Before Orin can make a choice he awakens in Kako's home. Grandmother tells Orin the legend of the white man: In the olden days there were no white men, just the Indians. Then one day they came and they were "huge, snarling, with fangs and claws." The dogs snarled at them and, believing this to be a greeting, dropped to all fours and snarled back. The dogs then outwit the stupid men by biting themselves. Again the men mimic the behavior but bite themselves fatally and leave. However, more came and they have not left, only multiplied. Grandfather admits his hatred of the white man but offers Orin a place to stay out of fairness for saving his granddaughter. Obviously smitten with Kako, and she with him, he chooses to stay. In Orm's house, Orm and his mother have an argument leading to Orm's threatening of his mother with a knife. Orm's mother blames Orm for bringing the white man's new ways to the house (which have turned her husband into a couch potato) but Orm points out that he is bringing in the money and that she has no reason to complain. He storms out (presumably to find Kako because...) Orin, who has now healed, is teaching Kako how to play baseball when she offers herself to him and he accepts. Their lovemaking is witnessed by Orm who becomes furious. After Orin has fallen asleep and awakens, he finds Kako missing. After a quick search Orin finds her unconscious and severely injured. Orin returns her to her home where the grandparents tend to her wounds while giving Orin evil stares obviously blaming him for Kako's injuries. Orin closes his eyes... And returns to the land of Nuliajuk. Orin sees Kako trapped within Nuliajuk's dwelling and Nuliajuk says this is the trade for Orin killing the bear. Orin attacks but Nuliajuk's dog also attacks. Orin, however, is quickly able to rip the dog's head off. Orin attacks, proclaiming himself to be of a new mythology where she is of an old. Nuliajuk turns her fingers into eels which attack Orin but he commands them to attack her instead and they obey. While she is distracted, and vowing revenge, Orin rescues Kako. They both wake up and Orin tells Kako and the family of what he believes to have been a dream. Grandfather realizes it was not a dream and goes pale terrified that someone in his household has offended Nuliajuk. His fear triggers a fatal heart attack. Orin is chased from the house. He returns six months later but the family has moved.