The Suriving-In-Snow-And-Being-Able-To-Fight-In-It Lesson

[Deleted]

Time and Date:: Takes place in late autumn, around noon, October 5
Weather:: Cloudy, freezing cold
Previous Threads?:: None

“I hope ye’ wore yer’ EXTRA thick undies for this lesson!” Koda said to all of her students. They were lined up in front of her, and they were on the outskirts of the village of Berk. The sky remained covered in gray clouds, blocking the sun out and making this cold day even MORE colder. In order to not get hypothermia, Koda had layered up that morning, in two pairs of wool pants, leather furs draped over that, boots of hide and more fur, a thick sweather, shoulderpads of--well, you get the point. But where Koda and her class were about to go that morning, even all of THAT clothing might not be enough.

She walked down the line of students, eyeing them each with her arms crossed. She stopped for only a brief second at each one, to look up and down to see if their knees were trembling from the cold, and at their eyes to see if there was courage in them or not. “As ye’ all probably know, the Archipelago is a cold and dangerous place in the winter. Berk especially.” She stood in front of the line of young Vikings and tapped her foot. Her dragon, Ragnheid, was standing behind her, and when he heard the word “dangerous” spat a dribble of acid on the ground which sizzled to prove her point. She smirked at him in an amused way for a moment then looked back at her students.

“Ye’ are in for a real TREAT today,” she continued. She grinned brightly. “For today, as ye’ probably know, we’re goin’ somewhere only the BRAVEST, most TOUGHEST Vikings go. The Claw Peaks.” She watched the trainees’ reactions.

[Ulrika&Timber]

Ulrika arrived at the meeing point for the next lesson. Well, actually, Timber took her there, because she forgot.She would have complained, had she not seen the new teacher and other students hanging around. Exposed on the Night Fury's back as she padded across the wooden bridge to meet her classmate, a chilly coastal breeze ripped through them, making Ulrika's bare arms get goosebumps. She saw Koda all dressed up, she tilted her head. It wasn't even the beginning of real winter yet, let alone Devastating Winter. Ulrika dismounted, but held a hand on Timber's neck.

She raised an eyebrow. At Koda. Why would she need warm underwear? That was none of her business of what undergarments she wore. She walked, looking at everyone. Ulrika returned the gaze with a confused but cold stare. She finally couldn't hold it in anymore. "What the heck is going on? Why aren't we at the ring, like, I don't know, a NORMAL lesson?"

But Koda answered quickly enough. They were going to the Claw Peaks! Ulrika gasped in shock and sudden excitement! This was great! Like she said, only the best Vikings are able to survive up there, even with a dragon! On the way there would be loads of dangerous glaciers, avalanches, wild dragons and lots and lots of snow and frostbite-inducing cold. This was going to be the best lesson ever! Ulrika would prove to everyone she was a capable Viking. And she had a dragon now, it would make everything easier!

"I'm both brave and tough! I'm going to beat you all to the top, I even have a Night Fury! Getting up there will be a doddle!" Ulrika bragged, patting the dragon beside her. Timber gave a exasperated groan. "We're Vikings! Cold is what we do best!"

"I don't think that's the point of the exercise... But I think I better come along too... Knowing you." The dragon said, using Ulrika's inability to speak the dragon tongue to be a little more honest than most, lest they have an angry Ulrika on them. The dragon looked at Koda. She also had a concern to express. "But on foot, getting to the peaks will take several days. I think the humans will need time to... prepare." It would be suicide, after all, go to without even the slightest tool.


OOC: Where iss everyonneeee

[Sundra Svanhidlr]

Sundra looked over to the sea as it crashed up against the island, the wind that pressed against her wasn't a very welcoming feeling. It was bloody cold out today, even Sundra was able to feel the cold nipping through her layers of clothing. Her shirt, along with another shirt and her wool vest is what helped to keep her chest and arms warm. Now her lower half was more odd. She decided to throw one pair of socks over another as they were tucked into her wool insulated boots that ran up to her knees. Pants. PANTS. That's what she wore and guess what was over top of it, A SKIRT, YA. And of course last but not least, her head. She had her hair braided back thanks to her mother, so it hung down her neck and past her shoulders in one continuous braid. Sundra also had what looked like a headband that was on more of an angle, covering her ears and wrapping around the lower bottom part of her head at the back.

Blarg, but enough of the clothing.

She noticed the group of kids as she walked up to them, Ulrika seemed to of just gotten there as Sundra arrived. "Hmm.. So, where are we going?" She asked as one of the nearby kids immediately answered her, "Yer kidding right? It's damn cold as it is now were gonna die from getting impaled by a sharp rock?" She added in her comments, seeming to put somewhat more worried faces on some of the younger kids. She smirked to herself as she looked over to the Ulrika and walked over to the younger blonde girl.

"Think someones gonna go crazy on the way there? Sundra asked with curiosity as she looked towards Timber and smiled as she patted his nose for a quick second.

[Grima the Brash]

Grima and his zippleback strolled into the village, he’d stayed out longer than usual that night and in turn he, Stahl and Flint had slept a lot later. He was glad he had the house now that winter was coming in, he’d learnt the hard way as far as working out in the cold over the last few years but he still didn’t want to be out of the village during the winter without a place to camp at and get warm.

But right then he was going off to today’s lesson, after going to training arena and finding no one there he found out quickly that teacher was on the outskirts. “Looks like they’re stupid enough to teach you children out in the open.” Stahl grumbled as they changed coarse to the new location.

“Why that’s not fair,” Flint responded, “we’ve seen the kids do well while we’ve been hunting.”

“But we’ve never seen them do well in a session,” Grima tried to ignore all this, sure he was generally in the cluster of actually competent people in the classes, but he knew Stahl wasn’t making distinctions on purpose.

The three of them reached the meeting point to see the lesson would be taught by Koda. He liked that they were getting her this time. He smiled waited as others arrived, even though he’d got up late he still seemed to have arrived to this in his normal early manner. Slowly Ulrika and the others turned up and finally Koda explained what her lesson was. He couldn’t help but grin. Grima was generally proud, but he also wasn’t stupid and was never one to be underclothed.

With the weather getting worse every day, he had the habit of wearing as many layers and as warm an outfit he could pull off without it restricting his manuverability too much. He’d been stupid about clothes once before. Looking at the others, he was pretty sure he was one of the better positioned. Ulrika, with her bare arms and her feminine thermostat, was definitely the worst positioned.

[Deleted]

Dooley had been one of the first to arrive at the meeting point. Probably due to the little sleep he gets. He stood near the back of the group trying to draw little attention. The wind caused is cloak to flow behind him exposing his fur vest underneath. He wore layers of socks and undergarments. He didn't plan on freezing that day. He stared at some of the dragons a little jealous he didn't have his own. He looked at the others and wondered who will break first.

Dooley felt like he may be at a disadvantage due to is lack of a dragon. He soon started to get anxious. At this point he started to think he will be the one who breaks first. Dooley shook those thoughts out of his mind. He tried thinking happy thoughts but that didn't help.

Dooley was surprised when he heard that they would be going to Claw Peak. His worries grew more. The other people with dragons are going to have a better advantage then him. Dooley didn't complain but he did not like this idea. He did however roll his eyes at the braggers. That was one thing Dooley didn't like people who are full of themselves.

Dooley pulls his cloak closer to him to help protect himself from the wind. He shivers every now and then. He tried to get warm by scooting closer to the group to get heat.

[Troutface Gleamn the Sneeze]

Troutface rolled his eyes at the instructor. She was making way too big of a deal over all this. All of the students had been raised in this snow, there was no way anyone was going freeze to death. The idea of visiting the mountains sounded more exiting than anything. He had dressed the part today, wearing many of his sweaters and coats and a few layers of socks and mittens under his gloves. His ax was strapped to his back- Trout was ready to take on the world. He wasn't too concerned about being cold, but only because he was well-equipped. Some of the others looked a little ridiculous.

He walked at the front of the line, close to Ulrika. He couldn't help but notice that she would be cold without sleeves today. He decided that he'd offer her one of her layers if she mentioned being cold. He looked back and snickered at Sundra, amused at her comment. You could barely see her for all the layers she wore. She leaned in by Ulrika and whispered "Do you think Sundra's closet threw up on her today?" He smirked, walking forward.

He was already pretty bored of walking. He busied himself by teasing Ulrika. He lagged behind her and kicked up snow behind her trying to get some into her boots.

Hopefully things would pick up soon, he was pretty sick of just walking. The only good part was seeing Ulrika. "I didn't know wandering through the snow was a viking skill" he mumbled sarcastically, just loud enough for Koda to hear.

[Ulrika&Timber]

(Since no one is replying... Koda you can come in anytime you want, like srsly reply as soon as you can, im making filler here )

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Ulrika smirked at Sundra's remarks. There was animosity between those two, Sundra desperate to beat Ulrika in archery. It was almost like rivallry, if it weren't for Sundra allying herself with the infamous Gang that enjoyed terrorising the trainees. "Yeah," She replied. "Only you would be sure-footed enough to fall and get impaled on a rock... Rocks aren't even sharp. That takes a different sort of class entirely." She came and retorted, asking if anyone was going to go mad, and patting Timber. Timber crooned. At least other people know how to treat her properly. But Ulrika was having none of it. She swatted Sundra's hand away. "No touchies! Get your own dragon!"

Before anything could escalate into a full-blown fight, Grima arrived. She glanced between the two. And her slow cogs clicked into place. "Hey! Why'd you steal Grima's job? He's the one that's supposed to be early and bother me. Why don't you go bother each other or something. It'd probably make the day better."

Troutface finally entered the scene. He was slightly a bother too. He seemed overly nice to her, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It was welcome though. She preferred the awkward niceness to the douchebaggery of Grima and Sundra. He made a comment about Sundra's outfit, and that made her laugh. "Hah! You're so right! Who needs to wear that much clothes anyway! It's so restricting. I bet you couldn't even pull the string of your bow like that." Saying that, she plucked the bowstring she had across her shoulder. Troutface made a remark about Koda's lesson today, but Ulrika was already distracted. She noticed a newer student amongst their ranks, and approached him. She could see him shivering.

"Hey man, you're cold already?" She asked. "That's pretty stupid. We haven't even started. I don't even have a cloak and I'm not cold at all." That wasn't particularly the truth, she had goosebumps, but she knew when she would start walking she would warm up quickly enough. She knew that from her hunting trips chasing game. She forgot to introduce herself, and carried on to the boy. "You know I heard of Old Man Olaf the Ordinary lost like, 3 toes to frostbite from going in the hills. He lost an ear apparently too, but he won't show when I ask."

[Deleted]

Out of all the locations picked on this day where lessons were randomly planted, it had to be today and not in the arena. Venny spent like an hour waiting around for the teacher and the students to show up. Camo spent the time laying down on his side like a cat bathing in sunlight. It wasn't until Irrite came along eyeing his foe, McDummy King Dummy that Venny and Camo learned the lesson was already taking place in the mountains. Gasping and ditching Irrite who was already skipping class and being a nerd about it. But she guessed that would happen since Venny might had burned his winter clothes.

Guessing they were pretty late, Camo was hovering over the others while trying to catch his breath. Venny leaned over to one side to look down with a grin. "Heeeey guess who arrived? The life of the paaarty," Venny sang as she gestured to herself with both thumbs up. The Changewing rolled his eyes as he twisted his back, causing his annoying partner to fall face first in the snow from a reasonable height. "Maybe now you get more attention this way," Camo scoffed as he looked down. He took the chance to flee from the kid's site and on to some other spot on the mountain. Venny struggled to get her head out of the snow but all she got after was a few sneezes. "Glad to see you guys too, when are we dying?"

[Deleted]

The first thing Koda noticed was that Ulrika, one of her most ‘unique’ vikings, was barely wearing more than a summer’s day worth of clothes. It’d probably serve the viking right. She was always doing her own thing and was never prepared. It was time to teach her a lesson, and so Koda let her go do what she pleased.


As for the reactions of the initiates, they were wide and varied. With her sharp ears, even over the rest of the group’s chatter, Koda picked up Troutface’s stinging comment. She raised her brows and him and marched up to his face, her nostrils blaring. “Ye’ think scalin’ these mountains is a joke? How many times have ye' done it, eh laddie?” she asked, prodding him in the chest with the hilt of her axe. She grabbed Troutface’s shoulder and spun him around quickly, and pointed at the large mountains in front of them. She was speaking loud enough for the entire group to hear. “They’re teemin’ with all sorts o’ dangers. Large, untamed dragons that can look ye’ in the eyes and turn ye’ right to stone. Ice and snow piles so high, if wind were to knock them over they’d drown ye’. But worst of all, there’s been stories o’ rogue vikings. They attack quietly, when yer’ sleepin’, and once they’re done killin’ ye’, they drink the blood right out of yer’ corpses.” She let out a loud bellow of a laugh, and walked back up front. She could beat the rogue vikings easily, but the young vikings around her could barely pick up their own axes.


She was busy mentally priding herself on being an older, more experienced viking when Venny arrived. Koda rolled her eyes as the viking was yelling about being the life of the party, and was knocked right off her dragon. “Git’ up, ye’ lousy rascal,” she muttered, yanking the viking out of the snow by the leg. She dropped her. And then, ONCE more, she walked up front, her patience slipping her.


“QUIET, USELESSES!” Koda shouted at the top of her lungs. She stamped her foot. “We’ll be gettin’ goin’ now! We won’t be flyin’ our dragons, only usin’ them for other purposes. Those who try to fly their dragon will be abandoned on Claw Peak for the dragons to eat. And if ye’ ever get too scared to keep goin’, there’s one rule, but it shouldn’t be too hard to follow even for you dimwits. And that rule is, who’s left behind stays behind! NOW, FOLLOW ME!”


She clicked her tongue for Rag to follow her as she walked around them and began, Berk ever so slowly starting to shrink behind her. It began to snow again, and the sun was nowhere to be seen above the thick clouds. It'd be a long and treacherous journey especially for the initiates, but it'd harden them up and make them a bunch of strong vikings, not the puny softies they were now.

[Redkitebait]

-FREE FOR ALL ANYONE REPLY PLEASE THIS RP HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL-

[Deleted]

Dooley looked at the Viking that had approached him. He didn't like the fact that she thought he was already cold. He may have been cold but that wasn't the point. HE started to think she thought he was weak.

"I will be fine when I start to move. But standing still will make anyone cold." Dooley said. He had a medium pitched voice. He wasn't intimidating but also not weak. He rarely spoke but when he did he sounded like everyone else.

He doesn't ask the Viking anymore questions but instead looks at their dragons. He has learned to speak dragonese over the years. To be honest Dooley was quite talkative, but only to dragons. He would spend his time talking to any dragon that would listen when he was younger.

He however didn't talk to them in front of other Vikings. He didn't want them to know his talent. He saw the Viking fall from the sky and he couldn't help but have a smile grow on his face.

Under the hood with the smile was some ocean blue eyes that were very restless. They kept moving around watching and taking in information. This was normal for Dooley he liked to know stuff. When he ran into a question he would do anything to find the answer.

"When are we headed up?" Dooley asked. He was growing inpatient and cold.

[Ulrika&Timber]

It turned out that Dooley wasn't very talkative at all, and quickly lost disinterest as he averted his gaze to look at everyone else's dragons. Suddenly a familiar voice chorused in the air, and it couldn't be anyone other than Venny, riding on Camo. She laughed as she fell in the snow. But Koda quickly started intervening, trying to scare them with the dangers that will lie ahead on this journey.

They quickly began to start the trek now, before anything else happened. It was already a few hours until they actually arrived at the foot of the mountains, trudging through the bracken in the forests that Ulrika knew well. But they were a long way from home already. It would be getting dark soon, and though they had begun the ascent, the mountains still loomed far above them. If they only got this far in a day, then how many days would it take to reach the top, on foot? She wondered. With a dragon, and a Night Fury no less, they could probably reach the summit in a matter of minutes, though this was exaggerated. Timber padded softly by Ulrika's side, occasionally going off curiously to sniff something or chase some squirrels.

Ulrika remembered Koda's 'one rule'. She definitely did not want to get left behind, and she was determined to prove that to them. But it was too late now, and they needed to set up their first camp for the night... Except, from the looks of everyone, no one had brought any materials to make any sort of tent. She slowly halted, and watched them all. "How and where the heck are we going to sleep?" With the biting wind ripping through her now that they had left the shelter of the forests, Ulrika shivered slightly. She was reminded of that first time she had bumped into Timber, where she had slept in a dark wet cave, and had suffered a horrible cold. She looked at Timber, who seemed to be remembering the same thing, because she put her nose in her palm. Even the scaly reptile was warmer than she was!

[Grima the Brash]

Grima raised an eyebrow when Ulrika proclaimed Sundra was stealing his job, though he smiled when she said what his job was. “It’s not like that position is limited to one person, maybe you should try not to attract extra applicants to the job.” He flicked some snow up with his foot making sure some of it hit some of her exposed skin before turning away.

Grima rolled his eyes when Troutface insulted Koda’s lesson within earshot of her. Koda, unlike any of them, was a proper Viking and react like a proper Viking would. In your face and yelling about how weak and stupid you are. Grima had to hold himself back from responding how many times he had done the trip. It wasn’t his question and he didn’t need her attention right then.

He couldn’t help but enjoy the horror story she was describing of the mountain. It wasn’t as bad as she made it out to be, sure there were dangerous dragons and avalanche possibilities, but the idea of creatures that turn flesh to stone or cannibals was ridiculous. Here be dragons sure, but not monsters like that. Grima sighed when Venny appears and made an idiot out of herself. He didn’t mind the rule that Koda layed out, Stahl probably wouldn’t have let him ride her anyway.

He couldn’t help but laugh when Ulrika asked about how they were going to sleep. He scanned the dragons. Two Changewings, a zippleback, a nadder and a Night Fury. He quickly turned to Ulrika before Koda could respond, “If we stop for the night,” he said if because he didn’t put a night trek past Koda, “You’re be in the best position of us, rule one is only for riding. You’re just fucked if we keep walking.”

[Mabil&Dara]

Mabil huddled with the other students, but kept her distance from most. She knew all of them well, but hadn’t ever really talked to them. She mostly just watched, though she tried to act as if she didn’t notice them. Dara stood nearby, and Mabil was glad for her nadder’s presence. Dara was her sense of comfort, and Mabil thought she would need a bit of comfort with this lesson. She gasped aloud and raised her eyebrows at Koda’s mention of the Claw Peaks. She had never been up there, and she wasn’t planning on heading up there anytime soon. Although now it looked like she would have to.

She eyed the other students carefully, trying to gauge their reactions. Some seemed worried and quiet, others openly groaned and expressed their annoyance at the task. Mabil almost smirked at what Koda said to Troutface. Mabil was almost sure she was exaggerating, but once she got to the part about rogue Vikings she wasn’t so sure. A flutter of nervousness shot through her, and she reached a hand to rest on Dara. She may not be able to fly her, but at least she would be with her. Mabil followed after Koda when told, the one rule echoing through her mind. “Who’s left behind, stays behind.” Mabil was determined to keep up. She would keep up. She couldn’t help but wonder if anybody would get left behind, and who that person might be.

Her nervous feelings were starting to grow, and she was determined to not let it show. She listened to the other students’ conversations in order to distract herself. She almost let out a chuckle at Ulrika, Grima, and Sundra. She continued to listen, focusing more on everyone’s conversations than her slight fear. She couldn’t act afraid, she shouldn’t even feel afraid. She was going to psyche herself out; she just had to pay attention to what was going on for the moment. Ulrika’s question snapped her out of her thoughts and Mabil also took a pause. She let out a sound of exasperation. “Do you really think we won’t stop for the night?” Mabil asked Grima. Though the more she thought about it, Grima did have a point. Koda probably would be all for having the students continue their journey overnight. Luckily Mabil had dressed alright, with her long-sleeved red shirt, a short sleeveless fur jacket, and her usual spiked skirt, leggings, and fur boots. She also had Dara to keep close, but it still wasn’t going to be much fun staying overnight in the mountains. Whether they stopped overnight or not, Mabil was positive that the trip was sure to be interesting.

[Deleted]

Dooley followed behind the rest of the gang of Vikings. Other people were petting or had their dragons follow them. Dooley had none of that. He walked alone, with only his spear to keep him company. But this did not bother him one bit. He liked to be alone to keep to himself. He tried to listen to the others while he stayed back but the wind was making it very difficult he had warmed up a bit but the wind stole most of his body heat.

He did not like the idea of resting in the snow. He did not like to sleep on freezing snow. That was not his idea of the best bed. However if he had to he would need to find a spot to rest. He looked around and tried to find what would be the best area. The other Vikings would be able to use their dragons has warmth but he did not have that luxury. He was going to need to make his own fire or tent of some sort.

He spotted a tree that looked to be a suitable but it was farther up their route. He hoped he could be able to convince the others to go that way. But he was to much of a baby to ask. His worst fear was public speaking. If he had to he would just head over there and make camp without saying a single word. That would grab their attention. Plus they couldn't leave him behind.