A little flight over the seas. (Ren Vikarson / Fellicya)

[Brand Curador]

Time and Date:: February the 6th

Weather:: Thick layer of snow. Thick grey sky. A bit of snow dropping from the clouds.



CURRENT IC SEASON - DEVASTATING WINTER



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- There, it should be enough. And stop trying to get my scarf again !



Brand was done rubbing a clean piece of cloth, slowly , against a Terrible Terror's snout who thought diving toward the human in order to get the red fabric would have been a great idea... If the viking did not dodge. In the end, the small dragon only managed to crash onto the ground, scratching a bit its snout that bleeded a tiny bit. Hopefully it stood calm and quiet when Brand started to take care of that. After this help, the Terrible Terror would lick his hand with a purr before flying away. It could have taken care of it by itself but it was better to not feel blood next to the nostrils nor onto the tongue...



The apprentice dragon healer stood up and sighed some while watching the dragon getting away. How stubborn they could be... Brand shook his hand a bit and rubbed it against his flank to get rid of the drool, wondering how many times he would have to deal with them. This one made him run to the frozen sand beach with a bit of troubles. Too bad for the dragon that it met the only rock burried beneath the snow in this area. But what if one actually managed to get away in the wilderness with his scarf..? This thought was a bit frightening, a feeling Brand would rather get rid from. This is when the idea of learning how to track them down came to his mind.



The viking blinked some as he looked around, wondering who could even teach him something like this. Dragon riders ? Not all of them now. Hunters ? It seemed to be a better choice. Brand's new quest was to look for one of these persons bringing meat from the wilderness to the village. Knowing no one of these persons - or did he know ? He can't remember or was too lazy to search through his memories - he decided to walk toward the only one being over the beach, about fifty meters away according to Brand, an average young viking with black hair and a grey Thunderclaw in the distance. Obviously the apprentice dragon healer was in sight with this rather flat ground, the cold sea splashing its waves against the shore.



It was obvious that someone wanted to request something from this viking who were - Brand will discover it later - one of the hunters he was looking for.

[Ren Vikarson]

Ren hauled a grain sack further up the sand his home fortunately spared from the worst of the snow by the overhanging cliffs that stretched out into the ocean leaving this stretch of beach sheltered. Still the winds managed to blow some of it beneath the outcrops and cover the lower shore with frost. With the worst of winter still blowing outside hunting didn't seem worth the hassle and beside the small shack that he lived in Ren had managed to construct a simple coop with a small variety of fowl strutting around inside it providing eggs and meat for these colder months. Reaching into the sack the dragon rider tossed out a handful of rough grain into the pen and watched as a couple of geese and a turkey stepped up and began greedily sorting through the husks for the better kernels while the chickens gathered around to nip at any that they missed. 

Tossing another handful to the birds Ren turned back to his dragon the lumbering reptile laid out on the sand and snoring loudly. The dragons horn slowly lit up with a restrained glow every time he inhaled. Ren considered giving the dragon a shove to wake him up but then as lazy as he behaved there wasn't much for either of them to do today. Taking a seat against the Thunderclaws belly Ren folded his arms behind his head and gave a deep sigh. Berk was at peace and the cold meant there was little reason to go anywhere if it could be avoided, and for now it could be. Food was strutting around in its corral or stocked in sacks inside his shack, water was only a short walk up the beach and into the forest, Loudmouth didn't seem interested in flying in this weather without a good reason and for now entertainment was the only thing that seemed to be missing. 

Staring out across the waves Ren smiled to himself pretty pleased with this small home. It'd taken work to block the waves from reaching too far up the beach and risk making the sand beneath his stilted house unstable but now he had Loudmouth things had gone much quicker than trying to fix the place up himself. All that was really left was making somewhere for Loudmouth to sleep but the dragon didn't seem bothered by sleeping on the sand. 

[Brand Curador]

There only was a few meters left between Brand and the viking he wanted to speak with. This walk, may it be small, seemed to have last an eternity for the dragon healer apprentice. For a few days memories started to flood back, showing him pictures of the time he passed with SoftSting before she passed out forever. The more he looked at people, the more Brand thought about the days that allowed him to be there today.

SoftSting and him sometimes went to this beach, doing nothing but walking over the sand and laying down while waiting for the night to fall. They were rarely annoyed by anything that could ruin the peace of dusk. How many times did she got a fish before offering it to Brand, forgetting that vikings usually did not eat raw fish ? A lot. The Deadly Nadder always acted motherly with the ones she liked and never understood that humans were not dragons. Maybe this was what made her this adorable according to Brand.

Shaking a bit his head to wake up, the viking left all of this aside for now since more important things were to be done. Brand approached the viking and his dragons, finally getting close enough to be heared by talking normally.

- Hey. Might I ask a quick question ? It won't be long. Brand visibly felt guilty about possibly ruining someone's quiet day and did not wait for a reply. I am looking for a hunter or a dragon tracker. Do you know one ?

Politeness was missing there.

[Ren Vikarson]

Sighing a little Ren didn't bother opening his eyes or giving any sign of interest for a few moments before speaking lowly. "What do you want tracking? If you're after a local dragon then it'll be easy but if this is going to be a long haul pursuit then it might cost you." Getting to his feet the hunter looked Brand over recalling him from the trip to Dragon Island. "Unless you've gotten yourself a dragon then I assume you'll need a ride as well." Looking out at the snowfall Ren folded his arms, at this time of year the variety of dragons out there would be a very different mix compared to most of the year, some of the more high temperature or big appetite dragons would be trying to rest in shelters through the coldest part of the year. 

"So what're you hunting for? Just need to harvest something like nightmare gel or stinger venom or are you planning on taming something?" It was all a different degree of time he'd need to spend. Gathering something up would maybe take a few hours but he wasn't mean enough to dump someone on an island in the middle of winter to train a dragon, especially if that dragon would be their only way back. 

[Brand Curador]

As Brand expected he was only annoying this viking. A small sigh and a low voice were enough to make anyone understand this. His face remained neutral as he looked at Ren. He was sure he met this guy before but Brand could hardly remember when. He did not pay this much attention to the other members of the expedition since it has not been an amazing trip to his own eyes unfortunately.
- I don't have a dragon I could ride.
'Not now' Brand could say, looking a bit away as he thought about Scorn. He did not know how long the dragon could wait nor if he did understand it was at most a matter of days without his presence.
- I'm not here to ask for materials or a dragon to tame. I'm looking for knowledge.
It could not be an usual request to a hunter according to the apprentice dragon healer. 'A good thing' he thought since originality often gave points and brought interrest. Still looking at Ren's face, he explained what he wanted.
- I would like to learn a few things about how to track dragons. The job I want to do implies that I need to know where are the possibly wounded or sick dragons and not to lose them. It could mean death for the worst cases. But I suppose you know this already.
Making a short pause, the viking sighed a bit as well.
- But you looked like you wanted to have a rest for the day so I shall ask to someone else. Who can I ask this to ?

[Ren Vikarson]

Ren shook his head with a slight laugh. "You aren't going to find a better hunter around Berk and if you want to learn how to track then you're looking at a few years of training. Tracking dragons isn't something you can just pick up over a few days, learning to trace just one breed is going to take a month or two." Turning to the sand he gave a few sweeps with his foot gouging out a small bank in the fine sands. "What breed of dragon makes a tail track like that?" To someone without any training it'd all look the same, but a hunter could make out each little indent that explained the size or weight of the dragon, its breed and where it was going. It could take a week or two of practice before he could properly tell a nightmare and a zippleback fang from one another. 

Turning back Ren leaned on the dragon making it shift a little. "Why don't you just try taming a tracker class?" He couldn't understand how the healer intended to get to a wounded dragon in the first place with no dragon to ride, or how he'd move them if they were seriously injured. One viking on foot wasn't going to be much use to a wounded dragon if it was out of his reach and needed to be transported. 

[Brand Curador]

In the end this encounter might be the right one since Brand heard this viking claiming that he was one if not the best hunter around. He nodded a bit when Ren mentionned the matter of time required to understand all of this.
- Everything does then there's the experience. You might know something but never doing it will never help. I'm seeking to be a dragon healer so I do know this. he replied with a slighly rough tone, unwillingly, since it was something obvious to Brand.
Then the hunter drew something onto the sand before asking what it was. The viking visibly had no idea, starring at it for a few seconds. He would just shrug as an answer. Someday he might be able to return it to Ren by showing him symptoms.
- I know nothing, that's why I'm asking.
This maybe was the reason why he asked Brand if he did not want instead to tame a Tracker dragon. The viking slightly opened his mouth, having a reply to this, but he would instead make up one. Brand lied and it was easy to see it.
- I don't necessarly want to rely on dragons. And there's the wish to learn.
There were other reasons Brand did not want to talk about but this one, according to him, was good enough. Crossing his arms to show that he would then speak himself.
- I'm not afraid to pass months learning and maybe failing from time to time but I'd like to know what you'd like in return for doing it. It would be taking a lot of your time after all. If you ever agree.

[Ren Vikarson]

Ren exhaled with a smile shaking his head at the healers insistence. "I guess if you're not gonna drop this then I've not got much of an option. I don't have months to train you so I guess its gonna have to be a tough introduction." Looking back at Loudmouth he sighed. "Though it'll be pretty uncomfortable having to share a dragon for a ride this long. Know anyone you can get to give you a lift? Without a dragon you can fly on most of these islands would take you days to reach." Stepping up to the dragon Ren gave the creature a shove until it rolled onto its feet and stood up with a deafening yawn. "I can give you a ride to Berk but you'll need someone else to give you a ride from there." Leaping onto the dragon he showed why it would be difficult, with that sail there wasn't much room to fit the saddle and one person seemed to be as much as it could carry comfortably. The Thunderclaw stepped along the beach and towards the ocean so it had a clear sweep out from under the overhang of rock that encased the shelter. "Just remember, we're gonna have to get close to wild dragons so you can see what to look for."