[Jokul] Awkward Yet Beautiful Beginnings

[Fern & Nima]

Time and Date:: May of last year

Weather::Fairly warm with a cold chill near the shores

Previous Threads?::  N/A

CURRENT IC SEASON - SUMMER

"Gather round, gather round!" Called a deep, gruff voice. It could only belong to one human; the chieftain. As his voice sounded over the chatter and laughs that were abundant in the large group of students, the arena fell deadly silent in a matter of moments. Students of all ages froze as they slowly lifted their eyes to see the shadowy figure of the chief towering over them from the top of the arena, his figure casting a long shadow over them. With a single leap, he came down into the arena whilst twisting an axe, before tossing it to a student and grabbing a sword, tossing it to another. He kept grabbing weapons, tossing one at each student. One girl in particular caught a small dagger, almost disappointed by the weapon he had given her. "What can I do with a dagger?"

"Many things." Answered the chieftain. "You may defend yourself at short distances, throw it at long distances, use it to cut your meat and make kills whilst hunting." The girl fell silent, staring at her dagger. She frowned and stuffed it into her belt, while the teacher began the lecture about how weapons were used.

Halfway through he stopped, "Wait." The entire group of youngsters fell silent, "Someone's missing." He scanned the area before sighing, throwing his hands up. He gave an angry yell, "Jokul!"


His voice was almost as strong as thunder, before he muttered beneath his breathe, "By Thor, where is that child!" The group started to look around and a few laughed at the absence of the newest student. Fern had only been in the class a year; she had made a similar late entrance, and knew well and good the embarrassment that came with it. She looked back at the gate, looking around for this new boy.

A boy... Well, surely she had seen him around; although she hardly paid attention to other vikings... The name sounded familiar... Yet she couldn't place the name with his face. There were so many vikings on Berk and so many teenagers and children. But although there were many children, few made it into lessons until an older age, some not at all. She could only wonder who this new student- what was his name; oh right Jokul- could be.

[Jokul & Starkad]

Kari Steinthor was sure of one thing about her son. He was as stubborn as a mule when he chose to be. And the morning of his first lesson was the perfect example. The said thirteen year old huffed and crossed his arms

"I don't want to go. Can't I just stay with you or dad today?"

"Sweetie, as much as we love your help, this is something you've got no say in."

The boy scowled at the nickname. "I can make a living doing odd-jobs around Berk. I don't need to know how to use a sword." Before his mother could say anything, he added, "And I already know how to talk Dragonese. Why should I go and learn things I won't use?"

Kari's eyes narrowed. "You're going because your father and I said so. I'll be sure to have Shade accompany you to make sure you don't get any ideas of skipping the lesson."

---

And that was how the grumpy teen found himself being escorted through the village by his mother's dragon. Except, the hobblegrunt wasn't pushing him to go faster. At the speed they were going, they'd be late. Jokul didn't even have time to say anything before Shade told him, "Kari said I had to keep you from leaving. She didn't say anything about how long it took to get there."

A thankful smile appeared on his face for her. It was nice when she sided with him, which wasn't all that often.

When they finally arrived, he overheard the chief explaining the use of some kind of weapon. Jokul hesitated from rounding the entrance and into the sight of all the other teens. "I don't suppose you'll turn the other way and let me escape."

The dragon snorted from behind him, "Kari will have my head. Besides, I think she's right. You need to be with humans your own age. Dragons aren't always the best company."

"And who's to say that vikings are? I don't need friends. I've done fine without them for all my life."

Any retort the hobblegrunt was going to throw back at him was cut off by the chief's yell. "Jokul!"

"Dragon dung!" He swore. Halldor's voice always sent chills down his spine. Yet another reason I don't want to go.

"Go. I'll be watching from above." And with that, the dragon turned to leave.

"Thank's for the confidence boost." He mumbled. From where he was, he heard the snickers and whispers from the other trainees; no doubt about him. Let's get this over with.

So he entered, keeping his arms crossed, and his gaze kept on the ground. For first impressions, he was hoping to give off the 'I-don't-care-what-you-think' vibe.

Anything said to him as he made his way to the group was ignored. That is, until the sound of Shade's draconic voice broke through the murmurs, "Be nice. Your mother won't want to hear that you're avoiding everyone!" He whipped his head around and glared at her, who was sitting comfortably at the top of the arena with her head poking over the side. "Go home, Shade. I don't need a babysitter." She merely crossed her short arms across one another.

Jokul turned back to the chief to see if he was in trouble, but found everyone staring at him instead. Some of them were still laughing under their breath. Halldor cleared his throat and announced, "Now that everyone's here, it's time for you to get acquainted with your fellow trainees. From this day on, they are your teammates."

With a quick once-over Jokul picked out those who seemed best to stay away from. There were a few older people who looked ready to graduate from the lessons, but then there were those that were his age, or at least appeared to be. One by one, he went over the faces of those he was bound to be bumping into a lot now. If asked at the time, he'd refuse to admit his eyes lingered just a second longer on a red-headed girl that looked just as old as he was.

He doesn't even know why. Must be because she's one of the few with red hair here.

The black-haired teen didn't have much time to dwell on it, due to the chief throwing a one-sided axe at him. Unfortunately, he was unprepared for such a thing, and ended up fumbling for a grip before it dropped to the ground with a clang.

[Fern & Nima]

"Jokul!"

The chief did not sound the least bit happy, and Fern couldn't help but feel bad for the boy, whoever he was. Little did she know he was the same age she was, just reluctant to join the lessons and thus a year late.

Moments ticked by. People snickered, whispering amongst themselves. Fern bit her lower lip, looking down. It was only when movement came from the corner of her eye that she looked up.

There was the boy- Jokul no doubt -walking with his head so low and eyes averted that he almost begged to be invisible. Fern tried to meet his eye, but couldn't. It wasn't until he had arrived at the group that he started looking around. He seemed to look over each person briefly until...

Their eyes met, and he held the gaze a moment. Ferns jaw loosened slightly, lips parting halfway. The moment didn't last long though. Soon the chief through an axe at him and it clanked to the ground as the boy wasn't ready for the sudden gesture.

"Alright, listen up." The chiefs voice boomed through the arena, "Each of you will be paired up with an opponent. Grima with Ulrika, Oxhorn with Ratnose, Velatrill with Hooknose," The names kept being ran off one by one. Finally, the last to be called was, "Fern, you're being paired with the new kid. Go introduce yourself, would you?"

The chief seemed to smile knowingly at Fern, who looked dumbfounded. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly inched forward, picking up the axe. Laughs followed behind her and she grimaced, taking the axe and managing half a smile as she lifted it to put it in his hands. "Here.. take the axe... like this..." She reached to grab his hand and position it on the axe. "The other hand... here..."

The arena had turned silent, aside from a few snickers and girls giggling. Fern met the boys eyes, her hand still settled on the his. Her lips parted and she inhaled sharply. "Ahem, um right." She pulled back as she ran a hand through her hair. Though she was hardly past that moment, she unsheathed her dagger and managed a meek, "Lets begin, shall we?"