Beginner (A School Of Dragons fanfic) [On Hiatus Currently.]

First Lessons

As much as I still was embarrassed about the day before, I was excited about today. Today I would take part in my first lesson and hopefully it would be a good one. Apparently though, the first lesson would be a literacy/maths combination lesson. I never knew about maths and I could only barely read. Most Vikings could not read at all and so it was both shocking and painful that we would have to practice literacy too. However, part of me still liked that idea. Apparently, it was so that riders could communicate with each other properly and exchange information about different island. 

No matter how much boring the first lesson of the day seemed to some, I was pretty excited. Besides, we would only have it once a week, which is quite relieving. And our teachers would be Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Why? Because apparently they were quite good with both literacy and numeracy. They were said to be 'fancy talkers', or such was the nickname given to them by some young Vikings. 

My room mates, two pretty fierce ones, both of which weren't exactly morning Vikings, scowled as they started preparing. Their first lessons were different to mine, I think they had Sciences and Sports as their first two lessons. If you wanted to be a good rider you had to be just as smart and as fit as your dragon was, or else you might end up being their dinner. When I say 'just as' I really mean, at least smart enough so that the dragon doesn't start thinking that the whole Viking race was just a bunch of idiots. You probably cannot outsmart a dragon. No matter what type it was. 

Myra, who was the older one of my room mates and probably slightly more intelligent, seemed somewhat sure of herself. "This'll be easy. My clan knows about rocks and fires more than any other clan and as for dragons, I'm sure I'll ace those too," she boasted. I was pretty sure she would, actually, she seemed  too sure to fail. And since she had science as her first lesson, she will most likely make a great first impression. Or so I thought. 

Freyja, who was trying to fix her skirt, was slightly less enthusiastic about sports. Apparently, her clan wasn't very good at treating the genders equally and so she never got to do any proper sports. She was taught to do housework, sell item and trade items, but she wasn't very good at fighting. I felt sorry for her. It wouldn't be easy here. 

"Do you think that they'll go easy on us beginners?" she asked cautiously. "I don't think my father would be happy if I broke something."

I kind of doubted she would break any bones on the first day, but then again, it could happen. We were Vikings. Breaking our bones belonged to our profession. 

As the time to go to our lessons had arrived, I quickly hurried to my first class. I wasn't about to be late. Luckily, I actually came early. Or so, Ruffnut and Tuffnut had said. They were very strange looking, but they did have a sense of humour. A painful one, but still one. 

"So class, today, we will be learning how to write a short, blunt letter stating everything necessary. Sure, some of you wrote letters before. But if you ever get into trouble or find something dangerous, you need to give so pretty exact information," Ruffnut began. 

"Now, before we start, how many of you can actually write?" Tuff asked. Three people (including me) raised their hands up. Saying that, there were only seven people in my class. That is quite a good number, considering that most adult Vikings tend to be illiterate. Why? Because Vikings specialised more in farming and fighting than in reading and writing. "Okay... maybe we should revise our strategy... what do you think, Professor Ruffnut?" The class laughed. 

Ruffnut silenced them with a glare. "I think we should teach them how to read and write basic sentences first," she stated. She muttered the word 'idiots' under her breath. This probably applied to the boys who had been laughing at her title.