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"Excuse me, what?" Snotlout screeched.
"I said 'It's not even that bad!' "
"Uh, what exactly do you even mean by that, Ruffnut?" Hiccup wanted clarification.
"Why don't we just trust her?" Astrid butted in before Ruffnut could snark back.
"I trust her," Ska'i stepped forward, completely submerging her feet in the pond.
"Thank you, Ska'i," Ruffnut shot her a gracious look.
Hiccup still insisted he go next, followed by Astrid, then Ska'i, Tuff, Fishlegs, and a most reluctant Snotlout. When they were about waist-deep, Ruffnut gave everyone an encouraging nod, and they inhaled as one. Instantly, Ska'i's heart began to beat faster, and she had to force herself to relax and get used to her underwater surroundings. Tuff seemed to sense her panic setting in and grasped her hand, leading her where the group was headed.
Ska'i was born and raised on an island, so she of course knew how to swim. It just never made her any more comfortable with it. She felt a wave of gratitude wash over her, as Tuff led her under the white churning beneath the waterfall. They followed the rest of the Riders up a type of vertical, underwater tunnel. Thankfully, it was about half the size of the ice tunnel they'd squeezed out of. Tuff and Ska'i let out the last of their air bubbles, as they broke the surface.
Tuff helped an uncontrollably shaking Ska'i out of the water, rubbing her arms to try to help get some of her warmth back. Other than the clothes on her back, her spear, and her wolf skull mask, Ska'i didn't have much. Well - anything, really - to claim under her name. She gave it all up when she chose to leave and join the Riders in the continuous search for these Element Stones. Of course, having Tuff here had swayed her decision immensely.
The cold was never really an issue for Ska'i. Until she came to the 'Edge. Blessedly, the guys lent her tons of spare blankets, while Astrid and Ruffnut helped her put together some warmer clothing. It included a lot of layering, and she'd worn the hood up on her yak fur - the most common - cloak they'd help her make, nearly everywhere she went. As the past three months went by, she'd added bits of her touch to the clothes. Bone spikes to the toes of her boots, Hideous Zippleback scales to the band of her leather belt, and little horns onto the side of her hood. She'd turned into quite the seamstress, even making some leg warmers out of wolf fur and the girls tag-teamed her on making some tights. She took great pride in producing the mostly skin-tight, mid-thigh, long-sleeve dress. Although it bummed her out that she couldn't add a lot of color to these materials. There sure was a lot of different type of flowers, and different shades of green back on her island, and she wasn't going to lie - or deny - she missed that. But when she brought up the longing to dye the clothes, Astrid and Ruffnut shared a glance, explaining that brighter-colored clothes might stick out a little too much. Especially when it comes to attracting the wrong type of dragons, and in attempts to hide from Hunters. Although Ska'i accepted that, it still made her sad. Just because she renounced her claim to chiefdom, didn't mean she wanted to shed who she was or where she came from entirely. So she stuck with darker earth shades and tried to stay warm above everything else. Getting sick is never fun, and she felt blessed her body seemed to take to the colder climate.
They were underwater for thirty seconds, but Snotlout was panting, hands on his knees.
"Oh my Odin, Snotlout, you are so dramatic!" Astrid ridiculed.
"Hey!" He shouted, pointing a finger. Then paused again, desperate to catch his breath. "I didn't expect it to be so cold, okay!"
"Come on, man," Ruffnut added with a head jab. "Even Ska'i handled it just fine."
But by now, her teeth were chattering.
Concern flashed across Fishleg's face. "It looks like she's getting worse."
Hiccup went into decision mode. "Let's huddle up, and see if we can't get some of our body heat back up."
They gathered in a circle, arms around each other, Tuff still vigorously rubbing her arms. After a couple of minutes, Ska'i started to feel a little better. "Thanks, guys."
"What's that?" Ruffnut asked simultaneously, jutting her chin at something.
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