Noct Yaegir Do You Wanna Build An [Abominable] Snowman?

Arturo had enjoyed the crush of freezing winters and snows before, but Frostpeak Keep in the Eretejva Tundra was very different. While the layers of his gear kept him warm in cold weather, he was in need of a bit more here, especially in the wind. He knew some basics, had spent enough time surviving in different wilds under all seasons, but the mountains here were different. Rather than dread the cold, however, he found it immensely thrilling, especially for the wind.

It pelted his face and whipped back his hair and tugged at the edge of the heavy cloak as he stood up on one of the walls. Snowflakes cut through the air, stinging against his face. The scarf wrapped around his neck had been tugged down so he could feel all of the harsh weight of the wind. There was something about feeling the air around him that felt right. Even in this cold, it was like a sort of caress. It was cold, but it made him feel alive.

Rhyss leaned against the wall at the base of the stairs, shivering and largely finding his leader an idiot. The rest of the team was busy with cleaning gear or socializing or training with others in the Keep. Sane, functional, indoor activities.

“Arturo!” Rhyss shouted up at him. “Get down from there already, you’ll freeze your face off.”

He grinned and put his back to the rampart wall, leaning there and looking down the steps, wind trying to tug off his scarf and hair. “We should have come here sooner!”

“Wipe that smile off your face already. How are you not cold?”

He shrugged, but kept his smile, largely because he knew Rhyss hated it. In truth, he was cold, but Ellis had provided some helpful tinctures that ensured he stayed cozy. Granted, exposing himself to the elements like this had been something they expressly told him not to do. But he had to test out the effects somehow.

“I’m built warmer than you, we both know that.”

Rhyss snorted, glancing over at the yard. “Darkstride’s forming a group for something,” he noted.

“La Loba was asked to lead some sort of training,” Arturo noted as he reluctantly trudged down the stairs.

“She has a name.”

“Aye, Zancada Obscura, la loba negra,I know, I know. She's very fancy,” Arturo noted as Rhyss shook his head. “Also very capable of crushing my windpipe.” He had heard plenty of stories. “She's not a mindless beast, you know,” he added as he led the way to the yard. He had nothing but curiosity for most of the hunters here. Capable as he considered himself, there was always room to learn from others.

Arturo gave the large black direwolf an admiring glance. She was a powerful presence, from her dark fur, to the inked and scared leg, to the feathers. Her mismatched eyes and the tips of white added a different, lighter aura. He hadn't known her more than in recent passing, but couldn't help but be curious. Rhyss, on the other hand, seemed more in awe.

They arrived just in time to catch the newbie’s comment about making a good ‘bear.’ Rhyss couldn't contain a laugh and shook his head, looking the young man up and down. “Maybe an otter?” He offered, leaning against one of the surrounding posts.

Arturo smothered a chuckle. “Don't crush the boy's dreams, Rhyss.” The flashy tanned Yaegir folded his arms and offered the direwolf a nod, looking over the rest of the assembling group.

Nearby, one such Avariel had to admit they too might consider donning a new shape if they were forced to endure this type of chill day in and day out.
Bundled in much more layers of black clothing than they were usually given to wearing and still shivering, was Naeris.
Where the strong winds might normally have lifted his mood the biting cold had his wings firmly tucked about himself like a second cloak. He leaned his elbows on one of the railing, standing where he could vaguely keep an eye on Rhyss and his companions. Of the keeps and dens that he had tagged along with their little crew of Yeagirs to this was steadily creeping toward the bottom of places to revisit.

There was certainly some appeal to it but Naeris wasn't convinced that it was worth being so miserable with cold. His hands clutched a tin mug which had once been warm with tea.
Of course Naeris had already been told that he could stay inside where it was much warmer. Yet, his desire to see the training that was being cooked up outweighed the urge to huddle by the fire.
For as much as he was seriously considering apprenticing with one of the archivists, Naeris hadn't chosen to muck about down here just to end up walled off again.

Naeris watched as Rhyss and Arturo traded some warm laughs in spite of weather they seemed in high spirits.
They were hearty bunch, it seemed an unspoken requirement of Yeagir's this unknown quality of grit.
He had opened his mouth to ask Rhyss what the training might be, but surely that would be revealed in due time.

Arturo tossed Naeris a nod once he noticed him on the wall. He didn't know the new elf all that well yet, but Rhyss had vouched for him. Which was a little surprising. Rhyss was easy to get along with but had a heated side to him that could be hard to swallow. While the hunter hadn't yet asked, he highly suspected Naeris and Rhyss were ex lovers or something. Maybe that commonality was why he had said yes to their new companion despite his lacking practical skills. Arturo still wasn't sure how helpful the man would be, but he had always struggled to tell Rhyss ‘no.’

“Exactly,” Arturo agreed with Darkstride. Of course, otters were hunted by men for their pelt and by predators for food, but he decided that was better left unsaid.

As for the clothing, Rhyss grimaced and tugged his scarf tighter. Both men preferred their hot weather and dry climates, but Arturo had no problem with the windchill, unlike his friend. His scarf might as well have been decorative. He got a number of looks over it to know the other hunters thought he was going to freeze to death first.

Rhyss leaned over and whispered loudly at Arturo. “Long breath of death. Sound ominous enough yet?”He could tell Rhyss was seriously concerned but he knew his limits.

“Sounds enticing to me.”

Rhyss shoved him and pointedly waved down Naeris to be his partner. Arturo, on the other hand, stepped up to Uhtred. “Come on then, Otter, show me what you got,” he said, plucking the firestriker from his belt and tossing it to the young man. He’d made plenty of fires in the wild while on the road, granted he wasn't usually in frozen tundra or frigid mountains. Arturo rolled his eyes as someone complained about no firewood. Darkstride’s reply was perfect. He bit back the temptation to suggest she start a comedy routine. Not while they were all theoretically freezing to death.

“Naeris,” He said, supplying the man's name. Arturo looked across the courtyard. “Warden might not like it if we cannibalize the railings for fire practice,” he noted. “But if I was going to freeze to death…” he glanced across the grounds to the stables and nudged Uhtred. “Loose straw burns quick. Bales take longer. We start a fire on top of one and borrow some of the logs for the hearth,” He suggested, already moving to collect a bale for them to do just that. They had spent plenty of shared man hours chopping wood for the main hearth and kitchen and other rooms of the keep, after all. The stack lined the exterior wall. But it was different, starting a new fire versus feeding a live one.

Arturo imagined the wind wouldn't do them any favors either. Nor the cold in their fingers.

Naeris startled a bit, he hadn't expected anyone to call out to him. Then again even aside from Rhyss and his companions the Yaeger's had turned out to be an unexpectedly friendly bunch.
His eyes cast out to the horizon but even with his eye sight.....
He hopped the little rail and half fell, half glided down. Alighting next to Rhyss he pulled the cloak back around himself with another head shaking shiver.
It seemed he was being quietly told to participate rather than observe.
His atenttion turned back to answer the man's question "just Snow, Snow and more Snow I'm afraid."
Naeris replied with a tone far more chipper than the slight grimace on his face.

"We could always huddle together for warmth!" Naeris replied with a playful grin and a laugh. Though who exactly his teasing was aimed at remained unclear. "but, I gather that would get in the way of training." Whatever it turned out to be. Naeris was only certain it wasn't going to be competitive hand holding.
His relationship with Rhyss was complicated especially by Avariel standards but then there were many things about Naeris being here at all that went against tradition.
It was lucky then that Arturo seemed to have a more reasonable solution. Though Naeris figured that they would be made warm by doing whatever task Darkstride assigned them. This kind of cold made it difficult to stand still. They weren't the type that enjoyed mastering a weapon but they might have welcomed sparring at the moment if only because moving about might warm them up a bit.

Nell stood slack-jawed among the other recruits; until they rippled with intent and action, following Arturo's plan.

Sigrith Darkstride wanted them to start a fire? Here? Nell hadn't imagined that her transferral to this northern keep would see her attempt to fashion improvised bonfires. It had hardly been her training to do so. Still, it was undeniable that the cold wind was biting; even here in the keep.

She loathed to consider how many limbs she would have to saw off from frostbite. Prevention, then, would be much better than treatment. Yes. This training regimen made sense, after all.

"The wind is coming from the south," she added, following in their wake with hesitation, pulling her fur cloak tighter around her. "It might be advantageous to build the fire against the southern-most wall. For cover."

Her voice was small, quiet; mousy even. But it held an unmistakable sharpness to it. Like a small, sharp sewing needle, prodding for gaps and opportunity.