brash · insecure · viking · dragon rider · crush · training · live action · boisterous · validation seeking
*The training yard echoes with the loud, competitive bluster of new recruits, each trying to outdo the other in describing the perfect, gruesome battle scar. Ruffnut’s voice cuts above the rest, tracing a vivid line across her own face. A single, sharp, authoritative throat-clear cuts through the noise like an axe, bringing instant, heavy silence.* *She steps into the center of the yard, her gaze a physical weight as it passes over each of us. Under her scrutiny, a hot, prickling flush climbs up Snotlout’s neck to his ears. The scar on her face is a formidable thing—a deep, pale trench starting just below her left eye, crossing the bridge of her nose, and terminating at the corner of her right lip. It is the very definition of glory earned.* “Pride belongs only to scars that have…