A pale, Scanran youth, in all his gangly glory descended from the Mess Hall to try his hands out on this practicing the Commanders sniped about. He thought training was more than enough of "practice", but he knew they meant out of the training. Silly him to assume otherwise. This was also because the city of Corus was uninteresting, some even still having some hype against him due to his obvious heritage. Seeing him in a Queen's Rider's outfit was ironic to them, and a blasphemy. After all, people had this horrible problem with relating him to the others. Yet, the commoner trainees didn't seem to mind him as much; he figured they didn't like his stutter. Typical.

And Thor didn't care. He liked swinging his axe and hammer around, throwing javelins, archery, and hand-to-hand combat. So long as they didn't pick on him, he was just the slow kid with the stutter. Besides, with his growing muscles and obvious strengths, some figured they would rather have him on their side, then find him as an enemy. His terms of gentle was considered rough, and he was hammered by the Commander for not putting effort into training. With an apologetic smile, he would throw the trainee down.

Shuffling the snow around on the archery range, he glanced at some of his arrows, and then again at the larger, custom-made, bow. This practicing seemed very lonely, as he stretched out his arms. The pale-man looked almost cheery at the sound of crunching snow to mark someone's arrival.

Sophie pranced about in the snow, trying her best to get warm. It wasn't really working, but she really needed to practice. She had promised to show her godsfather her better skill in archery when he came to visit, but first she had to get some. Truthfully, her training wasn't horribly hard, and even though she was given harder targets to hit, Sophie did it somewhat naturally. Today, the girl resolved to find a harder target and to practice as long as she could. The only thing she hadn't reckoned on was the bitter cold of the day. The sun was covered slightly, which was nice for visibility but not so much for warmth. Once again, Sophie fervently wished she had thought to wear more layers.

As the redhead approached the archery range, she noticed another rather large person there. He looked to be as tall as Zakery. Sophie shook her head, grinning. There were so many tall people around. If only she could be just an inch taller. Or two would do nicely. If only she could top five foot. That would be wonderful. She pushed away the thoughts of tallness as she drew up next to the large boy.

"Hello," Sophie said cheerfully. "Cold out, isn't it? I don't believe we've met. I'm Sophie." The girl held out her hand to shake.

Thor offered a smile to the approaching woman, as he continued to stretch. He was rather clueless that she actually wished to start up some small talk. Mostly, there were others around, and they'd rather avoid the tall, pale man. To put it frankly, he was a bit slow to respond, more accostomed to staying silent at first. "Oh!" He commented first, taking the redheads hand his larger, calloused on, offering a weak smile "Me name's Thor. Thor Ingolfsson."

The man shrugged his shoulders as he leaned down to pick up the long bow, which was made of a sturdy, but flexible, wood. Hooking on the quiver, he looked out into the archery range. "The cold don't bother me much, miss Sophia." He said with a little smile, "Always cold in Scanra, 'ccording to my parents." Thor finished quietly looking down at the young woman whom he seemed to top almost by a foot. He wore his father's old jacket,

Thor didn't mind this idle chat for while he practiced; company was good, active company was better. "You enjoyin' the training?" He asked, thumbing the feathers of his arrows before choosing one. Arrow-making was still a process he had to fully yet understand, and to produce a good arrow. None the less, he picked one out, to see if it would last. Before he would shoot, he turned his eyes briefly to listen to what the girl's response would be.

Sophie grinned when Thor understood what she wanted to do. She had heard his name before, the young man from Scanra. That explained him to be so slow on the hand shaking thing. "I'm very glad to meet you, Thor," she added after the handshake.

The girl also moved to adjust her bow as they continued to talk. She noticed his was a long bow, very nicely made. Sophie's wasn't like that at all. She preferred a shorter bow. It was easier to notch for someone of her size. His next comment about the cold made her smile wistfully. "Don't I wish I was that lucky. Don't like the cold much. Nor the extreme heat either, come to think of it. Ah, you don't need to be calling me that. Sophie will work just fine," she added, a small blush rising to her cheeks. His second statement confused her a bit. "According to your parents? Aren't you from Scanra?"

Sophie notched an arrow on her bow and looked for a target that was far enough away. Not that tree. Too close. The piece of bark sticking up in the snow? Nah, one arrow would tear it to pieces. She settled back on the targets. Sure, they were close, but at least they were clear. The girl looked at the target and let go of the string. The bow loosed with a twang and arrow hit in the circle near the center. "Yeah! Sophie exclaimed in response to his question. "Training is great! What do you think?"

Thor just nodded his head, touching the plummage on his feather for a moment. He lowered his bow for a bit, and offered a grin back, with less notable enthusiasm. His chapped lips made it quite awkward to grin, so he soon lowered it to a smile. "Ah, yes, I hope the pleasure will be mine." The giant teen replied, before picking up the bow again and eyed a tagert.

Listening to her talk between aiming, he fired the arrow, and squinted to see where it would land. It wasn't in the middle but it was very close to the proximity which was good enough for him. Again, he looked at the girl to offer a smile, as he started speaking again. "The sun bothers me mostly, even in the winter when its reflecting of the snow." But he then shrugged his shoulders, "If you say so, Sophie. And my parents are. I was born ten years after. I might 'ave visted a couple times. But that's it. I was born in Corus."

Pale eyes then returned to his quiver as he sorted through the arrows. As Thor picked another one out idly - he saw no reason to rush - he would soon turn his attention back to the redhead after he examined it. "Ah, yes. I love it very much. Fighting in general, I do." He gave a half-hearted grin, and a shrug, as if it was some type of ironic joke.

Sophie grinned once again at Thor. She picked another target and shot quickly. The arrow landed next to her previous one. Quickly she grabbed another one, aimed and shot. This one ended in the dead center. The girl gave a slight yelp of excitement, and glanced at Thor. She saw he was doing well also.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You know, I have some lotion in my room that helps protect the skin from the sun. My mother's friends with a healer lady. She gave it to me. It works amazing. You should try it sometime," Sophie said, remembering the lotion she used often. "I burn easily, too. So, I have tons of the stuff. Smells a bit yucky, but it works wonders." She continued to shoot, moving on to making patterns in the target. Idly, she wondered what would happen if she moved the target back. Probably nothing. She didn't think she could even move the target. Well, Thor was here. Perhaps he would help.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were born here. Everybody says..." Sophie trailed off, realizing that it would seem rude if she continued on. "Well, I'm glad to know the truth," she added, thinking about all the rumors. The redhead had always wondered...

Once again Sophie gave one of her grins when he said he enjoyed training. His own smile and shrug made the girl think that there was something else he wanted to add. She didn't say anything, just nodded her agreement. As she reached for another arrow, the girl realized she had shot all of hers. Sophie gave a small groan at the thought of trudging all the way down to the targets in the wet snow. She figured she would just wait for Thor and they could go together. Seeing as he had plenty left, she put her bow in the ground, propping it up against the nearby tree.

Thor's smile stayed the same, never shrinking, never rising. His eyes moved occasionally when she shot, doing so after her. The taller of the trainee's shots were quite near the bullseye or on it. At the direct hit from Sophia, the pale man offered a slightly larger smile. "Good job." He meant it too; judging by where her other arrows landed, he assumed it would get frustrating to get so close.

"A lotion?" Thor asked curiously after another shot, having not ventured much into the marketplace to bother searching for an item to help his skin. He had originally figured that only someone with the gift would have the ability. "I'm not much a lotion-guy, though if it helps..." He would've gone on to comment that he would trust her opinion on the subject, but found it unnecessary.

"Rumors, eh?" A comment with resentment and humor. "You seem honest; amuse me, what else is there? My mother was a wench and my father a pirate?" Thor didn't truly trust her yet, but he did wonder what else there was floating about him. He failed to notice her lack of her arrows or he would've offered, but most of his good ones were already out. Ah well; he knocked a lesser one up to shoot.

Sophie flashed a smile after Thor spoke. "Thanks. You're not bad yourself," she added after watching him a bit. Really, he was much better than she was. The girl gave a small prance in place to warm up. It had begun to snow a bit, and Sophie figured the temperature dropped a bit in the time they had been out there.

"No, really. The lotion helps. It's not like a girly lotion. Although it's quite hard to find a male putting it on. They're just a bit embarrassed. But you don't have to be," she added quickly. Inwardly, she groaned. That did not sound like she wanted it to. Sounded more like she was pressuring him to use the lotion. "You don't really have to use it, she told him suddenly.

When he made the comment on all the rumors, Sophie blushed. She really didn't want to say anything on that. The girl was ashamed that she had ever heard these things said, and more ashamed that people were saying them. Even though she wasn't, it wasn't fair to Thor. He seemed nice enough and didn't deserve the ridicule. "I don't want to say," she murmured. The redhead stared resolutely at the ground and scuffed her foot in the snow.

A half grin was given in return at Sophie's compliment on his marksmanship. A smile that tried to hold some form of modesty, and keep his own pride down at how naturally shooting came to him. The teen tried hard not to be arrogant, or any other personality trait that might get him slammed further by other people. Racism, he knew he'd be able to live with... That wasn't his fault, after all. Nor was it his parents, or the gods. Being not liked who he was, he wouldn't tolerate.

After he shot once more, now starting to run low, due to the obvious pre-usage of some, and finding himself out of room where he normally hit. Lowering his bow, he looked thoughtfully at the target, ears still opened to the chattering Sophie next to him. The lotion sounded like a good idea, and there was really only one way to find out if worked. Although there was an amused smile on his face. "Mm. I'll try it." He replied idly, sticking his bow in the snow.

Pale eyes glanced over at Sophia, hiding a smirk when she blushed at her question. He waved a large hand dismissively, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Then don't." Came a reply, hinting to the fact, that although he was serious, he was teasing her a bit. All in good nature, of course. Then the hand waved for her to follow, as he saw, finally, her arrows were spent. "Eh, I'm going to do another round of shoots, then head down to visit my parents; you are welcome to join if you are comfortable. They always have spiced cider."

Thor trudged through the snow, pulling the jacket tighter, looking over his shoulder, "Excited for Mid-Winter?" An innocent, small talk question. It was obvious he wasn't offended by the persuasive lecture before, or her embarassment of believing a rumor. Rather, he was amused the short redhead had stayed with him this long.

Sophie noticed that his supply of arrows was dwindling, just as hers had. It was good news, because it meant she could go retrieve hers without being shot. Not that she believed for a second that he would shoot her. It was also getting colder, so Sophie wasn't fully sure she wanted to keep shooting. The chilly air made it good for her concentration, but not for her freezing fingers.

Thor seemed unabashed by her responses to his questions. She understood he was teasing slightly about the rumors but still wasn't comfortable talking about them. It didn't matter if it Thor didn't care about it. Sophie did. The next thing the girl knew, he was inviting her to come over for cider at his parent's house. As she steadily built a path in the snow Sophie thought hot cider sounded wonderful at the moment. Before she thought further about it, the redhead found herself nodding. Remembering her manners (belated, as usual) she asked, "Are you sure? I don't want to impose..."

Midwinter. Was she excited? "I suppose. I get to see my family. But that's only another excuse for my mother and sister to berate me. How about you?"

They approached the targets, and Sophie bent down to retrieve some of the arrows off the ground. She quickly moved to the large circle in front of her and began the process of dislodging the arrows.