A few months following my arrival in New Berk, the weather suddenly took a downhill turn. It was already cold as hell to begin with, and now the temperature dropped even more. I soon began seeing white flakes fall from a chilled gray sky.

"Zephyr? What's this… white stuff?" I inquired one afternoon, holding my hand out, allowing a few flakes to land on my hand. Upon impact on my skin, the white flakes melted, turning into water droplets.

"The white stuff? You mean snow?" She quizzed, raising a brow. I turned to her, still entranced by the white flakes landing on me and melting away.

"You've never seen snow before?" I wordlessly shook my head.

"I come from islands that are warm year round. We only get rain." I explained.

"Oh, right, well, yeah. It's snow. It's frozen rain. We get tons of it every winter. And! The best part is Snoggletog." I stared at her in response to that last word she spoke. Snog-... what?

"Snuggle-? Snuggletog?" I attempted to repeat.

"Snoggletog!" She corrected with a grin.

"You've lost me. What the hell is that?" With a snort, she patiently explained it was a holiday that Berkians celebrate every winter season. Filled with food, dancing, singing, fires, and all sorts of decorations. Oh.

The concept of celebrations was obviously not lost on me, however, the name of this holiday was… bizarre. Who in the world chose such a strange name?

As Zephyr continued rambling about New Berk's different holidays, my ears caught the sound of someone calling our names. Turning, I beamed to see Ana and Dustin. The healer waved to us as she and her son approached us.

"Hello, you two! Enjoy the balmy weather?" Ana joked.

"Oh yeah! Good breeze coming in from the south." Zephyr replied with a grin.

"So what're you guys talking about?" Dustin inquired.

"I was explaining Snoggletog to Laeli." I must've made some weird face at hearing the word "Snoggletog", as Ana and Dustin snickered.

"Ah, an expected reaction." Ana mused.

"Well, I was actually remarking about the… what's the word. Snow? Snow, falling." I explained.

"I ought to remind you that you should start bundling up more. The weather is only going to get colder, and it's going to last a long time." I grimaced as I felt another shiver run down my spine; even under my long sleeves, my skin erupted in little bumps, the fine hair sticking up.

"That sounds ominous…"

"I'd recommend taking the advice. I'm worried that you won't take the weather change too well. Especially since you're used to warmer weather." Dustin chimed in.

"What… else comes with winter weather?" I hesitantly asked. They made this sound all so terrible. Did winter suck that badly?

"Sleet, hail… lots and lots of ice." Zephyr began, listing them off with her fingers, "oh yeah, blizzards. Polar nights."

"Wait, polar nights?"

"It begins around this time of year. The sun barely comes above the horizon and doesn't stay for long. It's dark outside for months."

"Oh, gods." I cringed.

"It's going to take some time for you to adjust, but we'll help you through it." Ana assured.

"Comforting."

One morning I woke up and it felt like I'd been pushed deep underwater. My ears felt full and my nose was suddenly extremely runny. And my body felt… weird. I couldn't find the words to explain it.

Clearing my throat as I pulled myself out of bed, I found a spare rag and blew my nose, feeling the rag become wet. I quickly glanced down only for several drops of blood to fall into the already blood-stained rag.

Shit.

I'd only had bloody noses a few times prior, not from the weather, though. The first time was when I tripped and fell face-first into some lava rock, scraping my face up and messing up my nose, it wouldn't stop bleeding for hours. Mom and dad were understandably freaked out, especially mom, which came as a surprise since she rarely freaked out over injuries.

The second occasion was when I was sparring with my older cousin, Rua, and he socked me in the nose by accident.

Fun times.

By now I'd only been on New Berk for a few months, so I was still currently in the Haddock's residence as they were in the process of building me my own place.

I'd been given my own bed next to Zephyr's, who "shared" a room with Nuffink; a room divided by a wall with a blanket as a door.

As I attempted to wash the dried blood off my hands, it was useless as I couldn't get the bleeding to stop. Zephyr was already out of bed, but since the blanket hadn't been pushed aside, I could reasonably assume Nuffink was still asleep.

Finding another rag, and pinching my nose as tightly as possible, I pushed the blanket "door" aside, standing in the doorway to Nuffink's side. He stirred at the sound and wearily turned over.

"Wuh-" He groaned. Running his hand through his mop of blond hair, he peeled his eyes open to stare at me. Once he processed I was there, his eyes widened.

"Oh shit… Laeli, you okay?" I wordlessly gestured to the rag I held to my face. He bolted out of bed, pulled on his boots, and rushed me downstairs and out the door to Ana's before I could get a word out. I only had a short time to glance around at all the holiday decorations being put up in time for Snoggletog.

"Ana!" He called out, bursting through the door, startling the healer.

"Odin's Beard!" She shrieked, "Nuffink! Would you learn to knock for once!"

"Sorry! I had to come, though. Laeli's nose won't stop bleeding!" I groaned, shoving him away.

"Nuffink! For Te Fiti's sake, it's just a nosebleed!"

"Alright, alright. Take it easy, Nuffink, she'll be fine. Just head on home." Once she shooed him out of the house, I sighed in exasperation, then coughed.

"It's not like I'm bleeding out…" I complained. With a slight chuckle, Ana replaced the rag I had, giving me a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"He means well. Just, a bit overbearing at times. Like his father." I glanced up momentarily, but opted to not question right now.

After a few more minutes, I finally felt the flow of blood come to a stop. I wiped the dried blood from my nose and washed my face.

"Feeling better?"

"My nose, yeah. But I woke up feeling like shit."

"In what way?" I half-frowned, trying to find the words to explain what I was feeling.

"I dunno… like, like I was pushed underwater? My ears feel full. And this part of my face feels full, too." I explained, pointing to the spot where my nose bridge met the gap between my brows. When Ana stepped forward to take a look, I began coughing. And it was a gross cough; like something was stuck in my chest.

"Ugh… ew." I groaned. Ana watched me closely, then pressed the back of her hand against my forehead.

"Uh, what're you doing?" I questioned. She didn't say anything as she then felt my cheeks.

"How does the rest of your body feel?"

"Huh? Uh… I don't know… warm? But, cold?" Her eyes widened ever so slightly. "What?"

"I'm not sure, quite yet. You do feel a little warm."

"What does that mean?"

"Your body has never felt like this before?" I shook my head.

"Not that I can recall."

"Well, I think you might have caught a cold." Huh? A cold? How do you catch cold? Upon realizing I didn't quite understand what was going on, she quickly explained it was an illness that many tended to endure during the colder months. And those that became ill had the same symptoms I had. So I was sick?

"So… I'm, sick? I have a cold?"

"I'm 100% certain. Luckily, I have a few remedies that will help with the discomfort. Hopefully, it won't get worse."

"That sounds foreboding."

"Just take it easy for now. You know you're welcome to come by if you feel worse." She offered me some remedies to take back to the house, and after a quick hug, I was on my way.