16 Vikings’ Venture

A long time ago, where the current northern European countries are, lived a native group of people called Vikings. They were stubborn, ferocious, and filled with too much pride, but they were also some of the strongest warriors history has ever seen. One of these vikings was named Scandium. Scandium was born a legacy, being Chief Lars’ first born son, and direct descendant of the greatest Nordic god ever known; Odin. Even with all this, Scandium wasn’t deemed a true warrior until he learned the story of Alexander, and came face to face with a Viking’s worst fear … the Kraken.

It all started before a long and grueling journey leaving home. Scandium and his Viking clan were in the dining hall, munching on a large feast of food, and sharing battle stories. Scandium began to feel nervous about his first journey across the sea from listening to all the tales of war, and a grimace of concern smeared across his face.

His father noticed Scandium’s worried expression and decided to share a tale of his own to the clan. Not a viking journey story per se, but a story about the history of vikings and how vikings got their ferocious demeanor, and the courage to face even the fiercest of beasts. He told the story of Alexander, and shared how a match, and the desire for knowledge, gave Alexander confidence. Chief Lars cleared his throat, and began the story.

“In a time almost forgotten, back when the clans of the land were in a constant state of flux, or constant change, the inhabitants of this land came in every color, shape and size, ranging from orange, gold and silver. Each had their unique strengths and weaknesses. One of the largest tribes in the land were the Aluminums. These gray skinned natives did not have super strength, nor did they have any explosive powers.

Back in those days, it was hard to find food or materials to build a village. Since the Aluminums did not have super strength or flexibility, they traveled from place to place, running and hiding from the scary, weird, and unpredictable neighbors. This went on for generations, and the Aluminums passed down their traditions of music, clothing and inventions. The Aluminums knew nothing but the simple tasks that they had done for years and years and how to scrape by to survive.

This all started to change when Alexander was brought into the world. He wanted to find ways to make life easier for the rest of his tribe. Instead of doing simple tasks like carrying water in a bucket, they could form things like pipes to transport liquids. But this would mean changing from the traditions that the Aluminums had created.

On one fateful night out in the cold, Alexander came across a small family of an unknown element, no one remembers for sure how many or who they were. But the cold had made them very fragile and thew would break at the slightest touch. Since they were in the middle of nowhere, there was no shelter or wood to create a fire. All Alexander had were the small matches he brought. When he lit the small match to try to warm a small youth, he discovered that his whole body was radiating the heat, not just the match!

This sparked a life-long journey for Alexander to discover the unknown properties of the Aluminums, what else could he do that no one else knew?

Not long after, instead of running from a tribe of gold colored natives, Alexander greeted them in peace. He asked how they had the amazing technology they did. To which the gold- colored natives showed him the powers of electricity and how the tribe could transport it and store it. When the whole tribe was watching an electrifying display, a member of the demonstration could not go on and left.

Alexander, from the moment he saw lighting as a child wanted to touch this phenomenon, so he quickly jumped into the line and joined the display. They all suddenly lit up with joy as the electricity flowed even better than before. This was the start of a new age for all of the Aluminums, all thanks to the curious experiments of Alexander.”

Chief Lars finished the story, and to Scandiums surprise, he felt his head rise a little higher with confidence. He felt like he could take on the world, knowing his viking ancestry came from a guy like Alexander, whose curiosity allowed him to take risks.

The next day, the journey began. Scandium, Chief Lars, and the rest of the clan began traveling in a rustic longboat across the rough toxic seas, where one drop of its hydrochloric acid waters would disintegrate skin down to the bone. Steering the longship was Scandium, accompanied by his father. A couple hours in, the longboat jerked upwards, following the motion of a huge wave. Soon, that wave became a monstrosity of a storm, and the hydrochloric acid that made up the sea was spraying everywhere, endangering the lives of each and every viking on the longship. Chief Lars in a panic, grabbed the steering oar, and pulled with all his might, desperately trying to turn the boat away from the rough waves. The hydrochloric acidic waters were spraying everywhere. Snapping back into reality, Scandium saw his father struggling to turn the oar, so he jumped into action, standing in front of his father to protect him. Using the power of Odin’s chest plate, Scandium was able to shield himself and his father from the hydrochloric acid, and manage not to get a direct hit from the splashes. Soon after, as fast and as sudden as the waves started, they ended, leaving calm waters. Relieved, they both worked together to guide the longship to safety back home, holding on tight to the steering oar, while the rest of the viking crew continued to paddle.

Before they could say a word to each other, the waves began to violently rise again, and this time, a figure in the sea was beginning to emerge. From one glance at its giant, swarming, tentacles, Scandium knew exactly what it was: a Kraken. Scandium was terrified, since he has never come across such a terrible monster. The Kraken took its tentacles and made a reach for the longship, missing by an inch. The kraken let out a screech, and made another attempt to demolish the longship and take all of the vikings with it. He showed no mercy, flailing around and splashing the toxic hydrochloric acid everywhere. The vikings rowed and rowed, but the Kraken made the waves impossible to escape from. Scandium, remembering the heroic tale of Alexander, gave his father his chest plate to protect him. Scandium grabbed a broken piece of wood from the ship to float on as a makeshift boat. Evading the toxic splashes of acid, and making it over the giant waves, he reached the Kraken. Without the magic protection of the chest plate from the waters, the Kraken would have an easy win over Scandium. Which is exactly what happened. One swoop from the Krakens’ giant tentacle knocked Scandium straight into the water. He could feel his body start to dissolve and soon turn into nothingness, a meaningless solution. He could see from underneath the surface of the water that he distracted the Kraken just enough in order for the Chief and the rest of the vikings to make their escape. Feeling proud, Scandium let his eyes close, his body became heavy, and felt the slight tingle of him slowly dissolving.

Scandium awoke, in a bright room accompanied by a bright person-like figure, as if they were slightly glowing and translucent like a ghost. Fluttering his eyes to get a clearer picture, he saw this big man, who introduced himself as Odin, the Nordic god, and Scandium’s ancestor. Odin smiled at him, and as a result of Scandium being a selfless warrior and a hero to the viking community, Odin granted him eternal life as a Nordic god, and invited him to live amongst the rest of the gods. Scandium looked down at himself, wearing a new chest plate, with the symbols Sc, to represent Scandium being as strong as metal, as strong as a viking, and as strong as Alexander.

__________________________________________________________________

Fun Facts:

Scandium is more abundant on the moon than on the Earth.

Aluminum is the most abundant metal in Earth’s crust.

Making aluminum metal from its ore uses 5% of the electricity in the U.S.!  Always recycle aluminum cans!

Aluminum and scandium are used for baseball bats, golf clubs, and even fighter jets!