Art belongs to
\n\t\t\t\t\tskyler-ragnarokStory by:
\n\t\t\t\t\tblackie5150---
“Yahoo! Look out below!” Calaystia yelled as she soared off the ramp of snow. The wind whipped her headfur and tail as she glided through the air and into a soft landing on the fresh powder. Akeashar watched her as she tilted slightly, turned, and slid to a stop beside him.
“That looked like fun!” Akeashar exclaimed as he steadied himself on his board.
“It got a lot better about halfway down,” Calaystia said, fixing her hair with a free paw. “It goes from loose, fresh powder to nice and packed snow. You really get some good speed going after that. Speaking of which, aren’t you next for a run down the mountain?”
“Well, yeah. But…” Akeashar’s voice went quiet as he looked down at the board attached to his hindpaws. He’d only been snowboarding once before, and that left him with a few bruises that not even his thick fur could hide. Calaystia gave him a friendly shove, making him wobble as he tried to regain his balance.
“Aw, c’mon. It’s not that big of a hill. Plus…” she lowered her voice down to a whisper. “I think it’s because you know you won’t beat my run.” She grinned, letting her words sink in and hoping it would arouse the competitive spirit in the tiger. Akeashar puffed his chest out and turned in the direction of the ski lift.
“I have a better idea. Let’s make it a tandem run. First one down to the lodge wins.” He held out his paw for them to shake, cementing their challenge like the packed snow under their boards.
“Now that’s more like it! You’re on!” she exclaimed, heartily gripping his paw and shaking it. Now it was Akeashar’s turn to grin as headed for the lift with Calaystia.
“See you at the bottom.”
“Now, who knows how to ski?” Blackie asked as he stood at the top of the bunny slope. A trio of blank looks and lack of raised paws from Deyna, Phoenix, and Striker gave him his answer. He tried another approach.
“Who knows vaguely how to ski?” Blackie asked with a chuckle. The three smiled and nodded as they tried to keep from sliding down the hill of snow.
“If we knew how to ski, wouldn’t we be skiing instead of asking you to teach us?” Phoenix inquired, wryly smiling back at the black wolf. Blackie laughed at himself and proceeded into his lesson.
“Well, okay then. Let’s try and get you going down the slopes.” He looked down the slope and back at them. “And try to get you guys back in one piece.” Worried looks greeted his return glance, making Blackie smile at them comfortingly.
“Oh, I’m kidding, guys,” he said as he positioned his skis to show them how to control their speed. “The secret to skiing is to think about…food.” Deyna was the first to voice her doubt.
“Food? Seriously? What does food have to do with skiing?”
“Everything. Food determines the shape of your skis. If you look at mine, I have them pointing towards each other to keep me still. Now, imagine some cheese and pepperoni in the space between my skis. See the slice of pizza?” Striker’s eyes widened as he made the connection.
“Yeah! It does look like a slice of pizza.”
Blackie grinned, feeling his tummy growl slightly. This is the bad part about teaching skiing this way. I always get hungry.
“So, pizza means stopping or slowing down. But if you want to go faster, you have to think of a different kind of starchy treat. We look to the potato for the second part of the lesson.” He met the questioning looks head on this time, not giving them the chance to voice their doubts. Blackie was already on a roll. “When you want to go faster, you have to straighten your skis…just like good French fries.”
The three made the connection, and Blackie could swear that they saw his skis as golden, steaming French fries like the ones they had at the lodge. Another growl reminded him that he was missing lunch to teach this lesson. Just a little longer, stomach. Once I get them skiing, I’ll have lunch.
“Pizza for slower, French fries for faster. Pizza, French fries. Pizza, French fries. Try it with me!”
They all said the corny phrases and hopped back and forth in position, getting a feel for their skis. Phoenix was the first to get the itch to try her paws at skiing.
“YAY! Watch me, everyone!” Phoenix yelled as she started down the slope, chanting the ridiculous phrase out loud for her benefit.
“Pizza, French fry, pizza, French fry, pizza…” Her pace increased as she picked up speed. “Pizzafrenchfrypizzafrenchfrypizzafrenchfry!” she frantically yelled.
All of a sudden, her pizzas became French fries and her French fries became a tangled mess of skis. Phoenix tumbled head over rump, and with an explosion of white powder, stopped halfway down the bunny slope.
“Are you ok?!” said Striker as he rushed to her aid.
“I’m ok, just a little shook up” she replied.
“Here, let me help you up.” Striker leaned down and grabbed the snow covered wolf by the arm, pulling her back upright on her skis.
Phoenix dusted the snow off her pelt and turned towards the slope, waving at a very terrified Deyna.
“Your turn Deyna!” she shouted up the slope.
Deyna stood frozen in place, eyes widened in fear.
“Come on, you can do it” said Blackie giving Deyna an encouraging nudge towards the slope.
“No I’ll crash!” Deyna yelped, desperately trying to jab her ski poles into the ground, but it was too late. She was already sliding down the ski slope with Blackie holding onto her hips to support her. The skis wobbled a bit under her as they started out, but they slowly began to steady and cut shallow trenches into the packed snow.
Once they started picking up speed, Deyna’s yelping quickly turned to sharp barks of joy. Blackie felt her thick bushy tail wagging against him as she leaned forward and pushed off with her ski poles.
“Ready? Go!” Blackie yelled as he gave her a quick shove sending her solo down the slope.
Using her poles to guide her down the slope, she sped toward Striker and Phoenix. She tucked her feet into the pizza position trying to slow down and not crash into the pair.
“Got ya!” barked Striker as he and Phoenix caught her by the arms to stop her from falling.
Blackie gracefully slalomed down the hill skidding to halt in front of the trio.
“Anybody want to give it another shot? What about you, babe?” he nodded at Deyna.
“I wanna do it again! Let’s go!” she yelled, tail wagging with glee as she led the pack heading towards the lift.
“Yeah, the lodge is kinda stuffy when the fireplace is going,” Skyler remarked as he and Jinxy made their way out onto the small porch that bordered the ski area. Blackie and his group had already headed towards the lift so the area was deserted for now. Skyler looked off into the treeline above them.
“I always loved coming here. It’s a really nice break from the usual warm-weather settings of most nudist resorts. The cold just always made me feel alive.” He let a gentle breeze coming off the mountain blow his hair back ever so slightly.
“I hate to break it to you, but cold has always made me feel cold,” Jinxy countered as she shivered in response to the biting air. As she hugged her hot chocolate closer to herself, Skyler turned and put his arm around her shoulders.
“Well, good company and friendship warm the heart,” he said as he drank a little bit from his cup of hot chocolate. “I guess the hot cocoa will have to take care of warming the body.”
A bit of whipped cream clung to the tip of Skyler’s nose and refused to leave of its own accord. Jinxy laughed as she evicted it with a flick of her feline finger.
“Well, then a toast to good company and friendship it is!” Jinxy exclaimed as she and Skyler touched the rims of their Styrofoam cups together. They shared another good laugh and a hearty swig of the warming drink. As they finished their toast, the sound of an opening door drew their attention back to the lodge. Ironmania and Megan walked out with their snowboards and smiled at the Skyler and Jinxy.
“I guess the lodge got too stuffy for you guys as well?” Skyler asked as he leaned up against the rail. Ironmania shrugged and adjusted his snowboard to a more comfortable position under his arm.
“Not really. I just wanted to get another run in before it got too dark. You want to come along?”
“Nah. I did all my skiing earlier in the day.” Skyler responded. And got enough bruises to last me for the rest of the month. Megan leaned against the wall beside the doorframe and propped her snowboard against it. Ironmania shrugged again.
“Well, I guess someone needs to keep the hot chocolate flowing to warm up the ones who get down here after a run. My fingers always end up numb.”
“I’ve never really had that problem,” Megan countered. “But then again, maybe there is some snowshoe hare in my family somewhere along the lines. You never can tell anymore these days.”
Ironmania laughed good-naturedly and leaned against the wall himself.
“I guess that also explains why you snowboard so well too?” he asked. Megan laughed as well.
“No, that’s just from practice, but thank you.”
“I guess that also explains why I never see you in the lodge very long when Jinxy and I are in there,” Skyler said.
“Yeah. I feel like I could stay out here all day!” Megan exclaimed, letting her excitement bubble over. It was then that a lone sound was heard echoing off the mountain, cascading down over the treeline like the descending breeze.
“Yahoo!”
Blackie, Deyna, Striker, Phoenix, Akeashar, and Calaystia all rocketed down from the summit of the ski slope, cutting crisscross paths in the snow as they slalomed in one pack. Their excited shouts to each other echoed as their overlapping paths grew closer to the lodge. Akeashar was leading the bunch, making good on his challenge earlier in the day. However, Calaystia was right on his heels, giving the tiger all he could handle in her pursuit. The quartet of skiers were not far behind, content to enjoy their speedy run down the packed snow.
As they all neared the lodge, they turned and cut deep into the snow to halt their momentum. What resulted was a wave of icy cold snow that broke over the four friends on the lodge porch, blanketing them in fresh powder and making them look like snowfurs. Megan shook her head to clear out her ears.
“Well, I’m going back inside.”
“Me too,” seconded Ironmania.
“Right behind you,” added Jinxy. Skyler laughed as he followed the trio into the now toasty warm lodge, leaving the six daredevils outside. Blackie was still chatting with his fellow ski-buddies.
“Man, that was an awesome run. Did you guys see us coming down---hey, where’d they all go?”
“Probably went inside to warm up after we covered them in snow,” said Phoenix.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get inside too before they steal all the cocoa!” Deyna said with a laugh.
---
Original post: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/12717934
Characters belong to:
Denya & Blackie ©
\n\t\t\t\t\tblackie5150Calaystia & Akeashar ©
\n\t\t\t\t\ttaijiiJinxy ©
\n\t\t\t\t\tjinxyfalinaSkyler ©
\n\t\t\t\t\tskyler-ragnarokIronmania ©
\n\t\t\t\t\tironmania2003Megan belongs to yours truly.
Striker & Phoenix ©
\n\t\t\t\t\tstrikersaProject for
\n\t\t\t\t\tfurry-naturists