Ichigo: *sigh* Do you know what I really miss right now?
Hana: No…what do you miss?
Ichigo: Snow. It´s December and Christmas is nearby, but all we got so far is rain, cold weather and mud.
Hana: It wasn´t any different in the last years, so I don´t mind that much. However, I would wish for some snow to go skiing in January.
Ichigo: you know how to ski? I tried it once in my life on our school trip years ago…but I have to admit I was pretty bad at it.
Hana: I actually do. And I´m not that bad either. *smiles* So what about the snow?
Ichigo: Well, as you already mentioned skiing, guess who´s going on a trip into the mountains snowy together *giggles*
Hana: Who is? We already had the Artemis Fowl tream, Meghan and Ash as well as the crew of Inuyasha… Artemis wouldn´t go skiing unless Holly forced him.
Ichigo: Arty skiing? Now that would be interesting. Unfortunately it is not him. The ones who are going are Tomoe, Nanami and their friends…or just Nanami´s.
Hana: One never knows, ne. ^^ Either they are both friends with Mizuki and Kurama, or Tomoe is just tolerating them. Okay, ehough of that. Tell me about their trip.
Ichigo: I think tolerating is more fitting in this situation… Anyway, here comes a new story for our Christmas project, have fun while reading. I don´t own Tomoe and the rest, I just borrowed them for a while. ^^
Hana: And don´t forget to solve our riddle and send the answer via PM so no one can cheat ;)
Ichigo: Damn, I almost forgot about that. Thank you Hana, here, have some sweets. *hands over some chocolate*
Hana: *munches it* Fangk fu
How to not freeze to death
"Come on!", the girl cheered as she ran to the ski lift. Behind her, the fox demon muttered something about over exited humans and idiots following him around. He tried to remember why he had agreed to accompany her to such a ridiculous event. Earlier this week, Nanami suddenly had the glorious idea to take a break and go on skiing vacation, even though they had enough work to do at the shrine. He had tried to talk her out of it, mainly because he had little experiences at skiing and did not want to make a fool out of himself, but also because he wanted her to take her role as a land god more seriously. Unfortunately for him, she still insisted on going and as soon as the white snake overheard her plans, he got exited too. It was two against one. How Kurama had got wind of it was beyond his knowledge, all that counted was the fact, that he suddenly wanted to come too.
The only thing that kept him from transforming those idiots into something eatable and cooking them was Nanami´s smile. She was happy all of her "friends" wanted to accompany them and even claimed it would be much more fun if they went on this trip together. While getting to their destination, the girl never stopped babbling about all the exiting things she wanted to do. There was of course skiing, but also visiting one of the hot springs there, drinking hot chocolate, going on a sleigh ride, some hiking and eating warm meals in the evening while chatting about the day. Soon Mizuki had started making plans too, much to the fox demons misery. The Tengu on the other hand had complained about not seeing his fans for a while, but stopped as soon as Tomoe offered him to throw him out of the window. (You are awfully talkative today, that´s quite unusual for you? Want me to assist you on becoming normal again? I could throw you out of the window, that will definitely help you to return to our more silent self.) Since then, he hadn´t said a word.
As soon as the four of them arrived at the lift, they recognized two things. One, the gondolas were small, as in really small, and two; the whole ski lift did not look that up to date. In fact, it looked more like it needed some mending. Soon. There were now two options, one saving time by using those gondolas or two, walking all the way up to their bungalows. Nanami chose the first one, dragging the fox with her. "Nothing will happen", she claimed. The other three members were skeptical, but followed anyway.
Unfortunately, they now had another problem. As the gondolas were really really small, only two of them could take place in one, additionally to their bag packs and skiing equipment. Or in Kurama´s case, his snowboard.
With a growl, Tomoe decided that he would go with his lady and mistress, while the other boys had to deal with themselves. After throwing his and Nanamis´s bag inside, as he carried all of their luggage (humans were so weak and clumsy), he himself stepped on the metal floor and offered the girl a hand. "Take it, or you will fall and hit your stubborn head." The human land god ignored the remark, took the clawed invitation and, while almost slipping ("See, I told you so!"), slid next to the fox demon. Only seconds after she was seated, the door closed, cutting them off from the rest of the world.
The first minutes passed by in complete silence. Tomoe was still a bit angry and annoyed by the whole situation, while Nanami just enjoyed the view. Snow covered trees and meadows passed under them, the sun was slowly setting and some lone birds were circling high in the skies. The wind was howling up here, slightly shaking the gondola as well as its passengers and the luggage.
"I´m glad I brought my gloves", the girl tried to start a conversation. "It is getting cold really fast as soon as you stop walking around." Tomoe just nodded, still looking out of the window. "Do you think we will meet some wild animals in the forests?" The fox demon barely shook his head. "To many tourists." Nanami pouted a little. She had imagined their trip to be more fun, but Tomoe was keeping too much distance for that. "What do you want to do first, when we arrive?"
"I thought you and Mizuki already made plans?" The girl nodded. "Yes, but I want to hear your opinion too. It´s supposed to be a memorable vacation for all of us."
"Fine…", her familiar started, but could not finish as suddenly a strong wind caught them, shaking their gondola and making Nanami scream.
"Stop being so loud, you hurt my ears, human!"
"Sorry", the girl replied with a shaking voice. "Look, I think we stopped going upwards!" Both of them took a look outside. "True. It seems they stopped the lift because of the wind. Or maybe they have some technical difficulties."
"But I want to get out of here soon!", his lady complained. "I know, me too", he growled as an answer. "This stop will be over in a couple of minutes, be patient."
Their little bickering left them both in silence again. The air was getting colder with every passing minute and ice flowers were growing at the glass windows. To Nanami, they looked really pretty. Some of them were bigger, while others were quite small, but all of them showed their nature in great detail. Soon, out of single flowers, larger fields grew, making it hard to see anything outside. The last thing Nanami could see clearly were the worried faces of Kurama and Mizuki inside the gondola behind them. Now the two were alone, cut off from the world. Even though the ice flowers were pretty, they also indicated burning cold, which leaked through every gap in the girl´s clothing, making her freeze. Additionally to that, her worries about being stuck in a rusty gondola somewhere high up above the ground turned into a small panic attack. She did not want to freeze to death!
"Tomoe, I´m afraid", she said with a shaking voice. "And I´m cold."
"Stop complaining, we will be out of here in no time!" Another gust of wind caught their gondola, shaking them more violently than before. With tears in her eyes, Nanami grabbed the fox demon's arm with her gloved hands.
An unfamiliar sound caught the familiar´s attention. "Are those your teeth?", he asked in a more gentle voice. As an answer, he girl lifted her face, revealing her puffy red eyes and pleading look. She nodded slightly and snuggled closer to him. The male let out a small sigh, before he unwrapped his own scarf and pulled it around the two of them. "Come here", he whispered as he pulled her into his arms. "As a familiar, it is my duty to take care of you and protect you. Now stop crying, if nothing happens I´ll get us out of here and fly us to our destination, like we should have done in the first place."
"Thank you", came the mumbled answer, voice muffled by the big scarf.
For some time, they just sat like this, snuggling with each other, enjoying the warmth and each other´s company. The wind was still howling outside, shaking them slightly, but inside Tomoe´s arms, Nanami felt safe. Nothing would happen. Some minutes passed till the girl finally found her voice again.
" You know Tomoe, what I am most afraid of?" His ears stood up, signalizing her, that he was in fact listening. "I fear of being left alone somewhere. Left alone in the darkness, freezing without any hope. This though is scarier for me than falling for example. Or wild animals."
"I am a wild animal", Tomoe stated matter-of-factly. The girl shook her head. "No, you are not. You are Tomoe, my unruly familiar. But a great one too."
The fox pulled her closer to his body, readjusting his arms around her. "You know, you are never alone as long as I am with you. And I´m pretty sure you would have a hard time getting rid of the annoying snake and the arrogant tengu too. As for the cold, I´ll keep you warm, just say if you start freezing again. I´m sure we can find something warm and useful inside our bags, especially in your ridiculously large one. Honestly, what did you pack to need so much space? Your bag pack weights more than twice as much as mine. Did you take lots of books you won´t even read with you? Or rocks?" Nanami could only smile at the sweet words her companion gave her seconds ago. He is there for me, he will take care of me, keep me save and warm.
"I´m talking to you!" With that, she finally managed to come back to reality, away from her sweet daydreams about Tomoe holding her close, while whispering sweet nothings into Nanami´s ear between soft kisses. But that was not Tomoe. He was no sappy romantic, he was a centuries old fox demon, who had a difficult past and another breakdown after Mikage left him suddenly a while ago. Yet he always tried to do his best and cheer his lady and mistress up. Maybe sometimes he forced Nanami too much, or maybe she really had to take her role as a land god more serious. Either way, he was there for her. Maybe she needed to start do be more there for him?
"What was your last question? I was spacing out."
"I´ve noticed that. It´s was not that important though." Shaking her head, she answered: "no, I want to give you an answer, I should listen to you more." He lifted an eyebrow. "What did you pack that weights so much?"
"Uhm, books, clothes, extra shoes, sweets, food for Mamoru, where is he anyway, oh and…"
"Ok, I get it, lots of stuff I have to carry."
"I could help you! I do not want to be a burden to you."
"As long as you make your job as a land god", he said while shaking his head "you are no burden to me."
Happy, Nanami gave him a warm smile that could even melt the thickest ice. "I´ll try my best!"
They had no idea how long they stayed like that, with Nanami resting her head against Tomoe´s shoulder, while he still had his arms wrapped around her body, as suddenly their gondola started to move again with a shrieking sound. In less than five minutes they arrived at their station and were finally able to get out. Even though it was nice to finally be able to move again, Nanami was quite sad to leave the warm embrace. Tomoe gave her a questioning look as he grabbed all their belongings (I know you want to help, but it would take you too long to carry your own stuff, just take the keys and walk!) and followed her into freedom.
A couple of seconds later, Kurama and Mizuki arrived too. Hectically they jumped out of their gondola and gave them a strange look.
I wonder what they have done all the time while being trapped inside such a small place. Everything seems to be in one piece, so they probably did not fight… or am I wrong?
"Come on!", the fox demon shouted as he walked towards their bungalows. Behind him, the human girl wondered where he got all this enthusiasm from. Shaking her head, she rushed after him, the two other boys hot on her heels. It took them some minutes to finally arrive at their destination, but as soon as they saw their accommodations, the spirit of each of them lifted.
"By the way", Mizuki asked after a while of sulking, "who has got the keys?" The human land god and the Tengo froze, looking at each other with shocked expressions, while the snake just seemed confused over the sudden reaction. "I, uhm…", Nanami mumbled. Ahead of them, Tomoe let out a heavy sigh. "Be glad I am with you", he said with an annoyed voice, while throwing the little objects into the air and catching them immediately again. "But you only got two of them", Kurama pointed out. "I only booked two bungalows, so there are no more keys?" the human explained.
"Then we build pairs?" Nanami blushed at Mizuki´s question. "I actually planned to have one for myself and you guys sharing the other one."
"Definitely not! You come with me, otherwise kami knows what is going to happen to you!"
Said that, Tomoe unlocked one of the bungalows and pushed a cherry red Nanami inside it, leaving the tengu and the snake alone once again. "Hey, what about the key?", they shouted in union. The door opened again and Mizuki got hit on the head by a small metal object.
Why does he get to stay with Nanami?, they both wondered, as they made their way to their sleeping place. That´s not fair!
Riddle:
Which one of the following objects does not belong to the rest?
banana, strawberry, apple, mango, pear
chair, couch, armchair, table, bench
If you know the answer, send us a PM with the solution. As soon as all 24 Stories for our advent calendar project are uploaded, the one who solved the most riddles can determine one of the stories we uploaded to extend to a "full story". For more Information, please look up our first story written by Hana.
Stories so far:
1st December: Inuyasha – Lord of the kitchen
2nd December: Artemis Fowl – The tale of the handsome commander
3rd December: Inuyasha – Miroku´s wish list
4th December: Iron Fey Series – Dream beaches
5th December: Kamisama Kiss – How to not freeze to death
6th December: tomorrow