This is my first ever fanfic. It wasn't originally a fanfic, but the characters seemed to fit, so it is now. Cardrona is a ski field in New Zealand, and the Rock Garden and Paradise are ski runs in Captain's Basin.

Disclaimer: Briar and Sandry are not mine, they are Tamora Pierce's.

Briair and Sandry Hit the Slopes

"Race ya down to the bottom!" Sandry's shout echoed over Cardrona ski field as she took off down the mountain.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Briair laughed as he raced after Sandry.

Sandry swished down, through the Rock Garden, over the miniscule drop off into Paradise, and straight down to the lift queue. Briair took a different route, straight to Paradise, but on the way he hooked the edge of his ski and toppled over. He jumped straight up, and carried on down, but his stupid fall had cost him, he wasn't going to catch up with Sandry now. He would do his best though, and was in time to see her take the drop off, flick a huge grin back at him, and ski on down the field.

"Bend stupid knees, bend!" Briair muttered at his knees as he went over a particularly large bump and skidded to a halt next to Sandry, showering her with snow.

"Ugh! Briair! That went down my neck!"

"I know!' laughed Briair. "Cool ae!"

Sandry just looked coldly at him, and moved into the lift queue. Still sniggering, Briair joined her. He stopped abruptly when Sandry elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"I don't know, the melting snow trickling down my back?" Sandry suggested sweetly. "What was that for?"

"Cheating in that race" scowled Briair.

"I never! I said race you, so I did. If you didn't want to race you didn't have to. So there." Sandry stuck out her tongue.

"Well you did cheat, you never said go." Briair retaliated by elbowing her.

The argument soon escalated into a full blown elbow war. People on either side started to give them strange looks when Sandry yelped.

"Annoying me - is that your only desire Briar? Haha that rhymes!" Sandry dissolved into a loud fit of the giggles.

"Shut up, people are looking at us!" Briair hissed, causing Sandry to laugh harder at the mortification on Briair's face. "Sandry! Sandry, shut up!" When he received no response, Briair elbowed her hard.

Sandry wobbled, arms and poles flailing as she tried to regain her balance.

"Bri – ii – ii – iar!" she shrieked as she fell on top of the person beside her. Sandry and the lady went down in a tangle of limbs, poles and skis waving in the air, taking others in the lift queue out. A domino effect was immediately created, with everyone toppling over, knocking over friends and strangers alike with legs, arms and poles. Briair was the only one standing, aside from the lifties.

"Cool!" he exclaimed. "I have always wanted to do that. Never knew it could take everyone down like that though!" He grinned.

"Help me up!" Sandry ordered through gritted teeth, absolutely horrified at what Briair had done.

Meanwhile the lifties had rushed over, some to create a new queue for the people already joining the end of the stationary line, some to help the collapsed boarders and skiers up. The skiers and borders that had just reached the bottom were all grinning in amusement, happy to be skipping most of the queue. The people in the original queue had varying reactions, some like Briair, were highly amused, and enjoying themselves. Some were mildly amused, but more irritated. And some, not very many, but unfortunately a few, were hopping mad, almost throwing tantrums, yelling at the lifties to untangle them and that they were going to sue. The lifties, struggling to hide their grins, surreptitiously avoided those people, and let them push and shove their way back up. They were right when they assumed that the people surrounding the tantrum throwers wouldn't stand for that, and they sneakily knocked them back down, until they shut up and stopped complaining. It took the lifties a good ten or fifteen minutes to get everyone back on their feet, and in the meantime Briair and Sandry were apologising to as many people as possible. When a liftie passed them in the queue, Sandry reached out and snagged his jacketed arm.

"Excuse me, would we be able to write a note on your white board, apologising for knocking everyone over?"

"What! Sandry! You can't expect me to apologise to everyone, you were the one that fell on that lady."

"Well I will apologise then," Sandry said and turned back to the liftie. "Would it be possible for me" here she shot a look at Briair, "to write on your white board when I get up there?"

"Of course." The liftie laughed, "Give me a wave and I will chuck you a pen when you get up to there."

"Thanks" Sandry replied, relief evident in her voice, before she started lecturing an unresponsive Briair on doing the right thing.

Sandry got up to the white board, and caught the pen the liftie threw at her. Briair stood at her side muttering about her making them be passed by every person on the ski field while she 'did the right thing'.

"Shush Briair, I am concentrating" Sandry resumed writing with her tongue poking out. "There, finished!" She said with a flourish.

Briair turned to read the sign when he heard the people behind him laugh.

My foster brother Briair would like to apologise for causing everyone in the lift queue to fall over, however is too embarrassed to do so, so I will apologise on his behalf.
If retaliation is desired, he is the skier with a bright yellow and green jacket, and electric blue ski pants. My apologies, Lady Sandrilene fa Toren.

"Sandry!" Briair exclaimed. "Not funny!"

"Sure Briair, whatever you say. Let's go or we will miss our chair." Sandry grabbed Briair and dragged him forwards. "Come on, we will stop at the café and grab a hot chocolate next run."