Author's Notes: I have nothing much to say here, except "thanks for the reviews, please leave more and hope you enjoy!" Oh, and I guess this takes place during Season 3, or some alternate universe...or something.
Chapter Two
Skiing
"On your mark…"
Ezekiel gulped and turned around for a moment, looking at the redheaded girl standing poised beside him.
"Get set…"
Izzy---the girl he was head over heels for, but at the same time his competition and opponent for this challenge---turned and looked back at him through her goggles, grinning excitedly.
"GO!"
Both of them turned back instantly and pushed off from the starting line, shooting past Chris down the hill; on either side the two teams cheered for their respective competitors, as Ezekiel closed his eyes for a quick prayer and Izzy screamed insanely to those yetis who would never take her alive.
She had a reason to be more confident: Izzy had the clear advantage in this competition, being a world-class expert at any sport where participants were likely to get killed. Ezekiel, on the other hand, had grown up on a flat prairie and had hardly ever skied in his life.
A fact which he proved in the first ten seconds by nearly crashing into a rock.
"Agh!"
He quickly swerved out of the way, fumbled and nearly swept out (wiped in? Something like that), as Izzy sailed by, her hair whipping behind her as she cackled like the beautiful madwoman she was.
"Ooh noo you doon't," Ezekiel muttered, narrowing his eyes against the cold as he took off after her, somehow managing to catch up a minute later. Izzy looked over and laughed, grinning wickedly.
"Isn't this fun, Zeke? Ooh, look out! First jump coming up!"
"Huh?!" Ezekiel turned and saw the ledge loom into view, complete with snowy wooden ramp. His eyes widened, face paling to about a shade darker than the snow. "Uh-ooh."
"WHA-HA! WHOO!"
"AGH!"
Both contestants went flying through the air, Izzy laughing, Ezekiel with a low bellow of fear. He closed his eyes tightly, expecting to crash—
—and, after what felt like a ridiculously long time, felt his skis hit the ground, stumbled for a few steps, but then managed to right himself so he was once again sailing half-competently through the snow down the mountain.
Ezekiel blinked. "I'm alive?" he said, flabbergasted.
"Whoo, made it, Zeke!" Izzy shouted, once again skiing beside him. "Ooh, here comes the next one! YEE-HAW-HA-HA!"
The second ramp came up; this time Ezekiel clenched his jaw, speeding along the path towards it; Izzy saw this and giggled, pushing herself faster to keep up.
"WHEE!" she called, flying through the air.
"WHOO=HOO!" Ezekiel countered, flying along beside her.
Ezekiel's skis hit the ground again; this time he only lost his balance for a second, and grinned broadly as he righted himself. This wasn't so bad after all, eh! Heck, this was downright fun once you stopped being terrified! Who knew he would have been so good at this? He turned over and called to Izzy. "This is great, eh?!"
"Eh-eh!" she giggled, then motioned with her head. "Last one! See you at the finish line, bucko!"
"We'll see aboot that, ha-ha!"
The two went flying towards the ramp again; Ezekiel pushed hard with his…skiing sticky-thingies, he didn't know what they were called, and managed to pull ahead of Izzy by a second, taking off into the air with a wild whoop of joy. He heard Izzy let out a laugh behind him—but it was suddenly cut off by an "uh-oh," just as Ezekiel's skis hit the ground.
"Aaaggghhh!"
He turned; Izzy, who had apparently been trying to execute some sort of stunning mid-air back-flipping somersault of death, or something, had somehow messed up and lost control, falling with her legs held out away from the ground and trying with no success to right herself. Ezekiel's eyes widened again and he spun around, skiing over to her as Chris' voice boomed over the loudspeakers.
"And with only fifty feet left in the race, it looks like Ezekiel has this all tied up! And if---hey. Hey! What the---"
Izzy screamed as Ezekiel skidded to a stop right under her, diving forward---
---just in time to catch her, nearly falling forward with her sudden extra weight filling his outstretched arms.
Izzy blinked, then looked up into Ezekiel's startled face. Her look of fear changed instantly to a grin as she brushed her hair from her face, lifting up her goggles. "Oh. Hey Zekey!" she said, giving him a wink.
Ezekiel smiled weakly. "You ookay, eh?"
"Mmm..." She laid her head on his shoulder, snuggling into his jacket as Ezekiel's numb face started to burn. "Never better."
"Um---" Chris rushed out with his microphone in hand, just as the two teams were scrambling down the path towards the finish line. "Since neither Ezekiel nor Izzy have crossed the finish line yet, it's still anybody's ra---"
"You look coold. Do you want me to take you back to the mess hall, eh?"
"Ooh! Can you make me some hot chocolate?" Izzy asked, looking up at him with a childlike twinkle in her eyes.
Chris blinked. "What?! No, you two need to---"
"A' course!" Ezekiel said, grinning wildly as he pulled Izzy closer. "With real chocolate too, eh. Not that stoore-bought crud."
"And can it have marshmellows and whipped cream, and those little flakes of chocolate and some Reeses M&Ms? And with mashed-up potato chips and a hint of Scotch mixed in?"
"Er---soo'r. Whatever you like, eh."
Ezekiel turned and began to carry her away. Chris, along with most of the other contestants, gaped after them.
"No---get back here!" Heather raged, stomping her foot. "You're supposed to be finishing this challenge!"
"Come back, Zeke, you were almost there!"
Neither of the two lovebirds seemed to hear them; Ezekiel simply carried Izzy past the finish line without a glance and disappeared into the mess hall.
Everybody stared in silence. Cody giggled into his hand. Courtney glared at him, annoyed, then turned to Chris. "Well?! Who wins then?!"
"I don't know!" Chris said, throwing up his hands as Chef tossed his hat onto the snow. "And there goes our bet, I had a hundred bucks on that inbred little lothario..."
A/N: I live in Florida and have thus never skied; sorry if that means I described it poorly. Either way, please tell me via review! ;-D
