The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Snowball Battle
I stood by the window, watching the last few snowflakes cascade down to the earth. At some point last night, the weather had turned blizzard-like and it had only begun to let up this afternoon, leaving the ground covered by at least a foot of snow.
I turned around to look at the Flock, who were sitting on the two couches in the living room. They all looked pretty bored, probably because we hadn't done anything all day. None of us were used to this laid-back lifestyle, even though we'd been at the cabin for a few weeks now.
"So, who wants to go out and play in the snow?" I asked, hoping to liven everyone up.
Angel perked up right away. "Can we, Max?"
I nodded, smiling, as she jumped from the couch and started pulling her boots on. Nudge and Gazzy weren't far behind. Iggy was taking his time, but I could see that he was excited to get out and do something… do anything, really. Total simply grunted, as if to say, "Yeah, right. Like I'm going outside in the snow." And Fang was…
Fang was not moving.
I walked over to him and lightly kicked his leg. "Get up."
"I'm not going out to play in the snow, Max," he responded, looking at me like I'd just suggested that we should go do the polka with a group of Erasers.
"You don't have to play. You can just watch everyone else enjoying themselves," I said with a smirk.
He didn't say anything, just looked away, shaking his head.
"Oh, come on, Fang. It'll be fun," I promised. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and started to pull him off the couch. He sighed and stood up of his own free will, but didn't pull his arm out of my grasp.
I let go and took a few steps in the direction of the downstairs bedrooms.
"Let me just check on Ella before we go out. I want to see if she's feeling any better," I said. She had eaten breakfast with us, but went back to bed afterwards, saying she didn't feel well. I figured she was probably coming down with a cold…
"Uh, Max? I'll go check… You know, to see if maybe she wants soup or something," Iggy offered.
I smiled, feeling like Iggy had accepted my sister as one of us and was therefore worthy of his time and effort. "Sure, Ig, just let her know we'll be outside."
A few minutes later, Iggy returned to the living room, where the rest of us were waiting patiently – when I say patiently, I mean that Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel were practically vibrating with excited impatience.
"She said she's feeling a little better, but wants to rest a while longer. I told her if she needs anything, she can tell Total to come and get me… or you or Fang."
Angel giggled and I looked at her curiously. She smiled innocently and asked, "Can we go now, Max?"
Well, it seemed like a good suggestion at the time… But once we were outside, we kinda just stared at each other, unsure of what exactly to do.
"We could make another snowman," Nudge said, displacing the awkward silence.
"We just did that last week," Gazzy complained. "I have a better idea." He reached into the snow, taking a handful up.
Five seconds later…
"Did you seriously just throw a snowball at the blind kid!?" Iggy bellowed.
With lightning-quick speed and precision, Iggy packed a snowball together and whipped it at Gazzy.
It made a splat as it collided with his face.
Everyone looked at Iggy. How did he do that? After that thought started to fade, our attention turned back to Gazzy, who was wiping the slush off of his face, and as if on cue, everyone burst out laughing…
…except for Gazzy. Apparently, it's not so funny when you get blasted in the face with a lump of frigid snow.
His expression turned to that of a madman as he rapidly began making more snowballs and hurling them at the rest of us.
We each took off, running in various directions. There were snowballs whizzing through the air all around us and I realized Gazzy wasn't the only one throwing them now.
I leaned forward clumsily as I was still running, trying to scoop some of the icy fluff into my hand, but I tripped, landing in the snow on my hands and knees. I looked up slowly and saw Fang standing about ten feet in front of me, staring impassively as he shaped a clump of snow in his hands.
"You wouldn't," I jokingly threatened.
His lips quirked into a smirk as he pulled his arm back, aiming the snowball…
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the cold wetness that would accompany the impact…
Whoosh…
Splat.
I heard it, yet I didn't feel anything. Nudge shrieked from behind me and I whirled around to look, immediately assuming a Flyboy was attacking her. I saw nothing unusual, though… except for the remains of Fang's snowball dripping from her forehead.
…always got my back, I thought to myself.
"That's not fair!" Nudge yelled. I turned to Fang, grinning, and mouthed, "Let's get her."
He answered with a wicked grin of his own and bent to scoop up another fistful of snow. I followed his lead and started packing snow between my gloved hands.
Nudge must have noticed the mischievous glint in our eyes as we both looked at her because her expression changed and she started running to escape our line of fire, calling out Angel's name for help.
Fang grabbed my sleeve and pulled me when he began chasing after her, but I yanked myself from his grasp, racing ahead of him…
Gazzy saw us in pursuit of Nudge and called out, "Hey! You can't team up!"
I chuckled. "Well, we just did!" I replied. I slowed my pace as I watched him tug at Iggy's arm, saying something very quietly to him. A smirk appeared on his face as he nodded in agreement to the Gasman's request.
I assumed they were now paired up into a team of their own because Iggy shouted in our direction, "Bring it on, you two!"
They immediately started packing together lumpy balls of snow.
"This is war!" Nudge called out, with Angel in tow. So apparently they had both crossed over and joined the evil let's-attack-the-Flock's-leading-members society as well...
Gazzy began cackling like a sadistic maniac, running toward us with a snowball in each hand.
I turned to Fang, laughing, and yelled, "Retreat! Retreat!"
We ran beside each other, laughing as the stampede of bird-kids trailed behind us.
"We'll never surrender," Fang called out over his shoulder, grinning wildly.
"To the trees," I said to him, pouring on as much speed as my genetically-enhanced legs could handle. Fang kept the pace easily…
We hid in a small cluster of evergreens once we thought the others couldn't see us anymore. After we caught our breath and quieted our laughter, Fang looked at me and smiled slightly. "Thanks for making me come out. I haven't had this much fun in… ever, really," he said very quietly.
I couldn't help but smile at that. We spent the next hour-long minute just looking at each other, not saying anything. It was weird… and yet, I didn't mind…
"Ambush!" Nudge and Gazzy shouted simultaneously while barging into our little safety zone, interrupting a moment I wasn't sure I wanted to be having. Then again, I wasn't sure I didn't want to be having it, either. Confusing myself, I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind to muse over at a later time.
Iggy and Angel soon burst into sight on the opposite side. We were surrounded before we could make a mad dash for a new hiding spot…
Gazzy lifted a snowball and had his eyes locked on me…
"No, Gaz. She's mine," Nudge said with a crooked grin that told me she was having way too much fun with this. Gazzy passed off a large snowball to her and she wasted no time lifting it back, aiming directly at my face…
Whoosh...
Fang jumped in front of me at the last second and took the hit. Splat! He dropped to his knees, clutching his chest, and then fell over on his side. He rolled onto his back, pretending to writhe in agony. Honestly, I was impressed that he was putting on the little charade to amuse the younger kids, so I decided to play along…
"Oh, Fang!" I yelled in mock fright, dropping down by his side. "Don't leave me!" A whole new wave of raucous laughter erupted, none of us able to contain ourselves.
Angel composed herself for just long enough to explain the scene to Iggy, who then cried out, "Fang! Don't go! We need you!" This sent Fang over the edge. He was actually laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes, a sight I'd previously seen only once in my lifetime.
Gasping for a breath, I smiled inside, knowing that even after all we've been through, we still had the ability to just let go and have some fun…
Big thanks to the following people who suggested this chapter:
F0r all The Wr0nG ReAs0ns - sparkleglitz01 - xhatedvampirex
Review, please? And more suggestions are always welcome. :-)