Silvan Arrow: Okay, it's time for chapter 3! Now things will start to get interesting!

Tyson: Interesting? Like how?

Silvan Arrow: Well, for one, we get to pick on you!

Tyson: What? That's not fair!

Silvan Arrow: I don't care what's fair for you. Now shut up and do the disclaimer!

Tyson: Oh fine. Silvan Arrow does not own Beyblade or any of its characters. Happy now?

Silvan Arrow: Yep! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 3: Snow Follies

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Bit beast mind-chatting with master

The next morning everyone was ready for a day of fun in the snow. Also, everyone except Bryan and Tammy was ready to put Operation Matchmaker into action. While the bladers were eating around the big breakfast table, Clara suddenly piped out: "Hey, we're…missing someone."

Amy looked around the table as well. "Yeah…where's Tyson?"

Hilary rolled her eyes and replied, "Oh, he's still sleeping. I tried to wake him up. I even said breakfast was ready, but he still kept snoring away."

Eri and Michelle glanced at each other and smirked. "We know a good way to wake him up," Michelle said deviously.

Five minutes later…

Eri and Michelle silently opened the door to Tyson's room and crept in, holding a bucket of snow between them. Tyson was still lying in bed, covers askew, snoring like a foghorn. They slowly made their way to his bedside, readied the bucket, and mouthed to each other, "One…two…three…" DUMP!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Uh…I guess that worked," Tammy remarked with a sweat drop.

"CCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLDDDDDD!"

Twenty minutes later…

"ACHOO!" Tyson sneezed. "I don't see why you had to dump snow on me just to wake me up!"

"Oh, get over it, Tyson. We're here to ski, not listen to you complain," Hilary scolded. At the moment, all the bladers were gathered at the foot of the mountain, sporting winter attire and ski equipment.

"So has anyone here been skiing before?" Rei asked. The four Blitzkrieg Boys' hands went up, as well as Emily's. Rei sighed. "We're in trouble…"

The girls decided that this was the perfect opportunity to put Phase One of Operation Matchmaker into action. Objective: Get Bryan and Tammy onto the same ski lift. As everyone got in line to get on the ski lift, all the girls quickly paired off with their boyfriends, leaving just Bryan and Tammy. So far, so good. Bryan and Tammy shared a chair, with Eri and Tala in front and Michelle and Kai behind them. Kai noticed that Michelle was watching the lift in front of them rather intently. "You've got that look in your eye again. What are you doing?" Kai asked suspiciously.

"Spying," Michelle replied with an innocent grin.

"Tala might not appreciate you spying on his baby sister."

Michelle shrugged. "So? I don't care. Besides, he's way up there. He won't find out." Kai sighed in resignation and leaned back in the chair. Better not to argue.

Meanwhile, Bryan and Tammy had been silent during the whole ride up the mountain. After sitting in this awkward silence for a few minutes, Tammy finally decided to try and strike up a conversation. "So…do you ski a lot?" Ah, a question about skiing. How original…

"Yeah, I went skiing with my team a lot in Russia," Bryan replied.

"Oh, that's right. You grew up in Russia," Tammy said. "So…do you think you could show me the basics?"

"Hmmm…I guess it couldn't hurt," Bryan replied with a smirk. Just then their lift reached the top of the mountain, so both bladers dismounted. He positioned himself at the top of the slope with Tammy beside him. He pretended to ignore the bewildered stares the others were sending him. To think Bryan was actually talking to her... "Just don't cross your skis, and lean into your turns."

Tammy looked down the slope and gulped. "Um…it's pretty high up."

"Scared of heights?" Bryan teased with a smirk.

"Who, me? I'm not scared of anything!" Tammy exclaimed indignantly.

"Well, I'll stick close by in case you fall." Tammy had to suppress a blush at Bryan's sudden change of attitude. Since when did he actually volunteer to help anyone? She brushed those thoughts aside when he suddenly started down the slope, spraying snow in her face. "Race ya to the bottom!"

"Hey, no fair! Come back here, you cheater!" Tammy yelled as she started after him, her slight apprehension completely forgotten. Meanwhile, Eri and Michelle shared a secret high-five. So far their plan was working perfectly.

They skied all morning before breaking for lunch. After lunch, Tyson and Max begged to have a snow war. The others agreed, since they knew those two hyperactive teens wouldn't stop nagging until they got their wish. "Let's make it boys versus girls!" Tyson added. Everyone groaned.

"Isn't that a little unfair, Tyson?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, it is. It's unfair for you!" Michelle taunted. "Get ready to eat snow, boys!" With that, she led the rest of the girls to one side of the snow-covered field to start building a fort. The guys followed suite and started building their own fort. Within ten minutes, both teams had built a sizable wall of snow and a huge pile of snowballs. The girls also had the foresight to add two extra walls to their fort for extra cover. Tyson had the audacity to throw the first snowball, which hit Hilary in the head.

"That's the first shot! Return fire!" Mariam ordered. The girls screamed and started throwing snowballs like crazy. The guys quickly returned fire. Eri and Michelle made sure to hit Tyson and Ian, the most annoying members of their teams, multiple times before concentrating on the rest of the opposition. Tala threw one snowball that hit Eri on the shoulder, and she retaliated by throwing one that hit him smack in the face. Michelle pelted Kai with half a dozen snowballs before he scored a hit on her.

Finally Michelle had had enough of stalling and nodded at Eri. "Cover for us!" Eri shouted before she and Michelle jumped out of their fort and started charging for the guys' fort, still throwing snowballs. Mariam, Hilary, Mariah, and Emily covered them with support fire while Clara, Amy, and Tammy kept a lookout for any guys foolish enough to charge for their fort.

Tammy caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and spotted Bryan sneaking toward them along the outskirts of the field. 'Hehehe…I'll show him,' she thought wickedly before pelting him with snowballs. Bryan didn't seem fazed at all but instead started sprinting for their fort. In desperation, Tammy jumped out and tackled him, pinning him to the ground. "You don't look so tough from this angle, Bryan," Tammy taunted as she pinned his shoulders to the ground.

Bryan smirked and used his weight to throw her off and switched positions so he pinned her to the ground. He kept a firm hold on her wrists and pinned them on either side of her body. "Looks like the odds are in my favor now," Bryan teased. Just then a whoop was heard in the distance, and Bryan looked up to see Michelle doing a victory dance on top of the guys' demolished fort while Eri high-fived the rest of her teammates.

Tammy noted the position she and Bryan were in and spoke up: "Uh…Bryan?" He turned his head to look at her. "You can get off me now." His eyes widened in embarrassment and he tried to not blush ten shades of red as he hastily scrambled to his feet and dusted snow off his jacket. He walked over to the rest of the guys, mumbling curses in Russian under his breath, before Tammy could say anything.

After the snow war, Mariah suggested that they go ice-skating. No one had any objections, so it was off to the frozen lake, ice skates in hand. 'Am I the only one who doesn't know how to ice skate?' Tammy thought in frustration as she watched everyone else. Well, Kenny kept falling every five seconds, so at least she wasn't the only one who stunk. Emily stayed busy constantly helping him to his feet. Tammy pulled on her ice skates and hesitantly stepped out onto the ice. Her feet felt shaky beneath her as she tried to keep her balance. 'Oh crap…I'm gonna fall…' she thought frantically as she waved her arms to try and stay upright. She skidded across the ice, out of control, until she smacked into another body and felt a pair of arms catch her. (A/N: Guess who?)

"Are you okay?" Tammy looked up, met Bryan's eyes, and failed to hide the slight blush across her face.

"Uh…yeah, I'm fine," she stammered as she pulled away, slipped, and gripped his shoulder for support.

Bryan smirked. "I take it you don't ice skate much?"

"Try never," Tammy replied. "But of course you, being from Russia and all, are an expert."

Bryan chuckled. "Believe me, I stunk far more than you my first time." He grabbed her hand. "Come on, I won't let you fall." Tammy forced a smile and let him drag her across the ice.

Aw…isn't that cute?

Everyone got back to the ski lodge just as it was getting dark. After changing out of their wet clothes and showering, they ate dinner and sat around the large living room in front of a roaring fire trying to decide what to do next. Rei and Hilary fixed steaming mugs of hot chocolate for everyone.

"That was a fun day," Mariah commented as she snuggled against Rei on the couch.

"Yeah, we should do it again," Hilary agreed.

Silence fell over the room, until Tyson blurted out, "I'm bored."

"Well, what do you have in mind, Mr. Smarty Pants?" Ian asked sarcastically.

"Hey, I've got it!" Everyone turned to look at Emily. "Let's play Truth or Dare!"

End chapter 3

Author's Note: And there you have it! The first cliffy of this story! I know Bryan was probably OOC, so please don't flame me for that. I hope this chapter wasn't too cheesy or boring, and I'm sorry if it's a little short.In case some of you are confused about the OCs, I have detailed descriptions of them on my profile. They've been in the other stories in this series, but it's not necessary to read them to understand this plot. Of course, I always like it when new people read my stories! Next chapter is the fateful game of Truth or Dare. I can't wait to write that chapter! Hey, if any of you reviewers have ideas for dares for any of the characters, I would love to hear them. PLEASE REVIEW!