"Time again for me to bring you a quick update on the ongoing competition. Our newest addition to the circuit, Judy Hopps, just came in third place in the first race of the year. Congratulations to her on her great performance, and we're all lookin' forward to seeing how far she advances in the tournament when things get a little more challenging. The next race will be underway before we know it, so here's some more tunes for our competitors gettin' ready to carve it out on the slopes…"
Knowing that she managed to come in third just fine in the previous race, she felt her previous unease fade away during the ride on the shuttle bus to their next location. The conversations of the other competitors behind her came to a stop when the vehicle transporting them started to come to a stop.
The moment the driver pulled the handle that opened the shuttle bus's doors, Judy was the first to grab her board, emerge from her seat and step back out into the frosty scenery. As she started to make her way to where their next event was located, the other five competitors behind her got up from their seats and started to make their way over as well.
As they arrived to the starting gates, the sounds of the applause of spectators getting closer as they did so, they could see that Judy already had a bit of a head-start in getting prepared for the next race. She gripped onto the bars of the gate in front, shuffling around on her snowboard a little bit with a now-determined expression residing on her muzzle.
The loudspeakers started to come on above her. "Welcome to this year's second race event," an announcement stated.
A mixture of cheering and background music consisting of groovy electric guitar riffs, filled the gray rabbit's ears, making them perk up. The others all quickly took their positions at the starting gates that they desired.
The lagomorph gripped harder onto the gate's bars, and her tail started to twitch as she prepared herself for the moment the race commenced.
I've got this, she thought before the countdown began.
As she continued to direct herself down the race's course, she consistently managed to stay in third, just like in the event prior to this one.
The timber wolf competitor that was currently in front of her ended up making a sudden veer towards the right, and ended up traveling down a path that he presumed would be a way to pass up who was in first place. In the corner of her vision, however, Judy saw said snowboarder's pace slowing down after bumping into some sort of obstacle.
Her ears registered a small whimper in the distance that came from the canid, but she simply turned her head back to the snowy path in front of her. Now that he had been slowed down, the leporine was now the won to currently maintain a position in second place.
"Hey, rabbit girl!" a familiar voice taunted. "Don't go too slowly for me, you hear?"
Judy saw that arctic vixen that she now was named Skye grinding the rail to the left of her, starting to pass her up. All the doe did was roll her eyes at her little statement and continue to focus on her doing her best. She was in third now after being passed up, but that wasn't a bad number to place in.
The course eventually shifted into a series of turns that went downhill, and it could only be assumed that it had been designed intentionally to be a little more challenging for the competitors, The rabbit tried her best to navigate through them without slowing herself down too much. She could start to see Skye within her field of vision a short distance away from her.
However, the polar bear competitor, Snarlov, ended up swerving closely towards her, nearly knocking her off balance in the process, and taking away her third place spot. Passing him was the wolf that had been slowed down at the previous portion of course. Taking a quick glance behind her, the rabbit saw that the weasel behind her was now quite close to passing her up as well.
Judy and all of the other boarders braced themselves as they started to come up to a large jump. It was right when she was getting closer to it that the weasel that was only a few inches behind her passed her up, laughing as he did so.
The snowboarders flew passed the jump and up into the air. Skye, who was still currently in front of them all, showed off by performing a series of grab tricks while she was in the air.
Judy quickly decided to perform one of the tricks she was almost too familiar with, grabbing the heel edge of her board between her feet with her back paw. Some of the others did similar small tricks alongside her as they got closer to the ground once again.
The weasel that had been slightly in front of her, believing inside that he was all that, was doing a trick that involved one of his feet being taken out from the binding of his snowboard. However, he didn't manage to land the trick properly once he got closer to the ground, and a wipeout was what resulted resulted.
Judy and the others started to pass him by. The bunny started to lean forward on her snowboard, trying to gain as much as speed as she possibly could in an effort to catch up. A rail was coming up straight around, a few inches away from the middle of the snow-covered passageway.
She slid across it with much swiftness, passing the wolf and the polar bear that were in front of her. Coming up on her right was Skye, who looked a tad upset at the fact that the rabbit was getting closer to her.
At the next small jump, the vixen did an aerial backflip. That trick, although it looked cool when performed, seemed to slow her racing pace down. Judy managed to pass her up, and so did the polar bear gliding on the transparent snowboard.
The doe faintly heard Skye sprouting a curse, but she ignored and focused on the finish line that she was steadily approaching. Coming closer into view was the red fox that had spoke to her after the first race, who was obviously going to be the one to get first place in the event.
The russet-furred vulpine had crossed the finish line, and Judy did a short time after him. The bunny whooped as she took in the cheering once again.
The applause got louder once Snarlov got closer to the end of the course. The polar bear pressured the tail of his snowboard so the other half lifted off of the snow as he glided forward. Coming to a stop, he placed a paw curved slightly by his ear, nodding as he took the round of applause he was receiving.
The next one to arrive was Skye, who looked quite upset at coming in fourth place. "And I almost was gonna place in third too!" she muttered to herself through the crowd's ovation for the others, proceeding to place her paws over her face.
With wide, open-mouth smile residing against his muzzle, the timber wolf coming sliding through the finish line. Once again, he seemed to be in awfully pleasant mood despite coming in fifth place. If anyone needed the ideal image of what a good sport was like, Wolford was apparently the one to use as an example. He didn't seem to care that he was basically losing so far.
In dead last was the weasel, who, upon reaching the others, grunted under his breath and crossed his arms, the way kits do when they pout over something.
Nick said through the noise, "Congrats," making the bunny turn around to face him.
"Thanks," Judy replied. She started to walk up closer to where the fox was standing, that way they both could actually hear what they were saying to each other.
After a brief moment of silence, the vulpine stated, "I don't know about you, but I'm heading over to grab myself some hot tea now that all of this racing is over for the afternoon."
The doe looked back at the fox and asked, "They got a place here that makes it? Where's this at?"
"It's walking distance from where the accommodations for the tournament are, actually. It's a quaint little shop. You're more than welcome to stop over. They also got some of the best hot chocolate you'll find on the mountain, too."
"In that case, count me in."
Later...
The little establishment that the fox was pertaining to was constructed in the style of an old log cabin, complete with two rocking chairs near the entrance that gave it such a serene feel. And on top of him being correct about its quaintness, he was also right about it being so close to where her and the other competitors were accommodated.
Inside the little cafe was a series of wooden tables, and Judy took at the one that closest to the window that overlooked the views. The fox that happily invited her to check the place out pulled the chair that was on the other side of the table and sat down. He let out a sigh just a caribou started to walk over to where the two of them were seated.
"Hey, Nick," the reindeer greeted to the vulpine. "The usual, I presume?"
"You got it, sir," Nick replied.
"And I guess I'll take a hot chocolate," Judy chimed in. "He says you serve some of the best on the mountain."
With a smile, the caribou nodded his head and said, "Comin' right up, guys." As he went to walk away, he looked over at the rabbit that was sitting there and asked, "Wait a sec. You're Judy Hopps, right? The new participant in the tournament?"
"Yep," was the doe's simple reply.
"I was just listenin' to the radio and they said about how great you did out there." His mind coming back to what he was supposed to be doing, the cervid said, "I'll be right back with that hot chocolate in a jiffy."
Watching as the caribou walked away and went to another spot in the small building, Judy asked Nick, "You know him?"
"I know just about everybody here," the fox responded. "If you need to know where anything might be 'round the mountain, I'm the guy to ask."
Judy simply turned her head to the side and looked out the window. A minute or so later, the reindeer came back to the table with a small platter that had two hot mugs resting on it. He set the cups of tea and hot chocolate down and walked away.
Nick lifted his mug of black tea after letting it cool down for just a moment, taking a small sip. "Refreshing," he murmured, feeling refreshment from the warm beverage.
Shortly afterwards, Judy to give the cocoa that she had ordered a taste. Lifting the mug up to her mouth and taking a long sip of it, she savored the best of what truly was some of the best the she had probably tasted.
"Wow, that sure hits the spot," Judy remarked with a faint smile.
"I told you," Nick said. "You're not gonna find a place that serves stuff as good as this anywhere else around here." After a moment of silence, he added, "Maybe I can show you some other spots on the mountain when you're done."
Some Time Later...
"I'd like ya to meet two other good friends of mine. If you're ever looking for new gear, these guys got just about anything your heart desires."
Nick stepped up to the door and held it open for the doe. The pleasant twinkling of the shop's bell rung above her head as she took a step inside.
Aligning the space of the store was a large variety snowboards and skis with an assortment of different designs and decals on them. On the other side of her was a nice selection of boots and jackets and other clothing one would need for this type of weather she was in.
Standing on a stool at the desk where the store's register was located was a fennec fox, his claws tapping against the counter. "Yo, Wilde," he said as Nick walked up to where he was standing.
"Fin, my mammal," the russet fox greeted in reply, walking up and giving his good friend a quick fist bump. "How's it goin', buddy?"
"Not much goin' on today," the fennec replied. "Just the same ol' stuff, if ya know what I mean."
"Yeah." Nick simply nodded his head. When Judy walked up to him after having a quick look around, he said, "Hopps, this is Finnick."
Finnick greeted to the rabbit, "Good t' meet ya."
The vulpine informed, "He knows a thing or two about snowboarding too"—he toned his voice down to a whisper—"but he's not as good at it."
"What you whispering' 'bout, Wilde?" the fennec snapped, having overheard the hushed words of Nick. "Ya know I can hear you; these ears of mine ain't broken."
"I was just tellin' her about how you knew how to snowboard. Was also gonna mention the wipeout ya had on that slope back in-"
"Don't you bring that up. You know dang well that it wasn't my fault that happened t' me!"
The door from behind the register (leading to a spot reserved for the store employees only) swiftly opened up, and a beaver wearing a red-colored jacket emerged from around the corner.
"Hey there," the castorid said to Nick as he walked up towards the register.
"And this is Dave. He's the one that opened up this shop." Nick pointed to the lagomorph. "Dave, this Judy Hopps."
Judy shook the webbed paw of the beaver, as well as the paw of the fennec fox. After meeting the fox's two friends that he had talked about, she walked over to a portion of the store that she didn't check out yet as the others carried on a small conversation.
In far left corner of the store, a small space away from all of the snowboards, a small television sat on a sturdy wooden shelf. When she walked closer to it, she saw that it was playing older footage from previous circuits. Although the television appeared to be on mute, one didn't need to have volume to understand what was happening on the screen.
Footage of a beaver gliding down a slope on a snowboard that looked like sharp log started to play next. It showed highlights of some of his best tricks during race events, as well as a snippet of him holding the trophy he had won at one point. Underneath the picture that appeared on the television, the title of "The Nibbler" appeared.
After that faded to black, the television started to replay what she had just watched.
"That was quite some time ago," a voice said from behind her, and she turned around to see Dave, the beaver she had just met, standing behind her. "It's been awhile since I hit the slopes and performed moves like those."
Judy looked back at the television and then back at the beaver that was beside her. "Wait a minute," she said. "You're 'The Nibbler?'"
Dave nodded his head. "The one and only," he replied with a smile.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe this," the doe muttered, currently in a state of surprise that one of her favorite snowboarders from the previous tournaments she had watched was standing right before her. "I always rooted for you when I used to watch the circuits on TV. I've always wondered something about you, though?"
"What's that?" the beaver inquired.
Judy asked, "Why exactly did they call you 'The Nibbler?'"
"I was actually the one who came up with that nickname. It was just a funny play on the stereotype that we beavers always used to work with trees and wood and the like. It just kinda stuck with me and I went by ever since my first win."
"So when did you decide to open the shop?"
"When I decided to leave the circuit, I didn't really want to leave the mountain views behind. So I decided to open this place up for the new competitors to buy new gear and stuff. Seeing the fresh faces joining in the circuit puts a smile on my face. Well, except for that vixen Skye."
The leporine replied, "Yeah. She's definitely not a nice one."
"You got that right, rabbit. Ever since she was drafted and started winnin' the last few circuits, she's gotten to big for her boots. From what I heard about her, she had the same kind of attitude when she competed in skateboarding tournaments back when she was younger." Deciding to change the subject, Dave said, "I heard about how skilled y'are out on the slopes. I bet you're gonna do great in tomorrow's events."
Judy smiled. "Thank you." Upon hearing the sound of the shop's bell ringing once again, she turned around and saw the fox that brought her here walking back outside. "Anyhow, it's been great getting to meet you."
The beaver waved a paw back at her as she caught up with Nick. "You be sure to come back anytime you need anything."
As Judy walked out of the shop and back out into the snow, she looked over at the red fox standing there, grateful to find a nice friend that was also in the same tournament as her.