Just like he had said not too long ago, Snarlov's friend wasn't too far away from where Judy had been. He was exactly right when he told her that it was just a short journey from the end of Snow Jam towards where the nearby lodge.
Judy looked over at the building that belonged to this friend of his, a simple construction that stretched a bit further out than she had imagined it prior to arriving. Right near the front entrance were some colorful decorations (all of them having soft shades of brighter colors) that stood out against the snowy background surrounding the place. While it didn't seem like anybody was around here at the current moment, the yellowish light glowing in the building's window indicated that it was open and that somebody was there.
The rabbit picked her board off the ground, dusted the snow off the bottom of it, and followed Snarlov as they walked over. They stepped up towards the entrance and the polar bear placed a paw against the white door to push it open.
As soon as she and Snarlov stepped inside, the sounds of a classic rock tune pierced around them, the volume in which it was playing being a bit too loud. Several metallic signs as well as some posters of bands from back in the day could be seen adorning the walls, with there barely being a spot around them that didn't have something placed within it. Below where some of these things had been placed were a series of wide-spanning shelves, lined up in a way that ran clear over towards the front counter located on the opposite side of the shop.
"Delgato!" Snarlov said over the music.
The lion that was working over at the front counter heard him and looked over, waving back at him as he went over to the radio and turned his music down to a much quieter volume. "Hey, Snarlov," he called back. "How's it goin', mammal?"
"Not bad, my friend," the bear replied. "Not bad."
"Heard ya got first place on that trick event," Delgato mentioned as he and Judy walked over towards where he was standing. "Congratulations. From what I was hearin' on the broadcasts, those moves you were bustin' on that course were pretty fire. Wish I could've seen 'em for myself. Just had t' root for ya from here."
"Well, I very much appreciate it," Snarlov responded. Looking over at the rabbit next to him, he added, "Anyway, I'd like to introduce you to fellow member of the circuit, Judy Hopps."
"Nice to meet ya," the gray doe said as she shook paws with the lion behind the counter.
"Pretty stoked t' be meeting you in the flesh," Delgato replied. "You've been pretty amazing out on Peak One as well."
"Thanks," said Judy. "Hoping that by bein' the first female bunny on the circuit and givin' it my all, I'll inspire the next competitors for years to come."
"So what brings you here, Hopps?" the feline inquired.
"Judy told me that she's been thinking about getting a new board for the next events," Snarlov chimed in. "After she saw that board of yours that I been using recently and told her it was made by you, she thought that maybe you could make her something unique as well."
"I sure can," Delgato remarked with a chuckle. He looked down at Judy and asked, "So what exactly are ya lookin' for me t' make?"
The rabbit pondered on that for a brief moment, tapping her finger against the side of her face. "I didn't really have something specific in mind," she responded admittedly. "But I've recently had an interest in things that looked a bit… futuristic. Y'know what I mean?"
"I think I know what ya mean, Hopps," replied Delgato.
Judy looked over at the board she held up beside her. "I'm looking for something that looks like something you'd see in the movies or a sci-fi story."
The lion remained silent for a moment before he looked like he had remembered something. "You know, I actually think I got something already made in the shop that I think you'll like. It matches what you're probably lookin' for perfectly. Follow me."
Judy followed the tall feline as he walked over to some shelving on the right side of the shop. As he quickly scanned for where he had placed what he was looking for, she took a glance at some of the other boards that were available.
Turns out Snarlov was right when he said about this place having some unique creations, she thought.
A couple of the snowboards resting upon the shelves, just like the one the polar bear had that looked like an ice block, didn't have the regular appearance of a generic snowboard whatsoever. Some of them were in a different shape, some of them looked like they were made of different material, and some of them looked a bit on the sillier side.
It didn't hurt to have a look at what some of these were, so Judy simply took her time while Delgato walked over to the opposite side of the shop, certain that what he was searching for was around there somewhere. The first one that caught her eye for an instant looked like a sled, which was pretty cool to her because it reminded her of the memories of playing on a sled in wintertime as a young child.
The second one she saw in the corner of her eye was a snowboard that looked like a large carrot. The board was bright orange in color and constructed almost in the shape of one. While seeing that managed to get a good laugh out of her, she dismissed the idea of choosing that one. She might have been a rabbit, but that was just a little too cliche to her.
Before she could browse through anything else, the lion that ran the shop came walking back over to where she was standing. "Here's one that matches what you're lookin' for," he told her, handing the snowboard he had in his paws over to her.
The board was dark black with an abstract pattern of green lines stretching across its surface. The thing that made it interesting, however, were the bindings in which she was to place her boots into. Both of them had lights around them that were glowing in a deep red color.
"I love those lights," the rabbit said to herself. "This is probably the coolest thing I've seen."
The lion overheard her and replied, "That was the first time I ever tried to do somethin' with those kind of lights and such. All of them's submersible, so it can handle any terrain and not be affected. A buddy of mine's pretty smart with this kind of stuff, so he gave me some of the ones he did some sorta programmin' on for me to put on there."
"What's that?" inquired Judy, curious to know what he was talking about regarding the lights.
"Set the board down on the ground and put your paws into it."
Judy did what Delgato suggested, placing it on the store's floor and slowly stepping in it. The instant that her paws were secure within the bindings of the board, the lights around them changed from red to a tone of green.
She looked down at the illumination in surprise, then took one paw out of the snowboard the way she would have to do a trick on a course. The lights around where she had that paw placed went back to the red color they originally were. It seemed like they had some sort of sensor to them, changing hue when she did that motion.
"These lights are the coolest," Judy said with a smile. "I love it!"
Delgato chuckled in response. "Thought you might like that touch," he replied.
"This definitely got that futuristic vibe to it. I'm thinking this board's gonna be my new go-to for the circuit."
"Well, consider it my contribution to the great performance you're gonna have out on the peak." The lion then turned his head just as Snarlov was walking over to where he was standing, and he redirected his attention back to him. "Now then," he said to him, "I didn't forget 'bout that new board you requested. Wait right here while I go get it for ya."
The polar bear patiently waited while his good friend went back over to the front counter of the store. He returned to where he was a moment later, holding the snowboard that he was waiting to get from him.
"I present you with this masterpiece," Delgato remarked with pride.
He handed Snarlov the thing he had created specifically for him awhile ago. What he now held onto looked more like a surfboard rather than a typical snowboard, which was painted in bright blue and had a sled-like bottom to it.
"Taking up surfing, Snarlov?" Judy inquired jokingly.
The bear chuckled in response to the rabbit's remark. "Nah," he replied. "Believe it or not, Hopps, I've always wanted to take vacay to an island or somethin', that way I could give surfing a whirl. Figured I could get it down since it's slightly similar to my profession." After a small moment of silence, he shrugged his shoulders and added, "I know it sounds silly for a polar bear like me to have an interest in surfing, but…"
"That's not silly at all," the doe said back. "That sounds like something nice to do sometime."
"Yeah," responded Snarlov. "I've always had a thing for trying different things, and that's just one of the experiences I'd like to have."
"Glad I was able to help you both," Delgato chimed in. "There anything else I can do for either of ya?"
"Nah, mammal, I'm good," the bear told his friend. "I'm actually meeting up with some old friends in a little bit, and that gives me to try your creation out on the snow for the first time."
"Hangin' out with the Sleuth, I presume?" the lion asked.
"You presumed correctly," Snarlov replied with a nod of his head.
"What's the Sleuth?" Judy said.
"That's the nickname given to me and two of my friends from previous circuits," the ursid informed. "Even though they're doing their own things now, we still get together sometimes and go for a freeride 'round the peak."
"Sounds like fun," replied the rabbit.
"Well, I'm gonna have to head out and go meet up with 'em. Don't wanna keep 'em waitin' too long."
Snarlov started to walk out of the shop after waving Delgato goodbye for now, and Judy followed him back out into the snow again.
A Short Time Later...
After a quick trip on one of the peak's lifts, Snarlov found himself gliding across the terrain near an unmarked path. Judging by how this particular spot on the mountain looked, he believed that this was where he had been told in the message from his friends to be.
Slowly dragging his back paw in the snow a bit, he smoothly brought himself to a stop. His experience with the brand new snowboard from Delgato, without a doubt, was pretty positive.
Nothin' beats that feeling of a new board on fresh snow, Snarlov thought with a grin.
He wasn't wrong with that observation; if he were to ask nine out of ten mammals with great passion for this sport, he was certain they would say the same thing. That new-board sensation that came with trying it out for the first time, to him, was like the new-car smell that came with a recently-acquired automobile. And by that, he meant that nothing beat it.
Just as he was about to reach into his pocket and send another message to them on his Z-Comm, he started to see his friends coming up ahead. Pulling up towards him was a portly-looking grizzly bear, and not too far behind was a female panda riding a snowboard that looked like it was constructed out of bamboo that was hooked together.
"Yo, Snarlov!" the grizzly greeted enthusiastically.
"Barry," Snarlov said back to him as they both slapped led together and gave each other a quick high-four. "Long time, no see, dude."
"First place winner on that trick showdown at Crow's Nest, huh?" Barry inquired shortly afterwards.
The polar bear nodded his head. "Yeah, mammal, that's what I got."
The grizzly chuckled in response. "I ain't surprised, dude. Back when the three of us was in the circuit, you always were the one bustin' the sickest tricks."
With a shrug of his shoulders, Snarlov remarked, "Hey, it's like riding a bike, isn't it? You get the fundamentals down, and the rest from there is pretty much second nature."
Barry laughed once again. "Y'know some of those ones ya do where ya literally jump outta the board and stuff? I had a couple wipeouts tryin' some of 'em out for myself on my own terms."
"Yeah, but those tricks aren't even as insane as the ones that hyena did back when we were in the circuit," Snarlov said upon remembering something. "What was that guy's name again?"
"Psymon," replied Barry a second later.
The white-furred ursid snapped his fingers together the moment he heard that name again. "That's who I was thinkin' of. Gosh, he was loco."
"There was a reason the dude's name was spelled the same as the word 'psycho,'" his friend remarked.
"Yep," responded Snarlov. "I mean, I know he was a hyena, but that laugh he made whenever he'd knock one of his down on the slope... That ain't somethin' you just forget, y'know?"
Barry nodded his head in agreement, having experienced what his friend was talking about himself. "Oh, I know. Anyway, we goin' for a freeride or what?"
"I'll tell you what," Snarlov suggested after a good chuckle. "To make things a little bit interestin', why don't we make this a little race between the three of us? Been meanin' to get some extra practice on that kind of thing anyway."
"I think that's a pretty sweet idea," the grizzly replied. "A little friendly competition t' see who's the best snowboardin' bear of this trio."
The polar bear smirked back at his friend. "And that'll be yours truly," he remarked.
"We shall see, dude," Barry said back.
"Notte miyou," the panda chimed in with a flutter of her eyelashes. "Let's ride!"
Snarlov proceeded to shuffle a bit on his new board, getting ready to go down the passageway that was ahead of him and his friends. Before he could gain any speed, however, he came to a stop when he saw his grizzly friend hold his paws out in front of him.
"Woah, woah, woah," Barry said. "Before we can even start this thing, where the heck are we gonna call the finish line?"
"Well, I was thinkin' we take a right head a bit into the backcountry," Snarlov considered. "We'll say the finish line is the exit to that one cave that you'll find on this path. You'll know which one I mean once we near it."
The brown bear nodded his head and said, "Sounds like a plan."
"Hajimemashou," added the panda as she readied herself to start boarding alongside the two. "Let's get started!"
Some Time Later...
Rather than taking the same backcountry route that he did during Skye's challenge, Snarlov thought it would interesting to mix things up and go an entirely different direction from the start. He didn't go down the path he was taking during this race with his friends quite often, so it turned out to be a nice change of pace for him.
While the backcountry's terrain remained similar regardless of which passage you boarded down, he ended up running to a bit more hills and valleys here than he would have taking the other course.
The polar bear and his friends continued through the course in an attempt to pass up one another, getting in a fair share of spins or flips whenever they caught some air during their race. It had been him, so far, that had maintained the lead in this friendly competition between the three of them, but it appeared that Barry was trailing not too far behind.
Up until this point, however, Snarlov didn't encounter a perfect opportunity to try another cool trick of his on this new board. His search for one came to a close, however, he started to come upon a chance to catch some big air.
The ursid flew right up into the air with ease, clicking right out of the board and hanging both paws over its nose. "Hang Eight!" he said as he did this.
The image of him being able to try out this particular maneuver, on an actual surfboard against some big waves, came to mind in that moment. He turned his head to the side for a quick instant, seeing that it was time to slip securely back into place.
He got back into the proper position on his board and landed onto the snow again. "Cowabunga!" he cried out.
Overhead flew a solitary plane, similar to the kind that took riders to the other peaks, knocking some of the snow downward in the process. With that, Snarlov went straight in the direction of the snow it had sent that way and picked up some speed. He coursed across the terrain with quick enough reflexes to dodge the very tall rock that was in his midst. He once encountered obstacles like that one before, and the result from not paying attention to something obviously in his way was not the greatest. And he wasn't going to let that incident repeat itself.
Straight on through traveled the three bears, and not too far ahead was a ragged-looking mountain on their right. Just past it was a drop, and that meant another shot at big air. Another shot at what a snowboarder that loved pulling off tricks like him lived for. However, rather than doing some elaborate maneuver that he tended to do, he kept his trick a bit uncomplicated. He simply slipped a single foot paw out the board he held it out in front of him, getting in a short spin in the process.
While he was still in air for that moment, he saw his friend Barry in the corner of his vision. The trick he was executing was far more complex than what he was doing right now. The grizzly had clicked both feet out of his board and held it in front of him, and was passing back and forth into each paw.
Yeah, Snarlov thought, so much for him sayin' that he didn't do crazy tricks like that. That was a bluff.
He ignored what his friend was performing at the moment, as well the cry of enthusiasm that came from him, and got ready to hit the snow again. He and Barry both did without any trouble, just in time to see that their "finish line" was going to be coming up pretty soon. It was as the two were approaching the aforementioned cave that Snarlov heard someone speeding up ahead.
"Ja matane," called out a certain panda as she glided speedily our in front of the two, making a sharp turn to the right from where she had appeared from. "See ya later!"
Now where did she just come from? Snarlov asked himself in surprise. She clearly found some kind of shortcut somewhere.
It was now her that was in front of him and Barry, gaining even more speed and making it a bit difficult to catch back up with her. But instead of thinking of that right now, Snarlov just focused on making his way towards the large rock cave. He and the grizzly not too far away from him made their way into the chamber, which was less spacious than the others around the peak.
In the heat of the moment, however, the polar bear forgot to slow himself down as he entered this area. This was something he always did to be on the safe side out in the backcountry, but doing it didn't even come to his mind then. He ended up running into the large and frosty ice that had formed in the cave to the left of him. After his side had bumped right into the obstacle, he ended up taking a clumsy fall. Barry came gliding along and started to pass him up, traveling ahead a good distance.
Snarlov quickly got himself back up and continued coursing through the cave, face-pawing at the fact that he had taken that unanticipated fall just now. "Definitely not my proudest moment," he said to himself.
He couldn't let a little tumble like that get the best of him, though, even if running into that ice did hurt like the devil a bit. He went straight for a moment before sharply turning to the left, scraping up some of the snow below him as he swerved that direction. Upon taking this route that he chose, the ceiling to the cave started to become a bit lower.
The polar bear bent down a bit and got himself ready, for he knew that a drop would be coming up in a nick of time. Caves like these were one of Snarlov's favorite things about riding through the backcountry, and because of this he knew where some of these ones traveled to quite well.
Surely enough, Snarlov was correct about the descent being around there, as he started to see light peaking up ahead. He grinned as he got ready for what was probably one of the taller drops around this peak.
"Showtime..." he whispered to himself.
With his two friends taking the lead at the moment, nobody was around to see the trick that he was preparing himself to pull off pretty soon. But whether or not there was a big crowd or nobody at all seeing him do them, tricks were quite the supplier of excitement for an SSX competitor like him. They always managed to get his blood pumping whenever he performed them, regardless of whether it was in an event or on his own terms that he did them.
He sailed off the drop and straight into the frigid air, floating a great height above the ground like an astronaut floating through space. His trick started off with him slipping his right paw out of the board, then continued with him bending his knee and placing it against his other leg as he held his arms above his head. The trick looked as if he was doing the Tree yoga pose in midair. Doing this, without a doubt, took a whole lot of balance, but lucky for him, he had a great amount of that. He then clicked himself back into it for a second before slipping right back out of it, doing a quick handstand before readying himself for the landing.
"That is how it's done!" he whooped with glee. "Woo!"
As his board crashed back onto the snow once again, he turned his head to behind him for a moment and saw that Barry was no longer leading him in this little race. He turned back to what was out in front of him, still feeling that exuberance that came with performing a trick like that perfectly. Though it was kind of primitive for him, he excitedly let out a celebratory roar at his accomplishment.
Just as he saw his panda friend standing not too far away, he swerved up ahead and brought himself to a stop. Barry came up to where they were now both standing a short time later, and he paused a moment to catch his breath from all of the action that had just happened.
"Nothin' beats a race out in the backcountry, am I right?" Snarlov said to his friends.
"Ya got that right," Barry replied. "Though I was so close to passin' ya up and gettin' second."
"There's always next time," the polar bear responded with a chuckle. "Anywho, I thought you said that you didn't do too well at the crazy tricks."
"No, I said that I had a couple wipeouts doin' 'em before," the grizzly corrected, pointing a clawed finger towards him. "That didn't mean I don't ever do 'em."
Snarlov nodded his head, standing corrected. "Well, guys, that was pretty fun."
"Yeah, we oughta do it again some other time."
"Anyway, I gotta go. Gotta get some more preparation in for the next event comin' up." The white-furred bear waved them goodbye before he started to cruise down the path before him. "See ya both later!" he called out.
Later, In The Evening...
The sun had finally went down across the peak, and that meant that it was time for Judy to sit down and relax after all of the action. With the several fun and exciting that had happened-the event at Crow's Nest, her winning a race against Weaselton, and getting to meet a friend of Snarlov's-there was no doubt that today was another awesome day.
She was certain that when she went to hit the hay later in the night, her dreams were definitely going to be filled with the same thrill she had gotten on the peak today. Until then, though, she just decided to relax at her accommodations. A B-grade film about aliens invading the planet started playing on one of the channels she got on the TV, and she ended up watching that since it was something she had never seen or heard of before. Though it was evident that the movie was made several decades ago by the level of special effects, it made for something mindless to watch after all the focus on the competition.
The Z-Comm sitting right next to her vibrated and made its little chime. A new message had been received just now.
Judy picked it up and clicked her messages to see who it was that had sent her something, presuming that it was possibly an another announcement sent by the event organizers (as those appeared in the inboxes of competitors pretty often). She saw that it was actually another message from Nick, and she opened it to see what it said.
Hey there, Fluff, the message read. How's it going?
With a smile on her face and the show on the screen now forgotten about, shequickly typed back her response. Today was probably the best day ever, she messaged back.
Was that freestyle event pretty cool or what? was what Nick had sent in response.
It was pretty awesome, Judy replied.
Well, I'm sure you're gonna love the upcoming ones, her fox friend said back.
Where's the next one gonna be at? the bunny inquired curiously.
I thought they were gonna hold it at the super pipe I told you was my favorite, but they said that it'll be at a course called R 'n' B instead.
Oh, yeah? What's that one like?
It's a lot longer than what today's course was like, with a lot of different routes you can take.
Sounds pretty cool. Can't wait for it.
There was a momentary pause in between the messages being sent back and forth to one another, up until Nick sent her his reply. You know, Fluff, I actually got a pretty good idea. Since that event's not happening near where that course I told you about is, I was thinking that I could give you a tour around another spot around the peak.
What's that? Judy texted back.
They call it Metro City, informed Nick. That's where that superpipe I like is, actually. They hold race events there on certain years, and since nothing's gonna be happening there this circuit, I thought maybe you'd like to see it for yourself. It's REALLY pretty at nighttime.
Sounds like a plan, Slick. I'd really like to see what it looks like.
Thought ya might say that. You know that lodge we met each other at the last time? Be there in about an hour and we can go there. I'm sure you're gonna love the views on that side of the peak!
Author's Note: Hey there, everyone! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I know there wasn't that much happening in this one, but I hope that it was still enjoyable to read and that you're looking forward to more. There's going to be a bit more action in upcoming chapters, so I hope ya stick around for that! :)
Players of the SSX games will probably find the parallels that I threw into this chapter. The reference made about a hyena named Psymon is based off a character from the series named Psymon Stark, who is dubbed as one of the craziest snowboarders you can play as in the game. And the panda that was a friend of Snarlov's was inspired by another character from the series named Kaori. The idea suddenly came about to possibly incorporate them into this story somehow, and so I decided to do that here.
Anyway, let me know what your thoughts were on this chapter. Your thoughts, whether good or bad, are always gladly appreciated.
'Til next time! :)