"Time for a little SSX recap for y'all. Anybody that wasn't able to get their paws on a ticket to see that trick competition over at R 'n' B for themselves missed out on a whole buncha out-of-this-world action. Snarlov was ball of energy with some wild tricks, earning him a first place spot again. The best bunny on the mountain, Judy Hopps, has been showin' the mountain whose boss, and her sweet performance got her silver. And even though bronze is nothin' to sneer too much about, my bet's that Skye ain't too happy 'bout bein' in third place. Not only that, but it seems the riders finally made Duke Weaselton put his money where his mouth is. Anyway, word from the event organizers says that Peak Two's gonna be all sorts of awesomeness there, and I can't wait to see goes down in a week from now. Up until then, I'll be keepin' y'all in the know with all the new things goin' down 'round here. 'Til that time comes, here's a couple gnarly tunes, straight from the booth to your speakers..."
"Woo! Did you see me out there today?" Snarlov hollered, slapping a paw loudly against the polished wood surface of the bar table. "My paws were on fire out there with how fast I was there! On. Fire!"
Sitting directly in the sear to the right of his stool was his grizzly friend Barry, who nodded his head once again at the energetic remark. "Yeah, I saw ya," he responded, saying the same thing to him the last several times he brought up the whole first-place award thing. "When your out there on that slope doin' then tricks, you're pretty much tellin' 'em laws of physics that they can't hold ya down."
"Darn right, they can't," remarked Snarlov.
Barry lifted the glass of the drink he had ordered and took a swig of it, setting it back down with a clank against the table. "How 'bout the next peak?" he asked. "Whatcha thinkin' that's gonna be like this year."
"Well," Snarlov answered, "I've seen 'em change a lot of things over there the last couple years. Matter of fact, those courses have gotten crazier with every circuit. I dunno how it's gonna be this time, but I just know that the intensity's gonna stay the same. Stronger winds, heavier snowfall at times, trees fallin' without warning. Y'know, stuff like that. Gotta keep these eyes peeled so I don't screw up big time out there."
"Yeah, dude," the grizzly bear said in agreement. "I see ya doing those crazy tricks all willy-nilly on this peak. That's probably alright in clear weather like we've been havin', but I dunno if I'd take too big of risks when ya get into those events up there. That's just me."
"Ah, fooey," replied Snarlov with disagreement. "As long as you've been friends with me, you should now by now that takin' chances on the snow's what I do. That kinda stuff's in my blood. Besides, I'll be careful when I need to."
"So what about that vixen in the competition?" Barry then asked. "Sure she ain't too happy that you've been taking the gold twice in a row."
The polar bear simply shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure she ain't too happy about that either."
The dingo working behind the counter walked towards where the two were sitting, looking over at Snarlov for a moment. "Can I get you anything, sir?" he asked.
"C'mon, mammal," Barry chimed in. "Why don't ya have a drink to celebrate the big win today? It's on me."
"No thanks," Snarlov responded. Looking back at the dingo, he said, "If ya guys serve 'em here, I'll just take a bowl of peanuts or pretzels. Whichever ya got. That'll be how I celebrate."
The canid nodded his head and replied, "One bowl of pretzels, coming right up."
"Seriously, dude?" Barry told his friend. "Pretzels is what you're havin' to celebrate?"
"Yeah," the polar bear answered. "I don't eat the salty snacks often, but today's an exclusion."
"Living on the wild side," Barry muttered under his breath sarcastically.
"Hey, ya gotta keep your body in line to do what I do on the slopes," Snarlov justified. "Too much junk goes into it and your whole vibration's gonna be all sorts of wacky."
The grizzly looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, not following that last part. "What are you talkin' 'bout, dude?"
"Everything's an energy, includin' you and me sitting here," Snarlov tried to explain just as the dingo was coming back with the bowl of pretzels he requested earlier. "Normally we oughta try to keep it positive and all that, but sometimes poorer choices can make it... well, the opposite of positive. That's just our nature as livin' things."
"Where you hear this stuff, mammal? Never thought you were into that philosophy stuff."
"Oh, it ain't philosophy, Barry. That's just the good ol' words from this fella I met on the peak that told me some pretty neat stuff. Y'know where Yax's Yoga Studio is?"
Upon hearing his friend mention that location, Barry now had a clue where he was getting such things from. "Seriously? That weird yak's who you're talkin' about?"
"Yeah, and he's not as weird as ya think he is," Snarlov replied.
"Since when would ya ever go somewhere like his place?"
"It's a pretty funny story how I even ended up goin' there, actually. You know that place where I'm staying here? They gave us all some vouchers and stuff for places 'round this part of the mountain, and that place happened to be one of 'em. It was right before I was to take on Crow's Nest when I said, 'Why not give it a shot? The worst I can do is hate it and not go back again.' Turns out he taught some pretty valuable things that, matter of fact, helped me snatch those gold medals. Got to learn some yoga-"
"Yoga?" Barry interrupted with a chuckle. "Never thought in a billion years that my friend, one of the most energetic snowboarders in SSX, also enjoys yoga."
"Never thought of myself as the one to be take time to do it either," the whiter-furred ursid admitted, "but turns out it works pretty good. Gets you better with your balance, kinda clears your mind for awhile, and if you ever got some god-forsaken pain in your back ya can't get rid of, well, it takes care of that as well. You oughta stop at the place and try it."
"I'm good, but you keep doin' what you like to do. Don't change what you're into on my account. Anyway, what else did this yak teach ya?"
"Oh, just some meditation, deep breathing, visualizin' what you wanna accomplish. That kind of stuff, ya know? I can't prove that using his methods caused me to win first place, but I sure believe it helped me out a bit. I dunno."
"Well, if it works for ya and keeps ya in that winner's circle, keep doin' what you're doin'."
"And that's just what I'll do, my friend."
Barry lifted the half-empty glass of his drink up into the air. "Here's to you havin' one of the best years ya ever had in SSX," he said. "Cheers."
Snarlov lifted a pretzel out of the bowl sitting beside him and held it in the air. "Cheers," he responded before taking a bite of the salty snack.
Some Time Later...
Nick was pretty much bushed from the event and the sun wasn't even starting to set yet. He honestly wasn't sure, though, he could blame him. Doing what he did out there took both a lot of energy and a lot of precision. Anybody after doing that, as well as practicing time and time again prior to that, would have felt at least some form of exhaustion.
Lucky for him and the others left in the competition right now, there was a week until things started to pick up again in a new peak. Seven days for him relax and just enjoy the mountain, and, perhaps, maybe catch up with that doe and get to know her a little bit better. That trip he took her on through his favorite spot on the peak was probably the most fun he had in some time, and he knew that she was having a pure blast then by the way she smiled the whole way through their journey by snowboard.
If someone were to ask him the question of what he liked about the newcomer bunny on the circuit, he would certainly have to say that it was her ever-present, though-the-roof levels of cheer and energy. From when she's on the snow itself to the way she whooped as the crowds went wild when she took her step on the winner's podium stand, it was like the only thing she knew how to react with was a smile. Her bubble, it seemed, could never be burst, even if negativity of any form was dashing in her direction. She was the kind that would look at the ninety-nine good things instead of the one out of a hundred bad things.
Not only that, but her skills on the slopes were pretty awesome as well to him. She looked like she was just having so much fun out on the course earlier today from the recaps he saw, like she was truly living life to the fullest every time that she was catching big air from the tricks she did. The judges, quite obviously, agreed when it came to how impressive she was out there, since she managed to snag that silver instead of Skye (and Nick believed wholeheartedly that the bunny deserved every bit of that medal).
Putting it bluntly, he just really liked that rabbit and was so glad he got to be in the circuit alongside her.
"Haha, got a message," chirped a squeaky voice, coming from the Z-Comm in his pocket.
As awfully repetitive as that novelty tone was, the fox always got a chuckle out of it when it sounded off. He figured it was at least a bit better than the standard ping that the device used to make for each new message he got.
He took Z-Comm out of his pocket and flicked it open, seeing the message that he had gotten. It was something from Snarlov.
Nick, with the press of a few buttons, opened the message up to see what the polar bear had sent him. Normally he only sent him the simple kind before events, wishing him the best of luck, but this one was a bit different since it was something he had forwarded to the fox.
"Let's see what we got here..." he said to himself.
Nick opened up the message and saw that it was nothing more than something Snarlov had gotten for him that he decided to forward.
As a proud sponsor of this year's SSX circuit, Yax's Yoga Studio would like to congratulate the riders in today's event, it read. Out of the kindness we teach to show onto everyone, we are any of the snowboarders that competed today to join us at the studio for a brief session of relaxation. Enter inner peace and receive positive energy for what is coming up next week.
To be completely honest with himself, Nick wasn't the most familiar with this place despite his claims of knowing a majority of the mountain by heart. He also wasn't sure what enticed Snarlov to send this over to him. He scrolled further down to the bottom of the message and saw that there was an addition to it typed out by the bear.
Heading over to this place later, Snarlov told him. It's actually pretty great. You wanna join me there? I won't mind.
Nick thought about for a brief moment. He did just make the wish for some relaxation for the remainder of the day, and this place did specifically say something about peace and the like. When one of the mammals he knew on the circuit quite well gave him a friendly invitation of this sort, even though it was for somewhere he wasn't familiar with, he was gladly going to accept it.
Sure, Nick typed back. Why not? Do you mind if Hopps joins too?
Not at all, Wilde, responded Snarlov about a minute later.
Where's this place at? Nick then asked.
I'll send ya where it is in another message, then you can let Hopps know about it and see if she wants to join in.
Sounds like a plan, replied the fox before he clicked off the message he had sent to Snarlov, scrolling through the contacts he had before reaching Judy's name.
Mammals were traveling on skis on either side, and a couple kits were sliding around on sleds and colorful snow tubes, giggling like they were having a lot of fun out here.
Judy carefully navigated around everyone to avoid knocking into anyone by accident. As she cruised past mammals big and small, almost all of them looked back at her with looks of shock or disbelief.
"How is she doing that?" one of them said.
"That's so cool!" said a second passerby.
"Dude, it's like she's in midair!" chimed a third on skis.
Judy chuckled and responded out loud for all of those that were in surprise to hear her. "Amazed by my new cloaking snowboard, I see?" she said to them.
What she talking about was her snowboard, or the one that couldn't be seen by anyone, at least. She was riding down on a special snowboard she had gotten, which could become completely invisible to the eyes of anyone who saw her going by.
It made her look like her paws were floating an inch off the ground, but lines where the board was coursing by were still left in the snow. The only downfall, though, was, even though the tricks she did looked cooler, it was harder for her to know if she was going land properly.
After the coast was clear once again, it was time for her to make a right and brush through the trees. Her choice to go that way took her to through some obstacles before she descended down another hill, leading her to something she didn't expect to see.
"What the heck is this?" she said to herself.
In the middle of the snowy passage before her was an empty parking lot that was completely iced over, a tall building that was pretty long in length a good distance away. Sliding onto the ice and getting closer to it, she realized that this building was just any random building.
It was an empty shopping mall, much like the ones she grew up going to, its doors hanging wide open.
Judy kept going straight and breezed right through the open doors, entering the large department store in the front that led into the mall presumably further inside. The ground below her replaced by the tile floor that also looked like it had been covered by ice. The lights and everything seemed to all be on, but the whole place was vacant. The ice across the flooring below, however, was getting harder to swerve across. She did a little hop on her and tried to take a little shift to the left, but that ended up becoming an uncontrollably sudden swerve that way.
"Woah, woah, woah," she mumbled to herself as she unexpectedly found herself boarding off course, nearing slipping on the ice.
She lost control of her ability to change directions for a moment as she tried to maintain her balance, and she found herself nearing a long-stretching rack of clothing that was out in front of her. She ducked her head as she got even closer to the rack, jumping over the bar on the bottom of it. She turned out not to be fully in the clear, though, when she found herself slipping on the ice and sliding further to the left, creating a lot of clanging as she knocked into stuff in the once-quiet store.
After getting out of that unexpected situation, Judy was back on track. She looked down at herself just then and realized she was now wearing some bright shirt, flowery skirt, and flip flops.
"How'd that happen?" she asked herself for a moment before continuing on, now dressed in the outfit like the mannequins in that store.
Now with a little more control over how she could steer herself, she made her way towards the open entryway to the store that led out into the empty mall. She made her way towards the escalators that weren't moving, hopping onto the railing of the one and sliding down it to where there was a food court.
Once she was on the icy tiled floors again, that was when the slipperiness returned. Losing her composure for a second time, she found herself boarding right through the open doorway into where one of the stands that served food.
Commotion arose as she breezes through that tight space, returning back out into the open from the other side of the stand where another opened door was.
"Wasn't expecting to take that detour," she said to herself.
Much to her surprise, she noticed that her paws with her not empty upon her exiting that detour through that stand. There was now a slice of pizza in her left paw and a cup with red slushee in her right. She took a bite from the slice before setting it down on a plate on the table she breezed right by, and she sipped from the cup before placing it in the trash can that she shredded past.
There was the sound of something else cruising along the ice, letting her know she wasn't the only one here. She looked closer and saw that it was actually Nick that was here with her.
"Nick?" she inquired.
The fox turned and looked back at her with. concerned eyes. "Carrots, look out!" he warned before sliding out of her view
"What?" she called back with uncertainty.
She returned her attention into what was in the center of her vision, realizing she was sliding straight towards a sign way too fast. Not quick enough to steer out of its way in time, she flinched and covered her face as she neared it...
Judy woke up with a quick little gasp, shaking her head at the craziness of the dream she just had. That had probably been the weirdest one that she had in awhile. It was better, she guessed, for a dream to be weird but somewhat fun than it be weird and scary. She had a couple of those kind before, and this was not one of them.
Guess my siesta wenton for longer than I wanted it to, she thought as she turned her body over to look at the alarm clock. The red, digital numbers on what was on the hotel room's nightstand let her know that a little over a half-hour went by.
Judy only planned to take maybe a five or ten minute power nap when she sat on the bed after an energetic day. Turns out when she closed her eyes for only that short bit of time, she literally fell asleep.
A ping arose from the Z-Comm beside the alarm clock, vibrating against the surface of it. She reached over for it, that dream of hers now disregarded, and turned it on.
Message Received: Nick Wilde.
She opened the message to see what her friend had sent to her right now.
Heya, Carrots, his message to her said. What's up?
Not much, she answered. Just taking it easy after all that event, you know?
Yeah, he replied. Ain't doin' much either. You were pretty awesome out there, by the way. Way to rock the snow out there today!
Right below his message was a photo that had been taken from an article published about an hour after the event of the day concluded. The picture was of her while she was standing on the podium with her silver medal proudly being worn. She was pointing a paw to the crowds behind her with her board in thegrasp of her other one.
Judy smiled as she started to type back. Thanks. Those judges didn't know what they were talking about, though.
Huh? Nick asked in his response to her.
You deserved to be standing to my right on that podium, she replied. Can't believe she got third by two points. Two points! What the heck?
Can't do nothin' about their scores, Fluff, Nick answered reasonably.
Yeah, you're right, she answered.
My guess is her score got bumped up by that little stunt she pulled off near the end, Nick prognosticated. I don't know.
If it were me, though, you would be up on that podium with me and Snarlov, Judy responded truthfully.
Speaking of Snarlov, there was something I wanted to ask ya, was the reply she got from the fox. He invited to meet him at this place he likes to go to, some sorta place that teaches yoga and all that jazz. I said I'd tag along with him but I was wondering if maybe you'd like to join in? If you're not up for it, that's alright.
Sounds neat, the doe answered. I'll come along. Wanted to see a couple more places here before we all gotta head to the next peak.
Alrighty then, responded Nick. I'll let Snarlov know you're joining in, and then I'll let you know when the three of us can get together. Talk to ya later, Carrots.
See you then, Slick, Judy said while smiling once more, setting the Z-Comm down right afterwards.
Some Time Later...
As soon as Judy and Nick walked into the building that Snarlov had brought them to, they were hit with a strong scent they couldn't put their finger on. It smelled like it was a mixture of something citrusy combined with something that was along the lines of eucalyptus.
A diffuser sat on a table next to a golden figurine that resembled an animal of the zodiac. This was where that powering scent permeating the main entrance to the building was coming from.
Pushing that aside, Judy got a good look at the unique interior this place had so far. The red walls had their fair share of gold accents adorning them in either direction, as well as some canvases that had symbols in another language painted upon them in black. A tranquil acoustic song, consisting of nothing more than a guitar and piano, played around the environment, promoting a soothing feeling even more.
"Pretty nice," Judy said to herself happily.
"Hits with you that zen right off the bat, huh?" Snarlov asked her and Nick.
"I honestly can't believe that I didn't know this place was here," Nick chimed in. "I thought I knew just about every spot on the peak 'til now."
"Every place in the world's got its little hidden gem," replied the polar bear.
"You don't just come and visit a mountain like this and think, you know, a quaint yoga studio," the fox responded.
"The guy that owns this place says he had a much better place before this one," Snarlov informed. "He lived in a big city and was pretty busy all the time, but one day he just left it and came here. Said he felt like he was called here spiritually or somethin'."
A pair of benches that looked like they had been carved by paw were to the right of the three. Just as they were about to take their loads off from the travel over and wait for someone to come by, they heard the sounds of a door from another room in the building being opened and then shut.
"Hey, Yax," Snarlov said, looking back at the mammal that had just walked out into this area.
The yak with a massive bush of hair slowly strolled up to where the three were standing, uncovering his eyes that were hidden from their view. "Good to see you again, Snarlov," he replied in a mellow voice. "Hey, I see ya brought over some friends of yours."
"Yep," the polar bear answered. Looking back at the fox and rabbit standing next to him, he introduced, "These two here are on the circuit with me, as you know. I told 'em about your place and how you helped me out, and they said that they'd be interested to learn about what you showed me as well."
The shaggy-haired ox placed his hooves together and bowed his head. "And this place welcomes anyone who wants to learn about the ways of the wise teachers of long ago."
Right after him, Snarlov put his paws together flatly and bowed his head to him. "Yes."
"So a session of some basic yoga stretches and meditation then?" Yax inquired.
"Yep," answered the ursid with a nod of his head. "Just like I did before."
The free-spirited ox smiled at the bear and his friends before gesturing for all of them to follow him. "Come with me then and we'll get started."
With a strike of the meditation bowl to his side, resonating its echoing sound across the space, Yax returned his attention to the three.
The fox, rabbit, and polar bear all stood there on their comfy yoga mats given to them by their instructor. The three had taken off their prior footwear as they had been instructed to do, getting themselves in the most relaxed state of mind possible.
"Now, Snarlov," Yax said, "you already know some of the yoga stretches we're going to do, but I'm going to explain them since we have some new mammals joining us this evening."
"Not a problem," answered Snarlov.
"The first thing is some deep breaths," the ox instructed the three present. "You're gonna inhale through the nose"-he demonstrated with a deep breath in-"then exhale through your nose. We're going to do this a couple times to get even more relaxed."
They followed alongside him, paws lightly on their chest as they took several large breaths in that were soothing when exhaled. Just as he told them, everyone was already starting that much calmer just by doing some deep breaths. It was such a simple thing to do and yet so effective at what the ox claimed it would do.
"So know that we got our energy flowin' in the right direction, it's time we try something simple and work our way up. This one's a simple stretch called the Warrior." Yax, knowing this exercise basically by heart, got himself into position while he explained it to them. "You're gonna start with your legs as wide as your mat, right paw forward and left paw back. Keep that left leg straight as you bend your right knee, then put your arms out to your sides."
Snarlov knew already that this was the beginning of the yak's yoga routine, and he naturally got into the pose without too much trouble. Judy and Nick took a second longer since they weren't as familiar with it, but they found themselves holding the pose with pretty good balance.
Several deep breaths later, they continued to follow along as the ox returned to the position he was in before. "Next up's one that'll be a little bit different. "Put your feet together and your arms at your sides, paws over your head, and then what you wanna do's kinda bend your knees and sit back. Like you were gonna sit in a chair."
Judy mimicked the yak as she followed the instructions, her balance becoming a bit shaky while she tried to hold this particular pose. She looked over at Nick a couple spaces away from her, who was a little more wobbly than she was. The fox trembled slightly before he accidentally landed on his mat, picking himself up shortly afterwards.
"Messed it up there," Nick muttered in embarrassment.
"A rule of life you must know," Yax said to the fox, "is that there is no such thing as messing up. A wise teacher once said that there is no accidents." He lifted himself from the pose he was holding before returning his attention to all three of them again. "Now that we've done those two, it's time to do a take on the-"
"Sun Salutation," Snarlov interrupted, looking over at the fox and rabbit. "One of my favorites."
"Yes," continued Yax, nodding his head. "First things first, we're gonna lean back just a little bit with our arms behind us. Don't lean too far back, though. And while we take a deep breath out, you're gonna bend forward and touch your toes."
Since the pose was a little easier than the last one, all three of them easily could follow along.
"Now reach those arms to the ceiling and bend your knees," the shaggy-haired yoga instructor said. "Imagine it's not the ceiling you're reaching for, but the stars in the sky."
It was during this one, however, that Nick changed his perspective on the whole yoga thing.
As he exhaled and bent forward, he suddenly felt a bit different than before. While he was out on the course earlier in the day, he noticed he had a slight pain in his back, mostly likely spawned from the fact that he didn't sleep in his usual comfortable posture. While it was nothing affecting him from doing what he thought was a fantastic job out on the snow, he still thought that it needed to go away sooner than later.
And sooner it went way when he started doing this yoga thing that Snarlov invited him to.
The skepticism about whether it actually worked for mammals or not was all gone now. No sign of that coming back anytime soon.
Never did he think that, as someone in a profession that was about high intensity and adrenaline, that he would find something as simplistic as this enjoyable. Looking over at Judy as everyone straightened their knees and returned to their normal standing position, he could see that she was enjoying this activity as well.
Yoga, Nick thought. Turnsout after all the action of the day, this is actually a pretty nice way to relax and put snowboarding aside for awhile. Who'da thunk?
Meanwhile...
"318 to all units out here. Repeat, 318. We got a Delta Tiger in progress. Over."
"10-4. I caught the rider zoomin' past the blockades and into the restricted parts of the backcountry. I got full visual on him. I'm on it."
Those long ears of his came in really handy in sticky situations like this one. He could hear the sounds of the ski patrol a good distance behind him calling into each other with their staticky radios, letting him know just how far ahead he was of them.
Taking the route that he was on was a considerable risky thing, considering that avalanches from this peak of the mountain were sporadic and unpredictable, so it made perfect sense that they would be on his little tail of his after he rode directly into the area that was basically off limits. A sign that talked about it being a dangerous area on the mountain and to keep out didn't apply to someone like him. Nope, not at all.
Ski patrol's getting a run for their money out here today, he thought. See if they can catch up to this striped bolt of lightning.
The buck had been all around the globe to spots that were much more dangerous than the possibility of a snow slide. Matter of fact, some of the places he had done some snowboarding in had much avalanches that were on a much graver level than some of the reported ones here, and he even got caught in some of the snow mass that slid down during one of those back when he was traveling. Those kind were the ones to feel concern about, and even then, fear of the elements never stopped the mammal from doing what he was the most passionate about.
During his flights to the greatest snowboarding spots around the world, he tackled every brutal thing nature could throw at him without any apprehension, even though he knew what could come about if things took an unforeseen turn in a negative direction.
He made descents down places at high altitudes with thin air, where watching the levels on his oxygen tank was the key to making it to the bottom.
He cruised down slopes with terrain where bumpiness was at its extreme, with gaps in between jumps that would mean certain doom for those who make cross them correctly and stick a proper landing.
He traversed landscapes so icy that he had to dig an ice axe into it to carve across it without losing his control.
He swerved through dark descents where he would have certainly broken something in his body had he taken the protective countermeasures to wear armor.
Compared to all those death-defying experiences he got to cross off his bucket list, cruising around this mountain and its courses was baking cookies. A walk in the park when it was put against a trip down a mount that had ice for a spine.
"And they're sayin' this spot's got the chance of bein' dangerous?" he said to himself, snickering. "I laugh in the face of danger."
He came from a division of extreme snowboarding that was actually a branch that owned the SSX competition. His group was known quite well as the Deadly Descents, where a group of mammals went head-to-head in competition and saw who was the best mammal at taking on the harshest snowboarding spots known to mammalkind. He knew that there would be no hint of the injuriousness that the runs he did with that group consisted of, but he still decided to give this whole SSX thing a go.
He felt that needed to stir the pot a bit with his career (not that he didn't still remain the topic of many talks on shows and the like), and he figured the best way to do that was temporarily ditch the danger and take part in this circuit by trying out at the qualifying race coming up soon. Though SSX was considered a no holds barred kind of competition, he would soon find out that rather than being on a course where it was all about survival, he would be making descents down slopes that were a little more on the fun and not-potentially-deadly-to-those-unprepared spectrum of things.
The buck had already seen footage from the races and trick events on the other peak below this one, and he knew that this competition seemed to let out a playful side in the riders that had made it as far as they did in it. Though he got in a one-foot trick every now and then in the past in times before this, he had to admit that the things those boarders (and possibly upcoming rivals) could do while airborne were pretty spectacular. If he gave himself some time and got acclimated to this mountain's environment, perhaps he would be pulling off stuff like this.
He took a quick gander behind him to see how close the ski patrol was, noticing they starting to get closer to him. "Better make a reroute," he thougt out loud before swerving on the spur of the moment to the left, catching the ski patrol by surprise.
The two mammals that were following him, a white wolf and a moose wearing the same red-colored uniform, were several seconds late to turn themselves around on their skis and continue their pursuit.
Time to kick things up a notch...
Patrol not a hundred percent on his tail at the moment, it was time for him to gain even more speed. A field with a good amount of mounds made of ice was straight ahead, and he cruised across the surface of it for a moment before making a right.
The ice nearly caused him to uncontrollably slip then, but enough experience in even icier conditions made him able to handle it quite well. Once he successfully passed up the hazard, he swerved back to where he was before and saw the entrance to a cave coming up.
Falling chunks of ice was the welcome he got upon zooming into the chilly cave, and the buck swerved instinctively away from where they started to fall. Keeping his eyes peeled for anything else, he kept to the left as he hauled along, going even faster than before. Just the way he liked it.
Out of the cave he flew and continuing to the left he went, hopping onto an icy crystalline rail in his midst. He rode this until it reached its end at a jump that descended straight down from a good height.
Zooming off the rail and becoming weightless, he started to do some flips while airborne. He kicked a foot paw out his board and held it behind him, switching it up a second later by taking the other one and holding it front of his board. As much as he wanted to whoop throughout this endorphin-rushing thing that he got himself into out here, he kept that urge contained.
He got himself ready to land again, but no without a few more midair spins. He then touched the snow and continued on by grinding across a fallen tree like it was another rail. He swerved once again towards where stones could be seen, leading up to another cave before starting to slow down.
The rabbit perked his ears, his radar, up and tried to listen in for any sign of that ski patrol. In the faintest way possible, he heard them going somewhere but not in his direction.
"We've lost visual of the rider. Repeat, lost visual of the rider. Returning to the station. Over."
"Copy that. Calling back to the station. Anyone got any donuts over there? Over."
"Gods, that was a rush," the striped lagomorph said to himself, finally able to take a second to catch his breath.
Now that this little excursion into the restricted parts of the backcountry was over, he figured he'd try to find his way back to the lodge he had started from now.
The rabbit's Z-Comm started to ring, and he retrieved it from his pocket and flicked it open.
"What's up?" he said upon answering the call.
"Is this Jack Savage, the world's biggest snowboarding daredevil?" an energetic voice asked on the other end.
"Is this Grizzoli, the world's greatest agent?" the bunny named Jack returned, starting to grin.
"How's the mountain treatin' ya? Much more relaxed than everywhere else you've been, I assume."
Jack chuckled as he looked around him. "Damn right. Sure, you've always got ice and stuff no matter where ya go, but this place ain't nothin' compared to those places."
"That's what I figured, mammal. Sounds like ya got this in the bag. Get yourself some medals in this circuit and that'll have 'em talkin' 'bout ya again."
"Yeah, that's what I'm hopin' happens, dude," responded the buck. "I'm losin' some of that attention I was havin' before. Ever since that ewe stepped into the group last year. What was her name again? Dawn?"
"Yeah, Dawn. Better known as 'The Bellwether.' Everybody says she's the newest and freshest face in the Deadly Descents."
"The moment she came in cockily and started showin' off on the descents, I knew somethin' like this was bound to happen. Perhaps this whole competition I'm in'll get the fans talkin', get me back on the top as the best in that group."
"I'm likin' them positive words. Well, trust me, I'm gonna be sendin' ya nothin' but motivation the whole way through. I don't think I gotta tell ya that you'll be one of the best ones out there."
"Oh, I'm already aware of that," Jack remarked with self-confidence.
"Yeah, you're ego isn't inflated at all," joked his agent. "Anyway, just wanted to check up on how you were makin' way around there. I gotta get back to work."
"Alrighty then," said the rabbit with a nod of his head. "You know how to reach me if you got anything else to say."
Jack said goodbye to his agent for now and hung up the call, slipping the Z-Comm back into his pocket before continuing on with his exploration of the peak.
Meanwhile, Elsewhere on the Peak...
"All right," the young, thickly-maned lion said to the two standing in front of him. "Guess we're gonna see what you're made of. Race me from here to the gondola station. Last one there's a big loser."
The panther and coyote he was addressing nodded understandingly, doing their own preparations as they got into their boards. After accepting the proposed challenge, both of them were getting ready to race this guy to where he said they would be going to.
Just as all three mammals were set to start shredding onward, someone else started coming their way. As they turned their heads to look back over, they saw an incoming snowboarder, bundled up so tightly that they couldn't see his face, going uncontrollably fast. The boarder came to a stop after passing them up and nearly knocking them over with some delay, the action of doing so slower than they thought someone would normally be to.
"The heck, dude?" the panther of the group muttered. "Watch where you're goin'."
"What's the big idea?" the lion asked with an attitude. "You think you're some hot shot or somethin'?"
The mammal on the snowboard slowly lifted his paw and uncovered the scarf from over his face, turning his head around and looking back at them apologetically. "I'm... sorry..." he said. "I... couldn't... stop..."
The group started to chuckle upon seeing what type of mammal was the one that had nearly knocked into them a second ago.
"A sloth?" the coyote of the three inquired with disbelief, starting to snicker. "When ya thought you've seen it all."
"Tell one of y'all's prankin' me right now," the panther returned.
"I swear, dude, I ain't jokin' with nobody," the lion told the two. "This wasn't planned."
"Well, what the hell's a sloth doin' out on a slope?" the coyote wanted to know, still finding the juxtaposition quite comical. "Ain't he outta his element?"
The sloth that was still standing there idly slowly began to explain. "I've... got... a... passion... for... the sport..." he said.
"I mean," the canid responded, "that don't make no sense at-"
"One day..." the sloth continued, not fully finished with what he was telling him before. "I'll... be... a... snowboarding... star..."
The panther of the group shook his head and tried to hold back his ignorant laughter. "Keep dreaming," he muttered in a hushed voice.
"Hey, don't try to bring the guy down, you two," the lion said to the other two boarders behind him. He turned his attention to the sloth and asked him, "What's your name, mammal?"
"They... call... me... Flash..."
"Flash, huh? Well-"
"Because... I'm... pretty... fast... on... the snow..."
"Tell ya what, dude. You wanna join in on this race or not?"
The sloth named Flash, several seconds after the challenge stayed in the air, smiled wider than before. "Let's... do... this..."
"You seriously gonna let him join?" the panther asked the lion.
The long-maned feline replied, "Sure. Why not let him have his little fun out 'ere? Besides, it'll be even more fun once this dude has his ass handed to him in this race, won't it?"
The coyote laughed out loud. "Ya got that right, dude," he agreed while pumping a paw in the air.
"Time... to... show... you... what... I got..." Flash said as he slowly rewrapped his scarf around his mouth and adjusted his goggles. Those other judgy mammals were in for a real surprise when they found out for themselves just how speedy he was when he was on a snowboard.
Meanwhile, Back on the Other Peak...
Judy, Nick, and Snarlov walked back out into the snow, the colder temperature shocking just a bit after being in the heated building for good amount of time. "Wow, that was refreshing," she said while smiling brightly, taking her first steps outside the yoga studio she was brought to.
Snarlov nodded and responded, "I knew you guys would enjoy it. After you're done doing that whole routine there, you feel like... I dunno, ya just feel so much better than you were when ya walked in. You know?"
"I agree with ya," Nick returned, "but some of those yoga poses he had us do weren't the easiest ones on the planet. Was pretty shaky trying to balance doing some of those."
"They weren't that hard," insisted Snarlov with a grin. "Besides, I figured you'd be pretty darn good at balancing, doing all of those flips and stuff out on the snow and stuff."
"That's a whole different story," explained the fox.
"That meditation we did was pretty relaxing, though," Judy chimed in. "And I was already relaxed to begin with."
"Yeah, it was," Nick agreed. "Though I have know idea what he meant when he said to breathe in through your crown chakra."
"I don't know either," replied the rabbit, "but I really enjoyed that. To be honest, I wouldn't mind comin' back for another session. How about you, Nick?"
Nick shrugged his shoulders and answered, "I'd come back as well."
"Glad to hear ya both enjoyed it," Snarlov told them. "I had a feelin' you would. I got a reputation for pickin' good places."
"Yeah," Nick responded. Turning his head to the ursid, he added, "Next time the three of us meet up again, I think I gotta a pretty good idea for somethin' we could do before this competition's back in full swing. It's the opposite of this, though."
The polar bear's interest was piqued. "Tell me more, Wilde."
"Well, I'm gonna be meeting with my friends and heading off the mountain for a night?"
"Off the mountain?" Snarlov inquired out of surprise. "Where you going, on a vacation?"
"No," chuckled Nick. "I'm gonna be flying over to a mountain that's a good distance from this one. There's this really sweet spot there where there's a whole buncha tunnels to board through. It's quite a thrill."
"Sounds like that's a lot of fun," Judy added.
"Well, that's what I was getting to," the fox said to the rabbit. "Since my friends probably won't mind at all, I was wondering if maybe you and Snarlov would like to check this place out too, see why it makes such a cool place to shred."
"You sure, Wilde?" Snarlov asked, willing to accept the vulpine's offer.
"I'm pretty sure you already know that I'm up for that," Judy remarked.
"Great." The tod smiled back at both of his them. "When I get in touch with my friends from the store that sells gear here, I'll let 'em know that you're comin'."
Snarlov nodded his head and faintly smiled. "Good deal."
"Oh, there's one thing I gotta note about this spot," Nick said to them upon recalling an important detail. "These tunnels can get pitch black when you're boarding through 'em, so all of us are gonna have to wear some headlamps so we can see where we're going. Nobody's got a problem with the dark, do they?"
"Nope."
"Not at all, Slick."
"Well, in that case, we'll all head there tomorrow if things go well."
"Can't wait," Judy said, already excited by how this place on the other mountain Nick was telling them about sounded.
The Next Day, Early Morning...
"Another hour come and gone means it's time again for some moe updates. Seems like a lot of the noise has died down around the mountain since Weaselton's been eliminated from the circuit. While a lot of folks saw him lashing out at fellow competitor Wolford at the last event on the peak, he later vowed in a recent interview that he'd be back and would be comin' back next year a vengeance. I dunno about you, but if honestly did return to the scene again, I'd so be interested to see if the SSX competitors of next year could show him that he ain't all that twice in a row. I mean, the dude just don't know when to let somethin' go. Anyway, it might be super early in the morning, but the music don't stop. Here's some more of what ya tuned in for..."
Skye took her earbuds out and placed her Z-Comm beside her, turning her head to the window and looking out at the dark skies with sleepy eyes. Getting up this early in the morning wasn't exactly something she really did, since she was a believer in the concept of getting her beauty sleep as best as she could, but pulling herself out of bed at this time would be absolutely worth it. Making her arrival at the next peak of the mountain before anybody else left in the circuit so far, she would be able to take the time to focus even harder and adding onto her skills.
The queen might've been overthrown on the last peak, she thought, but she'll make her comeback next week. The others'll just have to wait and see for themselves.
The vixen continued to stare out for a brief moment as she thought about what lied ahead in the competition, listening to the sounds of the propellers atop of the tandem motor helicopter she was being transported in. She was sure she would get there before she knew it, but it was best for her to just get a little bit of shut-eye until then. While this wasn't the most comfortable setup for resting her eyes, she obviously had no other choice to pick from.
She started to lay down and got on her side, crossing her arms and letting out a sigh. She delicately closed her eyes before drifting off faster than she ever had in recent days, dreams of her riding around the new peak forming inside her head.
Author's Note: Hey there, everybody! Well, this chapter ended up being written a lot quicker than I was expecting it to be. XD
Hope everybody enjoyed this chapter. This was refreshing to write for me since it was something other than the events and the like. Sure, the story might be all about snowboarders in a competition, but it was nice to touch on what's going on outside of the competition. I'll be touching some more on this in the chapters to come, as well write about some new faces.
Speaking of new faces, it seems that a certain striped rabbit named Jack has now entered this story. After writing so much about Skye so far, it was pretty much a given that I was going to have to incorporate Jack in here as well. :)
On top of him, it seems we've also got a mammal we wouldn't have expected to see on a snowboard as well. Bet nobody was predicting an appearance from Flash, huh? XD
The group that Jack comes from named Deadly Descents is actually a nod to one of the games in this series that came out about ten years ago (wow, I can't believe it's been that long already). In contrast to the other games (the ones this is mostly based off) that weren't close to reality whatsoever, this one from 2012 had more of a like-like feel to it. Some of the places you got snowboard across involved dangerous conditions that you had to survive the whole way through while trying to place in the top three.
I recently got back into that one after not playing it for some time and remembered just how awesome it was, and so I decided to incorporate some elements from it in Jack's introduction. I'll be touching up a little more on his backstory with the Deadly Descents group real soon. :)
Anyway, I better stop talking here. If I don't, these ramblings of mine will end up becoming a full-fledge work of writing on their own. XD
Let me know what your thoughts were on this. As always, your feedback, whether good or bad, is gladly appreciated. And thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with this little story of mine. I've been having a lot of fun writing it and I'm happy to know you are all enjoying it.
'Til next time! :)