Ch. 2: First Snow
Sora looked down at the ground. It was covered in a thick sheet of fine powdery snow. He scraped a foot across it and stared at the line it left. It was almost like cold sand.
The fifteen-year-old reached down and grasped a handful of the stuff. Unlike dry sand, the snow seemed to fuse together and took on the shape of a rough sphere.
"So, this is a snowball," Sora muttered to himself.
"Whatcha doin', Sora?" Goofy asked, ambling up to his friend.
"Just acquainted with snow," Sora answered, still grasping his snowball.
"Acquainted with snow?" Sora looked up as Donald, Mulan (or rather Ping) and Mushu joined them. The tiny red dragon cocked his head at Sora.
"Whatcha mean 'acquainted with snow?'"
"Have you never seen snow before?" Mulan asked. Sora shook his head.
"I grew up on an island. It's always warm there, so any snow I saw was on TV or in movies. This is the first time I've ever seen or felt it."
"That's too bad. Snow's really fun," Donald said.
"Yeah. There's snowball fights, making snow angels, building snowmen…" Goofy counted off snowy activities on his fingers.
"I used to build snow castles when I was little," Mulan added.
"That's nothing. I got my tongue stuck to an icicle bigger'n I am, snapped it off and carried it around in my mouth for five hours!" Mushu looked oddly pleased with himself.
"Didn't that hurt?" Sora looked shocked.
"Uh… a little. But it was worth it. A fresh icicle is better than any frozen treat."
"Every year at the castle, we have a big snowball fight," Donald told Sora. "Everyone, even the King and the Queen, join in."
"Wow. Sounds like fun," Sora said, his eyes shining.
"Yep. And last year, I didn't get hit once. Not once. No one can hit me with a snowball. I'm too-"
WHUMP!
Donald's words were cut off due to Sora's snowball suddenly making contact with his open beak.
"You're too what now?" Sora asked as he and the others broke out laughing.
"He gotcha good, Donald!" Goofy crowed.
"For a beginner, that's really good," Mushu said.
Donald glared at the assembled party as he wiped the melting snow off his face, fixing his eyes on Sora last of all. Then, he too grinned.
"Aww, well, happy first snow, Sora." In truth, the duck magician wasn't really mad.
He was, after all, better with blizzard magic than Sora.