Author's note: Sorry about the huge wait. For all time: FINALS SUCK! I was forbidden from using the computer for fun until after finals. Oh yeah, Parents suck too. For those I have kept in suspense, the new pairing will be shown next fic. The pairing is...well, you'll just have to wait and find out.

Danger on The Slope

After everyone met back in the main lodge, they checked the roster for the FIS World Cup. It was rumored that a pink hippo had signed up under the name "The Murray." It turned out that "The Murray"'s first race had just started.

Rushing to the race lines, they came just in time to see a large hippo come crashing around the turn, well ahead of the rest of the group. Suddenly, Murray lost control of his board and began to turn towards a nearby tree. Switching into his aboriginal ball from, he bounced safely away from the tree while his board smashed into a million pieces. Standing up, he shook his head and walked over to look at the wreckage of his now useless board.

"Hey Murray," yelled Sly at the top of his voice.

Murray turned around and his jaw dropped.

"Sl..Sly? But I thought..." he started.

"What? That I had forgotten you? Yeah right. Who could forget 'The Murray'?" asked Sly laughing.

"But I couldn't find you after the island fell apart," said Murray confused.

"How about we discuss this back at the lodge, it is very cold out here," said Bentley.

After they got back to the lodge, Bentley, Sly and Murray caught up while Julie and Hugo talked about which runs they were going to take tomorrow.

After a while, everybody went off to bed to dream of how they were going to spend the last day of their New Year's eve weekend vacation.

The next day, the whole group was ready to go at the crack and took the first gondola up to the top and got ready to take the hardest run on the mountain: The Couloir.

"You sure this is safe?" asked Grace, a little uneasy about the steep drop off.

"I've done it a million times before, and I'm still here aren't I?" scoffed Hugo, "Let's go!"

Pushing off the cliff, the whole group started down the mountain.

"Geronimo!" yelled Julie as she pushed off.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack. Looking up, Cedric saw about ten tons of snow falling down the mountain and gaining speed.

"You just had to yell didn't you?" asked Cedric as he tried to speed up and outrace the avalanche.

The tons of snow fell down the mountain at alarming speed, going faster and faster. The only sound Cedric could hear over the grinding of the snow was the pounding of his own heart. This was one of the most dangerous possible accidents that could happen on any mountain. If they didn't out race the snow, they would be buried alive, with next to no chance of rescue.

Suddenly, Julie, an expert boarder, slipped and fell out of her bindings. By the time she could strap herself back in and move, it would be too late. Cedric knew he had only seconds before the avalanche reached them. Stopping he yelled, "Everyone, get next to me. Hugo, take the left, I go the right. Focusing, he envisioned himself, but looked through his body into his heart. Summoning his power, he closed his eyes. When he opened them, they had turned red. Like before, he had gone through an alarming transformation. His claws had grown and his canines had lengthened until he could have passed as a vampire. Cedric snarled in anger and raised his hands as fire poured out of them. The fire spread creating a shield around the right half of the group. Hugo also sent out a shield, except his was pure black. The Snow struck the shield, but Cedric and Hugo kept it off the group. The instant the snow hit Cedric's shield, it evaporated while Hugo kept moving it along around his shield. For what seemed like an eternity, they held the avalanche at bay. Finally, the avalanche stopped as quickly as it had started. Cedric dropped backwards onto his back while Hugo grabbed his knees to keep himself from falling.

"Nice shield Hugo, you've improved a lot," panted Cedric.

"Not too bad yourself," gasped Hugo. Their use of magic had drained them of a lot of strength.

Slowly, they rest off the group helped them down the mountain and back to the lodge.