Avalanche of Love Ep. 07

Raul gave him a confused look and slowly blinked. "Was there more? I simply offered some advice to keep you out of an awkward position in the future, Kai." He gave the leopard a bored look and smirked once more. "Did you assume I'd... blackmail you? Do you think so little of my ethics, my friend?"

"S-Sorry... I just uh..." Kai rubbed his arm and looked away awkwardly.

"Kai, you should focus on your ride. We are at peace and so long as you do not mean harm or foul towards me, I will remain the same towards you. So push this from your mind, focus on your ride, and remember my advice." Raul pushed a paw to the small tribal-looking charm at his chest that he wore as a necklace, then turned away without another word.

Kai nodded slowly to the collie's back, making a mental note to get a better body wash once this competition wrapped up.

He finished first, the last competition, and managed to be first in the qualifiers, so he was dropping in last today. Hiroshi already had a 94 on his opening run with Jarome sporting a 90.3 and Raul a 92. It was clear the boys weren't going to let the girls just throw all the nineties out this time.

"Okay... focus, dumbass..." Kai snarled as he buckled in, then perked his ears as his phone pinged, it was a text message from Kayla. He quickly looked at it and it was just a selfie of her and Madeline hugged up in their winter gear after the girl's competition. The text below read, 'Good luck brother, your sisters are rooting for you.'

Kai felt his tail fluff out at that and a shiver roll up his spine before he swallowed the lump in his throat. He offered the phone a grin before tucking it away, feeling himself compose now that both of them were cheering him on.

"And here is last week's champ and current points leader, Kai Hanna. He looks pretty dialed in today, doesn't he?" Jasmine called out cheerfully.

"He does look like a cat on a mission, that's for sure. I wonder what's going through his head right now?" Jaron hummed out.

Kai showed the camera a snarky grin as he dropped his goggles into place and spoke back to the sportscasters, "Nothing family-friendly, I'll tell you that!" He gave the camera a point with his gloved paw before pushing off.

"Oh my!" Jasmine squeaked out with a laugh as the leopard dropped in for his run. Kai's X3 hit the wall like it was ice, soaring up as he held the board, the sun reflecting off his tinted goggles as he grinned into the biting cold air while the world tumbled and spun.

His landing stuck flawlessly and on his next pass he was getting more cheers and wows from the crowd, soaring through the air twisting and turning, his tail whipping behind him as the board hit the slope to move on to the third pass.

His knees bent as he pushed forward as hard as he could, that cocky little grin showing on his muzzle. He had lied to Hiroshi, he already had one gold and he wanted another, it wasn't just about his sister's, even if that was a major factor.

Just like his sister did, he went up for another pass on his fourth but didn't pawstand, he had enough amplitude for one more quick flip, just barely sticking it by the edge of the pipe as the crowd gasped out in shock at the extra trick.

Kayla slacked her maw at the performance, Madeline just clenching her own jaw while staring wide-eyed, the jawbreaker shattering against her teeth as the sisters realized brother wasn't going to be denied what he wanted tonight.

His board ground to a halt, a camera already in his face as he lifted his goggles and cocked a furred brow, speaking into it. "Think the judges will get that one right, Roshi?"

He felt so in control at that moment, felt as smooth as he had ever felt in his life, right up to the point where his world spun and he gave a shrill little mewl as he was tackled right into the snow by Kayla.

"Brother! Holy crap, what was that?!" She called out excitedly, her tail coiling as she gave him an excited grin, having shattered his whole presentation with her eagerness.

"Damn it, sister! I was trying to be cool for once!" He huffed out with a fussy half-hearted glare.

"You've always been awesome, Kai. Don't worry." Kayla offered him an apologetic grin and climbed off him, offering a paw to help him up.

Back at the top of the pipe in the prep area, Hiroshi was having mixed emotions over that as he glared at the TV. Sure, Kai had been the reason he was able to get a sponsor again, but at the same time, he felt so called out, feeling his temper wanting to flare up.

Raul called out melodically from behind. "Hiroshi, when I was a puppy, first learning the ways of the board, I had many shortcomings, you know?"

The buck turned to look at the collie, cocking a brow but saying nothing as Raul continued while looking into the other competitor's eyes, "The wind gusted, that patch was too slick, I got too dizzy... Every time I had something come up... My father would tell me, ``The biggest excuse is the one in the mirror.``"

Hiroshi snarled at that and darted his eyes away towards the TV, seeing the 97.0 on the screen. "Disagreeing with the judges only gets you so far, my friend. Perhaps you also lean on some excuses as a crutch. Some food for thought, nothing more..." Raul huffed out and casually trotted over to collect his gear as they prepared for the second run.

Back down at the end of the pipe Kai had already had his token interview and was talking to both of his 'sisters' before he rode the lift back up. Madeline folded her arms, feeling her cheeks burn as she scoffed out, "You didn't even hold back, threw it out there on the first run... pervert... you really are eager for us to do that, aren't you?"

Kai laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Give me a break, Mad... it wasn't just that, I was... really feeling it, ya know?"

The rabbit cut her red eyes to him and nodded. "You both are there, you know? For what it's worth, I'm happy to have you both as rivals and lovers." She ran her paw through her hair with a flourish and gracefully trotted back to the waiting area.

"Damn, brother... that was amazing though! Weren't you a little mean on Hiroshi there though at the end?" Kayla gave him a grin.

"Nah... he needs that push. He's been grumbling about having to learn the X3, using it and the judge thing as a talking point. I know he can beat me, but he has to have the fire lit under his hooves, ya know?"

"Yeah? You watch out for him, don't you? Feel responsible since you dragged him over to Altima?" She smirked and moved over, giving him a hug, nuzzling his jaw quickly before pulling away. "You're very cool in a lot of ways big brother, I'm proud of you, and I'll give you a proper reward tonight with our bunny-sister." Kayla offered him a wink as Kai felt his heart ramp up at the sparkles in his sister's eyes.

The competition sorted itself and the initial run Kai dropped was never beaten, but there was one small caveat to that...

"I want a tiebreaker!" Hiroshi snarled while at the podium, clenching his gloved paws as he lifted his muzzle, glaring up at the larger cat as they both stood there, cameras on them. Jasmine and Jaron looked shocked, the ski resort's owner that was about to present the two gold medals for the event also looked surprised.

"Hiroshi, those only happen at the end of the season, you can't just demand a run off because we had a tie during a regular event," Jasmine spoke out diplomatically towards the buck.

He grunted and looked at the mouse, then glared back at the leopard before him, the usual cool composure the buck would exude cracking in this moment. Kai frowned and put a paw on his hip. "Hiroshi... if you're upset about earlier, I'll apologize right here on the air to everyone at home for trash-talking you, man."

The buck clenched his teeth and snarled before shaking his head. Composing himself before he spoke out in that cool tone of voice, "I don't care about the points, you called me out earlier, and despite our amicable relationship, I demand we resolve today's competition between us, point's standings be damned."

"Amicable? That how you say we're friends, Roshi?" Kai offered him a grin then shrugged. "Okay... I'll drop in one more time if the judges haven't packed up and gone home. Points or not, I'm game!"

Jaron folded his ears and looked to Jasmine before stammering out, "Uh... I'm not even-" Both his and the mouse's ears perked slightly at the feed in their earpieces. "Really?"

Jasmine pushed a paw to her own ear and nodded, then looked at the two boys. "Alright, judges are game, but it's an exhibition run, no points involved."

Hiroshi simply nodded and hopped right off the podium, trotting over to the lift. Kai offered a shrug and grin at the camera as he followed after the buck. The leopard quickly caught up and made sure to grab the same lift up the buck was taking.

"Roshi, we cool? You know my jab was just to prod your tail into action, yeah?" Kai called out as they rode up.

"I am thankful, but I have pride and honor to think about. If we don't resolve this now, I'll not be able to focus between now and the next competition. Do you understand?" Hiroshi sighed as he looked straight ahead while explaining.

Kai grinned at that. "Sure sure, I don't need you taking it personally, we'll sort it here, but I'll trash talk you any time I think you're slacking, ya know? You still gotta get to the Olympics later this year and get a medal to rub in your mom's face, right?"

Hiroshi cocked a brow that Kai remembered the story but simply gave him a nod as the lift slowed to a stop, the buck hopping down and moving right to the prep area.

"Okay you two, exhibition or not, we treat this like any other competition run! Kai, you agreed to this, so we'll have you drop in first. All the rules apply of staying out of the gate area until you're called!" The event staffer barked out the directions as they plodded over. He was the only one there, the others having already left thinking their job was done for the day.

"Well well well! We've got a spicy little bit of... can we call this overtime, Jasmine?" Jaron called out to the camera.

"I think we can, Jaron! Points or not it looks like our riders have a bit more to show us today!" The mouse squeaked out cheerfully as she grinned at the camera.

"Stick around, folks! We'll be back to get this duel started right after this!" Jaron called out melodically as the commercial break started.

I'm not going to lie, I kick my tail writing these! A single episode can take me twelve to fifteen hours or longer to make after conception, writing, editing, and proofreading! If you enjoy this, support me, please? Vote, Fave, Comment, offer feedback, or anything else. Thank you, and as always, I'm nothing without your support!