'Nivaria, are you sure about this?' The German shepherd was still very unsure about both wearing thick clothes and being out in the snow. The skiers on the other side were something she already knew, but those sticks...
'Yes, dear, I am very sure about it, trust me, Dora, like I trusted you with the snorkeling, will you?', the snowpard-vixen returned with a bright smile on lips and flews, exposing her fangs in a nonthreatening manner. 'It's like water-skiing! And in some way it is,' she tried to reassure her friend.
'Like water,' Dora's rival Tina, agreed with a teasing chuckle, 'just frozen and cold and...'
Before the bunny could continue Nivaria forestalled her with a handful of fluffy snow slapped across the back of the head, plastering hair, fur and headband with white flakes.
'Don't listened to her, she's just envies about all the attention I pay you,' the blue-furred vixen laughed and gave Tina a firm push towards a near pile of snow.
With a yelp the bunny dove right into the soft mount of flakes, drawing laughter from all around, even Dora relaxed and joined the good mood. Grumbling the bunny hoisted herself out of the snow, her once pink fur and suit where white now. A somewhat forced smile was on her lips as she dusted herself off and before she could pelt the naughty vixen with a hard snowball her prey was already gone, skiing downhills.
Still seeking revenge the bunny snarled through a mouthful of snow, spat the melting flakes out and got up too, following the small group, eyes fixed on the bright red jacket Dora was wearing. With a snowboard under her booted paws Tina had her hands free, that hard snowball meant for Nivaria wasn't forgotten, just ached for a new victim, that all too popular dog!
True to the first time on skis Dora quickly fell behind the group, but did her best to stay on her feet and close behind, even when she face-planted all too often, the long, once purple scarf Nivaria knitted herself as a gift, was white and icy by now, plastered with layers of snow.
From time to time she could see the black-clad shape of Sudabe tumble and fall too, but the resulting laughter distracted the canine in equal terms and send her into the snow as well.
Decreasing her pace even further Dora entered a snowy wood, at some time she lost the tracks in a especially patch of deep snow, the wind had blown flakes into her face and across the trails. Feeling somewhat lost Dora tried to recall the way down or at least to A station. Dragging up a map from her mind she turned deeper into the woods, using her sticks to keep some momentum.
Still angered the bunny pondered about Dora's course change. 'Is she really that lost?' she asked herself, then nodded as the canine vanished between the snow-laden trees. 'Good bye, bitch!'(bitch as female dog), she snarled and lowered her profile to cut through the powder to catch up with the red hooded girl. Skidding swiftly through the trees she called out for her rival, then hurled the prepared, icy snowball right into her face! Snow splattered across the forehead and tinted skiing goggles, knocking the shepherd off her feet and bindings.
Not bothering to spare another look, Tina quickly left the woods again, getting downhills again to meet the rest of the group and to slap that bigmouthed Snowpard-vixen with the biggest snowball ever made!
It took about a good quarter of an hour for the bunny to reach the group. The vixens, both pure-breed and hybrid were busy with stuffing as much snow as possible into the pants of the other as they wrestled and rolled through the snow just a couple of paces away from the bar where the other girls sat, chatting idly over their steaming mugs, watching the two crazy foxes with amusement. Tina quickly noticed them, made that long, swishing blue and cream tail out easily. Kicking out of her bindings she hoisted the top ball off a near snowman and ran towards the duo, ready and eager for payback.
'Look out!' the red vixen called and Nivaria reacted instantly, thought not as Ameria had hoped, the blue-furred hybrid just dodged so Ameria became the target!
With bunny unable to stop and fox too slow to dive for cover the result was a groan muffled by a cloud of snow, an embarrassed apology and a loud and amused laughter as the fox-pard lifted her head to watch the scene.
Her glee and schadenfreude were short-lived, the entire group now was on their feet, preparing a mass of snowballs.
'Can't we talk about it?' Nivaria mumbled and inched away on her hands and rear, looking up to the other girls, ears pinned back and tail between her legs.
A pink moonboot came down on the tip of her tail, trapping the hybrid.
'Time for talking is over,' the first, Tina, said. 'Time for you to eat snow,' Ameria agreed, the other girls nodded before they pounced the ex-soldier to stuff her maw, clothes and everything else with snow, knowing this would be enjoyed by everyone around... No one wondered where the last member was...
~~~~~~~~
Hearing someone calling her name, he wasn't exactly sure who thanks to the earmuffs and bobble hat, Dora turned around. Before she could even make out a shape or colors something hard and cold smacked into her face, clogging her nostrils with icy snow and blinding her despite the goggles she wore. Stumbling back her feet tripped over the ski, the left binding came loose and the shepherd lost her balance and knocked the back of her head against a tree which lost its massive load of snow on the poor dog, burying her almost from head to toe.
It took a minute or two before Dora managed to move her arms and dig her head out. Gasping for air, she struggled more, causing another load of snow to dump on her head, undoing the last minutes' work.
Another minute or two later her head was free again, quickly followed by shoulders and chest. The snow on her legs was pretty compressed, felt like ice there, straining her right ankle uncomfortably. Calling out for help, the shepherd continued to dig and shove snow aside for another couple of minutes until the immense pressure was off her chest.
Taking a deep breath, Dora unzipped her jacket and searched the pockets for her phone. She quickly found it and typed in the number of the BERGWACHT, but there was no connection, the mountain and trees blocked the signal from her common phone.
Cursing under her breath she finished freeing her legs and kicked the binding off. With a grunt the Klendatu-daughter hoisted her shivering body up, back against the tree.
'So, where am I?' she wondered and looked around, the winds had already covered the tracks, but even if they still would be there, the shepherd wasn't really good with reading them. To add more to her orientation problem Dora also had no idea where she had to go, the mountain side was a totally new environment for her as she was used to wander along the warm, sunny beaches of WHEREEVER, her elements were warm sand and water, not cold snow and ice.
With a sigh she pushed herself off the tree, causing a last, tiny avalanche to dump a bit snow onto her snow caked bobble hat. Spinning around, expecting, no hoping some one tossed a snowball at her, she shifted her weight onto the right leg. Yelping in pain she lost her balance again, dropped onto her rear. Whimpering softly she undid the ski-boot and gently touched the aching ankle.
'Doesn't feel broken,' she told herself more for reassurance than actual knowledge. Digging a ski-stick out, she got up again and used it as a pretty bad walking stick, shock denied the option of using a ski in the first moment. Just after the third fruitless attempt of walking the shepherd changed tactics and used the much stiffer and longer ski as stick. Even when it sunk deep into the white she could use it to start getting away.
Without any sense of direction she continued her way through the woods, staying of the deep snow. Unknown to Dora her way took her further and further away from safety, right into a snowstorm that would turn the afternoon and night to a freezing nightmare.
~~~~~
Meanwhile Nivaria had to fight with her personal avalanche problem as well, the other girls used the opportunity to pay back all those snowballs and whitewashes the snowpard-vixen had dished out. Unable to talk with her maw full of snow or to move arms or legs, they were pinned down by a girl on each set, the blue-furred vixen was in trouble. The other taunted her, told her to enjoy the treatment, what she did indeed, while Ameria sat on Nivaria's lower back, shoveling snow down her hoodie, giving her a cold hunchback. Tina kept thee powerful legs trapped and was busy with stuffing the black ski-pants to the brim, not worrying about her victim's health.
'Hey, girls,' Sudabe started, 'has anyone seen Dora since we started?' The first reaction was a startled chorus of shaking heads. The snowy vixen managed to throw the others off and spat out, freeing her mouth. With a serious face and snow-wet pants she straightened up, snow fell out of her jacket. 'We need to go and call the Bergwacht.' A glare later SOMEONE was away while Nivaria snapped another couple of orders, setting things in motion.
Smiling to herself, the 'pard-vixen was quite pleased despite the possibly dire situation. Nodding, she went off too to go and get a snow-mobile for her and Sudabe, the blue vixen had a feeling Dora would like their faces most as saviors.
The six women parted in three separate groups, each had a bag full with survival gear, tents, rations, snow shoes, extra clothing and most importantly high-end communication gear to stay in touch even with the mountains and woods around.
Nivaria checked each group, then nodded. 'Okay, this is important, we need to find Dora ASAP, as soon as possible, weather forecast talks about a massive blizzard inbound in the next couple of hours, maybe even earlier due the environment. Stay sharp and cautious, try not to get lost and call for help if you need it, no false pride. Bergwacht is on its way too, but they are busy with an avalanche on a different side... We have to find her!' Punching the air with a mitten-clad hand the teams broke up and each went their own ways, one, including Tina, took the lift to search in the upper third, Ameria stayed at the bottom and on foot, while Sudabe and Nivaria checked the middle on the ski-mobile.
~~~~~~
Somewhere in the woods Dora continued stumbling through the snow, tears gathered in her goggles, freezing them to the soft fur on her cheeks. She could barely feel her feet or hands, but knew she had to press on.
'Why is it so dark?', she wondered, gazing into the cloud-heavy skies. 'That looks bad,' she whimpered, then flinched as a strong wind blew flakes into her face. Wrapping the scarf tighter around her face she waded on, soon leaving the woods to wade through deep drifts again, fighting her way through them towards a darker, almost square blotch in the distance. Not sure what it was, it still gave her some hope and a goal.
Unknown to her Nivaria and Sudabe crashed their snow-mobile into a boulder hidden by a drift. Swearing the blue vixen kicked the bend blades and punched the wind shield. Ignoring the first attempts of calming by her partner she dropped the snow shoes and bound them to her boots, then tossed the heavy rucksack onto her back, eager and ready to continue on foot.
'But the storm, we won't reach her in time!', the panther moaned, dropping her head in defeat.
'Stuff it!' The other one snapped and shook her head. 'Stay here, run back home, both alone, or get up and follow me!'
Considering her options, Sudabe quickly put her snow shoes on as well and stomped after the almost running vixen, admiring her determination in this situation.
After a half hour the first snow came, obscuring the distance and obliterating any traces.
Another minute or two later Tina called and announced no traces and that they would return to the hotel. Ameria and Nivaria both cursed her, muffling their answers to something even less intelligent. Both continued searching, even when the blizzard made it almost impossible for them to see further than 50 meters, Nivaria had reached the woods and had even worse conditions.
'Wait!' she shouted, stopping Sudabe in her tracks as she had taken the lead for a while. 'See that tree?' the blue-hybrid asked, 'Somehow it lost its snow...' Dropping to her knees, she brushed the snow aside, soon finding a ski. 'Dora was here!' A sign of hope, something showing they were on the right way. Calling the others she reported her finding and told them also they would continue searching, no matter how bad the weather would turn.
Somewhere almost a kilometer ahead Dora came closer and closer towards that dark shape promising shelter. It was a log-cabin, rustic if not derelict, but at least some protection from the worsening snow storm. Despite the short distance it took almost ten minutes to reach it.
Her good manners dictated she had to knock or ring a bell to announce her arrival. Near a small window hung a rope. With a shivering shrug she tugged at it, but nothing happened. Growling in anger she pulled again, put almost her full weight into the rope. At first nothing happen, but then a small clump of snow fell on her head. Looking up in surprise she saw a massive block of snow hanging over the roof. Before she could get out of the way it fell down, crushing onto the startled shepherd, burying her completely.
Sudabe and Nivaria had brought the forest behind them by the time Dora got stuck in the roof-avalanche. The sharp-eyed vixen saw the shape of the cabin in the distance through clouds of flakes, the snowfall turned slowly into a white-out, visibility was below ten meters.
'C'mon,' she called over her shoulder, 'there's a hood, maybe Dora is over there!'
Spurred by that sign of hope, they dug in to their last reserves of strength, the cat was exhausted beyond everything she had ever experienced.
Another quarter hour passed before they reached their goal.
'Something looks odd here,' the fox-pard mumbled and slipped her snow-shoes off, wading through the snow drifts on the wind-side.
'Yes,' Sudabe agreed, pointing to a pile of snow under a window.
Hearing muffled voices Dora called out as loud as she could, the snow on her body and face made it almost impossible to breathe. 'Help!' she screamed on the top of her burning lungs, her head swimming from the cold and lack of oxygen.
'Have you heard that?' the black cat asked, hurrying to get to the pile. Both girls dropped to their knees, pulling snow away as fast as they could. Soon they pulled a snow-plastered bobblehead out, revealing Dora's hair and ears. Laughing they continued digging as fast as they could, soon freeing their friend.
Relieved they found the missing dog, Sudabe guided her into the cabin while Nivaria made a call, letting the other teams know where they were and whom they had found.
~~~~~~
Further downhill at the station and hotel the girls cheered, Tina punched the air and Ameria hugged a passing-by waiter, as the report about Dora's rescue came over the walkie-talkies. 'Phew, that went well,' the bunny said, wiping imaginary sweet off her forehead. 'Indeed,' the red vixen agreed, smiling bright.
'I just wonder how it happened,' SOMEONE asked herself, pondering and sending a chill of fear down Tina's spine.
'Why the bad mood?' the bunny asked, ordering a round of drinks for everyone to distract them.
~~~~~~~
The inside of the cabin was rustic, just a desk, a couple of chair, a chimney and one bed where there along with a map and a battered radio transmitter on the wall opposite the door. Without further words Dora dropped dead into the bed while Nivaria and Sudabe stirred up a fire and prepared a sleeping place large enough for all three of them. It was on the floor, but the sleeping mats and bags and blankets.
With some effort both cat and part-cat undressed the exhausted dog and pulled her onto the makeshift bed, snuggling close to her to give as much body warmth as possible, they even gave her the occasional grope, 'just to test the reflexes', of course. When sleep finally came the three girls were warmed up again, drifting into even warmer dreams.
The next day started dark, just some dark, soft grey light filtered through the windows. Niavaria woke up first, stretching and yawning, gently pushing Dora's head off her chest with a smile. After placing a soft kiss on the canine's forehead the cat-vixen stumbled to a window to open it, wondering about the bad light.
A loud yelp woke Sudabe with a start, a moment later came an apologizing: 'Sorry, the windows were snowed over and I opened one'. The black cat's laughter brought an end to Dora's sleep as well.
'Mhm?', she yawned, still tired, 'What's wrong, you silly vixen?'
Huffing in acted annoyance Nivaria pushed some snow off her chest and hips and walked back to the bed to show the dog what was wrong with a big, cold and wet hug!
'Eeks!', Dora gasped before she snuggled tighter into the embrace, seeking the warmth under the wet shirt, Sudabe quickly joined, shivering by Nivaria's cold body.
After a couple of minutes the hybrid was warm again and used some snow to prepare a coffee.
Half an hour passed until they had finished breakfast and were back in their clothes and ready for the hike back to the station and civilization.
~~~~~~
The trip back took the best part of the morning, but as the trio finally arrived there was a big group hug with poor Nivaria and happy Dora and Sudabe in the middle.
After an opulent brunch they went to their rooms to meet later at the pool to warm up in the way Dora liked most. Nivaria wasn't too happy with the idea but Sudabe's firm hand around the fluffy cat-vixen's tail made clear where she had to be.
~~~~~~
'You didn't bring your snorkel to a trip to the mountains, did you??' Nivaria sighed as the canine enjoyed her element with just her tail floating on the surface...
