A World Beyond Our Own | TFP AU

41 || Snowfall

Something cold touched Taylor's nose.

She rubbed her nose with her finger and curled back up against Ratchet's side with a soft sigh, but then she felt it again. Once more, she rubbed her nose and opened her eyes to squint at what was left behind on her finger. Was that... water?

Now mostly awake, she slowly sat up and tilted her head back to look up at the top of the trunk. Tiny white snowflakes fluttered through the air as they made their way towards the ground. They landed in her hair and stuck to her clothing. A smile slowly crept across her face before she got up and shuffled over to the entrance of their shelter.

What she saw took her breath away.

The forest was blanketed in a layer of snow as far as she could see. It sparkled in the early morning sunlight like a sea of diamonds, appearing almost too perfect to be real. Every sound aside from the birds chirping in the trees above seemed to be muffled by the snow, which created a sense of calm.

Taylor finally turned her gaze away from the beauty to look at Ratchet. He was sleeping peacefully, his snout tucked under one of his legs, so she decided not to wake him. She would explore the newly transformed forest by herself for now—at least until he woke up.

Some time later, Ratchet awoke from slumber and parted his jaws in a leisurely yawn. He curled his tail closer to his body, expecting to feel Taylor's form curled up against his side and being surprised when he felt nothing. His heart jolted in his chest as his head shot up, eyes frantically scanning the den for her.

"Taylor?" He called softly, worry beginning to set in.

Where could she have gone? Did something take her? He couldn't pick up any scents that he didn't recognize...

Eventually, his worried gaze wandered to the den entrance. That's when he noticed the footprints in the snow that led away from the den.

Scrap. She shouldn't be out there alone, especially in this weather! He thought to himself as he quickly stood up and shook out his stiff joints.

Ratchet crawled halfway out of the den and looked around. His worry only continued to grow when he saw no sign of Taylor. He needed to see where her footprints led before they were covered with fresh snow.

He'd scarcely taken a few steps when something cold stung his hindquarter. He let out a soft yelp and jumped a bit, his head whipping around to look for the source. His posture stiffened, then relaxed when he heard Taylor giggling from behind a rock.

"Very funny." Ratchet huffed, shaking off the last remnants of the snowball from his hindquarter. "You scared me to death, disappearing like that!"

"Sorry! I wanted to see the snow and you were asleep." Taylor apologized, still giggling as she stepped out from behind the rock. "You should've seen your face when I hit you with that snowball!"

Ratchet rolled his eyes a little. "Yes, I'm sure it was quite amu—ack!"

Another snowball stung Ratchet, this time nailing the side of his face. Taylor couldn't help but burst out laughing even though she hadn't been the one to throw it. Ratchet whipped around to glare at Cliffjumper, who was standing behind a tree.

"Sorry, doc! I couldn't... I couldn't help it!" Cliffjumper exclaimed, his sides heaving from laughing so hard.

"Snowball fiiiight!" Taylor shouted. She was already mashing another snowball between her hands.

"No!" Ratchet quickly ducked down and dove behind a fallen log before he could get hit with another snowball.

Meanwhile, Taylor and Cliffjumper were exchanging fire with snowballs, trying to see who could hit the other first. Seeing that they were distracted, Ratchet had a change of heart and decided it was alright if he had a little fun. When would they ever get the chance to do this again?