sʜᴀᴛᴛᴇʀɪɴɢ [Kingdom of Loathing fanfiction]

Chapter 19

Reaching the peak of my eXtremity

***

The lift climbed up to a wooden cabinet. During the ride till up there, I could check on the endlessly snowy plains that composed the upper part of the mountain. I could also see, on my left, a whole tower made of red, covered by snow on the extremities, topped by a snowman wearing a mask to cover entierly his face, asides for his eyes and carrot nose. The lift then stopped abruptly, leaving me in an empty, lifeless white space. I openned the lift and jumped out of it, followed shortly by Raven who flew out of the cabin before I closed it. I turned around. It wasn't actually that lifeless, for I could see people snowboarding across the slope, some flying above the ground and doing some trick in the air before landing safely. The blizzard was now striking, eventually hitting me, metaphorically, with a cold wave that reminded me of my goal here. I shuddered, then rubbed my arms together, deciding that I would go down the slope to see if any people could help me getting a gear.

I climbed down to the very bottom of the slope to see a patch of small wooden houses, not taller then two floors, with people coming in and out of them. I walked along the main avenue, until I eventually fall on a large group of teenagers milling around and chatting excitedly. One of them was standing off to the side with a snowboard under his arm, looking glum. I went to him and asked him what's up.

"See that fraternity orc over there ?" he said. "He's my bitter arch-rival. Somehow, I got talked into entering a snowboarding contest against him, even though he's the three-year state snowboarding champion, and I've never ridden one of these things before in my life. And if I lose, I'll never win the heart of the girl I love."

"Tough break," I nodded, sympathetically. I tapped my chin thoughtfully to find a reply... once my researches done, I could turn around to tell him frankly :

"Listen, kid. That frat orc isn't your rival, this mountain is. And that girl isn't the love of your life, this mountain is. If you want to win this contest, you've got to look this mountain straight in the eye, grab it by the throat, and show it who's the boss !" he looked at me, puzzled.

"That doesn't make any sense whatsoever."

"Who's the boss ?"

"Look, I..."

"Who's the boss ?"

"Tony Da-" that's when I held on his shoulder, rising up my voice and shaking him like a palm tree :

"WHO'S THE BOSS ?!"

"I am ! I am !"

"Damn right you are !!'' I lowered my finger to his chest, tapping it roughly multiple times. ''Now, get up there and prove it ! Prove it to your rival, your girl, and your mountain !"

''DAMN RIGHT I WILL !''

The kid then ran for the ski-lift yelling triumphantly, and... knocked himself out on one of the support stanchions. The others around gasped in shock, while I got my eyes widen. The local medical team arrived shortly. After they've carried him away on a stretcher, I found his mittens on the ground and pocketed them.

''Not like he wouldn't need them for a while,'' I shrugged before moving further into the slope.

I was hiking through the woods that were situaded on the west, when I saw a shadowy figure dashing through the thicket of tree tronks. I peeked between two trees,only to see the silhouette of a snowman standing in front of me, his back turned to me. Better not attempting to interreact with him, I thought, cautiously stepping back. I slowly turned around, but it's too bad a stick came to my way, making a cracking sound as I was leaving. The snowman instinctively turned to my direction, and I could feel a shuriken wheezing right next to my ear, planting itself in a tree. I ran as fast as I could before the snowman could give me chase. I turned around to see if he was still following me, but to my surprise, he didn't. I cautiously glanced in random directions to see if he was eventually hidden... nothing was to be seen... I sighed of relief before deciding to move onward, seeing if I could complete my mittens with even more features.