Page 11

Early Morning - Mid Winter : Home

Time ended up slipping away.. we spent our days sunbathing, star gazing, eating, sleeping and simply spending time together for just short of 2 years until my sister and I's 3rd birthday arrived.

There was a thin layer of snow (around 30cm) on the ground and I got a fun idea. "Hey Krystallo, there is finally enough snow for a snow fight, weren't you arguing with mother the other day? You can finally settle that disagreement, and I'll be the judge to make sure neither of you cheat."

Krystallos eyes lit up. *Gasp* Catching up to pace instantly, she darted over to mother and quickly asked for a snowball fight.

"Ho~ so what are the rules?" Mother seemed interested as well.

"All is fair!'' Hearing Krystallos response, Mother gave an unusual smile that Krystallo didn't seem to notice.

Seeing them both ready I let them start preparing. "Okay, go ahead and start preparations!"

Krystallo quickly began building a snow fort in preparation for Mother's onslaught.

As Krystallo was building what she believed to be an unbreakable wall, she finally looked over towards Mother. "Moommmm, that's cheating!" She cried out as she saw Mother create a gigantic snow fort using magic.

"Huhu, you never said I couldn't use magic, isn't that right judge?" She looked over at me with a smug smile

"Haah.. yeah, Krystallo you never said she couldn't." I'm not sure how but Krystallo forgot the one necessary rule for her to have a chance at winning.

"But brother! I have no chance if she uses magic!"

-I don't think you'd have a chance anyways..- I was quite pessimistic about her chances of winning, although she had grown to 4.5 meters over the past 2 years, compared to mother, she was tiny.

I had also grown to a whopping 9 meters, my growth slowed down a bit but I was still over double the size I should be.

"Well maybe you'll learn to be more thorough with your rules next time." I give a blunt answer with a smile.

She was going to retort but Mother interrupted. "Your brother is very smart, you should take his advice sometimes."

"Hmph.." Not wanting to agree she just went back to working on her snow fort.

After a few hours, the sun was high in the sky and Krystallo had finally finished her fort.. if it could be called that.

She had built a wall just big enough for her to lay behind so she could throw snowballs towards mother, simple but effective.

Mother on the other hand... -ahh poor Krystallo..-

Mother had built a massive fortress of dense snow with magic with tons of holes in the wall just big enough for a snowball to fit through. -Is she going to use magic to throw the balls through the holes?-

The more I looked at it, the more I noticed how serious Mother was taking this. "Mother isn't this a little much?" I spoke out of concern for my poor little sister's pride.

"She needs to learn this lesson before she challenges dragons her age during the festival." [1]

"Well I guess it's good for her to learn when there aren't consequences for losing." I nodded my head as I agreed.

"Brother you're supposed to pick my side!" Krystallo shot me a harsh glare.

"Believe it or not, I am on your side.. the fight shall commence in 5 seconds!"

Hearing my announcement, sister looked at mother like an enemy, as an opponent, but mother on the other hand was looking down on Krystallo with a smile full of pity.

-Ahh.. well Krystallo is dead- "5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. FIGHT!"

The second I started the fight, Mother launched a few hundred snowballs in quick succession through the holes in the wall.

"But moooom.." A noise of complaint came from Krystallo as she saw Mother go all out, followed by the sound of hundreds of snowballs burying the poor child.

"Mother was that really necessary?" I was worried it might destroy her pride, but it seems my worry wasn't needed.

Krystallo's head shot out of the mound of snow, "If you didn't use magic I would've won!"

She was a little upset, but I was simply glad she didn't get discouraged.

Mother gave her an encouraging smile as she dismantled her fort, but she decided to throw a snowball while Mother had her defenses down.

*puff* The snowball smacked against mothers cheek, stunning her for a second before she looked back at Krystallo.

"Huh.. that's not fair!!!" Above Krystallo was a massive 6 meter wide snow ball mother created.

*puff* The massive snow ball fell onto my poor sister's face, burying her under the snow again.

"Haha!" I couldn't hold back from laughing at my sister.

Krystallo popped her head out of the mound of snow, glaring right at me. "Since you find it so funny, how about you challenge me brother" a greedy smile appeared on her face.

I was quick to respond. "Challenge accepted!"

An hour or so later I finished my base with the leftover scraps from mothers fortress.

I had made a simple but effective fort, the center was tall with steep edges to the left and right so I could throw snowballs without showing my body and a hole towards the bottom to sneak out some cheap shots.

Krystallo on the other hand built the same fort as she did for mother, a simple wall.

-Hehe, it's my victory..- Feeling very confident, I was looking forward to the fight.

"Okay the fight will begin, now!" Mother was the referee for this fight and started the match without even asking if we were ready first.

"Hehe, brother, are you afraid of losing? Quit hiding behind your wall!" She tried to antagonize me while I prepared a secret weapon.

While preparing it, I picked up a small snowball with my tail and launched it from the bottom hole.

*poof* The snowball smacked Krystallo right under the chin, "WHATTT?!" being completely unaware of how I threw it, she decided to just throw her snowballs as hard as she can against my fort to knock it over.

But sadly I had finished my preparations!

I reach down and picked up the huge 3 meter 'snowball', getting ready to lob it over my fort and onto my sister.

But she started her barrage before I could throw it. *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud*

The snowballs were peppering my fort, slowly causing my wall to crumble, -Oh.. should I give her some false hope-

Wanting to give her a crushing defeat.. my competitive spirit took over a little bit.

As the wall began falling towards me I laid down to let it bury me, grabbing a snowball with my tail beforehand.

*poomf* The wall fell and Krystallo thought she won, "see!! I told you I'd win!"

But suddenly my tail appeared from the pile of snow, hurling a small snowball at her face.

"You only act tou.." *thud* The snowball landed in her mouth as she was talking. *Coughing* "What a cheap shot.." Finally looking back up, she saw my tail wrapped around a 3 meter snow ball and a grin on my face sticking out of the snow.

The sense of victory drained from her as I hurled the massive snowball at her. "Never celebrate too early!"

*poomf* The snowball engulfed my sister, burying her for the 3rd time.

Her head quickly popped back out though. "Mother didn't I win when his fort fell?"

Mother was smiling looking at her. "You may have lost but at least you learned two good life lessons today."

"Hmph" Krystallo looked over at me, upon seeing my head held high with my eyes closed she quickly made a snowball and threw it at my face.

Moving my head just slightly, I dodged the snowball and opened one eye. "Missed me." A mocking smile appeared on my face.

"Hmph, I refuse to lose to you.."

"Haha, well I'll always accept your challenge." I gave her a warm smile as I walked up and patted her lightly on the head. -How can I let the one I'm supposed to protect be stronger than me..-