The Epic Snow Adventure

Mokuba Kaiba didn't like to build up false hope. He had one too many instance when he had been hopeful, which would ultimate lead to disappoint. From those experiences, he had learned that expectations could only lead to disappoint me. That being stated, it was no wonder that when Mokuba heard the report of three to six inches of snow falling that night, he was much too skeptical to get excited.

But that morning he found that his alarm had been turned off and he had slept later than he normally would have on any given school day. Rising from his bed, he sat up and looked around. There was something wrong with this picture. There had to be. Mokuba couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew there must've been some reason he hadn't been woken up when he should have.

The idea of snow had long been forgotten in his dreams from the night before, so Mokuba carried on his morning like he normally would. Brushing his teeth, getting dressed, all the normal routines he would carry out every day during the week. Mokuba left the bathroom and headed down the hall to his brother's office, knowing his older sibling would most likely know exactly what was going on that day.

However, even when Mokuba reached Seto's room and glanced inside, to his surprise, his brother was nowhere to be found. Mokuba found this very strange, maybe even stranger than waking up to find hi alarm being turned off and sleeping in late. Had Seto left for school already without him knowing?

Mokuba began to panic. What if he was late? What if Seto had left without him? Had he already missed the bus? Mokuba could do nothing except sprint down the stairs, grab his backpack that was by the dining room, and rush towards the front door. Maybe if he ran fast enough he would be able to at least make it to-

Mokuba's eyes widened when he opened the door. His backpack was carelessly dropped to the floor as he stood there in shock and complete awe. Snow. Everywhere he looked, there was snow. All of Domino City had been blanketed in snow, all over night. And it wasn't just any snow; it was about six to eight inches deep. It was every kid's dream come true.

Mokuba heard some shoveling ahead and looked up from the snow to the front yard. He found his brother had been busied away with shoveling the walkway that led from the front door to the sidewalk from the Kaiba Mansion. It was a funny site to see, since he was covered from head to toe in some heavy duty snow gear that made him look silly.

Seto Kaiba was lost in his own thoughts and plans as he shoveled away that he hardly heard the door being swung open from behind him. The shoveling was hard work, especially for the physic that Seto had obtained, but it was very soothing and rhythmic work as well. He could really get lost in his thoughts doing such a repetitive job; maybe that was why he was doing the shoveling rather than one of his maids.

First he would have to give Mr. Masoka a call about the meeting that was supposed to happen today and re-schedule it, Seto thought to himself as he planned out his day, second he would file those papers for Ms. Simmi and send them off to her secretary for-

A snow ball smacked against the back of Seto's head, nearly causing him to fall face-first into snow. Thankfully Seto was able to catch himself before actually falling, but now he was back in reality and twisted around to see the culprit behind such a devious crime. Seto's eyes scanned the entire area but found nothing. The shovel was still gripped in his hand… he was wondering whether or not he should wander around the front yard and use it as a weapon if necessary. Or maybe he could-

"GOTCHA!" Seto spotted a black blur out of the corner of his eye leap towards him, and found his body reacted instantly, almost without thought. In seconds, Seto's body turned completely around; grabbed the figure that had jumped at him, and flipped him all the way up and over his head onto the yard a couple feet away. Seto then proceeded to turn his whole body around, once again, to catch site of his fallen culprit.

Mokuba lay flat on the ground in the snow. He was staring directly up into the sky in total shock, just before he closed his eyes and began to laugh hysterically.

"That was awesome!" Mokuba cried between laughter, "I can't believe I still can't get you!" Mokuba rolled onto his side, continuing to laugh. Seto quickly ran over to his brother's side and looked down on him with worry and concern.

"Mokuba, my god! Are you alright? What do you think you were doing?!" After finishing his good laugh, Mokuba looked back up at his brother; a wildly huge smile remained on his face.

"I was trying to surprise tackle you! But you always catch me before I can even touch you, it's crazy!" Seto gave a relieved sigh, happy to know his brother was fine, but also saddened that his brother would try to do such a thing.

"Mokuba, you know you can't sneak up on me like that. It's no good. Besides, you know where I learned that. It's a trait I won't even be able to get rid of." Mokuba's smile instantly disappeared. Mokuba was fully aware of what exactly had cause Seto to develop such an alert defense system. It was from the abuse of their step father. As a child, Gozaburo would always keep the boys on their toes, for one could never quite be aware when the mad man would strike and beat them down. It had always been worse for Seto, though, growing up when the man was alive.

Mokuba's smile had vanished with the mentioning of Seto's child abuse, and the boy immediately felt guilty for his actions. Seto had caught onto this and tried to brighten the mood. He stretched out a hand towards Mokuba and offered to pull him to his feet.

"Why can't you be like all the other little brothers and do normal things?" Mokuba took Seto's hand and was pulled to his feet. Mokuba looked up at his brother and grinned again.

"Oh? And what exactly would you consider 'normal'?" Seto put his hand over his brother's shoulder as he led him back into the house.

"Oh, you know normal things. Like doing chores, or doing homework, or not trying to sneak up on his older brother while he's trying to work," Seto ruffled his younger brother's hair as he led him inside. Mokuba laughed and rolled his eyes.

"As if you should even be talking, Nii-sama. Why can't you be like the other old brothers?"

"I'm a normal older brother. What are you talking about?" Seto said in a playfully sarcastic tone. Mokuba laughed.

"Sure. Because all older brothers are eighteen and are CEOs of their own companies!" Seto graciously bowed his head in agreement.

"Touché Mokuba, but isn't it normal for an older brother to offer to spend the entire day playing in the snow with his younger brother?" Mokuba stopped in his tracks and stared up at his brother. His eyes sparkled with excitement and hope. From the way Seto was smiling, Mokuba knew it to be true. Mokuba leapt into his brother's arms.

"I can't wait Nii-sama! This is going to be the greatest snow day EVER!" Seto hugged his brother back and was happy to see his brother so excited. Seto hadn't really planned to do anything that day other than work, but seeing his brother had a way of changing his mind every time. Seto was sure the day would hold many great adventures for the both of them.

When they reached the top of Moriko Forest at the very end of Domino City, Seto had to admit he was slightly thrown off. He had offered to take his brother to a professional sledding resort that was monitored by people and ultimately built to be safer. But Mokuba insisted on coming to Moriko Forest, that sledding at a resort was not real sledding.

Now, maybe the reason Seto had been so resistant to this whole idea was because of the rumors he had heard of this place. There was basically only one path that those sliders had to sled through; it was a very thin path, and it was quite possible many would wind up hitting a tree or two. And by the end of the day, most did, coming back with serious injuries.

Mokuba still wanted to go all the same. In fact, Mokuba was somewhat tempted to go there because of all the rumors he heard. There was also the fact that no one had ever reached the end of the forest. Most would run into a tree or get entangled in a bush before they could make it all the way down there, and by the time that happened, they were seriously hurt.

Seto turned to his brother, regretting the idea all too quickly.

"Must we really sled down this hill? Of all the hills in the world?" Mokuba nodded without even looking at him. Mokuba's eyes were fixated on the narrow and smooth path ahead of him. He placed his sled firmly on the ground and sat down in it. Mokuba turned to his brother.

"Come on Nii-sama, let's race." Seto blinked for a moment.

"You're kidding me, right?" Mokuba shook his head. Using his finger, he pointed downward for Seto to put his sled down and sit down on it. Seto placed his sled on the ground, but refused to sit down on it. He crossed his arms. "Mokuba, this is crazy. We're going to end up getting hurt. It's not worth it." Mokuba rolled his eyes.

"No we won't! Now sit down already. Just see this like a duel; you never know if you're going to win in a duel, but you always hope you do and try your best to keep your title and self esteem," Mokuba grinned as he thought of a cruel joke to say. "Of course, unless a Yugi Muto comes along and defeats you anyway…"

Seto immediately became enraged.

"MOKUBA!" Mokuba pushed off on his sled and began speeding into the forest. Seto jumped down onto his sled and pushed off, racing after him. "GET BACK HERE!" Seto called as he began to pick up speed and enter the forest. Mokuba was laughing uncontrollably laughing from the adrenalin that was pumping through his body. His sled was going faster and faster by the second, and somehow Mokuba was still able to steer away from all oncoming trees.

Mokuba turned away from the front for a moment and saw that Seto was now racing beside him. Mokuba became all the more determined.

"I'm so going to beat you to the end of the forest!" Mokuba called over to his brother.

"Oh, we'll see about that!" Seto called back, leaning lower into his sled and picking up speed. Mokuba did the same and suddenly the race was on. As they began to head deeper and deeper into the forest, trees became more and more frequent. Still, Mokuba was keeping up a good record of dodging them, or at least skidding along the side of them. Seto had been keeping up a good record for himself. They both glanced at one another and found that they were still equal in speed.

When Mokuba looked back up in front of him, he saw a large oak tree up ahead. Mokuba reacted quickly and pulled off to the right. Seto had only been able to pull off to the left in order to not run into the tree himself. Mokuba was not off the smoothed path and began sledding at high speed through a pathway full of many branches and bushes.

Mokuba had to shake his head to avoid having the branches hit his eyes, all the while dodging the many trees that were still in his path. Though the smoothed pathway had completely disappeared, the trees were closer together and harder to avoid. Mokuba saw a clearing up ahead and decided to take his chances. Skidding along another large oak tree and almost knocking himself over, he had made it through the final passing and it seemed it was in the clear.

Until Mokuba's sled flew off a giant hill. Mokuba went flying, his sled still tightly gripped in his hands He saw that he was closing in on a tree up ahead, and had to move quickly. Mokuba twisted his sled so that it took the brunt of the impact from colliding with the tree, and thus proceeded to fall down to the side. His sled flew out of his arms as his leg smacked against another tree and caused him to twirl in many circles before hitting the ground.

Mokuba hit the snow hard and was even rolling still as he remained in motion until everything had finally come to a stop and Mokuba lie face first in the snow. Slowly moving his dizzy head up, Mokuba looked around. He was in a very deserted area of the forest and he couldn't hear a single sound. Mokuba looked down at the ground he lay upon and noticed that it was flat instead of being inclined. Almost as if he had slid off the final part of the hill and come to…

Mokuba jumped back to his feet and thrust his fist in the air.

"I did it! I made it to the end of Moriko Forest!" Mokuba cried, just before falling to the side and back into the snow. His vision might've been in tact, but his body was still dizzy. After resting for a moment, happily basking in his glory, he got back up once more with ease. Although his leg had most likely been badly wounded, Mokuba was too high off of endorphins to really notice any pain.

The boy looked all around but saw no sight of his brother.

"Nii-sama?" Mokuba asked. His eyes looked all over, but Seto was nowhere in sight. Then he remembered how the pathway had broken off and how they had both gone separate ways. Still… Seto clearly wasn't here. Did that mean he didn't make it to the end of the forest? Mokuba gasped as a frightening thought came to mind.

What if Seto had never made it down to the end of the forest because he had gotten hurt like everyone else? Mokuba became overwhelmingly worried. He had caused his brother to get hurt, maybe even seriously hurt. What was he going to do? There was only logical answer. He had to climb all the way back up the hill and hopefully run into Seto. Mokuba nodded, feeling as though that was an evasive form of action.

Walking slightly to the left and find a suitable ledge to climb up before making his trudge up the hill only took a couple seconds. Climbing up the side of the cliff he had flown off of took about a half hour. The cliff was literally 90 degrees from the ground he had been standing on, which made climbing back up a difficult task. But with a lot of hope and some form of prayer, Mokuba had managed to pull himself back onto the original pathway.

Mokuba rolled onto his side, panting harshly in an attempt to catch his breath. The endorphins began to fade and the pain in his leg became evident. Mokuba flinched a little and curled up as the pain intensified. All the while there was a strong wind blowing from up above, the freshly ground snow was lifted up with the air and swished into his face. Mokuba kept his eyes shut and tried to protect himself as he was stung by the powder of the snow.

Mokuba lay there for a few moments more, hoping the pain in his leg would pass… though it never did. Mokuba was in utter agony, and didn't want to get up. Mokuba lay flat on his back, staring up past the trees that overshadowed him and into the cloudless sky. He didn't know how he was supposed to get out of here with his messed up leg. It would certainly make climbing back up the enormous hill to the top quite difficult. But then Mokuba thought of his brother…

"So how do you want to spend your snow day, Mokuba? I'll do anything you want, I want to make this day special," Seto said with a smile. Mokuba couldn't have been more excited by his older brother's offer. He jumped with glee as the perfect idea had come to mind.

"Let's go sledding! It'll be so much fun!" Mokuba exclaimed, bouncing up and down with joy. Seto nodded.

"Alright, sledding it shall be then! We can go anywhere your heart desires." Mokuba had the perfect place in mind.

Mokuba sat back up, grabbing hold of the trunk of a tree, pulled himself up. As he remembered that conversation that had happened earlier that day it had also made Mokuba realize that it would be his fault if Seto had gotten hurt. It was his dumb idea that they came here in the first place!It made Mokuba all the more determined to climb up that hill, whether his leg would be able to carry him up there or not.

So Mokuba would push himself to keep going no matter what. Mokuba did what he could with his limp leg, which would ultimately end with him uselessly dragging it up the hill. There were many occasions he would fail to see an elevated root or large rock, and trip and fall to the ground. At one point when Mokuba had fallen, he had ended up scratching his face on a tree trunk and cutting the side of his cheek badly.

It seemed like it had been hours that he had been traveling up what seemed like a mountain to Mokuba. His eyes were always searching and looking for his brother. But no one was in site, and he felt utterly alone.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba called again for the forty-ith time around. Mokuba waited a moment and looked around. Still no answer. Mokuba trudged forward. "Nii-sama, can you hear me??" Mokuba called again. No answer to be heard. Mokuba looked up at the sky, wondering when he was finally going to get out of this forest. Another gust of wind blew in and blew more snow into his face. Mokuba twisted his head to the side and caused himself to lose balance.

Mokuba fell to the ground once again, this time landing on his side. Mokuba groaned in pain. Great, now his shoulder was going to be sore too. This was terrible, absolutely terrible. Now Mokuba was even beginning to doubt he was going in the right direction. This was hopeless.

Mokuba rolled back onto his side and looked back up into the sky one last time. The light was beginning to fade and everything was starting to get dark. Mokuba found his lower lip quivering both from fear and the cold. Snow had already begun to seep through his clothes and his body was shivering. He was never going to get out of this place. He was going to get frozen alive!

Mokuba wrapped his arms around his body trying to keep warm, but it was no use. His body still shivered violently from the cold around him, and the fact that he was laying in snow wouldn't help either. Mokuba was about ready to give up when he felt another presence nearby. Mokuba slowly re-opened his eyes and looked around.

"Mokuba… wake up." Mokuba sat up and looked around. Was someone just talking to him? The voice didn't sound very familiar, but at the same time… it did. "Mokuba, your brother is looking for you… you must continue forward on your journey." Mokuba turned all the way around and saw a woman standing a couple feet away from him. Mokuba's eyes widened.

Her skin was a pale white color, which matched her white-blue tinted hair, as well as her ocean blue eyes. What baffled Mokuba the most, though, was the fact that she appeared to be in a plain brown dress, standing barefoot in the middle of the snow. Mokuba twisted back around and hopped back up to his feet. He fell backwards into a tree and clung to it.

"W-Who are you?" The woman, although seemed scary at first, looked friendly when one took the time to give her a second glance. She had the warmest of smiles on her face, and held out her hand towards the small boy as an offering of peace.

"Come now, child. You mustn't wait a moment longer. Your brother is looking for you." Mokuba's face lightened up.

"My brother is okay?!" Mokuba asked, walking towards her. The woman nodded slowly, the sun sparkled in her eyes in such a way that made them change almost to a different shade of blue. The woman moved her hands in such a way that indicated that Seto was just up this path. Mokuba ran up ahead and started walking by her side, keep up a quick pace to be sure he saw his brother as soon as possible.

It had taken them almost twenty minutes to finally see Seto in the distance. Mokuba didn't hold back.

"Nii-sama!" Seto looked up and ran towards him.

"Mokuba! Thank god, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine!" Mokuba said, hobbling over to his older brother. When Seto came close to where Mokuba was standing, Mokuba tripped on yet another hidden root and fell forward. Seto had darted in front of Mokuba just in time to catch him. A bit of blood from the side of Mokuba's face dripped to the ground. Seto straightened the boy out in his arms.

"Mokuba! You're bleeding! And your leg… you're limping! What happened?!" Mokuba tried to calm his brother down by telling him he was fine, but Seto would have none of it. "Mokuba! You're not fine! How did you even manage to walk up that entire hill with your hurt leg?"

"Well, there was this woman…" Mokuba then remembered and turned back around, "Which by the way, you should meet-" When Mokuba turned around, the woman had disappeared. Mokuba stared down the empty hill; the woman was gone.

"Woman? What are you talking about? Mokuba, I think you've been out here too long, the cold must be getting to your head." Mokuba looked down in confusion as he rubbed his head.

"I guess I must be…" Seto shrugged and pulled his brother into a tight hug.

"Its fine, I'm just happy to have you back. We're not going to be sledding for a long time." Mokuba nodded with understanding.

"I know Nii-sama, but thanks for doing this with me."

"No prob, kiddo," Seto held his brother in his arms as he trudged back up the hill and out of the forest. Mokuba lay there comfortably in his brother's arms, suddenly remembering the achievement he had made from reaching the end of the forest. Mokuba was debating whether or not he should tell his brother about it or not…

Mokuba kept quiet and decided it was for another day. Right now, he was with his brother, and that was all he needed to have the most epic snow adventure.

A/N: Hey guys! Long time, no see!(sort of, I believe I just updated yesterday, but whatevs:]) Well, this is a little one-shot I came up with today. Mainly because today I had a snow day and this was pretty much the epitome of what happened. Most epic adventures I go on turn into stories(probably more so than most of you realize… wow, that's a creepy thought) so I thought, hey, what the heck? Why not write about a snow day since you had one? I feel like this'll be the last snow of the year as well, so I felt it deserved a little something special:3 I know it runs a little long, and its somewhat boring, but I hope you all enjoyed it the same! Thanks for reading!

P.S: Rena Redhead, I hope you are happy with your Kisara appearance!:D