Surf and I immediately ran to out giant block of ice. Snow had made the ice and Clover had cut it using Leaf Blade. The Clan was split into pairs, with Snow and Clover being the judges. Naturally, Surf and I had chosen to be partners. Now we just needed an idea of what to make. We were on the clock. The contest ended at noon. While the sun was barely up now, everyone knew from last year that it's not as much time as you think.
I circled the block of ice. "I don't think we have enough ice to create our original idea."
Surf met me on the other side. "You're right... New plan. ...We could do just Suicune?"
I shook my head. "No, I think the judges would kind of be expecting that... We need something original."
"Like what?" Surf asked, slightly edgy. Espeon and Umbreon had already started on theirs.
I tried to think as fast as I could. "What about... Hm... It needs to be something that we can sculpt with water...."
Surf nodded thoughtfully. "So preferably no jagged edges..."
We both thought in silence for a few minutes before I slapped my tail on the frost-covered ground with an idea. "Inferno and the human kit!"
"Perfect!" Surf grinned. Together we attacked the ice block with Iron Tail and Stone Edge, smashing away at the unnecessary pieces of ice. Slowly, a figure began to emerge.
I looked at Surf as we started to get more cautious with our attacks. "Don't forget that, if things go wrong, Surf and Blizzard combo!"
Surf nodded. A shouting match began over at Block 2, where Bolt and Inferno were working. Like ours, a very rough figure was emerging from the ice, but progress on it had halted. Bolt and Inferno were shouting at each other.
"We're doing Raikou," Bolt said firmly.
"No, Entei," Inferno challenged.
"Raikou."
"Entei."
"Raikou!"
"Entei!"
"RAIKOU!"
"ENTEI!"
"RAIKOU!"
"ENTEI!"
"Neither!"
"Fine!"
And just like that, they went back to work.
I laughed at their antics before returning to our own sculpture. The shapes were becoming more defined, and soon, we had to switch from Rock and Steel moves to Water moves. Inferno's tail, unsurprisingly, was one of the biggest parts of the sculpture. It was fairly easy to make, due to the shape. Surf had the brilliant idea of using Aqua Ring for the rounded edges of our sculpture.
He shrugged as he stood on my back to carve the tail. "It's warm water. It'll melt it slower and safer than Surf would."
I nodded, trying to steady my shoulders. "Fair point. ...Ok, get down, you're getting heavy."
"Sorry," he said and he jumped down. In the corner of my eye, I could see Bolt using Extreme Speed to chip away at the finer details while Inferno used Flamethrower from a distance. Looking in the other direction, I saw Espeon and Umbreon using telekinesis to chip steadily away at their sculpture. I shook my head and focused on our own creation. It was coming along nicely, but we were having a few problems with the human kit. Surf looked at me. "Time check?"
I glanced at the sun. "About 10:00 or so. We have about two hours left."
Surf narrowed his eyes in deep thought. "That should be just long enough to work out the details."
I nodded seriously and got back to work.
Snow looked down at Clover, who was using Leaf Blade to add finer points on their just-for-fun sculpture of a Braviary catching a Remoraid. "Clover. Come look." Clover nodded and bounded up to the ice cliff where Snow was sitting, now looking like she was fully recovered. Snow nodded towards the in-progress sculptures. "Look what everyone is doing."
Clover tilted her head and tried to figure out what was what. "Block 1 looks like... a Flareon and... something else that they're working on. Block 2.... is that a bird?"
Snow narrowed her eyes. "I think so."
Clover shrugged, still trying to get used to the sound her wings made when she did. She really had to watch that. What if she were to shrug when a customer was here? She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "And... I don't know what Block 3 is."
Snow shrugged. "I think Espeon put a shield around it so that no one could tell what it was."
Clover tried to peer harder at it, to no avail. "They must have a really good idea."
I backed away from out sculpture, just as Snow called time. I glanced in Surf's direction. "Think we've got it?"
He looked back at me before returning his gaze to the sculpture. "It looks pretty good to me."
I nodded as the judges approached. "Let's hope for the best." Our sculpture ended up being the human kit hugging Inferno with its hands buried in the ice Flareon's fur collar. This decision was a result of Surf breaking the kit's fingers more times than I could count.
Snow and Clover sat down in front of our sculpture. Snow spoke to Clover, who was marking things on a frost-covered leaf. "Block 1, sculpted by Splash and Surf, Inferno and the Human Kit."
Inferno whipped around. "What!? Hey!!"
I smiled, trying to resist laughter as Snow continued. "Good craftsmanship, creative technique, original work." Clover marked things on her leaf. I thumped my tail on the ground in excitement.
Clover nodded and looked up. "Got it. Next!" The two of the marched over to Bolt and Inferno's sculpture, which was also quite impressive.
The pair of judges sat down again. Clover got her leaf out again as Snow dictated. "Block 2, sculpted by Bolt and Inferno, Articuno. Mediocre craftsmanship-"
Bolt interrupted her. "That was Inferno's fault. He tripped."
Snow ignored him and continued. "...creative technique, original work."
Surf leaned over to me as Clover finished marking things down. "I think we're winning."
I smiled at him as Snow and Clover moved to the final sculpture. I still couldn't see what it was. "Block 3, sculpted by Espeon and Umbreon..."
Espeon removed the psychic barrier concealing the sculpture. Everyone gasped. Snow finally managed to finish talking. "...Clover's Gift."
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Bolt bounced up and down with excitement. "Come on come on come on! I wanna see!"
Clover looked very nervous as she followed the bouncing Jolteon towards his emergency tree. I looked at Espeon. "Congrats on winning, by the way. I never got to tell you in person."
She smiled. "Thank you, Splash."
"And thank you for giving Clover the courage to do this."
Espeon smiled again. "She just needed to accept it, and I helped her get there with my sculpture."
I nodded, then trotted over to Clover. "Hey. You sure you want to do this?"
She nodded nervously, but astutely. "Yes. I have them... and they're not going away any time soon... so... why not use them?" she said quietly. "Like Snow said. Don't curse the darkness. Light a candle. I mean..." She paused, trying to find words. "I mean..." she said in barely more than a whisper. "...why Dig when I can Fly?"
However, as Clover soon found out, wings do not a Flying Type make.
Clover's jump from the top of the tree was fine, but her first problem was opening her wings. Once she had that figured out, her "flight" became a rapid decent, shaky flight, and random turns. Within seconds, everyone was shouting instructions.
"Extend you wings farther!"
"Tilt to the side!"
"Look out for the tree!"
"Lift one wing!"
"Angle your wings!"
"Flap!"
"Be careful!"
"Go higher!"
Finally, Snow entered as the voice of reason. "Clover! You're close to the ground! Fold your wings!"
Clover responded immediately, relaxing her shoulders and snapping her wings back to her sides. She dropped out of the air, plummeting towards the ground. Espeon, always thinking, grabbed Inferno with telekinesis and threw him into Clover's path, causing a much less catastrophic crash.
"OW!" Inferno yelled. "Come on! What am I, an air bag!?"
Clover slid off of him, no injuries sustained to either of them. "Sorry, Inferno!"
"I wasn't talking to you!" he shouted, looking at Espeon.
She only shrugged. "You were the closest thing I could find. I reacted."
Clover stood up and shook herself off. "I guess I can't actually fly yet, then."
I thought. How was she going to learn how to fly? "Um... Does anyone here know how to fly?
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