Snowballs and Gemstones

The sun was starting to peak over the horizon as the loud blare of an alarm went off. Rolling over, Eclipse slammed her hand down on the alarm clock, nearly knocking it off her dresser. 

"Ugh, damn that's loud…" 

Rolling over, she stared tiredly at the lights flashing '7:00 A.M.' It was far too early in her opinion, but work is work, even on a day like this. She had an internal debate with herself on if she should just stay in bed, but the muffled sounds of her roommate, Ophiuchus, shuffling out of his room made her sigh. 

Getting up, she threw on a sweatshirt, still in her boxers. Walking to the kitchen, she found Ophiuchus standing over the stove heating up a small batch of oatmeal. He didn't bother to look up as he addressed them.

"Hey, I'm just cooking up some breakfast if you want some." 

Eclipse shuffled over to the coffee maker, starting up the machine. 

"Yeah, sure. I'm gonna need it." 

The two made their respective drinks and silently ate their bowls of oatmeal and fruit before parting ways to get ready. 

Eclipse tamed her bed head as best she could, dressing up a little warmer than usual. Joining Ophiuchus at the ship, she noticed he had donned a jacket and a scarf. Climbing in, Eclipse pulled up the directions to their assignment. 

Taking off, Eclipse was the first to speak up.

"So what's so important about this planet that couldn't wait until after Christmas?"  

"It's rumored that a rare form of angelite has started growing there and we need to go harvest it."

"Sounds fancy. What's it look like?" 

"It's a glacier blue, typically with a white center. The planet we're heading to is supposed to be dark so it shouldn't take us too long." 

Nodding, Eclipse mindlessly flew them the rest of the way there. Slowing down as they approached the planet.

"Hey, Ophi, you said this planet would be dark." 

Before them, a bright white planet sat empty. 

"Go land, maybe it's just some weird reflection." 

Flying into orbit then further down, the two glared in annoyance as they watched the fresh snow float down from the clouds. Landing the ship, they both hopped out, feeling the crunch of fresh snow under their paws. 

"Well shit. How are we supposed to find a glacier colored gem on a glacier colored planet?" 

"Ugh, we'll figure it out. Just watch out for any feral wildlife. Let's go." 

The two set off, looking around to no avail. The land went on for miles and miles, nothing but bright white snow reflecting back at them. After about an hour, Eclipse sighed.

"Ophiuchus, there's nothing here. This is a waste of time."

"Eclipse, we can't afford to turn back. I've been looking for a good angelite piece to put on my shelf for years, I can't pass this up!" 

"You say that every gem hunt we go on." 

Ophiuchus half heartedly glared at her as they continued on. There wasn't a single sign of flora or fauna there, and it was a little unnerving. The sound of crunching snow as they walked filled the silence. 

Another hour passed without any luck. Even Ophiuchus was losing enthusiasm. 

"Maybe we just went the wrong way. Let's turn back and- woah!" Ophiuchus was cut short and he tripped, landing face first in the snow. 

Eclipse flinched at the tumble before snorting softly, bringing one hand up to cover her mouth. 

"Oh my stars are you okay" 

"Ow, no, of course not. Help me up already." 

Eclipse couldn't help themselves as they chuckled. Before she could move to offer him a hand, a ball of snow hit her right in the face. 

"Stop laughing!"

Staring at him in shock, a competitive spark lit up in her eyes. It was on. She dodged to the side as Ophiuchus threw another snowball, scrambling to get up. Forming her own weapon, Eclipse fired back, managing to make Ophi stumble as he got hit in the shoulder. 

He quickly recovered and threw a well aimed snowball, headed straight for Eclipse's face. It got halfway there before it exploded everywhere, a hot laser just barely missing his head. 

"Hey, no firearms! You almost hit me!" 

"I didn't hit you. Don't doubt my aim." 

"No firearms, Eclipse." 

"You're no fun." 

"I'd rather be no fun than dead." 

The two continued their fight, running around the open land scooping up snow and throwing projectiles, laughing at each other when their hits landed.  They went on for a good ten minutes, both of their faces flush as they started to slow down. 

Eclipse raised her hands, turning around. 

"Alright, quick break-" 

A big snowball hit her dead center in the face, a barely audible crack ringing out as she fell backwards with a groan. Ophiuchus ran over, kneeling down.

"Oh shit, Eclipse, are you okay?" 

Rubbing her hand over the small wound on her forehead, she puffed out in annoyance. 

"You can't say 'no firearms' and then put rocks into your snowballs" 

"That wasn't intentional- wait, rocks?" 

Turning around, Ophiuchus started digging around in the snow, searching for something. Sitting up, Eclipse watched him with mild interest. 

"No, yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking." 

"Aha! Eclipse, look!" 

Ophiuchus held up a jagged rock of some kind, a little purple blood on one of its edges. 

"Great, your weapon of choice." 

"No, look, it's the angelite!" 

"Oh, would you look at that, a Christmas miracle." 

Getting to her feet, they both went over to where Ophiuchus had made the deadly snowball, and found a hole filled with angelite of all shapes and sizes. Eclipse started to think Ophiuchus was shining brighter than the snow on the ground. 

They gathered as much as they could carry, bags and pockets filled to the brim. Eclipse could tell her muscles were gonna be sore by the time they reached the ship. They started the journey back, walking in their old pawprints. 

"Y'know, growing up, me and my brothers would have snowball fights all the time." 

Ophiuchus looked over at Eclipse, whose eyes were trained on the ground. There wasn't any life here so she wasn't worried about watching their surroundings. 

"My brothers were always so competitive. There were no limits when it came to snowball fights. There was a lot of tackling, wrestling, teaming up, and sabotage." 

"Sounds like hell." 

Eclipse smiled softly as she looked up at the still falling snow. 

"Hmm, yeah, it kinda was. But still, every time it snowed, we would all run outside together to find the best shelter and prepare for war. It's some of the best memories I have of them, honestly." 

Ophiuchus nodded, fiddling with a piece of angelite as he listened. 

"That still sounds like hell." 

Eclipse chuckled softly as the conversation died off to a comfortable silence. She didn't often speak of her past, especially not in a positive light, so it was interesting to hear a fond memory. 

The trip back was simple, both coes sighing in relief as the heat of the ship kicked on. It wasn't too cold out for either of them, but the snow that covered them was a bit uncomfortable. They quickly found out it was worse after it melted. 

On the flight back home, Ophiuchus dug out the first aid kit and leaned over to take a quick look at Eclipse's head wound. 

"What's the verdict, doc? Is it gonna leave a sick battle scar?" 

"You wish. It's just a scrape, you'll be fine." 

Before she could reply, Ophiuchus put a band-aid over her wound, smirking softly. Eclipse caught sight of the child's Christmas band aid box in his hand as he put them away. She couldn't help but smile. 

"So, wanna have some hot cocoa when we get back? I think we still have those vegan packets from that one Starbuns place we visited a few months ago." 

"Hmm, yeah, I could go for some hot chocolate. Although, I'm not using those vegan marshmallows again, they were nasty." 

They both chuckled, recalling the memory of Ophiuchus almost breaking his vegan diet out of desperation to get the taste out of his mouth. 

"I still can't believe they made us work on Christmas." 

"Why? You never do anything anyways." 

"That's the point! It's a day to do nothing but sit around, drink hot cocoa, and maybe watch a cheesy movie or something. You love having a day off to polish your rocks." 

Ophiuchus ran his thumb over the angelite happily. "True, but today I got a new one to add to my collection." 

"And I got a cut on my forehead." 

Ophiuchus rolled his eyes in amusement. 

"You got an epic fight story to tell." 

"If that's how you see it. Merry Christmas, Ophiuchus." 

"Merry Christmas, Eclipse."