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CHAPTER ONE
little skier.
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@sorenhalvorsen:
PyeongChang, here I come!

tagged: @olympicteamnorway
likes, 53,627; comments, 1,121

@shaunwhite:
can't wait to see my little skier!

@username1:
ughhhh dying to see you compete ❤️

@sorenhalvorsen:
@shaunwhite snowboarders away 🙅

@sansamoguls:
i asked for a seat on the other side of the plane yet i got stuck basically beside you 😐

@sansamoguls:
it's going to be the worst ten hours of my life

@olympicteamnorway:
we're all so proud to have you representing the country! 🇳🇴🏅

@sorenhalvorsen:
@sansamoguls you loooove me ❤️❤️

@username2:
what's up with her and snowboarders?

@stalesandbech:
nice wall photography 📸

@sansamoguls:
@username2 she's old fashioned and oblivious

@shaunwhite:
in your heart you know we're superior to skiers

@sorenhalvorsen:
@shaunwhite @sansamoguls you two want to say these things straight to my face?

____

"YOU'RE OLD FASHIONED
and oblivious."

Soren jumped in fright at the sudden words that broke the longstanding silence that had lasted from almost the moment they'd entered the busy Oslo airport earlier that morning. Her eyes jerked away from their place staring at a phone screen at full brightness and toward her brunette friend who was leaning awkwardly over the middle plane seat.

"What?" Her voice was slightly pitchy as the word escaped her lips too quickly for it to hold much meaning.

Sansa looked at her like she'd grown a second head - that or that she was an idiot, rolling her eyes and then going to repeat herself. "I said-"

"Sansa, I heard what you said," Soren said in exasperation, scratching her eyebrow with a thumb and leaning further back into the uncomfortable plane seat.

"Then why did you say what!"

"I- because you startled me!"

Hedvig Wessel, a fellow skier and close friend of the pair who had the unfortunate luck of being stuck between them, pulled away the red hood that was shielding her from the bright lights - or more likely the rambunctious girls on each side of her. A palm went out and pushed Sansa back from the awkward and uncomfortable pose over the middle seat and therefore disrupting Hedvig's space.

"We haven't even taken off and you two are already arguing," she groaned instantly stopping the brewing argument that would probably start up again any moment now. The blondes fingers pinched the bridge of her angular nose, "You act like children."

"I am a child," Soren reminded her, "Sansa is the adult. Twenty-three and still acting like a toddler," she directly the last part teasingly at Sansa, hoping to ruffle a few preened feathers.

"Go back to being a hateful loner in silence," she spat back, making a wild gesture with one hand that almost ended up colliding with Hedvig's face.

Soren's tsked, "Well, now I definitely know who I won't be cheering for in the moguls. Hedvig, you get all of my support."

It was a completely false statement. All three girls knew Soren would be right up their cheering the whole time like Sansa had already won gold. It wasn't exactly everyday your best friend went to the Olympics.

The world circuit made it hard for them to always be there and support each other as much as they wished they could, so chances like this were few and far between. Which meant Soren would be willing to bust out some sparkling blue and red pom-poms and start dancing like a fool for the world to see if it made Sansa feel supported.

Sansa let out a obnoxiously loud and theatric gasp, "Yeah? Well, no longer will I be going to see any of the ski events. The snowboarders have my wholehearted support this year!"

Soren leaned forward in her seat, ready for make a long winded protest when she realised her friend had already stuffed her ears with a pair of white earphones that were almost impressively tangled a few centimetres away from her face. The jumbled mess of wires was enough to drive most people insane, not that Sansa would care.

Hedvig gave her a look to say that disturbing the finally quiet brunette would include facing the wrath of her. It probably was a good idea to leave Sansa alone, especially if she wanted get through the ten hour flight in peace.

Soren sighed, pulling the sleeves of her red team jacket that they were all required to wear down over bare fingers - something that made her feel almost naked, seeing as most days were spent with thick gloves on. Her body settled back down from its tense position and her legs stretched as much as they could within the confined space.

The sun had began its slow ascent, reminding Soren just how early she's had to get to the airport and how tired she'd be later on. The sky was still fairly dark but was washed with the beginning of morning, making the world look like it had been doused in a pink frost that had the lights scattered around the tarmac turning a yellow colour.

Soren tucked her head up against the wall and slightly pushed between the crevice of the seat, burrowing deeper into the warmth of her jacket. It would be a long flight that she hoped to sleep most of the way through. Luckily being in a window meant no one pushing to go to the toilet or anything of the sort, so she should be okay unless Sansa was feeling particularly unforgiving later on.

She closed her blue eyes and listened to the continual hum of the engines that had finally revved up telling that their already delayed flight was finally leaving. It eventually lull her into a somewhat relaxing sleep.

___

"Can I wake her up?" A male voice broke through Soren's conscious, pulling her out of her much needed sleep. Her blue eyes fluttered open halfway to a blurred world of bright lights.

"No!" This time it was distinctly female. Sansa, maybe? She was too drowsy to place the familiar tone straight away.

"Why not?" Ståle. Definitely Ståle.

"Because I want to!" And that was Sansa.

Soren wanted to cry out and tell the both of them to shut up and go away so she could go back to sleep. But instead she let them continue to bicker in the hopes they'd stop on their own. It was a silly hope.

"Ståle, shoo!" A loud smacking noise filled Soren's ears, making her eyes roll beneath closed eyelids in annoyance.

"Ow!" Ståle yelped. Obviously it had something to do with Sansa and the smacking noise.

"Get off me you great oaf!" Sansa wiggled around, trying to push away the snowboarder who had decided it would be a good idea to lean over her to get to Soren.

"I'm not an oaf! I am as graceful as a lynx," he defended, finally letting up and moving back into his own seat with a discontent sigh.

Sansa snorted, "A lynx? You? More like a fat cow."

"You'd know all about cows wouldn't you!"

"Would you two stop already?" Soren moaned, finally opening her eyes all the way and catching the pair looking like deer in the headlights, with Ståle once again pushing over the middle seat that Sansa was now located in.

"Now neither of us get to do it," Ståle whined, leaning back from his position over Sansa.

"This is your fault," she pointed an accusing finger at the man, who was going to protest when Soren spoke up once again.

"Where is Hedvig?" It had only just occurred to her that their blonde friend was nowhere to be seen.

"We swapped seats," Ståle answered.

"Why?" Soren had feeling she already knew why. With Sansa being particularly ready to upset everybody around her today.

"Apparently, Sansa was being too annoying."

"I would like to disagree and say she just wanted to hang out with some hot snowboarders. I mean, why else would she ask to swap with Ståle and not someone else."

It was then decided that Soren moving to sit in between the pair for the rest of the flight was probably the best way to go - for her sake and everyone else's on the plane.

___

By the time the plane landed at Incheon Airport, the small portion of the Norwegian team that had arrived together were a few hours behind schedule and all were tired of travelling. Everyone just wanted get to the Olympic Village and have some proper food.

Soren shuffled amongst the crowds of people waiting at baggage claim, each staring at the escalator that was covered in luggage of all shapes and sizes. The blaring lights lined across the  ceiling burned her tired eyes as she kept an eye out for her bag.

Finally, after what felt like way too long to be waiting, she spotted the battered suitcase and darted forward to grab it.

It was medium sized and coloured a deep wine red, but it had certainly seen better days, with a fair amount wear and tear from the amount of travel it had seen over the years - and Soren wasn't the most careful when it came to looking after her luggage, the exception being her bag of ski equipment. That was treated like priceless jewels.

She clicked the handle up, having push the white label looped around the bar telling where it had come from and where it was supposed to land, further down the handle.

Majority of the Norwegian group had to go over to wherever the oversized luggage area was - they had yet to agree on wether it was on another level or just tucked away behind baggage claim - so they could collect their gear, which left a few others, like the bobsleigh team, to get a head start on finding where their bus was parked. Hopefully it was still there seeing as the teams flight had been delayed a few hours and it was unclear as to wether someone had rung ahead.

Eventually the red-clothed group agreed on a direction and located the not-so-elusive oversized luggage area which had become overrun with bags full of ski equipment and snowboards in covers. They were scattered in piles and leaned against wall all across the small space and there were more than a few annoyed looking staff members.

Once Soren located her bag, she gently plucked the navy blue item from the chaos, pulling the strap of the bulky item over a shoulder and quickly escaping to find Ståle waiting for her on the edge of the mess, several snowboards uncomfortably tucked beneath his arms.

"Are we waiting for Sansa?" He questioned, hiking the slipping boards up again.

Soren shook her head, taking one last look at the mess of athletes scrambling for their stuff. It was impossible to spot the brunette within the sea of red, "She can walk with Hedvig." The blonde couldn't be too far.

↓

UNEDITED!
WORD COUNT; 1,690

pretty boring chapter, i know. i'm just trying to kind of establish everything first and then hopefully it'll be exciting. so please bare with me. the chapters should also get a bit longer after the first few.