Initiate Transcription: Begin the Holiday Choir

Buzz Buzz Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh

There a Mi-Go goes

We're screaming all the way

Bells on meathooks ring

Making spirits writhe

What fun it is to sing a slaying song tonight!

Error: INFILTRATION DETECTED: Begin the Bowl Full of Jelly protocol

Happy Holidays Chuck

Resolution: Error Corrected: Re-Initiate Season's Greetings

Sing in the New Year

Happy Holidays, Dear Sweetling

Of all of the holidays celebrated on Remnant, there are few as universal or beloved as the ones celebrated during the period of time in the winter when the night shines with brilliant auroras. In Atlas, they celebrate The Festival of Lights, and attribute it to a story in ancient folk tales. In Mistral, it's called the Royal Lights, and is attributed to the First Emperor. In Vacuo, it's called the Nights of the Phoenix, and is ascribed to a blessing by the mythical creature.

Regardless of the name, it's a special time, because for some mysterious reason, Grimm will become more passive than any other time. Retreating back into caves or other such hideaways, sometimes even halting current attacks to slink away.

Now of course, every single egghead from Anima to Menagerie will tell you that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Since everyone knows that the Grimm will become less active, the resulting hope and lack of fear, as well as the general good-will surrounding the holiday, would cause the Grimm to become less active anyway. They might be right; it might be a Remnant-wide placebo that has existed for as long as anyone can remember and so because people trust that it will happen, it continues to happen.

But then again, even those very same eggheads will still stand with the rest of us and stare at those lights in wonder. It truly is a magical time of year, in Vale and the surrounding territories, we call it-

"Happy Tree-Time Uncle Qrow!" Ruby squealed she threw her arms around my legs to welcome me to the house.

Err, well technically it's called Tannenbaum, but close enough.

"Hey there kiddo." I replied as I ruffled her hair.

Just as Ruby's outburst implied, in ancient Vale, we celebrated it as a time where the trees themselves watched over us. Originally, the holiday would be celebrated as a time where each household would select a tree as a guardian. They would then adorn the tree with talismans, pictures of ancestors, and various other items of sentimental, mystical, or spiritual value. At the height of the holiday, the entire family would hold a feast near the tree; setting a place for its guardian as a way of showing thanks.

Now a days, we pick a tree to chop down, bring it into the house, and decorate it with baubles and trinkets usually sold from a store. Don't ask me how that particular transition was made, but it was still a time for family to come together. After all, with Grim activity so low, in years past it meant that it was one of the few times during the year where Huntsmen and Huntresses could be certain of a time where they would get to see their families and friends, and to get much their much needed rest.

Now of course, I deal with monsters of a different sort, and as I would learn the hard way that Tannenbaum, those don't ever take a break.

They're kind of jerks like that.

Peeling the little ball of energy from my legs I kneeled down to give her a big hug.

"We've already got the tree this year!" She said excitedly, "Come look!" She grabbed my hand and lead me into the living room, where a large pine tree dominated the room.

"Papa wanted to chop it down with an axe, but Yang just punched it a couple of times and FWOOM!" She mimed the tree falling to crash to the ground.

I raised an eyebrow in mild surprise; that kid really was getting strong. "So where are Papa and Yang right now?" I asked her.

"They're out getting firewood." She replied lightly. There was a sharp bark, and a black and white corgi entered the room. It made a beeline straight for Ruby, who picked it up and snuggled it tightly. I watched the 'dog' suspiciously as it stared blankly back at me. It had been about a year since I had given Zwei to Ruby, and so far there hadn't been any major issues to my knowledge.

"Look Uncle Qrow, I taught Zwei how to sit and stay, watch." She set Zwei down, "Sit." She commanded, the dog instantly sat down, panting happily. "Stay." She told him, and then walked out of the room.

The dog cocked his head slightly, but stayed put. For all the world, it seemed like a normal, obedient dog. That is, until you watched closely on where the dog's eyes were looking at any point. They steadily moved, as though tracking something in the walls; suddenly, Zwei's head lifted slightly and with a slight chill, I heard Ruby climbing the stairs.

The same intent, tracking movement continued as I heard Ruby open a door upstairs, and Zwei looked straight up as I heard the floorboards echo with footsteps above us. Then I heard the door close, and Ruby walk down the stairs, and Zwei's eyes slowly traced the movement. The dog's gaze then tracked to the side until he was looking at the entryway right when Ruby walked back into the room.

"Good boy!" She gushed and handed the dog a treat, which he ate up happily.

I suppose it made sense; I had given Zwei to Ruby after I had found the strange creature during a mission into a cultist facility. From what my contact had told me, it had been a guardian construct whose bonding hadn't been completed yet. If what I suspected was true and Zwei really had bonded with Ruby, then basic location pinpointing should be expected. Still, it was kind of creepy to watch a dog stare through walls.

Zwei's ears perked up and he barked happily, a moment later, the door opened, admitting a heavily bundled girl and man both with blonde hair.

"Heya Uncle Qrow!" Yang said brightly, hefting a bundle of firewood over her shoulder.

Taiyang's lips pursed for a moment, but nodded to me in a somewhat amiable fashion, which I returned in kind. He slung his own bag of firewood over his shoulder and walked around the corner into the kitchen.

My former teammate and I hadn't gotten along very well after Summer's death, but during this time of year, we made a sort of unspoken truce to try and get along as best we could, which worked out well enough.

Hey, I said it was a magical time of year didn't I?

Yang walked over and set down the firewood, before coming over to give me a big hug, "Glad you could make it." She said warmly.

I grinned down at her, "Not just me." I told her, and right on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Ruby said as she dashed toward the door, Zwei happily gambling along beside her. She opened the door and gave a squeal of delight, "Mister Knight!"

Captain Geralt, former Knight Captain of the Order of the Equinox stepped into the room, grabbing Ruby and hoisting her high into the air as he did so. Ruby began giggling wildly as he put her up onto his shoulders.

The knight had been a survivor of Mountain Glenn and had sought me out a year or so later to work alongside me. He had helped to pull me out of a bad situation with some cultists I had royally pissed off. It also didn't hurt to have a heavily armored man with a chainsaw-pike on your side, so I had readily accepted his help. As a bonus, Yang and Ruby absolutely adored him, and he them; he had been the one who had constructed Yang's gauntlets and was now teaching Ruby how to construct her own weapons.

I watched as Yang collided with his midsection in a charging bear hug; the big man let out a big whoosh of air and I winced in sympathy. The knight chuckled slightly and wrapped his right arm around the blonde haired girl, "By the Brothers," he wheezed. "Have you been lifting cars in your spare time?"

She grinned widely as they released each other. "Ah, c'mon, getting too old for a little bit of enthusiastic greeting?"

His eyes narrowed in mock severity as he bent down to look right into her eyes, "I'll show you old, you little twig. Taiyang!" He yelled, "What have you been feeding her? She's going to blow away if the wind picks up!"

"Better stuff than that slop that you tried to poison us with last time!" Taiyang replied.

Geralt snorted and made a show of pinching Yang's arms, "What? It's what my mother made me as a child; that's how I got to be so big!"

Taiyang and Geralt continued to banter back and forth good-naturedly while the former knight continued to rough-house lightly with Ruby and Yang. I watched them for a while before standing up to look outside; Patch was having the most snow that it had had in years that winter. The entire surrounding landscape was covered, and I smiled slightly as I saw a snowman standing outside.

"That's Mister Freezy." Taiyang said conversationally as he stepped up beside me.

"Hmm?" I asked him.

He pointed at the snowman, "Mister Freezy," he repeated, "Yang wanted to name it Mister Snow, but she was outvoted 2 to 1."

I frowned, "You and Ruby?"

"Ruby and Zwei." He answered.

We were silent as we continued looking out the , Taiyang fidgeted slightly and spoke, "Look, Qrow… I-"

"Don't." I warned him.

His face twisted slightly, "Look, I know that you're still angry with me, I get that."

"Since you're still talking, I don't think you do."

He let out a frustrated sigh, "You realize that what happened hurt me too? She was my wife for Maiden's sake."

"You weren't the one who had to make sure she didn't come back." I answered.

He opened his mouth to say something else and then stopped, shaking his head slowly, "Look, I'm not asking for you to forgive me. I'm asking for you to let me start over."

I gritted my teeth slightly and my voice was clipped as I replied, "We'll see." I told him.

He sighed and shook his head, and appeared to be about to say something else when there was a shout from behind us. We both turned to see Geralt grinning widely as the two girls were tearing into two enormous, gift wrapped packages.

I raised an eyebrow as Yang pulled hers out of its entrapments, letting out a shout of triumph. In her hands was a large, metal and wood sled. Even from here, I could tell that it was finely crafted, and I looked at Geralt, who gave me a gigantic wink.

"Look what Mister Knight got us Uncle Qrow!" Ruby screeched as Yang helped her get hers out of its packaging, "Thank you Mister Knight!" She said belatedly.

"My pleasure." Geralt rumbled, "Now, I saw a very good hill on my way over, why don't we go over there and try them out."

The two girls cheered and began eagerly dragging their new presents outside. "I'll come along." I said as I began bundling up. As I was following the three of them outside, Taiyang reached out and grabbed me by the wrist, "Just promise you'll think about it… okay?"

I hesitated then yanked my arm out of his grip, "Sure, whatever." I answered as I made my way out the door.

The hill that Captain Geralt had mentioned was Ingrid's Hill. It was a decently large, steep hill, with heavily wooded area at its base. Geralt and I helped the two drag their sleds up to the top and watched as the two squealed with delight as they shot off towards the bottom.

Geralt looked up at the sky and took in a huge, contented breath, "What a beautiful day." He commented. Still in a foul mood from my talk with Taiyang, I merely grunted. The former knight looked at me and then sighed heavily, "He used to be your teammate, you know." He rumbled.

"Being a teammate didn't seem to matter too much to him when it mattered most." I snapped.

"Cryptic as always," Geralt murmured, "You never have explained to me what caused the rift between you two."

I watched Yang egg her younger sister on as they made their way back up the hill, "No, I haven't." I replied archly.

We stopped talking as we helped Yang and Ruby get their sleds into position, and they both cheered as we sent them plunging back down the hill.

"That being said, I have ears," Geralt said softly.

I sighed, "Geralt…"

He held up a massive palm, "I won't tell you that you aren't justified in your bitterness." He told me, "But the girls, they have already lost both of their mothers. It's not fair for them to have to decide between their father and their idol."

I snorted at that, "Right, the coward and the drunkard."

"That's not fair to either of you or them." Geralt responded harshly.

"What? You met me at a bar where I got so plastered that I was about to get punked by some cultists and Taiyang…" I shut my mouth and ground my teeth.

"From what you've said, I can hazard a guess…"

I sighed, "Long story short, we were fighting a monster; he panicked. Summer paid the price for his mistake; he as good as killed her."

"Yes, he may very well have." Geralt responded, "But I will tell you this, at Mountain Glenn, I saw men and women, veterans of thousands of fights with the Grimm: do the exact same thing when faced with those monsters." He shrugged, "Yet, I hold it against none of them; they could not be expected to face such monstrosities."

He paused a soft smile on his face as he watched Ruby and Yang set up for another run down the hill, "No one should."

"Tell that to the things that shoved me into it." I replied, "Besides, need I remind you, you freakin' chose to join up."

Geralt nodded, "True, but think of this, one of the reasons I did so, was to ensure that people like Taiyang, people who could face any other terror, don't have to."

He shrugged, "As for you, 'the drunkard', surely you've seen that cape of hers?"

"Sure, her mother wore something similar."

"It's red Qrow." Geralt said softly, "Just like yours, never lets it out of her sight."

In reality, that detail hadn't been lost on me, but I hadn't so much shrugged it off as shoved it away. "So? Her name's Ruby, besides, red looks good on her."

"That's not all," The knight continued, "You do know what weapon Ruby is having me help her build?"

"A dog-launcher?" I asked.

He smiled slightly at that, "No, but I imagine that was a close second." His eyes locked onto mine, "A scythe-sniper rifle changer."

I don't think there's anything else that could have hit me as much as that, I stared at the snow at my feet as the knight continued, "A sniper rifle like her mother," He murmured, "And a-"

"Scythe like me." I finished numbly.

We were quiet for a moment, "The girl practically worships you." He told me gently, "But you're gone so much, and when you are here I can tell there's a part of you that never allows yourself to accept that praise. I think she's gotten old enough that she's starting to see that; I can see the doubt, that somehow she's not good enough."

"I'm telling you this because when that weapon's done, she's going to want someone to train her." He deliberately eyed Harbinger, "When that time comes, I hope that you've forgiven yourself enough that you can accept that position in the spirit that she deserves."

I was quiet for a long time, and just when I was about to respond I heard Yang's voice calling from the base of the hill. I turned to face her, and frowned when I saw that she was coming up alone, Ruby's sled lay abandoned at the bottom of the hill.

"Uncle Qrow!" She yelled as she ran up to us, "I was going up the hill, and I swear Ruby was right behind me, when I turned around and she was gone. I looked around, and I can't find her anywhere!"

I frowned and began to walk down the hill, when suddenly something made my teeth stand on edge, some feeling that something was wrong.

I quickened my pace and beside me, I heard Geralt do the same, "Get back to the house, Yang!" I called over my shoulder.

"You feel it too?" The former knight asked as we sprinted down the hill.

"Yeah, whatever it is, it's something pretty bad."

As we reached Ruby's sled, I channeled my Semblance, transforming into a dog. I quickly sniffed at the sled to get Ruby's scent, and then took off into the woods, with Geralt following closely behind.

We had only gone for a couple of minutes when there was a bright flash of light, and a strange symbol rose into the sky before dissipating. "By the Brothers," Geralt muttered as he drew his sword, "That was an Elder Sign."

I didn't respond, Ruby's scent was unbelievably strong, just beyond these bushes and-

I leapt into the clearing, turning back into my human form in midair, my sword was already in my hands and I swept it around into a guard position. A moment later, Geralt thundered to stand beside me, where we both stood in shock.

There was Ruby, sitting completely unharmed, petting Zwei even as she scolded him softly. "Bad Zwei, very bad, we do not bite strangers." The little black and white dog seemed completely unfazed, simply panting happily and staring blankly at a pile of what appeared to be brown cloth.

Geralt and I moved as one, I moved to kneel beside Ruby, checking her over for any marks, "Are you okay kid? Does it hurt anywhere? Any weird feelings?"

Ruby shook her head, "No, I heard some singing and then this man came out and waved at me to follow him." She pointed at the brown cloth, "I don't remember much after that," She admitted, "But the next thing I remember is Zwei was biting him." Suddenly she looked up at me, worry in her eyes, "Zwei's not going to get into trouble is he? He's a nice dog, you know that, he would never, ever-"

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." Geralt said, and despite his effort to keep his voice calm, there was a distinct edge to it. "Why don't you go bring Zwei back to the house Ruby? Qrow and I are going to stay here for just a moment."

Ruby's face brightened a little, "Okay." She stood up and looked down at the dog, "C'mon Zwei, let's go get the sled-"

"No, go straight home, Qrow and I will take care of the sleds." Geralt commanded in a tone that brooked no argument.

Ruby looked a little uncertainly at Geralt, unsettled by his tone, I reached over and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry kid," I reassured her, "Mister Knight and I will follow right behind you."

Ruby nodded and dashed off, Zwei following closely behind.

As soon as they were gone, I walked up to stand beside Geralt, "Talk to me."

"Bad news... a revenant." He said, "There are the thirteen rings sewn into the cloak, and the smell…" He offered it up to me and I took a deep sniff.

"Sure enough, smells like dirt and periwinkle." I looked around the clearing, "So what exactly do you think happened?" I asked him.

"Seems like a temporary banishment." Geralt responded as he stood up, letting the robes fall back into the snow, "No doubt Zwei's doing."

I gave a silent prayer of thanks to whatever deities were listening that I had given that thing to Ruby. Then I digested the rest of what the man had said, "Temporary?" I asked him.

He nodded, "Revenants require a very specific method." He told me, "They have to be bound by a ritual, defeated, and then trapped into a mirror as they flee. Otherwise they'll just become incorporeal until they can manifest themselves again."

"Right, how long do you think that will take?" I asked him.

He picked up the robes again and sliced out a hole with his sword. I watched in fascination as the threads surrounding the hole began twisting and weaving themselves together, soon, the hole was completely patched up, as though it had never been there. Geralt silently swore, "9 seconds, square foot… we're looking at a fairly powerful revenant. I would guess that it could come back at any moment."

As though right on cue, the robes twitched violently, and then began unraveling, each individual thread rising into the air before disappearing.

"Ah, so just because it re-manifests, it doesn't have to do it here."

Geralt nodded, "Correct, there's no telling where it will appear next." He turned and began walking back out of the clearing. "We'll have to be on our guard at all times."

I patted him on the back as I walked along beside him, "Hey, when it comes to paranoia, we're some of the best there is."

We kept our guard up the entire time we made our way back to the house; our senses on high-alert for anything that could be the start of an attack.

Finally, as I saw the house in the distance, I let out a long, slow breath that I hadn't been aware that I had been holding. Beside me, Geralt did the same, casually leaning his sword on his shoulder. "I believe our best course of action will be to rest tonight," He told me, "I will prepare the ritual, and on the morrow we can hunt for the creature before it can do any harm."

I nodded, "I'll prepare a tracking ritual." I told him.

"That would be prudent." He replied.

I frowned as I saw Yang and Ruby standing next to each other, staring at an empty spot in the yard.

"What the heck are they up to now?" I muttered.

As we walked up behind them, Geralt lifted his arms and planted them on both of their shoulders, which caused them to jump in fright. Before I could even blink, Yang had flung the man over her shoulder to slam into the ground.

"Whoah! Whoah!" I yelled as I held up my hands, "Easy there!"

That's when I saw the panicked expression in Yang's eyes, and as I looked past her, it finally hit me what was wrong. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach as Ruby spoke, her voice quavering, "Uncle Qrow," She said, "Where did Mr. Freezy go?"