Cruel Reindeer Games? Arise Rujita!
By Soulwindow
Rating: PG
Summary: Yes this one is weird. It's sort of a crossover with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Blame my husband. He challenged me to do it because of the picture at http://www.vejiitasei.com/
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own any of the characters from Dragonball Z or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Rudolph walked slowly through the snow, stopping now and then to paw at the whiteness in frustration. Whenever he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the other reindeer playing games. Horn wrestling. Snow racing. Tag.
But when he tried to play, they laughed and called him names. He was too small to wrestle, not fast enough to race and completely tired of being "It."
So he stayed by himself, trying to come up with one-reindeer games. But nothing was satisfying.
In the middle of a one-reindeer game of hide-and-go-seek in the woods, he heard an ominous creaking above him. He looked up just in time to see a huge pile of snow slide off several branches and land directly on him. He could hear muffled snickering reindeer voices. Definitely Comet and Cupid.
That was it! He'd had enough. Something was going to change, and soon.
Rudolph lunged out of the cold, wet pile. He could see fleeing reindeer butts through the trees. He started to give chase, but it was no use. He was too small and slow to catch them.
Helplessly, he collapsed to the ground, legs buckling underneath him, and began to cry. He'd never be accepted, but neither would he ever be left alone. What could he do?
A voice by his head startled him from his tears. "What's the matter, Rudolph? The other reindeer again?"
Rudolph stifled his sniffles and raised his head. It was Hermey, the little elf who wanted to be a dentist. "Oh, hi Hermey. Yeah, they're at it again." He shook his head. "I just don't know what to do. They won't let me play any of their reindeer games, but they won't even leave me alone to play my own games."
The little elf's face screwed up in a frown. He was obviously thinking hard. Suddenly, his face brightened. "I've got it! Why don't you use the dragonballs to wish for a solution?"
Rudolph had never heard of the dragonballs, but he was willing to give anything a try at this point. "Okay. What are they and how do they work?"
Hermey's face was bright with excitement. "Sam the Snowman told me all about them. You collect all seven of them, and once you've got them, you summon the Eternal Dragon, and he grants you one wish."
That didn't sound too difficult, so Hermey hopped on Rudolph's back, and they flew off to find the dragonballs.
Hermey seemed to have a nose for finding them, and it wasn't too long before they had all seven assembled in front of them.
"What do we do now?" Rudolph asked.
Hermey was frowning in thought again. "I'm trying to remember what Sam said." After a moment, he smiled. "Got it." He spread his hands out wide and said, in as deep as voice as a little elf could muster, "Arise Shenlong!"
The sky blackened, and lightning ripped through the clouds. In another part of the forest, the other reindeer huddled together in fear. "Hey!" Blitzen protested. "It's supposed to be foggy, not stormy for Christmas Eve!"
Back at the dragonballs, Rudolph and Hermey watched in amazement as a giant dragon stretched its massive body into the darkening sky. The dragon curled around itself and lowered its head. "YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME. WHAT IS YOUR WISH?"
Rudolph stumbled back several steps. He'd never seen anything so large in his life. He tried to speak, but his mouth was completely dry.
The dragon's face twisted in irritation. "WHICH OF YOU TWO HAS THE WISH?"
Hermey poked Rudolph. "Come on. He's not going to wait forever."
Rudolph gulped several times, and ran his tongue around his mouth, trying to summon enough moisture to speak. Finally, he managed to get words out. "Umm, Shenlong. The other reindeer are mean to me. I wish for some way to be good enough to make them like me."
The dragon seemed to ponder for a moment. "YOUR WISH IS GRANTED."
The dragon disappeared, and the seven dragon balls shot in every direction. Hermey had to duck quickly to avoid being hit by one of them.
Rudolph stood in the snow, looking around. Nothing had changed. He looked around again. "Hey! What's up? I thought the dragon *granted* wishes."
Hermey was also looking around in confusion. "I don't get it. Sam was pretty sure about this."
Suddenly, someone appeared in front of them. Rudolph didn't recognize him, but the man had spiky black hair that stood up in direct defiance of all the laws of gravity. He was dressed in a dark blue body suit and had what appeared to be armor over his chest and shoulders. His ebon eyes flashed in unmistakable anger. "What is the meaning of this?"
He glanced around. "Kakarott! I don't know where you are, but I know you are responsible for this!"
Rudolph spoke up hesitantly. "Umm, sir?"
The man seemed to notice the reindeer for the first time. "Who are you?" he snarled.
Rudolph glanced to the side, looking for Hermey to help him out, but the elf seemed to have vanished. "Well, I'm Rudolph, and I summoned the Eternal Dragon."
The man waved a hand. "Very well, but what does that have to do with..." He broke off, a look of shock on his face. When he spoke again, Rudolph was amazed to hear that he sounded even angrier than before. If he hadn't heard it himself, he wouldn't have believed it possible. "You summoned the dragon? When?"
"Umm. Just...n...n...now," Rudolph stammered. Summoning up every bit of his courage, he asked, "Who are you?"
The man's head was moving rapidly from side to side, and he was obviously cursing in some language Rudolph had never heard. But the name "Kakarott" was repeated many times. Finally, he looked back at the frightened reindeer. "I am Vejita, Prince of all Saiyans."
Rudolph's mouth dropped. "You're a prince?"
Vejita nodded impatiently. "Of course. Now, why am I here?"
Suddenly the disembodied voice of Shenlong boomed in the air around them. "I BROUGHT YOU HERE TO HELP THIS REINDEER. YOU MUST FUSE WITH HIM."
Vejita's mouth dropped, and several large sweatdrops trickled down his face. His mouth opened and closed several times before words finally came out. "Fuse? With this...this..." He pointed at the reindeer. "With this...animal!"
Rudolph lost it. "Hey! Who're you calling an animal? You're an animal too, you know!"
Vejita ignored him, glancing around, obviously in search of Shenlong. "I refuse to fuse with a deer!"
"Reindeer, thank you!" Rudolph yelled in protest.
"YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. I HAVE SUMMONED YOU FOR THIS PURPOSE, AND YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE UNTIL YOU HAVE FUSED WITH THIS ONE AND AIDED HIM AGAINST THE OTHER REINDEER."
"Why?" Vejita shouted.
The voice of the dragon softened slightly and became sly. "This Is For All The Times You Tried To Misuse My Power To Become Immortal!"
Vejita rolled his eyes and muttered something. Rudolph couldn't hear much of it, but the name Kakarott was repeated at least twice.
Finally, the man's face stiffened in resolve, and he spoke. "Fine! Then let's get this over with." He smiled, and Rudolph shivered at the sight. He'd never imagined anyone could look so cruel. "At least I'll be able to feast on roast reindeer tonight."
"No," Rudolph yelled in horror. "No, I don't want to kill anyone. I just want to be good enough to play the reindeer games."
Again, Vejita exploded in anger. "What! I am to fuse with this...this...thing to...play GAMES!"
Shenlong's voice boomed again. "THAT IS CORRECT. DO THIS, OR YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOUR WORLD AGAIN." A brief pause. "AND THEN YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT GOKU."
First Kakarott and now Goku? Rudolph couldn't help but think that this Vejita guy was a real pain where he came from. The other reindeer were looking pretty good right about now.
Vejita spluttered incoherently for several minutes, but he finally nodded. "All right. Let's do it." He turned to the reindeer. "Do you at least know how to fuse, or do I have to teach you that too?"
Rudolph blushed. "Umm. I don't even know what fusion is, so, I guess you'll have to teach me."
Vejita rolled his eyes towards the sky. "Baka! Do I have to do everything?" He looked at the reindeer. "All right this is how it works..." He demonstrated Fusion Dance while Rudolph looked on in fascination. When he finished, Vejita added, "...and it has to be done exactly right, or strange things happen."
Rudolph closed his eyes tightly, trying to remember all the moves. With this violent human, he didn't want to take any chances and perhaps do something wrong. After a moment, he nodded. "Okay, I think I've got it. So what happens if we do it right?"
Vejita shook his head. "What sort of world is this anyway?" He gestured impatiently. We become one being." He frowned for a moment. "In this case, I think we become much less powerful than I would be alone, but more powerful than you by yourself." He smirked as he finished. "And then we go show those others how reindeer games *should* be played."
Rudolph was amazed. This wish was going to work out better than he'd dreamed!
The two stood about ten feet apart. With difficulty, Rudolph lifted onto his hind legs. Vejita tapped a foot impatiently. "Let's get on with this. I don't have all day, you know."
Rudolph frowned in concentration. "I know, but I've never stood on two legs before." Finally, he found his balance and smiled. "Okay, I'm ready."
They moved together slowly, legs shuffling in an intricate dance step. As they came within reach of each other, Vejita reached out with his left arm while Rudolph reached out with his right foreleg. They each crossed their other arm/leg across their bodies. As they moved, they each yelled "Fu..."
When their hand and hoof met, they said "...sion" and raised opposite arms/legs. Then they each leaned over, both arms/forelegs meeting above their heads as they yelled "HA!"
There was a sudden burst of light, and when the flash faded, there was one where there had been two.
The being had reindeer horns but a human face with a shiny red nose. He stood on two legs, but they were more reindeer than human. His arms were brown-furred but otherwise human. Vejita's armor and shirt had disappeared, but the skin-tight leggings remained.
The creature glanced around in amazement. He felt strong and good, ready to join in all the reindeer games. Knowing that he didn't have much time, he took to the air and flew to find the others.
It didn't take long, and he landed in the midst of the clearing where the other reindeer were gathered, playing happily. Suddenly, they all noticed him and stopped, mouths dropping in amazement.
Dancer stepped forward, legs lifting daintily over the snow. "Who are you?"
The being spoke, in an oddly doubled voice. "I am Rujita. I wish to join in your reindeer games."
All the reindeer looked at each other in amazement, but finally Vixen shrugged and said, "Okay, let's play."
Rujita easily won at horn wrestling, pulling Prancer to the ground and pinning him on the first try. Rujita had to suppress the urge to use his horns to slash open his opponent's throat, but, with an effort, he managed to keep the contest clean.
All the other reindeer cheered, except for Dasher, who stepped forward. "Maybe you can win at horn wrestling. But no one beats me at snow racing."
Half the reindeer ran to the start line, while the other half dashed to the finish line. Rujita and Dasher stepped to the start, both pawing the snow with delicate feet and blowing steam into the frosty air.
Donner was the starter. He glanced at the racers, who each signaled their readiness. He raised his head high in the air and suddenly brought his horns down in a sweep.
Rujita sprinted forward. It felt both strangely odd and natural to be running on two feet instead of four. He quickly took the lead, thrilling in his smooth pace across the uneven ground, clearing fallen logs and other obstacles with ease.
He glanced over his shoulder. Dasher was close behind, head down, steam puffing from his widened nostrils. His opponent put on a sudden burst of speed and closed the gap.
Distantly, Rujita heard the cheers of the other reindeer. To his amazement, they weren't yelling Dasher's name. They were yelling his!
"Ru...ji...ta! Ru...ji...ta!"
The distraction nearly cost him the race. His opponent dashed ahead, and Rujita stretched his legs to regain the lead. His heartbeat pumped loudly in his ears, and the breath from his straining lungs streamed visibly past his face.
At the last moment, Rujita pulled ahead by a neck. So intense was his effort that he ran on for another twenty or so yards before pulling up and turning around to face the other reindeer.
The others were going wild, leaping around in their joy and excitement. Dasher, still panting, walked up and nodded. "Good race. You're welcome among us anytime."
The other reindeer ran up and pressed close against him. Rujita closed his eyes, his heart threatening to burst with the fierce joy flooding through him. He realized that he'd never felt such emotion before. Sadness, despair, anger, jealousy. He'd felt all those. But never joy.
Suddenly, Rujita felt an odd energy pass through his body, and Rudolph collapsed to the ground in a heap with Vejita on top of him.
All the other reindeer backed away while Rudolph struggled to get out from under Vejita. The man rolled to his feet and glared at each reindeer in turn. "Well, aren't any of you going to say anything? Surely we proved that he was good enough for the likes of you!"
Rudolph stood slowly, certain that rejection was the next thing in store for him.
Dancer stepped forward first. "What just happened? Who was Rujita?"
Rudolph lowered his head as he explained. "Umm. Rujita was both of us. We sort of fused."
Dancer shook his head in confusion. "But how? And why?"
Rudolph let out all his frustration. "Because nothing I could do was ever good enough for you guys! You always laughed at me. Called me names. Dropped snow on me. So I wished for a way to show you that I was good enough to play your reindeer games." He lowered his voice, despair creeping into his heart, his heart which had previously held such joy. "And it won't do any good. The only reason I was good enough is because I fused with this guy. Now I'm just useless Rudolph again." He turned, brushing against Vejita as he prepared to leave the clearing.
The man grabbed him by the neck and stopped him. Rudolph raised his head in alarm. He'd fused with the man. He knew of what the Saiyan was capable.
But Vejita didn't do anything except stop him. And turn to the other reindeer. "Look here. I suggest you accept him. He's strong enough to fuse with me. He's strong enough to play with you. Besides..." With that his hand began to glow. "...if you don't, I'll blast you all into the next dimension!"
Rudolph hastily thrust his body between Vejita and the other reindeer. "No! It's not worth it! I can play by myself."
At that moment, Dancer stepped forward. "Hey! It's okay. Rudolph can be one of us." He lowered his head and blushed. "We just teased him 'cause we thought his red nose was weird." He raised his head and shook it in amazement. "But Rujita was far weirder than any red nose. And he was cool! So I guess weird can be all right."
Rudolph felt tears of joy wash down his face. Was it true? Were the other reindeer really going to accept him?
All the reindeer pressed close to him, just as they had to Rujita. Rudolph let himself hope for the first time that maybe everything would be okay.
He glanced over the other reindeer at Vejita. The Saiyan stood apart from all the others, a strange look of realization on his face. He looked both lost and thoughtful at the same time.
Rudolph struggled out of the press of happy reindeer and stepped hesitantly to Vejita. The other reindeer stopped their antics to watch. Rudolph gently pressed his red nose against Vejita's chest. The Saiyan looked up, startled. "I'd like to thank you. Fusing with you has brought me acceptance, which is everything I ever wanted." Rudolph shook his head. "I don't know what I can do to ever repay you."
Vejita nodded, his eyes still wide and thoughtful. His next words were harsh, though his voice wasn't. "Don't bother." He paused. When he next spoke, his words and tone meshed. "I think...I got something unexpected out of it as well."
Shenlong's voice boomed over the crowd. "YOUR WISH IS GRANTED, RUDOLPH. I NEED TO RETURN VEJITA TO HIS OWN PLACE."
Rudolph bumped his nose against Vejita's chest again in his most friendly reindeer way. "Guess I won't see you again." He surprised himself by how sad his voice sounded.
Vejita shook his head. "Guess not." His eyes widened. "Just as well. I've got enough weaklings to deal with where I come from. I don't need any more." He turned his face to the sky. "Take me home, dragon."
"THAT'S SHENLONG TO YOU, SAIYAN."
"Whatever!" And with those words, Vejita winked out of sight.
Rudolph turned back to his new-found friends. Even Hermey popped out of the woods to join in the festivities and the games of tag where Rudolph wasn't always "It."
In the darkness between the worlds, Shenlong spoke to Vejita. "And Did You Also Learn Something, Saiyan?"
Vejita nodded, his voice and expression thoughtful. "Perhaps I did at that, Shenlong."
The End.
By Soulwindow
Rating: PG
Summary: Yes this one is weird. It's sort of a crossover with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Blame my husband. He challenged me to do it because of the picture at http://www.vejiitasei.com/
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own any of the characters from Dragonball Z or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Rudolph walked slowly through the snow, stopping now and then to paw at the whiteness in frustration. Whenever he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the other reindeer playing games. Horn wrestling. Snow racing. Tag.
But when he tried to play, they laughed and called him names. He was too small to wrestle, not fast enough to race and completely tired of being "It."
So he stayed by himself, trying to come up with one-reindeer games. But nothing was satisfying.
In the middle of a one-reindeer game of hide-and-go-seek in the woods, he heard an ominous creaking above him. He looked up just in time to see a huge pile of snow slide off several branches and land directly on him. He could hear muffled snickering reindeer voices. Definitely Comet and Cupid.
That was it! He'd had enough. Something was going to change, and soon.
Rudolph lunged out of the cold, wet pile. He could see fleeing reindeer butts through the trees. He started to give chase, but it was no use. He was too small and slow to catch them.
Helplessly, he collapsed to the ground, legs buckling underneath him, and began to cry. He'd never be accepted, but neither would he ever be left alone. What could he do?
A voice by his head startled him from his tears. "What's the matter, Rudolph? The other reindeer again?"
Rudolph stifled his sniffles and raised his head. It was Hermey, the little elf who wanted to be a dentist. "Oh, hi Hermey. Yeah, they're at it again." He shook his head. "I just don't know what to do. They won't let me play any of their reindeer games, but they won't even leave me alone to play my own games."
The little elf's face screwed up in a frown. He was obviously thinking hard. Suddenly, his face brightened. "I've got it! Why don't you use the dragonballs to wish for a solution?"
Rudolph had never heard of the dragonballs, but he was willing to give anything a try at this point. "Okay. What are they and how do they work?"
Hermey's face was bright with excitement. "Sam the Snowman told me all about them. You collect all seven of them, and once you've got them, you summon the Eternal Dragon, and he grants you one wish."
That didn't sound too difficult, so Hermey hopped on Rudolph's back, and they flew off to find the dragonballs.
Hermey seemed to have a nose for finding them, and it wasn't too long before they had all seven assembled in front of them.
"What do we do now?" Rudolph asked.
Hermey was frowning in thought again. "I'm trying to remember what Sam said." After a moment, he smiled. "Got it." He spread his hands out wide and said, in as deep as voice as a little elf could muster, "Arise Shenlong!"
The sky blackened, and lightning ripped through the clouds. In another part of the forest, the other reindeer huddled together in fear. "Hey!" Blitzen protested. "It's supposed to be foggy, not stormy for Christmas Eve!"
Back at the dragonballs, Rudolph and Hermey watched in amazement as a giant dragon stretched its massive body into the darkening sky. The dragon curled around itself and lowered its head. "YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME. WHAT IS YOUR WISH?"
Rudolph stumbled back several steps. He'd never seen anything so large in his life. He tried to speak, but his mouth was completely dry.
The dragon's face twisted in irritation. "WHICH OF YOU TWO HAS THE WISH?"
Hermey poked Rudolph. "Come on. He's not going to wait forever."
Rudolph gulped several times, and ran his tongue around his mouth, trying to summon enough moisture to speak. Finally, he managed to get words out. "Umm, Shenlong. The other reindeer are mean to me. I wish for some way to be good enough to make them like me."
The dragon seemed to ponder for a moment. "YOUR WISH IS GRANTED."
The dragon disappeared, and the seven dragon balls shot in every direction. Hermey had to duck quickly to avoid being hit by one of them.
Rudolph stood in the snow, looking around. Nothing had changed. He looked around again. "Hey! What's up? I thought the dragon *granted* wishes."
Hermey was also looking around in confusion. "I don't get it. Sam was pretty sure about this."
Suddenly, someone appeared in front of them. Rudolph didn't recognize him, but the man had spiky black hair that stood up in direct defiance of all the laws of gravity. He was dressed in a dark blue body suit and had what appeared to be armor over his chest and shoulders. His ebon eyes flashed in unmistakable anger. "What is the meaning of this?"
He glanced around. "Kakarott! I don't know where you are, but I know you are responsible for this!"
Rudolph spoke up hesitantly. "Umm, sir?"
The man seemed to notice the reindeer for the first time. "Who are you?" he snarled.
Rudolph glanced to the side, looking for Hermey to help him out, but the elf seemed to have vanished. "Well, I'm Rudolph, and I summoned the Eternal Dragon."
The man waved a hand. "Very well, but what does that have to do with..." He broke off, a look of shock on his face. When he spoke again, Rudolph was amazed to hear that he sounded even angrier than before. If he hadn't heard it himself, he wouldn't have believed it possible. "You summoned the dragon? When?"
"Umm. Just...n...n...now," Rudolph stammered. Summoning up every bit of his courage, he asked, "Who are you?"
The man's head was moving rapidly from side to side, and he was obviously cursing in some language Rudolph had never heard. But the name "Kakarott" was repeated many times. Finally, he looked back at the frightened reindeer. "I am Vejita, Prince of all Saiyans."
Rudolph's mouth dropped. "You're a prince?"
Vejita nodded impatiently. "Of course. Now, why am I here?"
Suddenly the disembodied voice of Shenlong boomed in the air around them. "I BROUGHT YOU HERE TO HELP THIS REINDEER. YOU MUST FUSE WITH HIM."
Vejita's mouth dropped, and several large sweatdrops trickled down his face. His mouth opened and closed several times before words finally came out. "Fuse? With this...this..." He pointed at the reindeer. "With this...animal!"
Rudolph lost it. "Hey! Who're you calling an animal? You're an animal too, you know!"
Vejita ignored him, glancing around, obviously in search of Shenlong. "I refuse to fuse with a deer!"
"Reindeer, thank you!" Rudolph yelled in protest.
"YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. I HAVE SUMMONED YOU FOR THIS PURPOSE, AND YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE UNTIL YOU HAVE FUSED WITH THIS ONE AND AIDED HIM AGAINST THE OTHER REINDEER."
"Why?" Vejita shouted.
The voice of the dragon softened slightly and became sly. "This Is For All The Times You Tried To Misuse My Power To Become Immortal!"
Vejita rolled his eyes and muttered something. Rudolph couldn't hear much of it, but the name Kakarott was repeated at least twice.
Finally, the man's face stiffened in resolve, and he spoke. "Fine! Then let's get this over with." He smiled, and Rudolph shivered at the sight. He'd never imagined anyone could look so cruel. "At least I'll be able to feast on roast reindeer tonight."
"No," Rudolph yelled in horror. "No, I don't want to kill anyone. I just want to be good enough to play the reindeer games."
Again, Vejita exploded in anger. "What! I am to fuse with this...this...thing to...play GAMES!"
Shenlong's voice boomed again. "THAT IS CORRECT. DO THIS, OR YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOUR WORLD AGAIN." A brief pause. "AND THEN YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT GOKU."
First Kakarott and now Goku? Rudolph couldn't help but think that this Vejita guy was a real pain where he came from. The other reindeer were looking pretty good right about now.
Vejita spluttered incoherently for several minutes, but he finally nodded. "All right. Let's do it." He turned to the reindeer. "Do you at least know how to fuse, or do I have to teach you that too?"
Rudolph blushed. "Umm. I don't even know what fusion is, so, I guess you'll have to teach me."
Vejita rolled his eyes towards the sky. "Baka! Do I have to do everything?" He looked at the reindeer. "All right this is how it works..." He demonstrated Fusion Dance while Rudolph looked on in fascination. When he finished, Vejita added, "...and it has to be done exactly right, or strange things happen."
Rudolph closed his eyes tightly, trying to remember all the moves. With this violent human, he didn't want to take any chances and perhaps do something wrong. After a moment, he nodded. "Okay, I think I've got it. So what happens if we do it right?"
Vejita shook his head. "What sort of world is this anyway?" He gestured impatiently. We become one being." He frowned for a moment. "In this case, I think we become much less powerful than I would be alone, but more powerful than you by yourself." He smirked as he finished. "And then we go show those others how reindeer games *should* be played."
Rudolph was amazed. This wish was going to work out better than he'd dreamed!
The two stood about ten feet apart. With difficulty, Rudolph lifted onto his hind legs. Vejita tapped a foot impatiently. "Let's get on with this. I don't have all day, you know."
Rudolph frowned in concentration. "I know, but I've never stood on two legs before." Finally, he found his balance and smiled. "Okay, I'm ready."
They moved together slowly, legs shuffling in an intricate dance step. As they came within reach of each other, Vejita reached out with his left arm while Rudolph reached out with his right foreleg. They each crossed their other arm/leg across their bodies. As they moved, they each yelled "Fu..."
When their hand and hoof met, they said "...sion" and raised opposite arms/legs. Then they each leaned over, both arms/forelegs meeting above their heads as they yelled "HA!"
There was a sudden burst of light, and when the flash faded, there was one where there had been two.
The being had reindeer horns but a human face with a shiny red nose. He stood on two legs, but they were more reindeer than human. His arms were brown-furred but otherwise human. Vejita's armor and shirt had disappeared, but the skin-tight leggings remained.
The creature glanced around in amazement. He felt strong and good, ready to join in all the reindeer games. Knowing that he didn't have much time, he took to the air and flew to find the others.
It didn't take long, and he landed in the midst of the clearing where the other reindeer were gathered, playing happily. Suddenly, they all noticed him and stopped, mouths dropping in amazement.
Dancer stepped forward, legs lifting daintily over the snow. "Who are you?"
The being spoke, in an oddly doubled voice. "I am Rujita. I wish to join in your reindeer games."
All the reindeer looked at each other in amazement, but finally Vixen shrugged and said, "Okay, let's play."
Rujita easily won at horn wrestling, pulling Prancer to the ground and pinning him on the first try. Rujita had to suppress the urge to use his horns to slash open his opponent's throat, but, with an effort, he managed to keep the contest clean.
All the other reindeer cheered, except for Dasher, who stepped forward. "Maybe you can win at horn wrestling. But no one beats me at snow racing."
Half the reindeer ran to the start line, while the other half dashed to the finish line. Rujita and Dasher stepped to the start, both pawing the snow with delicate feet and blowing steam into the frosty air.
Donner was the starter. He glanced at the racers, who each signaled their readiness. He raised his head high in the air and suddenly brought his horns down in a sweep.
Rujita sprinted forward. It felt both strangely odd and natural to be running on two feet instead of four. He quickly took the lead, thrilling in his smooth pace across the uneven ground, clearing fallen logs and other obstacles with ease.
He glanced over his shoulder. Dasher was close behind, head down, steam puffing from his widened nostrils. His opponent put on a sudden burst of speed and closed the gap.
Distantly, Rujita heard the cheers of the other reindeer. To his amazement, they weren't yelling Dasher's name. They were yelling his!
"Ru...ji...ta! Ru...ji...ta!"
The distraction nearly cost him the race. His opponent dashed ahead, and Rujita stretched his legs to regain the lead. His heartbeat pumped loudly in his ears, and the breath from his straining lungs streamed visibly past his face.
At the last moment, Rujita pulled ahead by a neck. So intense was his effort that he ran on for another twenty or so yards before pulling up and turning around to face the other reindeer.
The others were going wild, leaping around in their joy and excitement. Dasher, still panting, walked up and nodded. "Good race. You're welcome among us anytime."
The other reindeer ran up and pressed close against him. Rujita closed his eyes, his heart threatening to burst with the fierce joy flooding through him. He realized that he'd never felt such emotion before. Sadness, despair, anger, jealousy. He'd felt all those. But never joy.
Suddenly, Rujita felt an odd energy pass through his body, and Rudolph collapsed to the ground in a heap with Vejita on top of him.
All the other reindeer backed away while Rudolph struggled to get out from under Vejita. The man rolled to his feet and glared at each reindeer in turn. "Well, aren't any of you going to say anything? Surely we proved that he was good enough for the likes of you!"
Rudolph stood slowly, certain that rejection was the next thing in store for him.
Dancer stepped forward first. "What just happened? Who was Rujita?"
Rudolph lowered his head as he explained. "Umm. Rujita was both of us. We sort of fused."
Dancer shook his head in confusion. "But how? And why?"
Rudolph let out all his frustration. "Because nothing I could do was ever good enough for you guys! You always laughed at me. Called me names. Dropped snow on me. So I wished for a way to show you that I was good enough to play your reindeer games." He lowered his voice, despair creeping into his heart, his heart which had previously held such joy. "And it won't do any good. The only reason I was good enough is because I fused with this guy. Now I'm just useless Rudolph again." He turned, brushing against Vejita as he prepared to leave the clearing.
The man grabbed him by the neck and stopped him. Rudolph raised his head in alarm. He'd fused with the man. He knew of what the Saiyan was capable.
But Vejita didn't do anything except stop him. And turn to the other reindeer. "Look here. I suggest you accept him. He's strong enough to fuse with me. He's strong enough to play with you. Besides..." With that his hand began to glow. "...if you don't, I'll blast you all into the next dimension!"
Rudolph hastily thrust his body between Vejita and the other reindeer. "No! It's not worth it! I can play by myself."
At that moment, Dancer stepped forward. "Hey! It's okay. Rudolph can be one of us." He lowered his head and blushed. "We just teased him 'cause we thought his red nose was weird." He raised his head and shook it in amazement. "But Rujita was far weirder than any red nose. And he was cool! So I guess weird can be all right."
Rudolph felt tears of joy wash down his face. Was it true? Were the other reindeer really going to accept him?
All the reindeer pressed close to him, just as they had to Rujita. Rudolph let himself hope for the first time that maybe everything would be okay.
He glanced over the other reindeer at Vejita. The Saiyan stood apart from all the others, a strange look of realization on his face. He looked both lost and thoughtful at the same time.
Rudolph struggled out of the press of happy reindeer and stepped hesitantly to Vejita. The other reindeer stopped their antics to watch. Rudolph gently pressed his red nose against Vejita's chest. The Saiyan looked up, startled. "I'd like to thank you. Fusing with you has brought me acceptance, which is everything I ever wanted." Rudolph shook his head. "I don't know what I can do to ever repay you."
Vejita nodded, his eyes still wide and thoughtful. His next words were harsh, though his voice wasn't. "Don't bother." He paused. When he next spoke, his words and tone meshed. "I think...I got something unexpected out of it as well."
Shenlong's voice boomed over the crowd. "YOUR WISH IS GRANTED, RUDOLPH. I NEED TO RETURN VEJITA TO HIS OWN PLACE."
Rudolph bumped his nose against Vejita's chest again in his most friendly reindeer way. "Guess I won't see you again." He surprised himself by how sad his voice sounded.
Vejita shook his head. "Guess not." His eyes widened. "Just as well. I've got enough weaklings to deal with where I come from. I don't need any more." He turned his face to the sky. "Take me home, dragon."
"THAT'S SHENLONG TO YOU, SAIYAN."
"Whatever!" And with those words, Vejita winked out of sight.
Rudolph turned back to his new-found friends. Even Hermey popped out of the woods to join in the festivities and the games of tag where Rudolph wasn't always "It."
In the darkness between the worlds, Shenlong spoke to Vejita. "And Did You Also Learn Something, Saiyan?"
Vejita nodded, his voice and expression thoughtful. "Perhaps I did at that, Shenlong."
The End.