Hey people! Here's the first of three parts for the Broken Wings Christmas special! Hopefully I'll have all three chapters out by Christmas day, but if not I'll just get them out ASAP. Expect them out by Christmas though! Oh and just a little note, this takes place during this year (aka before the Legion invasion), since Broken Wings is still currently taking place in the late fall season. So while this is considered to be in the future, it's not crazy far. Okay, I'm rambling again! Enjoy!
Christmas Special Part 1: Tales of Family Past
It was a quiet snowy night in a remote part of patch. In a small secluded part of the mountains, a small rustic cabin sat, surrounded by a sea of evergreen trees that were covered in a thick layer of snow, as was the ground they towered over.
Even the cabin was completely covered in a blanket of the frozen water. It would have seemed completely abandoned if there had not been a bright light streaming from the windows, like a single lighthouse in a sea of white.
Inside of that little cabin nestled in the heart of the great forest, two young woman stood, fussing over the appearance of a third, who sat on a small stood, worry dancing in her silver eyes.
"I don't know Yang... What if he thinks I look stupid..." Ruby complained to Yang as she sat in front of a small mirror that sat in the living room of the cabin, who was happily helping Ruby into some sort of fancy dress that the elder sister had insisted Ruby wear.
The two had gone shopping the other day and Yang had spotted the dress in the back of the store, and quickly bought it for Ruby, knowing that her sister would otherwise just wear her normal combat skirt.
"Oh come on Rubes! You look great!" Yang said with a broad smile as she pulled herself to her feet, laying her hand on her sister's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Yeah, he won't even be able to focus on decorating." Weiss, who was working on Ruby's hair, said as she ran a brush through the young reaper's hair, attempting to pull out the knots.
"You think?" Ruby asked hopeful.
"Yeah! Maybe once we get some eggnog in him he'll get into the Christmas mood when he sees you." Yang said as she leaned down with a suggestive grin, jabbing her younger sister in the side.
"Huh?"
"Oh. Nothing." Yang chuckled, her voice low but humored.
"O-oh okay." Ruby stuttered before growing silent, watching her reflection in the mirror as Weiss continued to manipulate her relatively short black and red locks. It was a task and a half to make Ruby's hair do anything other than flop about; but if anyone could do it, it was Weiss.
"Hey speaking of Wrynn, where is he? Wrath said they'd all be here by now." Weiss said, glancing out of a small window not too far away where Blake, wrapped tightly in one of Wrath's cloaks, was waiting at a bench watching over a small Scourgestone so wouldn't be stolen by a bear or squirrel.
"I'm sure they'll all be here soon." Yang reasoned as she finally backed away from the two of her friends, opting instead to stroll over to the fireplace, where a small blaze burned brightly. "Knowing those three they're probably just tied up with something."
"Yeah, probably." Ruby smiled.
"Stop struggling Anduin!" Wrath ordered as he slammed the prince against the wall, attempting to daze the young man, only to succeed in smashing the vase that Anduin impacted.
"No! Let me GO!" Anduin was putting up one hell of a fight, especially for a prince. "Make Varimas do it!"
"Oh quit your whining!" Wrath attempted to sweep Anduin's legs out from under him, only to end up dodging a kick at the last moment.
"Get off of me!" Anduin exclaimed once more, shaking his entire body back and forth as he attempted to fight off the clearly stronger knight who had now pinned the prince's arms against his sides, rendering them useless.
"Var, get his legs!" Wrath said as he turned his attention to his Warlock friend, who was cautiously approaching the scene, his hands held up near his mask covered face, wary of receiving a foot to the head.
"I'm trying! We've got ourselves a kicker!" He exclaimed, attempting to reach out to Anduin, only to have his hand swatted away by one of the prince's feet.
"Wrath stop! Are you even aware that you're kidnapping the crown prince of the Alliance?!"
"Yes; now are you going to stop struggling or am I going to have to tie you up?!" Wrath asked, baring his teeth at the younger man like an angry wolf. They were already late, and Anduin's struggling only delayed them further.
Anduin's only response was to jam his elbow into the Death Knight's stomach, ducking out of Wrath's grasp and pushing Varimas to the ground before making a break for the doorway, only to get Death Gripped back into Wrath's waiting arms.
He began tying him up a moment later. "Hard way it is then."
As Wrath bound Anduin hands behind his back, Varimas stuck a linen bag over his head, before the two of them dragged him out of the room. Eventually they found themselves in the throne room where Varian, Vol'jin, and several guards all watched in astonishment as Wrath and Varimas dragged the young prince through.
Not one guard moved however.
Vol'jin was absolutely stunned upon noticing the guards and even King Varian doing nothing to save Anduin. Were they completely unaware of who was half stuffed into that sack?
"Hey Varian!" Wrath called with a cheesy smile waving to the High King with one hand as he began to cast a death gate with the other hand, the dark doorway beginning to take form almost immediately. Varimas meanwhile dragged the bagged Anduin over to the portal.
Varian could only sigh at the sight before him. "...Can he breath in there?"
"Father help me!" The sacked Anduin cried out as he attempted to struggle against the ropes, small rays of Light flying from his fingers in an attempt to burn the chord.
"Yeah he can breath. Cut little holes for his nose." Varimas said, pointing to his own nose as if to make a point, eventually earning a small nod from the king, and a stare of disbelief from the Warchief.
"Very well. Just... Carry on." Varian sighed, jabbing a single finger towards the portal.
"What?! Father! Help me!" The bagged Anduin begged, before crying out in panic as Wrath slung the captured prince over his shoulder like a trophy, ready to be transported to a taxidermic facility.
"In ya go!" Wrath laughed happily as he flung Anduin into the death gate and jumped in almost immediately afterwards, followed soon by Varimas, who gave the other occupants of the room a salute, falling into the portal backwards.
"Uh... Ya do realize dat was ya son in dere right?" Vol'Jin asked, turning to face King Varian, who wore the face of man who seemed as if he had been through such an experience before.
"Yes, I do... We've found it pointless to try to stop Wrath. He always brings him back, usually no worse for wear." Varian explained as he reached for the rather large stein of beer that lay next to him; a gift from one of the dwarves diplomats visiting during the peace negotiations.
"An' ya call da Horde strange?" Vol'jin said with a tuskey smile.
Varian could only chuckle.
Blake let a small smile cross her face as the crystal in her hand suddenly began to glow a bright purple shine. She eagerly tossed the crystal necklace to the wooden deck and watched as the gate formed before her, ready to embrace Wrath the moment he came through...
Only to jump back in surprise when Anduin's bagged and bound body flew out of the portal, followed by a smiling Wrath and Varimas, the later of which gave Blake a small wave, as his smile was still hidden by his felfume mask.
"Uh... Hey there guys." Blake greeted awkwardly, her eyes dancing with confusion, though that look quickly changed to one of contentment when Wrath's arms found their way around her shoulders, wrapping her in an embrace much softer than that of the one he had Anduin in a few minutes before.
"Hey Blake!" Varimas greeted as he placed his foot atop Anduin's back like a hunter posing with his most recent kill, much as Wrath had back in the throne room, just with his foot instead of his arm.
"Oh god they're insane! Someone save me!" Anduin begged as he attempted to flail around, only to receive a small kick in the base of the spine from Varimas, who grinned when the young prince let out a curse.
With a chuckle, the Warlock kneeled down, his mask only a foot from Anduin's face. "How many times have you said 'save me' now? Last time I checked we kidnapped a prince, not a princess."
"What was that?!" Anduin growled as he showed his teeth to Varimas who merely gave him a snort in response.
"You heard me."
"You three are ridiculous." Blake laughed as she finally broke away from the embrace that she and Wrath shared, walking over to Anduin, giving him a sympathetic smile.
"Perhaps I would be calmer if I weren't being carted off to calm Yang down!" Anduin cried, desperation clear on his face. This confused Blake rather quickly, what was Anduin talking about? Yang was fine.
"Wait what?"
"Oh... Uh... I told him that Yang was throwing a fit." Wrath said as he glanced over at Blake, rubbing the back of his head with a wide grin plastered on his face. "We told him that she was on a rampage and that we needed him to sedate her."
"Why would you do that?" Blake asked as she crossed her arms across her chest, though she was obviously less than annoyed. In fact she had a rather amused expression on her face, though she clearly was attempting to suppress it in order to save Anduin's dignity from further damage.
Wrath merely shrugged. "Mostly for fun."
"So then where are we?" Anduin asked, finally calmed down now that he knew that he was no longer a lamb headed for the slaughter. "Why're we here?"
"Oh we're in Ruby and Yang's father's summer cabin." Blake answered, glancing back at the old rustic cabin. "He agreed to let us use it for Christmas."
"What's Christmas?" Anduin asked.
"Our version of Winter Veil. It's essentially still the same holiday." Blake looked over at Wrath as she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the entrance of the cabin. "Should we head in? I'm sure Ruby is probably dying to see Anduin."
"R-Ruby is here?!" Anduin cried as he suddenly began to struggle once more with renewed vigor.
"Oohh, and the nerves are back!" Wrath laughed as he lifted Anduin up and began to drag him into the cabin, chuckling when Anduin began to wimped in desperation.
"Wait at least let me get ready!" Anduin cried as Wrath threw him down onto the soft carpet inside of the old cabin, landing only a few feet away from a currently bare Christmas tree. "I wasn't expecting to see-..."
"Anduin?..." A voice rang out, causing the prince to glance up to see a sight he would not soon forget. There was Ruby, standing not in her usual combat skirt but in a majestic ruby red dress that hugged what little figure she possessed, though her eyes still held their usual awkwardly cute shine.
"R-... Ruby! Hi! I... Uh..." Anduin stuttered out, a deep blush coating his face a deep crimson color, before he shook his head frantically in a desperate attempt to regain his composure. After a few moments he glanced back over to the reaper, giving her a genuine smile. "You look great..."
"Thanks..." Ruby whispered as a blush of her own crossed her face, but just as quickly began to laugh, covering her face with her arm. "You do too. The rope really brings out your eyes."
A few curse words and some quick orders from Anduin later, Varimas was on the ground, attempting to untie the blonde haired prince.
"Dang Wrath! You tied these really tight!" Varimas laughed as he futilely attempted to free Anduin from his bonds, only truly succeeding in tightening them further around the monarch's wrists.
"Yeah, sorry about that... There's a little bit here, just pull that and-..." Wrath said as he knelt next to the two, taking hold of a small loop of the rope, giving it a pull. This caused the binding to fall apart in nearly an instant, the rope falling next to Anduin in a small pile. "It comes undone! There!"
"Where'd you even learn to do that?" Yang asked as she picked up the rope, though she never redirected her gaze from the Death Knight as he shrugged in what appeared to an almost nonchalant manner.
"The Scourge. I was taught how to bind a persons arms and legs in such a way that they wouldn't be able to escape, even if they decided to try to wriggle out of the ropes during torture."
"Ohhh..."
"Hey Uh... Can I see that rope?" Blake suddenly piped up as she shuffled over, holding her arms out towards her blonde and green haired teammate.
"What? How come?"
"I'm just... Going to go throw it out." Blake said with a nervous grin as she held out her hands expectantly, all while Yang narrowed her eyes at the faunus, who's face reddened in response.
"Uh huh." Yang deadpanned as she handed Blake the coil of rope which the black haired ninja hid behind her back before quickly scampering off in the direction of the hallways where the bedrooms were located. Yang rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Perverted cat."
Blake was back a few moments later, a giddy look in her eyes, though she did her very best to hide it.
"So... I guess we should start decorating before team JNPR shows up." Ruby said, finally breaking up the awkward silence that had settled over the group. "We don't want Nora decorating. Especially after what happened at Beacon last year."
"Good point... Alright!" Ruby exclaimed, raising a single finger into the air proudly. "Yang, Weiss, can you two handle the tree?"
"You got it sis!" Yang replied with a thumbs up before she grabbed the heiress by the arm, dragging the protesting girl over to the bare Christmas tree. They were both on the task in a matter of moments.
"Okay, Anduin, Var, and I can get the other stuff inside the house..." Ruby listed off as she pointed to Varimas, causing the Warlock to smile at the short girl. She practically looked like a child, yet seemed to have the leadership skills of the bat of Azeroth's generals.
"On it." Varimas said, dragging Anduin over to the decorations.
"So I guess that leaves us to decorate the outside?" Blake asked, prompting Ruby to glance over at her, guilt plain on her face.
"Would you mind?..." Ruby asked softly as she began to fidget awkwardly with her hands. "Sorry, I know it's cold and all-..."
"It's fine. Wrath doesn't feel the cold, and I can just keep this cloak on." Blake said with a calm smile, eliciting a smile from the younger huntress in response, though Ruby's was much fuller.
"Alright, awesome!"
"C'mon Wrath." Blake said, pulling Wrath out of the warmth of the small cabin and into the snowy forests outside.
"So... This is what Christmas is like huh?" Wrath said as he carefully attempted to hang up a large string of lights atop the roof on which he kneeled, glancing down at the hooded faunus who stood watching from the ground below.
"What?"
"Nothing; I'm just surprised how similar it is to Winter's Veil. Even the story of great father winter." Wrath explained, turning his attention back to the string of lights in his hands. The string of lights he wanted to chuck into a lake. "You called him something different though right?"
"Santa." Blake replied with a warm grin as she watched the elven knight struggle in his attempts to neatly hang the lights up along the frame of the house. "I used to write to him all the time when I was still a child, even when it wasn't Christmas time."
"What made you stop? Grow too old?" Wrath asked. It was an innocent question. One so innocent in fact, he actually stopped what he was doing when he realized he was not getting an answer from the ninja. She stood there in the snow, suddenly much quieter than before. "Blake?"
"N-... No... When I joined the White Fang, I was told to never send out letters to outsiders. They were really paranoid about security." Blake explained with a sigh "I tried to mail my mother once, to ask her if Santa could bring me home..."
"They caught you didn't they?" Wrath asked, jumping down from the low roof, landing in the soft snow with a thump, the weight of his plate boots causing a small cloud of snow to fly up around his impact.
"Mhm. That was the last time I mailed Santa... Or my mother..."
"Wait, so you haven't seen her since you joined the White Fang as a child? No contact at all?" Wrath asked, clearly surprised at this. Sure, he barely kept contact with his family anymore either but his situation was much different. Right?
Blake shook her head sadly, confirming Wrath's question before she even opened her mouth again. "No... I don't know if I could face her after being a member of the White Fang..."
"Blake; she's your Mother." Wrath pressed, sighing when Blake glanced down to the wooden floor of the cabin porch. For a moment he thought to back off, but he just had to say one last thing. "She would never hate you for taking a stand for what you believe in."
"Maybe... Maybe not..." Blake finally muttered, letting her shoulders slump ever so slightly. "All I know is that she would be so... Disappointed in the choices I made while I was with the White Fang..."
Wrath nodded silently seemingly accepting Blake's answer, though he clearly did not. Blake chose to ignore this however, choosing instead to pull the hood further over her eyes.
"So out of curiosity, where Did you and your mother live?" Wrath finally asked after nearly a full minute of silence, seemingly just to switch topics, which seemed to work wonders as Blake visibly brightened.
"Oh it was just a small faunus run town outside of the major kingdoms... A little south of Vale. A lot of faunus would make their homes there to live free from prejudice. It was tough defending against the Grimm sometimes, but we all managed." Blake said, wrapping her arms around herself, the motion hidden by Wrath's cloak. "I wish I had stayed sometimes. At least than I would still know my mother was alright."
"Blake..." Wrath trailed off unsure of what to say to his girlfriend. However Blake only gave him a warm smile, walking over to press her cloaked body against the plate covered chest of the elf.
"It's in the past... There's nothing I can do now." She whispered, letting her eyes shut slowly as Wrath's arms wrapped around her shoulders. Then he said something that stopped her breath short for a moment.
"Isn't there?..."
It was silent for quite a while after that, neither one spoke as the snow fell around them, slowly building up around the two of them as they stood, with Blake occasionally stealing a glance at the unfinished decorations that covered only half the snow covered roof.
"It's getting really cold out, I'm going to go in alright?..." Blake muttered quietly before placing a soft kiss Wrath's cheek, letting her lips linger for a moment before pulling away from the Death Knight, backing away towards the cabin. "Come in when you're finished okay?"
"Alright... Go ahead. I'll probably only be out here for a few more hours." Wrath said with a smile, retrieving a small ball of lights from the snow, brushing off the frozen water from the lights.
With that, Blake nodded, entering the cabin without another word, the wooden door emanating a loud clap when it snapped shut behind the feline faunus.
"Yeah... I'll come back in... But only when I'm finished..." Wrath muttered before he pulled his hood over his head, trudging though the snow towards the stables, where his loyal frostwyrm rested...
And that's chapter 1! I really hope that you all enjoyed it! I'm sorry about the rope joke, but I just felt like there was no better time to poke at that part of Blake's character. The next chapter should be out soon enough, and I promise to do my best to get all 3 chapters out by Christmas day! Alright! Thanks for reading!