Hello all!

So this fanfic was actually written for the Aveyond gift exchange on Aveyond . com that took place over the holidays:) Mine was for EsmeAmelia and her favourite pairing is Te'ijal and Galahad, so I wrote this:)

Thought that I would share it on here as well! Hope you all enjoy this holiday inspired gift:)

(This was originally a oneshot, but won't let me post it as one so this will be split into several "chapters")

Aislday Adventures- Strange Human Holidays

Te'ijel walked at the back of the pack, her feline-like eyes sweeping over the woods on either side of the path as she watched for any threats. Up ahead Edward and Stella were talking softly while Mel led the group through the woods, and a slight flicker of concern washed through Te'ijel as Mel stumbled sideways before righting herself.

The vampiress glanced up at the sky, taking in how dark it was getting and how many days they had been travelling with almost no sleep before sighing. Of course these stubborn humans would push through until they were nearly collapsing with exhaustion.

Snow was falling softly through the air as they pushed through and Te'ijel noticed just how badly Mel, Stella and Edward were shivering, and how the bottoms of their clothes were soaking through because of the snow. She let out a barely heard sigh. It would do no good for them to catch their deaths out here.

"There is a city coming up ahead. The last signpost we passed a couple miles back said it's a small city called Travonet." She announced to the rest of the group, her enhanced sight picking up on the reflection of lights from further up ahead in the sky.

The group gave various sounds of relief and Te'ijel shook her head with mild amusement. Humans were frail, but they were determined and highly entertaining. Once presented with a chance for rest the group picked up their pace, causing them to reach the smaller town in record time. Mel dropped back with Edward and Stella and the three of them talked about being greatly relieved to have finally reached somewhere with real beds while Te'ijel caught up with her husband ahead of her.

"While they check in for the night shall we go hunting?" She asked quietly, her eyes glittering with mirth at the thought of his reaction.

He certainly did not disappoint.

"I will NEVER partake in such practice of hunting humans, you evil demon spawn!" Galahad said vehemently.

Te'ijel laughed.

"You are truly missing out crumpet." She teased, enjoying how his eyebrows scrunched up in anger and exasperation.

"Silence yourself!"

Te'ijel only gave a wicked laugh and jogged past Galahad to walk next to Mel.

"How long do you wish to stay in this village? I can sense my brother right on our tail, if we stop for too long he will catch us." Te'ijel stated, her voice going serious as she addressed the exhausted looking girl.

Mel nodded, looking older and more pained then any 18 year old should. The weight of the world was resting entirely on this girl's shoulders, and Te'ijel could see the toll it was taking on her.

"Only one night. We'll eat and rest tonight and collect goods come tomorrow."

Then Mel held a hand up and watched as a few falling white flakes landed in her hand before melting away.

"It's good that we're stopping for the night. The snow is getting heavier, and sleeping out here in the ice cold wouldn't be a good idea." Mel said, talking more to herself then Te'ijel.

The vampiress smiled to herself and watched Mel pick up the pace once again as she led the group through the snow covered woods towards the city. This girl was becoming quite the leader.

As they reached the city walls Te'ijel's brows furrowed. There were strange leafy circles hanging off of the gates and she could hear the sound of singing from within the walls.

They entered the city and for Te'ijel it was like walking into a explosion of colour. Covering the walls of the city were strange circles made of greenery with red ribbons and berries and strangely coloured baubles. Green and red greenery and ribbons were wrapped around the lamp posts and over the shop stalls and doors there was more of the greenery and decorated circles.

Distantly she could hear people singing about hope and love and she turned to the humans in utter puzzlement.

"What on earth are they doing here? Is this some strange superstitious ritual we have come in to?"

Mel and Edward looked at her in surprise.

"What?"

Te'ijel looked around before looking back at the two young adults staring at her.

"I've never seen anything like this."

"You mean to say you've never celebrated Aislday?!" Mel exclaimed.

"What is Aislday?"

Mel gaped at her and Te'ijel glanced at Stella, Edward and her husband to see various states of shock on all of their faces.

"You aren't joking? You really don't know?"

Te'ijel sighed heavily.

"If I knew, would I be asking?" She asked irritably.

"Come now wife, surely you've heard of Aislday? I've even made garlands to go on the door of our house in Ged'here for Aislday!"

Te'ijel stared blankly at him.

"Those are not vampire wards? I always thought that you were attempting to create vampire wards."

Galahad threw his hands up in the air with a exasperated noise and Te'ijel smirked slightly at his reaction before looking back at the young adults.

"Now tell me, what is this Aislday?"

Mel gestured for them to walk as they talked and fell into step on one side of Te'ijel, Edward coming up on other side.

"Aislday is the day that we celebrate the gift of hope that the goddess granted to all of us. On Aislday people exchange gifts, sing songs about hope and kindness, have a grand feast and decorate with brightly coloured objects to bring cheer and happiness." Edward explained.

"Gifts? Why gifts?"

"To show that we care. Usually it is only exchanged between friends and loved ones." Stella softly.

Te'ijel shook her head in amusement.

"What a silly holiday. You celebrate hope for a small time before going back to hating each other and basing everything off of superstition and anger. What is the point of a holiday that does nothing."

Surprisingly it was Mel that spoke up this time.

"It doesn't do nothing. Even if it's only for a short time, isn't a holiday that causes people to go the extra mile and show kindness towards others worth it?"

Te'ijel shrugged elegantly.

"Perhaps."

The conversation was dropped in favour of looking for a inn. They managed to find one and much to their relief there was more then enough beds for all of them. The three humans collapsed into beds in exhaustion, passing out in minutes. Te'ijel was not in need of sleep but even she curled up on the top of one of the beds and allowed her body to relax.

She glanced over at her husband to see Galahad leaning against one of the walls close by.

"Husband, move to the wall closer to me. I wish to speak a little bit."

"So you may play your games?"

Te'ijel smirked slightly at his expression but shook her head.

"No. I simply wish to have some company tonight."

Galahad hesitated before walking over and leaning against the wall between the bed she was sitting on and a empty one.

"Was this Aislday a holiday when you were human?" Te'ijel asked softly.

Galahad twitched. She never usually asked about his human time but today curiosity had won out.

"Yes. Apparently it became a thing when the goddess had her first daughter, Aisling, the nymph of hope. She was born twenty years before I was."

"That would explain why I had never heard of this celebration, I was turned long before the hope nymph was born and we did not travel through any cities during this season when we were on our quest with Rhen. We were in the mountains."

Galahad nodded.

"That's true. I forgot about that."

"Hmm...when does this Aislingday come?"

"It's in two days."

Te'ijel nodded before falling silent, keeping watch over the humans. She heard Mel whimper in her sleep but the young woman fell silent moments later so Te'ijel didn't bother waking her.

"It's really snowing out. The paths that had been dug in the snow to lead from building to building are completely covered and the snow is getting higher." Galahad suddenly said, his voice further away then it had been moments ago.

Te'ijel looked over to see him standing at one of the windows peering out and Te'ijel rose before walking over and peering out of the window next to him.

"You are right. The snow is coming down extremely heavy now. If it does not let up soon our travels may become more difficult then anticipated."

"What do you mean that we can't leave the city?!" Mel shouted, the harried looking innkeeper holding up his hands in a placating manner.

"We opened the gates but the snow is piled as high as our tall males stand and is packed in by the wind! We've been doing our best to shovel here in the city and one of the people here is a Mage that's been magically melting and evaporating the snow along the city paths but she is not strong enough to do that for the paths out there, and she can only go so far. You will have to wait for a couple days as the snow melts."

Mel threw her hands up in the air with a snarl, a almost panicked light in her eyes.

"But Gyendal will have more then caught us by then! I'll end up fulfilling that damn Prophecy and then this whole quest will be pointless!"

Te'ijel stepped forward, effectively catching the panicking girls eye. She turned to face Te'ijel who shook her head.

"He will not catch us. He relies on his magic to track us and the snow acts as a dampener. With this much snow he will be out of commission as long as us, if not longer."

She saw Mel relax and stepped back, glancing over at Edward and Stella who exchanged looks of excitement.

"There is a good thing that comes out of this."

They all looked to Stella who had broken the tense silence and Edward gave a massive grin.

"We'll be able to celebrate Aislday! We can get small gifts and with the permission of the innkeeper we might even be able to make ourselves a special Aislday meal!" The young prince exclaimed.

Mel brightened slightly and Galahad stepped forward.

"Very true! We can do a surprise gift exchange. Stick everyone's name into a hat and have each person withdraw, get one gift for each person so that we may still exchange gifts but we do not have to risk spending too much of our gold." Her husband said, sounding much more cheerful then usual.

It took a moment but eventually everyone made sounds of agreement, the slightly sweating innkeeper letting out a almost unnoticeable sigh of relief at the fact that Mel had relaxed and no longer looked like she was ready to crush the innkeeper.

"I have a hat here if you want to use it." He suggested tentatively.

Mel nodded and Edward approached the counter.

"Do you have a pen and old paper we could use?

The innkeeper nodded and withdrew old paper and a quill pen which Edward used to scribble down everyone's name, ripping the paper into five pieces and dumping it in the hat. Edward closed his eyes and covered the hat, shaking it up before uncovering and holding it out to everyone.

"Grab a name and don't say who you got, then shop for a gift for that person that can come with us on our quest." Edward stated, excitement filling his face.

Te'ijel watched as Stella, Mel and Galahad each took a name before reaching in and taking one of the two leftover papers, stepping back and unfolding it to see the name of her giftee written in Edwards clean writing.

Everyone watched as Edward withdrew his name and grinned before looking up at everyone else.

"Let's get started!

Instantly Mel had flipped up the collar on the warm coat she had bought in the last town before giving a half wave and stepping out of the inn, a cold wind blowing into the lobby before the door closed behind her.

Te'ijel shook her head and sighed before walking up the stairs, glancing out one of the window along the staircase at the snow with distaste. She may be immune to the cold but even vampires were not immune to the sopping wet that snow brought.

She placed her bag with her bow and arrow on the ground, frowning at the frayed string. It had been a while since they had been able to stop somewhere she could replace the strings and after the over strenuous use that this weapon was getting it was starting to break down.

Then Te'ijel sat down on the bed and opened the piece of paper in her hand.

Mel.

The vampiress stretched before glancing idly around the room. What should she get the girl? Mel was rather withdrawn which made it hard for anyone to get close and learn about her. Te'ijel sighed heavily before rising to her feet again and heading back towards the stairs, grabbing the burgundy cloak out of the bag that held her arrows to hide from passerbys her race. Just sitting here was rather pointless, she would have more luck figuring something out if she looked through some of the shops and stands.

She entered the main lobby to see Edward and Stella discussing food that would be needed for the feast they had spoken about. They were just wrapping up the conversation as Te'ijel approached, and when they looked up to see her Stella gave a soft giggle and suddenly rushed past her to the stairs, vanishing up the staircase to where the beds were on the upper floor.

"Strange girl." Te'ijel muttered as she watched the lilac haired girl for a moment before turning back towards the main room where Edward was standing talking to the innkeeper.

"Out into the snow I go." Te'ijel sighed before pushing open the door and stepping outside, grimacing at the softly floating snowflakes in the air.

The door to the inn closed behind her and she started down the path, her heeled boots clicking against the frozen cobblestone. She saw a few people glance at uneasily but she ignored them, confident that the cloak she was wearing would hide her unnaturally pale skin from anyone so long as she didn't stop to talk with them.

The shops were all warmly lit from the inside and Te'ijel stepped into the first shop only to freeze and sneeze several times as the strong scent of incense assaulted her nose.

"Oh are you alright?" A lilting voice asked.

Te'jel glanced over to see a short woman hurry over, concern in her brown eyes.

"Fine. I simply have allergies." Te'ijel said curtly before moving to back out of the shop.

"Oh we have something for that. It's a wonderful scent that is soothing to the nasal passages and has helped some of the people in this town who face seasonal allergies!"

Te'ijel stared at the woman. She was trying to sell allergy incense...to a vampire. She bit back a snort and simply shook her head, turning to leave only to hear the woman come up behind her.

"Wait! I have more then just incense and allergy remedies. Aislday is just around the corner, surely you would be in need for a last minute gift for someone?"

Te'ijal paused and turned to face the woman, keeping her face hidden in the shadows of her cloak.

"What, pray-tell, could you have that I would want."

"How about a carved figurines or dishes? Maybe some scented soap? Scarves?"

Te'ijal shook her head and moved to walk away only for the woman to call after her with one more offer.

"What about a journal?!"

That made Te'ijal pause. A journal. Mel had a journal, she always wrote in it. At one point when Mel hadn't been able to sleep she had spoken with Te'ijal for a bit and had told her that she had been writing in her journal since she had originally taught herself to write. In her bag she carried several worn journals as well as the one that she had been writing in through the journey. And the journal she was writing in was nearly filled.

"No. Your journals will reek as much as this place does. However, that is a excellent idea, I believe I will use it." Te'ijal commented before stalking out of the shop, allowing the door to close sharply behind her.

She strolled along the cobblestone streets, scanning the shops as she passed until stopping in front of a small one that when the door opened smelled faintly of old books and ink. She stepped inside, gazing around cooly before slowly making her way through the shelves.

There were large volumes along the shelves that lined the walls and stacks in boxes of old and worn books. There was a rack with leather book bags on the far wall and several small boxes of bookmarks made entirely of tiny beads woven together to create intricate patterns. Te'ijal glanced over those items and instead went to a large shelf filled with journals.

"These are quite nice." She murmured to herself, long and tapered fingers slipping loose of her sleeve and sliding gently over the spines of the journals until they came to rest on a soft cover journal. She gently grasped it and pulled it loose, examining it carefully in her hand.

The cover was a deep chocolate brown all the way around, with black stitching along the rims. It was certainly a classic looking journal, but what really made it stand out was the ornate tooling along the spine and on the cover, intricate designs that stood out from the dark cover with the cinnamon colouring it had been dyed.

It was held closed with a metal clasp that only added to the overall appeal of the journal and Te'ijal gave a satisfied nod. This was perfect.

She strode briskly through the shop to the back where a desk was with a older man sitting behind it reading.

"I wish to buy this."

The man looked up and nodded, holding his hands out for the journal. Te'ijal placed it in his hands and he looked over before glancing back up at her.

"A gift or for personal use?"

"A gift."

He nodded and reached under his desk to withdraw parchment paper which he carefully wrapped the journal in and handed it to her. Te'ijal tucked it into her coat and turned to walk away only to stop when the man spoke, his tone so calm and quiet that you would almost think he was talking to himself.

"Down in the village square there is a Mage who sells magical wares. Recently he's started magicking pens so they never run out of ink and will not smear when you touch the ink on the paper by accident. It's quite handy, especially if you happen to be traveling."

Te'ijal stopped. That would be perfect for the kinds of traveling they were doing, where they might have to pack up at a moments notice and continue fleeing.

"Thank you."

He made a noncommittal sound and Te'ijal walked out, heading directly for the village square. Upon reaching it she found it extremely busy as people milled around in the square, going in and out of shops and talking to people who ran different booths. Almost their entire group was in the square in that moment.

Stella and Mel hurried past Te'ijal only moments after she had entered the square, Stella holding a larger shaped package and Mel empty handed as they spoke in low tones.

She watched Galahad vanish into a leathertanner's shop and she couldn't help but glance around at the decorations and excitedly blathering people in bemusement. Humans were so strange.

With a slight shake of her head Te'ijal walked briskly over to the booth that she could sense the magic coming from, not bothering to browse but simply walking directly up to the young man in Mage robes.

"Hello! How may I-"

"I have been informed that you sell magicked pens that never run out of ink. I want one."

The man's mouth was still partially open from being mid word when she had spoken and it took him a second to recover.

"Uh...of course. I have them right here made out of assorted wood. Which one would you like?"

Te'ijal scanned them for a moment before reaching down to withdraw one that she recognized to be made out of rosewood.

"I wish to have this one."

"Good choice! Rosewood holds my magic the best, and that's the last one!"

He wrapped the pen before handing it to Te'ijal who accepted the wrapped object with a curt nod.

"Having any luck with your gifts?"

Edward's voice sounded from behind her and she turned to face the young warrior who reminded her slightly of Galahad.

"I am. And you?"

The brown haired male bobbed his head with a bright grin.

"I found the perfect gift for my giftee! This town has some really interesting shops!"

Te'ijal smiled slightly at the teens excitement.

"I'm sure. Now, was their a particular reason you came over here?"

Te'ijal expected Edward to shake his head and leave to wrap whatever gift he had found but to her surprise the prince nodded his head and went slightly serious.

"Uh...I know this is your first Aislday so I thought that I would mention something to you."

"And that is?"

"Well, one of the most important things about Aislday is that you show thatbyou care for those around you, usually through the act of gift giving as a little reminder to them. I know we all agreed to only get a gift for the person who's name we pulled...but maybe getting one for Galahad since he's your husband and all might be a good idea."

Then Edward dropped his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

"I know you probably think it's a stupid idea. I just...thought it would be nice."

Te'ijal watched the slightly blushing prince for a moment before tilting her head in thought.

"Perhaps you are right. He does seem quite fond of this human holiday, perhaps he will appreciate something from me." Te'ijal mused.

Edward's head popped up again and Te'ijal smirked slightly, he reminded her of a eager child with his excitement and goofy nature.

"So it's a good idea! Great! I'll see you later the I guess!"

Te'ijal watched in amusement as the teen rushed off. Such a excitable boy

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.