This is my first fanfic and I FINALLY finished it! I have, like, 9 others I have to work on yet... :'(
Disclaimer: I do not own Rudloph the Red Nosed reindeer(darnit) Maya, Daniel, Kolba, and Sebastian are all OCs
Maya was quite pretty. She had short but luxurious brown hair and big, dark eyes that sparkled with laughter.
Did I mention she was a reindeer?
Her body was slim, ending in a cotton-like tail and her legs were nimble. Her ears were the softest things you would ever feel.
If you ever worked up the courage to touch them.
See, Maya was the daughter of the famous Rudolph. You know the one with the red nose? Maya had unfortunately inherited the "glowing" gene from her father. Her ears glowed a bright blue. She didn't mind her glowing ears, and neither did her parents. She sported them with confidence. But she was still different. And for that small detail, everyone avoided the small, lonely reindeer.
Except one. He was the son of Comet. His name was Sebastian. He liked to study at the public library. When the young reindeer weren't either at school or had something of importance to do, Sebastian was at the library. And that's where Maya was headed now.
Being the smart reindeer that she was, Maya could already fly quite well. Both she and Sebastian were in the advanced flying group. So she flew in the direction of the library, effortlessly swooping around in the air. It was this kind of display that made the other reindeer jealous, and ignore her all the more. But she wasn't showing off. She loved to fly.
The library came into view. Maya tucked her legs in close to her body and spiralled straight down. Her glowing ears were flattened against her head. The ground rushed towards her. About two feet away, she pulled up and rushed parallel with the snowy ground.
Slowing, she put her legs out and walked from the air to the ground. Another perfect landing. Her dainty hooves clicked softly on the wooden floor. She would fly in here too, but flight inside buildings was against the rules.
Maya cast her gaze across the first floor of the library. The walls were wood, as were the floors, and big glass windows covered almost all of the walls. A narrow wooden staircase spiralled up from the floor, just big enough for a full sized reindeer to walk comfortably on. A desk sat near the door and the Librarian Elf was behind it. Maya smiled and nodded politely to the Librarian Elf, who grinned back over red-rimmed glasses. The elves and reindeer lived in the same community. The little elf children enjoyed riding on the young reindeer.
Maya glanced at the multi-coloured beanbag chairs. Sebastian would normally be sitting on one of them, muzzle buried in a book of science. But he wasn't on this floor. Maya groaned and looked at the staircase. She hated climbing those stairs. But to find Sebastian, she would have to.
Maya felt the wondering gazes of the reindeer and elves at the library. She felt her ears turn from a cool blue to an intense turquoise, as they always did when she blushed. At the brighter glow, the prying eyes of the onlookers were directed back to their books.
Sebastian wasn't on the second level either. Maya groaned. Sebastian liked to start at the bottom books and work his way up to the books on the top floor.
By the fourth level, Maya was panting. Sebastian didn't mind going up the stairs. He was a good flier, but often didn't because he felt it was dangerous. Maya had tried to explain time and time again that flying was what reindeer were meant for.
Maya had finally gotten to the top floor. Sebastian was on a green beanbag chair, reading. Maya jokingly rolled her eyes
"Reading again?" She didn't even have to ask. Sebastian was ALWAYS reading. Even so, he just nodded his head and continued. Maya stepped up and pulled his ear. "Come ON!" She grunted, attempting to pull him out of the chair. "Let's go play outside."
"Don't wanna." Sebastian whined. Maya just tugged harder, making Sebastian grunt in pain.
"Come ON , Sabby!" The young doe knew that he hated it when she called him that. "I'll race you downstairs!"
"I don't like races."
Maya finally jumped behind him and shoved him out of his chair with her hard head. He sprawled forward onto the floor and the couple of people up on this level snickered.
"Fine," Sebastian grumbled, "but I won't like it."
Maya skimmed the snowy ground, filling her lungs with the cool air. Sebastian trudged behind, loathing every minute out in this winter wonderland. Maya flew back to the ticked-off reindeer and gave him a playful nudge. He grinned weakly, some of his usual-cheerfulness returning. He nudged back, a little harder and Maya gave him a shove that sent him face-first into a snowdrift. He shook off the snow and sneezed hard. Since he didn't spend much time outside he was sensitive to the cold.
"Bless you," a small, timid voice tinged like a tiny bell from behind the snowdrift. Shaking his head one more time, Sebastian looked behind to see a little elf-child gazing up at the two reindeer with big, brown eyes, rimmed with a mop of shaggy blonde hair and two pointed, pink ears. Maya smiled at the boy, who grinned back. His eyes strayed up to her ears and Maya could feel them getting hot again.
"Why are your ears blue?" This was the most dreaded question in Maya's short lifetime. She couldn't explain why her ears were blue, just like her father couldn't explain why his nose was red. It had just happened naturally.
"I was born that way." Maya leaned in closer, hoping she sounded playfully mysterious. "Have you ever heard of Rudolph?" The elf nodded. "He was born this way, too. I'm his daughter." The little elfs' eyes grew wide and filled with wonder.
"Wow! You're his daughter?" Maya nodded. "I like you," the little elf continued, "will you play hide-and-go-seek with me?"
"Sure!" The elf squealed in delight.
"My name's Daniel. What's yours?"
"I'm Maya, and this is Sebastian."
Daniel immediately took charge. "I'll hide, and you two count. OK?" Sebastian and Maya agreed. "Close your eyes, now, and count to..." Daniel tapped a finger to his chubby chin, "five." He held up five fingers. Maya put her head down and started to count.
They had been playing hide-and-go-seek for half an hour now. Maya was once again looking for little Daniel. She was searching under a bush when she sensed snow crunching behind her. Hooves were crunching the snow. The does' ears flattened against her head. Slowly lifting her eyes, her heart plummeted when she saw Kolba.
The buck stood at 4'3. Unusually tall for a reindeer his age. He was a town-known bully and targeted Maya in particular. "Hello, freak," he sneered, his voice dripping with mock sympathy, "are you looking for normal ears down there?"
"Actually, no." Maya straightened up and stared the enormous buck in the eyes. "I was looking for the elf we were playing with." Kolba snickered and turned his nose up into the air.
"Can't find that nerd deer who's always at the library?" Maya ignored him and went back to searching. Man! That elf has some good hiding spots!
She felt the vibration before the collision came. Kolba has backed up and head-butted her into the bush.
Of course, that bush had to be of the 'thorn' variety. Maya shrieked in pain as the thorns embedded into her flesh, spearing right through her thin fur. Kolba just laughed. Gathering herself up, Maya put her head down and scraped one foreleg across the ground, in fighting stance. Never one to back down from a fight, Kolba lowered himself into the same stance.
Kolba had brawn, but Maya had brains. When Kolba came at her head-on, she sprang up and landed square on top of him, knocking the air out of his lungs. Regaining himself and easily shoving her off, Kolba rushed in for another round. This time, Maya nimbly side-stepped him. He went barrelling right into that exact thorn bush, and he cried out much louder than Maya had. Some oily tears even started rolling down his cheeks.
Maya sauntered off, knowing that she wouldn't be bothered in her game anymore.
The sun was setting. Maya had found Daniel and told him that they couldn't play with him anymore today. He had begrudgingly accepted and trekked off to his house. Now, Maya and Sebastian were headed toward theirs as well. They were both dead-tired from playing so hard. Sebastian walked Maya home. Without a word to her parents about how the day had gone, Maya climbed into her bed and slept.
She was woken with a start. "Daddy? What's wrong?" She asked as she realized Rudolph was nudging her with his antlers.
"One of the elves has gone missing." Dread crept into Mayas' heart.
"W-which one?"
"A young one named Daniel." That was all Maya needed to know. She raced outside and, despite the snowstorm, flew to Sebastian's house. She rammed on the door with her head. The smart young buck himself opened it.
"Maya? What's up?"
"Daniel's gone!" Maya panted, out of breath from the ride against the wind. Sebastian dropped everything and came out into the storm with her.
"Where would you think he'd be?" Sebastian yelled over the noise of the wind. Maya thought. She honestly didn't know. Then it came to her.
"Playing hide-and-seek."
They had searched everywhere in the elf village. No sign of Daniel. "Where is he?" Maya asked Sebastian.
"If I knew that, we wouldn't be out in this darned snowstorm!" Sebastian snapped. Maya ignored his mood. Being out in the snow had made him cranky. It was understandable.
Something caught her eye. Tiny indents in the snow. Elf footprints. Maya's blue ears perked up, listening as hard as she could for the cries of Daniel. The whimpers almost passed, unheard, by her ears. Swivelling her ears toward the sound, she set off in that direction.
"Maya," called Sebastian, "Where are you going?"
"I heard something!" Maya called back.
"We can't see in this storm!" Sebastian looked around in vain, trying to locate Maya, who was now slightly ahead of him. She didn't understand. She could see perfectly fine. It suddenly dawned on her. She closed her eyes and tries to intensify the light above her head. Sebastian came right to her.
"I know how we can see!" Maya felt giddy. Putting her head down to the almost faded footprints, she illuminated them and started to follow them. Sebastian trailed behind.
Maya gulped as she stared onto the mouth of the cave. The footprints had led right to here and the cries for help were louder than ever. It was pitch black. Maya couldn't see anything. The she remembered her ears.
Making the light brighter again, Maya led Sebastian into the cave. The walls danced with eerie shadows and Maya felt Sebastian shiver. The tunnel into the cave suddenly widened.
"Where..." Maya started, but she was hushed by Sebastian. Wordlessly, he pointed upwards with his muzzle. At least a dozen glittering, knife-sharp icicles hung from the ceiling, trembling as if they would fall on them at any moment. Lowering her gaze, Maya sighted Daniel, shaking with fright and cold, in the middle of the cavern. She rushed over, wincing as her hooves made clicking noises in the cave. They echoed off the walls and bounced back to her ears, twice as loud.
"Hang on, Daniel. Try not to make any sound." Maya cautioned. "Get onto my back. We have to get out of here. What are you doing here anyway?"
"I wanted to play some more, so when mommy and daddy were asleep, I went outside, into this cave, and then it started to get really windy!" Daniel whispered. He hopped nimbly onto Maya's back.
"Come on, Sabby." Maya gestured to the buck. They started making their way out of the cave, Then the unthinkable happened.
Sebastian sneezed.
The sound brought the icicles cascading down on them. "Run!" Maya yelled. She took off, dodging falling shards of ice, Daniel screaming on her back and Sebastian hard on her heels. A thick icicle fell down right in front of them. No time to stop.
"Jump!" Maya commanded. Both the reindeer jumped over the ice spear and crashed down on the other side. The entrance was right in front of them.
The rocks on the top of the tunnel were jarred loose by the icicles. They started to fall right in front of the entrance, making a barrier for the two reindeer and elf.
Both reindeer knew what they had to do. Lowering their heads, they rammed right through the rock barrier and out the other side. Maya's head hurt like fury, but she didn't stop. The reindeer both kept running to the Elf Village.
Maya and Sebastian were in the reindeer form of hospital. Both were tucked tightly into beds and were being looked after. Maya had a splitting headache, and Sebastian had come down with a bad cold. But they were together and Daniel was safe. He came to visit them every day, cheering them up with pictures he'd drawn or poems he'd written.
The reindeer that had once ignored Maya now came to say hi and Kolba actually APOLOGIZED for the way he had acted!
The nurse had just left, as had the last visitor, and their room was now completely empty. Both reindeer were supposed to go to sleep, but something had been nagging Maya ever since the rescue. Squirming free of the tight sheets, she trotted over Sebastians' bed.
"Hey Sabby."
"Hi. Do you need something?"
"Yes. We've known each other for a long time, right? Well, ever since we saved Daniel I've wanted to give you something."
Maya leaned forward and, to Sebastian's surprise, kissed him on the cheek. When Maya pulled back, Sebastian's face was as red as Maya's father's nose!
Regaining his composure, Sebastian's eyes filled with warmth. "Thanks, Maya."
