Extra Chapter: It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas (Part 1)

"Okay!" Drew raised his hand high in the air as he stood on team DARN's couch. "Considering it's the holiday season, I, as your leader, have come to the conclusion that we... should get a Christmas tree!"

"No."

"Refused."

"Mmmmmm, nope." Arin, Richard and Nina responded in sequence. Drew almost fell off the couch in surprise of the answer, but somehow kept his balance.

"Aww come on, it'll be fun!"

"It'll be too much hassle..." Arin groaned, slugging down a drink from his metal flask.

"We can cut through Grimm, chopping a tree down will be easy!" Drew waved his hand dismissively.

"It's against school regulations!" Richard yelled, throwing one of his (many) spare copies of the school rule book at Drew.

"We won't get caught, no one's around during the holidays!" Drew explained as he ducked under the projectile.

"I don't want any of those meany-weany Grimm coming after my baby!" Nina yelped as she squeezed Moonmoon close to her chest.

"A majority of Grimm move out of the forest during the Winter months!" Drew reassured.

Arin rolled his eyes as he stood up and pointed his finger at Drew. "Listen! I don't care what bullshit you spout, we aren't spending our Christmas Eve going out and getting some stupid tree! And that's final!"


And so, the four members of team DARN stood at the entrance of the Emerald Forest, ready to trek into the cold, desolate forest for Drew's whim. "Why do we always end up doing shit like this?" Arin sighed in defeat.

"Cause you can't bare being without me, I'm sure." Drew grinned in victory.

I suppose a bit of an explanation is in order. It's Christmas time for all of Vale! A time for children's laughter, shorter, colder days, the excitement of Christmas Day just around the corner (quite literally, tonight is Christmas Eve), and above all else, spending time with family. Ozpin recognizes this as an important time for his students, and allows a two week holiday for all students to go home and spend this magical time of year with family and friends. So it was only natural that team DARN is staying at Beacon for the holidays. The halls of Beacon are of course still open for any students during this time, but it is very rare that students don't have anywhere else to go. Even if people had no family to return to, partners and teammates usually welcome their friends with open arms.

And somehow, everyone on team DARN has a reason to stay:

Drew's family lives quite south of Vale, and aren't the best off financially. They were fortunate to get Drew into Beacon in the first place, they can't push their money any further by funding trips over and back. Arin... isn't on speaking terms with his parents at the moment, let's say. No contact for months will do that with a relationship. Richard wished to remain in Beacon and make use of all the vacant training equipment. And Nina didn't care where she went, as long as she was with her precious little puppy. But seeing as her second, third and fourth best buddies were remaining in Beacon for the holidays, she decided to tag along for the fortnight.

Three of the team were content with having an uneventful two weeks, but Drew was determined to mark the occasion in some shape or form! Unfortunately, they had little money between the four of them, and the blimps down to the city were closed for the night, so their options were limited. With no other choice, Drew decided that they should march to the north of the Emerald Forest, chop down an evergreen tree, and take it back home. After convincing Nina that it would be safe for Moonmoon, bending the rules to convince Richard, and begging Arin hard enough, they all set out into the forest, their feet crunching on the frozen grass with each step.

Everyone had adjusted their apparel for the cold weather; Nina had white, fluffy earmuffs protecting her ears, put black leggings on under her skirt, and she had stuffed Moonmoon underneath her hoodie to keep them both warm. Moonmoon was struggling in vain to escape it however. Richard only had a school supplied black scarf around his neck. The rest of the team had to wait five minutes for him to wrap it around him so as it was perfectly symmetrical. Arin simply zipped up his trench coat to protect him from the icy air. And Drew swapped his usual shorts for the warmth of tracksuit bottoms, wrapped a red scarf around his neck, and a red woolly hat pulled tight on his head. Also, Drew was the only one to bring his weapon, to cut down the tree.

"How much further are we going?" Richard asked.

"Well~ I think we just have to go another five miles until we reach the area full of Christmas trees!" Nina explained.

"But we're not gonna stop just there!" Drew energetically declared. "We're gonna find the biggest, bestest tree in the whole damn forest!"

"The whole darn forest." Nina corrected.

"Are we really gonna waste our time looking around the whole place because Drew's picky?" Arin grunted.

"I'm afraid I must agree with him, leader!" Richard added. "I would highly suggest not spending too much time on this objective!"

"Richard, if we're gonna do something, we might as well do it properly, right?"

"...carry on."

Arin let out another sigh. "Drew, we aren't spending a second longer at this than we have to. Got it?"

"Relax! It's not like cutting a tree down is gonna be hard!"


The four members of team DARN stood in a line, looking up at Drew's selected tree. After they arrived in the evergreen area, Drew spent a good ten minutes zipping between the trees in search of one that suited his needs.

"Drew..." Arin grunted through his face-palm.

"Yep?"

Arin parted his face from his hand and looked up to the tree. The large tree. "If I'm awake by the time you cut this thing down, remind me to kill you." This tree was by far the biggest in the forest, towering over the others by at least ten meters.

"How are we supposed to get this back to Beacon!?" Richard bellowed in disbelief.

"We'll improvise." Drew casually shrugged, resting his hands as fists on his hips.

"WE CAN'T IMPROVISE AROUND THIS!"

"Sure we can."

"THIS HAS TO BE AT LEAST 40 METERS TALL!"

"We'll trim some weight."

'Of course Drew chose this one.' Arin thought to himself.

"Well, good luck cuttin', buddy!" Nina patted Drew's back and sat down at the bottom of another nearby tree.

"Wait, what?" Drew raised his eyebrow on confusion.

Nina reached inside her hoodie and retrieved Moonmoon, who immediate began squirming to be released. "Well, you wanted to go and get a Christmas tree. And here we are! So ya better get at it quick!" she chirped happily.

"W-Wait a minute, aren't you guy's gonna help-"

"That is quite true!" Richard made his way beside Nina and sat down beside her.

"Come on, Drew. Where's all that enthusiasm you had a minute ago?" Arin followed their example.

Drew clenched his fist as his three teammates stared expectantly at him. "Curse you, Nina... Were you always this cunning?!"

"Teehee!" Was his only response from her.

"Get back to work!" Arin and Richard barked. Drew sighed and reluctantly pulled out his sword. He readied the blade and began the slow process of making several strikes into the bark of the tree.

On Nina's legs, Moonmoon let out a small yawn and drifted off into sleep from fatigue. Nina sighed happily, not wanting to disturb her precious Beowolf. She decided to break the silence between the four of them. "So... Anyone got any Christmas stories?"

"As in festively themed stories, or personal anecdotes that happened at Christmas?" Richard asked.

"The second!" she happily answered.

"Okay, what was your Christmases like?" Richard inquired to his partner.

"Hmmm... What about you, Arin?"

"Don't just ignore me!" Richard yelled.

"Me? Well..." Arin scratched his chin in thought. "My folks always took me to my grandparents' place on Christmas Day. All my aunts, uncles and cousins would be there too, so it was pretty cramped."

"I see. It is fitting to spend time with family!" Richard nodded, as if approving of Arin's tale.

"It must've been fun to have your whole family together!" Nina smiled.

"Like hell it was!" Arin shuddered as he remembered the Yuletide childhood. "All my cousins are assholes! While all the adults were talking, my cousin Barry would shoot me with the BB gun he got that year, or he'd steal the book I got that year! I-It was just... frustrating, y'know?" Arin's voice cracked slightly as he ranted.

Nina krept her hand around Arin's shoulder and rocked him gently. "There there, buddy..."

"You guys wanna hear about my Christmases?!" Drew yelled form his chopping space, a few meters away from the rest.

"Get back to work, Naywing!" Richard scolded, causing Drew to pout as he continued to chop. "I suppose I shall go next?"

"Ooh! Yeah, go for it!"

"Well..." Richard pondered, trying to recall his memories. "Up until I was 10, Christmas was a common tradition in my house."

"What happened when you were 10?" Nina tilted her head, curious.

"Yeah! What happened?!" Drew called over, still wondering what Richard's 'tragic past' was.

"GET BACK TO WORK!" Richard scolded. An upset Drew returned to chopping. "Anyway, before...that time... my parents treated me admittedly well. I was the only child in the house, so perhaps they wanted to spoil me."

"Aww, poor Richy's an only child!" Nina ruffled Richard's hair in pity. Richard winced in frustration.

"A-Anyway, we had a tree, presents, a Christmas dinner, nothing too eventfull."

"What about that Chi girl? You ever spend a Christmas or two with her?" Nina asked, giving a sly, knowing smile.

"No." Richard replied flatly.

Nina's smile dropped. "Oh."

"That was kind of a let down." Arin frowned. "I was expecting something a bit more..."

"Gossipy"? Drew leaned in and asked.

"Get back to work." Arin scowled.

Drew huffed as he made his way back to the half-cut tree. "Actually, wait!" Nina called to him, making his eyes light up with hope. "Since we're on a roll here, why don't you tell us about your family?"

Arin's eyes widened in panic. "No, Nina! Don't encourage-"

Drew jumped into the group, squeezing between Arin and Nina and grinning like a child. "Weeelllllll-!"

"God damn it!" Arin smacked the ground anger.

Drew and Nina giggled at Arin's displeasure. "Hehe, yeah... Seriously though, Christmas was pretty hectic in my house. There were seven kids in my house! Seven! That's like... three more than all of us!"

"Well done Drew, you can do math..." Arin quipped.

"Actually, two more than all of us!" Nina pointed to the sleeping Moonmoon.

"Actually, if I recall..." Richard scratched his chin, trying to recall a fact shoved deep inside his brain. "Our fellow student, Jaune Arc, has twelve sisters. Your point holds significantly less value now."

Drew shuddered at the mention of his (self-proclaimed) rival. "Don't mention him again..."

Nina ruffled Drew's hair in similar way to Richard's. "Aww, lookat the wittle jealous Drewy!"

"Stop it!" he childishly swatted her hand away. "Anyway... I'm the second oldest in my family, so every couple of years there'd be a new brother or sister waddling about the house. Christmas never lost its excitement! Even now, the twins and little Corrie are probably tucked up in their beds, super-excited for tomorrow! Uhuhuhu!" Drew squealed as he thought about his younger siblings.

"It's terrifying to imagine Drew being the mature one in a family..." Arin shuddered in fear.

Richard raised an eyebrow. "What about the others?"

"Huh?"

"You said you had six siblings! What about the other three you haven't mentioned?! Do they not celebrate Christmas?"

"Oh yeah... Well, Melody, my youngest sister, was only born during the Summer. She's only a baby, so I doubt she expects much from Santa..."

"Heehee! Can you imagine a baby asking Santa for a SchneePhone for Christmas?" Nina giggled at the thought.

"Kids these day! So greedy and inconsiderate!" Arin joked.

"And then my older brother, Arthur, is actually away from home at the minute. Traveling the world and such has always been his dream."

"And the last sibling?" Nina edged Drew on.

"My brother Aang. He's fourteen and pretty angsty."

"Oohhh..." The three of them replied in unison.

Drew jumped back on his feet. "Any-hoo, I think I'm about done with the tree over here."

Arin peered over to the tree to see that it was still standing, with the large dent made by Drew, cutting about halfway though the trunk. "You idiot, it's still standing..." Arin groaned.

"I know, but it's creaking, so I think just one more good swing will do it. So who wants to join me in christening our tree?"

"We aren't naming the tree, Drew!" Arin glared.

"Fine! But you guys are joining me when I chop this thing down!"

"Fine!" Arin, Nina and Richard walked up with Drew to the large tree.

"So, everyone ready?"

"Sure..."

"Okay!" Drew held his sword with both hands to his side, ready to make the final swing. "3... 2... 1!" He swung with all his force into the already large dent. It wedged its way into the remaining wood, making an ominous creaking sound. They could see the top of the tree sway to the side, and suddenly accelerated down in front of them. "TIIIIIMBUUUUUUURRR!" Drew yelled in glee.

"Hey Drew, now that I think about it, how are we supposed to get the tree back to-"


Ozpin walked around his desk and sat in his chair, his night time grown wrapped around him, and his usual coffee now scented with cinnamon. Being headmaster of Beacon meant making sacrifices for the sake of responsibility. Even simple pleasures like books and newspapers have been replaced by paperwork and reports. But despite the vast amount of work, Christmas always remained one of the few times that remained private and enjoyable. Ozpin leaned back in his chair and let out a deep, relaxed sigh. Yes, nothing could ruin this moment peace-

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE

Ozpin placed his mug down on the table and let out a much more sorrowful sigh. "Okay then..." He hastily reached for his Scroll and flicked through the security cameras. The sound came from the Emerald forest. What might it be? Is it a sudden hoard of Beowolves? Is it some large, dangerous Grimm? All the worst-case scenarios flashed through his mind as he swiped through the different camera feeds. If it was some kind of danger, Beacon would be powerless to-

Oh.

He came to one feed that showed team DARN standing around a crudely cut tree stump with a fallen tree on the other side of the stump.

Ozpin let the Scroll fall on the table as he rubbed his forehead. Of course it would be team DARN. Only they would end up walking into the forest and chop down some trees on Christmas Eve. Not wanting to deal with DARN's antics at the minute, Ozpin decided that they can handle themselves and left the feed. But as he backed his way through the app, he noticed something... different. On a camera from the sector right beside DARN's current location, a black, shifting mass appeared. Wanting to get a better look at it, he switched the camera to night vision and-

Oh.

Ohhhh...

Nevermind, it is some large, dangerous Grimm.


AN: Well. This is certainly a thing. First and foremost, happy holidays everyone! As you can tell, I've made a Christmas special for team DARN! But I ended wanting to do too much with it, so it's split up into 2 parts. Hopefully the next part of this little Christmas special will be out on Christmas eve, so keep an eye out for that!

Secondly, I apologise for the lack of chapters. Between a case of writers block, the last year of school starting, and my deciding to rewrite the next chapter of Richard's arc a couple of times, I geuss I just got a bit overwhelmed. But that's no excuse! From now on, I'll be focusing more on team DARN! Probably. At the very least, chapter 11 is about two thirds done.

Oh, and here's a little challenge for you: I have named all of Drew's siblings after a theme. Sort of. They're all named after something separate, but those things can be grouped together into a singular concept. Truth is, it's pretty loose, but it's still there. I think... So try to guess.