Hello, hello, hello, what's happenin' readers?
Merry Christmas 2012, everyone! This is my Christmas special this year. To make a change from previous years, the plot of this year's special starts on Christmas day instead of before. It's loosely based off the Jagex 2012 Christmas event 'A Stray in a Manger' with some pretty big changes. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Jagex, RuneScape, or any of the RuneScape characters. All I own is the plot of this fanfiction and some of the characters in the story. I am not making a financial profit from this story.
Chapter 21: Christmas in Catherby
"Wake up, wake up!" I heard a familiar voice yell in my ear. "It's Christmas!" I opened my eyes blearily, seeing the outline of Amy11 hopping around the room energetically. She was wearing a nice red dress for the occasion, more formal than her day-to-day attire. I sat up almost instantly, feeling excitement fill the pit of my stomach. I saw a pile of presents at the foot of my bed. My first instinct was to jump to them and rip them open like I'd done in previous years, but I decided that, this year, I would savour them, since Amy11 was here also. I decided to get dressed first. I went into a side room with my clothes and left the door slightly open, so I could still have a conversation with Amy11 as I changed.
"Have you opened yours yet?" I asked.
"Not yet," she replied. "I've got them with me in a bag, so we can open our presents together. Perhaps we can leave the presents from each other last and we can open them together." I made a grunt of agreement, which was only a grunt because I was bending over to put on my boots and wasn't able to make a clearer noise of agreement or excitement.
As I changed, I reflected over the build-up to Christmas. It snowed, even in Catherby. Catherby was a place that always looked like a holiday resort, regardless of the weather. Therefore, a snow-covered, fully-decorated Catherby looked unusual. I enjoyed the snow but I refrained from playing in it on the sands of Catherby, since snow and damp sand didn't make nice snowball-fighting. The decorations were beautiful; Christmas trees and some special Wintumber trees dotted the village, and a particularly large, elaborately-decorated tree stood in the centre of the farming market. Tinsel and glittery things hung in between and inside the houses, and snowmen made by the children and adults alike stood everywhere. I did spend a lot of time nowadays hunting after the events in the Taverley well, much to the delight of the werewolves, natural hunters. I kept my kills in my larder; I discovered that white hare meat had a very delicious taste to it, very refined and different to other, more plain meats. I also practised summoning, spending some time in the house of Pikkupstix, who was very helpful. After I finished my changing and musing, I returned to my bedroom and began opening my presents.
I'd received a pleasant variety of gifts from different people. The dwarves from the tunnel had gifted me with two kegs of dwarven stout, an alcohol I'd developed a taste for. Austri and Vestri had given me my stuffed fish (the one I caught in the competition) wrapped with the kegs, along with a stand to put it in. They'd spoken to a specialist to get it done. I put the fish and stand aside, intending on displaying it. I received two presents from Osrie1; one of them was a joke present, considering how much of a wannabe clown Osrie1 was, and the other was my actual gift. The joke present was a raw fish; he was making a joke of my surprise victory in the competition. The damp fish was dropped, where it rolled across the floor. I picked it up and put it aside, deciding that my larder was the place for it. His real present to me was a deluxe fisherman's kit, which contained different sorts of bait, a net repairs package, pots of different rod polish (which would complement the already-pretty magic wood), and more.
The druids I'd befriended in Taverley sent me free summoning items and a comical Christmas card featuring a spirit wolf and a wolpertinger wearing Santa hats. Pikkupstix in particular sent me a guide of the animals that could be summoned, with a note attached letting me know that it was a book designed for the book pocket of my bag. The werewolves individually had sent me gifts. Aaron had sent me a harpoon tailored especially for hunting sharks, Harry and Hunter had sent me hunting supplies and Amelia had sent me a book on hunting techniques. As I thought of Amelia, I thought of the friendship blossoming between her and Osrie1. He'd been taken by her after meeting her for the first time, and they'd been talking quite a bit in the last month or so. He definitely had a soft spot for her, and, despite her tough exterior, I was certain she had a soft spot for him too.
I received a few gifts from my friends in both Varrock and Falador, mainly money. A few exceptions were Sir Amik Varze (who sent me an experience lamp containing a decent amount of experience), Haru Axe-man (who sent me a bottle of special fluid for making armour gleam), and Capablanca (who sent me a book on the theory of fishing, since he was made aware by Osrie1 of my victory). I received extra spin tickets from some people, so I had five extra spins. Amy11 had received a few spin tickets from acquaintances, too, so it was clearly a popular gift.
I eventually came to the annual gift from Santa Claus himself and the Ice Queen. Along with the normal box of Christmas sweets and biscuits, there was a letter there wishing me a merry Christmas and informing me that there was going to be feast in the Land of Snow that evening at 7:00pm to late in the night, and that I was invited. Amy11 received the same gift. There was a teleportation tab attached, which I would use to get to and from the feast. The tab was set to disintegrate tomorrow. The letter had also, ironically, been signed by Jack Frost, as was customary. I remembered his attempt at ruining Christmas last year and in previous years, and I remembered his failure each and every time. I knew that Jack Frost would not invite me to any party, Christmas or not.
After opening my annual package of fruit and vegetables from Farmer Fred, I came across a formal-looking letter with a real seal on it. After carefully opening it, I read it aloud to Amy11. "Dear Mainiac97," I read. "We extend you Christmas wishes on this happy day. We have heard of your feats and are aware that you are exploring and questing in the area. We live in Camelot (an area east of Seer's Village) in Camelot Castle. We have a quest for you, with good rewards. We kindly ask that you show up at the castle if you are interested in the quest. If not, we ask that you reply telling us so, so we know to look for another quest candidate. Again, we wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year. Yours sincerely, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table." Upon finishing reading the letter, Amy11 congratulated me. I considered it for a second; the quest did sound interesting and King Arthur, whoever he was or whatever he ruled, sounded important. It explained the purpose and the inhabitants of the castle at the end of Seer's Village, at least.
Eventually, we'd opened all of our presents, except for the presents from each other. "You open mine first," I encouraged. She shook her head, insisting that I open mine first, but I silenced her with a kiss. "Go on," I teased. "I know you want to." She sighed in defeat and picked up the wrapping. She pulled the paper off slowly, and I watched in anticipation. The wrapping fell away and revealed her present from me; it was a golden bracelet that I'd paid the dwarves to make. Carved into it were hearts and wolves. I'd asked for the wolves to be carved into it for two reasons. Firstly, wolves were a symbol of bravery and strength, and, despite their rather wild and sometimes violent nature, they were beautiful creatures. Also, they symbolised the nature of how we eventually became together in that cave in the White Wolf Mountain. She squealed with delight and flew herself towards me, knocking me over in an embrace.
"Thank you! Thank you! It's beautiful!" she beamed. "I will wear it all the time and I shall take pride in doing so. Now it's your turn to open your present." I picked up my present, something rather flat. I ripped off the wrapping and I saw my present. It was a painting of us. It was a beautiful painting, made with inks, dyes and fruit juices that swirled together to become an image of us embracing. It was bordered with gold, and a ruby was put into the top. I crushed her in a tight hug and kissed her forehead. "Thank you very much," I murmured. "It's an amazing present, and I will keep it by my bedside and look at it every night." True to my word, I put the painting on my bedside, where it fit perfectly for me to be able to admire it in my bed.
After discussing our presents, Amy11 went into the kitchen to prepare something for us to eat and drink before we left. I took the opportunity to take my stuffed fish and its stand from the dwarf brothers and put it up in my trophy room. After I did so, I stepped back, and admired the massive thing I'd had the good fortune to capture. I couldn't stop marvelling at my success, regardless of the odds stacked up against me. Because of my access to the tunnel after that, I'd met good friends in the form of the dwarves, and I'd met the druids as a result. As I walked to the kitchen with the thought of the druids and that particular quest heavy in my mind, I passed the club of the trolls we'd scared away. The trolls did worry me a bit; they were strong brutes, and, despite their stupidity, they posed a threat to Burthorpe. I just hoped that whatever gave them the ability to travel to the well in Taverley wouldn't give them any advantages over Burthorpe in any battles. I didn't linger over it, though, since it was Christmas, no time for pessimism.
I joined Amy11 in the kitchen, smiling pleasantly. "What are you preparing?" I asked, smelling something delicious.
"You'll see," she giggled. "Come back in five minutes or something. I'm not quite ready yet." I obliged, deciding that it would be a fitting time to feed my pets.
I gathered the food I'd need from a cabinet near the door leading to my pet gardens. I entered the gardens. I approached Tiny Tinsel, my tinsel snake that I'd received as a reward at Christmas last year. Tiny Tinsel didn't need food, but it had still grown to a massive length. I petted it and it squirmed; it loved being pet, despite the fact that it was practically just a piece of animated tinsel. I moved along to Gobbles the turkey, a turkey I'd decided to capture and keep as a pet one Thanksgiving many years ago. I gave the bird some of its feed. While turkeys sometimes made me suspicious (partly because of my unreasonable fear of chickens and also because several giant turkeys attacked Lumbridge one year), I still loved having Gobbles as a pet.
I approached Heimlich the Heim crab, a crab I'd decided to keep as my own following an encounter with many Heim crabs one Christmas. Heimlich had grown massively in the years since I'd decided to keep him, and I'd tried making the pet garden feel more homely for him by adding an artificial rock pool of sorts, suggested to me by a fisherman in Port Sarim. I then entered the stable that took up the corner of the pet garden. My horse, Fierce, lived in there. Fierce was probably my favourite pet. While I didn't enjoy riding him very much, I'd often take him for walks and occasional rides (as long as he was trotting). I often gave him the freedom to walk around the pet and decoration garden as he pleased.
After I'd fed him an apple and some grains, I stepped out and overlooked my pets in their entirety. They were the strangest pets a person could have; Eek, my talking pet spider from many Halloweens ago landed on my shoulder and took some leftover grains from me at that moment, almost as if my own point was proving itself. Despite this fact, they were all brilliant pets and they were all friendly with each other (although Tiny Tinsel's original reception wasn't very warm, since, in fairness to the other animals, he was a piece of moving tinsel with eyes).
I entered the kitchen to the sight of fresh meat sandwiches ready for me. I thanked Amy11, and bit into one of them. To my delight, they were filled with different meats this time, not just conventional cooked meat. I tasted some turkey meat and some white hare meat. Unshed tears filled my eyes at the palette of flavour swirling around my mouth at that moment. Amy11 chuckled at my obvious show of euphoria. After we'd both finished our sandwiches, we collected our spin tickets and decided that we'd visit the Squeal of Fortune. We wanted to go sledding afterwards, so we agreed to collect our sleds from the bank after we'd finished at the Squeal of Fortune. After that, we'd agreed to meet Osrie1 and the werewolves for some lunch. We left the house and appeared in Seer's Village.
Seer's Village was a beautiful place when covered with snow, the woodland next to it even more so. While it wasn't as decorated as Catherby, we still saw some tinsel and a Christmas tree or two. We walked into Catherby and into the bank. We entered the Squeal of Fortune portal, discussing concerns that it wouldn't be open today. Our concern was in vain. Arriving on the other side, we saw the lever, the man in a goblin costume and the wheel itself. A Christmas tree stood next to it, decorated with gold. Since we'd been holding each other's arms entering the portal, we'd appeared in the same room, instead of appearing individually, as was the norm.
"Welcome to the Squeal of Fortune, and a merry Christmas!" the man said. I felt some pity for whoever had to work this job on Christmas day. "On top of your daily spin, the bank has given everyone an extra spin as a gift on the occasion! You will also receive an extra daily spin on every day until New Year's Day." That meant I had seven spins today because of my five spin tickets. After some playful bickering briefly with Amy11, we agreed that she should go first. She stepped forward and handed in her tickets. She completed her spins, receiving some food, some coins, experience, and a mithril chainmail, all of which went to her bank.
It was my turn next, and I flew through my spins. I received some seeds on my first spin, a small experience lamp on my second, and some coins on my third and fourth spins. An adamant sword was my reward on my fifth spin. The sixth spin was the most noteworthy, though. After spinning, the golden arrow landed to a picture of what looked like tickets. "Congratulations!" the man in the goblin outfit exclaimed. "You've won four tickets to a skating rink!"
"That's great," I replied. "But where is the skating rink? How many times can I use the ticket?"
"The skating rink is a Squeal of Fortune reward because it is sponsored by the Squeal of Fortune," the goblin replied. "So, by following the Squeal of Fortune portal, you can get to the rink. Just give the portal your ticket before entering the portal to get to the rink. The tickets last until the end of New Year's Day.
"But I have no skates," Amy11 sighed. "That's a shame."
"It's no problem," the man answered. "They have a skate rental service there. You can even buy your own pair, although, I must warn you, they are not cheap." He turned to me. "Would you like the tickets in your bank, or would you like them now?" I told him I would like them in my hand, and he handed me my four tickets. I took my last spin on the wheel, which resulted in another experience lamp. I took Amy11's arm, and we left swiftly.
We picked up our sleds and I picked up my ice skates in the bank. We left and headed in the direction of the White Wolf Mountain. We wanted to look for an ideal slope to sled on without having to walk too far into the mountain. We walked up the mountain path, and we saw a group of cheerful kids holding small sleds run past us excitedly. They ran further up the mountain and turned a corner. We followed them curiously. They eventually came to a slope that seemed ideal for sledding. It was rather busy, so obviously more people had picked up on this particular slope's existence than us. The snow had been cleared on one far side, so people could climb up as far as they desired to sled down. Some walked to the top of the slope and beyond, so I suspected that there was more.
We walked to the top and saw another slope on the other side, except this slope was larger. I could see one or two wolves at the bottom, so I questioned whether going that way was a good idea. I shrugged and took Amy11's hand, leading her to the top of the safer slope. We decided that we'd perhaps give the more adventurous slope a miss, in case we ended up trapped in another cave. I sat down tentatively; I hadn't done this for a while. Giggling, Amy11 give me a small push, and I slipped downwards, not quite ready. I lost my balance and span around, falling into the now at the bottom like an idiot. Amy11 landed cleanly next to me, laughing with mirth. "Want an excuse to laugh? I'll give you one now," I smirked mischievously. I pounced on her and started tickling her. After twenty seconds of tickling, we fell back in the snow, a laughing heap.
"Are you enjoying yourselves?" a female's voice said from overhead. We looked up to see Amelia standing there, grinning. Osrie1 stood next to her, leaning on her shoulder. They both held sleds. I smiled back. Their friendship was clearly blossoming. "Look, let's all go up together." We stood up, collected ourselves, and followed Amelia and Osrie1 up the slope. They sat down on their respective sleds, but, instead of making a move to go down the safer slope, they turned to the long one. I followed suit reluctantly, thinking that, if the worst did come to the worst, Amelia, a werewolf, was with us to call for help.
The others (including Amy11) pushed themselves forward and began their ride. After a second's delay, I copied them. I slid down faster than I originally anticipated, and I was slowly picking up speed. I daren't try and use my feet to break, in case I ended breaking my foot. I flew past the others, bellowing with sudden fear. I lost my control and began spinning around uncontrollably, before successfully regaining my control and, more importantly, my balance. It didn't halt my speed, though. The slope ended and I lost speed, but not before I was practically launched into the snow. Osrie1 landed not much better than me. The two girls glided nearby elegantly, snorting and giggling.
We continued sledding for nearly an hour before walking back to Harry's hut for lunch. We were sopping wet and also rather out of breath after all of the fun. We walked into the hut, dropped our sleds by the door, and dumped ourselves in chairs, panting. Harry, Hunter and Aaron greeted us cordially, claiming that lunch would be in ten minutes or so. Amelia went with her brothers to help prepare the dinner while the rest of us chatted merrily. A few more werewolves entered the hut to join the meal. Eventually, dinner was served; several roasted animals stood on the table, looking plump and juicy. Some vegetables were also available, although the werewolves didn't eat that many of them. We demolished the food, relishing every bite of the werewolves' cooking with a rather wild feel to it. It was an ideal way to accompany an hour or so of sledding.
Amy11 and I, after finishing our food, chatting with the others and relaxing for a while, decided that we'd go for a walk in the woodland with the magic trees by Seer's Village. We left Catherby and took the path into this woodland. We walked among the snow-covered trees, rays of winter sunshine reflecting off them and creating a beautiful, dazzling light. We smiled, savouring the nature and peace surrounding us. The peace was slightly dampened, however, by the unexpected sound of cursing from within the trees. We followed the sound curiously; was somebody in distress? We walked into a clearing and found a most surprising thing.
A snow imp sat by a small sleigh that was broken on one side, hissing as he tried to repair it. A large but mostly empty sack sat by him. Four big dogs wearing fake reindeer antlers were tied to the sleigh, waiting patiently. We approached quietly.
"Are you okay?" I asked uncertainly. He spun around, taken aback, but he seemed relieved to see me.
"Mainiac97!" he squealed. "I am glad to see you. You might not remember me, but I remember you. I was the imp that was assigned to help you out one year, but, then again, you've been there so many times you probably won't recognise me. I am in a pickle, but not a tragic or unpreventable pickle. You see, Santa, in his brilliant attempts at spreading some Christmas spirit, normally gives out food, money and gifts to the homeless and less fortunate at Christmas. In recent years, he has decided that he wants to include animals in that and give presents, food and homes and that to homeless animals on the streets.
"He's given some imps the job of going around, giving out things to the homeless animals. He's assigned different imps to different areas. I've been assigned with the Ardougne-Catherby-Seer's Village-Relleka-Taverley-Burthorpe area, while others have been assigned to other areas. He's given us these small sleighs, sacks of food, toys and flat-pack kennels, and these ropes, similar to the ones he uses for his reindeers. He said that I could pick four big dogs for this sleigh, to give them purpose and all. Thing is, Mainiac97, I'm an imp and I can teleport, so I really didn't need the sleigh, but he insisted that we ride them anyway, to create an impression and everything. Mine's gone and broken now, and I'm stuck trying to fix it." He looked up at us. "Maybe you could do me a small favour? I've done Ardougne, which took a while because of its size. I was going to do Catherby, Seer's Village and Relleka now and then go on to the others, but I'm needed elsewhere later, I still need to fix this blasted thing and might not have enough time to do Taverley and Burthorpe. Would you possibly be able to do those to for me, please? Taverley shouldn't be a problem, since it's such an animal-orientated place and there'd be little to no strays. I'll reward you for your help."
I discussed it briefly with Amy11. It didn't take a lot of discussion; we felt that it was a perfectly Christmassy and generous thing to do, and we were happy to do it. Burthorpe was a war-stricken place, so there'd be plenty of homeless animals. We accepted the imps' offer. His face broke into as grin. "Great! I'll find you in Burthorpe and show my sleigh in the area in an hour or so. By then I would have done the remainder of my repairs and would have finished my animal-gifting job." He went into his sleigh and fetched us a spare sack, identical to his. He grabbed some animal presents from the other bag and put a fair amount into the empty sack. He handed us the sack. We took it and walked off.
We walked into Catherby, past the market and into the dwarves' hut, which was empty. It occurred to me that the dwarves might not allow Amy11 into the tunnel, since she hadn't earned their trust. I just hoped that, because it was Christmas, they'd make an allowance if we were caught. I took her arm and we walked through the tunnel quickly. We passed some dwarves, but they were either overly jolly or rather tipsy and didn't pay much attention to Amy11. We didn't see Austri or Vestri, the dwarven brothers. We reached the other end successfully, without any unwanted occurrences.
We walked through Taverley, which looked even prettier in the snow and fully decorated. We found no strays. We saw Stikklebrix, one of the druids involved in the quest involving the trolls and the well. We asked him about strays in Taverley, and he laughed. He told us that there'd be plenitudes of strays in Burthorpe, if that was what we were looking for. Heeding his words, we stepped into Burthorpe.
Burthorpe was, as I expected it to be, a town practically wrecked by the evils of war. Derelict houses dotted the town, and everything felt reinforced, as if there was a constant threat of battle lingering. There were no decorations, just guards protecting buildings, injured soldiers lying on beds everywhere, and strays, and lots of them. The place felt cold and sapped of any happiness or joy that ever existed here. To my disgust, there were even dead bodies of humans and trolls alike, just littering the streets. Medics rushed here and there, since they were very busy with their duties. It made me wonder why we were helping the animals and not the people. It felt like an injustice.
There were certainly plenty of hungry, cold, lonely animals in Burthorpe, animals affected by the battle. Within no time we were busy handing out animal food, animal toys, animal bowls, and small homes for them to shelter in. I could set up the flat-pack kennel in a very brief period of time, thanks to my experience in construction. The majority of the strays were stray dogs as opposed to cats or anything else. I decided to also offer some of my own food and money to the homeless and injured people there, since I felt odd just helping the strays and not those in even greater need again.
Our sack emptied slowly but steadily, and eventually we'd gone through most of Burthorpe and we had limited gifts left. We came across a little black dog, shivering in the filthy gutter of a small alley. Amy11 went to walk ahead before making eye contact with the dog, which was notably one of the most adorable animals I'd ever met. I approached the animal cautiously, offering him my hand so he would know that I was friendly. He sniffed my hand cautiously before whimpering, positively melting my heart. I offered him a bone, which he chewed on gratefully. I pulled out one of the few remaining flat-packs and began slotting everything in place in order to set it up. I put a small rug, a bowl and some more food inside the kennel, patted the dog a final time, and left.
We continued onward, carrying on with our work, until there was nothing left except for some food. We'd approached a fortress of sort that looked like it was of importance, due to the guards surrounding it. I didn't felt like exploring or nosing, however, so I tapped Amy11 and we turned around. We were faced with the black dog. He stared up at us, giving us a look that could make Death himself smile. I petted him again, and began gesturing back to the kennel I'd set up for him. We walked away, but he followed us, panting and barking adorably. I made eye contact with him again, and I couldn't contain myself. The thought of this poor soul wandering Burthorpe, hungry and cold, broke my heart, so I extended the dog my hand. "You want to come with us, do you?" I asked. It licked my finger. Amy11 let out a sound of adoration.
"Can we keep him?" she begged. I considered this for a second.
"I suppose we could," I said slowly. "I'd love to have him."
"You're the one with the pet garden, so it'd be most logical for him to live there," she reasoned. "But I'll bring him food and treats. Yes I will, yes I will." She then kneeled over and petted the dog. He turned himself around, obviously wanting her to pet his tummy. She did so, resulting in a pleased bark.
"What shall we name him?" I asked. She thought about it for a second.
"How about Maniac's Little Helper?" she suggested. I couldn't help but chortle. It sounded so ridiculous.
"What about Amy's Little Helper?" I laughed.
"Or perhaps Our Little Helper?" she considered. "It includes both of us in the name then." I agreed with her, and the dog was then named Our Little Helper.
At that moment, we heard sleigh bells overhead, and we saw the imp in his sleigh fly over Burthorpe, letting out cries of "Merry Christmas!" Some of the soldiers looked up suspiciously, their faces loosening momentarily. The sleigh landed nearby, startling Our Little Helper.
"Hello!" the imp boomed, leaving the sleigh. He saw the dog. "That is one cute dog," he commented. "Judging by the way you're patting it, I think you've adopted the dog, have you?" We nodded. "Judging by what I could see from the sleigh, you've set up a lot of kennels for the animals," he commented. "For that, I am grateful."
"That's okay, but can I ask something?" I said. "Has anyone made an effort to help these people too?"
"Yes," the imp murmured sadly. "Santa has tasked some imps to helping the homeless and hurt here and elsewhere. However, this place in particular is always in battle. There's nothing much that can be done about that." I nodded. It was sad to consider, but so true.
"Take this as your reward," he then said, in a lighter tone. He handed us a Santa beard each. The beard looked very realistic, and would accompany my outfit nicely. "Take this." He handed Amy11 his empty Santa sack. "That Santa sack is a genuine Santa sack that can be used as such," he informed us. "Mainiac97, you keep the one I gave you earlier. I'm pretty sure that they'll complete your look if you already have a Santa suit. The hat costs a mint, mind, so I don't know the odds of you owning one of those now, if ever. Take these too, for your dog. These are just some I couldn't give out." He handed me a flat-pack kennel, a bowl, two toys, and some food. He gave us experience lamps and Christmas biscuits to boot. "Here, I'll give you a ride back to Seer's Village if you like. Hop in the back, where the sack was."
The ride in the sleigh was uplifting, and it offered a beautiful view. He dropped us by the bank. We thanked him profusely, but not before he thanked us first. After he left, we took Our Little Helper home, introduced him to the other pets, set up his kennel, and gave him his bowl, toys and some food.
The remainder of the day panned out beautifully. We skated for a while, and Amy11 decided to buy a pair of skates of her own. The skating rink was a very professional one and offered a smoother experience than the moat in Falador. Eventually, the feast came, and we used our teleport tablets to enter the feast. It was in a similar venue to a feast I'd attended a while ago. The feast was positively beautiful. Every drop of mead was satisfying, every spoonful of vegetables was fresh, and every scrap of meat was succulent.
After the feast, we mixed with friends. Osrie1 and even Capablanca joined us soon afterwards, since they were also invited to the feast. We spoke to Santa Claus and the Ice Queen. Although the events of the past made my conversation with the Ice Queen uncomfortable, it wasn't bitter at all. To my amusement, I saw Jack Frost, although he was surrounded by snow imps and overviewed by his mother, making any evil schemes practically impossible. I saw the goblin chefs, Kris and Kringle, and we exchanged some words, despite the fact that I wanted to break their ugly skulls for the way they treated me last Christmas. I saw Thorvar, the jolly Fremennik man who looked a lot like Santa and organised the Heimland Games some years ago. Also, to my great surprise, we met Scrooge, the miser who almost ruined Christmas years ago. He was the man who sent me my ice skates. He was a changed man; he was much happier, and there was a twinkle in his eye that I didn't remember before.
After all of the eating, drinking, chatting, and snowball fighting, Osrie1, Amy11 and I returned to my house, and we spent the rest of the evening in each other's company, discussing presents and pets. As we talked, I reflected on how much of a good Christmas it had been. It made me reflect over places like Burthorpe, where not everyone was so fortunate. It made me appreciate what I had and, better yet, who I had, and I hoped that the unnecessary battle there would soon end.
Hope you found that satisfactory. It wasn't eventful in terms of big fight scenes or epic quests, but it's some definite plot progression and some seasonal fun. My question to you is, how did you find it, perhaps as compared to some of my Christmas specials in previous years? Hope you've all had a pleasant Christmas, I hope you all enjoy your 12 days of Christmas (or what remains of it), and a happy New Year to you all. Roll on 2013!
Next chapter, it's New Year's Eve, and Mainiac97 decides to go shark fishing with the werewolves again, with some surprises waiting for them in the waters...
Until next time, toodles!