It was the most wonderful time of the year. The time, when everyone would be like, "Hey, I've got presents to shop. I'll have to do that today if I don't want to be in a hurry and look for gifts at the last possible moment. Argh, forget about it! Shopping can wait and I don't care if the stores are nearly empty and not a single potential present is left for me to buy it." Christmas was slowly approaching and most races in Hyrule were awaiting the festivities with such eagerness, one might think it was all they ever cared about throughout the entire year, although many forget to purchase their gifts until three or two days before they have to give them to their beloved ones.

Revali was one of them.

The princess, her two advisors and the other champions had decided to host a party amongst themselves in honour of the four Goddesses and to celebrate winter's darkest and longest day. It was to be held in Rito Village, the perfect location for a small gathering, with lots of snow and Christmas spirit, which reminded Zelda of the stories her mother had told her years ago. The Rito may not believe in magic, but they do embrace the holiday spirit as best as they can, because it helps lighten up the mood and strengthen the bonds between individuals.

Revali did not really care about that, since he has always been the type to focus on himself and his strengths and more importantly, his weaknesses, rather than go out and socialise with the other Rito. His one and only wish has been ever since he could remember to improve his skills in order to surpass everyone else and show them what he was truly made of and that you should never judge a book by its cover.

This year, however, he decided to partake in the festivities, but only because the princess' lapdog was supposed to come, too. He did not want to leave out even a single opportunity to challenge him and make him look like the pathetic knight he was in his view. The only downside was that Urbosa was most likely going to defend the knight and lash out at Revali instead. He knew he had no chance against her sharp wit and her ever deadlier words, which was why he decided he was going to give his best and make this the most memorable time of the year for all of them.

He only had to find the perfect presents for everyone, but the celebration was scheduled for tomorrow.

Oh, joy.

With nothing left to lose, he visited every shop in the village – there was only one – and spoke to the stable personnel and every traveling merchant currently residing in Hebra, but to no avail. None of them had interesting items that qualified in his critical eye as worthy enough for his guests.

While Revali was returning from the stable back to Rito Village, he suddenly heard a faint noise. A voice.

Singing.

Christmas songs.

Perplexed he turned around in his flight and neared the source of the mysterious sounds, where a giant flower-like pool surrounded by mushrooms and plants stood. He could feel something big approaching the surface from deep beneath the water level as the singing got louder and the lyrics clearer, until all of a sudden, a giant woman, who had a striking resemblance to Hylians, emerged from the water. Only the upper half of her body could be seen and her appearance reminded him of the wild berries and roses that can be found in the colder regions of Hyrule.

"~All I want for Christmaaas is youuu, babeee! All I want for Christmaaas is~," she became aware of her audience, "Oh, hello."

She quickly took notice of his incredulous, yet frightened stare and waved at him hesitatingly.

"Hell, no," was all he could choke out, before he turned on his heels and started to charge up his signature gale.

The woman, however, had other things on her mind as she prompted him to stay, "No, wait!"

Revali decided to give her a chance, at least to explain if he was truly seeing things or not, he cancelled his gale, straightened up and turned around to face her once more.

"What? What do you have to say to me? Who are you? What are you even? I've never seen someone like you before. Is this an illusion?"

The giant lady, amused by his attitude and silly questions, huffed out a laugh and answered, "An illusion? My, it seems the Rito have already forgotten about my humble existence in Tabantha near the Hebra Mountains. My name is Kaysa and I am a Great Fairy. I watch over this region and I can help you with anything you want if you have enough rupees."

"No, thank you. I don't need anything," Revali stressed and took a few steps backwards. But the fairy wasn't insulted by his obvious distrust and continued her questioning.

"Are you sure about that? I have a feeling that something might be troubling you. If you do not tell me, what it is, I cannot help you."

"It's nothing, really. I can solve this problem myself."

The fairy perked up at his words and a mischievous smile spread across her face, "So, there is a problem?"

"No- I mean, yes- but, uh...," Revali was conflicted whether he should inform her of his struggles or not.

"Let me guess. You are looking for gifts for your friends, am I correct?" she asked, "I can help you with that."

"Wait, what? How did you know-?"

She let out a melodious laugh and explained to him, "It is quite obvious, little Rito, because ages ago I have had so many visitors who would beg me to come up with presents and summon them with magic. I am quite experienced with that, too. I even have the perfect idea what you could give your friends if it is your goal to make it as special as it can possibly get."

"Eh- yes!" he nearly shouted at the prospect of having found the presents for his guests. Though he was not aware what the Great Fairy intended to do with him. She picked him up, while giggling slyly, and dove back into her home, singing.

"All I want for Christmaaas is yooouuuuuu!"

The next morning Daruk was the first to enter the hut that had been prepared for their festivities where he found something peculiar under the tree. A package, big enough to house a Hylian – or a small Rito –, lay next to several tiny packages, and Daruk could swear, he saw the big one move. He quickly left the hut and joined the other champions, who were still waiting for Revali. They had not seen nor heard of the pilot of Vah Medoh since yesterday, which was unusual, but they thought he might be tired after the preparations for their party and was still sleeping.

Daruk did not want to alarm his friends, but he told them of the moving package nevertheless, so they went to investigate it.

What a surprise it had been, when an indigo blue Rito tore himself free from the big package and glared at every single one of them with a glimmer in his eyes that said something along the lines of 'Don't you dare laugh at me.'

At least his wish had been granted that this day would go down in history... but probably as the most embarrassing in his whole life. Poor bird.

Surprisingly, Monk Maz Koshia and even the now somewhat neutral Calamity had been invited to join them in their festivities. The Calamity did not want to go at first, as was expected of him, because they would be celebrating the Goddesses he had sworn to destroy, but Maz Koshia was positive that he could be swayed.

He even managed to convince him to stay until everyone but them got their presents. Ganon really seemed out of place among the heroes as he had stood sulking in the shadows throughout the entire party, glaring daggers at anyone who would invade his personal space that had a ridiculously large radius. The only thing he would communicate to them was, "You better watch out. You better watch out. You better watch out! YOU BETTER WATCH OUT! YOU BETTER WATCH-!", until Maz Koshia had taken pity on the beast and offered him to go somewhere quiet and peaceful. The Calamity only grunted his response that the monk assumed was an 'Okay'.

He took his counterpart by the wrist and teleported them to a forest in a much warmer region. The Calamity shot him a quizzical look, but Maz Koshia simply prompted him to stay quiet and follow him, as he floated deeper into the forest. It was dark and the tree crowns were blocking out the moon and the stars, but this was the habitat of Sunset Fireflies and their glow was more than enough to bathe their surroundings in a greenish light.

The monk had attempted to strike up a proper conversation with the Calamity before and had asked him, "Is there anything else you want to tell the people tonight?"

Ganon had answered with a deadpan expression, "My favourite colour is blood," and had simply walked away.

"Alright," the Sheikah had decided not to press him any further than that until the time was right.

Which was now.

They arrived at a clearing where small animals were preparing to set out for their nocturnal hunt. Near a very thick and old tree Maz Koshia lowered himself to the ground and knocked three times on the wood. At first, nothing happened. Then, four tiny creatures came racing out of a well-hidden tunnel between the roots, squeaking with delight at the sight of the old Sheikah.

The Calamity immediately recognised what they were.

The young boars immediately recognised what Calamity Ganon was supposed to resemble.

They were cautious at first, contemplating on if he would bring harm to them or not, but since the friendly, floating creature did not mind this stranger's presence, they deemed him safe, even though every young boar had the instinct to flee at the sight of an unknown creature. The bravest dared to approach him and sniffle at his feet, because the malice he was made of probably triggered their curiosity, once their flight instinct settled down.

Calamity Ganon backed off a few steps, so he could properly kneel down without crushing these precious bundles of cuteness, and lowered one hand to the grass with his palms facing upwards. The tiny creature hopped over to him and sniffled at his hand and then at his wrist, before the piglet bounced onto his palm and let out little squeaks of joy at the unnatural but interesting consistency of his flesh.

The beast brought the little animal closer to his face to study it in silent awe. It looked at him with its big, round eyes and it oinked energetically. Suddenly, it stretched its neck to sniffle the Calamity's face, and the beast gasped softly in astonishment. He felt a connection build between him and the little striped boar.

Ganon glanced over to Maz Koshia who was cuddling a piglet and had another one sleeping peacefully on his lap, while the fourth one was running laps around them in delight. It was very late and the little ones were surely tired, even though three of them showed no fatigue at the moment. Maz Koshia explained to him that they must have lost their sounder weeks ago and that he had been checking on them, feeding them and looking for their relatives ever since he had found them alone in the woods. They were farrowed at the wrong time, in the wrong season, and had to endure the cold weather, but the winter was mild in this region and they had a bigger chance at survival if his companion kept coming here to help them grow.

He would never admit it, but he felt a spark of gratitude in his core for the Sheikah monk's compassion towards the piglets. They remained there in silence for a few more minutes, until the striped piglets were sleepy and it was time for them to return to the party.

When they teleported back to Rito Village, both waited for the other to join the celebrations first. Then, both decided to enter the room at the same time and when they did so, the whole room turned around to watch them with wide eyes as if they were expecting something disastrous to happen.

Calamity Ganon was confused, until he looked up and saw the cause for their reactions. Above his and the Sheikah's head hung a mistletoe and when he looked at his companion, who had just come to the same realisation, he sent him a telepathic message.

"Don't even think about it, monk."

Yunobo decided to not just stand around like a lost puppy, but greet everyone at the party. His ancestor and idol had encouraged him to go and talk to a few people, but the young Goron did not really want to. Most of the conversations he had so far had turned awkward real quick, and he thought it would be best for him to just shut his loud mouth and let the people enjoy this evening.

He approached the Zora siblings, greeted them with, "Merry crmus!" and waved at them sheepishly.

Before they could reply, he was already next to the Rito warriors, who were joking around and discussing their village's future.

"It's chrismun!" he exclaimed happily and moved on towards the Gerudo in this room.

A overly cheerful, "Merry crisis!" was thrown in Lady Urbosa's and Lady Riju's direction, which earned him a few confused glances, but he couldn't see them as he was already next to Daruk, the Hylian knight and the princess.

"Merry Chrysler!", he announced with a wide smile that was wiped off his face, when Daruk slammed a hand onto his back with more force that necessary. Princess Zelda returned his greeting in a formal manner while Link only nodded at him with a grunt.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Yunobo", his idol said and embraced him with a bone-crushing hug.

After the weird scene with Yunobo, the Gerudo vais were spending quality time together, talking about Gerudo Town now and in the future and tattling about the Yiga Clan. Riju was more than eager to tell her great-grandmother about her numerous adventures with Patricia and how much she loved her loyal sand seal. Of course, she had to bring Patricia with her, but they had to lock her away in a spacious, comfy room that was appropriate for her, so that she would not have to freeze and catch a cold, because she was not used to the harsh climate in the Hebra Mountains.

Urbosa had caught on the girl's attachment to her sand seal the first time they had met and she wanted to show Riju how much she appreciated her efforts to help their people, by ordering a skilled Rito seamstress to make her something warm for the seal. Now she wanted to surprise her, excused herself and got up from the seat.

Teba was in charge of the facility and also held all the keys to the stables they had built for the horses and seals. She approached him and said, "Toss me the keys!"

To her surprise, he did not reach for the keys in his pockets, he actually went to the Christmas tree they had set up and decorated the previous day, and tossed it at where she was standing. Urbosa stepped aside and let the tree crash onto the floor like it was no-one's business.

"I said keys."

Teba looked at her in "I thought you said Christmas tree."

"Why in Hylia's name would I say Christmas tree?", she asked him in complete bewilderment. Eventually he gave her what she had requested and Urbosa returned to the celebration followed by a proudly bouncing Patricia outfitted with a warm sweater, gloves on her fins and a fluffy scarf around her neck. Riju was so happy to see her.

Little Sidon was not allowed to join them, because there had been an incident the prior year. Link was visiting them as usual and had brought a neatly packed present for each of them with him. It seemed to the Zora princess that he was more relieved than ever to return to his second home and exchange what little words he decided to let his lips leave in her presence.

Sidon had not noticed that his sister's best friend had arrived at their domain, yet, which left them with more time for themselves, something that Mipha was pleased about. They talked, and talked, and talked, until tiny footsteps sounded from the stairs and Sidon caught sight of Link.

His sister spread her arms out and had shouted, "It is Christmas!"

Instead of charging at her, the little prince threw himself onto the floor and crawled the stairs downwards in a very odd and un-prince-like manner, screaming, "Christmaaas! I'm coming, Santa!"

King Dorephan had then decided to not let him accompany his sister to the Christmas party in the following year.

It was time for the heroes to take a picture. Purah and Robbie took the Sheikah Slate with them and were prompting the other guests to assume a position.

Terrako was racing between the legs of everyone present (except Calamity Ganon; if looks could kill, the small guardian would be defective again) and beeping at them to get ready. Some where protesting, some where checking their appearance in a shiny or mirrored surface, and the rest was shouting at each other, because no one had an idea where to stand and what pose would be the best.

"Where are we looking?"

"Take the picture already!"

"By Hylia, how embarrassing all of this is"

"WHERE ARE WE LOOKING?"

The camera snapped when no one was ready and the result resembled the picture Zelda and the champions had taken right before the outbreak of the Calamity when the photo module of the Slate had been first discovered.

No one was overly pleased about that.

In the Yiga Clan Hideout our favourite Twisted Trio was celebrating Christmas, too, because... tradition... and presents... and food! Yay!

The Yiga novices and the blademasters set the table at the dining hall and prepared their favourite foods with bananas, at the time their master arrived from a mission in the desert.

Kohga settled in his seat at the head of the longest table and he heard feet shuffling behind him. Then his trusted right-hand-man bowed next to him and said, "Master Kohga, I am pleased to see your mission has gone well. I have brought you mighty bananas."

Kohga nodded at that, "Thank you."

Another person stepped up next to him, but Kohga did not make any effort to see who it was.

"And I brought you mur...", a low voice whispered in his ear, but Kohga seemed to have his thoughts somewhere else and answered absent-mindedly.

"Thank you."

"Mur-der!", the sinister voice finished the sentence and laughed evilly.

Kohga registered the threat and gasped, "Astor, no-"

But before he could say anything else, his old friend pointed both tips of his katanas at the prophet's throat and growled menacingly.

That made the Hylian let out a nervous chuckle as he tried to reassure them, "I was just kidding! There is no need to impale me. I have planned to perform something for the entire clan tonight."

Four Yiga novices step into the room, carrying a small piano, and they put it next to Kohga's table. As soon as the whole room was full and every Yiga was present, Astor sat on a stool and addressed the clan.

"Now I am going to perform a parody of a very famous Christmas song to get us in the mood for what is to come."

He started playing a well-known melody and sang, "All I want for Christmas..."

Pang! He hit the piano keys dramatically.

"Your souls."

And with that bold declaration he stood up and left the room, his cape fluttering threateningly in a warning to not piss him off.

In a different area of Hyrule a group of mobs sat in a circle around a small fireplace in a humbly decorated cave. They were huddled against each other to preserve some warmth and half of them were near to dosing off into sleep.

A tired lizalfos asked their neighbour, "What are we celebrating, again?"

Their neighbour was already asleep, so a blue moblin answered their question, "I dunno. Never heard of this holiday before."

"What does Christmas even mean?", asked their youngest member of the group, a small red bokoblin who was known for their insatiable curiosity.

"I don't care," spoke the blue moblin again, "As long as we can have a nice gathering with lots of food and no pesky Hylians, Zora, Gorons, Rito or Gerudo to hunt us down, I'm not gonna question it."

"Oh, okay," the young red bokoblin said quietly.

No one spoke anything for several minutes, until an old white bokoblin wrinkled their nose and informed them that a Hylian was approaching the camp.

They did not intend to fight, as was their tradition on Christmas Eve and the following Christmas days, but lucky for them the Hylian had no intend to fight them, too. He had an odd appearance and would fit more into their group than a settlement of his own kind. The strange Hylian approached them and asked if he could spend the night with them, and they accepted.

The mobs spent their time talking to him about various interesting things and learned some new facts about the world, while Kilton's wish had finally come true.

It was truly the most wonderful time of the year.

Guess, who finally got their copy of AoC!