Christmas Present

Hello everyone! This is my Christmas present to my favorite people in the world! It's just a small one-shot for the fans. I wanted to have it centered around Christmas, but for this particular idea, it just doesn't work out. Just considerate it a present then, okay?

This story features Din and Scion, my friend Halfdemon-kai's OC. It won't be hard to understand or anything, but of course…people who have read her story have the added advantage and knowledge.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas! (Or Happy Holidays, whichever applies to you ^_^)

Sin's P.o.v.

The day was clear and dry, the blue sky above them peeking through the trees that hung over the path they were walking on, urging them to proceed to their destination. The leaves of the forest rustled in the warm summer wind, as if applauding them for their eagerness to get there as soon as possible. The weather was too much to turn down though, why not get there early?

Sin raised a hand to cover her orange eyes as the sun split through another gap in the leafy roof above.

"Wow, it sure is bright, huh?" she murmured absentmindedly with a smile. They couldn't have picked a better day to hold a festival in Valinsa. A warm day meant a comfortable night.

Walking along swiftly beside her was Scion. "Could have been worse, that's for sure," the older girl agreed with a nod, though her gaze was forward.

Scion was a fighter, not just in appearance, but in spirit. It didn't take long for Sin to realize that her past was one undeniable tragedy that she had no choice but to try to ignore in order to live. Everything about her reflected the person she used to be, from her slanted silver hair that she had cut with her own bloodied sword, to the lime green eyes that were just starting to get some life in them again.

She usually didn't say too much, but neither did she not say how she felt.

"How much further is it?" Scion wondered, furrowing her eyebrows as she turned her head to look at the replica, her starlight hair catching the gentle wind.

Sin cast her gaze down the path ahead of them, trying to calculate.

"Hmm…well if I remember correctly, in about an hour we should come to a spot where two roads connect…from there it's a short walk. Valinsa will be in sight and everything."

The green-eyed girl frowned a bit. "Should we wait for Din at the point where the roads merge? We can walk the rest of the way together."

Sin nodded, a sheepish smile coming to her face. "Yeah…but you know Asch is with Din too."

The silver haired girl scowled openly, adjusting her sword in the process. "Oh yeah, him. I guess he can come along with us if he stays at least ten feet away from me at all times."

The replica bit her lip, stifling laughter. Asch was Scion's worst enemy in many aspects, and apparently she wasn't about to give him a break, even for the walk to the festival.

"I bet you two could be friends if you gave each other a chance," she tried to supply helpfully, but Scion waved her off.

"Are you kidding? I'd rather go cliff-jumping."

Sin scratched the back of her head. "That sure is a deep grudge you've got there."

"Damn right it is!"

She went hacking at a nearby tree repeatedly, cursing with every strike of her glassy blue sword. The tree shook violently, the green leaves drifting down in protest the to older girl's rampage.

Finally, once she had taken her anger out fully on the now slightly disfigured tree, she turned back around to face Sin.

"Well I feel better. Let's go."

"Uhm…o-okay," Sin replied with a nervous laugh, beginning to walk – stiff-legged – to catch up with the seemingly calm again girl.

'Should I be concerned for Asch's safety or Scion's health?'

Asch's P.o.v.

"Not too long now," Asch murmured to himself rather than anyone else, but regardless, the man who resembled Guy to his left caught it.

"I wonder if Scion and Sin are alright?" Din wondered, touching his chin lightly in thought while raising his blue eyes to the almost matching blue sky.

Asch turned his head slightly to glance at the blond. "They're fine. Sin would contact me if they were in any sort of danger."

"Oh yeah, that's right," the blond male agreed, snapping his fingers as if to snap his realization in place. "I forgot that you two had that connection. That must come in handy in emergencies."

"It does," Asch replied shortly. "Though it only works one way."

"Huh…I see," Din nodded, returning his gaze to the path ahead. "I guess we'd be out of luck if we were the ones in danger," he reasoned, adding a small laugh to the end.

Asch shook his head, but not in denial. "Usually I'm not the one in danger though—" he began, until a rustling in the bushes suddenly caused him to halt. Din stopped beside him, his hand sliding to his own thin sword.

A ligarre stepped out onto the path a short distance away. It was small…but not its fangs. It immediately turned once it sense them and began to growl, inching closer.

"Not that bright…" Asch muttered, unsheathing his sword. Din did the same, his expression turning focused.

Din gripped his sword tighter and tensed his legs to spring. "Don't underestimate—"

Eleven more ligarres wandered onto the path, making Din and Asch stiffen in disbelief.

"—them…" the blond rephrased as needed.

Asch slapped a hand to his forehead. "There is a first time for everything."

Din sighed through his nose as the pack began to surround them, eager for their next meal. Asch was already being attacked by three.

"This is going to slow us down a little bit…" he stated, rubbing his chin.

"Hello!? Don't just stand there, help me!"

"Oh, right," Din blinked before crouching and rushing in.

Sin's and Scion's P.o.v.

"Hey, you almost hit me," Sin shouted, waving her arms.

Scion was in the apple tree to the side of the path, crawling along the branches ever so carefully to get the shining red fruits at its ends. Some dropped off easily, plummeting down like a pathetic rain-of-fire at the black haired replica underneath.

"Then move out of the way!" Scion responded loudly. "It's simple logic!"

"But if I let the one I want hit the ground, it'll bruise!"

"Don't make me come down there!" the silver haired girl shouted, waving her arms back at the smaller girl below. "You're the one who wanted the one at the very top!"

"They taste better!"

"How would you know? Have you ever climbed an apple tree before, huh, small fry!?"

Sin shook her fist up at the older girl in the tree. "I swear if you say that again I'll—"

"Small fry!"

"H-hey!"

"Shrimpy!"

"Stop it! I'm gunna—"

"Chibi!"

"That's it—"

An apple clunked into the side of Sin's head, cutting her off fully. She shook her head for a second in surprise before scowling up at Scion, who was currently reaching for another one.

"Ow! Way to take the high road!" Sin yelled. She didn't hesitate to pick up an apple off the ground and throw it back, effectively knocking the one Scion had right out of her hand.

Scion turned to her with a brooding expression on. "That one was yours."

Sin threw another one at the girl in the tree, to which the silver hair girl barely ducked from.

"I'd stop if I were you," Scion called warningly. "I've got a lot more apples than you do up here!"

"Yeah well mine are better because they're rotten!"

"Well mine are harder!"

"You can barely move up there!"

"Yeah but we're even because you're clumsy!"

Sin scowled, a speckled apple clutched in her pale hand.

"Yeah well…you sound just like Asch!"

"Damn it!"

Asch and Din's P.o.v.

Din let a breath out through his nose while wiping his slender sword on the grass beside him, getting off the deep crimson blood of the now lifeless ligarres laying on the path behind them. Asch let out a small mutter, letting Din know he was clearly annoyed with what had just happened.

"Whew…I haven't had that much exercise in a while," Din laughed, taking in the appropriate deep breaths. Asch folded his arms in front of him as he walked, closing his eyes.

"Like I said…first time for everything."

"Yeah that's pretty ironic isn't it? We can't even get into contact with Scion and Sin if your weapon connection doesn't go both ways."

"It can't be helped. I wouldn't consider what happened a danger anyway."

"Really?" Din asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Even after four more showed up and one took your boot?"

The blond looked down at the ex-generals now multiply punctured footwear. They had managed to get it back at least. "So much for getting there half-decently."

"Tch…" Asch muttered. "Not my fault you zoned out while they jumped on me."

"Oh right, sorry," Din laughed. "But at least the way is clear…now…"

Asch kept walking, giving him a questioning glance when he stopped to look into the boughs of a nearby tree. He wasn't sure if he was seeing it correctly…he…hoped he wasn't.

"Uh…Asch…" Din called as quietly as he could.

"What is it?" Asch shouted back loudly, stopping on the dirt path a short distance ahead and crossing his arms in obvious irritation at the hold up.

Din immediately made a gesture, trying to tell him to hush up. The ex-general stared at him, raising a bemused eyebrow. Din repeated the action again, just in case…but apparently it wasn't clear enough because Asch was speaking before he could try to protest.

"You look like an idiot," the crimson haired man called. "What the hell are you doing?"

Din froze quickly, as if that would help somehow.

Obviously it didn't and the wyverns yellow eyes flew open from its sleep.

It was only a second after that when numerous other pairs of eyes also opened, staring right at him. He didn't even see the rest of them there before.

"Uh oh…"

There was one simple screech from the tree before all the wyverns lifted from their branches and the area around them was a mess of wings and dagger-like feet. He was barely aware of Asch withdrawing his sword and rushing over to him as best he could.

The straw-blond also unsheathed his sword.

"Way to go!" the ex-general muttered loud enough for him to hear through all the roars and shrieking dives of the wyverns. They had a tendency to dive straight down at their victims…effectively disorienting them.

"H-Hey! How is this my fault!?" Din exclaimed, swatting one away.

"You should have said something!"

"You should have not said something!"

Sin and Scion's P.o.v.

Scion wiped her forehead, pushing her silver bangs out of the way in the process.

"It sure is getting hot…" she murmured with furrowed eyebrows before glancing down at her empty water supply. The little bottle hung down uselessly at her side and she considered ditching it so it wouldn't weigh her down for no reason.

"I guess a little bit," Sin agreed, rotating her red apple in her hand. "But it's not too much further to the road merge."

"Maybe we'll find some water…"

"You can have some of mine if you—oh wait…never mind…"

"What?" Scion asked, confused, as she turned to the orange-eyed replica. The girl had a very stupid grin on her face.

"I uh…" she pulled the bottle out, and there was water in it…except also sitting in it was a pretty yellow flower, "I liked this flower, so I picked it."

Scion felt a sweat drop run down the side of her face, but she wasn't sure if it was from the heat or the stupidity of the moment.

Seeming to think Scion was more important though, she plucked the flower out of the bottle and offered it to her. Scion stared at it with furrowed eyebrows and a slight frown on her face. Sin continued to wait for her to take it, grinning.

"The water's brown…" Scion finally stated. Sin turned the bottle and looked in the hole, as if it wasn't see-through.

Amazingly, the replica attempted to hand it to her again. "It's nutritious!" she chirped.

There was a moment of silence as the silver haired girl stared at her.

"…Ew."

"Organic?"

"I don't think so."

"Mineral water?"

"…"

Sin looked at the water again, before shrugging and replacing the flower with a small smile. Scion sighed and turned around to keep walking the path.

Regardless of this minor set back however, it wasn't too long before they encountered a water valve, placed ever so generously beside a bench for rest.

"That's convenient," Sin said, her eyes lighting up as she sat on the bench. "I wonder if Din and Asch are having as much luck as we are?"

"I dunno," Scion shrugged as she turned the tap and proceeded to fill her dry water bottle. She splashed a bit at Sin, who laughed and covered her face.

"Well if the way they went is anything like ours, I'm sure they've got it easy."

Sin nodded before taking out her apple again and washing it under the refreshing, cool water.

Asch and Din's P.o.v.

"Ugh…we've got the worst luck in the world…" Din panted, leaning back in an exhausted manner and closing his eyes. "First the ligarres…and then wyverns?"

Asch had closed his eyes too as he leaned on his sword for support and breathed as deeply as his lungs would allow.

"That was ridiculous," he stated icily. "This is taking way too long."

Din inspected his own clothing with a tiny laugh, grasping it. If it wasn't for the actual materials they were wearing, they would probably be assumed to be peasants or something. They looked pretty beaten up.

The ex-general finally rose and sheathed his sword. Then he shook his head, making his long red hair sway behind him as if he refused to believe what had just happened.

"We can't afford to waste any more time. At this rate, we won't even make it before nightfall."

They began to walk again, reluctantly.

"This better be a damn good festival…" Asch muttered.

"Yeah I hear you…but it can't possibly get worse, right?" Din smiled slightly.

The crimson haired man shot him a look like he was out of his mind for saying that. He laughed a little and shook his head in response, casting his eyes forward.

"I wonder if we'll catch up to Scion and Sin soon. I mean, I know we took different routes but we haven't seen them at all. I hope they're alright…"

"The roads join up ahead," Asch replied bluntly. "And I told you they aren't in danger."

Din rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah I know but…what if Sin just didn't get the chance to ask for her weapons before…you know…they got attacked….?"

Asch's next glare was that of a killer, effectively silencing him.

"Want to run that by me again?"

The blond waved his hands. "No, no. I'm sure you heard me."

"Yeah that's what I thought," Asch stated, setting his already hard glare forward.

They walked on in silence for a good few minutes, Din humming to himself in an attempt to nullify the horribly bad mood he had accidentally put the slightly younger red-head in. Asch wasn't often bothered by things…but when he was bothered, no one couldn't tell.

Suddenly a presence caught Din's eye on the road ahead and he blinked, curious.

"What is that…?" the blond murmured in confusion. Out of the corner of his gaze, Asch narrowed his eyes in what appeared to be disbelief.

They continued to get closer and closer until finally…they were only inching closer in order to prove themselves wrong. Asch stopped walking before he did, the ex-general's emerald eyes going wide. He appeared to be stunned where he was.

Din inched ahead by a few steps, tilting his head.

The monster was huge, with thick scales and a powerful, crushing tale swinging behind it. Its face and body were that of a gigantic dragon, with a pair of wings that didn't seem to help the two astonished males much.

It sat on the road as if it was waiting for them unknowingly, but as soon as it sensed their presence, its large head swung around with a roar that nearly knocked them over.

"You've got to be shitting me!" Asch yelled, whipping his sword out from its sheath faster than Din had ever seen it go.

"What kind of monster is that!?" Din shouted over the roar of the monster and its flapping wings. It looked impossibly strong.

Asch clenched his teeth together and narrowed his eyes. Din watched the realization flicker in the crimson haired man's eyes, and he knew that…somewhere…Asch had seen this monster before.

"Replicantis." Asch stated. "See you in the after life, Din."

Sin and Scion's P.o.v.

"Ah, here we are," Sin said as she stretched in the small clearing where the two roads had finally conjoined. There were a few benches and lots of shade. Scion sighed and sat down tiredly beside her.

"So we're going to wait here?" the silver haired girl asked dully as she folded her arms behind her head. "Do we even know if they're behind us?"

"Hmm…I don't know. I guess they'd have to be because they were on another mission before heading to Valinsa…and we left early…"

"I guess we'll be here for a while then, wont we?"

Sin shook her head, not knowing. "I can't say…but we'll just wait here for a little while."

The replica proceeded to put her apple out from thin air and began to eat it while swinging her feet casually. Scion let her head fall back and blinked her eyes tiredly.

Not a moment later though, there was a distinct rustling in the nearby bushes. Sin jumped in response and Scion lifted her head with a dull expression on.

"Is that a monster?" the replica asked, her orange eyes scanning back and forth.

Her question was answered easily though, because in the next moment, a light green cheagle was standing there, its eyes big and curious.

Sin relaxed with a laugh at herself. "Oh look Scion, it's your cheagle," she grinned. "I can't believe it followed us all this way."

Scion however, was not listening and fell to her knees, hanging her head in defeat. Sin raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth between the tiny creature and the tormented girl.

"Uhm…are you okay?" she asked nervously.

"I'm doomed…" Scion said to the ground. "It's defeated me…I'll never escape it…"

"Uh…"

"This is it. I'm screwed for life."

"Aren't you overreacting just a little…bit…?" Sin laughed nervously as the cheagle wandered over. "I mean it's just…fond of you."

A little too fond Sin realized a moment later as the cheagle latched itself onto Scion's face in pure joy.

"Ah! It's licking me! Get it off!"

Sin laughed a little nervously, not knowing what to make of the situation as Scion ran around in a blind frenzy, the cheagle mewing the entire time.

"That's it!" Scion shouted in a muffled voice as she managed to yank the flailing cheagle from her face. "Stay away from me!"

Then she wound up her arm and launched the cheagle into the forest. Sin watched it go with a couple slow blinks. Scion turned around and crossed her arms with a deep scowl on her face.

Abruptly, Sin jumped when there was a crashing 'thud' behind her and she turned around to see Asch and Din collapsed on the ground, clothes torn, lots of scratches, dirty and beaten.

"Whoa," Sin stated, surprised.

"What arte rejected you guys?" Scion asked as she crossed her arms with a tiny smirk.

Asch scowled as he pushed himself up a little. "It wasn't an arte! We only ran into sixteen ligarres, a flock of wyverns and then replicantis himself!" he growled, unsuccessfully trying to get to his feet.

Scion rolled her eyes at him. "Now what have I told you about taking shortcuts?"

"It wasn't a shortcut! We were on the path the entire time!"

Din managed to push himself to his knees. "It's true. We didn't take one step off the path."

"Oh, so you walked right into them then?"

"Like hell we did!" Asch snapped at the silver haired girl.

Scion shrugged and turned back to Din who was lying on the ground, his eyes closed. She pulled out her refilled water bottle and tipped it over his face.

"Here, drink up," she stated as the contents dumped onto his face. He jerked up, startled.

Beside them, Sin was kneeling beside Asch to get his attention. "Look, look…" the replica beamed as she pulled out her water bottle with the tiny yellow flower in it. "I saw this and thought of you."

The ex-general stared at it with a blank expression, wondering how she could possibly be trying to offer him a flower at the moment.

"Uh…this…reminds you of me?" he murmured in exhaustion, his eyebrows furrowing.

Sin nodded, her eyes lighting up. "Yeah! It reminds me of sunshine, which reminds me of you!" she grinned. Asch looked down at his torn clothes and all the scratches.

"If you say so…"

"If we were getting presents for each other, I would have gotten you a rock, Asch." Scion stated with a smirk. "That's what reminds me of you."

He scowled. "Then I would have gotten you nothing."

"Oh, why's that?" Scion chided.

"It's what you are."

"Are you really in any position to be saying stuff like that?" she asked darkly, her hand running to the hilt of her sword.

He scowled, before feeling Sin tapping his arm and turning to her.

"Want a bite of my apple?"

So there you have it, my Christmas present to you guys. It was very fun to write, but I've never written a one-shot before so I had to learn what to put in and what to take out, meaning details. Hah, you got to see everyone's silly side, especially Sin's. Maybe I'll do another one like this…anyone got suggestions? Hmm –ponders – I'll have to think some more about it.

Halfdemon-kai helped me on this one big time, ideas and letting me use her character. Thank you buddy, couldn't have wrote it without you.

Merry Christmas!

(Oh, and the next chapter of One Reality is almost done)

Kazink