Animal Crossing
The Jingle Express
Chapter 3
(Laina, Mrs. Jingle, Joy, Noel, Jangle and his Shadow Dogs, Karangle, Bangle, Durangle, Narangle, Fandangle, Spike, Razor, and the Forgotten Wolves are © me, but Laina's player is Animal Crossing. All other characters are © Nintendo. )
Jangle growled, almost crushing the telescope in his hold, as he watched the Jingle train go through the tunnel and travel into the trees and the Tanukies began shoveling the large pile of snow away from their village.
"I can't believe this," he snarled, "That plan was supposed to be foolproof and they escaped without using any source of Jingle's magic! How could it be possible?!"
Jangle's outburst caused Karangle to slightly stir in her sleep, but she just turned on her side, pulled the blankets closer to her, and fell right back asleep. He sighed in relief and tiptoed to the bedroom next door, their children's room, and saw that his angry shouts didn't reach their ears.
"Ah, look at my sweet children. For once, they are dreaming of sugarplums. I can't wait to see the happy look on their faces when they play with their new toys, then destroy them when they grow bored. Their glee shall be my glee," he gently closed the room door and moved back to peer out his room window, watching Jingle's train continue his course toward his icy mansion, "But my happiness won't last long knowing those pest are still heading our way. Hmm? What's this?"
The dark-eyed reindeer turned the telescope to a deserted and rickety town that was many miles ahead of the tracks. He could see smoke coming from the town square and zoomed in on it. He saw wolves dressed like young street thugs sitting around the large bonfire, drinking ale from the bottle and singing bar songs.
"Ah, the Forgotten Wolves," Jangle smiled, "It sure is comforting that they are some other people who find Jingle's thoughtful giving so sickening," he yawned, "I'm so tired and I really don't feel like messing with those annoying fools that my brother calls 'family and friends'…so, I think I'll take this time to give those poor wolves a tip of Jingle's arrival."
He sat at his table and wrote the message on a black sheet of colored paper with a light blue crayon:
To The Forgotten Wolves,
I am 8 years old and a huge fan. Just like all of you, I hate and despise Jingle as much as all of you do. But I'm not writing to rant. I just thought I let you know that Jingle's train is heading to your area. Give Jingle a huge Christmas wallop for me.
An Anonymous Fan
"I better not whistle for my shadow dogs and risk waking Karangle and the children," he folded the letter messily, trying to make it look this letter was sent by a child with no Christmas spirit and stuffed it in a black envelope, "I guess using a little frost magic before bed wouldn't hurt."
Jangle moved to the bedroom window and held up the envelope in front of his face. He gently blew on it, making a cool and icy wind come from between his lips. The wind swirled around the envelope and, when he released it, the envelope floated in mid-air in the middle of the small cyclone of wind. He blew on it again, sending it flying out the window and up into the clouds. He watched it disappear over the wide moat and over the sea of snow-covered trees before closing the window and climbing into bed.
The wind carried the envelope many miles toward the village. The envelope freely danced in the gust of wind like an ice pixie performing ballet. As it began to near the village that the Forgotten Wolves had inhabited, the gust of wind disappeared and the envelope spiraled down toward the town.
The gang of wolves was dancing drunkenly around the large fire, whooping and hollering like wild Indians readying for war, and threw darts at a picture of Jingle that was pinned up on the dartboard. They were too busy in their own fun to notice the falling envelope that was nearing closer and closer to the bonfire.
But one wolf, the leader of the Forgotten Wolves, noticed something falling from the amber colored sky and grabbed it before it fell in the fire. The leader was a thick-furred, gray wolf dressed in a pair of jeans, a denim vest and a red bandanna around his head.
He sniffed at the envelope, unable to determine the scent, and curiously opened it. He unfolded the crumpled letter and read it with his eyes. When he read the last two sentences, he grinned so widely that it got the attention of one of his comrades. He walked up to his leader, "What's up, Razor?"
He held up the letter, "We gotta tip from a fan." He stood up on the roof of a broken down house and whistled to get everyone's attention. All heads turned up toward the leader wolf and wondered what all the fuss was about.
"My fellow brothers, the sweet smell of revenge is growing near," Razor announced, "Jingle's train is heading right this way and this year…we're gonna make sure we get what we deserve."
The wolves roared and howled loudly with agreement. Razor waved his hands to quiet them back down, "When the train comes near here, we're gonna use our hooks and pull ourselves up on the train and dump them in town. We're gonna have a Christmas this year whether Jingle likes it or not."
Noel came from the bedroom after checking on Jingle and his wife looking miserable. Joy peered over the couch arm and looked down at her twin brother, "How's Jingle?"
The green firefox shook his head slowly, "It's like he's getting colder and colder every minute. I had to cover him up with more blankets. Poor Mrs. Jingle had cried herself to sleep in her chair."
Joy's ears drooped, "This isn't fair. Why is Jangle so mean? What does he have against Jingle and the Christmas holidays?"
"He's just a mean and hateful Scrooge that's never been visited by the ghost of the past, present, and future, Joy. That's all I can say." Noel was about to return to the engine room until he noticed a cool breeze blowing inside the train cabin. He turned to where the direction of the wind was coming from and saw Laina standing at the end of the cabin with the door open.
As he walked up to her, Joy felt herself getting cold and decided to join the Jingles' in the bedroom. He slowly approached her so as not to startle her, "Penny for your thoughts, kid?"
"Those sleds…it's so weird." Laina was looking at the long line of sleigh-shaped cars that the train was pulling along, "I remember reading picture books to the kids about Jingle and in the pictures the sleighs were full with bags upon bags of gifts and now…just seeing empty like this before delivering gifts…it's just sad."
Noel climbed up to Laina's shoulder and comforted her with a hug around her neck, "I know it is, but just don't give up hope. When we get to Jangle's place, we're gonna give him a very disturbing wake-up call and get those presents back."
"I hope so. I just hate to imagine those kids waking up and seeing that Jingle didn't come down their chimney even if they had been good all year. I have a bunch of little ones back in my town visiting their aunts and uncles. In fact, I have a letter from one of them in my pocket." Laina pulled back her jacket and showed the pink envelope in her inner pockets. The envelope flapped violently in the wind and was able to slip free from the pocket and flew from Laina's grasps.
"Oh no!" Laina watch the pink envelope fly ahead of her, then a change in the wind current made it dive bomb into one of the last sleigh cars, "I gotta get that letter. I promised Valerie I would give her letter to Jingle."
Noel shook his head, "Not on your life, Laina! You step out there and you'll go flying off into the snow and it takes a mile for this thing to come to a complete stop. And we're kinda in a hurry in case you forgot."
"But-I gotta!" Ignoring Noel's warnings, Laina climbed over the safety fence, the cold wind flying in her face, and leaped into the first sleigh car. Noel watched with wide eyes and a gaped mouth as Laina prepared to jump to the second car. He closed his eyes when she leaped from the first car, afraid that she would miss and he would hear her screaming when she flew off the train. He peeked through the openings of his fingers and saw that she had safely made it to the second sleigh.
He sighed in deep relief and shook his head, "She's so reckless, yet she has heart. Well, I better go see if we can slow this train down."
The green firefox headed back inside, keeping the door open and back into the engine room where he slowly pulled on the brake lever to slow the train down. As Laina prepared to jump to the next sleigh, one of the wolves from The Forgotten Wolves gang watched the train from the top of the tallest tree on the outskirts of the town. He spoke into the walkie-talkie given to him, the only communication access he had with his leader, "Razor, get this. The train's riding on the track like a normal train."
The walkie-talkie clicked and Razor responded, "What? Wonder why he's taking the long way around the world…" he sounded confused.
"You think it's a trap?" The wolf asked, climbing up to the very top of the tree to get a better look.
"I'm not sure. See if you can see who's on the train." Razor said before clicking off.
The wolf placed a hand over his eyes and squinted to get a good look at the train's passengers. He saw Noel at the engine and Joy and Mrs. Jingle sitting in the bedroom window. He didn't see Jingle since he was lying down and hidden underneath thick blankets or Laina who ducked down in one of the sleigh cars after almost falling off.
The wolf snickered as he spoke back in the walkie-talkie, "Get this, Razor. It's just Jingle's old lady and two of his scrawny helpers on board. No sign of Jingle in sight."
Razor had an evil smile on the other end of the walkie-talkie, "Excellent. I don't think either of them has the same magic like Jingle so taking care of them will be easy. And this would be perfect to try out our new secret weapon," He looked back at a huge fur that towered him over. Its eyes glowed red underneath the shadow of the trees and it snarled and barked viciously as it wanted to be let loose. Two wolves had to hold it steady with ropes that were tied around his neck like a choke chain.
"Patience, slugger, patience. You'll be let loose soon." Razor said calmly to the huge creature before him and spoke back in the walkie-talkie, "When the train gets close to your position, give the signal."
Back in the bedroom, Joy added another blanket to the 12 thick blankets that already buried the half-frozen Jingle. She sat in a chair near the window, the opposite side of where Mrs. Jingle sat, and peeked through the window. She turned her head when she heard Mrs. Jingle shifted in her chair.
The female reindeer groggily lifted her head, groaning sadly. She saw Joy and quickly rubbed her eyes free from tears.
Joy smiled, "Don't worry, Mrs. Jingle. We just have a few more miles to go before we reach Jangle's home," she slowly tugged on the curtain wire, opening the curtains and letting a bit of the evening sun rays in the room, "And look, there's still plenty of time before night falls."
Feeling pale from sitting in the darkness, Mrs. Jingle moved over and peered out the window at the large snow field. That's when she saw the decrepit and torn up town on the hill in the distance and recognized who or what made that kind of destruction.
The pink firefox saw the worry in Mrs. Jingle's eyes, "What's the matter?"
"The Forgotten Wolves," Mrs. Jingle whispered so as not to stir her husband, "They're near."
"The…Forgotten Wolves?" Joy blinked, "Who are they?"
"They're a gang of vicious lupine nomads," Mrs. Jingle explained, "They travel to a village, chase everyone out, including the mayor, then they stay there destroying everything, drinking heavily, and doing whatever they please. Then when they get tired of their torn-down town, they move to the next town and do it all over again."
"That sounds awful," Joy gasped, "But they shouldn't attack us, right? Are they territorial?"
Mrs. Jingle continued, "The Forgotten Wolves have been around for a very long time, Joy, since the beginning of time. They weren't called the Forgotten Wolves in the beginning though. They didn't adapt to that name until after the first Christmas. Long ago, after word about Jingle giving gifts every Christmas got around, those gang of wolves, who were just as vicious and ruthless as they are now, wanted gifts too. They made a Christmas list that was a mile long and sent it to Jingle. When he got it and read it, along with their selfish wants were vulgar language and threats. Jingle wouldn't stand for that. That's when he began to give coal to all those who were naughty. When the wolves opened their gifts and saw that they all got coal along with a note from Jingle saying to be good for next year, they all despised him and they vow to take gifts from him instead of asking for them. They're more into taking what they want other than obeying orders to earn things they want so every year, they try to take the gifts as he travels around the world on Christmas Eve, but he would always foil their plans. With Jingle being too ill to perform his magic, I'm not sure if we would be able to dodge them."
"Doesn't look like much going on in the town right now," Joy squinted her eyes to get a closer look, "Maybe we shouldn't worry."
While Mrs. Jingle and Joy searched around for any oncoming wolves, Laina had leaped in the second to last sleigh car where she found Valerie's envelope beside a toolbox on the floor of the car. "There you are, you little scamp," she reached down and pocketed the envelope in her inner pocket once again. She sat up in time to hear a wolf howl in the distance. She looked around to search for the howling and saw nothing at first, then she looked up toward a forest on the hill and saw massive group of dark-toned furs coming down the hill.
Joy saw the furs in the distance and recognized them, "It's The Forgotten Wolves! They're heading this way!"
"Noel, speed the train up as fast ass you can!" Mrs. Jingle yelled in the speakerphone, "The Forgotten Wolves have found us!"
"But, Mrs. Jingle, Lai-" Noel forgot everything he was going to say at the sight of the gang of wolves charging at them. He immediately released the brake and shoveled more coal into the fire.
Laina knew that they were in danger when she felt the train speeding up and sat down in the sleigh car, holding on tight. She looked to her right and saw the wolves were catching up with the train, running their fastest along the side of the sleigh cars. One wolf jumped on the car that Laina was sitting in and growled at her viciously. Laina slowly crawled back, reaching down to the toolbox on the ground and grabbing the handle of the mini mallet. The wolf reached for her and she brought the mallet down on his head, making it howl in pain and tumble back in the snow. Another wolf grabbed onto the right side of sleigh. Laina quickly slammed the mallet on his finger and watched him go flying off.
"Razor, they're getting away!" One female wolf shouted as the train gained speed, leaving them in a white, snowy cloud.
Razor still had his smirk on his face with his arms crossed, "Don't worry. It's all taken care of." He looked back at his two buddies who were still holding onto the ropes off the huge beast behind him, "Release the monster."
The wolves let go of the ropes at his command and another howl filled the air, but this one was louder and sent chills down Laina's spine. She looked toward where it came from and her eyes widened at the size of a 6 to 7 foot, massively muscular, yellow eyed wolf charging at the train on all fours, drooling massively.
Laina screamed at the top of her lungs as she stood to climb in the next sleigh car toward the train, "Monster! Monster! Coming this way!"
Joy and Mrs. Jingle saw what Laina was screaming again. Joy jumped up with a yelp and ran to the engine room to help her brother. Mrs. Jingle was frozen in fear and placed a hand over her open mouth, "Oh my word…"
Noel was shoveling coal into the engine as fast as he could. Joy grabbed an armful of coal since there was no extra shovel and tossed them into the fire from a distance so as not to get burned.
Laina had to keep her head down to avoid the icy cold winds that blew in her face from the train's speed, but she stayed on her feet and clung tightly on the mallet's handle in case anymore wolves should try to jump in the sleigh car.
Although the train was going its fastest, the huge wolf slowly caught up until he was right behind the last sleigh car. He lunged forward and grabbed the edges of the sleigh car with his legs and feet flying in the air. He kicked his legs until the bottom of his feet dragged his heels into the ground, kicking up snow and dirt and splintering the wooden tracks as he used his brute strength to bring the train to a complete and sudden halt.
Everyone in the train was thrown forward. Noel and Joy were slammed against the wall of the train. Noel fell to the floor semi-conscious and Joy landed safely in a pile of coal. Mrs. Jingle landed on the bed hard right next to her shuddering husband. Laina lost her balance and tumbled backwards, slamming her head against the side of the sleigh car and falling to the floor motionlessly.
The gang of wolves shouted victoriously as they ran up to the stopped train. Mrs. Jingle quickly got to her feet when she heard the lupine mob approaching and locked all the doors and windows. Joy dragged her brother into the train cabin before Mrs. Jingle locked the door to the train engine.
The wolves jumped to the windows, laughing and whooping loudly, and made vulgar signs and hideous faces at the frightened three inside the cabin. They pulled and yanked at the door and clawed at the windows, but they wouldn't open.
Razor patted the huge wolf that was panting heavily, and walked up to the other wolves that were still trying to force themselves into the doors and clawing at the windows.
"It's no good, boss," one of the wolves said to Razor, "The doors are locked tight and I bet the windows ain't the breakable kind."
The wolf leader turned his head to look in the window to see a worried female reindeer and a pink firefox using one arm to hold up a green and dazed firefox and another to pull down her bottom eyelid while sticking out her tongue. "Don't worry," Razor chuckled, "It's all taken care of. Spike?"
The huge wolf lifted his head when he heard his name being called and began to trudge up to Razor like an obedient pet dog. The wolves around him backed away as he slowly walked up to the train cabin. Most of the wolves were frightened of Spike's bulkiness and decided to keep their distance by staying by the sleigh cars. As one wolf stepped back, he noticed an arm sticking out the side of one of the sleigh cars.
"Spike, my little brother," Razor stared up at the huge wolf, "Be a good boy and rip the roof off this train for me."
Without hesitation, Spike leaped up on the train cabin and grabbed the edge of the roof. Mrs. Jingle and Joy ducked down to their knees when they watched the bigger wolf leap up on the cabin, then they looked around when they heard a sound of metal slowly being ripped away.
The train cabin quaked violently and the sound of splitting metal got louder. Mrs. Jingle hugged Joy and Noel to her protectively. She felt a strong cold wind blowing in from above and looked up in horror at Spike who had peeled back the train cabin roof.
A few wolves leaped up to the opening and jumped into the train cabin, taking ahold of Mrs. Jingle, Joy, and Noel.
Razor instructed for the rest to stay outside and keep watch, and then he too leaped up to the edge of the opened roof, gave his younger brother another hearty pat on the back, and jumped inside the cabin.
The wolves held Mrs. Jingle and the firefox twins in front of them, holding their arms behind their backs. "Well, well, what do we have here? Jingle's old lady and his two of his pet rats riding all alone in the snowy wilderness. You guys must have a death wish or something to come this way."
"We're not rats!" Noel cried angrily before he was pushed hard to the ground, "And we're not alone. We've got some help with us!"
Razor put his fists at his sides, "Is that so? Then where are they? Are they invisible or smaller than you two rodents?" he snickered, "And no sign of Jingle. He must've turned yellow and stayed home and left you three in charge when he heard we'd be hunting him down, am I right?"
"Look who we found, boss!" The wolf leader looked up as two of his allies came out the back room dragging the shuddering Jingle by his arms, "We found him under the covers, sniveling like a baby."
Mrs. Jingle, Joy, and Noel gasped when the wolves dropped Jingle to the ground. The freezing reindeer landed with a heavy thud and laid their shivering, not even making an attempt to get up.
"Look at him. He's frozen in fear before me." Razor walked up to Jingle and picked him up by his back collar, "What's the matter, old man? Do I frighten you?"
Mrs. Jingle's eyes brimmed with tears, "Please don't hurt him. He's really sick. We don't have the gifts with us right now. They've been stolen. We're on our way to retrieve them. Once we get them back…we'll exchange half the gifts for our freedom."
"No presents, huh? That is a disappointment. We might not have presents, but we have your husband here and that seems to be just as good." Razor lifted Jingle over his head, "So you gotta little cold? That's too bad, but don't worry, we're gonna have ourselves a Christmas barbeque and that should warm you up in a hurry."
"A Christmas…barbeque?" Joy didn't like that evil look in the wolf's eyes or the way he said the sentence and couldn't understand of how a barbeque could be held in the winter.
It didn't take Mrs. Jingle long to figure out what Razor was planning, "Razor, don't do anything too radical. Jingle's in no condition-"
"He doesn't even have to lift a finger," The wolf leader dropped the freezing reindeer, motioning two of his comrades to pick him up by the arms, "He can just sit and watch antlers roasting on an open fire. What do you say, boys? Who's up for a reindeer roast?"
The wolves responded with loud shouts of agreement, pumping their fists in the air and howling in approval. The sound died down as two more wolves from outside came in dragging in another individual and dropped her lifeless body at Razor's feet, "Look what we found outside, boss. It was in one of them sleigh cars behind the train."
"Hmm…" Razor kneeled down, rubbing his chin as he examined the new creature, then he picked her up by her back shirt collar, showing all the wolves a furless being dressing in Jingle wear and pigtailed pink hair.
Mrs. Jingle gasped quietly, "Laina? How'd she get outside?"
"A letter flew out her hand when she was standing at the back door," Noel whispered, "I tried to stop her but she walked out on the sleigh cars anyway to try and get it back. She must've been still in the cars during the whole chase and sudden stop."
Joy whimpered as Razor began to look Laina over and other wolves nearby began poking at her body, "She's not moving…I hope she isn't seriously hurt…"
One by one, the Wolves began speaking to Razor:
"But what with a human want with Jingle?"
"I thought all humans believed in…whats-his-name? Santy Claus?"
"You think she's with Jingle, boss?"
"Nah, doubt it," Razor threw Laina's limp body into the waiting arms of his two comrades, "Looks more like a scrawny stowaway that was able to catch a ride on one of those cars back there. We can leave her here."
"Are you sure that's a good idea, boss?"
The Wolf leader snickered, "What is she gonna do? Come flying down on us on her broom and cast a magic spell on us? That's all myths, you morons. Humans are as plain and simple as the white snow outside. She's no threat to us, but I'm sure Spike would love to keep her as the conductor of his new train."
Spike, who was still standing on the edge of the hole in the train cabin roof, held his head up when he heard his older brother say the words 'new train' and caused everyone to scatter as he leaped down in the cabin, making it shake.
Razor smiled, "That's right, little brother. Your own train. And real one at that. Merry Christmas, Spike. You finally got your first Christmas gift."
Despise Spike's size, the towering wolf wagged his tail happily like a puppy and hugged Razor tightly. The Wolves laughed and teased until Razor pushed the overgrown wolf off of him, snarling at him. Spike carefully backed away and stared with sad eyes that said sorry.
"And as for our Christmas gift," The Wolf leader pointed to Mrs. Jingle and the two firefox helpers, "Once we get rid of this old geezer, we'll leak info from these three to Jingle's hangout and that'll be our permanent home. We'll force those helpers of Jingle's to make gifts for us and only us. Christmas will be our own personal holiday."
Noel growled loudly, "You selfish dog!" The green firefox bit down hard on the wolf that held him, making him yelp and release him. Noel charged at Razor and leaped toward him with his claws extended, but his muzzle was met with the back of a fist and he flew back, hitting the wall and fell to the floor, withering in pain.
"Noel!" Joy yelled when her brother was mobbed by the Wolves. They held him down as Razor walked over to him while rubbing his sore knuckles. Noel struggled and squirmed in the wolves grip. Although he was extremely angry and his adrenaline was high, the four foot red panda was no match for the strong lupines.
Razor sneered down at Noel and began stomping down on him. Noel grunted and howled in pain as he felt a heavy boot strike him in his muzzle and stomp on his chest, legs, and tail and the wolves holding him down made sure he couldn't get up. Joy was screaming at Razor to stop and show her brother mercy. Tears flowed down her cheeks each time she heard Noel yell out in pain. Jingle turned his head to Noel's cries and recognized him. He reached his hand out as if he was trying to extend his arm and pull the green firefox out of harm's way, but he was so weak and in so much pain that he could do nothing but lie there and watch, his tears turning into icicles. Laina was still unconscious during the whole thing.
"Razor, please! Stop this instant!" Somehow, Mrs. Jingle's plead got to Razor's ears and he stopped, holding his foot in the air right over Noel. His ear was swiveled back toward Mrs. Jingle, signaling to her that he was listening.
"I'll make an agreement with you and the Wolves. You release us all and…and I'll show you to the Polar Powder Station," Joy looked back at Mrs. Jingle in disbelief, but she continued on, "Our home, our workshop, it'll be all yours if you release us, including my husband."
Razor placed his foot back on the ground. He stayed silent for a few seconds, then he began to chuckle and turned his head to look at the female reindeer, speaking smoothly, "Alright, it's a deal, Mrs. Jingle. We'll take everything from you…everything you own…right after we dispose of Jingle."
Mrs. Jingle could do nothing but gasp and stare wide eyed at the cynical wolf as he commanded his comrades to pick up their prisoners and heave them back to the town. The Wolf holding Mrs. Jingle hauled her over his shoulder and headed out the cabin while another one held Joy and Noel under his arms tightly and followed the first Wolf.
As everyone began to head back to the village, Razor walked up to Spike, dragging the still unconscious Laina "Have fun with your new train, little brother. Look, it even comes with a human conductor."
Spike backed away when his older brother held up Laina's body by her arm. "Don't be such a weak baby," Razor griped, "She's out cold and, if she were awake, she'd be more afraid of you." He dropped Laina to the ground, "Do big brother favor, Spike. If she does wake up and start to cause a racket-." Razor moved his finger quickly across his neck in one swift motion.
The huge wolf nodded as he panted ferally. He waited for Razor to leave before scooping Laina up in his jaws, exiting the train cabin through the opposite exit, and up to the cooling train engine. He slid the pigtailed girl in through the side window and had her propped up with her head and one arm hanging out the window. Spike was starting to wish she could wake up so she could tug on the whistle rope.
Back at the Forgotten Wolves village, Wolves who had rushed after hearing Razor's plan had broken down the bulletin board in the middle of the town and were piling planks and logs on top of it. They cheered as they saw Razor coming up the hill, dragging the very cold Jingle right behind him.
The Wolves carrying Mrs. Jingle, Noel, and Joy headed toward a broken down two-story home. One of them kicked the door open and once they walked through the opening, they turned to their left and headed down the stairs into the basement.
They opened the door and turned on the lights came on showing that the basement was quite bare except for a mop, a desk, and a big something that was covered up in the corner. Mrs. Jingle was dropped on the ground and pushed back to sit against the wall and Joy and Noel were rolled next to her.
"You two don't have to do this," Mrs. Jingle said to the two Wolves as they began to head upstairs, "Do you really want to ruin everyone's Christmas dream and shatter the hearts of the hopeful? Think about what you're doing."
One of the Wolves waved a paw at her, "Yeah, well maybe if your husband would've just gave us our Christmas wish years ago, this wouldn't be happening to you right now!" He laughed and shut the door, leaving the tree in the dark.
Noel slowly sat up against the wall. His whole body was aching from the beating Razor gave him earlier. He groaned as he tried to ignore the throbbing headache within his brain and looked up to Mrs. Jingle, "What do we do now?"
Mrs. Jingle looked up toward the ceiling. She could hear the wolves singing songs on how they were going to prepare a fire and drop Jingle into it. Her eyes brimmed with tears, "We hope for a miracle…and hope it comes in a form of a girl with two pigtails."
"Ugh…oh man…what happened?" Laina slowly twitched her fingers as she began to come around. She leaned against the wall she was supported against and got to her feet, rubbing at the sore spot on her forehead, "I remember climbing over the sleigh cars to get Valerie's letter." She quickly checked her inner coat pocket and saw that the envelope was tucked deeply inside it.
"Then I had a mallet in my hand…but what for?" Then her eyes got as big as dinner plates, "The Wolves!" She leaned her head out the window and sighed in relief when she saw no sight of the Wolves. In fact, all she saw were trees passing by the train, but at a very slow speed.
Laina sighed in relief and slid against the wall until she sat on the floor. She expected to feel the warm heat from the engine's furnace warm her from the winter air, but she felt no warmth at all, then something dawned on her "….wait a minute, last time I remember I was in the sleigh cars…how'd I get up to the train engine?...and what happened to all those Wolves?"
She began to contemplate on what could have happened to the wolves and how she was moved up to the front of the train from the back, and then she began to wonder on everyone's condition. As she began to stand up, she felt the train slowing to a stop.
That's something else Laina began to notice, "Okay, that's the slowest I felt the train go…and how can it be moving when the furnace is ice cold?...what's going on here?" She thought she could hear heavy panting coming from the front of the train engine and walked up to the front window. At the front of the engine, she saw the back of a huge wolf's head and she quickly ducked down when the huge lupine turned around and showed its huge size.
"Oh man! That guy is huge! The Wolves must have gotten Jingle and the others…but where'd they take them?" She slowly crawled over to the left side window of the engine and saw a small, run-down town on top of a snowy hill in between the trees, "I think that's where the Wolves came from…they must've taken everyone there…now how to get there without attracting-" She didn't have time to finish before a loud snarl made her whirl around and stare back into the yellow eyes of the giant wolf.
Spike squeezed his muscular arms through the window and his clawed paws dove straight for Laina. The frightened girl pushed her back against the wall to keep as far away from the huge wolf as possible and moved left and right and ducked as his swiping hand came closer and closer to her. She ducked at the right moment and crawled to her right to the coal car. Spike yanked his arm out the engine window and lunged to the coal car, shaking it when he grabbed the side.
Laina lost her balance and fell on her hands and knees. She looked back, seeing Spike climb over the wall and land in the pile of coal, and she quickly scrambled up to her feet and leaped to the half-ripped roof of the train cabin. She almost lost her footing when the huge wolf also leaped up on the roof, shaking the cabin, but she was able to get back up quickly and ran up the ripped part of the roof that was standing up. Spike was having some difficulty standing up on the roof because it had wet and slippery sleet from a later snowfall and his bare feet weren't doing as well as Laina's no-slip snow boots.
She climbed up the ripped part of the roof and grabbed onto the jagged edge to pull herself up until she was staring at the opening that Spike made earlier. The huge lupine tried to grab at her feet while he struggled to stand up and avoided falling off, but he was only able to grab one of her boots as she pulled herself up and flipped inside the train cabin.
Laina looked around at the mess in the train cabin. It looked as if a hurricane had went through the cabin, "No doubt about it…the Wolves been here."
She was so alarmed and panicked that she forgot about Spike hovering above her. The huge wolf pounced on top of the girl, pinning her down on the ground. He slowly rose up, making sure he had her in his grip, wrapped his bulky arms around her tightly, and grabbed her in a tight bear hug, slowly squeezing the air out of her lungs and crushing her body.
Laina squirmed furiously as the pressure around her body forced her to exhale. She was able to slip down to let her feet touch the floor when Spike loosened his grip to regain more strength, but he quickly clamped down on her when he felt her sliding, pushing her down as he held her in a choking headlock. The poor girl could barely stand the weight being pressed on her and the muscular strain around her neck that was making her black out. She felt a last of her air escaping her lungs and, out of panic, she leaned her head down and bit down on Spike's arm hard.
Spike yelped loudly and immediately released her, holding his other paw over his bite mark as Laina crawled away and closed herself in the bathroom. He slowly released his hold on his arm and his eyes widened at the small bite imprint that Laina had made. Although big and scary looking as Spike was, the huge wolf had the mind and spirit of a young pup, and to a pup, getting bit by human being was like being bitten by a snake.
Laina stood against the bathroom door, spitting loose fur that had gotten in her mouth, and gasped when she felt the whole cabin shake then just stand still. She opened the door slightly and saw nothing but the demolished cabin, but she thought the wolf was hiding behind the door waiting for her to put her foot out the door. She pulled herself up on her shaking feet, panting, and looked out the small window over the sink.
There seemed to be more activity going on in the town on the hill. She saw Wolves going up and down hills carrying an armload of firewood and saw a thick, black pillar of a smoke cloud rising from the town.
She could see a bright light coming from the town and saw from the flickering shadow that the Wolves were preparing a fire—a big fire. "And something tells me they're not gonna sit around it and make s'mores and sing campfire songs," Laina thought to herself and snickered as she pictured that, "I have to get to that town…but I can't do this alone or I'm sure to foul up somewhere."
She was startled by the loud bawling that reached her ears and pushed the door all the way open. She quietly sneaked through the cabin and headed toward the crying, looking around for the huge wolf and relaxed when she saw no sign of him. The sound led her outside into the woods nearby. She didn't have to walk far to approach and huge, shadowed lump curled up under a snow-covered fir tree.
Laina slowly approached the shadowed fur so as not to startle it, "Hey, are you alright?" The fur jolted its head up, showing its sad yellow eyes.
"Ah! It's you again!" She screamed. She jumped back and fell backwards in the snow, scooting away. She kept her eyes closed tight and waited for him to snarl and pounce on her and start squeezing the life out of her again, but she felt no heavy weight on her and only heard whimpering. She opened her eyes and saw that Spike had moved to hide behind the tree, shaking so that he shook the tree and the snow from the branches came down on him.
"He…he's scared of me?" Laina approached him cautiously and he took steps back at the same time she moved. She kept walking up to him slowly and he kept stepping back until his back hit against an embankment. Spike stared at Laina with the saddest eyes, so sad that it would make anyone's heart melt.
Laina watched him clamp his arm around where she bit him, probably protecting himself from another one of her bite attacks. She spoke softly, "Hey…uh…sorry about earlier…can you understand me?"
Spike's ears perked up at her apology and looked at his attacker with a rather look of surprise.
"I'll take that as a yes." She noticed that he still had his hand clamped around the bite area, "Did I bite you that hard?" She came up to him to get a closer look.
Since he was trapped against the curve of dirt and didn't feel threatened by Laina, Spike let go of his arm and allowed her to inspect his wound.
She arched an eyebrow at the mark she made on his limb which looked like eight small dots to her, "You're whining over this little bite? I barely got past your skin. Well, nonetheless, you're alright, but if you want a band aid, I think there's some back on the train."
The huge wolf nodded and followed her back to the damaged train. Laina watched him closely out the corner of their eyes as they headed back, but he never made any sudden movements to attack or escape. She entered the cabin after instructing Spike to stay outside and rummaged through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. She came back outside, stripping the bandage off the plastic, and placed it carefully over the 'severe wound'.
Laina threw the remains of the bandage away, "Maybe that'll teach you not to play so rough from now on." Without warning, she felt a large, wet tongue slurp against her face and the whole left side of it was dripping wet.
"Wow," Laina blinked as she wiped her cheek with her sleeve, "Nothing like that has happened since I had a dog back home. You're nothing but an overgrown puppy, aren't you?" She smiled up at Spike.
Spike nodded and smiled back, wagging his tail rapidly. Laina didn't feel so afraid anymore and began to stroke her hand against his head fur, "I feel bad for biting you now. No hard feelings now, right?" She watched nod again, then she lifted his face to look at her, "I need you to listen to me. I need you to take me up to the Wolves village. Christmas is in peril and it can't be saved alone."
The huge, young wolf looked up to the village where he knew his brother was and looked down at the snowy ground and whined. Laina lifted his head up again, "Please? I'll make you a deal. You help me save my friends and I'll see to it that…you get a Christmas gift. Anything you want." The wolf's tail began wagging fast again and he nodded in agreement.
"Thank you so much…uh….what's your name?" She watched as he wrote his name in the snow with his claw, "Spike, eh? Pleased to meet you. My name's Laina."
The abandoned village that the Forgotten Wolves inhabited was nearly nothing but tree stumps and support beams that held up buildings. The Wolves were going around finding things—anything made of wood or that was flammable to keep the huge bonfire going.
The Wolves sat around the bonfire, singing vulgar, but victorious songs about their capture of Jingle and what they were going to do to him now and afterwards. Razor sat on his 'throne' next to an untouched house and smiled as he watched his comrades' happiness and at the bright, burning fire. Jingle lied shivering, still suffering from the loss of his heart (and it being cold outside didn't help much either), and whimpered as he watched the fire. Strangely, he could feel no heat from the fire in his state.
Razor sneered and kicked Jingle in his back, "Don't worry, old man. We'll get you warmed up in a second. You'll be so hot you probably won't be able to stand it," The Wolves leader cackled, "Once we get through with you and your family, we'll take your precious Jingle Express and drive it to your home. We'll torture those helpers of yours and turn them into our maids. We'll fix up our house and our train to suit our taste and we'll travel from town to town and destroy the ones we want to make our own territory. As for that human girl…I don't really care if she's with you or not. I'm thinking about keeping her as a pet to beat around on my bad days. And when she bores me, I'll give her to my brother who'll probably use her like a rag doll."
Jingle was infuriated by Razor's taunts and tried to give up, but it felt like his joints were frozen and it felt painful as he tried to move. He fell back on the cold ground, shivering and feeling so helpless. Luckily for him, Laina and Spike were listening in as they hid behind the house.
Laina, sitting on top of Spike's shoulders, bared her teeth and clenched her fist, "That selfish beast! No offense, Spike, but he's just a no-good, self-centered, egotistical mutt. And if he's really planning to do all that, then we need to find my friends fast. Do you have any idea where they could've put them, Spike?"
The giant wolf, which was standing like a feral wolf while carrying Laina, placed his nose to the ground and sniffed along the ground as he tried to search for the scent of a female reindeer and two firefoxes. Laina crouched down against his thick fur to keep from being seen. Some of the Wolves who saw Spike in the distance thought he was just playing and shrugged as they continued singing or preparing the fire.
Spike followed the scent to a house that was downhill from where the Wolves were. The roof and most of the walls were gone from when the Wolves stripped it down trying to make firewood. Laina walked through the doorway of the demolished house and looked around, "I don't see them, Spike. Have you had your nose inspected lately?"
She turned to hear him whining and saw him batting at a door on the floor. Laina walked over and pulled the door open, revealing the stairs leading down into the basement. She turned on the lights before stepping deeper down the stairway.
The lights suddenly flickering on startled Mrs. Jingle, Joy, and Noel awake. They nervously watched the stairs as they heard footfalls coming down it. They smiled and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw someone with locks of pink hair.
"Laina! It's you! Thank the saints you're alright!" Mrs. Jingle smiled as Laina began to untie her, "How'd you get past that big wolf?"
"You mean Spike?" Laina asked, "We got into a little scuffle earlier, but then I bit him and now he seems pretty tame enough now?"
Noel blinked rapidly, "Spike? That-that thing has a name?"
"Spike's a he! And he helped me get up here to save you fuzzy butt!" Laina snapped at him, making him jump, "Besides, he's nothing but a puppy underneath all that bulk."
Mrs. Jingle untied Joy from her binds, "I don't know, Laina. He's an awfully big puppy."
Before Laina could respond, she turned her head to hear something down the stairs and Spike appeared. Joy squealed in fright and backed into a corner. Mrs. Jingle was too frightened to make any movements and Noel stood in front of her, ready to fight to the death if it he had to.
Laina walked up to him and gently patted his muzzle and Spike leaned her head into her, liking the petting. "See? Nothing but a puppy. He may be the youngest out of all the Wolves up there."
Joy got the bravery to walk up to Spike with Noel following right behind her. Spike sniffed down at the pink firefox and licked her cheek, knocking her over with his large touch and covering her in slobber. Joy laughed as she sat up, "Now that you tamed him, he does look kinda cute."
"Hmm," Mrs. Jingle observed Spike from where she stood, "I do recall Razor calling him his little brother.
"Little? This guy has to be at least 10 years older than Razor." Noel looked up at Mrs. Jingle.
"It's just because of his size, Noel. Either it's gigantism or it's something that runs in his family genes." Mrs. Jingle explained, "And he probably has feralai, a syndrome in which animal villagers act like their feral ancestors."
"Oh yeah…uhm…" Laina looked around nervously, "I also promised him a Christmas wish if he helped us. Is that cool?"
A look of doubt came over the female reindeer's face, "Oh dear…well, that depends…what did he wish for?"
Laina shrugged, "He didn't say. Do you know what you want, Spike?"
Spike didn't hesitate. He walked over to the corner where that was something bulky hidden under a blue tarp. He pushed the desk over with one paw and tilted the mop over, then pulled back the tarp to uncover what was hidden underneath it.
A large wooden sled was revealed to everyone in the basement. It looked old, but still in good condition. It looked like it could seat two people and reign straps were in the front designed for someone strong to pull it. Spike reached into the seat part of the sled pulling out a photo frame and carried it over to Laina.
She took it in both hands and studied the photo. Three wolves were in the picture; one female and two male, and they stood on the front porch of their Christmas decorated home. The female stood in the middle while the male wolves, both of them looking really young, stood on either side of her. She looked very happy and was dressed up for the holiday seasons, wearing a long green dress and wore a holly in her auburn hair. The young wolf on her left side looked to be about 11 or 12 years. He was dressed in casual clothing and had his arms crossed with a very sour look on his face. The wolf on the right was large, about the half the size of Spike, but his smiling face told you that he looked to be around 4 or 5 years old and he was dressed in a red sweater with Jingle's face sewn on it holding a wooden toy train engine.
"Looks like a family…your family." Laina looked up at Spike who was nodding. She watched as he took a finger and circled it around the wolf lady and then the whole house, "I think he's saying he wants to go back home with his mom."
Joy smiled, "Aww, how sweet. I guess he's not like the rest of the Wolves after all."
"Razor must have somehow persuaded him to come along with him and the Wolves," Mrs. Jingle moved to stand beside Spike, gently brushing his headfur back gently, "You really don't want to hurt anyone, do you? You were just following your big brother's orders."
"Big brother?!" Noel looked up at the huge wolf, still in complete shock, "This kid here practically towers over Razor."
"Razor is still his big brother to him since he's still so young and anything he say goes. I've been there so I know having a older brother commanding you around can be a major pain," Laina turned her head to look up at the ceiling to hear a loud racket going on above ground, "Crap! We're down here talking and they're gonna throw Jingle on bar-B. We gotta get going."
"You gotta plan?" Mrs. Jingle looked to Laina.
"Uh…sorta…" Laina looked around the room until she eyed the sled, "Spike, you don't mind playing horsey do you?"
Spike tilted his head slightly, looking at her with confusion.
Laina grabbed onto reigns and tugged the sled out the corner, "I need you to dash through the snow pulling this sleigh with everyone it in it and carry everyone back to the train. Noel, once you get to the train, get it warmed up because we're gonna need a quick getaway as soon as I grab Jingle."
"Are you insane?!" Noel gasped in disbelief, "Jingle isn't exactly laying there unsecured. You'll be you all alone against a whole army of Wolves, Laina."
Laina nodded surely, "I've made it this far. I'll think of something."
Without any assistance, Spike pulled the sleigh up the stairs and onto the snowy ground. He strapped himself to the front of the sleigh, wrapping the reigns around his shoulder. Joy and Noel helped Mrs. Jingle into the backseat of the sleigh.
"Are you sure you don't need help, Laina?" Mrs. Jingle worriedly asked, "Whatever your plan is, you could be in serious danger if it doesn't work."
Laina just waved her hand, smiling, "It'll work. Don't worry. Just get in the train and I'll be back with your husband before you know it."
Mrs. Jingle did feel a bit better and smiled back, "Thanks Laina. Just be careful."
"Alright…Speek, Spoke…whatever your name is," Noel shouted from the front seat, "Mush!"
Spike growled at Noel, making the green firefox scoot back to the second seat. Laina laughed and ruffled the big wolf's hair, "His name's Spike, Noel. Get it right or you'll become a firefox chew toy. Go on, Spike. Take 'em to the train."
After hearing his name being said right, Spike gave Laina a nod and began to run forward on all fours pulling the sleigh along behind him. Laina watched them until the sleigh disappeared downhill. Laina headed to the where the Wolves were while scratching her head, "Now…just have to think of the plan…"
The Wolves cheered as Razor hoisted up Jingle by his back collar and showed him off again to his comrade as some of the Wolves got the rope ready. They threw it hard into the air, throwing it over a thick branch that hung over the middle of the village. One Wolf grabbed the other end and brought it over to Razor.
The Wolf leader dropped the reindeer to the ground and tied the rope around his wrists. Wolves on the other end of the rope began pulling on it and Jingle was dragged along the ground slightly. He felt himself leaving the ground and opened his eyes to see his hooves were just a few inches above ground.
Razor approached him, took his hat off of his head, and placed it on his own head, chuckling, "Looks like there's gonna be a new Jingle in town. But instead of bringing happiness to the world, I'm gonna bring happiness…to me and my comrades."
The sickly Jingle hung his head down as Razor laughed loudly, feeling defeated and ashamed. The last Wolf helping to hoist the rope suddenly felt a hard spray of ice cold water against his back and yelped loudly, releasing the rope. The other two Wolves were startled by the last Wolf's shout and also released the rope. Jingle fell on the ground on his back.
"What the heck?!" Razor looked up when he saw the Wolves running for their lives as someone shot a jet spray of water at them from behind one of the houses, "Who's there?!"
A foot came out from the side the house, and then the water sprayer's whole body appeared in front of the Wolves: a human girl in a Jingle outfit and with two pigtails in her pink hair holding a dripping water hose.
"Hey boss, isn't that that human chick that we found on the train?" One Wolf suggested to Razor.
The Wolf leader growled, staring daggers at Laina, "Bravo, genius. I guess she was with Jingle's crew after all."
"Razor," Laina glared back at him, "Let Jingle go now and I promise you all won't turn into popsicles…Oh man, that was horrible…"
The Wolf leader chuckled sinisterly, "Silly little girl, do you have any idea who you're talking to? We're the Forgotten Wolves, the most violent and ruthless wolves in history. You better run back home before we pummel you to a pulp!"
Laina stood in an offensive stance, placing one foot back and held the end of the nozzle with one hand and the other hand held the rest of the hose up.
"Alright, boys," Razor announced loudly to his gang, "The first one to bring that girl to me gets the very first helping of chicken stew tonight."
All the of Wolves' mouths dropped open and slobber almost covered the ground at the mention of their favorite meal and then all eyes were on Laina. The first pack of Wolves charged for her. She quickly turned the nozzle to the left and cold water spewed out, drenching the wolves. Of course, any creature with fur can stay very warm during the winter season, but when it gets wet, they start to feel the freezing cold and it can be torture for them just like torture for someone who forgot their coat while it's snowing out.
The Wolves kept coming and Laina kept spraying water never missing a target. The Wolves that had gotten soaked ran off yelping, tying find a house they didn't destroy that had a fireplace or heater. As she sprayed the last Wolf and sent him running after the other retreating lupines, she noticed the water was coming out the hose slow and had turned from a jet spray to a sluggish drizzle, and then it just came out drip by drip.
A sharp whistle made Laina turn her head and she saw Razor behind her with five of his wet buddies who were able to withstand the cold. Razor had his paw around the faucet tap. She dropped the hose and stepped back in fear as the Wolf leader and his cronies began to walk up to her with smirks on their face. She looked out the corner of her eye and saw that she was backing toward Jingle, "If can run fast enough, I can grab Jingle and make it to the train."
Laina turned around to run, but Razor's pal lunged for her, pushing her to the ground. They held her up by her arms making her face their boss. Razor began to walk up to her, "I told you not to mess with us! Now I'm gonna have to hurt ya!"
She screamed loudly and kicked her legs furiously as the wolves tried to keep a hold on her, but he stopped when he heard a series of strange sounds coming from his right. He turned his head and he was blinded by a blotch of snow. He heard his partners yowling and yelping as he tried to wipe the snow off his face. When his vision was cleared, his cronies were knocked to the ground out-cold and Laina was looking around in a confused state. The next thing he remembered was seeing a huge, light gray-furred blur charging at him, head-butting into his gut, and ramming him against the side of the house.
Laina was trying to recuperate when she felt something grab her arm. She looked over and saw a green firefox smiling up at her, "Noel?"
"Laina, are you alright?" Noel stepped out the way as Laina stood up and dusted snow off her clothes. She nodded, "Yeah. That was good timing. I thought I was gonna be wolf food."
She looked over to where that light grey blur had gone to. Spike, still strapped to the sleigh, stood over his brother, panting hard. Razor had slumped to his side, probably unconscious, after being smashed into wall. Spike had pushed him so hard that there was a circular crack in the wall.
"When we got onto the train, I started heating up the engine and Spike there kept pacing back and forth," Noel explained, "He was worried about you so we came back and we brought the sleigh just in case. We came up the hill just in time to catch Razor pouncing on you."
Laina nodded, heading over to Jingle, "I see. But what was that weird noise I heard before you two saved me?"
Noel held up a small horn and smiled proudly, "We use this horn if something happens to the train whistle. It was in my way in the engine and I stuck it in my pocket and forgot about it," he chuckled, scratching behind his head, "I tried to play 'Charge' on it before Spike rushed at Razor."
"Charge?! It sounded more like farts from a whale!" Laina laughed. She held Jingle sit up and dusted all the snow off of him, "Are you alright, Jingle?"
The reindeer looked up with weary eyes and weakly nodded once. A grim look came on Laina's face, "It's like he's getting worse."
"That's because he's supposed to be in bed, not out here in the cold! Let's get him out of here before the Wolves come back. Spike, get over here!" Noel shouted to the huge wolf.
Spike began to turn around. He looked back once more at his unconscious big brother before walking up to Laina and Noel. The pig-tailed girl gave Spike a comforting hug around the neck and a thank you kiss on the cheek before helping Noel with Jingle.
"YOU TRAITOR!!!" A loud scream of rage filled the air. Laina and Noel jumped back with Jingle as Spike began to run around like wild bull, dragging and tossing the sleigh behind him around.
"Spike?!" Laina ran after him as continued running wildly around the barren town. He finally stopped at the top of the hill where Mrs. Jingle and Joy were watching from the train down below. Laina had finally caught up with Spike and saw the problem.
The huge wolf laid flat on the ground, gasping and coughing for air, as Razor tugged on the rope he had tied around his neck. Razor had a murderous look in his eyes as he tugged hard on the rope, crushing Spike's windpipe.
Razor's look and seeing Spike struggle made tears well up in Laina's eyes and she ran forward, "NO!" She threw herself at Razor, tackling him. The Wolf leader was concentrating more on disposing of his little brother and didn't notice Laina until she had lunged at him. Both Laina and Razor were sent rolling down the snowy hill. Mrs. Jingle and Joy could do nothing but watch.
When they stopped at the bottom of the hill, they laid just lied there, too tired and too dazed to get up immediately. Laina was the first to get up. She got up on her knees and whimpered, rubbing at the bump on her head, and the dizziness made her nauseous. She heard Joy yelling at her, but it was unclear of what she was saying while the wind was blowing. She looked at Joy, trying to hear what she was screaming about, and didn't notice the rope being held over her head…
Laina heard a loud 'thwack!' behind her and looked in time to see the wooden sleigh had smacked Razor from behind her, sending him spiraling into mid-air, then rolling on the ground and dropping the rope.
She looked up and saw Spike standing over her protectively, keeping his eyes on Razor. Jingle was draped over the back of the wolf's neck and Noel sat on his back also watching Razor. "Get Jingle onto the train," Noel said in a quiet, serious tone, "We got your back."
Mrs. Jingle grabbed her husband's shoulders while Laina grabbed his hooves and they carried him inside the train cabin and laid him on futon that she and Joy rolled in the middle of the floor.
Noel jumped from Spike's back, "Keep an eye on him, Spike. I'll blow the whistle when the train starts moving and you just jump in through the hole." Noel ran up to the train engine, shoveling more coal in it to bring it back the life.
Spike stood there ready to attack again if Razor should get up. He began to see with his own eyes now. He remembered years ago, some days before Christmas, Razor had told him a tale on how Jingle never gave presents to wolves because he just didn't like wolves. His built up anger was used to wreck towns and frighten people into thinking he was a monster. But it was all just Razor's plan to get him to join the Forgotten Wolves and continue the legacy to hunt Jingle.
His childhood memories began to come back on how his mother would wake him and his brother up on Christmas Day and he'd rush down to the tree, open his gifts, and play with the new toys Jingle gave him while his brother watched jealously from the stairs. In fact, he remembered Razor breaking his new toy train on purpose. Jingle only brought him gifts because he had a pure heart unlike his brother.
Spike walked up to Razor and began to unstrap himself from the reigns of the sleigh from his shoulders. He kicked it with his hind foot, making it fall on its side, and the photo that Spike had shown Laina earlier rolled to Razor's paw.
Noel tugged on the string and the train whistle blew loudly. Spike stared down at Razor one last time before he headed to the Jingle Express. He leaped in the opening he had made and slipped inside the train cabin.
Razor came to when the train went around the bend, disappearing in the woods. He sat up in silent disbelief of what just happened. He noticed and recognized the tipped over wooden sled and he looked down to see a cracked photo frame. He picked it up and noticed a paper clip fastened to the picture of him and his family. The rest of the Wolves, who were now all dried up, watched him from on top of the hill. Thankfully for Razor, they couldn't see his hands shaking or tears falling from his eyes while looking at the photo of a younger him and his young brother going down a bunny hill in a wooden sleigh.