This is just a little short Fun and Festive Filler I wrote on my spare today :) Nothing too fancy, but I like it. enjoy!
DAY 10
"I'll bet 1 bowl of bat broth that you're gonna get dropped on the stakes for this." Mika rambled.
"You're not exactly trying to stop me." Arrow huffed.
"There's sap on my hands." the young dark Vampire complained loudly as he dropped the end of the mid-sized evergreen tree they were toting.
"Then shouldn't your hands be stuck to it then?" Arrow rolled his eyes.
"How 'bout, you drag the tree, and I'll run ahead and make sure no one's around." Mika suggested.
"Sure." Arrow shrugged, tightening his grip around the trunk and continuing the haul as Mika sprinted ahead.
The Christmas Tree had been Arrow's idea, mostly. He'd just gotten through explaining the concept of Christmas to young Mika who'd become glassy-eyed and spoke wistfully,
"It'd be nice if we had a Christmas Tree..."
Arrow had simply said, "Why shouldn't we?"
Mika had grinned evilly, and here they were now. They'd had to wait several days before they could sneak out and procure the tree because between Vanez's training and Seba's chores, they were run ragged. But today everyone had moved down to a cavern in the lower west side of the Mountain, excitedly watching the first Trial of Death for some Vampire named Yebba, so Mika and Arrow practically had the place to themselves. With the help of some borrowed battle axes, they'd snuck outside, roamed around in search of the perfect tree, and somewhat messily chopped it down.
"The coast is clear all the way to the Hall of Breakfast." Mika called, running back down the hall.
"Remind me why we're putting it in the Hall of Breakfast?"
"So everyone can have some Christmas Spirit!"
Listen to the kid! Arrow thought to himself. 3 days ago he'd never even heard of this holiday, now he thinks he's Father Christmas!
"You know what everyone's gonna say about this, right? The ones who know about Christmas will think we're acting like humans, and the ones who don't will think we've got rocks in our brains for bringing a tree inside."
"As long as Arian doesn't spear us, I don't really mind." Mika shrugged.
"Knowing him, he doesn't need an excuse to spear us."
"That's when we go hide behind Paris." Mika concluded decisively.
"Great plan." Arrow snorted as they rounded the corner into the Hall of Khledon Lurt, or Breakfast as Mika referred to it. "Anyway, how are we gonna keep the tree standing up?"
"I thought of that." chirped Mika with a devious smile. "You stay here, I'll get it."
About 5 minutes later, Mika came back, carrying "It". "It" turned out to be a massive and slightly mutated human skull with a neat hole carved in the top. Arrow flinched as Mika whipped it out from behind his back.
"It used to be a foot for a table leg." he snickered, setting it on the floor in the corner where the tree was supposed to go.
Arrow carefully slid the base of the tree trunk into the hole, then stepped back and admired their handiwork, from the top of the tree which tapered into a perfect little point, down through the thick, full branches, and the creepy little skull at the bottom which added that Vampiric touch.
"It's perfect."
###
There was also the matter of decorations that needed to be attended to; normal humans used strings of popped corn, candles, beads, silver tinsel, and little stars or angels on the top. Of course, none of those things (except maybe the corn) could be found in the Vampire stronghold, so Mika and Arrow improvised.
With the help of a large volume of string, old animal bones became ornamets, and they made off with a bit of corn from the store rooms, roasted it over a fire 'til it popped, then strung it all together to form a garland.
But they didn't stop there. They made a second trip outside to retrieve an armload of evergreen boughs which were twisted and tied to form wreaths which they hung from torch holders down the main hall.
Mika even produced a second smaller skull to put on the very top of the tree.
"Where do you get these?" Arrow gasped in disgust.
Mika shrugged. "It's Vampire Mountain, you just have to know where to look! Now give me a boost!"
Arrow obliged, and Mika set the skull on the very top where it stared down at them, seeming to smirk in the torchlight.
"Are you sure we have enough skulls now, or should we find a couple more?"
"Nope. This is good." Mika declared, missing Arrow's sarcasm.
###
They sat at the long table nearest the tree and breathed the heavenly fir scent until the Hall began to fill up for dinner. Yebba had apparently passed his trial because he entered the Hall carried on the shoulders of his friends and comrades, all of whom were screaming in delight. Some didn't notice the tree, others merely chuckles, and a few gave it exremely dirty looks.
Then 3 figures walked purposefully into the Hall, and Mika and Arrow regarded each other nervously. The trio stopped dead in front of the tree and stared. Several seconds later, Ronan threw back his head and laughed raucously, aleviating some of the tension. Paris simply regarded the boys with a mixture of amusement and dissapointment. And Arian simply glared daggers as usual.
"Care to explain?" he snapped viciously.
"It's a Christmas Tree." said Mika boldly.
"I figured that much. Does this look like a damn human household to you?" the Prince shot back icily. "We are not meant to partake in foolish human frivolities!"
"Why the hell not?" Arrow growled, slightly astounded by his own impulsiveness.
Arian regarded him with the usual death stare as he prepared a crippling retort. However, Ronan clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Peace, my friend. We forget how we were all young once. Merriment is not a crime, in fact I reccomend you partake in some fun for once in your life." the muscular Prince's eyes sparkled warmly, and Mika and Arrow smiled smugly up at Arian who looked ready to blow up the Mountain.
"This is an insult to the Vampire race.'' Arian hissed before stalking out of the Hall.
"Pay him no mind. He's just consumed with stress -as we all are- over this Vampaneze business. But I see no reason not to take a night off and enjoy ourselves." Ronan concluded with a wink before ambling over to Yebba's table yelling something about "everyone deserving a good drink tonight!"
That left Paris. He turned away from the tree to face the boys, and for a moment it looked like he might yell, or at least scold, but his eyes lit up with the familiar warm fire that they found so comforting.
He hugged Mika, then Arrow, and strode off to join the others who were preparing themselves for a drinking contest.
If you left me a little review, that would be amazing ;) Thanks so much to everyone who likes this story!
*Roxxy,