'Twas the Christmastime party, and all through the field, Every Yog was attending, A good time appealed;The ale was put out in some barrels with care, For Yogscast shenanigans, all were prepared!"

(This chapter was done by Mage-Pages!)

Rythian POV

"Hey, Rythian, check this out!"

Zoeya's voice distracted me from the chaos around. I didn't really want to be here, but it would reflect badly on me if I didn't show up to the Christmas party.

(It has been so long since I have seen these people. They are like strangers)

More importantly, Zoeya really wanted to come, so I had to put up with the noise and people. If it made her happy, it made me happy… I guess. Teep was around here somewhere, and secretly I hoped he would keep an eye on Zoeya. Lalna and Sjin may have signed a Christmas peace treaty for their Magic Policing, but I didn't entirely trust them. Especially Lalna, as there was no need for him to bring his laser-guns, yet he had. I pulled my mask up a bit higher as I turned towards Zoeya's voice.

All I saw was a blur of grey and a golden twinkle as I nearly had my head removed by a flying man. I felt as he brushed by my hair.

"Damn it, Ridgedog." I murmured under my breath, far too low for any ordinary person to hear me. Nonetheless, he stopped his flight and looked at me, a twinkle in his eye.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Rythian!" He wasn't angry. In fact, he seemed to have gotten into the ale. I didn't know that Demigods could get drunk. I'm pretty sure he was acting, but it was entertaining, nonetheless. He threw a sprig of mistletoe into the air, and cackled madly as it froze ten feet off the ground. Sjin had been quietly enjoying a beer with Nano a few meters away and now stared in shook at the leafy branch above him. Nano blushed, and then leaned up on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek. Lalna glowered from the crowd that had gathered around the two, and then shot Ridgedog a glare. The Demigod daintily wiggled a few fingers, blew the scientist a kiss, and flew off, a trail of green and red glitter, and oddly enough, an entire Christmas ham falling in his wake.

(No different than ever. So carefree now, but the Scientist likes his revenge)

The crowd quickly dispersed, and Sjin (who was a red as the chilies he grew) was staring into the bottom of his mug. Nano had run off, probably to talk to Lalna. Now at least, I could see where Zoeya was. I really shouldn't let her out of my sight again. With so many people around, there was no telling who might hurt her. I walked towards Zoeya and nearly tripped over a quick streak of grey that raced by my feet.

"No, Pascal! Wait! I'm not going to let Kaeyi paint your nails pink!"

I sighed as Martyn charged behind me, all pale and blue as he is every winter, chasing his pet cat. I vaguely wondered where Kaeyi was with the other cat, but honestly couldn't be bothered to look. I had to dodge a few haywire bundles of mistletoe, as well as several snowballs, but I finally got to Zoeya.

"Look Rythian! It's Gilbert the second!"

(Christ on a bike…)

"It's great!" I forced myself to grin excitedly under my mask, but I'm pretty sure I might lack this thing that everyone calls 'Christmas Spirit'. I wondered if it was something Ravs had bottled somewhere. To be fair, there were plenty of 'Christmas Spirits' at this party, as a few of my friends, and somewhat-less-than-friends, had already discovered.

In fact, even Zoeya had put a glass into the snow, chilling it. She caught me looking at it.

"It's just some cider. Not alcoholic or anything."

I smile again, this time for real as I reply "Well, with Honeydew around, how can you really know?"

She squinted at the mug, and that huge, goofy grin that I love lit up her face. "That is actually very true. He adds that dwarf stuff to everything. I'm not sure I trust this cider anymore." She then directly contradicted her words by taking a big gulp of it. "By the way, did you know that you have a huge pair of reindeer antlers on?"

I waved a hand above my head, and indeed, pulled off a reindeer hat. I remembered how the Demigod had bumped into me as he flew by. He got slyer every day. I shook my head. "Ridgedog." I said as both a curse and an explanation. I put the hat back on, and faintly heard a chuckle high above. Zoeya gasped.

I looked up, and saw the familiar green leafs and white berries, suspended by a thin strand of sparkling silver magic. Zoeya raised an eyebrow. "Ridgedog." we both said in union.

She pulled down the thin material of my mask and I pressed my lips to hers. I settled my hands on her waist, and she tangled her fingers in my shaggy hair. I broke the kiss off, and pulled back, grinning the way I only could when I was around her. We started to sway slowly back and forth, dancing to music that only we could hear.

(I'm only happy if she is with me, it seems.)

"For Notch's sake, get a room!" exclaimed an angry, Scottish voice. I turned, pulling my mask back up. There stood Nilesy, holding a steaming tankard in one hand, a frosty bucket in the other and generally looking pissed. "I have to drag myself from Owl Island, because Lomadia wanted to come to this party, and then she left the second we get here to walk with Xephos. I don't matter! Just leave me with the ale; I'm just great with ale!" He had obviously been hitting it hard. "And don't even mention all the portable pools! It's so Facking" He spat the word "cold here, they all froze solid! And then Lyndon, well, that cat tore all of the wrapping paper, dragged it about everywhere, and now he's vanished. Making a mess of things, that cat is! The last thing I want to see is absolutely everyone snogging!"

I'm pretty sure my eyes were the size of saucers, but I simply had no response. By my side, Zoeya was giggling.

"Uh, well, hi, Nilesy." I responded.

The pool-boy, one of the only people that I might be able to consider a friend, ignored my greeting. He turned and walked a few paces, stumbling slightly, and then fell face first into the snow.

Zoeya stopped laughing. "Uh, Rythian? Is he ok?" I shrugged my answer, walking over to him. I picked the raven-haired guy up out of the snow, and he moaned incoherently.

"Out cold." I pronounced. Zoeya groaned at my bad pun. We watched over the pool-boy for a few minutes, until his eyes flickered open. Once we were reasonably sure he wasn't going to freeze to death in the snow, we left.

We were walking quietly hand in hand, just outside of the chaos that grasped the rest of the gathering. I was starting to understand how winter could be beautiful too, even if everything was cold and dead.

Zoeya spoke up, "Rythian, do you mind if I go talk to Nano and Kaeyi for a little while?" Zoeya nodded towards her two friends, who were standing a short distance away around a mound of snow, probably making a snowman- though it didn't look much like a snowman. "I haven't seen them in years!"

I glanced at them, and then stared at her. I squeezed her hand a bit tighter, and it was almost impossible to tell that it was mechanical and not flesh and blood. Then, with a sigh, I dropped it. "Alright. Zoeya, I-"

She grinned, and threw her arms around me. "I love you too!" Just as suddenly, she was gone, dashing through the snow to the others.

I found myself wandering back toward the main group, but was distracted by a small huddle of people. I sighed heavily when I heard the familiar clicking of a lever. It was actually quite a sight to behold. An army-green dinosaur, with a sniper rifle slung across his scaly back kept flicking out a single long, sharp claw to send the lever back to the kilt-wearing Scotsman. Ravs was growing quite red in the face, hard-pressed to keep up with Teep. I laughed softly, and realized who stood around. All three of Hat Inc, as well as the blonde-haired girl I distantly recognized as Minty. She didn't seem to be paying attention to the lever game, instead staring at someone in the main group a ways off. I couldn't tell who it was though, because Alsmiffy, heavily bundled in multiple layers, didn't make for a great window.

Abruptly, the game was over when Teep leapt over the still-moving lever and pushed Ravs back into a snow drift. The Scotsman held his hands up in surrender.

"Ok! Ok! I am not the winner."

Teep smiled, by opening his maw slightly, exposing his sharp teeth.

"Please don't eat me." Ravs continued in a small voice.

Teep snapped his jaw shut, shook his head, and huffed out a cloud of white vapor. As best as I could tell, he was laughing. He stopped, caught me with one round eye and dipped his head slightly, acknowledging me. Then, with much crunching of snow, he was gone, to do whatever dinosaurs normally do in the snow.

"I don't really have words to describe what I just saw." That was Ross.

Alsmiffy was trembling madly as he replied. "C-c-cold. I don't c-care a-ab-b-bout anything else."

That made sense of course. He was a frog, so I suppose that even with all of the layers he would still be freezing. On the other hand, Trottimus the walrus was having loads of fun, apparent by his happy bugle as he dove headfirst into a pile of snow.

Ravs was suddenly standing next to me. "Hey! I haven't seen you in a while. Why don't you stop by the Caber sometime?" I looked for an explanation. Surely loads of people would be wondering where we had been for the past year.

(After the Scientist destroyed our home and her arm, I had to leave, for my own sanity)

"Well, Ravs, Zoeya and I aren't exactly local anymore. We're actually really far away. If I'm ever nearby I'll make sure to say hello, but I don't really have any reason to come back."

I thought bitterly of Blackrock Castle, now just a huge crater in the ground. It had been a long time ago, but I still couldn't bring myself to fully forgive Lalna. I still worried about Sjin, but he had gotten a lot better since he had started his farming, but then the whole Magic Police thing…. He still wasn't my favorite person, but he wasn't as bad as the Scientist

(It's hard to be worse.)

Ravs looked disappointed. "O-oh, ok then. Well, what about the games that Nano is trying to set up? Are you going to play any of them? I heard something about twister…" His face fell as I shook my head.

"I don't know. Party games…" I shrugged. "Not really my thing."

He nodded, backing away, a bit uncoordinated. "Right, well… if you want to have a drink or something… but I should go and do… stuff." He vanished from sight. Minty and Hat Inc. had gone also, so I was alone again.

It seemed as though I had lost what little people skills I might have once possessed. It had been more than a year, with no one but a slightly insane (But definitely adorable) girl and a dinosaur for company; I suppose it was only to be expected. Still, I couldn't help but regret the difficulty with Ravs. He was the only one there for me when Zoeya had-

(No, I can't think about that anymore!)

I would miss my friends, but I didn't really need any of them. So many times I had been let down or stabbed in the back. I knew who I could trust, and that was only two people. One of them was a dinosaur, yes, but he was more reliable than almost anyone.

I was starting to sink into that brooding mood that I get into occasionally, which I'm sure wasn't great for this 'Christmas Spirit' thing. So then I heard the one thing that could have possibly made it worse.

Ridgedog's voice, magically magnified, echoing off of the trees and the snow.

"Alright guys, Time for the group shot!"