A/N: Get your Jingle Bells ready people, because it's a JNRZ Holiday Special Story!
Prompt by Anonymous: It's the Rwby version of Christmas, each member of team JNRZ is dead broke, but still managed to get something small but meaningful for each member of the team. What did they get and how do they react?
~O~O~O~O~O~
It was another cold winter for Atlas, but that didn't mean it was dark and dreary. No, quite the opposite in fact, for around this time of year was a time of festivities, for a local holiday known as, "Shawcrossmas".
The origins of Shawcrossmas goes far back in Atlas's history, all the way back to the first winter for the settlers of Mantle, as cold as it was unforgiving. Much of the construction still needed to be done, the food supplies were running low, and most people were losing hope of making it on the harsh continent of Solitas. When things were at it's bleakest, something amazing happened. In one of the cottages in the village, there was suddenly a new member of the community, the first baby born in Mantle.
This child belonged to the Shawcross family, a pair of young newlyweds who came along on the expedition to make a better life for themselves and now, their newborn daughter, Carol Shawcross.
It is said that news of this birth had given a surge of hope to the men and women of Mantle, giving them the energy they needed to fight through their first winter, eventually causing the settlement to bloom into a vast kingdom, all thanks to the Carol Shawcross, the Northern Light of Solitas. Now every year on the anniversary of the baby girl's birth, the people of Atlas celebrate in honor for the perseverance of their ancestors and give thanks for the family they hold dear.
Both Atlas and Mantle were in celebration, even though Shawcrossmas wasn't for another week, Winter Break had officially begun. School was out, kids and teens alike were finally able to bask in their long awaited vacation. This break even included the Huntsman Academies, young warriors of the future had to have their time off as well, same as everyone else.
And there was one Huntsman Team that planned to start it off in style.
In a certain apartment complex in Mantle, in a certain abode owned by one Miss Flora Katt, Team JNRZ were hosting their first Shawcrossmas party just for the four of them! Seeing as everyone was going to be home for Winter Break, they decided to have one last get together and celebrate the holiday a bit early.
The whole apartment was decorated in cheap holiday decorations, complete with tassels, hanging paper snowflakes, and old Shawcrossmas lights that Reese had to rewire herself. They had even managed to find an old pine that barely had any branches on it left, yet found home in the Katt residence, now donned with a few old dusty ornaments.
Despite their shortage of money, Team JNRZ had acquired a surplus on food and drink! On their way here, they were stopped by quite few thankful people, people that the young students have helped in the past at one time or another ever since starting school. Tons and tons of holiday cookies had been handed to them on the street, so much that the team had to give away half of them, but thankfully making a group of kids day. Tucson had given them Miner's Moonshine Vodka straight from the Solitas frontier villages which was going to find some great use tonight. They even managed to score another one of Ms. Jolicoeur's famous casseroles! Jaune really thought they should find a way to thank her, she was always so nice!
"To new friends and new opportunities!" Jaune toasted, with his team mates gathered around him in the apartment's living room.
"To asses kicked and bad-asses made!" Reese toasted looking at each member.
"To hearts broken and loves lost." Neon playfully swooned, eliciting a giggle from her friends.
"And to our hard earned successes and battles yet to come!" May proclaimed, raising her mug with the others.
"To Team JNRZ!" toasted the four huntsman and huntresses in training, clinking together their ceramic mugs and taking a drink of their spiked dollar store hot cocoa.
"Alright enough of that!" Reese after taking a huge gulp of chocolate, "It's present time!"
"As Team leader, I will go first." Jaune proudly said, retrieving the bag he had brought with him to this little get together. Team JNRZ had been strapped for cash this winter, having to use most of what they managed to earn to either buy weapon upgrades, restock gear, waste on lavish meals, and cover damages they may or may not have caused. So the four of them decided to secretly draw names and buy one person within the group a present. And for the first annual JNRZ Shawcrossmas gift exchange, Jaune walked up to one particular girl…
"Merry Shawcrossmas, May!"
The group's sniper smiled and graciously accepted the gift. "Merry Shawcrossmas, Commander."
May carefully opened the paper hand bag and finds what appears to be- "A blanket?"
The statement seemed to have just made Jaune more excited. "Not just any blanket! Open it up!"
Upon his request, May stood up with the maroon colored blanket, letting it unfurl to the floor. Now able to get a better look, May finally noticed what made this blanket so special causing her to uncharacteristically gasp with glee.
"Jaune! Are those-?"
"They are! I added sleeves to it!" Jaune excitedly confirmed her inquiry, the long cloth tubes hanging out the side of the sleeved blanket now obvious to the others. "I borrowed Headmistress Cordovin's sewing kit to put it together. Try it on!"
Not needing to be told twice, May carefully slinked her arms through the sleeves… and stepped into a whole new world of comfort and warmth. It was as if the ghost of Atlesian Winters had finally released it's grasp on the poor desert dweller. Her knees buckled beneath her as she fell back onto the living room recliner, using her now free arm to move and pull out the legs and reclined back and let out a loud satisfied sigh.
With her chair fully deployed, May curled up in her new present. The girl had only one thing to say.
"Holy shit."
This caused Neon to snort, further causing everyone to laugh. May usually would have blushed at being the center of such attention, but she was too damn comfortable.
"Thanks Commander." The sniper sighed as she sunk deeper into her warm cocoon.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Reese loudly said to the sniper. "We still need you back down here on Remnant, May! You gotta give out your present!"
The sniper lazily lifted her arm towards the coffee table. "It's in the manila envelope right there, it's for you."
Reese gasped and quickly grabbed the envelope, immediately ripping it open with reckless abandon, all with an excited grin on her face. The skater slipped her hand into the packaging and slowly slid out what seemed to be a single piece of paper. The more that was revealed to her, the wider and wider her grin became before she squealed with excitement, tossing the envelope away and holding the paper in two hands.
"AAAAHHH! Guys! Guys! Guys! Looklooklooklooklook-!" Reese repeatedly chanted as she faced the paper towards Neon and Jaune."
"Wanted, Reese D. Chloris." Jaune read aloud.
"Guilty on all accounts of being the Baddest Bitch in Remnant?" Neon continued.
The piece of paper in Reese's hand was sure enough, a Wanted poster for her. The picture was a black and white photo of the skate punk, scrunching her face up, sticking her tongue out towards the camera, and throwing up gang signs. It included her bio information, last whereabouts, nicknames, every possible detail a bounty hunter might need to track the supposed criminal down.
"Whoa." Neon said, clearly impressed. "This thing looks almost legit!"
"It almost is." The comfortable ball of warm lazily stated. "I asked my father to make it at his police station. That is as close to a genuine wanted poster you can get without legally putting a bounty on Reese. But that didn't stop him from putting a number though."
"Five trillion lien!" Reese cheered "HA! That's even higher than Torch-Bitch! Oh this is so going on the wall when I get back from vacation! You're the best, Mayday!"
May, from the comfort of her recliner still nursing her cocoa, nestled within in her new blanket cocoon, simply replied. "I know."
After carefully placing her wanted poster away, Reese came back to the group with her hands behind back.
"Neon?"
"Yes~?"
"Close your eyes!" Reese insisted, causing Neon to do just that and hold her hands out. It wasn't until the party girl felt some weight in her hands did she open them up again.
Resting in Neon's palm was what looked like a walkman, retrofitted with new components and a bright neon paint job. Where the cassettes would usually go was replaced by a small computer screen.
Neon inspected it a little more before asking. "Did you make this?"
"Yeah, just something I cobbled together." Reese nonchalantly asserted. "You see I started by ripping out the PSG out of this old gaming console, I'm talking 8-bit era stuff, and fitted it into that walkman. Ripped a few things out of that, then used an old touchscreen display to replace the controls, so now 'Wala' you have your very own Chiptune Machine!"
"Chiptune?"
"Hell yeah! It's like early electronic music, kinda stuff you hear in arcade machines? Try it out! I already got one song on it that I know you're going to love!"
Upon turning it on, it started playing a chiptune song, it's beats and synthesizer instrumental formed a symphony that the girl immediately recognized, "Is that 'Neon'?!" the party girl inquired, receiving an enthusiastic nod from her punk bestie.
It was no secret within the group that there was one particular song that had a special place in Neon's heart, hell she was named after it! Her mom had always told her that it was her comfort song during the early years of motherhood, having to grow up too fast and raise a daughter on her own, so she always listened to an old club mix called 'Neon' by C.L.W. When it came on, she would imagine the day her daughter grew up to be as happy and confident as the girl in the song.
Neon was now bobbing to the artificial drum and swayed side to side at the electronic melody, coming together in an incredibly cute version of a beloved song. Before the song even finished, Neon bubbled over with mirth and hugged Reese.
"This is awesome! Thank you!"
"No prob. Let me know when you wanna add more songs. I know this guy that makes 8-bit tunes of all the popular stuff!"
"Totally!" Neon accepted. "Now then, I believe that leaves one more gift exchange~"
With a hint of excitement in her voice, the faunus turned her gaze on the last person yet to receive their gift, a now suddenly somewhat nervous Jaune Arc.
"Should we give you two the room?" Reese asked hesitantly
"Huh?"
"No you don't!" Jaune quickly blurted "Right? Neon?"
"Yeah? Why? What do you guys think I'm gonna do?"
"I'm not moving from this chair," May stated, "So please behave yourself or take it somewhere else."
"Behave myself?" Neon scoffed, "Oh. OH! What? You think I'm just gonna get freaky with Jaune right here in the name of the Shawcrossmas spirit or something?"
She was met by a moment of awkward silence with her teammates.
"REALLY!?" Neon practically shrieked.
"Seriously? No." Jaune answered. "Just to mess with me and get a reaction? Yeah."
"UGH! Fine! If you're so worried, what if I promised that I actually got you something?"
"Promise?"
"Yes! I promise! Damn, I'm not that bad am I?"
"No, no, you're right." Jaune reassured softly, attempting to defuse the situation. "I'm just still reeling from the Halloween incident."
Neon took a second to remember what exactly went down a few months ago, before she let out a laugh. "Hahaha… Yeah, sorry about that, but you gotta admit, that was a pretty sexy costume~"
"So you got me a present?" Jaune quickly asked, changing the subject.
"Totally! I got you this!" Neon smiled, pulling out a silver bell from her skirt pocket, much like one she wore on her collar all the time. "Remember? Twinsies~?"
It took Jaune a second to remember her quip from a little while back, something said in passing during an intense fight. Did she really keep that conversation to heart? "Wait. Did you get me a collar as well?" he asked somewhat hesitantly, causing Neon to laugh.
"No. As stylish as you already are, I don't think a collar would mesh with your unique taste. You could just put on a keychain or something."
A soft smile spread on Jaunes face as he nodded, taking out his key chain and placing it right on the spot next to his Pumpkin Pete charm, the highest honor one can bestow. After the bell was set in place, the knight held it up and gave it a little ring.
"This is great Neon than-Ow! Ow! Ow!" Jaune pained, suddenly having his ear pinched and pulled by his gift giver.
"That's for thinking that I would ruin a perfectly sweet moment just to mess with you!" Neon huffed, looking rather crossed with her leader.
"Ow! Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Jaune apologized until she suddenly leaned in and he felt something pillowy and soft press against his cheek.
"... And that's for everything else, Blondie." smiled Neon, a slight blush on her face as she gave him her signature man-eater wink. Jaune's cheeks were bright red as she let his ear go.
Sudden hacks and dry heaving sounds came from across the room as Reese pretended to hold back a tide of vomit. "Eugh! Warn me next time you're gonna do that so I can look away."
The mocking dry heave caused Neon to glare at the skater punk before it turned into a predatory smile. "Oh~? Is someone feeling left out? Well let me spread the love then!" The faunus crouched down and before Reese could even question what she was doing, Neon pounced on her from across the room.
"AH! Jaune! She's killing me! She's got me!" Reese panicked as she fought off her assailant.
"Don't be such a drama queen Spearmint! Tis the season!" Neon cackled, giving her teammate some holiday affection. The two of their antics caused their leader to boastfully laugh.
All the while, May sat in her comfy chair, shrouded in her new warm blanket, drinking a nice hot cup of spiked cocoa, while enjoying a great view of two cute girls wrestling with each other on the ground. Truly, if there was a promised paradise in the afterlife, this must be it.
'I love Shawcrossmas.' May thought to herself as she took another long sip.