Yule-Time Woes

It was a quiet Saturday night in November as I was relaxing with my family on the sofa in the living room of the house (more of a lodge, honestly) I built in the Ansel Mountains. We were watching the new Spruce Willis movie, Difficult Death 3, because Solomon (and myself, I won't lie) hadn't seen it when it came to theaters.

I would enjoy this time with my son, for in the coming spring, he and some of the other boys in his age group will head into the wild for the year as his rite of passage in my village.

Together, they would hunt wild beasts and Grimm and raid any bandit camp they crossed at their discretion.

Having inherited my strength and his mother's senses, I knew my boy would do well in his war-band. It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up being the koryonos of his group just as I had.

Savannah, Blake and my daughter as well as Solomon's seven year old sister, had already gone to bed.

Solomon's eyes were glued to the TV screen while Blake, my wonderful wife, was beginning to doze off with her hands over her round belly, six months pregnant with our third child and fourth children. Twins, a boy and a girl.

Names were still pending.

I reached up to scritch my sleepy wife's fluffy ears before I heard a soft thud outside.

Hati and Skoll, my wolves, had heard the sound as well, and gave low growls. (Apparently, wolves are okay in Blake's book. Just not dogs. It makes no sense to me either.)

"I don't want a lot for Yule-Time..."

Alert, I paused the movie and sat up.

Blake blearily blinked her eyes rapidly "Hmm? Wha-?"

"Dad? What is-?" My thirteen year old son began asking before I shushed him.

"Shshsh!" I hissed. "Do you hear that?"

My wife and son were quiet for a moment, their ears flicking back and forth.

"There is just one thing I need..."

"It sounds like... Singing?" Solomon said in confusion before his face began to morph into one of realization and dread.

"Oh no..."

My son and I shot up to look out the window to see a blizzard forming.

"I don't care about the presents..."

"Sol! Grab Big Red!" I order before rushing to the kitchen backdoor to grab my coat and a flashlight with Hati and Skoll close behind me, ready for a hunt.

"Underneath the Yuletide Tree..."

On my way over to the kitchen, I passed the stairs that led to the bedrooms. At the bottom was Savannah, holding a blanket while rubbing her golden eyes tiredly. Her blonde hair was already a mess and nearly hid her own set of yellow cat ears.

"Daddy? What's going on?" She sleepily asked.

"I just want you for my own..."

"Go on back to bed, sweetie. There's just a little something I gotta take care of," I said while putting my arm through the sleeves of my coat.

"More than you could ever know..."

The singing was growing louder as I crunched the snow outside, scanning the area with my flashlight in search of the source.

"Dad! Up there! On the roof!" I heard my son call out, pointing up with one hand while holding my over-under double barrel 12-gauge shotgun, Big Red.

"Make my wish coooommmeee truuuueeee..."

I shined my light to see her. Dressed in a redand white fur-lined dress that was way too little to be reasonably worn outside in these conditions, was Velvet.

"How many times do I have to tell you!?!" I call out to the lovesick bunny. "STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY YOU WITCH!!!"

I turned to my son.

"What are you waiting for!? Take the shot!" I call out over the howling winds.

"I... I can't!" Solomon exclaims frantically. The panic he felt seeped into his voice as he looked to me helplessly.

"What!?! Gimme the gun!" I say taking Big Red from Solomon as he held it out to me.

I checked it over to see that the hammer and firing pins had been iced over.

"All I want for Yule-Tiiiimeee..."

"What?!?" I cry out in horror before looking back up on the roof of my home and the source of my terror.

"Iiiissss..."

"Nononono..."

"Youuuu-HOOOOH!"

"NO!!!"

And with that, everything went white as a wall of snow blasted over me.

(-/Line Break\-)

It was the morning after Aunt Velvet kidnapped Dad and Mom was on the scroll with Aunt Ruby or Yang right now.

You'd think it would've been Aunt Bleiss, or even Aunt Pyrrha, but no... Aunt Velvet...

I was sitting at the end of the kitchen table staring blankly at the now thawed out shotgun and the unspent Aura-piercing tranquilizers with a mug of hot cocoa in my hands.

Savannah then walked into the room and grabbed some pop tarts to toast for her breakfast.

The pop of them coming out of the toaster is what snapped me back to reality.

"Solly? Where's Daddy?" She asked looking around with rising panic when she didn't see our father anywhere. Knowing that (much to my envy now that I finally knew the truth after turning thirteen) my little sister was still too young to really know what was going on, I gave her a more age-appropriate answer.

"Aunt Velvet... Needed to... 'Borrow' him, for a little bit, Sav..." I tell her delicately.

"So she will give him back... Right?" Savannah asked.

"Yes, he will come back, I just got off the scroll with Aunt Ruby team to make sure Aunt Velvet let's him go..." I assure her.

"Yeah... It happened again... Of course... Thanks Ruby... See you later..." Mom said before ending the call and sitting down at the table while pinching the bridge of her nose and groaning out loud with a hiss.

"She does this every year!"

Aaaannnnd... SCENE!!!

So yeah, we have a Christmas Special for our finale.

And on that note, anyone who wants to do spin-offs or continuations of this are free to do so. All I ask is to keep Knightshade as the main pairing.

Happy Non-Specified Winter Holiday!!!