A Mammoth Christmas Pt. 2

Percy was in awe as he walked along a sparse forest. The trees were made of peppermint bark and the bushes bore sugarplums. He had the urge to have his fair share of sugarplums out of mere curiosity despite his carnivorous palette but he didn't have the time. His partial herd and himself had begun their journey for a reason after all. "Sugarplums!" He glanced up just as Crash and Eddie tumbled to the ground, prematurely launching themselves off Prancer's back.

"Peppermint bark!" Both possums ran to their respective fascinations, Crash popping a sugarplum in his mouth as Eddie took a long lick at the bark of the tree.

"Yellow snow, my favourite!"

Percy's eyes widened as he whipped around, narrowing his eyes on Sid about to dig into the oddly-coloured snow. "Sid!" The sabre was thankful when Prancer nudged him away, giving the sloth a pointed glance. "Don't, just don't."

"Halt! None shall pass."

Percy looked up at the warning voice. He found the source at the top of the hill and it was. . . a little small. He'd never seen a lot of mini sloths but he'd heard stories of Sid's experience with them, how they'd taken him away, worshipped him and then proceeded to try and sacrifice him. Whether true or not, it seemed the larger species of sloth had yet to learn his lesson. "Oh, hi, little guy. So, who are you?"

"We are the Santourage. We keep intruders out so Santa can do his work without interruption." Peaches perked up, excited as Percy's frown deepened. The 'we' the blue mini sloth used echoed in his mind and filled him with uncertainty. A bed of mini sloths with sharp-tipped spears wasn't exactly an easy army to face. "I knew he was real! You've gotta let us see him." The mammoth calf pleaded.

The mini sloth jabbed his spear in their direction threateningly. "It is forbidden! Turn back, I command you." Percy narrowed his eyes, his ears picking up on the pattering of tiny little feet.

"Oh, yeah? You and what army?" The sound echoed all around them. The blue sloth before them snapped his fingers and just as he expected, several more sloths with pointed spears appeared on the inclines around them except on th path of the way they came. A clear sign that they would either fight or turn back the way they'd come.

Percy was all for the latter and was one of the first to turn away. "Yeah, okay." Crash scrambled after him. "Hasta luego!" Eddie nodded before sprinting after his brother and friend, hopping onto Percy's back. "Feliz Navidad."

Unfortunately, as always, Sid failed to see the danger in the situation until it was breathing down his neck and he was cornered at the edge of a cliff. "But you gotta let me in. I'm on the list!"

"He must not be disturbed or we won't get presents. You have been warned. Unleash heck!" Percy's eyes widened as the sloths grew in numbers, advancing with their weapons and shields and forcing the mammals up against the face of the overhanging snowfall. Percy could see rows upon rows of mini sloths and immediately trashed his idea to leap over the army—and the notion that Prancer could fly over for the overconfident reindeer launched himself in the air and proceeded to get his antlers stuck in the snow above.

"Everybody, grab a leg and pull!"

Percy sucked in a breath as Peaches grabbed two legs, Sid and the possums latching onto one each. The moment they pulled, he had a sinking feeling and it had nothing to with the mini sloths advancing. Instead, it had everything to do with the fractures in the mixture of snow and ice that ran along the overhang. Percy narrowly avoided the chunk that fell off, pushing Peaches out of the way as he dodged it, taking the others with him in the process. It did nothing other than save them from the collision of the initial fall for the rest of the overhang crumbled too.

Percy barely had time to prepare as he, his herd and the army of sloths went tumbling down the mountain, the beginnings of an avalanche growing worse as they plunged further.

"Do you feel that?" Akira wondered, glancing around with a frown.

"Feel what?" Diego inquired. The sabress was bewildered by the soft trembling underneath her paws before it occurred to her to look up. "Avalanche!" She hissed, looking around hopelessly. There was nowhere to go but down. The mammoths and sabre followed her gaze just as the brunt of the avalanche struck them.

It seemed like ages as she rolled down the steep decline in the mass of moving snow, feeling a tree or sharp branch brush her in her tumble down the hill. Akira finally came to a stop minutes later and groaned as she felt the minor injuries she'd acquired as well as a rather soft yet heavy ball of weight on her back. Perplexed by just what had knocked the breath out of her and just whose fall she had cushioned, she twisted her neck to check and chuckled softly at the mammal that greeted her.

"Well, hello there."

Peaches' eyes fluttered open once the calf was sure she was in one piece, unharmed and with a friend rather than foe.

"Auntie Kira!" Akira sat down, the calf sliding off her back and quickly running into her embrace. "We've been looking for you, hun. Your parents have been worried sick." Peaches had the decency to look sheepish and a bit guilty as she parted from the sabress, looking away. "I know but we had to get Uncle Sid off the naughty list and I needed to show my da that Santa is real."

Akira smiled fondly down at the pouting calf, nuzzling her reassuringly. "Don't worry. You've got me on your side, sweetheart. Now, let's go find the others." Peaches gave her a relieved, sweet little grin before the two were off, moving through the aftermath of the avalanche in search of their family. "Peaches!" The sabress and calf paused at the worried shout, followed by a few more. The eldest of the two huffed. "Bring on another avalanche, will they?"

"Well, to be fair, it wasn't us being too loud. Our friend, Prancer flew too high and got his antlers stuck. When we tried to pull him out, a piece of ice and snow broke off and the whole cliff crumbled."

Akira looked at Peaches with a dubious expression. "I'm sorry, he flew too high?"

The calf nodded confidently. "Yup. He's a flying reindeer and he's our friend. He's the one who—"

"Peaches!"

The calf perked up at the sight of her parents, her father, in particular. "Daddy!" Ellie, at the voice of her daughter, rushed over too. Soon Peaches found herself in her parents' embrace. "Oh, baby, we were so worried about you." Manny hugged his daughter close for a few lingering moments before he released her. His eyes narrowed instantly, "Oh, you. . . you are so grounded!"

Akira settled back on her haunches as the missing members of their herd joined them. She spotted Percy and her motherly instincts sparked, the sabre wincing under her glare. "You too, Perce."

The sabre cub and mammoth calf winced. "Sorry, Daddy." "Sorry, mom."

Akira gave Peaches an odd look which the calf returned until her father clarified it for her. "I'm talking to Sid."

"Sorry, Daddy." Akira snorted as the sloth peeked from behind Peaches, guilty.

"Frolicking fruitcake!"

All the mammals glance toward the source of the exclamation, Akira's eyes widening along with the kids'. Peaches' smile was the brightest. "It's Santa!"

Manny grimaced, "Just 'cause there's a fat guy, doesn't make him Santa." The mammal, human-possibly Santa-huffed as he glanced down at his red attire with a pout. "I'm not fat! It's this suit, it's very poofy."

Sid's eyes were the brightest as he approached Santa Clause, picking at his attire as he circled and examined him. "Manny, it is Santa! And he's just as old and decrepit as I imagined. And, oh, so jolly." The man paid the sloth no mind, looking around at the absolute mess that surrounded them. "Oh, look at this mess. Two hours till Christmas and everything's ruined! My toys, my sleigh! All my hard work."

"Um, would this be a good time to talk about getting off the Naughty List?"

Akira nearly facepalmed at Sid's terrible timing. There were currently bigger problems than his name on the naughty list that didn't exist. "Sid, there's no such thing," Manny said, acknowledging the very thing that had gotten them into this very mess.

"There is now, Manfred. Thanks for the idea." Akira's eyes widened imperceptibly as the man pulled a list from the interior of his coat, producing a rolled-up list. It was blank at first until he unrolled it with a subtle flick of his wrist and the paper extended for a few feet, names writing themselves in red ink upon the once empty sheet. If Akira needed any more confirmation, there it was. Among all the names, she recognized those of the mammals in her herd, her own included.

"Wait, wait! How do you know my. . . name? Santa?" Manny stared at the not-so-jolly man, wide-eyed.

Diego was insulted as he found his name on the list. "Hey, what did we do?"

Sid pointedly cleared his throat, gesturing pointedly to the destroyed valley. The sabre had the decency to wince. "Oh, right. Destroyed Christmas."

Manny was still processing his shock, "Peaches, you were. . . I mean, I mean, I was. . . that's Santa! Standing right there. He's real!"

Akira and Peaches levelled the mammoth with the same unimpressed expressions though the latter was the one to vocalize it. "Duh!"

Santa ignored their interactions, dejected as he looked around at the mess. "There's gonna be a lot of disappointed kids tomorrow morning." Akira tilted her head as she wore a thoughtful expression.

"There's gotta be a way to fix this." Akira glanced at Manny, frowning as Peaches counteracted with, "Dad, it's impossible! There's only eight of us." Green eyes shifted to the mini sloths who stood aimlessly watching, guilt written all over their little faces. "Eight hundred and eight if we count them."

All eyes shifted to the rather adorable-looking army weapons aside, the sloths' eyes widening in shock at being addressed. "Wait, us? You mean, as in, us?"

The sabress frowned. "Well, yeah. Together as an army, you're definitely a force to be reckoned with but as helping hands, Santa could have double the present for all the mammals in the world and a lot quicker too. Even now, we've got a chance."

Manny gave her a grateful grin before he glanced down at his daughter. "Come on, Peaches. You taught me to believe. What do you say?" The mammoth calf grinned as she trotted over to one of the small sloths holding a war drum. "Hit it!"

And so they began fixing Christmas and sung Christmas carols to help them along.

"Deck the halls with moss and rockweed." Sid, the possums and the sloths crafted their various ideas of toys, the sabres lending a paw or claw for a brief cut or some heavy lifting. "Fa-la-la-la-la—what's a hall?" In several minutes, Ellie and Akira had constructed a cute little family of mammoths from twine, the mammoth winding the rope together while the sabre cut what was needed. "Tis the season—what's a season?" Sid held an angled stick in his paws, giving it a scrutinizing grimace before tossing it away, deeming it no good. "Just play along." No sooner than he had thrown it had the boomerang returned after a wide arc, and struck him in the head.

"Sid has got the proper spirit!" Ellie sang as she held up one of the twine mammoths proudly. Crash and Eddie slid down the lengths of her tusks, admiring her work. "Fa-la-la-la-la, hey not too bad." The sloth in mention appeared on their makeshift workbench, looking at the family of twine mammoths with a glint in his eye. "Beautiful!" The sloth was redirected before he even had a chance to decide just which mammoth he wanted to pick up. The culprit, Manny, nudged the sloth in another direction. "Don't let Sid near it."

"We can do it if we hurry." Akira improvised as she had a bunch of sloths lined up, taking each one in a gentle paw and using her claws carefully to thread through their coat, brushing the excess fur onto the ground. "Lend a paw," the line went quickly, some sloths even joining again for another brush through their fur. "Lend a claw, everyone." Akira didn't mind because sloths that came, twice, even three times still gave enough fur to make even smaller, softer versions of them. "Even if you're small and furry." Akira watched as Sid slid a finished fur sloth over to Peaches with a proud grin. "All together we can get it done."

"Kira, have you seen this?" The sabress glanced over her shoulder and her eyes gleamed at the ball of twine Diego was happily batting around, leaping to catch it when he hit it high into the air. Percy was watching as well, low to the ground as he readied himself to pounce on the ball of rope. Diego was none the wiser until the cub leaped high and the two collided, falling to the floor in a heap. She laughed out loud as the ball of twine rolled in her direction, coming to a stop under her paw.

"Hey, Peaches?" The calf glanced up at her. "Mind shaking out a few sloths?" The youngest of their herd didn't mind at all, happily trotting over and beginning the process Akira had once been involved in as the sabress tossed the ball of twine as far as she could. The reactions of her sabres were instantaneous and her laughter followed as she happily joined them.

"This shall go down in the annals." She was mid-race with the trio when a whistle caught her attention as well as the call of her name. "Peace and goodwill towards all mammals." The sabress skidded to a stop, turning to find Santa beckoning her, a pile of boxes in hand. She hummed a wordless question. "Mind taking these to the sled for me?" At the offered boxes, she nodded before they were balanced upon her back. She gave the man a small smile before she made her way to the sled of peppermint bark the mini sloths and possums had put together.

"Things were looking grim and tragic." She deposited the boxes in the grand sleigh and turned to join Manny and Diego. "But we got busy and pulled it off." She sang with a grin. In reality, they really had taken quite a hopeless situation and made it flourish into something amazing. Things were better than they originally had been. "Now we found some Christmas magic."

"All because of each and every sloth." Akira looked towards the top of the hill, raising her eyebrows at Sid. She certainly wasn't a sloth as were a few of the helpers but she guessed they did indeed outnumber them. Still, however, Diego was a bit incredulous. "All because of each and every sloth?" Akira shrugged for there was no harm in joining in. She nudged Diego as Sid used the candy cane-shaped bark to propel himself down the hill. As he began, everyone joined in. "All because of each and every sloth!"

"I can't believe it. These presents! The decorations! This sleigh!" Santa marvelled at the work they had all accomplished. Sid trotted up to the man's side, smiling. "I bet the mini sloths could help you make presents every year. Right, guys?"

The appointed leader of the miniature sloths nodded though his eyes were narrowed in an expectant glare. "Well, we're gonna need hats. Cute hats."

Akira chuckled, "Those would look very fashionable—especially if they matched Santa's suit." Their eyes gleamed brightly at the idea, all giving eager nods.

"It looks like you got enough toys for every child on Earth," Sid said. The sabress glanced over at the sloth and giver of gifts for those who believed, seeing they had both migrated to the overflowing sleigh.

"Every child in the world but I don't think I'll be able to make the trip in time." The man deflated, saddened by the newest issue but Akira felt there was an easy solution and part of it stepped forward, bold as ever. "Santa, I'm giving you the biggest Christmas gift of all. Me! You're flying Air Prancer tonight."

Akira watched as Prancer got into position for Sid to saddle him, recalling all she could about the reindeer. He was rather confident, ready to prove himself at a moment's notice which spoke volumes of his family. He wasn't an only child—the chance was slim—for he was used to competition. Prancer constantly felt the need to demonstrate how he was a great flyer and a strong mammal. . . it was likely his siblings were flyers as well or at least he knew other flyers. And more flying reindeer were exactly what they needed.

"Prancer?" The reindeer was pulling hopelessly at the sleigh, getting virtually nowhere even as her herd pushed from behind with determination. At the call of his name, he slouched with a defeated sigh. "I failed. I failed everybody."

The sabress walked over to the sulking reindeer, her eyes warm. "Well, I wouldn't say you've failed."

Prancer huffed. "Well, I would. I can't move this whole sleigh on my own—"

"Nope, and neither can a lone mammoth but there are still three pushing with a sabre, sloth and two possums. One mammal might not make this sleigh budge but a couple of them certainly make a difference. Some things are much easier when you work together, Prancer, and you alone may not be able to take this sleigh to the sky but. . ."

The reindeer perked up as he understood her implied message. "But with more of me, the sleigh could be in the air! I know exactly what I need to do." He wasted no time unfastening himself from the saddle, taking to the sky in a blink and disappearing almost as fast.

"What—Prancer? He's gone?! Bu-but we need him. How will we get this sleigh around the world without him to pull it?" Sid shot question after question at her in his worry and

Akira gave him a small reassuring smile. "Give him a minute, Sid." She insisted. The mammals all settled down, Akira as well, in wait for Prancer's return and the others partially in defeat.

Twenty minutes, maybe closer to half an hour passed when the reindeer finally returned. "Hey, guys!" Sid was the first one to perk up, a grin splitting his face. "Akira's right! Nothing's impossible if you pull together." The sabress smiled proudly as she took notice of the reindeer hovering behind him. "Meet my family. Dasher, Dancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen." His siblings were cheerful enough, Blitzen aside, and Akira could easily see the possibility for competition among them, especially since it seemed that Prancer was the youngest. He had a lot of expectations to live up to in that regard—it explained a lot.

The reindeer saddled themselves up, Blitzen the last to do so as he briefly flew Crash and Eddie high up into the air, thoroughly frightening the possums that had giggled hysterically at his name. Manny approached Prancer as Akira gave the reindeer a grateful nod, falling back to join the rest of her herd. Ellie and Peaches stood with Percy and Diego. . . poor Diego had a mistletoe held over his head, Sid resolute about getting a kiss. Akira muffled her giggles with a paw as the sabre tackled the persistent sloth to the ground with a snarl.

"Aha!" At the excited exclamation, Akira glanced over her shoulder and grinned at the sight of the sleigh taking off the snowy ground, airborne in seconds.

"Ha-ha! Yeah!" Sid cheered along with Peaches and Percy, Akira snorting as the sloth was pinned beneath Diego's paw but could evidently care less.

"Hey, Manfred, nice job!" Santa said as he circled above them momentarily, tossing the once naughty list down to them for Manny to catch. When it fell open, the names were green and instead of naughty, it read 'nice'. Akira grinned, satisfied by the outcome and clearly, Sid was as well as he ran off with the list, screaming. "I got Christmas!"

Peaches was smug as she looked up at her dad. "See what happens when you believe, Dad?"

"I gotta say, I'm kinda digging the holiday magic," Manny admitted just as the very presents they had spent all their energy crafting fell right in front of them, "Ho, ho, ho!" Santa's voice echoed long after he and the reindeer were gone.

Akira peered curiously inside her box, nudging it open with her nose only to find herself bewildered by what was inside. She extracted the miniature version of herself with a gentle mouth, dropping it into her open paw. The movement produced a bell-like sound from within. She wasn't exactly sure what it was for as she didn't favour toys much and Percy had certainly grown out of it but Akira decided keeping it around would do no harm.