Radiance

by Ghostnobody

This will be my first dip into the Fallout universe, here I will tell the tale of the mysterious Number Seven and the rag tag group of adventurers that he gathers to him as he makes his way through the post-apolyptic world. Contains Multiple pairings including Human x Deathclaw Based on my Podcast series of the same name avalible on all podcast outlets like Spotify.

90. Chapter 90

A Radiant Christmas: The Tail of the Santa Claws.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a soul was stirring not even a mouse.

Mainly because they were shit scared of the five Claws, one Nightstalker, one Archnakai, two super mutants, one synth as well numerous heavily armed humans that were all gathered around the roaring fireplace all celebrating this curious little holiday the humans of the group called Christmas, so yeah the mice weren't fucking stupid.

"I'm still not sure about this holiday my love, is there any particular reason we must wear these things?" Vess said looking at Chris as she lifted her tail to look at the woollen tail warmer that was wrapped around her thick tail like a giant white, green and red tube sock.

It perfectly matched the woollen jumper that she was currently rocking that was pulled rather taught due to her sizeable bust, it also matched the little red hat that was attached to her head by the little loops of wool that had been tied around her horns to make two pretty little bows on either side of her head.

"Oh stop complaining auntie I think that this is a rather charming celebration and I for one am thankful for the extra warmth during this season, these nuclear winters can be miserable, you know how long the pack used to spend in the nest during this time of year," Visa said sliding her rather sizeable rear intoSeven'ss lap while using the frame of the chair to take the majority of her weight while she wrapped her equally woollen wrapped tail around her human.

Visa as well as the rest of the Claws and indeed all of the others were all rocking a variety of Christmas wear made in thick warm wool that Malakai had been busily weaving into amazing designs covered in green pine trees as well as other odd designs that looked to be little animals that reminded them of Radstags but with much bigger antlers that appeared to be pulling a sledge of some kind.

"I think they are rather nice and I for one want to thank Malakai for all of his hard work the designs are beautiful and these things are beautifully warm just what we need in this bloody temperature," Shepherd said snugglinherselflf into Passa's lap and cradling her hot drink which was a warm fruit drink mixed with whiskey to warm her both outside and in.

"Agreed these things are nice and warm, beautiful work as always Malakai," Seven said gesturing out from behind Visa's sizeable frame towards Malakai who was sitting by the large stone fireplace looking like a spider-shaped loaf with Wisp sat on his abdomen also wrapped in wool and cradling a warm drink.

"Thank you, actually it was fun to work on, I don't get to use wool very often but that vacuum-sealed crate of the stuff we found in that mall was a saviour of spiders sent gift especially given the weather outside, damn glad we stocked up on provisions, something tells me we might be locked in here for a while given the snow outside," Malakai said his little bobble hat bobbing around as his head turned and leaned to look around Visaoh-so-pretty

"Oh no locked in a luxurious underground bunker all winter with my male what ever will I do to keep warm?' Gregory said playing with the fluffy ball that was hanging off the red and white woollen tail warmer that Ven was wearing wrapped around his thick tail.

Ven purred softly and wrapped said thick tail around his human's waist letting it sit in his lap as Gregory rested both his hands and his drink on it as he stoked it with one hand and held his drink with the other.

"Oh I'm sure we'll think of something sweet thing," Ven growled softly.

It's traditional my love, I know Claw traditions are different but if you are going to love a human you should at least try to experience our traditions while I try to embrace yours," Chris said as Vess took a leaf from her niece's book by picking up her little human male and carrying him over to a large armchair and planting him on the seat before planting herself on his lap as the chair protested under her weight.

"Hmmm you are right these clothes are at least warm and I will say they do very much add to your aesthetic appeal and will whet my even more as I imagine peeling yet more layers from your body," she growled sappetiteaking Chris swallow hard but he still reached up and patted her massive thighs and her sizable rump which was spreading out over his lap.

Vess turned and looked at Seven, "Are there any more human holiday and Christmas traditions that I should be aware of?" she asked and he smiled at her as he lovingly stroked Visa's large tail and thighs.

"Oh many, put this way why do you think I spent so long looking for a bloody mistletoe bush?" he said and Vess cocked her large head in obvious confusion.

"What is this mistletoe and what is its significance?" she asked and Ven gave her a sly smile and then pointed upward causing her to look up to see a little bough of it floating above her head.

Chris also looked up before glancing at Seven and then shooting him a warm smile he patted Vess's large thighs in a way that said he needed to get up and of course, the large female Claw shifted her ample rear to allow him to shift out from under her but no sooner had he managed to get to his feet he whirled around on the spot grabbed the front of her jumper and pulled her into a deep long kiss which froze the big Claw up like she'd just short-circuited.

Now all of the non-humans looked from the spectacle to Seven for an explanation to which he simply pointed upwards and when they found one bough floating above each of them all of their human lovers responded accordingly including Seven himself but it appeared that Visa was Wiley and ready for him, so instead of him getting his surprise kiss on her she grabbed him and yanked him in while shoving her tongue into his mouth.

"It's traditional to kiss someone who has a sprig of mistletoe above their head, a kiss under the mistletoe is an ancient tradition dating back hundreds of years," Chris said filling in the gaps as Seven was kinda indisposed by the long claw tongue currently filling his cheeks.

Suddenly Chris was yoinked off his feet by Vess who gripped him under his arms and planted her mouth over his and kissed him so deeply that he tongue filled his mouth completely, when they parted he was breathless and flushed, "Oh this human tradition I can really can get behind, if you are meant to kiss whatever is underneath it maybe I should hand a sprig of it from my tail root what do you think my little human?' Vess purred softly.

"I don't think you need it," he said and she growled deeply before planting him back in the chain and planting her sizeable rear end back into his lap though this time she applied a little more of her weight onto him to keep him in place.

As Vess glanced around the room there were suddenly lots of rather flushed and breathless humans around her all looking somewhat flustered, a warm smile lit her face, "So Seven what other traditions should I know about?" she asked as Visa planted herself back in his lap wiggling herself around until she got herself comfortable.

"Well one of the most popular traditions is to tell stories while sitting around a roaring fire with good friends and family, this is usually done while enjoying an alcoholic drink," he said.

Vess looked around them and then nodded to herself, "Well it looks like everything we need is right here, so who has a story to tell?" she asked.

"Well, I've got one, have any of you heard of the tale of the Santa Claws?" Chris said and they all looked at him in surprise but a lot of heads were shaking.

"Well then let me begin..." he said clearing his throat.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Twas a few nights before Christmas and all through the cave silence reigned supreme as two lonely sentient Claws sat huddling together against the cold and the snow outside.

"Oh brother dear I wish we could go down there where the humans are, they all look so warm and cosy in their big nest," the female Claw sighed as she looked down at the lights of the small village hidden away in the valley below them.

"Don't let looks fool you sister dearest, those humans are on edge, the raiders keep trying to find them and attacking their farmers and hunters," the big mae Claw of the pair said looking where his sister did down into the valley at all the little twinkling lights which are hidden view by the thick trees and high valleys all around them.

"If only they'd let us help them, we could help one another to survive," she said softly.

"I know Serena but you know how humans are, they are frightened by things that are different from them and our kind are pretty much universally hated by them," the big male said.

"There must be something we can do to change their minds, to show them that we are not bad or evil Claws, there must be some way to reach them, Sabat, there must be," Serena said softly.

"Keep dreaming sister, keep dreaming humans and Claws will never coexist together peacefully," Sabat said with a growl in his voice.

"I don't believe that! There must be some way to reach them, to show them the truth!" Serena snarled whipping around and lashing her long tail from side to side in annoyance.

Serena was every bit the alpha Claw that she had been before their pack had been whipped out by rampaging super mutants forcing them to flee for their lives from Santa Monica and setting out into the lonely cold world alone but for one another.

Sabat reached up and hugged his sister from behind embracing the large female Claw, "That's why I love you sister, you never give up hope and always keep dreaming, it never fails to give me hope," he said softly.

"Well hope is all we have left brother and I'll be damned if I ever let that get taken from us as well, we've lost everyone and everything but that will never get taken from us, as long as I still breathe I will continue to hope that a better life and world exists for us even if I have to take matters into my own Claws," she said defiantly.

Sleep did not come easy to Serena that night, restless were her dreams but surprisingly we the images that flashed into her mind, she found herself standing in a ruined human city one that she recognised as it looked exactly like the one that was not far from where their cave was, a dangerous place to be sure, filled with roaming super mutants and human raiders.

But out of the street came a peal of oddly familiar laughter, she walked forwards being careful not to trip over the human trash littering the place as she searched for the source but as it turned out she didn't need to look far, as there is a side street was a small female hatchling playing with some of the human oddities.

"Hey what are you doing here! It's dangerous! Quickly come with me and I'll get you back to your pack and more importantly your matriarch!" Serena called but at the sound of her voice the giggling hatchling took off running into another street.

"Hey wait! Don't run!" Serena called giving chance quickly but try as she might she simply couldn't catch up to the hatchling until she did.

She found her standing outside a large old human building facing a large smashed window, as Serena cautiously approached her from behind the small female Claw simply lifted her hand to point at the window and when Serena looked inside she saw something glowing.

"What is it?' she asked but when she looked down again the little hatchling was just gone.

Serena looked all around herself but there was no sign of the little hatchling anywhere around her, she had simply vanished.

Serena felt incredibly creeped out, had she just imagined her?

She sniffed the air around her but she couldn't smell anything other than the usual smells of the city, the scent of rot both fresh and ancient that carried a kind of bitter dusty smell with it, the scent of fear and death was also strong here.

She took a few steps forwards into the building which appeared to be one of those things that humans called shops, a place where all sorts of humans came to buy things from other humans who the things that they wanted or needed.

Serena had always been fascinated by humanity, they were such an overly complex species on one hand capable of such incredible cruelty and violence that they genuinely scared her and on the other capable of touching and moving acts of kindness that bordered on the benevolent.

They were a very confusing species, to say the least, she was also harbouring something in her heart that she had kept hidden away from everyone her whole life ever since she was no more than an adolescent, it was a secret so profound that she didn't even let her brother in on it and he had been her rock for her whole life, infact he was the person she remembered first from when she was hatched, that secret was she liked humans.

For all their darkness and evils she felt like she understood them, unlike the rest of the denizens of the wastes humans had no form of natural protection from the brutal realities of the world around them, so to survive in this world they had to be brutal themselves and given that their grasp on the technology that could be either incredible or truly evil because it created extreme power imbalances.

But her life went beyond that understanding, it reached far further into her heart and her soul, she remembered as a teenager she was exploring an old human city much like this one but back where her pack was originally from in the place Humans called Santa Monica.

She had managed to get herself into one of their old shops and this one was filled with old paper tomes that the humans called books and magazines, she began to explore the place and despite not being able to really read any of the human languages yet she found loads of amazing pictures to look at among those ancient pages.

But that's when she found it, a tome that had stayed with her as her most secret and greatest hidden treasure right up until their nest was burned and she and her brother were forced to flee for their lives.

It had been hidden high up on one of the shelves far from view but a colourful picture drew her attentions and she used her claws to great effect in managing to climb up to the top of the high shelves in order to retrieve it pulling the entire shelving unit down on her head in the process.

But fate had smiled on her that day as not only had a second shelving unit saved her from being trapped below the heavy shelving unit forming an arch that she could crawl out of but her prize had survived her fall as well.

She took her prize into a little back room filled with heavy leather objects that humans called chairs that were incredibly comfy to sit upon though they were a little awkward for her tail, but once she was comfortable she opened that magazine and what she saw in those pages changed her life forever.

The pages were filled with picture upon picture of naked human males in a variety of suggestive poses giving the viewer sly and smouldering smiles while their eyes positively begged the viewer to chase and hunt them to claim their prize that they were displaying to them.

Serena had never in her life imagined that humans could be beautiful but they truly were, it hurt her heart when thought that these handsome specimens of humanity's masculine beauty were undoubtedly all long dead thanks to the war that had remade the world this way.

She found herself mesmerized by those pictures and more than that she found herself aroused for the first time in her life and it was by a member of another species.

Serena had been so enthralled by those images she'd seen that she'd squirrelled away that little deviant treasure in her nest far away from the eyes of the other Claws who would judge her for this deviancy including her brother.

For years as she had matured towards full adulthood she viewed those pages over and over again in her silent private moments to the point where she could have named every curve and dimple of those beautiful masculine bodies by heart.

Human males were just so exotic and wonderful, they looked so fragile and smooth compared to Claw males but it was that gentle fragility that really attracted her, it was positively exotic to her after growing up and living with big powerful Claw boys her whole life.

Even years later after their nest was burned along with that secret little treasure of hers she could still remember those human boys from those pages, every curve, every patch of smooth clear and soft-looking flesh that simply begged to be explored inch by inch by a grateful and curious set of claw-tipped fingers no matter what colour or flavour as she began to refer to it that it came in, every set of smouldering eyes, every sly and knowing smile, every beautiful and mouthwatering maleness both hard and soft, she could recall them all.

Her favourite was the males with long head fur, furry bodies and especially those with facial fur because as much as she loved the smooth-skinned variety fur was just such a novelty and turn-on for her because she yearned to run her claws through that deliciously soft fur for hours, it was like the perfect combination for her, soft human skin topped with soft fur so the best of both worlds for her claws to explore.

It also helped to save a human life later on and possibly her own, she had been in the forest near her home hunting for molerats when she had stumbled across a human male cutting down trees either to make buildings or firewood from but what she had seen had taken her breath away and her tail swish.

She'd managed to hide herself behind a bush and began to watch him as he struck the tree over and over again, the way his smooth cream-coloured skin bunched as his muscles contracted as well as glistened as his perspiration caught the sunlight made her drool, he was truly a beauty.

Even now the memory of her teenage self hiding in those bushes trying to resist her urges to break from the bushes at full tilt in order to snatch him up and run for her nest with him over her shoulder made her smile.

As Serena looked around this human shop she found that it was completely empty except for one thing, a large leather-bound book that was sat upon a pedestal in the middle of the empty shelves.

Walking slowly up and looking around the shadowed shop she approached the pedestal but she couldn't see anyone though odd sounds were coming from those shadows, as soon as she touched the book with a claw-tipped finger the book snapped open all on its own and the pages began to rapidly cycle over until it reached the middle of the book and suddenly Serena found herself standing in the middle of a human village but this one looked different, it was clean and neat, it took her a moment to realise that this was a village from before the war.

That's when she saw the little hatchling claw again only now she looked older and it took her a moment to realise that she was a teenager now that's also when she realised that this younger claw was not just familiar, it was her!

The younger Serena smiled at her as if sensing that she now understood who she was seeing, but before she could say a word about it the younger Serena held a clawed finger up to her lips to silence before pointing to something going on in the middle of the town.

Serena followed the younger version over to the commotion and that's when she saw something truly amazing, there was a rather large human dressed all in red with a very strange hat and holding a large sack on his shoulder.

Looking over him his suit was deep red and covered in white trim and wearing a strange bobbled hat, but the thing that truly caught her eye was his truly impressive snow-white facial fur, it was long thick and luscious.

He was standing before a large sleigh that appeared to be being pulled by what looked like eight of those strange rad stags with large antlers, one of which seemed to have an odd red nose that even seemed to glow.

As she watched, the large jolly looking man leapt from the floor and onto one of the rooves of the snow-covered house and in a display that beggared belief he vanished down a large chimney stack before appearing again in the house's living room.

Serena felt a flush of rage as suddenly she understood the sack, that man was a thief, he was going to rob that human nest of their belongings and went to let out a bellow of rage before a large claw-tipped hand got clamped over her mouth.

She looked at her younger self in confusion as she shook her head before pointing and turning her head to face the window again.

To her complete confusion, the large red-suited human opened his sack and instead of placing the families belongings in it, he appeared to be taking out brightly wrapped colourful wrapped boxes and placing them under a large colourful tree before eating a plate of odd human food and drinking what appeared to be brahmin milk before vanishing only to appear on another roof moments later and repeating the process.

As they watched he jumped to every house and delivered gifts to all of them, once he was done he climbed into the slay which took off into the night sky, how the hell did Radstags fly while also pulling a sleigh!?

Serena turned to her younger self for an explanation but she simply smiled at her and then vanished only for another Claw to step into sight making Serena's mouth fall open as she was literally looking at herself.

Just like her younger self, this Claw was slightly see-through almost like a ghost or spirit but why was it her?

The ghostly version of herself smiled and beckoned her to follow her which she did only to find that the human village they were in now looked exactly like the one in the valley below their cave and it looked exactly like it did right now.

Instead of windows, the houses had both a mixture of bars and wooden beams to protect and hide the occupants from attempted robberies and break-ins, but it was the looks upon the faces of the people that really crushed her heart.

Misery and tiredness were everywhere she looked, it was like staring into the heart of depression, there were no colourful lights, no decorated trees, no wrapped gifts and most profoundly, no joy of any kind.

Her ghostly self beckoned for her to follow which she did and what she saw made her heart ache, looking through the boarded windows of a house she saw a human family, the hatchlings looked sad and like all the life had been pulled from their very souls, she also saw that the parents looked thin and gaunt, suddenly she realised that the parents were not eating that they were sacrificing their health for their hatchlings.

Her ghostly self guided her over to another house and this one obviously belonged to a hunter, but rather than being out hunting for food for his clan he was hiding behind his walls and his sadness radiated through her like a coldness, as she watched the strikingly beautiful human male sat there just cleaning his tools while looking at them longingly, he was obviously wishing that he could go out and provide for his clan.

When she stepped back she turned to look at her ghostly self only to find her gone, instead, there were two near identical elder claws infact they were identical except for the way they presented themselves and once again she recognised it as herself.

But while one version of her elder self looked truly amazing with brightly polished and long horns, clear and clean scales that looked thick and well-groomed along with a tail that was thick and luscious the other version of her was the polar opposite.

Thin, gaunt and obviously malnourished, her scales were caked in mud and dirt, her horns while long looked like they'd been chipped and blunted, her tail looked thin and listless.

The gaunt version of her beckoned and she followed leaving the radiant version of her to simply watch as with a gentle flesh she found herself in yet another version of the human village.

Only this one looked even worse than the other, it was filled now not with regular humans but with raiders, gone were the hatchlings who had once roamed and played, gone were the hunters and the workers of wood, metal and stone as well as pelt.

In their place stood cages filled with gaunt and miserable-looking skeletal humans who looked like they had been worked to the very bones that they very nearly were, sat around were raiders that were sneering at the caged humans, brutalizing them in vile and horrific ways, then the image changed to show both her and her brother far from this village shivering and miserable in yet another cage and it was obvious from the piles of corpses near the door that they had been harried and hunted by the raiders relentlessly, driving the pair to despair and near madness.

Her heart roared in grief as she saw her proud and beautiful brother as nothing more than a claw-shaped shell of a male, he looked like he had barely any strength left to carry on and the look in his eyes said he was giving very serious thought to simply hurling himself from the cave mouth and into the void of the cavern below them.

But as Serena yearned to reach out and embrace him to tell him it would be ok her strong-looking self appeared and grabbed her tearing her from this vile place and into another one.

This one simply couldn't be more different if it tried, the village was the same one but it was vibrant and bright, it was filled with life and joy again, gone were the miserable faces, gone was the gauntness that seemed to plague every adult, gone was the misery.

In its place were flushed and happy faces, joyful hatchlings ran and played yelling in joy, lights and trees like the old human town had were in every home, but what had caused this transformation?

That's when she saw it or rather them, there in the centre of the town were two very familiar figures, her and her brother decked out in white trim red and they were handing out gifts of items and food to all who came to them and they did come to them without fear, this was it this was the way she fixed everything!

Before she snapped back to reality and burst back into reality she saw all of the ghostly versions of herself and together in unison they choaresd "Choose your fate and theirs."

Waking with a start she inadvertently woke her brother who was sleeping on his pile of branches a few feet from her with a start, "Huh? Wuzzat? What's going on?" he exclaimed in a groggy and sleepy voice as his yawn exposed his large and well-maintained fangs.

"I know how to change things! I know how to fix things for both the humans of the village and us!"Serena exclaimed excitedly and even through his bleary and sleep-filled eyes she could see the confusion glimmering there.

"Huh? Fix what now?" he asked in the same vain of confusion.

"Everything!" she exclaimed excitedly pulling him to his feet and before his brain had even comprehended that he was moving she had shepherded her sleepy brother out of the cave mouth and into the world beyond, there wasn't a moment to waste!

"Explain this to me again because the last three times have just gone right over my horns, ghosts visited you in a dream and they showed you your life?" Sabat said scratching his horned head as Serena growled in frustration.

"Look it's simple, what's the major reason we haven't been able to find a new pack since we lost ours?" she said.

"Umm the ferals really don't trust us because we can speak English and we act different?" he suggested and she clicked her large fingers and pointed at him.

"Exactly! And what's the major reason the humans of the village live in fear?" she asked.

"Err because of the raider humans that kill and kidnap the peaceful ones?" he suggest and she snapped her fingers again before holding up two fingers in a reversed V sign to indicate he'd got two points right.

"Exactly! I'm saying I know a way to fix both problems, the raiders are no friend to us just like the peaceful humans aren't either, but I'm suggesting there may be a way where we can show the peaceful humans that not only are not a threat to them but we can help them, then boom we get a new pack albeit a different type of pack and they get protection, everyone wins except the fucking scum raiders!" she said dragging him through the abandoned human city that was a couple of miles from their cave like a homing missile seeking the reality of her dream.

"Yeah ok I'm beginning to get those points but what I'm not clear on is how in the name of hell you expect to achieve this end?" Sabat said as Serena squealed upon finding what she was looking for and dragged him into the abandoned human shop.

She frantically began to dig through the once produce that was now mainly just trash until joy stabbed her heart as she laid eyes upon exactly what she was looking for and holding it aloft, "With the power of a human holiday! We are going to make the Santa Claws real!" she exclaimed happily thrusting out the human book towards her now extremely confused brother and pointing to the jolly red-suited figure on the front.

"The Santa Claws?" he asked now looking lost.

"He's a figure from human mythology, I saw him in a dream, he comes to human nests and delivers them brightly wrapped gifts to bring joy and happiness to them, we are going to make the Santa Claws real for those humans, we are going to bring them gifts to bring them joy and in so doing we will show them that we are not the threat they believe we are, that we are just like them, two souls who just want a warm nest with a loving mate to fill it with joy and happiness," she said flicking through the pages of the old tome until she found a picture of Santa delivering his gifts to the hatchlings of the humans and showing to her brotheris

"I'd say I'm to think you've gone full crazy beginning I'm pretty sure we're well past that and onto smacking mole rats into orbit with said tail," Sabat said doubtfully.

Serena snarled at him, "Well what is your fucking plan genius? Shall we just live in that cave until we are too weak to fight or to hunt? Shall we wander endlessly until we find that there was no place for us all along?" she snarled angrily making him take a step back in alarm before puffing himself up and squaring off with her flexing his claws as he did.

"Better that than getting ourselves skinned by ungrateful humans!" he snarled back at her as she smashed over a mannequin with her long tail in frustration but no sooner had she done so but something red and fluffy dropped at her clawed feet and she looked down.

A slow smile crept onto her face as she bent down to retrieve the little red object hoisting it aloft to show Sabat who just looked at it in confusion, "This is a fucking omen brother, of all things I could have hit in this shop I had to hit this!" she said holding out the little red had with a white fluffy trim complete with a little white bobble on the end.

"Now I know you've gone full crazy tail," he said but before she could rebuke him there was a blood-curdling scream from outside and both of their head snapped up in alarm.

The screams were followed up by a load of hoots and hollers, 'Raiders!" Sabat snarled in a low menacing growl, that's when there was a second scream and this one sounded like a woman.

"Come on!" Serena said heading for the door and her brother looked at her like all of her scales had just fallen off to reveal a human tattoo of an anchor with the word 'Mum' tattooed on her tail.

"What now!?" he exclaimed.

"Did you now hear the screams!? There are peaceful humans in danger!" she exclaimed and he raised an eyebrow.

"So?" he said.

"So we can help them and use that as a way in! Now stop asking stupid questions and get your fucking tail in gear!" she snarled dragging him out of the door before he had the chance to protest again.

From an alleyway off the street, the pair could easily see the human raiders, they were dressed in their usual assortment of tattered leathers and odd garbage-like bin lids bolted all over them.

They were holding an assortment of basic weaponry from metal blades too long sticks, some even had crude pipe weaponry, at a rough count there were ten of them gathered in a circle around a pair of peaceful humans who were on the floor at the centre.

Serena could see one male and one female dressed in leathers that were blatantly hunting gear by the skins they were carrying and also wearing, she also noticed bows and arrows on the floor having been taken away from them and discarded in the surprise attack.

"Please, let us go we have no beef with you!" the male said sounding desperate.

"Ho ho you hear that boys and girls? He says he has no beef with us!" one of the raiders said, he was a particularly scrawny male who was tall and wiry, he was supporting a large spiky coloured hairdo that ran up the centre of his otherwise bald head.

He was carrying what looked to be a particularly nasty-looking sword with a large jagged edge, he used the tip of the blade to lift the female peaceful human's chin so he could look at her face.

The male peaceful human slapped the blade away from her neck, "Hey you leave my sister out of this, this me and you talking!" he snarled.

"Oh, this one's got some fire! We like fire don't we peeps?" he said and his group started laughing again.

"He's going to need it with what I've got planned for him," one of the other raiders said this one was a white-skinned female with a shaved head and a load of tattoos covering her face and arms.

She licked her lips while looking at the prone male who looked at her with fire in his eyes, the other raiders laughed, "You hear that? It seems Jen has taken a liking to you little man so while we have some fun with your pretty little sister there she can have some fun with you and if you're a good boy and make her happy she might not even slit your throat and make your sister watch as you bleed out in the middle of the street," the leader said making the others laugh again.

Sabat issued a low growl that was barely audible thanks to the distance, "This is why we're going to help them," Serena said and he looked at her before nodding his head to show his agreement he might not be fully on board with his sister's scheme but she knew in his heart he was not the sort of male who could let this sort of thing pass unpunished.

"Follow my lead," Serena said and with that, she leapt out of her cover from behind the bins and began to run full tilt down the alleyway letting loose a bellowing war roar as she ran.

Soon her brothers joined it and thanks to the echoing acoustics of the alleyway it must have sounded like the raiders had a hundred angry claws running right at them.

The effect was unmistakable, the fear that gripped them paralyzed both the raiders and the peaceful humans alike as the bellowing roars washed over them like the heat of rage given sound and form.

Only a second after that wave hit them both claws burst out of the alleyway like two vengeful demons, 'Deathclaws! Fucking run!" the leader yelled in pure panic but he never got the chance to even follow his own instructions because he was Sabat's first target.

The huge male claw singled him out and bolted right for him swinging his huge claws in a massive roundhouse swipe that connected at his shoulders and cleaved them and his head clean from his torso like he'd just run his claws through soft clay.

Meanwhile, Serena's first target was the vile female that was called Jen, she wanted her to suffer for the pain and humiliation she had intended upon the peaceful male on the floor, but rather than dispatch her quickly and mercifully she instead stabbed her clean through the stomach and lifted her screaming form off her feet proceeding to used her as a literal human shield against the defensive attacks her former friends aimed at her.

She was immediately struck by two machetes like blades and a large spear which now stuck out of her screaming body, Serena saw two of the raiders level firearms at her beloved brother and instantly she leapt between them using Jen to absorb the bullets fired at him before launching Jen's now lifeless corpse at her former friends and following it in with a series of high speed stabs through her body and into those of her former friends.

In mere seconds the two angry Claws had completely massacred the Raiders to a man, not a single one had made it out of the encounter alive and now the pair stood painted in red blood from the fallen as they turned to face the two cowering peaceful humans on the floor.

"Do not be afraid little humans we mean you no harm," Serena said softly which caused both of them to lift their heads to look at her in shock.

"Y-You can talk!?" the male exclaimed and now Serena got her first proper look at him and suddenly she realised why vile Jen had wanted to claim him so badly, he was striking!

He was tall and broad for a human, about six foot two and made from solid muscle, he was lean without an inch of fat on him obviously thanks to both his profession and hard life not being one of abundance.

Thick bushy brown fur sprouted from his head and was tied back into a kind of tail behind his head and it followed down around his head to create a thick but well-kempt beard below his chin.

From under thick eyebrows, a pair of sharp and curious green eyes looked her up and down, "Yes we can and as my sister says we mean you no harm little human so please stop cowering and pick yourselves up," Sabat said just as the human's sister lifted her head and showed them her face for the first time and to Serena's complete surprise and silent secret joy she saw her brother falter as a curious look of pure surprise and shock crossed his stoic features as it wasn't only the brother that was striking, hell even Serena herself despite not being interested in human females in the slightest could see she was quite the beauty.

She had long flowing hazel brown locks that ran right the way down her back to her hips, caramel white skin that looked tanned from many hours spent out in the sun which made her vivid emerald green eyes that she shared with her brother all the more vivid, add on top of that her delicate looking features that hid a surprisingly strong will that shone now through her eyes created a truly breathtaking effect.

Sabat caught his sister looking at him curiously and he seemed to shake it off and he recomposed himself which caused Serena to smirk outwardly while inside a little claw in her heart whooped and jumped for joy, it seemed that it wasn't only she who could see the secret hidden beauty of humans.

The man helped his sister to her feet and the pair quickly retrieved their bows and arrows, "Thank you for saving us though I have no idea why you would do such a thing for us," the man said.

"Are we all not denizens of this world? Should we not all try to lend a hand or a claw in another's time of need? Because for me that would lead to a very cold and lonely not to mention hostile world, there is death, fear and hate aplenty out there its not hard to find should you look for it, but to me, a kind gesture can go a very long way if you let it," Serena said and the man looked amazed.

"Wow ok you'll have to forgive me but I never imagined a Deathclaw to be umm wise," he said and Serena huffed in annoyance.

"Why should it not be so? I am not a dumb beast you know I am as sentient and feeling as you are," she said both huffily and haughtily.

"Umm forgive me miss umm Claw I meant no offence or disrespect well this is the first time I have actually had a conversation with a Deathclaw," he said bowing his head apologetically.

"We prefer Claw if you don't mind, we are not like our somewhat savage cousins, we do not strive to bring death wherever we roam, we simply wish to live in peace," Sabat said.

"Hey wait you are the two death...err I mean Claws that live in the cave on the mountain above the village aren't you! I've seen you bathing in the river! I knew I recognised those scars!" the man's sister suddenly exclaimed in a rather musical voice while pointing to the two large claw scars that ran across Sabat's chest which he'd gotten in an honour duel defending his pack from a wandering feral who thought he could simply take one of the pack's females for himself, he learned a very painful lesson that day and Sabat got himself another scar, though most were not as visible.

"Why yes, we are and umm why were you were watching me bathe?" Sabat said sounding both surprised and embarrassed.

The woman flushed bright crimson that was so deep that they could even see it under the moon and starlight easily. "Well umm the first time I didn't mean to I was looking for the mushrooms that grow along the water's edge in the forest and I just kinda spotted you in the lake, I was so scared that I dared not run in case you heard me and pursued me, so I'm simply sat as still as a stone and watched you," she admitted sounding embarrassed.

"The first time?" Serena pressed curiously and the woman's flush deepened as she shuffled her feet.

"Well I umm kinda came back another day wondering if he would be there, I'd never seen a Claw up close before and he just looked so well Ummm magnificent, like a force of nature make flesh and scale that I just couldn't help but watch him, it was like watching nature's sculpting hand at work, I was umm kinda mesmerized by just how peaceful and tranquil he looked, nothing like the stories I've heard about your kind, in them you are always portrayed at slobbering beasts that would tear you asunder for nothing more than existing but as I watched you that's not what I saw at all, you were an apex predator keen and majestic in a terrifying way sure but oddly serene all the same," the woman admitted sounding more and more embarrassed with every word that tumbled from her lips.

Now it was Sabat's turn to look embarrassed as something seemed to flash through his mind and rippled through his eyes though on perceivable to one like Serena who knew him well enough to see it, "Umm how long did you umm watch me for?" he asked quickly but also tripping on his words like he was worried that she knew some kind of terrible secret he was hiding and by the way, the woman's blush deepened to the point where her skin almost looked like it was made from pure ebony under the silver moonlight.

"One day I saw you arrive and I watched you until you left, I umm kinda well saw your whole ritual," she said sounding part embarrassed and part mortified though not as mortified as Sabat looked.

"Oh," he said simply in a quiet voice which instantly set Serena on edge.

Rather than continue their discourse the pair went quiet and both Serena and the woman's brother both looked confused, "Is this why you started scratching Claws Melody?" the brother said suddenly breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the group and Melody nodded.

"Yes," she said.

Serena looked between them all until her plan snapped her mind back into reality like an alpha matriarch's tail slapping her upside the head, "So if you are from the village then you obviously know of the problems you have been facing because of the raiders correct?" Serena said and the man looked at her curiously.

"Well obviously why?" he said and a grin broke out on Serena's face.

"Because I have a plan that could fix everything for both of us, your people and us," she said proudly and now both of the humans looked at her curiously.

"You wish to help us? But why?" he asked.

"Because not only is it the right thing to do but it will mean that maybe just maybe we will have a shot of having ourselves a new pack to be a part of, do you have any idea what it's like being stuck in a cave all day fearful that your every step will result in you being run off or worse killed for merely existing?' she said looking right at him making him wince/

"Well yeah I can guess how bad that would feel," he said.

"Bad? It's downright miserable, no proud claw should be forced to endure such things but that's why we are going to help you and I believe I know just how to do it all we need is an edge," Serena said.

"An edge?" the man asked curiously and Serena nodded.

"What would you need to drive the raiders off for good?' she asked.

"Well umm guns lots of them," the man said and Serena nodded thoughtfully.

"Know where such things could be found?" she asked and the man shrugged thoughtfully.

"Well there is an abandoned military outpost not far from here but no one ever dares go near the place as it's filled to bursting with feral Ghouls that will tear you apart, though from what I've heard there is supposed to be a cache in the place, it was supposed to be an arms dump for use for defence before the war," he said and Serena snapped her fingers again.

"And we have our plan! Come humans lead us to this military base, it's time for operation Santa Claws to become reality!" Serena said joyfully and both humans looked at one another before turning to Sabat.

"Operation Santa Claws?" Melody asked.

"Just go with it, my sister is a bloody crazy tail but she's also a bloody stubborn Crazy tail so it's easier just to humour her," he said about a second before his sister's tail smacked him upside the head.

The walk to the base was a relatively short one and as they walked Serena explained her plan to both the humans and her brother, both humans seemed both surprised and genuinely amazed by it but more so that they would be willing to go to such lengths just to help them out.

The base wasn't big but it was well fortified, it looked like a staging post that had a large concrete bunker in the middle of it, it was a shipping area that would act as a FOB if the country ever got overrun with hostile forces.

Even from here, they could see the packs of feral Ghouls wandering aimlessly around the place, some of them had blatantly once been the soldiers that manned the post that had been dosed with the radiation from the falling bombs of the war who now even to this day endlessly patrolled the silent structure their final duty seemingly never-ending, well that was until two angry Claws and two unsure but willing humans hit them like a force of nature.

Both Serena and Sabat cleaved their way through the Ghouls drawing their attentions away from the two humans who had stationed themselves in one of the tall watch towers so that not only would they be safe from the Ghoul's counter-attack but also they could rain arrows down on them.

It took them just half an hour to completely clear the place out of Ghouls after Sabat had the genius idea of drumming his claws on one of the metal blast doors to draw the Ghouls from inside the building out into the open where they could be far easier dispatched by both the humans and themselves.

Once the place was clear and the ghouls were no more than a pile of corpses and severed limbs the group made their way inside and began searching through the depths.

"Damn you guys are serious fighters! I never would have believed we could have taken a place like this on with just four of us!" the man who Serena had learned was called Timothy said enthusiastically.

Serena shot him a fang-filled grin, "See what can be achieved if good Claws and good humans work together?" she said reaching out to ruffle his soft fur without even thinking about it until after she'd done it.

Both of them looked at one another in surprise at her actions, "Umm sorry I err didn't mean to do that it umm kinda just slipped out, I've always liked human fur it looks umm soft and exotic," Serena quickly stammered and Timothy who had asked them to call him Tim snapped out of his confusion and simply smiled at her.

"Well then tit for tat I guess as long as you don't get shirty with me if I pull your tail then we'll call it even," he said and Serena's jaw almost dropped open until she realised that a human would have no way of knowing the meaning behind pulling a female Claw's tail given that an interested male suitor would use it as a kinda o friendly and playful challenge to show his interest in her but it was the words that accidentally slipped out next that made her brother's mouth fall open let alone her own.

"You can pull it if you want, just make sure your ready for what comes after it I'm not a girl to back down from a challenge," she said making Timothy simply chuckle and continue on his way obviously oblivious to the gauntlet she had just thrown his way but Sabat sure as hell wasn't and was now looking at her like she had indeed gone full crazy tail on him.

Down in the deepest bowls of the military bunker, they found one or two straggler Ghouls that were instantly and easily dispatched by a few silent and well-placed arrows by their human companions but it was they found in that room that really got Tim and Melody worked up because they're on the rack and in boxes were shelves upon shelves of mint condition military-grade firearms as well as a few other things.

"Holy shit! We found the fucking motherlode! We could equip a fucking army with these hell not only could we equip every man woman and kin in the fucking village but we could seal a load and it still wouldn't put a dent in it but how the hell are we going to move all of this!?" Tim said his smile turning to a frown and once again Serena ruffled his hair by pre instinct making him dodge and bat her large hand away as she grinned down at him.

"Fear not little human leave this to the Santa Claws! I have just the plan to sort this out and you can thank the wisdom of this human tome for it!" She said showing him the book at which he looked confused but he shrugged all the same, it seemed he was just learning as Sabat had said to just roll with it,

Four hours later they had all the guns and ammo for them all on the surface, the armoury was now as empty as the grave that the base had become, while the humans and her brother had been busy fetching and carrying Serena had been busy building, it had been pretty hard to get what she needed from the human base given it wasn't exactly how it was in the pictures but by the time they were done she had managed to build a pretty fair approximation of it.

"I-Is that a fucking sleigh?" Timothy exclaimed looking at the large metal structure made from a couple of pickup truck beds that had been bolted and welded together which thanks to her love of pictures and diagrams in human tomes Serena had figured out how to do that sat upon four sets of salvaged truck axles complete with wheels and a large harness at the front so it could be pulled along.

"it is indeed my dear Tim, the sleigh of the Santa Claws and look there's even a set of antlers for Santa's loyal radstag!" Serena said popping the pair of shaped metal antlers on top of Sabat's head clipping them between his horns so he couldn't easily pull them off.

"What the hell! I am not pulling that! I am a proud Claw not a beast of burden!" Sabat grumped as he tried fruitlessly to remove the metal antlers.

"Actually brother you are the only one strong enough to pull it, I doubt even I could get the thing moving alone now it's fully loaded, though between us I think we could get it going," Serena said gesturing to the second set of harnesses next to the one that her brother had seen.

Sabat growled and scowled at her, "Just think of it like this you could use it as an excuse to show off those incredible muscles of yours for a certain human lady not oh so far away now couldn't you?" Serena said with a wink and a gentle flick of her tail to his side making his tail go as ridged as a board and Melody blushed as she caught the hint.

"I-I-I have no idea what you are getting at!" Sabat exclaimed and Serena nudged him and winked again.

"Sure you don't brother dear but if it makes you feel any better let's just say like brother like sister and let's just say if my tail gets pulled its a challenge I will not ignore, now come one we have human holiday cheer to deliver but first a slight diversion this plan has to be perfect," she said taking up one of the harnesses as both of the humans climbed onto the cart/sleigh and he grumpy but also stunned brother took up the other one, then just like that they were off towards destiny.

They stopped off at the little human city at Serena's instruction and while her three companions sat watching in confusion Serena scoured the city from top to bottom until she found what she was looking for then while grumbling and moaning Sabat continued to pull the sleigh alone she sat in the back working hard, though to be fair he very nearly had refused until Serena had ever so subtly hinted that she'd noticed that Melody appeared to have become hypnotized by the swishing of his tail while he'd been pulling before, then suddenly he had more than enough strength and motivation to get them all moving again.

By the time they arrived back at the village Serena's plan was complete and now she sat happily decked out in red fluffy fur trimmed in white between two very confused but happy humans as Sabat pulled the sleigh grumbling along all while he did, though Serena noticed it didn't stop him from glancing over his shoulder every so often to see if Melody was indeed watching his tail swish, infact she was almost tempted to tell him she was no longer watching his tail but instead was watching his sculpted rear end bunching as he walked instead.

"I gotta say I never imagined in a million years that not only would we get saved by a pair of Claws from raiders today but that I'd be part of delivering salvation to my people with said claws when I woke up yesterday morning," Timothy said looking up at Serena who simply flashed him a toothy smile.

"And here I was thinking that it was you, humans who invented the concept of a Christmas miracle," she said chuckling at her own joke as he smiled and chuckled before reaching out and patting her thigh which made a shot of pure pleasure and joy travel right up her leg and into her belly where it appeared to have released a cloud of miniature blood bugs which buzzed around her belly now.

"Goddamn Christmas miracle it is, well either that or I'm either dead or got jacked up with so much jet by those fucking raiders while they have their way with me and my sister that I'm hallucinating the fuck out of my skull right now," he said chuckling.

Serena growled darkly, "No one will ever 'have their way' with you as you say while I still draw breath," she snarled and he shot her a surprised look which morphed into a warm smile.

"Oh? Seem awfully confident of that big girl, you gonna keep on guarding me every day then? Who knows I might wander off into the woods and get set upon by a savage pack of human-hungry mutants or ghouls or something?" he said playfully and Serena growled again.

"Well then I would simply show them exactly why it is your kind call my kind 'Death' Claws," she said proudly and he roared with laughter and patted her thigh again sending more blood bungs into the air o her stomach.

As they neared the village Timothy decided to get their stuff from the rear of the sleigh and he stopped over the large set of car seats that Serena had fastened to the frame and into the bed, but as he did they hit a rather sizeable bump which caused him to nearly over balance and fall flat on his face so wheeling his arms like a pair of windmills he reached out and grabbed the first thing he could to save himself, which unfortunately just so happened to be Serena's long tail which was resting atop of one of the crates.

Serena let out a very unclawlike squeal of surprise and whipped her large head around to see what was happening and when she did she found herself face to face with Timothy still holding onto her long scaled tail and looking at her with a rather embarrassed look on his handsome features.

'Err sorry about that big girl, no harm done I hope?' he said slowly placing it back on the crate it had been resting on.

Serena's eyes tracked it and then travelled back up to meet him, she growled throatily as every instinct she had buzzed like the beating of a million insect wings in her head and heart, so great was the effort of restraining herself that she was only able to speak two words, "Challange accepted," she said.

The sentries on guard duty repeatedly rubbed their eyes as they saw the incredibly odd sight approaching them, it wasn't until Timothy and Melody called up to them to open the gates that they snapped out of their stupor and went to work at opening the large wooden gates allowing the sleigh to glide silently on through with only the sound of Sabat grunting and panting cutting through the silence.

As they finally stopped in the town square the sentries approached cautiously as the three occupants of the sleigh jumped down and one very knackered Sabat collapsed into a panting heap with his tail end in the air as he tried to recover his strength.

"Oh, you poor thing! You must be exhausted, come with me we'll get you a soft fur to lay on and some water to drink!' Melody exclaimed rushing over to the big crumpled male claw trying to struggle to hoist him up onto his feet.

But being the gentle Claw that he was Sabat could only manage to look confused as hell as he allowed himself to be towed off by the very insistent little human woman towards what must have been her hut all while Serena simply gave him a powerful and very knowing grin.

"What in the name of hell is going on Timothy? What's all this?" one of the sentries exclaimed looking from the human hunter to Serena to the retreating male claw being unceremoniously stuffed through a small doorway by a still very insistent little human woman who was currently driving him through by putting her shoulder to his arse as he cot his hips stuck in the doorway until he popped through like a cork shooting out of a bottle before the door slammed shut behind them and then onto the sleigh now loaded with very colourfully wrapped boxes and gun like shapes.

"This Emmet is a real-life fucking Christmas miracle, grab the rest of the sentries because you are about to witness operation Santa Claws in all of its glory and trust me it ain't gonna disappoint because today our fucking home is saved!" he said leaving them all stood stunned to silence staring at a Claw dressed in red and white riding aboard a sleigh filled with beautifully wrapped gifts.

It took a lot of stealth, patience and skill to pull off what Serena had in mind for the town but thanks to the sentries getting on board after Timothy explained what she had in mind they got to work and got it done, pretty soon not only did every single house have bright coloured gifts but they now had little trees to put them under thanks to two of the sentries knowing about a little patch of pine trees near-by.

Serena also decided to really put it over the top by going out night hunting while the sentries delivered the gifts like a well-trained army of little elves, so with a gargantuan effort from all except for Sabat and Melody who hadn't been seen since she had dragged the exhausted Claw boy into her hut for some much needed TLC after his gargantuan effort of pulling the sleigh to the town, they finally got it done.

Thanks to Timothy knowing some very good hunting spots near by both he and Serena managed to bad quite a few mole rats and rad stags which between the pair of them they quickly ferried back to the village and Serena had to admit the striking little human really had a talent for hunting having seen him take down more than one radstag on the run with but a single arrow, she did so like a male who could provide for his pack.

But the real joy came when the morning broke and people began to stir from their beds when the people of the village were roused by cries of alarm that rapidly turned to joy as they realised that their homes had been entered during the night but intruders hadn't made off with their meagre belongings oh no, instead they had given them something, hope.

"Mom what's this!?" Serena hears a hatchling's voice yell from one of the houses filled with wonder and joy.

"Billy you put the bloody rocket launcher down right this moment or I swear to god I'll tan your hide and Emma do not point that sniper rifle at your bloody brother!" the matriarch yelled her voice not so much filled with joy but exasperation, they had, of course, left some things for the hatchlings of the village as well in the form of little toys that Serena had grabbed while hunting for the wrapping paper in the city they've passed through where she'd found the book.

Little human vehicles and dolls were now under every tree and in the hands of the joyful hatchlings running around the village to show their friends, well when they weren't getting into their parent's presents anyway.

But by far the best part was the cries of joy that were heard when the people of the town saw the bounty of meat that awaited them freshly caught and butchered ready for their tables, there would be no half-fed hatchlings this Christmas and no starving parents either, not on the watch of the Santa Claws.

The people of the village were more than a little stunned to find their new friends in their midst and by all that they had done for them, a huge circle formed around Serena as she stood in the middle of the town underneath a huge pine tree handing out some of the leftover gifts that sat underneath it, she had two sacks one with little toys for the hatchlings brave enough to come up to her and to greet her which after the first little brave female did so to thank her for her new dolly and went away with another dolly while her parents walked away with a pair of military-grade rifles a queue rapidly formed to meet the Santa Claws.

About the time that the feast that the town leader put on with remaining meat that hadn't been handed out Sabat and Melody reappeared and by the proud look on her face and the truly stunned look on his Serena didn't need the rather obvious smears of the odd paint that human females wore on their lips all over him to tell that something rather wondrous had happened to her brother, finally his eyes were open.

As he approached the large table she gave him a sly smile and he flushed under his scales, "Not a word Serena, these humans are more crazy tail than you are," he said planting himself at the table next to her before Melody planted a plate filled with meat in front of him and unashamedly planted herself in his lap and began to feed him causing her to plant her eyes upon Timothy who was laughing and smiling with his friends.

"No judgement here brother, now if you'll excuse me I have a challenge to answer," she said rising from the table and her finished meal but before she got fully to her feet an alarm bell began to sound cutting through the merriment like a knife.

The merriment fell instantly silent as the sentries called out, "The raiders are coming!"

Both Sabat and Serena looked at one another and shared a nod before they both turned to head to the gates only for Serena to be grabbed by a hand and when she looked down she found Timothy standing at her side.

"Where are you going!?" he exclaimed looking up at her with fear etched on his handsome features.

She couldn't help herself, she reached down and grasped his chin in her long fingers gently, "To answer villainy with the only true form of justice there is in this world, Claw justice!" she snarled.

"Not without us your not, we've been aching for some fucking payback! People of Scaleton those fuckers have pushed us around and stolen our food, our hope and even our people but no more, today these two wonderful beings have brought us more than we could have ever prayed for in our loudest prayers, so today we show them who we are, you lot to the walls the rest of you on me! Today this ends!" Timothy yelled to thunderous cheers from the people who scrambled to lock away their hatchlings and arm themselves with their newfound hope and courage.

As the gates opened the raiders had just about reached them but the confidence and smugness in their faces were soon lost as they saw what greeted them emerging from the town.

The thirty or so armed raiders all wore the same look of pure horror as they saw the two Claws marching forwards flanked on either side by their new heavily armed human friends to meet them.

"Not one step further villains, today you have picked the wrong fight because today these good people are no longer weak pushovers, today and for every day forwards they have CLAWS!" Serena bellowed to massive cheers from her comrades and a thunderous war roar from her brother that shook the whole village.

Night of the claws gave the raiders a chance to gather their wits or to form a rebuttal, instead, they simply charged them while their human friends opened fire thankfully being careful not to hit their new friends as they tore into the terrified raiders who despite their best efforts to scatter to the winds found themselves being cut down by either the claws or human bullets.

It was a very swift fight indeed as in mere seconds the Raider war band was reduced to cooling food for the crows and mole rats to feast upon, call it one part justice and one part Christmas joy for the creatures of the woods into which their bodies were unceremoniously dumped far from the town.

"We did it! We're fucking free!" Timothy yelled in triumph a cheer that was picked up by of the people of the village of which not a single one was lost in the battle.

Serena turned and looked at him as he stood smiling and punching the air and she felt the call of her nature and without missing a stride she leapt onto him and pinned him down much to the surprise of everyone around him.

"W-What are you doing?" Timothy stammered as she leaned down onto him being careful only to put enough weight onto him to hold him but not hurt him.

"Finally answering your earlier challenge beautiful one, you pulled my tail and that kind of challenge cannot go unanswered by a proud alpha Claw such as myself and now that I have you beaten and helpless I claim my trophy," she purred softly but deeply lowering her head so that it was mere inches from his own.

"T-Trophy? What kind of trophy?" he asked flushing bright pink and red.

Her long tongue slid from her mouth and left a hot trail of saliva from his throat to his cheek as his delicious salty skin sparkled on her taste buds as his eyes met hers and a smile crossed her lips, "There is only one trophy I want," she purred running a single clawed finger down his chest to his naval and with that is, he hoisted him off the floor and flicked him over her large shoulder leaving him dangling from it before turning to face the rest of the stunned town.

"What?" she said and suddenly everyone found something else far more interesting to look at than a large Claw girl with her human prize hanging off her shoulder and there was rather a lot of whistling going on as well.

As she turned she saw her brother giving her a warm grin, "I don't think these humans are used to Claw social norms yet sister dearest, I don't think they've ever witnessed a female Claw responding to a right-of-claim challenge before," he chuckled.

"Well then they should consider themselves educated, now if you'll excuse me brother dearest I'm taking my Christmas present here back to his hut and I'm going to spend a very long time unwrapping him," she said giving Timothy's rear end a squeeze which made him let out the cutest squeak she'd ever heard.

Sabat chuckled and grinned, "No judgement here sister," he said.

"And I should think not as I get the feeling that you have a present of your own right there who seems rather eager to be unwrapped herself, or should I say unwrapped again?" she said shooting a sly smile between Sabat and the rather fidgety Melody who by the way her thighs were rubbing together had already got herself a taste for prime male Claw meat.

Sabat glanced at her and then smiled softly, "Guess it runs in the pack eh?" he said and she roared with laughter.

"There are worse things brother, now if you'll excuse me..." she began until she was cut off by Melody interrupting her.

"Umm Serena?" she said and she glanced at the little human female.

"Yes?" she said.

"Please be gentle with my brother, he's umm inexperienced, I know you don't mean to hurt him and Sabat's shown me that despite your size and incredible strength you are actually incredibly gentle creatures, so please umm treat him right, after all, he's done for everyone he deserves to be happy," she said and Serena felt a pang in her heart of purest joy as she had feared for a moment that she was going to challenge her claim.

"Don't you worry Melody under my care you beautiful brother here will know joys that he never dared to dream existed, I will treat him like he's made of glass," she said and with a final smile from Melody she was off carrying the surprisingly silent Timothy right past all the people of the town who never said a word but simply watched them go.

Timothy's hut wasn't exactly large though the same was true of most human nests when you were Serena's size, but she still managed to get him in through the doorway without hitting either her head or his on the frame.

Once inside she closed the door and placed him gently down on the bed leaving him lying there looking up at her with wide eyes and a huge deep red blush over his beautiful face.

"I love that colour on you beautiful one, it matches my outfit," she purred softly squatting down on her haunches being careful to keep her tail swishing under control so she didn't wind up destroying his little home.

"Y-Y-You truly want me don't you?" he stammered looking into her bright eyes which were narrowed on him now.

"What gave it away the pouncing on you or the carrying you off to ravish you slowly and gently?" she purred creeping forwards on her hands and knees lifting her top half onto the bed to loom over him as he laid there prone.

"I-I-I kept telling myself that you weren't flirting with me, that you were just playing and that there was no way in a million years that a creature as magnificent as you could ever want to look at me, I mean why would a goddess in scales want to look at me when Claw boys if Sabat is anything to go by are scaled demi gods?" he said in a surprisingly soft voice for the usually confident and fierce human.

But his words stuck Serena to the heart like an arrow from the blue, "Y-you think I'm a goddess?" she exclaimed and he smiled up at her.

"I know, silly right? I mean I've only known you but a single night and in that time I've seen you fight for me and my sister, tear apart an entire bunker filled with Ghouls, make Christmas a reality for my people, arm an entire town and defeat a raider Warband, all the while looking alien and exotic while also radiant, I never imagined being attracted to a member of another species but the more I looked at you the more feminine you became by the moment, I just couldn't help it and now here you are claiming me like I'm some kind of prize," he said sounding so shocked and stunned at his own words.

She reached out a large clawed hand and lifted his chin so he was forced to look at her, "Never doubt yourself, Timothy, you have a strong and brave heart, you stood for your sister against stacked odds, and you fought alongside me to clear that bunker, you moved those weapons just as much as I did, you made this miracle happen as much as I did and through it all you kept saying things to me that made my heart fly to the clouds because you gave me the one thing that I needed so very badly, hope, hope that the yearning I've held secret in my heart for so very long could become a reality, hope that one day I would find a human who would not only look at me as something other than a monster but who would truly see me and see who I am, who would think of me as beautiful and then you pulled my tail," she said with a smile.

Timothy cocked his head curiously, "Is that bad?" he asked and she grinned.

"In claw society, it's a challenge," she said and he looked confused.

"A challenge?" he asked and she nodded.

"It says I'm interested in you and wish to test myself against you, winner take all if I win I get you all of you and if you win well then the choice is yours to make and well my beautiful little human I think it's safe to say I won that round didn't I?" she purred moving forwards to that he was pretty much face to face with him as she leaned on his bed over him making the meagre bed creak under her imposing weight.

"Y-Yeah I'd say so, well umm so err what happens now?" he stammered looking flustered and she grinned at him leaning down to lick the side of his cheek again.

"Well my tasty little treat, it means I get to ravish you as slowly as I please until I am sated and let's just say this hunger of mine has been building for a lifetime, so it might take quite a while so I hope that legendary human stamina of yours serves you well because you are going to need it," she said gently beginning to pop the toggles of his leather shit off so she could peel it from him, he had simply no idea how much restraint she was using not to simply tear it from him but this was a night she was going to savour.

She could feel the incredible heat washing off Timothy's skin even through his leathers which slowly she managed to peel off him leaving just his undershirt covering the top part of his body but that posed no challenge to a determined Claw such as she, with a single deft flick of her wrist that went the way of his leather top landing on the floor next to the bed revealing a sight that made her heart purr and her tail swish.

Timothy was covered in short but thick fur that was all over his delicious caramel-white skin, she leaned down and gently ran her clawed fingers over his bare and solid chest feeling the incredible warmth of his soft skin and making him gasp as she twirled the little stands around her fingers coiling them and watching them spring back.

But she was not done not by a long shot, next up came his simple shoes that covered his small and dainty feet, well small and dainty by her standards anyway as her own feet were about five or six times the size of his which were probably large for human standards.

Then finally his trousers and underwear joined the rest of his clothes in the pile on the floor leaving him as naked as the day he was born sprawled on the bed looking both flustered and delightfully shy for such a big strong male.

"D-Do I please you?" he stammered softly his words acting like an accelerant to her heart, he obviously had no idea that by her standards he was the cutest and most adorable thing she had ever seen in her life, he made all those humans from the pages of her sacred tome pale in comparison, compared to them he was a human angel made flesh and bone.

"Please isn't the word for how beautiful you are Tim, I keep having to remind myself that you are not a claw and that I just can't pounce on you the way my heart screams at me to do because I would harm you or worse, but that restraint burns me even brighter because its forcing me to abstain and that's making every little thing oh so much sweeter," she said reaching down to run her large hands up his thigh delighting the way his powerful muscles bunched and flexed beneath her touch as she manoeuvred herself fully onto the bed which finally gave up and with a sharp snap gave up sending them both crashing to the floor with a thump as they rode the mattress down.

It also had the effect of causing Serena to fall forwards slightly as she fought to catch herself and to not fall onto Timothy and crush him, but this did have the added effect of basically slamming his head right in between her chest swells sending a shot of pleasure right into her heart so powerful that she did now lose control of her tail which took out a stool and a chair in its arcing sweep.

As Timothy spluttered and managed to pull his head from the gap between her sizeable swells he peered up at her from her cleavage, "I thought were supposed to break the bed during not before we even get started?" he said shooting her a smile which made her roar with laughter, his confidence was returning and this made her heart burn with joy and not only her heart but somewhere a bit lower as well and this was a burn that she could not ignore for much longer especially as she had now seen the beautiful treat that would soon be hers in all it's proud swollen glory.

"Well let's change that shall we?" she growled and with that, she rose up to her haunches and grabbed the red fabric from her body and tore the whole thing from her leaving only the stockings and the hat that she was wearing along with the tail sock in place but her main body was now as naked as the day she was hatched and by the throbbing she could feel from under her tail as something incredibly hot and insistent jumped and twitched against her little triangle next to her tail hole she was delighted to see that he was as eager as she was to truly begin.

"Yeah probably for the best before we break anything else," he panted as she ground her scale-free triangle of sensitive flesh against his boiling throbbing flesh.

"I know there is supposed to be a build-up and lots of delightful little human rituals before the main event by right now I have a fire in my loins that needs to be quenched before it spreads to my every scale my beautiful human, as far as I'm concerned all that can wait for the next time because right now if I don't get what I need I'm going to go full crazy tail," Serena panted leaning down to lick the side of his face and to her surprise and delight, he turned and caught her tongue between his lips before trying to pull it into his mouth, so she happily obliged him and filled his mouth to the brim with her tongue.

It seemed words were no longer necessary for them both as he had fully surrendered to his fate now, he had accepted it and her, so with a little bit of creative hip grinding she finally managed to make his delightful human maleness catch in the spot where she really needed it feeling the odd conical shaped tip trap itself directly in the hood of her swollen clit which made her growl into his tongue filled mouth, now all she needed was one last adjustment.

His tip actually made a pop as it pushed through the powerful ring of muscle that guarded her entrance and both of them moaned into the mouth of the other as she felt his protective skin retract under the force of her gripping flesh and despite her muscles best efforts to grip him as tightly as she could inch after exquisite inch sank into her soaking hot depths until with a slight clap of claw flesh against human she hilted him into the deepest part of her depths where he belonged.

Finally, they broke their lurid kiss and long strands of sparkling saliva still joined their tounges and lips, "We are one, my male! As we were meant to be! Claw and human together as nature intended!' she roared as a pleasure like nothing she had ever dared to dream existed burned through her as his glands scraped and twisted against her griping and roiling internal flesh.

"Oh god, Serena this is fucking amazing! You're so fucking tight how the hell can something this big be so fucking tight!?" he moaned loudly.

"You like my inside my sweet human?" she purred lewdly as she ground herself against him making his tip and shaft grind against her incredibly sensitive internal flesh.

"Oh fuck! There just aren't words to describe how fucking good you fucking feel!" he wailed as she began to move in earnest.

"Then don't speak my beautiful one, let your body speak for you," she panted as she began to move properly moving until only his tip was inside her and then slamming back down him letting his tip punch into the neck of her womb with a delightful kiss that sent powerful electric tingles through her whole body.

It didn't take long for their rhythm to turn into something primal and despite her basically pinning him to the mattress Timothy delighted her with his determination by fighting her weight to thrust himself as deep as he could into her boiling-wet depths meeting her downwards thrusts perfectly and soon the air was filled with the wet slap of human flesh on claw scales and flesh along with a mixture of primal grunts, growls and moans from both of them.

But under such delightful torture, neither of them could expect to last long and it wasn't long before those slaps became fast as the clasp of a round of applause which to both their minds was very fitting for what they had achieved here, a unity so perfect that the reward was nothing more or less than what was deserved, a perfect love.

Suddenly Timothy grabbed hold of the meat of her ass clamping his hands down on the scales of her ass and digging his fingers into the meat of each cheek as with a powerful and purely primal roar that sent her heart into overdrive he thrust himself as deep as he would go inside her and that's when she felt an explosion of liquid heat in her belly that triggered a secondary and far more powerful explosion deep inside her that washed throughout her entire body and what felt like her soul as his orgasm not only triggered her own but melded them together into one perfect bubble of pleasure that they were both encased inside of hoping that it would never break.

Serena was true to her word, while that was the first time they coupled that night it was far from the last and by the time they staggered out the next day Timothy''s mattress had been reduced to a flat pancake-like structure no thicker than a slice of bread.

"Morning you two, I'd ask if you slept well but I'm pretty sure that roar you let out this morning scared the shit out of the rooster, fucker has been hiding behind his coop all morning and refused to come out," Sabat chuckled as he greeted them.

"Like you can talk let's just say my sister isn't as quiet or discreet as she likes to think now is she, oh by the way you got some lipstick on you," Timothy said with a grin making the big male claw started and try to wipe his face, Serena laughed as she saw it.

"It's not on your face brother," she said and Sabat glance down before all of his scales bristled so loudly he sounded like a claw-shaped rattle before vanishing to clean himself off.

"I am pleased to see that you have accepted them so easily," Serena said glancing happily at Timothy.

"Be a bit hypocritical of me to judge them after what we did all last night now wouldn't it?" he said with a sly smile that simply radiated that beautiful confidence that warmed her heart.

"Indeed," she said happily.

"Let's just say I'm rather glad that I don't wear lipstick or we'd probably have spent the morning cleaning smears off the underside of the gorgeous tail of yours among other places," he said nudging her large thigh with his elbow and making her chuckle.

"Be worse for you if I wore it, you'd look like one of those candy canes from your Christmas pictures," she said and he roared with laughter.

"I'm glad you came Serena, you have not only made us a real-life Christmas miracle but a whole new world for us to explore," he said finally after drying his eyes.

"That makes two of us my beautiful human, now what do you say we fill our bellies with some of that leftover meat, I get the feeling you will need your strength later s lets just say this eternal flame you've lit in me doesn't feel like its quite quenched to me," she said and he grinned at her.

"Sounds good to me but I might need a new mattress," he said and with that, the pair of them took their first steps into a brighter new world because with the cold light of that morning came the bright hope of a new future one that neither of them could have foreseen but so happily embraced.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"... the end," Chris said leaning back against Vess and when he looked up he found that they were now completely alone in the fire-lit room.

"Huh? where did everyone go?" he asked in confusion a moment before a rather loud wail of Claw pleasure cut through the air followed by a second one from another direction that was most definitely human quickly followed up by what was most definitely a moan of Arachnakai origin.

"I think your delightful words lit a bit of a fire in them, my little love," Vess said from under him hugging him tightly against her.

"Seems like it they could have at least waited until the end though," he said grumpily but no sooner had he said it than he suddenly found himself dangling and bending double staring down as vess's incredible chiselled ass and her long tail swishing back and forth as she strode towards what had to be their bedroom.

"I did and now I take my prize and my present for my patience, the story of the Santa Claws has inspired me my beautiful human, now come we have our own Christmas miracle to make," she said and Chris chuckled to himself, because at the end of the day was there a better way to spend Christmas than in the arms of the one you loved? Though for him the arms part was going to be just the start.

The End.

To all my friends new and old, iwish to convey a deep and profound thank you for both reading and listening to me this year, I do hope we'll see each other again soon and I wish you all the very best over the holidays in which ever form they may be and in what ever shape they take, so till next year Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd hapus or Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

GhostNobody