“'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Forest, not a creature was stirring, not even a squirrel…”

“Hey, that doesn’t rhyme!”, one of the little fawns, Tyssen, interrupted. Tails shushed the little one, “Let him tell the story. Go on, Dag.”, he said. Dag smiled and nodded, “It’s quite alright. It won’t rhyme because I changed the words so it would make more sense. But I hope you enjoy it.”, he said. The storyteller straightened up and continued the poem.

“The Old Oak was cleared and empty for the night, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would arrive; The fawns were nestled all curled by their mothers, while visions of mushrooms danced in their minds; And I sat alone, listening to the sounds, of the Pond trickling and the wind breezing, when out on in the poppies there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the hycanths to see what was the matter. I watched intently with my eyes open wide, to the sky open from the forest heights. The moon which was wide and bright gave the glow of morning to the Forest below, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer…”

“I bet Toukan was one of them.”, another fawn, Temnota, interrupted. The other fawns giggled. “Hush, everyone!”, Tails snapped at them. Dag cleared his throat and continued.

“With a little old human, so strange and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than ravens his reindeer they came, and he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; ‘Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet!

((For more info on some of the evilees in this story, refer to the Book of TEF Villains))

“So it’s Christmas Eve…”, her voice spoke in the cold. “It’s the night that all the pathetic deer will have their celebrations and festivals. And here we are, bored out of our minds.”

Iugulare stood up, shaking the snow from her infectious body. She let out a sigh that was visible in the air. Anirapio and Nekumbra sat by, thinking as well. “Well, what if we go hunting tonight?”, she suggested.

Iugulare shook her head, “No, it would be too tricky tonight. All the deer are gathered at the Twin Gods’ hill, so they’d be protected. Plus their many eyes would make stealth impossible.”, the stoat said.

“Well what if we had our own party, then…”, Nekumbra spoke under her breath.

Iugulare glared at the spider deer for a moment, and then said, “That’s not a bad idea. We could gather all of the others who hate the Twin Gods and their wretched deer, and have a great conference of darkness. Yes…that is an excellent plan. Good call, Nekumbra!”

The trio stood, agreeing on who to invite and where to find them. Within moments, they left the area, going to find the others to invite to the party. They met with the others one by one, and the invitations were out quickly.

“A darkness party? Hmm…”, spoke Renoir. “Sounds interesting…”
“I’m intrigued. Where shall we be meeting?”, Jorogumo asked.
“The old ruins, eh?

Please note - This is only a representation of the Nativity story. It was requested to be done for this event, and it isn't meant to be any kind of religious attack on anyone. I tried to write it in a way where simply portrayed the concept of the story, and doesn't press any religious beliefs on the reader. I'm sorry if it offends anyone, it was not written for that intention.

"The baby is coming, Wesker!", Kaoori cried. Her body shivered in the cold rain, her mate looking at her in a worried manner. "I can't deliver out here! We need to find shelter!", she said tensely.

"Okay, okay! Uhh...", Wesker looked around. The rain was unrelenting, he shook his fur to get the water out of his eyes. "What about under the old bridge?", he asked.

"Wesker!! There's water under there, remember?", Kaoori snapped. The stag grimaced, thinking again, "What about the Old Oak...?", he asked.

"Yes, come on! Let's go there now!", his doe said hurriedly, running off toward the great tree. Wesker sighed, following behind the pregnant doe. The rain wasn't helping the situation, and both he and Kaoori were growing more and more frustrated this night.

As they approached the Old Oak, Kaoori stopped in her tracks and winced, collapsing into the muddy ground. Wesker ran to her side, "What is it? What's wrong?", he asked in a panicked state. "The baby just kicked!", Kaoori cried.

Let us gather around together
Beneath the Oaken tree
We shall sing about the weather
And how things came to be

Sing the songs and stories
Of the forest and godly twins
Release your cares and worries
And watch as the dance begins

We dance upon the snowy ground
And raise our voices high
We hear the frogs and squirrels around
And see doves and ravens fly

Give to the trees what you can thrift
And let them join the fun
Decorate them with flowers and gifts
From all under moon and sun

A feast of the sweetest berries
Nuts, pinecones, and mushrooms
To each what their belly carries
To fill 'til there is no room

Come join the winter dance
Before the sun shines bright
And you will remember by chance
To never forget tonight

It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and the townspeople gathered at the chapel. The children were excited already, for tonight, Santa Claus would visit their little town. There was a tradition in the town of Little Oak, every Christmas Eve, the town calls Santa Claus by ringing the many bells in the chapel’s bell tower.

“Good people of Little Oak,” the mayor of the town announced, “It gives me great pleasure to give the honor of ringing our ceremonial bells to a special guest this afternoon!” The townspeople looked to one another curiously, wondering who it could be. Ringing the bells was a special honor in the town.

The mayor turned to him, motioning for him to step up onto the platform before the steps of the chapel. The rope dangled by the podium, connected to many bells in the bell tower. “It’s alright, don’t be afraid.”, he said to the guest.

----------------------

“Get him! Get him!”, the coyotes called. The trio chased after a strong grey stag through a snowy forest, his legs carried him swiftly through the snow. He was confident, he knew the coyotes were getting tired, but he could run for another few miles before his muscles would become overwhelmed. As he ran, a sudden snowstorm flurried through the trees. The stag braced his eyes, though he kept running, keeping his mind set on where the path was. The coyotes slowed their pace, howling at one another. The storm subsided within a few moments, and as they looked to the distance, the deer was gone.

“Where did he go?”, the coyotes barked.

The bitter cold pierced through my fur. Every breath chilled and dried my mouth. The freezing pond water did very little to help my body when I drank it.

Why does the winter punish me like the deer do?

I've tried to walk among them, to be one of them. But they stare at me, turning their heads away to mock and laugh. I have been shown rejection by this forest so many times, and walking away, I hear their words.

Ugly

Repulsive

Unlovable

Monster

I let out a sigh, my body trembling with both sorrow and pain. I walked on, seeing the others playing, dancing, laughing. I wanted to join them in their games, but I already knew what would happen. They'd stare at me, judge me...reject me...

I walked away, into the deep parts of the birch forest. Here there are no deer, just the sounds of doves chirping and squirrels chattering, the occasional croak of a frog or caw of raven. I approached the strange fountain that sits alone, and with a hesitant sigh, I looked at my reflection.

A misshapen forehead with lumps and bulges that covers part of my left eye; abnormally long, shaggy fur covers my body; an underbite from my jaw, with my teeth protruding from my mouth; antlers that have grown improperly on my head...

A monster...I am a monster...

I walked away, letting my body succumb to the cold, letting my mind drift. I have no purpose, no reason to live. I am an abomination.

I find the only comfort I can, a soft patch of violet flowers let me sit among them. They don't judge me, they don't point and laugh.

"Mother? Mother where are you!", the cries of a fawn called out, disrupting the quiet of the Forest. He wandered around in the snow, searching tirelessly, constantly calling out again and again. There were a few deer around, but they seemed to sleep through his cries. None of them heard him call.

The fawn kept running, past the Playground, checking the Pond, peeking inside the Old Oak. He stopped by the old Ruins, looking around, calling out again. No answer. He let out a sigh, his eyes tearing. Losing his mother was one of his greatest fears, and no deer would help him look for her. Nearby, a sleeping stag dreamed he was a child again, playing with his mother in the snow. She joined him in romping around, the two watching their hoofprints mold the snow. Redd loved the feeling between his hooves, and turning to his mother, he opened his mouth to tell her that he loved her deeply.

Instead, when he opened his mouth, a different set of words came out. "Mother, where are you?!"

Redd's eyes opened. He was drowsy, but he looked over to the fawn who cried by the Ruins. The stag stood up and walked over to the little boy, noticing that his body was emitting a strange blue glow. Still, he had to do something. "Hello there, are you lost?", Redd asked. The fawn was startled to see him there and jumped up. "No, no...I can't find my mother...", the fawn replied, his voice sounded oddly raspy.

"Oh, well maybe I can find her. Do you know her name?", Redd asked. The fawn shook his head, "I can't remember...", he replied.

He tilted his head curiously. What in the world was it? He had never seen anything like it before. Toukan saw his reflection in the odd orb that seemed to dangle from a branch of a tree. His face looked very distorted, his head was wide but his body was squished beneath him. And he was completely red instead of his usual grey.

He moved his head around, watching his face morph in the reflection. As he looked at it, two other deer walked up. “Toukan’s making silly faces again.”, Aeis laughed. Cloud tilted his head, “Huh…look what he found there.”, the stag said. The two walked up and looked into the strange red orb themselves.

“There’s some weird little deer trapped in it!”, Cloud spoke. “No, I don’t think that’s correct.”, Aeis replied. “It’s gotta be some alternate universe, there are deer in another place who look just like us and are staring back at us thinking the exact same things we are.”, she concluded.

“It’s a decoration.”, Toukan told them. “A decoration? For what?”, Cloud questioned. “Not sure, actually. But I think it’s probably related to the festivities that the Twin Gods hold at the end of the year.”, the caribou explained.

Aeis stared at it for a moment, “There still might be some weird deer in another place staring back at us…”, she spoke. Toukan cracked a slight smile, “You think too hard, Aeis.”, he pointed out.

“So what do we do with it?”, Cloud questioned. “Hmm…”, Aeis thought, “Let’s open it up. Maybe there’s a surprise inside!”, she considered. “I don’t think it’s a present, though.

“What happened? Where am I?”, LaRuna stood up suddenly. Around him was an open plain, snow covered. There were buildings around him, though sparsely spaced among themselves. The night sky was clear, above him was a full moon that made the snow around him luster. The stars were so bright here, he was surprised how many were in the sky, even with the moon out.

He was alone out here, the air was crisp and chilly, he found his body was much colder than normal. He realized that he was wearing a cloak that hardly kept him warm. His fur was strangely light, and he began to shiver in the snow. He saw a large tower nearby, it loomed above the small buildings in the place. It was a small settlement with a strangely large castle that seemed to be the highest point in the area. “What an odd place to live.”, LaRuna said to himself. As he started to walk toward the castle, he noticed someone approach him. The stag squinted as the figure got closer. “Silun?”, LaRuna asked.

LaRuna recognized the stag, but he seemed very interesting. Upon his head was a crown that fit perfectly between his antlers. He wore a heavy cloak that covered most of his body, and his neck, ankles, and antlers were adorned with jewelry. The noble stag stopped before LaRuna, not seeming to recognize him in the moonlight. “Hello there, my friend. What are you doing out here in the cold?”, Silun asked.

“Silun? It’s me, LaRuna. Don’t you recognize me?”, LaRuna asked. The king tilted his head, “Ah, I’m sorry, page, I am very bad with names. But I may have seen you from time to time.

A bitter cold beat on his fur. He shook the snow off, grunting for a moment as he looked around the dense forest. He was alone tonight, the other deer were either sleeping deep in their dens or had found other places to escape the cold.

The whitetail buck shivered tonight. This winter was much colder than any other he had ever lived through. He felt very alone, and moving on, could only think about the doe he loved. A tear filled his eye when he found her…cold, lifeless…she left the world seemingly for no reason.

He needed to find warmth. He knew if he stayed out any longer, he might share the same fate as his doe. He walked on, steam puffing out from his mouth and nostrils with every breath. He stopped and looked curiously at a seemingly radiating town. He had never gotten too close to the place, but was very curious why all the trees and buildings seemed to be glowing like they were on fire.

He approached one of the trees, looking deeply into what was a light bulb. The gentle radiating glow glistened in his eyes, and it even had the slightest warmth to it. There was nothing to be afraid of, his mind drifted in wonder as he listened to the lights hum with electricity.

Then something else caught his eye. Was he imagining it? Could it really be?

He saw a doe standing by one of the buildings, glowing just as brightly as the trees. Was it his doe? Would she recognize him?

The stag approached, his heart racing for a moment. But his excitement ceased when the doe was only made of metal and lined with the light bulbs. It was a fake deer.