[crow]

Rhodes did not reply for a long time. Sivain had begun to suspect that he was staring at the fire again, but finally he said something: “Do you know what they did to cats, when I was young?”

The way he said it, Sivain knew he wasn't looking for an answer, but evidently he was not aware. Perhaps he ought to be, but Rhodes had never been one to share the things that troubled him on a level that might warrant more than griping. “They burned them,” Rhodes said softly. “They tossed them into fires. The old, the young, all burned together. They thought they could find witches that way.”

Sivain tried to imagine it, and regretted it immediately. He had never known cats closely as a whole, but the smell of burnt flesh was more familiar to him than he liked. “Did they capture you?” he asked.

“No, never. I wouldn't be here if they did. But back then, I was not what I am now; I had no idea why it had happened.”

There was a pause, in which Sivain tried to think of something to say. He had the feeling that he ought to say something, even though conversation didn't come naturally to him. Yet, what sympathy could he offer that Rhodes would accept? “Does it... make it easier, knowing?”

[8: Bonfire]

[crow]

“No,” Rhodes replied, a hard edge to his voice. “It does not help. It makes it worse, to know that those who died were lost to human folly.” He spat the word 'human' out as if it were something vile, and to him, perhaps it was. Sivain, knowing what he knew, could not blame him.

He decided to play it off as Rhodes himself might have. “What a fine pair we are,” he said, “talking of death and burning cats. We are the very spirit of Christmas cheer.”

That earned him a slight snort from his companion, and Sivain noted with relief that the tension had left Rhodes' posture. “That we are. I wonder if anyone overheard us. Perhaps some mother is ushering their child away from us now.”

Contrary to his words, however, the two of them found that not only was their young charge returning, but she had a friend in tow. The boy that she was dragging along by the hand looked to be her age, just about. That was an illusion, as Suvi had been stuck at that age for decades now, but mentally she hadn't matured either. That was how the binding worked. She would never age properly, living out her time as an eternal youth, until such a time that she was killed or Sivain dismissed her.

Or until he himself died, Sivain thought.

[9: Bonfire]

[crow]

“My my, who's this?” Rhodes said. The boy's eyes widened at the sight of the cat.

“It talked!” he said incredulously, turning to Suvi, ironically echoing the same sentiment that she had voiced upon seeing the little deer at the entrance. Sivain was thoroughly amused; he had thought that, after being greeted that way, no one ought to have been surprised at the appearance of another talking animal; evidently he was mistaken. She grinned smugly at him, with all the superiority of a ten-year-old who knew something her friend didn't, and therefore had some cause to show off.

“This is Elliot,” Suvi announced grandly. To the boy, she said, “That's Rhodes. He does all kinds of things! He talks and cleans and does our taxes, whatever that is. Plus he purrs if you pet him, look.” She moved to sit beside Rhodes, dragging the reluctant cat into her lap. Sivain could see that Rhodes was not in a purring mood, but that made it all the funnier to him. The schadenfreude went both ways in their relationship. Under the expectant eyes of the children and Suvi's overenthusiastic ministrations, however, poor Rhodes was forced to perform. His usual soft, comforting purr came out more like a rumble, as if someone had shaken a hive of angry bees. Suvi frowned. “That's funny, he doesn't usually sound like that.”

The boy smiled anyway. “I think it's neat! We don't have any pets at home. Charlie says mum wouldn't like it.”

[10: Bonfire]

[Saahs]

It took a moment for Sasha to realise the fact that there were more people coming around the tree. The merc paused in the middle of shooting whatever was up in the tree a less than friendly gesture, eyes flicking this way and that. Had anyone seen him cursing out an invisible... thing? He took a step back, distancing himself from the suspicious tree. His stride took to the left, never really turning to face the direction he was walking and instead awkwardly shuffling to the side away. Not for long though, as the shifted Smilo turned on his heel to flee.

His stride became a very brisk walk as he ditched the tree. In fact, it was almost a jog. You weren't getting him again, dastardly tree. Abandoning the swift walking to instead bolt, he bee-lined for a cottage from where a fantastic smell wafted from. Food. Food helped everything. Sasha came to a skidding halt at the back of the line, which was thankfully short. On top of being terrible at bestowing titles, he had almost no patience.

The painfully sweet aroma calmed Sasha, his ears drooping slightly for a moment before perking forward. To say he was eager to get something to eat was a terrible, terrible understatement. And the sound of others chattering about what they were planning to get only made his patience that thinner.

{5, The Bakery}

[crow]

“Charlie's his big sister,” Suvi supplied helpfully, sticking to the role of the dutiful mutual friend to the two parties of strangers with dogged devotion. “She's over there somewhere, getting snacks.” She motioned vaguely in the direction of the big Christmas tree. “Oh, right! I forgot. This is Sivvy! He's, um...” She looked up at Sivain, who raised a brow at her. Admittedly, he understood her hesitation. Their relationship was a difficult one to describe even for him, and he had all the vocabulary of his considerable years available to him.

“I am Suvi's guardian,” he supplied. Suvi smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Guardian?” the boy said, echoing Sivain's words. “Does... Does that mean your parents are dead? There's a boy at my school, he's got a guardian too, instead of a mum and dad.” It was the sort of thing that Sivain might have expected someone, especially a child, to say with pity. However, this boy said it rather more matter-of-factly than the delivery that Sivain was used to. He was trying to think of a suitable answer, but Suvi spoke before he could supply one.

“I don't remember my parents,” she said, still cheerful as anything. “Sivvy's been taking care of me a real long time. He's like a big brother, just a little more strict. We have lots of fun together. I think it's even better than if I'd had parents.”

[11: Bonfire]

[Saahs]

Hours passed (in reality, merely a minute or two) and it was finally his turn. During his wait, Sahs had actually taken a look at what was available to order. There would be no standing in front of a counter with his mouth slack and staring dumbly today. Hopefully. Along with a slice of cherry pie, he bought himself a small bag of cookies, freshly baked and wonderfully gooey. Tasty loot in hand, he strode out of the bakery, nodding to the shopkeeper in gratitude. His steps faltered, however, as something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. More movement. Just what he wanted to see, stuff that wasn't actually there. Apparently.

Huffing, Sasha shook his head and continued on his way. The pie was devoured not seconds after he had left the bakery. That left him with the bag of cookies--chocolate chip and sugar cookies, specifically. Thanks to a disappointing number of allergies, they were some of the only cookies he could eat without suffocating or having the worst battle with his bowels.

Victoriously, he marched out of the way of other people who wished to enter the bakery, leaning against the building's exterior to chow down the remainders of his treats. Sasha scowled over at the bonfire. There, he had his cookie. A moment to let the chocolate chips do their magic was in order. Crimson eyes wandered over to the nearby petting zoo, an eyebrow quirked curiously. He had a weak spot for fluffy animals that was arguably stronger than his weak spot for bashing skulls.

{6, The Bakery}

[FrostWynd]

"Like I already told you, she no longer exists. She just vanished into nothingness." A distinctly older voice had gotten through explaining something to the green haired man who was walking through the streets of the town. Malique's eyes carefully scanning the areas as they went about their search. "Oh really now?" He had replied, eventually turning his attention to the Arkuhna that was lazily making himself comfortable on his shoulders. "Yep. We should just stop looking. No point in searching for something that no longer exists." The Kuhna, named Oliver, had said as he let out a small yawn. Clearly enjoying the free ride. Malique obviously wasn't buying it though, as he rolled his eyes at Oliver. "Riiight... Except you haven't told me how she vanished." Nevermind any of the logic behind it, he just wanted to see where this would go out of curiosity. Which the Kuhna had opened a green eye in his direction, before shrugging. "Oh you know how it is, some things can never be truly explained. Heck, maybe the gods decided to just make things right in the world by taking her out of the picture!" Oh, so now some gods had something to do with this...? Yep, definitely sounded absurd, like he thought it would. Slowly coming to a stop, it seemed that she wasn't here. Which might have been a good thing, and maybe she was where he thought she might be after all. "Honestly Oliver, I don't know what you're trying to pull here with your lies. But you know you're not getting out of your responsibility that easily." Malique said with a sigh as he turned around suddenly, now heading for a specific place. Because of him Oliver had lost his balance suddenly, crying out in surprise on the way down into the snow with a muffled thud. "Hey! Watch what you're doing!" He growled moments after as his head popped up amid the white pile with snow clinging to his fur.

"Yeah yeah yeah... Come on already, or we'll be even more late." Maybe he did it on purpose, or maybe he didn't. Either way, they needed to be somewhere now and Oliver was more than capable of walking on his own.

[2 ~ The Bonfire]

[crow]

Sivain went tense as Suvi mentioned the word 'brother'. He didn't know what befell her parents, whether they had still been alive when she was given to the priests of Eon. However, she had had a brother, one to which she had been dearly attached. Much of his earlier years with her, when she was still under the care of the temple, had been spent consoling her over the absence of that brother.

Thankfully, at least for him, she appeared to have forgotten him. And to his surprise, he saw Elliot nodding in agreement to what she had said. “My big sister takes care of me too. I have parents, but we don't talk much... It's just me and Charlie a lot of the time. I don't mind either, though. She's nice.” His features scrunched up a little, and he added, “I know most people don't think she is, because of how she looks and how she dresses... And what she says... But I mean it. She's the nicest sister in the world.”

Suvi, who had a surrogate brother, didn't contend his assertion. She only nodded along emphatically. “I've got the best brother in the world too. We're lucky, huh?”

The children shared a grin. Rhodes rolled his eyes. “That isn't what you said about him yesterday, when he wouldn't let you have that third candy-cane before bed,” the cat pointed out.

[12: Bonfire]

[crow]

Suvi paused. “Oh. Oh yeah. Well, he's still the best, even if he messes up sometimes. Everyone does that.” She shrugged and that was the end of that. Not even Rhodes' sarcasm could change her mind on such a matter once it was set.

With children about, there was at least never a shortage of topics. No sooner had Suvi made her conclusion did Elliot perk up and say, “You wanna go see the tree? I haven't gone to see that yet.”

What, was Suvi going to say no? “Sure! I haven't seen it either, since we just got here. Let's go!” With that, they were off. Rhodes, who had expected to be put down as they went haring off on their next adventure, found himself being taken along instead, carried by Suvi as she ran. His eyes went as wide as saucers, and Sivain had the unexpected pleasure of seeing him quite discomfited without any effort from himself. Well, then again, his tactics wouldn't have worked nearly so well. Nobody could outwit the pride of a cat as much as the mind of a child.

With both the children gone and Rhodes gone with them, however, Sivain could no longer sit by the fire. In all likelihood they weren't going to come back, so it was up to him to follow. He parted from the log with a little regret; he had just been getting comfortable, and it was just the right distance from the fire to be pleasant without being overly hot too. His seat would doubtless be taken up by someone else when he returned--- or rather, if he returned.

[13: Bonfire]

[crow]

It really was the holiday season. He was getting sentimental about seating.

Sivain made his way briskly to the tree, making sure to keep an eye on Suvi and her friend. He seemed harmless, but there was plenty that could happen to two seemingly unattended children even in a place like this... And demons often came in strange guises, for example. Although if Elliot was, in fact, a demon, he'd have to give this one the credit for a commendable acting job. Elliot was a far more convincing child than most demons Sivain had had the displeasure of encountering in his lifetime.

The tree was surprisingly large. Sivain had thought that it was closer than it had actually been, back when he had been sitting near the bonfire, but now that he was walking toward it he could appreciate the fact that that illusion came from its scale instead. However had they managed to haul that thing here? It couldn't have been the little reindeer that greeted them, surely. He had a hard time imagining even a group of people managing to transport anything of this size unmolested. The needles and such were too pristine for it to have been dragged, for example; and that was the most obvious method that occurred to him.

On a whim, he decided to pose the question to the children. “It's a very large tree, don't you think?” he said.

[14: Christmas Tree]

[crow]

The two of them looked up athim, grinning. “Yeah!” Suvi said. “It's huuuuge. It's bigger than our house.”

“Ours too,” Elliot chimed in.

“How do you think they managed to get it here?” Sivain asked. Amusingly, one could see the children's expressions shift visibly as they puzzled over his question, going from big smiles to furrowed brows and a slight frown.

Elliot was the first to respond. “Could they have flown it? They couldn't have dragged it,” he said. Sivain nodded; he had come to the same latter conclusion, though flying it in hadn't been something he'd considered.

“It's possible, but it would have taken an entire army of flying vessels,” he mused.

“Or dragons,” Suvi said helpfully. “Don't forget dragons. And it could be magic too, you know--- like they put a little seed in the ground, and then a magic fairy waves her wand over it like this.” She pantomimed the action, twirling one hand around over the other, which cupped an invisible something--- presumably the seed. “Then boom!” She threw both hands in the air. “Biiiig big tree. Like Jack and the Beanstalk, only piney-er.”

[15: Christmas Tree]

[crow]

“You should write picture books,” said Rhodes. He had been transferred to Elliot somewhere along the way, and the younger boy was carrying him rather sloppily. Elliot was not a large cat; he was actually on the small side, for his kind. But then, the same could be said of Elliot. The child just didn't have the capacity to carry Rhodes properly. Sivain thought about leaving Rhodes to suffer a little more, but decided against it in the end.

Reaching out to Elliot, he said, “Give him to me.” Elliot looked up at him, wary, but the urge to be free of the weight overrode his caution soon enough. He handed the cat over, clearly relieved at having passed on such a heavy burden. Rhodes scrambled up, claws digging into Sivain's garments, until he had regained his perch on Sivain's shoulders. The weight was nothing to Sivain; he was grown, and tall, and fit from his activities; the godhood, however diminished it might be, helped too.

“It's not a bad idea,” Sivain said, with much less sarcasm than Rhodes. “I think that would make a wonderful illustrated book, even if, yes, a bit similar to Jack's tale.” It might at least give her something more to do at home, which would be a welcome relief to Sivain. Even if nothing else came of it, that alone would make it worthwhile.

[16: Christmas Tree]

[crow]

The mystery of the tree was abandoned in its turn as the children turned to something much more relevant to their interest: “Presents!” they squealed together, and ran forth again to kneel at the foot of the pile.

“Those aren't for you to take! Suvi!” Sivain called out. It didn't look like either of them heard him though, or if they did, they ignored him. They didn't look like they were trying to make off with any yet, but Sivain kept a careful eye on them anyway, just in case. It wasn't that Suvi was a bad kid, but she was a kid. The decades of eternal youth didn't make her significantly more mature, for all that she did grow more experienced at some things. Given the temptation, Sivain wasn't sure she'd resist, and she might not realize that they weren't free gifts to begin with. It was the season for that kind of thing, after all, and they'd been offered enough freebies already for her to have justifiably built up an expectation for such things.

Rhodes shifted on his shoulders, and Sivain glanced back at him. “How are you holding up?” he asked, perhaps putting in a little too much effort to sound as if he wasn't concerned. The cat had no such qualms about hiding his feelings, however, and gave a yowl of such unadulterated distaste that Sivain almost laughed himself; but the cat's claws were still buried in his coat, and he could feel them pricking flesh.

[17: Christmas Tree]

[crow]

Sivain settled for watching the kids, if tensely. Fortunately, it didn't seem as if they were going anywhere for the time being, and he supposed there was no immediate danger of their trying to make off with something. They appeared to be more intent on looking at all the gifts. He didn't understand the appeal himself, but perhaps it was that there were so many of them all in one place; and there was such a variety in wrapping and ribbons that they made a spectacle very well on their own.

He resolved to keep an eye on them anyway, because it was always better to be cautious, but he did finally allow himself to relax a little and turn his attention to other things. He was scrutinizing the tree again when something caught his attention. He blinked, rubbed at his eyes a little and squinted, trying to find it again. Rhodes, curiosity piqued, followed his gaze and peered at the branches with his own eyes. “Whatever are you looking for?” the cat said, for he had not seen anything remarkable beyond the tree itself. But the way that Sivain was going at it, he was definitely searching for something, scanning back and forth along the branches for some sign of... whatever it was. “Is it a decoration? I had no idea you were so fond of such things.”

“No, I...” Sivain spoke slowly, distractedly, his silent promise to watch the children momentarily forgotten. “I'm sure I saw something move, in there.” Whatever he had seen, he couldn't find it anymore. Most likely it was some small tree creature, perfectly harmless. He hoped so, at least. If it turned out to be something that he ought to concern himself with...

[18: Christmas Tree]

[crow]

“Sivvy!” Suvi's voice snapped him out of it, and he started to see her standing so close to him, beaming. He breathed a sigh of relief to see she wasn't carrying anything, and that Elliot was similarly empty-handed. As it turned out, he needn't have worried. They had had the good sense not to take any of the gifts with them. “There were so many presents! I didn't even know they sold that many kinds of wrapping paper,” Suvi said, as if it was the most incredulous thing in the world.

“There was one wrapped with newspapers,” said Elliot with a shy little smile. “We do that at our house. Some of the kids at school say it looks ugly, but I think they're fun to read.”

“The kids at your school sound stupid,” said Suvi dismissively. Sivain frowned at her.

“That isn't nice, Suvi,” he told her in an admonishing tone.

The set of her expression was mulish at first, but then she thought about it a little and grew more contrite. “Sorry, I didn't mean to call them that. But they're not very nice. Elliot says they say all kinds of mean things.”

Elliot shook his head. “No, you're right. They are pretty stupid. I know one boy who does nothing but eat crayons whenever we have to color something.”

[19: Christmas Tree]