A Very Forum Emblem Christmas!

The Christmas that came after Grima's defeat was the world's first Christmas without the threat of the Fell Dragon looming over everyone. That being said, that particular Christmas was celebrated with a special fervor absent from other years prior and then most years to come. It was such a joyous occasion that the entire force of the Shepherds gathered one more time to celebrate their triumph earlier in the year. A certain trio of Shepherds also brought along a special trio of children, all of whom would be celebrating their very first Christmas. Frar's castle played host to the celebration, and Christmas Eve found the Shepherds all gathering in the elaborately decorated banquet hall, talking amongst themselves and catching up with friends they hadn't seen since their victory in May, all while navigating around the enormous tree at the center of the room.

Near the back of the room, a certain someone was awkwardly participating in passing conversation while slowly edging towards the side hallways, hoping to pilfer the castle's treasures while no one was looking. Unfortunately, the broad shoulders he bumped into on the way out shut down his dreams pretty quickly. “Now where are you headed, young man?”

Eddie spun around and stammered, looking up at the tall man with fear in his would-be thieving eyes. “King Louis! I, er, um... I was just stepping away for a...drink! Yeah, definitely a drink. I'm terribly parched after this long trip here.”

Chloe's father, the king of Frar, smiled at Eddie and put a hand on his shoulder. “Why, you're headed the wrong way, my boy! The drink table is right over this way. Let me show you.” The king showed Eddie the way while the latter wore a face of bitter disappointment.

Even though it was a full house bustling with weary warriors and tried time travelers, the absence of two people caused some Shepherds to feel alone, even when surrounded by their greatest friends.

Even her newborn twins and time traveling daughter weren't enough to comfort Signele, who was reminded that the one fatality in the battle against Grima was her own fiance. He also may or may not have been traitorous all along, but that part was really ambiguous and nobody really knew what to think of the two identical bodies atop the mountain. It did help a little bit when someone came by and offered her babies some company, though. DJ and Chase approached her with both of their sons, the older version of which was carrying the toddler version of himself in his arms.

Spencer smiled at Signele and nodded at his baby-self before saying, “this is the weirdest thing I've ever done. And I've fought dragons!”

Signele giggled, earning one back from the baby in his...own arms? “So we were thinking your babies would be lonely,” DJ explained.

Chase nodded. “We brought Spencer to play with...what were their names again?”

“This is Kayde, and this one's Kodie,” Signele said, nodding to the babies in her left and right arms respectively. “And I would love to watch all three of these kiddos play together. Thanks guys. You know just how to try to cheer me up.”

“It's our pleasure,” DJ said with a smile as they sat down to watch the kids play. Meanwhile, Jayde also had to deal with the fact that she was the only child present who did not have both of her parents, and while that was no easy feat, it was made slightly better by the bizarre fact that she had to endure it once already. That being said, she was faring alright, all things considered, and was at the moment, flirting with others wherever she could find someone not engrossed in conversation. At one point, she and Florence decided to make a game out of how many guys they could fluster, and could be seen exchanging high fives whenever they crossed each other's paths.

Unfortunately, there was a second person notably missing from the festivities, and this one did not have being dead as an excuse. Her parents still told jokes and did comedic routines alongside a certain father-son duo, but it was easy to tell that her absence was felt heavily. During their back-and-forths, they could often be seen glancing toward the exit anxiously, a look of worry in their face. It wasn't until the ever-observant cavalier Joanne was speaking to Sam and Pika did anyone bring up their strange new habit. “Are you guys alright?” She asked, raising an eyebrow in their direction. “You've been looking between us and the entryway the whole time.”

Pika shook her head and attempted to dismiss the problem while, at the same time, Sam jutted out his lower lip, not to pout, but to contemplate. “Harley isn't here.”

“Wait, really?” Joanne asked, turning to her concerned friend mode. “Do you know why?”

Sam shrugged. “No idea. It's really disappointing. I really wanted to see her.”

“I did too,” Pika said, having finally given in to talking about it. “After everything was over, she kinda disappeared, and we've been looking forward to seeing her again.”

Joanne took a sip of her drink and nodded. “Is it possible she didn't get the invitation?”

Before either Sam or Pika could respond, they heard a loud rattling drawing close at an alarming speed. They turned to see Augustus running George's wheelchair toward them at a breakneck pace. Augustus slid to a stop mere inches from Joanne, causing her to step back out of fear for her own safety. George pointed a menacing finger at Joanne, pretending to be furious. “How *dare* you insult my magic!”

“Er, excuse me?” Joanne asked.

George crossed his arms and scoffed, looking away. “I sent out those invites with only the most powerful spells. Each invite was cursed to reach their intended target no matter what. She got. The invite. Okay?”

“Wow, okay,” Joanne said with a playful tone. “I didn't realize they were sent out by such a baby.” She held a fist up to her eye and pretended to wipe away tears dramatically. “Waaah, I can't handle people criticizing my magic!”

Augustus cracked a smile and decided to join in on the fun. “No, it's more like, a buh buh buh!” Augustus attempted to do the same thing, but instead of pretending to wipe tears off his face, he ended up socking himself in the nose thanks to his relatively newly-formed twitches.

“No, you're both wrong,” Pika said with a smile. “It's, boo-hoo-hoo! A boo-hoo!”

“I feel like it's a mix of all three,” Sam said as the three people involved started making increasingly loud crying noises at each other. George sat below the action and attempted to think of a witty comeback, but kept getting drowned out by the cries. He finally rolled his eyes and sent a condolence Sam's way before attempting to veer into different joke territory.

Elsewhere, a tour of Frar's castle had just been wrapped up, which meant Chloe, Green, and Mason were back, an awestruck Ewisko in tow. “So that's a little slice of how I live here in the castle,” Chloe said. “What did you think of it?”

Ewisko struggled to find words for a moment. “I just...it's so big! I could fit my entire village in here like, three times over! And this is for a couple of families?”

“Give or take,” Green answered with a shrug. “It's definitely bigger than Tost's castle, that's for sure.”

“Man, I wanna live here,” Ewisko said with a dreamy sigh. “This just seems like the kinda place where nothing can go wrong.”

“You'd be surprised,” Mason mumbled. “But that was in my time.”

“Yeah, I never did understand that whole time travel thing,” Ewisko said. “It's all a bit weird to wrap my mind around.”

“When one of the time travelers belongs to you, you get used to it,” Green assured him.

“Try telling that one to my dad,” Chloe said with a laugh. “Remember how he reacted when he learned about all this?”

“He had a cow!” Green said. “Good thing the queen didn't have such a reaction. She can't afford to give birth to *two* animals.” The group shared a laugh, Ewisko not quite getting it but laughing to keep up appearances.

A loud announcement brought most of the Shepherds together into one group, gathering around a table that a certain entertainer extraordinaire had climbed on top of. Julius stood proudly on the table top, hands on his hips and a grin on his face. “Alright, bitches, listen up! My family has some sicknasty new dance moves for you to check out, so I hope you enjoy! Can I get you lovely ladies to join me up on the stage?”

Danica hopped on stage without hesitation, but Kate stayed rooted in her spot. “Uh, that's not a stage, dude.”

“It's close enough,” Julius said with a nod.

Danica stooped down and offered Kate a hand up. “Don't worry. I think we'll be alright. Nobody's yelling at us to get down yet, are they?”

Suddenly, there came a loud cry from the crowd. “Get down from there you sluts!” This caused Danica's brow to furrow in anger.

“Augustus, you call me that again and I'll make sure you go down!” A giggle from the crowd caused Danica's poor phrasing to dawn on her. Her face flushed red and she held up a fist. “You win this time, but we'll see who wins when you're writhing on the ground in pain! 'Cuz I'm gonna punch you! Stop laughing at me!”

Kate took Danica's helping hand and hauled herself up on the table, making sure to move everything that could be knocked over out of her way. She then put a hand on Danica's shoulder. “Hey, it's alright. Let's dance now, okay?”

“You got it, mom,” Danica said. With that, the family of three started their new routine while the onlookers enjoyed the dance and continued to make conversation.

One such conversation was between the two smartest people in the room, who managed to keep a conversation while one was clapping his hands eagerly to the music.

Yes, there was music to accompany the dance. That should have gone without saying. Duh.

Anyway, Josh and Bohl's conversation carried on while Bella watched and chimed in when she felt it necessary. It was a bit difficult for Bohl to keep up, but he was definitely starting to get ever so slightly more fluent, much to his father's delight. Their current subject was the history of the holiday, and how it came to be so widely celebrated. “So is the dancing a parting of the Christmas celebrating?” Bohl asked.

Josh barked a laugh and shook his head. “No, dancing is merely a part of celebrating in general. It's been around for far longer than this holiday, of that I'm veritably certain.”

“Plus, that's just what Julius likes to do,” Bella said. “It's not a Shepherd get together until Julius dances for everyone.”

“Ah, I see!” Bohl said with a nod. “I would very much like to be seeing some dances from them specifically about this holiday.”

“Oh, that would be fun,” Josh agreed. “We should educate them about this history and verify that to be an interesting endeavor for them.”

“They probably know the story,” Bella said. “No need to remind them, I'm sure.”

“I like reminders,” Bohl said. “They help for me to get my thoughts collected in bunch.”

Suddenly, the group was approached by someone who seemed not entirely sober. “How's this for a reminder for ya?” The newcomer draped her arm around Bella's shoulder and pointed a finger at the Tostian. “This bitch right 'ere is like, my best fucking friend. That'll remind you.”

Bella chuckled and returned the half embrace. “You're my best friend too, Flo. How much have you had tonight?”

“This many,” Florence responded flatly.

“You...didn't hold up any fingers,” Bella said with a raised eyebrow.

“Eeeeexactly.” Florence giggled and released Bella. “You guys having fun? Because I know I am!”

“We are most certainly enjoying ourselves immensely, thanks for asking,” Josh said. “I'm elated to see you enjoying yourself as well, even if it does mean imbibing copious amounts of alcohol.”

“Yeah!” Florence shouted, pumping a fist in the air. “Thanks Josh. You're a doll! You too Bohl.” She clicked her tongue at Bohl and staggered off to join her family.

“What a strange one,” Bohl said.

“You don't know the half of it,” Bella assured him.

It didn't take long at all for Florence to track down Jimmy. He was lounging just outside the group, waiting for an opportunity to jump into a conversation, but mostly watching the dancers. He nodded at his visitor, who leaned against him as if tired, which she most definitely wasn't. “So Jim-Jim,” Florence slurred. “'Ave you seen my daughter around?”

“*Our* daughter is off somewhere,” Jimmy said with a shrug. “Probably catching up with her friends or something.”

“I guess I can accept that,” Florence said with a shrug. Since the battle to decide the fate of the world, Florence and Jimmy had been working hard to ensure that they were the best parents for Janice amidst the horror stories regarding their future selves. It was a rough road, but they were slowly making progress, mostly thanks to listening to Janice's feedback. One such tip was giving her space when she needed it. No matter how good they were as parents, there would come time when she needed space, and they would just have to accept that. Florence sighed and continued her train of thought. “I hope she comes back before Christmas is over. It is a...” she paused to burp. “'scuse me, family holiday after all.”

“Just give her time,” Jimmy assured her. “She'll be hanging out with us again in no time.”

As if on cue, Janice approached her parents with a nervous wave. Florence's face lit up at the sight of her. “Janice! We were just wondering where you went!”

“Yeah? Heh, sorry if I worried you.” Janice awkwardly scratched at her cheek. “Anyway, I uh, have a question for you.”

“What's up?” Jimmy asked.

“Have you seen my cousin around anywhere?”

Jimmy looked around at the group of Shepherds nearby, searching for blue heads of hair. “Er, can't say I have. Why?”

Janice opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a stern uncle of hers jumping into the conversation. “For some reason, Justice got the bright idea to play hide and seek with the babies and went to actually play hide and seek.”

“You mean he didn't just cover his eyes and play with them that way?” Jimmy asked, to which Knifez responded by shaking his head. “He actually expected a couple of babies to find him in this castle?”

“I guess so,” Knifez said with a sigh. “Alright, we'll keep looking. You guys have fun.” With a wave, Knifez and Janice continued their search for the eccentric young prince. “Why can't your cousin be somewhat normal?” He asked.

Janice responded first with a shrug. “I dunno. I'm real sorry about it either way.”

Meanwhile, Justice's mother had thought of a way to find him. She asked the non-emotionally crippled Taguel to keep an ear out, and that she did.

Jayde tapped Rachel on the shoulder and pointed to the ceiling. “I think he's up in the rafters. I can hear some whinnying and giggling from aaaall the way up there.”

Rachel smirked and nodded. “Thanks, Jayde. I owe you one.”

“Don't mention it!” Jayde called as Rachel ran off.

It didn't take long at all to track down Green. “Hey, Green, is your wyvern here at the castle?”

“Minerva comes with me everywhere, yeah. Why?” Green answered.

Up in the rafters, Justice fed apples to his pegasus while giggling uncontrollably. “They'll never find me up here. You and I are the hide 'n' seek *masters*, Hope.” Mere moments later, Justice was scared silly by the sight of Minerva ascending into the rafters with Green and Rachel on her back. When he saw the look on his mother's face, he scrambled to stand and held up his hands innocently. “Uh, mom! Hey there! Uh, what brings you up here?”

Rachel crossed her arms. “You do, actually. What are you even doing up here?”

“Playin' hide and seek,” Justice answered, putting his hands behind his back.

“Right, and who are you hiding from?”

Justice lowered his voice nervously. “The...babies. But then I realized they wouldn't want to look for me, so I decided to hide from everyone else instead!”

Rachel shrugged. “I can accept that.”

“Wait, really?”

“Sure. Just because you're a prince doesn't mean you have to be stuffy and uptight all the time.” As Rachel said this, she wrapped an arm around Justice and pulled him close. “Besides, you need a fun parent.”

“Yeah!” Justice said just before Rachel gave him a noogie. “Ah! Ow, stop!” The two separated in a fit of giggles as Green approached them.

“So I take it we're done here?”

“Yeah, we are,” Rachel said with a nod. “You can go. I'll hitch a ride down on Justice's pegasus.”

“Cool. Glad I could help!” And with that, Green and Minerva were off, Justice and Rachel following soon after.

Some of the few Shepherds not watching the (very long) performance stood a little ways from everybody, not quite digging the group atmosphere. Heroi and Kjeld stood near each other in silence, mostly observing everything. At least they were, until they were approached by a couple of the others. “Hey you loners!” Anna greeted with a wave of her hand. “Why don'tcha come join the party and be fun, huh?”

Her partner in crime, Kayla, nodded enthusiastically and jumped into the conversation. “Yeah, it's a party for all of us, after all. Come mingle!”

“I figured nobody would really care if I mingled or not,” Heroi admitted. “Do you guys really want me to participate that much?”

Kjeld laughed after Kayla and Anna nodded. “And I was resting from mingling, just so you know. But I guess I can come talk some more. If you insist.”

“Awesome!” Anna cheered. She grabbed Kjeld's arm and Kayla grabbed Heroi's before they escorted their respective person back into the big group. “You know Kjeld, you got so much cooler after you got over the whole 'I have to kill Esh-Ban' thing.”

“Heh, thanks,” Kjeld replied sheepishly. “Can you let go of my arm now?”

“Not until we get there!”

Nearby, a third loner hid in the shadows, thankful that Kayla and Anna didn't spot him. Aloasa breathed a sigh of relief and emerged, looking around for someone to bother, or perhaps curse. Whichever came first. When his eyes landed on someone who seemed like they needed more people around them, he sprung into action. “What are you doing here all alone, Grace?” He asked the healer when he reached her.

In response, Grace jumped a bit, startled by his sudden approach. “Oh, it's just you. You scared me half to death. What's up?” After Aloasa smirked at her wording, he repeated his question. “What do you mean? Should I not be alone?”

“Well, you have a man and a son, so shouldn't they be with you?” Aloasa illustrated his question by miming the act of rolling a wheelchair's wheels.

Grace gave a noncommittal shrug. “They will be when the—“

“Or did they abandon you because they hate you now?”

Aloasa's sudden interruption caused Grace to stop her sentence in its tracks and narrow her eyes at him. “We're done here,” she said before turning to leave as fast as she could.

“Geeze, touchy,” Aloasa remarked before rolling his eyes and sulking off.

Oddly enough, Grace's escape route took her directly to the people she had just been asked about. “Oh, hey boys,” she greeted. “What have you two been up to?”

“Lots of crying,” George answered, jutting a thumb in Augustus' direction.

Grace raised an eyebrow at the two. “Are you two...okay?”

“Yeah, we were just making fun of dad,” Augustus said with a shrug.

Grace's eyes lit up at his answer. “That explains everything! Alright then. Glad you two are having fun.

George opened his mouth to respond, but got distracted by a loud noise coming from nearby. “Speaking of crying...let's check out that sound, Augustus. Away!” Augustus parroted the eager cry and steered his father to their destination, Grace following closely behind. They arrived at the scene of the cry, which was one of Signele's small children. “Oh hey, the babies!” Signele looked up at George and narrowed her eyes on sight. She sat on the ground, holding one of the twins in her arms while the other played with the slightly older baby-Spencer. “Hey, what's the matter with me?”

Signele's ears twitched, which distracted the baby in her arms from her crying. She reached up and tugged on her mother's ears gently as she spoke. “You're not gonna curse them, are you?”

George held up his hands in a show of innocence. “Whoa there. I don't curse babies, you know. I have standards.”

“Yeah, and they come in the form of me,” Grace continued, crossing her arms and leaning against her son. “I promise I'd smack him if he raised even a finger against your kiddos.”

Signele smiled at the other woman's promise and let her guard down. “Okay! You can see them. This one's Kodie, and the one playing right now is Kayde.” As she spoke, Signele shifted, which took her ear out of Kodie's reach. Kodie started crying again, to which Signele responded by turning her attention away from George. “Hush now Kodie, don't cry sweetie.”

“Did someone say my name?” Everyone (except the grown bunny) jumped as Dakota seemingly appeared near them, snacking on some food he had brought over. “'Sup guys?”

“You scared the shit out of us,” George said, a hand on his heart. “Where do you get off, sneaking into conversations like that?”

Dakota smiled and sat next to Signele. “I'm a thief. Sneaking's what I do best. Duh.”

“No no, it's supposed to be *bitch*,” Chase said, putting in his signature insult.

George jutted his lower lip out at chase. “But that's our thing. I thought what we had was special, *bitch*.”

Dakota shook his head and looked to his namesake. “How's the tiny me?”

In response, Kodie reached for her namesake and waved her tiny little hand at him, prompting her mom to hand her over to Dakota. “She's doing alright,” Signele sighed as Dakota looked for a good position to hold the baby in. “She's not as open to new people as Kayde is, though.”

“Sounds about right,” Dakota laughed.

At the mention of his name, Kayde threw his hands up in the air and started giggling uncontrollably, to which baby Spencer responded by joining right in.

“You don't sound as excited about them as he is,” Augustus said, nodding at Kayde's outburst. “You okay?”

Signele sighed. “Nope.”

Before anyone could question further, the final bunny hopped into the conversation by scooping up her sibling and Spencer in her arms. “Look at these cuties! They're almost as cute as this one's big sis was.”

She began playing with the children, which brought a smile to Signele's face. “Hey Jayde. Got bored of hitting on guys?”

“Not bored. More like I covered almost everyone.”

“Even Dakota?” Grace asked, to which Dakota nodded. “But he's like, the one your sister's named after. That's weird.”

“Not that I mean anything by it! Gods,” Jayde said as she rolled her eyes, “everyone knows I'm just having fun.”

“Lots of fun,” Dakota agreed sarcastically. “I sure hope the one named after me doesn't take after you.”

“If anything it'll be the one named after her,” Signele said. “He's such an attention whore, while his sister only likes being with me. And you.”

Spencer (the older one) raised an eyebrow. “That's not good language to be using around them, do you think?” When Signele just shrugged in return he shook his head. “Alright then. If little me's first word is a curse I'll have some stern words to share with you.”

Suddenly, the group was approached by a very worried-looking Taylor, who Kodie shot a death glare at. “Prince DJ! The guards are looking for you. They say it's urgent.”

DJ took a cautious stand and raised an eyebrow at Taylor. “What kind of urgent?”

Unfortunately, the entire party went just quiet enough for Taylor to be overheard when she said, “bandits are approaching the castle. Lots of 'em.”

Worried murmurs spread throughout the Shepherds, some of them agonizing that they didn't bring their weapons and some making sure they heard Taylor right. Daniel approached the group cautiously. “Are you sure?”

Taylor nodded. “There aren't enough guards to fend them all off. They're all on holiday leave.”

“Can this not be happening around me and my children?” Signele asked in a distressed tone.

Daniel put his hands on his hips and bit his lip. “A fight was not what I wanted to get myself into on Christmas. I don't think we can take 'em,” he said as the Shepherds started gathering around.

“Oh, we definitely can,” George assured him. “The question is how many of us want to and have the weaponry to?”

Spencer sighed. “We can find both versions of Ragnell rather quickly.”

“I always have a dragonstone on me!” Maggie said, holding said item into the air. “I can blow some of them up!”

Sam and Pika looked to each other and nodded before saying they could fight. Dakota agreed before handing off Kodie back to her mother, who declined to participate, citing her babies. Sarah shrugged and, with an exasperated Kelsie behind her, followed after Maggie into battle. “I'm always down for some combat,” she reasoned, indifferent to the situation at hand.

“I'm not,” Kelsie grumbled.

“Oh man, bandits here in Frar?” Green repeated. “Sounds like you guys need some good old fashioned Tost peace-keeping.”

“Couldn't agree more,” Bella nodded, earning an eyeroll from the Frar nobles.

Outside the castle, the Shepherds who were up for battle met with the bandits, repeating a familiar scene from during their adventure. DJ held Ragnell at his side and looked at the head of the bandits with an annoyed expression. “So I take it you're not carolers?”

The head of the bandits cracked his knuckles and smirked. “Heh, good call. We're here for some treasures.”

“So was I,” Eddie muttered under his breath.

“Well that's too bad,” Spencer said, joining his dad with his own Ragnell. “But you can turn back now and we'll all have a good, bloodless Christmas. This is your one and only offer.”

When the entire gang of bandits remained unmoved, an angry scream could be heard from the back of the group of Shepherds. Suddenly, a tornado swept through the group of bandits, picking up several and tossing them far away. Everyone looked to the source of this extremely powerful spell to see a seething Kelsie. “Why can't we have one *fucking* day to be together as a team without getting into a damn fight?” She demanded. “Now if the rest of you want to leave with your asses intact, I'd highly suggest getting out of here pronto.”

Everyone looked at Kelsie in shock and awe. Sarah whistled before saying, “Holy shit. That's our girl.”

“Go Kesh!” Maggie cheered. “Show them who's the boss-ass bitch!”

“I'm the boss-ass bitch!” Kelsie declared proudly.

Unfortunately, the display was not enough to scare off the huge group of bandits. The head of the group shook his head stubbornly. “Sorry, but we still think we can take you. Bring it on, you high and mighty—“ Before he could finish his insult, his eyes went wide and he fell to the ground, revealing an arrow sticking out of the back of his head. The Shepherds looked into the crowd of bandits for the source of the arrow, which came in the form of someone wearing a strange blue mask and a black coat, complete with a hood. The stranger had a bow in one hand and arrows on their back, which caused some gasps of disbelief to rise from the Shepherds.

The masked stranger faced the group of bandits and pulled another arrow. “If any of you would like the same fate as your boss down there, feel free to stay a while. If you want to be alive this Christmas, leave. Now.”

This was enough to dismiss the rogues, who were much less bold without their fearless leader. Th stranger shook their head, put away their arrow, and turned to face the Shepherds once more. Once the mask came off and the hood came down, her long hair was released and she gave a smile to everyone. “Sorry I'm late. Had to clean up a bandit problem. You know how it is.”

Sam and Pika gasped, running to the newcomer. “Harley!” They cried together. The three embraced, the force of which almost knocked Harley to the ground.

“Whoa! Heh, hey guys. Did I miss much?”

“Not too much,” Sam answered. “Just us missing the hell out of you. Where've you been, what with your fancy mask and cloak?”

Harley's face heated up and she scratched her cheek nervously. “Oh, just here and there. Seeing the sights, helping some people. No biggie.”

“Your hair got so long,” Pika observed, running a hand through said hair.

Harley rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I let it grow out. It's bugging the hell out of me.”

“I can fix that!” was the cry that came from a certain prince.

Harley made a finger pistol at Justice and winked. “I knew you could, buddy! Thanks in advance.”

“Man, I'm so glad you could make it,” Sam said, patting his future daughter on the back.

Harley put her hands on her hips proudly. “Of course I made it! You think I'd pass up this chance to hang out with my parents? Now let's go hang out.” After an agreement from both her parents, the group of Shepherds went back inside, telling the others the story of Kelsie's badassery and Harley's dramatic entrance. With the threat disposed of and the tardy member of the Shepherds joining the fun, the party got started with renewed fervor, which lead to it lasting well into the night.

Christmas morning found the tired (and hungover for some) Shepherds gathered around, enjoying the holiday with their loved ones, opening presents, and bonding with one another. The centers of attention were definitely the three babies celebrating their first Christmas and, while they wouldn't remember the gifts or the experience, everyone around them fondly remember the smiles that those children brought to everybody's faces.

And of course, the laughter that came from the experienced thief having to keep the less stealthy one under control.

Paralogues: Paralogue 1: From Sickle to Sword - Paralogue 2: The Secret Seller - Paralogue 3: Taylor's Dilemma - Paralogue 4: Rides With Wyverns - Paralogue 5: Wings of Justice - Paralogue 6: Tournament of Kings - Paralogue 7: All Buns go to Heaven - Paralogue 8: The Lyin' King - Paralogue 9: Doing God's Work...Kinda - Paralogue 10: Nose in the Book, Head in the Clouds - Paralogue 11: Fast Fingers and Freedom - Paralogue 12: Witchcraft and Wizardry

DLC: The Conquest of The Domain [ Xenologue 1: Twenty-One Years Ago... - Xenologue 2: Fight of the Mapmakers - Xenologue 3: Capital City Onaw ] Days of Future Past [ Xenologue 4: The New Shepherds - Xenologue 5: A Glimmer of Hope - Xenologue 6: Beginning of the End ]

Non-Canon: **A Very Forum Emblem Christmas!** - Reawakened - Tales From the Barracks [ Second Seal Scramble ]