Happy first of the month.

1,697 words. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Rachel ©  ktdavid4
F-unit ©  f-unit
Mythril ©  kia21
Sckhar ©  sckhar_dracolung
Yeti icon ©  synthariadesire
'Tail Topper' © Me

All copyright laws apply. Feel free to repost, but please give credit where credit is due. Thank you.

~~~~~
And for those who can't read this format very well, copy/pasted below. Enjoy.



The snow had finally settled like a blanket across the land, covering cities and forests alike. Small birds were singing merrily in the high branches, shifting the snow about and knocking flakes off the boughs. Sunlight sparkled and danced on the white cover like the snow itself was filled with undiscovered Christmas magic just waiting to be released. The sight was enough to warm the heart even on the coldest of winter days. Or so the pink feline hoped as she padded quietly around one of the many pine trees that surrounded her.

Rachel was wrapped up in seven layers of clothes, and made certain her long tailmouth had a scarf secured around his neck. She still couldn’t stop shivering though. She had hoped the excitement of finding this year’s Christmas tree would be enough to keep her warm; she couldn’t stop bouncing about last night when she realized the first of the month had finally come. Yet even with thermals, a couple of long sleeves, a light sweater, a heavy sweater, a jacket, and an overcoat, she couldn’t seem to shake this chill. She hugged her angel tree topper closer to her chest with her forearms and breathed into her gloved paws, hoping that might do the trick. She was so focused on her own chill she didn’t notice the two strangers that were fast approaching until her tailmouth let out a small warning growl.

Jumping a bit, the feline peeked around a tree, moving her long red hair behind one pierced ear. A tall male… what was he? He looked like a Shiba Inu, but the markings were very different, as was the tail. If she didn’t know any better, she would swear he had some vulpine influences. He didn’t look to be nearly as bundled as Rachel was, the winter coat and a pair of snow pants the only bulk to his lean frame. He was laughing and talking with a silver and black… fox? Cat? Her black ears looked very much like a feline, but her body wasn’t quite as lean, and her silver-tipped tail looked a lot more like a fox. They both paused when the female caught sight of Rachel, and the male waved at her.

“Hi there! Are you Christmas tree hunting as well?” He seemed friendly enough with a merry tone to his voice, so Rachel slowly stepped out from behind the tree with a small smile and a wave.

“Yes actually. I’ve managed to find the perfect Christmas trees here for the past three years. I’ve… never seen either of you around here before though.”
The catfox offered her own small smile, staying a little behind the male. The male chuckled softly and offered a paw, his tail nearly wagging. Rachel took it with a bit of hesitation and gave it a small squeeze as the male introduced them.

“I’m F-unit, and this is Mythril. It’s our first year here actually. We were hoping this would be the right place to look, and it seems those hopes were confirmed!” He grinned and gave her paw a firm squeeze in turn before letting go. Rachel hugged the cone-shaped angel to her chest once more as she murmured, “I’m Rachel. It’s a pleasure to meet you both….”

“The pleasure is ours, I’m sure!” F-unit’s grin grew, and he began to walk in the direction they had been heading when he paused at a thought.

“Say, you look as cold as a popsicle. Here, you might like this.” He offered Rachel a thermos he had tucked under one arm. Rachel frowned a bit; she knew better than to drink something given to her from a complete stranger, but the thermos itself felt so warm. She took off the cap that doubled as a cup, and unscrewed the inner cap to pour out a bit of the contents. Her eyes brightened, and she grinned as she got a good whiff of the steaming hot cocoa within. She took a small sip, and felt the warmth spread through her body. A few more slips later, and she could almost swear she was melting right through the snow. She poured a bit for her tailmouth and let him finish off what was in the cup before capping it all back up again. “Thank you so much. That made all the difference in the world.”

“No problem! Just let me know if you need another dose. Don’t know what we’d do without it. Now, shall we continue the hunt?” Mythril seemed to brighten at that prospect and began to lead the way, with F-unit following and Rachel walking beside him. Everyone seemed to be in a merry enough mood, even if the hunting wasn’t going very well.

An hour later though, even F-unit seemed somewhat disheartened in the hunt. Most trees were too bare or too off balanced. Normally it wasn’t this hard to find even a dozen great Christmas trees, but from the look of a few stumps, it seemed other people had gotten to them first. It seemed the prime area for Christmas tree hunting was no longer a secret. Rachel sighed and wrapped her arms around her angel. This was starting to get rather hopeless. Her ears perked suddenly at the sound of Mythril’s voice, who had gone on to scout ahead a bit. “Come here guys! I think I found it!”

Both F-unit and Rachel went running around the different trees for several yards before they caught up with the catfox in a large meadow. The ground was piled high with snow, but at the other side of the meadow, standing a bit away from all the other trees, was a beautiful tall snow-covered tree. It looked to have a sturdy trunk, and all the branches seemed to be dispersed evenly around it. F-unit grinned and started to pull his saw from his back pack. “Perfect! Can’t wait to get this one cut down.”

Rachel ran to catch up to them, her tailmouth trailing behind. “Wait! We have to run
the test first!”

F-unit and Mythril both paused in their tracks, Mythril with a small frown and the male with a rather confused look. “What test? Just look at it, it’s perfect!”
Rachel shook her head and held out the angel tree topper. It was a simple thing made of cardboard and glitter, with fake white feathers making up the wings, but it meant the world the Rachel. “Nope, we won’t know that for sure until we run the test. If this angel doesn’t look right on it, then it’s not the Right tree. I mean, you guys can have it of course, but my search won’t be over yet. I had already been fooled one year. I’m not going to be fooled again.”

Mythril frowned a little deeper, looking between the angel and the tree while F-unit scratched the back of his head. “Well, okay, let’s run the test then.” Rachel smiled brightly and ran to catch up with them, her hopes rising. Maybe, just maybe, she had found the tree she had been searching so hard for. Yet before she could even get the angel to F-unit to put on the very top bough, the tree moved. The canine-vulpine’s jaw dropped as Mythril skipped back behind F-unit, her fur on end. “What in the world?!”

The mounds of snow began to shift and move, and twin emeralds revealed themselves. Rachel’s tailmouth swung around, his large mouth opening menacingly to reveal all forty of his sharp venomous teeth. Even so, the tailmouth looked to be no match for the forty meter long white eastern-style dragon that was awakening. F-unit and Mythril began to run, but Rachel found her muscles refusing to obey, even as she tried to silently plead with her legs to go into gear. Mythril stopped F-unit and pointed out their new-found friend, who might very well become dragon kibble if they didn’t do something!

The dragon, an all-white and feathered beast of great proportions, turned his massive head and looked down at Rachel. He opened his massive jaws, and the feline half-expected she was going to be fricasseed. The dragon only yawned though, and smacked his lips before looking back down at Rachel, then at his own tail. Rachel’s mouth opened to try to speak, to maybe say she was sorry for thinking his tail was a tree, or maybe to beg for mercy, but only a small mewling squeak escaped her chattering teeth. The dragon tilted his head before reaching with one slender clawed hand. Rachel trembled under his shadow and squeezed her eyes shut, silently begging to be allowed to live through this whole ordeal. A moment passed, then two, before she felt a gentle tugging on her angel topper.

She peeked one eye open, and watched as the dragon used two delicate claws to pluck the angel from her arms just as F-unit and Mythril caught up to her. Both eyes snapped open and she frowned, wondering what the dragon could want with her angel and why she was still alive, though thankful none-the-less. All three watched as the dragon lightly placed the tree topper on the very tip of his tail, a warm smile spreading beneath his long white whiskers. Some of the fur on the tail tuft floofed out around the angel, making it look like she was settled on a poofy cloud. There was ample warmth in the dragon’s eyes as he looked back down at the three and motioned at the end of his tail with a lavish wave of his hand. “Voilà, a Christmas tree.”

The new friends looked at each other, then up at the dragon before they broke into giggles. Rachel wiped the tears the giggles had brought from the corners of her eyes before replying, “Thank you sir dragon, for providing the perfect Christmas tree! I think this will be one that shall stay just where it is for all to enjoy.” F-unit put away his saw, his tail wagging happily behind him as Mythril grinned with approval. The four new friends began to sing ‘Oh Christmas Tree’ and promised to do this again next year.