Getting Ready for the Holidays ((open))

[Killian Schisler]

November 1st




Snow wasn't the only thing that winter brought around. The sights and sounds of the holidays could be seen all over the small town of Cat's Claw, as a multitude of families prepared for the Yule Celebration. This would be Killian's first holiday in the town, and he was quite enjoying the process of going out and getting the candles, wreaths, and other decorations that he'd be putting up all over the house. The day had started cold and chilly, and it was looking like it would finish that way. Killian had bundled on a couple more layers of clothes then he was normally used to. A dark wool jacket, cream colored scarf, and a pair of leather gloves had been put on on top of his normal choice of clothes, and even then, he was still a bit chilly.

The Yule celebration here in Cat's Claw was much different from the one that he had celebrated while growing up in Germany, and was even slightly different than the one he had spent ten years celebrating up in Lissard. But, a quick trip to the library had served to refresh his memory on the customs and traditions in Magical Ireland come Yule time, and it served to remind him once again why he liked the holiday so much. Everything had a meaning, and a purpose, and it made the whole holiday that much more enjoyable.

The first part of the morning had been spent in front of the fire at home warming up, but by ten Killian had started making his way down to town, and by ten thirty he had already bought his first bag of Yule supplies. Ever since then, he had taken his time perusing through the various shops and carts that were scattered about the holiday shopping area. He had gotten most of the stuff needed to decorate his house, as well as a couple of gifts that he was planning on buying.

He had finished with most of his shopping around four, and since he was down in town already, and he was in the mood, he decided to got and see what the snow forest was all about. He had made sure to get some reindeer food at the entrance prior to entering after hearing about the animals that would practically eat out of your hand inside the forest. The forest itself was simply amazing. A light snowfall continued to dust the ground and cover up footprints left by people and animals, and a quiet calm just enveloped the entire place. It was easy on the soul, and Killian spent a little bit of time simply meandering up one of the many footpaths that seemed to snake through the forest, before heading over to a nearby bench and sitting down.

Surprisingly, the bench itself was pretty warm for being in the middle of a snow covered forest, and Killian watched as a couple of reindeer stopped about ten feet away and stared at him expectantly. After setting his shopping items down on the ground next to the bench, he took a handful of grain from the bundle he bought at the entrance and threw it out towards the two doe.

[Zephyr LaRoche]

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon and Zippy had decided to take a walk. She was at home by herself today and at loose ends. The colder weather had arrived in earnest and they were already predicting a major snowstorm in the next couple of days.

Snow was relatively new to her. Even though she'd grown up in the mountains they'd never had much snow in North Carolina. An inch or two every year was the most they ever had, and she could hardly wait to see what kind of experiences she would have with the snow here in Cat's Claw. Nicky had told her that they got a lot of snow over the course of the winter.

Nicky had also told her about the Enchanted Forest, where it always snowed and reindeer and white rabbits roamed among the trees. It sounded enchanting indeed, and she decided to walk there to see what it was like. Already people were crowding the streets to prepare for the holidays. It seemed that because of Halloween being cancelled everyone was determined to go all out on Yule, as it was called here. Between themselves Zippy and Stuart still called it Christmas -- it was difficult getting used to the word "Yule".

She set out some time after noon after having slept in and taken a leisurely bath. It was a clear but cold day, and she bundled up in her new chocolate brown winter coat, a tan plaid wool skirt and her brown boots. The coat luckily had a hood, and she pulled this up to keep her head warm. A little light make-up and she was on her way.

She found the Enchanted Forest easily enough. All she had to do was ask and she was pointed the right direction. She'd purchased some grain at the entrance from a goblin and wandered among the trees, holding out her grain in a gloved hand to the approaching deer. They were quite tame and nibbled gently at the feed in her hand.

After a half hour or so spent wandering among the birch trees, Zippy was running out of grain. She spotted two does and was going to approach them to dole out the last of the feed when she noticed a man sitting on a bench, throwing his grain at the deer. He was a good-looking man, long and lean, and he had a self-assured way about him. He gave the air of one unlikely to have his feathers ruffled easily.

"They come to eat it out of your hand, you know," Zippy said as she drew nearer to the man. "They'll eat it if you throw it, but you should try letting them come to you."

[Killian Schisler]

It was peaceful, watching these animals eat, and combined with the quiet, the warm clothes, and the heated bench, Killian could have easily fallen asleep right there. He'd watch the two does eat the grain, and then occasionally throw another small handful out to them after they were finished. They weren't the only animals out and about. An occasional rabbit would sprint across his field of view, and the there was some kind of white bird flying around the trees. When he wasn't feeding the deer, he'd watch the people that were walking around the forest. There were families with their kids, and couples, both old and young in the forest, as well as others simply by themselves.

The path Killian had chosen to walk down seemed to be pretty empty. Only a couple of people had walked by his bench, and they didn't even seem to notice that he was there, which was perfectly fine with him. It might have been because of this, that Killian never noticed the lady who started walking up towards where he was sitting, and almost missed what she said to him.

"Should I now?"

Taking the woman's advice into account, Killian held out a gloved hand full of the feed towards the deer, and watched with a grin as they came up and started nibbling on the food. Obviously these animals were somewhat tame but it still was fun to see, and after the two deer had finished eating, and Killian held up an empty hand to signify that everything was gone, he watched the two animals walk back off into the woods.

After watching the two animals leave, Killian crossed his legs out in front of him, and turned his attention back to the lady. "Thanks for the tip Miss?" He left the sentence open ended, in an effort to gather her name. The woman was pretty, and she had a strange accent, though somewhat familiar to Killian. He swore that he had heard something like it before, but he couldn't pin exactly where he heard it from.

[Zephyr LaRoche]

A slow smile curved around Zippy's lips as she watched the man hold out the feed in his gloved hand. Despite his initial skepticism, he seemed ready enough to believe her. A smile graced the man's own face as the white deer approached and nibbled the feed, and Zippy nearly laughed at the way he held his empty palm up towards her when the deer moved off. It was a funny, in-the-moment sort of thing to do, and she felt herself warm further towards the stranger.

"Miss LaRoche. Zephyr LaRoche," she said in answer to his unfinished question. "And you are...?" The soft grey fur around her hood framed her face, making her blue eyes and rosy cheeks stand out against the luminosity of the snow, and she cast an eye over his angular form as he stretched his legs out in front of him. The air was chilly yet he seemed entirely comfortable on what she assumed to be a cold bench. A tiny white rabbit appeared from behind a tree, almost invisible in the snow on the ground, and the movement caught her eye.

"There's more wildlife here than I thought there would be. I swear I saw a big old barn owl over yonder." She gestured off into the distance and turned back to the man, eyeing the packages on the ground. "Looks like you been shopping."

[Killian Schisler]

Killian kept a pleasant look on his face, and everything inside seemed to click in place when she introduced herself.

"My name's Killian Ma'am, Killian Schisler."

So this was Stuart's sister. He had known about her for a few months now, though he didn't know who she was or what she looked like. Even with their business dealings going very well, it didn't seem like Stuart was willing to fully trust Killian. But, it didn't bother him, since he probably would have done the same thing if he had any immediate family in town. Killian had always felt that your business and your personal life should be kept separate, and it wasn't like they were great friends yet anyways.

He looked over towards where she had gestured, and squinted his eyes in an effort to see if there was anything that he could see. The amount of wildlife seemingly compacted into this area of land was definitely strange. You could go for a walk in Padfoot and not see anything more than an occasional squirrel or bird for hours, and yet you could find reindeer and rabbits within your first few minutes of walking around inside this place. Killian knew that there was probably some kind of magical containment spell put in place over the area for the yule celebration, but it was still fun to be around.

"Oh, this stuff?" He said with a kick in the direction of the packages. "Yea, I've done a bit. I've got to buy all new stuff for the Yule Celebration, most of my old Christmas decorations won't work."

He paused for a minute as a rabbit hopped behind a tree a little ways away. "So, you wouldn't happen to be the sister of a Stuart LaRoche by an chance, would you?"

[Zephyr LaRoche]

Zippy laughed as Killian introduced himself. "You call me ma'am again and you're going to make me feel old, Mr. Schisler." She paused for a moment as she considered his name. "Schisler. That doesn't sound like an Irish name, although your first name does. Are you from around here? And do you mind if I sit down? Only I've been on my feet all afternoon and I'm that done up."

Without waiting for assent, Zippy sat on the bench next to Killian. She'd expected it to be cold and looked up at him in surprise to find that it was warm. Had he warmed it with some sort of spell or charm? She wasn't about to ask and display her ignorance, and she glanced down at the snow covering her boots as she fished around for something to change the subject.

"This will be my first Yule celebration," she said. "We've always had Christmas. Honestly, I don't even know what Yule is about but we're not going to let the holidays go by without celebrating something." She gave him a rueful smile, initially unaware that she'd included her brother in her holiday celebration plans. She was a woman here in this enchanted forest by herself -- for all Killian knew she could have been married or still living with her parents when she said "we".

Apparently, however, Killian had her number. Zippy colored when he asked about Stuart, her already pink cheeks turning an even brighter shade of pink and her eyes showing her discomposure. She blinked and turned away for a moment. Stuart's reputation was once again preceding him and she was going to have to defend him again. It had become a weekly ritual at the coffee shop -- he had always been the town's favorite whipping boy.

She lifted her chin slightly and held Killian in her gaze. "Yes, I'm Stuart's sister. Do you know him?"

[Killian Schisler]

Killian didn't mind if Zephyr sat down, but it wouldn't have mattered if he had. He smiled when he saw the surprise on her face at the bench being warm, since he had felt the same way upon sitting down. Cat's Claw had definitely done a good job on this place, getting it ready for the holidays. Naturally, he had gotten the question about his last name, it happened quite a bit around this place.

"Not from here, Cat's Claw. I'm originally from up north in Lissard, moved down here a few months back. My da was born in Germany, so the name comes from him." That answer was good enough. If she was really curious, she could ask about it some more..

Zephyr seemed defensive at the mention of her brother. The way she held her chin sent the message to Killian that he was treading on tender ground when talking about Stuart. It didn't surprise him. Stuart was a major topic of conversation around Cat's Claw, and Killian had heard most of the rumors more than once. Many of the towns people seemed to thrive on it, old women and men with nothing better to do then gossip, and Stuart had definitely taken the brunt of their conversation. Killian had met Stuart his first night in the city, and yet even before he had met the guy, he had been told rumors of his exploits in a cab ride over to Fallon's. But, since working with the guy, Killian hadn't seen anything to show him that Stuart was a bad guy. Just quiet, and prefers to keep to himself.

"Aye, I know him," Killian replied. "Second guy I met when I moved into town. He's a good guy. We see each other 'round town every now and then. I guess you could say we that we're friends."

The last time Killian had met with Stuart, they had talked about not telling family or friends about the business, so he doubted that had changed over the last month or so. Because of it, he wouldn't tell Zephyr that they actually were working together. Killian would avoid the subject for now, lest he say something that he shouldn't.

"So, Miss LaRoche," Killian said with a smile, "did you move here to Magical Ireland with your brother? Or were you already here?"

[Zephyr LaRoche]

Friends?

Zippy was so startled by this that she forgot about everything else -- Killian's German roots, the Yule shopping, and feeding the wildlife. Stuart had a male friend? She looked at Killian as if he'd suddenly just begun spouting gibberish. In all of her life, she'd never known her brother to have a male friend. Hell, he'd barely had any male acquaintances.

She looked away briefly and recovered her bearing before turning back to Killian. "You're right, he is a good guy. I'm just startled a little, I think. Not too many people think that about him around here." She paused, her features softening. If this man was willing to count her brother as a friend, he must really be extraordinary. Zippy made a mental note to mention Killian Schisler's name to Stuart when she got home.

Zippy sat back on the bench as she relaxed. That there were people like Killian, who knew that the LaRoches were a couple of redcaps and didn't care, gave her hope for their future here. There had always been people like Holly and Nicky St. James, who saw them as human beings and not marauding and vengeful creatures, but it was comforting to know that Killian didn't buy into all the redcap hogwash, either.

It was while she was thinking about this that Killian asked whether she'd moved here with Stuart. The way he phrased his question lead her to believe that Stuart had told him that he'd moved to Cat's Claw. It made perfect sense, of course -- neither she nor her brother had an Irish accent. Still, such questions made her slightly uneasy, and she shifted on the warm bench before answering with the official story that Ryan had told her to say.

"Yes, we moved here a little more than six months ago. We were born in Bent Wand and left for the States when we were young. We recently came back to visit relatives and wound up staying." She hoped it all sounded believable, and she glanced at Killian quickly to see if he was buying it. She also hoped to God that Bent Wand was nowhere near Lissard.

[Killian Schisler]

"Bent Ward, really?"

The place was sitting right next to Lissard, in fact, he had visited there a time or two. A couple of his Mother's sisters lived just south of Lissard, in the northern most part of Brent Ward. He didn't know of any LaRoche's in that part of the country, but then again, their father might have been from the states and might have been the reason why they moved. In reality though, Killian didn't know what to make of Stuart and Zephyr's story. It was convoluted to say the least. But the bottom line was that they were from North Carolina, as Stuart had originally told him, and had now decided to stay in Cat's Claw permanently after visiting family. At least that part of their story was consistent. Killian hadn't heard the bit about Bent Ward before.

Taking off his cap, he scratched the top of his head. "So, did ya ever meet the Lennox's up there in Brent Ward? My family makes it down there every once in awhile." He didn't really expect much of an answer. If Stuart and Zephyr had left when they were kids, then Killian doubted they would have heard about his family. Anyways, it really wasn't any of his business.

"Damn," Killian said, standing up all of a sudden. "You know, my arse is about to fall off from sitting here so long. What do you say to taking a walk up to the hill over yonder," he said with a wave of his hand down the path. "I hear that they've got some kind of sledding thing over there, might be interesting to see what it's all about."

[Zephyr LaRoche]

"Yup, Bent Wand," Zippy said. "It's colder than a banker's heart up there, isn't it? Of course, I haven't been there in years. We left when I was very young."

Killian seemed to be buying it. She had no idea if Bent Wand was even north of where they were; if Killian was trying to catch her in a lie she would have no clue. If he was doing so, however, he at least didn't jump to his feet and shout, "Aha!" He seemed to be believing her story and Zippy grew more confident in her skills as a liar.

Her confidence was short-lived. Killian began to question her about families up Bent Wand, and of course she'd never heard of any of them. She'd never even heard of Bent Wand before Ryan mentioned it to her, and had gone around calling it Broken Wand before Stuart told her that Nicky corrected him. She shifted again and smiled what she hoped was a convincing smile. "You know, I never heard of any of them. Like I said, we left when I was very young." She paused, and then asked, "Who are the Lennoxes? A family you know?"

Suddenly Killian stood up, complaining of a sore arse and mentioned sledding. This was the first Zippy was hearing of it and wasn't sure what kind of sledding this would be. She had a skirt on. The last thing she wanted was to end up head-first in a snow bank while she mooned the rest of the world. She stood and smoothed out her skirt. The least she could do would be to check it out, and she waited for Killian to lead the way. "How are you going to sled with all of your Yule purchases?" she asked. "You'll wind up losing them all over the hill."

[Killian Schisler]

Cold as a banker's heart? Killian had never heard that phrase before, but he made a mental note of it. It sounded like something his grandmother would have said, and the thought of her made Killian smile a bit. She had been gone for years now, but she played a big part in Killian life when he lived in Ireland.

"Heh, I didn't say anything about actually sledding," Killian said with a smile, "I was just curious what the set up was over there."

After picking up the packages, he started walking down the path towards what he assumed to be the hill he had heard of. "But, if you insist on taking the sled, I suppose that I could find a way to keep the packages from flying all over the place."

Killian honestly hadn't thought about actually taking the sled down the hill, but it was an interesting idea. He hadn't gone sledding in years. As a kid in Germany he had been sledding quite a bit, but since he really started working, he normally wasn't home for the holidays. Christmas, or Yule here in Magical Ireland, was a busy time of year in his line of work. People were always looking for gifts, and a lot of them were of the illegal variety. Some kind of Goblin whiskey, or maybe some kind of dark magical object, whatever it was, Killian was used to transporting it. But, with the liquor sales going so well, Killian had only had to take on a couple of those kind of jobs here in Cat's Claw, and only a couple more up in Tangled Paths. Because of it, he was going to be home more often than he was used to, and he planned on taking advantage of it, hence all of the yule decorations.

After gust of wind caused Killian to re-wrap the scarf around his neck, he turned his head to look over at Zephyr. "So Miss LaRoche, did you get a chance to make it out to the Sheep Festival?"

[Zephyr LaRoche]

((Haha, couldn't resist. I thought about saying witch's tit but I couldn't imagine Zippy saying that to a stranger.))


It was getting on towards evening, but Zippy didn't have any place to be in particular. The forest seemed to hold a special glow in spite of the oncoming darkness so that it was never truly dark there. She imagined that even if you were here at two in the morning the light would be the same. She'd never quite been able to get used to the magic and enchantments she'd come across in Magical Ireland. It all seemed so real to her yet she knew it wasn't, and that had always made her feel the slightest bit uneasy. Still, in a benign setting like this it was a marvel to see. It reminded her of the enchanted barn that she'd gone to with Ryan, although many of the illusions she saw there weren't so benevolent.

As if reading her thoughts, Killian asked if she'd been able to take in the sheep flying festival. She turned to him with a smile. "Yes, I did. In fact, I worked at a booth there, the pastry booth. Oh!" Her hand flew to her mouth in a moment of recognition and then she laughed. "You were at the Good Knight's booth! I could hear you clear across the thoroughfare. I should have recognized your voice. Did you get a chance to walk around at all? It reminded me of the county fairs we have at home."

She began to follow Killian as they set off in what she supposed was the direction of the sledding hill. They passed a patch of snow flowers and Zippy stopped to take them in. The petals were made of intricate ice crystals, fantastic patterns shooting off from one another in mathematical precision. One could spend an afternoon studying one flower alone -- an entire patch was a bit overwhelming to Zippy, and she had to turn away from them.

They had meandered for a bit, sometimes in silence and sometimes chatting. Zippy was liking this man. Killian was friendly and outgoing, yet down to earth. He didn't seem like he was full of the usual Irish blather she'd run across so many times since arriving in Magical Ireland. If he promised you something, he seemed like the kind of man who would deliver on his promise. If Stuart did have a friend, this would be the most likely kind of person he'd pick.

Zippy was telling Killian about how she'd been learning to ride horses when she suddenly stopped short. Stretching out before her was a hill, and the sweeping decline was littered with sleds. She watched as people flew down the hill, and the sleds themselves were far more ornate than she'd been imagining. She had expected an old wooden sled and was surprised to find beautiful white mini-sleighs, the runners gleaming in the pale light.

She turned to Killian and lifted an eyebrow. If he was going to fold up his lanky body into one of these sleighs, she couldn't wait to see it.

[Killian Schisler]

"Ha! Yes, I was at the Good Knights Booth, not one of my better moments I guess."

He actually had made it around the fair quite a bit once his time working at the booth was finished. There was a variety of booths, as well as a number of events. Quite a bit was stuff that you'd find at any normal fair or festival throughout any magical city or country, but there was a number things that were genuinely unique to the Cat's Claw area, and Killian had made sure to check everything out. He had stopped by the pastry booth, which was serving the same orphanage as the Good Knights Booth, but he hadn't seen Zephyr there. Then he had gone to a couple of other booths selling homemade kilts and hand spun wool sweaters. He had picked up a wool blanket at one of the booths, in preparation of the coming winter.

Then there was the flying sheep, easily the favorite part of the even for Killian. He hadn't seen something so strange or fun in quite some time, and he it made him think that he might get himself some of those sheep at some point.

"Yea Zephyr, I did get a chance to see some of the sights. Quite the event. All sorts of countries seem to hold things like that, each with its own flavor of course."

After a bit more walking down the footpath, they reached the snow covered hill filled with people on their sleds. It was quite the sight, and that odd nostalgic feeling started creeping up on Killian. There was no doubt, this was something that he'd be doing, he couldn't pass the opportunity up.

He looked over at Zephyr with a child like grin on his face. "Right, I'm going. You're welcome to stay here if you want of course." Without waiting to hear what she'd say, Killian immediately started up the hill, with all of his packages in tow.

[Zephyr LaRoche]

"Not one of your better moments?" Zippy stopped and looked at Killian, nearly breaking out into laughter. "You probably drummed up more business for your booth than we did. You could be heard all over, and it showed -- your booth was loaded with business. We had slow moments, but not y'all." She didn't mention the cards, which were surely the reason the Good Knight's booth had done so well. Zippy herself was a recipient of Ryan's nearly nude Devil card, which she'd pocketed immediately. She had hidden it in her room when she had gotten home and took it out occasionally to remind herself of the day they'd had together.

When Zippy and Killian reached the sledding hill, they had stopped as they took in the sight before them. She was amazed at the fact that a hill had been magicked here in the middle of town, complete with sleds and snowbanks. Snowflakes fell from the sky, feeling cold as they landed gently on her cheeks, and she watched people laughing and having fun.

Then Killian did something she didn't expect at all. He turned to her and told her he was going to go sledding. She wouldn't have been more surprised if he turned handsprings down the hill, and she stared at him like he'd lost his mind. He was probably the last person she'd imagined sledding down the hill, yet she couldn't help but find the idea hilarious. That Killian was free enough to put all pride away and give himself to the moment appealed enormously to her. She found his enthusiasm infectious.

"Wait up, Killian!' Zippy called out. "I'll go, too!"

[Killian Schisler]

((((((Really sorry it took me so long to reply Zephyr. I haven't even had time to log on in the last week.))))))



The snow on the hill looked to be fresh, and Killian couldn't help but smile at the sound of laughter from the children in their sleds. Hell, he'd probably look ridiculous on one of those sleds, scattered amongst children and their parents. But, that didn't matter too him. Life was too short to be spent worrying about what others thought of you, and while the people of this town trim a hedge with their rumor mongering, it wasn't the worst thing in the world.

But, he was somewhat surprised when he heard Zephyr hollering up to him from the bottom of the hill. It was one thing for him to make a fool of himself, but he didn't expect to see it from Stuart's sister. They seemed to be very different from each other in that regard. Killian would never expect to find Stuart putting himself in a situation where he's sledding down a hill in the middle of the crowded park. Stuart is a nice guy, but he seemed to be much quieter than his sister.

"All right then!" Killian yelled back down to Zephyr. "I'll meet you up at the top!"

He was about halfway up the hill and upon reaching the top, Killian saw something of a stand that was renting out sleds. It was being run by what looked to be rather disheveled teenager who was tired of dealing with kids all day. Killian plopped enough money down for two sleds, one for himself, and one for Zephyr, and then tugged them over to the base of the hill while waiting for Stuart's sister to arrive at the top. It was going to be a problem stowing all of these packages inside, but he'd find a way to manage.