The Ninth
The snow swirled thick as feathers. From the window with its German style grid of diamond panes fixed into a deep mahogany sash, Cupid watched it glitter beneath the perpetual northern lights. Three days before the Night.
Dunder had told him of the times before the Night was called Christmas, when it was on this night that he, Blixem, and Father Christmas had flown the skies of the world. Cupid could still feel the ancient power of the winter solstice as a tingling down his neck and between his antlers.
Father Christmas was out there now, spreading the spirit of Yule to those who still remembered the old ways. Cupid idly traced the feathered frost patterns on the glass with a blunt nail. The frenzy of preparation was over. There was nothing to do now but wait and pray that the weather cleared.
The climate around the North Pole had grown increasingly erratic as global temperatures rose and began to play mischief with the atmosphere. Still, it had never been this bad, not for years.
"Sugar plums dancing in your head?"
Cupid turned with a smile as Prancer came walking over. The deer looked stunning as usual. His pelt was nearly all silver, and the rest was a rich black. Those eyes were like two ebony diamonds and his antlers curved proudly from his head. Prancer wore only a green waistcloth with embroidered gold, displaying a lean, athletic body with enviable abs. This was their barn, and it wasn't unusual for the eight of them to lounge in anything that was comfortable.
"Worried, I suppose," Cupid admitted.
Prancer nodded and lounged beside him. Cupid felt a twinge of envy at the older reindeer's grace. Hell, Prancer had even been a Hollywood star. Cupid was just one of the team.
"He has a plan, you know," Prancer said. "He always has a plan."
Cupid eyed Prancer.
"You know what it is," he accused.
Prancer smirked.
"Maybe."
Cupid started to twitch and fiddle. He hated the fact that he did it whenever he was excited, but he couldn't help himself. He was forever the eager young boy itching to open the first present. Now his rump was nearly bouncing on the soft red cushions.
Prancer laughed and relented.
"He's calling in an old favor," he said, with a wink.
Cupid's brow creased.
"Old favor?"
When Cupid still didn't get it, Prancer rolled his eyes and, with a glance behind him as if he were being watched, he turned and touched a finger to his nose.
Cupid clapped a hand over his muzzle.
"He's bringing in Rudolph?!" he squealed.
Prancer shook his head.
"I can hardly believe it myself. It seems the runt wasn't easy to track down, either. But you know how persuasive Father can be."
The barn door opened and in walked Dunder, Blixem, and Comet. Comet crunched on a sugar cookie held gingerly between his fingers, his hips swaying as he walked.
"So, did you break the news to him?" Comet asked Prancer.
Cupid's tail flashed in excitement. Comet took one look at him and giggled.
"Isn't it fabulous? And you won't believe where Chris finally found him."
"Where?" Prancer and Cupid asked in unison.
"Australia," Dunder said in his rich bass-tenor. His tone let them know just what he thought of an arctic animal going so far into the tropics to live.
Blixem chuckled.
"It'll be nice having the red-nosed runt around again, eh?"
Dunder snorted and nudged Blixem. The leaders of the team were also the most physically built, especially Dunder. Cupid had seen Dunder take on a polar bear in a wrestling contest once.
"You aren't planning on being so mean to him this year, are you?" Prancer asked.
Blixem shrugged.
"It depends on if he's been naughty or nice, doesn't it? I'd say skipping the Artic altogether's pretty coal-worthy."
"Besides," Comet said, raising one limp-wristed hand to emphasize his words, "we've thought up some pranks you've just GOT to hear about. Only this time we'll have cameras, so we can watch it over again!"
There was a familiar rushing of wind from outside and Dasher burst through the door, still coated in the scent of ozone.
"Is he coming?" Prancer asked.
"Who? Father?"
"Rudolph, you dim-witted elk!" Blixem said.
Dasher stuck out his tongue.
"I might have caught the sound of a strange reindeer in the air. I didn't want to get too close and spoil the homecoming welcome."
"Well, if anyone could've taken a peek and raced off to tell about it, it'd be you," Dancer said from the top of the stairs.
Dancer slid down the wooden banister from the upper floor like a Broadway star.
"Blixem's just jealous because you're still the fastest on the team."
"I am not!" Blixem protested.
Dasher grinned and was about to challenge him to a snowball fight when they heard another rush of wind and the sound of heavy, clomping hooves.
"That's definitely not Vixen," Prancer said.
"Dunder!" Comet cried. "The bucket! Everyone hide, quick!"
In a flash, all seven reindeer were out of sight, all but Cupid. He sat where he had been, as the distraction, while Dunder and Comet leapt the fifty feet to the top of the stairs in a single bound and readied a gallon bucket of steaming hot cocoa and marshmallows, attached to a rope.
"A reindeer needs something to warm him up after such a long flight," Blixem said with a chuckle.
The front door opened. Cupid's eyes widened. Something monstrous filled the space, so big that not even a stray flake could get inside. Whatever it was began to stoop and squeeze into the doorway, slamming it shut behind him.
He frantically signaled up to the balcony, waving his hand in a cutting motion across his neck to abort the prank. Whoever this was, it was NOT the sort of person to be dumping hot chocolate onto.
Cupid whimpered and backed away from the shadow of his antlers as he came into the warm light of the barn. Cupid stared upward, jaw slack. And up...and up...to the square jawed, thick snouted figure with a rack of fourteen blunt points and the nose like a polished ruby, still wearing his denim jeans, leather jacket and sunglasses to shield himself from the driving snow and wind-blown ice.
The giant reindeer slipped the glasses off, revealing cinnamon eyes. They took in the cowering form of Cupid as well as the slack-jawed expressions on the faces of Dunder, Blixem, Comet, Prancer, Dasher and Dancer. His lips crept up in a sly smile.
"Trick or treat, boys."
Cupid was panting like a puppy, having fallen off the cushions. Rudolph slowly turned and caught sight of the bucket, steam softly rising from it.
"Aw, you made me a present."
The look he gave Dunder and Comet told them he knew exactly what they'd been planning, and what would have happened if they'd been stupid enough to go through with it.
He reached up and gripped the pot with both hands. Cupping it like an oversized mug, he raised it to his lips and downed the contents in a single, massive gulp.
"Ahhhhhh...nothing like home made."
He snapped off the rope with a casual flick of his wrist and dropped the pot to the ground. Then two fingers closed on the zipper of his jacket. All seven watched the massive reindeer shuck off his coat. His upper body was bare beneath it, legs as thick as the trunks of California redwoods sheathed in denim.
Comet gave a moan from the balcony and Dunder caught him as he swooned. He felt like fainting himself. Rudolph - and it could be no one else, not with that nose - was no longer the meek, awkward juvenile who'd stared up at Father Christmas with wide eyes that fateful Christmas Eve night. Somehow, he'd transformed into this living tank, this juggernaut of raw muscle.
Rudolph chuckled.
"What's the matter, boys? Am I too much for you?"
He raised his huge arms over his head and flexed them. The already mighty biceps bulged to the size of ripe pumpkins, swathed in veins even his fur couldn't disguise. He grinned and narrowed his eyes.
"It's like in that song: All of the other reindeer...USED to laugh and call me names."
Still chuckling, Rudolph turned and hung his coat on a brass peg, shades tucked in the pocket.
"R..Rudolph.."
Rudolph turned, hands on his hips. Cupid was staring up at him as if he were looking at the Sistine Chapel.
"How did you get so BIG?"
Rudolph smirked and rolled his thick pecs.
"It's called a gym, little guy. Try it sometime. In a few years, you'll be able to arm wrestle Dunder and win."
He strode into the center of the room.
"So where do I sleep, or is it in the common area like last time?"
"I'm sure we can find somewhere more comfortable to keep you, big buck," said a velvet soft female voice.
All heads turned to see Vixen smiling in the doorway. Prancer was the best looking, but as the only female on the team, Vixen drew the most attention, especially from the elves, polar bears and other men she dated. And they all knew how much she enjoyed winding them around her little finger with looks, glances, smiles and tone of voice.
Rudolph crossed his rippling arms and held his head high.
"Haven't changed a bit, have you, Vixie?"
She let her eyes wander over his body.
"I can't say the same for you. When did you become such a lord of the herd?"
Dunder felt his nostrils flare in jealousy. She'd called him that only last week. Rudolph watched her approach him. Their eyes locked, jockeying for status without saying a word. Vixen could feel the power of his will, like an unbreakable iceburg, looming over her. She felt shivers down her spine. Her eyes flicked away, and her ears lowered slightly in acquiescence.
"It happens when you work out for over fifty years," Rudolph answered.
"And now you're back to lead the team and save Christmas again," Vixen said.
"Haven't made up my mind about that yet."
"What?" Blixem cried.
The other reindeer were equally shocked.
"It's been a long time," Vixen said gently, trying to ease the sudden tension. "Why don't we let Rudolph get some rest and in the morning he can tell us his story. I'll roast some chestnuts."
"Chestnuts," Rudolph sneered. "No thanks, I'll make my own breakfast."
"Watch it, runt," Dunder snarled. "Don't talk to Vixie that way."
Rudolph slowly turned and grinned like an orca being challenged by a seal.
"Did you squeak something, little stag?"
Dunder gritted his teeth and blushed hard He remembered that taunt. He'd used it on Rudolph himself. He pointed a finger. Rudolph took a step toward him, smirking.
"Speak up, Dunder, I can't hear you."
Dunder's finger wavered. Rudolph cocked his head, his smile widening.
"No? Maybe you'd like a more private conversation."
Rudolph ascended the stairs, making them creak. Dunder gulped as the wall of reindeer muscle came closer, growing bigger with each step. He backed away.
"Jump in any time, Blixem," he muttered.
"Yes, BLIXEM," Rudolph said, flicking his gaze to the team leader. "My don't you join us?"
Two huge hands shot out. They pushed the two full grown stags as if they were fawns, into the bedroom the leaders of the team shared. Rudolph slammed the door shut with a kick of one powerful hoof. He chuckled as Dunder and Blixem cowered against the back wall.
"Don't you two look sweet in each other's arms."
"Father Christmas invited you! If you didn't come back to pull the sleigh, why did you come?" Dunder spoke up.
Rudolph's eye twinkled mischievously.
"Maybe I just wanted to see the looks on your faces."
"Look, Rudolph," Blixem stammered, "I..I know we weren't exactly nice to you growing up, But.."
"Oh, you think I'm mad at you, Blixem?" Rudolph asked, cracking his big knuckles between the fingers of his other hand. "Actually, I should really thank you and Dunder both. If it weren't for you two assholes, I'd never have had the unrelenting drive to get a body like this."
He slammed his fists against his waist, flexing his legs and flaring his lats, grinning down at the two who had bullied him the worst of all. Blixem moaned as Rudolph's huge quad muscles caused his strained pants to burst apart. Rudolph snorted and stepped out of the remains of his pants, leaving just a torn denim thong around a spectacularly massive sheath and balls.
He slammed a huge paw into the wall by Donder's head, splintering the wood.
"And you, LITTLE Dunder. Heh."
Dunder forced himself not to shake as he was lifted off his hooves by the scruff of his neck.
"We share so many fond memories," Rudolph sneered. "Always the first one to call me the runt, weren't you? I used to beg you and beg you to let me play with you. And when you finally relented as a 'Christmas present' to me...oh you played a reindeer game with me then, all right."
Rudolph shoved Dunder hard against his thick bicep and flexed his arm, pinning the smaller stag in place.
"You remember this game now, don't you? I hold you down while you cry and struggle and beg me to let you go!"
Dunder was snorting, blunt teeth bared as he fought with hooves and fists and antlers against the stag twice as big as he was. Rudolph held him in the head lock and laughed. To those down in the common room, sounded like they were sharing old times over cider.
A soft whining moan drew Rudolph's attention. Blixem was sliding down the wall, mouth open, moaning and clutching at his crotch. Rudolph reached over and yanked his hands away. A thick red throbbing erection met his eyes.
"So that's why there's only one doe on the team," Rudolph said. "I'm surprised Comet was the only one to come out and embrace it."
Blixem bowed his head, ears low in shame. A big hand caressed his neck, making him suck in his breath.
"Mmm..you, too, little guy?"
Rudolph rubbed his thigh between Dunder's legs. Sure enough, another hard shaft was there. His rubbing finally made Dunder loose it and give a moan of his own.
"You boys know how you can make it up to me for all those years?" Rudolph asked in a low, hard voice. His grip tightened on Dunder's fur. He glared at Blixem.
Blixem shook his head widly. Dunder bit Rudolph's huge shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise.
"Mmmm..well someone's got the right idea! Like those arms, little reindeer?"
Rudolph pumped his giant muscled arm against Dunder's muzzle. Dunder's bites began to slowly dissolve. He gave the rippling muscle a tentative lick.
"There now, that's not so bad, is it? Being my doe?"
Rudolph smiled at Blixem and beckoned to him slowly with a finger. Blixem inched forward, eying the remains of Rudolph's pants. Rudolph grabbed him by the antlers as soon as he was in range. He ripped away his pants and shoved Blixem's muzzle into his crotch.
The first touch of Blixem's tongue to his balls made Rudolph hum in pleasure. His monstrous shaft began to work its way free, already oozing thick precum.
"See, my little does, we can be friends," he murred.
Dunder gave Rudolph's arm another lick. He couldn't deny that his loins were burning for the huge muscled stag Rudolph had become. The transformation was incredible. Dunder had always prided himself on his physique. He'd never imagined such a thing was possible. And he had felt guilty, by the end of that fateful night all those years ago, when the little fawn with the glowing nose had flown for a whole night to every corner of the globe and led them all back home safely. The poor little runt had nearly died from exhaustion, and Mrs. Claus had nursed him back to health herself. But as soon as Rudolph was well enough, he'd run off. Left before he'd gotten the honor that was due to him, including a heartfelt apology from Dunder.
Dunder could hear the wet suckles and subby whimpers of his partner. How many times at Blixem done that to him? The two had been lovers since they were juveniles. Sure, Dunder had pursued Vixen as insatiably as the next deer on the team. Even had her in bed once or twice, and she'd been everything he could have hoped for.
But this....the reality of the solid living rock bulging against his lips, urging him to worship...this stirred primal memories of days when prehistoric herds gathered on the Ice Age tundras under the protection of a single, mighty stag against bears and wolves.
"Mmmmph...oh Blixem...oh suck that big meat...yeah..." Rudolph was moaning.
Dunder looked up at him. Rudolph's gorgeous, manly face was a mask of ecstasy. He leaned forward and bit a nipple to get his attention.
"Hey, big guy. I know it's kinda late for an apology. So I guess I'll have to prove it to you," he said.
With an erotic smirk, Dunder got on his knees next to Blixem. Rudolph eyed him warily, but as Dunder closed his eyes and cupped his baseball sized nuts between his lips, all doubts dissolved. In minutes, Rudolph was leaning against one of the bed posts, panting and snorting while his thick cum churned and blasted from his foot long, three inch thick deerhood.
Blixem licked it up eagerly, drinking it directly from the source. It tasted sweet as egg nog, twice as thick. Dunder joined him to clean the shaft. He murred as Rudolph caressed and fondled his ears.
"Fair enough truce, big guy?" he panted.
Rudolph chuckled.
"For five years of bullying, day after day? I don't think so, my little does. I'm taking my stag's right!"
Blixem moaned. He loved Dunder deeply. But the thought of that mighty stag shaft mounting him had him pressed against the wall in an instant, blunt tail raised from his cheeks. Dunder joined him a second later and gave Blixem a soft kiss.
"I should've tried this on you years ago," Dunder muttered.
Blixem laughed.
Then they heard a sound that made them both freeze. A whip uncoiling against the floor. Santa's whip. How Rudolph had snuck it from it's place of honor without anyone noticing, they didn't know. But the next instant, its familiar whip-CRACK, once the cheerful touch to a beloved sleigh ride carol, sounded inches from their ears.
Blixem began to pant as if he might hyperventilate. The tip of his tongue was out of his mouth. His rump cheeks were slick with sweat. Dunder risked a glance behind him and shuddered at the expression on Rudolph's face.
Rudolph mounted Blixem first. He took him with a growl, big thighs hugging Blixem's rump to his loins, pinning Blixem in place as he rammed his still hard cock up Blixem's tailhole. Blixem moaned and then very quickly began to scream. Rudolph kept the whip cracking air close to his ass as he ground and fucked and hilted. Dunder could only stare. It was an awesome display of male sexual prowess. And despite all his previous feelings, only one thing dominated his mind as he watched Blixem scream Rudolph's name, begging him for more: lust.
Rudolph hilted Blixem one last time and bellowed like a bull. Blixem's ass was filled in a way Dunder could never compete with.
"AHHH Ahhhhh mmmmmm..mmmmrrrr. mrrrrr....mm.mm.mmmphmmm.." Blixem cried, squirming like a skewered animal.
Rudolph inhaled deeply through his nostrils, making his chest swell as his cock slipped out with a wet suck. He looked at Dunder.
"You're next," he growled.
"I like it from the front," Dunder said quickly, his voice small.
Rudolph snorted.
"You're taking it how I WANT it, DOE. On all fours!"
Dunder moaned and obeyed, dropping to the place where Rudolph pointed. Blixem crawled over to him and began to kiss him hard, savagely, his own arousal still burning white hot. Dunder pleasured his lover with his mouth until he felt the huge plug of Rudolph's cock begin to stretch his virgin hole.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Too tight! Too-"
"Shut up and take it, DOE!"
The whip cracked. Dunder flinched as it struck his back, a single lash. Punishment. He took it. After the first few mighty thrusts, the pain began to ebb. He found himself panting as hard as Blixem, moaning in the same places. Rudolph slammed against his prostate and Dunder came all over the rosewood floor.
"Not over that easy, doe!"
Rudolph bit Dunder's back and fucked, snorting hard. It took all of Dunder's strength to keep himself upright, rocking back and forth on his hands and knees. Always before he'd been the top. This was true, unrestrained fucking. And he LOVED it. He gave Blixem a look which was a promise to do it this rough with him. Blixem nodded back eagerly.
Rudolph shot a third load, and Dunder collapsed to the floor, spraying his own seed again, into the wall. Rudolph hilted him one last time, coiling the whip and stuffing into his one good back pocket before twisting hard with his cock in Dunder's ass as a final insult and standing, his softening shaft slipping out. He grabbed Dunder by the scruff of his neck.
"NOW we're even,...runt," Rudolph said softly in Dunder's ear.
************************************************************************
Morning came with light sharp as diamonds off the newly fallen snow. Blixem groaned and rolled onto his side, nuzzling deeper into Rudolph's thick side. Rudolph chuckled and licked him.
"Rise and shine, little guy. It's breakfast time for your stag."
Dunder yawned and raised himself up in the bed, stretching. He murred as he felt Rudolph's thick, strong thumb rub a stubborn knot out of his middle back.
"What's for breakfast?" Dunder asked.
"Tofu eggs, vegan sausage, black bean tortillas and real Mexican salsa," Rudolph said. "That is, if you two love does will let me up."
"Yes, sir!" Blixem said with a laugh.
Rudolph tromped downstairs and entered the barn's kitchen. Vixen was already there, whistling a cheerful Irish carol as she roasted her chestnuts in the wooden stove.
"You know," he said, "you've got a modern set of appliances."
"Oh Rudolph," Vixen said, "you'll never understand the spirit of Christmas if you don't appreciate that some things just can't be changed. And chestnuts roasting on an open fire is one of them."
Rudolph chuckled and set about making his own breakfast. He could feel Vixen eying him sidelong as he began to fry the tortillas.
"Father asked after you when he came in this morning," she said.
"Did he? How is the ol' dough boy?"
"Why don't you ask him yourself? He wants to speak with you."
"He and I've said everything we need to say. He knew I was leaving and why. He didn't stop me."
"He wouldn't have. That's not his way."
"Vixen, I'm not staying. I'm here as a favor to him. Period," Rudolph said.
His sharp tone made her ears flick back.
"It wouldn't hurt you to try and set aside the past, you know," she said softly. "Some of us missed you."
Rudolph added the black beans.
"Are you telling me that the doe who used to chase me out onto the ice and laugh whenever I fell flat on my ass missed me?"
"I was only a game, Rudolph!"
"I don't need your fucking reindeer games any more. I've got my own life, now. I've got friends, lovers, fans even. And I'm not blinded like you are up here, isolated from the real world. Christmas is changing, Vixen. It's grown hollow, all glisten and no center, like a glass ornament that shatters if you're not careful. Sooner or later, it's going to affect Chris, and you know it. Has he been absent-minded lately?"
Vixen bit her lip. She nearly burnt the chestnuts before she realized they were done. she set them on the pan to cool and fought against tears.
Rudolph watched her struggle and silently kicked himself. She began to sniff hard, and then to cry.
"I'm sorry," he said gently.
Vixen buried her head in her hands.
"I love him, Rudolph! He raised me from a fawn! And now he's slowly going mad. It's like Alzheimer's. The more meaningless Christmas becomes, the less he remembers who he is."
Arms sturdy as oak branches wrapped around her. Rudolph nuzzled her neck and held her close to his powerful body.
"Not this year."
She shuddered slightly and turned in his arms to bury her face in his deep chest. He stroked her back softly, licking her cheek.
"Hey," Rudolph said, lifting her chin. She gazed into his eyes, hopeful and innocent as a child. "Not this year, Vixen. This year the team rides together. All of us."
"So...you'll lead the team?" she asked.
"Yes," Rudolph said. "I'll lead the team. One last time."
The roasted chestnuts went surprisingly well with Mexican. All nine reindeer sat together in the dining room, passing plates hand to hand. They listened as Rudolph told the story of his travels, from Alaska where he'd begun his bodybuilding career through adventures in Tibet, Russia, Thailand and finally Australia. At the end of the tale, amid laughter and a few songs, Dunder stood and raised his cup of cocoa.
"Tomorrow night, the team rides. And for the first time in half a century, it rides as one. Rudolph, I don't know what Vixen said to convince you. I'm just glad she did. To Rudolph, the most famous reindeer of all!"
The toast was given and drunk. Dasher set his glass down with a wicked smile. He began to sing.
"Oh no!" Rudolph cried. "No! Not THAT song!"
Mercilessly, the other reindeer joined in, until Rudolph wanted to crawl under the table and hide his blushing face. They ended the last chorus long and drawn out.
"Dasher, I'll kill you," Rudolph said with mock aggression.
"Can't think of a hotter way to go," Dasher shot back with a cheeky wink.
"Oh, you guys want some REAL Christmas cheer?" Rudolph asked.
A chorus of assents in eight different languages answered him. He chuckled and strode out into the sitting room. The great spruce tree with its gleaming lights and bangles and lit candles of real flame was still in its place of honor by the door leading to the stables where the harnesses and sleigh were kept. Only now, a modern sound system had been set up beside it.
"This thing elf technology?" Rudolph asked, crouching by the main unit.
"What else?" Dancer said. "Why, what'd you have in mind, big buck?"
Rudolph glanced over a meaty shoulder at him.
"Something right up your alley, Dancer."
He petted the stereo and put on his jacket and sunglasses.
"Have a seat, boys. You're about to get a white Christmas."
He pointed at the stereo, and music began to fill the room. It was decidedly NOT the standard carols. The saucy, swing-jazz and rock mix of Smash Mouth's "Better Do It Right" began to thud through the room, and there before their eyes, Rudolph began to grind his rump at them.
"Ohhh! You didn't tell us you did THAT for a living!" Comet moaned.
Rudolph just grinned. The music picked up and he tore open his jacket, flexing and rippling his perfect abs while his audience began to cheer and whistle. He ran his jacket up and down his back as if he were drying himself with a towel, teasing and taunting.
The jacket fell to the floor. Rudolph strutted to one of the support beams that held up the roof. It was a pole, painted red and white as a peppermint. He began to twine around it, rubbing his firm rump and tail up and down, bending low until he was kneeling, then springing into a handstand and coiling his muscled legs around it to spin and levitate nearly up to the ceiling.
There was no money, of course. Prancer flashed a candy cane in the air. Rudolph grinned and slid down the pole. He danced over to Prancer and bent his legs, letting Prancer slip the candy cane down his jeans. Then he suddenly unzipped them and whipped them off, dropping them to the floor, exposing a brilliant green g-string, the candy cane tucked neatly in place.
Prancer moaned. Rudolph twined his hands around the pole again and did a bellydance against it while more candy canes began waving in the air. He plucked them all, letting hungry reindeer hands slip them into his g-string or feel up his thighs, his rump, his abs and crotch as he danced in their midst.
The song ended with Rudolph launching into the air, doing a spectacular backward midair summersault and landing with legs splayed and rump high before them.
"HO HO!! So that's how they celebrate the Day down under nowadays, is it?" boomed a voice from the doorway.
The reindeer leapt to their feet like so many naughty children. Rudolph smirked and slide lithe as a cougar to his feet.
"Hiya, pops," he said.
The lumbering figure of Father Christmas strode into the barn. In his true form, Father Christmas was a great polar bear, his infamous belly swaying below his powerful chest.
"Rudolph, you make an old man very happy."
Rudolph smiled as he walked into those open arms and hugged the bear. Father Christmas chuckled.
"You're taller than me, m'boy. What are they feeding you down there?"
Rudolph grinned.
"Enough!"
He hugged Father Christmas around his waist and hoisted him into the air with one arm before setting him back on his feet.
"HO HO HO! Maybe YOU should lug the bag down the chimney this year, eh?"
The other reindeer laughed along with Rudolph. Father Christmas smiled at them.
"Give us a moment alone, will you, lads?"
Alone with Rudolph, Father Christmas turned to him.
"You know I didn't invite you here because of the weather."
Rudolph nodded, his smile fading slightly.
"It was never about the weather. I know that. You managed for centuries of bad storms and fogs without me to lead the way. It was about giving a misfit runt of a reindeer a chance to show his quality."
Father Christmas put a paw on Rudolph's back.
"The truth is, I'm dying, son."
It struck Rudolph like a blow to the stomach. Father Christmas's smile was sad.
"Impossible? Hardly. There have been others before me and no one remembers them, now. The world changes, and folk like me tend to get left behind. That's as it should be."
Rudolph crouched so that they were at eye level.
"Father," he said softly. "What do you want me to do?"
Father Christmas put his paws on Rudolph's broad shoulders.
"I knew the day I saw you pull my team that you were the one who'd succeed me."
Rudolph gasped and began to stand. Father Christmas's paws tightened.
"No, listen, son. Not many more years now, and I won't be the same bear I am. The team will need someone to lead them back to the tundra, back to the herds. The elves..well, the elves have already started fading out. Hardly anyone leaves out milk by the doorstep for them any more. No hand made gifts, it's all merchandising and factory work, nowadays. You know that. I'm the last of a dying breed. Without goodwill toward men, the avarice of the world pricks at me. When I'm gone, the team will never fly again. But you, my boy, you and that lantern nose of yours will be the light in their darkness."
Rudolph bit his tongue. He refused to weep. He hadn't wept since the day he left the North Pole. The same words came back to him. The same words as the night Father Christmas had asked him to stand ahead of Dunder and Blixem as head of the team.
"No! Not me! It can't be me! I'm just..."
Father Christmas smiled.
"Just a runt? Look at you, son. I've never been prouder of a reindeer in my life."
The tears fell, then. Rudolph closed his eyes against them, but they came anyway. Father Christmas nodded gently.
"It's right to weep for the loss of a little more beauty and happiness in the world. But in the end, I won't really be missed."
Rudolph's eyes shot open.
"I'll miss you! Your team will miss you! I love you, you crazy old bear!"
They embraced. They wept.
"You can't die," Rudolph whispered. He nearly crushed Father Christmas in his arms. "Please. You can't!"
Father Christmas patted his back.
"I may not be who I once was. But I do have enough left for one more true Christmas wish."
He parted from Rudolph's embrace and looked up at him. Rudolph pursed his lips, fighting more tears.
"All I want for Christmas..." he whispered, "...is you, the way your team remembers you. One last ride around the world. That's all I want. That's all they want."
Father Christmas smiled wide.
"The snow's falling. All over the world, it's falling. The air will be perfect by tomorrow night."
He held open his paw.
"Let's show the world the meaning of flying reindeer."
Rudolph gripped it in both paws.
"You better hang on to your saddle, old man. Because on Christmas Eve, I lead the team."