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SE-06 Assessing the Holidays By Darrel James Vanwinkle (Writing as Ratseye) 08/05/2001-08/17/2001

Another Autumn had quietly crept up on the Mark Twain National Forest along the Current River basin. Dominic was quietly resting within his deck chair on his private deck feeling despondent. Deer Season had come and went, and Thanksgiving had not made him feel thankful. He now rested quietly alone casually admiring the panorama of Fall colors with the trees around his estate. He had not heard from any of his usual friends in months. Reed Huxley got in a sudden flood of customers. Freeway had stopped in at the beginning of November with his clan as they were migrating South towards Louisiana. The wereraccoons stayed only a day, then were gone. Sexen Reinhard and Pablo Kingston after having discovered feelings for each other, moved out of the mansion a week before Thanksgiving, and moved to somewhere in Mississippi. Damon Horse (General Kestnorath) recently returned to the Infinitum to visit his friend, General Garhoun, and was already gone a week. Huckleberry Slyfingers became homesick for the Furry Realms, and he too left for home, promising to return soon. Even the white stag had not come by during the entire time he was recovering from his last two adventures. (See F1)

Dominic sighs. "Bah humbug."

Although he had not expected an answer, he quickly got one from the railing directly in front of him. "Why so glum, chum? Tis a jolly season for merry making and gay apparel."

Dominic does not even blink, but replies, "All my friends are gone and I am alone."

The elf like voice exclaims, "But this is the holiday season. You should be out making someone else's life joyful. Not sitting here feeling sorry for yourself."

Dominic is lightning fast as he is up and has his hands around whatever it is. "Got you!" He tries to see what he caught. "Well, I know I've caught something."

The elf like voice replies, "Best release me or there will be plenty of unhappy souls breathing down your neck."

Dominic is a little less than impressed. He turns, while still holding "whatever" and takes "whatever" into his warm house and into the furnace room. He kicks the door closed behind him.

The elf like voice growls. "What are you thinking? Let me go this instant! I have half of a forest to finish frosting by nightfall. I said, let me go. Let. Me. Go. Now."

Dominic opens the furnace door with his foot, and thrusts the "whatever" into his furnace, then quickly shutting the door closed, and cranking up the heat to one hundred.

The elf like voice screams in agony until it is completely gone. Dominic sighs. He returns to his deck chair and sits down once again. He is barely seated a minute when he is interrupted again. This time it is by a strange little man dressed all in green standing on Dominic's chest.

"That, me bucko, was completely uncalled for."

Dominic blinks as he recognizes the little man as a leprechaun. "You're a leprechaun. Aren't you a bit lost? This is Missouri, not Ireland."

The leprechaun crosses his arms and replies, "Great. I get a comedian. Look, me bucko. I am the regional spirit in charge of the seasonal fairies and sprites, and other such nonsense. Me job is not an easy one, there are days when even I would say, bah humbug. But it is me job to keep things running smoothly."

Dominic sighs and replies, "Was it Jack Frost's job to talk to me and try to cheer me up rather than just do his job quietly?"

The leprechaun's eyes go wide and he turns a shade of red! "He spoke to you? What was he thinking? Then perhaps you did the right thing. He will recreate himself when the night's cool air begins whipping around, and believe you me, I will give Jack Frost a piece of me mind."

Dominic hummed for a moment, then suddenly seemed interested in some new thought. "Tell me something, sir leprechaun. Do all the holiday myths and folk icons really exist?"

The leprechaun smiled and beamed proudly, "That we do, me bucko. Each one of us are as real as you are."

Dominic replied, "Do you think I could meet them? I mean, to get their stories about how they got started?"

The leprechaun arched an eye. "What be ye thinking, lad? Visiting the holiday creatures has ne'er been done before by a human and I am not sure about the rules on it. I would have to consult the Queen of the Fairies about this."

Dominic hummed. "And how long would it take to go ask Titania?"

The leprechaun smiled again. "Ah, so you know the name of the Fairie Queen. And do you know her husband's name?"

Dominic smiled. "That would be Oberon. And they both collect what news they learn from Robin Goodfellow." Dominic was glad he attended that Shakespherean play with Leia Tanner last month.

The leprechaun smiled. "Very true indeed. As I said, there are rules to doing this and I have to go ask those in charge what the rules are. It will take a day at the most."

Dominic nodded his head. "Very well. Shall I re meet you again on the deck tomorrow afternoon?"

The leprechaun nodded his head. "And ye would not by chance have any whiskey on the premises, would ye lad?"

Dominic thought for a moment. "Only that bottle of whiskey my sister, Jo Tanner, left here a few months ago. Go ask Titania about the rules for my visiting the holiday creatures and the bottle of whiskey is all yours, along with any other bottles of whiskey I find within the mansion."

The leprechaun floated up into the air. "Ye have yourself a deal, me lad! See ye tomorrow!" He disappeared in a small audible "pop". Dominic chuckled and got back up. He returned to the furnace room and turned the thermostat back down to 70. He opened the furnace door and offered an ice pack to Jack Frost. Jack accepted the ice pack and climbed out of the furnace. Dominic took Jack Frost upstairs into the kitchen and placed him inside the freezer with the door left open for about a hour. Jack seemed to heal instantly. He floated out of the freezer and landed on the kitchen table. Dominic closed the freezer door and had a seat at the table.

"Sorry I stuck you in the furnace. It was uncalled for."

Jack Frost nodded his head and said, "You spoke to the regional director, didn't you?"

Dominic nodded his head. "Yes, I did. I asked him if I could go talk to the holiday creatures and get their stories on how they got started."

Jack Frost smiled. "That is quite a request, Dominic Bastian Vanlyone and it will most likely be granted to you, but there are conditions to every agreement."

Dominic asked, "What kind of conditions?"

Jack Frost replied, "The usual conditions. You cannot do anything that would endanger the holiday creature's existence. You have to conform to the environment where the holiday creature lives, you might be required to transform into the species of the holiday creature to be able to get near it, maybe a few other ridiculous conditions. All standard procedure for the realm of fairy-kind. Do you still want to go interview the holiday creatures?"

Dominic hummed. "Has anyone done this before?"

Jack Frost replied, "A few people have tried getting close to individual holiday creatures and the usual results have been either the permanent transformation into the species of the holiday creature or in the case where someone tried to do harm to the holiday creatures being punished by the Seelie Court of Fairydom. Those people I am not sure what their fates were."

Dominic blinked his eyes. "A dangerous business this is. These are all good warnings, Jack, but seeing as how my interviews are not platforms for doing people harm and I just like learning about what there is no recorded history for makes doing this even more enticing."

Jack Frost smiled. "I have half of a forest to frost over before nightfall, Dominic. If your request is granted, I may get to see you again. Goodbye." Jack Frost slowly faded away. Dominic got up and opened the kitchen window and the window's screen. He felt the frosty air fly out the window. He then closed the window and went over to the telephone. He dialed the phone number for KJAG-radio.

He told them to expect an early frost tonight. They were hesitant to report this unfounded information but when he told them who he was, they agreed to announce it over the radio. Dominic hung up the phone. The weather forecast was for another few days of warm weather, with temperatures only getting down to the mid fifties. But the meteorologists had not his resources for talking to otherwise imaginary creatures. Dominic smiled at his good fortune.

Dominic spent the rest of the day in Rocky Falls shopping. He purchased six bottles of the finest Irish whiskey from the liquor store. By now, the liquor store owner was used to seeing Dominic come in, totally sober and request an odd assortment or odd quantity of alcohol.

Dominic went to the Cowboy Dream store and purchased the new rodeo masters collection that Jo Tanner had been drooling over a few months earlier. The price was ridiculous, but with his constant incoming wealth, he felt quite thrifty today.

He then went to the Sky View Jeep Cherokee car dealer and purchased the new super van that Sallee Tanner had fainted over hearing what it cost. Dominic smiled as he purchased it, giving instructions to the dealer not to reveal to anyone who had bought it but only to say that it had been sold. Dominic loved doing these things to Sallee.

Dominic then drove over to the Exotic Animal Exchange to inquire if his request had been fulfilled yet. He was pleased to learn that his request had been granted. A cute little female jaguar cub up for adoption was now available. Dominic filled out the paperwork, then explained that this was a present for his sister, Leia Tanner.

Dominic's next stop was the exclusive men's club, Stallions Under The Saddle, where he had a lifetime membership. He went in and spoke to the manager of the club about getting a lifetime membership for Richard Wayne. After waiting while the manager checked out Richard Wayne's credentials, the membership was granted. Dominic has the manager set the membership to start on Christmas Day. Dominic chuckled when thought about what Richard's reaction would be when he found out that he would have membership to the exclusive Stallions.

Dominic's next stop was the Monterey family horse farm. Dominic asked the Montereys about purchasing breeding rights from their racing stallion, Pyrotechnic (Pyro for short). Dominic explained that the mare to be bred would be Sheridan Wayne's own, Diabla, and this was a Christmas present for Shane. The Montereys recited off a price thinking it would be too high but were shocked when Dominic counted out the money right there into their hands. A contract was then drawn up and Dominic informed them to keep quiet about this until after Christmas Day.

Dominic's last stop was at the Scarlet & Bleu Specialty Gifts Shop. He had to find the right gift for Damon Horse. What do you get a demon horse who is general of the Infinitum? Dominic went inside and explained to Lord Scarlet and Madame Bleu what his dilemma was and that this business had to be done discreetly. Dominic gave forth a few "details" about Damon, and soon, Scarlet and Bleu had selected several items that might interest a demon horse. Dominic purchased them all and has them gift-wrapped.

Dominic then swung back by the liquor store and purchased three twelve-packs of beer. If Damon did not like the gifts, the one thing he certainly did enjoy was the local beer.

Dominic sat in his sports car quietly. Now he was stumped. What do you get a white stag for Christmas? He had not really had any problems shopping for everyone else but what would someone get for a white stag who has no apparent possessions. Dominic sighed and drove back to his home with all his purchases.

Dominic put away all his purchased gifts, then returned to his kitchen to begin preparing dinner. It was while he was preparing dinner that the kitchen's speaker phone rings. Dominic went over and activated it, then returned to the kitchen counter.

"Vanlyone Mansion. Dominic speaking."

"Dominic? This is Ronald Spalding in Washington D.C. I have excellent news for you. Congress has accepted your discovery of the new deer species you've dubbed as the unicorn into the archives of the Endangered Species List."

Dominic blinked his eyes and turned to the phone. "Are you serious?"

Ronald replied, "It's no joke. Your research was beautiful and congress thought it was well written. So well written that they held an extended session today just to discuss the subject. It was voted into the legal document, 72 to 4. It becomes official on Christmas Day. You should celebrate your success."

Dominic smiled, a tear in one eye. His first real victory with this hard boiled government. "Thank you, Ronald. Please convey my thanks to congress for me."

Ronald replied, "I'll be sure to do that. Have a great evening, Dominic." The connection was closed. Dominic went over and clicked the "hang up" button. Dominic smiled, then laughed. He felt a little better now, as he continued to prepare his dinner.

The following afternoon, Dominic was sitting on his private deck checking his email on his laptop computer. He noticed several new messages from The Cretian Maze, the Minotaur mailing list he joined soon after getting home from his trip to the Aegean Sea. He saw two messages from Hierux14, and opened them immediately. Dominic and Hieronymos Pollux kept in constant contact over the Internet. Dominic was pleased with his exclusive email address, thewhitestag(at)RockyFalls(dot)net and often received hundreds of email messages every day. Unlike Hieronymos, Dominic was lucky if he could answer even half of the messages he received. His sisters never emailed him anything. They would just show up if they wanted something.

"What be ye doing, me lad?"

Dominic smiled as he recognized the voice of the leprechaun. "Taking care of some last minute business. How are you this afternoon, sir leprechaun?"

The leprechaun takes a slow steady breath then releases it slowly. "I've had me a tough day, me lad. I could surely do for a good shot of whiskey."

Dominic smiles again. "As per our agreement. Six bottles of the finest Irish whiskey in exchange for the rules on my visiting the holiday creatures."

The leprechaun appears suddenly standing to one side of the laptop computer. "Ye really went and got me the whiskey? Oh laddie, I am afraid I've let ye down. I did not think ye'd hold to yer side of the bargain, so I did not go ask for ye. I am truly sorry. Ye must think ill of me."

Dominic hummed. He got up and went off toward the kitchen.

The leprechaun sighed. "Ye be right in yer mind fer not wanting to talk to me now."

Dominic returned with the six bottles of Irish whiskey. He set it down on the table next to the leprechaun. "Take them, please. I do not drink whiskey myself, so it would do no good to have it here. I went and bought them for you."

The leprechaun looked surprised and exclaimed, "Me lad! Ye're giving me the whiskey after all?"

Dominic replied, "Merry Christmas."

The leprechaun's reaction was not what Dominic expected. "Oh me lad. Ye have passed me test. Oberon and Titania have decided to allow ye to visit the holiday creatures. Robin Goodfellow himself told me to give ye his very own ring that would grant ye passage to the places where each creature lives, but good Robin also asked me to inform ye that ye may experience changes in each place ye visit. Although, I am not sure what he meant."

Dominic smiled, understanding. He accepted the ring. "Robin means that I will transform into the species of the creatures I go to visit. The next time you see Robin Goodfellow, please extend my thanks to him, as well as open invitation to come stay at my mansion, whenever he likes."

The leprechaun nods his head and picks up the case of six bottles of whiskey. He smiles and winks at Dominic as he disappears with an audible "pop".

Dominic chuckles as he returned to answering his email. He wanted to get caught up on all this stuff before heading off around the world on his new adventure.

After storing his laptop computer in its case, Dominic is standing in the center of his den looking at Robin Goodfellow's magic ring. He smiles while wondering where to go first. He looks out of the door into the main gathering chamber where he had his live Christmas tree set up. Yeah, that's the ticket. He always did wish he could've met Rudolph and the other reindeer when he was a kid. He once again stands within his den and slips the ring on his middle finger. A perfect fit. Surely Robin Goodfellow's middle finger was not as large as his own. He closes his eyes and concentrates. "Take me to Santa's Secret Village at the North Pole."

At first he was not sure anything had happened. Then he slowly opened his eyes and looked around the area. He was now indeed standing in the middle of Santa's Secret Village. He looked at himself next. He had been transformed into a younger version of the white stag. "Well, this part works. Now to find some reindeer or elves." Dominic was surprised that he did not hear or see any activity within the village. The homes all had fires burning brightly in their fireplaces, and the streets were shoveled of the snow. Dominic was puzzled now. It was as if the people had only just left their homes. Dominic proceeded to locate everyone. When he finally did find everyone, he realized that today must've been the day of the reindeer games. The whole village was here, and every reindeer was here. Dominic slowly walked into the stadium.

Once inside, Dominic saw some sort of reindeer sleigh race currently under way. Dominic's appearance on the edge of the racing track fence draws more attention to him than he wished for. Fortunately, the racers had not noticed him, and soon, complete the race. Awards and winners are announced, then the elven referee approaches Dominic.

"We are honored by your presence. Please come with me to the judge's booth."

Dominic allows the elf to lead him up to the judge's booth. Inside the judge's booth, Dominic saw two of Santa's reindeer: Vixen and Donder. Dominic smiles upon seeing them.

"Hello boys. How's the games?"

Donder looked over at Dominic, and his eyes go wide. "It, it, its going, um, very well."

Vixen is also in a bit of some shock from seeing Dominic standing there. "Er, I, I, I welcome you to our, um, booth. Please, er, will you join us?"

Dominic smiles and walks over to stand between the two reindeer. From here he had a clear view of the stadium. "No need to be nervous, boys. I am not THE white stag regardless of how I look."

They both seem more at ease now. Donder smiles and replies, "That's a relief. My name is Donald North, and this is my friend, Vicks Ender."

Dominic blinks his eyes. "You're not Donder and Vixen?"

Vixen laughs. "Of course we are, but we have real names too." He winks at Donder. "You said you weren't the white stag. So who are you really?"

Dominic replies, "I am a human named Dominic Bastian Vanlyone. I am from Rocky Falls, Missouri."

Donder smiles. "I've heard of you! You are the man that recently helped get the unicorns on the endangered species list!"

Vixen also smiles. "Really? You're that Dominic Vanlyone? I am indeed honored to be in your presence. What brings you to the North Pole this close to Christmas?"

Dominic smiles. "I am doing a study on holiday creatures and people for a personal learning exercise. My curiosity has been begging for some knowledge of a more unique sort."

Donder smiles again. "And you chose to do a study on us reindeers first. This is an honor. As soon as the games are over, we will take you to the reindeer gathering bar to meet the others. Boy, will they ever be surprised!"

The three watch the rest of the reindeer games, and occasionally make some small talk between events. Soon, the games end, and the three head off over to the reindeer gathering bar. The neon sign read, "Hooves in the Sky; No Hooves, No Antlers, No Service". The reindeer buck at the door looked cautiously at Dominic before Donder and Vixen spoke up for him. The bar itself was amazing. The room was well heated, had several tables and a bar, one corner was dedicated to rutting challenges, but there was not a chair in the place. Vixen lead Dominic across the room to the doorway with the lettering, "Adult Reindeer Only! No Fawns Beyond This Point!" Donder was waiting there chatting with the large buck reindeer. Vixen introduces Dominic to Thunder, then leads Dominic into the adult section of the bar.

Within this private section of the bar, Dominic sees the more famous reindeer gathered here. Having drinks, playing games, getting body massages, and just plain chatting. Vixen announces Dominic's presence to the other reindeer. "Hey! Everyone! Dominic Vanlyone is here! The guy who helped the unicorns get on the endangered species list! He wants to do a study on us reindeer!"

Dominic lowers his head and blushes at the sudden attention that Vixen's announcement produces. The reindeer invited Dominic over to drink with them and join in on the talks and other activities. Dominic spends the rest of the evening with the reindeer, until he falls asleep on the floor at Dasher's hooves. Dasher looks down at Dominic and replies, "I guess we wore him out, fellows. What should we do with him?" The answer, of course, was to have Thunder give Dominic a room within the boarding room section of the Hooves in the Sky.

Dominic awoke the next morning feeling well rested. He tries to sit up and panics for a few moments before remembering where he is and what form he is in. He chuckles to himself, then stands up on his hooves, and heads downstairs. Thunder has some hot broth and tea prepared. Dominic eats and drinks while chatting with Thunder about his interesting establishment. Afterwards, Dominic heads back into Santa's Hidden Village to locate the reindeer.

Dominic locates Rudolph and Blitzen first, as the two reindeer was doing some clean up work in front of their home. Dominic approaches quietly, but Blitzen spots him, and calls out to him.

"Hello Dominic! I see you are up and around again." He looks to Rudolph. "This is my son, Rudolph, but I guess you could tell that by his appearance, couldn't you?"

Rudolph smiles. "Hello Mr. Vanlyone."

Dominic blushes and replies, "Just call me Dominic. Mister makes me seem older than normal."

Rudolph nods his head. "Okay, Dominic."

Blitzen goes over and nuzzles Dominic's muzzle. "Well, I presume you want to interview me first, since you are here." He hums. "Where shall I begin?"

Dominic smiles. "You were the first one I found. I would like to know how you got to be one of the team members for pulling Santa's sleigh."

Blitzen frowns. "Are you sure you want to know that?"

Rudolph looks to Blitzen. "What's wrong, pop? I thought you would be pleased to tell Dominic your history. It's something even I do not know the details of."

Dominic arches his eye while waiting for a response.

Blitzen sighs. "I was not supposed to be on the team originally. I was number nine."

Rudolph blinks his eyes. "You weren't one the original eight team members? But there are no other reindeer qualified to pull Santa's sleigh." He pauses doubtfully. "Is there?"

Blitzen turns his head away, gazing across the open snow fields, towards a faraway dark mountain peak. "Night was number eight originally. He was a reindeer whose coat was entirely black. He was also an orphan. The final decision came down to choosing between Night and I. There was a special game created for the two of us to compete in. Night won and I lost. He was just better than I. A few days before the official flying debut, Night and I were up on that mountain." He pauses as he continues to look at the center of his shame. "I, er, went with him because he wanted to show me something, um, at the top." He closes his eyes, flashing back to that painfully rememberable day at the ice shelf on the mountain. The ice cracked wide open, and Blitzen almost lost his life, but was pushed free by Night, who in turn fell deeply into the crumbling brittle ice. A tear runs down Blitzen's cheek.

Rudolph and Dominic just watch Blitzen who seems transfixed on the mountain.

Blitzen cries out, loudly, "Oh Night! I am sorry!" Blitzen runs off into his home.

Dominic looks down at his hooves. "I did not mean to make him remember something painful. Rudolph, I apologize. I will not bother him for more information."

Rudolph sighs. "I will go comfort him. Why don't you go see Dancer? He should be at the gymnasium on the other side of the village." Rudolph heads inside his home.

Dominic also sighs. He headed off for the other side of the village. While en route, one elf gave him a cherry candy cane, and he thanked her for it. Dominic walks into the gymnasium, and sees Dancer with his eyes closed while dancing around the court. A phonograph record is playing nearby and a few elves are gathered nearby watching Dancer's graceful moves. Dancer completes his moves, then opens his eyes, and bows gracefully. Dominic smiles in appreciation.

"You are very graceful, Dancer."

Dancer smiles and replies, "I welcome your compliment, Dominic. Am I first this day to be interviewed?"

Dominic sighs. "I ran into Blitzen, and he somewhat broke down while telling his story."

Dancer lowers his head. "Yes, he continues to blame himself for the accident that took Night away that day." Dancer lifts his head. "But you are here now, and my story will lift your spirits."

Dominic kind of smiles. "I'd like to know how you got to be one of the team members for pulling Santa's sleigh."

At that moment, Dasher enters the gymnasium. He walks over to Dancer and nuzzles his brother's muzzle. "Dancer!" He then looks to Dominic. "Hello Dominic. I presume you are asking the reindeer about how we got chosen, right?"

Dominic nods his head. "That's right. I just now asked Dancer about that."

Dasher smiles. "Go ahead, Dancer. Tell him about us."

Dominic raises an eyebrow.

Dancer smiles, never showing any embarrassment. "I was number two. There was a race between Dasher and me. As we neared the finish line, I twisted my ankle, and that was when it happened."

Dominic asks, "What happened?"

Dancer looks to Dasher. "Dasher stopped in his tracks and came back to help me up and to the finish line. He pushed me across the finish line, then he came across after me. I won the race, but the judges were impressed by Dasher's spirit of fair play. So he was awarded the number one spot, and I got the number two spot."

Dasher smiles. "You're still number one in my book, Dancer." He nuzzles his brother.

Dominic smiles. "That's pretty amazing. It's nice to know that even among reindeer, there is good sportsmanship and camaraderie."

Dasher exclaims, "That's right! We are a team and we have to keep up our team spirit!"

Dancer giggles. "Very true. Well, Dasher and I have some things to do now. You can find Prancer and Cupid over at the toy factory north of the village. They are still there, aren't they, Dasher?"

Dasher replies, "Oh yes. They love watching the elves make presents for the children of the world. May all of us reindeer see you before leave for home, Dominic?"

Dominic smiles. "I do not see why not. Where would you like me to meet with you fellows at?"

Dasher thinks for a moment, then replies, "Meet with us at the original stables just south of the village. It's an old big building."

Dominic bids the two reindeer farewell, then heads out of the gymnasium and northwards to the toy factory. Dominic walks inside the large building and spots Prancer and Cupid high up on the balcony overlooking the work activities. Dominic slowly and carefully makes his way up to their location. Dominic suddenly stops when he sees who else is up here with them. Santa Claus is studying a clipboard casually. Prancer smiles when he sees Dominic over on the side.

"Dominic! Come on over and join us. We are watching the toy makers."

Santa Claus glances up from his clipboard and over at Dominic. "Ho, ho, ho, Dominic Vanlyone! Someone told me you were up here. I finally get to meet you." Dominic approaches the three and blushes again. Santa squats down eye to eye with Dominic and exclaims, "Not your normal form, but I will reason that you are here under special permissions. Am I right?"

Dominic nods his head. "Oberon and Titania gave me permission to come visit all the holiday creatures. And Robin Goodfellow lent me his magic ring so I could enter these special areas."

Santa laughs. "Ho, ho, ho. Yes, I can see that, Dominic. I am told you are interviewing my sleigh team. Have you learned much so far?"

Dominic nods his head again. "I have learned that they are a caring group with team spirit. But I have to talk to the rest of them before I can write up my final report."

Santa smiles. "When you do write up your report, can you send me a copy of it? It is something I would really like to have. Is there anything you would like in return?"

Dominic sighs and lowers his head. "I'm not sure if you can help me, Santa. I've bought Christmas presents for all my family and friends, save one. The white stag. I am not sure what to get him. In a way, I am feeling like I've let him down."

Santa places his arm around Dominic's neck. "When it comes right down to it, Dominic, you will know immediately what to get your white friend for Christmas. He is the white stag. He has never had anyone go through a lot of trouble to get him a gift. You are a good friend, indeed." Santa straightens back up. "Now, if you will excuse me, Mrs. Claus and I have a few things we need to get accomplished." Santa heads off into the hallways in the back of the balcony.

Prancer nuzzles Dominic's chin gently. "So, you want to talk to Cupid and me. What do you want to know?"

Dominic lifts his head. "I'd like to know how you got to be one of the team members for pulling Santa's sleigh."

Cupid smiles. "I was chosen, oddly enough. I did not have to compete at all. I still do not know to this day who spoke up for me."

Prancer nods his head. "I was one of the original reindeer who helped Santa escape for the burgomasters of the older country. Santa definitely wanted me on his team. It was my job to train other reindeer for the reindeer games. In fact, I still train reindeer for those annual games. It's a lot of fun. I get to meet all sorts of interesting hopefuls."

Cupid exclaims, "My son Arrow really wants to be a sleigh team member someday, but I am afraid his headstrong attitude is going to get him into deep trouble." He sighs sadly.

Prancer replies, "Arrow used to poke fun at Rudolph's red nose, so I know what you mean, Cupid. Arrow needs a "big brother" figure to help him understand things."

Dominic nods his head, then asks, "Any idea where I can find Vixen, Comet, or Donder?"

Cupid glances up to Dominic. "Vixen and Comet are on mail duty today. They are pulling the mail sleigh from Reality Junction to the Hidden Village, but they should be back by now. Why don't you head over to the post office and see if they are there."

Dominic replies, "Thank you, Cupid. I will do that. See you fellows later." Dominic heads back the way he came, and out of the toy factory. Dominic walks back down into the middle of the village to see a commotion. A large pack of wolves had chased the mail sleigh back to the village. Dominic leaps forward, planting himself between the wolves and the sleigh. He then takes a stance, and turns his head to look the lead wolf right in the eye.

"You know better than this. And this close to Christmas too."

The alpha wolf, while not stupid, actually believed he was looking at the famed white stag. He slowly backed down, muttering, "Erf, a thousand pardons, your lordship, we were chasing the sleigh because they hit one of our pack."

Comet exclaims, "Only after they would not get out of the sleigh trail."

Dominic haughtily said to the lead wolf, "Is this true?"

The alpha wolf lowered his head. "Um, yes, we were in the road chasing game."

Dominic glanced at Comet. "You should have stopped. Is reckless mail delivery the standard of the day, Comet? Someone may have been gravely injured." Dominic glanced back to the alpha wolf. "The situation will be handled. You and your pack may leave now."

The alpha wolf lifted his head suddenly. "But they hit one of our pack members! We want justice!"

Dominic glared at the alpha wolf. "Justice will be dealt out to them in a fair hearing, not by a lynching mob of blood hungry wolves. Do not force me to transform you all into humans."

The alpha wolf and the other wolves backed off immediately. The alpha wolf, as he was retreating, replied, "Er, um, as you say, white stag, my lord. We will return to the wilderness." And the wolves vacated the village unharmed deeply into the western wilderness.

Dominic sighed and relaxed a bit. Comet walked up beside him, saying, "Thank you, Dominic. I owe you one." Dominic had the look of one ashamed of his actions on his face. Comet, seeing this, inquired, "Is something wrong, Dominic?"

Dominic sighed, then replied, "I abused my appearance for personal gain. Even if it were to save lives, I had no right to do that. I am not the white stag."

Vixen walked up and nuzzled Dominic's cheek. "The white stag will forgive you. You knew it was wrong. It's not like you had any other choices."

Dominic nodded his head. "Well, maybe I should finish up my interviews before I make a bigger mistake. I would like to know how the two of you got to be team members for pulling Santa's sleigh."

Comet smiled. "I remember all too well. Dasher and I competed against each other and I lost. I prided myself on how fast I was. When I lost, I left the stadium without waiting to hear what the awards were. For the next year and a half, I punished myself in every way possible. Striving to make myself faster. I almost killed myself one day trying to outrun an avalanche. It was Dasher who dug me out. He told me that he had been searching for me since I left. I was chosen to be one the flyers of Santa's sleigh. But I had left so fast, I never found it out."

Vixen nodded his head. "Santa wanted me on the team because of my enormous amount of hyperactive energy. But at the time, I was chumming around with Cupid, and he wanted to be on the team badly. He knew he would lose if he competed against anyone, and was afraid to go to the stadium. So I spoke to Santa privately one evening and persuaded him to accept Cupid unto the team. The catch was that I did not want Cupid to know that I spoke up for him."

Dominic nodded his head. "Thank you for telling me." He looks around cautiously. "That leaves Donder. Do either of you know where I can find him?"

Comet frowned. "Donder. Yes, I know where he might be, but I would not recommend you go there, Dominic."

Dominic arched an eye. "Why shouldn't I go there?"

Comet replied, "It's the other reindeer club. We do not really acknowledge it as one of the acceptable gathering halls because, um, er, well, it's where the gay reindeer meet."

Dominic blinked his eyes. "You're not serious, are you?"

Comet nodded his head. "I am afraid I am very serious, Dominic. The establishment is called Lustre's Pride. You may find it on the other side of the village lake. Just follow the marked trail around the lake until you get to the 'chateau'. You cannot miss it."

Dominic nodded his head again. "Thank you, Comet." Dominic headed off towards the village lake, then followed the marked trail around the lake's edge. As he neared the chateau, he could see the sign over the door identifying the place as Lustre's Pride. Dominic walked up on the porch and into the door. He was surprised that there were no bouncers at the door. Dominic entered the main room and saw Donder and another reindeer chatting at the bar. Dominic approached the bar and walked up beside Donder.

"Hello Donder. You are a hard reindeer to track down."

Donder turned to Dominic and smiled. "Dominic! This is a surprise. How did you find me?" Dominic told him what Comet had said. Donder then replied, "Yes, I am a gay reindeer and I come here to Lustre's Pride to be with others of my kind. I suppose you want to know how I, a gay reindeer, got to be on Santa's sleigh team, don't you?"

Dominic nodded his head.

Donder smiled. "Okay, I guess I can tell you that. You see, when I was competing against the others for positions on the sleigh team, I would imagine that any reindeer in front of me was offering themselves to me. That thought in itself would help me run faster or perform better. Imagine my surprise to make it unto the team. Originally, I was reindeer number three. Then, the others found out that I was gay. The other reindeer did not want me in the middle of their team lineup. I cried, and then ran away. Santa was not happy when he found out how the other reindeer treated me, but he could see the problem with my placement. Santa found me, stopped me from committing suicide, then persuaded me to come back and be on his team. When the day of the official first flight came, Santa told me that I was going to in the number seven spot. I was heartbroken immediately. My placement had been changed because the other reindeer refused to fly if I was not where they could keep an eye on me. Santa explained it to me that I should be thinking two things. One, the number seven was considered lucky, and two, the number seven and eight positions were in the front of all the reindeer. So in a way, I, and number eight, were leading the others on the flight. And that was how I got to be on the team."

Dominic smiled. "And the others do not have a problem with your orientation now?"

Donder replied, "I made a promise that I would not try anything with any of them. And because of that promise, they have been okay with my orientation. Also I should mention this one extra part for it is very important. One year after being chosen for the team, I fell very ill and was not going to be able to make the flight. Santa was stymied at first about who to get to replace me since I had earned my place among them and he didn't want me to lose my position. I revealed to him that I had a twin brother named Donner, who worked with the North Pole mail services, who could easily take my place when I wasn't up to making the flights. In fact, Donner and I could alternate each year so Donner wasn't just a one-hit wonder. Santa agreed and that is how my straight twin brother got on to the sleigh team."

Dominic nodded his head. "Thank you for telling me about this, Donder. By the way, the others have asked me to stop by the old stables before I left. I will look for you there."

Donder smiles and kisses Dominic on the muzzle gently. "I will be there. You know, I wish you were a real reindeer, Dominic. I could show you a really good time."

Dominic blushed then turned and slowly exited the building. He was part way around the lake when Rudolph ran up to him. "It's an emergency! My pop, Blitzen, went up on the mountain by himself. He kept mumbling that he had to rescue Night. Please, you got to help us!"

Dominic blinked his eyes. Then he headed off in the direction of the mountain. He was joined by Dasher and Comet en route. One hour later, they arrived on the mountain. Together, they searched every canyon and crevice. It was while they are passing by a small opening that Dominic saw something within that looked very reindeer like. He called Comet and Dasher over to have a look. The reindeer within the darkness weakly rasped, "Who is there?"

Dasher replied, "I am Dasher. This is Comet and that is Dominic. Who are you?"

The dark weak reindeer replied, "Oh Dasher, I never thought I would see you again. I am Night."

Comet and Dominic blinked their eyes in surprise. Dominic asked, "Have you been up here these past few centuries in this burrow?"

Night replied, "I guess so. I remember pushing Blitzen to safety then I fell down into the glacier. The next conscious thought I had was waking up in this burrow. I felt stiff, almost as if I had been frozen, then thawed out. I am so glad to see other reindeer again. Could you fellows help me out of this hole?"

It took some doing, but finally, they had freed Night from the burrow. And just in time too. The burrow caved in just as they got him free. "That was too close," Comet exclaimed.

Dominic helped Night stand up, then supported him as he got his breath. Then, Night looked around and asked, "Why were you boys up here on this mountain?"

Just then, Blitzen came down the trail and stopped in his tracks when he saw the other reindeer, and Dominic with Night. Blitzen cried out, "Oh, Night." He rushed forward and nuzzled Night's cheek. "I am so sorry. I came up on the mountain to find you. I was not going to leave you behind again."

Night smiled. "Blitzen my old friend. It is good to see you again. Shall we get off this mountain now?"

Together, the five reindeer left the mountain and took Night back to the reindeer hospital. Santa himself came down to check Night's well being. Later that night, the eight reindeer met with Dominic in the old stables. It was Dasher who spoke to those gathered.

"Tonight we welcome a new brother into our family. Dominic Vanlyone. Even though he is human, we are pleased to make him into one of our blood brothers. Dominic, tonight we will all share our reindeer blood with you and you will share your blood with our blood. Welcome to our family."

With the help of some of the elves trained in ceremonies such as this one, the eight reindeer and Dominic exchange blood among one another. Afterwards, the festivities move forward into warm meals and reindeer wine, then they all bunk together in the old stall to commemorate their brotherhood with Dominic. Donder waits till the others are asleep before snuggling with Dominic.

Dominic wakes up a little stiff the next morning but that was nothing new these days. The other reindeer slowly come awake then escort Dominic back into the village for a warm breakfast. Then, it came time for Dominic to depart for home. Dominic posed for a photograph with the other eight reindeer, with Rudolph and Night. Mrs. Claus snapped the camera's button. Then Santa smiled and wished Dominic a very merry Christmas. Dominic steps back from everyone and closes his eyes. He concentrates on his office at home. "Take me back to the office in my mansion."

Dominic opens his eyes. He is once again human and within his office. However, the white stag and Damon are also within his office. They seem very surprised as Dominic just 'appears' within the room. Dominic looks to the two of them, then replies, "I guess I have some explaining to do."

Some hours later, Dominic had finished telling where he was previously, and how he got there, and what he had learned. The white stag and Damon listened with a reserved ear while Dominic gave his explanation. When Dominic had finished, the white stag looks to him and replies, "I am pleased you defended my cousins, the reindeer, from apparent harm, Dominic. Had you been in my body and pretended to be me, I would've been more upset. I am also pleased that you received permission from Oberon and Titania to go do this research. This shows me that you are mature enough to be trusted with the higher mysteries of the unknown. What holiday creature will you go visit next?"

Dominic thinks for a moment, then replies, "I cannot think of any holiday creatures for January, so for February I was considering Groundhog Day and Valentines Day."

Damon smiles. "That would mean you are going to go visit Oswald and Eros."

Dominic raises an eyebrow. "Oswald?"

The white stag replies, "Yes, I believe Oswald is the current groundhog in charge of predicting an early Spring. I am sure he would love giving his accounting of how he got started. As for Eros, you will most likely be transported back to the Aegean Sea. Eros is Aphrodite's son, and the one in charge of all the love-inducing cherubs. I believe he has his own hidden island."

Dominic asks, "Is it dangerous to go see Eros? I know that some of the gods do not like trespassers on their islands."

The white stag replies, "It should not be too dangerous. But just in case, I will be there when you arrive. I would like to make sure nothing bad happens to you."

Dominic smiles. "Thank you, my white friend." Dominic gives the white stag a gentle hug. "I'll stop by here before heading off to Eros' Hidden Island." Dominic steps back to the center of the office, then closes his eyes and concentrates. "Take me to Oswald the Groundhog."

When Dominic opens his eyes, he finds himself deep underground in a series of tunnels. He looks at himself, and finds that he has become a groundhog. "This is different."

"What is different, chum? I do not see too many groundhogs just appear in front of me while I am out for a walk."

Dominic turns around and looks upon the other groundhog. "Are you Oswald, by chance?"

Oswald smiles. "Yes, that is who I am. Odd, I do not recall smelling you before. Who might you be?"

Dominic smiles and holds out his paw. "I am Dominic Bastian Vanlyone and I am doing interviews with holiday creatures to find out how they got started."

Oswald removes his thick glasses then puts them back on. "Aren't you the one who helped the unicorns get on the endangered species list? My oh my. This is indeed a honor. Please, come back with me to my burrow. I will serve us up some tea and tarts."

Oswald leads Dominic back through the tunnels and into a large furnished burrow. Dominic has a seat next to the fireplace, as Oswald prepares the tea and heats up the sweet tarts. Oswald then brings over the self-standing tray with the tea kettle, tea cups, and sweet tarts on it, and sets the tray down between the two of them. Oswald pours Dominic some tea, then fills his own cup. After a few cups of tea and having eaten a few sweet tarts, Oswald leans back in his seat.

Dominic smiles. "That was mighty good. Thank you very much, Oswald."

Oswald also smiles. "It was my pleasure. Now, what information would you like from me?"

Dominic replies, "I would like to know how you got started in the weather forecasting business."

Oswald laughs, then quietly giggles. "Oh that is certainly a nice way to describe what I do. Usually the comments I hear are, -that damned groundhog made it snow-, -stupid groundhog made all the snow melt-, and -someone should kill that groundhog for making it rain-."

Dominic frowns. "Your life is not that bad, is it?"

Oswald smiles. "You are kind for coming by to see me, Dominic. But yes, my life is not an easy one. You see, I come from a long line of weather forecasting groundhogs. It is my job to predict whether an early Spring will occur. That is it. That is my job. I do not cause weather. I do not create weather. If I had that kind of power, there would be an early Spring every year, and I would just stay in bed. But those stupid humans, um, no offense, Dominic, expect me to come out of my hole and do a weather dance for them every year."

Dominic chuckles. "No offense taken, Oswald. So how do you know when an early Spring is going to occur?"

Oswald smiles again. "I have a subterranean garden, Dominic. Within that garden, I have some special herbs and flowers growing there. There is one herb that blooms in the last week of January. If it blooms with a sweet fragrant scent, then I know there will be six more weeks of Winter. I know this because when the herb blooms with the sweet scent, it is no good, and must be thrown outside. Some humans noticed that I was tossing refuse out of my hole every year on a certain day, and they noticed the weather had a lot to do with my appearance."

Dominic nods his head. "And what kind of scent does the blooming herb have if it is good?"

Oswald smiles. "It has a sour and repugnant scent. That tells me that it has developed well, and is good for various medicines that I can make. I am sure you've heard the old saying, -the worse it tastes, the better it is for what ails you-."

Dominic laughs. Oswald laughs too. Dominic smiles, then replies, "So there is some truth in those old wives tales. Have you ever been wrong in your predictions?"

Oswald hums. "Very rarely. What really messes up the growing clock is the Leap Years. Every four years, the herbs bloom strangely. I use that word because the scents are hard to discern whether they are sweet or sour. Some just smell nice. So, every four years, I am at a loss to predict correctly the coming of an early Spring."

Dominic nods his head. "How many groundhog months are there in a year?"

Oswald smiles. "Now you are getting into the old Celtic groundhog areas, and is something I know more about. There are 13 months in a groundhog year; the thirteenth month falling between what humans would call July and August. We groundhogs call that month, Herath, which literally means, -month of the earth-. It also marks reverence to the goddess Hera, to which I am sure she is pleased to be recognized. Each month has a total of 28 days. That gives us a total of 364 days, with an extra day added to the calendar every four years. That extra day originally occurred on the day after harvest, giving those people who were harvesting one more day to celebrate the harvest times. Some fool came along and assigned names to each day of the week completely screwing up the original calendar. Then to make things even more screwed up, another fool decided that the number 13 was unlucky. So he went off and decided there should only be a dozen months. But he had to assign so many days to each month, and he saw that the number was not going to come out even. His solution was to decide that there was 365 days in each year, every year, and he divided that by 12 and got roughly 30 days and 31 days. He thought he was being smart, but all he did was mess up the seasonal timer. More recently, some stupid scientists noticed that the Earth revolved so many times every four years, so they added back in the forgotten day. But they stupidly did their research on a leap year, so naturally they calculated wrongly."

Dominic nods his head again. "So, a groundhog year is what we humans would call a lunar year." He hums for a moment, the asks, "Do groundhogs conduct astrological charts?"

Oswald smiles. "That we do. There are about 17 or 18 days in each astrological cycle. Humans stupidly made this number 21 to 22 days, and that is just wrong. I mean, poor old Gryphus totally got left out of the zodiac when the humans changed things."

Dominic raises an eye. "Gryphus?"

Oswald nods his head. "Gryphus the griffin. His position was between Cancerus and Leonidus, and his element was the heavens. We groundhogs keep track of these important things."

Dominic nods his head, and smiles. "It is good that someone keeps this information in check, Oswald. I would never have known about this, had I not asked you about it."

Oswald nods his head too. "Someone has to, or no one will." He yawns. "My, it is late. I should have been in bed hours ago. I have to get some sleep before the blooming of my herbs. I certainly thank you for coming by. This has been a lot of fun." He stands up, and escorts Dominic back to the tunnels where he found him. "I will cherish your visit for quite a while."

Dominic smiles and waves his paw as Oswald heads back down the tunnels. Dominic closes his eyes and concentrates. "Take me back to the office in my mansion."

Dominic opens his eyes once again as a human, and sees that he has returned to his office. The white stag looks up from the love seat and smiles. "Ready to head to Eros' Island, Dominic?"

Dominic smiles. "In just a moment. I think I need to go relieve myself first. I shall be right back." Dominic heads off to the bathroom. Some 15 minutes later, he returns to the office looking very much more relaxed. "Okay, I am ready to go see Eros."

The white stag gets up. "I will handle the transport this time. I can get us within Eros' personal chambers." The white stag concentrates, and the shimmering gateway appears in the office. The white stag and Dominic walk through the shimmering portal to Eros' Hidden Island.

Dominic and the white stag, arrives within Eros' personal chambers. This time around, Dominic is still a human, for which he is thankful. Eros himself is sitting on the edge of his gazing pool staring deeply into the waters. He does not even notice that he has visitors. The white stag clears his throat loudly, "Erf, Lord Eros."

Eros looks up and sees Dominic and the white stag. "Oh, hello. I do not get many visitors these days. You look like a fine couple. Well, just hold still and I will make you both fall madly in love with one another."

The white stag raises an eye and quickly, as well as sharply, exclaims, "NO! Wait, Lord Eros. We are not here for that. We are here for a different reason." Dominic feels a bit sad that the white stag stopped Eros in time, but remains quiet until called on to speak.

Eros arches an eye. "You're not here for one of my special love remedies? That is certainly a change. Then why are you here?"

The white stag replies, "This is Dominic Bastian Vanlyone. He wanted to interview you about Valentines Day and your participation in that holiday's activities."

Eros walks over to Dominic and shakes his hand, while placing his other hand on Dominic's shoulder. "So you are the one I've been hearing about. Then perhaps you can help me. I have a problem."

Dominic turns his head and arches an eye at Eros. "You want the help of a mere mortal? What can I do that you could not do? You are the god of love."

Eros sighs sadly. "I am the god of love, but I cannot force someone to fall in love with me. I am not like that. I have discovered a beautiful woman and seek to woo her. But I am afraid she will not like me."

The white stag speaks up suddenly. "Lord Eros. The last time you had a mortal get involved to help you, the woman fell in love with the mortal, and you were outraged so much, that you exacted revenge on the very person you asked aid from."

Eros nods his head. "Yes, I made a mistake then. But this time, the situation is different. The woman I love is the goddess, Artemis."

Dominic blinks his eyes! "You want me to talk to Artemis for you? I am not even sure she would want to see me again after having helped me just a few months ago."

Eros sighs sadly. "If you will not help me, then I will not give you the information you seek."

The white stag replies, "That is just plain petty, Lord Eros. And arrogant, as befitting of your nature. Dominic came seeking knowledge, and you try to use him to gain what you desire."

Eros glares at the white stag. "It is my right to ask for something in return for any service that is requested from me. Have you forgotten, white stag? It is my right as a god."

The white stag turns to look at Dominic. "Come, Dominic. We will gain no information here. Perhaps Cupid will be more talkative."

Eros lifts his head suddenly. "You would go talk to that mischievous imp of lust rather than help me and gain willing information?"

The white stag replies, "You aren't giving us much choice, Lord Eros. You've already stated that you will not give up the information you have without a cost. And Dominic is correct about Artemis. She will not want to see him so soon after helping him this last time. Come, Dominic, I know where we can find Cupid."

The white stag and Dominic turn away from Eros. Suddenly they both feel something sharp pierce their backsides. The white stag turns and catches a glimpse of Dominic, as Dominic also turns and sees the white stag's facial interest. The white stag continues to turn his head back to Eros, who is still holding his magic bow of love. "You didn't?"

Eros simply replies, "Go on. Go see Cupid now. That is, if you can get to where Cupid is. Turn your backs on me and this is what you will get."

Dominic speaks up now. "Eros, your arrow has not affected me."

Eros blinks his eyes. "What do you mean? You have to be affected. No one is immune to my magic arrows."

Dominic places his hands on his hips. "No one is immune unless they are already in love with the first person they look on."

Eros' mouth drops open. "But, but, but I can see that the white stag is deeply affected now."

Dominic sighs sadly, "Yes, he is affected. But I am not affected. You see, I am already in love with the white stag, but he was not in love with me in that particular way. I have known his true feelings about me for quite some time. I was his Earthly interest, but as far as love went, he did not love me as a boyfriend. Now you have forced him to fall in love with me."

Eros sighs and turns away. "He is right. I am arrogant. How could I have been so stupid? Artemis could never love me. I am a fool."

Dominic approaches Eros. "I did not say I would not talk to her. I did not say anything like that. You overreacted to the situation. I would've attempted to go see her for you, but the white stag insisted we go elsewhere. And I respect him enough to do as he says. Do you respect Artemis? Or is the feeling you have for her just boyish lust?"

Eros turns to look Dominic directly in the face. "I love her. I do. At least, I think I do." He suddenly realizes what Dominic means by respecting others. "You are correct. At the moment, I lust for her. How can I know love if not given the chance?"

Dominic replies, "You must show her that you respect her. Sending someone in your place will not resolve true feelings between the two of you. She might even resent being bothered by something so trivial. You alone must tell Artemis that you care about her, and really mean it."

Tears are running down Eros' face now. "You, you are right. I must show her that I care about her first. If love comes from that, then I will have what I sought after."

Dominic glances over his shoulder to the white stag. "Is there anything you can do about what you did to the white stag? Traveling with him might be difficult if he is trying to mount me every step of the way."

Eros sighs as he glances over at the white stag. "That is a problem. I can cause love, but I cannot undo the affects of my magic arrows. After all, I am a lesser power among the pantheon that my mother is proudly a member of. I am sorry. I have most likely ruined his life."

Dominic blinks his eyes. "There is no cure at all?"

Eros shakes his head. "If there is a cure, the other gods did not tell me what it was. You see, once I infect someone with the urges of love, they must consummate their love with the first person they looked on. And he looked on you, Dominic. I am sorry."

Dominic hums. "If you are truly sorry, then you will give me the information that I came here for."

Eros nods his head. "Very well. I will tell you what you sought to know. It was the Romans who began the nonsense of having one special day that I would be allowed to infect people with unbreakable love. I did not want anything to do with their nonsense, so I assigned Cupid to handle that faction of the new holiday. That is all I can tell you. Cupid himself would have to tell you the rest."

Dominic nods his head. "And how may I locate Cupid? The white stag is in no condition for leading me anywhere. I am going to have to lead him."

Eros replies, "Cupid lives in a series of heavily scented chambers that I call the labyrinth of lust. It is located on the far side of this island. You cannot mistake the entrance; just use your nose. It will be the open doorway that has the smell of sweet perfumes emitting from it."

Dominic nods his head. "Thank you, Eros. And may you have the best of luck with Artemis." Dominic walks back over to the white stag, and placing an arm around the white stag's neck, begins slowly leading him out of Eros' chambers and across the island towards Cupid's place.

Traveling becomes difficult because of the condition that the white stag is in. Several times, he gets away from Dominic, only to return a few minuted later with a mouth full of flowers to give to Dominic. As it becomes nightfall, Dominic finally gets the white stag up to the entrance to Cupid's lusty maze. The white stag bolts inside the maze before Dominic can stop him. Dominic quickly follows the white stag, but soon, is himself lost within the labyrinth. Dominic sighs, then slowly tries to find his white cervine friend.

Dominic enters a chamber and sees the white stag standing there looking to the left and the right. Dominic exclaims, "I finally found you. Let's go find Cupid, then get out of here."

The white stag turns towards Dominic, and that was when Dominic saw that this is not his friend the white stag, but another white stag entirely. This white stag tackles Dominic immediately, pinning him to the floor. "Yes, human, you found me. I have been lost in this maze for centuries now, and I am horny with lust. You are going to help me satisfy my lustful cravings." He brutally began to destroy Dominic's clothing. Dominic tries fighting this white stag off him, but he is much stronger than his white cervine friend. Dominic is soon naked, his clothes torn and strewn all over the chamber. This white stag then rolls Dominic over and mounts him roughly, his front cloven hooves cutting into Dominic's shoulders, and his hardened pointed shaft brutally penetrating Dominic's anal hole. Dominic continues trying to fight off the horny cervine, but failing more and more. Dominic is mastered and battered repeatedly until he passes into unconsciousness.

When Dominic awakens much later, he is lying on the floor of the chamber, nude, and covered in blood, sweat, and cervine seed. The stag who did this to him is still mounted atop him, but was no longer bashing Dominic in the backside. The white stag stranger whispers into Dominic's ear very lightly. "Sorry I cut you with my fore hooves, but you helped me relieve an ages old feeling."

Dominic painfully replies, "How do you get to arrive here?"

The stranger white stag replies, "A human caught me and requested three wishes. I granted the wishes to the best of my ability, but he was not satisfied. After the first wish, he requested all the money in the world. At the time, that would have been an impossible request unless all the money in a king's treasury were borrowed to grant the man his wish. When the king's guards tracked down the man and went to arrest him, he scowled at me for ruining his life. With his third wish, he sent me one way to these chambers. His exact words were -I wish you were lost in a maze of lustiness-, I think. And I was transported here immediately. Because I granted the wish, I cannot ever leave. I have been in here for centuries. Then you came along, and I could not hold myself back anymore, and I jumped you immediately to alleviate my overwhelming feelings of horny lust. But I should not have done this to you. I apologize."

Dominic sighs. "I guess that means I was the first one you saw in here. My friend, the other white stag, ran into this maze, and I followed him. I lost him almost immediately, and then, I could not find my way out. Then after a while, I found you."

The stranger white stag replies, "And now, you are lost with me in this maze of lust. If you found me, then you are more lost than you realize. I am permanently lost. Because it was a wish that granted this condition, that means I should not be allowed to encounter anyone at all. Because you are here now, I have to assume that you are now permanently lost with me."

Dominic painfully adjusts his bloodied shoulders, letting out a sharp cry of pain as he moves.

The stranger white stag sighs, then begins licking Dominic's wounds carefully. "Let me wash your wounds. It's the least I can do after trapping you here with me."

A few hours later, all Dominic's wounds are licked clean and the two of them are sitting off in one corner of the chamber casually talking.

Dominic suddenly looks to the stranger white stag with a wandering gaze, and exclaims, "Can you still grant wishes?"

The stranger white stag arches his eye, thinks a moment, then replies, "Yes, that is one power I still have. But I cannot grant my own wishes."

Dominic replies, "What if you were to grant me three wishes, as per the rules for someone catching a white stag? Technically, you caught me, but since we are both lost in this maze, it's worth a shot. One thing I could wish for is for you to not be lost in a maze of lust anymore."

The stranger white stag arches an eye. "You'd do that for me?"

Dominic replies, "I cannot really blame you for jumping me out of lust. I probably would've done the same thing. And unless you are looking forward to being stuck here for another few centuries, we do not really have much to lose."

The stranger white stag nods his head, then focuses his power. "Very well. You may now make your wishes. What is your first desire?"

Dominic hums, then replies, "I hope you do not mind, but my friend, the other white stag is affected by one of Eros' arrows. My first wish is for my friend, the white stag that I know, to be released from Eros' power of unbreakable love."

The stranger white stag nods his head and there is a noticeable affect. "Your first wish surprises me, but I am pleased that you respect the friendship of your friend and most likely my cousin, the white stag. What is your second wish?"

Dominic exclaims, "I respect the white stag because I love him. Now, my second wish is for you to be released from the affects of the harmful wish that caused you to be here in the first place."

The stranger white stag nods his head and again there was a noticeable affect. The stranger white stag seems to glow for a moment. "Yes, I feel that I have been freed. I owe you my life, Dominic. What is your last wish?"

Dominic replies, "I wish for everyone in world to have a very merry Christmas. I want everyone to be happy on Christmas Day."

The stranger white stag arches his eye. "Are you sure that is what you want? I could restore your clothing. I could undo any lasting damage I did to you."

Dominic sighs and looks around the chamber. "Clothes can be replaced and wounds can heal. If you want me to wish for something personal, then I would wish for the everlasting friendship with the white stags of the world."

The stranger white stag smiles, then nods his head. If there is an affect, it is not noticeable this time. The stranger white stag looks to Dominic and exclaimed, "Get on my back. I will take you to the other white stag. He is looking for you." Dominic gets on the stranger white stag's back, and together, they head off through the chambers and corridors of the maze.

About a hour later, Dominic is reunited with his white cervine friend. The stranger white stag explained what all happened to Dominic and of how he had attacked Dominic from the affects of the power of lust within this maze. The white stag nuzzled his cousin's cheek and forgave him showing a surprising degree of compassion. The white stag explained to Dominic that Cupid was not even on the island, so it was wise to return to the mansion, for now.

Together, the three walk through the shimmering gate, and return to Dominic's bedroom. Dominic smiles, hugs his friend, then heads into the master bathroom to shower himself clean. A hour later, Dominic emerges from the bathroom looking much better and refreshed. While the white stags watch, Dominic gets dressed in some casual clothing, and puts on his socks and tennis shoes. Dominic walks over and sits between his two white cervine friends, and pulls them both into a friendly hug.

Later, they were downstairs in the office again. Damon Horse just shakes his head when he sees the second white stag. Dominic smiles and hugs Damon. The demon horse smiles and hugs Dominic back. Dominic sits behind his desk, then replies, "What holiday creatures are left? Let's see. The leprechaun (St. Patrick's Day), the bunny (Easter), and the spring satyr (May Day)."

The white stag replies, "The leprechaun of St. Patrick's Day currently would be Hagen O'Reilly. The bunny of Easter is either Howard Bunny (Europe) or Rowan Bunny (North America). The satyr of spring is, of course, Pan, whom you've met already."

Damon grins. "Hagan will not talk to anyone. He is a recluse. Catching him would be difficult. Howard Bunny is on his honeymoon with his mate, so I do not think you should bother him. Rowan Bunny lives in lower Virginia or upper North Carolina. As for Pan, that would mean another trip to Egidius Island where humans turn into teenagers."

Dominic shudders as he remembers his last trip to Egidius Island. "Maybe I can make arrangements with Pan to meet at an alternate location."

The white stag hums, then exclaims, "Dominic, why don't you go see Rowan Bunny. That should be safe enough."

Damon grins. "Yeah right! Rowan Bunny lives in the Furry Realms in a tiny village called Trail Down. Once a year, Rowan is magically brought forth to the Earth, and has the one night to go around and hide his eggs. The rest of his time is spent in that tiny village. And no one has any idea what goes on in that village the rest of the time."

Dominic arches an eye at Damon. "How is it that you know so much, Damon?"

Damon smiles. "As a Demon General, I have access to a lot of privy information."

The stranger white stag exclaims, "While you are off doing that, Dominic, I will go make arrangements with Pan, so the two of you may meet safely somewhere."

Dominic smiles. "Thank you. I do appreciate it." Dominic steps back into the center of the office, closes his eyes, and concentrates. "Take me to Rowan Bunny in Trail Down."

When Dominic opens his eyes, he finds himself in some kind of dimly lit gathering hall. All around him are other anthropomorphic people: rabbits, foxes, and skunks. They are mainly male, but a few females are present too. Dominic gazes on himself and sees that his is a nondescript rabbit, like the other rabbits who are gathered here. A male skunk leans on Dominic's shoulder and whispers, "Who are you betting on, chum?"

Dominic blinks his eyes, and looks at the skunk. "I just got here. What are my choices?"

The male skunk replies, "You can either bet on Rowan or you can bet on Faust."

Dominic asks, "What do I win if I bet on the correct person?"

The male skunk arches an eye, then pulls away cautiously, without a word, and mingles into the crowd. A large anthropomorphic wolf walks up to Dominic and inquires, "Was that skunk trying to get you to place a bet?"

Dominic honestly responds, "Actually, yes. He was asking me who I wanted to bet on. Is something wrong?"

The large anthropomorphic wolf replies, "The only things wrong are that gambling is illegal in these here parts. You are not from around here, are you?"

Dominic replies, "No, I am from the central region of the continent. My name is Dominic Bastian Vanlyone. I came here to talk to Rowan Bunny, but I do not see him anywhere."

The large anthropomorphic wolf replies, "My name is Captain Maximilian Clayton. I am an officer with the law enforcing contingent of knights who operate in this area. You may call me either Captain or Max or Captain Clayton." He hums for a moment. "Your name sounds familiar to me."

Dominic smiles. "I helped the unicorns get on the Earthly endangered species list recently."

Max arches an eye then grins. "Oh that is keen! I knew your name sound familiar. It is a honor to meet you." He hugs Dominic tightly. "You say you are here to talk to Rowan? Come with me. I will take you to where he is. But I will warn you now. He and that upstart Flash are in jail. They caused a public disturbance then they induced an outbreak of gambling fever. They had to be thrown in jail for their own safety. You see, they are drunk."

Dominic sighs and replies, "Drunk. Just my luck. When do you think they will be sober once again?"

Max thinks about it for a moment. "I am not too sure. They put away a lot of that ambrosia wine that the rabbits create in this region. It is strong stuff. Strong enough to knock out an anthropomorphic barbarian bear of the Northern regions. If you want to talk to him, you will have to wait until they are both sober again. If I allow you in his cell now, you might get inadvertently hurt by Rowan. He is not in his right mind at the moment."

Dominic nods his head. "Okay. Then I will wait until he becomes sober enough to talk to. But, meanwhile, what is with this large crowd?"

Max replies, "This is Trail Down's town hall. These people are gathered here to discuss the upcoming annual Easter Bunny competition. Rowan would normally win the competition every year. But lately, he has been so reckless in his actions. It is almost like he is under an evil spell. I have never seen Rowan act so foolhardy before, and frankly, I am concerned."

Dominic hums. "So you think that whatever is affecting Rowan is not a normal occurrence. Am I right?"

Max replies, "Pretty much so. I just cannot figure out what the problem would be or where it originates. The other knights think I have been near the Trail Down people too long. But I am not wrong about this."

Dominic nods his head. "Would you accept my help towards solving this problem?"

Max smiles and replies, "Oh, I hoped you would offer your services towards solving this dilemma. I humbly accept your offer. There are certain things I cannot do or cannot go in to. But you are a rabbit. So, they might allow you access to those areas that I am not allowed in to. I strongly suspect the winery on the Southern edge of town. Rowan was in his right mind before visiting that place. Afterwards, he was suddenly a major problem."

Dominic nods his head. "Shall we go check out this winery then?"

Max lowers his voice. "I think you should go there by yourself. Every town's person in the village is here at the town hall today, so you will most likely be able to go to the winery and not encounter any resistance. I have to make sure everyone stays here. Good luck, my friend."

Dominic again nods his head, then slowly makes his way through the crowd and outside the town hall. Once outside, Dominic heads Southwards to the town's winery complex. He quietly enters the silent building, and moves forward along the primary hall. The winery proves to be very clean. Nothing is out of place. Dominic then heads into the supply storage building. There is a familiar smell in the air as soon as he enters the chamber. Dominic arches an eye, then begins to look over each box and sack. He traces the smell to a large open bag on one table. Dominic looks into the open sack and sees a white powdery substance. He carefully lowers his nose down to the substance and cautiously takes a sniff. He straightens up instantly as a strange power seems to take over his senses and body. Dominic sneezes, then exits the building, and takes several deep intakes of fresh air. His eyes are large, his heartbeat racing, and his nerves on edge. "Good gods! That was cocaine. I hope they are not putting that into the wine. I had better go inform Captain Max." Dominic turns to leave the grounds, but his return path is blocked by three large hares.

Hare number one says, "Looks like we gots us a snooper."

Hare number two replies, "Yeah, we do. You know what this means, don't you?"

Hare number three exclaims, "Catch him. Tie him up. And force him to drink the new wine."

Dominic excitedly replies, "Oh no you won't either!" And he bolts back into the complex itself. The large hares immediately give chase. As Dominic is emerging from the Southern side of the winery, a projected lightning bolt just barely misses his head as it strikes its target: the three hares. They are knocked down and burnt from the spell immediately. Dominic looks to the source of the destructive spell. Standing before him, holding a glowing long wooden pole with a metallic ball on it's tip, was a tall female rabbit furry with black fur.

The familiar female Magi smiled and exclaimed, "Yes. A perfect shot. Am I good or what?"

Dominic smiles as he recognizes Warneeri, the female magician he had met a few months earlier. "Warneeri! I never thought I would see you here, but I am glad to see you."

Warneeri chuckles as she recognizes Dominic's voice. "Dominic! Why are you here?" He then looks over his rabbit form. "I see. You are here in disguise. That means there IS trouble at this winery. I knew something was up when the guards would not let me enter my own home town."

Dominic stops to catch his breath. Then he looks to Warneeri and replies, "I am very surprised to see you. I thought you went to train under Valerian Mouse."

Warneeri grins. "Yes, I did do that for a little while, but after I learned everything I could from him, which means I snooped around and scribed all his spells into my own spell book, I returned to the Furry Realms. I got together with Garla Canopyskimmer, Brand Irondam, and Huckleberry Slyfingers to have another adventure. We met with a male fox knight named Chance Eaton who was telling us about some trouble here in my home region. So, we packed up our gear and tracked our way here to see what was taking place. And now, we encounter you, Dominic."

Dominic exclaims, "The new wine they have created is laced with a drug called cocaine. It has the power to transform drastically a person's personality from however they are normally into a beastly creature that even the victim's friends would not recognize. It is a very dangerous drug, Warneeri. And, they have been giving this wine to unsuspecting people around the region. I originally came here to talk to Rowan Bunny, but he is affected by the new wine."

Warneeri listened carefully to Dominic's explanation. Then she replies, "We will rendezvous with the others, then we will head into Trail Down itself, as a group. The others will be pleased to see you again. But I must comment on your appearance. You look better as a human." She giggles.

Moments later, Warneeri leads Dominic into the furry adventurer's encampment. Garla looks upon from her spot next to Brand, and exclaims, "Gosh, Warneeri. Who's your cute friend?"

Warneeri glares icicles at Garla and replies, "It's Dominic Vanlyone. He is in disguise."

Dominic smiles. "Hello Garla. How's the priestly business?"

Garla smiles and jumps from her seat. She gives Dominic a big hug. "Dominic! It is you. I am so glad to see you." She kisses him. "What brings you to this side of the Furry Realms?"

Dominic settles down into the encampment and explains how he came to be here, why he is a rabbit, and about what he has learned about the Trail Down winery. Everyone in the encampment listens to his story carefully.

Then, Chance Eaton nods his head, replying, "Yes, it is exactly as I have been saying. Big trouble in Trail Down. You say you spoke to Captain Clayton? Good. That means he is still trying to keep the peace in town."

Dominic nods his head. "And it is a difficult task too. The town's people are upset because he locked up Rowan Bunny and another rabbit named Flash in the town jail."

Warneeri arches an eye. "Why did you not mention that part before? Flash is my brother. We cannot allow this to continue. When do we storm the town?"

Huckleberry Slyfingers exclaims, "For once, I agree with Warneeri. I do not see why we should have to sleep another night in this cold brisk weather while the town itself is just over that hill. I say we head into town right now."

Dominic looks at Huck. "Do you remember back when I accidentally walked into the Equipixy circle? This time, the town over the hill is like the Equipixy circle with hidden dangers around every corner. Do you still want to just flock into the town without knowing what the facts are?"

Huck stops and quietly sits back down once again. "I am sorry, Dominic. I am just edgy about being so close to a town and having to stay here in the temporary camp. I am starting to miss sleeping in a warm bed, and having a real roof over my head."

Brand just grumbles something undecipherable. Brand Irondam had not changed a bit. He disliked towns and preferred the wilderness. It was obvious that he was not looking forward to entering any town no matter how close it was.

Dominic hums. "I hate to break this to you, but I am only here to talk to Rowan Bunny. Once I accomplish that, I will immediately be teleported back to my mansion and into my human form again. But I will help you all I can until that event happens. As soon as midnight arrives, we sneak into Trail Down and try to locate Rowan and Flash. For some unknown reason, I get the feeling that those two bunnies are not in jail, but being held somewhere else."

Chance arches an eye. "But Captain Clayton said to you that Rowan and Flash were in jail."

Dominic looks at Chance. "The large anthropomorphic wolf I spoke to claimed to be Captain Maximilian Clayton. He certainly did not act like any militant person I have ever met before. And I was ambushed when I went to investigate the winery."

Chance blinks his eyes. "Captain Clayton is an anthropomorphic fox, as I am. The captain must be in trouble. We have to save him." Chance pulls his sword. "What are you all waiting for?"

Warneeri replies, "As Dominic suggested, we wait until midnight. As much as I want to storm into the town and fire off a few of my destructive spells, Dominic does have a point. Trail Down is currently a hive of unknowns. The only one I knew there was Flash. So if my brother is in trouble, then I should not do anything that might accidentally get him injured. The same goes for your Captain Clayton. If we charged in there and one of my spells hit him, it might kill him. Is that what you want, Chance? If not, then settle down. We wait. That is all there is to it."

Chance settles down beside Huck and stares into the fire. "I only wait because I do not want to be the only one who enters the town. And, I can see the logic in waiting. But I am still worried about Captain Clayton."

Dominic stands up and as he is walking by Brand, he quietly motions for the otter archer to come with him. Brand gets up and heads off into the darkness with Dominic. No one else bothers to follow them. Once away from the camp, Dominic relieves himself behind a tree, then quietly looks to Brand and whispers, "I know you do not want to enter Trail Down but your Scouting skills are needed once again. You and I need to locate Rowan, Flash, and Captain Clayton before midnight."

Brand smiles. He liked working with Dominic. The human, who was now a rabbit, was always full of surprises and useful suggestions. Brand nods his head, and leads the way to the outskirts of Trail Down itself. Quietly moving through the shadows around the town, Brand and Dominic creep along the ground, occasionally listening to doors and peering through windows. Brand proves himself invaluable as he locates the building where the prisoners were being secretly held.

Brand and Dominic lie in wait for the midnight hour. When midnight did arrive, Dominic and Brand hear a massive explosion coming from the winery itself. Good old predictable Warneeri. She must have launched a Fireball into the winery. And as everyone knows, alcohol is highly flammable. The evil wolves leave the prisoners and run down towards the winery. After they are gone, Dominic and Brand enter the building, and untie the prisoners. Brand then leads the small group out of the building and to the safety of the adventurers encampment. Garla, who remained in camp, is glad to see Brand and Dominic return with Rowan, Flash, and the real Captain Clayton. Garla begins working on curing the former prisoners from the affects of the drugged wine. A hour later, Warneeri, Huck, and Chance return to the encampment, and are pleased to see that the prisoners had been freed, and cured of the vile affects of the drug. Chance hugs Captain Clayton, while Warneeri hugs Flash. Dominic pulls Rowan into Brand's tent and sits him down.

Dominic smiles. "I hope you are feeling well enough to talk to me. I came a long way just to see you, Rowan. I will try to make this short because I know you need rest after this terrible ordeal. First, I am Dominic Bastian Vanlyone. The human who helped the unicorns get on the endangered species list. I would like to learn from you is how you got started as the American Easter Bunny."

Rowan slowly smiles and replies, "I have heard of you. Well, I was selected by my uncle, Howard Bunny. He said I had the right potential to do this job. Howard trained me in the art of channeling, and taught me the magic spell for transporting myself back and forth from the Furry Realms and your Earth. It is amazing that I am able to hide all those eggs and other surprises in just one night." He yawns tiredly. "I really need to get some rest. I am sorry I cannot tell you more than that, Dominic. I promise that I will make it up to you."

Dominic nods his head, then carefully lays Rowan down and covers him up with some warm blankets. Then Dominic heads out of the tent and chats with his furry friends one last time. Finally, Dominic steps away from his friends, closes his eyes and concentrates. "Take me back to the office in my mansion."

Dominic opens his eyes once again as a human, and sees that he has returned to his office. The lights are off in the room itself, and Dominic now yawns as well. He heads out of his office, and upstairs to his bedroom. He gets undressed and climbs into bed. That is when he realizes that the two white stags are asleep in his bed. He smiles and carefully hugs them both gently. Dominic then cuddles up between his white cervine friends and falls asleep.

The next morning, Dominic awoke feeling stiff. The two white stags were, of course, nowhere to be seen. Dominic chuckles, then gets out of bed and takes a shower. After drying himself and getting dressed, Dominic heads downstairs and into the kitchen. Damon is fixing breakfast and the stranger white stag is standing near the kitchen table. Dominic sits down next to the stranger white stag, and hugs him gently. Dominic leans over and whispers into the cervine's ear. "Thank you." The white cervine smiles and nuzzles Dominic's chin. Damon turns and serves breakfast on the table. Damon sits down and quietly eats breakfast with Dominic and the white cervine.

Dominic smiles at his cervine friend. "Where is the white stag this morning?"

The stranger white stag tilts his head and replies, "He had another emergency to go attend to."

Dominic arches an eye. "Another emergency? Good gods. The white stag takes off at the oddest times." Dominic sighs. "I almost never see him anymore."

The white cervine nuzzles Dominic again. "I know. But he is very popular among his circle of contacts. You are not the only one he pays attention to." The white cervine sees Dominic's facial expression and adds, "I am here, Dominic. And I have very good news for you. I was able to arrange things with Pan to meet with you. But he wants you to come back to the hidden islands. I explained to him that it would not be wise if you met with him on Egidius Island because of the youth enchantment. So Pan has agreed to meet with you on Vaunyai Island. Faunus' home island. Pan was surprisingly very cooperative. He certainly likes you, Dominic."

Dominic nods his head and smiles. "I cannot imagine why. But he is a very good person to know. So, when am I supposed to meet with him?"

The white cervine replies, "Whenever you think you are ready to go meet with him. Pan told me that he would wait for you on Vaunyai Island for the next three days. If you arrived during that time, he would spend some time with you and tell you whatever you needed to know. If you arrived too late, you would have to spend a week on the island before he returned to spend some time with you. Since it is Faunus' island, you would most likely encounter many fauns, goats, and sheep. From what I know of that island, it is very peaceful and easy to settle into the fix of things there."

Dominic again nods his head. "Were you going to teleport me there or am I to use Robin Goodfellow's Ring again?"

The white cervine smiles. "Seeing you naked in a satyr's body or a faun's body would be interesting but I think I should take you there myself. I will not be there while you speak with Pan. Damon and I have other plans for the next few days. But I will return before a week has passed, if the weather permits, and retrieve you from the island to bring you home."

Dominic smiles. "I cannot wait to get there." Dominic finishes his breakfast, then under the white cervine's guidance, Dominic changes into his Summer camping clothes, packs together his large tent, a few changes of clothes, and some other camping utensils. Dominic then lugs all his gear down to his office and stands beside his white cervine friend.

A few minutes later, the stranger white stag has teleported Dominic and his camping gear to the agreed upon meeting area between two small grassy hills and beneath a small copse of trees on Vaunyai Island. Dominic begins setting up his campsite immediately. The stranger white stag bids Dominic farewell, then teleports back to Dominic's mansion. Dominic spends the rest of the evening completing the process of setting up his camp and tent. Dominic finishes as the sun is setting. It was strange that there was still no sign of Pan at the meeting spot. Dominic decides to rest inside his tent for the remainder of the evening, then gets back up to fix himself some dinner.

Dominic waits around for a few hours, then yawns tiredly and lays himself down for the night.

The next morning, Dominic gets up and looks around. Pan is still nowhere in sight. Dominic begins to wonder if an emergency cropped up at the last second, forcing Pan to delay his trip to this island. Dominic pulls on his swimming trunks, then emerges from the tent and begins the preparation of his breakfast. A hour later, Dominic cleans up the dishes and stores everything away. He climbs up to the top of the nearest hill to get a better view of his surroundings. The entire island is very beautiful and peaceful. Roving hills of tall grasses for grazing and small forest copses of quiet trees for the needed seclusion that a faun would desire. Dominic started wondering where all the fauns, sheep, and goats were. He was on Vaunyai Island, wasn't he? Dominic headed back down into his camp and digs out a book he had been meaning to read these past few months. Dominic quickly immerses himself in the adventures of Kyle Starley of Space Command. (See F2) The rest of the day passes quietly. When the evening arrives, Dominic puts away the book, and prepares his dinner. After a good hot meal, Dominic heads into his tent and sleeps.

Dominic was just finishing his breakfast and was looking around the peaceful surroundings for the umpteenth time. Where was Pan? Dominic decides to explore his immediate surroundings and see if he can determine why no one has appeared in this area. Dominic puts on his hiking shoes and a light short sleeved shirt, then heads off out of the copse of trees and unto the other hilltop. Dominic searches around for the signs of anyone or any animal he can find on the island. He thought it unusual that Pan would agree to this arrangement then not show up at the designated location. Dominic hikes deeper into the island's interior looking for the signs of any thing's recent passage. Part way through the day, Dominic hears the sounds of thunder and immediately starts to seek a dry place to wait out the coming storm. Dominic gets caught in the downpour of rain from the arriving storm, becoming soaked to the bone. A hour later, Dominic finds the large entrance of a dry cave almost hidden just behind a larger and denser copse of trees. Dominic heads into the back of the cavern away from the wet entrance. He removes his wet clothes and water absorbed shoes, laying them out to dry. Dominic takes a short breath then releases it slowly. "Damned Aegean Sea storms!" When he was caught outside in the storm itself, Dominic was not fortunate to be in a dry sheltered location at the time, and wondered how his original camp and tent would fair through this storm.

That night, Dominic sat in the cavern quietly while listening to the thundering and extremely wet storm. He checked his clothes again but they were too wet to be comfortable. Dominic sighs and tries to get comfortable in his corner of the cavern. He uneasily falls asleep on the floor of the cavern.

Dominic awakens feeling stiff the next morning. He also awakens feeling warm fur pressed against his naked body. He can still hear the thundering Mediterranean storm continuing outside the cavern. Dominic raises his head a little and notices that the cavern is now jam-packed with tons of goats, sheep, and fauns. In fact, a male faun was lying on one side of Dominic still fast asleep. On Dominic's other side is a giant sized male goat, thus explaining where most of the furry warmth was originating from. The goat was facing Dominic, and was currently awake. The large goat smiles and licks Dominic's cheeks.

Then the goat surprises Dominic and exclaims, "You must be Dominic. Pan told us to be on the lookout for you. He saw your abandoned camp just before the storm started battering the region. Fortunately, you chose the only safe gathering cavern on the island. And the only cavern large enough for the entire goat herd to gather in when these storms strike."

Dominic blinks his eyes. "You can talk?"

The large goat smiles. "All animals can talk, Dominic. The thing is, most of us choose not to unless we feel we really have to speak. Then, we only have the most important things to say."

Dominic nods his head. It was a good explanation. It also explained a lot of those moments when you are alone and you think you hear a voice telling you something, but if you look around for the speaker, you can never find who is speaking to you.

Dominic's thoughts returned to the present as the large goat licks Dominic's face again and nuzzles his neck slowly. Dominic hugs the goat back before remembering what exactly he is doing. By that time, the large goat has rolled over on top of Dominic and is rubbing on and along Dominic's naked body. The large goat exclaims, "My name is Ramses. I am the lead buck of this herd."

Dominic nods his head again. "Are you just interested in me or something?"

Ramses replies, "Pan said you were good in bed."

Dominic blinks his eyes, then remembers that Pan would most likely say something like that. "And you want to find out if it is true?"

Ramses just smiles for a short moment, then replies, "Maybe later. At the moment I am keeping you warm. Your clothes were sop and wet, so I had the fauns lay your clothes up on one of the cavern ledges to dry. We needed the floor space in the cavern for the entire herd. You were asleep, but looked cold. And Pan told us to make sure you were well taken care of."

Dominic nods his head and relaxes his body underneath Ramses' warm furry goat body. The rest of the day passes with Dominic and Ramses discussing several topics and other goat related subjects. That night, the storm outside intensifies in strength, while inside the cavern, the fauns entertain everyone in a harmless sensual manner. Then the wine is passed around and everyone partakes of a couple of drinks. Dominic is obligated to participate in this because he is their guest, and everyone wants to get to know him better. Later that night, Ramses keeps Dominic warm next to his own thick fluffy fur. The night passes comfortably while the storm rages onwards outside.

Dominic awakens with a start. He is within his tent within the campsite he had set up. He hears pipe music coming from outside the tent. Dominic gets up slowly and looks around. A dream. More like Pan's Dream. Dominic chuckles and puts on his clothes and emerges from his tent. Pan and Faunus are sitting outside next to the campfire. Dominic smiles to both of them as he joins them.

"Good morning, Pan. Good morning, Faunus."

Pan smiles at Dominic. "Did you sleep well?"

Dominic hums aloud. "I had a strange dream about a large goat named Ramses."

Faunus exclaims, "Ramses is a shepherd friend of mine, and yes, he can transform into a large goat. You had a dream about him? I am surprised he would tell you his name, even in a dream." Faunus takes a drink of wine from his bota.

Pan hugs Dominic then exclaims, "The older white stag told me that you wanted to ask me about a certain holiday. Which of the holidays do you have in mind?"

Dominic nods his head. "What can you tell me about May Day?"

Pan and Faunus both smiled at the mention of May Day.

Pan replies, "May Day is indeed a pagan holiday, Dominic. You see, May Day is celebrated as a spring festival in many countries. It marks the rival of life in early spring after winter. Among those of us in the Aegean Sea, it is a celebration of life as we share it with nature and those who live within the wilds of nature. That is how I became involved in this festival. Someone decided that a satyr of spring was appropriate for signifying the rebirth of life after the winter's movement. Faunus was already involved in the Floriala (See F3) during this period of time. Faunus and I spoke at length about the request, and we decided to allow one of our satyrs or fauns to attend the May Day celebration as one of our representatives. On occasion, it is not unheard of for one of us to show up at the festivities, ourselves. It is the duty of the satyr of spring to sow his seed among the chosen maidens of the celebration. But as I already told you from before (See F4), only a faun can impregnate others, such as humans."

Dominic nods his head again. "Is there anything else I should know about May Day?"

Faunus shakes his head. "Not really, at least, not about May Day. Pan and I would not mind if you could visit us both more often. Pan told me how much he likes having you around, and you do seem nice enough, from what I have seen."

Dominic blushes a bit. "I do enjoy visiting everyone in the Hidden Islands, but it seems that my visitations are the heralds of the incoming Aegean Sea storms that roll through the area."

Pan laughs. "No, Dominic. The storms are Poseidon's enjoyment of showing the region that he still has a good hold of his power." He hugs Dominic again. "Faunus is correct though. We would not mind if you found a way to visit us more often. It gets somewhat boring in this region when you are not around. At least when you are here, something is bound to happen."

Faunus smiles. "Skerrit spoke well of you, Dominic, as well. I am sure the centaur would love to see you as much as we would." Faunus offers Dominic a drink of his wine, and Dominic accepts the offered wine and takes a good long drink. He hands it back carefully.

The three spend the rest of the day discussing minor tidbits of information and knowledge, as well as drinking wine and eating honey cakes. That night, Faunus calls his shepherds and flock into the camp, and Dominic attends to the protocol of meeting new friends. Much later, Dominic, having drank too much wine, crawls into his tent and passes out on his sleeping bag.

The next morning, Dominic awakens feeling very refreshed. He gets dressed and emerges from his tent. Pan and Faunus are both gone, and there is no sign that anyone other than Dominic had been here in the camp itself. The stranger white stag appears and waits for Dominic to pack up his camping gear and equipment. About a hour later, the stranger white stag teleports Dominic back to his mansion. Dominic spends the next hour putting his camping gear away. He smiles when he comes across the three full botas of wine among his gear, and stores them carefully in his pantry.

A few weeks later, Dominic spent most of Christmas Day out at the Tanner Horse Farm with his family and handing out the Christmas gifts that he had purchased for his sisters and his friends. They were all very surprised with their gifts, and likewise, gave Dominic his presents, as well. Later that day, Dominic returned to the mansion, and handed Damon Horse his gifts. Damon was likewise surprised to be receiving anything, but was very pleased. He hugged Dominic very tightly and kissed Dominic's forehead. Dominic then tried to locate his white stag friends, but neither were within the mansion. Dominic sighed, and headed back to his office.

Ending Evaluation:

Dominic is typing his final report on his trusty electronic typewriter. He felt alone in his massively huge office, and felt even worse that he could not think of a single thing to get his white furred friend, the white stag. He sighed again, then looked out the window at the snowflakes falling from the sky. "It begins again." Dominic closes his eyes for several moments and just breathes slowly and quietly, pondering what kind of friend he is.

Dominic opens his eyes and looks over his report.

_To Whom It May Concern,

During my extensive investigation into holiday folk icons, I have compiled the necessary information regarding these living icons, but have withheld any information that would reveal their actual locations. It is in my opinion that there is much to be learned from the fancies of our past and former formal holidays. May we all seek peace on Earth and goodwill to everyone.

Dominic Bastian Vanlyone_

Footnotes: (F1) SE-04 Hellacious Mythica. (F2) Kyle Starley of Space Command is a support character in my third planned novel, The Space Warrior. (F3) Floriala was the Roman celebration of the goddess, Flora. (F4) SE-04 Hellacious Mythica. Satyrs can only create other male satyrs.