[Peyto1217]

username: Peyto1217
name: Lila
gender: female
what do they do for their community during the holidays?:

I looked out the window, and a shiver of excitement ran down my spine. I hurried outside into the pitch black darkness. If my calculations were correct, based on the weather it should start in three... two... I shook off the snow that had started landing on my fur. It was that time again.
Reaching back inside, I grabbed my satchel off a hook by the door. As I headed through the woods, I checked the position of the moon. I was right on schedule. That’s when the raccoon showed up.
Don’t get me wrong, normally I love animals. But this wasn’t just any raccoon, this one seemed to only get enjoyment from messing with my stuff. He always had this stupid michievous grin on face. We stared each other in the eye for a solid ten seconds.
“If you mess anything up tonight I swear I will put you in a soup.”
Obviously I wouldn’t really ( I was a vegetarian of course), and he just seemed to perk up at the mention of food.
I knew he was following me on my trip to the town, but I didn’t have time to care. Finally as I pushed my way through the bushes into a clearing, the warm lights of the buildings hit my face and I smiled.
Hurriedly, I ducked my way through the streets placing my little holiday cards on the occasional window sill or street lamp, being careful not to repeat places from earlier years. Inside each card was an inspirational message-seeing as the holidays seem to be one of the most difficult times of the year for some ‘cets- and a gift card for a place that varied with each note. I always signed them, “Love, L.”
This had been my tradition for years. Every year after the first snow of December, I would hide the notes. The whole town had caught on and ‘L’ has become quite a popular topic here around the holidays.
Just then, out of nowhere, my satchel was snatched off of my shoulder. I thought no one would be up this late. I realized my mistake when I saw the raccoon running off with my bag. He rounded a corner and I chased after him. I needed to get that bag! As he made his way into the tallest building in town I regretfully followed. We could get caught! He started up the stairs and I climbed after him. Before long, we were up on the roof. The chilly wind howled against us as we had another stare down, reminding me of the one in the woods. I slowly crept my way over to him, trying to calmly get the satchel. He reached for it, and I practically jumped to grab it. My heart dropped as all the cards were dumped out and stolen by the wind.
“Great now look what you’ve done. I hope your happy now.” I basically growled to him. I put my head in my paws. But then the realization hit me. I looked over the side of the roof, at the cards drifting throughout the streets through the snow. The cards found their own little hiding places. This was a lot easier then placing each one individually, and it was a good change.
Maybe the raccoon wasn’t so bad, everything worked out after all.

[Imagine_Ink]

username: The Dragon Collector
name: Percy
gender: Male

The Festival of Scrolls was upon them again. Banners of bright, silver, gold, and white silk hung between the roof tops, shimmering in the late afternoon sun. Piles of snow clumped around the houses, making the whole town whiter than ever. Garlands and lights hung from every available place, and the massive pine tree in the center of town glittered with a thousand candles.

Laughter floated merrily through the air, mixed with sweet music. Viscets buzzed with excitement, as they made their way towards the theater. It wouldn’t be long before the Story-telling contest began.

The massive theater was built to seat nearly a thousand viscets. Soft, velvet covered seats, a balcony that hung over the back of the theater, and a massive stage. Viscets filled into their seats, squeezing in as tight as they could go. The event was one enjoyed by everyone in town, and in several of the surrounding villages.

Behind the stage, a variety of performers were gathered. Ballerinas rehearsed their steps, singers sung softly under their breaths, and a theater troop ran through their performance. But despite the variety, they were all buzzing with excitement and nerves, ready for the night to begin.

Percy stared down at his clipboard, attempting to decipher the scribbles scrawled on the paper at had strapped to it. His golden-rimmed glasses slid further down his nose as he bent closer to read it. Time was running out.

Percy stopped and peered through a small gap in the bright red curtains beside him. He could almost see the massive crowd that had gathered in front of the small wooden stage. Percy drew away from the gap, inhaling deeply.

“Places, everyone!” He whispered to those on the same side of the curtain as him. “We have five minutes!”

Upon his words, there was a great scramble as viscets hurried to their places. Percy turned back to his clipboard, and continued to try and read the paper in the dim light.

“So much to do,” said Percy softly. “And I can’t even read this blasted paper.”

“C’mon Perce’,” said a voice behind him. “We both know you already have it memorized.”

Percy turned. He breathed a sigh of relief. A purple viscet strode toward him, her pelt sparkling in the candlelight.

“Thank goodness, Carina, you’re here,” Percy huffed. “I need you to tell me what that says.” He pointed a spot halfway down the clipboard.

“Percy,” said Carina shaking her head. “You’ve already hired the musicians for the ballet troop. They’re tuning now.”

“I have?” said Percy, scratching his head. He could barely remember anything these days. “Then what about the-“

“All the sets are accounted for,” said Carina.

“And-“

“Already done.”

Percy pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

“I’m surprised,” he said with sincerity. “I thought we’d be rushing to finish everything again this year.”

Carina laughed.

“I didn’t want to repeat last year,” she said, smiling broadly. “So I took the initiative to do a few more things on your list.”

“Carina,” said Percy firmly. “How would I do this without you?”

“You wouldn’t,” said Carina seriously. “That’s why I’m your assistant.”

Percy laughed. He could finally breathe.

“I could probably retire from this next year,” said Percy with a wistful note in his voice. “Pass the management baton on to you. Everything would probably be much smoother and more on time than our usual last minute scramble.”

Carina bit her lip.

“I could never be in charge of this,” she said. “The organizing, the management. I’m just good at following orders. And besides,” she added, nudging his shoulder. “You could never give this up.”

Percy grinned and nodded.

“You’re right,” he said, looking around.

“We’re on in one minute!” called a voice gently from the side.

Percy delayed his departure for a moment.

“I may have been the one to start this whole thing,” he said softly. “But I could have never made it through these past seven years without you. The Festival of Scrolls may have been my idea, my vision, but you’re the one who brought this whole thing together.”

Carina smiled, glowing with pride.

“Thank you,” said Carina. “But this whole thing was a team effort.”

Percy grinned, his heart beating against his chest. Carina pulled him in for a quick hug. She drew away, her face full of joy.

“Go break a leg, boss,” she said, snatching Percy’s clipboard from his paws. Percy turned to the curtain, smoothing over her fur. He took a deep breath.

“Show time,” he said to himself, and he stepped through the curtain.

(Carina is owned by me (: )

[PrincessAlexis]

username: PrincessAlexis
name: Owl
gender: Male
what do they do for their community during the holidays?: 1500 words MAX

During the holiday season, Owl always goes to the local nursing home and reads books to the residents. He only has time to read his short stories to a handful of people per day so that they can get individual reading sessions and have a say in what book is chosen (as well as asking Owl to repeat himself if anything he said was not clear).

He feels truly grateful for having a family to spend the holidays with and hopes that he will set a good example for them, showing that spending time with others shows them they are important, and it really takes very little time to make a very big difference in someone's life.


2 optional art pieces:

[jolteon]

closed for judging!

[jolteon]

gosh you guys had some really awesome stories!! i thoroughly enjoyed reading through all of them, it was a fun one to judge for sure <3

first id like to give x1 HM stub to Prince Audric, Peyto1217, and The Dragon Collector! you guys had some really cool stories to read! <33

next id like to award a Runner Up to NurseGlowButt! i really love nicki's personality, and how he interacted with lyra. his solution for when she broke her harp was amazing, i didn't expect something like that to happen! it was very heartfelt and nice to read :D

if youd like to claim the runner up, please DM me with the following-
1 unnatural color of your choice
1 rare mutation of your choice
1 uncommon mutation of your choice

and the winner is Yugi! i loved how you explained how the kingdom worked with magic users and such, and how freya sheltered those in the library. i thought it was really nice of her to do something so generous for the holidays, and it was definitely a nice surprise to see that more viscets in her community treated her as family too! it was very fun to read <3

congrats to everyone, and i hope that you all have/had a great christmas! <33

[Imagine_Ink]

Thank you for the stub! It's a well deserved win, Yugi! Congrats!

[Yugi]

Oh goodness gracious, thank you so much Jolteon! I had to reread the post a couple of times before it hit me, as there were so many wonderful forms entered in this contest! I'm super excited to be able to further incorporate Freya into my world ;u;

Congratulations to Audric, Peyto, and The Dragon Collector on all receiving honorable mentions! Congratulations to Nurse as well on the runner up; should you accept the RU design, I can't wait to see the viscet you receive!

Thank you for the kind congratulations too, Dragon ;;)/

Happy holidays to everyone and you as well, Jolt! <3

[QueenAxolotl]

Congratulations to everyone who got hms, and to Yugi for winning! You may keep the art I drew if you want it.
And thank you so much for an ru! I'll get back to you about the ru

[Gadgetrocks]

Got this kid in a readoption from Yugi, her new name is Blaise, and she goes by she/her pronouns