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Holidays were usually a strange time if you were brought up in the Cult of Artemis and especially if you were Grizzop. There was nothing more irritating than a time when everyone simply stopped . How was one meant to get anything done when the entire world decides to take a break? “It’s about spending time with family,” Hamid sniffed when Grizzop had asked him, leading the paladin to roll his eyes. Of course, Hamid would see nothing wrong with stopping to relax. The sorcerer’s family came from money, and had people to run their banks for them, they could take a break any time they pleased. Grizzop worked hard for two reasons. He worked hard for his goddess, bringing justice to those who needed it and punishing those responsible in the name of Artemis. Nothing brought a thrill to his bones and purpose to his existence like a hunt. The other reason, though, made Grizzop feel soft . He worked hard for his family, for Vesseek and the clutch. He worked hard to provide them with the gold so that they could take care of themselves while he was away. In addition to the thrill it gave him, he followed the hunt so that his family could survive, and didn’t have to struggle as he had. Grizzop and Sasha stood side by side, watching as Azu and Hamid made their way through lines of travellers waiting eagerly for their turns at the teleport stations to visit their respective families. “Oi, Sash,” Grizzop started, ears twitching as he looked up at the rogue. She seemed so much healthier. No longer a walking corpse, which helped of course, but she seemed to be genuinely living . He had seen a brief photograph of her and Hamid with the original members of the London and Other London Outstanding Mercenary Group, it was not the same Sasha standing next to him. The past Sasha had a wild, wary look in her eyes with pale, daunting skin that displayed just how little she had seen the sun. She had a tensed-up posture, ready to jump at a moment’s notice. She looked scared , like the entire world was out to get her. Grizzop had heard about Barrett, and the world very well might have been, but Sasha was so much better now. She was laid back, an easy grin on her face as she waved off their friends. She was still pale, but her skin now maintained a healthy glow despite its scarring. “Yeah?” “What did you do ‘round the holidays?” Sasha tilted back on her heels, looking up as she seemed to think about it. “Don’t think we ever actually did anythin’,” she mused, “weren’t really kids, didn’t get t’have any of that sorta stuff.” “Would you have wanted that?” Sasha shrugged. “Dunno, mate, too late now to change it. Why?” Grizzop sighed. Confliction was the worst. On one hand, he should continue his hunt, he only had a limited amount of time to accomplish great things in the name of Artemis, and Vesseek knew that. And yet, on the other hand, he only had a limited amount of time , shouldn’t some of that be delegated to his family? Grizzop didn’t really remember his clutch, didn’t remember his parents. It wouldn’t be fair to do that to the clutch he and Vesseek had taken in. Maybe he could justify taking a break, just this once. Grizzop blinked out of his thoughts as Sasha nudged him gently. “Mate, whatever you’re thinkin’ about, you should just go an’ do it. We only get one life, yeah? You should take the time to enjoy it every once an’ a while.” Grizzop sighed, he hated when someone else was right. ---- It had taken some amount of screaming, and potentially a threat to the knees, before Grizzop had found himself dropped back in Amsterdam via magical means. He shook himself off, the feeling of teleportation leaving a strange crawling feeling across his skin. The sun had begun to set and the moon of his Lady was slowly rising above the horizon, casting a silver glow over the horizon. A blessing to be taken on Grizzop’s current hunt. He had an arrow notched on his bow, scouring the forest around him and ears twitching, straining for even the smallest sound of his prey. He had long since shed his armour, the metal making an undesirable clanking noise that alerted the eyes in the forest to his presence. A good hunter had to be unnoticed and Grizzop was nothing if not a good hunter. He had learned from the best, after all. Grizzope sat there strained for what felt like hours. His hands itched, fingers curling and un-curling around his bow as he lay in waiting. Not long ago he had spotted a striking, brightly coloured deer nimbly make its way through the forest. He groaned, a persistent ache began to radiate in his knees as he remained in a crouched position when he heard the tell-tale signs of something clambering through the tree branches. He peeked around the side of the log he had positioned himself behind. There, standing in a small clearing, was the deer. Its antlers stretched upwards and curled back around, sitting proudly upon the deer’s head. Its coat shone a bright silver in the moonlight— a gift from his Lady. Grizzop took a deep breath, drawing his bowstring taught with the notched arrow, and released the arrow. He watched as it sailed and landed with a satisfying thunk into the deer- a clean shot. He began trudging over to the fallen deer, whispering a prayer of gratitude to Artemis for her gift. He collected the deer and embarked on his journey home. The cottage he shared with Vesseek and the clutch was not very far, but far enough for Grizzop to hunt without ruining the surprise. ---- Grizzop adjusted his chiton before he reached the door. He had dressed as closely to a priest of Artemis as he possibly could in such a short amount of time. The window was cracked open and he could hear Vesseek’s firm tone on the wind, scolding the clutch gently for some sort of trouble that they had caused. He could see the glow of the fire that warmed their hearth, its reflection dancing on the frosty glass panes. He pushed the door open, dropping the deer on the bench sat near the entrance. Just as suddenly as he had pushed through the door, six little goblin heads shot upwards quickly. In a flash, Grizzop found himself lying squarely on his back with a mass of children atop him, their gleeful exclamations and laughter filling the room around them. “PA!” Plik shouted, “you didn’t tell us you’d be home!” “Is your hunt over?” Izzo asked solemnly, curious eyes turned upon their parent. “Not yet,” Grizzop answered, extraditing himself from the pile of tiny goblin children, “I brought a gift home for the Solstice.” He gestured towards the deer. Immediately, Plik and Grat began to climb over it, ruffling the fur of the deceased creature. “Papa,” Kriz questioned quietly, “what is the solstice?” Grizzop peered over his shoulder, moving to pick Kriz up. He gave a surprised grunt, not realizing just how much the children had grown in his absence. “The solstice is used to honour the gods. Tonight, we honour mine and Dama’s goddess; Lady Artemis. The deer is a gift from her, a blessed hunt for me to bring home. We’ll offer her a portion of its meat, a thank you for her kindness and her protection, a show of our faith.” “Woaaah,” Frax uttered as she followed diligently behind their father, “what then?” “We’ll have a larger bonfire, it’ll be used to make the offering. Then, we participate in her other rituals. We’ll have some deer meat for ourselves and find uses for the inedible parts.” “Can I have a bow like yours? We can make it out of the antlers and the bones!” Plik chattered excitedly. Grizzop laughed, setting Kriz down on a chair in the kitchen. He crept behind Vesseek, wrapping his arms around his partner and laying his chin on their shoulder. Vesseek laughed, turning their head slightly to offer Grizzop an affectionate kiss. “ Gross ,” Izzo remarked, wrinkling their nose, “you’re going to taint the offering with all that lovey-dovey.” “Oh no,” Vesseek managed through their laughter, leaning in for another kiss, “how horrible.” The children all made a noise of disgust this time around, trying to tug their parents away from each other. There was nothing but gleeful laughter throughout the kitchen. “Now,” Grizzop instructed, turning his face away from Vesseek’s and back towards the clutch, “the sooner you help Dama get the deer ready, the sooner we can get to the festivities.” The clutch all hurried to wash their hands in the sink (at Vesseek’s instruction) before pulling their parents apart in order to begin. ---- It didn’t take long to build a roaring fire in their yard, even with the snow upon the ground. The clutch sang loudly as they watched Grizzop offer a slab of meat to Artemis before tossing it into the bonfire for the goddess. “Would you like to know something interesting?” Grizzop announced. A loud, affirmative noise came from all the children. “A lesser known ritual of Artemis was one of dance. It’s believed that the summer solstice was brought on by Artemis dancing. See, Helios, the former sun god, was traversing the sky in his chariot when he saw my Lady dancing in the woods. He stopped his path to watch her, and as he stopped, so did the sun. So now, we dance to honour her,” he informed them, taking Vesseek’s hand and beginning to lead the two of them in a poor rendition of a slow waltz, “watch Dama and I.” Vesseek and Grizzop carefully danced their way around the fire. Snow began to fall gently around them. Grizzop watched as a snowflake landed on Vesseek’s nose and he placed a brief kiss on it, melting it away. The two swayed, hands intertwined, a their clutch watched raptly. It didn’t take long before their moment of peace was interrupted. “I want a turn!” Frax exclaimed loudly, raising her arms and grabbing at her father. Grizzop laughed and released Vesseek so he could pick Frax up and simulate the movements of a waltz with her around the fire. One by one, each child received a turn to share a dance with their father in the gentle snowfall before being sent off to bed. Grizzop and Vesseek sat next to each other in front of the hearth, a blanket being shared between them. “I know it's not for long,” Vesseek began softly, “but it is nice to have you home, my love.” “I will always come home to you, Vesseek. Always.” The snow continued to fall outside as the fire kept them warm, silver moonlight shining down upon the roof of their cottage as they basked sweetly in each other’s presence. Everything would be okay.