Chapter 358

358 Misunderstandings

All of the Alconians were ushered to the front, closest to the tree. As Skye and Amara made their way through the crowds, the Highlanders had already started to hand out the presents..

Everyone was smiling and laughing as they opened their gifts. Skye had made baskets with goodies for all of the RMC members, but the Highlanders had also made sure that each Alconian got a gift from them as well. They were random things; everyone chipping in what they could.

Shop keepers gave small gift cards, knickknacks with Yuletide elements, and samplers of foods they made. Many of the Alconians received handmade items, too. Scarves, gloves, and wooly hats were probably the most common gifts among them.

The Alconians themselves were taken aback by their former enemy’s kindness. They knew that it stemmed from Skye’s generosity towards them, but there was no reason to extend it to the Alconian soldiers, at least they thought..

The Highlanders knew that none of them had chosen to be away from their families on Yuletide. They were staying to deal with the monster in the Old Capital, which technically wasn’t their problem. If the Alconians were going to be risking their lives, then they at least deserved a happy holiday beforehand.

The baskets from Skye and Tidas each had a small bottle of whiskey, a mage-sized portion of elk jerky, and two jars of jam. It wasn’t very much, but they had gotten something small for hundreds of people, and would be handing over a small fortune to Murdoc and Petrie in the summer.

As many of the Alconians opened their bottles of whiskey, they shared with their new acquaintances. There was still a few issues, like drunken brawls over women, and misinterpretations. But overall; everyone was having an excellent time..

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Everyone but Zazzy.

She had gotten her surprise from Murdoc, and had received piles and piles of meat from the Highlanders, but hadn’t gotten anything from her parents yet. She thought is was her Hatch Day Celebration, or ‘Birthday’ as her parents called it, but hadn’t gotten anything from them..

.....

‘Did I do something bad? Father did order me to land really quickly earlier....did I make him mad? Or maybe Mother’s angry? She sounded angry when she jumped off my back..’

‘Did I do a bad job helping? No.. if I did, then Murdoc wouldn’t have given me my special treat.. What did I do?’

As Zazzy inwardly stressed, she didn’t pay attention to the various conversations going on around her. Many of the Alconians had all chipped in with Skye and Tidas to get Zazzy the biggest pile of meat pies anyone had ever seen. Even now, the majority of bakers in the Highlands were in their kitchens, to fill the order by tomorrow night.

As the clock hands touched on four in the morning, many of the Highlanders and Alconians had headed off to their respective beds. It was Yuletide Eve Day, and it was usually spent in the company of family during the daytime hours. Night time, however, was reserved for partying..

After everyone had drunkenly said goodnight to her, Zazzy walked with her parents back to her little house. As the wee family went, she asked if they were mad at her..

Confusion covered their expressions before Tidas asked; “Why do you think we’re mad at ye, lassie? You’ve been nothing but a good wee girlie all day.”

Skye placed her hand on her massive arm; “What’s wrong, me bairn? Did someone call ye bad? Were they mean to ya?! I’ll kick their arse into next week if they’ve-”

Zazzy shook her head fervently in the negative, concerned that her tipsy mother would start a fight. She didn’t want to tell them that they had forgotten her birthday. But she did tell them that the short flight made her think it. It was a half-truth, but she didn’t want to bring up her birthday..

Skye and Tidas were the ones that had gotten Zazzy worked up for her birthday in the first place. Telling her all about how they would celebrate it with her, and that it was special to them because it was the day their family had started to become whole.

When they had leher back in Alcon, she had thought that it was because she’d be a burden. Zazzy did everything she could to take care of herself, but still depended on the Highlanders for food.. ‘Am I just a burden? Is that why they tried to leave me behind?’

As they reached her house, Zazzy’s sadness worsened to see nothing different. Her bearskins lay on the floor, and nothing more. As she curled into a large ball and bid her parents goodnight, Zazzy’s heart ached with the lonely longing for her parent’s affection...

************

The daytime wasn’t much better for Zazzy. She had seen her mother in the afternoon for brunch, but didn’t see either of her parents again until nightfall. Amara had come to visit her, but that was it.

As she watched the blending colors in the sky, Amara had sat with her. Petting her arm as she spoke, the kind red-headed woman told her how impressed everyone was with her, and that she should expect more visitors after the holiday season was over.

They sat together for a couple of hours, but Zazzy stayed in her depressed state the entire time. Right before she left, Amara promised Zazzy that her parents love her as much as a human child, and that she should wait until tonight to make a judgment call on the situation..

Leaving her to her thoughts until they had showed up right before nightfall had given the young dragon time to stew. Zazzy didn’t want to believe that her parents had forgotten about her, or that she really was nothing but a burden. But as the sun began to dip below the skyline, her hope faded with the light.

The sun was nearly set, and the oranges, pinks, and reds that streaked across the sky were the only thing that had made Zazzy smile since the afternoon. As she watched clouds follow behind in the darkness, her parents finally approached her.

“Do you like the colors, lass?” Tidas asked as he and Skye came up to her.

Usually when Zazzy saw her parents, she jumped around and charged them with elation, but that wasn’t happening today. Curling her neck to face away from them, Zazzy huffed, then wrapped her tail around her face for good measure.

Tidas and Skye had been worried all day about their scaly bairn. Seeing her reaction, or lack there of to them; made both of them even more concerned than they were this morning. If they didn’t have the preparations for her birthday party to handle, they would’ve spent the entire day with her.

Gathering the gifts wasn’t so bad, but coordinating the extra decorations without Zazzy’s help had been extremely difficult. They couldn’t hang as many as Skye had wanted, or as high, but she knew that Zazzy would still love it.. Or so she hoped.

After seeing her sulky attitude, Skye had instantly gotten worried. Zazzy had always been a happy dragon, but looked half-alive at that moment. Fearing that she was sick or hurt, Skye began to bombard Zazzy with questions..

“Does yer tummy hurt? Do ye feel too hot? Too cold? Are ye sweaty? Does yer head or tail hurt? Have ye pooped lately?”

On the last question, Zazzy’s head shot up as she looked at her mother with a mix of confused disgust; at first. She thought that her mother might’ve been messing with her, but the level of concern on her face was unmistakable.

Seeing Zazzy’s reaction shift, Skye placed a hand on her tail; “Is that it? Oh, me poor wee bairn! Ima so sorry we’ve been runnin’ around all day. But we’re here now, and we’re gonna take care of ye..”

As Zazzy’s tail started to sway, Skye turned to Tidas; “Maybe we should cancel the surprise..”

Zazzy shot up where she lay, and began the shake her little house with her enthusiasm. So much so that Skye had to check it’s integrity, and fix parts of the frame. After she finished, they told Zazzy that she’d have to be patient and wait.

Right after Tidas and Skye had calmed her down, several Highlanders came around the corner. A few pulled sleds that had a couple of the spotlights from last night on them. Petrie led the way, with Murdoc acting like a howling sled dog.

“Ima king! Why do I have ta do this?!”

Petrie chuckled; “Cause ye volunteered, ye lavvy heid..”

After a few gruff exchanges, the Highlanders set up the lights, then played a few games with the now overly-excited dragon. She ran around, chasing after the Highlanders and her parents until she was exhausted.

After re-melting the water in her trough, she drained it, then curled into a ball. Not even caring enough to go into her little house before closing her eyes. Everyone smiled sweetly as Zazzy made little happy noises as she slept.

After a few hours, it was nearly midnight, so they had to wake Zazzy back up. She was confused and hungry, but got up when she realized that everyone was still there. Like they were waiting for her to get up..

“I know it’s late, but I promise that you’ll love this!” Skye told her excitedly.

Zazzy trilled as she spoke to me mother theough their connection..

“Where are we going, Momma?”

Skye petted her arm; “To yer surprise, of course.”

“What’s my surprise?!”

Skye chuckled; “Now, it wouldna be a surprise if I told ya..”

“Oh, Momma! Please tell me?! Please? Please? Please?!”

Skye laughed loudly, making many of the Highlanders confused. They didn’t know that Skye and Tidas had a telepathic connection to Zazzy, so she looked a little nutters to them. As they turned off and packed up the spotlights, Tidas called the other RMC members outside..

As they piled out the doors, everyone smiled and greeted Zazzy. Even ones that usually avoided her for one reason or another smiled and waved at her. Once the equipment was ready to go, and the Alconians were gathered, they all went on ahead a bit of Skye, Tidas, and Zazzy.

Once they cleared the mountainside, Skye and Tidas led Zazzy towards the Founder’s Tree..