Illustration by Dzyenya
001
“Silver?” Ruprecht's eyes widened in surprise. “I thought you left for Belgium to see the Mother of Dragons?”
“Oh, she's been too busy lately,” Silver waved her hand. “We had to reschedule… so I got the whole day free now!”
“Don't you have other work to do?”
“It's Christmas! We can have a day off, don't we?”
“But Weisz…”
“Said we absolutely can go out and enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day!”
“Did she really say that?”
“She did!” Silver paused. “Well, the exact quote would be, ‘You talk too much, and that distracts me from cooking and sorting these extremely important letters, so go away and don't bother me until tomorrow.’ But the implications are the same, aren't they?”
“Well…” Ruprecht sincerely didn't know how he should respond to that. “As long as she's okay with it…”
“Great!” Silver excitedly clapped her hands. “Let's get dressed and meet at the main doors in ten minutes!”
“Get dressed?”
“See you in ten minutes!” Silver replied running away to her room.
002
In fifteen minutes, Ruprecht realized what she meant by “get dressed.” Silver showed up to the great hall of the castle wearing a short red dress with white fur trim, red shoes, and red-white striped stockings.
She looked at Ruprecht who was standing there wearing his usual dark pants and jacket getup, then sighed and put the small plush deer antlers on his head.
“I knew you'd need these,” she said. “They look good on you, Rudolph!”
“Oh, don't mention that silly beast to me…” Ruprecht grimaced as if he just had a whole lemon squeezed into his mouth.
“Why?”
“He's a menace… and not in a fun way.”
“What?” Silver stumbled. “Next thing you'll tell me Santa is real.”
“He is,” Ruprecht said simply. “Nice guy, all in all, a bit demanding of a boss, though.”
“Wait, what?” Silver jumped out of surprise. “You must be joking.”
“I don't.” Ruprecht simply shrugged. “I'm telling the truth.”
“Santa can't exist! It's just a story for kids…”
“We worked together,” Ruprecht said matter-of-factly. “If you don't believe me, ask Weisz.”
003
The streets of the city were bustling with life as usual. The only real difference was that said life was sometimes wearing something Christmas-themed in their outfits - be it a traditional ugly sweater or the scarf or the myriad other possible accessories.
Ruprecht even met a few people wearing the same plush antlers as he did. They exchanged several gazes full of mutual understanding and hopelessness.
Silver, of course, caught way more gazes - but most of them quickly jumped to Ruprecht walking beside her with the utterly innocent expression of an absentminded black bear on his face and decided to keep jumping further, onto other, less bear-like people. Only one woman of quite an elderly age found it in them to come closer to Silver and said: “You look stunning, darling, but aren't you cold wearing so few clothes in winter?”
“I'm fine!” Silver laughed. “I am used to cold weather in the mountains… But thank you for your concern.”
They kept walking, leaving the woman to quietly mutter something about the young generations.
“What are we supposed to do anyway?” Ruprecht asked.
“I told you - enjoy ourselves!”
“And how…”
“Oh…” Silver stopped, forcing Ruprecht to stop either. “I'm going to run around visiting all the shops on my way and buying all the things I want. And you're going to follow me, carry the bags with the stuff I bought, and be slightly upset with me when I take too long to buy some - which is almost all the time.
“Oh, and if we happen to see something that seems fun, we go and try it, okay?
“How's that for a plan?”
004
The first thing that seemed like fun to Silver turned out to be the large observation wheel that brought its carts way up, high above the city. Of course, the dragon talked Ruprecht into buying tickets and riding it to get a good view of the city.
“Look, look, you can see our castle from here!” Silver pointed down. “Or you should be able to… if the castle wasn't imaginary…”
“Try to sound less disappointed,” Ruprecht chuckled. “You know we can't have it intruding into the human reality.”
“But I wish we could! Just imagine!” Silver looked at the city beneath them with the flickering sparks in her eyes. “One day people wake up to see a grand castle towering over their city! And they all like, ‘Ooh, where did this come from?’ And then we walk out of the gates and say ‘Hello feeble puny humans, we come in peace.’”
“That is a great way to end up getting the Inquisition, the mages, the specialists, and half a dozen other human esoteric organizations breathing at the back of our necks with very ill intent.”
“So what! We have a large pretty castle! We can sell tickets!”
“Tickets?” Ruprecht already didn't like where this is going.
“I mean if the humans can do it for the Dracula's castle, why not?”
“I don't think Krieger will appreciate your business idea…”
“I'm sure he can use some pocket money…”
“I'm sure he has enough,” Ruprecht shrugged. “Hard to not have a fortune when you're an immortal being that lived for several centuries.”
“True,” Silver looked up at the sky. “Very true… but the more you have, the more you want, isn't it?”
“Oh, dragons…” Ruprecht shook his head.
“What? Am I wrong?” Silver pouted.
“Not necessarily…” Ruprecht wasn't certain how to respond to not upset her. “Look, Krieger is a bit of a philanthrope…”
“I thought he was a vampire?”
“You can be both.”
“Interesting.” Silver said. “Never heard that word before. Is it some rare Western oddity?”
“No, it just means he likes spending money to help others.”
“That is very rare indeed.” Silver nodded.
005
They got down from the wheel and went through the nearby Christmas market. Now Silver was sitting on the bench, absolutely stuffing her face with some deliciously sweet food while Ruprecht, who was sitting next to her, leaned forward and watched the holiday commotion around them, periodically taking a sip of hot wine from a mug.
“Ish sho tashty!” Silver said, her mouth still full.
“It sure is,” Ruprecht smiled. “Tasty and heavy in calories.”
“Who cares! I'm a dragon, I don't care about a few extra kilos!”
“Guess being an oddity has its benefits…” Ruprecht took a large gulp of a hot spicy liquid from his mug.
“It does! You can just enjoy things without worrying about consequences.” Silver smiled. “You can eat sweets and not gain weight or lose your teeth. You can drink all the wine in the world and not get drunk.”
“Oh right, you still remember how it was being human,” Ruprecht shot a quick glance at the dragon. “I always was like this, so for me it's normal. The only way of things I know.”
“Oh poor bear,” Silver finished her food and leaned onto Ruprecht’s shoulder. “You've lost so much never knowing neither toothache nor a hangover… how can you even live!?”
“Are you about to get philosophical? Because if yes, I'd rather go get more wine.”
“Ahah, in vino veritas and all that stuff?”
“Wait how do you know Latin?”
“I don't! Just picked up a few sayings from the old books,” Silver laughed. “And no, I wasn't about to say that the awful consequences somehow make our enjoyment of the things leading to said consequences greater.”
“But now you said it…” Ruprecht looked into his empty mug.
“And we should get more wine!” Silver stood up from the bench. “But let's get something better than what you had. I recently saw an ad over on the Internet for a new wine store nearby… they should have a good selection.”
“When did you become a connoisseur?”
“Oh let's just go,” Silver tugged on Ruprecht’s arm until he gave up and followed her.
006
They got the wine, and they got an absolutely unnecessary - from Ruprecht's point of view anyway - amount of clothes packed into paper bags that Ruprecht had to carry now.
He tried to object on the grounds that the dragon was probably much stronger than a mere Christmas oddity like himself, but Silver insisted it was “in a spirit of the holiday season”, whatever that might've meant.
“Do you really need so many clothes?” Ruprecht asked. “You're an oddity, can't you just manifest whatever outfit you want?”
“Oh, you think it's that easy!?” Silver stomped her foot on the ground. “Have you ever tried manifesting something other than your cool-pants-and-jacket look?”
“No… but I never wanted to…”
“Exactly!” Silver pointed a finger at him. “We're oddities. Most of what we do and how we look is predetermined within our function. So changing the clothes is not that simple.”
“Is that how it is…?” Ruprecht scratched his beard. “I'll be honest with you, I never thought about it…”
“Only someone really powerful, like vampires - Lady Wallenstein is a good example - can do it with ease. Even for the dragons like me, it's tough.”
“So you…?”
“Yeah, I'm doing it the human way: buying more clothes!” Silver smiled. “More cloth for the hoard!”
007
The winter days are short and the skies were already beginning to get darker. But as the daylight went darker, the city began to light up Christmas lights - which fascinated Silver. The dragon was so excited about the blinking colorful decorations that Ruprecht had to make a sincere promise to put some up inside their castle, too. “Hopefully Weisz can help me with connecting them to electricity,” he thought, “or else Silver will be extremely disappointed…”
A small antique shop was the last thing Ruprecht thought could catch Silver’s attention. Yet she dragged him in with determination and seemingly dissolved amidst old things, disappearing from Ruprecht’s view, even if didn't seem possible considering the shop’s tiny size.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” Asked the man behind the counter.
“No… not really…” Ruprecht answered absentmindedly. “Well… I'm looking for my companion… she just was here and…”
“Don't tell me she suddenly disappeared while looking through our wares,” the man smiled.
“But… how?... Does it happen often?”
“Not often…” The man shook his head. “But sometimes. When someone is looking really hard for something very particular. It may happen.”
“...”
“Don't worry.” The man smiled again. “She'll find what she came here for and come back.”
“I'm back!” Declared the voice behind Ruprecht. He turned around and saw Silver holding an ornate wooden comb. “I'll take this.”
“Oh, that's a really nice find,” the man looked at the dragon with respect.
“I know, right!” Silver let out a laugh. “It's from my old home country… I couldn't even imagine I could find one of these on this side of the planet.”
“I didn't know you needed one…” Ruprecht looked at her with suspicion.
“What? Maybe it's nostalgic, what do you know, bear?” Silver said. “It's made for the emperor's court. Don't you think it's fit for royalty?”
008
They were walking through the city streets, now shining with the lights on the night before Christmas. The dragon seemingly bought all she really wanted, so now what's left was enjoying each other's company and talking about various things.
“How is your brother doing?” Ruprecht asked.
“He's mysterious as always…” Silver shook her head. “Still roaming the sea alone… and still doting over that egg.”
“Still? I thought it would hatch by now… it's been years since I brought it to you.”
“Dragons… We aren't chickens, Ruprecht. We take our time to get into this world.”
“I see…” Ruprecht remembered the circumstances of Silver being born as a dragon and decided not to delve further into it. “Do you miss him?”
“I mean… we talk pretty often.” Silver saw Ruprecht's look and decided to explain. “We have… a sort of telepathic link? We can talk across space as long as we're in the same layer of reality.”
“So that's why you're going out of the castle so often.”
“Yes… the imaginary matter blocks the link.”
“I thought you just didn't like the old damp place…”
“I like it!” Silver hugged his arm tighter. “I really do! Even if it's damp and always filled with that strange mist… it still feels like… like home.”
“Glad you fit in.”
“It was easy!” Silver smiled. “You all were so nice to me…”
“Oh, Ruprecht, look!” Silver suddenly tugged on his hand, pointing at something that caught her eye. “Look at that ruby necklace… it's so nice, don't you think?”
“It is…”
“It'll go great with the color of my eyes, don't you think?”
“It sure will…”
“So…”
“So what?” Ruprecht grumbled. “These bags are heavy, you know…”
“You're right.” Silver looked away from the necklace. “I should stop buying things… you're right. Just one last thing.”
She ran off, and Ruprecht noticed her trying to hide the fact that she was buying a thick leather belt. A detailed metal angry bear was ready to jump out of the belt’s buckle.
Ruprecht shrugged.
009
“So many people on the streets… quite a few oddities too… all hurrying around to spend money - and surprisingly, not on themselves.” Silver twirled around to show how excited this whole thing made her. “All of them… well, around two-thirds… three fourth? Doesn't matter, not the point - the point is they are out of their homes to look for the gifts! The presents for their families, their friends, and their loved ones… isn't it fascinating?”
“Do you really struggle so much with the concept of selflessness, of giving things away… for free?” Ruprecht looked at the dragon with a smile.
“It's not that I struggle with it…” Silver put her hands behind her back and looked up. “It's just antithetical to what I am? What dragons should be?”
“I guess so…” Ruprecht scratched his beard. “I guess you're the kind that values hoarding things above all else.”
“So I was thinking…” Silver looked at him with the sudden seriousness in her eyes. “Is it really okay that I… I… I bought presents. For Master Krieger and Weisz and… and even you?”
Ruprecht laughed. It sounded like a box of gravel was rolling down the hill.
“What's so funny?” The dragon pouted.
“Oh, nothing…” Ruprecht put the bags down and took her hands in his. “It's Christmas, Silver. I think even the Void understands that on days like this the rules can be bent.”
“And what if it doesn't?”
“Then I'll call Santa and he'll deal with it. Believe me, the old man has enough power to knead the reality as fresh dough and bake it into something delicious if he wishes so.
“So don't worry, okay?”
“O… okay. I won't worry…”
010
In the morning, Silver woke up to find on the table in her room a Christmas card from Krieger, three silver coins - undoubtedly from Weisz - and a small box wrapped in colorful paper tied with a ribbon.
There was a ruby necklace inside.
“The bags were too heavy, huh?” Silver smiled, trying the necklace out in front of the mirror.
The reflection smiled back.
