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Aaaah I can't believe how close CTN Expo is...*runs around feeling excited but also really nervous*


IN THE MEANWHILE. I've still been drawing and musing out more stuff for the reindeer story. XD (It also needs a title...don't really want to use 'Reindeer Games' since Ben Affleck already ruined that.)




First off, did a lineup of all the reindeer for height differences (as well as color differences). Next I have to do a lineup of them in their human forms, which should also be fun. XD

Also wrote out one of the earliest scenes (if not one of the first scenes) for whatever format it'd eventually go into. And then I went and added quick storyboard-ish illustrations for it, too. So it's kind of fic + storyboard...ficboard? IDK! Here we have some on when Rudolph first meets Dasher...

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Once again, it was snowing, and snowing hard. It covered the city in a wet, cold blanket and left patches of slick ice near areas where some heat escaped from the shops and restaurants. Normal people wouldn't bother trying to brave this weather, but then again, this was New York, and it was New Year's Eve. Despite the storm, the streets were fairly crowded. They bustled across the sidewalks with all the speed they could muster, preventing the blowing snow from taking much hold on the ground.

One moved a little slower than the rest...a young teenage girl, thin and a little neglected-looking, with snow-soaked jeans, a thin jacket, wet sneakers, and a striped scarf wrapped around her neck. She would have been completely forgettable if not for her shockingly bright red hair.



She took her time getting to where she needed to be...mostly because she didn't need to be anywhere. So she stopped to stare long and hard at all the window displays of the shops...clothes, TVs, toys, fine linens, cheap paintings, shoes, cell phones, pets, cookware, and books. Maybe, if she looked at these things, it'd spark some memory. But they never did.

Except for, well...the decorations. Most of the stores had Christmas displays set up from last week's holiday, now advertising post-Christmas sales. Tomorrow it'd be the new year, and they'd be gone. She felt like she was going to miss those. Unlike most of the city, they were cheerful and bright.



A man in a heavy coat bumped her shoulder, jostling her away from the window of the electronics store. At least it served as a reminder...she had to get to the shelter. So she started back down the soggy street.

The homeless shelter was where the homeless people lived; she'd learned. If they didn't stay there, sometimes they froze to death on the street. She didn't understand what that meant, except that it was bad. But since she had no home, and no one she knew, she figured that was where she should stay. The people there asked her all sorts of questions...did she have someone she could call, did she know where her parents were, maybe what school she'd gone to, did she have any money, did she remember her birthday? But she could never give them any answer. She couldn't even give them a last name to work from. So she wandered around, hoping she'd remember something. Almost two months of wandering, and nothing more was clear.



Well, a few details were more clear...she knew she liked this Christmas stuff. She liked the smell of the pine. She hated the taste of meat. But none of that really helped with her past, which was the important part.

Steady walking finally brought her back to the St. Paul House, nestled in the middle of other faceless New York buildings. She stepped up and knocked on the door. After a long pause, a woman with curly gray hair and a volunteer jacket answered.

"Rudolph!" she said, her tone grateful. People at the shelter had said that that was a boy's name, but since it was the only name she had for herself, it was the only thing people could call her. "Nice to see you, dear. I don't suppose you found out anything useful? Someone you know?"



Rudolph smiled, but shook her head. "No, Miss Davidson. But I looked everywhere."

"Well, don't you give up, dear. I'm sure you'll remember something." Miss Davidson glanced back inside the shelter, her expression nervous. "Listen, dear...I'm afraid you can't stay here tonight. We've had a very sick man come in and he needs the cot, and all the other spaces are full up. New Years, you know."

Rudolph's face fell a little. "Oh..." Actually, she didn't know about any New Years.

"But listen, I'm not leaving you on the street! Certainly not tonight. I've called Reverend Scally over at the Lutheran church twelve blocks down, and he said he'd have a cot available for you." Miss Davidson handed her a card with the church's address and phone number on it. "He's expecting you there soon. Better hurry there before the crowds get too bad, dear."

Rudolph took the card and studied it. She'd never been in a church before, but if it had a cot to sleep on, it couldn't be that bad. "Thanks, Miss Davidson."

"Thank you for being understanding, dear. You stay warm now!"



The door closed again, leaving Rudolph back in the snow and wind. She read the address on the card a few times over, then stuffed it and her hands into her jacket pockets. They did little to prevent her fingers from going numb. Still, she was pretty used to that by now. All she'd really known was cold.

Rudolph worked her way through the crowds gathering for the New Years celebrations. Luckily, they were mostly heading towards Times Square, in the opposite direction. She'd find the church and sleep there and tomorrow the year would be different. She wondered if maybe she'd remember things then.



She slowed again as more shop windows appeared before her, partially to look in them, and partially because there were so many people around. Walking past the displays, she caught sight of another young man looking into the shops. He had dark skin and a thick hoodie, and appeared to be typing something into one of those weird iPhone things.

Then she looked again.



Except...it was deer. A big, furry, antlered deer, like the ones in the shop decorations, just kind of standing in the middle of the sidewalk and looking in the window. And strangest of all, people were just walking around it like it was nothing! Didn't they care that there was a wild animal in the city?

But she cared. She cared because she was frightened, and it took her a moment to find her voice for that. She pointed at the deer, and shouted in a warning voice, "There's a DEER!"



A couple people stopped and turned to stare at her...including the deer. But they were definitely looking at her, and not where she was pointing. She was starting to feel a little panicky about this.

"It's right there, don't you see it?!" she said, louder, continuing to point at the very obvious deer. A few of the people looked towards where she was pointing, but most turned away and shook their heads, mumbling something about "delusional" and "crazy kids."

But the deer kept staring at her, looking almost angry.



The crowd began to disperse again, this time keeping a wide berth. Rudolph stared between faces, searching for someone, anyone who could confirm that she wasn't crazy. Everyone avoided her gaze...everyone except the deer, who started to walk towards her very purposefully.

Rudolph did the only thing she could think to do...she ran.

It wasn't easy with the slick streets and crowds around her, but she was small and very fast, and she tore off back in the direction she'd come from. She risked a glance behind her, only to discover much to her horror that the deer was chasing her.



She'd been able to outrun bad people before; strange and bad-smelling men that came after her when she'd been sleeping on the street. But there was no way she was going to outrun a deer. Still, she had to try. She sprinted down the street until she practically was flying, panting for each breath. The deer was catching up. She turned, slipping on ice, and bolted down on alley. Maybe if she could squeeze through to the next street, she'd lose it...

"Hey!"

But she wasn't so lucky. She ran straight into a chain-link fence, separating her from the next street. She turned to look; the deer had followed her. Letting out a small cry, she attempted to scale the fence.

"Hey, stop!"



Rudolph did stop, and turned to look again. Did...the deer just talk to her?

It looked at her with anger and confusion, but it definitely did talk again. "Just what is your issue? You trying to blow my cover?!"

Rudolph's life had been pretty strange as long as she could remember. But getting chased into an alley by a talking deer definitely beat all that out. "Y-you're talking!"



"Yeah, so are you," the deer replied, as if all this was obvious. It stepped closer...uncomfortably closer. "Just who are you? And..." The deer made a weird face. "What's wrong with your nose?"

"My..." She automatically put her hands to her nose, just before she realized how bizarre it was that a deer was asking about this at all. Worse, her head started to feel a little foggy...running so far through the thin, cold air left her feeling suddenly exhausted and dizzy. She wobbled on her feet.

"No, seriously, who are you?" the deer demanded.

"I'm..."

Rudolph didn't finish. The run, the cold, the lack of food, the shock and the confusion of it all finally overtook her, and she collapsed into darkness.


Dasher stared in utter confusion at the collapsed girl for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a next-gen phone. At least, it looked like one...there was no mark of a recognizable brand. He quick-dialed a number, and waited for an answer.



"Hey, it's Dasher. We have a situation...we gotta meet." A pause. "Yeah, everyone. At the Pole." Another pause. "Trust me, we do need everyone. Just skip the meeting." And another pause. "Thanks, see you in ten."

He hung up and pocketed the phone again. In all the centuries of doing this job, he'd never come across something like this.



SO YEAH, that's what I have so far...likely more to come later. XD

Drawing: 10HAD, Christmas cards, reindeer stuff

Writing: This stuff