Dear Santa

It was early in the morning on Wintersday eve and rain was cascading down from the dark and ominous clouds above. The street, usually filled to the brim with merry people this time of the year, was almost empty; only those desperate or foolish enough braving the cold rain and the potentially lethal contact with other people. How had it come to this?

With no answer to the question and last year’s happy Wintersday a fading memory, I was one of those desperate people wandering the street. Keeping the letter well hidden from the rain’s wet embrace I warily eyed incoming traffic and dearly wished to be inside again. But this letter was important, it was long overdue and had to be on its way before it was too late. Luckily, the mailbox in the corner near the armour merchant was reserved for express mail and hopefully the mail man would take care of its contents like any normal day.

However, one should not count on luck to do what must be done.

Rounding the last house on my way to the armour merchant I could clearly see that the area around the mailbox was in a predicament. A group of rangers seemed to have decided that this was the optimal spot for a Wintersday monster summoning party, and by the look of it they were getting their asses kicked! Thus the street was literally crawling with terrifying creatures and all manner of demons that the rangers had left alive. The sight of this Wintersday madness stunned me, but my consciousness snapped back to the awful reality of it when I suddenly locked eyes with an evil looking demon, wielding a scythe of pure darkness. It took a step forward, brandishing its weapon with a smile that promised pain. Leaving my battle gear at home to avoid drying and cleaning again was turning out to be a huge mistake… Turning on the spot I started to run in the opposite direction, the sounds of the demon’s pursuit hot on my heels. Cursing the dark gods, because surely they had to be behind this mess, I continued my frenzied run back from where I came, desperately regretting not learning an emergency teleport spell during my early days as an acolyte. I felt my stamina dropping rapidly and I knew I had to gamble. I threw myself into a dark alley and tried to erase my presence and blend in with the shadows as the demon stomped past the alley’s entrance, apparently not picking up my smell due to the pouring rain.

In disbelief that I survived I let out a long shaking breath and started walking down the alley, recalling that the other end of it led to the street in front of the church. After just a few steps I remembered why I was out here to begin with and put my hand in the pocket where I kept the letter. My feet immediately stopped moving. Where was the letter? Digging through my pockets I only found a few forgotten zeny, the letter was gone! Perhaps it would be possible to get back home and write a new one before the mailbox was emptied, but it felt like fate was telling me to not bother. With a weary soul I decided to see if the church was open, maybe there was someone around willing to teach me that teleport spell after all this time.

Meanwhile, on the street near the armour merchant, a figure moved unseen by people and demons alike. Had they been able to spot the small figure, they would have noticed pointy ears, garments in merry colours and a large sack filled with letters over one shoulder. The figure stopped and stooped down to pick up a sodden piece of paper floating in the gutter. It appeared to be a letter, the words still readable despite the rain:

Dear Santa

I hope you are safe and healthy.

There are many things I would ask for, but I believe you are just as busy this year as you usually are. Allow me one selfish wish though, and what I wish for is an item I could use to change my image. I imagine I could use the change to bring some enjoyment to an otherwise weary situation. Thus I have my eyes on a costume I believe looks very cute. It’s a pair of white fox ears that have golden coloured bells attached to them. The bells’ sound reminds me of Wintersdays in the past, with merry gatherings of friends and family.

Regardless if you happen to find what I wish for or not, if this letter finds its way to you Santa I wish you a Merry Wintersday and a happy New Year!

Best Regards

Sehra

The figure carefully folded the soaked letter and put it in the bag with all the others. The figure had a wry smile on its lips while thinking it had another name to check whether it was in Santa's naughty list or not.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, perhaps not the most heartwarming tale I’ve written. But it was fun to write anyway. Some clarification: Character name = Sehra, Wish: “Costume White Fox Ear Ribbon” (#20269). I have no idea if the item has been available in game or not, but I’m fine without a price if I happen to win and the item is unavailable ^^

Anyway, I wish everyone happy holidays, merry Christmas and merry Wintersday! Stay safe people!

With all my love 

Merry Christmas everyone! Long live to GatheringRO~!

 

In case my handwriting isn't clear:

Character name: Sumire Matsushina
Costume wished for: Costume Amistr Bag (#20763)

Happy Holidays everyone, stay safe. 

Dear Santa,

It's been a while since I've last written to you like this. I apologize as I've been incredibly preoccupied with college and my other responsibilities/hobbies. However, instead of asking you for a gifts, I'd like you to bless someone else instead as I feel that the gift that I might request would be better for someone else to have, and since Christmas is the season for giving, I do implore that you give a little bit of something to everyone. This year has been quite the harrowing experience for most of us here and I believe that everyone deserves a dose of happiness.

That being said, I'd like to mention a few people who made my year a little less somber:

First, I remember @Ryu Sakamoto a great friend
An ally, reliable to the very end.
@Nidhavel my test buddy whom I greatly trust
Please remember him, his gifts are gathering dust.

@Khaii a benchmark for my builds
One who has given me the insight of a thousand guilds.
@Sanaaa ruthless, simple, and efficient
One pushed me to make the ascent.

@W e n d i r o u s the relief and bright light
Whenever he was around, victory was always in sight.
@Callianna a new face turned master,
A hope that the server would never lack luster.

@Gacha one who I've not seen in a while
Keep watch over him, for he always goes the extra mile.
@Mytranos My literal brother, we would both die or the entire enemy guild dies first.
(please help him; this pepega is literally struggling)

And finally, @Everade he's handling most of the work in our server. At least buy him a coffee and cookies for working so hard for the entire year. I truly hope you send him some elves to help him work on his masterpiece called GatheringRO. I apologize if I couldn't write a longer letter as duty calls to me. I'm sure you have a lot of other letters to read, but I do implore, Saint Nick, put them in your nice list, and make it stick.

Love, Kazalus 
PS.  I almost forgot to mention the AFK goddess @Shuichi. Please put her in the nice list as well as she's such an active Pokemon Go gifter hehe :>

Happy New Year GatheringRO! 

Kanao Tsuyuri

     Dear Santa, I only now just knew that there was this contest. Deadline is on 10th so I have to hurry and write to you now. I hope coronavirus did not affect you too much because you fly all around the world and it's everywhere! Wishing you good health for the years to come. I know Christmas is already over and maybe you skipped my house by mistake but if a gift is still available, I would wish for Wings of Gabriel (item number 20530). But please send it to my friend instead because I know I have been a very naughty girl this year so maybe that's why my house was skipped hehe. Please send your reindeer with a gift for my friend Minah Harker instead! Thank you and happy new year!

 

xoxo love <3,

Zyhi