2021 Holiday CHEER Writing Contest

[Celestialmoon]

Tis the Season!!
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Welcome to another edition of holiday creative writing. In this edition we will create and share short stories that spread holiday cheer for everyone to enjoy!

Rules

• 1 entry limit per person
• Entries must be original and not copied from another entry.
• Entries should be no longer than 500 - 600 words.
• Entries should be short stories that spread holiday cheer throughout the Spiral.
• Art/illustration that supports your story can be included but is not a requirement.
• Contest will end December 31st at 11:59pm Central time.

Prizes

• 1st Place - 20,000 Crowns
  
• 2nd Place - 10,000 Crowns
  
• 3rd Place - 5,000 Crowns
  
• 4th Place - 1,000 Crowns
  
• 5th Place - 1,000 Crowns

Any questions? Please contact CelestialMoon via private message or visitor message.

[GoldenGuardian]

The Day of Cheerful Giving

In an era long before Kane's defeat, warfare raged across the skyways. Among the many bloody battles, perhaps the most painful one pitted two superpowers of the spirals- Polaris and Aquila. For over 200 years, the frozen empire clashed with the kings of the sky for reasons lost to history.
Yet, despite not knowing how the great war began, one cannot forget the way it ended.

So, listen closely me hearties, here is a legendary tale of love, brotherhood and the gift of giving that changed the skyways forever.

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Aquilan and Polarian forces of clashed above the snowy peaks of the Borelian Mountain Range. Among the royal fleet of the eagles lay a young hatchling, Achysseus, frightened at the enflamed galleon upon which he stood. He had to make a choice. Was he to die in the fires of war that turned the skies red, or to fall to the freezing depths of the mountains below?

Achysseus made his choice. He spread his wings… and fell…

And perhaps, me hearties, this is where the real story begins.

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The young eagle landed deep in the frozen wasteland below. It was an unknown world. A world full of ice and darkness, engulfed in the eternal cold of night. Here, the sun never shone in golden brilliance like it did in Aquilla. Weakened but brave, the eagle wandered into a lone encampment in the mountain ridges, and unwittingly stumbled across the path of Polarian Royalty.

A young Prince Alderban, heir to the throne of ice, was dangling perilously over the ridge. All attempts remained to reach the frightened bear remained futile, as the great bear King Gaar and Queen Nita cried for their son.

Then, like the heroes of old, he swiftly soared down to the ridge and grabbed a falling Alderban. Hand in hand, the claws of aquila met the paws of Polaris. Achysseus saved the bear prince and flew to the encampment above. As soon as he landed, the eagle collapsed.

When Achysseus woke up, he found all his wounds treated. A great feast was prepared in his honor. But Achysseus remained weak for a very long time. Every year, on the 25^th day of the twelfth month, Alderban returned from the spiral with rare fruits to save Achysseus, slowly strengthing him. King Gaar and Queen Nita always fed him and loved him like their son. They found not a foe in the eagle, but family. Despite this, war still raged with Aquila.

One day, the witch of the river of frozen tears prophesied doom for Polaris. It was the same day Achysseus suddenly disappeared...

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10 years had passed since the young eagle mysteriously left. An eternal blizzard engulfed Polaris. The nation of ice lost everything. Gaar, Nita and Alderban mourned for their people.

In the horizon, on the 25^th day of the last month, a vast fleet of Aquilan galleons came. Surely this marked the end for the Polarian Empire...

But no, leading the fleet of eagles was Achysseus. And within him were many resources, gifts, and skilled professionals of the Aquilan empire, all bringing aid to the winter kingdom

Unknown to Polaris, Achysseus, son of Ares, was the emperor heir of Aquila. It was that day the great war ended. How beautiful that the son of war became a son of peace. The wonderful story of love and giving spread to the spiral, marking the day of cheerful giving.


Thus, on the 25^th day of the last month, co-incidentally on Christmas, the spiral is united, cheerfully gifting each other.

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Oh, and pirate, they say if you venture you to the temple of Ares, you shall no longer find sword and spear, but a portrait of a brotherly bear and bird…

~~ty for the contest!

[GoldenGuardian]

Central is not letting me post images. I have some illustrations for this story i would like to add to my post.

Edit: I have managed to showcase the images via attachments, though i would have liked to included them as not an attachement. the last image should be a gif.

Edit 2: instead of gif its mp4

P.S: how strict is 600 word limit? rn I am on ~620-630 but just want to double check whether i should remove words

[Celestialmoon]

The limit isn't too strict. If someone goes over a bit, I'm not worried about it.

Central is not letting me post images. I have some illustrations for this story i would like to add to my post.

Edit: I have managed to showcase the images via attachments, though i would have liked to included them as not an attachement. the last image should be a gif.

Edit 2: instead of gif its mp4

P.S: how strict is 600 word limit? rn I am on ~620-630 but just want to double check whether i should remove words

[ObnoxiousDavyQuick]

The Marchioness always had mixed feelings about Yuletide. It was the season of cheer and happiness, but there was one thing she never looked forward to: her family. She loved them, of course, but they always managed to rub each other the wrong way. For one thing, they were the only people in the spiral who still called her that awful name, "Frida". Then, there was the family tradition of wearing those terrible sweaters; and of course, there was the usual tension between the aristocracy and members of the Opposition. But, despite all that, she went anyway, because Yuletide is the season for family.
This was her first year in my crew, so she asked me if I wanted to come along. I agreed, as I was always up for adventure, and I had nothing else to do as I was waiting for things to be arranged for my trip to Valencia. We sailed into Monquista from Tradewinds skyway, and sailed into a another skyway I had never visited before. We had to do some careful sailing to avoid the Monquistador ships, but made it past without too much trouble. We docked at her parents private dock, and that's when the trouble began.
As soon as we docked, a troop of Monquistadors swarmed onto the deck, telling us to "surrender in the name of King Ferdinand and the Holy Monquisition!" Well, we beat them handily after a short fight, and rushed ashore to investigate. We found a sign nailed to the front door saying "This property is hereby seized and all persons within arrested for suspicion of treason against the Crown. By order of His Sublime Majesty, King Ferdinand". The Marchioness turned to me, a look of horror on her face. "Captain, this is because of me! My family are loyalists, but they arrested them because of me. We must rescue them!"
I agreed, of course, and we set sail for Monquista City. (Zenda was, of course, occupied at the moment.) We took the drains in again (ugh!) and the librarian told us that they were held captive in the guard tower beside the gate. Rescuing them would take careful planning.
When the plans were made, we put them into action. Putting on my mask, the Marchioness and I walked out and each stood beside a guardhouse door. When she gave the signal, we broke them down, grabbed her family, and ran for the docks. Unfortunately, when we got there, the guards caught up. We had soldiers on one side, and a very long fall on the other. "Surrender yourself!" the guards yelled. I looked at the Marchioness, and when she nodded, said "I don't think so" and jumped of the dock.
"Good to see ye, captain!" said Ratbeard as we landed on the deck. "Quick sailing", said I. You may be wondering what happened. Well, before we went out, I sent the other crew back through the drains, with orders to sail the ship around to underneath the docks. Then, when we jumped off, we only fell a short ways and landed on the ship.
There was much tearful hugging as the Marchioness untied her family. She introduced them and my crew, and they thanked us gratefully. Even better, they invited all of us back to their home for the Yuletide feast! So, in the end, everything turned out well, even if we all had to wear ugly sweaters. And, I think, this helped Frida (ow! sorry!) and her family grow closer together. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

[Celestialmoon]

*Drum Roll*

The contest results are...

1st Place - GoldenGuardian
2nd Place - ObnoxiousDavyQuick