It was a week before Christmas and Ringer-7 had wandered through all of the Last City searching for something to occupy himself with. Ringer had grown tired of sitting around in the stands at Mayhem and he had worn out his voice box by yelling right along with Shaxx. Maybe what he needed was to pay a visit to sweet, old Eva, he thought. As the skies set in a brilliant orange behind the tower, the Titan found himself sitting beside his old friend. She was a grandmother to all guardians, but that did not diminish the relationship between them in the slightest. "Oh, my boy, Ringer!" She said joyfully. " So good to see you! " "Its great to see you too, Eva." He said. " I missed you this last year." "And I missed the you and the city." She talked happily as she passed him cookies and a glass of milk that was rather too small for him. " what are your plans for the Dawning, dear? " Ringer took an appreciative bite out of the cookie and smiled his thanks to the nice lady. "Not much, unfortunately. I have to save a friend before he's killed or worse and then I'm on the hunt for a would be kell." Levante patted the Titan on the shoulder as he spoke, "Oh now don't let your job get you down around the holidays." As she spoke, Eva brought out a small note from her pocket. " Besides, a friend of yours has invited you over to their [i]house[/i] for a small celebration between friends! " Ringer took the note eagerly and opened it up to read it's contents. While he studied the note, Eva kept talking. "Now, I promised not to say her name and old Eva never tells a secret." He read the words in the page quickly to find they were from old friends, good friends. The top of the page was a quick greeting and invitation to join them for a Dawning celebration. At the bottom were the coordinates for the rendezvous. "Thank you, Eva. I'll come and see you when I get back from my visit." The two exchanged a hug before Ringer left to meet with his friends. *** Ringer-7's Ketch flew low over a quiet wood somewhere in the forests of old America. He could just make out a light in a clearance far below his ship. Seeing no place to land his massive ship, Ringer opted to leave his ship in the sky and "simply" jump down to the ground. Two figures sat closely by a large bonfire, soaking in the light of a joyous flame. The two spring up quickly at the sound of Ringer's landing on the ground. Variks the Loyal grabbed his staff from its resting place on a nearby tree. From a holster on his side he drew a simplistic shock pistol for long range. Shadow stood, turned, and drew her weapon in one swift motion. As soon as the two saw who it was, however, they both relaxed their guard; they had been through too much not to be cautious now, but it seemed that all was well for once. Ringer approached his friends with a smile on his metal face, the smile grew even larger as Shadow drew Variks in for a group hug with the Titan. Variks could barely be heard saying, "do not know why we do this", as he was crushed between Shadow and a robot who didn't know his own strength. Soon the trio was sitting in front of the roaring flames as sparks ascended to the heavens. Interestingly the friends didn't speak much as they sat together for a while. Perhaps the mere companionship of a friend was enough of a gift to please Variks and his Shadow; and maybe the chance to spend a quiet moment with friends without the need to kill something was enough for Ringer. Variks' four eyes were fixed on the aura of light in front of him as he reached into a bag near his seat. He held out a metal bottle wrapped in a fur covering; as he brought it out with one of his mechanical arm, it made an appealing sloshing sound. "This old drink of homeworld," the Warden said. "Grabbed it from shelf as death rained on my home..." Shadow looked sympathetically at him as he spoke. She wished he wouldn't bring up such hard times, Variks didn't deserve the memories that plagued him. He continued. "Saved this for day Eliksni reclaim Great Machine I told myself, yes? That that day would be best day for a fallen race. But know," He looked at Ringer and Shadow. " Realize that Great Machine not only thing worthy of loyalty, that Eliksni not only ones deserving loyalty." Variks took the bottle, opened it, and poured it into a set of mugs. He passed one to Shadow first, then to Ringer. The two accepted gladly and tried the drink. It had a sweetish taste that seemed to bear a slight similarity to the smell of pure etheric spirals. The drink went down nicely and refreshed them as they drank, especially the Eliksni among them. "Realized while in the Reef," Variks soliloquized. "That honor to people was strong in humans... and their counterparts," He turned to Ringer and nodded. "You're loyalty to your own people and understanding of mine is noble. Has much risen faith of this docked vandal." Ringer was touched by his friend's words of validation and he knew that his loyalty to the Eliksni was not misplaced. "Shadow..." The Kell of House Judgement, the keeper of Rain's prophecies, began. "You showed new loyalty. Had not seen such loyalty since...have never seen such loyalty. " You left people of birth to be joined to mine... To aid a falling people. " He looked at his Shadow as his voice seemed to choke some with emotion. "[i]You[/i] are most Loyal." *** The three loyal friends sat huddled around the fire, each covered by a warm and furry blanket. They did not mind the cold, not really. After all, a warmed heart spreads warmth through all the body like blood to the veins. As the snow fell softly on the circle of friends, the Last Devil made his way further South. But Ringer paid the devil no mind, and neither did his friends give their enemies any thought. For it was a time for angels and singing, of friends and presents. And nothing could keep kindred spirits apart. Not race, not distance, not even death itself anymore could bar the spirit of the Dawning. [spoiler]Merry Christmas Shadow! You are my oldest friend on Bnet, I wish you the best! To everyone on FFU, thanks for being my friends and allowing many of your characters to crossover. It's been a great few months so far! Merry Christmas! [/spoiler]