Emo X-mas

It was 3 days before Christmas. The Kage; Tigerstar was just on his way. Unable to get the Epic Monument and suffering from a horrible cold, he was not in a particularly good mood. On his way back to the tomb which he called home, he ran into two of the village Jonin; Jonah and Nightblade who were out enjoying the last minute shopping for village-wide Christmas gift exchange. "Hi, Tiger" called Jonah, covered in blood, no doubted from attacking another ninja, as Nightblade stayed silent. "Hello, Jo. Nightblade," Tigerstar replied with cold politeness. "Tiger, you OK," Jo called. Tigerstar sighed and coughed. "I'm fine, Jo. Just busy, so I have to go," Tigerstar replied and continued back to his Mausoleum/ home. (Emo was designed with a graveyard motif, so everyone had a tomb for a home, and the Kage had a Mausoleum.) While on his way home a messenger raven began circling Tigerstar and dropped a message before flying into the distance. Tigerstar caught the message, and began reading.

"Dear Sir, something's happened, and unfortunately I will not be returning to Emo till about a week from Christmas. Sorry sir. Sincerely, Oreo. (person2no2) Tigerstar let out another sigh, put the letter in his pocket, and began reciting one of his favorite lines. "Even through the darkest days, this fire burns. Always." Tigerstar was at the door to his mausoleum when he heard footsteps behind him. At first he thought it was another invading ninja but was somewhat relieved to see it was merely NaruHina and jesslyn.

"What is it," Tigerstar asked. "Nothing, Sir," Jess replied. "I'm really going to need to get them to stop calling me sir," Tigerstar thought. "We were just out shopping, and saw you, and wanted to say hi," Naru explained. "Well you've said it. Now, farewell," Tigerstar walked in and shut the door. Tigerstar as soon as he entered his home pressed the button on the wall next to the light switch. Instantly a voice came on. "Yes, Tigerstar," said a voice seemingly coming from everywhere in the house. "Carnage Rules," Tigerstar said making his way to the second floor. "Yes Tigerstar," the voice said. The song Carnage Rules began to ring out throughout the house.

Tigerstar then went to his bedroom. Upon entering he removed the black coat he'd been wearing and on his arms were several wounds. Some deep, some still glistening, and some healing. He then began to remove his other armaments: His Polarstar, Pirate's hat, Scythe of Razing, and other ninja tools, and lay down on his bed. "Darn it. Darn it all to heck and back. Darn it, darn it," he said getting up and getting angry. "Darn it, darn it, darn it," he screamed smashing a table," seemingly on spurred on by the lyrics "My blade's all red, Hear what I said? Listen all you fools, Don't you know that carnage rules? Told you once, I won't tell you twice, Heed my word and pay my price."

In his rage Tigerstar barely heard the door. Paying no mind to the broken table, he went downstairs and answered. "Oh? Hello, Dude. What brings you here," Tigerstar asked the Chief of Science. "I came by to give you the Science report for today," he said handing him a clipboard. Then Dude saw Tigerstar's hand, which was bleeding a pretty good amount. "You OK, Tiger," he asked. Tigerstar went over the report. "Tinker with Science 1," he stated. "Tiger, bro, your hand is," "-No concern of yours, Dude," Tigerstar stopped him with a cold stare. Dude looked as if he was going to say something, but held his tongue. "If that's all, then I'll be seeing you," Tigerstar said closing the door. Dude said nothing.

Tigerstar then walked to the bathroom, and fixed up his hand. "Probably could have handled that one a bit better," he told himself wrapping the take around his hand and tying it off. Tigerstar then decided to go out, that night. He ran into Ashern, Nai Hikari, and Rythius while out. "Hey, Tiger. What brings you out," Ashern, the oldest of the three vice-kages asked. "Nothing," Tigerstar sighed, feeling a bit more relaxed since earlier. "Why not join us," Rythius, suggested. Nai Hikari, the strongest of the vices, put his hand on Rythiuss' shoulder. "Ry. I'm sure Tiger has somewhere he plans to go, and if he wanted company, he'd say so," he said. He then turned to Tigerstar. "Isn't that right," he smiled. While not smiling, Tigerstar gave a nod, and with a farewell, took his leave.

Tigerstar, was seen in the park his head down in deep thought, as he sat on a bench. "Hmm…now what to do? No Epic. No BN. Maybe I should just hang it up, and quit. Nai could probably lead better. Or maybe NaruHina?" While Tigerstar thought this over, he was interrupted by another villager.

"Hey, Tiger. What's up," Xeno-chan asked. Tiger looked up, and greeted the new Emote. "Hey, Xeno-chan."

"Nice night out," Shadow-chan said. "You going to the Christmas party," she asked. "I guess," Tigerstar replied. "What's wrong, Tigger-kun," Shadow-chan said, putting her arm around him. "I just feel…like a failure as a leader sometimes, Shadow-chan. I shouldn't be so down on myself, but I can't help it," he said. "Tigger-kun, you hush now. I think you're a great leader, and I'll not have you telling me any different," She said indignantly. "Now, I'm going to go. Will you be alright here," ShadowGrl asked.

Tigerstar smiled a bit. "Yeah, you go on. I'll be fine," he said. "KK. Bye, Tigger-kun," she gave him a hug and went off on her way. Tigerstar looked at his watch. "2 days," he said, on his way home. "Hi, Tiger," he heard someone call behind him, as he was just getting home. "Hey, Egog. Hey, Xat," he said, turning to Egog's companion. "Hihi, Tiger," Xatni said. Tigerstar was very close with both girls, but wanted to be left alone, so opted to end this conversation quickly. "Well, if you came to talk to me, come on in," he opened the door," letting them both enter. Tigerstar, unfortunately, a gentleman, so couldn't let them stay out side.

"It a bit late," Tiger said, coming in after them. "Yes, I know, Tigger, and excuse me, but I was sent over by Solidus-sama to get your signature on these documents to formalize our alliance," Xatni explained. "Ye-ye," Tigerstar said, taking the documents, and reading over them. "KK," here you go, he said handing the clipboard of notes to Xatni. "By the way, you could have just told me, I had to sign these. Chill, Xat, don't be so formal all the time," Tigerstar said. Tigerstar could sense Xatni seemed a bit irritated at his remark, but ignored it. "So, how's Knowledge," he asked. "Quite well, Tigger. Thanks for asking," Xatni eagerly replied. "Good," Tigerstar replied, turning to Egog. "So, Brightheart. What brings you here?"

Egog, stood up, and walked over to Tigerstar, as Xatni looked on, expectantly. "Tigerstar," she began. "It's not your fault," she said. Tiger knew where this was going, and walked to the window. It was snowing heavily. "You two, should stay here tonight," Tigerstar said. "Tigger, I'm not done, Egog said," somewhat cross. "Xat, I hope this one night away from Knowledge won't be too bad," Tigerstar joked. "Anyway, I'm out. Late," he said heading upstairs. Brightheart you get the rollout, and Xat, you get the couch. Night, ladies," he said.

That night, Tiger went to bed, and felt a strange calmness, as the snow had been dying down. That morning Tigerstar awoke very late in the afternoon. He got dressed, and walked down the stairs to see the Egog and Xatni had both departed. He sighed, and decided to head out for the village, and check on some of the new Emotes. "Hey Xeno-chan, Jugai, ameya, Deathnin, Hiashi, and Tyr," he greeted them. "Jugai, I'm surprised you're here, and if only for a little bit, I hope you enjoy your stay. The same goes for you, ameya," Tigerstar said. "Thanks, Tiger. I've a surprise for you, which I'll reveal at the party," Jugai smiled. "Also, thank you for letting me come," ameya said. "Any friend of Gyo's I guess is a friend of mine," Tigerstar responded. After meeting more of the new blood, Tiger decided to head to the music store downtown.

While there, he found a new PaTD CD, and just as he reached for it, a hand in fingerless gloves did the same. Looking up, Tigerstar was shocked to see his friend Luna (Formerly Oreo) was back. "STRAWBERRY," she exclaimed tackling him to the floor. "What are you doing back here," Tigerstar asked. "You said you wouldn't be back till later this year."

"I wanted to do my Sannin Run, and incase you hadn't noticed," she said pulling her Emo Headband from her wrist, "I love it here," she exclaimed putting it around her neck. "I'm sorry to say this, Luna, but" Tigerstar looked away. "We don't have an Epic Monument." Luna, merely smiled and took Tigerstar's' hand and lead him outside. "Then what's that," she asked pointing to a large statue in construction in the middle of the village. Tigerstar was shocked. Who could have gotten the resources for this, he wondered.

"So…" Luna's voice brought him back to reality. "Can I stay for awhile," she asked. "Tigerstar smiled," Of course you can. "This is your home," he finished. "Thank you, Strawberry," she said hugging him tightly. "No need to thank me," he returned the hug. "By the way, we have a party tomorrow. Think you can come," Tigerstar asked. "Wouldn't miss it for the world," Luna smiled. "Can't wait to see you then, Lu-Lu," Tigerstar said, walking out of the store feeling like a new man.

"It's a new day. It's a new generation," Tigerstar said walking home. "Hi, Broken," Tigerstar heard someone call behind him. "Hey, Kelea," he said turning to her, knowing she was the only Emote who knew his alter ego. "Hi, ZACY," Tigerstar barely heard the words before being tackled by his friend whom he referred to as "Bigger Sister," cause she was younger than he, but taller. "Hi, Sis. Hi, Bigger Sister," he said struggling free of his Bigger Sister. "Thanks for inviting me again, Bro," Kelea said smiling at him. "You're always welcome, Sis," he returned the smile. "Anyway, I've still got a lot to learn, so I'll be off," Kelea said turning away. "Hey Bro-bro, I-," BrycesBaby said. "Hold that thought," Tigerstar said. "Hey, Sis, how about I show you around the day after our Christmas party," Tigerstar said. "And in the meantime, maybe Bigger Sister can teach you," he said motioning for BrycesBaby to step forward. "Hi there," BrycesBaby beamed. "Nice to meet you," Kelea said. BrycesBaby turned to Tigerstar, and said "Don't worry about a thing Zacy. I'll take good care of her-promise," she said. "Thank you, Bigger Sister, and can I expect to see both of you at our party," Tigerstar asked, the ladies. "Course, Bro-bro," BrycesBaby said. "Sure," Kelea confirmed. "Alright then. I got to jet," Tigerstar said turning away and racing down the street.

Tigerstar arrived home shortly later, receiving confirmations for the party from the likes of searlas, Junkmonk, Kazama, Harvey, Thanatos, and even Virtual1. Upon getting home, Tigerstar quickly bathed and prepared for bed feeling almost eerily calm. That night, Tigerstar soon drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Tigerstar woke up the next day, got dressed and went about his daily duties as leader with such efficiency, and such an air of calmness about him, it was kind of scary, but as the night began to befall the village, it was impossible to hide the smile coming on Tigerstar's face. As soon as the last ninja in the NWW was dispatched, the last invasion halted, and the last Nonja was wound which was done by Jesslyn, Tigerstar arrived as the SCIENCE Facility, which was dressed up for the party, which was in full swing, with Luna on his arm. As Tigerstar expected, people were laughing, avoiding other people, and generally what one does at a party. After sneaking a kisses, and several shows of affection, Luna decided to go see some of the other guests.

Once off on his own, Tigerstar proceeded to weave through the crowd greeting all of the villagers he could; ianmorris, killer147, Swiftfire, IceAngel, and sam. While greeting these people however, he was also approached by several others such as Danruk, who was trying to trace over his stripes, Wilhelm who was also speaking with august, at the time, suke who was discussing the advantages of a of a kunai over a shuriken to Trueitachi, Neon Lee who was enjoying a joke with Aurora15, Israeli241 who was eating all the food. Even Kalinakov came up to Tigerstar to address him. "Tigerstar, this party is awesome," she giggled. "I'm so glad you invited me to come. Thanks Tiger," she said giving him a hug, and heading over to the snack table. It was then Tigerstar felt he needed to do something.

Tigerstar then headed to take the podium which overlooked the entire facility, passing Sunamaru who was talking with Inspired, and Slinky, who was enjoying a talk with NaruHina, Jesslyn, Luna. As he took the stand everyone was suddenly quiet, and looked at Tigerstar expectantly. It was then Tigerstar began to speak.

"Friends. Extended family. Fellow Emotes. I welcome you to this joyous occasion. A time when we gather for the holidays to celebrate with one another." Tigerstar looked away for a minute, but quickly picked up where he'd stopped. "I myself, have felt myself, a bit down lately, as I've allowed a long line of failures weigh heavily on my heart, but now…I see that was wrong. I see now, in the smiling faces of you all, that you do not seek to blame someone for mistakes, but rather learn from them. It took me awhile, but I've learned this lesson, and I promise I'll take it to heart. Thank you, all," he said stepping down, and to his surprise, there was thunderous applause; accentuated only by the glow of the lights of the Ninja-mas tree lighting in the Village square.

Tigerstar was soon joined by Luna who had already latched onto his arm, as well as Virtual1, Slinky, august, NaruHina, ShadowGrl, BrycesBaby, and Kelea, until the whole village was basking in the warmth the Ninja-mas Tree emanated. Tigerstar couldn't help but feel warm, but not from the tree. From being surrounded by his friends. "An Emo X-mas," he thought to himself with a smile.