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// Chapter I: The Gift-Giver 
// Story: Holiday Chronicles 
// by DVB 
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St. Hooves the Reindeer is arguably the most famous among the spirits. He was born on the eastern half of the world, in the massive tundra of the region sometimes called Sideeria. However, this is the story of when he was mortal… The story of Rudolphus…


Rudolphus Nikolaos was born near the end of December, the youngest of out of all of his family. However, during this time, a lunar eclipse occurred in the sky. His brother believed that this led to his strange birthmark, a strange red nose that could light up the same way a unicorn’s horn could. His parents on the other hand, believed it was from some unicorn heritage that both parents had and Rudolphus was decided that he would have this unusual thing.

As a child, Rudolphus was always curious and his large eyes were filled with wonder, fascinated with everything that worked in the small village they grew up in. This sometimes made it difficult for his family to keep up with him as he would try and help out in any way he could to learn. Outside of his mother and father, the family had a paternal grandmother and then there was Rudolphus’ older brother. His name was Klaubaufus. He was a hefty and very large reindeer, to where he was sometimes called ‘Klaubaufus the Giant.’ He was born when the couple was young and so Klaubaufus is much older than Rudolphus. 

The first real sign of Rudolphus’ special fate was seen when he was still a young fawn…





“But why can’t you take to town, babushka?” little Rudolphus asked his beloved grandmamma. “Klaubaufus is in the woods cutting lumber with Father while Mother is away visiting her friends,” he pointed out.  Because of his unusual nose, he didn’t have any friends. His parents knew, but they didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, Grandmother Nikolaos seem to have an idea.

“All right, my little one,” Grandmother Nikolaos said. “I think I know what you need to cheer you up,” she said with a kindly smile. She had dressed them up in their scarves to keep them warm and their hats. Rudolphus’ was red, his favorite color. 

The pair exited their house and followed the path into town. The paths were lit with their wicker street lights and there were a few other deer around. The snow was falling gently and Rudolphus smiled as he caught a dainty little snowflake on his nose. His grandmother couldn’t help but giggle. She loved how her little grandson could see the beauty in everything and how his optimism was infectious to everydeer.

He reminded her of her late husband.

Maybe… just maybe…

“How about we get you something new?” she suggested to Rudolphus as they went to a smaller part of town. It was an open field where travelers could set up temporary shops. The old doe smiled as she saw a familiar site. This was certainly a surprise. 

“Great-Uncle Sinterklaas! I didn’t know you were in town!” Rudolphus shouted with mirth as he saw the elderly reindeer step out with a smile. “It was a surprise visit actually. I didn’t plan on running out of lumber so soon, but business has been so well, I need to restock before I move back for the season,” Sinterklass explained to him.

“What do you mean, great-uncle?” Rudolphus explained. 

“You see Rudolphus, in a few weeks, blizzard season starts up near the mountains. We don’t have to worry about that. For them however, mostly everydeer but the strongest and furriest stay indoors.  Little work can be done. Because of that, many deer purchase a variety of things to help keep them content indoors during the blizzard,” Sinterklaas explained. 

Rudolphus began thinking. “What kind of things do you make, Great Uncle?” he asks. “Not much really. I just tend to make some furniture that the adults can use for guests and such,” he says. 

Rudolphus continued to think. He looked at what Sinterklaas had. There were all sorts of stools, chairs and so on. It was rather simple and basic. Rudolphus realized something. There was nothing for kids. 

That wasn’t right.

Kids needed something to do while it was it was dangerous to go outside. 

“Great-uncle, may I help?” Rudolphus asked after a moment of inspiration. “I’m not sure, my boy... why would you want to make furniture?” his great-uncle asked him.

“I don’t wanna make furniture. I wanna make toys. For the kids who don’t have em,” Rudolphus said with a smile.

A smile that found its way onto the elderly brother and sister.

And so little Rudolphus learned the basics of wood-working from his great-uncle. Rudolphus was a natural at it. His imagination allowed him to come up with new ideas and ended up creating all sorts of toys. From simple, movable figurines of different animals to blocks with animals and letters on them to even simple little carts with wheels and so on.

However, for the creative lad, it wasn’t enough. After his great-uncle left, he talked to tailors and learned how to make dolls. He talked to a blacksmith and learned metal working. He talked to artists and learned how to make books. He learned and made toys and gifts of all shapes and sizes. As he passed them around to the kids, all for free and no charge, they all looked at him with respect and wonder.





Rudolphus became well known around the mountains among children. Not only were they thankful for all of his hard work and passion, but inspired to work hard in their own lives. Over time, Rudolphus began growing into a handsome young buck. Not only that, but the town grew with him. Rudolphus volunteered to be part of the team that will visit the mountain towns to deliver supplies to the less fortunate. Among the various stored foods, blankets and medicine were also the toys and gifts he had made. 

There were three sleds and there were nine reindeer in total, three deer per sleigh. Rudolphus, now just called Rudolph looked at his peers. The first sleigh was being pulled by Donner, the eldest, and Dasher and Dancer, a romantic duo who were athletic, but also a bit full of themselves. Donner was a serious pony, reminding Rudolph of his older brother. The second sleigh was being pulled by Prancer, Vixen and Cupid. Prancer was Dancer’s brother and he always loved to skate. Vixen was an attractive doe, about Rudolph’s age, but she had a quirk of being attracted to younger bucks. This led her to be with Cupid, the youngest one there. Cupid was mutually lovey-dovey with Vixen and was able to point to deer who would make a good, strong and steady couple. 

This left Rudolph with his two companions, Comet and Blitzen. Blitzen was a headstrong athletic sort and was a roughneck rival to Dasher while Comet was his younger brother, who was quite good at jumping. 

They all had various opinions on the toymaking reindeer with his bright red reindeer, ranging from the good to the bad. However, most of them kept their opinion to themselves. Mainly because of Klaubaufus. 

An elderly reindeer stepped forward, in charge of overseeing them. He had a scar on his eye. From what Rudolph heard, the old buck was called to stop a riot in a town of different races. 

“Attention!”

All nine reindeer stopped their conversations and faced directly at the old deer.

“You will take one of the three designated trails along the path and you will be visiting twelve towns. The journey should last no more than twelve days. This is for safety reasons. All right everydeer. Best of luck and return safely,” he said to them. 

The three teams were saying their goodbyes to their families before Rudolph’s parents approached him with a gift. It was a collar and saddle with jingle bells. It was a brilliant red and the collar resembled a holiday wreath. 

“We made this for you, son. We know it will keep you warm and the jingle bells will help others know you are close by,” Mr. Nikolaos told his son. His wife smiled and gave her youngest child a hug. A few of the other reindeer rolled their eyes or snickered.

Rudolph simply smiled and accepted the gift with pride.

And so the three sleds went off, unknown that something or someone was watching them from the shadows…

Hours had past and the trail remained mostly quiet. However, Comet, who’s grandparents were once shamans who specialized in division of the weather, felt something was off in the air.

“We need to speed this up. We need to reach the town so we can take a rest,” Comet told them. Rudolph and Blitzen faced him. “I agree we have to speed up, but we can keep this up for days,” Blitzen said with bold confidence.

“What’s the matter, Comet?” Rudolph asked him. 

“It’s just that… its gotten colder… and its starting to snow now,” Comet pointed out. Rudolph and Blitzen looked up to see that it was indeed snowing.

“I thought the weather was supposed to be fine throughout the trip,” Rudolph questioned. “Doesn’t matter. It’s probably just a few snowflakes,” Blitzen said. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The snow flurries turned into a blizzard and the reindeer were struggling to move. 

“Things can’t get any worse,” Comet said, tempting the fates.

A massive gust suddenly caused them to slip and tumble, resulting in sliding down the hill and hitting some trees. It was white and gray all around, with no clear landmark in site.

“What are we gonna do?” Blitzen said, unusually afraid. He winced as he realized one of his hooves was injured.

“We move forward.”

Blitzen and Comet faced the young toymaker. They saw the fire in his eyes. 

“All these kids and grownups are counting on us to bring us this. We cannot give up. We will not give up!” Rudolph said as his nose glowed bright. It glowed brighter than ever before. A red light shined through the blizzard.

“Hey, the light’s cutting through all this. I can see the trail,” Comet pointed out.

“Let’s move out, guys!” Rudolph said. “Blitzen, you rest on the sleigh. Comet and I will go forward,” he told the two. Surprised by his sudden assertation of leader, the two nodded. Through the use of Rudolph’s nose, he led them back on the path and onto the town. The reindeer stationed cheered and thanked them.

“Thank goodness you have arrived, young ones. We were worried none of the others would make it,” one of the guards said.

“Wait a minute. Are you saying the other two didn’t make it?” Blitzen asked.

“No. You are the first to arrive,” the other said.

“That shouldn’t be. Donner’s the most experienced and Dasher and Dancer are some of the strongest reindeer here. The other team had Prancer, who was the best navigator through the ice,” Comet reasoned.

“…I’m going to find them.”

The two faced Rudolph.

“Rudolph, you can’t be serious,” Comet questioned. The red-nosed reindeer was surprising them more and more.

“I have too. Comet, take Blitzen to the doctor and have his hoof looked that. Then start giving away the things. I’ll be back before you know it,” Rudolph said with a smile.

He then went off.





“Come on! We have to hurry!” Prancer shouted. 

“Hang on! That fall we took hurt Cupid really bad,” Vixen shouted back as they struggled to move through the blizzard. They were scared and starting to lose their temper. The wind howled further to echo the atmosphere.

Then, through the screeching of the wind, the sound of jingle bells were heard.

Through the gray storm, a red light of hope pierced through.

“G-guys. It’s Rudolph! He came to save us!” Cupid pointed out. 

The trio stood in silence as the storm seem to calm briefly with the smiling buck looking at them.

“You guys are okay! Come on! I’ll lead you to town!” He told them. As he led through with his bright red nose, the group saw that the quirky toymaker has become their hero throughout this mess. Once they were in town, Cupid was taken to the doctor’s before Rudolph went to look for the last sleigh.

It didn’t take long to see they have suffered through the worst. Dasher and Dancer often argued and tended to rebel against authority, even if it was someone as steady as Donner. The former two were unconscious and frost was settling on them. Donner was laying on the side. He had a pretty big wound from an icicle.

“Donner, Donner! Stay with me!” Rudolph said as he loaded the other two on the sleigh. Donner grunted, before he saw the light and heard the jingle bells. As Rudolph pulled the sleigh single-hoofedly through the blizzard, he focused on them. It was comforting, to see the light and bells.

Everything was going to be okay. 

Dasher and Dancer woke up in the Doctor’s. The eight reindeer embraced one another that they were all okay.

“Where’s Rudolph? Cupid asked. “He’s apparently fixing the sleights and trying to make them into one. He said we’re all going to stick together so none of us get hurt again,” Blitzen explained.

“He saved us. While we were all competing, he went and saved us,” Prancer said as he stared out the window and saw Rudolph finish fixing the sleighs.

“The toymaker saved us…? I can’t believe it,” Dasher said as he looked stunned at the revelation. All of them had teased Rudolph once or twice, with Dasher and Dancer being the most open. 

But they all looked at respect at how he really was. They saw him for how he really was.

One by one, they all came out and faced him.

“Rudolph. As of this moment, you’re in charge,” Donner said. Rudolph looked surprised to say the least.

“You’re the only one who can do this. When all of us began fretting, you came to save us,” Blitzen continued. 

Rudolph looked at the others, who looked at him with agreement. Even Dasher and Dancer.

“Listen up everydeer!”

“We aren’t doing this for us! We’re doing this for all the does and bucks who don’t have food for the storm. We’re doing this for the kids who aren’t as fortunate as we are to have nice toys. We’re gonna bring them joy and wonder and show them not to give up!

“We do this, together!” Rudolph said, his voice cutting through the wind. The other reindeer raised their hooves in support as they all went through the trails. Despite the storm, the light allowed them to find the way. When they felt overwhelmed by the wind, they focused on the comforting sound of Rudolph’s jingle bells. As they finally arrived at the last town, the council of elders welcomed them.

“Your journey has inspired everydeer! Despite this sudden blizzard, you all pulled through excellently. Our gratitude is extended to you all,” the head elder told them.

“Sir. We thank you for this. But it was all because of Rudolph. When we faltered, when we fought, when we were in peril, he was there to pull us through,” Donner announced. The other deer nodded. 

The elders muttered as they saw Rudolph, now looking mildly shy and modest at all the praise he was receiving.

“Rudolphus Nikolaos, step forward.”

He stepped to the front of the elders.

“For your courage, for your compassion, for your dedication to children everywhere, you are granted the title of Saint. By the power invested in me by the holy order of the land, you are now and forever, Saint Hooves the Reindeer.”





Rudolph, now Saint Hooves, looked awestruck before he accepted the honor. And so began a strong friendship between the nine. For the next several years, they delivered gifts to the good little fawns around. Finally, Saint Hooves’ greatest challenge appeared.

The moment he would become a Spirit.

“Saint Hooves!” Dasher ran into the workshop. Saint Hooves was working hard on the brand-new toys and showing his apprentices what to do. “What is it, Dasher?” he asked.

“It’s a message from the elders. They say its urgent,” Dasher said as he presented the letter. Saint Hooves read it. Apparently, they found out that a local town has been neglected because it was cut off by a seemingly-perpetuating blizzard.

Saint Hooves got dressed and a bag of toys in case and he looked out. He squinted his eyes. He made out a large isolated plot of clouds were twisting.

“Everydeer…”  Saint Hooves said. He was now a strong buck in the prime of his life. However, he grew a patch of white around his chest, making it seem like he has a large beard. He looked to his friends and apprentices. 

“I may not come back from this. If I don’t, I want you keep doing this. I may be gone physically, but I will live on in all of you. That is my dream. To always put smiles on all the good little children of the world. To ensure that people have their faith and hard work rewarded. If something happens to me, keep my dream alive,” he told them. They all cheered as he went off. 

He saw the decorations. Ever since his sainthood, there were now weird tributes to him. They would decorate the local evergreens with lights to serve as a reminder of his light and to tell travelers they will take them in, to serve as his compassion. There was even a few with the hook-shaped treats he made, in case they were hungry.

Saint Hooves headed to the strange town.

And to his destiny.





Step by step, hoof by hoof, Saint Hooves kept trotting through the snow, his light shining through. He wondered what was going on. However, he also felt he was being followed. As he ran through the white faster and faster, a blur came and smacked him. The Saint lost his balance and ended up crashing into a freezing pond. He shivered as he shined his light.

He looked around and saw something frozen.

No, someone.

It was a white snow monkey. The ones fabled to live in the mountains of the Far East. They survive the cold in ponds of hot water and said they could travel the world by burrowing. He didn’t know why one was sitting frozen. But he knew he had to help.

He swam as best as he could and picked up the frozen monkey with his antlers before he got out and continued. However, the icy plunge took his toll and he collapsed, his light thawing out the monkey.

The next thing Saint Hooves felt was hot water. He woke up with a yelp as he looked around. There were hot spring monkeys everywhere. 

They were looking rather sad.

He cleared his throat and faced one that looked like the leader. He was a bit larger than the others and held a stick in his hand.

“Thank you for saving me. I don’t have much, but I have some toys…” he said as he presented the bag. The monkeys looked at the toys with fascination and wonder. Saint Hooves then remembered what he had to do.

“Listen, do you know how to get to there?” he asked, signaling the storm. The monkeys hid and shuddered at the name. The old monkey banged the stick once as he looked at the Saint in the eye, before bowing his head, thanking him for saving the lost child.

He nodded before he chattered to the monkeys before facing the Saint with a questioning look.

“There are ponies and deer and other species there that need help. And I am going to give it to them no matter what. I will break through this storm and help them gain the courage to smile again,” he said with determination 

The old monkey gazed before he smiled and chattered some more. The monkeys all formed behind the Saint. This reindeer was special, they sensed it. He saved one of their own and gave them something that brought joy to them. It was a wondrous thing.

“You’re all going to follow me?” he asked them. They all nodded. Saint Hooves smiled at them. 

“Let us go then,” he said as they continued the long trek. 





“Frozen, they’re all frozen!” Saint Hooves said in shock. Ponies, reindeers, moose, all were frozen. They were all frozen in expressions of anger and misery. 

“Everyde-… hrm, everyone! I want you to go and try and thaw them out,” Saint Hooves said before he saw something on the outskirts of the town. It was a spire of ice. He felt that was where the answers lied.

The monkeys then chattered in anger and confusion as they saw something try and attack them. Saint Hooves’ eye widened.

It was a wendigo.

Of course…

This was the border town!

The one said to be near the top of the world. This was why all the blizzards were happening! 

“Stay away!” Saint Hooves said as his nsoe glowed. The monkeys looked in awe as the wendigos hissed and fled away. The light was bright that a local frozen fawn was thawed. He was confused before he heard them.

The jingle bells.

“Its you… It’s Saint Hooves!” he said with excitement. He smiled for the first time in a long time. As more wendigos came out to try and attack, Saint Hooves banished them with light and with the sounds, hope spread.

“Get everyone out now,” he told the monkeys. They nodded as they had everyone gather their possessions to flee the area. Meanwhile, Saint Hooves went up the spire of ice to confront whoever was in charge.

In a large hall, he saw it.

It was unlike any of the wendigos he saw. It was a giant moose with antlers of icicles. It was ghost-white with red eyes. It roared with the howl of the cruelty of cold. It was the Winter Elder… or at least it took it shape. The spirit of the cold. The dark side of it.

Saint Hooves shined his light and the creature howled as it got on its hind legs and charged at Saint Hooves. Saint Hooves moved, his bells jingling, signaling his presence. The presence of wonder. It did not make sense to the Winter Elder. It roared as it went and slammed into Saint Hooves.

The Saint fell, but managed to get up. Wounded and tired, but unyielding. Everyone was depending on him. He will not give up. 

He focused everything into his nose as it glowed brighter and brighter. The lights filled the air and pierced the storm. He was sweating as he focused more and more and released a brilliant shine. The beast banished in a flame of red. The Saint collapsed.

He was happy. He manage to bring joy to everyone. He just wished it didn’t have to end so soon. He saw the monkeys go and surround him. All of them were there. Everyone was safe.

Suddenly, a miracle occurred. 

In the eyes of Saint Hooves, he looked up to the night sky and saw the night in purple. For a moment, he though he saw a bird.

Rudolphus Nikolaos… Saint Hooves…

You have proven yourself…

We still need you…

The world still needs you…

For as winter approaches and the cold pushes people apart, you need to help them push back together…

Do you accept this…

Do you wish to continue your dream?

“…Yes” Saint Hooves said with a smile. The monkeys smiled and chattered, symbolizing their loyalty to the one who taught them joy.

Saint Hooves felt himself growing light as he floated in the air. A red light showered the whole area and it vanished into the night….


News spread of how he defeated the stormbringer. There was joy and yet there was tragedy. Donner and the others were confused. What were they going to do without Rudolph? They then remembered his words. It gave them comfort.

Then, a miracle occurred.

They saw him. For a moment they saw him, everyone did. Stories of him appearing across, bring his sleigh around the land and around the world to bring toys to good children. They say they even saw white monkeys help deliver the toys on the sleigh.

They knew it was him.

With his red light and his jingle bells.

The story became legend.

The legend of St. Hooves the Reindeer…