A Radiance Christmas Stand Alone

A Radiant Christmas: The Tail of the Santa Claws.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a soul was stirring not even a mouse.

Mainly because they were shit scared of the five Claws, one Nightstalker, one Archnakai, two super mutants, one synth as well numerous heavily armed humans that were all gathered around the roaring fireplace all celebrating this curious little holiday the humans of the group called Christmas, so yeah the mice weren't fucking stupid.

"I'm still not sure about this holiday my love, is there any particular reason we must wear these things?" Vess said looking at Chris as she lifted her tail to look at the woollen tail warmer that was wrapped around her thick tail like a giant white, green and red tube sock.

It perfectly matched the woollen jumper that she was currently rocking that was pulled rather taught due to her sizeable bust, it also matched the little red hat that was attached to her head by the little loops of wool that had been tied around her horns to make two pretty little bows on either side of her head.

"Oh stop complaining auntie I think that this is a rather charming celebration and I for one am thankful for the extra warmth during this season, these nuclear winters can be miserable, you know how long the pack used to spend in the nest during this time of year," Visa said sliding her rather sizeable rear intoSeven'ss lap while using the frame of the chair to take the majority of her weight while she wrapped her equally woollen wrapped tail around her human.

Visa as well as the rest of the Claws and indeed all of the others were all rocking a variety of Christmas wear made in thick warm wool that Malakai had been busily weaving into amazing designs covered in green pine trees as well as other odd designs that looked to be little animals that reminded them of Radstags but with much bigger antlers that appeared to be pulling a sledge of some kind.

"I think they are rather nice and I for one want to thank Malakai for all of his hard work the designs are beautiful and these things are beautifully warm just what we need in this bloody temperature," Shepherd said snugglinherselflf into Passa's lap and cradling her hot drink which was a warm fruit drink mixed with whiskey to warm her both outside and in.

"Agreed these things are nice and warm, beautiful work as always Malakai," Seven said gesturing out from behind Visa's sizeable frame towards Malakai who was sitting by the large stone fireplace looking like a spider-shaped loaf with Wisp sat on his abdomen also wrapped in wool and cradling a warm drink.

"Thank you, actually it was fun to work on, I don't get to use wool very often but that vacuum-sealed crate of the stuff we found in that mall was a saviour of spiders sent gift especially given the weather outside, damn glad we stocked up on provisions, something tells me we might be locked in here for a while given the snow outside," Malakai said his little bobble hat bobbing around as his head turned and leaned to look around Visaoh-so-pretty

"Oh no locked in a luxurious underground bunker all winter with my male what ever will I do to keep warm?' Gregory said playing with the fluffy ball that was hanging off the red and white woollen tail warmer that Ven was wearing wrapped around his thick tail.

Ven purred softly and wrapped said thick tail around his human's waist letting it sit in his lap as Gregory rested both his hands and his drink on it as he stoked it with one hand and held his drink with the other.

"Oh I'm sure we'll think of something sweet thing," Ven growled softly.

It's traditional my love, I know Claw traditions are different but if you are going to love a human you should at least try to experience our traditions while I try to embrace yours," Chris said as Vess took a leaf from her niece's book by picking up her little human male and carrying him over to a large armchair and planting him on the seat before planting herself on his lap as the chair protested under her weight.

"Hmmm you are right these clothes are at least warm and I will say they do very much add to your aesthetic appeal and will whet my even more as I imagine peeling yet more layers from your body," she growled sappetiteaking Chris swallow hard but he still reached up and patted her massive thighs and her sizable rump which was spreading out over his lap.

Vess turned and looked at Seven, "Are there any more human holiday and Christmas traditions that I should be aware of?" she asked and he smiled at her as he lovingly stroked Visa's large tail and thighs.

"Oh many, put this way why do you think I spent so long looking for a bloody mistletoe bush?" he said and Vess cocked her large head in obvious confusion.

"What is this mistletoe and what is its significance?" she asked and Ven gave her a sly smile and then pointed upward causing her to look up to see a little bough of it floating above her head.

Chris also looked up before glancing at Seven and then shooting him a warm smile he patted Vess's large thighs in a way that said he needed to get up and of course, the large female Claw shifted her ample rear to allow him to shift out from under her but no sooner had he managed to get to his feet he whirled around on the spot grabbed the front of her jumper and pulled her into a deep long kiss which froze the big Claw up like she'd just short-circuited.

Now all of the non-humans looked from the spectacle to Seven for an explanation to which he simply pointed upwards and when they found one bough floating above each of them all of their human lovers responded accordingly including Seven himself but it appeared that Visa was Wiley and ready for him, so instead of him getting his surprise kiss on her she grabbed him and yanked him in while shoving her tongue into his mouth.

"It's traditional to kiss someone who has a sprig of mistletoe above their head, a kiss under the mistletoe is an ancient tradition dating back hundreds of years," Chris said filling in the gaps as Seven was kinda indisposed by the long claw tongue currently filling his cheeks.

Suddenly Chris was yoinked off his feet by Vess who gripped him under his arms and planted her mouth over his and kissed him so deeply that he tongue filled his mouth completely, when they parted he was breathless and flushed, "Oh this human tradition I can really can get behind, if you are meant to kiss whatever is underneath it maybe I should hand a sprig of it from my tail root what do you think my little human?' Vess purred softly.

"I don't think you need it," he said and she growled deeply before planting him back in the chain and planting her sizeable rear end back into his lap though this time she applied a little more of her weight onto him to keep him in place.

As Vess glanced around the room there were suddenly lots of rather flushed and breathless humans around her all looking somewhat flustered, a warm smile lit her face, "So Seven what other traditions should I know about?" she asked as Visa planted herself back in his lap wiggling herself around until she got herself comfortable.

"Well one of the most popular traditions is to tell stories while sitting around a roaring fire with good friends and family, this is usually done while enjoying an alcoholic drink," he said.

Vess looked around them and then nodded to herself, "Well it looks like everything we need is right here, so who has a story to tell?" she asked.

"Well, I've got one, have any of you heard of the tale of the Santa Claws?" Chris said and they all looked at him in surprise but a lot of heads were shaking.

"Well then let me begin......" he said clearing his throat.

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Twas a few nights before Christmas and all through the cave silence reigned supreme as two lonely sentient Claws sat huddling together against the cold and the snow outside.

"Oh brother dear I wish we could go down there where the humans are, they all look so warm and cosy in their big nest," the female Claw sighed as she looked down at the lights of the small village hidden away in the valley below them.

"Don't let looks fool you sister dearest, those humans are on edge, the raiders keep trying to find them and attacking their farmers and hunters," the big mae Claw of the pair said looking where his sister did down into the valley at all the little twinkling lights which are hidden view by the thick trees and high valleys all around them.

"If only they'd let us help them, we could help one another to survive," she said softly.

"I know Serena but you know how humans are, they are frightened by things that are different from them and our kind are pretty much universally hated by them," the big male said.

"There must be something we can do to change their minds, to show them that we are not bad or evil Claws, there must be some way to reach them, Sabat, there must be," Serena said softly.

"Keep dreaming sister, keep dreaming humans and Claws will never coexist together peacefully," Sabat said with a growl in his voice.

"I don't believe that! There must be some way to reach them, to show them the truth!" Serena snarled whipping around and lashing her long tail from side to side in annoyance.

Serena was every bit the alpha Claw that she had been before their pack had been whipped out by rampaging super mutants forcing them to flee for their lives from Santa Monica and setting out into the lonely cold world alone but for one another.

Sabat reached up and hugged his sister from behind embracing the large female Claw, "That's why I love you sister, you never give up hope and always keep dreaming, it never fails to give me hope," he said softly.

"Well hope is all we have left brother and I'll be damned if I ever let that get taken from us as well, we've lost everyone and everything but that will never get taken from us, as long as I still breathe I will continue to hope that a better life and world exists for us even if I have to take matters into my own Claws," she said defiantly.

Sleep did not come easy to Serena that night, restless were her dreams but surprisingly we the images that flashed into her mind, she found herself standing in a ruined human city one that she recognised as it looked exactly like the one that was not far from where their cave was, a dangerous place to be sure, filled with roaming super mutants and human raiders.

But out of the street came a peal of oddly familiar laughter, she walked forwards being careful not to trip over the human trash littering the place as she searched for the source but as it turned out she didn't need to look far, as there is a side street was a small female hatchling playing with some of the human oddities.

"Hey what are you doing here! It's dangerous! Quickly come with me and I'll get you back to your pack and more importantly your matriarch!" Serena called but at the sound of her voice the giggling hatchling took off running into another street.

"Hey wait! Don't run!!" Serena called giving chance quickly but try as she might she simply couldn't catch up to the hatchling until she did.

She found her standing outside a large old human building facing a large smashed window, as Serena cautiously approached her from behind the small female Claw simply lifted her hand to point at the window and when Serena looked inside she saw something glowing.

"What is it?' she asked but when she looked down again the little hatchling was just gone.

Serena looked all around herself but there was no sign of the little hatchling anywhere around her, she had simply vanished.

Serena felt incredibly creeped out, had she just imagined her?

She sniffed the air around her but she couldn't smell anything other than the usual smells of the city, the scent of rot both fresh and ancient that carried a kind of bitter dusty smell with it, the scent of fear and death was also strong here.

She took a few steps forwards into the building which appeared to be one of those things that humans called shops, a place where all sorts of humans came to buy things from other humans who the things that they wanted or needed.

Serena had always been fascinated by humanity, they were such an overly complex species on one hand capable of such incredible cruelty and violence that they genuinely scared her and on the other capable of touching and moving acts of kindness that bordered on the benevolent.

They were a very confusing species, to say the least, she was also harbouring something in her heart that she had kept hidden away from everyone her whole life ever since she was no more than an adolescent, it was a secret so profound that she didn't even let her brother in on it and he had been her rock for her whole life, infact he was the person she remembered first from when she was hatched, that secret was she liked humans.

For all their darkness and evils she felt like she understood them, unlike the rest of the denizens of the wastes humans had no form of natural protection from the brutal realities of the world around them, so to survive in this world they had to be brutal themselves and given that their grasp on the technology that could be either incredible or truly evil because it created extreme power imbalances.

But her life went beyond that understanding, it reached far further into her heart and her soul, she remembered as a teenager she was exploring an old human city much like this one but back where her pack was originally from in the place Humans called Santa Monica.

She had managed to get herself into one of their old shops and this one was filled with old paper tomes that the humans called books and magazines, she began to explore the place and despite not being able to really read any of the human languages yet she found loads of amazing pictures to look at among those ancient pages.

But that's when she found it, a tome that had stayed with her as her most secret and greatest hidden treasure right up until their nest was burned and she and her brother were forced to flee for their lives.

It had been hidden high up on one of the shelves far from view but a colourful picture drew her attentions and she used her claws to great effect in managing to climb up to the top of the high shelves in order to retrieve it pulling the entire shelving unit down on her head in the process.

But fate had smiled on her that day as not only had a second shelving unit saved her from being trapped below the heavy shelving unit forming an arch that she could crawl out of but her prize had survived her fall as well.

She took her prize into a little back room filled with heavy leather objects that humans called chairs that were incredibly comfy to sit upon though they were a little awkward for her tail, but once she was comfortable she opened that magazine and what she saw in those pages changed her life forever.

The pages were filled with picture upon picture of naked human males in a variety of suggestive poses giving the viewer sly and smouldering smiles while their eyes positively begged the viewer to chase and hunt them to claim their prize that they were displaying to them.

Serena had never in her life imagined that humans could be beautiful but they truly were, it hurt her heart when thought that these handsome specimens of humanity's masculine beauty were undoubtedly all long dead thanks to the war that had remade the world this way.

She found herself mesmerized by those pictures and more than that she found herself aroused for the first time in her life and it was by a member of another species.

Serena had been so enthralled by those images she'd seen that she'd squirrelled away that little deviant treasure in her nest far away from the eyes of the other Claws who would judge her for this deviancy including her brother.

Human males were just so exotic and wonderful, they looked so fragile and smooth compared to Claw males but it was that gentle fragility that really attracted her, it was positively exotic to her after growing up and living with big powerful Claw boys her whole life.

Even years later after their nest was burned along with that secret little treasure of hers she could still remember those human boys from those pages, every curve, every patch of smooth clear and soft-looking flesh that simply begged to be explored inch by inch by a grateful and curious set of claw-tipped fingers no matter what colour or flavour as she began to refer to it that it came in, every set of smouldering eyes, every sly and knowing smile, every beautiful and mouthwatering maleness both hard and soft, she could recall them all.

Her favourite was the males with long head fur, furry bodies and especially those with facial fur because as much as she loved the smooth-skinned variety fur was just such a novelty and turn-on for her because she yearned to run her claws through that deliciously soft fur for hours, it was like the perfect combination for her, soft human skin topped with soft fur so the best of both worlds for her claws to explore.

It also helped to save a human life later on and possibly her own, she had been in the forest near her home hunting for molerats when she had stumbled across a human male cutting down trees either to make buildings or firewood from but what she had seen had taken her breath away and her tail swish.

She'd managed to hide herself behind a bush and began to watch him as he struck the tree over and over again, the way his smooth cream-coloured skin bunched as his muscles contracted as well as glistened as his perspiration caught the sunlight made her drool, he was truly a beauty.

Even now the memory of her teenage self hiding in those bushes trying to resist her urges to break from the bushes at full tilt in order to snatch him up and run for her nest with him over her shoulder made her smile.

As Serena looked around this human shop she found that it was completely empty except for one thing, a large leather-bound book that was sat upon a pedestal in the middle of the empty shelves.

Walking slowly up and looking around the shadowed shop she approached the pedestal but she couldn't see anyone though odd sounds were coming from those shadows, as soon as she touched the book with a claw-tipped finger the book snapped open all on its own and the pages began to rapidly cycle over until it reached the middle of the book and suddenly Serena found herself standing in the middle of a human village but this one looked different, it was clean and neat, it took her a moment to realise that this was a village from before the war.

That's when she saw the little hatchling claw again only now she looked older and it took her a moment to realise that she was a teenager now that's also when she realised that this younger claw was not just familiar, it was her!

The younger Serena smiled at her as if sensing that she now understood who she was seeing, but before she could say a word about it the younger Serena held a clawed finger up to her lips to silence before pointing to something going on in the middle of the town.

Serena followed the younger version over to the commotion and that's when she saw something truly amazing, there was a rather large human dressed all in red with a very strange hat and holding a large sack on his shoulder.

Looking over him his suit was deep red and covered in white trim and wearing a strange bobbled hat, but the thing that truly caught her eye was his truly impressive snow-white facial fur, it was long thick and luscious.

He was standing before a large sleigh that appeared to be being pulled by what looked like eight of those strange rad stags with large antlers, one of which seemed to have an odd red nose that even seemed to glow.

As she watched, the large jolly looking man leapt from the floor and onto one of the rooves of the snow-covered house and in a display that beggared belief he vanished down a large chimney stack before appearing again in the house's living room.