Comet is content to relive the past, but meeting Salk gives her a glimpse into the future, and she might just let go of regrets. Comet is five hundred years old by human standards of linear time, but in her mind, she is the same young woman taken out of the Middle Ages by Santa. Being pulled out of her time to become one of the Christmas reindeer had been harsh but better than being stoned or hung as a witch. Her foray away from the workshop takes her to a modern past, a Ren Faire. The clothing and traditions are familiar, and she spends time grieving for a family lost many Christmases ago. Salk is a coal elf of the naughty-or-nice department. His job has been to find those who are definitely naughty and punish them. He never imagined that he would find a reindeer who needs his nice side more than anything else.