Gathering Expedition: The Tatties (Part 1) (6/50)

“Neeps! Come here!” Pantalaimon barked, happily, to their Puffle. 

Neeps bounded over to their side, and it’s two baby Puffles- Pantalaimon nicknamed the both of them the “Tatties”- trotted over to Neeps, huddling close to it for warmth. Pantalaimon lowered their head and closed their eyes to nuzzle all three of them affectionately, and their faerie halo flitted by the babies as if to welcome them. Baby Puffle fur felt as soft as a nest full of Pwigi down when they prepared to lay their eggs. Neeps soundlessly gave them a purr as Pantalaimon touched it- they had only learned to recognize this as a form of happiness through the soft vibration of Neep’s fur.

One of the Tatties toddled over to their faerie halo, clumsily, and tried to poke it with it’s triangular nose. The second Tattie waddled over as well, sniffing it curiously. Their halo quickly zipped back to the back of their head and showered the Puffles in faerie dust, peeking out from behind a feathered ear.

“Now, now,” said Pantalaimon. “I’ll take you little ones and your mama out to gather goodies with me! You must to learn how to be self-sufficient!”

Pantalaimon, internally, was grinning smugly from ear to ear. Neeps had been invaluable to them for helping them find and swindle valuables from unsuspecting xyns for years- and now that it had somehow multiplied, Pantalaimon could find even more ways to rob xyns blind with their new Puffles. Stealing candy from xynlets would never be easier than this. Perhaps it would even be possible to have Neeps multiply further with more babies, if they could figure out how…

But first: babies needed to learn how to crawl, and then take baby steps, before they could walk, and then run. 

Thievery would come far later after both of the Tatties were older and trained to dowse for simple valuables first…

—

It was yet another lovely evening outside of Moonreach. Pantalaimon had guided Neeps and both of the Tatties out to the same copse of Dawnflower trees where both Tatties had been born. It was a familiar, safe place for all of them- there was no need to fear predators here.

Pantalaimon had strung a few Charms in the branches of the blossoming Dawnflower trees- their lush, red boughs hid them out of immediate sight and they were only visible when you had spent enough time searching for them. Simple enough for a fully grown Puffle, but for babies, it was good as a first learning lesson.

The older Tattie, huddled next to Neep’s side, waddled out cautiously, and sniffed the air. It’s pompom tail that it held high twitched curiously; and it trotted over to one of the first trees that Pantalaimon had hidden charms within. Pantalaimon had to stop their own tail from beginning to wag, so as not to give away hints to where the charms were. It was exciting to witness this first step of their lives. Neeps shuffled over to its babies to guide them both, silently, through the trees.

The younger Tattie also crawled out from Neeps’ side to sniff for charms too, and together the both of them stumbled over each other during their search. They were at an age where their stubby legs were barely off the ground, and they could hardly lift their necks to look above to the sky- not that adult puffles could do this exceptionally well either. 

Pantalaimon sat and waited, earnestly, for one of the Tatties to make a sound. But something didn’t seem right.

The Tatties were taking far too long to find their charms; which would have been expected for their very first time treasure hunting, but Not even Neeps was making its typical “MEEP!”ing sound when the lowest hanging charms would have been easy for it to find in seconds.

“Is something wrong?” Pantalaimon asked to Neeps. “You’re not finding the charms I’ve set out…” 

Neeps could not respond, of course- and neither could it’s babies. The first Tattie only stared at them with it's large eyes, and the second yawned, sleepily, seemingly unaware of the problem.

They stepped next to all of their puffles and shoved their head into the first set of branches in the nearest Dawnberry tree. Nothing. They browsed through the adjacent branches for charms, then the next few trees- searching as frantically as they could. Nothing again. Neeps stared cluelessly at Pantalaimon, and both of the Tatties were still crawling about, looking for something that they didn’t really know wasn’t there. The younger Tattie started crawling back towards Pantalaimon, and nestled by their hindpaw once they stood still

Something, or somexyn, had taken their charms. There wasn’t any other explanation for it. Was this a prank?

Pantalaimon knitted their brows and sighed in exasperation, and shook their head. They weren’t to be outdone. They’d have to take the puffles out looking for them a bit further than expected…

Pantalaimon turned to all three Puffles, shaking their head. “We’ll have to go out and find the charms I’ve hidden elsewhere,” they said, glumly, “They’ve been whisked away!”

Neeps, sensing their urgency, began sniffing again- and it began to trot out of the copse, towards the direction of Quietphase Lake- surprisingly fast for something as small as it’s size. The first Tattie began to follow suit, struggling to wheel it’s legs forward as fast as it’s little legs could carry it, and the second Tattie followed suit, stumbling over itself- Pantalaimon had to scoop up both puffle babies with it’s magic, setting the both of them. Neeps was running too fast for either of them to keep up, much less have the energy to try to continue their dowsing lesson at the end of it.

All four of them traveled in the direction of Quietphase, awaiting to see what would happen next…