Costume Conundrum [1/2]

As the night began to grow dark, Fei paced back and forth in the middle of her room, deep in thought. Laid across the floor were pieces of paper, carefully detailed costumes drafted on each of them. It was clear that plenty of effort had gone into the designs. That, however, was the reason for the uncharacteristically troubled frown on the pixyn’s face - she simply couldn't decide on a costume to work on! The amount of time available until the grand banquet was running short by the moment, and while she was quite happy with the drafts she’d had so far, something didn't seem to… “click”. Something was missing, and if she couldn’t manage to figure it out in time, she would have little choice but to attend the festivities without a costume! That simply wouldn’t do! And with how every other xyn was busy with their own preparations for the banquet, it wouldn’t be fair to bother them about it either! There must be a solution somewhere, somehow, but nothing was coming to mind…!

– A small nudge on her shoulder jolted her back to reality. She looked down to meet the curious gaze of a Timberwulf. Next to it was a Musha, worry clear in its eyes. Another mushroom sprouted from the soil in its pot. …Did its Timberwulf friend bring it here? Actually, now that Fei looked more carefully, a trio of Dangoling were hiding just behind the pot, peeking out timidly. Fei chuckled softly, and let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. She had been so focused that she was essentially in her own world… With how tense she was, she must’ve worried all of her friends, the companions who had been by her side all this time.

…Right, her companion friends! Why did she not realise sooner? She was never in this by herself! A familiar spark of enthusiasm returned to her eyes.

“Everyone, everyone!” 

As if they’d noticed the change in her, the companions perked up as well, eager to hear what she had to say. Even the Beary, who had fallen asleep on the pile of fabric Fei had prepared for her costume, was roused from its slumber.

“I have a fun idea! What if we worked together? Can you tell me which of these -” She gestured at the scattered sheets of paper- “-are your favourites?”

At this, the Timberwulf immediately sprang into action, wasting no time as it ran from one draft to another. The Beary yawned, stretched, and lazily fluttered off its makeshift bed to join the group in their effort. The Dangoling trio hopped along the floor, carefully inspecting each design, occasionally discussing amongst themselves. All while the Musha cheered them on from its pot.

Eventually, it seemed that the Dangolings had come to a decision. With some effort, they began to slowly nudge a witch costume sketch in Fei’s direction.

“--Wuff!!” 

What the trio did not expect was the Timberwulf charging over to Fei, a sketch of what appeared to be a vampire costume in its mouth. Unfortunately, in its excitement, it failed to take notice of the Dangoling in its path as it single mindedly ran ahead.

“Oh-! Careful–!”

But it was too late. The Timberwulf tripped right into one of the trio, sending a poor Dangoling flying through the air, barely missing the Beary, who was hovering about admiring the bowtie on a sketch it’d picked out. In the Beary’s confusion, it accidentally dropped the sheet - onto the Timberwulf’s face. This momentarily blinded it, and it ran around wildly… …only to end up ramming into Fei’s art setup as the Musha squeaked in horror and attempted to catch the scattered art supplies to no avail. After a series of loud clashes and bangs, silence followed.

Fei was the first to speak up.
“A-Are you okay?”
She rushed over, picked up the dangoling, and began to check the Timberwulf over. Fortunately, both of the companions were uninjured, but-

The Timberwulf stared at the scene before it in horror. The collapsed easel, the paintbrush holder now laying on its side, the watercolours blending with each other… The sight could only be described as chaotic. “Auu…” The Timberwulf whimpered, its head hanging low. 

Fei gave a soft sigh as she moved to lift the easel back into a standing position. The Beary fluttered over with a towel, which Fei accepted with thanks. Just as she was about to wipe the watercolours off, though, she noticed something. The colours had formed what appeared to be a swirl, each colour intertwining with another. Splashes of watercolour stained the monochrome costume drafts.

A swirl of colours… At that moment, everything in her mind fell into place.

Colours! Yes, that was what she was missing! Detail or variety wasn’t what was lacking, after all! Even something simple would be so much more charming with a hint of colour - how could it have taken so long for her to remember this?

As inspiration struck, she cleaned up the floor in record speed . She addressed the companions as she sprinted off to her work desk:
“I’ve got an idea - I’ll be right back!”

The companions looked at each other, unsure what to do next, until the Musha squeaked for their attention. Minutes passed as the companions picked up the loose sheets of paper and piled them back into a tidy stack as the Musha coordinated. Soon, Fei returned from her desk with a spring in her step.

“…There we go!”

With a happy twirl, she held out her newest draft before the companions. At a glance, it appeared to be a plain witch’s robe, but a rainbow-coloured trim added a splash of colour to the otherwise dark cloth. Positioned on the collar was a pink ribbon tied into a bow, decorated by what appeared to be a gem swirling with iridescent colours. Another similar gem dangled off the tip of the wide-brimmed witch hat.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

The answer seemed to be a resounding “yes” with the audience. The Musha nodded in approval, while the Beary (who had decided to take a break by landing on the Musha’s cap) rose a paw as if it were trying to give a thumbs up. The Dangolings were especially thrilled, their beady eyes shining with excitement as they bounced in joy. The Timberwulf, however, remained abashedly seated. Seeing this, Fei approached the small canine, and gently stroked its head.

“It was true that you caused quite a scene!” Her voice was kind as always.
“But look at it this way: you did help with cleaning up - And it was thanks to what happened that we now have this design, right?”
At her words of comfort, the Timberwulf looked up at Fei, and gave a tiny yip.

“I can see that you understand that you did something wrong, so let’s learn from this and move on to something more fun!”

The other companions approached the Timberwulf as well, offering kind gestures of their own. A smile returned to its face as it finally rose from its position with an energetic “wuff!”. The Timberwulf seemed to have returned to its usual self again, and Fei too smiled in sympathy. 

“Now…”

Fei shifted her gaze back to the draft. With that small interlude, the costume she had spent so much time worrying over finally had a design she was satisfied with. But it was no time to rest or to celebrate - there was still more to be done!

She retrieved the stack of fabric, alongside her sewing kit, and beamed at the companions, who looked back at her expectantly.

“Let’s get to work, everyone!”