Fall Mishaps and Pining

There was a cool breeze as Tallah, Titila and Pineapple joined the gathering of Beblune. The Brown beblune in the centre of it started to welcome everyone and announce that they would be helping the humans prepare for winter this year. That wasn’t the plan when the small family had arrived to Shatterfield to satiate Pineapple’s hunger for variety but it was a good addition to the trip, Tallah liked humans they were small, neat little guys that worked hard when needed to.

They probably didn’t need their help if he was honest but he could humour Titila and stay to help if she wished.

At the end Terra as the beblune had called herself lifted a log and threatened any beblune who would potentially be mean to the humans. Tallah would have laughed at the comment if his breath hadn’t caught in his throat.

It’s probably nothing
Probably.

If Tallah had become keen on helping the humans well that was nobody’s business.

Tallah wasn’t too aware of human rituals. They were always up to something but he never learnt the details, so Tallah approached a patchy human and asked what needed to be done, they kept it short and pointed him to the general direction of each task.

One being clearing leaves, should be easy enough!

Tallah didn’t know he was supposed to only clear the leaves on the ground, so he was a bit confused when a human started yelling at him to not shake and pluck all the leaves out of a tree.

“You’re supposed to only gather the leaves that have already fallen on the ground! Not the whole tree!”

“Oh shit, that does make more sense”

The human left once Tallah started working properly to clear the leaves on the ground. Having a long tail came in handy when his back mane also helped in clearing and sweeping all the leaves together. The pile he created started to get bigger and bigger with each sweep of his tail. Tallah was gently clearing the edges of the pile when his eyes caught sight of long blue hair.

Tallah stood straight up trying to mind his own business and look very productive, just in case Terra looked his way. There was no reason to be nervous! He clearly did a lot of work and whether Terra appreciated it or not didn’t matter.

Though if she did smile and approve of his work that would be really, really neat.

Just as Terra appeared to be looking in his direction Tallah heard an unexpected yelp and the rustling of leaves.

“PINEAPPLE!”

“aAH!”

Tallah startled as his sister came barrelling towards his pile of leaves and leaped just in time to catch a bundle of yellow and pink.

And send his large pile of leaves flying up into the air.

If Tallah hadn’t turned to see his sister and niece in the mess of leaves that was his previous pile he might’ve caught a confused pair of blue eyes watching the chaos.

In the end Tallah needed a few Human’s help to gather all the leaves, he just wasn’t built to deal with small tedious things besides animals.

The next task Tallah went to work on was gathering firewood, that he could do. The humans had already started working on chopping down the wood and all Tallah had to do was deliver them to each doorstep. Luckily the pieces were quite small compared to Tallah’s fwingers so he was able to carry a huge amount of them. While stretching his wings in preparation the humans pointed and described every den that needed wood to him.

Picking up the wood Tallah set forth towards the oddly shaped dens. As Tallah walked between humans and bebs alike working together he heard the most wonderful laugh, pausing in his footsteps he tried to look for the source, scanning the nearby crowd his gaze landed on a pair of brown beblune, the beblune in charge of this event.

Terra was there laughing at something her companion must’ve said… she had such a gorgeous smile.

It caught Tallah off guard, his breath hitched and he didn’t realise he was taking a step forward til he lost his footing and his grip slipped.
A yelp rang out and blocks of wood could be heard hitting the ground, coming back to his senses Tallah jumped as the surrounding volume came back to him and he could hear the nearby humans back away in surprise and other beblune rush over to check if any humans were hurt. They asked if Tallah needed help carrying the wood cause surely, he shouldn’t be carrying so much if he couldn’t hold it all by himself.

Embarrassment flooded Tallah, he kept his head down as beblune helped pick up some of the wood. The implication they made that he wasn’t strong enough to carry it made him cringe. Tallah picked up what was in reach and tried to get away from the crowd as quickly as he could, when he was far enough, he let himself dwell on the other issue… He had gotten really distracted, stupid distracted, he had tripped and dropped Things!!

All because of a simple smile.

No matter that it was a lovely smile that could bring warmth to anyone in this cold weather…buT STILL! This was ridiculous Tallah barely knew the Beblune. Other than her name was Terra, she cared about humans, appeared to be willing to fight beblune for them and that she had a wonderful laugh.

Tallah rubbed his face trying to scrub the embarrassment and thoughts out. This wasn’t helping the humans at all, there was really no reason to dwell on the situation Tallah just needed to get it together and focus then once they were done helping the humans they could go on their merry way.

With this in mind Tallah got back up to his paws and back to task looking for the specific dens that needed the wood, at least the small amount he still had.

Once the wood was delivered Tallah went looking for his sister to see what she and his niece were up to and see if there was any way he could help them to take his mind off the previous events.

Tallah finds them in a field among many other beblune and humans surrounded by large leafed plants with orange orbs that can be seen in between the growth. Titila is showing Pineapple one of the Orange orbs, holding it just out of reach from her grabby claws when Tallah approaches them.

Pineapple is the first to notice. “aUNTIE!! Mum won’t Let me hold the Pumkin!” 

“You can Hold One After we’re done harvesting them and I don’t have to worry about you eating them”

Pineapple whined tearing off a leaf and climbing up onto Tallah’s back to mumble to herself.

Tallah gave his sister a confused expression which finally caught her attention enough to acknowledge him.

“Oh, Hey Tatah, I was just teaching Pineapple about the kind of fruit we’re harvesting for the humans! They’re called Pumpkins.”

“Pumpkins! Sounds fun…” Tallah gave the alien fruit another look “what else do you know about them?”

“That they’re orange!” Titila said proudly holding the pumpkin above her head. Tallah laughed at that, quite the well of Knowledge was his sister.

Titila looked up at him and tilted her head. “So…What have you been up to? Haven’t seen you since you put that nest together for Terra”

Tallah’s mind came to a screeching halt.

“AWHEFAKWF WH- NEST?!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN??” Tallah’s face was ablaze.
“WHAT THE COPROLITE I HAVE N0 IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT”

“The large pile of leaves! Wasn’t that-”

“THE- I WAS GATHERING AND CLEARING LEAVES FOR THE HUMANS THAT’S WHAT THEY DO!!”

“What? Put it in a large pile to get rid of??”

“Y E S”

“So, they just collect a bunch of leaves? And Not put it in their dens so they have a nice place to cuddle with their loved ones? Sounds fake but okay.”

“Yeah I-” Tallah paused at that, he couldn’t be completely sure on what humans actually did with the leaves since he didn’t know them that well and the idea it self…curled up in the warmth of a loved one..nO NO No, Tallah was not getting side tracked again!!

“Look anyway if you must know after I made the- GATHEREd the Leaves, I was delivering wood to the human’s dens and then I decided to find you” Tallah was trying so hard not to mention his mishap and just keep focused “So Please, do tell me what we are doing here.”

“Pfft okay” Titila shook her head as she looked around the field and she appeared to find what she was looking for. “See that cart over there? Essentially we’re taking these pumpkins and putting them in the cart” She rotated the pumpkin in her paws to show a stem that was still attached and connecting to the dirt “But first we have to cut it from the stem like so” using her claws it took a number of tries for them to slice through but she managed and held up the pumpkin in all its glory for Tallah to see.

Then she held it far away as a blue paw tried to reach out for it.

“Also keep it away from the baby!” Titila made some kissy noises to console the dreag “You can have one after we’re done here okay Pineapple?”

Whining could be heard just behind Tallah’s neck he turned his head only to be greeted with a huff.
“We just want to see all the pumpkins so we can give you the best one okay? How does that sound?”

Pineapple turned away still angy to hide her expression but an agreeable sound could be heard from the little dreag.

With the niece settled Tallah set to work cutting the stems and placing the pumpkins in a pile off the way so they could be brought to the cart later. Tallah made quicker work of the stems since his claws were a lot sharper always prepared for most situations.

Situations that did not involve pretty beblune lifting entire logs as a threat.

Tallah scrunched his face to try and stop thinking altogether, he was doing so well keeping to task! He couldn’t help himself a little hopeful he decided to look around the field they were in, it was quite far from the other activities that were going on, probably no chance of seeing Terra around here, which was probably a good thing! Tallah took in a deep breath and cut another stem off.

There was something weird about this Pumpkin, it was really small but weighed a lot more than what Tallah believed Pumpkins should. Lifting the pumpkin higher into the air Tallah could see why, Pineapple was happily holding on to it.

“Pineapple?”

She made an acknowledging hum still holding on but now making pleading eyes at Tallah

“What are you doing?” He asked slowly but in a humorous tone.

“It is small and round!” “Yes, it is!” Tallah agreed grinning

“I would like to keep it!” She declared.

Tallah laughed at that “Not eat it?” he dared to ask

“No!!!!!! I Like it!” She yelled gaining the attention of a few other beblune who smiled.

“Alright then! You can have it” and gently placed her and the pumpkin on the ground.

Titila had returned from placing a quarter of their pumpkins in the cart.

“What’s going on?” looking between Tallah, Pineapple and the pumpkin she was holding on to.

“Pineapple just wants to hold and keep the pumpkin, like a flower”

“AnD Auntie said I Could :D !!”

“Pfft Okay, that’s fair we’re nearly done anyway”

Gathering the last of the pumpkins that were in their designated area they took them to the full cart. Once in a human approached them and said they could bring it to the kitchens, where they’ll be storing and using the fruit.

“What for?” Pineapple asked ever the curious little bugger.

“Many sorts of dishes but I know for sure today some will be making pies out of them”

They delivered the pumpkins to the kitchens and were asked to help prepare the fruit for use. Using their claws, they cut the pumpkins open dragging out the flesh. Pineapple was curious to try but really wanted to keep her pumpkin out of harm’s way and stayed between Tallah’s wings holding it.

The Mowls decided to help with the baking process where they could and were told they could put the filling in a few pies set out for them. As they put pumpkin flesh in to the pie crust, someone had left a pile of crystals about that must’ve been left for something else maybe a dish specifically for Beblune.

Titila thought they were allowed to use them in the pie so she sprinkled a few in hers and properly mixed it in with the rest of the filling before the pie could get too far in to the process a human noticed how unnaturally sparkly (for them) the pie was and asked about it.

“There’s crystals in it!” Titila said cheerfully, “Oh we can’t have that! Us humans would choke on it”

Before Tallah could apologise and suggest to just chuck the pie an elderly woman came in. She suggested to keep the pie, separate it from the rest, bake it and give it as a gift to Terra and Nothing for setting up this whole event.

“Yes! They were very kind to lend their assistance to us and make a whole event out of it, we’re definitely weeks ahead of schedule thanks to them! We can rest easy without stress about getting it all done on time.”

The other human agreed to the idea and before Tallah can even acknowledge the idea Titila is barging in with a suggestion.

“Oh! That sounds great! If you’re too busy Tallah here could definitely deliver the pie to them right away when it’s done”

“Wh-”

“Why yes! That sounds like a great idea! Maybe we should make more crystal pies to thank all the beblune who helped us here today but yes please do take it to them once it’s baked it’ll be a lot of help!”

With that the pie was placed in a separate oven and the elderly lady disappeared the human still there said they’d call when it was done so there was no confusion.

Once out of the area Tallah turned on his sister, “excuse ME?? TitiLA!!” moaned in despair already dreading the embarrassment he’d surely face.
“Come on! It’ll be your chance to have a conversation with her! You haven’t actually talked to her, have you?”

Tallah was flushed, of course he hadn’t, all he did was admire from afar and embarrass himself

“For a good reason! I’m not a chatty mowl! Plus, I wouldn’t even know what to say”

Titila gave an encouraging smile “Just try your luck! It never hurts to see what could happen if you make an effort.”

Once the Pie was done the human brought it out in a safe box carrier so it could easily rest in front of Tallah’s neck, once there Tallah took in a deep breath and exhaled. Now to look for them.

Titila wished him Good luck as he set off.

Tallah honestly couldn’t see them anywhere, he had checked the areas the duo had been earlier in the day and then elsewhere, it was surprising since he saw them so often before but there wasn’t a hint of them now. He asked four different beblune who didn’t have a clue either.

Tallah decided to head back to the kitchens to let them know he sadly couldn’t deliver the gift. 

Just before he would turn another corner, he spotted a brown beblune tied in wires. Yes! Where one was the other had to be close. Tallah walked closer but he couldn’t spot any hint of Blue hair.

Oh well it was probably for the best so he wouldn’t make a fool of himself, Tallah was glad he could at least deliver the gift. Despite the slight disappointment.

Approaching Nothing with the pie and he tried to get its attention, when Tallah felt a slight gaze fall on him he started to explain.

“Hi! I’m Tallah and a few of the humans decided they wanted to thank you and Terra for helping them prepare for winter by organising this whole event!” gently setting down the pie that was made lovingly and completely by accident he continued.

“They said it was very kind and helpful of you! So, they baked you this pie.” Tallah paused a little unsure of what to do since he couldn’t read Nothing “It was of course for both of you, I just haven’t had any luck finding Terra but uh yeah I hope you enjoy it.”