A Day on the Farm

“Wakey-wakey!” A strong country accent interrupted the poor paca’s dreams. Bapple was enjoying a nice tea party with cartoon animals, it was quite entertaining. “Oh c’mon!” Darling, the generous paca who let Bapple stay all these months, seems to have gotten them up pretty early today. It felt like her eyes were glued shut, and her nubs didn’t get word of needing to wake up at all. It was easier to just fall back asleep probably...
“WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!” Loud enough to startle some birds outside, that sure woke up the sweet dreaming paca. Gosh, whatever she’s getting them up for must be important. Or at the very least includes a nice breakfast maybe.

It did actually follow with a warm breakfast thankfully, oven-warmed muffins from the day prior. Not fresh exactly, but still a cozy treat. Some bacon was made alongside them for protein, and was soon gobbled up by both of them.
Darling, while pouring the extra grease in a tin, talked about how a certain moff should be expecting her baby today. Bapple tried to remember which one it might be, and suddenly got an image of a very round and leafy moff. She sure did look pregnant, though Bapple just assumed she was getting a bit fat...

“Anyways, you don’t have ta help too much, just need someone there as an extra pair of nubs!” Having never seen a live birth before, Bapple was admittedly a bit nervous. Though thankfully, she didn’t have to get her nubs too dirty it seemed...

After breakfast was all cleaned up, it was quite early still, and the poor paca wasn’t ready for the windy day it was outside. The cold of dawn sure didn’t help either. Yes, Darling did get up at this time every morning, but Bapple was far from used to that. Usually sleeping in, this was like a sleepy nightmare!
Okay maybe not that bad, but it sure was cold for spring, and she hated that. Maybe the barn will be a bit better, blocking the wind quite a bit.

Bracing the gusts, the two pacas held onto their coats real tight, and briskly walked over to the barn’s safe walls. Once getting inside, both of them seemed to sigh in relief, the only wind getting through being tiny whistles.
The sound wasn’t so welcome there though, each animal seemed on edge from the strange noises, and a labor pained moff didn’t help. Darling somehow knew just the time it’d start too, bewildering Bapple as she tried to not spook the creature.

A few caring individual animals came up and seemed to comfort the distressed moff. Having needed to set up some things before enticing the birth, this did give Darling some time thankfully. A soft picnic blanket now being set out, along with extras nearby, Bapple assumed for the new kid.
Soon after though, a cold stethoscope was brought out, and the moff could sure feel the temperature difference. A few moments pass though, and it doesn’t seem too bad anymore.

The nearby animals could almost sense what was going on, leaving Bapple a little nervous and confused about it all. “C’mon get close, just keep her company, alright?” Darling was easy and gentle, probably having done this dozens of times before. Though extra nubs were appreciated greatly, as she said before. Bapple just tries to remember she is really needed. Softly petting the moff with one nub, they hope it isn’t too long for her.

Suddenly, the barn door flips open, and with the wind pouring in, comes a few strange orbs as well. Somehow the weight of the weather carried the odd things from wherever they came from.
In an unspoken gesture, Bapple agrees to go check what they are, and closing the large door as well. Being rather tough to shut it, another orb came bouncing in soon after. Now making a grand total of four of these things, whatever they were.

Now being able to look at them, Bapple makes a strange discovery. “They’re... glowing slightly?” Almost gentle, and very confused, the small paca’s tone drifted off as they looked closer at the objects in their nubs.
The longer they held them too, the warmer they got, almost feeling like a small hug. Maybe they need warmth? Or was this a way of communicating? This sure was very strange, and even a confused look from Darling appeared.

“Here, take this,” the extra picnic blanket was held out for the odd things, “Wrap ‘em up and keep a good eye on ‘em. Too blustery to go investigate for now.” Having wrapped them up tight, Bapple noticed their glow was stronger and almost in a tune with each other. Darling was right about keeping them warm for now, maybe eventually the weather will die down...

Over the next few hours, the two pacas had their nubs unexpectedly full with new life. Always being prepared, Darling of course brought and extra extra blanket for the new kid, and bundled it up real tight too. The new mother seemed eased with it being over, and cuddled up close to rest.

As the hours dwindled into midday now, the wind seemed to loose a battle with the sun, and the sounds from outside turned into occasional soft murmurs. It was deemed safe to go outside now, and check to make sure everything was in order.
Through the wind, a few things were knocked over, though everything else seemed the same. Bapple did notice a whip of color out of the corner of her eye though, and when she turned around, a large and strange creature was peering in bushes and trees.

Pointing it out to Darling, the two of them decided to cautiously yet defensively go see what it was doing.
“Excuse me...” Darling was the first to speak to the massive creature, tail long and curled at the end. It’s ‘nubs’ were long as well, coming to points, and being able to grasp things quite well. Though the odd loop it was tied in was the strangest part, almost like it was comfortable being twisted up like a bramble.

“O-oh hello!” A bit nervous it seemed, the big thing actually had quite a gentle voice. Though one look at what the two pacas were holding, and desperation was heard now. “Oh you found them..! Oh are they safe...” Trying to get close to the mysterious orbs from earlier, Bapple instinctively stepped back, and protected them.

Maybe it was the motherly mood in the air today, but they didn’t want these things being snatched up by some monster!
“What do you want with these...?” Trailing off a bit, neither Bapple nor Darling were sure what the answer would be.

“They’re our cores- well not ours, we’re caring for them,” the odd creature seemed to explain. A confused look furrowed on Bapple’s little face, though Darling seemed to recall something.

“Bap, I just remembered an old tale, talking about cores. They look just like those things too!” After describing the story a bit, it started to make sense, and Bapple felt bad trying to keep these poor things away.

“You see, I really need to get them back,” with a sad look on their face, the big thing did just want to care for them. Bapple gives a bit of a sad look as well, having to see them go, but gives them to the large creature in their blanket. “Thank you..! Oh thank you so very much!” And with some quick directions back to the creature’s home, they were off and so were the cores.

Darling made sure to cheer Bapple up though, reminding them of the other new life on the farm today. Setting the wobbly newborn moff down, it tried it’s best to walk on it’s own. The matted down fur and awkward limbs sure didn’t help though. It’ll sure be nice to have someone new on the farm finally, and a baby at that!