Two Elves & a Reindeer, Delivering Joy

And thus, the plan was enacted and in full swing. Pumpkin and Carpet had successfully roped Pitch into their shenanigans. Soon, all of their friends would have some sort of trinket to bring them cheer in the cold solitude of winter. If it could’ve been possible to bait all of their friends together, the two fliers would’ve–however, Pumpkin and Carpet both agreed that seeing their friends squabble over who got the better gift might not be as fun: jealousy didn’t fuel holiday cheer, it ruined moods. 

Even though their plan still hadn’t come to full fruition, the two were over eager to get things into motion. Pitch tried her best at weaving, she really did–but tying vines around her own claws to weave proved difficult and near impossible. Instead, the Tropeognathus and Tapejara aided in tying the start of the vines to her claws before grabbing the other end and playing a complex, slow game of jump rope and limbo. They’d hop over each other, become confused and disagree on whose move it was, and Pitch would be the one to determine where each would go; after all, she was the only one that had a truly useful top-down view of the criss-crossed conglomeration of vines. They weaved until their stomachs growled too much to ignore, at which point Pumpkin and Carpet untied the vines from Pitch’s claws and the trio left the copse to find some meager scraps left behind by the freeze. Afterwards, they returned to the vines until they had a pile of fiber that somewhat resembled a knitted blanket. 

Pumpkin stretched her wings with a groan. “That was more difficult than I thought it’d be,” She remarked, before walking over to Pitch and snuggling into her feathers. She began to gently preen the therizinosaur’s feathers. Carpet walked over and settled next to the pair.

“Y’know, we could use this as a bag instead and just tote around the trinkets for one big trip. That way it’d happen faster with the three of us, rather than just us two with wings flying ourselves to death over and over again,” Carpet suggested. “That’s up to you though, Pitch. It’d be a lot of walking.”

Pitch seemed to consider the idea briefly, a soft purr emanating from her chest at the gentle affection from the Tapejara. “It wouldn’t be too bad. The trees get boring after a while, and I could do with some travelling.” 

Pumpkin wiggled out of her spot buried within feathers and hopped over to the corner of the weave. “Well, let’s get rolling then!” She cheered, and both fliers helped drape the vine blanket over Pitch’s back to travel with. “We’ll go visit your dad first! He’s nearby, right?”

“Yeah,” Pitch hummed. “He’ll appreciate a visit. I haven’t seen him in a few sunrises.”

And so, the trio set out to the hollowed tree, laying out the blanket before the fliers carted every trinket from the tree into the makeshift bag. Pitch ogled several of the items, more than curious to see who would receive… an old sock? Who in the world could use that, the therizinosaurus wondered. 

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Carpet chirped. “Pumpkin’s gonna wear that when the snow starts falling. Feathers can only keep one so warm, y’know?”

It made a lot more sense now to Pitch. The process of loading the collection of goodies onto Pitch’s back was the main issue–the two fliers spent time tying ends of vines together so it would actually function as a bag, then helped the therizinosaurus shuffle under the collection of presents. 

The trek to Antares’ home wasn’t bad for the start of their gifting journey. They travelled along the eastern edge of the ashlands, straying far enough from the treeline of the forest to avoid any potential ambushes. Pitch wasn’t told what he’d receive, but she hoped that he’d enjoy it regardless. The trio shared stories on the brief adventure, mostly of what they’d been doing to stave off the chill that insisted on settling. Eventually, they came up to a small cavern at the base of the ascent to the highlands, just into the forests along the ashland’s border. A brush pile had been created at the entrance, covered with sticks and logs. With a quick sniff of the air, Pitch knew her father was home by the earthy, pine-like scent that wafted from the cavern.

“Antaaaaares! Hey, anybody home?” Pumpkin called, hopping off of where she’d rode on Pitch’s neck for the trip like a little baby bat. She flew over to the brush pile and landed with a little oomph. A soft chuffing echoed from the cavern, with some shuffling, and a large, grey therizinosaurus made its way out of the depths. The red star on his chest was as bright as ever–Pitch’s own mirrored his marking, clearly cementing their relations. At the sight of his daughter, Antares’ periwinkle eyes glimmered with mirth.

“Lovely for you to visit,” Antares chuffed. “What brings you three troublemakers to this neck of the woods?”

Carpet unlatched from Pitch’s feathers and flew over to land on Antares’ back and burrow into warm feathers. “We wanted to see how you were doing,” the Tropeognathus remarked. Pumpkin seemed to like Carpet’s idea and flitted from the brush to Antares’ chest, where she latched onto scruffy feathers and almost seemed to purr. Pitch leaned to the side so that the bag would fall to the floor before moving to nuzzle her father’s neck feathers. He reached his arms out to give her somewhat of a hug, resting his chin atop her head. Pumpkin wasn’t too bothered by turning into a Tapejara pancake for the warm feathers that she was squished into. 

“And we’ve got a gift for you!” Pumpkin squeaked from where she’d been smushed. The two therizinosaurs separated as Antares peered around Pitch to look at the suspicious pile of vines. 

“For me?” Antares cocked his head. Pumpkin wiggled out of his feathers and flew over to the bag, Carpet following to help dig through the collection. Together, they dragged out a chunk of shiny, petrified wood and scooted it towards the older therizinosaurus. He crouched down and inspected the piece, looking this way and that with a twinkle of awe in his eyes. “This looks amazing,” He murmured, then picked up the wood and walked to place it on a divot in the wall, next to other small, shiny trinkets. His feathers puffed up with pride. “It fits right in, I think. Don’t you?”

Pumpkin and Carpet shared wide grins, and Pitch nodded in agreement. 

“Well, we oughta get going. We’ve got a lot more visits to make,” Carpet announced, and flew back over to the bag. “Let’s get loaded up and back on our journey!” 

Pitch and Antares shared another hug, with Antares gently preening his daughter’s small head feathers before giving the three a polite wave. The two fliers helped drag the bag back onto Pitch’s back, then settled into her feathers once more. 

“Be safe! Thank you for the visit and the gift,” Antares called, watching the trio as they headed off to their next stop. He only hoped they’d stop by to keep him company more often in the coming days.