Submission (#8218) Approved

The air of Faerindell was heavy with flowers today; it was unusually warm and the overwhelming scent of the countless blossoms hung in the air. Everywhere Himmel looked, petals drifted to the ground; pinks, oranges, yellows, a thousand shades shifting like a sunset waterfall. The kittom slowly walked along the garden paths, nose twitching constantly. He sneezed once, then again, his nose crinkling as he tried not to let Mitternacht notice.

The older elnins mouth curved in the faintest smile. “You’ll get used to it,” Mitternacht promised, flicking his tail toward a row of peach trees in full bloom.

“I don’t think I will,” Himmel said with a small sniffle. But his voice carried more wonder than complaint.

As they walked, a strange sound floated through the air. A soft poomph...poomph…poomph, like someone clapping cushions together. Himmel stopped, ears alert. “What’s that?” He furrowed his eyebrows and tried to find the source of the sound.

Mitternacht tilted his head, listening, smiling. “Ah. Just in time”

Before Himmel could ask, something small and round bounced out of the flowers and landed in the path with a muffled poof.

It was… a ball of fluff.

The creature blinked up at Himmel with enormous golden and pink eyes. Its fur was so thick it looked like a dandelion gone to seed, except tinged with pastel colors that shimmered faintly - lilac, pink, yellow, like Faerindells blossoms all woven together. Tiny green feet poked out beneath the fluff and its ears were short and tufted, twitching like little petals in the wind.

“...What is it?” Himmel whispered, crouching low.

The fluffball gave a delighted squeak and bounced straight into his chest, knocking him onto the ground in a puff of pollen. Himmel coughed, laughing, despite himself being showered in fluff and pollen.

“That,” Mitternacht said amused, “is a Pollenpuff.”

The creature squeaked again, vibrating happily as it rolled in circles around Himmels paws. With every bounce, little clouds of glittering pollen puffed into the air, drifting like tiny sparks. Himmels eyes watered, but he couldn’t help giggling.

“They’re harmless,” Mitternacht explained, settling nearby. “They feed on nectar and sleep inside the fairy shrouds at night. Always in groups, never alone…you’ll hear whole groves filled with their squeaks when they nest.”

Sure enough, more of the round fluffballs tumbled from the branches overhead. Three, then five, then a whole colorful cascade of them, squeaking and bouncing through the flowers like popcorn in bloom.

Himmels jaw dropped. “There’s so many!”

“They’re social creatures,” Mitternacht said. “Skittish, but not unfriendly. They like to follow voices. Start whistling and you’ll have a parade of them at your heels.”

Himmel tried it out, soft and uncertain, a shaky little melody. Immediately, two Pollenpuffs turned toward him, bouncing in rhythm with the sound. Another joined, and then another, until Himmel found himself laughing outright as a little troupe of puffballs wobbled happily around him, squeaking like tiny bells.

“They’re ridiculous,” he said breathlessly, trying to bat one away as it clung to his tail.

Mitternachts expression softened into something almost fond. “Ridiculous, yes. But Faerindell would feel emptier without them.”

The Pollenpuffs eventually tired, nestling together in a growing pile beneath the peach trees, their pastel fluff rising and falling in unison as they squeaked themselves to sleep. Himmel crouched close, eyes bright.

“...Can we see more?” he asked eagerly.

“Oh, Himmel. We’ve only just begun to explore.”