riddle for the ages - feuepine

As evening started to fall upon the Hielands, two cossetlings followed a thin, worn path into a small clearing next to a shimmering lake. A small copse of trees and flowering bushes circled the outer edges of the clearing, and a stream ran into the lake, cheerily gurgling in the fading daylight. The two cossetlings each took a moment to admire the view.

“Wow. Okay, this is really nice, Oros!”

“The pictures in the guidebook didn’t do it justice, huh?”

Theo nodded, moving further into the area. He moved into the center of the clearing, examining the ground.

“This looks like a good area to set up? I think we should start by setting up the tent and then unpacking the supplies to make dinner with.”

Oros followed him, setting his backpack down with a loud thud. Theodore looked over, squinting at the bag in confusion.

“Wh- Oros, what do you have in there?”

The green-haired cossetling grinned widely, unzipping the top to reveal a large selection of books sitting on top of fabric.

“My camping collection!”

Theodore eyed his companion in suspicion, setting his own backpack down gently, and rubbing at his temples.

“Oros.”

The cossetling in question just grinned wider, unpacking the books and setting them gently on the ground.

“Oros.”

He beamed at Theodore.

“Oros, how many books did you bring on this trip?”

“Not too many, I promise!”

“Oh no.”

“Just the essentials.” As he continued unpacking the books, he showed them off to Theo, reading off their titles.” Campfire Cooking, How to Weather Storms, Edible Plants and You, What I Wish I Knew When I Went Camping, Identifying Plants and Mushrooms, How To Survive On A Deserted Island, Avoiding Dangers While In Nature, When Cosprouts Swarm! True Stories of-”

Theodore interrupted, shouting to catch his attention. “Oros!”

“Hm?”

Theodore gripped the sides of his hat, pulling it down over his eyes and gritting his teeth.

“A number!”

“Just thirteen! Like I said, not too many.”

Theodore groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“Oros…” He took a few deep breaths, tail curling around his left leg, before raising his head and looking at Oros wearily. “...How did you even carry that many books and the camping supplies?”

Oros beamed again, puffing his chest out and flexing his arms quickly.

“It’s not all sitting and reading as a librarian, you know!”

Theodore just stared blankly at him, unimpressed, before sighing and speaking again, clearly giving up.

“Okay, well… fine. I guess it’s better safe than sorry. I’m going to go clean up the site a little, and I’ll grab some rocks and wood to make the campfire. Can you start to set up the tents?”

Oros pulled a smaller, cylindrical canvas bag out of his backpack, standing up.

“Yes! I can do that. I studied tent diagrams extensively before we left, so I should be able to take care of this no problem!”

Theodore just nodded, adjusting his hat and walking off, checking the ground around where they set their bags. He removed the rocks that were in the general area, setting the large ones in a small pile, and scattering the small ones away from where the two planned to set up.

Oros, meanwhile, opened the canvas bag and unfurled a large amount of fabric, before reaching in further and pulling out a selection of small metal poles. He reached in again, brow furrowing. After a second or two of feeling around the inside of the bag, he peered inside, frowning.

“That’s odd. Shouldn’t there be an instruction guide?”

After clearing the area of rocks and twigs, Theo maneuvered carefully through the copse, looking for fallen branches. Finding a few large branches, he carefully picked them up, brushing off dirt and taking them with him. When he had a suitable collection, he returned to the campsite, setting them down near the small pile of rocks he had collected earlier. Looking over at Oros, he found the cossetling laying out the fabric of the tent carefully.

“Doing okay, Oros?”

The other one jumped, looking back and grinning widely.
“Yep! Yes! Perfectly fine! Everything is fine!”

Theo squinted, before shrugging and walking away towards the river. Oros looked back at the tent, smile slipping away.

“Okay. I’ve got this. I’ve got this! I can do it, I looked at so many diagrams. Surely this was one of them.”

Theo walked along the banks of the stream, admiring the flowing water. As he walked, he bent down to grab a few large stones from near the banks, examining them closely. The more porous ones and ones too close to the river were placed back, and the larger, dry, solid ones were kept. Taking a moment to tilt his head up at the sky, Theo took a deep breath, tail swishing idly in the cool air. He turned around and headed back to the campsite.

When he arrived, Oros was cloaked in the fabric, muttering frantically to himself as he moved, looking much like a vulloro in a bed when their cossetling tried to change the sheets. Theo glanced over as he set the rocks down in his piles of materials, raising an eyebrow.

“You… you doing okay, Oros?”

Oros jumped slightly, figure obscured by the fabric.

“Yes! Perfectly fine! Nothing to worry about! I know what I’m doing!”

“Okay…? Let me know if you need any help.”

“Nope! No help needed! I’ve got it! It’s fine! Nothing to worry about!”

Theo squinted, before slowly walking away once again, casting an occasional glance back at Oros, who continued to fuss with the fabric, before eventually focusing back at the copse.

Underneath the tent fabric, Oros was doing his best.

“Okay, so if I arrange this corner like this, surely that will allow-”

His words were interrupted by finding that his arm had gotten tangled in the fabric, preventing him from moving it.

“Oh for f-”

Theo once again looked through the copse for materials for the campfire. Tinder and kindling was up this time, and he gathered pine needles he found on the ground, making sure they were sufficiently dried. He gathered pinecones as well, along with small twigs. After around half an hour, a loud shout drew his attention.

“YES! Yes, yes, YES! I knew I could do it!”

Theo walked back to the camp, careful not to lose any of the material he had gathered. Upon his return, he saw Oros cheering to himself, prancing wildly around a successfully set-up tent. Spotting him, Oros ran over, jumping around.

“I did it! See, I told you everything was fine! Hahahaha!”

Theo smiled fondly at him, rolling his eyes as the green cossetling continued celebrating.

Later that night, after dinner, a marshmallow roast, and a series of spooky stories from Oros, when the campfire was just ashes and the two cossetlings were huddled in their sleeping bags, half-asleep, a sudden gust of wind blew through the site, sending the tent flying away.

The two cossetlings blinked at the sudden open expanse of sky, and Theo slowly turned his head to face Oros, who was staring intently up at the sky, sweating slightly.

“Oros.”

“...Yes…?”

“Did you need help setting up the tent?”

“...No.”