Patchwork People

The Ragworm slithered through its woods with grace. It zigzagged around trees, being careful to avoid the blooming flowers and plants, and deliberately avoided dens and nests made by other creatures. Pinpin stood in the path it left behind, following the worm in the makeshift crevice. Despite the poor visibility of the dark, Pinpin could see previous trails made from days gone by, already overgrown with new vegetation that claimed the pathway as a new home. Even though it was giant, the Ragworm’s movements were near silent, as if it were gliding along the ground.

The moon would occasionally peek through the treetops, lighting up their journey and providing Pinpin with a sense of security. The woods that once seemed dangerous and dark now shone in a soft radiance, with the Ragworm serving as its protector. The moonlight lit up with a silvery glow, which bounced off the string and burlap flora, creating the illusion of a shining forest. The sight reminded Pinpin of her old picture books from when she was little, which spoke of fairy-tale lands and fantasy woods. Now she was living in one.

The Ragworm halted and tensed up. Pinpin peeked around its huge figure to see what had caused it to stop so suddenly. Beyond the worm there was a distinct glow, and not one of silver, like the rest of the woods. It was a small, orange light that flickered and pulsed, changing in size and luminosity. The sound of crackling and popping joined it, and it gave off a smoky smell that made Pinpin’s nose crease.

“A fire?” Pinpin whispered. The Ragworm peered down at her, and then back at the flames. Anxiety swelled in her, but dissipated soon after. Fire was an enemy to the patchwork people, given how flammable they were, but this one seemed small and controlled, which could only mean one thing.

Pinpin didn’t say a word. She bowed a thank-you to the Ragworm and started moving toward the fire. The worm stood still, as if awaiting orders, and simply watched Pinpin as she made her way through the thick shrubs in front of her. As she pushed back the final set of leaves, the fire came into view, and with it were the illuminated figures of Tatterbat and Needly, who were staring at the flames in an awkward silence.

To her surprise, Pinpin saw that Needly was no longer tied up. Even more shocking was that both of them were quiet, with not an insult nor quip being sent either way. The sharp tension that usually gathered when he and Tatterbat were together was nowhere in sight. Neither one was looking at the other, but when it came to those two, it seemed to be as good as it was going to get.

As she walked forward, Pinpin stepped on a twig, making a loud snap. In response, Tatterbat jerked his head toward her, tensing up. He seemed scared, but after recognising the intruder as Pinpin, he relaxed and jumped to his feet, ready to run over and greet her.

“Pinpin!” he yelled, sprinting over with his arms outstretched. Pinpin barely even had time to react before she was smothered by Tatterbat, who squeezed exceptionally tight, causing her to squeak.

“I was so worried, you were gone so long!” he said, “Are you ok? You’re covered in scratches, and your head, it’s nearly cut open again!”

As he released her from his grasp, Pinpin took a moment to catch her breath, before returning the strong smile that Tatterbat was aiming in her direction.

“I’m always fine, you cottonhead.” she said with a laugh. “In fact, I’ve got goo-”

“What happened out there? Did you find the worm?” Tatterbat looked around, but only saw shadows. Pinpin couldn’t help but be amused at his oblivious to the looming prize that stood just a few meters behind, concealed by the bushes.

“It’s quite a story!” Pinpin said. She was eager to say what happened, but before that, she wanted to know what happened during her absence. The sight of a passive interaction between Tatterbat and Needly demanded explanation. “What’s been going on here then?”

“What do you mean?”

“You and Needly, duh. I was expecting one of you to be in rags by now.”

“Oh. That” Tatterbat continued to smile, but his face appeared strained. “Come by the fire, I’ll explain there.”

Pinpin walked over to the campfire and sat a safe distance away, just close enough to get her feet toasty. She looked over at Needly, who was doing his best to avoid eye contact.

“Hello, Needly.” she said, neither joy nor malice in her voice.

Needly coughed and stared at the floor. “Hello.”

He definitely was not in a good mood.

Tatterbat sat down on a log nearby and slapped his knees.

“Right then. I better tell you all the juicy gossip.” he said.

Pinpin leaned forward in curiosity.

“So you went running after that Ragworm, right?” Tatterbat started to explain. “Me and Needly were here. Initially, it was just how it was when you left, with the string tying him up and all. He tried to struggle free, even poked me with that nose a few times, but nothing can break down Tatterbat. Isn’t that right, Needly?”

Needly looked up at Tatterbat and squinted his eyes, neither confirming nor denying the event.

“Anyway, after a few minutes, we both got pretty tired out. I guess the exhaustion from this entire journey finally caught up to us. We didn’t really have the passion to continue scuffling, especially since both you and Ragworm were gone. I mostly wanted some answers, even if my net was in ruins.”

Pinpin pulled a guilty expression, which Tatterbat waved away.

“Ah don’t be like that! It’s a good thing. I got to prove myself as the bigger man, because in the end it was me who suggested that we just stop it.”

Needly gave a small scoff at that remark, which Pinpin decided not to acknowledge. Tatterbat rubbed the back of his head.

“What happened next?” Pinpin asked.

“With the tension cooling down, we kinda just sat there for a while. It was strange, like this chill aura had suddenly moved in. We weren’t exactly speaking to each other, but we weren’t at arms either. You should’ve seen it Pinpin, you would’ve not believed your own eyes.”

“I can scarcely believe it now.”

“Mind you, it was still pretty awkward. I really wanted to just blurt out questions and stop the silence. Eventually, it got to a boiling point. I had to break the ice and ask him, or we’d be stuck in this awkward quiet forever. We had no idea when you were going to be back, of course. So, I turned to Needly and just said ‘Why?’”

Pinpin smiled. So, the same question was on Tatterbat’s mind as well. At least that made two of them.

“Great minds think alike.” she commented.

“You had the same thought? Neat.” Tatterbat said. “Needly didn’t want to say anything. Kept complaining about the string tying him up. Refused to say anything until he was unbound. To be fair, it did seem a little pointless now that nothing was really going on, so I went over and set him free.”

“And then?”

“He didn’t try to escape, to my surprise!”

“No, I mean what did Needly say?”

“Well, it’d probably be better if Needly himself explained that.” Tatterbat gave a sly grin and looked over at Needly, who continued to stare at the ground. Despite not looking at either of them, Needly started to talk.

“I told him.” Needly said with a guilty tone. “I told Tatterbat everything. About how I wanted to sabotage this entire trip. How I set off before you, worked out where you were headed, and impeded your progress. It was quite genius, really.”

“But why? Why would you go through so much trouble to spite us?” Pinpin asked.

Needly turned and gave a cold glare. “It wasn’t just spite, I’m getting to that! Do you not understand why I would feel a little angry at you?”

“We wronged you, Needly, but we went on this trip to fix that. If you were eavesdropping, then you should’ve known that.”

Needly took a deep breath.

“That’s not the point! You think I would’ve cared if that was the entire reason?”

“Then why?!”

“Because of this entire trip - it wasn’t fair!”

“Wasn’t… fair?” Pinpin asked. That was something she didn’t expect to hear.

“No! You always beat me in everything I do. Just because you’re better, you think you can get away with anything you do. Every hobby, every event, something happens to me, and you get off scot free.”

“That’s not true! Do you not realise how often you instigate those scenarios?”

“Stop changing the subject and listen. When I found that bug, I finally had something I could beat you with. For once, I had a certainty that I could at least be superior. But once again, you ruined it for me, and once again, you got off scot free, with no repercussions. It’s not fair.”

“There were repercussions! We’ve put a lot on the line here Needly!” Pinpin retorted. “If we failed, then we’d be flat broke, and would no longer be able to compete in anything!”

“But you weren’t going to fail, were you.” Needly squinted at her. “That scarecrow gave you everything you needed to succeed. The map, the advice, even the time limit. All was well within your grasp, and you knew that from the start. This entire thing was a ploy to undertake a journey you’ve always wanted to do, and you disguised it as a punishment.”

Pinpin paused. True, they’d been given a lot of help to make it here. And unknown to Needly, the camera had also turned out to be a crucial key for success as well. To say they were on their own would be a flat out lie.

“That silence is all I need. You had no consequences for what you did, and I was left in the dust. THAT wasn’t fair. There was no reason why you shouldn’t have been kicked from the competition, but you weren’t. Instead, you were rewarded, and I was the one punished for YOUR misdeeds. How do you think that feels?”

Pinpin shut her eyes tight, and tried to put herself in Needly’s shoes. As insufferable as he was, he had a point. If the roles had been reversed, and her bug had been stolen, and the culprit given a chance to fulfill a dream, she wouldn’t have been pleased at all. Though, she doubted she would’ve made this effort that Needly had himself.

“It would’ve felt awful.” Pinpin said at last. “Like you were wronged for no reason.”

“But that’s no excuse for what you did, Needly!” Tatterbat spoke up from the shadows, fire reflecting off his face. “Despite it all, you had no right to endanger us like that. We were trying to right our wrong! You would’ve been paid your prize money in full if we’d returned.”

“You think I care about the money?” Needly shouted back, before calming himself. “Bah, what am I yelling at you for. You didn’t understand the first time, either.”

“Well, whatever.” Tatterbat slumped back down. “You won, anyway. We’ve lost the worm, and we’re out of time. Oh, and I guess my net’s broken, too. That’s a good bonus.”

The worm! Pinpin had been caught up in the confession so much she’d forgotten all about it. She peeked into the undergrowth. Sure enough, the reflective light from the Ragworm’s button eyes were still there. A giddy excitement churned in her tummy. Before she revealed it, however, there was one thing she wanted to know.

“Needly.” she said. “What is it you want? What do you want to get out of all this?”

It was a question that had been bugging her since he showed up to scare the Ragworm away, and one that was amplified by his tale. Needly had always harassed them, always tried to beat them at their hobbies, and for the longest time Pinpin just thought he was trying to be a jerk. But this determination felt much more personal, and Pinpin saw - for the first time - that there was something deeper at play.

Was he jealous? Did he want a friend? She doubted she could just snap her fingers and befriend the guy after all that’s happened, but Pinpin just wanted answers.

“What I want?” Needly asked in surprise. “I want you to get punished for once. Why does that matter?”

“No, I don’t think that’s right. I want to know why you do this. Not just now, but for a lot of things.”

Now it was Needly’s time to think. He sat there, hand on his chin, and thought about an answer. Pinpin watched as his expression changed, and his eyebrows furrowed and rose at random. By her deduction, it seemed at he was struggling to say what he had inside his own head.

Needly lifted his head, and readjusted his oversized glasses.

“I’m not telling you.” he said, though without his usual smug tone.

Pinpin didn’t need to ask why. If he told her, then that would be admitting defeat, and Needly’s pride was almost as tall as the Ragworm itself. It was frustrating, sure, but something she’d work out some other day.

“Well, in any case, I want you to know I’m sorry.” Pinpin said.

Both Needly and Tatterbat looked at her in shock. “You’re sorry?” they said in unison.

“I am. You were right, it’s not right that we should get off scot free from what we did. There should be something we can do to make it up to you, even if you acted like a jerk.”

Needly winced at the remark.

“But we aren’t off scot free.” Tatterbat interjected. “We didn’t capture the worm, and we won’t make it back in time even if we do. Needly made sure of that.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Pinpin said. “Then I’m also sorry for holding this information back from you. You see…”

She put two fingers to her mouth and whistled, before making a beckoning motion toward the bushes. A black shadow parted the fabric leaves, and blotted out the scenery behind. As it came into the firelight, its features lit up, revealing a stitched up grin and segmented body. It looked at Pinpin, before turned its head toward the other two by the fire, studying them in detail.

Tatterbat and Needly went stiff. Pinpin, seeing their reaction, let out a small giggle.

“Y-Y-Y-You found it?” Tatterbat stuttered, staring at Pinpin. His face was a mixture of fear and joy.

“I got a bit lucky, I admit.” Pinpin shrugged. It was probably best to skip over the story of how she found it, seeing as it featured an embarrassing spell of crying.

“How is it following you? What did you do to it? Wait, no. How did you even capture it?”

“I didn’t do anything! That’s the best part.” Pinpin opened her arms. “It’s friendly, and intelligent! All I had to do was treat it kindly, and it treated me back in turn.”

“No way…” Tatterbat smiled. Getting up, he tiptoed over to the beast and stood near it, trying his best not to look intimidated. He stuck out his hand as if going for a handshake “H-hello, Ragworm. I’m T-T-Tatterbat.”

The worm peered at him, tilting its head slightly to the side. The thumping sound of its tail came from behind, causing Tatterbat to jump and retract his hand.

When Tatterbat confirmed that he was not in danger of being torn to shreds, he turned to face Pinpin, with an expression of joyous satisfaction.

“You’re right!” he said with a toothy grin, pointing at the Ragworm with his thumb.

“Of course I am, cottonbrain. You should know that by now.”

“Of course, of course.” Tatterbat faced the Ragworm once more, and stuck out a shaking hand, moving over to pet the animal. While he didn’t touch the beast, he did motion the act of stroking fur a couple centimeters away. “Wow… I never would’ve thought.”

Pinpin put her hands on her hips. She was glad Tatterbat was enjoying himself. Now he got to experience what she did just a few hours ago.

Needly, however, was not so impressed. His attempts to beat them had failed once again.

He looked dejected, with his head in his hands, mouthing it’s not fair over and over. Despite the bother he had caused Pinpin over the course of the journey, she did feel a small bit of sympathy. It looked like his fears had come true once again. It wouldn’t be right to leave him in a sulk.

“Needly.” she said, walking over to where he sat.

Needly turned away almost instinctively, before stopping himself. “What do you want?”

Pinpin paused. What could she do at this point? Was there anything that would soften the blow?

“You’re still right. We should have to pay for what happened.”

“So? Doesn’t look like that’s what’s going on. You seem perfectly happy leaving me in the dirt again.”

“Look, Needly. Back home, me and Tatterbat have a shed full of bugs we’ve collected over the past few months. We swap them out every now and then, but I know there’s some rare ones in there.”

“What does that matter? Trying to show off?”

“No! Please, listen. I want you to have one that I’ve taken, alright? You can submit it for the competition. I can even help you pick, so you know you have a winner.”

Needly paused, contemplating the idea. “You would….”

“I can even help you catch bugs, if you do actually want to learn how.” Pinpin couldn’t believe she was saying that. The idea of hanging with Needly was gross, but she couldn’t think of anything else to add on. It felt more like a spiritual gesture than an actual offer.

Needly shook his head. “No. I don’t need your help, or your pity. I do things my own way.”

“Actually…” Tatterbat interrupted. He moved from the Ragworm, and sauntered down to where the two of them were.

“What is it, Tat?” Pinpin asked.

“That Stitchhopper. I might not have told you the entire story.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, when I said that I tipped the box over, that might have been a lie.”

Pinpin tried to recall the moment when Tatterbat admitted his crime. He always rubbed the back of his head when lying. Was he doing it back then? She couldn’t remember. She had been too caught up in the moment to notice.

“So what did you do?”

“I took it for myself. I hid it in my trouser pocket, so that no-one would find it, then put it away in the hut while you weren’t looking.”

“Tatterbat!” Pinpin shouted. The fact that he’d lie to her was slightly annoying. “Wait, then if that’s the case, then that means…”

“I can give you your bug back Needly, and it would be a legitimate entry. We wouldn’t have helped you, either.” Tatterbat squeezed his eyes shut, and tensed his entire body. “And…. I’m sorry.”

With that out of the way, Tatterbat shook himself all over and quickly departed, going back to the Ragworm before anyone could comment on his apology. Pinpin smiled at Needly.

“You hear that? You can win after all!”

“Hmph.” Needly scoffed. “As expected, he’s a thief and a liar.”

“Oh, don’t be like that.” Pinpin scowled.

“A thief and a liar… but I accept the apology.”

Well, it was something. Couldn’t expect a miracle.

The call of the morning rooster signalled the arrival of the next day. With it, Pinpin’s ears pricked, and suddenly panic filled her.

“Oh no!” she shouted. “We’ve lost so much time! How are we going to get back?”

“More importantly.” Needly butted in. “How are you going to take that thing with you?” he pointed at the Ragworm, which was busy stealing the remaining supplies from Tatterbat’s bag, much to his dismay.

Pinpin hadn’t thought of that. It would be too big to fit in the boat, and too wide to get through the Overgrowth outside the woods. The cliffs might be manageable, but Pinpin was not ready to venture back into there, which meant an even longer path.

“I… don’t know.” she said.

As she started to think of a plan, an answer to her conundrum came from above.

“Hey! Look at me!” Tatterbat called down. Pinpin turned to look, and saw him sitting on top of the worm, riding it like a horse.

“I feel like a cowboy!” he whooped.

“Tatterbat!” Pinpin shouted. “How’d you get up there?”

“I climbed up, dummy.” Tatterbat stuck out his tongue. “Figured if this Ragworm was friendly, he might not mind something like this. What do you think? Could we ride him back home?”

Well, if they were going to head back, they might as well head back in style. Pinpin walked over to the Ragworm, and after some struggling, hoisted her way on top. Tatterbat was right. She did feel like a cowgirl. The ground was an awfully far distance away, and the passive swaying of the worm made her grip its fabric like handlebars. Even so, it was thrilling.

“Well, Ragworm. How about we go see your old friend?” Pinpin said, much to Tatterbat’s confusion.

The Ragworm thumped the end of its tail with excitement.

“Needly! Come on then, or we’ll leave you behind!” Tatterbat called out, offering a hand for Needly to climb up with. Needly looked at the hand, before climbing up on his own, ignoring the gesture. He struggled getting to the top, as his large nose kept getting in the way, but he soon joined the others on the Ragworm’s back, sitting behind them.

The Ragworm started to move. It slithered at an incredible speed - so fast that they barely had enough time to hold on, which meant that Pinpin almost fell off. She realised she hadn’t given a direction for the Ragworm to go, so Pinpin simply hoped that the Ragworm knew what it was doing. It seemed to recognise Yarnfell’s sent from the camera, so perhaps it was following the trail. If they managed to leave the woods, then a landmark could help her get on the right track, but the clock was ticking. They had less than a day to get back, and at this point, it was still unknown if the Ragworm could beat it.