Ziggy and the Lantern Fruit Lesson

It was that time of year again: the Twilight Carnival.

It was Ziggy's favorite time of year. They loved the feeling of the season, the treats, the fun activities... but most of all, he loved seeing the other Xeros having fun. Nothing felt better to him than seeing his fellow Xeros happy and joyful as they took part in all the fun things lined up for the month-long holiday.

Still, though, he wasn't quite sure how he ended up being roped into teaching a bunch of newly-emerged Xeros how to carve lantern fruit. He was actually rather happy to do it, but he couldn't even remember when he had agreed to the lesson. He did know he was going to put his all into it though, just like he always did.

Ziggy picked the fruits themselves. The new Xeros deserved the best, and Ziggy was pretty proud of how good he was at picking the best lantern fruits. He combed through the orchard's grounds, picking up only the best of the best. He hummed as he worked, mouth turned up in a smile as he watched friends and partners visit the orchard as well to find lantern fruits. From young to old, Xeros filed through the orchard to pick up a vital part of one of the first activities of their biggest holiday. 

Ziggy's pouch and arms were quite full by the time he had finished. He had stopped to help some others find good fruits, so he was running a little late now. He hurried to his lesson, looking a bit comical with how overburdened he was with fruits. He had to keep nudging fruit back into his pouch with his elbows, teeth locked around the vine of one fruit to keep it from tumbling off the pile in his arms. 

Still, he arrived to his lesson in time! They let the fruits tumble out of their arms over the big table set up for them. Then he tugged the smaller ones from his pouch, setting them up with a wide grin on his face.

“Hi, everyone!”

“Hello, Ziggy!” The small crew of young Xeros chimed back, some with their guardians, some without.

“Are you excited to learn how to carve your lantern fruit?” Ziggy clapped his paws together, looking over all the upturned faces filled with pure elation.

“Yes, Ziggy!”

He laughed happily and considered making them all wait so he could tell them the story of how the Twilight Carnival began, but how could he make those faces wait any longer? 

“Alright, then pick out a fruit!”

The table was full of lantern fruits. They were all different colors and shades. Oranges, blues, greens, reds, as many colors as the fruits could be were there in Ziggy's lesson. They wanted to make sure that everyone at the lesson would be happy with the fruit they got. The shapes were equally varied, with little round ones to big, spindly ones that could barely sit upright.

Once everyone had gotten their fruits, Ziggy set about the room. They handed out carving tools from their pouch, making sure everyone was gathered close and had what they needed. He helped them hold the tools correctly and safely and showed them how best to puncture the tough rind of the fruit.

“When we carve fruit, we usually have two different things we choose between. You can choose to make it personal and try carving your favorite thing you learned this year if you want. I know that's a bit hard sometimes, but that type represents how full and rich your life is. It's a way to show how thankful you are for the good things you've learned and experienced. If you don't want to do that, though, you can carve a decorative lantern fruit! Those are lots of fun. You carve your fruit to look like the night sky, full of stars. The glow of the lantern fruit is nice and strong, so you can show the beauty of nature even when the sky is dark.”

There were quite a few giggles, “ooh”s, and “ahh”s. The young Xeros immediately set to work on their important jobs. Ziggy circled the room, looking for anyone that needed help. He was encouraging and gentle, prodding them in the right direction so they could carve themselves instead of him doing the hard parts for them. He had a pouch-full of tricks to show them, from ways to hold the fruit to ways to carve so that different amounts of light would come through.

Pretty soon though, most of them shooed him away claiming that they weren't done and they couldn't see it yet, and others said it was a secret.

Ziggy let out a little huff, settling on sitting down and keeping an eye out for anyone that hurt themselves. They pulled one of the unclaimed gourds onto their lap, turning it about. Should he carve something now? He had been planning to carve one, but he had just been so busy. He never seemed to slow down, always jumping from job to job. He just wanted to do everything he could to make sure every single Xero was happy and healthy, and that one day they could do everything their species used to be able to achieve. 

He barely even realized how much time had passed when a young Xero was tugging at the fur of his arm.

“Ziggy! We're done, look!”

Ziggy looked up just as the lights flicked off to see a tiny army of lantern fruits. A couple were pretty little constellations, but the majority were variations of what seemed to be the act of lantern carving itself. Quite a few of those seemed to have a Xero that looked like Ziggy (in varying degrees of accuracy).

His paw covered his muzzle as his eyes felt hot. “I, uh...w-wow. So many of you carved the same thing! You all really liked learning to carve that much?” Something about so many little paws choosing to carve him into their favorite thing that they learned made him want to cry happy tears. Something he did was so important to these young Xeros that they'd put it on their first-ever lantern fruit.

“Yes! Thank you, Ziggy!”

And Ziggy was piled on by multiple little Xeros until he fell over with a happy yell.

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Later that night, Ziggy had made it home. He made himself a cup of tea and pulled a blanket around his small shoulders as he sat down on a floor pillow. They had one of the biggest leftover lantern fruits in front of them along with some carving tools. They had let the little Xeros take all the others, but not this one. This one was his. He sipped his tea before setting it aside and pulling the fruit into his lap. Their paw ran over the smooth surface, picturing what exactly they wanted to carve. Stars? He had been planning to carve out his new favorite constellation. And yet…

They picked up one of the tools, setting to work. They worked carefully, not wanting to make mistakes. The sharp edge of the tool scraped and poked at the fruit, small bits of light starting to shine through. His forked tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration, eyes darting all over the surface of his fruit.

He worked late. Too late. He hadn't even noticed until he was yawning every few seconds and fighting the sleepy heaviness threatening to take over his eyelids. His blanket had slid from his shoulders and his tea had gone cold, half full still. But all of that was fine because Ziggy was finally done. And this was their favorite lantern fruit they had carved in a long time.

He pushed himself up, scooping up the fruit in both hands to head out to the front of his home. He set it down in the perfect spot on his porch, turning it to face the street.

It was a big lantern fruit, and so much of it was taken up with a carving. Ziggy had carved all the happy little Xeros from earlier, with lantern fruits, carving tools, and Ziggy himself in the center. They all glowed brightly, lighting up the whole dark area with his feelings.

They deserved to be on his fruit because they taught him—well, reminded him he supposed, but semantics—exactly why he did the things he did. Why he worked so hard, why he loved to see other Xeros happy and thriving. Why every day he worked towards more and more Xeros being able to live like them until his research wouldn't have to be as desperate. 

Plus, maybe they also taught him that he should take a bit of time for the simpler things. Like making time to carve a lantern fruit, just for himself