EGGSTRAVAGANZA

“Calmed down, have we?”

Pepper found herself deep between the mountains that surrounded Wind Valley. She’d been trying to get away from the cottage in Woolhope more often in an effort to figure out who she was and it wasn’t going well. So many eyes on her these days made blunders far harsher for her.

The fog had lifted. And as it turned out, Pepper was not a pleasant Scarfox to be around.

The chip in her shoulder was deep. Deeper than she had realized at first, and constructed in such a way that it bred malice and ill will towards others. Woolhope was the place of new beginnings for her, but that wasn’t going to be enough for Pepper.

It was never going to be enough.

“Leave me alone, Astral,” Pepper replied, folding her large fingers together. “I’m not in the mood.”

Astral bowed with a long sweeping motion. His job was to chronicle the story of every Scarfox that came into being, but he took particular interest in the ones who didn’t know which way they wanted to go in personality. The spicier of the Foxes he’d come to know were typically violent and self-serving. Some had gone on to cause great harm.

And others had come to achieve great good.

In a newly expanding world, there was room for everyone to make their presence known. Volatility was not a deterrent. And this was the part that he loved the most.

“You know I can’t do that, dearie,” Astral said finally. “I’m here for more potential chapters to your fine tale. You seem clearer in the mind since the last time we spoke.”

“That was barely a week ago,” Pepper snapped. Her teeth made a pointed clacking sound as they slotted together, tense. “I don’t have anything new for you.”

“To the contrary.” Astral smiled wide and motioned to the spot next to Pepper. “May I?”

“It’s not going to stop you,” she replied. “You might as well just get your preaching over with.”

Wind Valley was home to a wonderful array of bamboo forests and steep snowcapped mountains that shielded a blindingly tall tree and several temples from the horrors of the wider world. Of the buildings not erected in honor of the god of this land, precious few were capable of long-term habitation. The homes of the people who lived here were often hidden out of sight, and were not particularly welcoming to those with darkening auras.

Pepper had only managed to find this place because she had been small, and the residents had wanted to accommodate her. Someone as small and weak as a Mini Scarfox had no business being out here alone.

Moreover, an event heralding the coming of spring was taking place and Pepper fit the role of an excited egg hunter perfectly. In fact, she had fit so perfectly, that others wondered if she had had a hand in it all. And each fielded question ended in crushing disappointment.

Pepper, annoyed with it all, just escaped, and now found herself splayed across the low porch to this humble abode, which no longer had any living residents within. She wasn’t going to talk about it.

As Astral sat down beside Pepper, he pulled out a book from the flaps of his whimsical attire, pulling threads from the inner depths as he cracked it open and flipped haphazardly through the tome, moving the pages back and forth with gusto. Pepper paid him little mind and rubbed her velvety fingers across her nose.

“Well, you’ve been filling in your previous pages quite extensively since we last spoke. I can’t help myself sometimes.” Astral chuckled as more pages flapped. “Some of us need more face time than others, I must admit. Even now, you’re so resistant to being who you are. It’s honestly a little concerning.”

Pepper blinked, resisting the urge to growl at Astral. She could probably kick him out herself if she wanted to, but it was clear that Astral was operating under a different set of rules. A set of rules that Pepper was growing more and more annoyed with as time went on.

“So you’re going to keep checking up on me until I play your game?”

Astral laughed louder. “Heavens, no. I’m going to check up on you periodically throughout your whole life.”

“Little late for that.”

Pepper trailed off as a stiff wind blew through the emerald green bamboo stalks of the forest. The sounds of laughter carried on this wind and soon it was accompanied by wind chimes and rustling leaves trying to keep the biting at bay. Spring was almost here, but winter was an adamant creature.

Astral turned a few more pages. “Never too late. The old life is not something you can go back to.”

Pepper scoffed. “Who wants to go back to Woolhope? Not me.”

“Not Woolhope. You know what I mean, Pepper.”

She did. The fog. No, before even that. There was nothing there but Pepper wanted there to be something because she disliked how quick she was to lash out at others in self-defense. A little rabbit with a violent streak and chip in the shoulder that threatened to tear her apart and cast the threads to the wind.

“Whatever, Astral.”

“You know, it’s okay that you haven’t gotten it worked out still,” Astral continued, his filter slipping into something more ominous. “It’s normal. There’s a place for you here.”

Pepper jumped and bunny kicked her feet in Astral’s direction, kicking the book out of his hands as pages loosened and scattered. The wind picked up again and scooped the pages up, littering them across the property. The pages themselves disappeared, dissolving into a fine sand the farther away from the porch they flew. All the while, Astral seemed calm. This was expected. The time to grow into the beast was often a time of tumultuous fury. He’d seen it before and Pepper was no different.

“Get away from me!”

Pepper scurried away in her haste, getting to her feet and fleeing into the bamboo forest. Away from Astral. Away from everything that he stood for. Everything that he represented. She made her way towards the filtering laughs of the other Scarfoxes that were celebrating the new season, for if she played among them, she would be normal.

She would go back to the fog and she would be safe.

The bamboo was dense and seemed to go on forever, bending easily away from Pepper as she huffed her way through the dense greenery. The voices were a guiding light. She didn’t want to be this way. The voices would give her freedom. Freedom that she couldn’t get for herself without hurting others.

As she broke through the edge of the forest, Pepper was greeted by the monotonous rolling fields of the rest of Wind Valley. There were dozens of other Scarfoxes frolicking in the fields, searching for and gathering eggs in tightly knit wicker baskets. They were so excited. So happy to be there. So free from worry. From strife.

Pepper stood at the edge of the bamboo forest, paralyzed with fear and irrational anger and hatred that was so sticky and black, clinging to her legs and sealing her inside her vessel. But she couldn’t move. If she got any closer, she’d want to hurt them.

And she didn’t want to do that. At least, she didn’t think that she wanted to. There was no joy in it.

The wind picked up again, and Pepper jolted as a small Scarfox approached her. They looked young, not quite a child, but there was something about the way they carried themself that made Pepper think of a young child. They had a basket lined with grass, but without a single egg nestled within.

Pepper almost fled back into the forest, but she was still rooted in place, clearly alert and on guard.

“What do you want?” Pepper said, voice barely subduing a snarl.

The young Scarfox stared at her with wide eyes. They seemed laser-focused on Pepper’s face, and without a word, they pointed at her. Pepper blinked in return, refusing to ask for clarification. It didn’t matter. She hated them anyway, it wouldn’t change anything about her.

Together, they stood in silence until the smaller Scarfox pointed more urgently at Pepper and then patted their head. Pepper frowned deeply, though she still did not move. Oh, right, she had eggs in her hair. And, she supposed, this was supposed to be an egg hunting event. And the basket was empty...

“Oh. You found me,” Pepper said, feigning a cheeriness that felt grossly out of character for her. “Looks like the jig is up. You get the special eggs.”

She reached up to the nested eggs, plucking them out one at a time. They were heavy with magic, and she felt a piece of herself dislodge as she pulled them away and handed them to the young Scarfox. As she dropped the eggs into the basket, the Scarfox’s eyes lit up and they broke out the widest smile Pepper had ever seen before giggling and scampering away.

Pepper sighed.

“You do have the propensity for good after all, dearie.”

Pepper didn’t even look at Astral as he came out of the forest beside her. The book was nowhere in sight and Pepper felt an overwhelming urge to slap Astral. She was tired of him always watching her and writing down her every move. It was like she was trapped in this world with an overlord whose intentions she did not know.

“You can be both those things, you know,” Astral continued. “The abused killer out for revenge against the world. With a soft spot for those she perceives as children. It’s a tale as old as time.”

Pepper huffed. “Leave me alone, Astral. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“That’s okay, dearie.” Astral took a deep bow and in a swirl of smokey magic, he disappeared into the wind with a soft chickle. “I’ll be back in a little bit to see how you’re doing.”

“No!” Pepper cried out. “Don’t come back!”

“It’s part of my job.”

Pepper groaned and sank back down to the ground, wrapping her arms around herself in a vain attempt to elicit some kind of comfort. It proved to be fruitless. Even rubbing her nose did nothing to quell the chaos that swirled within her. In a way, it served her right for taking advantage of the hospitality of others. Striking out at those who did not deserve it.

The power that came with it was intoxicating, but the realization after the fact was deeply sobering and it haunted her. All this for a chance to run away from what Woolhope had become to her.

Thankfully, nobody else seemed to notice Pepper as she struggled to her feet and lurched back into the bamboo forest. She’d just stay there for a little bit, try to find her way. And if she couldn’t bring herself to remain in the Wind Valley for the rest of her days, perhaps she would just return to Woolhope and try again.

Maybe she would even consider reaching out to Esther again. After all, she did owe her an apology for just leaving her out in the Hidden Garden by herself. All for nothing. All of this was for nothing.

However, as the night began to settle over the denizens of Wind Valley, the wind picked up and rang through the chimes that littered the residential housing, heralding the end to another beautiful day and the start of something a little more consoling.

Pepper’s eggs returned to her, and with it, filling magic that allowed her to transform into her Mini self one more, where she spent the rest of her evening wandering through the bamboo forest begging the fog to come back to her.

Though, eventually, she was going to have to go back home. Back to Woolhope. Maybe Esther would reach out to her again. Maybe she’d be able to find herself.