SCARECROW SHOW OFF 3

If there was one thing that anybody knew about Anise, it was how much of an asshole he could be when he was right. This turned out to be a fairly frequent affair much to the chagrin of the organizers of the great corn maze of Wind Valley. The poor sods had spent the last thirty or so minutes entertaining Anise’s lecture about how the Wind Valley was the best and worst place to put a corn maze this early in the harvesting season.

About how it would have made more sense to put it in a place where the local farmers could handle the influx of corn and fox, and about how unlikely it was that any Scarfox worth their mist would spend an afternoon trying to scare away feather beasts when the time to offer meals to the Mini God was happening at the same time.

“Honestly, you think you would have learned your lesson after last year’s debacle,” he said, shrugging like he had landed the most successful “gotcha” of the century. “But I guess it’s probably about the same level of disorganization on your part, then, isn’t it? Will the wonders ever cease?”

“Will you just please let us do our job, sir?”

Anise shrugged again and swept away. He had already done what he had come her to do, and had even managed to make a connection to an otherworldly being in the interim. Though it was probably for the best that the odd entity hadn’t stuck around lest they be commandeered into this next ridiculous series of contests.

All to cover the ineptitude of the organizers, for shame. It was common knowledge that planting the corn maze too early in the season was going to draw the crows in. Normally, the crows flew a little farther southeast, but would stay if there was plenty of food. Unnaturally long summer rains and the influence of corrupted mist from Yste made the Wind Valley overpopulated and full of free food.

Free food for crows.

So they came in droves and pecked at the corn. It was an easily fixable problem if the organizers would have just held off on the corn maze for a week or so, but the calendars demanded it, and so it was meant to be. Anise vaguely wondered if the Mini God was getting a kick out of this. With all the food offerings, they had better, or it was going to be another year of wasted potential.

And while Anise would have loved to wax on about how he had been right and everyone else had been wrong, he had to stop himself as he spotted a familiar face. Well, butter his biscuits. It was Pepper! Who looked like she was trying to vacate the premises as fast as possible. And Anise also normally would have let her go without mentioning it, but he felt like he was a few hundred words short of proving how smart he was, and the longer he ruminated, the less he could talk.

And Pepper was the perfect target. After all, they had had such great rapport during the summer, and similar to that, they were in a state of going above and beyond for no other reason other than they wanted to. The lure of success was too much. At least for one of them.

Or maybe neither of them.

“Oh ho, I remember you,” Anise said, catching up to Pepper with little issue. “Color me impressed that you’re still bumbling around here after everything that happened with, oh what’s his name? Oh, he goes by Dipsi now, isn’t that right. How have you been?”

Pepper turned around, holding out her pouch of empty seeds, shaking it. There was a problem, however, as the crows were swarming after her now that the word had spread amongst them. Anise found this amusing.

“Not very good, I take it. Serves you right for enticing the little beasts with bird seed. Or should I say, magic bird seed? Looks like the Mini God isn’t as charitable as you might have been led to believe. Which you would have known if you had bothered to come talk to me earlier.”

Pepper groaned. “I don’t even know you, idiot. You’re just some guy. Don’t talk to me like you know who I am.”

Anise began waving his arms, and in the waning sunlight, the sparkling of his holographic fabric arms made the crows spin and twirl in the air, no longer sure if what they were after was even actually food. Food didn’t sparkle, and sparkling wasn’t for food. The logic infallible, the crows once again began to take off, cawing into the air with impudence.

“You should thank me for saving your life,” Anise said as the last crow flew away finally.

Pepper blinked. “You’re that guy from the cookout.”

“Yes, so you do remember! I have that effect on people, naturally. They can’t stand that I’m so sure of myself. I even saw an extraterrestrial cloth bag. A Scarfox but not quite. Just simplified for your ignorant mind.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t die,” Pepper said finally, wandering off. “Shut up.”

Anise let her go, as he waved keenly, a wide smile on his face. He liked Pepper’s attitude. She was just a little lost in the throes of trying to understand her place and the world. And while Anise normally didn’t give people that kind of space, he knew a feral creature when he saw one and was surprised, yet again, that she hadn’t just gouged his eyes out, stuffed him with straw, and hung him out on a wooden cross to scare the birds for the rest of his life.

Maybe he’d see the real her the next time they crossed paths, as Anise never had, and never would have time for dealing with the airs of the prim and proper persona. Fake bitches were of little interest to him.

Maybe next time they found themselves in the Wind Valley. Maybe even as the snow would start to roll in.