HAND PICKED HARVEST

Winter was here. Well, in and around Woolhope seemed to be a perpetual winter, but the rest of the realm was just starting to catch up now that the clouds were going a milky grey, and the wind was picking up. Even out here in the Hidden Garden, the leaves on the trees were falling in heaps and everything was crusted with snow and ice.

Pepper remembered waking up to something like this, and while the foxes around her were bundled up and shivering, she found it difficult to mimic their responses. Much like in the summer, she had long since figured out that all the elements did not affect her in quite the same way, but she tried to fit in nevertheless, as when she did not make the conscious effort to fit in, sometimes things would change for the worse.

Foxes would be unraveled and their threads would get tangled in the bushes and knot up in the water.

Her dreams still plagued her in a way. She had awoken well rested enough to make the journey through the Wind Valley and hidden garden, but she was also plagued by a wagon that simply did not work the way that it was supposed to. And, by this point, she was considering just taking her crystals back and making her way to Corriedale on foot. She had camping gear after all, and she could ask for directions if she needed them.

But the pathetic driver all but begged her to not leave him alone out here, so she rethought her actions, mainly because she was trying her best to be a better person this time around and better people didn’t abandon helpless Scarfoxes out in the wilderness in the middle of winter.

The driver had been nicer to her since she agreed to stay, but the vibes were not all there. In fact, there was an almost dream-like quality to the Hidden Garden now that it had been transformed from an inviting spring resort into a lawless wintery hellscape. The only plant life that survived happened to stick out of the snow like balmy weeds that stiffly bent in the cold winter winds.

“The carriage beasts won’t want to stick around without any food,” the driver said, trying to fix the wagon wheel, which was bent out of shape with broken spokes jutting out of the wooden circle and into the snow. “They’ll like just about any plant if you can find enough of it.”

Pepper blinked at the driver wordlessly, shouldering her huge backpack and turning to the barren wilderness.

“Anything I should be worried about out there?” she asked.

The driver shrugged. “I hear spirits will come out and take ahold of the snow if it’s tall enough, but I don’t think it is. Too early in the season I bet.”

Pepper blinked again. That was good enough for her. She had come across virulent and malevolent spirits before and they had passed through her without much recourse. Perhaps they had fled from her because she was dangerous to them. She would be dangerous to these spirits as well if it came down to it as well.

Pepper was a light Mini. Fairly average for a Mini in height - just barely over three feet tall - and she did not sink into the snow as she walked across it. The carriage beasts wanted food and Pepper was more than willing to go and get that for them. It wasn’t like the plants themselves were that far away either. It was a casual stroll to fetch a large enough bushel of Holly-hosta.

The farther she got from the wagon, the colder the air as blustery gusts of wind swirled flakes around in little funnels of sparkling joy. Pepper’s long ears flopped against her body and face as they were whipped around as well and the sounds of laughter filled the air around her head as the ghosts of winter played amongst the snowdrifts.

Pepper tried to ignore it, but the laughter grew greater and more encompassing until she finally let out a horrible growl at the spirits to leave her be. The laughter halted for mere moments before picking up again, originating from a particularly animated snowdrift. It wriggled in place, shaping itself into a smaller and denser form, still laughing as the wind formed it into a small snowy creature. The spirits made a scarf for it, and twigs danced into the mound to become small arms.

There, freshly peeled from the snow around it was a lone Snowfy, fully formed and imprinted on Pepper. Pepper stared at the little creature, her heart melting as it scooted after her. As soon as the Snowfy, was close enough, Pepper scooped it out of the snow and found it’s snowy body warm and comforting despite clearly being made of icy crystals.

“What are you?”

The Snowfy did not answer, merely snuggled against Pepper in appreciation, much like a lost dog would once it was clear that a new owner had been found. Pepper put the Snowfy on the ground again and went to the Holly-hosta bushes and pulled a number of berries. Enough for the Snowfy to scarf them down with reckless abandon. It didn’t open a mouth to eat. It pressed the berries into it’s snow and the snow disappeared.

“That is very strange. You are very strange.”

There was laugher and squeaking in response.

“You will be Salt now. I am Pepper. We are friends now.”

The newly christened Salt did not object. It moved along Pepper’s body suddenly, an amorphous snow creature and it slid into her comically large backpack, disappearing with a loud slurping noise as it was enveloped in magic. Pepper said nothing, grabbed another few handfuls of Holly-hosta berries, and made her way back to the wagon, where she fed the carriage beasts to calm them down and ensure they would be able to make another leg of the journey.

“They will need to eat again in a day. So we will have to stop.”

The driver shrugged. “Sounds fine by me. Thanks.”