Wanda With You, Pepper

Pepper did not want to admit that she had taken a liking to Woolhope. Between finding other foxes to travel with, dealing with the omnipresent Hidden Garden, and the cold winter gusts for most of the year, it was starting to grate on her more than usual.

Piero, of course, had kept good on his promises about her homestead and payment for her working, but the fact of the matter was: Pepper had had enough of the nonsense. Even her attempts at dimensional hopping hadn’t netted her much outside of a weird friendship with a Dainty that said dude too many times. One time, she had met a bird man and had infiltrated a top secret science hanger in the point of a city.

None of that mattered though. Now, it was the time of the year where Pepper had to deal with a constant reminder of all the atrocities she had committed. How, just a year ago, she had invaded a home in a violent fog and had unraveled a Scarfox and obliterated the soul.

How Astral had offered her a single opportunity to right her wrongs by giving her a second opportunity. How he had told her that there was a place in this world for monsters like her and that there was no shame in being that. That there was no shame in not being perfect.

But Pepper hadn’t been thrilled by that then and she still wasn’t, though it was so hard for her to keep the hate away. That had been the thing she had been made with. A kernel of hatred stemming from some place that her mind could not recall. And the only reason that she wanted to be good was because she did not want to be bad.

So far, she had only continued to kill others. Everything else was still just the same.

“Oh, good morning, Pepper!”

Pepper had been making her rounds in Woolhope. After her return, Piero had requested she make various deliveries every morning. Mostly, it was seed bread, but today, she had to deliver a few letters to Wanda, a fox that Pepper remembered to be some kind of psychic.

Though that was a bit of a foggy recall.

Wanda opened the door to her humble abode. She’d taken note of Pepper a while ago, when she had been in Woolhope last time. They’d briefly spoken, Wanda had touched her hand, and she had been filled with the image of a massive flowering bush. It had been on her mind since then.

It would have been a lie if she had said she wasn’t curious to know more. Though Pepper was notorious for how…reclusive she was. Preferred not to speak or be spoken to.

There was a pang of sadness there whenever Wanda saw her, but that never stopped her before.

“Good morning,” Pepper finally replied. She looked tired. “Piero has letters for you.”

“Thank you, darling,” Wanda said, taking the letters. “Glad to see you around town again. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah.”

Wanda looked through the letters quickly as Pepper awaited her dismissal. She always stood like a small statue until she was verbally dismissed.

“Have you seen the invitation?” Wanda asked, trying to hide her proverbial hand.

“Which one?”

“Wind Valley.” Wanda hummed as she set the letters aside. “I was thinking about going to see it for myself. But the invite was for two foxes. I don’t have anyone to go with, though.”

Pepper visibly seized up, but didn’t bolt. “I, uh, I’m not sure if that is something I can provide for you. Piero has jobs for me.”

“If you are interested in being paid for your work, I wouldn’t mind paying for a temporary assistant.”

Pepper remained silent for a long time. “You will have to ask Piero.”

Wanda sensed a confused mix of emotion boiling under the surface. She couldn’t quite tell if Pepper wanted to accept or not, but the fact that she was still there made Wanda quickly jot down her request and seal it with a simple wax seal. Pepper stayed until the deed was done.

“Well, if you would like to be a sort of bodyguard for little ‘ol me, then you can give this to Piero, and I will see you tomorrow morning.”

Pepper took the letter and departed. The next morning, she was at Wanda’s door again.

“Good morning, Pepper,” Wanda said. “Nice to see you again.”

Pepper handed Wanda another letter but she did not open it. She merely placed it on her side table and grabbed her overnight bag. The invite had been for a one night stay at a small local hotel in Wind Valley. It must have come from a fox Wanda had worked with once before, but the name was escaping her.

Pepper’s darkness was too vast to see through.

The ride was a short one. When the weather was nice, Woolhope was easy to travel to. It was the brief period of wind and sunshine that was the best, though soon the rains would return. It wasn’t sunny in Woolhope for very long. Ever.

When they did arrive at the Wind Valley, Pepper was more on edge. She was going to be paid for this and the amount was going to be pretty good according to Piero. Pepper had been in more precarious situations and she had come a long way since the last time she had been here.

Usually, she was in the Hidden Garden dealing with nonsense. The change in locale was nice, but her heart was still heavy. Something bad was sure to happen and now it was too late to turn back. She wasn’t even sure why she had accepted.

Money meant nothing to her. Wanda just smelled nice.

“The walk won’t be a long one, darling,” Wanda said. “This place is beautiful, I’m quite surprised. I wasn’t expecting this.”

“It’s windy,” came the response.

“It sure is!” The gusts picked up and the air filled with wayward blossoms from the pink flowering trees. The sound of rattling bamboo was quick to follow and Wanda had to brace herself, the flare of her translucent poncho flapping in the wind. Bits of her fluff also loosened.

They hurried to their room, which was a simple one room bungalow with a modest kitchenette. Pepper hopped up onto the porch and sat just outside the door. She had prepared a bag as well and once Wanda had settled, Pepper rifled through her bag and pulled out a small cage.

There was a curling serpent inside. Rattle, her Serper.

“Who is this charming friend?” Wanda asked.

“Rattle,” Pepper said. “She likes places like this.”

Wanda watched as Pepper pulled over a stool and hopped up to stick Rattle to the lip of the porch overhang. Rattle spun a simple silk thread and once she was secured, Pepper let her hang and Rattle swayed in the wind, making a gentle wind chime like sound.

Pepper pushed the stool back and sat just inside the bungalow.

“Would you like to take a walk with me?”

“No,” Pepper said. “I don’t like it here.”

Wanda expected as much but did not push her. She merely sat next to Pepper. Hers was a comforting presence, though she could still see the darkness pressing around her from all sides. Pepper’s hate was stifling and Wanda was more curious than fearful. She was no stranger to darkness.

But not all darkness was the same.

“To be honest, I asked you to come with me because I don’t like being alone,” Wanda said. “I also thought you would like to have a place to breathe, but I did not anticipate that you would be so unhappy here.”

Pepper blinked a few times, but pointedly did not let Wanda see the voids of her eyes. She felt it was inappropriate.

“I am used to it.”

That stung. Wanda almost flinched at the barbs in Pepper’s voice. Those barbs hadn’t been meant for her, but she’d still be hurt if she had been lanced. Thankfully, it missed her.

“That is no way to live,” Wanda replied. “Would you like to do something nice?”

Pepper shifted slightly. There was nothing nice for someone like her. She was fooling the whole world with her looks and it was unintentional. She hadn’t asked to be made like this and here she was, taking advantage of another once again.

If she said anything, Wanda would run. Wanda would see that she was irredeemable, and she would tell the whole world and Pepper would not be able to stop her. She wouldn’t be able to stop all of Woolhope.

“I’m not going to do that to you.”

Pepper nearly jumped. What could she have even said in response to that?

Wanda shifted a little, folding her hands. “I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. But I do want to do something nice for you. I want you to feel like you can be yourself even if it’s just for a little bit.”

Pepper opened her mouth to speak but words escaped her.

“I see your darkness,” Wanda said. “I didn’t understand it before, when we first met. I thought it was something else. My own memories trying to take your shape to trick me. I thought that it was from beyond Woolhope. But no. It is you.”

“I shouldn’t be here,” Pepper replied. “I should go back. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t think you will do that,” Wanda said. “Hurt me. You are trying so hard not to and I know that you are more in control than you give yourself credit for.”

Pepper took a deep breath. “You don’t understand.”

“I don’t think I really can, unfortunately.”

“I don’t know what that is. The darkness you see.”

“It is you.”

Pepper tensed. “I was good this whole time.”

Wanda nodded in agreement.

“I didn’t hurt anyone and I listened to what other foxes said.”

“I believe you.”

“It’s not supposed to be here anymore!”

She was angry, and Wanda saw that darkness deepen. Envelope her and curl into her fur. She could feel herself drowning. It was a poison. A black tar that threatened to dissolve everything in its path with nothing to bind it other than Pepper.

Wanda did not move.

“I don’t understand,” Pepper continued. “Why am I still like this? When I’ve done everything right? Why am I still so…so…so…”

She trailed off and Wanda felt the darkness recede minutely. It still curled in her fur but it was desperate. Begging to understand itself. Pining for a way to escape itself. Wanda knew that this could not happen so easily, if at all.

“I don’t have the answers you seek.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be psychic?”

“Is that why you wanted to come with me?”

Pepper’s silence answered the question but Wanda was not upset. It always ended like this for those looking for the impossible. Magic could do so much but it could not fix everything.

Wanda did not want to feed the evil in Pepper. There was something to be said about evil that tried desperately to be good. Wanda would not say it to Pepper’s face. It was not the right time.

“Would you like to do something nice with me?”

Pepper nodded.

Wanda went to her bag, moving for the first time since sitting next to Pepper. She looked through her bag, their mellowing silence punctuated by Rattle’s chimes and the thin door shaking in its frame. She pulled out some makeup.

“What do you think about doing a little makeover?”

Pepper nodded again, but she didn’t want to be made up. She just wanted to sleep forever.

“Have a seat over there. By the window.”

Pepper did so and Wanda sat across from her, picking her colors and brushing them onto Pepper’s face. She was so small, as Mini foxes were wont to be, and Pepper stayed tense the whole time. Every time she was about to release that stress, the wind would blow and she would sense Wanda and remember that the last time she had been here, she had killed someone. For no other reason other than she could.

For no other reason than the hate in her soul was indiscriminate and would express itself whenever it wanted. It was almost like she wasn’t the same fox, but no, she was exactly the same.

Wanda waited patiently for Pepper to come back to her. She could feel Pepper’s acknowledgement. And it occurred to her to trace a finger around Pepper’s tresses. She did not, of course.

“I don’t like this,” Pepper said. “I feel like a fraud.”

Wanda hummed. “Maybe we should try again.”

Pepper took a deep breath as Wanda pulled out a cloth to clean the makeup off. She had never been in such close proximity to such a gentle fox before. She feared that her filth would soil Wanda so much so that Wanda would never recover.

“I won't hurt you.”

“I know.”

“Do you think that you would let me help you?”

Pepper swallowed. “I don’t know what I want.”

“That’s okay.”

When Wanda finished cleaning Pepper’s face, Pepper felt those lingering fingers, and she wanted to grab them, to hold them. She wanted Wanda to understand. To understand herself.

In a brief moment of clarity, Pepper’s magic unraveled and she toppled over, taking Wanda with her as she grew to her full standard self - a form she hadn’t been able to keep since she reawoke. Wanda fell with her and had a subtle amusement cross her lips when Pepper exhaled.

There was a shift between them and Wanda would not let it go so easily.

“You seem different somehow,” she teased.

Pepper flushed. “I-“

“Don’t be afraid, darling, this is normal. Comfort is not something to be feared.”

“It can be.”

“Not this time.” Wanda oriented herself, Pepper underneath her, her eyes closed. “What would you like me to do for you?”

Pepper twitched, painfully aware of every part of her that was touching Wanda. She vaguely felt Wanda’s amusement, but it was overshadowed by her own confusion. She didn’t want to be here, but, yes. Yes she did.

“I want to look like me.”

Wanda hummed. “I can do that for you.” She pinched her brush between delicate fingers. “But I can only do what you allow me to you. Is that okay?”

Pepper breathed shallowly. “Yes.”

“Then will you let me see you?”

Pepper hesitated for only a moment, but did creak her eyes open. Wanda saw the darkness disappear and swirl into the pits of Pepper’s void of a stare. There was only a single pinprick of light in those holes. But Wanda was not afraid.

“Please don’t be scared of me.”

Wanda began painting. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

The wind blew.