ORIGIN

"Feh. I didn't lose her any more than she lost me. It'd been so many cycles since we met, that I hardly remembered her." Fate snorted slightly, but a long pause soon followed as she chose her words carefully. She didn't seem at all surprised about Astaroth's intrusion, nor did she seem to care. in fact, she seemed almost pleased. "But, I could have chosen someone better to die by such cruel means. No-one would ever have said she deserved that... nor could anyone have predicted it."

She remembered Destiny's skull, slowly cracked whilst she was still living, her eyes forced out of their sockets by the gem that gave her life. "Makes you wonder, though... just what the odds were. Perhaps there was a slim chance she could have made it. Perhaps it was a matter of finding the right path to take. Perhaps it's happened before, or is bound to happen again, one day. Who knows?"

She watched the dice fall before her, in a pattern of four-and-two. Her nose creased slightly, and she once again lifted her paw, and flicked it up. her tail swished and ears flicked, but she said no more, seemingly content to revel in her conspiracies.

"Tell me, what do you know of fate?"

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Fate listened to Astaroth's words, and her brow lifted slightly in amusement beneath her crystal, but she listened despite this. Listened quietly, the only other sound than that of the wildlife in the woods being the clinking of the dice as she played with them in her paws.

"That it does. It can't be denied that fate plays our lives like a pup with a stone," she agreed softly. "But what I want to know is, can we predict it?" She stopped, drawing her dice close to her chest.

She tossed the dice at Astaroth, looking him right in the eyes as she said "Nine. Four and five." she said, without looking down. "I've spent 15 cycles studying these things, silly and inconsequential as they may seem." she put out her paw, and dragged back the die into her chest.

"...And I believe that the same can be said for fate. You don't need magic. You only need logic." The maned wolf rose onto four paws with a deep breath, and an arch of her spine. "The flow of fate is ever-changing, as you say. My aim is to study the way one thing will lead to the next, and the next, and the next."

A mischievous grin spread across her muzzle, but it was impossible to tell what lurked behind those eyes.

"So..." she purred, standing tall, tail twitching. "Would you care to have your fortune told?"


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The maned wolf laughed, a raucous, barking sound. "My dear, skill has nothing to do with beliefs," she purred, tail whisking at the air. "I have not survived this long by looking to the past. If I had, much of me would have been lost long ago. No, the future, my fate and everyone's; that's where I find true value." Though Fate didn't put as much into words, she could see easily that the wolf was not carrying anything that she could have turned to for a proper vision. She had the ability to look into the past, of course, but unless a creature was dead then she could not create links through them. "But, if you doubt me, I shall tell you what I've learned by looking into your eyes."

With that said, though, the maned wolf raised her head, the dice clacking softly together in her jaws. she shook her head, before throwing them roughly to the ground at her paws, being careful to avoid the mouse hole.

The twin die skittered to a halt, a pair of sixes facing upwards. Fate's eyes glinted behind her mask as she glanced up at them, her gaze piercing into theirs, although they probably couldn't tell. "They say that you'll have a decision to make. Two sixes; two choices of equal weight. Perhaps you'll have the opportunity to become a king, but you must choose to lose the one closest to you. Perhaps your greatest wish will be fulfilled, but you must choose to conquer your greatest fear. The future has great, great fortune awaiting you, but you must make the right choice in order to receive it, or you shall lose everything, my friend."

Fate's muzzle twitched into a smirk.

"And now, I shall try your past. I may not find value in looking to the past, but I do see the the value in learning from others' mistakes. Your eyes have told me that you have crossed turbulent waters. So much fighting, so many scars, and for what purpose? To prove to yourself that you could?" She looked closely at the rest of them, gaze lingering on the burns they carried, as well as the aged scars. They certainly looked as though there had been a fight, but upon closer inspection, where were the claw marks? there were no signs of a physical scuffle. "But, it would seem that you've come out of such affairs wizened. I expect that you'll continue to climb, and you won't make the same mistakes again."


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"Those things go hand in hand, dearie," Fate said, her tone level, betraying nothing. But an ear twitched; was it with amusement, or impatience? Benevolence, or malice? One thing was clear to Fate. She was interested to see where this one would go, but she needed far more practice before she'd be able to truly predict one's fate based on their actions, and influence it with her own strength of will.

She didn't think that this one was truly sold, yet, but they seemed to be invested in the idea of it, and that was enough. I have a long way to go, but this is a good start, Fate thought as she watched them.

Her ears swiveled as voices seemed to rise, from somewhere, everywhere. A smirk twinged the side of her muzzle; although she rarely used 'real' magic, such party tricks had long been known, and did not scare her. It was her own element, after all. What made her watch and listen so intently was the sudden change; how her words had caused them to leap from calm to calamity in a matter of moments.

She bowed her head in acknowledgement. "My friend, I'm certain such a future will come, one day," she said coolly. "I just hope you keep your eyes peeled for potential heroes."

Her eyes glinted behind the bejeweled mask.

"There will be many of those, on the path you seek. Perhaps for now, you should keep your head low... After all, we wouldn't want you to get burned again, now would we?"

A playful edge had snuck into her tone, and as the wolf was speaking, she gradually began to turn away. Her curiosity was satisfied; the seed had been sowed. The time for involvement was passed. Now was the time to see what grew.

Fate slunk off into the darkness beyond the trees, leaving bated breath on the air.

-Exit Fate-

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muse:

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...