ORIGIN

The young one questioned on the shards' age, and Fate gave a low hum, deep in thought. "Two cycles, perhaps more? perhaps less. It's been a while. The cycles blur together when you get to my age," she gave the shard she stood before a sniff, but any scents it might have had were stale and indistinct.

Looking up, Fate noted the young one's attention drifting to the eyes, their surfaces almost like mirrors. She padded over to them, showing no fear, and gestured with her tail for Aithaxas to follow. She settled down before one of the two pools and looked briefly into their depths. She paused, sniffing for a while, before turning back to the young maned wolf. "Let's see what we can find, shall we?" she crooned, spreading her long forelegs apart so that she could nose at the water's surface, sending a ripple along the mirror-like surface.

"You can learn a lot about the future from the past."

A glitter of light shimmered through her gem, and her mane prickled until it stood on end. Magic surged through her being, and beneath the mask Fate's eyes opened wide with eagerness.

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First, there was cold; sounds muffling around her, pressure tightening around her body. She could feel herself drowning under the watchful eye of many creatures; although Fate couldn't be sure what they were or how many, Fate found that logic deserted her and her imagination went wild, she felt in that moment that that there were thousands.

"Ack-!" she muttered, struggling to break through into the real world. This wasn't enough for anything concrete. This was never enough. But her chest felt so tight, she could hardly force out the words. "...Drowning. Somebody... died... here..." she gasped for breath, sinking down onto her knees, dangerously close to falling into the cold depths herself. "Perhaps... many... Who are they...?"

She huffed, heaving for breath, struggling to throw off the trance. This wasn't useful; it was only horrible. The vision faded, leaving her feeling a disconnect- still struggling to breathe, and on her knees.

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The maned wolf found the feeling trickling back, the vision fading to the back of her mind like a dream as she regrouped, reassembling her own trains of thought and slowly heaving herself to her feet. The black hairs of her mane stood on end, and she couldn't help a shiver- she felt as though something lay in the pit of her stomach. It was not useful, it was hardly even information. But it was information, and she, like the youngster beside her, found herself hungering for more.

She licked her suddenly dry lips and looked around, expression hidden by the gem across her face. Perhaps the future was not where she should be looking. Perhaps she ought to delve deeper into this magic; find more, and more. But perhaps water was not the best target for her spell. Perhaps a physical thing would yield more tangible results and information.

She was beginning to calm now, the vision fading from fear into fascination, as would a particularly messed-up dream. "Hmmm..." she hummed a soft, musical note- and finally looked back towards the young one. "Forgive me, my child. My vision yielded no answers; I must think on it."

She bowed her head low in farewell. "Keep looking, my dear. With a heart like yours, you will find much," the old one advised, almost tenderly. And so with a weighed heart but a determined gait, the long-legged canid trotted into the undergrowth and was soon lost, as though she was never there.

-Exit Fate-

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