Mystified

T

he card chosen is the High Priestess. Some knowledge gained does not always come from an outward source.


Cian exited the fortune teller’s tent with a perplexed look on his flame-kissed features. The fortune he received was puzzling, to say the least. What did it mean? It was a rather radical idea in the mind of the well-trained, disciplined youth.


Practicality and rationale is only one side of the coin, only one half of the whole. The other is made of emotion and whimsy...


What did emotion have to do with anything? And whimsy… well, that trait was in short supply when it came to his position as a soldier. Whimsy had no place in the world of war, and thus, it had no place in Cian’s life… right? The only fun experience he had had in recent memory was far away from the barracks, in a distant, mystical forest, with a quirky, intriguing young lass. He smiled without thinking at the thought of the odd girl. Clover was her name. He had, naturally, not forgotten anything about that unusual, light-hearted day.


...the inner-self, the wild beating of your heart that you will one day learn to trust in order to achieve balance in your life.


But Cian had never been taught to trust himself, his own heart, his own intuition. He had been brought up to obey. He was not meant to ask questions, simply to follow orders. First of his father’s, and now of the King’s army. And so, the boy wandered around the side of the tent, engrossed in the mystery of his fortune and what could be waiting in his future.



@Clover

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

C

lover had no idea what had been awaiting her inside the sweet smelling tent full of trinkets odds and ends. She was simply following her curiosity wherever it took her. It led her to a fortune teller who had chosen a card to reveal what was going to happen days, maybe months, or years from now!

She found it absolutely fascinating! Plus the art on the cards themselves was super pretty to look at! She quieted herself when it was time to listen to what card she had chosen:

Clover receives the Wheel of Fortune card. This is an auspicious symbol, one that signifies change, the discovery of new and unexplored paths on which to tread. Opportunity waits for those who dare to find it, though change is not always easy. Your destiny awaits.

Rose colored orbs had widened to twice their size as she took it all in. Clover wasn't entirely sure she understood everything behind those words, but it sounded so exciting and made her paws tingle! She couldn't sit still a moment longer! Dipping her head in the swiftest form of gratitude she scampered towards what she thought had been the entrance?

She was wrong, of course, and had to struggle against the fabric of the tent, before she crawled underneath it and leapt forward out of there. Clover immediately impacted into someone, the force causing her to fall back onto her rear.

There was brief confusion until she realized that she'd clashed with the familiar flame-touched boy she'd met back in the Fae Forest. "Cian!! It's you!"

@Cian

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

I

n that very instant, as Cian was deep in contemplation and curiosity, something even more unexpected than his fortune materialized, as if out of thin air. The fiery youth had not noticed that someone was trying to get out of the tent, through a flap that was not exactly the entrance. Cian only heard a rustling sound, and then before his eyes, the very wolfess he had been thinking of was right before him -- in fact, she could not be any closer unless they two were embracing. Cian uttered a startled sound as he nearly fell backwards, stumbling a few steps away from the girl, who had recognized him first: "Cian!! It's you!


Cian was not an expert when it came to hiding his emotions, though his father had been very insistent on the importance of holding one’s cards close to one’s chest… whatever that meant. His sire said a lot of stuff that did not make a whole lot of sense, but he knew better than to question it. As the shock of Clover’s appearance began to subside, a smile replaced his surprised facade. ”Clover? I was just thinking about--” But the boy stopped before he embarrassed himself. Why did he feel so flustered? ”About, um, that one time -- er, I guess it was the only time we met…”


He breathed in sharply to steady his nerves, bright eyes avoidant of Clover’s lovely pink orbs. ”It’s, um, good to see you again.”




@Clover

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

S

he immediately hopped up into her feet, her tail wagging so wildly her rear end wriggled, hardly able to keep up with it. Clover was a giggling mess and she moved closer, standing on her tiptoes to bump her head against his in a friendly greeting.

Her head tilted this way and that with Cian's pause, her curiosity flaring with the need to know what exactly he had just been thinking about. When it was revealed that he'd been thinking back fondly upon their meeting in the Fae Forest her entire essence seemed to brighten and she beamed at him. "Really?" She gasped excitedly.

"That was the best time! I think about it all the time too!" The young girl danced on her toes happily and then nodded eagerly in agreement with her friend. "Oh, yes, yes! It's great to see you again!" Her nose twitched and she leaned forward a,n obvious stranger to personal space as she sniffed the fur about his cheeks. The faint scent of the fortune teller's incense was on his coat and her eyes grew wide with wonder. "Did you get your fortune read too, Cian?"


@Cian

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck