Archive of Our Own

In this land there was only night, the darkness stretched across the sky, never faltering, never leaving. High above the cracking tree tops, the Crooked Moon rested, always keeping its creeping eye on those beneath its sky. The seasons were indifferent, windy autumn, chilling winters. Summer was nowhere to be found.

And it was on cold winter nights like these that brought the most trouble. 

for most.

From inside a Cliffside cave, firelight poured out. The licks of flame casting dancing pictures on the surrounding stone walls. Bedrolls were laid out, and trinkets of all kinds littered the floor. Three figures were in this little homey residence, the cold outside didn't even seem to touch them, they sang and told stories to each other as the hours ticked by.

That was how most days were. The Fates simply spent their time.. living. As well as they knew how to at least. it wasn't their job to do anything but tell people the truth, tell people their fates. So lost days were just waiting, waiting until some wayward soul wandered into their side of the mist.

But tonight, this freezing snowy night in particular. The Fates were.. bored.. more specifically, the Fate of the Dice and the Fate of the Cards. Boredom wasn't new to them, they had lived for many many ages.. But they were still young souls and the ache of boredom always shook their bones the same.

Usually, when this happened they'd explore, travel, make legends. Maybe fix some fates, but tonight? Nothing like that would happen anytime soon.

So then what? What are two fates to do? Why, gamble of course.

The two had left the cave, letting Pendulum know they were just going to grab some food and trinkets. she saw right through them, but said nothing about it. 

The two followed the trails once they found them, snickering to each other while the cold bit at their ears and noses. Dice's already rosy face was now red and frozen, and Cards long ears were tilted down and crimson from cold.

They made their way to the city, it was never too far off was it..? Even from a distance they could see the tall sharp towers of the cathedral, its Gothic architecture making it look almost dangerous against the cold night sky. The two didn't mind that much, they had lived long enough to stop caring. Abbott, dangerous as he was, wouldn't come near them, not without caution at least, not if he knew who they were…

The siblings slipped into the city, it was easy, its gates were large but not if you knew how they were made. Once inside of them, the cold winds had been halted by the city's walls, and Dice took down her hood and laughed.

"I'm excited to win some games hehe-"

She giggled to herself as she spun a little, her mass of skirt fabric trailing with her as she did. Cards sighed and quietly moved their hands over the tips of his ears to try and warm them up.

"Yes.. I'm excited too.. but remember to keep your voice down, our outfits are already stand-out-ish enough without us announcing ourselves."

They said with a small laugh, letting go of their ears and lulling their winter cloak tighter around themselves.

Dice grinned, looking up at the taller form.
“ You’re stand-out-ish enough as it is. I like my outfit!”

Cards sighed, Dice had always been like this. For some odd reason she kept the mind of a child, even though she was far older than even Abbott himself. They leaned down, their body so tall it almost made a right angle to reach her. They adjusted her cloak to cover her outfit and pulled the hood up over her ears.

“Don’t argue, keep your cloak on. This will be fun as long as we can stay ‘Undercover’, You know the drill.”

The younger girl looked up from under her hood with a toothy smile.
“You know I do, Tower.”

Seeing her grin made the taller figure grin too. Their massive fangs glinting in the moonlight. They placed a hand on her head in an affectionate way before walking past her and moving down the alleyway. Tall quiet buildings lining the sides of the two of them, snow and ice covering the cracked stones that made up these roads.

“Don’t slip.”
They said sternly, glancing behind them just to see Dice sliding around on the ice covered stones and giggling to herself. Cards said nothing, but reached over, their long arms easily able to reach her, and picked her up by the scruff of her cloak.
“Vi what did we talk about, you’ll hit your head.”

“I’ll be fine, Rey come onnnnn.”
She pouted a little while holding onto their wrist with both hands and trying to pry herself free, it didn’t work and she let out a sigh and plopped her hands down, crossing her arms as the taller simply stood there, unamused. There was silence for a bit before they carefully set her down.

“We won’t be able to make any money if you have a concussion..”
Dice, after hearing that, quickly righted herself on the ice and grabbed the hem of Cards cloak.
“You're right! I’ll keep my feet down!”

“Good.. Now come on we can’t just goof around in the alleys all night, someone will notice.”

And with that, the pair slinked off into the shadows of this city. Like most, gambling was illegal. But did that stop people? No. And these two knew where to look. It didn’t take long before they were in a back alley again, behind a tavern, down some stairs, and into a bar.

They could see the glow of orange lamp light under the door, could hear laughter and talking, small arguments. Cards could smell liquor heavy on their nose. Dice put their hands up against the door and pressed her ear up against it, closing her eyes. She heard the sound of dice hitting a table, of luck being rolled for. She pulled back, hands still pressed against the door, and smiled up at Cards with a nod. They grinned back and pulled their hood up over their ears as Dice let hers down, and opened the door.

The reaction was imminent, as it always is. People turned to see who came in, and were startled to see a pretty, young girl, and a massive cloaked figure towering behind her like a shadow. She smiled that toothy smile at everyone inside as the taller one shut the door behind her. She skipped inside happily, heavy skirt layers flowing around as she did and made her way to the bar.

“Hello!”
She beamed at the bartender as he stared at her, he seemed to stare a moment too long, as the tall figure in the back leaned over her shoulder and rested their hands on the bar counter either side of the young girl. The bartender's eyes darted up to the tall figure, seeing only a reddish brown color behind the messy choppy black hair. He cleared his throat quickly, taking an uncomfortable step back subconsciously, the tall figure tilting their head slightly to the side as he did.

“Wh- What can I.. Can I.. Get you- two..?”
He asked while nervously fidgeting with the rag he held in his hands. The young girl beamed and spoke up.
“A small glass of spiced rum and a hot chocolate!”

The bartender opened his mouth to argue the last part, but bit his tongue.

“I’ll.. Get that for you..”
He said before setting down the rag and darting into the room back behind the bar.

Cards pulled their hands back and moved to the side away from his sister.

“I’m going to go join a game, I’ll be over there.”
They whispered to her before stalking off to a card game that was happening in a corner of this bar, Vi just smiled and nodded, looking around for the game she heard the clatter of dice come from. Her ears picked up on the noise coming from the other side of this bar, another game happening. She grinned to herself, reaching her hands behind her neck and pulling her hair loose from her cloak, letting the long messy mass of light brown hair fluff around her shoulders and down her back.

The bartender returned and handed her the drinks, she paid him, his eyes lingered on her strange gold earrings, shaped in the form of dice.. She noticed and gave him a wink before quickly grabbing the drinks and hurrying off to the other side of the room, setting the rum down in front of her sibling before laughing a little and hurrying over to the table betting on dice, untucking her hair from behind her ears as she did to cover her earrings. She stood to the side for a bit, watching the way they did things, sipping her drink quietly. A few of the men playing glanced up at her confused, some grinned a little when they saw her. She just smiled down at the game the whole time… Once this ‘round’ of sorts had finished, she stepped a little closer.


“May I join?”
She asked while leaning over one man's shoulder a bit to get a better look. A few of them laughed to themselves.

“Aren’t you a little young to gamble?”
One said while looking her up and down, her soft features showed youth, but when he met her eyes his face shifted into confusion… Those eyes looked… Old..

“Anyone can gamble if they have the means too, no?”
She smiled, flicking her hand as three gold pieces appeared between her fingers. Probably more money than what they were used to seeing someone play in a game like this. They stared at her, she just smiled and tossed the coins aimlessly onto the table before sitting down in a free chair.

“Teach me how to play. Will you?”

The men sitting around this table gaped at her for another moment, before one near her spoke up, a greedy tone hidden by false reassurance.
“Of course doll, we can teach ya how to play. It's a simple game of chance, ya roll two dice, the highest roller gets the bets for that round.”

Vi hummed to herself and nodded,
“Sounds simple enough!”
Her eyes moved to him, sitting next to her, he fidgeted with his dice as he spoke, rolling them aimlessly on the table. The way they sounded as they clattered against the wood, hardly even rolling on their own, always landing on a 5 or 6.. Weighted. She sighed, that takes all the fun out of everything… No matter, she knew the real fate of dice..

“Here ya go doll, you can use mine.”
The man reached over and picked up a different set of dice, plopping it into the girl's hands. She looked down at them, the feeling of them hitting her hands was strange. She rolled them in her fingers for a moment before turning one over once to look at the numbers. It was a simple dice, not much to it, well.. Except the fact it was also weighted, weighted towards the lower numbers. She smiled to herself. Such a silly man. With silly little cons, and silly little dice.

“Thank you…”

The man smiled widely, clearly content with this cheap trick he assumed she fell for instantly.

“You're welcome, doll, and I’ll tell you what, If I win I’ll buy you a drink.”

“I think I’m too old for you.. But thank you for the offer..”
She said it in a soft voice, still staring at the dice in her hands. The man looked confused like he had misheard her.

“Pardon me miss??”

“Oh, nothing.. We can start the game now, yes?”

He stared at her confused for a moment longer before shrugging it off.
“Yeah let's get this damn game started! Come on, bets up!”

The men around the table began to turn out their pockets and place copper, electrum, and silver on the table. Vi smiled and hummed to herself as the game began. It was easy to play, and her luck was impeccable.
Each roll and round, a flawless 12. The man beside her, snake eyes every single time. She grinned to herself but tried to keep it down… He looked like he was starting to get mad, eyes full of suspicion, the others looked more angry than anything.

Across the bar, Cards.. Or.. for now, when in public they were often called ‘Tower’. Dice had given them the name in a moment of panic and they laughed about it after. It stuck.

They leaned back against their seat, back to the wall, a set of cards in their hands as their eyes traveled across the table. Every movement made was analyzed, registered, counted for. Everything was counted for. Especially the cards.

It was enough that their luck of the draw was unbeatable, but their card counting was just as good. All in, winning a hand around every 4 or 5 minutes. A grin slowly began to spread from the corners of their mouth as they felt the anger seeping off the others around them. Their hair and hood covering the expression from their competitors. Their long fingers drew a card and the grin turned into a smile as they threw down their cards. A 10, a Jack, a Queen, a King, an Ace..

“Royal flush, I take this round gentlemen..”
They said in a quiet, stoic voice, hints of satisfaction behind it as they gathered up their winnings. The men around the table looked truly furious, some began to speak or stand, but before they could, ‘Tower’ stood up instead, their massive frame reaching the ceiling as their cloak and hood hid the body underneath. Long spindly sharp hands reached down to the table and pressed against it slightly as they leaned over the other men there..

“Good game.. I’ll be taking my leave now..”

Their hand slid back off the table, taking their drink as they went and finished it. Setting the empty cup down at the bar while glancing over to see how Vi was doing, Just in time to see a small commotion from that back table.

"She's either a damn cheater or a FUCKING WITCH!'

one man yelled while knocking the playing dice to the side, they scattered across the table and clattered to the floor. The other men around the table weren't protesting against this one either. They stayed where they were for the most part, some making murmured agreements, one or two standing up as well… ‘Tower’ felt their tail flick in annoyance under their cloak as they growled to themselves.. 

Vi just stood there humming and gathering up her things as these harsh words were thrown at her, she picked up her set of dice the man had lent her and pushed them into his hand.

"I played a fair game, considering you rigged my dice to lose.."

She said with the same hum in her voice, but not the same grinning smile.. She pulled herself back away from the group and turned to leave the table, but felt a sharp painful tug- She yelped a bit and her hands shot behind her as this man grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her backwards.

"You're not going ANYWHERE until I get my MONEY B-"

He was given no time to finish what he had to say. The second his hand had chosen to act rashly and violently towards this girl. He felt himself get grabbed and shoved back against the wall he was near with an unnatural force, the table beside him was thrown on the side as well, splintered and broken. Long spindly fingers gripped his neck with an inhuman strength as he was shoved back against the stone.

He opened his eyes to try and see through the splitting pain in his head and the blurriness of his eyes, all he was met with was a pair of rust colored eyes.. a mouth full of massive jagged fangs, a low growling like an animal…

"You will not lay a HAND on my sister. Do you understand me?"

The man tried to choke out a response but was pulled back and thrown to the floor with a painful thud .

"Filth.."

The tall figure spat down at him, before turning on their heel and leaning down towards the girl.

"Are you alright Vi..?"

"I am.."

They nodded and moved out from the spot they were in, the eerie stunned silence of the bar only cut through by the pained coughing and sputtering of the man who now laid prone on the ground. Their legs trailing back over to the bar and setting down a few gold pieces.

"Apologies for the Damage.."

They mumbled beneath their hood, before turning to the girl and flicking their head to the side. She nodded and finished gathering her things before following quickly after them.

Once they were out in the cold again, and the door was firmly shut behind them, Dice spoke quietly.

"You didn't have to do that.."

"He deserved it."

"But I would have been okay.."

"He. Deserved It."

Their voice was more stern this time as Dice began to fidget with her sweater hem a little. They glanced over at her confused,

"Are you upset with me for doing that?"

She looked up at them quickly and shook her head and looked back at her feet

"No no..! I'm not! I just.. feel bad.. You got into a fight because of me.."

They stared down at her, almost in slight confusion, "You were not the cause of the fight, he was. I wasn't going to do anything unless he did, and- he did."
They saw her open her mouth to protest, but before she could, they put their hand on the top of her head, smushing down the mass of fluffy brown hair.

"Come on, Chin up, we got some extra money, now we can get some food and maybe even find you some new thread for your embroidery?"

Dice perked up instantly, 

"You think we could-? I could use some more green I'm running out-"

They smiled a little, glad to see that worked.

"Of course we can, though, I'm not sure what all is open this late, we may have to come back tomorrow.."

"That's alright with me! As long as they don't see us."

She laughed a little as she spoke, Cards just sighed with a small chuckle on their breath..

The pair began the track back to the side of the city they came in from. They passed rows and rows of houses, buildings, stone streets, frost and snow and wind. It was cold to be sure.. Dice pulled her hood back up and over her ears.

The two were almost back to where they had snuck into the city, but leaving required they pass by the cemetery on the way to their exit. As the two neared it, Card's ear flicked as they picked up sounds of speaking from that spot. Their eyes got wide as the deep voice pierced into their ears. They grabbed Dice and pulled her back, placing a long spindly finger over her mouth before she could ask what this was about. She pulled her face away from their hand and made a motion with hers, signing something silently.




‘What is it?’

Cards held their hand up and leaned back to try and catch another bit of the voice, before leaning down to their sister and mouthing one word.

Abbott

Dice let out an inaudible groan and crossed her arms, looking annoyed. She walked a bit past her the taller fate, keeping quiet, her feet sounded as if they didn’t even touch the crunchy snow under them. She also tried to listen, listen and see what was going on.. Why the Abbott would be out of the chapel at this time..?

Slowly.. She began to hear what the man was saying.

“Filthy Mutt!! Can’t you finish this any quicker!? First time you didn’t even finish your task and now you’re being slower than the corpses in your teeth!!”

There was a sharp noise, a sound like an animal being wounded. The noise made Dice flinch and her expression softened in sorrow from the sound..

“Get to your feet and finish this damn job..”

A huff and growl came from whatever he was speaking too.. And immediately again, a sharp noise of pain. The sound rang in Dice’s ears as she heard it… Something hit her chest, she recognized the noise but couldn’t put her finger on how… a strange taste of.. Ash in her mouth..

Cards looked down at her as her expression changed, they recognized the face she was making..
“Vi- No- absolutely not- stay right here you shouldn’t intervene–”

By the time they had said this, Dice was already out of their line of sight-
“Dammit."
They muttered to themselves, trying to stay back out of sight, they made sure to listen to every word carefully.. 
"That idiot, she's so dead..."
Not that they would let that happen, but they were frustrated with her.. Better to let it play out for now, make sure she's safe, stay out of sight as best they could..
—

“Finally finished this damn task, could you be any slower? You filthy rotting beast..”
Abbott snarled at the creature in front of him. A dog, an enormous dog.. Its skin thin and rotting, its bones could be seen pressed up against the skin, its fur thin and matted.. 
But Dice was old. She had existed for millennia, she had seen monsters and horrors of all kinds.. So to her, this monstrous dog was- rather cute. And seeing a creature being treated so poorly lit a fire deep in her core, a flickering flame of rage..


The Abbott moved again, making a motion to strike the creature. The dog ducked its head down, flinching in expectance, but the Abbott was quickly cut off by an annoying and painful thud against the back of his head. His hand darted to the back of his head as he looked down to see what hit him..
“What in the nine hells??”


He saw there, on the ground, a dice. A dice with many many sides.. A number faced up at him from it. 1
The creature chuffed slightly, almost what sounded like a laugh...

His head whipped around furiously, his eyes showing a hint of.. curiosity...?


There, standing across from him, hand still held in a throwing motion.. He saw a girl, in her older teenage years, soft rosy features, long messy brown hair.. And eyes far older than his..


“How.. Dare you disrespect me like that. Who do you think you are girl?”


“Leave that poor boy alone, You’re hurting him.”
The creature looked up at her. Its red eyes watching as it whined a little.. A warning to her to not anger the man infront of her..

The Abbott scoffed, a sneer curling on the corner of his mouth, his fangs pressing against his lips.
“You have no right to order me around, do you know who I am? Who I serve?”

The creature behind him's ears went back, its hair stood on end...

“You’re a dirty bastard who serves a nasty skank!”


The Abbotts eyes flashed, this mild annoyance and amusement shifted quickly into a deep boiling rage.
“Do not speak of my mistress in such a way… Have you no respect child? Do you care for your life?”

The creatures eyes darted to the Abbott, a low growl began to escape its throat as he threatened this girl...

His words were cold, stern, serious. He stepped towards her. She tried not to falter, she knew she would live, she knew the power she held… But.. 
Her eyes moved up to meet his. He was taller than her by a good deal, broader, stronger, his fangs glinting ominously in the light of the witching hour…


“You.. You shouldn’t treat a creature that way..”
The creature looked over at her surprised. Its tail began to slowly sway behind it, the sentence seemed to make the creature happy.. But its red eyes stayed on the Abbott

“This mutt?? Its hardly alive.”


“That doesn’t matter..”

The man's sneer became wider, more threatening. Dice stood her ground, but glanced past him to the poor creature he had been tormenting. It was staring at her curiously.. Almost confused. It made a few other chuffing noises, its head tilted up as if trying to take in any scents she held..
She tried to silently gesture for it to leave with her eyes, but it simply barked lightly as retort, almost telling her to leave back at her. It Backed up further away from the Abbott, but made no motion to fully leave.. Its eyes lingering on hers, a stubborn little creature.. And Dice tasted it again, that sickening taste of ash.. 

The Abbott shot the creature a glare, its barks of warning muffled themselves..
He turned back to Dice, looking her over once again..
“You’re brave for a little girl. Talking to me that way..”

Dice moved her arms, her subconscious wanting to fidget with something, but she willed herself to stop.. Shrinking in on herself would only display her fear, make her seem vulnerable. She wouldn’t let that happen.. Her already raised hands instead moved to her hood, taking it off so her eyes could properly meet those of the man in front of her.

“It is not bravery, it is morality..”

“Morality?”

“... Yes..”
Dice watched him, her eyes staying on his firmly..
“.. always aid..”

Those words caused another fire to light itself in the man's eyes as he watched her.. His grin shifted into a snarl.. Those cursed words..
The creature behind him seemed to panic, it snarled as well, showing its fangs at the man…
But the Abbott was furious.. He nearly hissed at it as his hand moved and grabbed the girl's face roughly in one hand, his long sharp fingernails almost digging into her skin.
“Bite your tongue, girl!” He spat the words at her.. Dice felt her chest stiffen in fear, a coldness sunk into her skin.. She had to will herself… Don’t fear him, you know his fate..

She took a deep breath.. And spat at him.

There was nothing but stunned silence for what felt like minutes, but she knew it was just seconds. The Abbott slowly moved his other hand up to the spot under his eye where she had spat and wiped the liquid from his face. Glaring daggers down at her.
The moment it had happened, the creature's eyes went wide, its ears pressed back against its skull.. The shock was quickly replaced with the same panic as its growling became lower, crouching and backing up slightly as if about to lunge at the abbot…
It was only seconds….

“You’ll pay for your disrespect..”
His grip tightened on her face, turning her jaw roughly to the side..
The creature barked loudly, jumping and biting at the Abbotts' robes to try and pull him back away from her. But the man's eyes were burning with an inhuman rage… It was as if he didn’t even notice the creature pulling and tearing.

Dice felt her hair fall down off her neck. She shivered and gasped, being pulled against the man as she watched his fangs elongate- Before they made contact with her skin, she opened her own mouth and bit down hard against the tall man's thenar. He hissed from the sudden pain, his hand loosening around her from it as she pushed back from him. She felt a sharp pain against her cheek as she did, where his nails drug along her face..

The second the two weren’t touching anymore, the creature released the Abbotts robes and pushed itself between the two, bearing its fangs as a low growl and bark echoed out of its throat…

“Blasted Mutt..”
The Abbott spat the words down at the creature, his fangs still long, his features still sharp as he eyed Dice hungrily.. Dice could feel him stare at her cheek… She reached her hand up subconsciously and felt a warm liquid meet her hand, a small gasp leaving her as her nose finally picked up on the iron..

“.. shit..”
She whispered to herself.. She took a small step back and bumped into something behind her. She froze, already knowing what it was.. She watched the Abbotts eyes trail upwards and his expression shifted to horror.. And panic…

She turned around to see… Cards there.. Standing over her like a tower. Their face void and noir, two scratchy circles of white light where their eyes should be, a darkness almost unnaturally swallowing the area around them.. A low guttural growl came from their throat, almost the same as the creature in front of the two of them. The dog didn’t seem to notice Cards at first, too focused on protecting this girl...
Their long, sharp hands moved over and wrapped around Dice, over her shoulders, hugging her head to their chest as they growled at the Abbott along with this creature. Their tail flicked side to side in warning, before wrapping itself tightly around Dice as well, pulling her even closer. Standing over her, towering above all three of the others.. Hood down, black matted hair falling across this featureless face. The rage that emanated from this being surpassed even the fury that the Abbott had felt a moment prior..

This entity leaned forward slightly, the dark abyss that was their face began to pool and drip down as if it led somewhere else… Deep, Dark salt water began to hit the snowy ground.. The smell of it seeping into the air.. Mixing with iron..
“RUN BACK TO YOUR DUCHESS… PRAY HER WALLS KEEP ME FROM YOU..”

The voice that spoke was inhuman… Unnatural.. Layered thick as if bellowed out from underwater… The Abbott took a step backwards, His eyes seeped heavily with panic..

“..What-.. Are you..?”

“...FATE…”

That one word made the pieces click, The Abbott’s face was morphed into one of many emotions.. Horror.. Dread.. Greed..
But he acted on none of them.. Instead, the man backed up away from the horrors in front of him, before turning his back to the three and walking away. His boots clicking loudly every step he took down these stone streets…

Once out of sight, the darkness halted, the saltwater stopped, as Cards morphed back into their normal self. Dice let out a sigh of relief..

“Thank you Cards.. And.. thank you too..”
She looked down at the creature in front of her, it looked back up at her with curious red eyes, its growling had halted as well.. She knelt down, the many layers of her skirt piling up around her as she got to eye level with this dog. Trying to understand the familiarity. She knew it. Somehow… The taste of ash and smoke began to fill her mouth and lungs again.. She turned and coughed into her sleeve a little.. Before looking back at this creature and cupping its rotting snout in her hands.

“You did a very good job.. I’m proud of you. What a good boy..”
She hummed and scratched behind its ears gently. It let out a whine as its tail wagged happily. Almost as if it felt the same uncanny connection.. Like they’d seen eachother once in a dream.. A long long time ago..

She turned over to look at Cards, they were standing there, arms crossed in anger and frustration.. And concern.. Not looking at Dice..
The girl felt her stomach drop again, this time from sadness and dread.. She knew they were upset with her..

The creature nudged her with its nose a little, trying to help in some way as it watched her expression sink.. She looked back at it and smiled a little more. She reached under her cloak and into a bag held at her hip. From it she pulled out some dried meat..

“Here you go.. Eat up..”
She held it out to the dog, its ears perked up, sniffing at the food hesitantly before eating some from her hand happily.. Then it picked up some more in its jaws and held it as if saving it for someone..

“You should go home now, before the mean man comes back.. Okay..?”

The creature gave her what seemed like a nod, before pressing its nose up against her in an affectionate way.. The girl giggled a bit and pet it one more time before pulling back.. The creature looked at her one more time, the laugh looked like it did something to the things eyes.. But a moment later, it was trotting off through the mist and light snowfall.

Dice turned to Cards and frowned a little…
“I’m-..”

“Yeah I know you’re sorry.. But seriously!? What if he had bitten you!?”

Their raise in voice made Dice flinch a bit, the sudden-ness of it taking her off guard, and stabbing into the bubble of growing dread that had been forming in her core. Cards noticed and immediately lowered their volume..

“You need to think about these things, Vi..”

“I.. I didn’t want him to hurt it.. It wasn’t doing anything wrong..”

“Vi that was the Abbott he-..”
Cards looked down at Dice, she was looking towards her feet, fidgeting with her hood again, hiding her face…

They paused..

“Unless there was more to this than just a creature being hurt?”
…

“Vi?”

She didn’t answer, they saw her shoulders begin to tremble a little and a sharp pain of guilt hit them in their chest.
“Woah woah woah- hey- don’t cry- Vi it’s fine I just panicked-”

She looked to the side and bit down on her lips hard, trying to stop.. But something about the familiar sounds and shapes… the fear.. The taste of fire ..

“Jeez… I’m sorry I didn’t mean to yell at you… Did… Did you feel compelled..? Is that what happened..? Was it familiar..?”

She didn’t answer verbally, but gave them a quick nod.

“Do you know why..?”

She shook her head… They sighed.

“Do you wanna get out of this city?”

She gave them a nod. They nodded back and leaned down, turning their head to try and see her face. When they found it under the hair she had tried to use as curtains, their massive hands moved over and cleaned the water from her eyes and cheeks, along with the blood and sniffles.

“Its alright, really.. I’m not as mad as I came off being.. I just panicked. Next time you feel the need to do something just tell me and let me help, okay?”

She nodded again, Cards smiled a little and reached over her head, pulling her hood on to shield her from the cold.

“Now lets get out of this dump, hm?”

Those words cracked a smile out of cards as she laughed a little and nodded, rubbing her eyes on her palms.

“Y-Yeah.."
She laughed a little more to herself as she pulled her cloak tight around her, finally willing herself to look back up at them, she gave them a little grin..
"Fuck this place.'