Submission (#4940) Approved

#elnin/manadh #2023/monthly/february #elnin/ingrid

"Hey, thanks for helping me out again."

"Of course! What'd you find this time?"

"It's a little weird."

"You said that last time too!"

Manadh huffed at his friend, though he couldn't argue with Ingrid there. It wasn't his fault all the stuff he wanted answers to was in the sections of the library with confusingly big words involved! And that's if he could find where to look at all!

"It's different this time, sort of. I found these weird old cards, and they came with a book, and-"

"Ooh lemme see!"

"Hang on! The book says if you lay the cards out right, they tell you things."

"Whoa! I wanna try!"

"We're gonna! I'm going to try using them on you."

"Ooh! What should I do?"

"Just give me a bit," and Manadh swatted at the little paper box he'd found to nudge the cards free of its embrace, nudging them out onto the floor. "Help me mix these up, but make sure they all stay face-down, okay?"

"'Kay!"

It might not be what the little book meant when it said 'shuffling' but in the end the two kittoms got all the cards back into a proper stack, and settled down facing each other. Taking a breath against a sudden strange onset of nerves, Manadh put his paw on top of the deck, "Okay, let's see..."

First a card with a young human holding a sword, then one of a lady pouring water under a night sky laying across it, "That's the Page of Swords, crossed by the Star. Let me check the book... Okay yeah, that's the part about the question, or situation, and the Page fits you pretty well. 'A vigilant person that seeks out the unknown.' And the Star is... hope. A good omen for the future, like."

"Wow! So I'm gonna be lucky?"

"Looks that way, but there's lots more to do," and Manadh flipped over the next card above the first pair, this one being someone in armor on a horse, holding a big golden disc. "The Knight of Coins. Hmm... And that spot's your 'goal', so... I think this means you want to grow up to be someone that can be depended on, someone organized and reliable."

"...huh."

"Next is... oh. Uhm." The next card to flip over was worrying just to look at, a frowning demon crouched on a throne with people chained to its base. "That's, well, that's the Devil. I don't think that's a good card, let me check."

"Am I gonna die?!"

"No! That's a spot for things in the past anyway."

"I don't remember any devils!"

"Would you hang on! ...okay, so it's not *always* terrible-terrible, but it's still not great. With where it is, this looks like it's saying that you've got your goal *because* at some point you had a failure because of other people, someone stopping or interfering with what you were trying to do."

Ingrid frowned a bit, unsure of how to interpret that at first, but then he blinked and looked a little concerned as some memories surfaced, though he didn't interrupt as his friend moved on to the next card.

"Next is the..." and Manadh had to take a moment to count, "...*nine* of Cups. This one's in the past too, something that happened recently enough it still matters, like." The little booklet's pages rustled as he batted through them, "Hm... Oh this is a good one! A card of success! So, it's pointing out that something you did recently was a good step towards your goal." Expecting a response, he glanced back up at Ingrid, and was somewhat unsettled to see his usually animated friend frowning at the cards nearly as hard as he himself had been. Thinking, probably.

Moving on quickly, before he managed to spook himself out of what was quickly turning into more than he'd expected, the dark kittom flipped the next card into place. "This one's for your future. The Knight of Wands, which looks like... like you're going to be taking a trip soon. Going somewhere you haven't been before, probably." The armored person wielding a branch on horseback certainly seemed well on their way!

The next card was set to the side of the cross all the earlier ones had formed, "This spot is supposed to represent you, like, why you're asking this question. The Knight of Cups is... gosh how do people remember all these, hang on..." More rustling of pages and squinting at old, small print, "It looks like this means that you're waiting for something, like an invitation, or something to happen."

Next a card with a group of people dancing, "The three of Cups, and this spot is about your environment, so... You've fixed something, or had it fixed, in the place you are now. Not always like a place-place," and Manadh stamped a paw on the floor, "but like the place in your life. Does that make sense?"

"I think so? This is so weird."

"Told you. Almost done, just two more. Next one is... huh, that one's upside down."

"Did we do it wrong?"

"No, the book said this can happen, it changes what the card means. That one's the High Priestess, and she's in the spot talking about your emotions, so... This looks like it's saying that you feel like you were lied to, and you took it as truth."

Ingrid made a cranky sound, but just shook out his ears and resumed frowning at the cards like he could somehow drag information out of them by force, ears perked, and Manadh decided to just keep going while he still had his nerve.

"This last one's upside down too, the five of Swords. Looks like a warning, saying that whatever you're trying to do is not guaranteed. Something might distract you, or try to pull you away from it."

Curling back into a loaf, a little unsettled, Manadh looked up from his book and his cards to regard his friend with a little concern, a little uncertainty, "Did any of that make sense?"

A few moments spent processing all that, tail flicking, then Ingrid sat up with a shake of his head like he was clearing dust out of his ears, "Wow, that was closer than I expected. I *know* I never told you some of that stuff... I liked it though! Makes me feel good about where I'm going, where I've been."

Manadh blew out a little breath in relief, "Oh good."

"Is that everything, then?"

"I think so, yeah." Manadh turned his attention back to that arrangement of cards, thoughts wandering a little as he considered it an-

**"You have learned the perils of ignorance. Let it never hamper your stride again."**

"...the heck was *that?*"

Manadh was so fluffed up he'd practically doubled in size, eyes wide as he tried to hunch his head back into his shoulders away from the cards, "I don't know!"