Oho, we have a crossover on our hands... paws... hooves.

Forsooth, a very cross and aggrieved one.

Oh gosh this is so adorable and funny, excellent idea and excecution here! ^^

And you'd definitely still be an A+ mom even if you only had hooves <3

Little Wiggle is already used to this.

Aw, thanks, on both counts!

😁

^w^

For shame, Goodfellow. Having your 'fun' so soon after Dearshul's first delivery? You right mother Puck -

Thou be asking for a metaphysical hoof in the brain if thou FINISHETH YON SENTENCE.

MoOTF: *grinning* Hoho, you wouldn’t be the first to throw such an excellent pun at me, Two Minds, but I doubt it ever fit the situation so well before. She is a mother, and I am ‘pucking’ with her, so to speak… if I were in a form that had hands, I’d applaud.

Henry: I’m beginning to think I should have found another accomplice. Are you always this juvenile?

MoOTF: Always, good master Longears. Always.

You know how Shakespeare depicted Puck, Henry.

And that one be abound to ceaselessly crow and soliloquy of his wit and wiles, as be his wont.

*snort* Not half. 'Longears' and longueurs.

Henry: *ears falling back in aggravation* I’d hoped it was an exaggeration when I agreed to this mess.

Life imitates art, no? So how *did* you get 'recruited' - given what your own curse has to say on the matter of falsehoods?

Henry: *muttering almost inaudibly* Not so much recruited as went looking…

MoOTF: And why shouldn’t you? You were hardly getting results waiting around for our author to pick up her pen, and the same could be said for me. Tell him like it is: it was an alliance borne of convenience.

That seems your mantra for life of late.

Another project? I'm lycan this idea.

It’s an idea that’s been howling in my head for a while ^^

Well, this was unexpected.

That means a lot coming from one so unpredictable as nobody! ^^

Nothing could have prepared me for lycans.

OMG. So happy to see you back on here my dear. I hope that you are doing well?

Aw, thanks! In the ways that matter, yes. ^^ And you, my friend?

Doing quite well my dear. And I am glad that you are well. :)

I love how your little wiggle is so used to transformations happening that your being a donkey is normal for her!

The kid’s gonna need to be adaptable XD

Ooh, interesting development! And good going on raising that remarkably easy-going kiddo. ^_^ That temperament will serve her well with this kind of lunacy afoot.

Thank you, thank you. I honestly think that if this were to happen IRL the only thing that would bother her would be if I didn’t let her climb on me. XD With all the stuff she’s been through, she’s pretty unflappable.

Heh, I can believe it. There's just a certain automaticity to your panel 2 decision that adding "jungle gym" to your responsibilities is the path of least resistance. XD I'm glad she's resilient!

Imoldra: *In a flat and unconcerned tone* Oh no... Lycans are causing trouble for Henry... so unfortunate...

Constance: *to Decker* Y’know, I think I like the giant wolf guy.

Imoldra: *smirks* Be careful not to play too rough with him. Don't ask me how or why, but the jackass is touched by Fate. Wouldn't want anything to happen to you two on his account.

*nods to Imoldra* Fate will have its sport and conspire to keep bringing us together, like myself and the trickster, as long as we keep doing what we do.

Imoldra: Indeed, though in truth your destiny is likely far more intertwined with Acrathia's than it is mine. I rarely get to interact with the realms as much as I'm doing now. The only other instances where I would be so present is if all the realms were on the verge of ruin. Fortunately that is not the case with this little melodrama in the sidhe playing out.... yet....

'Yet'.

And I don't hold much truck with 'destiny', that's the bane of those who cannot help themselves or refuse to adapt. As long as we can, we're keeping that 'yet' wolf away from the door... to coin a phrase.

Imoldra: *Stonefaced* As a general rule, the more powerful you are, the more Fate has a hold on you. Humans are so weak in the grand scale of the realms that Fate barely touches them at all. You may be used to not having to rely on destiny when you were mortal, but you are a unicorn now, Fate may now have a tighter hold on you than you're at all used to.

Humans may be individually 'weak' but devastating as a whole species. Countering them all, and the tools and sciences they have, would daunt even the Fates. I've 'met' the Hand, all of them. Most have been very forthcoming about the 'tapestry' and where the boundaries lie. The other one cheats. There's a battle forthcoming, and while it can't be prevented, we *can* make ready and gather enough 'pawns' together to try and control the spillage when the first powerplay takes place. Certain events have to transpire for the threads not to tear. What befalls after that, that's down to the rest of us.

Imoldra: Humans somehow manage to impress me at times, with their so called intelligence, then they proceed to irritate me to no end with their greed, arrogance, deceitfulness, casual and purposeless cruelty, and utter lack of wisdom. Some of you are alright, but most are the most dangerous paracites I've ever seen.

*growls a bit* Yes, a fight that has been along time in the making. While technically my superior, I have absolutely no respect for the being you call The Vile One. I have no doubt that one day the two of us will find each other on the opposite ends of the battlefield

Don't get me wrong; the Fates if they were allowed to could snap their fingers and revert the world back to a state of being from thousands of years ago. But they're not *allowed* to. So the Vile One gets inside your head, and subtly starts to mess around with your choices; not enough to notice at the time so that your ideas still feel entirely your own. I've had long debates with Acrathia about her desire to bring back magic to the world; not dismissively, but pushing hard for tempering its ubiquity for humans to abuse. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Vile One had been goading her for a long time to ignore any safety precautions and have magic let loose at humanity's disposal without any restriction. Because with that level of outside interference, the Vile One would then consider it within his remit to simply 'sterilise' the resulting upheavel.

Cataclysm.

Right. Magic and science annihilate each other and destroy all life on the planet.

Imoldra: *Somber* I wouldn't put it past The Vile One to manipulate her into doing such. He has always held a grudge against her for getting the better of him that one time...

*Sighs heavily* But it is misguided to think that she isn't capable of doing horrible things to achieve her ends, without his influence... no matter how much I wish it were otherwise... She's certainly done so before...

*Regathers his focus* You were right to try and talk her out of her foolish endeavor, even if she won't be convinced otherwise.

Most of the more powerful players, as you put it, the ones with particular roles set for them, seem to align closest to one particular Finger.

I didn't talk Acrathia out of it so much as move the goalposts with lateral thinking. Conference with the Shadow did the rest, she's much more in tune with the Shadow now. I also helped weaken the Vile One's 'trust' curse upon her that way, so he absolutely despises me. Came this close to making me self-destruct through my own human arrogance.

You represent the spirit of cyclical birth, death and rebirth. For creatures to naturally survive, other creatures have to be consumed. Not everything fully gets to live, but others will later take their place and it's simply the way of the world. That's in line with the ethos of the Storm.

It was the White One who manipulated my coming into being in this fashion as light against the darkness, but over time I think I've shifted some degrees towards the Bronze Warrior.

Law must be present to balance the rising tide of Chaos.

I don't like to be pushed around, neither does Acrathia, I will act to protect friends and allies and tug softly on whatever strings I can get away with to do so. That's the beauty of being part 'weak' human on the inside - look at a situation, turn weaknesses into strengths and an opponent's strengths into weaknesses.

Imoldra: *Listens intently to his exploits, a slight smirk of approval appears when you finish*

You impress me with your wisdom unicorn, The White One has picked a fine champion in you, and The Vile One would be wise to fear you.

*His face turns more solemn* Tell me truly unicorn, did The Shadow actually approve of Acrathia's plan?

'Fear' me? And show weakness in front of the rest of the Hand? Not bloody likely. The Storm practically had to kill us to drive out -

*sudden headtoss, rearing up and eyes rolling back with a whinny...*

Alright, alright! Take it easy, I'll stop!

*drops back to all fours, panting, calming down with a headshake...*

...Sorry about that. My other voice is still skittish when forced to remember what happened - the trauma hurt him BADLY. The 'Stormbreaker' nickname may not be accurate, but it helps him cope better.

You asked about the Shadow. He / she... they... honestly, I forget which or even if Acrathia and I were told beforehand, the Shadow being nebulous by definition. The Shadow was skeptical, but accepted our honesty with the intent. Acrathia actually made a better impression than I did, she had the foresight to bring proof of the means to end it, and her, if ambition were to become too much. But that was when I was warned of the 'infiltration' within me, and suddenly I could understand Acrathia's plight of being unable to be trusted. Shook my ego to the core. Maybe I'd gotten too close, who knows.

Imoldra: *Appears sympathetic to the trauma, but allows you and your unicorn side to push through it* I've stared down and army of thousands of demons before, and did not flinch. Still I cannot imagine having to bear that kind of corruption in your body. You're tough unicorn, I'll give you that.

So The Shadow did not rebuke her claim at all? May have even shown favor to her plans?

*give a deep and heavy sigh.* I swear... I will never understand the whims of Fate... Hell I barely understand why he allows The Three to exist.... I need to look into this. If what you have told me means what I think it means, I may owe Acrathia a huge apology...

We were given knowledge of how to gain audience with the Shadow, once that plan had been toned down enough so that magic and science would never meet and the human race as a whole would never know about it. It would be for the protection of the rest of the world, FROM them. But the Shadow isn't the 'he' you mean, is it? Would that be the one who wields the Hand? That being as much as I know, veiled hints that such an even more powerful being exists.

I'm not 'tough' - the Vile One is silent and sneaky. It was a tiny fragment, but just having it there leaves one walking on certain mental eggshells for years lest you activate it. But he also made no secret of it and had it lie there dormant... so either the 'threat' was enough, or more deviously and likely, using me as a lure to keep prying eyes away from what he's actually been manipulating all this time. And the...

*chooses words carefully*

...'cure' was a lot harder to recover from than the 'disease'. The victims of Il Paese, warped by the same corruption - they're much tougher than I to endure that.

*watches quietly from the sidelines in the invisible company of three fingers of the Hand, enjoying the exchange*

Imoldra: *Appears even more impressed with Eala's humility* Indeed... The fact that they were children, makes it all the impressive and rage inducing.

*appears to contemplate how to proceed when speaking on the nature of Fate* Referring to Fate as He was a misspeak on my part, for a being/entity/force like Fate is simultaneously every gender that has been recognized by any culture, and no gender whatsoever. Simultaneously has a grand plan, and no plan at all. Is both everything and nothing all at once, throughout all time and beyond, and never at all. Fate is the sole grandparent of The Three, and as such, The Three both never should have been, and yet were completely inevitable.... Hence we are what we are... The Three Anomalies of Fate...

...Infinite potential universes. Of course, now it makes philosphical and theoretical sense.

What beith this 'infinite'?

Ah. Hmmm. How to explain the concept...

'Infinity' is never-ending. However large a number you have, there's always a number larger than that, and then larger than that one, and so on and so on. It never ends. With me?

We reside within the same brain; I wouldst not patronise thou in your understandings of magic; kindly award mineself the same courtesy over thine own education.

Okay, okay. Then sift through my memories, and find the link to the 'other' version of me on Il Paese who spoke in tongues to the White One, using my voice.

Such a thing be not permitted. Even with magic no being may manifest again at the same time, the Fates separate and remove the memories.

You're catching on. But it *can* happen if a person from one plane were to reach out to the same person in another reality, particularly if one of the Fingers was present as a focus.

Let us assume I accept this fancy. Wherefore art thou leading?

Well, one of the conclusions I came to when the Storm was lecturing me on the human perspective of Fate - you, ah, weren't present at the time - was that free will is not an illusion, since the road not taken never exists. And it doesn't - here. But an endless number of realities... one could, taking them as a whole, make every possibility in every decision they were to ever make. Not only that, every living thing will do the same. Everything that ever exists, ever has existed, or ever could exist, can and will happen... somewhere. Hence 'grand plan and no plan', 'everything and nothing'.

I... fail to grasp this imagining. It be beyond mineself to comprehend.

Because you are so grounded in *this* reality. You were 'born' in it, you possess the race memories of it, you are subject to the Fates that govern it, and all others, but have had neither the experience nor the cause to think far beyond it. Few, I expect, ever really do in this world. They hop from place to place, but not from reality to reality. And that, I think, may be part of the point.

Thy meaning?

That part of the 'balance' we're sworn to uphold, doesn't just apply to *this* plane. That the Hand - save one - are beholden and will intercede to do, is to keep two realities from becoming *the exact same*.

Constance: *wrinkles her nose in distain* Tch. Fate. I don’t believe in it. Life is what you make of it after you’ve wrestled it into submission. It’s on you whether or not you’re too weak to handle it.

Decker: *voice stern enough to make Constance drop her shoulders* He has a point. We’re out of our depth, here. Don’t make me save your ass from a wolf god because you couldn’t keep your tongue in check, Constance. I’d do it, but I wouldn’t be happy about it.

Constance: *with quiet irritation at being chided* Yes, Alpha.

Imoldra: *Is clearly pleased both with Constance's spirit, and Decker's ability to reign her in.* It was just some friendly advice pup, take it or leave it as you see fit. Neither of you need to fear invoking my wrath

*Glares at faces* If you do manage to detain the squaking puppet over there, please give him a message: The Dread Lord of Beasts had not forgotten his master's slight against me and mine....

Decker: *nods his acknowledgment * Yes, sir.

Constance: *cracking her monstrous knuckles and sizing up her prey* Gladly. Any excuse to rough this mouthy idiot up.

Oho! It seems that you're not going to get pushed around so easily by your creations anymore. . That, or both sides will get needy and make things awkward and hilarious for the rest of us to watch when you draw those situations. XD This is gorgeous, and I love it.

I’m afraid it’s more of the latter. XD Thank you, my friend!

My pleasure. I'm looking forward to when we can meet Decker and Constance properly. We'll give them a warm welcome to our crazy and incredibly funny FA family.

I have no doubt of it!