News of the events spread fast and wide throughout Pine Rest. Many consulted their neighbors and personal charms for advice. Many lots were cast, as fortune sticks rang against stone mortars, many looked to cloud and sky for divine interpretation, others muddied the waters with rampant gossip.

Tolan, gazed up at the night sky, to view the Heavenly Order. To see if any changes had been made to the destinies of Man and the Birds.

Many omens were out tonight. He counted them all, the Storm that barred their passage the first time. The stranger on the road, An upcoming meeting with the Blessed. Each one fed into his computations of the Heavens and their paths. He consulted his charts from previous years, one's that had netted him wealth before, like buying the land he and his brother lived on or predicting the next year's harvest time. It was soothing to him, to know and plan. It filled him with certainty, in often uncertain times.

But tonight he was troubled, his methods for reading the Heavens seemed to conflict. No one set was the same as the others. Each calculation was made the same, yet produced wholly different results from the other. He figured there was conjunction taking place somewhere among the Migratory Stars, the geese of the Heavens, tracing their ordained paths across the sky. But he could find no such alignment that would impact his predictions so profoundly, at least, none that had not already been accounted for in his deep and strenuous contemplations.

He set down his charcoal stick and sighed, There were many omens about. And he could guess, all those throwing fortune sticks into pots were also being frustrated in their attempts to glean divine wisdom.

He heard the sounds of footsteps next to him, as his brother's head appeared in the doorway, leaning against the old wooden frame.

"Ah, there you are, I might have guessed. Say have you any Bold predictions this time, oh Wise learned man?" Vir called out, Tolan sighed and plodded over, sitting down next to his brother on the steps as they shared the cold night air.

Tolan snorted. "None that a fool like yourself would want to hear." he retorted before letting out his exhaustion and pent-up frustrations. "The Heavens are silent tonight, Brother. And I don't know what that means." Vir cocked his head, curious.

"What is that supposed to mean? Did you offend them somehow?" Vir asked, Tolan, sighed again.

"All my predictions, all my recordings have turned up nonsense. My cogitations have been made worthless. None of this makes sense, the Migratory Stars have circled the Wandering Scholar, that could reference our upcoming trip, but then, just tonight, they have broken up and the Arrow has descended upon Heavens Gate! What madness is this!? Is our journey to end in Death! Great Triumph and Enlightenment? A War?, And there! Look there!" He pointed madly at the sky, towards a familiar set of twinkling stars.

"The Tree has reemerged! The signal for spring and Harvest has reappeared After the Winter has begun! It's madness! the Heavens have gone Mad!" He was near shouting. He then spotted something else.

"Ahh and now a Migration star, the third one I think, has vanished as well, great. Just perfect. If this goes on, I shall be content to know what time of day it is, because I expect The Moon, To turn Backwards! How Am I supposed to make sense of this?!" He sighed in disgust.

"Tolan." Vir started, his brother turned to him, a sense of trouble weighing upon him.

"Have you tried sleeping on it?" Vir asked, Tolan, groaned at the bad humor.

"What?! What?! That was good right? Oh come off it, that was funny!" he insisted. Tolan chuckled to himself and slowly pulled himself to his feet, turning to head indoors.

"I think I will take your advice brother, I'm going to Bed. Perhaps then all this will begin to make sense in the morning." He shifted slightly "Besides, it's freezing out here." He then ducked inside and tried to find a place to sleep that was close to the dying coals in the stove.

Vir lagged, gazing up at the stars, wondering about nothing, trying to see what his brother did in those stars. Trying to see the paths of Fate.

He looked down to earth once more and shook his head. "Ah, why can't the stars speak plainly," he muttered. The wind stirred slightly and he shivered, closing the door behind him as he joined his brother inside.

When the brothers Awoke the next morning, they were greeted by a glum and dour atmosphere. The many would-be fortune tellers that had stayed up all night had found bad signs in plenty, and worse. Vir was now raging with a guard over some new indignity after Nana had kicked them out so she could tend to the strange girl without gawkers.

"I'm sorry, no one may leave by the Gate today!" the guard called down,

"And for What in a hogs tits, reason would that be!" Vir shouted back.

"Because There was another Storm last night. And Simon claims, It struck a tree beyond the Gates, and if you look!" The Guard pointed with his spear to some point beyond the gate and walls. "There is another fire beyond, and it's blocking the path, probably for miles!"

Vir raised a fist in anger "I can't see through Walls you dog-eared Ass! How Am I supposed to know if there's a fire on the trail from here!?"

The guard leaned forward in his tower, "Well maybe you should jump the wall yerself, Goose turd! See if you land in the thick of it! And If you can't smell it from here, then you were a waste of air anyway!"

Vir lunged forward but was caught by Tolan's hand on his shirt. But Vir was too entrenched in spitting curse

"Let go!, I'll get him for this, I will. Just Let me - HEy!" Tolan pulled back sharply, throwing Vir's legs into the air before laying out on his back. The Guard laughed in amusement before his partner in the tower slapped him and directed him to some neglected duty. Vir rolled in the cold muck and glared at his towering brother.

"I will remember this," he promised scornfully. Tolan's face was placid as he spoke.

"I pray you to do brother, I'm not much for repeating lessons." He stated, Before turning and walking off. Vir glowered a second more, then hung his head and picked himself up, brushing off the small clumps of dirt and stray grass from his rough trousers.

He caught up with him quickly, Tolan had stopped to talk with someone. Vir saw who and ducked into an alley to snoop, It was Tamia

"Oh, Morning Tolan," she said sweetly, contrasted by Tolan's reading face.

"Good Morning Tamia, how are you today?" the was a nervous tilt to his voice that made Vir snicker

"I was wondering when you lived in Serpents Bend, did you learn to interpret fortunes?" Her question came to startle Tolan as Vir became curious in his hiding spot.

"W-Why yes, I can read, small fortunes. Why do you ask?" She looked nervously in both directions before continuing in a low voice.

"Granny's been throwing sticks all night, but nothing ever came outright. It was always the ill omens, First Black, then Red and then Mother saw a Black Eagle this morning- " Tolan put a hand to her shoulders.

"Calm yourself, Now. These signs are meaningless If I don't know the order of them, now tell me. Which came first. You said that your Gand mother had been Throwing Sticks?" She nodded, he lifted his hand and crossed his arms stoically.

"Now, what were the first three charms she cast?" he asked, she paused biting her lip as she thought, nervous hands wringing each other.

"It was Black, then Blue, Black again." She looked up to him, he put a hand to his chin.

"And the Next?"

"Red, Black, and then Black again," she responded. His brow furloughed.

"Is something wrong? Does it mean something?" panic edging into her voice. Tolan merely contemplated, his gaze fierce in serious thought.

"The last Sticks, what were they?" he asked gently but firm. She paused a moment, letting her thoughts settle before beginning again.

"I- I believe they were, Red, Red, and then." she gasped a second "Oh no."

"What?" Tolan reacted, she was a confused shock like she'd witnessed something terrible crime.

"When Granny dropped one, the stick, it- It seemed to leap from the bowl! Oh, I'm sure that means something! She was muttering all night about it." her discomfort was growing, one could hear it in her voice. Tolan nodded and then asked simply.

"Do you know what color it landed on?" he asked, her mind changed directions instantly. once again she made her mind remember. Frantic details that had been memorized throughout the previous night.

"Black" she whispered, "It was Black." Tolan nodded and thought a moment longer.

"What does it mean?" Tamia quietly asked, not quite pleading, not yet. Tolan turned and then whispered something in her ear, and a sigh of relief came over her face as she smiled. Teir didn't hear what was said from where he was hiding but it must have been welcome news to change worry into daylight.

"Thank you, Tolan, I suppose it was nothing to worry about." She bowed her head slightly and then started to wander off, turning back she ran back and placed a small kiss on his cheek. A crimson blush came over both their faces and she ran off.

Tolan stood there a second, his gaze trailing after her, completely thunderstruck by the grand collision. As if petrified in that single happy moment.

Vir emerged from where he was standing and sauntered over, throwing his arm over Toalns shoulder "Well, well dear brother, Have you finally learned the secret to speaking with women? Will marriage be next?" his mouth curling into a grin.

Tolan was still smiling, he didn't turn to face him right away. He merely kept starring happy smiles in the direction that Tamia went, talking over his shoulder to Vir.

"Ah, Brother. I wondered where you were lurking. Good, I was thinking I would have to search for you. Nana would have been displeased." Vir made a face in response, Tolan gave a quiet puff of humor before replying.

"Watch for the chamber pot."He said, before walking away at a calm controlled pace, if only to keep from running off like a madman.

Vir looked to the sky confused, "What chamber-Eck!"

Indeed a Chamber pot's contents had been pitched from a high window into the street where Vir was standing, Tolan heard laughter just before the shutters slammed shut quite rudely.

"You saucy Wench, I'll string you up like chicken's feet for this!" Vir cried out as cold sewage dripped from his shaking fist. The lady took offense to that and lobbed something else at him, Vir returned by throwing stones and harsh words, she lobbed an old shoe at his head.

Tolan laughed aloud as he kept walking, letting out a deep booming voice that covered the street in its happy tones. Ignoring the sounds of Vir's minor feud as he left it behind him.

"I Still Got It." he laughed to himself. As Vir cried out for aid in the background, Tolan was humming a happy tune to himself as he walked.