❝bare your teeth, little one, for you are made of stardust and divinity.❞
It is said, in the era before the mother of our mothers, when the ancients first built their ruins, we were not alone in this world. Creatures flitted through the skies above...
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"What's this one?"
The Chief Elder's long and bony finger lingered on three dark marks that represented stars. They were arranged in one of the most common patterns.
"Food," Tip answered.
"This one?"
The Chief Elder dragged her finger down the page to a different cluster of stars. It was similar in shape to the first but there were two additional stars that altered the meaning. It was common for two or more patterns to combine when the stars wished to give greater insight into the future. However, these patterns were often harder to read.
Thankfully, Tip was familiar with this one.
"Plentiful food."
"And here?"
Tip frowned as he looked at the final pattern of stars on the page. There were six stars in total. Tip could recognize the symbols for food and plenty once again within this pattern but the addition of the last star caused him to hesitate.
"Uh... plentiful food from... from bees? So, um, honey?"
"No," the Chief Elder said. "It's a plentiful food for bees. In other words, there will be an abundance of flowers and pollen."
"Oh."
"It wasn't a bad guess," the Chief Elder said. "However, if you're ever uncertain as to what a particular pattern means, you ought to look it up. An incorrect guess could cost someone their life." The Chief Elder picked up one of the books. "You have all the wisdom of the previous Chief Elders at your disposal. Do not let their efforts go to waste." She tapped Tip on the head with the book.
"Sorry," Tip said.
"Overall, you are doing well," the Chief Elder admitted. "You have far more patterns memorized than I did at your age."
"Really?"
"Every Chief Elder has their strengths. That also means we all have weaknesses. In my case, I have found the gift of magic to be easier to control than most and I was lucky enough to have been born with a natural curiosity for the history of our world. However, my memory is rather poor, making the memorization of star patterns quite the frustrating task." The Chief Elder chuckled to herself. "I was always on the verge of giving up. I feared the previous Chief Elder had made a mistake when she chose me."
"Were you not the only one?" Tip asked.
"There was another girl, a few seasons younger than me, who was also born with the gift of magic." The Chief Elder sighed. "It's possible that she would have been better suited for the role of Chief Elder. However, she did not wish to walk that path and though we all tried to discourage her, we ultimately could not stop her from becoming a Practitioner of Protection. Her body wasn't suited for the craft in the slightest."
"Like Ituha."
"Precisely," the Chief Elder said. "And just like her, that foolish boy is going to get himself killed because he refuses to accept—"
