Three cups, three beasts, three fortunes

As Zhen Liu and his group made their way over to the tea booth, the owner of said booth was still soundly snoring away. Mildly unprofessional to be sure, but this was a circus booth not an office space, so who cares.

The owner of the booth looked to be a Roaring Tide woman in her late twenties, early thirties, dressed in a starry blue dress that reminded Zhen Liu of a qipao. Granted, there was a tad more cleavage in its design than a traditional qipao.

'Sex appeal sells, regardless of the world I guess,' Zhen Liu mused. Not one to be deterred, Zhen Hai proceeded to try and gently knock on the table as a means to wake the owner.

"Excuse me, mi-"

"Nin Chao, I mean...Welcome."

"Whoa."

Before Zhen Hai could even knock however, the lady manning the booth suddenly woke up as quick as a light switch, and proceeded to act as if she wasn't just sleeping at her post. Complete with a professional smile on her face.

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Note: The following exchange will be spoken in a mix of Roaring Tide Language, or Tide Tongue, and Stampeding Bison Language, Hoof Speech. The former sounds like a mix of Japanese, Mandarin and Vietnamese all at once while the latter is English/German mix.

Words spoken in Tidal Tongue will be denoted by <<>> while Hoof Speech will be in "". However, it should be noted that it will appear in English, because that's how Zhen Liu's brain translates it.

Solid?

Good.

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<<Welcome to Madam Tian's>>-"I mean...," the lady interrupted herself while switching languages, "Walcam to my-"

<<Hey, hey, no worries,>> Zhen Hai interrupted, <<we speak Tide Tongue.>>

"Eh?"

Evidently, the presumably Madam Tian did not notice that of her latest group of customers, two out of five of them were Roaring Tiders...well, of Roaring Tider descent. Perhaps her brain was still a bit sleep addled, but it took her a few moments to realize this. Her smile went from professional to a bit more genuine.

<<Aye, y'all are Tiders? I haven't had to use my mother tongue in ages, travellers like me or locals?>>

<<Kinda both,>> Zhen Liu answered. <<We're from Stone Claw City, a few days in that direction. Our family moved here ages ago.>>

<<Ah, immigrants then. Well then, let me repeat myself. Welcome to Madam Tian's Tasseomancy, I am Tian. Today's brew is Silver Lotus Kelp tea, mixed with some Scarlet Hornet honey for sweetness. Now what can get you guys?Please note, there a group discount and we offer tea without the reading.>>

The group quickly conversed with one another to determine who wanted what, it didn't take long.

<<We'll take five cups, three readings please,>> Zhen Hai answered while holding up three fingers.

<<Aye. I'll prepare just the plain tea cups first.>>

Madam Tian ducked under the counter for a brief moment before pulling out two plain looking clay cups. A warm, flowery yet sweet scent filled the air as she filled the two cups with tea.

"Here you...are."

"Thank you kindly, miss," Matilda said as she took the two cups for herself and Alicia. "Here you are milady."

"Much obliged."

Alicia and Matilda decided to forego the reading in favor of just drinking the tea as is. Zhen Liu, Zhen Hai and Jin Fang on the other hand, decided to go for readings.

<<Now before we get your readings...,> Madam Tian said as she went under the counter, this time pulling out an ornate looking tray. <<Please choose the cup you wish to use.>>

Sitting on the tray before the three Zhen Clan members were clay cups similar to the ones Alicia and Matilda were drinking from, but these one looked a tad fancier and had totemic impressions of animals carved into them.

<<I once met a diviner who made use of entrails in order to read the future with surprising accuracy. Taking some inspiration from her, I these cups while observing animals depicted on them.>>

<<Won't that mess with the accuracy of readings?,>> Jin Fang questioned.

<<No. Part of determining the future is choosing steps that lead to. Could be a major decision such as proposing marriage, or simple cup to drink from,>> she said answered enigmatically. <<Now, what will you choose?>>

Zhen Liu, Zhen Hai and Jin Fang hesitated for a moment, carefully thinking about which cup to take for themselves. Zhen Hai was the first to choose.

<<I'll take this one,>> Zhen Hai stated as he picked up a cup. The one he chose depicted the face of a roaring bear.

<<The bear? A good choice,>> Madam Tian complimented as she filled Zhen Hai's cup with tea. <<Now make sure to drink only three quarters of it. I'll need the rest read your fortune.>>

<<Of course,>> Zhen Hai agreed before practically draining the cup. Zhen Liu and Jin Fang looked on in horror as he chugged the freshly boiled tea.

<<Ah! Here you are,>> Zhen Hai confidently said as he handed the cup to Madam Tian. She gingerly took the cup and swirled it a bit once it was in her hands.

<<Now let's see here...>>

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"The bear? A strong choice," the old woman said as she sharpened her knife. The two youngsters lifted the cage and placed it as carefully as they could on the table. The two averted their eyes as she did her bloody work.

CHOP! SLICE! SLIT!

"Now then...," the old woman muttered as she began to inspect the entrails.

"Hmm, everything appears healthy...hmm?"

Embedded in the bear's liver was a pair of pitch black hornet stingers. An unusual sight to be sure, especially since the liver looked healthy and smooth otherwise. When she took out the stingers however, the liver began to shrivel up and blacken.

"Interesting...," she muttered as she placed the stingers off to the side.

"I see...a future where you both give up the dream of music to pursue a life of martial excellence. You'll both be strong, powerful and able to shake the foundations of nations," the old woman told the two youngsters after looking through the bear's inside. "But like countless warriors before you, you'll die of glorious deaths. Short yet full, like a firework...or or poisoning. The liver was a strange twist."

The two friends looked at each other with grim faces from the prediction.

"That doesn't sound..."

"Pleasant."

"It's not...," the old woman agreed. "Let's see what else could happen to you. Pick another beast."

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'That prediction makes a little too much sense for Zhen Hai,' Zhen Liu thought to himself as he listened to Madam Tian's fortune for Zhen Hai.

To summarize, Zhen Hai was predicted to have a life full of strife, adventure and fortune, but that there was a massive difference between being bold and being brash. It was suggested he should find a partner or friend to serve as counterbalance...or learn some goddamn chill.

[Irony dictates he ends up with someone with a fire Formula and a cool head,] Nepherage quipped in Zhen Liu's head. Frosttusk agreed this sentiment with a single word.

[Truth...]

<<Who's next?,>> Madam Tian asked after taking back Zhen Hai's cup. Jin Fang chose to pick a cup next.

<<This one...please,>> she said with some minor pronunciation issues.

Jin Fang learned Tidal Tongue as a secondary language growing up. She could understand it no problem, but she had some issues with pronouncing the words. Not that Madam Tian really noticed.

<<The tiger? A fierce choice,>> she said before filling the cup. <<Now drink.>>

Jin Fang carefully blew the cup a few times before taking a few tentative sips, careful to not burn herself.

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"A tiger? A surprisingly stealthy beast. Very well."

CHOP. SLASH. SLIT.

As she studied the guts of the tiger, she noticed a pair of stingers embedded in it's lungs. When she pulled them out, they began to deflate and shrivel.

"Hmm. I see...a peaceful future. Not exciting or full of wealth. But long and pleasant. An exchange of the pick, for the plow."

"That sounds nice, but...," the boy began to say.

"We still want to sing," the girl answered in a sure tone.

The old woman let out a small hum as she tapped her fingers against her chin, thinking deeply of the situation.

"I shall pick a beast instead then. Perhaps then we'll see a future you want."

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<<What a passionate future! I wish you luck on your romance!,>>

Alicia and Matilda looked a bit clueless as they saw that Zhen Liu and Jin Fang were both blushing red as dates. Zhen Hai on the other hand was laughing like a lunatic.

[I'm sorry milord...how many kids?!,] Nepherage asked in a surprised tone.

[So...many...]

Madam Tian waited patiently for a few moments, giving the group time to recover their wits a bit from Jin Fang's fortune. It was rather...intimate.

"Pardon me, Madam Tian, but what did you see in Jin Fang's future," Alicia asked with a confused look. Evidently, Madam Tian didn't find what she just predicted to be embarrassing in the least bit.

"Well my dear, your friend here will-"

<<OKAY! I HAVE MADE MY CHOICE,>> Zhen Liu loudly declared while picking up a cup at random. The carving on it was that of a fox.

<<A fox? How enigmatic. Very well.>> She proceeded to fill the cup without much fanfare, forgetting the question that Alicia had asked her.

<<I think you know what to do by now.>

Zhen Liu quickly drank the cup and handed it back to the lady. He surprisingly didn't get the sensation of burning his mouth when he did, instead, he felt weirdly energized.

'Guess that Salamander thing make me immune to hot food burns,' Zhen Liu mused.

Madam Tian stared at the leftover tea leaves, a confused look forming on her face.

<<Well that's...odd.>>

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"Well that's weird," the old lady commented once she had cut open the fox she had picked for the last divination.

Inside it was a pair of hornet stingers, similar to the two last two beasts, but this time it was embedded in the fox's heart, which looked surprisingly...brittle.

"I wonder...," the old woman mumbled as she reached towards the stingers.

She had an idea of what would happen, but she wanted to confirm it, just in case.

'Once is odd, twice is coincidence and thrice is an omen...but of what though?'