The Devil. The Empress. The Lovers. Cade let out a short, humourless laugh and shook her head.<span style="font-style: italic">Tell me something I don't know</span>, she thought to the three old, worn cards as she gathered up the spread and stacked them neatly. This tarot deck, brought over from europe by her mother, had served Cade for a long time. Acting less as a means of divination than as a pastime to organize her thoughts, these cards were well used and the edges were soft.<br/><br/>Her philosophy was simple. Whether the cards had any true intrinsic meaning, or whether they were simply drawn randomly did not diminish their value. The meanings that she interpreted were important regardless,  because even if there was no "magic" involved, it forced her to think about her life. The cards simply guided her thoughts; when she asked them a question, they gave her an answer, even if that was just her mind coming up with interpretations that she thought could be answers. They kept her thoughts on track, and helped her keep from losing focus, an occupation for her hands and her mind. If she realized that she didn't like or agree with what she thought the cards were telling her, that too guided her into making decisions.<br/><br/>She'd been using the cards a lot since the attack. These were hard times for everyone, and she needed them more than ever to keep herself from losing herself in grief and worry. During those sleepless nights, she would do readings under the moonlight. Most of them were for herself, though she never denied anyone who asked. This last month had kept her up many nights with nightmares, and a mind that would not settle when she laid down to sleep.<br/><br/>She remembered it in parts. She woke up to Aidan's cry that night, and from there it was a blur. She remembered a rush of adrenaline, snarls and growls, barks and cries of pain from slashes and broken bones. It was brutal and bloody, an unclear, gory memory. The after effects though, she remembered clearly. The faces of the dead, eyes open and staring, staring at nothing. Aside from the fatal wounds, they looked no different. There was no particular feature that distinguished the dead bodies from the people she'd known. There was blood, but the thing she really remembered was the stillness. They were so still.<br/><br/>A rush of emotions and thoughts descended upon her at that time. The sting of betrayal. Worry for the future. Concern for the injured. Grief for the deceased. As the pack licked their wounds, she went to the cards. She poured her anger and uncertainty and fear into them, while taking solace in her music.<br/><br/>This morning though, she found the cards utterly unhelpful. It was a general reading: open to any results. The results she got had a clear meaning. The Devil for instincts, lust, The Empress for fertility, pleasure and sexuality, and The Lovers for... well, much the same. All this reading did was foretell the heat to come. She tucked away her deck of cards and sighed, standing up from her cross-legged position, she crept out of the den and stood outside, stretching her limbs with a yawn. She leaned against a tree and picked at her nails, briefly considering going for a run. Seeing that Aidan had already gone, she decided against it.<br/><br/>She dragged her fingers down the damp bark, leaving marks where her nails had scratched it. Her toes curled into the soil, as she hadn't put any shoes on, and she shivered from the cold, wet squish the ground made in response. The cold air woke her fully, and she smiled faintly at the rising sun on the horizon. "Good mooorning," she yawned, to no one in particular. Padding quietly back into the Den, she picked up her guitar, put on a pair of shoes, and went back outside. She gave herself a running head start in order to leap onto a granite rock jutting from the ground. She crouched on it and placed her fingers lovingly on the bridge of her instrument, strumming quietly in tune with the morning birdsong. There she stayed until she saw Aidan approaching, at which point she hopped down and greeted her. "Good morning."