There was something meditative about the life of a rogue, even if Bruno would never admit as much. His mind had little time for agonizing over trivial things when his paws were so busy with the work of feeding himself and of staying alive. He could almost pretend he had no need for anything else beyond a full belly and a spot within the forests to sleep once he had achieved as much.

He was just wiping his hands clean of evidence of his most recent kill when he heard it. A twig snapped nearby – harmless to some, but a major warning to anyone who knew the ways of spying.

"Show yourself."

---

|| february y13 | five years | rogue lion | at aniadar jungle | @Lachesis ||_{BG — ART — CODE}

It had been some time since he returned to Amaryllis, but then such was the nature of his gift. Called away by visions of danger, he left these lands behind, in search of an unseen thing. His friend? His foe? His promised? He knew only that he was to return, to seek one of brown fur and green eyes.

A familiar sight.

He did not hide that he watched—the snapping of the twig had been intentional, tired of waiting as he was. The demand he show himself was granted, toxic green eyes peering through the underbrush before he came from under it, standing all.

Assured.

Fate was his to command and chaos, his servent.

But what of the boy, no longer a boy?

Familiar words grace his tongue. What did you do when you could make your own decisions, hm? Did you make it count?

@Bruno ♔

The signature glow of that radioactive gaze in the greenery could belong to only one. Bruno pushed himself up to a seated position as the wraith emerged from shadows like a picture-perfect rendition of memories long passed.

"It's you," he concluded the obvious. His stomach tightened at the notion of the man – of one who had swayed Bruno's fate so greatly with words alone, only to disappear for years thereafter. He would not hand over all credit to the striped enigma, but Bruno could not deny what ambitions he had planted in his mind – and he did not even know his name.

"What did you do when you could make your own decisions, hm? Did you make it count?"

Base tones rumbled with strange words familiar only in how cryptically they cut through the air. He only had a moment to consider the answer. He thought of Ecrosia. He thought of Luther. He thought of Tai. He tried not to think of Tai.

"Why does it matter to you?" Bruno finally countered.

---

@Lachesis_{BG — ART — CODE}

It's you, said the man before him and the prophet cannot help but grin. Yes, he wished to say, it is me. But he was silent, observing the other as though assessing his worth. When that met years ago, the teen spoke of being thought of as a pawn, of letting others make decisions for him until he could make them on his own.

Back then, he had decreed the boy would be one of the greats. But had the man before him done as he had be prescribed? Had he seized the reins of fate, making his own mark on the world? Beyond his ascent into kinghood, his knowledge was painfully lacking.

This would be rectified.

Now you ask that question? he chuckled. As I prophesied moons ago, you would be among the greats. I witness your crowning but surely, there is more? Indulge me as a man grown, and tell what transpired after.

@Bruno ♔

"As I prophesied moons ago, you would be among the greats. I witness your crowning but surely, there is more? Indulge me as a man grown, and tell what transpired after."

He could never wrap his mind around the man. Though the words begged for tales of greatness, he could not help but hear an unspoken challenge. Perhaps the cryptic stranger heard that same voice living in Bruno's head, hissing about all the things he would never accomplish. Perhaps he just liked to poke fun. Still, he could not shake that chime of genuine curiosity from the lion's voice that turned his reading of the man around on itself.

"I led," Bruno answered simply. "I bested my father and brother. The kingdom was mine for a year. Next my brother came to take it, he downed me with ease." The words were more hollow than his swarming, frenzying chest.

---

@Lachesis_{BG — ART — CODE}

He found the answer to be pleasing, until it ended. Ruled for a year and downed as though he was nothing. The man titled his hand, a glint in his eyes that spoke to something... odd. Intrigue? Disappointment? In any case, there was a smile on his face—the thrill of being right.

Of course, he noted the hollow tone in the other's words and he could not help but press. How did it feel to take control? To choose? He took a step closer, words edged with eagerness. Tell me what happens next. Will you seek revenge? Chaos? Pleasure?

I tell you, there is nothing like feeding the flesh. It fuels the mind, the heart. It is the root to freedom. Is that what you want? Freedom? To no longer be a pawn?

@Bruno ♔

Where he bore the joyous highs and bitter lows of his lifetime in a few measly sentences, the lion appeared no more than a sport spectator. Bruno cupped velvet ears forward as he questioned the feeling of choosing, his charcoal pelt glinting in the light as he pressed closer. Sitting there upon the jungle floor with only screeching primates and a shadowed apparition for company, it occurred to Bruno for the first time that he had not actively chosen at all. He had merely been a consolation prize for the plan that was to be enacted upon his brother – an understudy, no matter how sentimental Alaric felt about him.

"Tell me what happens next. Will you seek revenge? Chaos? Pleasure?"

"I –" Baritones died out quickly.

"I tell you, there is nothing like feeding the flesh. It fuels the mind, the heart. It is the root to freedom. Is that what you want? Freedom? To no longer be a pawn?"

"I want control," Bruno declared at last, almost impatiently. He wanted to decide – to be cut free of those puppet's strings constantly tugging and pulling from all directions.

---

@Lachesis_{BG — ART — CODE}

Control.

In that desire, the earthen man had found a kindred spirit. He too had sought out control. He too had broken his body down and built it back up, all in the name of control. But his ends were a desire for chaos, to pull strings and watch the world unravel. To defy the fate that had been shown him.

Control.

His smiles faded, but not for displeasure. It was understanding. He nodded. Now, you realize. It is always a tragedy, to realize your choices are not truly yours but— Another step forward. —there is a way. Learn your desires and your drives. Pursue them with reckless abandon. Master your mind, body and soul. Learn what it is that feeds them. Finds your strings and cut them. Do as thou wilt.

@Bruno ♔

He shifted his weight under the man's falling expression, resolve burning in his chest despite the unease he felt at being assessed so closely. Bruno wanted control. Still, all those years later, he could not shake the feeling of wondering why no one but this man bothered to ask him such questions. Perhaps he had not even asked such questions of himself until put so blatantly on the spot.

The lion stood to his paws instinctively as his counterpart crept nearer, caught between the desire to run and the desire to sate his curiosity further.

"Where do I start?" Bruno questioned lowly, a challenging gleam shining in his gaze as he looked upon the shadow-etched lion.

---

@Lachesis_{BG — ART — CODE}

The other was still interested, still hooked on his every word. Good. His prophecy had yet to fail him, it seemed. For the journey from pawn to freedom was not easy, that much he had learned in the hardest of ways. But, oh the joy of freedom. He wished to share it, to teach.

Find your strings, he repeated. Find what is not truly your will. Find your hesitance and break through it. Finds your desires and indulge. Know that not all strings are to your detriment. Pull instead of be pull. Your soul knows what belongs and what does not. Surely, you have felt it. Hesitance. Doubt. These are the seeds of another's control. Become in tune with this. Deny it, then you can command it.

@Bruno ♔