W18R - Fresh air in the yard

"My true skill is with cards, but it's good to be multi-talented." I take her hand and study the lines across her palm. Tracing the ones that stand out to me as they spill their secrets to me. I did notice her calluses, but anyone could fool the participant with an obvious detail like that. And I was no fake. I close my eyes, partly for show, they always loved it when I looked deep in thought, sometimes I would role my eyes back and show the whites, give them a real show. But with my eyes closed, it was easier to read what the spirits gave up to me. And many things they did, not just the history of this hand...this girl...and what she was capable of, but her truth. I open my eyes slowly and look into her's. "So you do tell the truth. The...Raven, you called your prize?"

I am bounding through the Walking Yard, dodging Chasers and seeking out prey, when I see two new inmates doing something strange with their hands. One girl is holding her hand out, palm up, while the other traces it. I look down at my own clawed, blistered paws and then look back up at the inmates. Nothing about my paw seems all that special, but the tracing inmate looks deep in thought as she touches the palm of the other girl.

I drop to all fours, creeping through the uncut grass to get a closer look. Upon closer inspection, I see the inmate is specifically tracing the lines of the palm. "What're you doing?" I whisper, so no Chasers can hear. I instantly regret this, knowing I probably startled them. Although, the inmate getting her palm traced looks awfully brave.

I jump a little, not noticing that we had another join us. "I can read yours as well if you'd like?"

"And they call me dirty just for being a pirate. Er no offence love"

My eyes widen in surprise. "That was my mother and brother...you really are a witch!" I don't cower in fear upon this realization, in fact, I am amazed. After years of being called a 'werewolf' in the zoo, I never thought magic, at least from a human's standpoint, was real. However, there is still a horrified look on W18R's face. "And...you are also right about the cages..." I sigh, it isn't an easy story to tell. "Men captured me and killed my family, then brought me to the zoo." I try to offer W18R a reassuring smile. "But if I am to run free again, then all the struggle will be worthwhile. I can't die in the Asylum, then I'll be trapped here. When I die, I must be returned to my mother."

I smile. "Thank you, love. You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." I pause for a minute, then lower my voice conspiratorially. "I have another brother named Pip, you know. I named him after my first brother. He usually sleeps in the Operating Theatre, though I think he's staying in the woods around the Asylum for a while., Some Chasers have been reporting 'strange noises' on full moons, so he's laying low for a while."