She looks like the organised type that has to keep the office and the boys in line. Very Janine Melnitz.

One tries XD HQ is beyond chaos most of the time, so she has her paws full.

*sktterish silent unicorn sideeye...*

What's your problem? Kindly don't make my introductions any more socially awkward.

'Awkward'? That one be a predator! And mayhap grounded by rules we not be privy to!

You were never this scared of Imoldra.

Thou were familiar with Imoldra afore mine spirit became fully formed.

But I'm getting a sense of... I'm more sure, 'kinship'? Like her purpose and ours reflect each other in certain ways within our own stories. Eye-rolling pragmatic trouble-shooter and problem-solver. Besides, we're told she like pretty things.

I doth prefer mine own 'pretty things' to remain in one place on the outside, mythanks.

*eyerolls* Oh for the love of -

*approaching Ruth* So... what's a lady doing in a, er, 'universe' like this?

*hmphs* 'Twere pathetic.

Alright, I'm out of practice with crossover stories. And you're putting me off.

Ruth: *Lifts a curious eyebrow but smiles kindly. Her voice is soft and has a curious calming effect* We’re all here somehow, aren’t we? Given that you’re a unicorn *sniffs discreetly while taking in the glasses* -partunicorn?- and giving off a bit of fear pheromone, I’m guessing you already know about my condition. Please don’t be afraid. My inner wolf is very well trained.

You seem to be taking this in your stride. A practical person who accepts the evidence of their own eyes. And both of us have a dual-nature, though mine is purely internal. Originally human, though the body I possess now is my one true physical shape. And my unicorn side is a gentleman, really, when he's not taken by surprise... you know how it is with 'prey' instincts, even in creatures as capable and powerful as us.

Forgive any affront on mine part, milady.

Tell me, are you natural-born or were you 'turned', like in a sense I was?

Ruth: *smiles sadly* I was prey, myself, so I can empathize. I was bitten by a boyfriend. He left town the next day. *shakes her head* Yeah, Tom was a real gentleman.

May I ask how you were turned?

'Bespelled' is more accurate. 'Volunteered' in an offical capacity. Or if you like, 'drafted'. One is not inclined to mince words when the fae and the Hand of Fate are involved.

Ruth: *furrows her brow as she searches her memory* Fae I known of. The Hand of Fate is new to me… are they anything like the Hysgirád?

Uh... that term's new to me.

How best to put it... you know how Greek or Norse gods would get bored and have a 'who can prat about with mortal affairs the most' contest for a laugh? The Hand of Fate is like that only without the laughs and getting all judgey about it.

*interrupting a disdaining unicorn comment* Yes, including the nice one.

Ruth: Sounds… like a pleasant bunch. I can see why you wouldn’t want to get on their bad side.

Maybe the Hysgirád aren’t so bad by comparison. Of course, I’ve only heard rumors. From what I’ve gleaned, they’re like the “men in black” of the supernatural community… that is, if they’re even real.

Oh, they'd have a field day with me then if they could get close enough. They're good at covering their tracks? I'm well familiar with several folks in the Otherworlds who are aligned with darkness, and believe me, black is not the least conspicuous of colours. What is it that your particular 'men in black' are tasked or rumoured to do?

As for the Fates... not that I regret it, or the position and purpose I now hold in life, but... *sideways glance* ...who do you think helped put this condition of mine in motion?

Ruth: As far as I know, the ensure that need-to-know information is strictly that. They can modify or erase memories and intimidate people into keeping things quiet if they learn things about the hidden races that they shouldn’t. How that works, I can’t even begin to guess.

Well, I imagine someone as widely known for rarity and good fortune would hardly be “created” without Fate somehow being involved… you’re in good standing with them, then?

I am, in essence, an agent of Fate myself. My chief role is to preserve the balance of the world in the way fixed events are tailored to go, to prevent less savoury influences from interfering, and act as a champion to help the less fortunate whose own fates have become corrupted or turned for the worse. One of the 'good guys'... but you'd be surprised how much overlap there is with allies of the opposite alignment, whose deeds may appear less wholesome but with goals that are mutually beneficial. 'Light' and 'darkness' are tools, or states of being. What truly makes a person is how they are used.

...I must sound rather like one of your Hysgirad, no?

Ruth: *nods* Unnervingly so. Is that why you’re here? Am I “unbalanced”, so to speak? *her stance shifts ever so slightly, not to attack, but run if need be*

No, I would have no such jurisdiction here. Imoldra would be the one to get involved. In a sense you represent a form of balance, living in two states, so long as one doesn't dominate the other.

What would your own Hysgriad have to do with yourselves? Beyond the obvious, of course.

Ruth: *relaxes* Sorry to assume. People with my condition are often on edge, for those same obvious reasons.

We work very closely with the human public, being a branch of the local police. Slip ups do happen, and a big one happened close to the last full moon. We’re still cleaning up the mess. Hopefully we clean it up well enough to avoid their involvement.

*raises eyebrows...

You don't keep yourselves secret from the human population?

Ruth: Oh, no, we do. Officially, we’re known as the Canine Investigation Unit. We take turns posing as handlers and specially trained wolfdogs to keep up the facade. We’re called in when the commissioner finds a case a little too unusual for laymen to properly investigate.

For such a small town we’re a hotbed of supernatural crime. That’s another reason why we keep our eyes open for the Hysgirád. There’s something weirder than the CIU in Elmwood.

What sort of 'weird' would we be talking about?

Ruth: You name it. *she begins counting off incidents on her fingers* The state governor comes here on vacation and gets attacked by a vampire, people start going missing at the town lake only to show up weeks later as if nothing happened, two homicides this summer with corpses bearing evidence of frostbite, and now a strain of lycanthropy that hasn’t been heard of since the last ice age? This town is a magnet for weird.

Fascinating. Publicly I'm an ambassador back in my other world, but privately it seems our respective jobs are outwordly similar; uniquely-qualified 'investigators' answering to a different authority and charged with setting things to 'less abnormal'. The difference is I don't have to hide myself, it's my ultimate 'employer' who does that.

Thou must have taken our manifest as an everyday wyrdness.

Ruth: It is interesting that there is so much overlap… you knowing Fate as you do, was this by design, do you think?

Who can truly tell. One fully attuned to the weavings of time, space and causality would find patterns and parallels everywhere they were to look. Most if it may be nothing more than the proverbial 'infinite number of monkeys'. Add magic, the supernatural and other such forces into the mix and that becomes an infinite number of 'wizards', so to speak.

Everything beith another's imaginings.

Enedia: A curious and colourful looking lycan. Ruth, is it? What brings you here? Or should I say what brings me to you?

Ruth: A very good question. I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage… *she holds out a hand, nostrils subtly flaring to try and identify the nature of the woman before her*

Enedia: Fear not. I have no reason to harm. After all, why would I harm you? I have only just met you. *She gracefully shakes Ruth's hand*