Aspect stood in her horse form as she listened to the Justiciar speak to her. She flicked her ears towards her and looked at her with her bright blue eyes. Slowly, while still listening to the older woman speak, she shifted back into a human and sat back down in her seat. She was silent and stared at the reflective table top as she thought about a way to answer Dalanesca's questions. Unconsciously, she reached into one of the pockets of her jacket and pulled out a pair of feathers. 

One was black and the other was white and she twirled them gently between her fingers, watching the fine fibers spin. "I don't know," she said slowly. She chuckled sarcastically and dropped the two feathers on the table. She stared at them intently like they held the answer to her problems. "It just feels right sometimes," she answered. "I know what is right and what is wrong and when I do right, I feel good about it. When I do the wrong thing, I tend to regret that choice later, down the road."

"I guess, just to avoid the guilt and regret I feel later, I choose to do good instead of bad. I don't really know what compels me to make the choices I do. I try not to regret things and hold onto past faults. I can't change what has already happened, so I don't really see the point on dwelling on it. I can only really change the future I have yet to live." She picked the two feathers up off the table and wove them around each other. She pulled some more of the feathers out of her pocket and continued to wind them together. 

She fluttered her hands rapidly over the mass of feathers, her fingers moving quickly and meticulously. She didn't even have to look, she'd braided so much in the past. When she was done she ran her fingertips over the soft surface of the feathers and eyed her handiwork. She had always been pretty good with her hands. The feathers were delicately interwoven into a black and white ring, just large enough to fit on a wrist. "How do you do it?" She inquired, looking up at the goddess. "How do you keep balance between the evil inside and the good?" She slid the bracelet over to the goddess. "The darkness and the light." 

Dalanesca was glad to see that Aspect seemed to want to listen to her words of wisdom, as they were.  She still eyed her with a bit of caution as she shifted into a human again.  She had never quite had a large amount of trust for those who could change their shapes at will, but she also was never quick to judge someone unless given a very good reason to.  As of yet, Aspect had offered her no reasons why she should not trust her.  When the girl pulled the two feathers out of her jacket pocket, Dalanesca was not surprised to see that one feather was black while the other was white.

“Perhaps you are one of the many enlightened ones who understands that the world needs a healthy balance of both good and evil actions,” she said, when Aspect had come to a pause in her dialogue.  “What you must learn now, is how to shield yourself from the inevitable regret that comes with the committal of an un-pure action,” she continued, a small smile resting on her face.  “Avoidance is not a way to shield oneself, however, because the things that we avoid tend to sneak up on us later down the road,” she added.  

She continued to listen to the girl, watching her intricately weave the bracelet out of feathers.  When it was pushed towards her, she picked it up, turning it over in her fingers?  “How do I do it, you ask?” she said, setting the bracelet down on the table.  “Well, divine grace, for one thing,” she said with a laugh.  “I suppose I’ve got a bit of a leg up on others when it comes to such things,” she added.  “But in all actuality, this bracelet that you have contrived is a good example.  Do you see how perfectly the black and white feathers fold together to create a beautiful pattern?”  She looked down at the circle for a moment before raising her eyes to Aspect once more.  “This is how the world works.  Everything is woven together, both darkness and light, both evil and good, to create a beautiful masterpiece - the world we live in.”  

She gave Aspect a warm smile.  “Does that help you understand a bit more?” she asked, truthfully hoping that she was beginning to see the way of the world.  

Aspect listened as Dalanesca spoke to her. She nodded quietly at the older woman's smile and mustered a small one of her own. She watched the Goddess reach down and pick up her feather bracelet. She admired it and then set it gently back on to the polished wooden surface. She laughed and Aspect enjoyed listening to it. She gestured to the bracelet and she looked down at her handiwork. She glanced back up and met Dalanesca's eyes across the table. 

She imagined the world as she had described. Everything in black and white. The white attributed with purity and cleanliness, the black with mystery and shrewdness. Neither aspect was good or bad in its own respect. It was just naturally a part of this world. Some individuals would be white and others would be black. The black raven wasn't bad when it killed the white mouse. It was just the way nature had designed it. Neither were the white wolves of the north that preyed on black calves from domestic cattle. They were just going about their rounds in the natural cycle. 

Aspect sighed and smiled at the powerful Goddess. "Yes," she said to her. "Light and darkness are both vital for this world to thrive. One can't exist without the other. Neither is wrong or evil. They are just the way they are. They can't help it, but they need to be here either way. The balance between the two is what makes life possible." She sat still for a moment before putting both her hands on the table. She closed her eyes and flexed her fingers. Catahoula Leopard Dog. Within seconds, her pale hands had shifted into white paws. Liver, black, and grey blotches rippled up her legs and covered her back. She looked at herself and was quite pleased to see a splattering of various colors on her flanks. 

She could see in Aspect’s face that she was contemplating what they had spoken of; perhaps she was picturing it in her mind.  It seemed that the girl had at least a basic understanding of what the balance was and why it needed to be maintained - but that did not mean she was done learning.  One could never truly finish learning the ideal balance, in Dalanesca’s opinion.  She was the one tasked with maintaining this balance for the world, but even she did not fully grasp the amplitude of the situation.

She nodded as Aspect continued speaking, a smile crossing her lips.  “You understand why balance is necessary,” she said.  She fell silent, watching Aspect shift into another creature, and still found herself interested.  “You possess a very unique talent,” she said.  “Such a talent could be used for many things.  Was this self taught, or was it inherited?” she asked.  She knew that, although shapeshifting was something that certain species were able to inherently do, it could also be achieved via means of magic.  

She sat back, still observing Aspect in her new form.  “What do you do, in the world?” she asked. She was curious to find out more about Aspect and where she came from.  “Do you have a profession, or are you a jack-of-all-trades? Or perhaps, you have not found a purpose yet?” she asked, curiosity apparent in her voice.  “If you understand balance as well as you do now, I might suggest taking the path of a rogue, if you’ve not yet decided where you’ll go in life,” she said.  She couldn’t very well encourage the girl to become an assassin, as Dalanesca had been in the past, but she could certainly urge her to try something in which both the light and the dark side of her personality would be welcome… and her shapeshifting tricks would come in handy in such situations, as well.  “Of course, you did not come here for career advice… Hell, you didn’t even come here on purpose,” she added.  “Let me know when you would like to leave the realm, and I’ll escort you out,” she said, with a warm smile.

Aspect looked up at the goddess sitting near her. She slowly shifted back into her original form, content knowing that her ability to shift was no longer hindered by the limits of this realm. "I do not know how I came across it," she told her, more or less honest with the fact. "I've always had the ability to change my forms, even when I was little. Of course then it was more spontaneous and it has taken me years to gain control and mastery over an assortment of forms. I don't know how it came to be. I was abandoned as a child and don't know if my parents were shapeshifters themselves."

She shrugged her shoulders and took a quick drink out of her glass, before running a fingertip along the rim. She set her hands quietly on the table and picked at the remains of her apple with her nails. "I have yet to find my purpose in the world. I mostly wander and live by my own rules. I don't have much respect for mortal men's rules, and neither do I have firm regards for the hierarchy of lesser creatures. I trust myself over the ideas of society."

She looked at Dalanesca for a moment and smiled to herself. "You know, you have the power of a gods bestowed into your hands," she said calmly. "Why don't you use it and change forms yourself? A physical apparition of balance between light and darkness. I'm sure you are able to do so."

Dalanesca listened calmly as Aspect gave a small insight into her past.  SHe found herself frowning as the girl explained that she had been abandoned as a child.  It was her firm belief that every child deserved a chance, and being abandoned by one’s parents would not offer a child such a chance.  For a moment, Dalanesca grew quite somber as she tried to recall her own childhood, but the memory seemed to be buried deep down still, far beyond the reaches of her mind for the time being.  After a moment, she began to speak again.  “I would imagine if you have possessed the ability since you were small, it was inherited.  At least one of your parents must have had the ability as well,” she said, deep in thought.

“Your purpose will present itself eventually,” she said, “But I must suggest that you rethink your lack of respect for what you call ‘mortal men’s rules,’” she cautioned.  “For, compared to me, you are just as mortal as the men you speak of.  And the creatures lesser than you?  Well, some day they may rise up and take control of the world.. And what will become of you then?” she asked.  “I weave a cautionary tale for you,” she said, her eyes narrowing slightly.  She found herself a bit annoyed with the blatant lack of respect that Aspect seemed to hold for balance and order - the very things that she stood for.  “The ideas of society are what keep our world functioning,” she said, and left it at that.

“I do not have the power of a god,” she said.  “I am a god.”  She gave the girl a small but stiff smile.  “I don’t care to change forms.  I would think, if I wanted to, I would be able to, but there is no need for me to change my shape.  I can adjust to my surroundings while being who I am, regardless,” she added.  “That is what you fail to understand.  I am light.  I am darkness.  I am all that falls in between.  And, it is I who must maintain that distinction, and caution those such as yourself to be weary of that,” she added.  “Venture into the Malum, and you will see for yourself what happens when ‘mortal men’s rules’ are thrown to the wayside,” she said.  “It is not a pleasant sight.”