The night is long, and the fire only has so much fuel. As the flames burn down into hot coals, the orange-red firelight fades into silvery moonlight.

Did something move, out in the darkness?

Looks like it.

The elder brother notices, but doesn't freak out just yet. It might be another raccoon, looking for food. Sorry, raccoon. No food to be found here.

That is too large and has too many limbs to be a raccoon.

.... Now he can freak out a little.

He nudges his sister awake.

"Company. Don't know what. Large animal maybe."

The sister startles awake.

".... Okay. What do we do?"

"Wait and see for now," he murmurs back.

The creature has six limbs - two legs, four arms. It has fingers, but they are inhumanly long, with five joints each. It walks with a hunch, two hands on the ground, two stretched out in front of it for balance. Each step it takes creaks like an old house settling.

The wind carries a dead-flower stench over the fire's ashes.

"New plan. Run."

"Agreed."

They attempt to flee!

Yvette can't get up.

There is a creature sitting on her stomach. It has been sitting on her for the past half-hour. How could she have ignored this horrible dead-flower smell?

The creature on Yvette's stomach reaches out lazily and snags Blair's heel with its inhuman reach, tripping him into the snow. The remaining creature steps onto his back, pinning him there.

Squeak.

Yvette goes very very still.

And her brother splutters through snow, growls a bit, and then takes a deep breath and speaks.

"If you're here for our wallets you are in for a hell of a disappointment."

The creature on top of Blair smiles with its eyes, since it has no mouth. It shoves a hand of five battered tarot cards in front of his face.

"Choose."

Yvette's own creature produces an identical set of cards.

"Choose."

Yvette is in a better position to see the tarot cards and reply.

"Um, why?"

"Because if you do not, we will choose for you."

It smiles with its eyes, gnarled fingers digging into her shoulders.

"What does choosing do, why must one of these be chosen?"

"And is 'none of the above' an option?"

The creature sitting on Yvette shrugs. "You will choose a new life. It is the Law."

The creature kneeling on Blair's back smiles with its eyes. "No."

"Law according to what, and are each of these cards a, a new available life option?"

"And why are you answering our questions?"

The creature on Yvette's belly rolls its shoulders.

"Irrelevant. Each card is a new life."

The second creature hisses.

"... Because of the Law."

"How much does the Law require you tell us?"

The creatures share a look.

It looks like "Oh no, not this again."

"... The Law is binding. For the Choice, we must truly answer all. Still, time is winding. We will punish if you stall."

"How much time do we have?!"

"Does choosing the same card mean we end up together? What does each card's life involve?"