Fate.
The predetermined development of an event beyond a person's control.
In life there are things which happen and a person has no control over it. Good luck, bad luck, all the fortunes and misfortunes in between. We don't usually have control over it and most often we curse at the invisible force we believe is responsible for all our bad luck.
But what if that invisible force was actually a person...
Fate.
A mysterious being sheltered by the shadows of a cloak and hood whose face no one has ever seen. You couldn't tell if it was male or a female and the only thing you saw was a dark green cloak floating around a body. This person has lived through the countless flickering of time, twisting the plot of life to create misfortune for amusement and correcting the misfortune for lessons and values to be learned and developed.
Currently, Fate was sitting at the head of the table where a large tapestry was spread out. Countless colored threads were woven together endlessly, converging and separating at different points. Some threads were tied into a knot before others while some ran along a great deal of the tapestry before being tied off. The delicate strands of thread would weave themselves into a pattern on their own, floating and intertwining together, but every once in a while Fate would intervene and direct a few of the strands in one direction or the other, changing the threads course and adding more details to the tapestry.
This tapestry was the grand tapestry of life.
For every person born, a new colored thread would appear and for every person who died, their thread would be cut and a knot would be formed it. No two persons possessed the same color thread so the tapestry was a sight to behold. All these magnificent colors coming to play through the endless fluctuations of time.
Above Fate's head was another tapestry which was different from the one on the table. While the colors on the table were magnificent and brilliant in their color, it was dull compared to the one floating above. Although containing few threads, the floating tapestry held utmost importance, even Fate was cautious when meddling with the strands.
This was the tapestry of immortals.
In a world ruled by the laws of nature, there was one law which was like words written on a stone tablet. Unchangeable. The strong would live and the weak would die. In the era of martial arts, only the best of the best, those who suffered the trials and tribulations of the endless cycle of time and achieved the highest level among mortals, immortality, were counted among the strands of thread in the luminous floating tapestry. Some would die just before their threads lifted from the mortal tapestry to join the immortal one and other threads barely attached to the immortal tapestry before Fate intervened and deemed them unworthy of joining the magnificent pattern.
The threads may be few but the power these immortals wielded were legendary. Hence, Fate made them the rulers over the mortals. Although they didn't have enough power as Fate to control a person's destiny, they still played their part in guiding mortals to achieve the same level as themselves.
Now Fate had been staring at the tapestry on the table for quite a while with a deep frown. The strands which hadn't been tied off were constantly moving, a few of them freezing before being automatically cut and tied off. To Fate, the tapestry seemed to be a bit boring lately.
Even the immortals hadn't stirred up any entertainment in the mortal world!
Something needed to be done.
A new pattern needed to be woven.
"Hmm...what should I do?" Fate mused over this and tapped a finger on the table.
Suddenly a light bulb went off and the air charged with excitement.
"Ah-ha! I've got it!" Fate exclaimed.
Fate quickly got up and leaned over the table, eyes frantically scanning the tapestry and before selecting a few strands of thread. These strands would fit perfectly into the plan but something was missing from them. As Fate examined each one, the unneeded ones were waved away to continue it's course through the tapestry and before long, Fate was left with an empty hand and disappointed look.
Where was the needed strand?
Huffing out a breath, Fate sat back down in the chair and continued tapping a finger on the tap.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Nope. Nothing.
Tap. Tap.
Green thread. Blue thread. Beige thread. White...
Suddenly Fate's eyes caught sight of something, a thread...a perfect thread. In excitement, Fate stood up up hurriedly, the chair falling back with a bang but the atrocious sound was ignored.
"This is it!" Fate exclaimed in glee. "This is the strand!"
Fate reached a hand out and picked out a dull colored strand of thread. It was white in color and was brilliant where it had joined the grand tapestry, but at the moment it was dull and starting to turn cream. Clearly the person who this strand belonged to was deteriorating and from the looks of it, their thread was about to break and tie off.
Quickly Fate reached for a spool of thread from the pile on a nearby table, searching for a match the one selected. Picking up a vibrant spool of white thread, Fate turned back to the tapestry and started to work. Fate first tied the start of the spool to the slowly creaming thread, signaling that the person would still die to main the balance but a new soul would join the person's body and continue on through the tapestry.
Satisfied with the knot tied to join the two threads, Fate searched around the tapestry. Several other threads were converged with the one being held and in some cases they were tied so tightly around the creaming thread that it was almost impossible to see the creaming thread at times.
Well no more!
Since the thread was part of the ancient era where martial arts and strength prevailed, Fate reached one hand out to the box beside the pile of spools, reaching inside blinding and fishing around before taking out a small gold hour glass and a gold object shaped like an infinity symbol.
"Yes, this is it." Fate smiled. "The perfect combination."
Much like the other threads belonging to the ancient era of martial arts, several trinkets in representation of the elements were woven into the threads, much like a charm attached to a charm bracelet. This was to indicate what type of element the person possessed. A droplet represented the water element, a tree represented the wood element, a flame represented the fire element, a bolt represented the lightening element and a tornado to represent the wind element.
The lightening element was as rare as the immortals in the floating tapestry by they did exist. However, the objects Fate took out of the box were special. They were objects which would only appear once in a few hundred years or whenever Fate was in an extremely good mood and decided to intervene in the benefit of life.
Fate was in an exceptionally good mood as two of these rare items appeared at the same time. Carefully, Fate shoved the white thread through the small hooks of the charms and carefully intertwined the thread so that the charms were secured. Instantly the white thread started to glow and Fate chuckled.
"You're impatient to shine." Fate commented gently. "Don't worry, you will. But you'll have to endure the hardships and trials and hopefully you make it."
By the end of the statement, Fate was looking up at the floating tapestry. Fate studied it carefully before noticing a single thread which was joined to both the mortal and immortal tapestry. It was coming from the mortal tapestry and had halted a few meters away from the immortal tapestry. Although it was halted, a faint light projected came from it's top and projected to the space where it as destined to join the immortal tapestry. While the thread glowed and was brilliant in color, much like the other immortal threads, it's glow was slightly dim but it was still there.
Fate frowned.
When did this happen?
Studying the pattern the thread made on both tapestries, Fate finally understood what had transpired. It seems like a few unfortunate events in the mortal world had caused the thread to freeze. On the thread however, were three elemental charms. A rare combination.
Fate chuckled.
This was perfect.
Another perfect thread to fit into his plan.
Grabbing the royal blue thread, Fate twisted it around the white thread and secured them together before sitting down.
"Well, let's see how this works out."