The Forgotten Zodiac

"Yes, well..." Cancer paused, then thought up an explanation. "I knew you already."

Igneous looked up to Yule. "Should I... I mean, I should go," he said, moving for the door. Yule looked to Cancer. "Nonetheless, it is an honor to have you here, Cancer. Would you like a tour of the palace?" she offered, ignoring Igneous's exit.

Kazue led the way to the courtyard. "Rin," he said. The blue haired maiden stood, turning to look at the owner of the voice that called her name. She gasped. "Quinn?" she looked to Quint. "Is he alright?" she asked. Kazue sighed. "Well, he could be, if you help him," he remarked. Rin nodded. "Of course, of course..."

((Hannah. /That/ is a good signature. Mary Poppins still wins.))

"Tour of the palace?" Cancer turned around, having watched Igneous' exit of the palace. "Sounds good. Would the kitchens be included in the tour?"

Yule smiled. "If that's what you're interested in," she said. She pushed open one of the black doors and held it open for Cancer. "Right this way."

Cancer shrugged and followed after Yule. "Seems as good a place as any to start. Especially when you're hungry, which I am."

((Jeez, people, you coulda said something. :l Here, I'll throw in a creature so you can't leave me out anymore. Haw. I told you lot there was magic and monsters and stuff, right? WELL NOW YOU KNOW. :T))

"I'm fine, but please, Rin...Quinn needs help. Then we both need rest..." Quint nodded, though he was still smiling. "It's good to see you, though."

Something shifted just past the door, moving to get a better look at the arrivals. It appeared to be a large white wolf, shadows swirling around its feet with every step. Its eyes were black, as well as the tips of its tail and ears. This was Ophile, a Spectral Wolf, according to him. He had been here long before the humans had come, which had been a long time, indeed. He was usually just watching, but the arrival of Cancer was something he couldn't ignore.

"Greetings," Ophile said, for of course he could speak English, dipping his head slightly. "It's good to see you alive and well. Where have you been?"

Rin nodded. "Of course, of course," she nodded, waving Kazue over to the pool of water. Kazue sat Quinn into it, and Rin set to work.

((It'd be just like me to claim the healer, wouldn't it?))

THe water glowed a soft blue and enveloped Quinn's injuries, moving quickly to wash away the blood and close the wounds. "I hope he wakes up soon," Rin said under her breath. She was in the water, too, with Quinn's head in her lap. Kazue stepped back, and, after watching for a moment, slipped out of the room. He much preferred Cancer to Rin, when it came to company.

Yule jumped, looking around. Whom had just spoken?" Cancer, is that one of your friends?" she asked, eyes wide as she stared at the wolf.

((Bun. They don't speak English. They speak something else. It's a fantasy world, they can't speak English. *is one of my pet peeves* You can have it, Hannah. In my family, I'm /always/ the water user, which makes me the healer. Which is sad, 'cause I talk overly violent.))

"Wha?!" Cancer jumped back slightly, one hand reaching for his sword, then relaxing when he realized the wolf wasn't going to make any threatening moves. "I didn't know him until now, but, hey, anyone can be a friend. I've been wandering the countryside looking for survivors. You wouldn't believe how many humans tried to establish a city just like this one and failed." He grimaced. "Pretty nasty failures too."

Quinn's breathing quickly relaxed, and a faint smile crept onto his lips. He wasn't quite awake yet, but he was getting there.

Ophile snorted a bit at the sudden movement. "Relax. I come in peace. Miss Yule, you do not know me because I have not bothered to make contact before. Forgive me, but I prefer to watch and wait. So that's what I did. But now, we have four of the Zodiacs here. A grand quartet." He chortled a bit at his own humor. "You are Cancer, obviously. I also sense Gemini. Welcome to my--our humble abode."

Rin watched the flickers of glowing light move about, regenerating torn muscle and pushing snapped bones back into their intended places. She was soon done, and lifted Quinn out of the small pool and placed him on the bank. "There we go, all better," she said, smiling. She looked up at Quint. "Now, you. Come on," she said.

Yule blinked dumbly a few times before regaining her composure. "And... what, exactly, are you?" she directed the question to the talking wolf.

Cancer nodded. "Yep. The Twins are here." He then shrugged, smiling at Ophile. "No need to be so formal, call me Darius. It's just one of many, but it's one of my more common names around the mortal."

Quinn shuddered as his bones were put back together, and he started to open his eyes as he was picked up. "R-Rin...Rin?" He murmured, flinching as he expected to feel pain as he was set down. He was somewhat surprised when he didn't, but of course, he knew that Rin had probably healed him.

"It's alright, Quinn," Quint smiled and nodded, sitting quickly in the water, eager to feel better.

"I am a Spectral Wolf. Summoned by Scorpio ages ago, for no reason besides the fact that he was, in fact, very bored. I've been living here since before the rise of Borealis." Ophile explained, looking towards Yule again. "As I said before, I did not reveal myself before because I was watching. Sometimes I forget to introduce myself, forgive me." He looked back towards Cancer. "Names are just titles we give ourselves, aren't they, though? At the end of the day, you're still Cancer. There is only one Cancer. Humans, however, differentiate themselves rather often, as there was previously billions upon billions of them, and all of them were and are the same species. If we were to go around calling everyone 'Human' all day long, we might run into some problems. Names give identity, yes, but the only name I think you need is Cancer. As, of course, there is only one Cancer."

Ophile stopped himself. "Ah, forgive me, I tend to ramble sometimes. That was most certainly rambling. If you want to be called Darius, very well. I'll call you Darius."

((I realize now that I just accidentally-on-purpose told Hannah and myself off for forcing a name upon Cancer. OPHILE LIES. :U))

((What you just did, was give one of /your/ characters, /my/ argument. I'm thinking maybe Cancer had different stories he would tell people he met while traveling and trying to find here, and that he had a name for each one. Names give identity, for every name you would have a different identity. Also, Ophile is merely inteligent enough to see the truth.))

Cancer shrugged again. "Call me whatever you want to. I prefer my names not to be derogatory, but I'm sure I'll have been called worse than whatever you come up with."

"Daruis is a pleasent enough name," Yule said. "I mean, it's a good one," she nodded. At this point, she bowed her head slightly as Kazue entered the room. He looked at the wolf, blinked a few times, then to Darius. "Am I the only one seeing one of those?" he said, gesturing to the wolf and wondering faintly if he were mad.

Rin smiled at Quinn, then turned to Quint. "Alright, I'm sure you know the drill by now," she said. She lifted her hand, and water swept up around Quint gently. "Just hold still."

((Yes. Ophile is a smarty-pants-who-does-not-wear-pants. -goes about imagining a wolf with pants on- :T))

"Do you want me to call you Cancer, or something else? Well, you said Darius, so Darius I shall call you." Ophile nodded, dipping his head again as Kazue walked in. "Aquarius, don't be alarmed. My name is Ophile, and I'm only here to offer my help."

Quint closed his eyes, holding still so that the water could heal him easily. His pain was eased first, that was quite the relief...

Kazue seemed to bristle slightly, as if he had just been insulted. "I was not alarmed, I was merely curious," he said. As no one had yet confirmed that they, too, saw the creature, he wondered again, faintly, if the wolf were there at all. Or that he were just talking to himself. He shook his head quickly. "Nevermind. I just wanted to welcome Darius here to the palace,' he said, turning to the aforementioned person.

Rin's healing magic worked wonders. Within a few seconds, not only was Quints pain gone, but the wounds that had caused said pain had vanished as well.

((I like that image. HANNAH. You're the one with art skills here. Draw the panted wolf.))

"Of course he's there. Who else would you be talking to? As for what you call me, like I said, call me what you want to call me." Cancer turned to Kazue. "How're the Gemini?"

((Nooooooo. -is not good at animals, only wings- ))

"Fine by now, I'm sure," Kazue ignored the first comment pointedly. "Rin's sure to ahve fixed them up good," he said.

((FINE. Bun's drawing it, so that doesn't matter.))

"That's good. Constantly being about to die is no fun." Darius turned back to Yule. "As nice as it is to meet Mr. Wolf here, can we continue to the kitchens? I'm hungry, and nothing here is eatable."

((LINEART = 10% COMPLETE))

Ophile tilted his head a bit one way, his expression unchanging at Kazue's defensiveness. "Generally, when one offers you help, it does not do to turn them away so quickly. And yes, I really am here. Why wouldn't I be?" He glanced at Darius. "And technically, there ARE edible things here. I'm most certainly edible, as is miss Yule, Kazue, and yourself. But that would be cannibalism, and I do believe it's looked down upon in this area, correct?" He looked over at miss Yule, looking quite serious. Then again, it was hard to tell. He was a wolf, after all.

Quint pulled in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Thanks, Rin." He stood, wringing out his shirt.

"Where...where are we?" Quinn asked, biting his lip.