The Forgotten Zodiac

"Of course," Aries nodded, helping him to his feet and towards the door. Arachne was just returning to the hut after their swim; she looked pleased with herself. She had been swimming on her own, she had seashells for her collection, it was wonderful.

"Byrne?" Arachne blinked at him. "Are you okay?"

"I... yes, I'm okay. Who are you again?" the human asked. He hadn't been very familiar with Arachne in the first place, and he wasn't sure he knew her now, even though she obviously knew him. He shifted a little closer to Aries, his unease obvious.

"Arachne," She said gently. "My name is Arachne. I'm Verolen's sister, and Gabe's friend. You don't seem very okay..."

"He'll be fine," Aries reassured her, pulling Byrne close in a hug before pulling back and supporting him as she led him along towards the food.

((Lawl, Verolen's brother.))

"Oh... okay," Byrne said, stubling along after Aries like a lost puppy.

((I was tired.))

"Here we are. I think they're cooking up fish now. Would you like one?" Aries asked, helping Byrne sit and moving to get him some food.

"Yes, that would be wonderful," Byrne nodded, smiling a bit at Aries.

((Hannah feels like one-liners today. Blargh. Headache.))

"I'm on it," Aries nodded once, moving away.

A younger selkie moved over to Byrne, plopping down next to him and smiling. She looked to be about 5 or 6 years of age. She leaned close to him, holding out a small white flower. "Get better soon." She said happily, facinated by him. She had seen the group before, but she had been too scared to approach before because they were always carrying weapons. Byrne didn't have any weapons right now, so she thought of it as safe to approach.

((A NEW CHARACTER!))

Byrne looked over to the girl. He could not read her expression, but she sounded nice, and she had a flower, and he assumed she meant no threat, and flowers were nice, and she was only little. so it was okay, wasn't it? He took the flower with a smile. "Thank you," he replied quietly.

((I was not actually going to make her permanent. xD But I can introduce another character if you want? Using this temporary one, perhaps. xD))

"My name is Hally." She said, still sticking close to Byrne. "I heard them say your name. You're Byrne, right? I like that name. It's a very nice name." She said sweetly, smiling happily still.

((I don't really care if she's permanant or not. It's just nice to see a new face sometimes. XD ))

"Thank you," he repeated. "It's nice to meet you, Hally," he murmured, rubbing his eyes.

((Haha, true. But I was actually thinking of a new misunderstood bad guy. :T))

"Of course!" Hally giggled.

"Did you make a new friend, Byrne?" Aries returned, offering him the cooked fish. Hally squeaked and ran away, hiding behind a barrel filled with what seemed to be squids. "Uh...she's a little shy, apparently. What was her name?" She questioned, smiling a little.

((I love those guys.))

"Yes... her name is Hally," Byrne nodded, reaching out and taking the fish. "Thank you, Aries. Oh, this smells so good..." the human promptly dug in to the food, eating like he was a starving man.

((-nodnod-))

"Huh. Hally. Well, it's nice to meet new people, most of the time." Aries nodded, patting Byrne on the back. "She seemed to be fascinated by you. I mean, I understand that these people don't see humans often, but...she never approached Sylas..."

"Hm," Byrne said, not really listening as he was more focused on eating.

"Anyways," Aries shook her head, flopping back and looking up at the sky. "We'll be returning to the Manakete Palace as soon as possible."

"Oh, good. It's pretty much safe there, isn't it?" Byrne asked, having finished his fish. He followed Aries's gaze up to the sky, wondering what she was looking at.

"Yeah, it is." Aires said, not really looking at much. She was just...staring off into space. "Manakete Palace is the closest to home that most of us have. You included, now that...uh...Byrne, did Verolen tell you...about your dad?"

Byrne stiffened slightly. "What? No, I haven't heard anything... at all. what happened?" he asked, looking slightly distressed.

Aries sat up and suddenly shifted closer to Byrne, hugging him gently. "I'm sorry...Sylas killed Dysonius. It's not Sylas' fault, he wasn't in the right state of mind, but...Dysonius is dead. I'm so sorry, Byrne..."

Byrne grew even more tense, then sniffled softly. "It's... it's okay... he wasn't that great of a dad, anyways..." he murmured, letting Aries hold him.