The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr moved in closer to Welk, not minding that his furry friend was a little wet still. "I guess we are...we should just sleep, I guess..." He sighed, closing his eyes. This time, he fell asleep quickly, not even caring that his head was filled with jumbled thoughts. He ignored them all and went straight to sleep.

The next morning found them all still asleep, curled up together in a relatively warm pile. Werr and Welk had somehow managed to switch places in the night, with the boy now between the two furry cats. His head was on Welk's side, using the cat like a pillow. Welk stretched slightly, then relaxed again, breathing softly. His tail flipped around a few times, seemingly with a life of its own, and hit Werr's leg lightly.

Werr, after the events of last night, was already having nightmares. When Welk's tail hit his leg, he jerked upwards with a jolt, looking around quickly. He looked at Welk's tail and relaxed again, lying back down. How silly, to be jumped out of sleep so easily. He was surprised at how warm it was between the two half-cats. He smiled, listening to the sounds of morning; the birds chirping, the leaves rustling in the wind...he could see sunlight coming down from the hole they came through. Hopefully there wouldn't be anymore rain. As it was, the rainwater was threateningly close to their feet after last night's downpour.

Welk woke up next, slowly lifting his head and yawning. Once he closed his mouth, he looked over at Cynyr. The black half-cat was still unconscious. Welk sighed, then noticed that Werr was awake. "Hey." he said softly, then looked around for the first time at their surroundings. He spotted the strange white coffin and frowned. "What is that thing?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Good morning," Werr said, looking at the coffin as well. "I'm not all that sure. It looks like a coffin, but I've never seen an upright coffin before, much less one that glows. And that cross...maybe a priest was buried here or something? Although, those are normally buried in normal graveyards, not in shady underground caves...what should we do about it?"

"Poke it?" Welk suggested, standing up and shaking himself. His blonde fur fluffed out around him, then settled neatly back down against his body. He transformed back into a human and walked over to the coffin, studying it closely. "I wonder what would happen if I kick it?" he said, frowning at the strange object.

((Dunno if I need to say this or not, but only magic users can break the seal by touching it. Welk and Werr can touch it all they want, buuut... xD))

"L-let's not, we don't know what'll happen," Werr said quickly, getting up as Welk did. "I've really never seen this sort of thing. I haven't even read about it. So...we should be careful, and not try to do things to it without thinking first." He walked forward, promptly tripping on an outjutting rock and stumbling forward. He instinctively put his hand on the coffin to steady himself. He pulled it back quickly with a yelp, whipping his hand around. He had been burned. "Ouch, ouch, gah, that's hot!" He scurried back to the pool, thrusting his hand under the cold water quickly to soothe the burn.

((I figured as much. ))

"What happened?!" Welk exclaimed, whipping around to stare at Werr, then the coffin, then back. "Did...did it burn you? How?" He decided that poking the strange coffin would not be a good idea, so he trotted over to Werr and sat down next to him. "So." he started. "We're trapped in a cavern underground, we don't have any supplies, Cynyr's hurt real bad, and we're stuck with a creepy coffin that burns people. Could things get any worse? Probably." He shook his head, then looked up at the opening in the cavern. "I wonder if I could climb up there." he said, studying the long climb up.

"T-the bear could come back...then it would definitely be worse," Werr pointed out, pulling his hand out to inspect the burn. It wasn't all that bad, but it still stung a bit. "I dunno how it burned me, I just know that it did, obviously. We shouldn't try to climb up until Cynyr wakes up...I don't think going for help would be a good idea, either." He looked over at the unconscious half-cat; at least he was still breathing...

"Hmm..." Welk said, thinking hard. "Well, I'm going to try! It's better than sitting here all day waiting for something to happen!" He turned back into a cat and backed up until he reached the wall, then sped forward and jumped for the opening. He landed on the wall, digging his claws in, and tried to climb up, but the wall was old and crumbling. He couldn't keep a hold of his spot, and with a yelp, he fell down into the water below him.

Splash!

He surfaced a few seconds later, back as a human, coughing and panting. "Okay." he said, swimming over to Werr. "I guess you were right."

Werr tutted and helped pull Welk onto dry land again. "It's alright, we just...have to wait, I guess." Werr looked up at the opening, letting out a sigh. He had no idea how long it would be until Cynyr woke up, or if the half-cat would even wake up at all. They could very well starve down here. Werr's thoughts trailed to his bag behind that waterfall, wondering if it would still be there. It seemed hardly likely that the bear would take it, but Werr didn't know who else knew where that waterfall was.

Werr sighed again, sitting down with his back against the rock wall. What to do...nothing, apparently.

"Well, at least we have water." Welk commented flatly, shaking himself off. He walked over and sat down by Cynyr, running his fingers through the half-cat's thick black fur. He bent down and hugged him, pressing his face into the panther's shoulder, feeling sad. "You gotta wake up soon." he said quietly, though Werr could still hear him. "We really need you." He stroked Cynyr's head, gently running his hand over the panther's ears.

Werr was quiet, listening to what Welk was saying. He got up and started pacing for awhile, first in lines, then in circles, then he just sat down and delved into his thoughts. How long had it been since they first dropped in here? At least half a night, but how long had it been since they woke up? If Cynyr stayed unconscious for much longer, it would be safe to assume that the half-cat was in a coma...

There was silence for a while longer. Welk simply sat there by Cynyr's side, nearly motionless except for the occasional flick of his ears or the flip of his tail. He sighed, then looked up at the coffin again, wondering what was inside.

Then Cynyr coughed, and Welk's attention shot back to his friend.

"Cynyr?" he asked, leaning closer to the panther, his eyes searching his friend's face. "Cynyr, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Cynyr coughed again, much worse than the first time, then slowly moved one of his legs, tensing the limb slightly, then letting it go limp again. Slowly, his yellow eyes opened, but they were blurry and unseeing.

"Cynyr?" Welk said softly, reaching out to touch his friend's fur. "Cynyr, can you hear me? Uh, if you can hear me, move your tail."

Slowly, Cynyr blinked, then his tail flipped once, which was a weak, pitiful little movement, but still what Welk had asked for.

Welk gasped, then threw his arms around Cynyr and started crying, burying his face into the panther's thick black fur.

Werr let out a heavy sigh of relief. "You're still alive! That's...wonderful. Thanks for not dying on us, we...yeah." He said, not sure what else to say. "You probably don't have enough energy to speak right now...but, uh, here!" Werr got up, grabbing unused bits of cloth from last night's hasty bandaging. He soaked the cloth in water and brought it over to Cynyr, holding it to the panther's mouth so he could drink somewhat. It was better than nothing, at any rate.

Welk pulled back when Werr came over, sniffling and watching everything closely.

Cynyr lifted his head slightly and licked weakly at the cloth a few times, then sighed and closed his eyes, laying his head back down. He laid there for several long seconds, not moving and unable to say anything, then opened his eyes again and slowly lifted his head again, managing to lay on his side without falling over. He dropped his head down onto Welk's lap, closing his eyes again. He seemed to be slowly getting better, but they couldn't be sure.

Welk immediately began stroking his friend's ear, trying to help him feel better. He looked up helplessly at Werr for a moment, then back down to Cynyr, now knowing what to do.

Werr, having absolutely no clue what to do, decided to try cleaning some of the dried blood out of Cynyr's fur. "You'll be okay...right?" He asked quietly, trying his best not to hurt Cynyr, being as gentle as he could possibly be. "We'll...we'll take care of you."

Cynyr flicked his tail once, which was all he could do to answer. It was a weak flick, but it was stronger than the first time. He didn't make any noise as Werr began cleaning his bloody fur. He just laid there, completely and utterly exhausted.

Welk nodded when Werr spoke, then said "Right. We're going to take care of you and help you get better. You don't have to worry. You'll be fine."

Cynyr opened his eyes again, but they still wouldn't focus properly. The blow to his head by the bear during the attack had been worse than it had looked. And it had looked pretty bad. He made a small, raspy sound in the back of his throat, then was silent again.

Werr continued cleaning, frowning a little bit. "Don't stress yourself by trying to talk. It's alright...did you want more water?" He held out the water cloth he had left out of the ones he was using to clean Cynyr up. He held it to Cynyr's mouth again, wondering if the panther would react at all. It didn't seem like he could see very well...

His nose twitched slightly, breathing in the scent of the water, then he carefully opened his mouth and licked the cloth a few times, getting a fair amount of the water into his mouth. After he swallowed, he slowly gathered his legs under him and sat up. His front legs were trembling from holding him up, but he seemed like he was relatively okay. He shook his head once, blinking a few times, then cautiously stood up, staggering slightly.

Welk quickly stood up and let Cynyr lean against him. The panther was 3 and a half feet tall at the shoulder, and very muscular, so he was quite heavy. Welk was able to keep him upright, however. "Cynyr, you shouldn't try and get up!" he said, putting his hands on the half-cat's back. "You need to lay down!"