The Forgotten Zodiac

"Wha-I just said, don't try to stress yourself so much!" Werr exclaimed. "You'll make your injures worse! Please, Cynyr, we need you to get better, not worse." He said, not all too sure if Cynyr would reopen his injuries or not. It wasn't like they had stitched anything, so Cynyr would probably start bleeding again if he wasn't careful.

Cynyr flicked his right ear in Werr's direction, but didn't say anything. He lifted his leg to take a step and nearly collapsed.

Welk quickly wrapped his arms around the panther's body, helping him stay up. "No, Cynyr! You have to lay back down! We're fine! The bear's gone, and me and Werr aren't hurt. Now lay down!"

Cynyr just stood there for a moment, his legs shaking, then slowly laid back down, letting out a deep sigh as he sank to the ground. He left his eyes opened even after he was settled, blinking dully.

Welk sighed, then turned to Werr and said "You sit here with him. I'm going to climb up out of this hole somehow and find our stuff. Going for help is useless, and we can't leave without Cynyr. So since we're trapped down here, I might as well get our stuff and find something to eat. I will get up there, Werr. Somehow." He then turned into cat and took a running start at the long climb up, trying his best to get up to the top.

Werr blinked, then nodded quickly. "You can do it, Welk!" He called after Welk, hoping that the half-cat was right. If Welk couldn't make it out of here, they would definitely be stuck down here for awhile. He looked back at Cynyr, wondering if the panther really would be okay or not. It seemed hardly likely; Werr knew full well that if he had such injuries, he'd be long gone.

Welk fell off several times, always splashing back down into the water below. He would always get back up and give it another shot, however, never stopping. After a while, he started to get really angry at himself for not being able to reach the top. Finally, right when he was close to giving up, he forced every ounce of anger he had in his body into his jump, lunging upwards powerfully. He landed on the wall much higher than his previous attempts, and he dug his claws deeply into the wall, holding on tightly. He climbed up a little bit higher and managed to get one paw up over the edge of the opening, then hauled the rest of himself up with a joyous shriek. "I DID IT!" he yowled loudly, leaping wildly around the area, happy to have finally done it. "Yes! I did it!" he shouted, then reached over to the torn up waterfall and found Werr's bag. He ran back over and set the bag down next to him on the edge of the hole in the ground, then called "I've got your bag, Werr! I'll throw it down to you." He transformed into a human and took precise aim, then tossed Werr bag down near the edge of the water. It landed perfectly near the edge, just out of reach of the water. "Great shot!" Welk exclaimed, then turned back into a cat and said "I'm going hunting now. I'll be back!" He ran off, leaving Werr and Cynyr alone again.

Cynyr sighed, blinking his unseeing eyes slowly. They were beginning to reclaim some of their focus, but it wasn't a lot.

"Alright! Hurry back!" Werr called after him, grabbing his bag quickly and double-checking the contents. Good, his ink bottles hadn't broken. He walked back and sat down next to Cynyr again, pulling out a piece of jerky and offering it to Cynyr. "Um...I don't know how long he'll be, so, uh...tell me, somehow, if you need more water, I guess?"

Cynyr shifted his head away from the offered food, flicking his ears once. He laid there, breathing quietly, then slowly lifted his head and turned his blurry gaze in Werr's direction, his yellow eyes searching the boy. His eyes were exhausted and full of pain, but the hint of distrust he had had towards Werr seemed to be gone. He heaved a deep breath, then slowly put his head in Werr's lap, shifted a little closer to the teenager. His ears were back, but he didn't seem like he was going to jerk away or get mad because Werr was really close to his head, which was the most sensitive part of his body. It was almost like he finally trusted the boy somewhat. Or was too tired to think about what he was doing.

Werr blinked in surprise, then smiled a bit, putting his jerky away. "You'll be okay," He warily pet Cynyr on the head, making sure to be gentle and not touch any of the half-cat's injuries. "Your brother will take care of you, and I'll do everything I can to help. I'm not too sure how repeating this part over and over again will help, exactly, but...you get it."

Cynyr relaxed a little more, closing his eyes. He didn't start purring like Welk would, but the fact that he was letting Werr pet him was a huge improvement on his attitude towards the boy. He flicked his tail slightly, then let it lay still. There was silence for well over twenty seconds, then the panther spoke. "Thanks. For...helping me." he said quietly, in a weak, raspy voice. Then he said nothing more.

"Don't worry about it. You saved my life more than once now, it's the least I can do." Werr smiled, glad that Cynyr was finally warming up to him somewhat. Werr continued petting the half-cat, wondering when Welk would return. He wasn't all that hungry, but he knew that he would be eventually. He wondered if Welk should just stay on the surface until they figured out what to do. It would be better, probably...

Cynyr grunted in reply, flicking his ears once. He opened his yellow eyes and blinked them several times, slowly bringing them into focus. He caught sight of the strange white coffin for the first time and frowned slightly. "What...is that?" he asked softly, not bothering to lift his head up. His blinked his eyes, clearing them a bit more, and stared at the coffin, waiting for Werr's answer.

"Er, I'm not sure..." Werr shook his head, honestly having no idea what it was. "It burned me when I touched it on accident, though I have no idea how..." Werr blinked as the glowing grew slightly brighter as Cynyr looked at it. Weird went to weirder...

"Hmm." Cynyr said, closing his eyes again. He didn't seem like he really cared about the coffin, nor had he noticed when it had glowed brighter when he had looked at it. He shifted around a little more, wincing as his wounds throbbed, then slowly lifted his head and sat up on his side, blinking his eyes open. He couldn't get the coffin out of his head. His natural desire to know and learn all about new things was itching at him. He wanted to know what the coffin did and if it would be a threat to him or the others. He transformed into a human and sat on the ground for a moment, then pushed himself upright, leaning heavily on the cavern wall. His legs were shaking, but he was doing better than he had the first time he had tried to stand.

"C-Cynyr, not again," Werr stood quickly. "At least let me help," He offered his hand to Cynyr, frowning a bit. "You're still stressing your wounds, you really should lie down again. You'll kill yourself! Goodness knows what that'll do to Welk..."

"Oh, shove off." Cynyr growled. "I'll be fine." He carefully pushed off from the cavern wall and took a shaky step. He was able to hold himself up, though it was extremely wobbly and weak, so he cautiously limped over to the coffin. The closer he got to it, the brighter it glowed. He studied it closely for a minute, then carefully reached his left hand out and touched the strange object chained to it. As soon as his hand touched it, the entire coffin glowed so bright that neither he nor Werr could see. That was nothing compared to what happened to Cynyr. He was blasted backwards by a suddenly burst of energy, landing roughly on his back several feel away. He shouted in pain, his wounds hurting, then screamed as a burning sensation took over his left arm, where he had touched the lock. A strange, glowing, five-pointed star-shaped symbol appeared on the skin of his palm, burned into his skin. It felt like his hand was on fire, and the feeling had spread like lightening through his whole body. He curled onto his side in pain, clenching his teeth together and holding his burned hand close to his body. He didn't see what happened next.

Werr, however, did. The coffin stopped glowing suddenly, plunging the cave into darkness (Werr had to blink several times for his eyes to adjust to the abrupt gloom), and the chained-on gold obelisk fell to the floor. The front of the coffin swung open partially with a slight creak, then fell off altogether. It slammed to the ground with a loud crash.

A young girl, appearing to be around 12 or so, was held in place inside the coffin by more chains, which were supported by pegs nailed into the coffin. She had silver-blond hair that fell to her waist, pale skin and a skinny frame. Well...she looked more malnourished than anything, to be perfectly honest. She was wearing an old-looking off white silk dress that was trimmed in faded gold, and her feet were bare. Behind her were white wings, and there were a few feathers on the floor of the coffin.

She had apparently been asleep inside the coffin, but now that it was open, she stirred and opened dull blue eyes, blinking groggily. She tried to move, but the chains that held her in place hadn't broken off like the chains that had been on the coffin. She whimpered, pulling against the chains helplessly.

Cynyr shuddered a few times, cradling his burned hand, then slowly blinked his eyes open. All of his wounds were hurting, and his hand felt like it was on fire. He groaned and shifted his head slightly until he was able to see the coffin. When he set eyes on the girl inside it, his jaw dropped open in shock. He slowly sat up, still holding his hand close to his body. He looked over at Werr, seeing the shocked look on his face, then back to the girl, seeing how she struggled weakly against the chains holding her. He carefully got his legs under him and stood up, with much more difficulty than he had before. His hand was shooting fiery pain into his body, and it was extremely debilitating. He slowly walked over to the coffin, sidestepping the fallen door, then stopped in front of the girl. He didn't understand how she was alive, seeing how she was in a coffin, and he didn't know why the strange star burn had appeared on his hand. Why wasn't it on Werr's hand? The teenager had said that he had touched it. Cynyr shook his head, then transformed into a panther and carefully risked a step forward, limping on his left front leg. He was strong enough in this form to easily break her chains, but he didn't know how well she would react to having a giant black panther with a mask on putting his sharp fangs that close to her body.

The girl stopped struggling as Cynyr approached, looking at the star mark on his hand. She watched him turn into a panther, blinking in surprised silence. When he got closer, she actually smiled, though, shrinking back so he could get to the chains easier. Her smile faded somewhat when she saw that he was limping, though. "Master," She rasped, her voice pained sounding after not talking for so long. She then said something else in a different language.

"Master?" Werr's stunned silence was finally broken. "And what? Uh...can you repeat the last part?"

She looked at him, looking somewhat fearful. She quickly repeated what she said, then seemed to realize something. "Oh. Gregorian. Master, do you speak only Gregorian now?" She asked, looking back at Cynyr.

"Huh?" Cynyr said, stopping a few inches away from her. "What? Did...did you call me...Master?" he asked, shocked. "I'm not your master! Don't call me that! I've never seen you before in my whole life!" He fastened his teeth into the chains and pulled on them, watching in satisfaction as they broke easily. The girl fell from the coffin, and Cynyr quickly turned back into human and grabbed her, holding her carefully in his arms. "Yes, I only speak Gregorian." he said in reply to her question. "I've never spoken another language. Who even are you? And why were you in that coffin? Last time I checked, people in coffins didn't wake back up and start saying weird things."

She blinked, somewhat startled by his words, looking up at him. "You...you aren't my old master, then..." She frowned a little bit, then shook her head. "My name is whatever you decide it to be. You are my master, you have that mark that says so." She pointed at his hand. "I was in the coffin because my last master sealed me to protect me from something. He must have died, so the seal must have undergone a magical transfer through the coffin and on to you." She said all this lightly, smiling as though there was nothing odd whatsoever about what she was saying. "Why are you hurt, master? Should we go back for revenge? I can help you. Revenge is good, or so I was told."

"I'm not your master!" he insisted, letting go of her and moving away from her. His legs wouldn't hold him anymore, however, and he stumbled to the ground, landing on his tail. He yelped and got his tail out from under him, then cradled his burned hand to his body. He glared at the girl, then said "Why did this happen to me? Werr touched the coffin, but he didn't get a weird mark on his hand." He growled slightly, then said "And for your information, I got hurt because I fought a huge bear." He transformed into a panther and limped over to the edge of the water, bending down to quietly lap at it. He was extremely stressed out, as Werr could tell by the fact that his fur was all fluffed up, his ears were back, and his tail was flipping around behind him.