The Forgotten Zodiac

The girl blinked in surprise, sitting down in front of the coffin and curling her knees to her chest, then went on to answer his questions. "That boy is not a magic-user. You must be, since you broke the seal. And if you got cut up by a bear, we should go back and teach it a lesson, ma-..." She stopped herself, figuring that Cynyr didn't like it at all when she called him that.

Werr sighed, looking down at her. "What's your name?"

"I don't have one yet." She said, not looking at him.

"Where did you come from?"

"The coffin, obviously."

"Uh..." Werr thought for a moment. "Why are you calling Cynyr your 'master'?"

"Because he is my master. He bears the seal, so he can use me as he wishes." The girl shrugged as though explaining all this was a boring task that she had done many a time before.

Cynyr growled quietly as he listened to the conversation. "That bear is long gone by now." he snarled. He drank a bit more water, then got up and limped over to the wall opposite of the coffin, laying down with a heavy sigh. He looked exhausted, and even though his fur was matted in places, he didn't bother trying to groom himself. His normally glossy black fur was dull and ripped in spots, one of the testaments to show how hard he had fought the huge bear.

"Oh. Well, that's okay, we can teach him a lesson if he comes back." She nodded, smiling again. "You look tired, master, you should definitely rest. I'll keep watch." She moved near the edge of the water to watch the hole in the ceiling. She used her wings to smoothly hover over to the aforementioned spot; after being asleep for so long (however long that was), she wasn't used to walking much.

Werr moved closer to Cynyr, sitting down next to the panther. "Weird...what are we going to do about her? She doesn't even have a name unless you give her one...that's kind of sad."

Cynyr immediately bristled. "I'm not your master!" he shouted, then buried his muzzle into his paws, growling. "Ugh, I don't feel good..." he muttered, rubbing a heavy paw over his face. He sighed, letting his eyes flicker up at Werr, then lifted his head and put it back on the boy's lap. He figured Werr was more comfortable than the hard rock floor of the cavern. Plus, the half-cat had a headache, and though he would never admit it to anyone, even if he was about to die, it felt good when Werr scratched his ears. "I don't know what we're going to do with her." he said, speaking quietly, were the girl couldn't hear him. "And I don't want to name her. That's weird." He frowned, then said "I guess I have no choice, though." He thought about it for a while, then said "Airlia. There, that's her name. Airlia."

"Did you hear that?" Werr looked up at the girl in question, petting Cynyr again to help comfort him. "Your name is Airlia now."

"That's a pretty name. Thank you." The girl smiled brightly. "What are your names?"

"Oh, right." Werr blinked, realizing that he hadn't introduced himself yet. "I'm Werr, and this is Cynyr."

"Well, now I don't have to call you master so much anymore, Cynyr. And I can tell that you don't like the idea of it, but I'm still yours..." Airlia said quietly, still watching the hole in the ceiling, not taking her eyes off it.

Cynyr squeezed his eyes closed and shuddered when she spoke. "Will you please stop saying that you're mine? It sounds wrong on a number of levels." he said, shifting his head so he could tuck his nose against Werr's clothes.

Suddenly, the end of a rope was tossed down into the hole. A familiar furry face appeared, and a voice called "I'm back! And I found a rope!" Welk had returned, a bright smile on his face. "I tied it to a tree, so now we can get in and out safely!" The cat crouched on the edge, then jumped down into the hole, landing neatly near the edge of the water. "Hi guys!" he said, then spotted Airlia. "A GIRL?!" he shrieked, leaping well over two feet into the air in shock. He came down in a crouch, growling threateningly.

"Ah! A forest feline! Don't worry, Cynyr, I'll take care of it," Airlia started hovering again and put on an offensive stance, looking very much ready to fight.

"A-ah, no, Welk, it's--Airlia, stop, he's not an enemy!" Werr said quickly, not sure how he was going to explain. "She came out of the coffin, Welk! Airlia, he's a friend!"

"He is?" Airlia dropped her stance, looking back at Werr and Cynyr.

"She did?" Welk said, glanced at them. He noticed the broken coffin and frowned, then looked back at the girl. "Hrm." he muttered, thinking about it.

"She won't hurt anyone, Welk." Cynyr growled. "She's just annoying, like you."

"Oh she is, is she?" Welk said, raising a feline eyebrow at the girl. He transformed into a human and walked over to her, stopping a foot away. "Yo. I'm Welk. You're Airlia, right? Nice to meet you." He held out a hand pleasantly, his attitude much different than it had been when they had met Nightlash yesterday. "Cynyr's my brother. Well, not real brother. More like adopted. But you get the picture." he said, grinning.

"Nice to meet you too," She blinked at his hand and then bowed. "Cynyr is my new master," Airlia said, then realized what Cynyr had just said. "I-I'm being annoying? How do I stop being annoying, master? I'm a lot of things, but the last thing I want to be is a burden on you. Please, tell me what I can do to fix it, I'll do it, I swear I will. Tell me?" She asked, sounding somewhat desperate. She hovered close to Werr and Cynyr, waiting for an answer. Werr raised a brow; this girl seemed...well...obsessed with Cynyr. It was kind of creepy, to say the least.

Welk blinked when she didn't take his hand, then shrugged and let it hang by his side. "I caught some birds this time." he said, grinning at Cynyr and Welk, then paused when he listened to Airlia. "Jeez, if that isn't weird, I don't know what is." he said.

Cynyr only tensed more when Airlia spoke to him. "That right there is what's annoying me!" he shouted. "I'm not your master! How many times do I have to say that?! Stop being so clingy to me!" He growled deep in his throat, his ears flat against his head.

Welk looked over at him and Werr and snickered. "Well well, Cynyr. I never thought I would see you all cuddly with Werr, of all people. No offense, Werr, but when I left I thought he hated you."

Cynyr snarled and pulled his head away from Werr to glared at his brother. "I was NOT being all 'cuddly' with him you moron! I don't cuddle with people! Bah!" He got up and limped away from Werr, his tail swishing angrily behind him. He limped over to a corner of the cavern that wasn't near anyone and laid down, closing his eyes.

"A-ah, Welk, he was just...um...trying to get away from her," Werr jabbed a thumb at Airlia, giving Welk the reason he assumed it was. But Welk was indeed correct, things were getting weird.

"I-I'm sorry, I just...my last master insisted upon being called such, it's become a habit...but do you mean that you don't want me?" Airlia asked, looking unhappy and very much upset. "What is a sword without someone to weild it? Trash, left to r-rust?" Her voice broke as she started to cry. "S-so you're ju-just going to leave m-me here, wi-without even knowing wh-what I can do?"

Cynyr ignored her, even when she started crying. He had learned long ago how to hold back any and all emotion at certain times, and he wasn't going to be swayed by her tears.

Welk, however, was.

He walked over to Airlia and carefully touched her shoulder, saying "Hey, hey, don't cry. He's just grumpy right now, because he's hurt. He'll come around in time, once he feels better. He always does. I should know, because I've been around him for a long time. Don't cry." He smiled reassuringly at her, trying to comfort her to some extent. "We won't abandon you here." he said. "Don't cry."

"Even without someone to wield it, a sword can still be taken care of," Werr said, though he wasn't actually sure what the girl meant by the sword metaphor. He was just stating more fact, and this time it helped a little; Airlia sniffed and wiped her eyes on her dress' sleeve, looking at Welk and then at Werr.

"Y-you won't leave me?" She asked. "I don't like it in there...it's dark and cold..."

"No, we won't leave you. How long were you in there, anyways?" Werr shook his head.

"I...I don't know. I was asleep."

"Yeah." Welk said, agreeing with Werr. "We won't leave you." He blinked slightly when the girl spoke of how she didn't know how long she had been in the coffin for. "Hrm." he murmured, thinking. "Well, it was probably a long time. I mean, you didn't even know how to shake hands. You did that weird bow thing when I offered my hand to you. People don't bow anymore. We shake hands to greet each other." He walked over to Werr to demonstrate. "Like this." he said, then offered Werr his hand. "Hi. I'm a cat." he said, his face completely straight.

Cynyr snorted from his spot near the wall, then transformed into a human and sat there, nursing his burned hand, which was still hurting him. He stared at the strange star mark on his palm, wondering what it meant.

Werr grinned and shook his hand. "And I'm a normal teenage boy. Nice to meet you." He stopped. Airlia was inspecting their joined hands curiously.

"And you just do this every day? I thought it was impolite to touch other people unless you were family, or they were your servants!" She frowned. "Are you sure he isn't your servant or something?" She looked at Welk, jabbing a thumb at Werr.

Both of the boys stared at her for several seconds, then Welk said "No, he's not my servant! He's my friend!" He let go of Werr's hand and walked back over to Airlia. "See, things have probably changed a lot from the last time you were awake. Nowadays, people greet each other for the first time by shaking hands. And mages like Cynyr," He nodded his head at his brother. "are pretty much extinct. They're pretty much illegal. If anyone finds out what Cynyr is, he'll get taken away and probably killed." He got quieter around the end of his speech.

"I-Illegal? That's crazy! Mages are wonderful, they can't be illegal! Mages are everywhere, they practically run the world, th-they...how are they illegal?" Airlia looked near tears again. "I must have been in that coffin for years and years! Th-the coffin has to b-be opened by a mage, and if th-they were all killed..."

"Things change," Werr said quietly, realizing how much of a shock this must be for her. "The kings of this empire found that the world is dying, and they don't know why. So they killed off the mages, thinking it was them...that happened several years ago. Mages are all but forgotten by now."

"B-but...that can't be! It can't!"

"It's too late to argue," Werr sighed. "I lost a lot of friends when they killed off the mages, I know. And now, this country is fighting in a war against our neighbors, who we thought were our allies. Things have definitely changed..." Airlia stared at the ground, completely silent. She plopped down on her rear, curling her knees to her chest and starting to cry into her arms.

Cynyr closed his eyes, covered his face with one hand, and sighed. He hated being reminded of the fact that he was now something the world despised. He ran his fingers over his mask, feeling the contours of what was underneath it. He shuddered, then opened his eyes and watched Airlia cry. After only a few seconds, he couldn't bear to watch anymore and turned away, his ears back.

"No, no! Don't cry!" Welk said, quickly bend down and putting an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay! I know this must be quite a shock, but...but it's still okay. Mages aren't totally gone. We have Cynyr, and he's a mage. Sure, that makes him wanted, but still. Mages aren't gone forever." He was doing his best to comfort her, but he didn't really know what to say.

"Quit crying." Cynyr said gruffly from his spot near the wall. "Crying isn't going to help anything. Crying never helps anything. It is pointless to waste tears over something as dumb as mages being illegal." His tail flicked a few times, showing that he was upset over all of the mage talk.

Airlia tightened her grip on her legs, sniffing a little. "I-I'm not cry-crying about mages being illegal..." She said, lifting her head slightly. "I'm crying a-about all the mages that died! A-all of them, all th-that ab-abundant life a-and skill an-and magic power, killed off like a disease! I...I needed t-to cry anyways, I can't bottle up my feelings...it affects m-my abilities." She did, however, stop crying obediently and pick up her head the rest of the way, wiping her face again. She looked up at Welk, who still had his arm around her. "Thanks," She offered a wet smile, sniffing again.

Welk smiled and sat down next to her, keeping his arm around her shoulders. "It's okay." he said. "And I know it's sad that so many mages died. It really is. They had no reason to die. But there's still hope, right? I mean, as long as there's one mage left in the whole world, they'll never be truly gone. Like, say Cynyr someday finds a mate and has babies..."

"NOT gonna happen!" Cynyr shouted.

"...then there would be a chance of the babies being mages, since Cynyr is a mage." Welk finished. "Yes, it's sad that a lot of them died. Yes, we can't change what happened. But we can look to a better future. Maybe someday, mages will be safe and not illegal anymore!" He gasped, then said "What if we are the ones that help make them not illegal? Anything can happen!"

Cynyr snorted, then said "I've got to get out of this hole."