The Forgotten Zodiac

Airlia climbed out of the carriage, gently taking hold of Cynyr's tail again. Nate carefully picked Werr up, considering Cynyr's words. Nate wasn't intending to go against the people he had just gone out of his way to save. Now that he thought about it, though, why was he here? Well...it was better than working for Kolo, that was for certain. Nate adjusted his grip on Werr, then moved to follow Cynyr.

Figuring he should say something in regards to Cynyr's last comment, Nate cleared his throat. "If I intended to cause you trouble, why would I have called in Nightlash to help? I would have left you to Kolo and his men if I wanted to. But no matter, I do suppose you have every right to distrust me. Strange men calling in dukes to save a mage, an angel and two children...I suppose this entire situation is strange."

Cynyr glared over his shoulder at Nate, but didn't say anything. What Nate said was true, but that didn't mean Cynyr openly agree with it. He instead vouched for leading them into the fortress, down several twisting halls and through a few different doors, until they entered a room with several rickety beds and some worn down chairs. Cynyr walked over to a bed and laid Welk down on it, then turned and started messing with several lamps and light sources, trying to get them to work. It was odd how the half-cat had known the exact way to go through the fortress to get to this room, and he moved around it like he had it memorized. He had obviously been here before.

Nate followed wordlessly, gently laying Werr down on another of the beds. He sat himself down on a different bed, sitting in the same manner that he had back at that building before. "I suppose you'll want to know what all that was about...like Nightlash said, I can explain, if you want me to. Though, perhaps we should wait until your friends are awake, so I don't have to explain myself twice..."

"Yes." Cynyr answered, not looking at the young man. "I would prefer if you didn't say anything at all for as long as possible." He was oddly on edge, and was twitchy and nervous, his ears flicking around rapidly as he tried to listen to every sound at the same time. "Stay here." he said, turning towards the door. "I'm going to get my...friend. She'll help Welk and Werr get better." He threw Nate a stern glare, then disappeared through the door.

Nate bowed slightly as Cynyr left, before straightening up to think again. The half-cat who had just left seemed a bit high-strung. Perhaps it would be best not to do anything to aggrivate him. Nate settled for remaining in one place, hardly movng much at all. Actually, he was meditating before long, allowing himself to drop completely into quiet, not even thinking. His eyes were closed and his breathing slowed, though he was still sitting perfectly still.

Two hours passed, and there was still no sign of Cynyr. There was also no sign of movement from either Welk or Werr. Both of them remained unconscious.

Eventually, Nate and Airlia heard voices coming down the hallway, towards the room they were in. What was shocking about these voices, however, was the fact that they were shouted.

"I didn't NOT come all this way just to get yelled at, Cynyr!" a female voice yelled.

"Well if my friends weren't hurt, I would never have bothered with you!" Cynyr answered.

"You are the biggest jerk I have ever met!"

"I could say the same to you, Seria!"

"If there weren't injured people involved in this, I wouldn't have hesitated to tell you I wouldn't come!"

"Maybe we were better off without you!"

Cynyr stalked into the room, followed by a female half-cat. The new half-cat, who's name was Seria, had straight, long, waist-length blood-red hair and bright blue eyes, with a long-furred tail swaying around behind her. She had two red stripes on both sides of her face, on her cheeks, and a single one that came down her forehead. Her clothes were simple. A pair of tight tan leggings, brown boots, and a white shirt complete with a blue vest. Her red ears flicked as she glanced around the room, and she gave Airlia a curious stare.

Airlia stared right back at Seria, though she was smiling, happy that Cynyr had returned. She had curled up on the bed next to Nate, her wings wrapped around herself for warmth.

Nate pulled himself out of his meditation as Cynyr and Seria arrived. He raised a hand in greeting, forcing himself to smile. He could at least act friendly, though he was somewhat adverse to meeting people who were shouting the first time he saw them. He dropped his hand, then said, "If you don't mind me saying so, I don't believe Cynyr would have taken a two hour trip to get you if he didn't believe you could help." He said quietly, silencing his questions regarding the girl.

Seria tilted her head slightly to the side, then said "While that may be true, that doesn't give him the right to snap at me over nothing."

"Nothing?!" Cynyr shouted. "You took one look at me and said 'oh great, its you', then told me I was hideous to look at because I have a few wounds!"

"Well it's true." Seria answered. "I mean, have you looked in a mirror lately? Your fur is matted, you have dried blood all over you, and there is something seriously wrong with your tail."

"It was broken!" he protested, but the female half-cat silenced him with an upraised hand.

"Shut up, Cynyr. I have patients to see to." she said, then walked over to Welk and Werr, leaving a very angry Cynyr behind to fume at her. Seria went over to Werr first and carefully started examining him with a practical eye, taking note of his condition and what she could do to improve it. "What happened to them?" she asked, noticing that Welk was in a similar state.

"They got electrocuted." Cynyr answered flatly.

"Ouch." Seria answered, then went back to what she was doing.

Airlia was frowning at this point. Master clearly didn't like this woman, so she didn't want to like her, either. Nate fell silent again, watching what she was doing. Werr was still very much unconscious, his breathing slow and raspy, his pulse sluggish and weak. If it wasn't for the noise from his breathing, he would seem almost dead. He was worse than Welk, and it made sense; Welk had only been hit with one blast of the cruel torture. Werr had suffered through one, and then a more powerful one, at that.

Seria gently reached forward and brushed a lock of Werr's hair out of his face, then put one hand on his forehead and the other on his chest. She took a deep breath and concentrated, starting to murmur a soft chant that the others couldn't hear. A soothing turquoise glow spread from her hands, creeping along Werr's body until it covered him completely. Seria kept murmuring the chant as she worked, closing her eyes as she did so. Werr's breathing slowly began to return to normal, and his pulse began to get stronger.

Seria was a healer, and she was healing him, using her magic to mend his injuries.

Airlia noticed at once. "A healing spell!" She said excitedly. "Master, you should learn one of those! Healing spells are really, really helpful, and I can make them much more powerful. My old master made me put out so much power once, I brought someone back to life! It hurt a lot and I cried for hours after that, but the woman was alive again, and all with a healing spell." Nate listened to her, watching Seria curiously. Here he had met yet another mage; two in one day. Quite intriguing.

Shortly after Seria was finished, Werr shuddered and his eyes snapped open, flinching as though he expected to feel pain. He relaxed quickly though, for of course he felt none. "Wha...what happened?" He spluttered, realizing that he felt better than he ever had before.

"I'm not learning a healing spell." Cynyr growled, though he was intrigued by the fact that Airlia had brought someone back to life. He quickly glanced around to Werr when the boy woke up, but Seria beat him to an explanation.

"You're safe." she soothed, leaving her hand on his chest to hold him down, incase he tried to get up. "Just lay still. You shouldn't try to move very much for a few minutes. From what I've heard from your 'friend'," Cynyr snarled at the way she said friend, which he knew meant him. "you were captured and tortured with electrocution. Don't worry, though. You and your other friend are safe now." She left him there and walked over to Welk, where she started up the same healing spell she had used on Werr.

Cynyr stalked over to Werr and stood next to his bed, staring at him in a way that was unnerving, but not angry. "You okay?" he asked, flicking his tail around behind him.

Werr blinked at her in confusion, but shook it off quickly as she moved away and Cynyr approached. "I-I think so. I was tortured?" He thought back, and the memory of what had happened came rushing back. He turned quickly, ignoring Seria's advice to not move so much. He needed to make sure Welk was okay. He collapsed on the bed again after he was certain Welk was breathing. "I remember...Kolo, that's what he said his name was. He was torturing us to see which of us was going to scream first, and whoever screamed would die, and the other would become a slave..."

"You threw the game to save your friend." Nate observed quietly. "Kolo always punishes people who do that before killing them. That's why you got electrocuted more. You're alive, though. You have that to be thankful for, at least."

"Uh...I see. Who are you?" Werr blinked.

"I'm the one who helped Cynyr save you. Also the one who knocked you out, but that doesn't matter much, I suppose."

Cynyr listened to Werr speak, getting angrier and angrier as he heard what the boy was saying. How dare Kolo torment Werr and Welk with words like that? Cynyr wished he would've known this earlier, because he would have killed Kolo right then and there when he had the chance. He shook his head, getting those violent thoughts out of his mind, then turned to go over to Welk. As he turned, he brushed his tail down Werr's arm, which was his only way of saying that he was glad Werr was okay.

Werr smiled at the simple motion, glad that Cynyr cared. A day or so ago, and the half-cat probably would have left him to die. He wanted to tell the half-cat that he was glad they were friends, but with Nate and this new girl here, Werr bit it back. Saying such a thing might be embarrassing to hear, considering Cynyr's personality.

"I'm happy you're alive, Werr." Airlia beamed.

"You and me both," Werr smiled again.

((Awwwww~! This is cute. Time to ruin it.))

A scream suddenly shattered their thoughts, and they all whipped around to see that Seria had woken up Welk, but the half-cat wasn't reacting like Werr had. Welk looked scared beyond all reason, and he had fallen backwards off of the bed in fear. He had his hands over his eyes, and his ears were back against his head. "Werr!" he screamed, sobbing between breaths. "He's hurting Werr, he's going to kill him!"

Cynyr instantly realized that Welk didn't know he was safe and that Werr was okay. The younger half-cat only remembered that they were being held captive and tormented by Kolo. "Welk!" Cynyr said, running over to him. "Stop, stop! It's okay!"

Welk jerked when he heard Cynyr's voice, and he quickly focused his gaze on his brother. "Cynyr!" he cried, scrambling up and racing over to the black-haired half-cat. "Y-you have t-to do something! A-anything!"

Cynyr stumbled backwards from the force of Welk slamming into him, hitting the wall behind him. He slid down against it, into a sitting position, wrapping his arms tightly around Welk as he did so. "Stop, Welk!" he shouted, getting the frightened half-cat's attention. "You're safe." he said, lowering his voice once Welk stopped screaming. "Werr is okay, you are okay, we're all okay. Shhh..."

Welk was breathing hard, and he pressed as close to Cynyr as he could, unable to stop his tears from falling.

((Yay. : D))

"I'm okay, Welk," Werr said, sitting up. He was a bit shaken by the sudden screeching, though. "See? Cynyr and...this guy saved us," He jabbed a thumb at Nate. "and this girl fixed us," Then at Seria. "so we're okay. At least, I'm okay. You don't seem very okay..."

Welk flinched at Werr's voice, and he quickly glanced over at him. His crimson eyes searched the older boy, trying to make sure he was really okay. He sniffled, then stood up, shaking and quivering. He stumbled over and sat down on the edge of Werr's bed, staring at the boy. "Are...a-are you really o-okay?" he stammered, sniffling pitifully and looking at Werr like he thought the boy was going to disappeared at any moment.

Werr touched his shoulder where the device had been put on. He'd probably remember that pain for a very long time...was he really okay? Werr did a very quick mental check of himself before saying anything. He didn't think he had forgotten anything, and he certainly felt much better. His emotions were running amok, he noticed. His usual guard over them must have been broken by the ordeal. Werr moved after a few more seconds, wrapping his arms around Welk in a hug. "I'm okay. I'm really okay." He said, smiling genuinely for once. Why not let them show, if only for a little while? It certainly felt better than bottling them up all the time.

Welk immediately shuddered and started crying again, but much more softly that he had before. He leaned his head against Werr's shoulder and put his arms around him, hugging him carefully, just incase he was hurt somewhere that Welk couldn't see. "I t-thought..." he stammered. "...I thought Kolo was g-going to kill you..."

Seria watched them for a moment, then turned to Cynyr and said "Is that all, or do you want some help with your wounds?"

Cynyr growled at her from his spot against the wall and said "I don't want your help. Stay away from me."

Seria glared at him and said "Fine, let your wounds get infected for all I care."

"Fine." Cynyr snarled.

"Fine." Seria answered.