The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr looked up at him, smiling a bit. "Thanks, Welk...it means a lot. What do you think Cynyr will say, though...?"

"In my defense, I was part of the honor guard. I'm always armed, and usually prepared for anything, though I suspect being with Kolo has dulled my awareness. But don't worry, I'll fix that part." Nate said without so much as blinking.

"Hey, guys? How can we trust him?" Airlia frowned a bit. "He just said it again, he was part of the Honor Guard for Asmodius. Isn't Asmodius the bad guy? He could be a spy!"

Welk frowned. "I don't know what Cynyr will say. He's been acting weird lately, so I'm not sure. My best bet? He'll probably say no." He turned when Airlia spoke and frowned again. "That's true." he said, then looked at Nate. "How can we trust you?" he asked. "Aside from the fact that you helped save our lives."

"Well...I don't want to leave him, but...I have to go..." Werr sighed, then pulled himself out of his thoughts to look at Nate curiously.

"Hm. I'm not sure...I've given my account on what happened to the king to my knowledge, I'm quite open when it comes to questions, I'm not sure how I can prove myself to you..." Nate said thoughtfully. "I don't know. I'm up for anything, I suppose."

"A test?" Seria said from where she was sitting on one of the beds.

"A test, huh?" Welk said, frowning. "For starters, I think we should know how many weapons you have and where you're keeping them. If you're on our side, you won't mind telling us, now won't you?" He grinned. "Afterwards, I can think of something real nice for you to do."

Nate blinked at him, then nodded. "Very well then. I have the knife in my sleeve, which you already saw. There's a sleeping dart in the ribbon keeping my hair back, and a small dart shooter in my boot. In my other boot is the twin to the knife in my sleeve. My sword," He pointed to the long blade which was propped against the wall in the corner, "Is lined with a nerve-paralysis venom on one side, so please refrain from cutting yourself on it, unless you want to be deprived of motion in your hands for a period of an hour. Strapped to my back and consealed under my shirt is a shortblade, though there's no venom on that one.  Lastly, there's a brass knuckle hidden under my right glove, should someone manage to relieve me of my bladed weaponry. As impossible as it may seem. Any questions?"

Werr stared at Nate for a very long time. "Uh...do all Honor Guard people have that kind of stuff?"

"No. Only the longblade is standard issue."

"Oh. Okay." Werr shook his head, still a bit stunned. Nate definitely qualified for the 'armed to the teeth' saying.

Welk's jaw slowly dropped open as he listened to Nate got through all of his weapons, and he began trying to figure out if he could fit that many weapons on his own body. "That is so neat." he said with a grin, though he looked a little unnerved. "Don't tell Cynyr about all of those weapons, though. He'll make you throw them all away...and probably melt them." He shook out the blonde fur on his head, then said "You wait here. I have to go and get something for the next part." He turned into a cat and ran out of the room, unable to stop a giggle from rising in his throat.

Seria frowned, then turned to Nate and said "Having that many weapons seems a little over-protective. Especially if the long blade is standard issue for Honor Guard members. Why do you have that many weapons?"

Nate smiled lightly. "I have a long history of paranoia and overestimation. This is my full set of weapons, though; when I was on-duty, I would leave behind a few of them in my house. But since I was put under Kolo's command, I felt much like they were going to turn on me at any given moment, so I had all of my weapons at all times. It's comforting to have this many, anyways. I don't trust a single longblade. They break all too easily."

"Paranoia?" Werr blinked. "Paranoia makes you want to have that many weapons?"

"Precisely. I currently doubt this area isn't booby-trapped in some way."

"That's why you're still on the bed?" Airlia asked, realizing that Nate hadn't moved since they had gotten here. At all.

"Exactly."

Seria's ears flickered back against her head for a moment, then rose up again. She stood up and flipped a lock of her waist-length red hair behind her, then said "You know, I can tell if he's lying or not. I'm a healer, remember? I can sense his intentions, and so far, he's been trustworth. Weird, but trustworthy." She turned when Welk ran into the room, a wide grin on his face. He was back in human form and he looked like he could barely sit still. "I've been wanting to see something like this for a while." he said, one hand in his pocket. "If you really are our friend, Natey, then you should be completely willing to prove that point, yes?" His ears pointed directly at Nate, and he was obviously waiting for an answer.

((I hope Nate likes dead lizards. XD ))

Nate dipped his head at Seria's words, still smiling slightly. He looked up as Welk arrived, his smile fading as he wondered what the half-cat would have him do. "Yes, I'm willing to prove myself. What did you have in mind?" He asked, an eyebrow raised in mild suspicion.

((He hates them now. xDD))

"Well, let's just say that if you do this, I will completely trust you, since you'll be the only person that ever did it." Welk said, then pulled something out of his pocket. "I want you to eat this." he said, holding out a dead lizard with a huge grin on his face. "Right now."

Seria's jaw dropped and she exchanged a horrified look with Werr. Was Welk being serious? One look at the younger half-cat's face and they knew he was.

((Poor Natey. -rofl- ))

Nate stared at Welk for a long moment. He didn't mind lizards, but the fact that it was dead was the unsettling part to him, for untold reasons. He'd eaten much worse than this before, truth be told, but even so...

Nate reached forward and took the lizard by the tail, watching it hang lifelessly in his grip. He inspected it for a brief moment before looking up at Welk with a tiny hint of sadness in his eyes. That was gone within seconds, though, as he spoke. "How will this help prove I'm worthy of trust?" He asked.

((Oh, this is more of an insult to him. -dies laughing- Natey never lied, but he's still hiding something~))

Welk shrugged and said "I don't know, but it'll help me trust you, which in turn will help Cynyr trust you. And trust me when I say that you really want Cynyr to trust you. Because if Cynyr doesn't trust you...it's bad." He looked serious for a few seconds, then perked back up. "Of course, if you don't want us to trust you, you don't have to do it." he said, raising a thin blonde eyebrow at the young man.

((Oh~? More secrets. -eyebrow raise- Yessss~.))

((Yesssss. Me loves me secrets. o3o))

"W-Welk, this is unreasonable," Werr said, shaking his head. "And unfair! You wouldn't make me eat that thing."

"Ewww," Airlia made a face of disgust. "That's totally gross! Don't eat that, Nate, you'll get sick, and--EW!" She practically shrieked as Nate pushed the lizard into his mouth, swallowing it whole.

"Yeah, I wouldn't make you eat it because I already trust you." Welk said to Werr, smiling at him, then turned back around. His jaw dropped completely when Nate actually ate the lizard. He blinked rapidly a few times, as if making sure that Nate had really done it, then grinned. "Wow!" he said. "You're the first person that ever did something like that!" He patted Nate on the shoulder, laughing. "That was great! And don't worry about getting sick; unknown to you and the others, I peeled the lizard and cooked it first, then put the skin back over it so you would think it was freshly dead-o. So no worries, Natey." He winked at him, then looked up at Werr and asked "Where's Cynyr?"

((Welk is a crazy person. X3 ))

"Yes, well," Nate tutted, blinking in surprise at the new information. "I don't like being distrusted for no reason, so...please don't call me that, though," He frowned slightly at the word 'Natey'.

"That's still gross!" Airlia shuddered. "Don't ask me to do that."

"Still..." Werr frowned, then sighed. "I dunno. Last I saw of him, he said he had things to do..."

Welk chuckled at Nate, then turned to Werr. "Things to do? Like what?" he frowned, then jumped when there was a crash in the hallway. He and Seria reached the door first and quickly looked out, only to see that Cynyr had come down the hall and slammed into the lamp again. He was sitting on the ground, rubbing his head and staring at the downed lamp with a confused look on his face. "Who put this thing here?" he asked angrily.

"Um...you did." Welk said. "Remember? You lit all of the lamps and candles."

The anger evaporated from Cynyr's eyes and he said "I did? Oh..." He slowly stood up, leaving the lamp on the ground, and walked about three steps before he suddenly staggered and collapsed to his knees, breathing raggedly.

Werr moved to see what was going on, and pushed past Seria and Welk. "Well, don't just stand there! Cynyr, what's going on? Are you okay?" He asked, crouching down next to his friend to try and help Cynyr to his feet.

"Master?" Airlia watched from the doorway, her wings flapping nervously behind her. Nate didn't move (still fearful of booby traps), watching the others from his spot on the bed.

Welk quickly scrambled to move and trotted to Cynyr's other side, but before he could so much as touch his brother, Cynyr shoved him and Werr back, saying "Stay away from me! I'm fine!" He got up and immediately stumbled, which prompted Welk to rush to his side. "Cynyr, what's wrong?" he said, fear in his voice.

"Nothing!" Cynyr said, but his eyes showed otherwise. He looked exhausted, and the edges of his clothes were ripped up. He pushed Welk away and kept walking, limping slightly on his left leg.

"Cynyr, stop!" Welk cried, but Cynyr ignored him, continuing to stumble down the hallway, almost like a zombie.

Welk growled, then ran over and tackled him, forcing the other half-cat to the ground. "I said stop!" he cried.

"Let me up!" Cynyr shouted, struggling to get loose, but to no avail.

"Cynyr, what's wrong with you?" Werr followed Welk, making no move to get the younger half-cat off of Cynyr. "Something is obviously wrong. What happened to your clothes? You're acting like you're sick or something..."

"Master, please, just tell us what's wrong." Airlia pouted from the doorway, not wanting to get any closer.

"Nothing is wrong." Cynyr said, trying to shout but finding that he didn't have the energy for it. "I don't know why my clothes are ripped. I'm just...tired, I guess..." He sounded exhausted, like he had been training endlessly with his powers or had ran a long distance.