The Forgotten Zodiac

"Well...let us help you, then." Werr said, frowning a bit. "We'll get you into the room, you can lay down on one of the beds and rest. Just relax, okay? We'll take care of you."

"No!" Cynyr said, rolling to the side and forcing Welk off of him. "I don't need help, so you can just beat it!" He got up and barely took a full step before he was once again on the ground, and this time, he stayed down. Unconsciousness claimed him instantly, and his body went slack.

Welk quickly went over and tried to pull Cynyr into his arms, but he was too small to lift him up all the way. His arms were shaking, and it was obvious that he was scared.

Werr moved to help, frowning unhappily as he too strained under Cynyr's weight. Nate finally moved, apparently, as he walked quickly into the hall and took Cynyr from the two of them, turning and carefully following his footsteps back into the room and laying Cynyr out on one of the beds before returning to the one he had been sitting on.

"What's wrong with him?" Nate asked.

"How should we know?" Werr sighed.

Welk shadowed Nate the entire time as the young man carried Cynyr to the bed, hounding his footsteps. Once Nate put Cynyr on the bed, Welk immediately transformed into a cat and sat next to the bed, his crimson eyes fixed on his friend.

Seria walked over and carefully examined Cynyr, trying to find out if anything was wrong. She put one hand on his forehead and the other on his chest, then cast her healing spell, murmuring the chant softly. The glow crept from her hands and spread over Cynyr, but when Seria pulled away, nothing had changed. "I don't get it." she said, sounding puzzled. "I can't find anything wrong with him. He's not sick, but yet he acted like he was. And I know it wasn't faking. Whatever was wrong with him is gone now."

"Most puzzling," Nate said, frowning slightly. "It's gone now? Should he not be waking up, then?"

Werr was pacing in the hallway, frowning at his own thoughts. No, this wasn't the same as his parents, it was definitely different...then again, both of his parents were humans, and Cynyr was a mage. He couldn't rule out the possibility that it reacted differently to the two, as though they were different species entirely. Werr stopped, and leaned against the wall, tapping his foot against the floor. He couldn't rule out anything at this point. He didn't have nearly enough information to do such with confidence.

Airlia watched him, undecided as to whether she should try to help Cynyr or ask what was wrong with Werr.

Seria opened her mouth to answer Nate but was cut off when Cynyr suddenly groaned. The half-cat slowly lifted a hand and put it over his eyes, rubbing them for a second, then lifted the hand and opened his eyes, blinking them slowly.

Welk stood on his back legs and put his paws on the edge of the bed, staring at his brother in concern. "Cynyr?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

Cynyr blinked again, clearing his vision, then slowly sat up, rubbing his temples. "Of...course I'm okay." he said, his ears back. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, maybe because you just passed out a couple seconds ago!" Welk said, sounding worried.

Cynyr shook his head, then said "I'm fine now." He moved to get off of the bed, only to have Seria shove him back down. "You most certainly are not fine, and it is my duty as a healer to see that you recover properly."

"What are you talking about?" Cynyr said, eyeing her like she was crazy. "I'm okay! Really!" He pushed her hand away and stood up, not staggering or looking like he was about to fall over. "See?" he said, his voice tinted with a growl. "I'm okay." He crossed his arms and glared at them, as if daring them to try and tell him otherwise.

"The most common lie known to mankind," Nate commented. "I'm okay." He tutted a bit. "You're obviously not. I suggest you sit and allow your friend to care for you. Not that I expect you to follow my suggestions, but even so."

"No, I agree with Nate." Werr frowned. "Sit down, Cynyr, please."

"Oh, leave him alone, master can do what he wants," Airlia pouted at them, moving closer and offering her hand to help support Cynyr.

Cynyr shook his head, glaring pointedly at Nate. "I'm not lying. I really am okay."

Welk rolled his eyes and said "Come ON, man! Have you even looked at yourself in a mirror lately? You look like you're gonna fall over at any second!"

Cynyr sighed, reaching up and rubbing his eyes for a moment, then said "I'm really fine, Welk. I don't know what came over me earlier, but I know that I'm okay now."

"I still don't believe you." Welk said, puffing his cheeks out stubbornly.

"I'm said I'm fine, you little pest!" Cynyr shouted at him, and Welk shrugged. "He's okay." he said, smiling slightly.

Cynyr snorted, then turned and said "Are we leaving soon or not? We can't stay here much longer."

"Er...right, well..." Werr said, somewhat confused. "Yes, we need to leave soon. But you need to know where we're planning to go, um...Welk said he'd explain..."

"We're going to the war zone, where Werr's father died, to look for clues." Nate said bluntly. "Welk and I have already agreed to go, now there's just you and Airlia left to decide."

"I'm staying with Cynyr," Airlia said at once. "He's my master. I have to."

Cynyr's jaw dropped open and he stared at Werr like the boy had suggested that the half-cat cut off his own tail. "What?" he said softly, glaring at them. "Please tell me you're joking."

"We're not joking." Welk said.

Cynyr snarled at him and said "Since when do you have the right to make such a huge decision?!"

"Since we got involved with all of this!" Welk answered. "I can make choices for myself, Cynyr, just like you can make choices for yourself! And I choose to stay with Werr. He's our friend, and I'm not gonna let him go into a war-zone without me. I won't leave him alone."

Cynyr's ears flattened, and Welk took refuge behind Werr in fear. "You can't be serious." the panther half-cat said. "A war-zone? That's basically suicide!"

((Without, Welk. I'm not gonna let him go into a war-zone WITHOUT me. Not with me, 'cuz then you'd be saying you didn't want to go. Haha.))

"I-I know, Cynyr, but...my father died because he had the same thing that my mother did. I have to find out what's going on, this isn't just a simple coincidence." Werr said, not looking up at Cynyr. "You don't have to come...I wouldn't blame you if you left, but...I'm asking because I need as much help as I can get."

((Oops. I fix that now.))

Cynyr glared at him, then said "Sorry Werr, but...I refuse to come with you. I've come along this whole way even when I didn't want to but...I can't do it anymore."

"Don't say that, Cynyr!" Welk cried, but Cynyr stopped him. "I didn't say you had to stay with me, Welk." the panther half-cat said. "You're right. You can make your own choices, just like I can make mine. And I've made mine. I'm not going."

Welk stared at him in shock for several seconds, then said "Please...? I don't...I don't want to leave you behind..."

"No." Cynyr answered firmly. "I'm not going into a war-zone. You...you don't understand what that means for me."

Werr was silent for a moment. "I understand, Cynyr. You're a mage, walking into a battlefield like that really would be suicide, for you. You don't have to come either, Welk. It's perfectly fine if you stay with your brother..." He sighed a bit, and stood. "I suppose this is where we part ways, then? It was a pleasure knowing you, Cynyr. I hope we meet again." He held out his hand to Cynyr, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I'm coming with you, Werr." Welk murmured, watching him and Cynyr sadly.

Cynyr stared at Werr's outstretched hand, not saying anything. He blinked a few times, his ears back, then looked away. "Yeah." he said softly. "I...hope we meet again too." He made no move to take the boy's hand, but he was unable to stop Welk from rushing over and hugging him tightly. "Are you sure you won't come with us?" the cat half-cat said sadly.

"Yes." Cynyr said, giving Welk a small hug.

Welk sniffled, then said "I love you..."

Cynyr didn't answer, and intead pulled away. He nodded over at Nate, ignoring Seria completely, then turned and left without another word.

((I suppose we just drop the two of them for now. But they'll be back, I know it. -gigglesnort-))

Airlia, cheerful despite the sad mood, waved at the others and turned to follow Cynyr. Werr sighed, watching the two of them leave. "We...we should head out, too. Nate, you know where the war-zone is, right?"

"Certainly." Nate replied flatly, unwavered by Werr's slightly upset tone.

"Right. I'll trust you to get us there." Werr nodded, turning and spotting Seria. "Er...I'm sorry, I never got your name..."

((Yep. Of course they will. ))

"Seria." the red-haired half-cat said. "My name is Seria."

Welk watched Cynyr and Airlia go until they were out of sight. Once they were gone, he sat down on a bed nearby and put his hands over his face, his ears back.

Seria looked sadly over at him and walked over, gently putting her arms around him. "Hey, it'll be okay." she said, and Welk nodded without removing his hands. "I k-know..." he said softly. Seria looked up at Werr and said "I'll come with you, if you like. Having a healer along could be valuable."

Werr smiled a bit. "Thank you, that answers my other question..."

"More than valuable, we'll have a definite advantage," Nate pointed out. "But you do realize that you might be in as much danger as Cynyr would be? While it's true that they likely won't kill you on the spot, if either side discovers your abilities, you'll likely be enslaved and forced to heal injured soldiers. I don't mean to scare you off, I'm just--"

"Stating fact." Werr looked away. "I was about to mention that myself, thank you, Nate."

"Naturally."

"Are you going to be okay, Welk?" Werr asked, looking down at his friend, the sadness in his eyes growing. He really needed to get his emotions back together...like Nate. Nate seemed as emotionless as a rock right now. Why can't I do the same? Werr asked himself silently. While he knew that bottling up one's emotions lead to stress-induced symptoms, Werr knew that he needed to be strong.

Mentally, anyways.

Seria shook her head. "I want to come." she said. "I don't care about the risks. I want to help, and I have ways of protecting myself from the enemy. I've stayed hidden from them for a long time anyways."

Welk shuddered, then pulled his hands away from his eyes. He had a few tears gathered, but he wouldn't let them fall. "I'll be okay." he said firmly, meaning it with everything he had.

Seria smiled and hugged him, then pulled back and stood up. "We'll be leaving soon, I assume." she said, transforming into her cat form for the first time. Her form was a cat, same as Welk, but she was a long-furred cat with blood-red fur. Her tail was several inches longer than Welk's, and she had creamy white fur along her neck and belly. Pretty tuffs of red fur stood out on the tips of her ears, and her bright blue eyes shone in the dim light. "I'm ready to go at any moment." she said softly.

"As soon as everyone's ready, I guess." Werr said, letting out yet another sigh.

Nate stood and crossed the room, grabbing his sword and strapping it to his waist. "I'm ready," He said, nodding once. "I must say, today is the most eventful day I've had in a long while. I'm pleased to have met you all."

"Jeez, you sound like we're all about to die or something." Werr frowned at him.

"Oh. Sorry." Nate chortled dryly at himself. "Even so, I'm happy to be joining you in your investigation."

Welk stood up and transformed as well, though he still looked extremely sad. He walked over to Werr and rubbed up against the boy's legs, rubbing the side of his head under the boy's hand. He glanced over at Nate and stared at him for a moment, then looked back down, staying near Werr.

Seria flicked her tail several times, simply waiting for the order to move out.