The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr smiled and scratched Welk behind the ears again. "Yeah, don't worry. We'll find him. Hey, maybe you can find a quiet place and have a wrestle with Nate. Once we get to Kash, though, we can't afford to waste anymore time."

Welk smiled and said "Sounds like a plan. And...thanks for being my friend, Werr. Also, I kind of noticed that Cynyr was starting to warm up to you too. And that's hard to make happen, so you must be special somehow." He smiled, curling his tail around Werr's leg. "I'm sure he'll be okay on his own for a while longer. We've gotta get to that war-zone first, of course! We're kicking that place's butt!" He laughed, then went silent.

Werr laughed, smiling at Welk's joke. Nate, however, didn't quite get that the half-cat was joking. "I don't think we should try to fight anyone," He said quietly, frowning slightly. "The sooner we leave there, the better. I have no idea how you were intending to get in to search for clues, but the fact of the matter is, once you get in...it's a little difficult to get out, I should thing."

Welk stared at him for a moment, then said "Learn what a joke is, dude."

Seria glanced at him, then said "Nate's right, though. We'll have to be extremely careful and cautious once we arrive at the war-zone. If we make a wrong move, it could spell disaster...and death for us all."

Luen shuddered and paled, which was a lot considering how pale he normally was. "The war-zone? I had no idea you all were heading there..." he said, glancing around in worry.

"I thought we mentioned that...sorry." Werr glanced towards Luen. "You...don't have to come?"

"There, there. We'll think of a plan before going anywhere." Nate tutted. "We have a while yet before we arrive anywhere near the war zone. Why don't we start thinking now? No time like the present, after all."

Luen was quiet for a moment, then he said "No, I'll come with you. You all are my only hope for friendly companionship. If my sister catches me..." He shuddered, then said "A plan is a good idea. Definitely."

Seria nodded, then said "We'll probably have to sneak onto the field. We should try to avoid anyone we encounter, which might be harder than you think. Emotion can make even the most hardened person lay down their defenses. You can't stop and try to help someone, as it could cost you your life and the lives of your friends."

"Very well then," Nate nodded curtly. "I understand, Seria." He glanced at the others, his eyes settling on Werr for a moment. The boy was on a mission. Though he might have to be reminded of it, Werr would logically turn away from a tricky situation if it meant he could further his investigation rather than deter it. Furthermore, the boy used to have emotional blockages, as far as Nate could tell.

Luen and Seria were of no concern to him, of course. Airlia and Welk, however, concerned Nate greatly in this regard. They were children. Children were known for high emotions at time, if nothing else. Bringing them along was dangerous and quite foolish, in Nate's personal opinion, but he didn't suppose it would matter much to Werr. Werr would likely insist upon Welk coming along, but Airlia...

Not that Airlia could go anywhere else, for that matter.

Seria smiled faintly at Nate, then concentrated on walking.

Once they were out of Ulles, Luen transformed into a wolf and stayed in that form for a while. Welk stared at him, trying to stop his fur from bristling. It was a well known fact that half-cats and wolflings almost never got along. The relationship between the cats and the wolves was stressed and tense, since cats and dogs didn't get along naturally anyways. Welk sighed, mulling Luen over in his mind. He seemed honest to a fault and weak, to Welk. The cat half-cat wouldn't be surprised if Luen didn't make it through the entire trip. Personally, Welk wondered if he would even care if Luen died somewhere along the way. He shook himself, knowing that that was an extremely mean and terrible thing to think.

Werr pushed forward a bit and switched sides so that he was between Luen and Welk. It would probably be suicide should either of them decide to attack, but perhaps it would help Welk calm down a bit.

Nate was still considering things. "Werr, do you know the exact location of the place your father went on his...rampage?"

"Yeah," Werr blinked, recalling what his father had stated in previous letters. "Seventh batallion, posted north of the Ruins of Hierves."

"Ruins of Hierves, huh?" Nate's frown deepened. "That's dangerously close to the sixth unit. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been taken already..."

Welk smiled up at Werr, then threw Luen a nasty look. The mage wolfling flinched at that, wondering what he had done wrong.

Seria peered up at Nate through her bright blue eyes and said "Ruins of Hierves? Hmm. This might be more dangerous than I thought..."

"Indeed. Werr, what all were in these ruins? Why are they ruins now?" Nate asked, curious.

Werr dug into his bag and pulled out his father's adventuring book again. "They belonged to an ancient sky people. Legend has it that the entire castle one day just fell out of the sky. No explanation whatsoever. The place is crumbling now, of course, and only a few rooms are intact."

Welk's ears perked up when Werr took out the book. He watched his friend read, then frowned. "Since when does a castle just fall out of the sky? Plunk, there's a castle! It just doesn't work like that."

Luen turned to him and innocently said "Many things work in odd ways. You would be surprised at what can happen when you least expect it."

Welk hissed at him, startling the wolfling, then went back to walking.

Seria glared at him, then said "I have heard many tales of those ruins, none of them good."

"Yeah...apparently, when it was first discovered, it was full of booby traps and treasures of all sorts. Now it's just ruins, though..." Werr scanned the page for anything else. He closed the book, putting it away again. "It's alright, Welk, I'm sure there wasn't such a thing as a flying castle of any sort. Besides, the thing was discovered over a hundred years ago. It's probably just a myth for it to be flying or anything."

Welk got a blank look on his face for a moment, then burst out laughing. "I'm picturing a huge castle with a gigantic pair of wings flying around through the air! Bwahahaha!" he said, giggling.

Seria smiled slightly and giggled, unable to stop herself from picturing it once Welk described it.

Luen paused and thought about it, then said "I don't get it."

"It could have just been built on flightrock," Airlia huffed at them. Werr, who had been about to laugh himself, stopped and looked at her in curiosity.

"What's that?" Werr asked, frowning slightly.

"Flightrock? Flying rocks. Mages used them sometimes in potions, the powder of it has plenty of magical properties. I think a collection of them given enough power would be enough to lift an entire castle...but yeah, it would go down eventually, if the rocks are never given anymore power." She answered in one breath.

"Flying rocks?" Welk said, staring at her. "Now I've heard of everything..."

Seria turned to him and said "They're real. Most certainly. Granted, I haven't seen any since the downfall of the mages and witches, but I know the rocks were real."

"Sure." Welk answered, more focused on trying to trap a ladybug (alive) under his paw than on what Seria was saying.

Luen watched him for a moment, then said "Oh, let the poor thing go, please."

Welk glared hard at him, then lifted his paw from the ladybug and let it fly away. He muttered something that probably wasn't nice under his breath, then kept walking.

((Okay, I've been stewing over what to do in the next town, and would it be alright if I kidnapped Seria in the middle of the night? You'll see why, and I won't hurt her (probably). :3))

"That sounds incredible..." Werr said quietly, shaking his head in amazement. He didn't notice Welk and the ladybug, but Airlia did.

"No, come back!" She squeaked at the bug, taking off after it. She returned not a moment later, though, not wanting to stray too far from the group regardless of how much she had wanted the little bug.

((Also, we might be due for a timeskipz.))

((Sure. I don't mind. >:3 ))

Welk frowned at her, then asked "Why did you want the bug so badly? It was just a ladybug. It's not like it was magic or anything."

"You never know." Luen said.

"Shut up, fur face. Nobody asked you." Welk snapped, and Luen looked taken aback.

((Okays.))

((8D))

"It was pretty," Airlia pouted. She hovered above the ground for awhile before starting to walk again.

They walked without any other real incidents. It was nearing sunset, and everyone was clearly growing weary from the walk. "Worry not," Nate spoke at last, finally breaking the silence. "Kash is just over this next hill. We're lucky to have made it in time."

"Really? Great!" Welk said, charging forward even though he was as tired as the others were. He bounded up the hall and stared over it at the town ahead, smiling. "Cool." he said quietly, then sat down and waited for the others to catch up to him.

Luen walked stiffly, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted. His burns had just begun to heal, so they still hurt quite a lot. None of the fur on those parts of his body would grow back for a long time. He still had all of the fur on his tail and head, however, and on some parts of his back, sides and neck. Just not a lot left on his legs.