The Forgotten Zodiac

"Worry not, miss," Nate said quietly. "I'm sure Welk will choose what's best for the both of you. Now then, I do need to purchase two more masks..." He looked over and picked up two, seemingly at random (though he had been choosing while they had talked). He handed over the money and turned to walk away. "Come on, Welk, let's give these to our newest friends. Although, you may want to go after Werr, I have no idea where he went. You know him better than I do, you would probably be able to locate him faster."

"Werr?" Welk immediately said, glancing around sharply. "I didn't even notice..." He quickly turned to run off and paused, then looked back at Briana, who was staring at him sadly. "I'll come back!" Welk said, flicking his tail. "I just have to find my friend."

"I understand." Briana said, nodding slightly. "Go. I'm sure we'll see each other again really soon."

Welk smiled, then raced off. Once he was gone, Briana turned to Nate and said "I don't know how this happened, but I hope you understand that now that I've found my son, I don't intend on letting him leave me again." She didn't say this threateningly. Just softly and full of emotion.

"Fate works in very unusual manners," Nate said quietly, his voice just as stony as ever. "And I doubt you would be capable of stopping him, should he decide upon staying with us. To be fair, I should warn you that things will get uncomfortably warm, should you decide to deter our journey." With that, he turned on heel, disappearing into the morning bustle.

Werr shuffled his foot on the dirty ground, not paying attention to where he was going. An obvious violation of rule ten, he told himself silently, but he pushed away the thought. It didn't really matter, this place was fairly peaceful.

Werr, however, stopped in his tracks, feeling someone grab the back of his coat's collar. "That's a fine coat you have there," A voice growled threateningly. A boy who looked a bit older than Werr stepped into the alley on the other end.

"Look at what the cat dragged in," The boy chuckled, pushing a blond lock behind his ear. "Looks like some fancy out-of-towner. We don't take well to strangers around here, do we, Blunt?"

"We don't," The larger boy behind Werr growled, shaking him by the collar. "Especially not ones that waltz onto our turf."

"Walking," Werr mumbled.

"What?" The blond-haired boy sneered. "Speak up, brat."

"I was walking, not waltzing. Waltzing generally involves music." Werr said, a little louder.

He found himself face-down in the dust, the back of his head throbbing. Werr managed to get to his hands and knees before he was wrenched up by the hair and punched in the face.

((...I got bored.

Dun find him yet, I had a bad day and I want to beat him up more. xD))

((BUT...BUT MY WERR. Fine, but my next post saves.))

Welk trotted through the streets of the town, trying to track down his best friend. "Werr?" he called, flicking his ears up to listen for an answer. Nothing. Welk sighed and turned into a cat, deciding to track his friend by scent. Unfortunately, Werr's unique scent was lost in the muddle of a thousand other scents all mixed together into a mass. Hundreds of people had walked these streets, were still walking these streets. It would be hard for Welk to find Werr, but he wouldn't stop looking for him. Welk set his jaw and ran off at a gallop, pausing every once in a while to call for his friend.

Werr hit the ground again, his mind fuzzily wondering why he was putting up with this. If he really tried, he could probably put both of them out with a well-placed punch, but he didn't think he would have the strength to do that twice. Might as well try...Werr climbed to his feet, still feeling the back of his head aching with every heartbeat. He moved unsteadily, taking a step towards the blond-haired jerk and aiming a fist at his neck.

Werr found his arm twisted up behind his back next, and he let out a screech of pain. His punch had easily been caught... "I should break your wrist for that. Or maybe cut off your fingers?" Werr jerked as he saw the glint of a silver blade. "Nah...that would get blood on that pretty coat of yours. What animal is the collar made out of? Cat?"

Werr didn't answer, and this made the boy angry. He kicked Werr in the back and then dragged him up again, locking his arm around Werr's neck. Werr gagged (or attempted to) as he felt his air supply being cut short. "Won't matter when I sell it, will it?" The kid laughed, Blunt laughing with him. Werr felt the blade touching his neck, and he was unsure of whether his throat had been cut open already or not. He could definitely feel the larger man tearing his coat off of his shoulders, though. Werr struggled weakly, though he could see a fuzziness settling around the corners of his vision. His coat was the last thing he had left of his mother; she made it for him one cold winter, in spite of her madness. He didn't know what the collar was made from, but he knew that he wasn't about to let the coat go.

"INTERRUPTION!" a voice suddenly shouted, and Welk dropped down from a nearby roof, landing right on Blunt. "You half-hearted, slimy jerks!" he shouted, digging his claws ferociously into Blunt's body. He bounced backwards, snarling and hissing madly. "You idiots!" he growled, quickly scurrying around to knock the other boy away from Werr. "I could kill you both right now, I'm so mad!" he snarled, arching his back slightly with all of his fur puffed out and his tail twitching. "How dare you bozos hurt my friend!" he shouted, pressing close to Werr defensively. "Idiots!"

Blunt screamed and was knocked backwards by Welk jumping off of him. The blond-haired one looked shocked. They were already backing away, having no intentions of being mauled by a large cat. The blond-haired one didn't have his knife anymore, though.

Werr was dimly aware of the fact that he still couldn't breathe. He could feel blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth. The blade slid out of his throat, clattering to the ground. Werr grabbed onto Welk's fur, apparently trying to pull himself onto his friend's back, but his grip went limp as he teetered sideways, slipping into unconsciousness.

((Yeah, I had a really bad day yesterday.

Sorry 'bout that. ._.))

Welk threw the two retreating boys a horrible glare, then whipped around and grabbed onto the collar of Werr's coat (for he had come in time to stop the two from taking it), then pulled the boy up onto his back. He spat at the two other boys as he passed them, growling "If I ever catch you two around me or ANY of my friends ever again, I'll kill you both and leave your carcasses for the birds!" Then he sped away, racing through the streets without so much as a backward glance.

He made it back to the inn and raced inside without pause, already shouting for Seria. The female half-cat was reading in the living room, but she jumped up at the first call of her name. She raced over and spotted Werr, then quickly pulled the boy off of Welk's back and into her arms. She didn't bother moving to another spot. She proceeded to heal him right there and then. She didn't have another option. They were lucky that the blade hadn't gone deep enough to slit his throat all the way.

Welk hovered nearby, fidgeting from paw to paw and generally being extremely concerned.

Werr took in a shuddering breath as the cut sealed itself. He gasped and sat bolt upright with a startled cry, blinking rapidly as he realized he was no longer in danger. He spotted Welk and immediately wrapped his arms around the half-cat's neck, trying not to cry.

"Well," Forin commented, watching them all from a distance, Diana safely behind him again. "Looks like someone had an adventure."

"I was right about one thing," Nate chortled. "He certainly attracts trouble."

"You two aren't helping," Airlia frowned at them. "Werr? Are you okay?"

"T-thanks to Welk..." Werr's voice was muffled as he pressed his face into his friend's fur.

((Pfwhoo. My actionz created more drama. -shakes fist-))

Welk wrapped one paw around Werr, tilting his ears back sadly. He tucked his nose between Werr's neck and shoulder, already creating a reassuring purr. Cats sometimes purred during stressful or frightening times, either to comfort themselves or others, and this was no exception. Welk also suddenly felt like crying, but for a few different reasons. First, he had been really frightened for Werr. He had thought that he might lose his friend, and that scared him greatly.

Second, he realized that he had been leaning towards choosing to stay with his mother.

He didn't know what to do now. He wanted so badly to be with his mother, a person he had always dreamed of being with, but he also wanted to stay with his best friend. Welk was torn between the two, but right now, he pushed those thoughts away. Right now, he was with Werr. He would make the decision later.

Werr listened to Welk's purr, allowing it to calm him down. His breath grew steadier quickly, and he realized that he had been trembling, as he stopped now. "Thank you, Welk...I...they would have killed me..."

"I didn't expect you to run off and get mugged," Nate sighed. "I suppose I'm a little at fault..." He stopped as Werr turned his head to glare at him. Nate just shrugged and turned away.

Werr swallowed and came to a decision. The decision that his opinion didn't matter. "Welk...I'm glad you found your mother, a-and I want you to know that it's okay with me if you want to stay with her." He sniffed, scratching Welk behind the ears. "I think I'll be alright, so long as I don't run off on my own again, a-and..." He trailed off, leaning his head against Welk's shoulder again. "It's your choice, not mine...don't worry about me, okay?"

Welk pulled his nose away from Werr and rested his head on the boy's shoulder. "Okay..." he said softly. "I know. But I'll never stop worrying about you. Friends are supposed to worry about each other. Duh. If I didn't worry about you, something would be wrong with me." He fluffed out his blonde fur, then let it lay flat, though he was still a little ruffled over the previous events. He thought it over for a bit, then said "Hey, why don't we go out and enjoy this festival thingy? It's why we bought those masks, anyways! What do you say? We'll have a great time!" His purred grew a bit louder as he regained some of his boundless energy.

Werr smiled, wiping his eyes to make sure he hadn't been crying or anything. He nodded and climbed to his feet. "Alright then. Nate, where are the masks?"

"Over there," Nate waved a hand to the table they had eaten on. The dishes had been moved and replaced with all of the masks. "Go on then, take your pick."

"Ohh," Airlia breathed, moving closer. She picked up a simple white one with gold-colored trim and yellow feathers. "I call this one!"

Welk turned back into a human and ran over, quickly latching onto the first mask he saw that he liked. "Look at this one!" he exclaimed, holding up a red and gold mask that was chiseled and painted to look like flames. "It has fire! I like fire." he said, then put it on and ran over to a mirror to look at himself. "Hot dog!" he said happily, flipping his tail a few times.

Luen, who had been dozing off in a chair in the living room, came in and picked out a simple silver and blue mask with a few white feathers added to it. He put it on his face without a word, a little glad that it covered the dark circles under his eyes fairly well.

Seria found a forest green mask with curls chiseled into it, along with several gemstones and green feathers. She put it on, smiling over at Welk, who was still examining his masked image in the mirror.

"I'm sure you'll be saying differently if you were in Luen's position, but no matter," Nate shrugged. He picked up a completely white mask with a crook nose, setting it on his face with a smile. He pulled up the hood of his cloak to complete the look. He then apparently realized something and took off the mask, picking a black and white half-mask instead. When Airlia looked at him in confusion, he shrugged. "I can't drink if that thing is on my face."

Forin picked up the crook nose mask instead, though he looked a bit hesitant about putting it on. Diana grabbed a pink mask with glitters on it, rushing to the mirror to see how it looked. She squealed in delight and danced around Forin happily, rather excited.

Werr (after cleaning the blood off of himself) scooped up the last mask, a light brown mask with pointed ears similar to that of a cat's. It matched the furry hood of his coat, and the ears were amusing, considering his company. "Right then, it's time for some fun," He grinned, nodding as he pushed the thoughts of earlier behind him. No need to drag around burdening unhappiness during a festival.

"Awesome, Werr!" Welk exclaimed, trotting over. "You look cool in that mask!" He hugged his best friend, then said "I'm heading out. Come on, Werr! You're with me!" He grabbed his friend's hand and almost dragged him to the door, extremely excited.

"Slow down, Welk." Seria said, giving him a slight look. "You'll run out of energy if you go crazy like that." They both stared at each other for a long moment, then Welk said "Are you serious?"

"No, I guess not." Seria said with a smile. "I'm not sure if someone like you can run out of energy."

"You got that right!" the blonde half-cat said, flicking his tail around rapidly. He let go of Werr's hand and ran out the door, calling "Come on, you guys are all so SLOOOOOOW."

"W-well, hang on," Werr yelped. "Er...maybe we should just split up, instead of all of us trying to keep up with Welk..."

"I would concur, but the attack on you not so long ago..." Nate frowned. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"I'll be with Welk, it's fine," Werr frowned right back.

"I still object. Welk will be unable to protect you properly should it come down to more than just thugs on the side of a road."

"I'll come with you." Luen suggested, taking a step forward. "Also...I...have something I would like to discuss with you, Werr. It..." He glanced over at the others for a moment, then said, in a quieter tone, "...it's important."

Welk stuck his head back in and moaned "Are you guys EVER going to move? Come oooooooooon."

Werr looked to Nate for approval. Nate sighed and nodded. "Very well then. Here," Nate pulled a few coins out of his pocket and handed them to Werr. "For food, and whatever else you find to spend it on." He waved his hand at them, and Werr nodded, hurrying out.

Nate looked at Forin and Diana. "You two probably don't want to be separated," He frowned a bit, reaching into his pockets for more. Forin, however, raised a hand in protest.

"I have no need for your money," Forin shook his head.

"Yeah, Forin has this neat trick that he does with rocks!" Diana giggled. "He can turn them into pure gold, but only for a little bit. He fools money-changers with it. We have plenty, don't you worry!"

"Refrain from advertising such skills so loosely, mistress," Forin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Seria smiled and slowly held up her hand to Diana, making sure to keep it a short distance away from the girl. "That's an amazing skill, but Nate's right. If people hear you talking about something like that so freely, they'll think badly of you and your friend." She said. She flexed her fingers slightly, then asked "Would you like to hold my hand? If you don't want to, you don't have to. I'll understand. You could still hold Forin's hand as well, though. I wouldn't make you let go of him."