The Forgotten Zodiac

Nate was still for a moment.

No one in the room, not even Forin, expected what happened next. Nate grabbed Seria's arm and heaved her over himself, bringing her crashing down onto the table. The old wood shattered under the force, but Nate wasn't done there. He brought his foot down on her neck, holding her in place. "Well...that was easy." He said in a voice that wasn't his own, giggling a bit.

A flash of light, and Nate was no longer the one pinning Seria down; he had been replaced with a tall, thin and pale woman. Curly black hair was streaked with blues and reds, falling gracefully around a pretty face with cruel red eyes. Her clothes were similar to her hair; the dark gray tunic, white undershirt and black pants had red and blue ribbons in various places. Her shoes had pointed heels, which were now digging into Seria's neck painfully.

"Shapeshifter," Forin growled. How did he not see it, before? Good grief, they needed rest, not another fight...

((...................I KNEW IT!!!!

Even had a sentance ready to go out up here that said "This is really Nate, right?!" I thought against it and deleted it and DARN IT.))

Seria gasped, shocked tears budding in her eyes, embarrassment and shame hurting her nearly as much as the shoe digging into her neck. Her whole body started shaking as her tears grew until they were pouring down her cheeks. She closed her eyes, unwilling to keep them open any longer.

Luen had snapped awake at the sound of the table breaking. The ice mage had turned into a wolf and was bristled up, growling threateningly at the woman holding Seria down. Welk was also in animal form, snarling and ready to spring if he had to. "Let her go!" he shouted, tensing up.

((I'm such a troll. 8D

But I'll stick to my word. I'm in a good mood now. My big up-and-coming plot twist iiissssssss~

Nightlash. Is. Controlled. :3))

Werr was backed up against a wall by now, but that didn't stop him from asking questions. "Where's the real Nate?" He demanded. "And are you an Agent or something?"

"Hm? The Dragonian? Oh, I force-fed him a few cups of icy-cold water. As refreshing as I thought it was, he didn't seem to agree, sadly enough. He's in a crate that was in the alley back there. He's writhing in pain, probably." The woman said sweetly, as though this were a wonderful thing. "An agent of whom? King Asmodius? No, no, no. Well...yes. But I'm not doing this because I feel like it, you silly boy. He's paying me a lot of money to watch you lot."

"So...why are you attacking us?" Werr frowned, confused.

"I got bored." She shrugged. "You all move terribly slowly." She tutted, shaking her head. She did, however, draw a knife out from her sleeve, holding it over Seria's face with two fingers. "Let's not be hasty, now," She frowned at them.

((NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOO~!

Why?! Can I fix him?! If he dies, I will be so very very very very very sad/mad at you. > ))

Luen turned and darted out of the door of the inn immediately after he heard what the woman had done to Nate.

Welk snarled and risked a step closer, arching his back as he hiss-snarled at the woman. "Don't you dare hurt her!" he growled. "Just let her go! Or I'll...do something! I don't know what, but it'll be really bad." He snarled deeply and, for just a second, Werr could swear he saw...smoke? It looked like smoke had come out of Welk's mouth. Just a faint little puff, which was soon gone, but...still.

"Just let her go." Welk said again. "Don't hurt her."

((xDD He won't die! Jeez. He'll only die if he's continuously force-fed water for a day or so. Like this, he just has an agonizing stomach-ache and he can't breathe fire for several hours. We've gone over this, Trin, jeez. :T))

The woman grinned. "Like what? What will you do? Your other big fighter just ran to go tend to the fighter that I downed already." She snorted. "You're a weakling." She eyed Forin. "Don't want to play, Tartarus freak? Not intimidated?"

"Your attempts to gain a reaction from me are wasted." Forin stated bluntly, though Diana was tugging on his sleeve, pleading with him ever so quietly for him to do something. He was doing something, though; his legs were tensed, and his hand was subtly slipping into his bag, reaching for his little bag of nightmares. They'd be hard to clean up, but they would serve as an excellent diversion.

((We can cut to Nate and Luen once the fighting is ovah.))

((No, Nightlash, you goober.))

"I can do things!" Welk shouted, but he had to hesitate after a moment. What could he do? In human form or cat, he was, more or less, useless. Sure, he could fight in cat form, but what was the point in that? He wasn't very powerful or strong. Sure, he was big, but size was sometimes a burden. What could he do? Nothing, he realized. There was nothing he could do to help anyone, really. Not like Cynyr had been. Cynyr had been strong, been powerful, and been able to protect him and Werr so many times. Why couldn't he be like Cynyr? Was there nothing he could do? Nothing?!

Welk roared as anger filled him. "I am useless!" he thought. "I don't want to be useless! I want to be...a hero! That's what I had said before, to Werr! I refuse to be weak! I will not back down!" "I will fight!" the half-cat shouted, taking his human form.

A split second later, and the room was bathed in fire.

Welk stood in the center of a sweeping inferno, fire curling up his arms and legs...but not burning him.

Fire did not burn fire mages, after all.

((...:O))

((This is why I don't like to spoil things. :U

He might die. There's a chance, like I told you on the server. But nothing is set in stone until I've typed it and hit reply.))

At this, Forin promptly threw himself out the window, dragging Diana after him. They definitely weren't intending to stay in the room now that it was on fire. Werr, who was on the other side of the room, stumbled back into a corner and fell back onto his rear as the sudden heat washed over him. Flames separated him and Welk; he could only watch in horror as the shapeshifter flicked her blade around, throwing it at Welk's forehead.

((YYYYYOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

Werr is going to be even MORE depressed. 'Cuz now he's the only real weakling. Even AIRLIA does helpful stuff, but he can't. xDDD))

((BAH.))

Welk bent backwards with remarkable flexibility, narrowly dodging the blade, then twisted around in a tight circle, streams of fire jetting out of his hands. He himself didn't even seem to notice his newfound power. He snarled out violently and threw his hands forward, sending huge plumes of flames spiraling forward at the shape-shifter.

Seria took the opportunity to claw the woman's leg and roll away from her, darting out of the burning building.

Welk snarling again, sending tendrils of fire shooting out of his mouth, then spawned fireballs and threw them at the woman.

((I can explain! I've had this planned from the very beginning.

Poor Werr. ))

((I planned for Nate to be bad from the very beginning, too! I thought I would be NICE and put him under control, but nnnnnnoooooooo! >:T

Haha. I'm not mad. Just no more spoilers for you. Ever.

Yep, poor, poor Werr. He'll be more conflicted than ever...-plans something evil-))

The shapeshifter was engulfed in flames in mere seconds. She let out a scream that was cut short as the fire that had caught on her clothes and flesh devoured the oxygen around her, making it impossible for her to breath. She collapsed, writhing and gasping for breath. She finally fell still. The flames had completely taken over the inn by now, and Werr was finding it hard to breathe now. Problem was, the smoke was making it hard to see, but he could definitely make out the glow of flames in front of the window that Forin and Diana had gone through. That took out one option...the other was already out of the question. The door of the inn was completely covered in flames.

If Werr could hear outside, he would be able to hear the shouts of the villagers as they hurried to try and put the fires out. They were lining up with buckets of water, attempting to douse the flames before it spread to any of the other buildings.

((NOT MY NATEY-FROG!

Don't you dare do anything too bad to my Werr that I can't fix. Or I will be sad. Very very sad.

I'll allow the possible not-yet-decided abuse of Nightlash, but only because I care more about Werr and Nate.))

Welk panted for a second, sparks and smoke trailed out of his mouth, then turned and darted over to Werr amidst the flames engulfing the building. "Come on!" he said, coughing as he grabbed Werr's hand. "I can stop the fire!" He tugged the older boy up and pulled him towards the door, then paused and held a hand out to the flames. Instantly, the fire around the door dissipated, leaving plenty of room for Welk to pull his friend out. Once they were outside, Welk turned back to the burning building, staring up at the flames. He twisted around in a circle, closing his eyes, then wove one arm around in an intricate signal. He held that arm up a moment later, towards the burning building.

A few seconds later, all of the flames disappeared.

((Nightlash, I meant! Bad fingers, typing Nate. xD

No, Nate is not under control. Nightlash is.

And sure, Seria and Forin will be able to fix him. But I'm not telling what it'll be. :3))

There was silence for a long moment as the crowd of people watched the flames die down and stop altogether. The silence was broken by Airlia opening the charred door, coughing a bit. "Okay, where's Nate?! Why'd he set the inn on fire?" She demanded.

"It...wasn't Nate..." Werr shook his head.

"He's a mage!" Someone from the crowd gasped.

Meanwhile, Nate was still in a crate, tucked in the very back of the alley. The shape-shifter woman had broken his wine bottle (which was lying near a different crate), and had even set a heavy barrel on the lid of the crate, holding it closed.

((Ah.

As long as I can fix him completely, I'm okay with it. I don't care if bad things happen to the characters, as long as it can be fixed. Welk won't let him suffer for long, after all. He cares 'bout him, see.))

Luen dashed around the corner in wolf form, panting slightly from all of the fear and movement he had had to force his exhausted body to do. His sensitive canine nose quickly picked up Nate's scent, leading him to the crate the dragonian was in. "Nate?" the wolfling called, putting his furry shoulder against the barrel and pushing. He strained hard for a few minutes, but eventually managed to push the barrel off. He panted for a moment, then turned into a human and pried the lid off of the crate. "Nate?" he asked again, quickly reaching in and, though he struggled, managed to pull the dragonian out of the box. He, being an ice mage, could feel the cold water inside of the dragon's normally warm body. "Oh dear..." he murmured, holding a hand over Nate's stomach. He could help the dragon, but it would cost him much precious energy. Being an ice mage, he could pull all of the cold out of the water and into himself, where it wouldn't hurt anyone. It would leave the water warm, almost hot, especially if Luen pulled all of the coldness out of it. The ice mage concentrated and absorbed the cold of the water inside of the dragonian, then pulled back after a moment, panting as frost formed on his arms.

((Haha. I have a feeling you care about him, too. xDD))

Nate groaned. He was pale and barely conscious. His internal temperature had dropped drastically since the cold water had been allowed to settle, and that was what hurt him so. He gurgled weakly, apparently trying to speak. It was several moments before he tried again. "Heat," He managed to murmur. "More..." His trembling hand grabbed Luen's fingers loosely, trying to pull it towards his chest. If his dragon-like heart got too cold, that would be fatal. Nate knew that he wasn't near cold enough yet, but he was in pain that he didn't want to be in.

((YES. YES I DO. ♥))

Luen nodded, looking upset at his own weakness, then forced himself to pull the cold out of the dragonian's entire body. It was clearly hard on him, almost pushing him into unconsciousness, but he fought past it and managed to return the dragonian's body temperature to a normal level. He couldn't get it all the way up, but he did return it a level that would be normal for a regular human. He hoped that Nate could go the rest of the way himself, but if that proved to be too difficult for him, Luen would have to do it. Now, frost had covered Luen's arms from his wrists to his shoulders, and it was creeping down his back. He was not able to feel the cold, but shivers still ran down his body from exhaustion.

Nate relaxed once he was a little warmer. He was able to roll over, grabbing some hay from the overturned box he had been in. He coughed, apparently trying to breathe fire; all that he got were dead sparks. He groaned and pushed himself into a sitting position. "Thank you...go see what's going on...with the others, I'll...stay here and...heat myself up." He said, waving his hand at Luen.

((Haha.))

Luen nodded, then stood up, the frost on his arms and back cracking sharply as he moved. He leaned against the wall for a moment, then turned into a wolf and ran back the way he had come. He returned just in time to hear the person from the crowd shout "He's a mage!" The wolfling came to a sudden stop, but he soon realized they weren't talking about him.

Welk snapped his head around to stare at the person that had shouted, then said "Mage? What..." He froze and stared down at his hands, then up at the burned building. "I...I'm a mage? But...how?! I didn't...I don't..." He stared in horror at the building he had set ablaze, then back down at his hands. He concentrated and was shocked to see fire flicker on his fingers. He turned in such deep sadness to stare at Werr, the one person he had left from their original group of three. "Werr..." he squeaked, tears brimming and dripping down his cheeks. He looked like he was going to fall over, his legs shaking badly.

Werr shook his head again, not sure what to say or do. The crowds were murmuring amongst themselves. They parted as a large armored soldier stomped their way. "What is going on here?" He ordered.

"That kid is a mage!" The crowd roared.

"Arrest him!"

"Yeah, mages only cause trouble!" The villagers started pressing in, surrounding Welk and Werr, though they were trying to pull the human away from the half-cat.

"Get your hands off of me!" Werr snapped at the villagers, smacking their hands away from Welk. "And him! Leave us alone!" He spun around to face the soldier and was met with the butt of the guy's sword. Werr collapsed into a heap, blood spilling out of his nose. He struggled to stay conscious, reaching towards Welk as the half-cat was grabbed from behind. "L-leave him...alone..."

He dropped unconscious, though his last thoughts were mainly wondering where the others were.

Welk screamed as he was grabbed, struggling to get free. "Stop! Stop it!" he shouted, fighting to get back to Werr. "I didn't do anything! We were the ones that were attacked! It was in self defense!" Flames erupted from his hands without him meaning for it to happen, singeing whoever was holding him. "Ahh!" Welk cried out as the flames ripped forcefully from his body, but he quickly got them under control. Barely. "We didn't do anything!" he shouted. "I swear! If I wanted to hurt anyone, I would have already done it!" He screamed the last part, still quivering from the shock of finding out that he was a mage.

Luen, still near the alley, quickly backed out of sight. He knew, as much as it pained him to know this, that there was nothing he could do for the fire mage half-cat right now. His only hope was that the people wouldn't hurt him and would just hold him somewhere. At least then they could think of a plan to get him out.

Seria, watching from a roof nearby with Airlia, also thought these things. All they could do was wait and hope for a situation that fell in their favor.

Forin was watching from one of the alleys, knowing that there was nothing that could be done. Not yet. Werr was down, Nate was incapacitated, and the rest of them were useless against crowds like these. Diana tugged on his sleeve, but the creature of Tartarus only shook his head at her, motioning for silence. She was a witch; if they found Forin now and recognized the emblem of Tartarus on his forehead and cloak, they would take Diana, too.

Diana could only watch as Welk was knocked out and dragged off, the villager who had been burned screaming about it now. "He already hurt me! Lock him up!"

The crowd quickly moved off down the other side of the hill, apparently where they had their jail. They left Werr lying in the dust with a bleeding lump on his temple.

Once the crowd was gone, Seria leapt down from the roof and turned into a human, hurrying forward and scooping Werr into her arms. She glanced around and spotted Luen, who quickly crept over to her. "Where's Nate?" Seria asked him.

"He's okay." Luen said. He flicked his tail back at the alley he had come from. "He's back there. What do we do?"

"Go tell Nate what happened." Seria said. "We'll take refuge somewhere safe. You'll be able to track us by scent. We'll figure out how to help Welk then." She turned and motioned to Airlia and Forin with her tail, then trotted off to find a place to hide.

Luen turned and raced back towards where he had found Nate, already trying to think of how he was going to explain everything to the dragonian.