The Forgotten Zodiac

"M-my hero," Werr coughed, hugging his chest. He leaned against the tree for support, coughing again. "Th-thanks, but...you couldn't have stopped th-them before...before th-the brainless brawn cracked a ri-rib?" He wheezed, trembling a bit from the pain of it. "I th-think my rules need revised..." He mumbled, mostly to himself. He then stumbled forward and put his shoe on Elo's chest. "R-right then! Take th-that lesson to...to heart! Co-contradictions...are t-terrible things." He coughed again, staggering back to lean on the tree again. He was pretty badly disoriented, apparently. He got his thoughts in order, shaking his head to be rid of his dazed state.

Cynyr rolled his eyes. "First of all, I didn't notice that you both were in such deep trouble until only a short while ago. Since you seemed to have forgotten, I was on the other side of the field. I only noticed you morons when I got up to go inside."

He turned his attention to Welk for a few seconds, but didn't say anything. Welk lowered his head shamefully, digging the toe of one boot into the ground nervously. Elo and Dru slowly staggered up and quickly turned tail and ran away, casting the three boys suspicious glances and scared looks. "W-we're gonna g-get you back f-for that!" Elo shouted. "Y-you better watch your b-back, Half-cat! You're gonna p-pay for hurting me!" Then both of the brutes fled inside the school.

Cynyr's only reply was a soft snort. "Pitiful." he remarked, then glanced over at Werr. "Hmph. Doubly pitiful." He then promptly walked off and left them alone, opening one of his books and reading through it as he headed inside.

Welk sighed, then walked over to Werr and said "Come on. You should probably go see the school nurse. You look pretty bad."

"Thanks a-anyways," Werr waved his hand at Cynyr's back, wincing badly at the simple movement. "Heh...yeah, I am pr-pretty pitiful like...like this..." He listened to Welk and nodded. "Nurse sounds good. H-help me get there?" He asked, looking up at Welk. "Although...I don't need a do-doctor as much as those two, huh? But wait...w-won't they run there? We shoul-should avoid them...I'll b-be fine, I just need to re-rest..." He struggled to sit down, still hugging his chest.

Welk rolled his eyes. "Come on, get up!" He bent down and took Werr's arms, helping the other boy stand. "Those losers never go to the school nurse for anything. They think it doesn't make them look 'cool'." He wrapped Werr's right arm around his shoulders and proceeded to help the boy walk. "They'll cry and whine over their injuries until they get home, where they'll take care of themselves. It's what they always do in the rare instances that they get hurt."

((We're probably going to time skip soon to the next day, again during school. I'll do the time skip this time, at some point.))

((You sure we're not moving too fast?))

"Oh. Fine..." Werr managed to somewhat walk with Welk's help. "You didn't...get hurt, did you?" He remembered to ask, wincing with each footfall. "That Elo has a heck of a kick, I'll give...h-him that..."

((No, we're not. And I said the time skip would be soon, not just yet. I was just warning you.))

Welk laughed, but quickly winced. "Dru didn't hurt me as bad as Elo hurt you. Dru just stepped on me." He rubbed his free hand across his shirt, wincing at the soreness he felt. "Well, I know that's gonna bruise..." he commented, frowning. "Ow." He looked at Werr and asked "How good do you think they got you? Can you tell if anything's bad or not? You look bad..."

((Oh. Okay.))

"I f-felt it. He cracked a rib...and...I'm definitely going to bruise." Werr nodded. "I th-think I'm going to keep my mouth shut n-next time. Despite Elo's same-sentence c-contradictions." He smiled a little in light of his injuries. Werr was smart, yes, but he lacked wisdom when it came to situations like those. A wiser person would have either fought back (as Werr most certainly could have) or kept their mouth shut, but...well, despite his constant calm and intelligent demeanor, Werr was a bit foolish and reckless, as so blatantly exampled in the events of a few minutes ago.

"Yeah." Welk said, laughing a little despite the fact that it hurt to do so. "Most of the people around here know that if they talk back to those guys, they're putting a death sentence over their heads. Nobody ever sticks up for anyone else around here. They're all too scared." He smiled. "Good thing Cynyr came by, or those brutes could've killed you. They've done that before."

He frowned. "They once beat a kid so hard that he died. Right there on the school grounds. Nobody moved to stop it. They just let him die." He shook his head. "I didn't know the kid, and I wasn't around to watch it. I had been inside, so I didn't hear about it until later..."

"Really..." Werr looked down in thought. "I suppose no teachers w-were around to...save the kid, either..." He said, now even more grateful that Cynyr had stepped in. Werr had underestimated how far Elo would go, apparently. He'd be much more careful next time. Although, now that he thought about it. Cynyr might be the one in more danger when those boys returned for payback...Werr dismissed the thought. The way Cynyr had handled himself today, Werr had no doubts that the half-cat would be fine.

"No." Welk said. "They made sure to pick the fight during lunch, when most of the teachers were inside having their own lunches. Elo's always been mean. There's a bunch of bullies around school, but he's the worse one of them all. He's like their leader or something. Dru's his right-hand man."

They reached the steps of the school and made their way up into the building. "I wish I was stronger." Welk said. "If I was stronger, I could, you know, help everyone that Elo tries to push around. I could protect them. I don't like being the little guy that can't help anybody. I want to be a hero!"

Werr couldn't help but laugh a little bit at this, though he cut it short, as it hurt pretty badly do laugh. "A hero? Go-good luck with that one...heroes get hurt, Welk. Like it or not, tho-those who decide to be heroes...those are the ones who get ki-killed the easiest. It's better to just keep your head down and hide while you can." He shook his head. "T-trust me."

Welk stared at him for a few seconds, a slightly confused and sad look on his face. He blinked, then turned his gaze down to the ground, thinking about what Werr had just said. "Well..." he finally said. "...I still want to be a hero. Or to meet a real hero. It would be so neat if I could come face to face with someone like that."

He sighed. "And...I know heroes get hurt. That's their job. They fight for others and protect people. Right?" He looked questioningly up at Werr, waiting for his answer.

Werr listened for a moment, then sighed. "Yes, they fight for those t-too weak to fight for themselves. There isn't anything I can do to stop you, but I'm not...going to follow you down that p-path. Giving my life up for strangers and...and getting injured for the 'gre-greater good' isn't something I'll ever do...I've got t-too much to worry about already. If it comes down to someone hurting my fr-friends or family...y-yeah, I'll step in, but strangers...that's a di-different story." He looked down, then realized they had arrived at the nurse's office. "O-oh, we're here. Thank goodness..." He huffed, though not letting go of Welk.

Welk went silent after Werr spoke. "Yeah." he finally said. "I guess you're right." He shrugged, then led Werr inside. Once Werr was sitting down in a chair, Welk took his leave. "I better get back to class." he said. "The nurse'll take care of you. The teachers will understand your absence if I explain what happened." He turned and trotted over to the door, then paused. "I'll see you later, okay? And remember, you promised that you would come out to the forest with me after school!" He grinned, and it was clear that he had already bounced back from his moment of sadness. "Well, if you're too hurt to come with me, I guess I can understand that." He flicked his tail, then said "Bye!" and ran out.

Werr watched him leave, smiling all the while. A hero, eh? "Have fun with that, kid." Werr couldn't help but chortle to himself, closing his eyes to wait on the nurse. Not that he doubted Welk would have fun. The half-cat could probably have fun doing anything.

((Time skip now.))

The next day found Welk sitting next to Werr during lunch, chattering to the other boy. Werr was still recovering from his injuries, but he was better than the day before. Welk had gone back to his own house yesterday night, but he hadn't yet made up with Cynyr. They had choosen to sit inside this time, deciding that it might be safer than going outside again.

Cynyr was currently sitting by himself at one of the tables, reading through his books. Neither Welk nor Werr had seen him eat anything, but they had to assume that he had eaten something. Just not where anyone could see him.

"Man, did you see the teacher's face when I answered his question today?" Welk was saying excitedly to Werr. "When he asked "What is one of the biggest objects known to man?" and I answered "Must be your bald spot, 'cus that thing's HUGE.", his whole face turned red." The Half-cat laughed, his tail flipping around behind him.

"I'm pretty sure everyone saw that, Welk," Werr chuckled, nodding as he picked at his steamed cabbage and mystery mash. It was a cafeteria lunch, and it tasted a bit like wet boot.  "And I was going to say the sun, but I'm not sure which answer I prefer." He laughed, ignoring the dull pain still clinging to his chest. His ribs weren't cracked, thankfully, but they still hurt pretty badly. "That definitely went into my new journal, too." He smiled, pulling out a small, blue notebook. "I've started recording things I learn about you and Cynyr, and about things we've been doing together. I hope you don't mind, I can stop if you want me to, but this is just how I keep my thoughts organized..." He said quickly, realizing how odd it might seem, someone writing down everything about someone else.

"Really? Cool!" Welk said, grinning at Werr. "I've never had someone write stuff about me before! That's neat." He turned and forked a bite of food into his mouth, then, once he swallowed, looked back at his friend. "Don't tell Cynyr you're writing about him. He'll make you get rid of the stuff with him in it." He ate another bite, then asked "What have you wrote about us? Or more specifically, me." He smiled, curling his tail around to rest it in his lap.

"So you don't mind? Wonderful." Werr smiled, and nodded. "I won't if you don't. So far, I've written about how we met, what both of you look like and that you aren't brothers, but orphaned friends. I have as much as I remember from you telling me about yourself. I've also written about Cynyr saving us yesterday, not that I'll forget that anytime soon. Apart from that, not much. Yet." He flicked through his notebook for a moment, then nodded. "You're a good friend, Welk. That's written in here, too. I had nearly forgotten what it was like to have friends." He smiled happily, closing his book.

Welk opened his mouth in a slight smile and tilted his head a little to the right. "You really think that?" he asked, grinning. "Awesome! You're a good friend too, Werr." He glanced around, then said "Actually, besides Cynyr, you're my only friend. I have people I 'know', but they're not my friends. You're different, and I like you." He smiled and flicked Werr lightly with his tail. "I'm glad I know you." he said genuinely, then returned to putting food into his body. He didn't seem to care in anyway what he was eating, so long as he was eating something.