The Forgotten Zodiac

Nate had made an effort to conserve body heat. Mainly by covering himself in hay, though. As uncomfortable as it was, he could definitely feel that he was warming up a little bit faster. He still looked dreadful and desperate, moreso now that he was half-covered in hay and straw. Nate looked up as Luen walked into the alley. "What's going on? I heard screaming..."

Luen breathed hard for a moment, then said "Af...after you left...a shape-shifting woman...looking like you...c-came in, and S...Seria...hugged her, thinking she was you." He paused for a second, closing his eyes as he remember how sad Seria had looked, then continued. "T-the woman attacked her a...and Welk got so mad and...he...Welk's a fire mage. H-he burned most of the inn, but...but the crowd saw it and...they took him away." He panted hard for a moment, regaining his breath, then said "We're regrouping. We have to figure out how to help Welk."

Nate was quiet for a moment. "Wow...Welk, and...Seria hugged me? I mean, I know...it wasn't really me, but still..." He frowned, unhappy that all this had happened. "Look, none of this would have happened if I hadn't stormed out like that...sorry. Where are we going to hide?" He asked, quirking a brow. In a little village like this, there really couldn't be all that much to use as a hiding spot...

Luen nodded unhappily, then said "Nobody blames you. I think...more like sensed...that Seria's putting most of the blame on herself. She feels terrible for what she said to you, about your drinking habits." He sighed, then said "I actually don't know where we're going to hide. Seria and the others are finding a place. I'm just here to take you there, as I can follow them by scent."

"Well..." Nate sighed. "I guess I have to have a talk with her, then. Of course...we have to get to her first." He put his hands on the crate, dragging himself to his feet. Now that he was standing, he started shivering and was very unsteady on his feet. "Wh-where's Werr? He can help me walk...you've done enough, Luen."

Luen winced and said "He was knocked out by a guard that showed up when he tried to stop them from taking Welk. Seria has him at the moment." He hesitated, then finally let go of his fear of Nate and pushed right up against the dragonian, wrapping an arm around the older man's body and using the other to keep him upright. "I...I can still help you." he said, though he looked exhausted. "I have to, you see. There's no others around." Nate could feel the wolfling shaking, but no longer from fear at being near him. His body was dangerously close to giving out, and it suddenly hit Nate that the teenager hadn't had a proper meal since they had gotten the tracker out. He had mostly slept the entire trip, anyways, and none of them had wanted to wake him.

Luen flicked his ears and started helping Nate move forward.

Nate sighed, scratching the back of his neck. He moved forward with Luen, knowing that if the boy went down, they both would. There was nothing for it, though. They would just have to move forward together, and hope that the other wouldn't pass out. "So...which way did they go?" Nate asked several moments later, when they finally reached the road. This was going to be one hard walk...

Luen tilted his head back and took a deep breath in through his nose, then let it out and said "This way." He tilted his head to the left, then proceeded to help Nate move that way. Eventually, they came upon a small, abandoned home that looked like it hadn't been abandoned for very long. A few vines and grown up the sides of the walls, but other than that, it was intact. As they neared, they spotted Seria peering through a window at them, watching their approach silently. She refused to meet Nate's gaze, instead choosing to disappear into the house.

Nate and Luen made it to the doorway before Nate pulled away, using the wall to support himself. "Alright...I'll be okay from here. You go and try to find s-some food, okay?" He winced as he forced himself to move forward towards the window Seria had shown herself in. "Seria?" He called, not knowing which way she had gone. "Seria, whe--" He let out a yelp of pain as his legs gave out underneath him. He landed on the table, which mercifully supported his weight. He sat like that, his arms and torso on the table, his legs splayed out behind him, unsure of whether he'd be able to get up again or not.

Luen nodded, then moved off into the house.

When Nate fell against the table, Seria came in at his cry. Her eyes flickered up at him for a moment, but shot back down soon after, before Nate could hope to meet the intelligent gaze. She simply stood there for a moment longer, then finally moved forward, her ears back, and helped him into a chair nearby. As soon as he was stable, she darted back from him, once again keeping her distance. She again did not meet his eyes, though she would come close to it. Always, her gaze stopped when she came little more than a foot away from his face.

"S-Seria, stop that," Nate frowned at her, looking more upset than ever. "I'm not going t-to bite you or anything. And I can't breathe fire like this, I already tried...so there's no reason f-for you to avoid me like this, I..." He trailed off, thinking about what Luen had said. Did Seria really blame herself for this?

How stupid! And now she was skittering away from him like Luen had not so long ago! Nate bit back a foul word, letting out a heavy sigh. "Nevermind. Just...just..." He started, but couldn't think of anything to follow. So he left it at that, slumping in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Seria sighed, then said "I let down my walls once. I would be a fool to do it again." She turned and darted off into the house, leaving Nate alone. Only for a moment, it seemed.

Luen came back into the room, holding two apples in his hands and another in his mouth. He flicked his tail at Nate in greeting and sat down near the dragonian, now content to be around him. He set the two apples in his hand on the table, then lifted a hand to hold the apple in his mouth as he bit it. His sharp canine teeth made quick work of the apple, and by the way he devoured the other two in rapid succession, right down to the cores, it was obvious that he had literally been starving.

Nate watched Luen, thinking hard. It was difficult, though; the water that was still in his system was wreaking all sorts of havoc. The temperature between the water and his body wouldn't stay equal; his body needed more heat, so it set about making it, but the water kept stealing the energy from his system. There was no magic or anything to it, really. The water wanted to be the same temperature as its surroundings, but its surroundings didn't want to be the same as the water.

In short, Nate had a massive stomachache and it was getting to be terribly annoying. He couldn't think straight, really. And that was annoying, too...

Luen licked his lips lightly as he swallowed the last bit of apple, then politely wiped his mouth with a rag nearby. He folded the rag and set it down on the table, then glanced over at Nate and asked "Are you okay? You look...sick, to some extent. Shall I have another go at removing any cold from you?" He did look quite a bit more alive now that he had food in his system, but his thin body looked like it could barely keep him alive. It was a miracle he hadn't died somewhere along the rough journey. He folded his arms gently on the table, flinching as his burn-scars rubbed against the rough wood. The scars on his arms and legs were permanent and would never leave him, a token of his first encounter with Nate.

"I am sick," Nate sighed. "This is my equivalent of a human eating rotten food, unfortunately. I'll be okay, my temperature just has to get high enough now...I won't be moving much until it does. That wastes the heat that's trapped under me. You really have done enough now, Luen, thank you..." He thought for a moment, then asked, "So, you aren't afraid of me anymore?" The question slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. He looked away uncomfortably.

Luen blinked, mulling over the question, then smiled slightly and reached out to touch Nate's shoulder gently, bringing the dragonian's attention back around to him. "No, I'm not." he said softly. "I guess once I finally decided to touch you of my own accord, my fear just...went away. It was silly of me, actually. To fear you for this long." He scratched at his burns for a moment, then said "I suppose I just held back, but not fully because of you. Because I was afraid that you would bring me pain again. That you would leave more scars." He sighed, then said "Scars of the body may often heal, but I sometimes think mental scars are the worst. They last lifetimes. I'm just lucky I got over mine." He smiled, then said "So to answer your question simply; no, I'm not afraid of you anymore." He even, for the first time, wagged his tail.

Nate smiled a bit, though sadly. "I should probably have a word with Welk, too...fire is dangerous. Untameable, in the strictest sense. He can put it out, surely, but one cannot control flames with just a second of thought. Those burns were not meant for you, yet because Nelu avoided my attack, you are the one who bears them now." He eyed Luen's scars unhappily. "I've hurt so many others, innocent people, those who were my friends...I hurt them all with the flames that reside within me. They feared me...I hated it. I never meant to hurt anyone, I hardly even understood what I was doing...I never asked to be a Dragonian. Yet here I am, one of perhaps ten scattered among this world, traveling with a pack of illegial mages and a human on a quest to save the world. I know I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, but they're my mistakes. I wouldn't trade it for anything else." Nate was pretty much talking to himself now, his mind too waterlogged to keep it inside. Nate relaxed further in his chair, settling down to sleep. "Oh yeah..." He mumbled, looking back up at Luen. "How is Werr? Didn't he get knocked out? Is he okay?"

Luen smiled and rested his head on the table as Nate spoke. He listened to everything the dragon said with a tired yet kindly look in his eyes that had never been there before. He sighed quietly, then said "Werr is resting now. Seria healed him. There is no permanent damage, though we'll see about that when he wakes. Welk and him share a close bond. I doubt either of them will take well to the notion of being separated so violently. They keep each other strong. Like wind to a fire. Werr is Welk's wind, for without him the cat would burn out. Welk is Werr's flame, helping to keep away the darkness of his thoughts. Fire will not burn without wind, and what is wind without a flame to make grow?" He closed his eyes for a moment and took his wolf form at the table, resting his head on his patchy white paws.

"I see...that's an interesting way to put it. On the subject of Werr's thoughts, we'd better keep an eye on him. He might get a little depressed until we get Welk out of that jail." Nate sighed, closing his eyes. "Go eat more, Luen. I'll just sleep for now..." He did his best to smile, but the gesture of contentment wouldn't show on his face. He fell asleep a moment later.

Werr had been placed in a bed; the only one still here, apparently. He was sleeping still, though Diana and Forin were in the room, as well. Diana was watching him quietly, afraid that he wouldn't ever wake up. Irrational, certainly, but she was still young. Forin was watching in mild boredom, wondering how Werr's nightmares would taste. He didn't seem to be having any right now, though.

Luen nodded, then walked off to see if he could find something else to eat. Obviously, the wolfling could eat a lot, whether in human or wolf form. He turned into a wolf and padded into the room with Forin and the others, shyly glancing around. He spotted Diana and smiled slightly, but he did not wag his tail. That had been a one-time thing towards Nate. He moved over towards her, casting Forin a sideways glance, then laid down on the floor near the girl. He was in a much happier mood now that he had been able to fill his belly with real food, and it showed.

((We could switch over to Welk in a bit. He's literally flaming mad. We don't have to, though, if you don't want to.))