The Forgotten Zodiac

((That'll happen to Nate, Welk, Werr and most importantly, Airlia. Since you said that. :T

Also, Forin and Diana are outside, not inside. 'Out into the open'?))

"Go back in for him, then!" Forin growled. "I'm staying out here. I know what that thing is...and he can't be in sunlight. We'll be safe out here..." He kept Diana behind him though, just in case.

Meanwhile, inside, Gurushi had made enough room to push past the icicles. He tore the lock off of the door, watching in his usual silence as it swung creakily open. Diana Harelt was no longer in the building, but there were others...

((Okaaaaaay. :3

I will be fixing that post, then.))

"No." Seria said. "I don't dare set foot in that place again. It goes deeper than I thought it would. I would most likely get lost. Our only hope is that the others can find their way out themselves. If they don't surface for a while, we will go back in. For now, I pray for something, anything, that can help them."

She had no idea that help was coming, in the most unlikely of forms.

*

Welk panted, glancing around at the ruins surrounding him. "Where did the others go?" he asked, feeling like he, Werr, Airlia and Nate were walking in circles. "They just ran off and left us." He clung to Werr, fearful of losing his friend somewhere in the ruins.

"I don't know..." Werr said, and jumped when a sudden groan sounded behind them. He turned, seeing a man wearing all black stumbling towards them, looking hurt. He sank to his knees a little ways away, breathing heavily. "W-whoa now," Werr moved forward to help the man. He looked old and injured, so why not?

Of course, he had no idea...

((Let him grab Welk? :T Or Airlia, at leastz.))

((Welk, since it's my turn to post and if I don't, it'll basically be a dead post. :/))

Welk moved forward in concern as well, but screamed sharply when the man suddenly lunged up and grabbed him. Welk struggled against him, but it was a failed attempt at getting loose. "Let me go!" he shouted, flicking his short, ravaged tail frantically. He snarl-hissed in a cat-like manner which was more lion-like than a regular cat. "Let go!" he shouted again, but of course, it had no effect on the man.

((-totally didn't plan that at all-

-is bad at being subtle with sarcasm-))

Welk was lucky that he was grabbed where he had been grabbed; the cloth of his shirt protected him from direct contact with Gurushi's exposed right hand, which would cause incredible pain.

"Put him down!" Werr shouted at once, having no idea what else he could do.

"I will not," Gurushi's strange voice stated quietly. Werr felt chills run up his back at the sound of it. "An untained fire mage...master will be pleased. If I cannot get to Diana Harelt, then you shall be a suitable replacement..."

((Bun, your sarcasm is so serious that I did not know it was sarcasm. This is your fault.))

Welk quickly shot fire from every inch of his body, putting one leg up against Gurushi's body and pushing against him as hard as he could. Finally, he broke out of the hold on him and tore off down into the ruins in cat form, fire licking the walls as it burned moss and other plants growing on the stones. "Come on!" he shouted back at the others, pausing to push under Airlia so the girl ended up on his back. "We gotta get away from him!"

((And they get trapped. Dead end, no way out. And then the roof rips off. o3o ))

Nate followed, not having expected any of this to start happening. Gurushi whisked the fire off of his clothes and started to follow, his cold eyes collowing their every movement, even after they rounded the corner.

"Wait, we're going the wrong wa--!" Werr started to shout, but stopped as he spotted a set of doors just up ahead. Did they lead to the outside, by any chance? Werr ran ahead, slamming into the doors. He yanked them open to reveal nothing but a stone wall. This door had been blocked off for awhile now, apparently.

"Oh no..." Airlia looked back the way they came. There were no other doors along this hallway.

Gurushi rounded the corner, his gait akin to that of a simple man out for nothing but a pleasant stroll.

Welk froze, sliding to a halt behind Werr. He turned around to face Gurushi, his fur bristling all along his back. He hissed darkly, but somehow knew that they wouldn't be a match for the man. Creature. Whatever he was. Welk wasn't sure. All he knew was that they were most likely going to die here. He couldn't think of anything to do to get out.

((Just dragging out the tension. xD Next post, Cynyr's back.))

Gurushi seemed to be smiling underneath the mask. "I admit, you took me by surprise...but you have cornered yourself." He approached, and Werr could feel panic welling up within him, more with every step that Gurushi took.

((Yoooouuuu.))

That was when the entire stone roof above them was ripped completely from the walls.

Welk yelped in terror at the loud sounds of the ruins splitting apart at the seams, crouching low to the ground to avoid falling chunks of debris and rocks. He heard wind rushing as the roof was flung off, and the half-cat quickly glanced up to see what was happening.

Two huge twin tornados were tearing the ruins to pieces, ripping the entire place down to ground level. The massive gusts of wind billowed near each other, darkening the sky. Luen, in a different part of the ruins, yelped and grabbed onto a huge chunk of rock to prevent himself from being tossed around by the wind.

Gurushi, however, was the target of these winds.

Tendrils of pure wind wrapped around his body, yanking him up into the sky. The winds reared back, then flung the man as far as they could throw him. There was little to no chance that he would survive the impact of landing. After that, the winds slowed to a gentle, constant breeze.

Welk blinked as sunlight shone through the ravaged ruins, of which barely even the walls had been left behind. One particularly tall chunk of the wall remained, however. Welk coughed, shaking his head, then paused. A scent drifted to him on the wind. His eyes widened. That scent and that one alone was enough to make his heart skip a beat and to make him freeze completely. He snapped his gaze up to the top of the last piece of wall left in the ruins, his eyes darting straight to the one being standing there of its precipice.

Cynyr.

He had returned.

((Oh, he survived. xDD Don't you worry. The sun will do a good deal of damage to him, though. :3))

"Cynyr?" Werr blinked in confusion. Was that really him? Surely it was possible, but...why?

"Master!" Airlia gasped, beaming in delight.

"Good timing," Nate snorted a bit.

"Cynyr!" Welk shouted, bouncing up and down in utter delight. "Cynyr! You...you came back! I-is it really you?! How?! Where did you go? How did you find us? When-"

Cynyr leapt down from the top of the wall, saying "Over-excited as usual, eh Welk? Do us all a favor and shut up."

Welk smiled widely at that. "It is you." he said softly. He let Airlia off and turned into a human, racing forward to hug Cynyr as tightly as he could.

Cynyr let out an 'oof' as he was tackled, then simply stared at Welk for a moment. Finally, the panther half-cat put his arms around Welk in return.

Welk was crying softly, his eyes pressed closed. "It's you." he whimpered. "I missed you so much..." He pulled back, grinning up at his brother, then suddenly frowned and backed up a pace. He finally got a good, close look at the other half-cat.

Cynyr looked terrible.

His hair was ragged and unkempt, as if he hadn't taken the time to dutifully brush it out like he used to do. His black outfit was torn and the edges were nothing more than shreds, though there was still enough to completely cover him. He had dark black bags under his eyes and he was much, much skinner than the last time they had seen him. The fur on his tail was patchy, and every time he flicked it, strands of his thick black fur fell off.

Welk stared at him in horror for a long moment, then looked up at him and whisperingly asked "What happened to you?"

"Master, are you okay? You don't look okay...should I get you anything? Water, food? We have food, a friend of ours, um...bought some," She reached into her bag, pulling out one of the bread loaves she had saved. "Should I go get water?" She asked, tilting her head a little one way. Nate had to be honest; that was the most talkative she had been since Cynyr left. Of course, this was all she knew; how to be a dutiful servant. It was a bit sad, but Nate said nothing of it. Airlia was smiling again, so there was no need to say anything.

Cynyr shook his head, carefully pushing Welk away. "No, Airlia. I don't need anything." he said.

"Are you kidding me?" Welk said. "When's the last time you looked at yourself in a reflective surface? You look horrible!"

Cynyr snorted, then said "I could care less what I look like." He then turned his gaze on Werr, staring straight at the boy with his sun-yellow eyes. He walked over to him and paused in front of him, tilting his head back slightly to study him. "Nice scars." he commented, glancing at the three claw marks across Werr's right cheek from when Cynyr had hit him by accident. Cynyr blinked at him, then said "Werr. I believe I owe you a handshake, since I didn't return the one you offered at our last encounter." He held out his gloved hand, though the glove was so torn that it barely covered the skin of his hands anymore.

Welk frowned a little, but said nothing. Cynyr was acting a little odd, but Welk didn't care. The point was that the older half-cat was back, which was enough to put Welk back into his old, cheery self.

Werr blinked, and smiled a bit. "Sure, why not?" He said, taking Cynyr's hand and giving it a small shake. Airlia, in the meantime, put away the bread, now intending to save it for when Cynyr was hungry next.

"What a wonderful reunion, but we should try and find the others. Forin probably already left the place with Diana, and who knows where Seria and Luen went." Nate sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

Cynyr turned and fixed the dragonian with a strange glare then sent chills up his spine. "I have never liked you." he stated flatly. "I doubt I ever will." He turned on his heel and walked off in the direction he knew the others were in, pointing with one hand in a certain direction. "Your friend, Luen Faolin, is that way. Seria and the ones known as Diana Harelt and Forin are this way." He tilted his head forward, then walked off in that direction, lifting a hand and absently creating a small cyclone in his hand.

Welk and Airlia both scurried after him, unwilling to let him leave their sight.

"Feh," Nate made a face at that.

"Don't worry," Werr smiled a bit, before moving after the others. "He's just a bit grumpy right now, maybe. Let's go get the others, and we can keep moving."

Cynyr stalked over towards Seria, Forin and Diana, limping slightly as he walked, though he himself didn't seem to notice it.

Seria was glancing around, trying to figure out where the tornadoes had come from and where the others were. When she saw Cynyr striding towards them, her jaw dropped open slightly, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She blinked a few times, then turned into a human and simply stood there, watching him walk over.

He paused in front of her, yellow eyes meeting blue, then said "Oh. It's you."

Seria immediately blushed angrily at hearing the words that she had said to him when he had first come to get her. She glanced up at him, a hint of sadness in her eyes as she studied him. "What happened to you?" she asked softly, staring at his ragged appearance.

"Nothing that would concern you." he answered, then glared over at Forin and Diana. "Hm. A witch and a summoned creature. Interesting."

((Cool~! BUN I MISS YOU SO MUCH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA. TT~TT

I think we should stick with these for a little longer, since we just got Cynyr back. He's gonna be acting really strange, obviously to us who know what's wrong. And Forin can't know what's behind the mask. Nobody but Seria does.))

Cynyr stared at Forin hatefully. It was a strange glare that was full of loathing and anger, something not even Welk had ever seen Cynyr have so much of. He had never been this hateful before. Yes, he had been grumpy and mean, but this was out and out 'I hate your guts and want you to die in the most painful way known to all life'. It gave Welk an odd feeling in his chest, but he pushed it away.

Cynyr blinked once as Airlia spoke to him, then looked over at her with a little less hate in his eyes. But only a little. The seething glare was still there, simply dulled. "Yes." he said. "I need some water, if you can manage that."