The Forgotten Zodiac

Forin slashed through the wind bursts easily, laughing again. He lunged forward once more, his claws extended towards Cynyr's side.

Werr was conscious. Barely. Blood was spreading in a deep ring on his shirt, halfway down his upper arm. The bone had been broken so violently that it had broken through skin from the inside out. To make matters worse, Werr was gasping for air and felt lightheaded; the pain of his arm, in addition to three broken ribs, had violently bludgeoned the oxygen out of his lungs and it was making it hard to breathe properly. If he could have breathed properly, he probably would have screamed all the air out of his lungs anyways, though.

Diana looked pale and felt cold; she wasn't dying, but her energy was being drained so quickly that her body was forcing her into unconsciousness so it could give up more.

((Oi, Jag, it would pay to listen to Obelisk sometimes, y'know?))

Seria raced forward to Werr, desperately placing hands on his chest to starting healing him. Welk was freaking out and Seria couldn't get him away from Werr even if she tried.

Cynyr lunged back again, roaring furiously. He moved to generate massive tornados, but his attack was cut off by another attack from Forin, the fastest one yet. Forin's claws tore easily into the half-cats side, making him cry out in pain as he was flung backwards quite a ways. He landed brutally, but he got up again to try and defend against the next attack, though it would've been useless. When Forin moved to attack him again, however, something leapt in the way of his attack, shouting at him.

"Stop!"

Thunk.

Forin's claws ripped easily through Luen's frail body, tearing through him like he was made of wet paper.

The wolfling held tightly to the thick claws that had stabbed through his abdomen, coughing as blood rushed up his throat and out of his mouth. "F...Forin..." he stammered, shaking badly. He looked up at the creature of Tartarus, pain and tears evident in his soft eyes. "S-stop..." he moaned quietly. "Please...j-just..." He gasped, blood gushing from his mouth. "...stop..." he whispered, blacking out seconds later. He went limp, sagging against the claws impaling him.

((If that doesn't snap Forin out of it, I seriously have no idea whatsoever for what to do. I also have no idea how to kill Gurushi. -shrug-))

((...close enough. I meant by my last hint that Jag should threaten Diana and order Forin to stop. And he would. But this works, I suppose.

Gurushi cannot be defeated at this point in time, but he thinks Luen is dead now, which would complete one reason for coming. thus enabling him to return to the palace without getting punished.))

Forin reverted to his usual self at once, his fingers still in Luen's gut. He swore. "Luen...why would you do that...?" He questioned, though he knew that he would get no response. He gently lowered Luen to the ground, easing his hand away from the wound. He then turned and screamed at apparently nothing; "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He roared angrily, staggering and clutching his head in both hands, despite the blood. He sank to his knees, still holding his head, shaking badly.

Werr saw all this and, in spite of his pain, grabbed Seria's hand and stopped the healing spell. "N-no...help Luen..." He panted, barely capable of spluttering out the words. He meant them, though.

((Okay then. -still thinking about letting Luen die for real-))

Seria looked fearful, but she pulled back from Werr nonetheless. "I...I'll be back." she told him, trying to sound like she knew what she was doing even though she was very scared. She rushed over to Luen and plunged her hands into his stomach, activating her strongest spells in effort to repair his destroyed organs. Several long, tense seconds passed by, seconds during which Luen's blood soaked the ground. He had just recovered from severe blood loss from before, too...

Seria was panting soon, getting low on energy. Then Luen started to convulse. Seria quickly snatched a bloodied hand out of the wolfling's body and cradled his head with her arm, using a separate spell to attempt to stop the convulsions. It didn't work. They dulled, but the poor wolfling's body continued to spasm and twitch violently.

((>:C

You can if you want to. I can't stop you. But if you do, Diana will cry and Forin will go into depression because he caused great sadness in the very person he was meant to protect and make happy.

Also, Forin is an angry-depressed kind of guy.

Also, this is a stupid way for him to die.

-grumbles-))

Werr relaxed, but started pushing Welk away, as well. "Energy...to Ser-Seria..." He spluttered before going limp. His breathing had settled since Seria's first dose of healing, but he was still in pain. But he didn't care; Luen was gravely injured.

"Oh!" Airlia moved forward, remembering what they had done before. "Yes, come on, Welk," She pulled on the half-cat's sleeve, biting her lip with worry. "We can help!"

Forin had stumbled away from Luen, spewing out all sorts of what sounded like gibberish at apparently himself. His own power had been drained from the transformation, and he considered himself fortunate that Diana was unconscious. For her to see what had happened, well...

((Also, wouldn't Cynyr be mad about being attacked and such?))

((._.

Yes, he will be. He's currently trying to figure out what just happened. Dark magic dulling his mind and all that.))

Welk didn't want to leave Werr, but he forced himself up and over to Seria. He didn't want Luen to die, and he was certain that Werr would be okay for a while. He had to clap a hand over his mouth when he neared Luen, however.

The wolfling was still having convulsions, but they were weak and faint. His skin was drained of any and all color, except for the blood splattered across him. Dark red blood was gushing from his mouth, but the flow was starting to lessen, and not because of Seria's healing spells. Because his body was running out of blood. Seria had repaired two organs by now, but there were at least three left, not to mention closing the hole itself. "Someone get me my bag!" she snapped.

Surprisingly, Jag was the first one to reach it. He turned into a gryphon and snatched the bag up in his beak, then rushed it over to her.

Seria took it from him without hesitating and dug through it, pulling out a long, thin tube with needles attached to both ends. "I need to give him blood." she said. "I've been trained in this. He will die if he doesn't get more blood into his body. This isn't like the first time. Then, he still had enough blood to function. Now, I know he doesn't have enough."

((Sorry. xD Like I said, it's your choice.

Well, Forin is open for attack, being weakened and such. :T

Also, I hope Seria is an O positive. Or Luen is an AB. One of the two.))

"Less talking, more doing," Forin growled. Airlia didn't stop at the sight of Luen like Welk had; rather, she pulled the half-cat closer so she could reach Seria, grabbing onto Welk's hand and putting her other on Seria's shoulder. At once, she started pushing Welk's seemingly boundless energy into Seria, though she was stripping away the magical attributes of Welk's energy and putting on her own. Putting fire magic into a healer was bad. One could never mix different magic energies, the result was almost always death. But Airlia knew what she was doing, and the transfer was taking place as quickly as she could manage it.

((Seria can turn the blood into the same type as Luen's. She has to be able to, for instances where she needs to give someone blood and there's only one other person around and they don't have the same type. She'll put a spell on the needle going into the person giving blood and it will change the blood as it comes out.))

Welk held still as Airlia stripped away his energy, watching nervously. He was scared. He had no idea why Forin had suddenly gone crazy, but it had been terrifying. Since Forin seemed back to normal, however, Welk wasn't afraid of him. He was now scared in general for Werr and Luen, the latter being more concerned over.

Cynyr had slowly gotten up in human form, wincing and holding the three slash marks on his left side. He didn't remember how he had gotten the marks already. All he knew was that he was really, really mad. But he couldn't remember who to be mad at. So he settled for standing there and glaring at them all.

Seria didn't notice him for the time being. "Nate?" she called, glancing around for the dragonian. "Come here, now!"

((Good to see that you've thought about it. xDD))

There was silence for a long moment. "He went hunting..." Forin sighed, glancing sideways at Cynyr. He looked up again as there was the sound of heavy footsteps on the path; Nate was running towards them at full speed, carrying what looked like three dead rabbits. He slid to a stop, breathing hard.

"I smelled the blood and--skies above, what happened here?!" He demanded, blinking in bewilderment at all of them.

Seria ripped her hand away from Luen's abdomen and activated a glowing, ball-shaped spell that she literally threw at Nate. It hit him square in the face, but there wasn't an actual hit. It dissolved as soon as it reached him, sinking into his mind. Like she had done before with Werr, the spell gave Nate a brief flash of Seria's memories, so he knew what was going on without having to have a lot of explaining. The memory flash hadn't shown him everything, of course. Just enough. He would have to be brought up to date later, once things had settled down.

If they didn't have to bury Luen first.

"He's dying!" Seria exclaimed. "Nate, get over here! I need to give Luen some of your blood and get over here now!!" She shouted the last part, feeling Luen slip further and further away with every second that passed by. His convulsions were slowing as he died little by little. The only thing that had prevented his death from already happening was Seria's spell on his head, which was locking his soul into his body for as long as it could. It cost a lot of energy to do this spell, and Seria barely had enough to keep going, even with Welk giving his energy.

"Right!" Nate ran forward and grabbed the proper end of the needle, pushing it into the vien in the inner part of his elbow. Most people would go for the wrist, but his vein (like anyone else's with a human-like frame) was stronger at that spot than the wrist. He settled down next to Luen, looking worried. He also cast a few glares in Forin's direction, and softer glances at Werr, who was being watched over by a horrified-looking Lily. She was standing nearby, ready to help if asked, but she was indeed terrified. Of course, she couldn't look at Werr without her eyes trailing to the bone that was quite clearly visible through his skin. He was silent in spite of his pain, not wanting to distract Seria from her task of saving Luen.

Seria kept her hand on Luen's head and moved her other one over to Nate's arm, where he had put the needle in. She activated a spell that would stay right on the needle, which would change Nate's blood into the correct type for Luen's body as it came out. She quickly picked up the other end of the blood transferring line and stuck the needle into Luen's arm, barely getting it in right. She was shaking and it was hard for her to get it in with only one hand, but she managed to do it well enough. Almost immediately, Nate's blood began pouring down the thin tube and into Luen's body. Slowly, the blood flowing from Luen's mouth and stomach began to increase.

Seria threw all of her efforts into closing the wolfling's abdomen up, then. With Welk's energy, she managed to reform Luen's damaged organs and was able to set about closing the wound. This was actually the hard part, as Luen's skin was ripped open, not just in front, but through his back as well. Seria' had to close his back wound with her hand through his body, from the inside, then close it all up. By this time, she was exhausted. When she finally closed the wound on Luen's stomach, it left a long, wide, jagged mass of crudely healed-over skin that would scar badly. The female half-cat couldn't stop there, however. She then put all of her concentration on the blood flowing into Luen's body, putting both hands on the tube that was warm with blood and making sure that it was the right type for the wolfling.

Nate sat and waited, patiently watching his blood flow from his veins and into Luen. And flow. And flow some more. It seemed like forever he was sitting there, before he finally started to look a little worn down. He looked around at this point; Airlia was still working steadily, Forin had crawled as close as he could manage to Diana before he ran out of the energy required to move his limbs again, and Werr was on the verge of passing out. The only thing keeping him awake was the fact that he was mumbling an entire conversation to himself, not allowing himself to slow down or ease up on the pressure he had placed around the bone that jutted out from his arm. He had to stop the bleeding, of course...

Finally, Seria pulled the needle from Nate's arm and used a small spell to heal the spot that was left, then did the same for Luen's arm. "There's nothing more I can do." she said curtly, standing up. Luen's blood dripped down her arms, falling to splatter on the already red ground. His blood had soaked her clothes, permanently staining them as red as the half-cat's hair. She absorbed more of the energy Airlia gave her from Welk, watching Luen as his convulsions finally stopped. He was still hovering on death's doorstep, barely having enough blood in him to power his body. Nate had given a lot, but Luen had lost a lot. What Nate had given was now the only thing keeping Luen alive.

Seria moved over to Werr and touched the boy gently on the shoulder, moving her hands to his arm. She to hold of his wrist on that arm and, before he could do anything, pulled as hard as she could. She literally yanked the bone back into his arm, being too exhausted to do it gently. She didn't have the energy to dull pain, so it obviously hurt a great deal. She clasped her hands over Werr's arm, at the spot of the break, then forced the bones back together and starting healing it, which took away a bit of the pain.

Werr screamed nevertheless, but he did his best not to fight back. He dug his fingers into the dirt, shuddering a bit as the break was healed. After the bone was healed, he pushed her away again, though he was still bleeding. The wound wasn't too bad, though. "That's enough...don't use anymore of your magic. Even with Welk's energy, yo-you'll kill yourself. Don't kill yourself over me, I'm not worth it. Just...it's okay to fix it without magic. Right?"

((Soooo...Cynyr forgot? xDD))

((Yes. The dark magic inside of him is making him lose his memories in effort to reform a new consciousness inside of him, crafting him into a new person. The dark magic is destroying his mind and making one of its own with his body as its own. His old self is still buried inside, as we've seen parts of, but its getting harder and harder for him to break back through the blockade of the dark magic. Soon, he won't be able to break through at all.))

Seria knocked his hands away, saying "If you want to lose the use of your arm, then fine, I'll fix it without magic. I won't kill myself. Welk's energy is more than enough for a simple healing like this. Luen was the tough part, and he's still as good as dead." She was snappish with exhaustion, but she got right back to healing the boy's arm muscles, which was done in about ten seconds. "There." she said, standing up. "I healed your ribs earlier, before you pushed me away before. Just lay there and rest." She moved towards Cynyr, who was still clutching the slashes in his side. "Cynyr?" she said as she neared him.

He didn't respond.

"Cynyr?" she tried a little louder.

He snarled in her direction, saying "What could you possibly want?"

"Just to heal you, jerk." she snapped.

"Take your powers to someone who cares." he growled, stalking away from her. "I don't want your powers on my body." The edges of his ragged overcoat flapped behind him as he stalked off to be alone.

((Cool. xDD Yaaay for dark magi--oh. -cough- Bad. Boo. -shiftyeyes-))

Werr frowned, but sat still and did as he was told. "Welk?" He called weakly, feeling tired from what blood he had lost, though it was nothing compared to Luen's losses. Airlia flew off with her bucket again, apparently to get water to clean up the blood off of people.

Nate put together a fire and started cooking the rabbits he had caught, questioning no one yet. They all still seemed to be in more or less shock, but he couldn't help but ask, "Er, Forin..."

"What?" The creature responded, having just managed to slide down into the riverbed and curl up next to Diana.

"Why exactly did you, um...do that?"

Forin sighed. "The monster that attacked us in the ruins was following us. He's gone now, I don't sense him anymore, but...he's a creature of dark magic. I am a creature of shadow magic. They're so similar, he had remote access to my mind. He was..." Forin paused, wondering how to word it without giving anything that didn't need to be given. "He was giving me reasons to attack. He pinpointed my weaknesses, driving me to...that. I...well...if you want to punish me, I make no objections. Do what you see fit, but harm not my mistress. She did nothing, obviously."

((Bad Bun. Cynyr is one of my favorites. -stare-))

Welk immediately hurried to Werr's side, turning into a cat and crouching down near him. "I'm here." he said, trying to sound reassuring but just ending up sounding scared. He pressed against the boy and started running his sandpapery tongue over the side of the boy's face and across his forehead, calming them both with the soft, loving little licks.

Seria looked over at Forin, listening to his explanation. "No, Forin." she said gently. "We won't harm you for something you didn't intentionally do. You might've meant to do it at the time, but it wasn't your own doings, one way or another. It's alright." She nodded slightly, then moved over to Luen to check on him.

His heartbeat was weak and faint in his chest when the half-cat bent down to listen to it. His chest barely rose and fell with enough breath to sustain his body. Seria pulled back, shaking her head slightly in sorrow, then scooped Luen up into her arms, moving him away from the blood-soaked ground he had been laying on. She moved him over near Forin and Diana, laying him gently on his right side near them, but still about a foot away from Forin. "Don't touch him." she warned. "Unless you can be very, very soft. It was risky for me to even move him. If you have to touch him, be as gentle as you can, please." She then moved away and leaned against a tree to wait for Airlia to return with the water.

((Well, Luen is one of MY favorites. o3o))

Werr relaxed quickly, eventually falling asleep despite the licking.

Forin seemed mildly surprised about the no-punishment part, but he said nothing. "Very well then," He shifted to sit on Diana's other side, not wanting to hurt Luen any more, whether on purpose or accident. Diana was still asleep, and she probably would be for awhile. Forin's transformations required a lot of energy, and he hadn't unlocked his true self to the point where he could sustain it on his own.

That would have been fatal to everyone here.

((Fine, I won't kill him.))

Cynyr stalked back into the camp in human form, moving over to sit by himself.

Seria looked over at him and, in shock, realized that his wounds were mostly healed. She blinked, wondering how that could've happened without her help. She knew he was no healer. She shrugged, then turned away.

Jag, sitting nearby with Lily again, pulled out his violin and started to play it. It was a soft, haunted melody that wafted through the air. He closed his eyes as he played, giving himself over to his other-worldly music. The sad, quiet music floated across the wind, making it easy to hear, yet at the same time, they had to strain to hear it. It was some of the weirdest and most peaceful music Seria had ever heard in her life.