The Forgotten Zodiac

((Where, not were. -OCD-))

Nate grinned and settled back to watch the four people dancing. Forin, who had crept a bit closer since the foul note, kept his eyes locked on Diana and Luen, who were stumbling around and grinning happily regardless. Nate, however, found his eyes straying constantly to Seria and Cynyr; Cynyr was a much better dancer than he, Nate easily observed. Seria was flawless with her following, and the two of them together were like magic. As if they had rehearsed this.

((Eh?))

It was obvious that they hadn't rehearsed it, however. Cynyr had only been back for a short while, after all, and he had broken up their relationship years ago. It would seem like they were meant to be together, but something about Cynyr kept pulling him away from her. Something that Welk was positive had something to do with what was under the older half-cat's mask. It had to be. There was no other option! They made the perfect pair. What could've caused Cynyr to break up with her? Welk shook his head, wishing he knew, then was drawn back to watching them.

Then something happened that ruined the evening.

Cynyr had been perfectly fine up until now. He hadn't said anything since intervening between Nate and Seria, but he hadn't needed to. Then, when Seria leaned closer to rest her head against his shoulder, it happened.

Cynyr's eyes fogged over completely and he suddenly tore back from Seria, shouting "Get away from me! Stop it! I don't want anything to do with you!" He clutched his head tightly in his hands, his entire body shaking badly, then blinked when he realized what he had said. He glanced over at Seria.

Tears were pouring down her cheeks, welling up in her beautiful eyes. She stared at him for a moment longer, then broke down into soft sobs, his words ringing in her ears.

((Your previous post. The first sentence, you missed the 'h' in 'where'.))

Nate was quick to get back on his feet, gently pulling Seria away from Cynyr. "You make that very obvious, don't you? And if you can't have her, no one can, is that how it is?" He frowned angrily. He had grown a little attached to Seria, it was quite true, and having someone like Cynyr make her cry so easily, well...

Not that he had feelings for Seria in the way Seria felt for Cynyr. But he was mad, and mad dragons had a tenancy to be...well...mad dragons. Nate's lip was curled in annoyance, his pupils twitching to return to their slitted shape.

The music had halted instantly.

Seria pressed against Nate, sobbing quietly. She should've known. A ploy. A twisted little plot in Cynyr's mind, just to make her feel terrible. He had led her on, let her believe somewhere in her mind that maybe, just maybe, they could somehow be together again. But of course, it wasn't true. It had ended up being a lie. A sick, twisted little game that she had fallen for.

Cynyr had backed up a pace, shocked to his core. He shook his head once, very slightly, then again, much stronger. "No, no!" he said. "That's not what I was doing! I wasn't talking to he-"

Seria slapped him.

Hard.

Cynyr fell back, one hand against his cheek in utter horror.

Surprisingly, Seria also looked horrified at what she had done. She was holding her hand like someone who had just committed a terrible crime. As Cynyr got back up, she stammered out "C-Cynyr, I-"

He grabbed her wrist violently, his eyes misting over. "Don't you ever touch my face again or I'll remove your arm from your body." he snarled.

Nate, at this point, was enraged. His hand closed around Cynyr's hand and wrist, wrenching it away from Seria's. "No more threats," He growled dangerously. "Calm down, or I'll make you calm." He spoke a little to himself, insisting to his own mind that he should be careful; Cynyr was a mage. He overpowered him both in speed and in strength.

Forin didn't seem too interested in getting into this arguement, but he was quick about half-dragging Luen and Diana away from the quarrels. He wasn't about to leave either of them in harms way, even if he didn't feel like talking right now.

Cynyr blinked himself out of his misted-over state again, yanking his arm away from the dragonian. "Don't touch me!" he said, backing up further.

Seria was crying against Nate again, her heart broken.

Welk pressed against Werr, not understanding what was going on. Things had been just fine only moments ago! Why had they gone wrong?

Cynyr now looked actually scared. His gaze jumped between Seria and Nate as he tried to think of something, anything, to say to them. Nothing came to him. Finally, he tried to talk to the female half-cat. "Seria-"

"D-don't you dare t-talk to me." she stuttered, sobbing between breaths. "I h-hate you."

With that, Cynyr's nerve broke. He backed up another step, then another, then turned and raced away.

Welk flinched, wanting to run after him like he normally would, but holding himself back. He didn't know what to do. What Cynyr had done here had scared him. He had felt so mad at his brother, yet, at the same time, he had strangely felt like crying for him too. Something about his reaction to Seria slapping him had just make Welk's heart ache.

((Again? I thought he was going to attack and start getting evil and stuff.

He's so overdramatic. xDD Stab Nate or something! Remember what Forin almost did to you (and did to Luen instead)! Action! -is slightly bored, but not to the point where bad things will happen at her hands

...yet-))

Nate wrapped his arms around Seria, what with Cynyr gone. He sat down, taking Seria with him, forcing himself to calm down. "It's okay," He murmured. "It's okay to cry."

Werr put his hand on his friend's head, afraid that Welk would indeed bolt after Cynyr. Werr wasn't sure if they'd ever see the half-cat again, so he definitely didn't want Welk following him. It sounded selfish, but...

"That was...eventful." Forin grumbled, not to anyone in particular.

Lily peeked out from behind Jag, wondering what was going on. She was quick to hide again, though, even more timid than Diana was.

((Well, considering the fact that his mind is destroying itself and permanently deleting his memories one-by-one, thus making his forget himself and Welk and Werr and everyone else, including his past family and some of the things that happened to him back then, yeah, he's overdramatic.

Also, shuuuuuuuush. Let this pan out. You'll seeeeeee.))

Seria cried freely against the dragonian, her body quivering. She didn't know what to think of Cynyr anymore. Everything about him was just so wrong. She didn't know what to do for him. It was like he was tearing himself apart from the inside out.

A scream tore through the night and twin tornados suddenly shot up, ripping into the land around them.

Cynyr had gone berserk and his powers had released by themselves, whipping up sharp winds and burst that screamed across the land like rockets going off.

Welk yelped and turned into a cat, crouching over Werr and digging his claws into the ground to keep them both from being pushed back.

Jagat did the same, taking his gryphon form and digging his paws into the ground to hold himself and Lily in place.

Luen was already holding Diana, so he quickly shot a hand out and latched onto the tree nearby, wincing against the pure pressure of the winds.

Then the wind grew sharper, starting to take on a more deadly form. A neat, thin slice nicked neatly across Nate's cheek, then against Welk's arm. The winds were gaining in strength and volume.

((Drama king. -sarcasm- (Werr is sssooo the drama king here, everyone knows that. xDD)

:3))

Nate felt blood ooze down his cheek, and knew that it was only going to get worse. Holding onto Seria with one arm and depending on her hold on the ground for a short moment, he whipped his thick cloak around himself and Seria and did his best to hold it there, trying to cover as much of them as possible.

Forin pulled his hood up, lowering his head against the winds and half-burying his hands in the ground. Werr sat perfectly still, knowing that if Welk slipped, they would both be dragged up and off by the wind. This was obviously Cynyr, though...

The winds attacked in an instant.

Knife-sharp gusts whisked across them, giving them hundreds of nicks and cuts along their whole bodies in a matter of seconds. Some of them got more than others. Jag, Luen, Forin, Welk and Nate all received more than the others, since they were the ones trying to protect them. Jag had even managed to throw a wing out and catch Airlia in it, yanking her close when he closed the wing around her. Their bodies were crisscrossed with cuts, some deep and some shallow, all bleeding. The winds died down for a minute, slowing to a fast breeze that whistled past their ears.

Airlia squeaked in fear; the wind would have whisked her away if Jag hadn't caught her. Forin shifted so that Luen and Diana were behind him, fully intending to take more of the blast. "What's going on?!" Werr shouted over the wind. "Someone do something!"

"We're a bit preoccupied," Nate snarled, holding onto Seria still, ignoring the stinging from his numberous amounts of cuts. The ones on him were (somewhat unsurprisingly) deeper than they were on the others. He looked bathed in blood, though it was just a thin layer. "But if you had any ideas, that would be splendid!"

Welk called out.

"Cynyr!" he cried, managing to lift his head against the wind and shout as loudly as he could, hoping his voice wasn't lost in the gales. "Stop, please! Why are you doing this?! Why?! What's wrong?! You don't have to do this! You're hurting us! For once in your life, just tell us what's wrong! You aren't alone!!"

A piercing missile of wind shot down, halting inches from Welk's face. The shifting, shimmering gust hovered in front of him, seemingly fighting over wanting to dissipate or stab him through. Slowly, the gust evaporated. Even more slowly, the winds died down. Within a matter of about ten seconds, not even a wisp of wind remained.

Nate fell away from Seria, falling still. His cuts stung with every movement, so he just laid on his back, staring up at the dark sky, sighing with relief. Forin relaxed as well, but he didn't move away from Diana and Luen just yet. Werr wormed out from underneath Welk, examining his friend's injuries. "Are you okay?" He asked quickly, biting his lip in concern.

"I'm fine." Welk said, shaking some blood from his fur. He stretched his feline head out and licked Werr's cheek gently, then ran off in the direction Cynyr had gone in. It started to rain, soft little drops splashing down to the land below.

Seria, having only been one of the ones with minimal cuts, started to heal the people who had been injured worse than her. Nate was closest to her, so she started healing his cuts. It was a unique way she did it. She made the smallest of healing spells on just the tips of her fingers, then started dragging her fingers over the various cuts on Nate's body. She would move her finger in a line, right over the cut, and the cut would instantly seal behind it, healing completely as she touched it. She glanced over when Welk raced away, her eyes widened slightly in concern. "Welk, I don't think you should go after-" she started, but Welk was already gone. Seria sighed nervously, then continued with her healings.

"O-oh no, Welk!" Werr called after his friend, standing quickly. He fought the nauseated feeling he got when he stood; he was still being affected by the bloodloss earlier. Werr ignored it and ran after Welk, though he wasn't too sure why. He would probably get injured even more, if Welk and Cynyr started fighting; they were both mages now, so fights between them would turn nasty should they decide to use magic. But Werr had a bad feeling about all this, and he wasn't about to let Welk run into it alone.

When he got to the place where Cynyr was, however, he couldn't have been more wrong.

Cynyr was laying motionless on the ground, in human form, blood dripping from his hands and all up his arms, which looked like someone had hacked them to pieces. The blood was mixing with the water pouring from the sky. Welk was pressed right next to him, in cat form, lovingly licking his unconscious brother's hair. His soft tears were dripping down his face, hidden by the rain. He turned into a human and pulled Cynyr's limp form into his arms, sobbing and wondering what had happened to make the half-cat do something so terrible to himself.

Werr took one look before turning right around and running as fast as he could, back to the others. He nearly collapsed the second he got there, his fatigue catching up to him quickly, but he somehow managed to make it back to the others and splutter out, "Cynyr...badly hurt..." He grabbed Seria tightly by the shoulder, trying to get the point across that it really was bad. He hadn't looked very closely, but he wasn't taking any chances.

Seria had been going around and spreading her healing powers out equally, healing a handful of cuts each time she passed someone. Now they were all down to about fifty cuts out of around one-hundred-and-fifty each. Still a lot, but Seria had done a lot of healing. She flinched when Werr came back and grabbed her shoulder, but as soon as she heard what he said, she turned into a cat and hurried off in the direction he had come from.

Werr plopped down there, letting the rain fall on him steadily. It trickled down his back under his shirt, causing a shiver to climb up his spine. He shook it off, scooting over so he could lean against the riverbed wall, however muddy it was getting. Even their day-long rest hadn't really helped his bloodloss very much. They needed the carriage, really; Werr could only hope that it was still there. He couldn't follow Seria back, however much he wanted to. Nate, however, hurried after her, feeling much better now that most of his scrapes were gone.

When Nate arrived on the scene, Welk was still holding Cynyr tightly in his arms. Seria was using some of her strongest healing spells on the unconscious half-cat's damaged arms, trying to repair the damage. She was still tired from yesterday's incident with Luen, plus the previous healings of all of the cuts, so the intricate healing of all of the muscles and nerves in Cynyr's hacked up arms was taking its toll. Thunder crackled overhead, sending more rain downwards on them. Seria ignored the thunder, concentrating totally on Cynyr.

It almost looked like his wind powers had been ripped from his arms. Like his powers had exploded outwards instead of going down through his hands.