The Forgotten Zodiac

Seria frowned for a moment, shaking her fur free of water, then finally smiled a little. She turned into a human and slid into the water, choosing not to jump. Her blue vest was gone and she only got in up to her waist, so really all she was getting wet was her leggings. She slid her shirt off over her head and folded it neatly nearby, leaving her in a sort of tight wrap that looked like bandages that had been sewn together. It was a sort of undergarment that was commonly used by healers. It served to cover her body from view if her shirt was ever to come off and was loose enough so she had room to fight or move, if the need aroused. It showed her stomach and shoulders, but everything else was covered. She slid down into the water, smiling at the feeling. She grinned at Werr and threw some water his way, giggling lightly.

((The wrap is sort of like what Katara from Avatar wears under her usual outfit. It's seen in a few of the episodes when they're around water, like in the one with the cave of two lovers, with the badgermoles. -no idea if you've seen A:TLA before-))

((I've seen it before.

...TRIN, I'VE DEFINITELY SEEN IT BEFORE. -is a squealy fangirl-

But yeah, I've seen wraps like that in other places, too. :T))

Werr splashed some back at her, and then swam over to the tree Welk was in. "Hey, come on in! The water's great, Welk, let's have some fun for once!" He grinned, throwing some water up as high as he could at Welk.

Diana, in the meantime, had run around the carriage to change into one of her torn dresses. It was cleaned by now, but it still had the tear where she had been stabbed, the last remaining reminder of the time that they had first met Seria. Diana tore off her boots and ran to the water, Forin watching from the edge. Of course, he was always watching; Diana would never stop him from that. She had grown used to it, but she knew one of Forin's weaknesses. He didn't like swimming; he certainly knew how to swim, but if he could avoid it, he definitely did so.

((Okay den. o3o))

Welk glanced over his shoulder and flicked his ragged tail at his best friend, grinning at him, then made it to a branch almost at the top of the tree. He was fairly high up off of the ground now, but that didn't seem to faze him. He stood up, perfectly balanced on the narrow limb he was standing on, then raced off of the branch and shouted "Geronimo!" He plunged down into the deepest part of the water below, surfacing a few moments later. He gasped in a deep breath, treading water, then shouted "That was great!" He sunk below the water a few inches, then popped back up, spitting out some water. "Bleh." he said, turning into a waterlogged cat and swimming over towards Werr. It looked hilarious to see a cat swimming so easily through the water that Luen, who was sunbathing by the edge of the water, burst out laughing.

Welk turned back into a human once he reached shallower waters and grinned at the wolfling, saying "Why aren't you in?"

"I'm content." Luen answered, resting his head on his paws. He closed his eyes, unaware of anything around him at the moment. He was laying right next to the edge of the water and was lazily swishing his fluffy tail through the clear water below him, starting to doze off.

Werr grinned mischievously and scrambled out of the water on the other side, walking quietly around to behind Luen. "Be content with us!" He shouted suddenly, pushing the wolfling right off the bank and into the water. He jumped in next to him, laughing. It felt great to be able to laugh like this and not have to worry about things.

Luen yelped as he was pushed into the water, disappearing under the waist-deep liquid. He surfaced a moment later, gasping for air and generally looking confused. "W-Werr!" he shouted, turning into a human so he could touch the bottom of the shallow water. In wolf form, his toes would've barely touched the ground here. He pushed a lock of his white hair out of his eyes, smiling, then carefully pulled off his baggy overshirt, leaving him in his white tank-top. He set the overshirt down on the edge of the lake, then glanced around. Welk was now attempting to pull Werr further out into the water, giggling and laughing as Werr foiled his efforts.

Seria was studying some reeds near the edge of the water, finding them interesting.

The wolfling's gaze, however, landed on Forin, the only other person sitting near the edge of the water.

Luen flicked his wet ears and smiled softly, then slid over towards him. The funny thing was that Forin saw it coming. Luen waded through the water towards him, tilting his head slightly to the side. Normally, Luen would never be so bold as to do something like this, so Forin wasn't prepared for the wolfling's attack.

When he got close enough, he moved quickly and threw his arms over Forin's shoulders, yanking the creature of Tartarus into the water. They landed in the shallows, which would only come up to Luen's waist. It was deep enough for them both to disappear under the surface for only a few seconds.

Forin reacted badly. He splashed and kicked and spluttered, grabbing onto Luen's shirt and dragging himself up out of the water as much as possible. He looked around with bewilderment as his feet touched the bottom of the shallow lake. He slowly let go of Luen and splashed back to the banks, dragging himself back onto dry land. He turned his back to the water, refusing to go any further away from Diana. He just sat there and shivered, giving his most vicious glare to the grass in front of him.

Diana started laughing. "Forin doesn't like swimming." She giggled at Forin. "He can, but he hates it."

Luen blinked in shock, then glanced over at Forin. He could now see that the creature of Tartarus looked uncomfortable. The wolfling frowned slightly, then gave Diana a, surprisingly, stern look. "Don't laugh, Diana." he said, tilting his head down a bit. "It isn't nice to laugh at someone like that." He moved over near the edge of the water, carefully putting his hands on the grass. "Forin?" he said, tilting his ears back. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't know you didn't like water." He carefully held out his hand to the summoned creature, saying "Here, everyone else is busy. Will you try again? We don't have to go far out. Just right here. Look." He moved back, carefully turning in a circle. The water moved around him, never going higher than his waist. He moved back to the edge of the lake, once again holding his hand out to Forin. "It's safe." he said soothingly. "You can stay right here next to the edge. I mean, you don't have to get in again. I...I didn't know you hated water. I just..." He slowly trailed off, looking down. "...Never mind." he said, turning away.

"Didn't know?" Forin snorted. "And you think there's just oceans and lakes dotting Tartarus, don't you? The water there is acid! And when I'm here, I don't exactly have time to swim, do I?! No, I'm busy protecting my mistresses from the kind of peril that hangs around you lot!" He spun on heel, turning his glare on Diana. "Why do we stay here?! You've seen the destruction and danger that follows them, for your safety I strongly suggest that we leave!"

Diana dropped herself in the water up to her chin, looking up at Forin with a hint of fear in her eyes. "But--"

"Mistress Diana, I would never object to your word without good reason. Staying with these people is a foolish idea at this point!"

"C-calm down, Forin, there's no need to get so worked up over a little water, it's--" Werr started, but Forin cut him off.

"Shut up, human! How many people have you lost to drowning, or sea creatures, or shipwrecks, or anything of the sort?!" Forin practically screamed at him. "I have no baseless fears, now don't change the subject! Mistress, we're leaving." He turned away, gathering Diana's dry clothes. She hesitated, then moved to follow him, climbing out of the water and starting to wring out her dress.

Luen flinched at Forin's voice, staring at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Forin!" he said, quickly scrambling up out of the water. He nearly collapsed, still terribly weakened from losing so much blood, but pushed himself up. "Wait, please?" he said, moving after the two as they headed around the carriage and started to walk off. He wanted to take Forin's wrist, to stop him from walking away, but he was scared of the creature of Tartarus' reaction. So he simply followed them, hidden from view from the others by the carriage that they were walking away from. "Forin, please." he said softly. "I didn't know. I'm not a summoned creature. I've never seen your world. How was I supposed to know about the water is your world? I'm sorry." The poor wolfling was trying his best to speak to the creature that he called friend. One of his few friends, really. True, he was friends with everyone else in the group, but three of those people were closer than the others to the wolfling. Nate, Forin and Diana. And two of those people were trying to leave.

So he followed them. He didn't stop or even hesitate to stick close to them. He wasn't going to let them just walk away.

Forin walked on. "Are you coming with us, then? Fine," He said after a few minutes of silence on his part. "But if this ridiculous trouble crops up again, be aware that I'll make you leave." He snorted, then stopped. "Mistress, you should change before you catch a cold," He said quietly, handing the dry bundle of clothing to Diana.

"Okay," She sighed, not even hesitating to change in front of Luen. She trusted him pretty much completely at this point, and that was that. "I'm glad you're coming too, Luen, I would have been sad if you hadn't." She took his hand after she was finished, smiling a little bit. Forin just gave off the general air of 'I hate everything right now' and said nothing.

Then Luen stopped.

His eyes held such a deep, gentle sadness in them. He carefully let go of Diana's hand, shaking his head slightly. "No." he said, glancing back over his shoulder. The carriage was far off in the distance, but he could still see it well. He looked back at them both. "I can't go with you." he said softly. He tilted his head back in the direction of the others. "They still need me." he said. "As long as this land continues to die and as long as Asmodius is on his throne, I'll never be safe. No matter where I go. If I'm just going to be risking my life everywhere I try to live, then why not risk my life trying to stop the threat itself? No, I can't come with you. Not until this is all over and done." He moved forward and gave Diana a tender hug, then straightened. "I'm sorry." he said. "But I've survived with these people for a while now. As long as I'm still alive, I'm going to keep helping them. I owe Seria my life and Werr helped me with my tracker problem, by way of convincing me to get it removed. By you, Forin. I have many good memories of you both. Fond memories. If you are set on leaving, then I can do nothing to stop you. I'm sorry that we have to part this way." He looked down sadly, raising a hand to wipe a few soft tears from his eyes, then quickly got up the courage to do something that was very simple and yet very, very hard.

He moved forward and hugged Forin from behind, wrapping his arms around the summoned creature. "I'm sorry." he murmured, pressing his forehead against Forin's shoulder. "I don't know what it means to you, but...I am."

Then he let go and started the long, lonely walk back to the carriage.

"It wasn't your fault, really," Forin sighed, but Luen was already gone by then.

Then he kept walking. "Wha...Forin, shouldn't we follow him?" Diana asked, pouting.

"No. I must get you to safety. That is the priority now, mistress. I am...grieved that Luen will not come, but it must be for the best."

"But, Forin--"

"What am I to you, mistress?"

"A..." Diana was taken off guard by the question. "My friend!"

"Well, no longer. Your anger towards me has proven that much, at least on your half. No longer will I be your friend. I am now no more than your guardian. Now kindly allow me to do my job." Forin took her by the hand and led her away. She didn't struggle, knowing what Forin meant.

The two of them walked off, vanishing over the hills and into the forest, far off in the distance.

Luen was walking quietly, glancing back over his shoulder once in a while, as if harboring a last, pitiful thought that they might change their minds and rejoin him. He turned back to walking, then glanced up. He spotted something and headed over to it, traveling quite a distance out of his way. He topped a small yet steep hill, taking wolf form at the top. He made a majestic figure at the top of the hill, with his soft white fur billowing slightly in the wind. His gaze went right to the direction Forin and Diana had left in. Immediately, such sadness billowed up inside of him that it demanded for release.

The wolf threw his head back and howled to the sky, loosening a chilling, haunted wolfsong that swept through the wind. The howl echoed across the barren plains, carrying his heartache deep within it. He paused for a quick intake of breath, then howled again, feeling tears seep from his closed eyes. Once the second howl finished, he found he didn't have the energy to do it again. He stumbled down from the hill, keeping to wolf form, and slowly made his way back to the carriage. When he got there, he was exhausted and crying softly. He didn't chose to rejoin the others. Instead, he curled up on the other side of the carriage, where they couldn't see him.

Alone.

Werr was drying off on the banks of the lake by the time Luen returned, so he didn't notice much. Lily, however, was watching Luen silently from the driver's seat, never having left it. She looked up at Jag sadly. "Is he okay?" She asked quietly, frowning. Nate would have said something, as he was conscious now, but he didn't know what was going on. He just knew that he had heard howling at one point...

Jag carefully glanced around the edge of the carriage, studying Luen for a moment, then pulled back and said "Bah. He needs to toughen up."

Luen flinched at his loud voice, retreating further inside of himself.

Welk got up out of the water, his hair hanging down over his eyes from the water. He was utterly soaked, and when he shook himself out, his hair stuck up in all directions like a lion's mane. He grinned, flicking his ragged tail, then started wringing out his clothes, which he hadn't bothered to take off when he had jumped out of the tree. "Something wrong?" he asked, glancing over at Jagat.

The gryphon shrugged, saying "Ask your weird wolf. He's the one acting all strange."

Seria, having gotten out of the water and dried off already, walked around the carriage and bent down near Luen, moving to stroke his ears. "Luen?" she asked gently. "What's wrong?"

He shook off her hand and got up, wordlessly turning into a human and opening the door to the carriage, where he got in and shut the door. He turned back into a wolf and curled up on the seat opposite of Nate, covering his muzzle with a scarred paw.

"Oh..." Werr said, looking around. "Forin's not here. Do you think he actually left?"

Nate heard this and looked over at Luen. He reached over and put his hand on the wolfling's head, not really petting or anything. He just held it there comfortingly, smiling a little bit. After a few long moments, Nate hummed a quiet tune. He didn't sing; he wasn't a good singer at all, but he could still comfort Luen somehow.

Airlia obviously recognized the humming though, and she heard it from her perch. By the time Nate finished humming the first verse, she chimed in with her singing voice.

"'If only, if only,' the woodpecker sighed,

That the bark on the tree were as soft as the sky!

The wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,

and he cries to the moon, 'if only, if only'!"

Luen was tempted to pull away, but he didn't. Nate was the only person left that he trusted completely. The wolfling listened quietly to the words of Airlia's song, still hovering on the verge of tears. This was why he never made a lot of friends. Some way or another, he always ended up losing them. Yet he had tried again. He had made friends with an innocent little girl and an ancient creature.

And he had lost them.

He broke down into quiet tears, tilting his furry ears back against his head. He took human form, vaguely realizing that his clothes were still damp from his time in the water. He couldn't feel cold due to the fact that he was an ice mage, but he shivered nonetheless. He glanced over at Nate, seeing the soft smile on the noble dragonian's face, then burst into even more tears, though he remained as quiet as ever. He rarely cried, as they had seen, but when he did, he was a very quiet crier. The eighteen-year-old wolfling suddenly looked much younger to Nate. Young and deeply upset.

Luen moved over to Nate and buried himself against the dragonian's side, sobbing, his fluffy tail curled between his legs.

Nate wrapped his arms around Luen, patting him on the back. "There, there," He said softly, sounding like nothing more than someone comforting a young child. Which, in a sense, he was. "It'll be okay. I'm still here, and I'm not going anywhere." He fell silent after that, figuring it was best to just let Luen cry it out on his own. He wasn't too concerned about disturbing Cynyr; Jag was his bigger concern at this point. To be honest, since the dance-gone-wrong, Nate had been wanting to test some reactions from Jag, but he hadn't gotten the chance to.

From Jag's earlier reactions to Luen's crying, though, Nate was a bit concerned that he might get himself in trouble, testing the gryphon. Nate shook off the thoughts, focusing on Luen again.

Luen sobbed a little louder, but still very quietly. "T-they...left." he said softly. "I s-shouldn't h-have pulled h-him into the w-water. It w-was my f-fault! And...I w-wanted to go with t-them. If n-not for y-you...I w-would've left w-with them." He shuddered, curling himself a littler tighter against the dragonian, then whispered "I...I've never h-howled before. Not like that. I r-rarely wag my tail. My h-howling is r-rarer than that. I don't k-know what came over me, I just...I-I'm sorry..." He went silent, unable to muster the strength to keep speaking. He twinned a burn-scarred hand into Nate's shirt, holding on tightly.

"No, Luen. It wasn't like that. I have a feeling that Forin had been wanting to leave for awhile...the dangers that we've gotten into as a group, well, they were getting to be too much for him and Diana." Nate said quietly. He spoke with the confidence that could only come from Forin having talked to him about it. Which, he had, in a sense. While they had been resting in the riverbank, before Forin lost control, and the others had been mostly asleep; Forin had taken the chance to talk with Diana, and Nate had been awake enough to hear it. "He didn't feel that she was safe enough, so...it's alright," He said again, patting Luen on the back once more. "We can find him again...maybe, after this is all over, he'll find us. Maybe. Anything could happen at this point, really..."