The Forgotten Zodiac

"U-uh...okay." Luen said, letting go of Nate for a moment to wipe some sweat from his brow. He returned his hand to Nate's torso, helping him stay up. "Can you lead us to Seria?" he asked the little creature. "She's a half-cat, if that helps. A red one." He glanced up at Nate in concern for the dragonian, then carefully shifted his hand around until it rested over the word that had been torn into Nate's skin. He lightly began to pull the cold from the area in and around the skin there, keeping it warm to prevent the edges of the skin from dying and starting the process of scarring. It wouldn't work for long, but it would hopefully be enough to last until they got to Seria.

"I know! I could tell from her scent." Spy nodded rapidly. He peered up at the word on Nate's chest, frowning a bit. "Oh yeah, you're the lying guy. I would ask you what your name is, but you'd probably lie."

Nate kicked at the thing, but it was weak and slow. Spy skipped out of the way easily, looking back at Luen. "I'll find Seria!" He sniffed the ground a bit, peering at the still-busy road. "She passed through here, I think she's...on the west side of the city, I think. That's the direction her scent is coming from." He peeked up at Nate, half-expecting another kick. "I can smell things from a long way away, but only in this body and only if I have something to go off of. Seria smells nice." He chirped, turning and leading the way to the road.

"He doesn't lie!" Luen snapped ferociously, shocking them both. He quickly quieted back down in embarrassment, blush tinting his pale cheeks. "...S-sorry." he murmured, pressing his eyes closed for a moment. He opened them, still blushing and generally looking uncomfortable. He avoided looking at Spy, finding the little thing a bit disturbing. He would deal with it, though. It was helping them, after all. "C-can you lead us to Seria?" he asked.

"I am, I am," Spy squeaked, a bit frightened by Luen's snarl. He pressed his large ears to his skull, his tail starting to drag on the ground. "I'm sorry, he just...has it scratched on there, so I assumed...if he's not a liar, you should cover that up, then." He turned back to the road, sniffing it again to make sure they were going in the right direction. Before too long, they were turning onto the dirt road, cutting away from the activity of the rest of the city. Nate was unable to keep himself up any longer. He slid out of Luen's grip, slumping over on the road. He was still conscious, but not by much. The arrowhead still in his knee ached, his hand hurt as though something had burned it, and he was fairly certain that the word on his chest would just be scarred there forever.

"But...but...Seria is right in that house, lying-sir, you can't fall asleep here," Spy pouted unhappily, poking Nate with a paw.

"Then go get her!" Luen shouted, panting. Strands of his white hair fell in front of his face, giving him a ragged look. He crouched down near Nate, keeping his hand over the word on his chest. His powers wouldn't work for much longer as exhaustion tugged at his limbs.

Luckily, they weren't kept waiting for long.

Jagat was lounging on the roof of the inn in gryphon form, dozing off. He had pretty much fallen asleep, but he woke when Luen shouted. He raised his head and blinked, then realized who he was looking at and stood. He leapt off of the roof, flapping his huge wings powerfully. He landed on the ground and went inside the inn, calling for Seria, who came running at his call. "What is it?" she asked as Jag led her outside.

The gryphon just pointed with his beak.

Seria gasped and ran forward, quickly nearing them. "Nate?! Luen, what happened?!" she asked, pushing Luen to the side and replacing his hand over the word on Nate's chest with hers. It was healed in moments, but she was nowhere near done. She quickly took Nate's hand in hers, using her claws to cut the wraps away. Once she finished getting the blood-soaked wraps off, she threw all of her energy into his hand. His skin was repairing slowly, but Seria kept at it.

"Got attacked..." Luen said, pushing himself back up after the half-cat had shoved him over. "Nate was t-taken captive and I had to get him back."

"By yourself?" Seria said, sounding shocked. Luen? Alone and successfully rescusing someone? It seemed unheard of.

"Yes..." the wolfling panted. "I had some help later." He gestured at the strange little creature named Spy.

"I-I'm sorry," Spy whimpered, his ears drooping at Luen's shouting. He had perked up again as Seria hurried out, and he was quick to get out of the way.

Nate felt the sting on his chest fade, and forced the last of his energy into a smile. The edges of his mouth twitched, but he couldn't bring it up any higher. Seria wouldn't let that nasty word scar. He had Luen to thank too. Nate gave into unconsciousness at last, finally able to close his eyes and drop into darkness.

Werr had followed Seria outside, but he had immediately regretted it at the sight of Nate's half-healed hand. It was easy to guess what must have happened. He nearly gagged then and there; Skinning was gruesome and horribly unpleasant. Those who lived to tell about it never used their injured limbs again. Werr moved back into the inn, covering his mouth with a hand.

"What is it?" Airlia frowned at him.

"N-nothing. Nate's injured," He shook his head quickly, not wanting to scare Airlia.

"Nate?" Welk said, popping up from behind the couch.

Cynyr, having came back out of the single room after he had eaten, was laying on the couch in panther form, calmly grooming his paws. When Welk popped up behind him over the couch, he yelped and fell completely off. "Welk! Don't do that!" he snarled. "...What were you even doing back there?!"

"Sneak attack on you, but it failed." Welk answered, then took cat form and scurried out to see Nate.

Seria had a little over half of his hand repaired and was still working at it. She was multitasking extremely well. She had kept one hand on Nate's hand and was still healing him. With her other hand, she was carefully feeling the arrowhead still stuck in his leg and the surrounding area. Finally, she carefully grasped the arrowhead and, with a healing spell around glowing around her fingers, pulled it free. She chunked it over her shoulder, managing to hit Welk, who had just came over, square in the chest with it. He yelped and fell back, startled but unharmed. Seria quickly focused her healing spell on the place on Nate's leg where the arrow tip had been, keeping the separate spells both activated perfectly well.

Nate's pained breathing was quickly relaxing. He didn't shudder or moan. At least he didn't seem to be feeling the pain anymore, which was a relief. Werr managed to peek out again, but this time his gaze focused on the creature that was picking at some grass nearby. Without warning, it suddenly darted around and Werr found himself looking at the creature that was now at his feet.

"Human!" It squeaked, sniffing his shoe curiously. "Hello. I am Spy. Who are you?"

"Um...Werr." He mumbled through his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Werr," He tranformed into his human-like form, taking Werr's free hand and shaking it vigorously. He then peeked at the palm of Werr's hand, then sniffed it, still in human form. "Food?" He pouted, looking up at Werr sadly. He gave up and darted inside, reverting back to his creature form once more. He stopped in front of the couch, though he remained a respectable distance away, not wanting to disturb Cynyr. Everyone here was a lot bigger than he was, after all, and the Luen-person did save his life. So he quietly reminded himself that he needed to be on his best behavior.

Cynyr tilted his head down slightly at the little creature, glaring at it. "Who let a chimera in?" he growled, resting his head on his paws.

"Chimera?" Jag said, walking in and fluffing out his feathers. He peered at the little fluffy creature, clicking his beak slightly. "Mmm. Those are actually pretty tasty." he said, smiling slightly. He scraped his sharp claws across the ground once, then turned when Seria called for him. He went back outside and saw that the half-cat healer had finished with Nate's leg and was concentrating fully on his hand. When the gryphon was close enough, Seria motion at Luen with her head. "Take him inside." she said. "He's about to pass out."

Luen was leaning against the side of a building near them, one knee bent up with his arms folded over it, resting his head on his limbs. He was teetering on unconsciousness from exhaustion. The rescue expedition he had had to go through had drained his already sparse energy. When Jag turned into a human and moved to pick him up, however, he wearily raised his head slightly and rasped "No...no, I'm s-staying with...with Nate." Jag was going to protest, but when he saw the look in Luen's eyes, he just backed off.

Somehow, someway...Luen was different.

"Eep!" Spy squeaked, scrambling under the table. "Please don't eat me, I'll be good!" He trembled, turning back into his human form. Thelma came back into the room, blinking in surprise; Werr had to quickly explain that he must have been saved from the jail, and that he seemed to be okay, just a little hungry. Thelma was quick to bring out another bowl of soup, which Spy quickly started eating after giving his thanks to the innkeeper.

After a few more minutes, Nate stirred. Seria still had a little more work to do on his hand, but it wasn't hurting as long as Seria was working on it. Nate opened his eyes, feeling his chest where the word had been. He relaxed with a sigh, smiling up at Seria. "Thanks..."

She smiled tiredly at him. "Shush." she said. "Just be quiet. It was nothing, after all. I would never let a word as untrue as that stay there. Trust me; you are not a liar." She gently moved her tail up and rested it over his arm, letting the silky red strands brush his skin. "You have no idea how much an untrue word can hurt someone." she said, then grew quieter. Her smiled vanished. She closed her eyes for a long moment, then sighed and returned to her work. She had finished with his leg and was now solely concentrated on his hand.

Luen had woken up a little bit more at Nate's voice. He made no move to get close to the dragonian. He simply sat there about three feet away, watching them with a distant air, his head still resting on his arms over his knee.

Nate nodded quietly, but couldn't just stay quiet. He was still tired and weakened, but he didn't care. He turned his head towards Luen and smiled, trying to let the wolfling know that he was okay. "Thank you, too," He said, trying his hardest to stay smiling. "You saved me..."

"Don't." Luen suddenly said, looking away from him. "Just...don't." He shuddered, closing his eyes tightly. "Don't thank me..." he whispered, sounding tormented and haunted.

"Luen?" Seria said, tilting her head slightly in confusion. He was acting strange. When she moved one hand from Nate and tried to reach out to him, he flinched away from her. "Don't touch me." he said, looking scared.

Seria blinked, then quietly returned her hand to Nate's. One person at a time, she reminded herself. She could only heal one person at a time.

Jag, still standing nearby, snorted and took human form. He stepped forward and grabbed Luen before the wolfling could react, picking him up and starting to walk back to the inn. "N-no!" Luen cried softly, trying to get out of the gryphon's hold. No such chance. "Let me go! Please, d-don't...touch me...!"

"Shut up!" Jag snapped angrily, silencing the poor wolfling. "Seriously. What is your problem? Just shut up. I don't care about what you want. All I know is that you've got some serious problems and you need to lay down before you hurt yourself, which I wouldn't put past you." He snorted, then stepped into the inn and, ignoring everyone else in the building, walked to a room and literally tossed Luen onto the bed. The wolfling landed roughly on the bed, but he didn't move to get back up. He just laid there, curling up weakly into a ball.

Jag watched him for a moment, then figured out what was wrong with him. The gryphon smiled slightly, eyeing the blood that had dried on the wolfling's body, then turned to go out. "Oh." he said, tilting his head back so he could see Luen. "You might want to clean that blood off of yourself. It looks terrible." He saw Luen's eyes widen in horror, then closed the door.

Luen screamed violently, burying his head in his hands.

Jagat just smiled and walked away.

Nate allowed his smile to fade. "Those men..." He murmured. "Luen killed two humans, h-he..." Nate wanted to push Seria away and go after Jag and Luen, but he couldn't. "It must be tearing him up inside..."

Lily looked up as Jag came out of the room. She stood and moved forward, wrapping her arms around him. "Who's hurt outside? What happened?" She asked, sounding a little afraid, glancing over at Werr, who still looked pretty upset.

"Just the dragonian, Nate." Jag said. "He's okay. It's the wolfling I'm worried about." He snorted, then said "They'll both be fine. Don't worry about them." He turned into a gryphon and laid down in front of the couch, stretching a wing out and curling it around Lily to gently pull her down against his side.

Seria immediately looked concerned. "He...did?" she said, shocked. She didn't know Luen was capable of killing. He was such a kindly, sweet person. "Here." she said, taking her hands off of his hand and looping her arm behind him. She carefully helped him up and put his arm around her shoulders, knitting her fingers into his on that hand. She couldn't heal his injured hand any further, but she hadn't left much that wasn't healed. What was left would heal on its own. She guided Nate back to the inn, then, already knowing what the dragonian would want, helped him to the room Luen was in.

Luen was sobbing, his face pressed into the bed and his hands shaking as he dug them into the blanket below him.

Nate broke away from Seria, waving her off and closing the door. He leaned against the wall for support, managing to ease himself onto the bed next to Luen. He didn't say anything, nor did he move to touch the sobbing wolfling. He just sat there, watching his friend with great sadness lingering in his eyes, weighing down his heart. It pained him to see Luen like this, so soon after the last time he had cried.

At last, Nate set his uninjured hand on Luen's head. "Woe to the one with loss of life. Woe still to the one who taketh life away, as his mind is burdened by his actions and wrongdoings." He said quietly, quoting something he had read once. He couldn't remember where he had read such a thing, but it seemed to be fitting right now.

Luen flinched at Nate's touch. He quickly jerked his head up, staring up at Nate fearfully. He sniffled quietly, soft tears dripping down his face, then spoke quietly in a voice full of pain. "I...I killed them..." he said, slowly sitting up. "And...N-Nate, I wanted to kill them! I wanted them to die, I wanted them to suffer! I felt glad when I tore out their throats!" He released a ragged, sobbed cough. "...Look!" he said, holding up his hands. His scarred hands and arms were coated in dried blood from the slain guards. "This is not mine!" he cried. "I murdered! And I wanted to!" He screamed again, covering his face from Nate, shaking terribly. The guilt he felt from the knowledge that he had killed people was tearing him apart, ripping through his natural kindness and sweet nature. He was killing himself over the knowledge that he had killed others.

Nate wrapped his arm around Luen, sighing heavily. "I know. You desired my safety, and you killed to obtain it. You desired suffering upon those who had caused me pain. But if you hadn't..." He held up his hand, examining what Seria had been unable to heal. It was a small circle on his palm, red and already starting to scar. What Seria had healed looked pale and unnatural. Altogether, his hand looked a little deformed now. "This would be a lot worse." He was silent for a moment, dropping his hand.

"I've killed before too, you know. Storaph used to have a queen. She was gentle, sweet and kind. A year after my appointment as head guard, she went on a trip to Gallel. Gallel was...a tiny country, hardly more than a couple cities. Was. The queen returned from her trip...without a body. They had cut off her head and sent it back...the king was well prepared to send his armies there, but I quietly took a team of soldiers in the dead of night...

"Gallel was gone in a single night. It burned, all of it. Hundreds of people, killed by my hands...I felt no remorse until I returned to the castle, I-I..." Nate stopped. He had locked himself in his room until one of his coworkers reminded him that he had work to do. He didn't remember much of what had happened in the time after that, but he knew that young princess Holly had eventually drawn him out of his haze by talking to him constantly and simply sitting and listening.

"Luen, you mustn't let this overcome you...it will destroy you from the inside out. Just...talk to me, okay? Tell me things. Anything. Let me help you."

Luen wept bitterly upon hearing Nate's words. He wanted to pull away, as his guilt was making him think terrible things. Dark, twisted thoughts that scared him deeply. "What...w-what if I kill y-you...by a-accident?" he stammered. "Or Werr? Or S-Seria? Or someone else? I was overcome with wolfish instincts...! I couldn't control myself!" He gave up and turned completely to the comfort of the dragonian, curling against him. He shifted between forms slightly, becoming a strange mix of human and wolf, then reverted back to normal. "What do I do?" he rasped. "I can still see their faces..." He sounded haunted, as if he were looking at their faces right now. "They were scared and frightened...of me...but they knew! They knew that I was going to kill them! They knew they couldn't get away!" His lips trembled painfully, his jaw quaking. "Nate, I'm so scared..." he whimpered. "I'm scared..." He clamped a hand over his mouth, trying to hold in his sobs. "I'm scared..." he whispered past his thin fingers.

"Shh," Nate hugged Luen tightly. "You won't hurt any of us, I won't allow it." He said quietly. "They're gone now. There's nothing more they can do. And if they do try anything, I'll burn them all to a black, crunchy crisp." He wished Forin and Diana had never left, really. Luen had only started being like this since they had abandoned him. Nate remember what Luen had said to him that day. 'I would have gone with them, if not for you.' Now, seeing Luen like this, he wished he would have told Luen to go anyways. Or perhaps he could have just gone with them. "I'm sorry, Luen..."

((We should cut to Werr and Welk pulling away from the group to go 'visit' Nightlash, soon.))