The Forgotten Zodiac

Spy purred with delight, nuzzling Jag's hand as he was scratched. "That feels so good," He giggled, purring away.

Lily started moving through the house, grabbing what nonperishable foods she could so she could make them all a good dinner. In the end, she wound up with a good meal of mashed yams, a canned meat of some kind (that tasted quite good with the gravy Lily made), and a tall cup of water for everyone (and she placed a bottle of wine she had found next to the still-sleeping Nate). After that, they dispersed into various houses to sleep for the night.

Nate woke up in the middle of the night, feeling his injuries. His leg definitely felt better. His chest was still a little sore, but nothing too serious. He quickly found that he could move and walk fairly freely, considering his injuries. Nate spent a bit stretching his legs and drinking the wine. He then did something entirely expected; he left. He started at a swift pace towards the forest that the dragon had gone to. He had seen the general location of the landing, he could deduce the rest with scent, sound, and his dragon intuition.

He could only hope that the dragon had gone to sleep. Or perhaps he could try talking with it...

"What do you what?" Seria asked for what seemed like the thousandth time.

The dragon snorted angrily, blowing a thick puff of smoke over her.

Seria immediately coughed hard, waving a hand to dispell the smoke so she could breathe.

She had been here for several hours now and was exhausted in more ways than one. She had eaten for a while now, nor drank anything. Her voice was scratchy from trying to talk to the dragon or by just talking to comfort herself. She was at her wits end by the dragon by now, who was still blocking the way out of the smaller cave and into the bigger one.

"What do you want?!" Seria asked again, frustrated.

The dragon ignored her.

"You can't honestly tell me that you only took me because you wanted to ignore me!" she shouted.

The dragon raised a paw and licked it.

"What is wrong with you?!" Seria yelled, furious.

Now the dragon lifted its head and stared hard at her, almost accusingly.

Seria sighed and sat back, still in the same spot from where she had slid down earlier. She was getting cold. It was almost Winter, after all. The air was definitely colder. She blew some of her breath on her fingers, trying to warm them, then studied the dragon across from her.

She could tell, upon closer inspection, that it was a young male. He was big, very much so, but still on the smaller side for a dragon. His forest green scales were very pretty, a testament to the vanity that purebred dragons possessed. Something about him seemed off, however.

"What do you want?" Seria asked again, sounding tired. "Please. Why did you bring me here?"

The dragon eyed her again, then slowly lifted one wing.

There was a spear imbedded firmly in his side, stuck deep between his glittering scales.

Seria gasped, shocked. The spear was in deep and had obviously been there for quite some time. It was really just the spearhead and a bit of the staff left. The rest looked like it had been broken off at some point, most likely by the dragon himself. The skin around the spear had healed over it, further embedding it in the dragon's side.

"Is...is that why you brought me here?" Seria asked softly. "Did you want me to fix that?"

The dragon did nothing but lower his wing.

Slowly, Seria stood up.

The dragon tilted his head and watched her.

She took a step forward, then another.

Still, the dragon did nothing.

When Seria came within about two yards of him, however, he suddenly flinched and roared at her, warning her back.

She screamed and retreated, frightened.

Once she was back far enough, the dragon calmed down, though he was now on-edge. He flicked his large ears, shaking his head in irritation.

Time passed slowly for Seria.

Another step. And another. Nate forced himself to move on, assuring himself that his injuries were meaningless. After what seemed like ages, he finally found what he was looking for. Through the trees, he could see the rocky cave entrance. He had heard the roar a little while ago, and he could only hope that didn't mean anything bad. He could see the dragon's hide at the opening of the cave, which he supposed meant that Seria hadn't been taken too far into the cave. Nate wondered if he should try approaching, or maybe he could talk to it from here. Well, if it was going to kill him, it would do so one way or another.

Nate walked until he was in line with the cave, but he still kept his distance. He could still talk normally with confidence that it would hear him, though. So, he talked. "Dragon! I wish to have a word with you." It was more of a snarl than a calm tone, but Nate didn't have the patience to attempt to reason with something that was going to murder him anyways. He prepared to be struck; another tail whipping, perhaps. Only this time, he would be sent flying into a tree, which would break something important, most likely.

At this moment though, Nate feared neither death nor pain.

The dragon jerked his head up, his ears flicking up sharply. He tilted his head around and spotted Nate, an almost shocked expression coming over his face. Then he growled and lurched upright, lashing his tail out to one side.

Further inside, Seria's own ears had flicked up in shock at hearing Nate's voice. "Nate?!" she shouted, struggling upright and racing towards the entrance, hoping that while the dragon was distracted, she could get away from him.

The dragon lashed out with his tail, blocking Seria's path. He threw her a warning snarl, then turned back towards Nate. The dragon's cave was fairly high up off of the ground. It would've taken Nate, Jag, Forin, Welk and Luen all standing on each other's shoulders to have just barely reached the edge of the cave floor.

The dragon stood right on the edge of the cave, his thick white claws hanging off of the edges. He snarled darkly down at Nate, then decided to spare him a moment of talk.

"What do you want with me, nethra? Do you not know that I could kill you where you stand?" he asked, though of course, only Nate could understand him. Though he had used the most offensive term for a dragonian that a real dragon could use. A nethra, which meant 'never a real dragon'.

Nate spat at the 'nethra' word. He didn't care, to be honest, but this dragon was making him more angry the longer it held Seria in that cave. He forced himself to calm down, knowing that words lined with anger and hatred would only result in his position reeling backwards. The dragon had stopped to talk to him, at least. "I'm aware of that. But I don't care. I want you to release the half-cat girl! Kill me if you want, but let her go!" He held his hands out at his sides, showing the dragon his empty palms. While he wasn't exactly unarmed, what with his sword at his side (and the numberous other weapons), it was still a sign of obvious submission.

The dragon growled down at him, then said one word.

"No."

Then he turned away and laid back down further inside the cave, once again blocking Seria's way out.

Seria had listened tensely as Nate had spoken. She hadn't heard any other voices, so she assumed he had come on his own. "Nate!" she cried out, stalking back and forth in front of the dragon, still searching for a way out. "Nate, I know why the dragon took me! He's-" The dragon suddenly snarled and lashed out at her, bringing a paw down on her. She screamed, feeling the breath be shoved from her lungs as the dragon pressed a bit on her. "You are getting to be an annoyance." the dragon warned, scraping the claws of his other paw across the cave floor.

"Hey!" Nate shouted, done with being polite and calm. "I'll skin you alive if you hurt her, you big, ugly brute! Why do you want her, anyways? Not that it matters, because I'm not going to let you keep her here!" He started forward, obviously furious. "Why would you bring her here if you just think that she's an annoyance?! She's not one to me, so let her go!"

The dragon snarled at him, looking between him and Seria a few times. "Why do you want her back so badly?" he asked, lifting his paw from Seria and letting her get up. She immediately ran for the cave entrance, getting within a few feet of it before the dragon brought a single front toe down on her tail to hold her captive still. She shouted in pain, forced to stay still or else feel terrible pain from the base of her tail. "What is she to you, nethra?" the dragon asked, knowing Seria couldn't understand anything. "Are you mates or something? Why would she ever want to be with something like you? It's repulsive to even think about." He shook his crested head, watching Nate approach the cave below them.

Nate gritted his teeth, ignoring his shifting ribs as he started the rough climb up to the cave, not caring one bit about his own pain. "Why does it matter to you? For your information, we're not mates, but she is my friend. Surely you understand the word friendship, you fat moron. You can call me repulsive all you want, but I still want her back!"

The dragon shifted his tail out and bumped Nate lightly, easily sending the dragonian back to the ground. "I will not return her until she does what I want of her." he said. "But I will not allow her to come near me because I do not trust her. So she stays with me until she understands what I want."

Seria pulled against his paw, trying to free her fluffy red tail from his grasp. "Let me go!" she cried. "Nate, the dragon's hurt! It looks like he has a spearhead stuck in his side. His skin and scales have grown over the wound already, like a human that gets part of a stick stuck in their side and just lets the wound grow over the entrance point. It looks painful, but he wouldn't let me near it." She sounded tired and very, very frightened.

Nate laid there on the ground for a few precious moments before slowly climbing to his feet again, though he had his arm around his ribs again. "Tell me what you want then!" Nate said, growing desperate. He didn't stop, though. He started climbing once more, still shouting furiously at the dragon. "I can translate, can't I?! You have to trust her sooner or later, and the longer you wait, the more painful it's going to be for you!"

This time, the dragon did nothing as Nate climbed up towards them. "I highly doubt you'll be able to hurt me, nethra." he said. "But fine. I'll tell you what I want. I want her to heal my wound, but...I know that some healers can cast death spells that take effect over any creature. Especially if they have an open area to work with. How do I know that this healer won't do that to me, especially with you here? She could try to kill me in effort to get back to you. Plus...I..." He trailed off, shaking his crested head.

The dragon then reached out with his free paw and moved it towards Nate, making Seria shout, then put her hands over her mouth in fear. She thought the dragon was going to hurt Nate.

The dragon calmly scooped Nate into his hand-like paw and lifted him up, depositing him, a bit roughly, on the floor of the cave. He then lowered his arm and blocked Nate from getting close to Seria, giving him a warning look.

((Nate was talking about how removing the spearhead would be more painful the longer he waited to let Seria work, but whatever. :T))

Nate coughed rather violently as he rolled over onto his side, but he quickly sat up, wiping his mouth. "Seria, he wants you to heal him, but he doesn't trust you." He said, then looked back up at the dragon. "She'll do nothing of the sort. Seria isn't like that." He snapped, breathing heavily. "She's kind and she actually cares, unlike some of us. If she were an unkind person, do you really think I would have chased after you and her with that much persistance? I'm killing myself over here, y-you know, and--" He started coughing again, covering his mouth with his hand. Blood dripped between his fingers.

When he had been knocked off the cliffside, the landing had jarred his already loose ribs, sending one of them straight into his lungs. Being part dragon, his other lung was able to compensate, but it was difficult to stop coughing when his other lung was filling up with blood. Thus, the coughing. Nate glared up at the dragon through coughing fits, seething with rage. He could care less about the blood spilling from his mouth, he was just furious that a creature existed that wouldn't trust Seria with a wound.

"Nate!" Seria shouted, tears brimming in her eyes at the sight of his blood. She tilted her head back and looked up at the dragon, who stared back down through his red eyes. "I-I'll do...whatever you want." she said, her delicate lips quivering. "Please...just let me take care of Nate first. He doesn't deserve to suffer!"

The dragon could understand her, of course. Dragons were blessed with the ability to understand any language used, but they were not always able to speak them in return. The dragon listened as she spoke, then turned and picked Nate up again, along with Seria, both in opposite hands. He turned and deposited them both into the smaller, treasure-filled cave, laying down in the entrance so nether one could get out.

Seria scrambled over to Nate, leaning over him and putting her hands on his chest. "Nate, what's wrong with you?! Why...why would you come here by yourself?" she said, using her powers to repair his ribs and seal the hole in his lungs. She evaporated the blood in his lung, then gently reached out and brushed her fingers against his chin, wiping away some of the blood. "What's wrong with you?" she asked softly, her tears falling softly down her face.

The dragon was watching silently.

"Th-they would have gone directly to force..." Nate sighed, relieved of his pain. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "It was too likely that you would have been killed by the dragon if the others charged here irrationally. I never would have gotten the chance to speak then, so I decided to come now instead of waiting...and hey, I made it." Nate snorted, then smiled a bit. "Go heal a real dragon. Do whatever you must. I won't let him hurt you." He touched his hand to her cheek, using his thumb to wipe away her tears. "Don't cry, Seria. I hate it when you cry."

She closed her eyes against his touch, her tears spilling gently down her cheeks. "Okay." she said softly, reaching a hand up and curling her fingers tenderly over his hand. "Okay..." She slowly moved his hand, lowering it down to his chest, then leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek, closing her eyes again. Then she pulled away and stood up, walking towards the forest green dragon watching them.

The dragon seemed to have lost his tension towards her, for some reason. He soundlessly lifted his wing and let her come forward all the way, turning his head away from her. Seria moved right over, already starting to run her hands over the wound and feel every inch of it. "This is bad." she said softly. "How did this happen?"

The dragon didn't say anything, then answered softly. "This is what happens when you are born a huge, feared monster and you wish for companionship." he said. "This wound has been digging into my side for at least three hundred years. I am at least one thousand years old as it is. I am a young dragon. I...am lonely. I wanted someone to talk to, someone he could listen to me and hear my many thoughts. I went out in search of a human who could understand my language. All I found was hatred and fear, pointed at me when I did nothing to ask for it. One human in a small village in another land got a lucky shot in with his spear. There it rests, still stuck in my scales. I couldn't get it out due to its position. I can't bend my head that far. After that, I stopped searching for someone to talk to. I moved into this cave, near that little town. They feared me when I did nothing but fly overhead. I even left their animals alone and hunted elsewhere when I could've taken what I wanted from them. I am misunderstood by all who encounter me. Why must this be so? I only wonder."

Nate was the only one that could understand the creature's words, of course, but Seria could hear the meaning and tone of his growls. He was infinitely sad, but resigned. He had come to terms with his solitude a long time ago, accepting the fact that he would always be alone.

Nate listened to the dragon and sighed. He paused his thoughts to translate for Seria. "It happened about three hundred years ago. He couldn't get it out do to its position." He then climbed to his feet, moving so that he was sitting in front of the dragon. "I'm sorry...I feel the same way, sometimes. Or...felt. Dragons despise me, and I've encountered plenty of humans that feared me out of the ridiculous belief that if I was angered, I would call upon dragons to smite them." He chuckled a bit. It was a bit surprising how quickly he had turned back to the calm, understanding, normal Nate. Especially after all the rage he had displayed before. "I can't say that I completely understand where you're coming from, though. I speak human tongues, obviously. And it became easier to hide my race after my wings and tail were torn off. But I do understand part of it, at least. Er...I'm sorry for all the name-calling earlier, I was a little upset..."

The dragon made an odd chuffing sound in his throat. It only took Seria a second to realize that it was a very dull chuckle. "It matters not to me." he said, shaking his crest again. "I called you a fairly bad name as well. So we're even." He sighed deeply. "I believe you to be the luckier one of us, dragonian. You are free to spend your time wherever you wish, with whomever you wish. I will never have that pleasantry. Though I think you lucky beyond measure for one reason." He tilted his head at Seria, knowing she had no idea what they were talking about. "She is beautiful. Even by the standards of dragons. And you get to spend as much time as you want with her. Without worry for people to throw hurtful objects at you or run screaming. And I can tell through sense that she loves you. Perhaps not in the mate way, but in the deepest sense of friendship. You are lucky indeed." He dropped into silence, closing his great eyes.

Seria looked down, then started to work on removing the deeply embedded spear.

"I am lucky..." Nate sighed, resting his hand between the dragon's eyes. "I often wish to have my wings back, to be able to fly again...and somtimes I wished that I really was a dragon, to have such incredible power with just a flick of the tail. And I realize now that I don't need those things. I thought that it was the end of the world, when I realized that I would never fly again. I guess it was just the beginning of a different life." He sighed again, then smiled. "But you're quite the handsome dragon, aren't you? Do the females not like your personality, or are you just as picky as the rest of them?" He said, somewhat jokingly.

The dragon sighed, flicking his large ears when Nate touched him, then opened his huge red eyes and focused the slits on the dragonian in front of him. "No." he said softly, sounding a bit remorseful. "I am not picky. Yes, I keep myself as clean as possible and I would call myself vain, but I don't care for looks in others. The problem is that I've never found another female dragon, much less one at proper age with me. It would be considered shameful among all dragons if I were to mate with a female dragon who were older than me. It would even be considered shameful if I were simply to attempt to court her in the first place. I know you human types commonly do not care much for age. You appear quite a few years older than this girl, yet she's drawn to you. Greatly. You could easily court her and it be no problem. But for I to find someone like that? It is much harder. I've never found a female at all, much less one younger than me and willing to accept my courting." He blinked, his scaled eyelids making a unique clicking sound as they came together and parted. Nate only heard it because he was right near the dragon's head.

Seria was diligently working on peeling back layer after layer of the dragon's scales and skin without pulling them off, trying to free the spearhead without leaving permanent damage on the dragon's shimmering green scales.