The Forgotten Zodiac

"Alright, alright," Nate sighed. "I want to let her rest more, but..." He scratched the back of his neck, heading into the house. "The rest of you should get ready to go."

"Oh, but that'll take forever," Airlia pouted, then blinked. "Oh, wait...I don't have any stuff. Nate, I'm ready!" She giggled.

Werr could feel Cici around his back, and that was really all that he had. His bag had been taken at Storaph Palace, and he hadn't seen it since. Something told him that he never would see it again, at that. Werr considered it, then stood. "Come on, Welk, I need to go pick up some fresh things from my house." He said, starting to walk.

Luen picked up Diana, settling her against his hip and holding her with one arm, then took Forin's hand and led him over to a tree nearby to wait. They had their bags ready by now, obviously.

Jag fluffed out his feathers, then spawned he and Lily's bags out of thin air.

Welk followed Werr, keeping to human form. It seemed that he had been staying in human form a lot lately. "Did I ever tell you that me and Cynyr only lived here for about half a year before all of this stuff happened?" the fire mage asked, trotting near Werr and glancing around at the town he had once lived in. "We've moved around a lot."

"I knew that you hadn't been in this town for very long," Werr nodded. "I was the boy who wrote everything down, remember? I was watching everyone, kind of. I didn't like many of them, that's why I didn't go to school very often. But the teachers never cared, as long as I kept my grades up. Which was simple enough. I...knew you lived in that house, too. That's why I was watching you both, the day we met. I was curious to know who would live in such a place, but you had your reasons." He smiled a little as they came to his crumbled home. He looked around, wondering if anything had changed. He spotted an arrow laying off to the side, blood dried on it from not so long ago. The arrow that had killed Heather. Werr ignored it, moving to his room and pulling out his school bag from underneath his bed. He dumped out the school supplies, keeping the notebook and pens, then proceeded to pack spare clothes and a few other things he thought he might need.

"Hey...what did you want to talk to Briana about?" He asked quietly. "You don't have to tell me, I'm just curious, I guess..."

Welk nodded as Werr spoke, listening intently to everything he said. He was quiet when they approached the broken house, flicking his ears back. He followed Werr to the boy's room and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Werr pack his things. He punched Werr's arm lightly when the boy spoke of Briana and what Welk had wanted to talk about with her. "Of course I'll tell you." he said, smiling a little. "I'll never keep secrets from you." He sighed, thinking for a moment, then said "I was going to ask her about my father. She didn't say anything about him other than that he was 'not reputable' and that that was why her family didn't want her to keep me. Plus, she told me later that she was pretty young when she got pregnant with me, so she was scared and didn't know what to do. And apparently my father left her when he found out she was pregnant, so... I can kind of understand why she left me." His hand crept towards the pocket he had kept Cynyr's pictures in, seeking comfort he would normally take if the panther half-cat was still alive. The pictures held little comfort, however, so he settled for hugging himself, since he was wearing Cynyr's overcoat.

Werr finished packing and crossed over to Werr, slinging the bag over his shoulder before giving Welk a hug. "Don't worry about it too much. It doesn't matter who your father is, okay? It matters who you are. Who your parents are shouldn't change that." He smiled. "Now then, let's go catch up with the others. I'm pretty sure it'd be hard for them to leave us behind, but I don't think we should keep them waiting."

Welk nodded, smiling as Werr hugged him, then stood up and said "I know, I know. It doesn't really matter to me that Briana's my mother either, since I'd pick you over her forever. I just...want to know who helped create me, that's all. It's a legitimate question." He grinned, but Werr could tell he was bothered by the thoughts of what his father could be like. The half-cat shrugged it off, however, and got up, taking cat form and pushing under Werr's legs excitedly, forcing the boy to stumble into a sitting position on his back. "Let's go, then!" he said, cantering out of the room.

Werr smiled as they set off. He held on tightly, not wanting to slip off and fall. They slid to a stop in front of the others, all of whom were ready to go and starting to climb up onto their new dragon friend. "I figured you'd be back soon," Nate said, nodding at them. "You have everything you need?"

"Yup," Werr nodded, climbing off of Welk and looking up at the dragon. How were they all going to fit on there without falling off?

Seria was awake by this time, though she still looked tired. The dragon was very big, so there was room for everyone, and because the dragon had spikes running down his back, there was something for them to hold onto. Seria was helping to tie rope around the various people, anchoring them to the spikes in front of them so they wouldn't fall off even if the dragon were to fly sideways. Some of the spaces between spikes were large enough for more than one person to sit in, ensuing some grouping.

Jag was going to fly with Lily and Spy riding him, as usual.

Welk took human form and scrambled up onto the dragon's shoulders, starting to tie some rope around himself to make sure he wouldn't fall to his death.

Werr climbed up after him, using the tightest knot he knew to secure himself as well. Airlia didn't use any rope, as she had wings and could easily catch herself in the case that she fell. Forin strapped himself in with Diana, naturally. Nate sighed happily and strapped himself in, ready for takeoff as soon as the others were.

Seria got on in front of Nate, then changed her mind and moved behind him, deciding that it would be better. She didn't want her waist-length hair to hit him, after all. She settled in behind him, wrapping her arms around him after she tied herself in.

Luen sitting behind Forin and Diana but in front of Nate and Seria, smiled at Nate when he saw that. He gave his fluffy tail a wag, then froze completely when Zephyr rose up from his laying down position, preparing to launch himself into the sky.

When he did, a lot of the people on his back screamed in terror.

The dragon laughed, finding their terror to be a bit humorous, then concentrated on gaining altitude as he rose up into the sky.

Jag leapt up after them, beating his wings rapidly to catch up.

Werr clutched the spike he was sitting in front of, his knuckles white. Airlia just smiled, surprised at how quickly the dragon was able to ascend. Nate was grinning from ear to ear again as they flew onwards.

Ulles came quickly on the horizon, and they approached it quicker still. From their height, they could see Kash just beyond it; two sister towns, with a large road connecting them, smaller roads leading away. A web of paths and trails, people as tiny as ants moving along each and every one of them. Werr finally relaxed at this point, watching as the earth below them raced past.

Zephyr once again dropped quickly out of the sky quite a distance from the town. He didn't want to be spotted, of course. That would've been bad for he and the other's safety. When he landed, he laid down on his belly so the others could start untying themselves and climbing off.

Welk immediately snicked through he and Werr's ropes with his claws, scrambling off of the dragon and letting out a whoop. "That was great!" he said. "I can't wait till we can fly again!"

Seria smiled, cutting through her and Nate's ropes, then climbing down from Zephyr's back. She went about severing everyone else's ropes, freeing them to get off.

Jagat flew down out of the air, letting out a soft bird call as he landed.

(([email protected] is my e-mail, send me those recordings. :T))

"It won't be too long." Werr nodded, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Come on, we should go. I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Let's go, then." Forin nodded, starting towards the town. "No use in waiting around, is there?"

((I shall do eet.))

Once everyone was off, Zephyr took his smallest size and scrambled into Nate's pocket, curling up on his back again and dozing off. Dragons loved to sleep. Very old dragons had been known to sleep for a thousand years.

Luen picked up Diana and settled her against his hip again, holding her with both arms as he walked dutifully behind Forin. His white ears were flicking up, listening to every sound around them. The air was cold, but that was no problem to him. Winter was his favorite season, what with him being an ice mage.

Welk trotted near Werr, his fluffy coat keeping him well protected against the cold. He and Seria were both on high alert, also sensing that something wasn't quite right with the town they were approaching.

Everything seemed normal enough, though. People were moving to and from houses and wells, there was a bustle of activity in the market, the little town was at the peak of activity for the day. Werr led them into town with ease, pushing past a couple of people as they made their way towards one house that Werr had his eyes locked on.

He had to stop, however, when one of the townsfolk grabbed him by the arm. Rather suddenly, the sky darkened. All the townsfolk seemed to be focused on their group, swarming in like mosquitoes. Grabbing at their clothes, their arms. None of them spoke, all of them held blank expressions. Werr cried out in pain as he was grabbed by the hair, dragged sideways. Next he knew, he was being tied up, his face pressed into the dirt. "Get off!" He screamed, struggling uselessly. The same was happening to the others; crowds were pressing in on them, mobbing them.

To make matters worse, none of their powers seemed to be working.

Welk tried several times to get his fire powers to work, but they wouldn't come when he tried to use them. He roared angrily, but he was quickly overcome by the sheer number of people around them. The others rapidly found themselves in similar situations and were soon held captive.

Zephyr, tucked down into Nate's pocket, went unnoticed by the mob. He had the sense to stay hidden, since his powers to change his size were affected as well. He didn't know what to do, since he was stuck in his small size.

"Days. Days and days. You have a way of making people impatient with you, don't you?" The door of the house Werr had been heading towards opened. Someone emerged, blinking in the bright sunlight. Forin swore loudly at the sight of him. "My, such language...that's rather rude, don't you think?" He walked until he was in front of them, in full-view. The townsfolk backed away after dragging all of them to where they could see.

He had pale skin and a small height disadvantage, but that might have been because he looked only a little older than Diana. He had jet-black hair that was closely cropped around his thin face, which bore a malicious-looking smirk. He wore a white shirt and a black vest, with matching black pants, as well as shoes that looked a little too dressy for the current area. Werr found his eyes trailing to the boy's white gloves, both of which had an unusual mark on them.

A circle with a perfect horizontal line. The mark of Tartarus. His hair concealed the mark on his forehead, though. "Greetings. How are you all today? Good? No? Oh well." He snorted. "My name is--"

"Necropolis Merce!" Forin snarled. "Release me this instant!"

"Forin? Forin Dulce?" Necropolis tapped his chin, almost as if consdering it. He grinned toothily, revealing sharp teeth. "Nooo, I can't do that. You'll attack me. Before you ask, I'll just cut to the chase; I was here to kill a certain someone, but that finished, and so I decided to wait around before moving on to my next mark. I figured that you'd be scampering here soon, and I was right! Although, it kinda took you awhile! I got bored and decided to start manipulating people, and I guess it was worth it. They didn't tell me you had an entire dragon with you. So I cut off your powers, and after that, this was a piece of cake!"

Welk snarled loudly at him, saying "As soon as I'm out of this rope, you're dead!" He spat and hissed angrily at the boy, struggling against his bonds. Ultimately, he was unable to free himself from them.

Zephyr remained down in Nate's pocket, not about to stick his head out for anything. All he could hope was that the strange thing, Necropolis, wouldn't try and take him out of the pocket.

Luen yipped softly, attempting to switch to wolf form to better protect himself, but finding that he was trapped in his human form as well as having no powers. The ropes around his body were hurting his burn scars and the newer scar over his abdomen, where Forin had stabbed him. He glanced around rapidly for a way out, then quivered when he found none.

"What do you want from us?" Nate snarled.

"Nothing, from you. I just want you out of the way." Necropolis rolled his eyes. "Which, you are, kind of. Now shut up. As for you..." He lifted Werr up with apparent ease, licking his lips in apparent anticipation. "I'll be taking you back to my master's master. Storaph Palace, the freaks that hang around there, so on. Fun stuff. But I'm a little lazy right now, so you can wait." He threw Werr aside, who was caught by townsfolk and dragged into the house. There was a scream after that, then silence.

"Is this your master? She's puny! No wonder you're constrained to that form." Neropolis poked forward, jabbing at the sobbing Diana with his foot. He put his shoe on her face, watching Forin scream with rage and squirm uselessly. He grinned and put his foot back on the ground, looking around at the others. "Hm, let's see..." He leaned over Welk, grinning. "Are yyyyoooouuu gonna kill me? Really? How?"

Welk roared when he heard Werr scream, fighting as hard as he could against his ropes. "I'll murder you alive!" the half-cat shouted, glaring hard at Necropolis. When the creature loomed over him, he kicked out at it, trying desperately to hit him somehow. "I don't know how, but I'll kill you!" he snarled. "If you hurt anyone here, so help me...!" He hissed, which was more lion-like than cat-like, as it usually sounded. He remembered he had claws and started raking them over his ropes, trying to break them.

"Leave them alone!" Luen suddenly shouted, his nerve starting to wither. He was scared, but had hadn't been able to stop himself from shouting out.