The Forgotten Zodiac

((Okay.))

The dragon looked down at him, then tilted his head back and thrummed a low note in his chest. "Of course." he said, blowing a smoky breath out through his nose. He bent his head down and rested it on the ground, next to Next. He didn't sleep, as he really didn't need to right now. He instead watched as Cynyr walked Seria inside the cave and sat with her, closing his eyes as the female half-cat curled against him.

Nate curled up against Zephyr's warm chest, but was unable to sleep until he crawled out and sat upright, leaning against Zephyr's stomach. He fell asleep quickly after that, though he still looked uncomfortable and perhaps a little upset.

The next morning dawned bright and early. Snow was falling lightly from the sky and obviously had been for most of the night, as all of the footprints outside of the cave were filled in. Plus all of the places where Welk had romped about. Cynyr let his gaze rove around the area, then returned it to Seria, who was sleeping against his side. He gently moved his hand up and stroked her long hair, then glanced over at Welk. The fire mage was still in human form and hadn't moved at all during the night. He was sleeping quietly, one arm draped over Werr's body.

Nate was one of the first to get up, climbing to his feet and yawning a bit. He didn't look at Cynyr and Seria, deciding to get the flames going again. Lily was the next one awake, but she didn't say anything. She hardly moved, at that, curled up in Jag's wings. She felt like she was forgetting something, but she wasn't too sure what, to be honest.

Airlia was next to wake up. She had been curled up near the dying flames, so when Nate brought them back to life, she woke with a jolt. "Sorry," Nate smiled apologetically.

"That's okay," Airlia shrugged, yawning sleepily.

Zephyr woke and lifted his head slightly, watching Nate as the dragonian moved around. When he was finished with the fire, the dragon moved his head out on his long neck and pressed his snout against the dragonian's chest, thrumming a long note that resounded through the cave lightly. He was in one of his bigger sizes, so Nate would've barely been able to put his arms around the dragon's muzzle. Zephyr closed his large red eyes for a moment, then pulled back, flicking his long tail once. He stood up, shaking his scales, then hummed "I'm going for a fly. I shall return soon enough." He made his way out, then took off running once he cleared the cave, heading up into the sky.

Nate watched him go, sitting in front of the fire. "You awake, Werr?" He asked quietly, not wanting to disturb Welk.

There was a long pause, then Werr sighed. He didn't move, but he said softly, "Yes."

"More nightmares?"

Another pause. "Yes."

"Well...at any rate, do we know when we'll be able to head out again? We need to get moving as soon as possible, as I'm sure you know."

"I know. I just...we can't go anywhere if Welk is like this..."

Welk shifted slightly in his sleep, his hand sliding off of Werr's body and falling between them. He was out like a light, curled up innocently against Werr. He unconsciously reached out with one hand, searching until he found Werr's shirt. He twinned his hand tightly into it, holding on as if his life depended on it.

Seria woke up from her spot against Cynyr and stood, stretching. She walked over and bent down next to Welk, touching his forehead lightly. "He's getting better." she said. "We'll be able to move him whenever we want to move out, though I would prefer to let him sleep for as long as possible. The poor thing's dead-tired." She scratched behind his ear for a moment, then moved away.

"I know, I know..." Werr nodded. "Thanks, Seria."

Nate leaned back against the wall near Forin, looking a little upset still. He said nothing, though. Forin spoke for him, though he was too quiet for any of the others to hear. Nate replied, frowning a bit. "I still don't understand why you haven't told them," Forin sighed at him. Nate replied again, but he kept his voice down. Forin tutted at him. "Irrelevant, my foot." But, he dropped the subject when Nate didn't reply again.

((Postponing the spy-thing to when I'm more awake.))

Seria nodded at Werr, then glanced over at Nate. She knew he was upset, of course. She could sense it. She hoped he still wanted to be around her, because she still really liked him. Being Cynyr's girlfriend again would take some getting use to, and she didn't want to abandon her friendship with Nate. He was a good friend to her. One of the closest ones she had ever had. She sighed and walked off to sit by herself at the entrance to the cave, poking holes in the snow with her claws.

Jag opened his eyes as he woke and shook his head, then stood up and stretched. The wing-cat glanced over at Airlia and said "Hey. You look cramped. Wanna go flying with me? The gods only know how much I need it." He flicked his long tail, waiting for her answer.

Airlia blinked in surprise, then nodded hesitantly. She looked over at Cynyr, wringing her hands a bit. "Um...master? Is it alright if I go for a fly with Jag? We'll be back soon, I should hope..." She asked quietly, half-expecting to be told no. Which she would be okay with. She would have to be okay with, rather. In her mind, anyways.

Cynyr looked up at her and nodded, saying "Do what you like. It's okay with me."

Jag shook his crest, then let out an ear-piercing squawk, smiling smugly as Welk yelped and jolted awake at that, startled and breathing hard. The gryphon then turned away and ran for the cave opening, flinging his wings open and leaping up into the sky.

Welk rubbed his eyes weakly, looking tired and drawn. He coughed dryly, rubbing his throat with one hand.

Airlia followed him, happy to get a chance to be flying again.

Werr hugged Welk again, but slipped away and grabbed his bag. He rummaged around in it for his canteen, finding it easily. "Do you need me to help you drink?" He asked, smiling a bit. There wasn't much water left in his little container, but what was there would go to Welk.

Welk had started to doze off again when Werr moved away, but he woke a bit more when the boy spoke. He blinked tiredly, then nodded once. He let Werr put the canteen to his lips and tilt it back, feeling relief flood through him when he felt the water go into his mouth. He drank all of what was left, soothing his parched throat.

Cynyr watched him for a moment, then said "We should move out today. Soon, if possible. Welk, do you think you could manage if you rode on Zephyr?"

Welk swallowed the last drink of water in his mouth and turned, staring blearily at his brother. He didn't do anything other than starting to fall asleep again, which he did seconds later, laying back down and resting his head against Werr's leg. He curled up into a tight ball, wrapping his arms around Werr's leg as if to keep the boy close while he slept.

"I don't think he's ready for it yet..." Werr murmured. "I can hold on to him if we really need to move now, but...we kind of have to wait for the others to get back, anyways."

"Spy!" Lily yelped suddenly.

"What?" Werr blinked at her.

"I don't know where Spy is!"

"Oh...and Cici..."

Spy happened to be out in the snow still. He had tried his best to struggle back towards the cave. He might have made it, being able to run over the snow, but he had been forced to drag Cici through the snow with him. He had moved backwards even, unable to track the others down due to the snow. He was curled up in a pile of frozen, dead leaves and grass that he had dug up. Cici had tried contacting Werr, but the portal had messed her connection up. Werr would have to hold her again for her to reconnect properly.

Which meant that Spy had spent the night in the freezing wasteland, cold and alone. Well, Cici was with him, and she had tried to tell the poor little Chimera to go on alone, but he was afraid of getting lost or straying any further. And by the time he would have been able to muster up any courage at all, his legs had been shaking too badly for him to even move.

"We're going the wrong way!" a voice suddenly said. The sound of footsteps crunching into snow sounded. "No, we're not." a second, nearly identical voice said. "I admit, we have no idea where we are, but I know we're close."

"How do you know that, brother? Do explain." The first voice was full of sarcasm.

"Because we teleported to one of the last known locations of this group of fools." The second voice belonged to Dark, who strove for a placating tone as he tried to calm down his temperamental twin. "That means we're going in the right direction."

"No. We're. NOT!" Light said, stomping one leg into the snow with each word.

"Stop being such a baby." Dark said, moving forward. "We're going the right way. Don't-...what do we have here?" A hand closed gently around Spy's tail, lifting the chimera up out of his hiding place. Dark held the little creature up by his tail, staring at him.

"Experiment!" Light called, grabbing for him.

Dark shoved him backwards into the snow, saying "Calm yourself, brother. Not everything we encounter is worth tearing apart, you know."

Light fumed, but said nothing more. He peered closely at Spy, then said "A chimera?"

"Seems so, brother." Dark said, curling Spy into his arms to protect him from Light's kill-hungry grasp. "He seems familiar to me, but I can't for the life of me place where I've seen him."

Light snorted, then walked forward and bumped Cici. He glanced down, then bent close to study her. "What's this thing?" he asked, peering at her.

"Let go of him, you monsters!" Cici snapped with anger, though a staff half-buried in snow wasn't intimidating at all. She knew that neither Dark nor Light could touch her, though. But the strap that Spy had been pulling her along by didn't carry her usual burning sensation. It was normal leather.

Spy just hung limply in Dark's grip, too cold to move very much. "P-please don't eat me..." He managed to say in a very small voice.

"Oh-ho! It talks!" Light said, grabbing the strap and holding Cici upside down. "Look at this, brother! A talking staff!"

Dark glanced up and grinned, saying "Not just any staff, brother. That's Werr Grehi's staff! I told you we were getting close." He looked down at Spy and said "Why would I eat you? Revolting. No, I think I'll just keep you. A chimera would be fun to have, don't you think, brother?"

"I just want to kill it." Light growled, glaring at Spy through his black eyes.

"No." Dark said, scowling. "Now shut up and let's walk, now that we both know I was right."

Light stuck his tongue out at his brother, then followed the white-clad twin as he walked off, heading in the right direction.

"That's right! You'd better take me back to Werr, or so help me, you're gonna get it!" Cici growled at the both of them. Spy closed his eyes, feeling numb and stiff all over. Sure, he was furry, but last night had been almost as cold as the night before. He was lucky to have survived, and he wouldn't have, if Cici hadn't told him to burrow under the snow. The thick layers had locked in a small amount of his body heat, enabling him to barely survive.

Light swung Cici around in dizzying circles at his side, saying "Shut up, staff. What are you gonna do? Hit me with yourself?" He laughed, then quieted down when Dark shushed him. They walked for a few more minutes in silence until they neared the cave, where they slowed and crept up from a bank of snow. "They're inside." Dark said. "I can see a few of them from here."

"Who?" Light immediately asked, fingering the syringes he was holding in his pocket. Dark had two in his pockets, while Light only had the one, as Dark was afraid the crazier-twin would've gone nuts and used all three on the wrong targets, just for the heck of it.

"The panther and the red half-cat." Dark reported. "But it looks like there are others further in."

"The panther's mine." Light immediately said. "I have to kill him."

"Settle down, brother." Dark said. "Don't blow the mission. We have to use at least one of these things on Diana, remember?"

Light didn't answer, instead glaring at Cynyr's distant form.

"Remember?" Dark said again, and Light snarled "YES."

Cici did indeed shut up, trying desperately to connect to Werr's mind, now that they were closer. Maybe, just maybe, she could warn him before anything bad happened...no luck, though. Spy mustered up as much energy as he could, letting out a weak cry. It wasn't loud enough to alert the others, unfortunately, and he knew it. At least he had tried...