The Forgotten Zodiac

Forin still looked angry, not looking at Luen. He pulled his hand from the wolfling's grip, running ahead until he reached the treeline. He jumped up from there, onto a tall pine. From one branch to another, skipping up the tree like a squirrel. Faster than one. He stopped near the top, where the branches grew too thin to hold his weight. He sat there, not looking down at Luen. He wasn't in much of a playing mood anymore, apparently.

Luen watched him sadly, letting him go, then walked to the base of the tree and just looked up. He had no hope of being able to climb up there without falling down and breaking his neck. Wolves weren't meant to climb, after all. Slowly, Luen turned away, deciding that perhaps Forin needed some time alone. He walked off into the trees, heading for a waterfall similar to the one Welk had been at, only this one was much, much bigger. Luen traveled away from the creature of Tartarus, carefully sitting at the edge of the top of the waterfall. It was a very tall waterfall, but he didn't mind. He let his legs hang off of the edge, sighing and looking up into the sky.

The attack came before he knew it.

Without barely a sound, a snow leopard lunged out of the forest and slammed into him, knocking the wolfling to the side. Luen yelped and quickly tried to stagger up, but the large cat pressed claws to his throat. "Be still." it said, and Luen knew it was a girl. "Tell me. Why do you travel with such a dangerous, unstable Tartaran creature within your group?"

Luen gulped and said "He...he's my friend."

"Lies." she said simply. "He'll be your death."

"No!" Luen whimpered. "Never!"

"I am not going to let anything come in the way of my world's prophecy." she said, and Luen froze. "What...?" he murmured, blinking in shock. The snow leopard closed her brilliant blue eyes and quoted something for him. "From total darkness, hope returns to the light, in the form of a being pained to no end, who will replenish the land with his soul." she said, then opened her eyes. "If you will not be rid of the Tartaran creature, you are not meant to stay with this group."

"I won't do anything to Forin!" Luen yelped, struggling hard to get away form her. "He's my friend! One of my only ones! I'll never do anything to hurt him!" Tears seeped from his eyes as he struggled.

The snow leopard sighed, then said "Then you are of no use to me or this group." She leaned forward gracefully and sunk her teeth carefully into Luen's shoulder, right near his neck, as if that were the simplest of things. Before he could scream at the pain, she covered his mouth with one paw. He had no way of letting Forin know what was happening. He was such a fool! He shouldn't have wandered away!

More tears fell down his narrow cheeks when the strange snow leopard calmly dug her claws into his stomach and tore a few trenches in his already-scarred skin.

Then she lifted him and calmly dropped the wolfling over the edge of the falls, watching him disappear into the water far below. "Goodbye." she said, watching him until he was no longer in sight. "I wish you could've seen reason."

She then disappeared, vanishing into thin air.

Forin twitched, sensing something odd. Of course...he wasn't with Diana. He had needed some time alone, yes. He felt better now, but his desire to protect Diana was becoming overwhelming. He started to slid down the tree, noting that Luen was no longer waiting at the bottom. He started back towards the inn, wondering what he should say to the wolfling when he reached the inn.

Of course, he hadn't thought of anything by the time he arrived. He set a hand on the doorknob, but stopped to sense things within the building. Diana was fine. There was Seria, Nate, Welk and Werr, Spy, Lily and Jag...even the kind, young innkeeper...no Luen.

Forin turned and ran back the way he came. Luen...that idiot. Wandering off on his own! Forin hit a hard sprint back towards the forest, stopping at the tree he had climbed up into. He looked hard at the ground, before spotting Luen's tracks. He followed them, forcing down his anger again. If anything had happened to that wolfling...

When he reached the falls, Luen was nowhere to be seen, of course. Drops of his blood were scattered faintly on the ground from his shoulder wound and a few scuff marks, but no sign of the wolfling himself.

The snow leopard appeared out of seemingly nowhere, standing on the rocks above the falls. "You seek the wolfling that was here." she said, her voice as calm as ever. "You are too late. I've disposed of him, as should've happened long ago." A single tilt of her feline head towards the falls was all Forin needed to know. "He's long gone by now." she said, flicking her spotted tail once. "You wouldn't believe how much he cried at what I told him. I wanted him to be rid of you, but he refused. Said you were his 'friend', that he would 'never do anything to hurt him'. His fondness of you was ridiculous, to say the least. Now I expect you to take your summoner and leave the group of people you are with. You cannot stay with them, though I understand they offer more protection and happiness for your mistress. The wolfling is dead. I made sure of it." And she bared bloody fangs as proof, raising her claws to show him the blood staining them.

Forin stared at the leopard for a long moment. Luen said all that? Of course he would...such a fool as he was. He could have lied and come to warn him, but this...Luen? Dead? Forin found himself in disbelief, but as her words sunk in, the realization of what she was telling him hit him like a sledgehammer. "You...did what...exactly?" He said quietly. "You...disposed of him?" He stared in silence for a moment more, then said in a voice that wasn't his usual. It was darker and...eviller. "I do hope you didn't expect me to simply follow along with what you say," Dark light cloaked his body for perhaps half a second. Forin's true form stood before the leopard, looking absolutely furious. "I don't take orders easily." He spread his wings for a brief moment, then shot towards the leopard with triple the speed of any natural being, his claws aimed for his victim's head.

The strange thing was, Forin found himself completely in control. His rage had obliterated his true form's mental space, leaving him with the physical form alone. He wasn't sure if it was permanent or not, but it was wonderful for the current situation. He felt insane amounts of power flowing through each vein, the knowledge and wisdom of a hundred thousand years pulsing in the back of his head. In the short time before the action could even take place, he could clearly envision himself easily ripping the skull and spine out of the cat and watching her body collapse in on itself. He felt the desire to torture her a little, to make her suffer, but the longer he waited, the further down the river Luen could go. That thought kept his hand moving towards her with the speed of a bullet.

She vanished in a split second, leaving not even a silver-white hair behind. "You honestly think you can kill me like that?" her voice wafted out of the air. She reappeared on the branch a tree a ways behind him, her head tilted down disapprovingly at him. "Honestly." she said, cocking her head one way. "I would think a Tartaran creature would know better than that. That wolfling was unneeded by anyone and you are a fool for ever being attached to him. No matter. He's gone now and there's nothing you can do about it." She flung light out at Forin, her entire body radiating brightness.

Forin screeched with pain, but he was quick to react. He threw up a wall of shadow around himself, blocking the light. It was weak against the pure light magic, but his anger fueled it and kept it from cracking or anything of the sort. If anything, it was growing larger the longer he held it up. To be honest, he was a little surprised at the amount of power he was capable of expelling. "I would love to stand here and give you reasons as to why I am attached to that wolfling, but I haven't the time. You should know, there's an old man in a town about ten miles from here who just breathed his last. His name was Eammus. I heard his death. I have not yet heard Luen's."

With that, he spread his wings again and plunged downwards, leaving nothing but a trail of black behind him as he flew, which dissolved within seconds of his passing. He shot off down the river, searching for Luen, barely more than a blur. The wall followed behind, melting into what seemed to be a swarm of round, flying orbs, none of them much bigger than a fist. They spread out ahead and below, searching for the same thing he was. Scouts, Forin knew they were called. A rare embodiment of his powers, considering the fact that he was a removal specialist, not an animator. How interesting. They were almost living beings themselves, moving without orders or a lift of the finger from Forin.

Forin slowed. They were getting close, they had to be.

The snow leopard watched him go, then sighed. "Oh dear." she murmured. "That seemed to be the wrong course of action. I shall have to rethink what I know of these creatures." The being known only as Luna Vevila then disappeared, leaving no trace of herself behind.

Forin had to fly quite a way from the waterfall before he found the wolfling. Finally, however, he did.

The river had slowed much further down, creating soft waves that lapped at the banks. Luen had washed up on the shore, limp and unmoving, his body and hair soaked. Blood was dripping from his shoulder and from his chest and stomach, where the snow leopard had clawed him. He was seemingly lifeless. Water trickled from his mouth and nose, mixing with the blood that also was attempting to leak from him. He wasn't breathing, that much Forin could see.

The Scouts crowded around Luen's fallen body, nudging him in a desperate attempt to wake the wolfling. Forin landed easily, setting his clawed hands gently on Luen's limp form. He reached into Luen's chest, feeling the water locked in his lungs. He withdrew the liquid, knowing that there was a chance to revive him. However slim. He started pressing on Luen's chest rhythmically, attempting to restart his heart. If he could just do that, he could fly Luen back to Seria...

But now, naturally, his anger started fading. As such, his powers. The Scouts faded and dissolved until there was just one remaining; it didn't seem to want to leave, hovering near Forin silently as the creature of Tartarus attempted to revive his fallen companion.

Nothing happened for several long, agonizing seconds. It seemed that Forin had come too late and that Luen had passed away completely. More time passed. The silence was nearly deafening. Then, right when Forin began to think that he had been too late and Luen was dead, the wolfling showed life. He coughed once, weakly, followed by a desperate little gasp for air, then fell silent again. Now, though, he was breathing, though it was faint and sometimes stopped for a few dreadful moments. He had had the water blocking his lungs for too long... His right arm was bent at an odd angle as well. He had broken it soon after he had hit the water. He hadn't been able to swim well due to his wounds and the fast-moving water had slammed him into a rock. That was when he had lost consciousness.

Luen clung to life, literally only alive because Forin had found him just in time to revive him somewhat.

Forin breathed out a massive sigh of relief, scooping Luen up in his arms and taking off again. "Hold on, Luen...I won't let this happen. You'll be fine, my friend..." He allowed his mind to wander to the leopard, forcing his anger up again. He sped up, desperate to reach Seria in time.

It was still several minutes before he reached town. He landed in front of the inn, ignoring the fact that he sent several villagers running. They weren't used to winged creatures like him landing in their streets. Forin tore open the window behind where Seria sat, grabbing her by the back of her collar and easily lifting her outside. He showed Luen to her, growling. "Fix him," He demanded. He would understand if Seria was frightened; he was still in true form, he was breathing heavily from the rapid flight, and he was soaked in water and blood from holding onto Luen so tightly. Though really, his true form alone was scary enough.

Seria yelped when Forin grabbed her, of course. She hadn't been expecting it. As far as she had known, he and Luen had been outside, safe and unharmed. "Augh!" she yelped, struggling for the first few seconds before Forin spoke to her. She blinked sharply when he let her see Luen, then glanced up at the winged...thing, standing there. She recognized Forin and nodded immediately, saying "Hold him." as she put her hands on the wolfling's body and started feeling for his injuries. His breathing was shallow and thin, and that was her biggest priority. The broken arm, she could heal later. If he died first, there would be no point in her having fixed his arm ahead of time. She gently placed two fingers at the base of Luen's throat, then slowly ran it down the length of his body to just above his navel. Two glowing blue lines were left behind, which faded a quite a while after Seria lifted her hand. "I'm guessing he was in water." she said, eyeing the wolfling and Forin's soaked bodies as she made the lines again, watching as they faded a bit quicker than before. She was slowly repairing his windpipe and lungs. "There's no water in his lungs, but I can tell that there was some inside. What happened?" she asked.

"Someone...a phantom, maybe...attacked him. She was attempting to order Luen to kill me, and when he refused, she attacked him and threw him over a waterfall near here. By the time I found her, he had already washed several miles down...she wielded light magic. I didn't have time nor the strength to fight her, so I went after Luen. I removed the water from his lungs and reset his heart, but that was the most I could do." Forin explained, his voice still sounding perhaps monstrous. He reverted back to his normal self after that, laying down in an attempt to catch his breath. Now that his body was in a weaker state, it was easier to see the damage the single light spell had done to him. His left cheek and hand looked burnt, to say the least. His left eye looked a bit fogged over, as though he were going blind in that eye.

"Someone wants me away from this group, and they were fully willing to harm someone completely innocent to get their way..." Forin murmured, contemplating what to do. He couldn't leave Luen again, not without Diana's consent. Luen wasn't likely to go anywhere without Nate, and the Dragonian wanted to stay with Werr and the others out of the belief that they were helping him discover what was wrong with King Asmodius.

He couldn't just return to Tartarus, either. Diana needed him still, and even if she didn't, returning to Tartarus would open up an opportunity for him to fall into enemy hands. Especially if there was a summoner on their side, which there clearly was, what with the appearance of Necropolis. If that leopard woman wanted him gone so badly, she'd have to be rid of him herself. Which, he wanted nothing to do with such an occasion.

A death by light magic was far from pleasant.

"Pardon me." a silky voice said from the roof. "But that's not entirely true." The snow leopard was laying on the roof now, stretched out calmly in the sunlight. "I was misled." she said, her smooth voice wafting through the air. "I now know it was wrong of me to attack you and almost kill your pet. Oopsie. I still do not like you, of course, and if you do prove to be a nuisance, I will kill the wolf. Threats through others, I say." She calmly licked a spotted paw, her long tail flicking once behind her. "You have nothing to worry about, Tartaran creature. Do not cross me and you and your pet shall be fine." she said, flicking her ears. "Do understand, I do not mean harm unto any of you. I just want to save my home world, that is all. Amnairus is dying and there is a being from this world that can stop my kind from dying. The only problem is, I cannot find him." She shrugged, jangling the bangle necklace around her neck.

Amnairus was the exact opposite of Tartarus. Tartarus was a world of shadow magic. Amnairus was a world of sun magic.

Forin snarled with anger at the sight of the leopard, sitting up and moving so that he was between Luen and the Amniarian. "I know what you are, and where you come from." He snapped. He had been trying to save his breath, but he was done with any of that now. "I knew from my first attempt to rip your skull out of your head. And what do you mean, 'didn't know'? Is murder a common practice on Amnairus? And here I thought it was a peaceful place, the polar opposite of Tartarus!" His Scout skittered near the panther's feet, merely curious.

Forin wasn't done responding to her, though. "What should I care about your precious world? Tartarus is dying too, you know. It always has been, and always will be. There's no end to the suffering there, so what makes you think I care about your poor, pathetic people who can't manage to survive on a dying world? The only thing that makes you stronger than me is your ridiculous light!"

"Foo." she said, crossing her paws daintily over each other. She smiled at the Scout, making no move to hurt it, then said "What you do not understand, fair Tartaran, is that after my world dies, Tartarus will die next. Permanently. There can be no shadow without sunlight, after all. I am concerned for both of our worlds and the lives that will be lost if mine cannot be repaired. If your world were to die while you were still here, you would vanish and leave your mistress and pet behind. In other words, you would die with your world, just as I will die with mine." She shrugged again, tiling her ears back. "If you would rather die a long, miserable death that slowly ebbs you down to nothing, by all means, kill me. I warn you, though. I am the only Amnarian that has managed to world jump. If you kill me, you condemn both worlds to death."

She had backed him into a serious corner, and what was worse was that she was right.

Forin just growled after that, knowing full well that she was right. He wasn't at all happy about any of this, though. "What am I supposed to do about it, then? I'm bound here by my mistress, it's not like I can get up and run to help you find this being that will save both our planets. For that matter, what makes you think I like living? Thousands and thousands of years spent either bowing to a master or hiding from the beasts that roam Tartarus...I don't think you would be able to handle such a thing, kitty-cat. To make matters worse, the number of summoners has obviously decreased over the years. With no one to summon them, the Summons on Tartarus see life as pointless. What's a slave without a master? There's no hierarchy to turn to there, my entire world is based off of chaos and survival of the fittest."

The Scout, its curiosity satisfied, skittered away again. Instead of returning to Forin, though, it floated into the inn and started nosing around Diana, making sure she was okay.

The snow leopard didn't move other than a flick of her tail. "Oh, I do not want your help, little one. I was just telling you the facts you do not seem to know. And giving you a reason to not try and kill me, which would result in me defending myself and killing you in return. Something I would rather not do." She watched him for a moment, digesting his words, then said "If that is true about 'survival of the fittest', why did you not just let the wolfling die? He furthers no means of your own. At least, he should not. True, I can see how you would want to keep him as your pet for a lot longer, but still. Pets die eventually." She turned stood up and jumped off of the roof, immediately growing a huge pair of white wings from her back. She floated down gracefully, landing and letting the wings vanish. "I wish to travel with you." she said, glancing down disdainfully at Luen, who was still struggling to breathe. "I will not help with anything simply because I will require nothing from any of you. Unless it involves the being I seek, I will not bother you again."

"He's not a pet!" Forin snarled at her. "I won't let him die because he makes Diana happy! I've never been able to make her laugh, but these people can. That's worth more to me than my own life. I don't care about your being, and I don't care if you travel with us, just stay away from me, Luen and Diana. And don't you dare point your light magic at me again, you've already damaged my eyes..." He rubbed at his left eye. What he could see out of it was blurry and unfocused. Which was good; that meant it would recover. If he couldn't see anything at all, his eye would be completely useless.

"What's going on out here?" Werr came to the doorway at last, frowning. "You're making such a racket...what happened to Luen? Is he okay?"

The snow leopard took human form and zoned in on him in an instant, her turquoise eyes bright. She had long silver-white hair that came a little past her shoulders and was wearing a thin silver band around her forehead. She still had the bangles around her neck and she was also wearing bracelets that matched. Her outfit was a tad revealing over her shoulders, arms and back, but there were worse outfits out there, for certain. Hers covered the important parts, at least. "Hello." she said. "I am Luna. You are Werr Grehi. Nice to meet you." She studied him closely, then suddenly moved forward, planted both hands on the back of his head, and kissed him, right on the mouth. When she pulled back, she looked disgusted. "Ew." she said, wiping her mouth off disdainfully. "You taste terrible." She stalked around him and into the inn, now ignoring him completely.

Everyone there looked totally shocked.

Seria blinked sharply, then shook herself and stammered "L-Luen? Oh, right. Y-yes, he should be okay, I think." She had moved on to his arm and was trying to set his bone as gently as possible. He was silent through the whole thing, his chest rising and falling weakly as he breathed.