The Forgotten Zodiac

During their nap, as Avis moved close to him in her sleep, Karsenir's body relaxed entirely. His attitude seemed buch more pleasant, even though he was asleep. When Avis woke he muttered a word of gibberish, shifting the tiniest bit, but his nap wasn't disturbed beyond that. After she moved off of his chest it was only a matter of minutes until he woke. Slowly he blinked his eyes open, but once they were open he looked around quickly for a second, making sure Avis was nearby. "Hi." He said, smiling at her slightly as he started to sit up.

"Oh, you're both awake, then," Syn said, offering them both juice cups. "Here, drink up. It doesn't taste very good, but it'll give you a nice energy boost. I drank some first to make sure it wasn't poisoned, although I don't know why an old man would be carrying poisoned liquids. It'll be helpful to your conditions, though."

"Uh...thanks, I think..." Avis looked down at the pale blue liquid, frowning slightly. It looked a bit like milk, but...a light blue. She wasn't sure if she wanted to drink it or not, though.

Karsenir slowly reached out and took the cup with a shaky hand and, after inspecting it for a moment, drank it's contents. Poisons had little to no effect on him, other than making him sick for a little while, which was why he knew which berries were poisonous. It didn't taste bad at all to him. Once he drained the cup, he set in down on the ground at his side. He yawned again and sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing his sitting up position against the wall. He watched Avis, keeping quiet for the moment.

Avis watched him drink the liquid, then took a swig of it herself. She managed to swallow, but looked a little disgusted. She set the drink down beside her, not wanting any more. "How do you feel?" She questioned, smiling a little bit in spite of the bad taste in her mouth now. "You seem to be doing better..."

Karsenir looked down at Avis, then sighed again. "I am better." He answered, keeping his voice low and quiet. "I don't think I can stand on my own right now, but I think I can lift my leg a little." He lifted a leg an inch off the ground for just a moment. "A very small little, but I can, so that's good." He said, letting out another heavy sigh. "What about you?" He asked, turning his head to look down at her. "Are you doing alright?"

"That is good," Avis nodded eagerly. "I've been doing okay..." She leaned up and whispered in his ear, "Syn creeps me out, but he's okay for the most part." Before relaxing again. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stay here for too much longer. She wasn't about to say it to Karsenir, though; he needed to take his time healing, and the last thing he needed was to push himself. "At the very least, now I know that I should make sure you eat at least a little of whatever berries you find for me," She giggled.

Nodding slightly, Karsenir smiled a little as she spoke, though when she moved to whisper in his ear he looked away, his dark, blotchy skin turning a faint green color as her face was so close to his. He smiled a little and was sure he was looking away. He was very glad she agreed with his unspoken oppinion that Syn was creepy. "Yeah, well...." He smiled nervously and let out a quiet chuckle. "That might not be a bad idea..."

"Well, I'm just saying. The next little shack we hide in might not have someone as nice as Syn." She giggled.

Syn seemed to flush at this. "Me? Nice?" He frowned at her, puzzled.

"You didn't attack us or kick us out. You gave us blankets and food...you're scary sometimes, and I'm still a little intimidated, but you're willing to help those in need like us...so, yes. You're nice." Avis nodded.

"Right...thanks, I suppose." Syn shrugged. "So, since your friend is close to feeling better, where might you be headed to next?"

Karsenir looked up at Syn when he spoke again, and he slightly raised an eyebrow at his questioning attitude towards Avis' compliment. When Syn asked about where they intended to go next, he turned his eyes on Avis again, wondering what she thought. He didn't have any clue of course, he had been asleep for so long he hardly remembered anything that he over heard Syn telling Avis.

"I dunno...you told me a lot of the cities near here, but...I don't want to live in those places. I'm a human. A freak show to others," Avis rubbed her arm, looking down. "And if the circus came around looking for us, we'd be caught up for sure..." She said quietly, not sure what to do.

"Right...well, if you don't want to go to the cities, why not Buranda?" Syn said thoughtfully.

"Buranda?" Avis blinked at him in confusion.

"Ah, not many know if it. It's the only place humans are safe from the virus that was eating them up. Hundreds of humans live there; the only hundreds left. They're kept behind walls and the gate hasn't been opened for...mm, thirteen years, if I recall correctly. They only open the doors for humans, and none of them want to leave. There are a few non-human species living there, but only because they were good friends to the humans, or hired by the family who runs the place."

"More...humans?"

"Yes, if--"

"Safety?"

"I believe so, I--"

"Where?!" Avis demanded.

"If you'd shut up for two seconds, I'll tell you!" Syn barked at her, frowning unhappily. He then turned, rummaging through what looked like a pile of old papers, going silent. Avis watched him, then looked up at Karsenir.

"I mean...I'll only go if you want to. Really, I think it should be your choice..."

Karsenir frowned a bit as he listened to Syn talk and Avis started to get excited at the thought of the city Syn was describing to her. The more he heard the more he frowned, though when Avis turned around he blinked and quickly replaced his previous expression.  "Oh, if you want to go, I think you should." If you'll be safe there, you should be there... Karsenir sighed and leaned back, shutting his eyes again, thinking. He listened as Syn sifted through a bunch of paper, assuming he was looking for a map or something that would tell them more about this Buranda place.

"I think she wants to go where you go, Karsenir," Syn said, pulling out two pieces of paper. "Here. I'll also prepare fruit and other foods for you should you wish to take it." He held out two maps; one was clearly a map of a city. Buranda itself. The other was a map of the area, and with a flick of Syn's finger, a red line appeared, marking the path they needed to take. "Just follow that map. It'll move you past a few cities; I guessed you didn't want to be seen, so I plotted that course away from towns and other popular places. You should only run into the occasional trader; so I hope you can hunt. It's a very, very long walk from here."

"You don't want to come with?" Avis blinked, looking up at him and taking the maps.

"Eh? Me? With you two?" He snorted. "You both see me as creepy and a freak. I turn into a monster as the moon rises and my bloodlust is increased tenfold as long as the stars are out...you don't want me with you. Stop trying to be polite."

"Right...sorry," Avis bit her lip.

"At any rate, Karsenir, you would do wise to escort her there, at the very least. Though you should know that they will have few qualms about you staying with her indefinitely, so long as you can be cleaned of any trace of that virus." Syn continued, turning back to his shelves and cupboards where his food was kept so he could prepare a bag for the both of them.

Karsenir watched Syn as he gave the maps to Avis after explaining about the route he laid out for them to get to Buranda. When Syn turned to him about taking Avis, he just nodded. "Of course." He said quietly, looking down and closing his eyes again.

Syn sighed as he looked at them both. "I'm not trying to push you out of here, nor am I forcing you to go anywhere. Stay as long as you need. Talk it over with each other. I have maps of the entire country, just ask if you want to set a course for a different place entirely. Or if you decide to stay - which I seriously doubt - fine by me." He shrugged, then moved for the door. "I'm going to collect some firewood," He said, then was gone again.

Avis was quiet for a moment, not sure what to say. "Um...thank you," She finally said quietly. "For agreeing to escort me. I don't even know if I want to be there at all...but I guess I should at least check it out."

Karsenir shook his head with a sigh, then looked up. "Thank you for your help, Syn." He said forcing a small but realistic smile towards Syn. Sure the guy was creepy, but he was being extremely helpful. When Avis spoke he turned his attention to her again. "Oh. It's no problem." He said, smiling a little more at her words. "Well, I could be a problem if we had to leave right now, but once I finish recovering, we'll be fine." He lightly joked, still smiling at Avis.

Avis beamed and nodded. "Of course! I wouldn't make you leave now. You've only just sat up for the second time in that many days. But you're recovering quickly, you should be ready soon. We'll only leave when we're both ready, silly." She giggled, then leaned against him. "You smell nice," She said suddenly, smiling up at him. "I thought you smelled weird at first, but now I like it. I can't really describe it, but...it's nice."

Loving the sound of her laugh, Karsenir smiled at Avis as she leaned against him. "Oh. Really?" Karsenir raised an eyebrow when the girl mentioned the way he smelled. "Uhhhhh, thanks, I guess..." He said, laughing lightly himself at what, to him, was a strange conversation topic.

"Well," Avis flushed a little, and was saved from having to explain herself by Syn. He walked in the next minute, carrying a large armful of logs.

"It'll be winter before too long...I suppose I should start stocking up." He muttered to himself, then went back to preparing the bags for Karsenir and Avis. "Have you two thought about anywhere else you want to go instead?" He asked without turning around.

"No." Avis shook her head. "Thank you for the maps, we'll put them to good use." She handed them back, and he tucked them neatly into one of the bags.

"If you want, I can enchant these bags and make them waterproof, fireproof, tearproof and thief-proof." Syn said. "It'll take about a day, but it's worth it. The only way you'd lose it is by leaving it behind somewhere."

Karsenir looked down at Avis, smirking slightly as the color of her face changed. WHen Syn walked back through the door he looked up  and listened as he talked with Avis while backing their bags. "we're likely to be here a day or two longer, so if it's not a problem, that would be great, Syn." Karsenire said, smiling a little at Syn's offer.

"Alright. Consider it done." Syn shrugged, carrying the bags into his room. Avis couldn't help but peek in; the room looked like a mess. There were pillows and blankets piled on one side, and the rest of it was an absolute wreck. The window looked broken and the wallpaper was definitely torn up. The floor even looked ruined. As though Syn actually liked having things like that. Syn shut the door tightly after the bags were in there, slamming it sharply. Avis looked away, a bit nervous.