The Forgotten Zodiac

((Hmm. I guess...Okay? : P))

Karsenir kept himself up for a good while after Avis seemed to fall asleep, as he was worried she would wake again. Soon he simply had to give in and he dropped off into the land of nod as well. Because he had kept himself up so long, using more of his energy, his sleep didn't restore nearly as much as it had before, but it was definately better than nothing.

The sun rose again, the dawn of a new day. Avis stirred after awhile, opening her eyes slowly. She sat bolt upright, staring at the door as it creaked open, Syn emerging from his hiding place. Avis scrambled around and hid behind the limp Karsenir, trembling.

"Right," Syn sighed. "I'll just get to work on breakfast..."

Karsenir slept in much later than he had before, leaving Avis and Syn the only two awake in the area. When he did finally wake, he opened his eyes, and was imediately concerned when Avis wasn't at his side. Grunting quietly, he looked around until he saw her. "A-Avis?" He said, struggling but making himself sit up. He didn't even realize that he was getting up without much effort, as he was too worried about Avis to care.

Avis was under the blankets on Karsenir's other side, cowering from Syn. "I'm okay..." She said quietly. "But...he's terrifying..."

"I did apologize, didn't I?" Syn sighed, shaking his head. "I would say that it's not my fault, but I forgot what effect I have on humans. My powers are unseen by most, but humans have a unique connection from their eyes to their brains that not even halves have. It varies with the humans I've met before the infection, but you seem to have gotten a full blast. It wasn't a pretty sight, was it?"

"No...horrid, horrible...terrifying." Avis whispered, still terribly upset.

"Well, you'll have to step outside this evening, alright? Only for thirty minutes. After that, I get control of myself again, although you still should never open my door at night."

"Right...don't open the door...got it."

Karsenir moved his hand on Avis' shoulder. He was going to put his arm around her shoulders, but he couldn't move it more than just on her shoulder. "Hopefully....He muttered, barely audible to Avis or even himself. He again didn't have the strength after the night and making himself sit up without any help. He just wanted to get out of this place. Everything about Syn made him uneasy. His looks, his behavior, especially the way he was during the night... Hopefully, they would be able to leave soon.

"Y-you...you said you would explain," Avis said quietly, poking her head out of the blankets and peering suspiciously at Syn. "So...explain."

"Are you sure you want me to?" Syn sighed, his back turned to her, though she could see that he had froze. "I keep my word, but...it's not exactly for the faint of heart."

"So long as it's just words...no examples," Avis frowned at him.

"Very well then. Words alone." Syn shrugged, turning around to face them. "For the past two nights, you have been in the presence of a Reaper. That's what I am. We collect dying souls, as the name properly depicts. There aren't that many of us living on this world anymore...it's rather sad, but we live on anyways. I...have a condition. I was bitten not too long ago by a werewolf. I'm not a werewolf myself; I will always and forever be a Reaper. Basically, it means I now have an incurable bloodlust and a powerful hunger most days. But...at night, when the moon first shines itself in the absence of sun, I lose control of my powers. They're...not the nicest things around. What you saw last night, Avis, were the souls that I have collected. Not all of them were very nice people. I congratulate your reserve and courage, though; they had you completely surrounded, did you see that?"

"Yes..." Avis murmured quietly. "I saw."

"And you didn't even scream. It surprised me. You were still scared, I saw that, but I didn't hear a peep out of you!" Syn chortled, shaking his head. "Most people would run off the second they see any sign of what appears to be a ghost, but you...such resolve. You fed your friend and went to bed and that was that."

"It was still scary..."

"Yes. I know. And I'm sorry."

Karsenir listened to Syn's explaination, watching him as he spoke. He didn't really realize it, but he started lightly stroking Avis' shoulder, still very unhappy about their situation here with this "Reaper." He went quiet and closed his eyes again. Suddenly he noticed his hand moving and he stopped, pulling his hand away.

"Is there...any way to fix it?" Avis said, leaning against Karsenir, not even noticing the hair-stroking.

"Sure. It involves taking me to a very tall mountain 'round midnight, and stabbing me in the chest with a blade made of pure silver. Which is extremely hard, by the way, and I definitely wouldn't do it of my own accord, as there's no way I would survive. I'm a Reaper, but I'm not immortal. That's why...I don't think I'll ever be cured. But that's not a problem for me, so long as I'm just left alone for awhile. At least until I can come to terms with all this. Anyways..." He trailed off, closing his eyes and turning away to work on breakfast more.

Karsenir sat still as Avis leaned against him. He wanted to lie down again, but he wasn't gonig to move away from Avis when she still seemed so scared. He didn't say anything, just listened to Syn as he explained how to kill him. Surely there would be no need for that if he could just get his strength back. All of this going on was not helping any of this. He let out a sigh again, went silent and stayed still.

((The point isn't to kill him, it's to kill the werewolf part of him. He can survive a stab in the chest if he's treated properly. :T He can't do it himself because he won't be treated properly if he's alone. And it would be extremely hard because he wouldn't be able to stop himself from fighting back unless he were tied down, and THAT'S hard because he has a longstanding fear of being tied up thanks to the torture it took to turn him into a Reaper.))

Avis watched Syn for awhile. Finally, she spoke again. "I'm sorry," She said quietly. "I had no idea you were cursed like that. I...there isn't much I can do for you, and...I'm sorry for that."

"Don't be. I couldn't ask something like that of my guests." Syn said gruffly, though he didn't turn again until he handed Avis their breakfast; more eggs, and this time some bird meat to go with it. There was still soup over the dead fire, which Syn got going again. After that was done, he went outside to chop more firewood.

"You're moving," Avis looked up at Karsenir after he was gone. She was smiling a little now that Syn left. "Do you think you would be able to chew now? I don't know if this would be more substantial than stew, though...but it gets boring, eating the same kind of food all the time."

(( Knows this, silly Bun, but Karsenir has a strong dislike burning for Syn at the moment.))

Karsenir sighed again, not opening his eyes. "M-maybe..." He breathed, trying to conserve as much energy as he could since it was likely he was going to have to try to eat something other than soup. He was still exhausted and he almost wanted to curl up and go back to sleep, but he knew that wasn't an option yet. Best thing to do would be to try and eat something.

((Right. xD Syn's not too bad, though, which he'll prove when he swoops in to save the day sooner or later.))

Avis cut one of the meat pieces up to a small enough size, bringing it up to Karsenir's mouth. "Here, eat up. I can get soup if you want it, I just...I dunno which is better for you." She said, doubting herself. At any rate, Syn could have started the fire for the sole purpose of her feeding Karsenir more soup.

Slowly, Karsenir ate the meat that Avis cut up for him. Chewing the meat weakly, he did finally manage to get the food down, and that was good. As before when he ate, swallowing got easier the more he ate, since he started getting energy from the food he had already eaten, and he was recovering more and more, so chewing also got easier. "Th-Thanks again, Avis." Karsenir said quietly as she fed him.

"Don't worry about it." Avis smiled a bit. "It's like Syn said. I can't fight or go off on my own...so I have to help you get your strength up so you can help me more." She looked down and fed Karsenir the last bite of meat. "Do you...want to sleep more?" She asked, tilting her head to the side a bit.

Karsenir sighed and hung his head once he'd swallowed the last bit of meat. "N-No... Not yet, anyway. I'm s-still hungry..." He said quietly while his stomach growled, keeping his head down.  He started to wonder if perhaps Avis would leave him here with Syn if she was able to protect herself and gather non-toxic food on her own. He sighed and slowly looked up at Avis, grunting as he slowly msunk down against the wall, technically still sitting up.

"Okay. I'll get you a bowl of soup. That'll be easier to eat," She smiled at him still, moving to get the soup. She started feeding him, careful not to accidentally burn his mouth with the hot liquid. She began wondering the same thing; if it was possible for her to leave...would she? Probably not...Karsenir was the only person she came even close to calling a friend. If she were to leave...where would she go? Who would she go to? She didn't have anyone...

Karsenir ate the soup that Avis fed him silently. Once she had finished he softly thanked her, then slid back down into a sleeping position, closing his eyes and resting somewhat tensely. He looked rather uncomfortable; him mouth was stuck in a frown as he tried to get to sleep. Thankfully, his exhaustion and the food he had just eaten pulled him into unconsciousness easily.

Avis watched him again, then looked up as Syn came in suddenly and shut the door. "Stay silent. There's someone out there. Just a fruit collector, but no one knows I live here. No one knows anyone lives here, besides you two. So...just be quiet, alright?" He waved his hand; Avis watched as the house started to look more decrepit than it already did. The door hung from its hinges, the fire went out all at once, as did any candles that Avis had lit. More cobwebs than ever settled in the windows, which fell apart and looked as though they had collected years of dirt in a matter of seconds.

"Right...be quiet," Avis nodded, looking around at the now-torn up house. It had looked alright before, but now...Avis shivered and sat there in silence.

They left eventually, and Syn returned the house to normal before going out again to check on what all the visitors took. Avis wondered what all Reapers could do...

Karsenir was out, oblivious to everything that happened when Syn came back. When Syn told Avis not to make any noise, when the house delapidated in mere moments, and when he left again after restored the building back to the way it was, Karsenir was very much asleep, and much of the tension had left him in his sleep.

Avis curled up next to Karsenir, afraid for herself and her sleeping friend. There wasn't much she could do, though, besides curl up next to him and slip into sleep again. She woke up mid-afternoon, finding her head on Karsenir's chest; she had moved there as she had slept. She sat up at once, just lying back down and looking at Karsenir's face. He wasn't handsome, that was for certain. His patchy skin gave him a rather grotesque appearence; but Avis didn't really care. She just watched him sleep.