The Forgotten Zodiac

"Well, that works out splendidly, then. Hey, if you happen to stop by Borsh on your travels, you should pop into Jag's place for a visit." Werr nodded, smiling in spite of Cynyr's 'comfy' jab. He wasn't trying to cling to his throne, Forin had been right. He wasn't ready for more adventures. The last one had nearly killed him on several occasions. One could only be so lucky.

He was scared.

Welk gave Werr a push with his muzzle and turned the boy in the right direction, then gave him another push to get him walking. "Come on, Werr," he said, padding along next to the boy. "I'm tired." He pushed under the boy's legs and forced him onto his back, then sprung into a powerful gallop and raced off towards the bedrooms. When they got there, Welk slowed down to a peaceful walk and just wandered towards their room.

He slept on a cat bed next to Werr's bed, where he could protect him through the night. He sometimes slept at the foot of Werr's bed or curled up next to the boy, always in lion form. A comforting presence.

Werr slid off of Welk once they arrived. He was quick to get dressed and into bed, but he opened a drawer and held something out to Welk. It was a small stone on a leather necklace; the second of a pair that Cici had given them as a gift. "Do you remember these?" He said, putting on the other around his neck, tucking it under his shirt. "I'll feel a little better if you take it with you..."

Welk transformed into a human and took the necklace from the boy, rubbing a thumb over the smooth blue stone in the center of the necklace. "Okay," he said, slipping it over his head. He held the stone in his hand for a moment, then let go of it and allowed it to hang from the cord. "I don't have any qualms against wearing a necklace," he said, smiling. He turned back into a lion, shaking his thick red mane, then bounced up onto Werr's bed and started his usual habit; rolling all over the covers.

Werr smiled as he watched Welk, moving forward once the half-cat was done. He crawled under the covers, falling asleep quickly once his head hit the pillow.

Werr's sleep was troubled. It seemed awfully cliche at this point; nightmare after nightmare. Actually, this had been the first in two years now. It wasn't as vivid as the ones he had had so long ago, though. But they definitely involved things burning, and Obelisk...Werr stirred fitfully in his sleep, even as dawn approached.

Welk was curled up at the foot of the bed when morning dawned, breathing quietly and slowly. He suddenly yawned and twitched over in his sleep, laying against Werr's legs. He flopped one paw over the covers where Werr's legs were, resting his head against the backs of Werr's knees. He was purring away, as he always did, flicking his stumped tail lightly in time with some beat he seemed to hear. Possibly in his dreams.

Werr finally woke up, blinking rapidly and shaking his head before sitting up. He groaned slightly, rubbing his eyes. He then stifled a yawn, reaching over to scratch Welk behind the ears. "Wake up, Welk. You should go get some breakfast before Forin gets upset about wasting time." He yawned after talking, unable to hold it back.

"Too late," Forin said from the doorway, making Werr jump. Diana spared him no sympathy, running forward and squealing about something.

"Werr! Werr, Werr, Werr! Guess what I found in the hallway!" She said excitedly, holding something behind her back.

"Uh...a book that you like?" Werr tilted his head to one side, puzzled.

"Nope! A rabbit! Forin caught it for me," Diana shoved the small animal in Werr's face, then promptly dropped it on Welk's to wake him up. It didn't occur to her for a second that Welk would sooner eat the rabbit than allow it to disturb his sleep. The rabbit didn't hesitate before kicking off from the half-cat's face, however, scurrying to a corner of the room, then under the bed. Then it bolted for the door, but Forin snatched it up by the scruff of its neck before it could escape.

"You don't have an infestation, do you? These little pesks will tear up a garden in minutes," The Tartaran tutted.

Welk yelped and blinked awake in seconds, bolting up into a standing position next to Werr, his blonde fur puffed out along his back. "W-what happened?!" he gasped, blinking his eyes quickly, then slowly relaxed when he saw the rabbit Forin was holding. "Hey! Nice catch!" he said, jumping off of Werr's bed in one fluid motion. He walked over and studied the rabbit for a moment, then asked Forin "You gonna keep it or can I eat it? Because I happen to like rabbit meat." He smiled jokingly and backed away, flicking his tail and sending a few sparks floating into the air. They popped out of exsistance a few seconds later.

"Not in front of Diana, you don't," Forin frowned, but that quickly turned into surprise after the sparks flew. The rabbit, in an instant, was no longer a rabbit; it was now a short and thin girl, and she had somehow moved to be sitting on his shoulders, her legs and arms wrapped around his neck and head. Her small brown eyes glared pointedly at Welk. Her long dark brown - almost black - was cut short around her tanned face.

She was wearing a white button-up shirt with a plain brown vest, along with rather tight brown pants, a fluffy brown tuft of fur sticking out in the back. She wore no shoes, at that. She was surprisingly agile and had excellent balance, obviously; Forin might not have even noticed she was there, if it weren't for the legs pressing into his face. He threw her off, deftly tossing her against the wall for lack of anywhere else to put her.

She shrieked as she hit the wall, then slid to the floor and just laid there for a moment. "That hurt!" She snapped, looking up and glaring at Forin. He then noticed her head; she had large brown rabbit ears protruding from her head. It wasn't that unusual; there were lerloches pretty much everywhere. He had never seen a rabbit, though. He was well aware of what it was, though; Rabbitzen were extremely rare and elusive, and commonly seen with Gypsy groups. Because of that, they were deemed tricksters.

"You shouldn't have jumped on my head!" Forin snapped right back at her.

"I wouldn't have, if your friend there hadn't threatened to eat me! You would have reacted the same way, you know!"

"Hey, hey!" Welk said, taking human form. He flipped a lock of his blonde hair out of his face and turned to the rabbitzen, saying "I didn't know you were a half. I wouldn't have said that if I knew otherwise!" He flicked his ears at her, then held out a lightly tanned hand that was tipped in naturally sharp claws. "Sorry about talking about eating you," he said, tilting his ears back against his skull. "I thought you were just a regular old rabbit."

"Hmph, I guess you didn't know..." She took his hand, accepting his help in standing. "But please, don't call me old. I may be thirty-four, but that's still fairly young according to my species."

"Ina, what are you doing here?" Werr frowned at her. "You're supposed to stay in Dursht."

"But that place is so boring! I read through all the books in the library. So I got bored." The Rabbitzen shrugged, turning to Werr's personal bookshelf. She had a thick accent, but obviously she had to be an Alastorian citizen. "But you've got lots of stuff here, so I'll stick around this place for awhile, okay?"

"No, that's really not okay. You know why you have to stay away," Werr shook his head with a sigh. Ina was his heir, you see; if she was in the same place as he in the case of an attack, if they both were to die, Alastor would be left without a king once again. That would be disastrous, as an argument for the throne would start up, and things would fall apart pretty quickly.

"Oh, phooey. Why don't you go away for once?" Ina pouted at him.

"No, Ina. Go back home."

Ina frowned for a moment more, then crouched and jumped. She made it an impressive height, landing on top of Werr's bookshelf, which was actually rather high up indeed. "Make me!" She stuck her tongue out at him.

Welk glared up at her, then stood on his back legs and planted his paws on the bookshelf. Standing in this way on his strong back limbs, he was easily much taller than Forin. Lerloch animals were known for growing bigger than a normal version of their kind of animal. "Get down before I drag you off!" he said, pushing on the bookshelf. It creaked and tipped slightly to one side as Welk tried to get the rabbitzen to slid off. He reached up with a thick paw and poked Ina, trying to get her to either fall off or jump off.

The rabbit woman squeaked, jumping off and landing expertly. She was too quick, even for Welk; she skipped away, jumping up onto the tapestry of Werr's bed. She balanced easily on the thin bars, her face all smiles in spite of the cat chasing her. "Come on, kitty, let's play a little cat-and-rabbit, shall we?" She winked at him, drawing a knife from her sleeve. She slashed a hole in the tapestry, hanging upside-down over the bed with her knees hooked on the bar. "Hey, aren't you Werr's precious knight?" She giggled, putting the knife away and starting to rub her knuckles painfully against the top of Werr's head.

"Ow! Hey, stop that!" Werr moved away, but she followed easily.

Forin was laughing at this point. Diana was watching in awe.

Welk growled aggressively and trotted over, bouncing up onto his back legs and swiping at the rabbitzen. She was rapidly getting on his nerves, especially when she messed with Werr. The fire mage chased the rabbitzen all around the room until he came to the door. He lunged right when the door opened, so he slammed into the person entering the room.

Cynyr, of course.

The panther cried out in shock as Welk bowled him over, causing them both to fall to the ground. Cynyr landed squarely on his back with Welk sprawled out over him, both blinking dazedly.

Ina laughed away at this. She transformed back into a rabbit, sniffing at the two of them. She then hopped off down the hall, jumping up and out of an open window. Werr was quick to get out into the hall, looking down at his friends. "E-er...sorry about that. That was Ina, Welk, don't you remember her? Don't worry, she gets on my nerves too..."

Welk pushed himself up and shook his fur, then said "No, I don't remember her. At all, actually."

"Why do I believe that nonsense?" Cynyr said, shoving Welk away from him and standing up. He brushed off his black clothing, slowly rubbing a hand down a torn-up arm. The scars on his body hadn't changed in two years, if not for aquiring a few more. Not that there was much room left to scar. "Don't you know who that was?" he asked Welk, frowning at him. "That was Werr's heir. He named her as it since he, obviously, doesn't have a wife or any kids yet. And it should stay that way, at least in not having kids, for a while yet."

Welk frowned, then said "Oh. I don't like her."

"I don't like her either. But she has very good traits, despite her obvious lack of proper social skills. She's definitely someone I would want on the throne, although these guards might have to tie her to the chair to get her to just hold still..." Werr sighed heavily. "Anyways, Welk, let's go get some breakfast before you go."

"Oh, good, you are thinking about that." Forin snorted. "I already double-checked the preparations of the horse we'll be using and the supplies that are packed for us. They look fairly decent, although the food could do a little work. Diana's a growing girl, I've finally gotten her to where she isn't so dramatically underweight. I don't want her shrinking, either."

"Humans don't shrink, Forin, I told you that before." Diana giggled.

"Well, something bad will happen if you don't get enough food. You'll starve or something." Forin shrugged, pushing past the group at the door, heading off down the hall, Diana skipping along after.

"Well, at least some things are still normal," Werr chuckled, speaking of Forin's most recent failure in understanding humans entirely.

Welk smiled, watched the pair walk off, then looked up at Werr and rubbed against his legs. Cynyr sighed and took panther form, deciding to go find Seria. He paused by Welk for a moment, eyeing the lion that used to be smaller than him when both were in feline forms. Now Welk was bigger.

The wind mage frowned at him, then stalked out without giving him nor Werr a second glance.

Welk ignored him, looping circles around Werr's legs over and over in sheer delight. "Gotta do this while I can," he murmured, rubbing the side of his furry muzzle against Werr's hip. "I won't be able to for a while. 'Cause I won't be here." He saddened for a moment, then brightened up and playfully bit at Werr's hand, ever so lightly. There wasn't even a chance of his teeth breaking the skin.

"Hey, hey, I'll bite you back," Werr chortled, kneeling. He wrapped his arms around Welk, hugging him tightly and burying his face in Welk's mane. "Be careful. That's all I ask." He sat there for a long moment, content to simply do so. Content to hold onto his friend, who would be soon leaving without him thanks to his own decision to not leave his kingdom kingless for any amount of time.

Werr finally stood and smiled, starting to move towards the dining room at last.

Welk laughed, then grew quiet as Werr hugged him. The lion closed his eyes and rested his muzzle on Werr's shoulder, flicking his ears back in silent sorrow. He didn't want to leave the boy. Far from it. But he knew that if he was in Luen's position, he would want the same effort put into rescuing him. The half-cat sighed and nuzzled Werr's neck, then smiled at him as the boy pulled back. He followed him as Werr started walking, padding along next to him. His crimson eyes were bright, but held a distant level of concern in them.