The Forgotten Zodiac

Tasia was sitting nearby, wearing one of Nate's shirts and a pair of soft pink shorts. His shirt was a bit too big for her, resulting in one of her shoulders showing, but it wasn't very bad or skimpy. When she saw Nate wake up, she moved from her chair and slid onto the neatly-made bed with him, curling against his side. "Nate," she murmured, wrapping her wings and arms around him. She nuzzled him, moving her head up to kiss him gently. "You came after me..." she murmured, leaning in close to him. She held him close, sighing deeply, then murmured very softly, "I love you..."

Seria was curled up in cat form nearby, asleep.

Nate did what he could. He leaned into Tasia's hug, resting his forehead against her neck. "Tasia...I consider myself lucky to have you to love. I would give you anything...I gave my back while trying to save you. And I don't regret it for a second." He said quietly. "It should be obvious, but...I love you too. Everything I do is to protect you...I'm sorry for my words the other day, but I had to save you from the king's anger. And yet, you still say you love me after that." He smiled a little. "Yes...I am very lucky you chose me to love..."

Her eyes budded with tears, but she said nothing. She hugged him close, curling her tail around him as well. The incident with Kage had only reinforced her relationship with Nate, showing that he cared for her. "Or maybe I'm lucky to have be found by you," she murmured. "It's not everyone that would want a girl...with my history." She shuddered slightly, then said "But you...you still care about me. Even though Kage had already used me before." She nuzzled against him, saying "Oh, Nate..." She touched her lips to his, kissing him gently.

"I don't care about that. It's the reaction that makes us who we are. I've seen most who turn hostile after such things happen to them...the results are often messy and generally bad." Nate sighed. "But...you aren't like that. You were reclusive at first, but here we are."

"Oh, did your back give out at last?" Forin noted quietly as he stepped in.

"Something like that," Nate said quietly, not looking up at them. If he had, he would have seen Luen in Forin's arms.

The now-kirin was laying limply in Forin's arms, breathing slowly as his friend held him. He was so frail now, so much moreso than before. To Forin, it felt like carrying a twelve-year-old instead of a twenty-year-old.

Tasia glanced up at them curiously, watching as Forin woke Seria by tapping her with his boot. The healer was awake in seconds, quickly sitting up and saying "What's wrong?" When she saw Luen, her jaw fell completely open. "What...what is...is t-that...Luen?" she stammered, slowly standing up, her hands shaking. When last she had seen him, he had been dead. Watching him slowly raise his head and blink blearily at her made her feel like she was looking at a ghost.

"I don't understand it either, but he seems to be having trouble breathing, and--" Forin started to say.

Nate, however, cut him off. "Luen!" The Dragonian struggled to sit up, trying to pull away from Tasia in his attempt. It didn't really work; he collapsed right back into Tasia's arms, gasping a bit in pain. "L-Luen, you're...alive?! You look different, but...it's definitely you...T-Tasia, Luen is alive!"

"Shut it and relax, Nate. You'll hurt yourself more." Forin said quietly.

"Can you help him?" Diana asked Seria with a sniffle, though she was still smiling widely.

The red-furred half-cat shook herself out of her shock and focused on her task, moving forward and gently putting on hand on Luen's chest. "I can't help him gain weight, but I can deal with these cuts," she said, generating her usual healing turquoise glow. "I'll set him up with some medicines that will help his bones to regain some calcium, so he won't be as fragile."

Luen sighed and rested his head weakly against Forin's chest, exhausted. His little antler buds were growing longer by the second, until he had a neat little pair of antlers on his snowy white head.

Seria pulled back after a few moments, all of the kirin's wounds gone. "There," she said, then walked over to her bag and riffled through. She pulled out a potion bottle that fit neatly into her hand and walked back over, tucking it into one of Forin's pockets. "Make sure he drinks a mouthful of this every few hours," she instructed. "He should start regaining strength within a few days, plus this will fight off infection, since he's so badly weakened." She stroked Luen's head gently, then said "Poor thing. And his mage powers are still gone..."

He sighed heavily, then murmured "I gave them away for a good cause..."

She smiled and said "I know you did."

"Cern has them still," Forin said quietly. He hadn't thought about it at the time; he had thought Luen to be dead, after all. He wondered now why the other Tartaran hadn't used them. Most odd..."It's okay, Luen," He said, cradling Luen with ease.

"We need to go soon," Nate murmured. "Amnarius is waiting for us."

"We're heading back there, then?" Forin questioned. That would be beneficial for Luen, definitely. The healing springs would cleanse his system and the foods would help him gain weight in no time. Plus, Diana absolutely loved it there, despite what happened on their second day the last time they went. So, naturally, Forin didn't object to the mention of Amnarius.

"That's the plan..."

Luen gently twinned one hand into Forin's shirt, almost afraid to let go. Like if he did, the Tartaran would disappear. The kirin suddenly blinked open his emerald eyes, which were still slitted, and carefully pushed out of Forin's arms, standing weakly on his own legs. "I...I just...want to see..." he murmured, supporing himself by holding Forin's arm. His form shifted, slowly and painfully changing forms.

As a deer, he was slender and elegant, with a neat, handsome pair of tan antlers. His tines curled and twisted into celtic designs, ultimately ending in nine delicate points. His fur was just as soft as ever, just shaggy enough to be comforting and warm. He flicked his ears up and rested his head on Forin's shoulder, sighing through the soft black nose on the end of his muzzle. He was much taller now, easily at eye-level with Forin, if not taller. A very handsome young buck.

His legs shook and trembled badly, then he slowly slipped his head from the Tartaran's shoulder and sank down to lay on his side, breathing hoarsly. "S-sorry..." he murmured, folding his long legs in and resting his head on the ground. "I...I don't...have the strength...to stand up for long..."

"It's alright," Forin said gently. "I don't care what you look like. This is...different, but I like it. It suits you." He sat down, wrapping his arms around Luen's neck. Diana did the same, giving the deer a kiss on the neck.

"We'll get you to Amnarius, Luen. You'll get better," She said happily. She looked at the others. "Can we go now?"

"I dunno...we'll have to prepare a carriage or something." Nate nodded a little bit. There wasn't really any other way he could travel, at this point.

"Really? Zephyr's here," Forin pointed out.

"Zephyr?!" Nate tried to sit up again, but Tasia stopped him this time. "I want to see him..." Nate sighed, looking down.

Luen smiled wearily at the two, resting his narrow head on Diana's lap. He fell asleep moments later, utterly exhausted.

In trotted Zephyr, in his smallest form, prancing as if he owned the place. "Hello hello," he said, shaking his tiny horns. "You wouldn't believe the guards here. One tried to pick me up and cuddle me! Said I was 'adorable'. Bah." He flapped his tiny wings and sailed up into the air, barely any bigger than a bird. He flew over and landed on Nate's head, bringing his head down to look at the dragonian from his upside-down view. "Nate!" he squeaked, nearly wagging his tail. He flopped down on the dragonian's head, purring and holding on tightly to some clumps of Nate's black hair.

"Zephyr! You have no idea how good it is to see you," Nate said, reaching up and stroking the dragon once with his hand before he had to put it down again. It was just too painful. "I'm afraid...I'm not in the best of shapes, though...my back has finally given out on me, my old friend. We plan to head to Amnarius, but for the time being..."

The little emerald dragon scrambled down and sat on Nate's chest, peering up at him through his little red eyes. "Well, I'll be more than happy to carry you anywhere," he said, flaring tiny wings. "It wouldn't take too long on dragon-back, though I'd be carrying you in my hands." He lifted onto his back legs and put his little front-paws on Nate's chin, moving one up to touch his nose.

"I think I'm okay with that," Nate nodded a little bit. "Luen, too...he's unconscious in that form, getting him onto your back like that would be a little difficult for poor Forin."

"Oi," Forin growled, indignant at being called 'poor'.

"Regardless, I'm okay with being with Luen," Nate nodded. "It would give me the chance to give Luen a hug, at any rate." He smiled a bit, pressing himself closer to Tasia. "We should leave soon, though..."

Zephyr nodded, then looked over when Seria said "Well, what are we waiting for? Tasia, come help me pack up. Zephyr, come with us. We need to bundle our supplies onto you."

The mini-dragon snorted, then said "Fine, fine." He licked Nate's nose, then jumped off and took a bigger size, following the healer out of the room. Tasia kissed Nate gently, then moved off to do as Seria wanted. She bent down and gave Luen a light little stroke along his head, between his antlers, then straightened and moved off.

Forin remained with Nate and Luen, while Diana kept her arms comfortingly around Luen.

Werr was calm as they got into the carriage. He still didn't understand that he was the king now; he had asked several guards where King Regalo was as they had carried him to the carriage. Werr had, however, insisted that Obelisk could come with them. Clearly, he didn't remember Amnarius much at all. Ophile was a little intimidated as Obelisk - wrapped in a large cloak - sat down in the driver's seat. He wouldn't really fit in the carriage with Werr and Cynyr, so...

Cynyr was leaning against the wall, looking as tired as ever. He was threatening to doze off within the first few mintues, but he gave instuctions on where to go before falling asleep. "Just wake me when you get there and I'll tell you where next to go," he murmured, then passed out.

Welk jumped up into the carriage, blinking at his brother and giving him a gentle nuzzle before plopping down next to Werr. He wrapped his arms around the boy, resting his head on his shoulder. "Hi, Werr," he said, smiling and flicking his short little tail.

"I think I know the way," Ophile said gently, though he realized that Cynyr was asleep.

"Hello, Welk," Werr said, smiling a little. Welk would be able to tell that his fever had gotten worse, and he looked tired (though clearly not as tired as Cynyr). Ophile was certain that the boy would be okay, though. They just had to get to Amnarius from here.

Obelisk set the horses in motion. It was an overcast morning, which made things easier on him; he had the freedom to lay down a path of darkness underneath the wheels of the carriage, making their ride smooth. The last thing they needed was for Werr or Cynyr to be jostled and their condition to worsen.

Welk flicked his tail around, then took lion form and scratched his mane with a heavy paw. "Gosh, this makes me feel like I've grown a beard. But...it's on my neck," he said, then smiled and shook his head. "It's not that bad," he said, brushing his ruddy red mane back with his claws. He sighed, then said "Hey, we'll probably get to see Airlia in Amnairus! That'll be great!"

Cynyr woke slightly at his loud voice, then groaned and said "What, do you like Airlia or something? Shut up..."

Welk blushed slightly and said "No. I just...want to see her again. Don't you?"

The panther was already asleep again.

"I like it. You look like a lion," Werr smiled, coughing a bit. "Airlia is our friend, isn't she? What happened to her?"

"She lives in Amnarius with her people," Ophile answered from the roof. "She's an Amnarian, after all. I hear that her power has increased by quite a bit, at that. She's well known in Amnarius; they say that with her, a single divine healer could have the power of hundreds..."

"That sounds...good," Werr said, nodding a bit.