The Forgotten Zodiac

Diana almost screamed and struggled, but she quickly realized who it was. "Luen!" She started sobbing then, pressing her face into his shirt. "L-Luen, he's after me! Obelisk, h-he...his face..." Diana then wailed, unable to describe a thing about the freaky elongated human. "He'll punish me for seeing his face!" She screamed, completely in hysterics at this point.

"No, no, he won't," the kirin soothed, sitting down right there and nuzzling her gently. "Shhh...he won't do that. He won't hurt you. And if he tries to, I'll protect you. But just because someone looks odd doesn't mean they're evil. Shhh, don't cry, it's okay, I'm here..." He cradled her against him, holding her tight.

"He hurt me before, he'll hurt me again!" Diana shrieked, shaking terribly. Forin ran up at this point, breathing hard from running over pretty much all of Amnarius.

"What happened? Are you hurt? Calm down, Diana, I'm here," He kneeled next to them. Diana wrapped her arm around him, hooking her other around Luen and crying between the two of them. Forin scooted closer after a short check for blood, finding only that her feet were a little raw from running around barefoot. Nothing serious.

It took Diana over five minutes to calm down. She finally let them go, though tears still streamed down her face. "I-I'm sorry..." She said quietly. "I...you were right, L-Luen...Obelisk says he's nice now. I...I just got scared..."

"No one blames you," Forin shook his head. "I was scared, too. You weren't in our room after the explosion, whatever that was..."

"Everyone gets frightened, Diana," Luen said gently. "Nobody blames you for being scared. It's okay. We're both here." He looked up at Forin and smiled slightly, then pressed his cheek against the top of Diana's head. "We're here and we love you," he said, hugging her tightly. "Don't cry anymore. I hate it when you cry." He lifted a hand on instinct, trying to make her some snowflakes, then remembered and lowered his hand sadly. Not having his mage powers, something he had used and had for the longest of times, made him feel weird. Something he hadn't felt in this group for a long, long time.

Useless.

((Everyone in this roleplay feels useless, apparently. xDD))

Diana sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Y-yeah...I'm sorry, L-Luen, please don't...don't hate things. Hating things is bad..."

"Right," Forin looked down, then nodded. "Don't hate things. It's wrong." He closed his eyes, giving Diana a kiss on the cheek. "You're okay now, yes?"

"Yeah...b-but..." Diana sniffed. "I want to go back. Back to our world. W-we can stay in the forest, can't we? I...I don't like it here..."

Forin looked at Luen, frowning. It was true that they were safer here, but the forest was definitely more comfortable...

Luen slowly sighed, then said "Maybe we should leave. Just for a little while, and we'd come back soon. In order to calm down and get situated. I need more time to adjust to my body, so to speak, and Diana needs the peace and quiet. We'll come back and help the others once they leave Amnairus. I can get Luna to tell me and you, Forin, when the others decide to leave, so we'll return. We owe it to them to help. Somewhat, at least..." He nuzzled Diana again, sighing quietly.

((And they will leave, and Luen will get shot, and they will have to come back because they have no healer and Luen will die without one. :D))

((And then Nelu will follow them and Forin will blow himself up. :3))

"You don't owe them anything," Forin frowned. "But yes. I suppose we can do that. You go ahead and tell Luna, I'll take Diana to the forest straight away." He stood, scooping Diana up into his arms. He kissed her forehead and gave Luen a smile before walking away, carrying Diana with him. Diana sniffed, curling into Forin's grip. "You're getting heavy," Forin chortled.

"Sorry..." Diana murmured.

"No, it's a good thing. You could stand to grow a little bit, I should think."

"Oh...but I like being carried."

"I know you do," Forin sighed a bit. "I'll just have to get stronger so I can carry you anyways, then." He said as they reached the gate. They walked through to the bridge in silence, Forin hoping that the Divine would leave them alone for now. It did, and then they were out. The forest awaited them, calming sounds of birds engulfing them at once. Diana smiled a little, relieved. To say the least. Things were peaceful and quiet here, not like the eerie silence of Amnarius like before. Or like the bustling business of Amnarius normally. It was like her cares and fears just sort of...melted away, here.

And she absolutely loved playing with the rabbits. That was the first thing she did once she was calmed down enough to let go of Forin. They chased rabbits through the forest until they reached the river, where Diana stopped and decided to soak her feet.

((Sounds like a plan.))

Luen left the message with Luna, along with an apology for Nate and an explanation. He explained that they weren't going too far. Just out to the Eternal Garden, where Diana felt comforted. He would see Nate when he got back. Then he took deer form and ran out after the other two. When he found them, he was surprized to find that he was barely panting. "I suppose deer have better endurance than wolves, perhaps," he thought, using scent to locate Forin and Diana. He paused once, within sight of the gate, and looked back, suddenly struck with a thought. "I should go back," he thought. "I shouldn't go into this garden. Something...something is waiting. And...it scares me." He pushed the thought away, however, and shook his elegant head. "What am I saying? I'll be fine," he thought, then trotted off into the forest after his friends.

He should've turned around.

"Are your feet okay?" Forin asked after a few minutes. Diana seemed pretty intent on keeping her feet in the water.

"Yeah," She looked down at the water, wiggling her toes. "There are minnows here," She giggled. "Nibbling on my toes."

"I see," Forin chortled, but something was bugging him. Luen wasn't back yet...where was the Kirin, anyways? He looked up and around, frowning a bit, though he smiled when Diana looked up at him happily. Forin frowned a bit, sensing something...off.

It didn't take Luen too long to find his two friends, but that ominous feeling remained. Luen trotted over to them and nuzzled between Forin's shoulder blades, two of his tines brushing against the back of the Tartaran's head. "Hello," he said cheerfully. He smiled at Forin, then turned and walked to Diana. He took human form and walked over to Diana, bending down to kiss the top of her head. He moved his hand up and scratched at his antlers for a moment, then said "Ack, these things itch like crazy." He raked his nails along one antler and was surprised to have part of the skin come off in his hand. He frowned, then felt an instinct rise up in him and took deer form again, walking over to a tree nearby. He snorted at it, then placed his antlers against the bark and started grinding them up and down, scraping off the layer of fuzzy skin that was over his antlers. It didn't hurt, of course, and when he was done, his antlers where no longer light tan, but brilliant white. He shook his head, scattering a few loose pieces, then walked back over, nipping up a few blades of grass as he moved.

Forin turned and watched Luen, smiling a little. He then turned and started looking at nearby trees; after a few minutes, he came back with a handful of apples, passing a two to Diana, which she started eating happily. He kept looking up and around, confused and a little annoyed with himself. He knew it was safe here, more or less; normal people would find it hard to make it through the maze of caves unless they had someone guiding them...or they were extremely lucky.

Luen nuzzled Diana again, then ducked his head and started grazing lightly, tearing at the fresh grass. Again, he was both repulsed and relieved by the simple motion, flicking his short fluffy tail. He moved further off, then came face-to-face with a rabbit. He smiled at the little creature, then moved around it as it headed over to Diana. He smiled, then turned and bumped into a deer. A real deer, not a kirin. She tilted her head at him, looking him over, then bleated softly and nuzzled his neck. He blushed and they saw it form under his soft, fur-covered cheeks. He backed away from her, but she followed, flicking her tail. "W-what does she want?" he said, frowning at her as she followed him still. A few more deer came up out of the forest as well, drawn by the scent of a new deer and his white pelt. They moved around Luen and, like the female, gently nuzzled him and sniffed of him, seeming to accept him as a friend quickly.

Forin moved to follow, but was torn between watching Luen with his new deer friends and Diana with the small rabbit. Diana was smiling away, petting the rabbit with the same happiness she had carried two years ago, doing the same action. She lifted the rabbit up, kissing it on the nose and giving it a gentle hug. "Cute little rabbit, fluffy little bunny~!" She started singing, which made Forin smile without thinking. He moved to stand between Luen and Diana, keeping an eye on the deer, but well within reach of Diana.

The deer started to move off, bleating at each other. A few of the males clacked their antlers together and looked expectantly at Luen, as if wondering why the spectacular white buck wasn't joining in. They kept walking, but nearly every one looked back at him at some point. They bleated at him and Luen backed up a step, then looked to Forin. "Um...they want me to run with them. Is...is that okay? I won't go far, and they said they'll let me come back. They just want to show me around." He walked back over and nuzzled Forin's cheek, then went over to Diana and nuzzled her too.

"I...I suppose," Forin returned to Diana's side. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Luen in a hug, smiling.

"Come back soon," She said happily, nodding. "And see if you can't talk more rabbits into coming to see me," She giggled, going back to petting the brown one that had come up to her.

Forin sighed, then nodded. "Go on ahead, Luen."

Luen smiled, then took a deep breath and turned, cantering after the other deer. They perked up when he joined them, bleating and bugling happily and butting him gently with their antlers. They sped into gallops, Luen following and smiling as he ran with the normal deer. He felt wonderful and he raced along with them, exilirated. They stopped by a river and got a drink, where some of the does flirted elegantly with the bucks, Luen accidentally included. The white buck chose to ignore them somewhat, knowing that they didn't know, at least all the way, that he wasn't a normal deer. All they saw was his gleaming pelt and sharp, curled white antlers. They were, after all, just normal deer. They soon moved on and Luen followed once more, bounding along powerfully over the ground. He bugled lightly, hearing the sound echo, then smiled and turned his gaze forward.

There was a flash from a hill not too far away, which caught Luen's eye. He jerked his head in that direction, bounding up into a leap, still caught up in running with the herd.

His pain-filled bugle echoed throuought the entire massive cavern, sounding like a high-pitched, thin whistle.

Then there was silence.

Forin jerked his head up. Of course. Of course things went wrong. "Diana, quickly!" He grabbed the girl by the hand, running in the direction that Luen had run off in. Please don't let him be dead, please don't let him die, Forin pleaded with every god he knew, pulling Diana into his arms and picking up speed. He followed the obvious tracks on the soft ground, running to find his dear friend.

They found the kirin laying motionless on his left side in a grassy field, his white coat streaked with bright red blood. A hunter's arrow was embedded in his smooth pelt, just behind his front leg. Blood was gushing down his body, his white fur turning red and pink. He was still so thin from his time with Cern, and now with the blood pooling around him, he looked dead. But his flanks rose and fell rapidly with each breath, obviously in a lot of pain. The herd of deer had scattered when the white buck had been shot and were nowhere to be seen. He gave a convulsed kick of his long legs, panting desperately. The arrow was topped with a purple band, warning anyone who saw it of poison. Methuda poison, a slow moving terror that hunters used for their prey, along with a long arrow. Both of which were used to hunt bears and hulking creatures such as that.

Whoever had shot Luen clearly had meant to kill him.

Forin set Diana down, watching as she wailed miserably and pulled Luen's head into her lap, sobbing. Forin reached his hand down and removed the arrow with his power, frowning at the purple band. It was a poison marker, Forin knew that much, but removing poison was impossible for him to do without getting it into his own system. Solid objects were easy; liquids were much harder. Water was one thing, but poison...

Instead, Forin examined the wound and the place where Luen was lying. He stood, holding the arrow in the place he calculated was the impact point. From there, he knew the direction the arrow had been shot in. Forin carried the arrow with him towards said point, a dark look on his face.

The hunter was unstringing his bow and packing up his weapons, humming a tune to himself. He, of course, hadn't known that the creature he had shot was intelligent. He had simply thought it was a miraculous animal that would help him bring in some money. He would've prefered to catch it alive, but one look at the way it had leapt and bounded around had dispelled those thoughts. There was no way to catch something as magnificant as that. Besides, the belt and antlers alone would make him rich. He smiled, feeling the tips of his arrows. "That girl was right," he thought, continuing his humming. "A wonderful prize waited here for me. I'm so glad she showed me through the tunnel. Now I'll be a rich man and will be able to retire." He smiled wider and stood, bearing a hunting knife that he clearly intended on skinning Luen's white coat from his body with.