The Forgotten Zodiac

An eerie silence had taken over the forest. The smell of blood had that sort of effect on the animals; they all went silent, just watching from their hiding places. Forin lurked nearby, remaining out of sight. He had taken one look at the knife and decided not to do anything hasty. Instead, his anger boiled and built inside him as he watched the man pack his things.

And then he transformed. He had been training over the last two years, you see; his true form, draining as it was, was easier for him to control. The taunting voice hadn't been snuffed out, but it was easier to ignore. He snapped, the sound echoing a short distance through the trees. And then the light dimmed. Forin didn't want to kill the man; he wanted him to suffer for what he had done. But the man didn't even know what he had done, and that made Forin all the angrier.

Something he didn't expect happened next; the 'sunlight', filtered through the shadows Forin was controlling, turned red. It definitely cast an eerie glow about the entire area. Forin said nothing, but he flapped his wings once and flitted into view of the man, hiding again. Humans...this man was definitely one. He wouldn't listen to reason. So Forin wasn't about to walk out and start talking, especially not in this form...

The man yelped and glanced around rapidly, saying "W-what? Who...who's there? Show yourself!" He brandished his knife, glaring into the trees. "I know you're there!" he shouted. "You may as well come out or go about your business!" He fingered the hilt of his knife, glaring around him. "I've come here for one thing and I'm not leaving without it. So you can either come out and face me or head off, pal." He set his jaw, clearly not knowing what he was up against.

He had no chance.

But he didn't know that, of course.

"You've gotten yourself into a mess, haven't you?" Resu appeared in front of the man, smiling curtly. "If you are going to stay here, you must pass a test, naturally. I can see that you don't understand, but it doesn't matter too much. Your test is to make it out of this forest alive. I suggest running," She giggled, then vanished again. "Or you could just return to your prized kill. That's always an option." Her voice lingered for a moment before she was gone again.

The forest was still once more. The hunter may or may not have realized that something was watching him, with great intensity.

The hunter thought for a moment, frowning mightily, but many humans had a trait that commonly felled them, and this man was no exception. That single trait was prominant in most humans, though there were some that felt none of this feeling.

Greed.

He thought of the money he could receive from selling the white deer's pelt and antlers. The antlers would bring triple what the pelt would bring, as they could be made into potions and medicines. The antlers from a white deer, plus the way they curled into mystical designs, would make him filthy rich.

He turned on his heel and raced off into the forest, determined to get what he had been led here to find.

Diana was still there, crying over her fallen friend, stroking his muzzle gently. "It's okay, Luen, you'll be okay...Forin will do something, I...I don't know where he went, but...he'll save you. I know he will, Forin is--" She stopped and looked up as the hunter came into view, taking one look at the expression of greed on his face and the knife in his hand, then she let out a scream.

Forin flashed in front of the man again, there one second and gone the next, much closer this time, his face twisted into a horrid grin.

The kirin still weakly kicked out convulsively, his body moving not of his will. His eyes were blank, his struggles slowly growing weaker and weaker.

The hunter paused upon seeing the girl, but only for a moment. He yelped when he saw Forin for that brief second, blinking hard. "What are you?!" he shouted, flashing the knife around. "A wraith? No wraith will keep me from what I want, fool! I came here for this deer and I'm not leaving without it!" He turned and moved towards Luen again, his features twisted into a sneer.

Sharp laughter pierced the red sky. Not Forin's kind laughter, either. "Wraith...I am no wraith."

Diana choked on her tears, then swallowed hard and stood up after gently setting Luen's head down. "No!" She demanded, throwing her arms out at her side. "I won't let you hurt Luen! H-he doesn't deserve a-any of this, yo-you...you monster!" She shouted boldly at him, though her voice shook along with her knees.

"Out of my way, brat," the man growled, shoving Diana to the side. "I came for this and I'm taking it! He's dead to you either way and this will make my life so much better! I'm tired of being a petty hunter, barely bringing in enough prey to eat, let alone sell! I'm tired of that life! I'll tear that pelt off of its flanks if its the last thing I do!" His knife flashed in the sunlight, baring high. "It's mine!" he shouted, his voice quivering.

Forin was suddenly behind the man, his hand wrapped around the human's raised wrist, the arrow he had carried with him digging into the human's back. "Now look at what you've done," His claws snapped around the man's head, forcing him to turn and look at Diana. She was looking up at him with relief, though her hand was cut a little bit from falling on a stick. "You made her bleed. And look," He forced the man to look down at Luen. "Your actions have caused harm to - not a deer - but a Kirin."

He released the human's head, snapping the knife out of his grip before sliding in front of him, his true form quite formidable in the dim red light. "You asked what I was before, did you not?" He smirked, tilting his head to the side. "I am not a wraith. More like...a guardian angel."

The man stared, gaping completely and falling to the ground. He shivered fearfully, all wit leaving him. He had no idea what to do. He was looking death in the face and he knew it. He heard a gurgling sound, followed by what sounded like tiny, distant sparkling and glanced down at Luen.

The kirin lost his hold on deer form and transformed into a human, the wound twice as worse in this form.

The hunter's eyes widened completely, horrified. Blood gushed, pooling around the kirin in an ocean of red. He was past the point of convulsions, his body trapped in a contant shaking motion. Like mini-convulsions that were constant and unceasing. Yet they were slowing as time passed.

The once-wolfing was about to die again. And this time, he wouldn't be coming back.

The hunter's eyes widened greatly, horror setting in. "He...he's just...a boy," he whispered, watching as the young man's hands locked up and dug into the ground, his body still jerking and twitching. "I...I killed...a boy," the hunter murmured, his eyes wide. "I...I am no murderer! I'm not! I just...I just wanted...!" He stared up at Forin in horror, then screamed and turned away, trying desperately to get away.

"Me, me, me..." Forin growled, kicking the human in the gut. "It's all you humans ever think about." He glanced back at Luen, knowing that he was running out of time. Diana wailed all the more, grabbing Luen and trying desperately to mop up the blood with part of her shirt.

"Forin, w-we have to get Luen to Seria!" She sniffed, looking up at the Tartaran.

"Murder is murder, intentional or not..." Forin lifted the human up, growling in his face. "Now you have two choices. Either I kill you, painfully, or you can end yourself. Or...you could lie here and allow the poison to work through your body and die slowly. Still painful, I'm sure..."

((Did you want the hunter to become a perma character? 'Cuz I can make eet work.))

((I didn't intend on keeping him when I made him. Hence having no name said yet. You are free to keep him if you want.))

The man shivered hard, holding his stomach where Forin had kicked him. "Please..." he said. "I didn't know. I was led here; by a girl. S-she told me...that there was a grand prize waiting here that would make me rich beyond compare. 'Noble white elegance waits for you', she said. I had no idea! Don't kill me! I...I can't leave my family behind..." Tears budded in his eyes. "Please...I didn't know. She didn't tell me he was sentient, the darned wolfling..."

((Nah.))

Forin's eyes narrowed, then he flicked his finger up. Shadows moved forward, gathering on the man's forehead. They started scratching out a word; Murderer. The cuts were deep, and would definitely scar. Forin then kicked the man again, this time aiming his kick to break the human's arm. The snap was obvious.

Forin turned away. He gently picked up Diana and set her on his shoulders, then carefully picked up Luen. And then he was gone, a blast of wind left behind in his wake.

The man clutched his broken limb against his body, still shaking with fear. "I've seen a ghost," he decided, eyes wide. "A phantom. It...it can't be nothing else. I...I need to go home. To my wife and children." He stood up and slowly started the long walk back to wherever he had come.

*

Luen shook and trembled in Forin's arms, his legs still kicking out convulsively. His mouth was open, but he couldn't seem to breathe. He was trying to breathe, they could see that, but each breath was blocked by blood, resulting in sickly gurgling sounds that were rapidly dwindling. It was such a terrible sound to hear; the choked, liquid-clogged gasping, each tiny breath only won by fighting hard for it.

Forin flew, blasting through the place between worlds in a count of three seconds. Then he was in Amnarius, and though the brightness burned his skin (his true form was more sensitive to the light), he flew onwards. He crashed into the castle, ignoring the guards; he decided not to look too hard for Seria. Instead, he went straight for where he remembered the healers would be.

He practically tore the door off of that room, snarling with anger at just about anything that he could.

The Divine healers inside all jumped, some scattering in fear, their cloaks fluttering wildly. A few cloaks billowed back, revealing the heads and faces underneath. They were all old or older, though a few looked a bit younger. Some were missing an arm or a leg, the ones missing the latter part using spells to float along the ground. Namanai and one other where the only ones not missing parts.

Most of the Divine healers ran about crazedly, turned themselves invisible, or teleported somewhere else, deathly afraid. Namanai took one look up at Forin and threw up a hand, which basically had the same effect for the Tartaran as if he had flown into a wall.

A really thick, heavy brick wall.

"Dulce," the oldest healer said, her voice scolding. "You have no right to charge in here and frighten my sisters like that. I'll be taking that..." She moved forward and plucked Luen out of his arms, ignoring the Tartaran's growling. "Now you will be leaving. I personally don't care how much he means to you or the girl; neither of you will be in the room as we work and after. Now shoo! We have work that needs attending to." She ran off, already calling for her sisters, ignoring the weak moan Luen made at being taken from his friends.

Forin sighed heavily, relieved that Namanai took Luen regardless of his hasty actions. He took Diana off of his shoulders and leaned against the wall, returning to his normal form. He collapsed with his back against the wall, passing out right there. Diana sat in his lap, feeling...guilty. None of this would have happened if she hadn't asked to go back to the garden. Luen would still be okay, Forin wouldn't be exhausted, and she wouldn't have accidentally kidnapped a small white rabbit. The animal remained tucked in her arms, nuzzling her fingers as she started to cry again, feeling terrible.

The healers took Luen into the nearby room, closing the door firmly behind them. One healer remained in the room with Forin and Diana, watching them closely from under her hood. She was there to make sure they stayed there. For reasons that became obvious in the next moment.

Luen screamed, loudly and violently, barely taking a moment to gasp in a rapid breath before screaming again.

The voices of the Divine healers came up, barely heard over Luen's voice. Something about the pain-dulling spells not working and them having to work on him despite that.

Diana just whimpered and pushed her face into Forin's shirt. The Tartaran didn't move, very much unconscious. He slept undisturbed, despite the screams of pain that normally would have made him jump up with shock and desperation to help his dear friend.

His screams were undwindling, unstopping, pure pain in each breath and tone. The Divine healers sounded confused, but they pressed on, working despite the pain it was causing him. If they stopped, he would die anyways. Some opened cuts in his body, draining the poison from his system, while others were busy closing the wound in his chest from the arrow. They finished quickly enough, as it wasn't too detailed of a task, though it was much worse due to the non-pain-dulling. When they finished, Luen fell silent, panting raggedly. The immediately moved him off to the infirmary, where he would be held.

Once they were finished, Namanai came out and picked up both Forin and Diana in her strong, wiry arms, moving them off to the infirmary as well, albeit far from Luen. "You both should sleep," she ordered, laying Forin down on one of the beds and pulling the covers over him. She tucked Diana in against his side, pulling the thick covers over her as well. "Sleep, little one," she soothed, brushing a gentle hand over the girl's head. "Your friend will be okay. I'll stay here and watch over him personally, to make certain." She moved off and took up a place in a chair, proving that she meant what she had said.