The Forgotten Zodiac

Breakfast was carried out without much to mention. Werr ensured that they were prepared to go directly after their meal; Forin and Diana had a horse prepared for them, as well as a spare when one grew tired from carrying them. "Well," The human king sighed as Forin mounted the horse. "There isn't much I can say, aside from good luck."

"May the gods watch over you," Forin said briskly. Despite his tone, it was actually a fairly big thing, coming from Forin. He, however, smirked after saying such. "If anything happens to Cynyr, they'll be the only thing between you an an attacker, after all."

Welk glared at the Tartaran for a moment, then said "Cynyr's tough! He can handle anything!" He flicked his tail and turned to the aforementioned panther, who was standing next to Werr in cat form. They both took human form and stared at each other for a moment, then Welk darted forward and hugged the wind mage tightly. Cynyr wrapped his arms around his little brother, holding him close. "You gotta stay safe," the panther said. "You hear me? Cause if anything's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me. You got that?"

Welk smiled and pressed closer, saying "Got it. I love you."

Cynyr smiled slightly (something he had improved on a lot) and said "I love you too." He then had to let Welk go and watch as the half-cat pulled back and moved over to Werr, hugging him hard. "I love you too, Werr. You're like another brother to me. In every way," he said softly. "Please be here when I get back, okay? Stay close to Cynyr. He likes you too."

Seria, mounted on a horse nearby, smiled sadly. Cynyr moved over to speak quietly to her, holding her hand gently. She spoke back, then leaned down and planted a moving kiss on his lips. He returned it, then moved away.

Werr wrapped his arms around Welk, smiling happily. "I would say goodbye, but there's no point. I know you'll be back eventually." He let go, moving to Cynyr's side. "Just try to move quickly, okay?" He waved as Forin started his horse forward, leading the way towards the exit of the stables.

"As you wish. We should be back in a few days, hopefully with Luen." Forin nodded shortly.

Welk glanced over his shoulder sadly, then moved up to trot next to Seria's horse, quickly breaking into a canter as the horses sped up. Seria waved over her shoulder, then turned forward to concentrate on steering her horse.

Cynyr watched them go, then looked at Werr and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. When Werr looked at him, there was genuine concern and just a whole 'gentle' feeling about his gaze. "Come on," he said, motioning lightly with his head. "Let's go back inside."

There was a moment of silence from Werr as he watched the horses ride through the capital city and then past the walls, where they quickly went out of sight. Werr sighed heavily, turning away from the place where some of his dearest friends had been only moments ago. "Yeah, we might as well," He nodded, turning back to the castle without looking at Cynyr too much. He felt...cowardly. He knew that he was making the best decision for himself, for Welk's mission, and for his kingdom...but he still felt just as weak and powerless as he did two years ago.

To use a cliched term now, he felt pathetic. But he did nothing, returning to the castle and his throne, both of which awaited him patiently to swallow him up.

"You want to do some training?" Cynyr asked as they moved into the castle. The sound of armor clinking together came from the inside of his cloak, where he was wearing his suit of light armor that had been made for him, like Welk's. To his weapon belt, he had strapped the golden blade Cici had given him so long ago, which was still as unscratched and untarnished as the day he had received it. He pulled it out and playfully swept it mere inches away from Werr's cheek, smiling as he did so. "Come on," he said, bouncing lightly on the tips of his boots near the boy. "I need something to do and you could always use some training, especially with that fiery death-weapon Welk made you."

Werr smiled a bit. "Might as well. Unless something comes up, I doubt I have anything to do, anyways." He shrugged, then ordered that his staff to be brought to him. It was handed to them as they reached the courtyard. Werr grabbed the red orb on top of his staff, giving it a sharp twist and pulling; it gave way to reveal the blade of a sword. A crafty device Welk had given him not long ago. The blade was infused with magic, and could be set ablaze on command, but Werr wasn't planning to use that this time. He didn't want any more of Cynyr's fur burned off by accident, after all.

Cynyr swung his sword around in elegant-yet-deadly circles, finally taking it full into his hand and holding it at the ready. "On your mark," he said, pointing the tip in Werr's direction. He stood straight and tall, his other hand hanging calmly by his waist. His pitch-black cloak billowed in the morning breeze, pushing the folds of fabric aside to show off the black armor within. The golden blade in his gloved hand flashed in the light, glinting yellow.

Werr took his stance (not without double-checking to make sure he was standing exactly right), then touched his blade to Cynyr, a small smile on his face. "I do rather like that sword," He commented lightly, holding the contact of their two blades. "But mine is better." He grinned jokingly, then began with a swift left jab.

Cynyr snorted, his fangs bared in an excited grin, then whipped his blade around to block Werr's move. There was a sharp ring of steel against steel as the blades clashed together, then Cynyr dodged back and turned a quick, agile circle, bringing his blade around again. "I'll believe that if you beat me," he said, swinging his sword forward.

Werr parried, pushing Cynyr's blade away from himself and upwards instead. He held for a moment to speak. "Hey now, it isn't the blade that strikes or swings, it's the bearer. My skills have nothing to do with how good this sword is." He replied simply, swinging swiftly at Cynyr's arms. He wasn't as near as agile and skillful as Cynyr...

"You started it," Cynyr said, whipping the sword around in a rapid succession of both blows and blocks. "But you're right, of course. You could have the greatest sword in the land, yet it wouldn't mean anything unless you had the skills and knowledge to use it. You can swing it..." His blade flashed in, resting lightly against Werr's neck for a moment, then darted back. "...but can you wield it?" he finished, bouncing back and flipping his black hair away from his face. He held the sword out, his pale fingers wrapped tightly around the handle.

Werr touched his neck for a moment, letting out a scoffing sound at his own failure. "Apparently not," He looked a bit guilty at his words, looking down at the sword that Welk had spent hours upon hours crafting and making. After that, he had only been able to use it once in a final attempt to be rid of Cern, a psychotic Tartaran working under Obelisk. But alas, Cern had taken him captive and left a clone in his place.

Werr couldn't suppress a shiver at that. He still had terrible thought trains about that sometimes; honestly, what if he was a clone? What if there were more? Werr had to take his mind away from his thoughts as Cynyr advanced again; Werr skirted backwards, redirecting Cynyr's blade with his own.

The panther came forward, holding the sword at his side, though his arm was tensed and ready to strike out. "Don't let your thoughts distract you," he instructed. "Focus. Besides, you should know the story of how Welk figured you apart from the clone by heart now, what with how many times he's told it." He knew a lot of the thoughts that went through Werr's head by now, and he gave an honest smile. "When in doubt, just scratch him behind the ears," he said, then lunged forward with the sword out and up.

Werr blocked, as he had been doing for the majority of their session this far. He seemed hesitant to attack, only putting his full effort into strikes he knew would hit nothing. He didn't have Cynyr's pulling-back skills, after all. He didn't want to accidentally slice through Cynyr's neck or chest with his sword. Especially with Seria not being here.

Their session was interrupted, however, by a small tremor in the ground. It was light - not a full-out earthquake - but clearly still there. Werr stopped at once, frowning suspiciously at the ground, his mind immediately flicking towards the possible causes.

Cynyr quickly dropped into a crouch, the duel forgotten. He placed a hand on the ground, closing his eyes and tilting his ears back against his head. He remained this way for a few minutes, then suddenly rose up and sheathed his sword. "That's enough for today," he said, moving forward. He rounded behind Werr, making sure that Werr was closer to the castle. "Let's go inside," he said, guiding Werr's direction with a slight touch of one of his scarred hands.

Werr allowed himself to be pushed inside, a little concerned. There was another tremor as they came in through the doorway; this one was just as short, but perhaps a bit stronger. Werr had to lean against the wall for support so he wouldn't fall down. Cynyr led him along to the throne room, where it would be more or less safer. There were no chandeliers in the throne room, after all; Werr had demanded that the only one in the room be taken down and replaced with simple torches.

Werr was soon found by Hurst, who seemed a bit frazzled and desperate to get Werr to safety. None of them expected the next one coming. That was more of a full-out earthquake. Unfortunately, they were on the stairs at the time; Werr was taken off-balance by the sudden jerking, and slipped. There was a crack as his head hit the staircase. He fell limp immediately.

((NOT DEAD OR ANYWHERE CLOSE TO DYING. DUN FREAK OUT.))

((Yeah! Because I've already planned something bad for -mumbles name of a character-. :3))

"Werr!" Cynyr called, quickly bending down and scooping the boy into his arms. He picked him up and carefully brushed a hand over the back of his head, making sure he hadn't cracked his skull wide open. Once he was satisfied that the boy hadn't killed himself, the panther stood up with Werr in his arms and ran to the throne room, ignoring Hurst and not caring if the soldier followed or not. When he got to the throne room, Cynyr paused and glanced around, wondering out loud, "What was that?"

((Okey. :T))

"We're not entirely certain. Seemed like a series of earthquakes to me." Hurst answered, already sending someone off to fetch Doctor Marr; the doctor did indeed still work there, mainly helping Seria tend to those who needed periods of rest after a big healing. Which weren't very numerous, especially as Seria was getting stronger in her magics.

The doctor arrived in good time, directing Cynyr to hold Werr up while he inspected the back of Werr's head, where the contact had been made. He couldn't really make anything conclusive; there was no bleeding, and Werr's skull wasn't split open, so the doctor could only conclude that Werr may possibly have cracked his skull slightly. "Get him into the infirmary as soon as you think it's safe," Marr sighed, double-checking Werr's pulse and breathing. "He'll wake up eventually. I hope."

Cynyr's eyes held intense worry as Marr checked Werr, then the panther sat down in the middle of the floor with the young king in his lap. He cradled Werr's head gently with one arm, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings. He looked up at Hurst and said "Make sure that all perimeters and gates are heavily guarded. Something about these 'earthquakes'...just isn't sitting right with me." He flicked his long black tail, giving the area another sweep.