The Forgotten Zodiac

Nate slipped Tasia's ring onto her finger; it was a bit difficult getting it on, but Nate carefully manuevered it onto her finger, taking the same care she had for his own ring. He leaned in and kissed her again, running his fingers through her hair gently. When he pulled back, he set his forehead against hers, smiling happily.

She closed her eyes, fondling the ring around her finger but not moving it. She didn't want to disturb how Nate had set it. Instead, she turned her fingers and moved them up, brushing them against Nate's neck. She looped her arms over his shoulder, content to simply stand there and keep close to him. She stroked his back with one hand, running her fingers gently over his muscles. She pressed herself closer to him, sighing lightly.

Nate was perfectly content to hold her close, relaxing. To the point where he didn't expect Toro to appear in front of the both of them with a puff of smoke. Nate was startled, and his reaction was to draw his sword like lightning, holding it inches from Toro's neck. He raised his hands in surrender, his eye twitching a bit. "T-tough crowd..." He muttered, stumbling back. Right into the dancing Seria and Cynyr.

Cynyr, who had just started to relax into he and Seria's dancing, was throw off-balance by the sudden bump against he and his partner. He stumbled and that threw Seria off, resulting in the both of them falling down. Cynyr landed first, on his back, and Seria landed on top of him, draped perfectly over his body. He blinked sharply, staring up at the female half-cat over him, then they both blushed and scrambled apart. Cynyr stood up and hesitantly held out his hand, helping his fiancee up. Once they were both situated, he moved to turn on the rabbitzen, only to find that he really had nothing to say. He snorted sharply through his nose and turned away, frowning as he led Seria further away from him.

Toro stared after them, his tall rabbit ears hanging around the sides of his head. He thought for sure that he would have been hit or attacked or something. Toro gave up then, retreating behind the food table. He plopped down next to Werr without thinking (for the king was sitting there and eating), pulling some of the food towards him. He looked over after putting a forkful of mashed sweet potatoes into his mouth; he stared at Werr, who realized this and looked up at Toro curiously. "Uh...hi."

"You're..." Toro blinked at him. "Werr Grehi?"

"Just Werr," He sighed for the millionth time, looking back down at his food.

"So, uh...Wulf..."

"Wulf?" Werr looked back up at Toro, looking cautiously at the Rabbitzen. "He's...dead."

"Oh...I see." Toro just looked down again, putting another forkful of potato into his mouth.

Werr normally wouldn't have said anything else, but Toro seemed a bit broken up. "You...okay?"

"Not really...um...I need to entertain people, but nobody but that girl wants to be entertained, and I kind of already showed her most of my tricks...I went through them too fast because the guy she's with is kind of scary..."

"Why do you have to entertain people?"

"Um...just because..." Toro's ears dropped again. Werr decided not to pester him too much more, returning to eating in silence.

Unknowst to them, someone was watching from high up in the rafters, where not even Airlia or Luna flew. The figure was leaned against one of the support pillars, his crimson eyes wearily watching those below. Welk still didn't know what had made the guard decide to let him out when he had asked, but at least she had the sense to stick close, binding spells at the ready. She was just outside, allowing him his peace and time alone. Not that he had much peace up here. He sighed deeply, watching Werr and Toro speak, Cynyr and Seria dance, and Nate and Tasia cuddle. His ears were pressed down against his head, but he felt...resigned. Yet happy, somewhat. At least he had gotten to see them all. He glanced down at the Mark on his shoulder, then angrily covered it with his hand. He let his anger fade and just sat there, feeling distant.

Werr felt for a moment as though he were being watched. He merely assumed it was Ophile still, however; little did he know that the Tartaran wolf was still tucked into the corner of the hallway, unmoving since yesterday. Werr continued to eat in silence, his thoughts drifting to Welk in a cage, all alone. Werr grabbed a piece of the cake, standing up and deciding to take it down to Welk. Might as well...he slipped out into the hall, unnoticed by Cynyr or anyone, carrying the piece of cake.

Welk, up in the rafters, noticed this and quickly stood, darting along one of the beams and heading towards the little space in the roof where he had slipped in. He ignored the guard outside, choosing to rapidly beg for just a little more time free. Just long enough to speak with...and he called Werr his brother. Just long enough to speak with one of his brothers, he asked. She concented, only because she sensed how innocent he was inside. He jumped off of the high roof and landed easily, then ran off towards the jail, his chains still clanking around his neck and wrists.

Werr stopped just outside the jail, his hand on the doorknob. After a long moment or two, he pulled his hand away and set the plate down, sitting down next to it with a heavy sigh. He felt more upset than he ever had; even before, when Welk had forgotten him thanks to the Divine (and Werr had been so very upset then), it hadn't been as bad as now. Because now, there was a chance that Werr could never get Welk back. There was always that chance. Werr didn't cry; he'd had enough of crying. But he did stare up at the bright sky, wondering why on earth it never rained here. He didn't want it to rain on the day of Nate's wedding, but he did kind of want it to rain anyways. So the sky could cry for him when he didn't want to.

Then came the sound of chains clinking softly together and a soft cat mrrow. Welk jumped down from the roof, landing with a light thump, in a crouch. He straightened and flicked his blonde hair out of his eyes; his dark, deep crimson eyes. He breathed a small flicker of fire from his mouth, then moved forward and flopped down next to Werr, going from a more withdrawn air instantly to a desperate, need-filled hug.

Werr blinked in surprise, but quickly realized who it was. He wrapped his arms around Welk, closing his eyes. "I...got you cake..." He murmured, buring his face in his friend's fur. He didn't question why his friend was here. He just hugged him.

The lion flicked his ragged tail, pressing closer to the boy. His thick mane was warm and pleasant to the touch, warding off any chill the air might've held. "I don't care..." he answered, nuzzling his muzzle against Werr's cheek and neck. "You came back." He licked the side of Werr's face with his scratchy tongue, closing his eyes. Over and over, the gentle lick, running over the boy's skin and up into his hair. The lion draped one of his paws over Werr's lap, holding on tight.

Werr didn't let go. "How could I not? I feel like I'm going crazy..." He scratched Welk behind the ears, just the way the half-lion liked it. "I'm so alone...I-I mean I know I have Cynyr, and he's a good friend, but...he's not...you..." He pulled away after that, shoving the cake under Welk's nose. "Here, eat this. I didn't get you a fork, b-but...it's really good. Really."

Welk snorted, wanting to protest and practically hug the life out of the boy, but he obeyed and shook his mane, bending his head to eat the cake in a few bites. Once he finished, he licked his lips and said "That...actually was the first food I've gotten all day. Most of the guards are too scared of me to come close, so..." He shrugged, then pushed the plate away and lean against Werr again.

Then he just broke.

He started sobbing and shoved his muzzled against Werr's chest, wailing out his frustrations, sorrows, fears and worries. He sobbed hard, tears pouring down his cheeks.

"I'll bring you more food, I'll--" Werr started to say before Welk started crying. Then he just hugged his friend. It wasn't really that he didn't want to cry, he just wanted to be strong for once. So instead of crying with Welk, he just hugged the half-lion as tightly as possible, closing his eyes. After awhile, he spoke again. "We found something," He said quietly. "The Artifacts of the Fair Ones. We'll be leaving to find them tomorrow. We'll come back, even if we can't find them. Okay? We'll come back..."

Welk slowly stopped crying, his cries dwindling down to little sniffles and whimpers. He flicked his ears slightly, then said "I...I want to go with you. I don't like being in my cell anymore. I don't want you to go without me." He tightened his hold on Werr, sniffling softly against the boy's clothing. "I miss you too much and I worry," he said. "I worry about if I was there, if Malice hurt you using me, and I worry for if I'm not there, if you get hurt and I wasn't protecting you." He sighed, a shuddering, sad little sound.

"But you are protecting me," Werr said gently, holding up his staff. Of course, he had brought it with him. "As long as you're alive, this thing will work, right? So...you have to stay alive so you can protect me. Okay? I'll be okay...I have Cynyr, and Seria, and Forin, and even Jag. Zephyr and another dragon are coming with us too, I'm pretty sure, s-so...please, don't worry...I'll stay with them, I won't stray for a second..."

Welk just leaned against him, trying to rub his neck around the heavy chain around his throat. He had little success, so he gave up, instead choosing to poke the fire staff. "Keep this close," he said, fixing his crimson eyes on the boy's face. "Keep it close and nothing will be able to touch you." He nuzzled the boy's shoulder, determined to stay close for as long as he could. "I want to be there...with you and Cynyr," he said. "So you have to go quickly and be safe. Because if something happened to you, I'd...I'd..." He stopped talking, not wanting to risk making himself cry again.

"I know," Werr murmured. "I'll keep it forever." He looked up at the sky again, closing his eyes a moment later. "Hey, Welk...do you remember when we first met? I had locked away my emotions in a bottle, never to think of them again...and then I met you, and you broke that bottle. And when I tried to bottle them up again, you broke it again. I need you...or else my logical side will win over my emotions, a-and..." Werr closed his eyes, thinking back. He had always felt trapped, back then. Like a caged animal. Just from the sheer havoc his emotions were wreaking on his mind, he knew that he would get tired of it sooner or later, and...trap himself again. He didn't want to, but if he was to do anything, he knew that it could very well turn impossible not to do such a thing. And thoughts like those scared him.

Welk was quiet, then he suddenly pushed away from Werr and took human form, shifting around so he was sitting right in front of the boy. He put his hands on Werr's knees and ever so slowly channeled a soothing wave of heat from his hands. He was clearly nervous, but he did his best and kept complete control. "I told someone you were my brother," he said, his eyes growing distant. "It just sort of...hit me, I suppose. It felt natural, even though I know we aren't related. I guess I'm just saying that...well, I want you to be my brother. Just like Cynyr. I don't care if we're not related! Me and Cynyr were like that at first, just saying we adopted each other. Well, I want to adopt you! If that's possible. I'm not sure...maybe it's the other way around..."