The Forgotten Zodiac

Toro smiled sadly. "I normally don't cry in public, but people are so nice here...but they're rarely nice back on our world when they see something like this. People are greedy...it gets worse when they figure out that my blood turns to rubies..." He rubbed his arms again, but then sighed and nodded, stepping outside his cell and leaning up to the bars of Welk's cell. He fanned the cards out in his hands in Welk's cage. "H-here, pick a card. Don't let me see it, okay?" He smiled, his voice quickly getting steadier. This was yet another performance. It was what he was raised by the Silver Tornado to do. Put on a show, attract attention to himself...he couldn't help but wonder how many times he would be used as a distraction to help those people if he went back willingly.

He ignored his thoughts, urging Welk to take one card.

The half-cat gulped softly, then carefully stood up and moved forward as far as his chains allowed. He reached his hand out as far as he could, taking one of the cards into his hand. He didn't let Toro see it, as the rabbitzen had requested, and he held the card close to his body once he had it. "Okay," he murmured. "I have it. What now?" He still looked miserable, but it was slowly fading as he found someone to talk to.

"Now that you have one card, shuffle it back into the deck. And then you can tell me how you expect I'll be able to find that card." Toro smiled, putting the cards back into a stack and passing it to Welk. "Any number of ways. Go on then, guess!" He said, suddenly acting excited as he ignored where they were and focused on what he was doing.

Welk frowned, then carefully did as the rabbitzen wanted and shuffled the deck, then handed it back. "Um...you're going to..." he started, trying to explain how the rabbitzen would do his trick. "Well, there's a secret to it, obviously...maybe...somehow. You're gonna..." He rubbed the back of his head, noting that Momeki was watching as well. She had stood up and was standing near Toro, secretly wishing she could touch his long rabbit ears.

"Not exactly what I mean. Let me explain," Toro smiled and shuffled the cards a little more, looking away thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose I could just pull the card out like so," He did so, still not looking at it. He showed it to Welk, smiling. It was indeed Welk's card, but not once did he look at what it was. He put it back in the deck and started shuffling again, once again looking thoughtful. He spread the cards out into a fan again, laying them out carefully on the ground. They were all facedown.

"Or, I could find it by doing this," In a simple sweep, the overlaying cards flipped face up in a domino sort of manuever, except for one. "I like to call that sweeping." He showed Welk the one card that had remained facedown; it was Welk's card. He gathered all the cards again, and shuffled them once more. "Or...perhaps I could be a little flashier, and show you this," He pulled what looked like a tiny crossbow from his pocket. A collector's item, made of bronze and rubber, as well as a perfectly functional children's toy. He notched the bolt, then bent the stack of cards in one hand so that they all flipped out of his hand, one after another after another. He took aim and fired; only one card was hit, and ultimately pinned to the cell wall, where Toro finally took a look at it.

"'Magic'," He read off the card, smiling a bit. It did indeed have the one word in bold letters at the bottom, with a picture of a tiny fairy leaving golden dust behind it. "A card of great fortune and power. I dunno why you're in here, but...if these cards mean anything, I'd say that you'll be fine in the end. Keep the cards, by the way. I have five other decks."

Welk held the card close, frowning at it. He didn't know what the rabbitzen had meant by the things he had said, but for some reason, the words comforted him. He flipped clumsily through the cards, then tucked them into his pocket. "Um...thanks," he murmured to the rabbitzen. "For...talking to me and stuff. I think that's part of what's hurting me. None of the guards really talk to me. They just...stare at me. Like I'm some sort of freak. Which, I guess...I am." He sighed, then took lion form and curled up sadly in the corner, flicking his short tail.

"Well, that's alright," Toro smiled a little bit. "Uh...I'm sorry about the nasty things I said before, too. I was scared, so very scared, and that kinda...made me act like my aunt." He rubbed his arm, then looked sadly back at his cage. He stood again, looking back at Momeki. "Sorry. I'll go back now," He said, sitting back down in his cage after brushing aside some of the pearls. Eventually, he went back to his rabbit form and curled up on the burlap-covered bed of straw, looking like nothing more than a pet rabbit in a cage.

Momeki sighed, watching the rabbitzen sadly, then said "Well...I guess I can't stop you, then." She closed his cage door, but she didn't lock it, instead pocketing the key without using it. "I don't want to lock you up, Toro. None of us care if you walk around. Just...think about it." She hesitated, then slowly walked into his cage and stroked his ears once, gently. Then she headed back out, going to attend to her other duties.

Toro's ears flicked. If there was one thing he enjoyed, it was being petted by someone. He had loved it when Diana had pet him, and now Momeki pet him. He sighed, then pressed his little nose into the burlap and decided to sleep.

Morning came ever so slowly, though it never really grew dark. The light of the land was determined by, as some Amnarians discovered, the position of the moon within the human world. When humans see a new moon and the sky is dark, Amnarius darkened also. When the humans saw a full moon, that was the time of month that Titus and Galai meet in the place between worlds.

Werr laid awake in bed, having been completely unable to sleep the entire night. He sat up after a long while, wiping his face with his hand. He yawned, remembering that today was the day they were supposed to leave to find the Artifacts of the Fair Ones. He looked down at his hands, wondering what on earth would go wrong today to slow them down more.

Cynyr was curled up at the foot of his bed, dozing in panther form. He mumbled something unintelligable, flicking his tail, then shifted around until he was laying against Werr's legs. He stretched out, easily as long as Werr was tall. He draped one of his furry black legs over Werr's legs, sighing softly. From the way his ears twitched and flicked, Werr knew he was unconsciously listening to everything around him.

Werr smiled slightly, scratching Cynyr behind the ears before letting out a heavy sigh. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to that Rabbitzen from before. Had he been taken back to the dungeons, or what? For that matter, Werr couldn't help but remember two things. Firstly, his cell had been across from Welk's. Welk's and Toro's cell were the deepest two, and the most protected cells. The Rabbitzen must have done something pretty awful to land there. Secondly, he was comparing the boy's attitude at the party compared to his in the jail cell when Werr had gone to talk to Cynyr. It was an awfully strange change, but Werr couldn't help but think that he had seemed...terrified back in the cell. He had tried to hide it, but he was scared and hurt.

Werr could relate with that.

The Rabbitzen in question was just waking up. He thought a great deal about what Momeki had said about walking around, and he decided to get up. The guards didn't stop him as he walked nervously out of the jail and into the city again. He hadn't really gotten a chance to marvel at Amnarius; the way Wulf had described it put it to shame. The streets, the buildings, and even the jail looked magnificent. Beautiful. Incredible.

With a black wolf standing on top of a building.

"Look what we have here," she said, flicking her fluffy black tail. "A tasty little rabbit. Fancy that?" She leapt down from the top of the building and landed nearby, licking her lips. It was none other than Nelu, her dark eyes flashing dangerously. She pranced around Toro in graceful circles, her black fur flowing.

Toro jumped and twisted around, facing the wolf. He didn't recognize the wolf at all, so of course, he was instantly terrified. "W-what do you...want?" He whimpered, trying to back up, but Nelu cut him off every time. "D-don't eat me, I...I taste terrible!" He wrung his hands, immediately regretting leaving the jail.

Nelu shook her head, then said "Don't worry, I'm not here to eat you, little rabbit. I'm just here to...finish some business I have with a certain member of Werr's pathetic little group. But first, I think I'll drop in on a poor little lion, all locked up to his lonesome." She trotted towards the jail, her mouth set in a dark grin.

"N-no, I do-don't think you should..." Toro walked forward a couple steps; he didn't want the wolf hurting the one named Welk, the poor hurting Half-cat... "H-he's not bad, he's actually qui-quite nice a-and I don't want you to hurt him!" When Nelu didn't stop, Toro balled his hands into fists. "If you hurt him in any way, I'll send the Silver Tornado after y-your pelt!" He wasn't actually certain what a 'pelt' was or if it was something his friends would want, but it sounded threatening.

Nelu stopped, planting her paws firmly on the ground. She turned her head and smiled at the young rabbitzen, then said "You can't do that, little boy. For you see..." She tossed her head back, revealing that she was wearing a necklace. A silvery tornado-shaped pendant hung from the chain, glinting in the sunlight. "...I'm part of the Silver Tornado as well, just as much as you are." She grinned at him, then darted off in eager anticipation.

Toro immediately moved his hand to his chest, where the same necklace was concealed under his shirt. He bit his lip, not sure what to do now. He had never seen this person before (he had noticed that the creature was a wolfling), and yet they were a part of the Silver Tornado? What was he supposed to do now? Toro swallowed hard and eventually just followed, albiet nervously. He kept out of sight, waiting on the stairs rather than going all the way down with Nelu.

The black wolfling took human form and approached the guards, grinning as they came forward at her. "Who are you?" one asked, but Nelu knocked both out mere moments later by whacking them on their heads with two of her many weapons. "Hello, hello, hello," she said as she trotted down the stairs, walking towards Welk's cell. "What do we have here?"

Welk glanced up in shock, his jaw dropping open.

"A pathetic little kitten, all sad and alone in the corner?" Nelu said, leaning on the bars of his cage. "What's wrong, pretty kitty? Your best friend leave you all alone in here?"

"I-I made him stay away, most of the time," Welk said, his voice quivering. "I don't want to hurt him."

"But you did hurt him, little kitty-cat," the wolf said, grinning darkly. "You're a monster and nothing more. You deserve to be locked up in there, where you can't hurt anyone."

Welk started to shake, trying not to let her words get to him but hearing them all the same.

"And you know what people like Werr do when they see monsters?" she asked, curling a hand into a fist. "They fear them. Even if they try and befriend you, you're still a monster in the end. A monster to be feared and desiped." She grinned. "And then killed."

Toro bit his lip. A monster? The half-lion hadn't seemed like a monster...the poor Rabbitzen boy had no idea what else to do, so he charged back up the stairs as quietly as possible, looking around wildly. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He called, then realized something. If that wolfling was also with the Silver Tornado...didn't that mean she had come for him? What was she saying about 'finishing business' with a member of Werr's group, especially if that member wasn't Werr himself?

What had been that female guard's name? Toro didn't remember ever telling either of them his own name, much less them telling him theirs. Without any names to call, Toro could only shout, "Help me!" At the top of his lungs and hope the right person came. Because if a different Amnarian came, one who had seen his actions in regards to Obelisk, they could try to punish him or tie him up and do the exact opposite of helping.

Luckily, Momeki had been nearby, practising some mock charges in unicorn form. She recognized the rabbitzen's voice and came running, her black mane flapping around her neck. "What is it?" she asked, her eyes wide. She flared her wings; she was barely any taller then the rabbitzen himself in her true form. "Is something wrong?" she asked, tilting her horned head to the side.