The Forgotten Zodiac

Toro took a step back at first, but his sensitive ears recognized Momeki's voice as well. "U-uh...someone from the Silver Tornado came, b-but she...she went down into the jail and is talking to the half-lion down there. I think she might be trying something, she said she had business to finish with someone from Werr's group...I can't stop her myself," He said quickly and desperately, not even trying to hide his fear anymore.

Momeki quickly turned on a hoof and raced down the steps, but not before pausing to give Toro a gentle nuzzle. She liked the rabbitzen, after all. Nevertheless, she charged down the steps into the jail, only to screech to a halt in shock.

Nelu was gone and Welk was laying on the floor of his cell, his chest slashed open in a mark similarly to how Relic had once injured him, so long ago.

When they entered the jail, Welk gurgled and weakly managed to say "S-stop her...she...she's going to...kill Luen..." Then he passed out, unable to take anymore stress.

Toro had, of course, followed. He stared at Welk for a long while before trying to open the cell door. Thinking hard, Toro remembered Wulf saying that there were healers who lived in the castle. He ran back at once, looking back at the guard and saying, "You go and save that Luen person, I'll try to find the healers!" Then he was darting up the stairs again, charging off towards the castle for all he was worth.

Momeki nodded, then ran off up the stiars and headed towards the infirmary, where she knew the white kirin was suppose to be.

Suppose to be. He wasn't there. Momeki looked everywhere, but she couldn't find the deer anywhere.

Luen was out in the castle gardens with Forin and Diana, where the threesome had gathered near a peaceful little fountain. Luen was curled up in deer form, letting Diana tie ribbons and things to his antlers. Since he didn't have long fur to braid anymore, his antlers subsituted as hanging hooks. He was still tired and very weak from his near-death experience with the hunter, but he managed to smile whenever Diana or Forin spoke to him.

Nelu arrived on the scene in the shadows, hidden from view, her eyes gleaming.

Forin wasn't saying much. He was watching quietly from his seat at the fountain, a thoughtful look on his face. He kept checking the inner pocket of his vest for something, but he said nothing about what it happened to be. He forced a smile on his face when Diana presented Luen to him; she had tied flowers and bows in his antlers. He didn't look too bad, either.

Forin just held his smile. "He looks wonderful, Diana. Good job." He stood and moved forward, straightening one of the ribbons. "Perhaps we should pay a visit to the healing springs," He said casually, smiling down at Luen.

The white kirin closed his emerald eyes and smiled, then said "Yeah, maybe. Divine only knows how much I need it..." He bent his head forward and nuzzled Forin's cheek, then pulled back and said "I wonder how many people will be jealous of my amazing antler job." He tossed his head, smiling when Diana giggled. He happened to glance past Forin, then looked back at Diana. Then he froze and slowly looked back.

Nelu was standing there, smiling stright at the white kirin.

When he blinked, she was gone.

Forin's smile left quickly as he saw the look on Luen's face. "What happened?" He questioned, checking behind him, then double-checking the thing in his inner pocket. "Luen, what did you see?"

"What's wrong, Luen?" Diana said, pouting as she wrapped her arms around Luen's.

"I..." the deer murmured, blinking a few times and shaking his head. "I thought..." He looked around, then said "Um...never mind. It...it was nothing." He sighed deeply, then turned and pressed his muzzle against Diana's neck, sighing deeply. "I...think I'm just seeing things," he said, closing his eyes.

Forin looked at his friend carefully. "We should get you to the healing springs as soon as possible, then." He offered his hand out to help his friend up. "Come on, let's go find Seria. She can help keep an eye on Diana while I help you." He said gently.

"Oh, Seria? I like her," Diana said happily. "Hey, Forin, can we have more cake today?"

"If there's any from the party leftover, I'll see if I can't get you some after lunch." Her guardian smiled slightly. "But not too much, alright? You need to eat foods that are good for you."

Luen shifted to human form and took Forin's hand, allowing the Tartaran to help him up. He smiled, then his eyes suddenly widened and he jumped forward, snatching Diana up into his arms and shouting "Forin, move!" He darted to the side as Forin moved to the other, just in time to avoid a hail of daggers and throwing stars as they plunged into the ground.

Nelu landed nearby, tossing her short black hair and chuckling. "What do you know?" she said, smiling cruely at her brother. "My brother's been turned into a deer."

Forin was on his feet in seconds again. He took one look at Nelu and looked towards Luen. "Take Diana and get out of here," He said quickly, frowning unhappily.

"Wha...Forin, what are you going to do?" Diana asked desperately, hiding behind him at once.

"Getting rid of the second to last threat of two years ago." Forin sighed. "After this, we'll only have Cern to worry about. And if he keeps to his word, we won't have to worry about him for a time yet. Go with Luen, Diana...please. Get as far away from this place as possible." He looked up at Nelu again. "Your brother is gravely weakened at this time. I will fight in his stead. I will be no coward. This will be a fight to the death, Nelu."

Luen's eyes widened, then he pratically went to his knees as he begged his sister; "Please, Nelu, don't fight! I've already lost one sister, and as much pain as you've caused me, I don't want to lose another! Don't fight, don't hurt anyone! Why can't you just come with us? Why can't you be...my little Nelly again?"

Nelu's eyebrows clashed together over her forehead and she shouted "Never use that name again around me, you feeble idiot! I hate you and I always will! You no longer have standing with me, brother, and the second I get the chance, I'll kill you."

"Why?" Luen asked, and his voice carried all the emotion Forin needed to hear; pure heartbreak.

"Because you killed our mother," Nelu said angrily, hatred seething from her voice. "You killed her, and because you took her life, I have to take yours. You weak, pathetic, useless excuse for a sibling! You're nothing more than a murderer!"

Tears poured down the kirin's cheeks.

"I've heard enough!" Forin snapped, enraged. "As long as I'm alive, I will not allow you to lay a hand on Luen! If you must, you'll do it over my dead body!" He snarled, pointing at Nelu. "Fight me, Nelu. If you win, you'll have my life and your brother's destroyed. I shouldn't have to tell you the consequences of losing if I already established this as a fight to the death." He turned to Luen. "Get out of here, now!" He practically snarled, pulling Diana off of himself and pushing her into his arms. He then kneeled and quickly hugged them both. "You have five minutes. Get away." He whispered, then stood and turned to face Nelu again. He removed his cloak, taking on a defensive stance.

"Come then, Nelu. Try and kill me."

Luen swallowed softly, his throat working, then he turned and fled desperately, praying to any gods, queens, kings, Divines, and the stars and moon themselves that Forin survived the fight.

Nelu grinned and snorted sharply through her nose, saying "This fight will be over within a few mere minutes, Tartaran. A shame, really, that you'll die here. And then I'll go after Luen and finally end the terror that took our...MY mother's life!" She lunged forward, dual swords drawn, a sneer crossing her face.

He watched Luen leave with a sobbing Diana, then turned to Nelu again. "Five minutes," Forin said simply, avoiding her lunge and following swipe. Surprisingly, his rage was gone. He was calm and steady on his feet as he twisted around, avoiding the metal blades. He thrust his hand upwards, gripping the base of Nelu's sword and twisting it out of her grip. He pushed her backwards, away from himself as he righted his grip on the blade. "Fair fights are best, I should think..."

She snapped at his hand, growling, then ripped another sword off of her arsenal of weapons, saying "Fair is for people who intend to lose." Her swords flashed out, here and there, trying to land cuts or nicks on the Tartaran. She was aiming for fatal wounds, of course, though the power was definitely in Forin's favor. He was stronger than her, obviously, but she had a long time of training as well. She was fast on her feet and her weapon supply of throwing stars, small daggers and smoke bombs didn't seem to run out.

Forin was indeed getting cuts and nicks here and there. He blocked attack after attack, not really striking back. He was either biding his time, or playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Nelu. "Three minutes," He said quietly, still counting in his head. He took care not to count too quickly, of course. "Come on, Nelu, did you lose your touch?" He questioned, blocking another attack.

The female wolfling snarled and threw out a smoke bomb, lunging in while the smoke still wafted around. She slashed open a deep cut on Forin's arm, then leapt back and threw some daggers at him.

Meanwhile, quite some ways away, Luen was still running, carrying Diana in his arms. The twenty-year-old paused at one point and looked back over his shoulder, but he couldn't see anything, of course. He took a deep breath, then looked around and spotted Luna flying through the air. Luen looked down at Diana and said "Diana, I'm going to leave you with Luna, okay? I...I need to do something very important." The truth was that he had a bad feeling in his chest over Forin, like...something was going to go very wrong. "Promise me you'll stay with Luna, okay?" he asked the little girl. "I trust her, and if I don't go...I'm worried something will happen to Forin. Okay?"

((He's just going to be around, in hiding, when the bomb goes off, so he can be there to take Forin to the healers.))

((Make sure he's not too close. Because it's a bomb, not a grenade.))

Forin coughed and stumbled back and away, snarling. He watched the smoke around him carefully, expecting the next attack to come at any moment; blood from his arm dripped into the grass steadily. He was injured, certainly, but not enough to where he was about to drop the sword. "T-two minutes," He spat through his coughing.

Nelu grinned, then said "What are you counting, Tartaran freak? The minutes before you die, perhaps?" She laughed, darting around in the smoke, then struck again and lunged out in wolf form, sharp teeth bared.

Luen was in deer form, having left Diana with Luna. He was running back towards where Forin had been, panting softly as he ran. He had the sudden sense to stop not too far from where Forin and Nelu were fighting, taking cover in a small ditch in the ground, behind a thick white-stone wall. He was mentally counting as well, nearly perfectly in time with Forin. He didn't know why, but he knew something bad was coming...