The Forgotten Zodiac

"Would you like some help?" Obelisk said quietly. He didn't offer help to people very often, but he guessed Luen didn't want any help. He remained where he was, watching Luen trot back into Amnarius.

The others were waiting at the gate. Nate ran forward at once, offering his help. "Luen, you look terrible. What happened?"

"Did you get Forin's soul back?" Ophile questioned, falling into step with the Kirin.

Luen just kept walking, not saying anything. He looked up at Nate, his long ears back, then slowly stopped and leaned against the dragonian. He closed his eyes for a long moment, then pulled away and slowly walked onwards, towards the guest house instead of the infirmary. He got into the house and up the stairs, then turned into their room and walked in. He tugged Forin off of his back and dragged him onto a bed, then did the same for Diana. He took human form and went around the room, darkening the windows and making sure that Diana was comfortable and covered with a blanket. He sat down near the head of her bed, moving a hand towards her forehead in order to stroke her hair back gently.

He paused a few inches away from her skin.

He didn't touch her, instead pulling his hand back, almost in fear. He sighed, bringing one leg up in order to lean tiredly against it.

Diana slowly stirred, opening her eyes. She sat up suddenly, feeling her arm desperately for a moment. She then calmed down quickly, looking up at Luen.For a moment, it looked like she might run and hide behind Forin as usual, but she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her Kirin friend. She said nothing still, but looked over at Forin as the Tartaran let out a groan, starting to tremble weakly.

Luen stiffened when Diana hugged him, then slowly put quivering arms around her. He sighed deeply, very tense against the little girl, then looked over and stared at Forin. He swallowed, somehow feeling...afraid. He knew he shouldn't, but he was worried about what Forin would think of him now. A weak, pathetic excuse for a kirin that couldn't let his friend pass on? A thought suddenly hit him; what if Forin had wanted to die? What if he was mad at Luen for what the kirin had done?

Forin groaned again, his fingers clutching the sheets of the bed, obviously in pain. He flailed his arm out to his side, letting out a sudden wail. He then rolled onto his side and started coughing until blood sprayed on the floor underneath him. Then he kept coughing, as if his lungs were refusing to work unless he heaved breaths in and choked them out. When he finally relaxed more, it was all he could do but to lie on his side and wheeze, as well as the occasional twitch here and there.

Of course, he had been dead. Most of his organs had been recently reconstructed, and all at once. He was far from 'good as new', at least for the time being. He did, however, look over at Luen with a confused look on his face before he passed out again, still spluttering on the blood in his throat.

Diana just whimpered, turning away from the blood and burying her face in the kirin's shirt.

Luen didn't turn away, if only because he felt like Forin deserved the respect of not being turned away from. He swallowed hard, resting his head on top of Diana's. He held her close, murmuring "I'm sorry," softly.

There was a quiet knock at the door and Luna came in, saying "Luen?"

He had no problem with turning away from her.

She sighed, then carefully walked in, closing the door behind her. She sat down at the foot of the bed, making certain that she gave Luen all the space he needed.

Diana sniffed and pulled away from Luen, holding her arms out towards Luna. She looked...pale. Like she was afraid that Forin was dying again already. She started crying quietly, taking Luen's hand in hers, but still holding her other hand out to Luna. She still seemed to be refusing to talk. And she had been doing so much better, too...

Luna slid over and took the girl's hand, wrapping a golden wing around her and the kirin both. "Shhh...don't cry, little one," the Amnairian said. "Forin isn't dying, I assure you. He's just recovering. It's good that you thought to darken the room, Luen. He'll recover faster here then being in Amnairian's sunlight."

He still wasn't looking at her.

The snow leopard sighed, then started gently rubbing along Diana's fingers with her own, murmuring something soft in another language.

Forin seemed to wake up again, only to slowly sit up and start banging his head against the wall. He wasn't trying to knock himself out or kill himself; but he felt like there were a million bugs in his skull, buzzing and buzzing endlessly. When the logical side of his brain kicked in again, he curled back up on the bed, shivering.

Diana pulled both Luna and Luen closer, starting to weep.

Luen still didn't seem to want to be close to her, but he allowed everything she did. He sighed and gently stroked down the side of her face, nuzzling her head, then stood up to take care of the person he had brought back to life. He went into the bathroom and got a cold wet rag, then brought it back out and gently set it on Forin's forehead. He didn't want the Tartaran to risk running a fever, after all, and it would help with any possible headaches. He walked over to a cabinet and got out a blanket, then carefully draped it over Forin's body, tucking it gently around him.

Forin closed his eyes again, coughing once or twice. "Luen..." He wheezed, suddenly jerking and grabbing Luen's hand. A smile played across his face. "You...y-you brought me ba-back..." He spluttered, though his smile faded and an odd look spread over his face. Like he wasn't sure what to say to Luen. "You...Diana..." He whispered before passing out again.

The kirin flinched when Forin grabbed his hand, then he slowly pulled away once the Tartaran was done talking. He closed his eyes, biting back a wave of sadness, then carefully took the edge of his white cloak without thinking and gently rubbed the blood from Forin's face. It stained red, of course, but he didn't care. He dutifully tended to the Tartaran, then sat down on Diana's bed, next to her. He sighed heavily, but didn't allow himself to sleep.

Diana curled up in Luen's lap, needing comfort desperately. As silent as ever, she did nothing but sit there for a long while.

Toro eventually knocked on the door. When Luna opened it, he held out a handful of pearls that had been strung into a small, beautiful little flower. "U-uh...this is for the girl," He said quietly. "I saw them return to the city, a-and she looked so sad, even while asleep, so..." He offered it to Luna, smiling a tiny bit.

Luen looked up as the rabbitzen spoke, then just wilted again.

Luna smiled and took the flower, saying "I'm sure she'll enjoy it." She turned and gave it to Diana, tucking a lock of the girl's hair behind her ear, then looked up when Luen suddenly shoved something into her hand. It was the pearl Titus had given him, meant to be brought to Galai. Luen managed to croak out words; "Give it...to T-Toro. Let him...take it to Galai."

Luna frowned, then nodded and said "Alright then." She took the pearl and walked over to Toro, holding it out to him. "You heard him. Take this to her Majesty," she said.

Galai was sitting on her throne, one arm being examined carefully by a healer. She had been injured in Forin's explosion, rather badly, at that. Some of the skin on her face was still torn looking, though the Divine healers had done their best. They were still working on her, only having gone so slow because of all of the other things that had come up and because they were making positive that she went back to as normal-looking as possible. The right side of her face had been burned pretty badly, though...

She looked up as Toro entered the room, smiling despite her pain. "Welcome, rabbitzen," she said. She blinked when he mentioned her mate's name and her curiosity grew. "What is it?" she asked, blinking her white eyes softly.

((And this goes before your part with Galai))

Toro took the gem, nodding quickly. He ran off again, with all due haste.

"Your...your majesty?" Toro said quietly, stepping into the throne room nervously. "Queen Galai, I...I have something for you. From Titus, I think his name was..." He kept his face down. "I'm sorry I left the jail again..."

((Andthisgoesafter))

"Um, it's this," Toro walked forward and held the small pearl out to Galai, frowning a little bit. "I dunno what it is, exactly...but he took the glowing pearl that you gave me. I guess he wanted you to have one like it, only with his power. He seemed happy to have the pearl, so I'm just guessing...s-so..." He walked forward carefully and put the pearl in her uninjured hand. "I'm sorry you got hurt..."

She smiled and held the pearl tightly, moving it up to her lips and giving it a light kiss. "Don't trouble yourself with me, Toroph," she said, her voice tender. "It's quite alright." She moved her injured arm once the healer was done with it and carefully touched her face. With her burnt skin, all red and twisted, she now had a clear and obviously painful blemish.

She suddenly clutched the shadow pearl tightly and held it to her lips, closing her eyes sadly.

"But..." Toro bit his lip, backing up. "Well...th-there isn't much I can do to help...but I'm still sorry it happened." He rubbed his arm, still backing up until his back hit the wall. "Um...it was nice seeing you again. I'll just be going now..." He opened the door, making to leave.

Galai nodded once, her eyes brimming with tears. She didn't say anything, simply held onto the pearl. Once Toro left the throne room, the queen decided to retire for the day. She rose up and wearily headed off to her room, sighing quietly.

Meanwhile, Tasia was talking to Namanai, asking the healer some innocent questions about her work. Namanai was answering all of them, enjoying the girl's nice company over the stress of her more recent jobs. Finally, Tasia decided to take her leave and said "Thank you for speaking with me, Namanai-elda."

The healer smiled and said "It is I who should thank you for your company, Tasia..." She paused for a moment, then smiled softly and said "...leianaran."

Tasia blushed heavily and smiled, looking down and fiddling with the edge of her shirt.

Namanai smiled, then said "Go and find your mate, child. I'm sure, after so soon of that, you would more enjoy his company over mine."

Tasia nodded, smiling, then turned and ran outside, where she leapt up into the air.

Nate was in front of the guest house, talking to Werr. "So you won't be able to take Forin with you. Trust me, you're better off not taking him, anyways. He's forced to protect Diana, and Luen would just follow along, and both of them can't fight. Luen doesn't have his powers, and Diana...is Diana. So don't bother asking for Forin. Take who you have."

"Okay." Werr sighed. "I wasn't going to object, Nate. I suppose...you aren't coming either, being recently married and whatnot."

"I wasn't planning on it. You have Cynyr and Obelisk; I think you'll be protected enough."

"Right..." Werr mumbled, then Nate placed his hand on Werr's shoulder.

"Look, your majesty. I know you're upset, but the constant moping and whatnot is making you look weak. That's not very becoming, for a king. People expect you to be strong and steadfast in your ways and decisions. I know you have a good reason to be upset, but there's a time and place for everything--including being sad. So...you can be sad with Welk once you fix him. And you should only be sad over the time together that you lost. Chin up, king Werr. Things have a tendency to get better once you think they can't get any worse."

Tasia landed quietly behind them, flaring her wings lightly. She tilted her head slightly, then moved forward and walked softly up to Werr's side. She leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss against his temple, closing her eyes softly, then moved to Nate's side and wrapped her arms around him, sighing merely at his presence.

Cynyr was slinking around in panther form, really doing nothing more than intimidating every Amnairian around.

Firestorm landed with a thud nearby, Dark sitting on his head. "Yo!" he called, jumping off and striding towards Werr. "We leaving or what?"

He clearly didn't remember that he hadn't reintroduced himself and the fact that he wasn't dead to the king and the black panther that was his knight.