The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr had been about to thank Dark for convincing Firestorm to go, but the takeoff interrupted his words. This dragon was a lot less gentle than Zephyr - or even Naybrin - had been. Ina and the group of humans were at the edge of the forest, close to the exit. Ina was blindfolded, but the humans were already startled by the sight of a dragon.

Firestorm let out a thundering roar, bringing his head down and around to snap one human up into his jaws. To almost everyone's shock, the dragon snapped the man in half and swallowed him, seeming to have no qualms against eating a dead human. He licked his lips, then turned and said "Who's next?"

Dark laughed away, enjoying the show, then shook his head and glanced over to Ina. Cynyr had jumped off of Firestorm and was rapidly untying the rabbitzen, snarling at the remaining enemies.

Werr slid off the dragon as well, much to the shock of the already stunned humans. They turned on heel and ran, both of them screaming at the top of their lungs. The woman was snatched up by Obelisk, who brought her close to himself, lifting her easily off the ground by use of his bandages. "Show me your powers. I may want them," He snorted. She screeched and flailed uselessly until her hand hit Obelisk's head.

He was silent for a moment, then snorted. "Ridiculous. You're not even original. I'm curious to know how you stole these, but I don't care. Off we go," He moved the woman in front of Firestorm's mouth, ignoring her terrified screams.

Werr moved over to Ina, catching her as she fell. She wrapped her arms around him at once, sobbing. She suddenly leaned forward, giving Werr an unexpected kiss; the human king turned a little red, not sure what to make of the action. He hefted Ina towards Firestorm, where Seria was waiting. Werr looked a little...disgusted after that, still apparently unsure of whether he should wipe his mouth off or be happy over the fact that he was kissed like that.

Cynyr glared hard at the rabbitzen, wondering what that could've meant. She was older than the boy, so he could only wonder. The panther snorted, then drew his sword and hacked apart one of the men that was trying to escape.

Firestorm purred, then opened his mouth to snap the woman up, only to recoil when Cynyr moved in and killed her by quickly slashing her throat. He let her fall limp, then spat "What's wrong with you? Eating humans like that is just sickening."

Firestorm snarled at him, but Dark once again stopped him from hurting anyone. He poked the dragon in his eye, saying "He's not worth eating, Fiery! His skin is all gross and scratchy, so he won't taste good!"

Cynyr snarled hard at them, not liking the mention of his scars. He stalked over to Ina, who was being seen to by Seria. The female half-cat was healing the rabbitzen's wounds as quickly and gently as possible. Cynyr just stood by and glared; he would question the stupid bunny later.

Obelisk threw the body away, watching them argue. "Might I suggest not angering our companion, Cynyr?" He tutted, nowhere near admitting that he was thinking of eating the woman himself for a moment or two there.

Ina was slowly calming down, though she had already let go of Werr. She rubbed her arms, feeling the wounds vanish. "Th-thanks..." She mumbled, shaking her head. "I was terrified...wh-where did you come from?"

"Amnarius." Ophile said, moving closer. Ina shifted away with a small whimper.

"You're...a wolf," She bit her lip. shaking her head.

"That I am," Ophile blinked at her. "And you're a rabbit. But I'm not going to eat you."

"Oh s-sure, and those men weren't going to start beating me again!" Ina wailed.

"...right. Trauma. Nevermind then," Ophile snorted, stepping back again. He had wanted to spare Ina the questioning and just get the information from his memory absorbtion skills, but she wouldn't dare touch him at the moment.

Cynyr frowned, listening with his quiet, foreboding intensity. His yellow eyes watched every move Ina, and the others, made. He flicked his tail, keeping silent. Firestorm seemed to be watching them as well, through with a more...hungry...look in his eyes. Dark noticed this and poked his eye again, saying "Tasty though they might be, they're not for eating. Yet." The dragon snorted, then said "Whatever."

Cynyr glared at them, then said "Let's keep moving. Just bring Ina with us, Seria."

The healer nodded, then ushered the rabbitzen woman over to the dragon.

"W-where are we going?" Ina sniffed, wiping her eyes. It was rather unbecoming for a woman of her age to be weeping like that, but she did have a decent excuse.

"A place few mortals have ever walked." Obelisk responded. Ina stopped and stared up at him for a few seconds, but shook it off and accepted Werr's help in getting up onto the dragon's back. "We seek a few artifacts of incredible power. You've probably never heard of them."

"Oh. I see."

"And I don't. Stop rubbing it in." Obelisk snorted.

Cynyr jumped up behind Werr, settling where he could see around easily. He made certain that Werr was directly in-line of his sight, where he could watch the boy closely. He flicked his tail around and rested it against the boy's hip, making sure his own gaze was elsewhere.

Firestorm lifted off and headed to the cave entrance, moving out until he stood on the edge of the mountain. He didn't hesitate to leapt off of the edge, spiraling down, down, down until he finally flung his wings out and shot up into the air.

And they were on their way.

Werr looked down at Cynyr's tail, then up at Cynyr himself. He looked down again, not sure what to say. Ina was a lot older than he was, he probably had no idea where the kissing came from, himself.

The flight was long. The desert opened up underneath them within a matter of hours, but they flew on and on for what seemed like forever before the sun even set. And still, the desert seemed endless. Werr watched it below at the sand dunes and occasional shrub; this was still his land, however hot and bandit-ridden it was...

Eventually, daylight gave way to darkness, and the huge red dragon landed in a large groove between two sand dunes. He went down onto his belly to allow the others to get off, blowing a breath of flames out and making a thin sheen of glass nearby. He smiled when Dark hopped off and started admiring himself in the 'mirror'. The artifical being carefully touched the scars over his eyes and the ones around his wrists, where he had been injured by Titus so long ago. "My most dramatic features," he said, smiling.

Cynyr slid off of the dragon and said "And your most annoying."

"You're one to talk, mister whole-body-is-a-scar," Dark snapped, and Cynyr's eye flashed with a dangerous light. "Why you little-!" he started, making to lunge towards the little being.

"No!" Werr stepped in between them immediately, no fear in his eyes as Cynyr stopped in his tracks. "There's no point in fighting, really! Just...stop. Okay? Calm down. We all have our own scars, and whether we're proud or upset over them is our own choices. Looking down on one another will get us nowhere fast."

"The human king is right," Ophile commented quietly. "I'm beginning to see why he was ever chosen to be a king."

"Thank you, Ophile, but that's completely beside the point." Werr sighed.

"Sorry. Not helping."

"Right," Werr looked from Dark to Cynyr. "I know we're not exactly adults yet, but can't we act mature either way, instead of driving stakes between us and making it difficult to work together?"

Cynyr opened his mouth to keep arguing, but after a few seconds with no sound coming out, he closed it and crossed his arms, looking away angrily. "...Fine," he said, deciding to put out the first step towards being more mature.

Dark stuck his tongue out and said "I win!"

Cynyr immediately flared up, but he did his best to hold back a stream of nasty words. Instead, he turned and kicked the ground, then walked off, not wanting to be around Dark any longer.

The slightly mental black-clad being giggled and flopped down against Firestorm's paw, stroking the dragon's scales gently and picking sand out from the lines between his scales.

Werr looked sadly at Dark, then just sighed and shook his head, going over to where Ina was sitting.

"I gave you the mentality of a young human because it would make it easier for you to track Werr. Yet here you are, with the same mentality of two years ago. I do believe I may have made a mistake with your growth patterns, Dark." Obelisk sighed through his nose, causing a loose bandage on his face to ruffle. "Shall I fix it?"

"Nope," Dark said, shifted away from Obelisk and curling up in the space between Firestorm's leg and chest. "You're not getting anywhere near me, my Lord. I still have my issues with you." He pouted, frowning at Obelisk, then said "...Thanks, though. For...you know...inventing me. I guess I never would've lived if not for you. So...thanks." He nuzzled into Firestorm's scales, saying "My biggest problem, per say, is my smallest. I most certainly wish I was taller." He smiled, which turned into a grin as Firestorm bent his head around and licked him, ruffling his clothes and hair.

"I made you small so you wouldn't get filled with false confidence like most humans tend to. Your size makes you inferior; as such, you are forced to fight to gain respect and honor, rather than gaining it from title or brawn. I did think while making you, and although I would have used you for a different purpose, I think you turned out more or less okay." Obelisk tutted. "Too human-like, in my opinion, but--"

"Do you forget, Obelisk, that you are human as well?" Ophile snorted.

"...when others do not regard you as a wolf, Ophile, you too would forget. No one ever thinks of me as human anymore. Did you forget that already? Shall I give you another taste of my memories?"

"N-no, that's quite alright..." The wolf looked away, backing up a few steps just in case.

"I didn't think so. Now, go hunt down a few jackrabbits or whatever one finds in these sorts of areas. I do believe that Werr skipped breakfast this morning, and is getting quite hungry."

Cynyr was already off doing just that, trusting Werr to Seria for a few minutes. The female half-cat brushed a lock of the boy's black hair back, saying "You look tired, Werr. You should get some sleep soon. But food first, definitely." They weren't kept waiting for long before Cynyr returned, bringing two rabbits along with him. It wasn't enough for all of them, but he swapped places with Ophile. Tag-team hunting worked out fairly well enough between the two of them. As wolf and panther passed each other, the mage closed his eyes and rubbed up against the Tartaran, getting a tiny, rustic purr out of himself. Then he pulled away and walked over to Werr, flicking his tail calmly.

Ophile continued onwards, his tail wagging slightly. He wasn't too surprised that Cynyr had taken to him as a friend; the half-cat needed someone that had seen what he had; and of course, Ophile had already seen it all.

Werr sighed, leaning against Seria unhappily. "I know. I'm...I'll be alright. Just weary."

"That's no good, Werr. You should get plenty of rest and food at all times," Ina chided. "You would probably think a lot clearer if you did, you know. And I know you; sharp as a tack, but always so troubled. You probably never eat enough." She jabbed his stomach with a finger, making Werr yelp and recoil.

"I eat just fine, Ina, leave me alone." He directed his frown towards her.

"Just trying to help."

Seria stroked Werr's head gently, saying "Just ignore her." She turned her gaze to Ina and said "My lady, I suggest you sleep. You need time to recover from your ordeal."

Cynyr and Dark completely ignored each other. In other words, Dark went to sleep and Cynyr started plunking the fur from the rabbits, shooting Ina a glare. He purposefully ripped out a particulary big chunk of fur, spitting it out with an audiable sound. His way of either warning or tormenting her. Once he was finished, he headed off and gathered up some wood from a few sparse palm trees, then had Firestorm make a small fire. He set the rabbits up to cook, then moved up on top of one of the dunes and sat there, keeping a silent, lonely vigil.

Werr took one of the rabbits once it was cooked, offering half to Seria. Ophile came back not long later with another rabbit and a large owl, as well as a rat for himself. Obelisk skinned the meat and set it over the flames, quietly watching all of them at once. Ophile curled up nearby to sleep, not having the same endurance Forin had; he hadn't been summoned, after all, there was no cause for him to push himself. Werr dozed off next to Seria, while Ina was out before eating anything.

Inside, his constant fuming hadn't died down. It rarely ever did anymore. He was annoyed by Ophile's words this time; even after tasting a peice of Obelisk's lengthy past, the wolf still lacked the understanding that Obelisk expected from a creature such as him. Obelisk just sat there silently, burning and boiling on the inside until he thought that lava might spill forth from his mouth. When the fire died down and most of the others were asleep, his powers unintentionally went on a small rampage; every mind of those asleep were unexpectedly riddled with nightmares.

Ina woke up almost immediately with a squeak of terror, but she laid back down and rolled over, thinking nothing of it. Until Werr started screaming at the top of his lungs, practically writhing in the agony his mind made him think he was feeling. Obelisk frowned, doing nothing but observing silently.

Cynyr whipped around and ran over to Werr, quickly looking at him and nosing the boy all over, searching for injuries. Once he was certain that Werr was unharmed, then promptly pushed his muzzle under the boy's body and gave him a quick shove, pushing him over onto his chest. "Werr!" he said, loud yet quiet. "Wake up!" He nudged him again, hitting the boy several times with his tail.