The Forgotten Zodiac

They stopped the horses and Luna hopped off, trying hard to sense the area. "I don't see him anywhere!" she said, standing in the knee-deep snow. "He should be here!" She brushed the snow out of her eyes, then moved forward in the snow and immediately tripped over something, falling face-first into the icy white.

When she pulled herself back up, realization hit her instantly.

She flung her wings out and pulled them back, then gave a huge forward flap, scattering the snow violently.

Luen was unconscious, his skin pale and cold, one hand still wrapped around the hilt of a knife, which was buried in his stomach. Blood had spread into a deep pool around him, mixing with the sinister red liquid coming from a few small slashes on his neck. He was barely breathing, shivering. The loss of blood had weakened his resistance to cold, and his lips were a faint blue, his fingers quivering.

((For note of the surroundings, there is an empty cave nearby.))

((-crosses out empty- Huh? Oh, yes. Of course.))

Forin ran forward, pulling Luen into his arms at once, seeing the wound. There weren't any other footsteps...which meant Luen had done this to himself. "Why..." Forin murmured, pulling the Kirin into his arms. He looked around quickly, spotting a rocky surface jutting out from the snow not far off. It looked like a cave. It would do to sheild them from snow and the cold, at least. "Go and get Diana and the horses!" Forin called over the wind, already trudging through the snow, attempting to keep Luen above it as he made his way over to the cave.

Luna nodded, then hurried over to the carriage and ducked inside, telling Diana of what they'd found before moving up to the horses, grabbing their reins and leading them after Forin.

Luen was limp in the Tartaran's arms, shivering and weakly pressing his head against Forin's chest. His fingers seemed frozen around the knife in his stomach, holding on desperately. Since he didn't have his right arm anymore, he pushed his head closer to Forin, clinging to him without holding on and crying softly.

Forin stopped inside the cave. He waited until Luna brought the carriage in, then literally started tearing it apart; unimportant pieces of wood were gone and stacked before Diana knew what was going on. He stuck his hand inside the largest piece of wood, using his power to force heat into it. Within moments, it exploded into flames, and Forin ripped his arm out; up to his elbow, his arm looked almost dead, perhaps frozen, but it started regaining a normal pallor within a few minutes as Forin set up the fire to keep burning.

"Luna, do you know any healing? Any at all?" He questioned, examining Luen's wounds carefully. Where did the Kirin even get a knife, anyways?

"Yes, I know a little..." Luna said, kneeling next to them. She carefully forced Luen's fingers away from the knife, then pulled it loose and threw it away. Then she put both of her hands over the wound, then her crossed her wings over her hands, speaking soft chants. Her hands glowed with a gentle gold light, and this happened for a few minutes. Then she pulled back, panting. The wound was half-healed. "I can't do anymore until I get my energy back," she said. "I'm not a healer. But he won't bleed anymore." She hung her head, wishing she could do more, then moved to her bag and pulled out a roll of bandage, wrapping that around Luen's belly in order to cover the wound.

The kirin whimpered and shivered, burying his face in Forin's chest and curling his fingers tightly into the Tartaran's cloak, sobbing with no tears and barely any sound at all.

"Thank you." Forin said, glancing up at Luna. "Hold on, Luen. Hold on...you two! Move closer to the fire or you'll freeze to death," He snapped at the horses. They did so, pulling the carriage further into the cave, as well. They still seemed a little distressed, though, and their hoofs clopped against the ground with every stomp.

Diana slid out now, sitting down next to the fire and watching Forin curl himself around Luen's head. "Diana, we must keep him warm," He said. Diana nodded and stood, laying herself out on Luen's side (the one not facing the fire) and pressing close to the Kirin. She laid her head on Luen's shoulder, looking absolutely miserable.

"Can't you remove his cold?" She sniffed.

"No. Cold does not exist. It is merely the absense of heat, just as shadow is an absense of light. I could force my heat upon him, but that would have the same effect as the log. We don't want that. So just stick close to him. You can do that, right?"

"Yeah..."

Slowly, Luen stopped shivering, though he didn't release his tight hold on Forin's cloak. His antler had icycles frozen onto it, and Luna gently reached forward and broke them off, being careful with the tines of his antler. He shivered once in a while, but seemed to be doing better. He unconsciously pressed his cheek against Diana's head, letting out a small, scratchy whimper as he drew himself closer to them, a few tears finally able to make their way down his frosty cheeks.

"It's okay, Luen...we'll keep you warm and safe." Diana reassured him, moving her arm up around him, careful not to touch any of his wounds. "Whatever happened...it's okay. We're here now."

"Here," Forin helped Luen drink a little water. He had kept his canteen on the inside of his shirt, resulting in the water remaining unfrozen and a little warm. Both of these would help Luen recover, after all. "Just lie still and rest. That's all you can do...so do it." He said, closing his eyes as he kept his hands on Luen's shoulders, rubbing gently to help keep him warm.

Luen coughed weakly, but managed to swallow a fair amount of the water. Then he curled as close as possible to the two, mumbling something in a weak, cracked little voice. "I-I'm...sorry...f-forgive...m-me..." He shivered slightly, pushing his head up under Forin's chin before going limp, holding Diana close.

Luna watched sadly, then stoked the fire, making it a bit bigger.

"It's okay," Diana said quietly. "It's not your fault. It's okay," She said repeatedly, surprisingly not even tearing up. She couldn't right now. Luen had been strong for her before, now it was her turn. Forin...well, Forin was always strong. He hugged Luen as tightly as he dared, murmuring softly to his friend. Of course, he forgave Luen. He couldn't forgive himself, though...closing his eyes to the world, even Luen. It was sad...and he was mad at himself for doing it.

Nighttime fell. Luen didn't wake. He breathed softly, finally a normal color and tempurature. With his magic at a safe level again, his natural ability to withstand cold kicked in, which helped greatly. Luna watched quietly from her place nearby, then said "Poor little thing..." She stroked the side of Luen's face gently, then shifted a little closer to tend to his wound. She didn't want it getting infected, after all. Once she finished, she looked at Forin, her turquoise eyes moving to his hand. She moved her hand and slid her fingers into his, moving her gaze up to his silver eyes. "He'll be fine," she murmured softly.

Forin looked at her, blinking slowly. "Yes...I know." He said gently. By now, Diana had fallen asleep, too. She was still curled up next to Luen, of course. Forin looked down at Luna's hand, their fingers tucked neatly together. "This troubles me..." He said quietly, though he didn't move his hand away. "You know it is not allowed, Luna. For you to even express love towards me is not allowed." There were no concequences for having a crush, but some Tartarans could sense it. It was that emotion that drove the Tartarans to sometimes kidnap and throw Amnairans into the Eye of Ka'ael. Also why they were never punished for it.

She heaved a deep breath, then said "...I know." She closed her eyes, tilting her head down for a moment, then said "I just don't understand why love is only kept for the king and queen! The feelings are there, inside of us. Why are we persecuted for showing them? Why can't we come together, not to mate, but just to love? I..." Her voice broke. "I want to be loved," she said quietly, moving her hand from his to hide her face. "Did you know I've only been summoned twice? Both times, each has claimed to love me, but not in the way I want to be loved. I want to be held close by someone, to kiss and be kissed! And I know there are others who think the same. I want love. But we're being denied our own feelings! Humans are allowed to couple! And I've seen some that never have children, but the love is there. I just want to be loved...by you." She closed her eyes tight behind her hands, lowering her head away from him. She had finally said it outloud.

Forin was quiet for a long while, then he sighed heavily. "I agree. It is unfair...but I am not certain if I share your feelings. I like you...a lot. But it doesn't feel the same as when I look at Luen or Diana. They're my close friends...but for some reason...yech. I don't know." He reached up and took Luna's hand in his again, squeezing it gently. "I still agree with you. It's just not...right. I'm the only Tartaran aside from Titus who is capable of feeling love, and I can't feel it for anyone but my friends."

Luna moved her other hand away from her face, blinking at Forin's hand, then she looked up at his face again. "Then...can I be your friend?" she murmured, carefully scooting a little closer to him. "Diana is adorable and Luen is terribly sweet. I can't help but like them both. I don't have a summoner. I'm all alone here, really. Diana needs female company, anyways. She can't be raised to blossom into a beautiful young woman without someone to show her what to do and explain things to her. I want to help her grow." She looked down at Diana, held snugly in Luen's single arm. The kirin tucked his head down against hers and nuzzled her in his unconsciousness, his fingers knitted into hers. Luna smiled at them both, then said "I can't help but fall in love with them. Just like I've fallen in love with you."

Forin blinked at her, starting to frown. "But you aren't a friend. You're clearly more than a friend. If we call ourselves just friends, then it's meaningless. I don't want to be 'just friends'!" He tugged on her arm, suddenly pulling her into a hug. It was incredibly out of character for him, and completely unexpected, for Forin to initiate a hug with anyone who wasn't Luen or Diana. "If we both want the same thing, then we should do whatever it takes to get it. There has to be a way to convince Galai and Titus to change the laws, and if anyone is going to find it, it's us!" He pulled back, grabbing her by the shoulders and bringing himself face to face with her. "Luna...we have to try, at least..."

She blinked sharply, her eyes wide and blush instantly forming across her cheeks. She blinked again and carefully wrapped her arms around him in return, both shocked and pleased. She stared into his silver eyes, mere inches from her own, then quietly said "You're right. Completely right. I want to try, no matter what it takes. I want to be more, and if standing up to our laws is what we have to do to be together, then I'll do it. With you." She blinked at him again, as if she still couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing, then slowly leaned forward and kissed him hesitantly.

Luen slowly woke long enough to open his eyes to slits, blinking quietly before turning his gaze upwards. He focused his gaze on what the two were doing, then gave a faint ghost of a smile and sank unconscious again.

Forin pressed into her kiss. After so long, he was finally getting out such bottled up emotions like this. It certainly explained the hugging and his willingness to kiss. He jerked away suddenly, however, a scraping noise reaching his ears. He stood at once, stepping forward and peering into the darkness. It was gloomy and very hard to see, even for him, but he could tell something was moving towards the back of the cave.

And then it was upon him. Long fangs sank into his shoulder from the back, while he felt claws rake up his arm, over his face, and down his chest. The size and teeth were unmistakeable; a very large saber-toothed cat had been hiding in the back of the cave, fearful of the flames, perhaps. But now, it was hungry, and Forin had become a viable canidate for a meal. Forin raised his other arm to protect his face from another attack, but only felt his arm break under the sheer force of the huge paw slamming down. Poor Forin didn't even have time to scream as the cat jerked his head around, threatening to tear his entire arm off.

Wham!

A huge blast of light suddenly ripped into the cat from the side, leaving a gaping wound seared into its flesh.

Luna snarled and advanced on the cat, light crackling along her arms. "Release him, you foul beast!" she shouted, rearing back and throwing another blast forward, tearing another deep wound in the cat's body. "Let go of whom I've taken as mine, and who has taken me as his! Let go!" She twisted up onto one leg and kicked the cat hard, right on its neck, breaking its hold on Forin and pushing it over. Luna leapt on it at once, with ferocious abandon, and to Forin's shock, she fastened her claws into the cat's neck until it showed submission. So much for Tartarans being the dark ones.

Once she was satisfied, she stood up and pointed straight at the cave exit.

The cat ran for its life.

Panting, Luna watched it leave, then turned and darted to Forin's side, all concern and kindness instantly back. "Forin! Forin?" she said, putting all of her healing knowledge possible into closing his wounds. It wasn't like Seria, but over time, she could do it.

Forin stared at her dully, his mouth opening and closing in confusion. He had never really seen Luna act with such ferocity. When she started closing the wounds though, he stopped her. "J-just stop the bleeding," He stammered, trying to push her hands towards his broken arm. "I have bandages in my b-bag, do-don't use more energy than you can put out..." He laid his head back, focusing on breathing. He felt...weak. Numb. And cold, so very cold. He realized at once what it was; the Saber-toothed Cat must have been a Poison-tip. The name was enough to tell that their fangs had poison in them. They would inject it into their prey to prevent them from running away into the snow and freezing solid, which made for a tough meal. Forin knew the signs well enough, and they had already started; he would run a fever that increased sharply the longer they waited. He'd lose the use of his arm within the hour; it would ache and lose blood circulation due to inflammation. If the fever didn't kill him, he'd lose his arm and the inflammation would reach his heart within a couple days.

"W-we need to get ba-back to Amnairus," Forin stammered, cursing the fact that none of them could go anywhere without getting injured or almost dying. It was really starting to get irritating.