The Forgotten Zodiac

Luen closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded a bit and slowly sat up. He flexed the fingers of his single hand, glad for the blood coursing through them, keeping them warm. He was able to use these fingers to wrap them around Diana, holding her hand, and rest his head on Forin's shoulder, that strong shoulder that he had cried on many times and that had helped him to stand many more. He was still hesitant to touch them, but he had recovered greatly under Luna's sternness. Always forcing him to admit that it wasn't his fault had helped him believe it. He kept his forehead against Forin's shoulder for a moment, then pulled back and looked up at the Tartaran with his emerald green eyes, quietly saying "Let's get those Artifacts..."

"Yes. Let's." Forin stood.

Luckily, they were able to make it to the carriages before Kiraki left. It didn't take long to persuade her to let them ride along to join Zephyr, Vaira and Boko; and before too long, off they went. The carriage was cold and metallic, as well as rather creepy. It flew with the help of skeletal horses, which were oddly beautiful in a unique way. But the carriage, on ground, moved on eight long, spindly legs that were remnicent of a spider.

Thankfully, they would be flying for most of the trip.

Nate and Seria caught up through the air, with Nate carrying the half-cat healer, who was doing her best not to cry anymore. She held on tightly to Nate, hoping to return to Cynyr soon. She could almost feeling his anguish. Throbbing...all-consuming...a deep, terrible sense of agony... She pressed her head down against Nate's shoulder, holding her sobs back and slowly wiping her eyes.

Nate was content to continue flying, but he knocked on the door for Seria's sake. Forin opened it, the wind rushing into the carriage. "Pass her here," Forin said, holding his arms out. Nate passed Seria over, then flew up and landed on the roof of the flying carriage, deciding to sit there to leave room in the carriage.

Forin sat Seria down next to Diana and plopped down next to Luen on the opposite side. "Will you be okay, Seria?" Forin asked quietly. He knew the reason for her tears. Diana had cried too, when the news first came from Forin, but she was trying to be strong again. She knew how important it was that they finish Werr's mission.

The half-cat nodded, rubbing her cheeks clear with one hand. Luen reached out with his single arm and gently ran his fingers through her long-furred red tail, looking gently at her and meeting her eyes. It seemed that after his mishap in the snow, Luen had regained that soft-spoken, quiet demeanor he had used to have. He had gone through a spell of quiet anger that had been unnerving, but he was okay now. Truly Luen once again.

Seria took his burn-scarred hand into hers, rubbing his fingers gently before transfering his hand to his lap. "Thank you..." she said softly, closing her eyes. "All of you..."

Luna extended a wing from its invisible sheath and stroked the healer's back, saying "We all mourn the same loss, dear one. We understand."

((♥))

Forin was quiet. Diana took Seria's hand, smiling lightly. There was silence in the carriage for a long time. Indeed...they were all in mourning. Even Nate, who sat in silence atop the carriage roof, was contemplating what their next moves would be. Kiraki was sitting quietly as she drove the carriage onwards, and she contemplated the possibilities of life after death. It was certainly an interesting prospect, and the recent desmise of the king had spurred on such thoughts in her mind. Beoath seemed to be capable of reaching beyond death. She was certainly curious about the subject.

But alas, before she could get too far into her own mental debate, the horses dropped in altitude until they landed on a hill. The carriage picked up there on its own, the bridles and lead for the horses popping off as though the carriage spit them out. It moved smoothly down the hill and towards the lake, where the snoozing dragons lay.

(( ♥<(-w-<) - For you~))

Zephyr snapped his head up as the carriage approached, a snarl playing at his lips. He quickly recognized the scents it carried, however, and relaxed, smiling a bit. He nudged Vaira awake and she lifted her head as well, then they suddenly both stilled. Their eyes widened and grew blank, as if they were hearing some far off, distant sound. Their wings flopped down, limp, and other than their raised heads and slowly blinking eyes, they could've just died, for all the others knew.

((^^))

Kiraki watched, wondering if she had done something by mistake. She felt nothing; she was doing good on keeping her powers contained. Nate was confused. He slid off the carriage and walked forward, letting out a yelp as Boko tackled him. The litte Drakeling licked Nate's face, nuzzling eagerly. "Hi, hi, uncle Natey!" He giggled cheerfully, then looked up at the dragons. "Mom? Daddy?" He blinked, tilting his head to the side.

Zephyr slowly looked down at them, his eyes wide and filled with tears. "Naybrin..." he said softly. "The entire dragon world is in an uproar. I didn't feel it while asleep. But now..." He slowly turned his gaze upwards again, as if still hearing the world around him, and Vaira turned her head to look down at them. "The First King is filled with a torrential rage and sorrow," she said quietly. "We of the dragon kind can feel it through the world. This...is the worst it has ever been. All of his past losses have seemed to have combined into one. And it is affecting the entire world."

"Naybrin...is that upset about Werr?" Nate said quietly, frowning slightly. He moved forward, leaning against Zephyr's arm. "We need to find him. He should be with Cynyr, Leo, and Sylas. They'll need our help, now more than ever...would you get us there, Zephyr?"

Boko sat down, stretching his head up as far as it would go, apparently trying to hear the same thing his parents were hearing. But he did not have the same connection to Naybrin as Zephyr and Vaira did; he did, however, pick up a roar of displeasure from another dragon not too far off. Probably one of the ones working on rebuilding the broken cities.

((You writin' again? :3))

((Yesh. I've already finished in one thing and I'm going quickly through the other, don't worry~))

Zephyr shook his head, scattering tears, then said "Yes. Yes, of course..." He bent down and sprawled out onto his belly, allowing them to climb up onto his back. He rested his head on the ground near Nate, large tears still leaking from his eyes as he put his nose against the dragonian.

There was a sudden bout of coughing from the carriage, then to their shock, Dark rolled out from under the carriage, saying "Thought you could leave me behind, HUH?! Well you CAN'T."

Vaira ignored him, bending her head down to nuzzle Boko as Seria rounded on the little artificial being. "What are you doing here?" she snapped, still wiping a few tears.

"Helping, I thought," he said, standing up and dusting himself off. "I've already been abandoned by Firestorm. I don't need you all leaving me behind to collect dust too. Besides, I'm not here for any of you."

"Then who are you here for?" Luen asked, shying behind Forin at the sight of the unstable little creature.

"None of your business!" Dark snapped, crossing his arms smugly.

"I know..." Nate murmured, pressing his forehead against Zehpyr's muzzle.

"Good to see you." Forin said dully. "It doesn't matter who he came for, the fact of the matter is, he wants to help. We'd be fools to turn anyone down. I'm surprised Obelisk didn't sneak on."

"I'm afraid Obelisk is a bit too self-centered for that," Ophile sighed. He had been hiding atop the carriage, using his powers to remain invisible. But now he was certain that there wasn't point in hiding anymore, so he hopped down from the carriage and shook out his black fur. "He learned of Werr's death and laughed...but he did give me something. Seria," He padded over to her, pushing his head under her hand and down his neck until she felt a chain. The ring was there, hanging on the chain; one of the artifacts. "Obelisk had stolen it from Werr. At least we know that we're not missing one."

((Oh, I don't worry. xD Although, I do have to go in about an hour, soooo...))

((Meep!))

Seria carefully took the necklace with the ring on it, sliding it onto her neck and then giving Ophile's head a quick pat. It seemed that Cynyr, surprisingly, was the only member of their group with the strange sense of abandon. He was the only one who would get right down and fondled the wolf's ears, run his fingers through the thick black fur. Out of everyone, it seemed that Ophile could understand Cynyr the most, for he had seen it all.

"Obelisk," Seria snorted, fingering the ring. "Humph. I figured that he wouldn't care enough to do anything."

((.3. It's fine. I just have school, then a meeting to see if I can get into Rifle, then my mom will take me home.))

Ophile wasn't put out by the lack of petting at all. He understood that some people didn't want him to rifle through their memories. "But he did do something. He returned the ring to us. I'm not certain why, but he didn't keep it to himself. So...it's not all bad. At any rate...thank you, Kiraki, for bringing us here."

"Certainly." Kiraki dipped her head, while Galliant barked at Ophile.

"Quiet, pup. Why would I bite her?" Ophile snorted, shaking himself. Kiraki giggled and made Galliant sit again, then the carriage practically spat out the others still inside before moving off.

"How polite," Forin said sarcastically, picking himself up before helping Diana.

Zephyr watched them quietly, closing his eyes after a moment. Vaira nuzzled his flank gently and he sighed, moving his tail out to twist around hers.

Luen carefully pushed himself up, moving with Forin to help Diana. They both took one of Diana's hands each and helped the little girl up, making sure she was okay. Luen's ears were tilted back at his usual timid angle, and once Diana was up, he patted her shoulder gently with his single hand. "Come on, let's get settled," he said, picking her up and holding her carefully, trying not to drop her since he only had one hand. He settled her against his hip, heading towards the dragons, but not before resting his forehead against Forin's shoulder for a moment, just transferring the feeling of friendship through the touch.

Forin shut his eyes and sighed as Luen rested on him. Their frienship would never be forgotten by either of them. Or Diana. Who, at the moment, was watching as Boko crawled along next to them, half-wanting Diana to cry so he could lick up her tears. Forin frowned down at the creature, who sank to the ground and rolled over, bumping into Seria. "Sorry!" He squawked, crawling forward and slithering like a snake back to Zephyr. The little Drakeling didn't understand. Everyone looked so sad and upset...

Zephyr lifted his head and licked his son's back gently, then said quietly explained that Dark-Eyes had died. Boko understood death; when they had lived with the other dragons, one of the elders had gotten sick and died. Zephyr and Vaira had made certain to explain what had happened to their son, and let him sniff the body with all of the other dragons. The scent of death was sharp and low, something never forgotten.

Seria wandered over and carefully climbed up onto Zephyr's back, watching as Luna flew over and landed further back on the dragon. Seria noted how Luna watched Forin as he helped Luen and Diana up onto the dragon as well, but it was no concern to her. Luna had told her beforehand about her feelings for Forin, and Seria had encouraged her. She was glad they had sorted it out and had gotten together.

Boko seemed to droop at that. He crawled up on Vaira's head, curling his coils around her horn and dropping his head on hers. "Boko is sad now," He said quietly, clearly unhappy. "This is not good."

Ophile jumped up onto Zephyr, settling down behind the other Tartaran. "Forin, I seem to have a bit of an itch behind my ears, and I don't want to slip...could you--"

"No." Forin said at once, almost snappish-ly.

"Here," Diana reached around him, but Forin took her hand before she could make contact with Ophile.

"Something you're hiding?" Ophile tilted his head to the side, perking up as Nate reached forward and scratched him a bit in the area he had indicated.

"It's none of your business, mind-peeker." Forin growled.

"Oh! It must be juicy, then." Ophile snorted. "Too bad I already know what's up, or my curiosity would drive me nuts." He watched Forin tense. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not a tattler. But...I'm not going to lie for you, Forin. So make it so that I am never asked."

Forin was quiet for a moment, then, "Understood."

Luna, sitting far behind them, bit her lip and kept her gaze away. Ophile's words had made her nervous, but she kept up her straight face, shifting a bit to make it look like biting her lip had merely been an uncomfortable position. She stroked a lock of her blonde hair out of her eyes, watching Forin and Ophile quietly.

Once everyone was settled, Vaira tucked Boko into her pouch, murmuring that she loved him, then she and Zephyr took off, rising up into the sky.

"Where is Naybrin now? I would think that you would be able to find him, but...we're unsure of where he would be." Nate asked, frowning slightly. He thought the great dragon would be at the Alastor Palace; Werr had to be buried properly, after all. Incinerated, and his ashes tucked into an underground vault with other late kings. But of course...most of the council had been obliterated by the dragons that had attacked the castle. There were naught but one or two council members, just as there were few guards and fewer still servants remaining.

And then there was the artifact, hidden away in the capital city. Even more reason to go there. But...Naybrin, enraged and in mourning, was unpredictable, at best. Nate really didn't know what the first king would do. He could only hope the great dragon wouldn't lose hope and turn himself to stone.