The Forgotten Zodiac

When the song was over, Werr patted Lexi gently on the back. "Do you need to rest? I won't be upset if you decide to go lie down for awhile." He said quietly. "It's funny...we've only known each other for a few days, but..." He flushed suddenly. "But you already thought I was dead. I mean," He silently cursed his stupid ramblings. "Uh...I mean, um...milk! Do you want some milk to wash down the cake?" He shifted his weight from foot to foot, then Diana and Luen caught his eye, dancing nearby. Which meant Forin was alone for now...perfect. "No, here! Let's go meet Forin. He's pretty cool, although he can be stern sometimes." He pulled Lexi off the dance floor over to where Forin was.

Lexi had blushed as well, her brown eyes wide and round as she listened to him speak. She had been about to try and say something in return, but he switched the conversation so quickly that she couldn't react fast enough. She just ended up holding his hand tightly and looking more than a tad confused.

Luna arrived right when they did. "Hello, Lexi," she said, smiling at the girl, who immediately felt better about being around Forin, who looked scary. She felt much more reassured when she saw Luna take the Tartaran's hand softly. If Luna, who Lexi thought was nice, could do that, then Forin must not be as scary as he looked.

"Lexi?" Forin blinked, his stern and scary expression practically melting as he looked over at Luna and smiled a little bit. He looked back at the humans. "My name is Forin Dulce. Don't ask about the surname; it's self given. Now, Werr, dragging this young woman across the ballroom was a bit hasty. Dancing is wonderful and whatnot, but if you want her to grow closer to any of us, you have to allow her to lead the conversation. Now then, miss Lexi, I heard that you draw. We have something in common, then."

Her eyes lit up and she said "I can. I love drawing so much. In fact...I did one of you and Luna. Would you like to see it?" She turned and trotted over to her bag, which she had left near her seat, and pulled her book out. She returned, already flipping her book open to the right page. A delicate image of Forin and Luna sitting together, just holding each other, meet their eyes.

Luna's eyes lit up and she smiled, saying "It's beautiful!"

Forin blinked in surprise at the image. "Remarkable. Your artistic skills could possibly challenge mine." He reached into his own bag, showing her a drawing of Luna he had sketched recently. The styles were clearly different; Lexi drew with smooth, delicate lines. Forin had rougher and thicker lines, a bit less careful than Lexi's. It was impossible to say which drawing was better; both of them were quite stunning. "Perhaps we should discuss mediums or pencil angles sometime." He said, smiling ever so slightly.

Lexi smiled a bit wider and said "I'd love to. It'll be fun." She smiled and closed her book, running off to put it with her bag before returning, moving close to Werr and putting her hand into his again.

Welk flew by again, screeching "I WILL LIVE FOREVER!" Clearly on a sugar-rush, the icing-covered Spectral (who's new form obviously wasn't use to such instense sugar) whipped in crazed circles for a bit before zooming back to his peice of cake, which looked like a tornado had ripped through it.

"Uh...someone write this down. Spectral Welk is not to have a full slice of cake." Werr watched the Specral fly around in circles.

"Forin! You're drawing more? Draw a picture of me!" Diana said, clearly also a bit hyperactive, but obviously less than Welk.

"Certainly. But while I do this, speak with miss Lexi, yes? She'll be joining us on our trip back to Amnairus, so it would be a good thing to get to know her." Forin smiled at Diana, who nodded and looked up at the stranger. She immediately ducked behind Luen, peeking out nervously at Lexi, as though she hadn't noticed the girl before.

"Hi," She said nervously, her arms wrapped tight around Luen's middle. Even though she was almost 10 now, she was still only little more than half Luen's size; short statured and very petite. And perhaps a bit over cautious, thanks to being with the same group for so long. Strangers had a tendency to wish harm upon them. "You're not...here to t-take me away, are you?" She almost whimpered.

Luen smiled softly and gently folded his hands over hers, stroking her arms gently.

Lexi bent down so she was level with the little girl, not over her, and said "No, of course not. I would never do that. Here, do you want to see a drawing?" She borrowed Forin's paper and pencil and quickly sketched out a small butterfly, ripping it gently from the page and holding it out to Diana. "See? A pretty butterfly," she said, showing the picture of a smiling butterfly grinning up out of the paper. "You can keep this, and I can drawn you more if you want."

Luen gave Diana's hand an extra pat, bending down to urge "Go on. It's okay."

Diana took in a breath, then reached out and took the paper. "O-oh...it's cute," She murmured, looking down at it curiously. "Can you draw...Boko? Boko is my friend. We play together sometimes." She shifted her weight from foot to foot, well aware that Boko did seem a bit scary when he was still for more than five seconds. She wanted to see if it looked scary in Lexi's drawing.

Lexi nodded, then took another bit of paper and sketched quickly, finally handing the little girl the second image.

Boko was adorable.

She had drawn him with his eyes wide and round, and his lips curled into a wide smile. His long coils were wrapped around himself and he was tucked down inside them, his face peeking out from the top, with his paws together in an almost begging motion.

Diana caught her breath in her throat, then slowly sighed. "It's...it's cute," She smiled weakly up at Lexi. She would still take awhile to get used to the new friend, but at least she trusted Lexi a little more. "My name is Diana. It's nice to meet you, Lexi..."

"Done," Forin handed the girl a third picture, the one he had drawn of her. Her and Lexi, to be exact, playing together happily with dolls. "Do you like it?"

"Yes," Diana nodded, her smile growing a little. "I love it. Thank you," She nodded, looking relieved and happy again. "And thank you for the drawings, Lexi."

Lexi smiled and said "Anytime at all, sweetie. And if you ever want to play with dolls like that picture, that would be fun too." She smiled away, meaning everything she said, then stood up and looked at Luen, saying "Hello."

He blinked and looked away shyly, saying quietly "...Hello."

"Aren't you an ice mage?" she said curiously. "I...well, I was there when that snowball fight started."

He smiled a bit, still obviously nervous, but answered "Yes, I am an ice mage."

"That's really neat," she said. "Maybe you could show me some of your powers sometime? That would be really amazing."

"S-sure," Luen said, fiddling with his fingers. The girl across from him smiled and said "Hey, you're almost as shy as me."

He smiled and looked to the side, saying quietly "Y-you noticed?" He caught Werr's gaze and smiled a bit wider, giving a slight nod.

Werr chortled at this. "Yes, you both are a bit on the shy side. That's fine, though; better than what Forin used to be."

"Angry all the time?" Forin snorted.

"Pretty much. You've definitely gotten better, Forin. I don't know if it was that bomb or what, but you're a lot nicer." Werr smiled at the Tartaran.

"Right...whatever," Forin snorted, crossing his arms. He didn't want to outright admit it, but he couldn't argue with Werr. He was a better person now than he had been before, but Tartarans were supposed to be rough and bitter most of the time. Ophile being an exception, of course. The wolf...well, who knows why he wasn't as irritable as other Tartarans. He had his own reasons.

Luna put her arms around Forin's shoulders, resting her chin next to his neck. "However he is, he's my boyfriend for a reason." She kissed Forin's cheek, hugging him gently. A thought of Bala crossed her mind, and she smiled as she thought Well, if an Amnairian can be that dark and evil, then I don't see why a Tartaran can't be kindly and gentle. She gave Forin a squeeze, then said "I'm going for a drink and some cake," then trotted off, her long white dress billowing around her legs.

Forin watched her go, then looked at Lexi, still smiling slightly. "If you ever need anything, Lexi, don't hesitate to ask." He said as Diana shifted closer to him and hugged him tight. "Diana seems to like you well enough. She'll get used to you soon enough, too."

"Diaaaanaaaa~!" A sing-song voice came from above, and the girl suddenly squeaked with excitement and darted away as Boko shot down out of the sky.

"Boko will catch you! Run away, run away!" He took off after her, chasing her around the ballroom before she wore down. He caught her by the back of the dress and carried her back to Forin, trotting with his head high as though Diana were prey he had just caught. "I win," He announced, giving Diana back to her guardian. She giggled breathlessly, plopping down on her rear.

"You always win, you silly lizard." She stuck her tongue out at him. He pushed his nose up against her, smiling happily as Diana laughed and hugged him. Forin smiled as well.

"Boko, have you met Lexi?" Forin questioned.

"Yes! Lexi understands Boko now, yes?" The drakeling looked up at the human, twisting his body around Diana and squeezing gently in order to hug her back.

Lexi smiled and rubbed Boko's muzzle, saying "Yes, I do. Thank you for that; I understand how great of a gift it was." She glanced down at his coils, a tiny bit nervous, but she trusted him well enough. She looked up at Werr and smiled, feeling that happiness bubble up, then turned when something alighted gently on Werr's shoulder.

Naybrin, no bigger than a penny.

"Hello," he said tiredly, still looking quite exhausted and far too weary, but content. "How are we today?"

"Naybrin! You've changed sizes!" Werr exclaimed, beaming at the little dragon. "I've never seen you so tiny," He grinned, happy to see his dear friend.

Boko tapped Lexi's foot with the end of his tail in an odd sort of way of saying, 'you're welcome'. He then drew himself up and peered at Naybrin. "Naybrin? Naybrin is teeny tiny! Tinier than Boko! This is no good, Naybrin supposed to be biiiiiiig. Really big. Super big. Why tiny?" He sniffed the itty-bitty dragon, a bit confused. Drakelings didn't have the power to change sizes. He had seen Zephyr and Vaira do it before, but Naybrin...never.

((And now I'm imagining more-grown Boko, sticking his head into Vaira's pouch. Just his head, 'cuz the rest of him dun fit. xDDD))

"Yes," the First King said tiredly. "I decided to try, and I've been working on it all night. Only now did I manage to make it to my smallest. While Zephyr or Vaira may fit in your palm, I have the power to go even smaller. As you can see." The penny-sized dragon curled up on Werr's shoulder, sighing and closing his eyes. "Of course, I may not be able to return to my other size..." he said, flicking his ears. "It would take some time, but I could manage. I'm too tired right now to practice..." He dug his claws in and hummed softly, but quickly went quiet.

"I see that," Werr smiled, reaching up a hand to gently pet Naybrin. Boko shrugged and went back to hugging Diana for another moment before suddenly darting off to return to Vaira. "You can stay this size for as long as you want." He looked over at Lexi, smiling brightly. "You ready to meet Zephyr and Vaira? They're about as noble as Nate is. I guess it's just in their blood." He chuckled a bit, smiling away.

Lexi was staring at the tiny light blue dragon on Werr's shoulder, but she quickly shook herself and said "Oh, yes, of course. I'd love to." She took his hand again, smiling, and Naybrin took note. He said nothing, however, but he did smile and Werr felt a small, warm glow from the dragon.

Cynyr headed past, munching on some cake, and spotted the tiny dragon. "Hmm. You look like you could use some cake, Naybrin. Need to fatten up again."

The small ice dragon looked up at him, then said "Perhaps cake would be a good idea, espeically since it won't take a hundred individual cakes to give me a taste. This form works well for that, I suppose." He unfolded itty-bitty wings and flew to Cynyr after giving Werr a small touch under his chin. The tiny dragon landed delicately on the half-cat's offered finger, letting Cynyr move him from there to his plate, where Naybrin was free to eat at his leasure.