The Forgotten Zodiac

Seria walked close, her eyes filling with tears. Cynyr came forward too, completely silent, his single eye a bit dull. After so soon of losing their own unborn little one, it was hard to see Nate with this perfect daughter. It pained Cynyr to hear his wife start crying softly i nthe next second, both at sorrow for herself and joy for her dear friend.

Naybrin touched her shoulder gently, saying "Soft-Touch, please do not cry. You still have your husband at your side, and you should consider yourself lucky for this. I've seen many an unfaithful mate leave their lover after a miscarriage."

"I would never," Cynyr said, sounding a bit shocked. "I...I can't leave her...she means everything to me..."

Seria hugged him gently, feeling him wrap his arms around her, and they remained this way for a moment before Seria pulled away. "Can I hold her?" she asked softly, stopping her crying.

"Yes," Nate said, not hesitating for a second. He was still smiling, even after seeing Seria cry. He gently placed Ariana in her arms, then moved forward and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead, setting his hands on her shoulders. "You're not a failure as a mother. I know that's what you're thinking, Seria. It's not your fault, it never was. Malice was to blame. And like Naybrin said, you still have Cynyr. He hasn't given up on you, and neither have I. Not all has been lost, Seria, you'll see. Cynyr will make things better for you both."

The panther slid an arm around his wife's waist, kissing the side of her face gently. She leaned against him, sighing and watching the green-eyed little girl in her arms. She moved one arm up and touched Nate's hand, feeling a bit more comforted by his words.

"So where are little Fire-Heart and Dark-Eyes?" Naybrin said calmly, crossing his paws.

"Where do you think?" Cynyr said quietly, giving a small chuckle. "They're outside, catching up."

*

"YAH!" Welk shouted, lunging out of the bushes and slamming into Werr, flipping the two over and over until they came to a halt, with a large lion sitting on top of a regular human boy. Welk smiled and bent his head, nuzzling the side of Werr's face before rolling off dramatically, saying "I think I sprained something! Ouch, ouch!" He rolled all over on the ground, his long wings flopping lifelessly around him.

"You can't fool me," Werr took the opening in stride, tackling his friend and hugging him tightly. "You'll never break free," He taunted, grinning widely. It wasn't exactly kingly behavior, wrestling around in such manners, but Werr was quite happy. Out of everything that had happened, Werr just didn't have it in him to be sad anymore. He wanted to laugh and play around with his friend, and that's exactly what he was doing now.

"Boys will be boys, I suppose." Lily giggled as Jag led them past on their way to the tables that had been set up outside. Galai had prepared an entire banquet for them in the gardens, a private lunch for all of them. Just them.

Welk yelped and laughed, pawing lightly at Werr and poking him until he let go, where the lion promptly stood up and bounded in circles around his friend until he was out of breath, where he sat down and panted, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He rested his upper half in Werr's lap, sighing and putting his head under his adopted brother's chin. "I'm so glad to be home and back by your side, where I belong," he said quietly, closing his eyes tightly. One paw rubbed softly at his chest, where a large, sprawling X shaped scar was laced across his skin, parting his golden fur. It was twice as big as the one Malice now had; Welk's body had taken most of the magical impact.

"I'm glad to have you back home, Welk. You have no idea how hard the last couple of weeks have been." He hugged Welk's neck, more gently than his hug before. He buried his face in Welk's mane, breathing in the wonderful musky scent. "But now, Malice and Obelisk are both gone. The most we have to worry about now is how to ward off the 'Ghost King' of Alastor." He laughed a bit, shaking his head as he wondered how many people actually still believed he was dead.

Welk purred loudly, slowly managing to work the new muscles in his shoulders long enough to curl a wing around the boy. He licked Werr's cheek gently with his rough tongue, mostly just content to sit there and enjoy his friend's touch.

He then leaned against the boy until he fell over backwards and pretended to maul him, wagging his tail like some over-sized dog.

Werr laughed uproarously, trying to squirm his way out until he decided there was no escape for him. He managed to get his hands on Welk's underarms, though, to which he immediately proceeded to tickle his friend until the half-cat fell over into a position in that Werr could scratch his stomach. Which, the human king did so with great enjoyment, ignoring the fact that Forin and his group had arrived. Diana was giggling as she watched them, too.

Welk laughed and squealed and finally just laid still, enjoying the scratches he was getting. He sighed, then sat up and pushed his head under Werr's chin, rubbing up against him like a big cat. He pressed his muzzle against Werr's neck, closing his eyes for a moment, then pulled back and said "Let's see how this works, shall we?" He stepped back a bit and fanned his wings to their full length, wincing as new muscles twinged and pulled. "Stupid Malice, altering my body," he said lowly, staring at the wings. "He had no right..."

"I like the wings," Werr said quietly, feeling the feathers between his fingers. "They're not bad. They looked worse when they were black. But you have color back and your eyes are right again. Before, they were just...wrong. Filled with hate. But now, they're back to laughing." He smiled at his friend, then stood and stretched. "We should grab a bite to eat, and probably take a nap. We'll be heading back to Alastor soon, after all..."

Welk purred, then slowly folded his wings against his back, settling them in a way that felt somewhat natural. He walked with his friend back to others, curling his tail around Werr's leg as the boy rested a hand on his shoulder.

"How's that new arm, Luen?" Welk asked, tilting his head at the ice mage. Luen smiled and pulled his white cloak back, revealing a new mechanical right arm attached to his shoulder. Forin had presented the kirin with it on their return to Kaislun. He had slipped away when they had gotten here, making last minute changes to the arm before Luen had found him out. It had been painful attaching it to Luen's shoulder, but now that it was secured by all of its straps, it worked nicely.

"It's perfect," Luen said softly, glancing over at Forin and giving his typical kindly smile. "I'm so happy to have it."

((That seems like the kind of thing Forin would do for his friend. I remembered him mentioning making Luen a new arm before, so. If there's something you don't like there, just tell me.))

"Luna helped me enchant it to change forms with Luen. It took quite a bit of work, but I took it to Galai and recieved her blessing on it, as well. The enchantments can't ever be broken, and keeping the hinges oiled and the springs tight will be the hardest part. And it's not hard at all." Forin explained while Werr marveled over the arm. It didn't have fingers, but a simple pinching mechanism had been set in place.

"Remarkable...is this why you asked me about metal properties?" Werr smiled at Forin.

"Partly." The Tartaran shrugged.

"Forin is going to make toys!" Diana announced loudly. "He'll make lots of toys and sell some, but I'll be telling him whether or not they're good."

"That's a wonderful idea, I think," Werr beamed. "I can make sure you four have everything you need to live comfortably, wherever you want."

"Wherever?" Forin snorted. "Are you crazy? We'd be fools not to stick close. I was going to set up shop in your capital city. Malice may be gone for now, Werr, but you saw it firsthand. He's not dead. Neither is Obelisk. We can't just drop our guard because he told us to stay away. Sure, we can relax a little now that the immediate threat is gone, but we're not going far."

Luen was staring at his claw-like hand with rapt attention now, watching as he flexed it open and closed.

Welk smiled at this, giving a soft rub up against Luen's legs, making the kirin flinch a bit. He smiled nonetheless, however, and gently patted Welk's head, watching as the half-cat returned to Werr's side. "It'll be good to have you four around!" he said. "I'll have more people to mess with!" He grinned, flicking his tail and causing a few sparks to jump off of it.

((I had actually pictuered Luen's hand with fingers, but I guess it doesn't matter that much. :3))

((I thought it would be a little too mechanically advanced for the world. I mean, they don't even have trains yet. xD))

"Yes, and you'd better watch your tail too, lion. I just made a mechanical arm. Things that humans only dream of. A machine, attached to a person? If I came from your world, I'd be scoffed at! Thrown aside! But no, here it is, in all of its...pinching...glory. So don't think I can't invent something to shave your mane while you sleep!" Forin grinned, although he sounded serious.

((Yup, that was my next thought. : D))

Welk eyed him, then jumped up and gave the Tartaran a quick lick on the nose, saying "I means a lot to me that you stuck around, Forin. And Luen, and Diana, and Luna!" He laughed and hustled around Werr, keeping to the backs on his legs. Just in case the Tartaran reacted to the lick in a not-so-friendly way.

Luen smiled, closing his bright green eyes, then said "I'd be nothing without you all. I feel like I should start learning how to use this arm, or else I won't be able to defend against any potential pranks."

"There'll be a lot!" Welk said, grinning. "I'm the master at these kinds of things."

"I don't doubt it."

Welk glanced up at his oldest brother's voice, watching as Cynyr walked in, leading Seria gently by her hand. "I can't tell you how many times I've felt the wrong end of your so-called 'pranks'," the panther said, yet he wasn't glaring.

Werr laughed, smiling widely in spite of the odd conversation. At least he had never been the victim of any of the pranks, although he had witnessed plenty. "Welk speaks the truth though, Forin. It's good that you decided to stick with us."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Forin shook his head. "Well...I would if Diana told me she wanted to go elsewhere, but she knows that I'm only looking out for her safety. And the capital city, next to here, should be one of the safer areas."

"You could live in the castle, if you wanted." Werr suggested.

"No, but we'll make certain to visit often." Forin smiled.

Welk flicked his stumped tail a few times, then shifted easily up into human form, folding his new wings lightly. He glanced over his shoulder at them, frowning for a moment, then sighed and smiled, more accepting of the large feathery limbs now that Werr had commented on them. The 18-year-old tilted his head back, closing one eye as he bumped Werr gently with his head.

Werr smiled happily, glad to be here. He looked over, his eyes falling on Cinnoa. "Oh, I can hold her while you eat," He suggested, smiling all the wider.

"Sure," Lily nodded, gently lowering the infant into Werr's arms.

The human king beamed at the baby, cradling the boy close. "Your birthday is really close to Nate's baby. You and that child will grow to be the best of friends, I'm sure."

"Maybe even more," Cynyr said with a slight shrug. "Who can tell? There's a lot that can happen in a few years." He sighed, cradling Seria close to his body. "...A lot," he said in a softer tone, making her tilt her head back to look into his eye.

There was the flap of wings and Naybrin landed, Lexi sitting on his back. The girl smiled and waved to her boyfriend, sliding off of Naybrin and running over to him. "Hi Werr," she said softly, blushing and looking down. The First King hummed with pleasure, feeding off of Werr's happiness.

Werr immediately stood, taking Lexi's arms and pushing Cinnoa into them. "Look! This is Jag and Lily's baby. Isn't he adorable?" He said excitedly, grinning with joy. He then darted off, practically tackling Naybrin's face. "Gosh, I hate this heart-link. I can hardly breathe, I'm so happy right now!" He laughed, rolling off of his giant friend's muzzle and wiggling around in the soft white grass until he had his nose in it. He took a deep, long breath in, then sat up and brushed himself off.