The Forgotten Zodiac

Lexi turned her head away to hide her wide eyes and blushing. "I-I'll sleep in my own room for now," she said quickly, peeking back at Werr for a moment and blushing all the harder. She glanced down when Welk scooted past, rubbing himself all over the plush carpet. She gave a soft giggle at that, then could only stare as Cynyr slid out of his tattered shirt, holding it up to stare disdainfully. He felt her eyes on him and turned to glare at her, saying "Take a picture, why don't you? Might as well, because I could garauntee that I'll have at least ten more scars before the end of next year."

She had to blink at his words, quickly looking down. It was hard not to stare at the hundreds of sinister marrs on his body, especially with the word 'Worthless' looming at her when he turned his back on her.

"Good night then, Lexi," Werr curled up under the blankets, out like a light in only a few minutes, as usual. He had grown accustomed to falling asleep quickly; the thoughts that haunted his mind when he laid still were...less than pleasant. So he forced himself to sleep, usually. Not that nightmares were any better, but...he doubted he would have any for now.

When Lexi stepped out of the room, however, she felt someone take her hand and pull her down the hall. It was Aries, looking a little concerned. "Shh, just be quiet. I had a question for you, and the king can't hear it..."

"Wh-what?" Lexi said, blinking quickly. She glanced over her shoulder once, then looked back at Aries and followed after her, trying not to think of what was napping in her pocket.

Naybrin.

The retired king had slid into her pocket for a nap once they had landed, and had gone completely unnoticed by everyone else. He was now listening quietly, laying on his back silently.

Aries stopped and let go, looking around quickly before looking at Lexi. "It really is just a question, a-and...I guess you don't really have to answer, but..." She shifted her weight around, then sighed. "Are you and Werr...going to be...you know, together? It's a good thing to ask...right?" She bit her lip.

Lexi blinked, then said "Well...yes. Yes we are. We've already kissed a few times and...he confessed he loved me first. We're together." She looked down to conceal a small smile, her cheeks taking on a slighlty rosy color.

Naybrin turned over and fell back asleep, snoring quietly.

Aries sighed. "Okay. That's good, that's very good. His majesty is stubborn about it, he refused every young woman we offered him. It was most distressing, so to see this was quite shocking for me, as I'm sure you can imagine..." She shook her head, then sighed. "Well, that...was all I wanted to ask. I--" Aries was swiftly cut off, and blood splattered against the floor. The dark shape behind her stabbed again and again, even as Aries fell over silently.

"I...I'll kill you all..." Ina panted, looking...half dead. Starved, weary, definitely sunburned and shaking badly. A desperate rabbit, her little gang ruined and decimated. Armed with a knife and bent on the destruction of the king and anyone who had connections to him.

Lexi seemed to freeze, watching everything as if in slow motion. She saw Aries fall and seemed to call her name, then looked up at Ina and broke the time slow. She fell backwards and screamed, even as the knife fell. She felt it plunge into her body, tearing through her soft skin and tender muscles. Her screaming increased as pain racked her body, blinding her to the sudden tearing of her pocket.

Naybrin leapt up and slammed into Ina, growing in size in mere seconds. He crouched low over Lexi, snarling and licking his lips. "Come, rabbitzen," he hissed in her mind. "Your knife will merely bounce from my scales. Also...it's been a long time since I've had...RABBIT meat." He lunged forward, at an eye-to-eye size with the rabbitzen, and slashed her hand, making her drop the knife.

"I-I'm prepared for you too, dragon..." Ina spat, drawing what seemed to be a green knife from her cloak and swiftly stabbing it into the soft spot between Naybrin's neck and shoulder. A knife, crafted from Drakeling scales. It peirced and tore through Naybrin's thick scales as though they were butter. She ripped it upwards and out, squriming out of Naybrin's grip and staggering backwards. "That was payback for my arm..." She whimpered a bit, but shook her head and turned away, slipping back into the shadows as the sounds of speaking approached.

"Yes, 24 guards should cut it," Nate was speaking with another guard over the matters of security in the palace. "How many did you say were left? Five, not including--skies above, what the...?!" Nate came to a stop, staring at the mess on the floor that was quickly spreading.

(("Don't you see, fools? Humans are flawed, so very flawed...I'm sending them back to the Goddess! She can fix them, like she fixed me..."

No idea why that came to mind. Might use it in book 3. o3o))

Naybrin clamped a paw over the gushing wound in his neck, coughing hard in effort to try and breathe, which was hindered by the blood in his throat. Cynyr appeared from Werr's room, having heard the screams clearly. He was still without a shirt, but that didn't seem to bother him as he ran out quickly, ignoring the gasps his scars recieved from a few guards. He called "Seria!" over his shoulder, and she darted out of their room, her nightgown flowing around her legs. "What happened?!" she gasped, throwing her healing powers right into the mix. She fell by Lexi's side, touching as many of her worst wounds as possible. She was quick to run to Aries, then Naybrin, who was barely breathing.

Cynyr bent by Lexi in time to hear the girl whisper "I...Ina..." He growled low in his throat and moved forward, already following the smell of rabbit.

((Who would say that? xD ))

((Dear Bun,

had to go out for a doctor's appointment (not for me). I should be back later. Please text me, as I'm worried for you because it's 1:13 (at the time of me leaving this note) and you've not been on yet. I'm very concerned for you.

I love you very much.

♥ ~Trin))

((Some crazy bad guy. Cern, maybe. xD))

Ina had headed straight for the royal bedroom. She hadn't wasted a single second. She was already there; Welk had been stabbed in the upper chest already, and Ina was furiously stabbing at the bundle of bleeding blankets. She raised her knife high to stab Werr's head--and brought the knife down before anything could be done.

Thud.

Her blade was met not by a skull, however; Ina had stabbed a thick book. A foot kicked out from under the blankets, knocking Ina backwards. Werr was still very much alive, although it was clear that he had suffered a few wounds. He had brought the large book up in the nick of time; the knife was buried in it down to the hilt, the very tip of the blade protruding from the back. The book in question was the one that described their ventures of two years ago. It had been under Werr's pillow, but now it was ruined.

No matter. Werr rolled out from under the blankets, revealing how close Ina had been; he was bleeding from two spots in his lower chest, three in his stomach, and one on his arm that went straight through.

Ina spat a curse at him, realizing that the book had taken her last knife. But it wouldn't be long; all Ina had to do now was keep that blasted healer away, and Werr would bleed out in seconds. His stupid lion friend, too.

((Dear Trin,

You silly. Bunnies tend to sleep in when there is a long weekend. It's called, 'I am sleep deprived. I will catch up on sleep now.' And see? I am well rested and alive. Don't worry so much, 'kay? ^^

-hugglehuggle- You know who~))

(( :3 ))

Welk dragged himself upright, clenching a hand over his bleeding chest. He gasped repeatedly for air, trying to stand. He made it to his knees, panting rapidly, then threw a tongue of fire out at the rabbitzen, causing her to stumble back.

Cynyr slammed through the door then, snarling and pouncing right onto Ina without another pause.

Welk staggered up then, grabbing Werr's arm and dragging his friend out of the room before he collapsed. He managed to get the doors shut, trying not to listen to the sounds inside.

Luckily, Lexi, who had been healed first, was making her way towards them.

Werr coughed, feeling blood start to spread around him as he plopped down on his rear. He muttered something about not being able to sleep for more than five seconds when he felt the crimson liquid well up in his throat. He coughed more, blood leaking between his fingers. He looked up as Lexi approached, and managed to stop coughing long enough to say, "You okay?"

Tears flooded down her cheeks as she ran forward, saying "Oh Werr, I don't even know what happened! It was just so sudden..." She coughed once, falling to her knees next to him and trying to remember the spells Seria had taught her. She touched Werr's wounds gently, slowly beginning to close them as his blood slipped through her fingers. It took a lot of effort out of her, and by the time she was finished with Werr, she was exhausted. But she moved right on to the gasping half-cat beside her, trying to seal his punctured lung.

Werr leaned back, coughing out the rest of the blood in his throat before leaning against Welk, sighing heavily. "Cynyr...Cynyr put Ina down." He murmured, looking down at the book in his hands. He pulled out the knife, frowning at it. Drakeling scales, he took note. The jagged scales were a dead giveaway. Werr threw the knife to the other side of the hallway, closing his eyes and buried his face in Welk's fur.

The sounds in the room behind them grew for a split second, then there was a sickly growl, followed by a gurgle, then silence. The door was opened quietly and Cynyr pushed out, snorting. Blood dripped from the nose-holes in his face, where Ina had caught him with a surprisingly hard punch, but other than the, he looked fine. He shook himself, moving a hand behind himself to shut the door. "...It's done," he said quietly, closing his eyes. He sat down nearby, looking exhausted.

Welk shuddered as Lexi closed the gaping wound in his chest, wincing. He managed to lift his head long enough to give Werr a very slight nuzzle, then lowered his head again, sighing heavily.

Lexi finally pulled back, her limbs shaking.

"That's enough, Lexi..." Werr opened his eyes a bit, looking at Lexi. "You won't be okay if you drain yourself. You...you got attacked too, didn't you?" He said, eying the blood on her shirt. "Curse that Rabbitzen...at least she's gone now. The Silver Tornado won't dare touch us now."

"Hordes of Things, haunting pasts and terrible trials. We've survived so much, and then one woman comes along with a single knife and somehow manages to get to half of us and nearly kill us all. Skies above, if Seria didn't exist, half of us would be dead!" Nate sighed through his nose. "Good riddance. You four okay?"

"Be glad that I'm here, eh Nate?" Seria quipped, gently poking his side with a claw before scurrying over to the others, checking over and finishing what Lexi had done. She patted the girl on the shoulder ever so softly, watching as the girl's vision flickered and swam before her. She pressed her hands to the sides of her head, whimpering before slowly going limp and passing out, curled up into a feeble ball.

Welk slowly pushed up, panting, then turned and pressed his face against Werr's shoulder. The boy could feel him shaking from the pain.

Nate sighed and shook his head, very much exasperated. Werr immediately pulled Lexi up, hugging her tightly. "Is she okay? What happened, Seria?" He asked desperately, stroking Lexi's hair away from her face.

"Exhausted, probably." Nate tutted. "Poor girl."

((Dinnertime.))