The Forgotten Zodiac

((Aaaaand I forgot mine in my locker. xD

Oh well. You get a SUPERFANTASTICNINJApost.))

"Keep it," Nate smiled a bit. "It's too hot here for me to wear one, anyways..." He closed his eyes and seemed to be struggling for a moment, then his arm slid out from under the blankets and bumped his fingers against Luen's hand. Diana helped him get the rest of the way to holding the Kirin's hand. "I figured you would think that...but it's understandable. I'm...certainly lucky to be alive..." He squeezed as hard as he could, which wasn't very hard at all. "But I have you all to thank for that, don't I?"

"Don't get too close," One of the healers snapped, pushing Nate's hand back under the blankets. "We think he has an infection. He's burning up..."

"He's a Dragonian. Of course he's burning up." Forin scoffed, pushing past her and pressing a hand to Nate's head. He was practically boiling, much warmer than usual. Forin blinked in surprise, looking down at their friend. "How do you feel, Nate?"

"Cold...and parched. I would kill for some moonshine right now..." Nate moved his hand back out, reaching for Luen once more.

Luen whimpered and took his hand, saying "You look dehydrated, Nate. You've probably gone for too long without anything to drink." He took deer form and rested his head on Nate's chest, thin tears started to leak into his white fur. "I'll get you something to drink," he said, turning and cantering out of the room. He returned not long after, toting a bottle in his mouth. "This should do," he said after he had set it down nearby.

Forin propped Nate up with pillows, but one of the nurses seized the bottle at once. "Wine? What is this?! This man is recovering from near fatal injuries. He needs fresh water, not alcohol." She gave an angry 'hmph' as Forin tried to grab the bottle from her.

"Release it. Dragonians can't have water, it kills them. Giving him water now would extinguish his internal flame entirely. He'd die in mere instants." Forin growled. "Let us take care of him. You clearly don't know what you're doing." He snatched the bottle away and used his teeth to tear out the cork. He took a moment to taste it himself, making sure that it was actually alcohol and not water. Then he helped Nate drink some.

"Thanks..." Nate said after Forin pulled the bottle away. "Especially for not letting them drown me."

"Don't mention it." Forin shrugged. "Now then, where's Seria? She needs to know how he's doing...hotter than usual, thirsty..." He paused, and started poking Nate. The Dragonian didn't seem to notice much until Forin jabbed at his leg; then he let out a small whimper of pain, closing his eyes.

"Internal infection. Yech..." Forin made a face, knowing how painful those could be. "Yeah, we need to tell Seria."

Luen's eyes were filled with worry. "I'll go find her," he said, turning once again and racing out of the room. He ran down the halls, searching for the familiar flowery scent of the red-furred half-cat. He found her sitting on a balcony, watching the trees as they blew in the wind. She turned when she heard him approach.

"Luen?" she said, tilting her head slightly. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

He panted for a second, then lifted his slender head and said "Nate has some sort of internal infection. We need your help. Please, Seria, I-"

He barely had time to blink, much less finish his sentence, as Seria lunged into cat form and took off running, just as concerned as Luen for their mutual friend. He shook himself quickly and turned, racing after her.

She slowed and took human form once they reached the infirmary, flicking her silky tail as she walked in. "Nate," she said, giving a half-hearted, weak smile as she walked over. It seemed that she hadn't been able to truly smile since she had lost her unborn baby so long ago. Like her happiness had died as well. It was affecting her and Cynyr's marriage as well.

She touched Nate's cheek gently as Luen stumbled into the room, blowing a deep breath of air from the run and giving his antlers a slight shake. He walked close to Forin and rested his head on his friend's shoulder, sighing deeply.

"Hi...Seria..." Nate sighed, pushing his hand into hers. "I dunno what...they're going on about, I'm just...cold...and still thirsty."

"And this," Forin poked Nate's leg again, producing another small whimper. "I think Mirage's teeth had something in them that sped up the infection process, and I imagine some bacteria got trapped in his leg when you healed him. It's not your fault, obviously, but...in the worst case scenario..." He trailed off, knowing that Seria knew what he was leading to. Amputation, obviously.

"Infection..." Nate slurred, closing his eyes again. "Does that mean I can't have blankets?"

"No more blankets." Forin shook his head. "Your temperatures would kill a regular human. I would suggest letting the infection bleed out, but...he lost so much blood yesterday, I don't know if he would be able to take it..." He sat down on a bed nearby, suddenly very tired. He hadn't slept the past two nights, of course. He was ready for a nap. Diana was getting tired too, but she was playing with a certain Chimera that had followed Seria in.

"Can I help?" Spy asked, perched on top of Diana's head in spite of her attempts to get him off. His little collar jingled with every movement; one of the servants had demanded that he wear a bell. "I can get more wine and some food."

"No," Seria answered instantly, fidgeting slightly. "Amputation is out of the question. I...can't..." She glanced sideways at Luen, who looked away, and there were no questions needed to what she was upset about. He bent his head and rubbed lightly at the top of his prostetic leg in his usual nervous move.

Seria shook her head, but her brilliant mind was working. She stared at Spy for a moment, then said "Spy!" She grabbed him and held him up, saying "I need your help. I need you to sniff Nate for spots of infection so I can drag it out! I'll need someone to give Nate blood so he won't die while I'm working, but if I can get in long enough to clense the infection, then I can close him back up and it'll be like he hadn't lost any blood."

Forin was quiet. He had already given blood, giving any more of his own would make him too weak. The same for Luen. Diana shifted her weight from foot to foot, then said, "I can give some of my blood. It'll work, right? You can do it, Spy."

"Ehhh? B-but...I don't know what infections smell like," Spy shook his head. "I need a sample, a sample." He jumped onto Nate's chest, scrambling off when the Dragonian groaned painfully and shifted away. "Oops, sorry..."

"We know where one is," Forin said, pointing at Nate's leg. "We can cut that out and let Spy smell it, then check for more spots..." He wasn't entirely certain that this would work. Spy might not be able to pick up much more than the blood that they let out of Nate's leg...

"I'll start with this first, then," Seria said. "Diana, I'm not going to take your blood. You don't have enough to sit through it all the way and not be okay, okay?" She tucked Spy under her arm and gently stroked the girl's hair back, then stood up and said "We'll need someone else..."

Cynyr walked in at that moment, saying "Hey. How's Nate?"

"Cynyr!" Seria said, making him blink sharply.

"What've I done now?" he asked, watching as she ran out and took his hand, dragging him over to a chair near Nate's bed.

"Nothing, yet," she said, pushing the lanky panther into the chair. "Just sit still. I need to do a blood transfusion and you're the lucky guy that gets to give Nate blood."

"Hmm. So I have done something wrong," he said, leaning back in his chair with one arm hanging over the back. "But whatever. I'll help. Just remember to strip my blood of its magic properties. Don't want that going into him."

Seria nodded slightly, then set Spy gently down on Nate's chest and went about setting up Nate and Cynyr with the transfusion kit.

Seria quietly got to work, watching as her husband's slick red blood flowed down the tube and into Nate's body. At first, his blood shimmered with tints of his magic, but as it moved through the tube, it lost its shimmer and became regular blood. It flowed into Nate in a wave, and once a solid minute passed, Seria started her work. She used a spell to make Nate sleep, then she slowly went through each of his infected spots, cutting down through the layers until she could pinpoint the infected spots. Using her powerful magic, she pulled the infection from his body and closed it into a jar, staring at the thick black goop that resulted. She shook her head, then closed the wound she had made and moved onto the next. It was about an hour before she was done, and she had to switch Cynyr (who was dizzer than a dodo bird from blood loss) with Luen, who had demanded to be used when Cynyr couldn't go on. Finally, Seria was able to pull back and sigh, giving a shake of her head as she moved away to clean the blood from her hands. "There we go," she said, moving over to Dmitry. "So long as he's careful to rest, he should be fine."

The girl had been curled up on the bed, huddled down under the blankets like she was cold. She lifted her head a bit as Werr came in, noting that Welk stayed outside, leaving them their time. She smiled softly, pushing herself up, then said "I'm okay. Just...tired from all of that healing. I don't have anywhere near the stamina that Seria has, so..." She stared up at him for a long moment, then lowered her gaze and said "Werr, I...um...nevermind..."

She closed her eyes and shifted closer to him, sighing as she breathed in his scent. She took his hand quietly, putting her head against his shoulder. She moved her other hand up and put it against his neck, opening her soft brown eyes and peeking up at him. She lifted her head slightly, just watching him and thinking. Her grip on his hand tightened slightly and she pressed right up against him, wanting to stay as close as she could.

"You okay?" Werr smiled a bit. "You're more...clingy than usual. Not that I mind," He added quickly, smiling away. He rubbed her back a little bit, then looked around. "I thought at least Ophile would be with you...why did you go off alone? You should know by now that it's dangerous..."

"I know..." she murmured. "I just...wanted to be alone for a second, I guess. But I got lonely." She giggled softly, then said "I'm glad you came to see me, Werr. I love you." She gently curled her legs over one of his, nuzzling under his chin. "I'm okay, really. Just tired from the healing." She looked up at him again, then closed her eyes in contentment.

Welk wiggled around just outside of the door, then quietly peeked in, grinning. He got Werr's attention by jumping up and down quietly, then pointed with one paw at the boy, then at Lexi, then blew several over-dramatic kisses and giggled.

Werr rolled his eyes, but leaned back and held Lexi close. "If you're tired, we should turn in for the evening." He smiled, stroking her hair back behind her ear. "I'm sure no one will mind. They're all off to bed themselves, anyways." He stood, then walked over to the door, poking his head out, "Ophile," He called softly, smiling as the wolf came into their plane of vision. "I knew you weren't far."

"Of course not." Ophile shook his head, then padded into the room and hopped up on the bed with Lexanna. "Hello, friend."

"Oh COME ON," Welk said, rolling around on the floor. "What do I have to do, press your faces together?!" He smiled innocently up at Werr, then ran into the room and leapt over Ophile, landing squarely on the bed and wiggling around until he was comfortable.

Lexi laughed at his activeness, then scratched the Tartaran wolf behind his ears and said "Good evening, Ophile. We were just going to go to bed." She ran her hand along his back, scratching all up and down his spine, then stood and walked into the bath room to change her clothes.

Welk flopped down across Ophile's back, pretending to bite him.

Ophile twisted around, getting his jaws around Welk's shoulder. But of course, he didn't bite down; he just wormed around and got out from underneath Welk, quickly attempting to pin the half-cat down with his paws.

Werr watched them with amusement while he dressed for bed. In minutes, he was ready and already lying down, just waiting for Welk to jump in with him before he fell asleep.

Once Welk was satisfied with he and Ophile's wrestling about, he shuffled under the covers and turned around so he was under the blanket. He stretched out with his back against Werr, and the boy had to sigh at the familiar warm, comforting presence his friend brought. Welk exhaled, his fluffy red mane shifting and flicking like flames, then he looked up as Lexi walked in, wearing her simple white nightgown. She tilted her head at the boys, then walked over to the second bed and sat down on the edge, picking up her brush and started to care for her long, wavy black hair.

Welk gave Werr a push and whispered "Be romantic!" He grinned, showing off his sharp white fangs.

((It's going to be hilarious when he realizes his feelings and pursues Isslia. He's so overdramatic, but he truly believes in whatever he's doing, so. xD))