The Forgotten Zodiac

Luen squealed as she hit him with the needle, then shivered as a bit of the fluid coursed through him. Immediately, Werr's touch on him became a bit uncomfortable. But it was barely anything, and he could stand it. He bent his head and pulled at the gag with his mouth, finally pulling it away. "I'm fine," he said, hoping Werr wouldn't feel him tremble. "I just...need to find Forin and Diana. I need to," he said quietly, hanging his head low. He looked back at Werr, saying "But I won't leave you. Are you alright?"

"I'll b-be fine. This stuff c-can't last forever...an-and Seria can pull...pull it out when we find her," Werr nodded, though he looked sick. "It just...in-increases pain...by a lot...but I've been through worse. Much, much worse. I'll live. Can I...ride on your back, though? I don't think I-I can walk, and we need...need to move." He said quietly, closing his eyes for a moment. "We can find Forin and Diana and Luna and Seria a-and...Welk and Isslia and Cynyr...we will. Don't worry too much...right?" He managed a short smile.

"Yes, of course," Luen said, hiding a sniffle. He knelt on the ground, bringing his head around to gently nudge the boy up onto his back. He stood, shifting to get used to Werr's weight. He was so used to Diana and Forin's that Werr's was a new feeling for him. But Luen could bear it well enough, despite being so frail, and he set off at a walk. "I hope the others are okay..." he said quietly, then glanced sideways at him. "Welk's probably worried."

"Probably..." Werr sighed. "But Welk can take care of himself, so I'm not too worried about him...Lexi, on the other hand..." He winced as Luen's walking bumped him about a bit, but he ignored the pain and held onto the Kirin's antlers (though he was careful and as gentle as he could be). "We just have to push onwards...and try to find whoever we can, however we can."

"Don't move," A gruff voice came from the brush, though it wasn't loud enough to awaken Diana. The gleaming tip of an arrow showed through the leaves. "Where in the name of Jemora did you two come from?" When Lexanna hesitated, the man became insistent. From just his voice, he didn't seem very old. Probably just gracing mid-twenties. "Answer me, or I'll fire!"

The girl shook and hesitated, then said "P-please, we were captured and forced out here. We mean no harm, we can't do anything to fight. Don't kill us, please." She ducked low over Diana, already knowing that she would die for the little girl. She wouldn't let her suffer without fighting for her first.

The man emerged from the bush, drawing a longsword from its sheath, throwing aside the bow. He lowered the blade and started brushing the flat end against Lexi's sides. Not cutting, slicing or stabbing, nothing of the sort; he was searching her for weapons. He prodded around Diana too, though he was careful not to disturb her sleep. When he was satisfied, he put away his sword and picked up his bow again, though he didn't put that one away. "Alright. I'm not quite sure I believe you, but...you'd better move. This forest is practically a landmine. We were told to kill on sight, but..." He shifted his weight around uncomfortably. "You don't seem like an enemy. I don't want to kill the innocent. I...I don't want to kill at all, but I have to..." He looked down, then back up at Lexi. "You've...you, uh...you should leave. Go, as far away from here as you can."

Lexi stared up at him, then said "Th-thank you. Thank you so much." She quickly (but gently) slid Diana into her arms, saying "We'll leave right away. Thank you." She stood up, resting Diana's head over her shoulder, then said "What's your name? I...I want to know. I'm Lexi. I...would hate to see you be killed by someone, like if you stumbled up on some of our friends. Just call that you've seen Lexi and they shouldn't hurt you. I hope." She tilted her head slightly, saying "What's your name?"

"Carlyle. My name is Carlyle." He said softly, looking down a bit. Then he looked behind him. "Go, go! Stay in the tall grass. And watch out for the ravine!" He hissed to her, motioning that she should run. Diana stirred, lifting her head and rubbing her eyes.

"What's going...on?" She questioned quietly, her eyes falling on the man as he fled back into the bushes. "Lexi?"

"He snuck up on us, but he didn't hurt us," the older girl explained, running off with the little girl in tow. "He let us go. He was kind to us. But he said we should run, so I can't waste my breath. I'll tell you more later." She ran onwards, eventually setting Diana down and running with her by her side. "Keep close," Lexi warned, holding Diana's hand tightly. "I would hate to lose you."

"Okay," Diana nodded, running after Lexi. It soon became apparent that she wasn't as unfit as she might seem; she actually had quite a bit of endurance, and they were able to run rather far into the tall grass. This was thanks to Forin and Luen, who had spent the last year or so teaching her to be better with the bow, and fast on her feet. Just in case anything happened in which she would need to protect herself, or run. It was a good thing, that much was obvious now.

They moved quickly, heading away from where Carlyle had been. They tried to be as quiet as they could, heading back to the small pond in the plains. They got another drink, taking turns keeping guard for the other. Once they had their fill, Lexi took charge. "I know we're both hungry by now," she said. "But it's too dangerous to stop. Hopefully we'll come up on the others soon and we'll be safer."

Diana nodded, looking around. "We can't really do much, though...should we just wait here? Forin always says that the best thing to do when I'm lost is hold still so he can find me easier..." She sat down and curled her knees up to her chest. "I dunno, though...we could be attacked if we hold still for too long..."

"Both options are true," Lexi said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "Let's wait for a little while, then, and if nobody shows soon, we'll go. I hope we don't encounter enemies..." She sighed, then bent and started digging around in the ground, saying "Not many people know about this, but there's a type of fat brown root that grows underground. It's edible, though it doesn't taste the best. It grows in forest and grassy areas." She dug around for a few more minutes, finally finding one of the said roots. "Here we go," she said, brushing some dirt off of it. "Watch this." She grasped both ends of the root and twisted them sharply in opposite directions.

The root burst at invisible seams, revealing fluffy white insides.

"There," Lexi said. "That's what you can eat. My brother taught me how to do this. He always joked and called that white stuff 'root meat'." She sighed wearily, then pushed the root into Diana's hands and said "Just pull the root meat out and eat it. It'll help us survive, I know that much. I'll find myself another one."

Diana blinked, then tasted some of it. It was slightly sweet, but had the usual bitter taste that covered her entire mouth and made it feel as though she was eating leaves. But she ate as much as she could manage, and drank quite a bit of water to get rid of the taste. "Thank you," She said to Luna, smiling a bit. "It's not bad if you imagine it to be warm fish, hot off the fire..."

Lexi smiled, then kept digging until she had found a good supply of the roots. "If we're careful, these could last us for two or three days," she said. "Plus I can find more if we need it, hopefully." She shook her head, making her wavy black hair bounce, then quickly ate one of the roots, dusting off her hands when she was done. She heard something moving towards them and froze, but was filled with relief at the sight that moved through the tall grass.

The herd of deer had returned to get a drink at the pond.

Diana fell still, not wanting to startle away the deer. She watched quietly, knowing that the deer would probably stay on the other side of the pond and not get anywhere near them. She missed the Eternal Gardens, at that point. But...it was nice, seeing them. It meant things were calm around them. If they weren't, the deer wouldn't be here.

The lead deer was a handsome, tall buck with big, beautiful antlers and sharp, pointed tines. He bent his head, taking a quick drink before looking up again, glancing around to scan for enemies. He watched his herd for a long moment before glancing towards Diana and Lexi, tilting his head slightly at them. His brown fur shone in the sunlight, and it was clear that he was a younger buck, in his prime. He stared at the girls, blinking his solid black eyes softly.

Diana held her breath, returning the stare of the deer. She knew that the wrong movement would stare the creatures off, but she also knew that being hit with deer antlers would hurt and weaken them, two things they did not want to be at the moment. She wasn't too scared, though; the deer would leave if they made loud noises, so it would be easy to scare them off if necessary. Diana shifted her weight a bit, but continued watching the deer in silence.

Slowly, the deer herd edged a bit closer to them. The buck had yet to alert them to the two girls, as if he was waiting to sense danger in them. He finally walked forward, his gaze fixed on them, and paused a short distance away, staring. Until his entire herd had drank their fill, he stood there, standing between the girls and the herd of does and fawns.

Lexi was silent, knowing as well as Diana did the joy, and danger, of being this close to a full-grown buck. He had the same regal sort of air that Luen did, except this was a wild deer, not a kirin. He took another step forward, then slowly bent his head forward, staring at Diana. It was like they were in a trance; the buck was so utterly proud, so noble. He didn't seem to have a sense of fear at all.