The Forgotten Zodiac

Something caused the slight rustle of a bush not far away. Then a larger rustle. There was snapping of twigs and crunching of forest ground; whoever was approaching was not very sneaky. Finally, he stumbled out into the clearing, and a smile slipped onto his face at the sight of the Amnairian girl. "Lu...na..." Nate said softly, sinking to his knees.

Nate had been hit pretty bad. It looked like he had been attacked by an animal of some kind; he had claw marks all over, and then two arrows in his left arm. With his right arm, he was holding his chest; his shirt had been torn open, and an odd 'L' shape had been cut into his skin.

But the time to ask questions was clearly not now, as a large black panther dropped out of the tree and landed on Luna.

Luna's fighting instincts kicked in at once. She suddenly remembered a single situation where she had been a summon to an older man. She had just been there to help care for him, simple as that. Help him to the market and back, and just to be a companion for him. Needless to say, Luna was obviously a beautiful sight, and she had attracted unwanted attention. She had slipped away from her summoner for only a few minutes and had been jumped by a man that wanted her. This situation reminded her of what she had promptly done to him before he could so much draw a knife or demand a single thing of her body.

She threw her legs up and into the panther's gut, flinging the heavy cat over her head and in the other direction. She ripped the hidden knife from the sheath on her thigh, baring it at the panther and snarling with a ferocity that Forin knew well. She was the same in fighting and in love; dangerous, yet with a beautiful elegance that the Tartaran knew was irrisistable.

The Tartaran in question wasn't exactly here. No, there was only Nate, and he couldn't do much in his current state.

The panther snarled viciously as it climbed back to its feet, glaring at Luna with fury. Without warning, it turned and slammed into Nate; the weaker being would make an easier meal, it decided. Nate couln't hold back a cry of pain as the sharp claws raked against his exposed chest and the teeth clamped down on his shoulder. It might have been his neck, if Nate hadn't moved when attacked.

Luna gave a brief crouch, then jumped and landed on the panther's back. It released Nate and plunged around wildly, trying to throw the girl off, but she was not stopped. She grabbed a handful of its fur and stabbed down with the knife, striking again and again. She threw her leg around and kicked the panther in the jaw, then sank her knife home, in the center of its forehead.

The panther went limp immediately. Nate shook with pain, still holding the large cuts on his chest. "Th...thanks..." He muttered, closing his eyes and leaning back against the closest tree. "You...saved me...but too late." He moaned, showing Luna his arm, where an injection wound was obvious. The area around the small hole was red and inflamed.

Nate moved his hand away from his chest, then slowly peeled back the skin. No blood spilled forth or anything of the sort. It was obvious then. Even though the syringes had been destroyed, even though Werr had made certain that all of them were thoroughly incinerated, one or more of them had been saved. Nate, poor Nate, he was now suffering what he had only a year and a half ago.

He was turning into a Skinless Strider.

Luna clasped her hands over her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears. "Nate..." she said quietly, going forward and hugging him softly, trying not to hurt him. "Oh, Nate..." She stroked the back of his head, then said "Will you be okay? How can we stop it? What do we do now?" Questions bubbled over like water in her mouth, spilling forth and flooding Nate with the desire for an answer.

"Dunno," Nate groaned, pressing close to her. "Dunno, dunno, dunno." He trembled, but not out of pain. He was scared. He didn't want to be like this again. He could already feel it, eroding his mind...he couldn't seem to get words out of his mouth properly. He just...couldn't. But he wouldn't attack anyone. That was what sealed it, wasn't it? Killing someone. He wouldn't do that. So Nate just closed his eyes, breathed slowly and focused on getting his arms around Luna in a hug.

"Find others." He said after a few minutes. "Dangerous here..." He pulled one of the arrows out of his arm, wincing with the pain.

"No, no, let me," Luna said, holding his hands tightly and gently. She moved to the next arrow, working it delicately out of his flesh. She sealed the wounds left behind with her magic; she wished she was a better healer. Even Lexi was better than her, and it made Luna sad. She had always been a good fighter; she had even gotten Forin to a stalemate before. But she had always, deep down, wanted to be more...tender. Certainly she was good with Diana, and Luen wasn't afraid of her, and Forin obviously liked her, but...

She sighed and finished with Nate, saying "Let me help you."

"Sure," Nate replied dully, leaning forward and towards her. He somehow made it to his feet alone, but he didn't dare take a single step without her help. He still held onto the torn skin on his chest, knowing that Luna could do nothing for that. His body was literally rejecting his skin, pushing it off. It looked puffed up around the healed wounds; all Luna could do for that was stop the bleeding.

She pushed right under his arm, murmuring comforting things to him, then the two started walking, ever so slowly, towards the sunset.

*

It was growing dark. Welk pawed lightly at the ground, then carefully collapsed onto his side under the only sparse, dead tree in the entire ravine.

He shivered a bit, wishing he had his powers back already. He was able to generate heat again, which was a relief, but he couldn't output fire. He wasn't worried about attacks or being unable to defend himself; he had claws and teeth for that. He was mostly worried about freezing to death. And it wasn't himself he worried for, at that.

He flicked his gaze towards Isslia, whom he had kept his distance from all day.

((It's already nighttime. xD))

Isslia was in dog form, curled up tightly. The fur helped her keep warm. The weather here was fickle, she knew that; it dropped to freezing temperatures at night and was boiling hot during the day. At least the cave they were in protected them from the winds...gods, the wind. It howled past the hole above them, the noise making it impossible to sleep.

Suddenly, Isslia jerked her head up. "Can you smell that?" She said quietly. "Someone's coming..."

Welk immediately inhaled, sniffing only once before standing up and being his normal, rambunctious, loud self that his brothers loved.

"Cynyr! I smell Cynyr!" he called, bounding around in circles. "CYNYR! Cynyr!"

"Shut up, will you?!" Despite it's rough tone, hearing his older sibling's voice was enough to make Welk grin. It was even more of a relief when the wind mage bent over the side of the ravine, his yellow eyes piercing the darkness easily. "I would ask if that was you, Welk, but I know it is because you're so freakishly loud," he snapped, setting Cyprus down nearby.

"Where's Werr?" was the next thing instantly out of Welk's mouth, his crimson eyes staring intently up at his brother. "Where is he? Is he with you?"

There was no reply, which was all the answer Welk needed.

"Werr!" he shouted, then bent for a moment. He jumped as high as he could, trying to climb up the side and get up, where Cynyr knew he would just go racing all off in search of their final sibling.

"Don't be an idiot, idiot!" the panther snapped. "We need you here. What about Isslia?"

Welk froze, sliding all the way back down the ravine-side. So Cynyr already knew... Welk sighed heavily, then glanced over at Isslia.

((Oh.))

Isslia stayed in dog form, limping to her feet. "D-don't leave me here," She said quietly, limping closer to Welk.

"Mememe..." Cyprus squeaked, making furious motions with his hands.

"Hey, I think he's trying to tell us something," Carlyle said, peering at the Demigod. Cyprus pointed down at Welk and Isslia, then at the ground on their level, quirking an eyebrow questioningly. He was asking if Cynyr wanted help getting them up here; of course, he could teleport. So long as he knew where everything was. He had been lucky not to wind up inside a wall when he landed in Bulliete's capitol city, really...but this would be a piece of cake for him. He just didn't know if Cynyr wanted help or not.

Cynyr was far from stupid, and within only a moment, he knew was Cyprus wanted. "Yes, do it," he said. "So long as it won't hurt you. I could just fly them both up, one at a time."

Welk looked to Isslia, then turned fully towards her, as if in a trance, and walked forward, stopping in front of her. His handsome crimson eyes looked right into hers, catching her with the sheer depth they held. They held honesty and loyalty, and above all else, a deep, burning passion. He had experiance many things that he should never have had to experiance, and they had all shaped him into a strongly caring person.

"I will never leave you," he said softly. His mane blew quietly in a soft breeze, ruffling the fine red strands.

Cyprus shrugged. He still had quite a lot of magic left, he could go a full month without sleeping in his tree at this point. Not if he used his magic recklessly, but this would only take up a tiny amount. So, Cyprus seemed to dissolve into a fine golden dust; he reemerged next to Isslia and Welk. He put his hands over the both of them, and they all vanished together.

And of course, they all returned to the surface within moments. "Mememe~!" Cyprus spun on the spot, smiling happily. "Done and done," He nodded, grinning.

"Well...I guess that's someone, but it's not Lexi..." Carlyle scratched the back of his neck.

((Carlyle is not supposed to be a main character, by the way. So don't get attached. I will kill him sooner or later.))

((Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. pDp Can't he just go off? Once they find Lexi, can't he just go again?))

Cynyr tilted his head at that, then said "Well, that's done. Come on, let's find a safe place to bed down for the night. I scented wolves on the wind earlier. But they were...very strange. They smelled sick and disgusting." He wrinkled his 'nose', which was mostly him just twisting up the skin around the holes in his face. "I hope nobody gets in their way. If they bit someone..." He shrugged, then said "No matter. Let's go."

Welk nodded, then looked sideways at Isslia for a long moment. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he held off until he spotted something. He took human form, trotting over and scooping up something from the ground. He moved back over to Isslia and moved a hand out, brushing his fingers through the fur around her ears.

When he pulled his hand away, there was something left behind.

A small blue flower was twined gently into her fur.

Welk said nothing as he started walking.

((NO

WE NEED DRIVE TO END THIS WAR, WOMAN

xD Maybe. We'll see.))

Isslia did her best to limp after them, trembling. Cyprus scooped her up and gently set her on Welk's shoulder, where she went limp and just laid still, her front and back legs hanging.

Carlyle snorted a bit at this, finding the Demigod quite amusing. "How many of your...group...are out here, anyways? This is crazy...I've never seen so many civilians on a battlefield, much less escorted this many..."

((.D. < ...)

Welk slid Isslia from his shoulder into his arms, cradling her gently against his warm chest. He stroked her head gently, sighing, then looked back at Carlyle and frowned. "Who even ARE you?" he said, flicking his ears.

"Someone we met," Cynyr said, walking along in front of the group. "And as for you, Carlyle, we've got quite the tag-team out here. And we're not common civilians, either. Ah, it's too much explaining and it's not worth it. In fact, you'd be best off running as far away from us as you possibly can."

"For the last time, I'm not running anywhere. I'm no coward." Carlyle scoffed. "And I want to help you lot. I want to...are you really so foolish as to turn away assistance?"

"No, he's just stubborn and doesn't like the idea that he would ever need help." Cyprus pointed out needlessly. "Oh, why am I talking..." He sighed, kicking at a stray rock.

"We'll need a fire..." Isslia said quietly. "It'll get really cold before long."

All eyes turned to Welk.

"Fine!" he said. "I'll try again, sheesh. Give me a few more minutes, okay?" He walked on, pulling Isslia up without thinking and tucking her head under his chin, cuddling her close. He stroked her soft fur, closing his eyes down to slits. A soft purr worked into his throat, but he couldn't keep it up. Isslia could feel the slight tremble in his fingers. He needed something, and he kept glancing from side to side as if expecting to see it there.

Werr.