The Forgotten Zodiac

The scarecrow was not to be shooed away by an animal. It was bigger than Ronan. It didn't move at all, it didn't flinch away or make any sound. It just...stood there. Its eyes moved, though, eying the deer with annoyance. Then turning its gaze back to Diana and Lexi.

Finally, it spoke, its voice eerie and low. "Lexanna Jura..." It said, a gust of wind causing its ratty clothing to be whipped around him. "Lex...anna Jura...I have a gift for you. Something...important."

"N-no, don't, it'll eat you!" Diana whispered.

"It is from...the one only you care for, Lexanna Jura."

At first, Lexi had no intention of moving, but when it said that last line, she frowned. She thought for a moment on those words, and because she was smart, it hit her in an instant.

The one only you care for. Obelisk.

She gave Diana a gentle hug, then said "I'll be okay. Stay with right here, with the does. Ronan will protect me if anything happens." She kissed the girl's forehead, then tucked her down against one of the warm animals and stood. She walked quickly to Ronan, who turned his head and stared at her. She pressed close to his side, and they slowly walked forward, towards the thing. Once they were close enough, Lexi stood before it and said "Here I am. What is it you want to give me?"

Ronan, who was standing just behind her, snorted and pawed the ground.

The scarecrow's arm moved up, creaking slightly with the motion. "This is for your hands...and your hands alone, Lexanna Jura. Any who touch it other...than you...will be hurt. But you, it will protect you. His power is strong, and his wishes often...come true. And he wishes...that you will be kept safe." He opened his cloth fingers, revealing a necklace with a small silver locket on the end. "Open it if you are in danger, Lexanna Jura. You will be saved. It holds one powerful charge of...his magic that will do your bidding...for exactly one minute. He has worked hard to make this for you. He is sorry that you are here. He did not want you here..." The scarecrow reached forward, fixing the necklace around her neck and stroking her cheek gently before it turned away, hobbling off on stiff legs. It stopped a few paces away, though, seemingly thinking for a few long moments. "Is there anything you wish for me to deliver to...him? A message, anything?"

"Wh-who are you?" Diana asked quietly.

"I am not speaking to you, summoner of another!" It suddenly snarled, whirling around and and advanced a step before its eyes returned to Lexi. After another long moment, it said, "I do not know who I am...it does not matter. I know only my name...but it does not matter. Do you have anything...for me to deliver?' It asked again, quieter this time.

Lexi thought about it, then slowly reached into her pocket and pulled something out. It was one of Obelisk's old bandages, the one she wore in her hair now. She lifted her hand and gently pulled one of her hair pins loose, holding it tight in her hand. She exhaled, then concentrated, holding the pin tightly. She pushed her healing magic into it, in a raw, untapped version, picturing an image in her mind.

Slowly, the pin reformed into a small silver ring with a tiny flower in the center.

"Here," she said, pushing the ring gently at him. "Give this to him. And...your name matters. It's an important piece of who you are." She tied the clean, crisp piece of bandage into her hair, then patting Ronan's flank and said "Thank you, sir. For giving me this necklace." She held tightly onto it, slowly backing up a pace.

"It shall be delivered," The Scarecrow said quietly, nodding once. It examined the ring for a few minutes, then sighed. "My name...I do not feel as though you need to know, but...something compels me towards telling you. Why are you...so important, Lexanna Jura?" He took a step closer, towering over her. He wasn't trying to be menacing or intimidating, but he was either way.

"My name...is all I know. It is...my name is Cern."

Lexi tilted her head slightly to the side, not recognizing the name. "Cern. It's a nice name," she said quietly. Then she backed up, saying "Goodbye. Please make sure that ring gets safely to him." Ronan snorted, pawing the ground, and they both turned away. Lexi laid down next to Diana again, giving the girl a hug, and Ronan continued to stare at the Scarecrow, warning him off.

((Diana doesn't know the name either. xD He removed her memories of him, if you recall.))

"Of course." Cern said quietly, turning and hobbling away. From their spot on the hill, they could see him moving grass aside as he tromped along, hobbling thanks to his stiff limbs.

"Cern...that sounds familiar. Maybe Forin knows him..." Diana sighed, curling close to Lexi. "Let's just sleep, I guess." One of the does had moved closer to them, helping to keep them warm.

"I FOUND HIM!" Spy's usual scream sounded as he ran in circles around Welk. "I found him, Ophile, I found him!"

"That you did," Ophile yawned, stepping out of the tall grass. "Welk, Werr is hurt, although not in a way that Seria can fix at the moment. He needs you for comfort. You too, Cynyr; Werr and Seria both need you. We have their locations, so we'll show you the way as soon as you're ready.

Welk threw his head up, blinking in shock at them, then said "Take me to him! Please! Now, now, now!" Ever impatient, he charged off through the grass, following the chimera and wolf's scents in the direction they had come from.

Cynyr sighed heavily, then stood and moved over to Isslia and Cyprus. He picked Isslia up, holding her against his chest (which wasn't nearly as warm as Welk's), and nudged Cyprus up, saying "Come on, we need to start walking."

Isslia held still, knowing that Cynyr wasn't doing anything wrong. She sighed and continued to doze.

"Walking? Right. Walking off to the peopel who understand me." Cyprus said with a smile, climbing to his feet. Carlyle was quick to wake up and start walking after Ophile and Spy, although he was really wondering if he could even count how many people were friends with Lexi and Cynyr.

They headed off, letting Ophile and Spy lead. Welk was, quite literally, way ahead of them, however.

He bounded up on the others, spotting Naybrin curled up in the grass. Seria was sitting next to a downed Luen, who was sleeping quietly. She was stroking his fur, her eyes closed, as if she was sad. But Welk didn't care about that at the moment. He would later, he knew, but right now, his devoted mind was on one thing.

He ran right in and jumped for Naybrin's legs, burrowing down and nearly tackling Werr. "Werr! Werr!" he said, pulling the boy right up next to him. "You're alive! I'm so glad..." His wings billowed out, despite the pain it caused him to move his injured one, and swept all around Werr, covering every inch of him.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Werr muttered, stirring. "W-Welk? You're okay," He stammered, trying to push himself up, but he stopped short and let out a wail of pain. "Welk, it hurts, don't touch me..." He whimpered, trembling. "I-I'm sorry, I can't stop it from hurting..."

Welk meowed unhappily, pulling back at once. He sat quietly nearby, not touching the boy, and said sadly "Everyone I want to touch either doesn't want to be touched or can't be! This isn't my couple of days..." He sighed heavily, then slowly moved his muzzle forward and touched it to Werr's cheek, murmuring "I was so worried..."

Welk closed his eyes, looking so unhappy, then quietly draped his injured wing over the boy, saying "I'm here. I'm here..."

Naybrin tilted his head back, studying the two quietly, then looked up as the others arrived. "There you are, Ophile, Spy. I'm glad to see Cyprus, Cynyr and Isslia with you as well."

Cynyr gave a small nod, then ran over to his wife and bent next to her, saying "Seria? Are you okay?"

She nodded once, saying "I'm a bit better...now that you're back." She leaned up and kissed him softly, caressing his torn lips, then pulled back and said "Go see Werr. We both have equal rights to you." She smiled softly, then sighed as he nodded and leaned down, kissing her softly in return before heading over to Naybrin's forelegs and giving a single, fluid hop that brought him in with his brothers.

"H-hi, Cynyr..." Werr said weakly, smiling a bit. With a wince, he realized that even doing that was starting to hurt. "Gods...Seria, you have to get this poison out of my system...this is killing me. Skies above..."

"The skies are blue and the grass is green and the butterflies flutter as I'm singing this key~!" Cyprus sang as he approached, but he stopped short. "Lycanthrops," He whimpered, ducking under Naybrin's tail. What's going on?"

Seria stood, moving over to the trio and settling down beside Werr. Welk provided the light for her to work with, and she got down to business at once. She placed her hands gently against Werr's collarbones, laying her hands flat against his skin. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and slowly began drawing the poison from his bloodstream. She pulled her hands back slowly and the poison wafted from Werr's skin, following her hands. She held it in one hand while getting an empty vial out of her bag. She enclosed the poison into it, then held it between her legs as she repeated the process, eventually filling the vial. She capped it, closing it and sealing it tightly. "There," she said softly, wiping her forehead off.

Werr relaxed noticeably. Immediately, he sat up and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you..." He said, then turned and hugged Cynyr.

Then, of course, he buried himself as far as he could manage into Welk's fur. "There...all better. You can hug and nuzzle and tackle me all you want," He said softly, smiling a bit. He was obviously tired, but no longer in pain. This was a good thing.

"Stay back, Cyprus," Ophile was warning the Demigod. "You'll only speed up the growing process of Luen's newest ailment..."

Welk immediately curled all around the boy, nearly smothering him in his golden wings. He pressed his muzzle into Werr's neck, wrapping his paws around him. "I'll never let go," he said, his voice muffled. But he didn't care. He just curled even closer.

Cynyr stuck his head up over Naybrin's leg, peering at Luen. He stood and leapt back over the barrier Naybrin had made of himself, walking over to Luen. He bent and carefully sniffed along his wounded leg. Immediately, he wrinkled his nose and backed up with a hiss.

"Werewolf bite," he spat. "Lycanthropy. We should kill him now."

"What? No!" Seria cried, having crawled over Naybrin's arm to get out as well. "You can't do that!"

"You know as well as I do that there's no cure!" he said, the fur along his spine bristling. "He'll be a danger to the rest of us."

"We'll find a cure," Ophile sighed. "We'll do something. Surely there's something we can do...we're not going to just kill Luen. We won't."

"Yemara could kill the Lycanthropy..." Cyprus said quietly, curling his knees up to his chest. "Memememe...we don't want her out and about...do we? No, no we do not..."

"You can try to find another way," Cynyr said, clawing the ground a bit out of nerves. "But if that fails, then I'll be waiting with weapons ready. I won't let anyone be killed by him, not if I can help it."

And he turned away, jumping back into Werr and Welk's embrace. He curled up around them, setting to gently licking the back of Werr's neck and shoulder, soothing the boy's skin with his rough tongue.

Welk purred loudly, feeling utterly content by his friend's side.