The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr looked down at this, swallowing hard. He then looked back up at Naybrin and smiled a bit. "Alright then. We'll be careful." He said, then lifted his shirt, showing the scratches on his side. They were small and shallow, and had hardly bled much at all, but they were still there. "Was this...caused by that bond? Are you hurt, Naybrin?" He asked, suddenly worried.

The dragon blinked once, very slowly, then said "Nothing I can't handle, youngling. I assure you, to me, it is the same as on you; mere scratches." He didn't tell Werr that he was missing a few scales; it wasn't that important, after all. Instead, he bent his nose and nuzzled Werr very delicately, saying "Your knight is letting off a sense of worry now."

Welk was hovering anxiously nearby, not wanting to intrude on the two but finding himself jealous and worried at the same time.

"Right...I'll talk to him. Thanks for letting me know, Naybrin. And Cyprus, it's good to see you back. I was worried when you suddenly vanished like that..." Werr smiled a bit. Cyprus nodded, waving a bit to let Werr know that he was okay. The human king turned away, sitting down next to Welk. "Hey, there." He smiled happily. "Everything's gonna be alright, okay?"

Welk made a huffing sound in the back of his throat, a sound Werr knew meant he was unsettled, then the lion stood and moved around so he could lay down between Werr's legs, draping his heavy paws over one of the boy's legs. "It better be," he said, sounding sullen. "Because if something happened to you, I..." He let it sit at that, as they both knew what would happen. The lion buried his head against Werr's chest, sighing heavily.

"I know." Werr closed his eyes, hugging Welk tightly. "I know what you mean. It's okay..." He hugged Welk tightly. "There's nothing we can do either way. Naybrin will just have to be extremely careful...it'll all be okay." He sighed, pressing his face into Welk's fur. He smiled happily, relieved at the warmth and musky smell of his dear friend's fur.

"We're missing Luen, then..." He said after a moment. "He went to find Diana and Lexi..."

Welk exhaled, then blinked and said "But since they're here...where could he be? Shoot. We never should've let a would-be weredeer leave the camp." He put his muzzle to Werr's neck and snuffled, breathing in his friend's familiar scent. While Welk's was musky and smelled vaguely like smoke, Werr's was light and calm. Now that he thought about it, Werr's was like a male version of Lexi's. Except Lexi smelled more like flowers and paper. The thought made Welk grin softly, showing off sharp white teeth. "Should someone search for Luen?" he questioned.

"No. We can't split up more. We have to either wait, or try to find him all together." Werr shook his head with a small sigh. "I don't know which would be better..."

"King Werr," Lexi said quietly. He blinked in alarm at her. "Don't be surprised. I have...bugs. They tell me many things. I just...need to talk to you about your next plan of action. Where you'll be going. And why."

Welk wiggled around a bit in Werr's lap, blinking at the girl. "First, we'll get our people together," he said, glancing over to where Cynyr was laying with Seria, gently grooming her red fur. "Once we're all here, we'll figure out where to go. Yeah? Because we're going to move, just...once we have everyone."

The carriage door opened quietly and Forin and Diana came out, leading a quivering Luna. She looked much better than she had before, now that Luen wasn't around.

"Yeah. What Welk said." Werr nodded.

Allie sighed. "Well...I was just going to ask whether or not you wanted to go to...well, Herrace. If you present yourselves right...you'll be more welcome than you were in Bulliete. More welcome than you ever will be in Bulliete, at this point. Although I'm wondering whether or not...Izan actually meant for this to happen. Lennon seems awfully...suspicious, to me. That man is horrifying." She sighed and shook her head. "I was just thinking that you needed a plan, and decided to give my input. Since...I'm apparently traveling with you, now."

Welk thought about it, then looked up at Werr and said "Herrace sounds good to me. If what she says is true, then Bulliete isn't safe for us anymore. It definitely isn't safe for Dmitry, if he's coming with us..."

The mentioned prince gave him a brief scowl before coughing hard.

Welk continued. "Yeah. That," he said. "Herrace sounds like a plan to me."

"Herrace it is." Werr nodded thoughtfully. "We'll head there next, then. Thanks for the suggestion, Allie...I don't really know how long you were planning to stay with us," He eyed her wheelchair and stumpy legs. "But you're a good asset to the team."

"My legs are gone. Not my brain. I do what I can." She snorted, crossing her arms. "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe my newest concoction is ready..."

"Which is?" Werr tilted his head to the side.

"Something that may or may not help Cyprus with his magic problem. The poor Demigod has a lot of blockage in his magic channels. It's hurting him, and preventing him from fighting at all..." Allie wheeled away, smiling slightly.

"Oh." Werr blinked.

Welk watched her go, then said "I just don't get her. What's she sticking around here for? It can't be me and you, gorgeous hunks that we are." He chuckled and twisted onto his back, moving a paw up to gently pat at Werr's cheek, claws safely sheathed.

Luna, meanwhile, was sitting quietly at the edge of the small river, letting Forin gently dab a cold cloth over her shoulders. She looked positively sick, and it was the aftermath of those chaotic daytime-nightmares. She tilted her head slowly on her slender neck and leaned into Forin, kissing him very softly. It wasn't quite as passionate as either might've wanted, but Forin could understand easily that his lover was exhausted. Luna pulled back, resting her head on his shoulder.

((Also, will Forin be okay if Luna like, desperately leap-hugs him and begs him to stop? I must know the answerrrrr~))

((He'll be less inclined to struggle, but he'll still be pretty power-crazed. He wouldn't dare hurt her, obviously.))

"Who knows." Werr shrugged. "She's definitely odd..."

"You'll be okay." Forin said quietly, his leg pressed to hers as he worked. "There's nothing anyone can do to hurt you now, Luna." He stroked her hair back, gently wiping the wet cloth against her face.

"What happened to her?" Diana whimpered.

"Waking nightmares," Forin answered bluntly. Diana shivered, knowing full well what those were. She had endured several, herself.

"Well...it's okay. Forin always wakes me up from those. He makes things better. He'll make you better too, Luna." Diana said quietly, starting to carefully braid Luna's hair.

((How do I make him stop? Perhaps his form resonates with Luna's and activates hers, which starts to hurt her, or somefing. I dunno.))

Tears started to slip down Luna's face. She pressed into Forin's shoulder and cried very softly, feeling on the verge of passing out. Her thin fingers slipped delicately into Forin's hand, unable to hold tight, and her other hand found Diana's knee, where it rested. She whimpered and put her face against Forin's neck, her tears dripping softly onto his skin.

((Bingo.

It won't be right now, but soon. xD))

Diana scooted closer, picking Luna's hand up into her own. Forin curled himself around her, leaning up and kissing her as gently as he dared. "Dear Luna...please don't be afraid anymore. I can protect you now. Just point the finger, and I shall do whatever you wish. My Amnairian, enough of this fright. I'm here now. You know me. Everything will be okay." He ran his fingers through her hair, still holding her tight.

((Yay~))

She sniffled, but managed a weak nod and said "Okay...I trust you..." She sighed, feeling better now that she had cried a bit more.

She gave a soft exhale, shifting a bit against her boyfriend, then she moved her hand up and gently passed her fingers along his neck in a soft stroke. She smiled softly, not opening her eyes just yet, then suddenly moaned and squeezed her eyes shut.

When she opened her eyes, all she saw was a werewolf where her boyfriend had been sitting.

She squealed and flinched backwards, staring at Forin with eyes wide, then jerked around when Luen limped into sight, panting heavily. He looked sick; worse than Luna by a longshot. As he neared, he managed to say "S-sorry...I c-couldn't...find..." He coughed horribly, then glanced up and spotted Diana.

He froze, staring at her, then shook his head and stared again, as if in disbelief.

Forin pulled Luna back into his grip, murmuring soft things to her about how she shouldn't trust her eyes. She should trust her heart in their stead. He was careful not to hurt her, or even make it look like he was going to do anything of the sort.

Diana, in the meantime, stood at once. "Luen! Luen, Luen, Luen!" She cried out, running to him and wrapping her arms around him. "A big deer led me and Lexi back! But you were looking for me...oh, are you okay? You don't look okay..."

Luna had a lot of trust in Forin, and she simply went quiet and pressed close to him, trying to ignore the fact that it really felt like he had fur now. Her mind was warping things so perfectly that, to Luna's senses, she really felt the fur on the werewolf Forin's body.

Luen exhaled heavily as Diana hugged him, saying "I went to find you...but I was apparently too late..." He nuzzled her cheek gently, saying "A deer led you back? Oh. That's good... You can trust a deer." He tapped a hoof lightly on the ground, ignoring how his hooves actually looked. They were splintered painfully, all cracked and decayed. They looked terrible.

"Duh," Diana giggled, running her fingers through his fur. "You're all fuzzy, Luen. This isn't normal at all, you normally have short fur, and--" She took one look at his hooves and whimpered a little. "Luen...are you okay? Look at your feet! That's awful, horrible, are they bleeding?" She questioned, kneeling near his hooves. "Luen, what on earth happened to you?" She whimpered, standing back up in a hurry and hugging him again, trembling this time.

He sighed, then said "I'll be fine, Diana." He lifted a hoof slightly, ignoring how a few drips of blood splattered on the ground. "This is just...from running so hard. I was looking so desperately for you, after all... I just had to find you. I'll be fine." He nuzzled her very gently, saying "I just...really need to rest now. I'm so tired..." He walked forward slowly, watching as Luna shifted forward to settle between Forin's legs, cradled against him like a small child. She whimpered as Luen passed, and a subtle tear slid from the corner of the kirin's eye. He knew he was causing her pain, but there was nothing he could do about it. He paused and bent his muzzle, touching Forin's neck very softly before continuing to the very back of the cave, where he laid down, feeling much better now that he wasn't standing on his broken hooves.