The Forgotten Zodiac

Forin was quick to slide out of Nate's grip. The Dragonian walked slowly back to the entrance and sat down again, in the exact same spot as before. Forin curled up around Diana, waiting for her to wake up before saying anything.

Werr, in the meantime, looked upset. Luen...poor Luen. He couldn't help but feel partially at fault. He could have done better with the throwing knives, or...something...

Welk rubbed his eyes sadly with a paw, sighing. He burrowed his head in Werr's lap, wanting to comfort his dear brother.

Cynyr also pressed close, though he wrapped himself around Seria, who was crying softly into his fur. He licked her forehead gently, then pushed his muzzle under Werr's arm, closing his eyes.

Luna was sitting near by, and she cautiously sidled over to Forin and draped herself next to him, letting one arm lay over his body.

Forin ignored her at first, but very slowly (so as not to disturb Diana's rest) turned and pressed his face into Luna's shoulder and cried. His tears weren't full of sorrow or anguish, though. They were out of anger. Fury. He didn't move to hurt Luna in any way, but it was obvious that he was more mad than he had ever been before. And he was only mad at himself.

The Amnairian nuzzled into his neck, closing her eyes tightly as she felt a few tears slip down her cheeks. She kissed his neck gently, murmuring that she loved him, and wrapped her arms tightly around him, holding him close. "Oh...Forin..." she whispered, twinning her hand into his shirt. "I'm so...sorry..."

"It's all my fault...I'm so stupid! I should be dead right now, he should have just killed me..." Forin hissed into her hair, hugging her tightly. He wept bitterly, not meaning to make so much noise, but Diana woke up next.

"Forin...? Why are you crying?" She wiggled between them, wrapping her arms around her summon's neck. "Please, don't cry..."

"I-I'm sorry, mist...mistress...that's one request I cannot fu-fufill..." He said between his sobs, moving one arm around her.

Luna stroked his hair back gently, knowing he was upset and feeling upset herself over it all. She was relieved that her daytime nightmares were gone, but she would gladly suffer through them for the rest of her life if she could only save her little family from this pain. "Forin..." she said quietly, then flinched when an angry, familiar little voice started shouting.

"Master Forin! Listen to me this instant!" Vorpal said, a slight growl to his voice. "You will never get Master Luen back acting in this way! In order to get your precious kirin back, you must become stronger! And...I have unlocked powers as well. If you train with me, we will both become strong together! As your trusted blade, I cannot, and will not, allow you to suffer!"

Forin stopped crying at once. He unstrapped the blade from his side and sat up, promptly hitting Vorpal against the rock wall. "Shut up," He growled, wiping his eyes, although the sword could sense that Forin had no intentions of keeping up the pity-party. Vorpal had snapped it out of him rather quickly. "I will become stronger. I will. I'm sorry, Vorpal...you're right. The time for crying...is later. Let's begin now," He stood, then looked down at Luna with a small smile. "If...if you're feeling better, would you like to train with us?"

Vorpal had squealed when Forin rapped him against the cave, but when the Tartaran calmed down, the blade sighed. "I suppose that's a start...though you didn't have to hit me," he said, a bit miffed.

Luna blinked sadly, then gave a stretched, tiny smile and said "Sure. I'd love to help you." She bent and kissed him softly, moving her lips delicately against his, then pulled back a bit and said "I'll do anything you ask of me." She stood up and helped him stand as well, wrapping her arms around him and kissing very gently against his neck. She nuzzled against his chest, then pulled back and said "Let's train to get our kirin back."

((THE FIRST AND SECOND DAYS PICK YOU UP BY THE THROAT AND THROW YOU ON THE GROUND AND BEAT YOU INTO SUBMISSION SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY CAN.))

Forin nodded once, leading her out of the cave. They made sure to stay where Nate could see them, just in case anything happened. The rain had let up, and the sky was lightening, signaling that the storm had passed.

"Thick-skulled morons. They'll never get that Kirin back." Marion snorted. "Dmitry, we're going outside." She transformed back into her human form and helped him stand. "No objections. You're going to breathe fresh air, you'll practice flying and transforming, and you're going to get better." She said firmly, nodding to herself in satisfaction. She froze as a spider skittered across her path, but a ball of white fur darted out, scooping up the spider and eating it in one gulp. Marion made a disgusted face and walked past him, while the Chimera wiped his hands off on the ground.

((Nooooo, because I huggles youuuuu. -whimperhug-))

He grunted in pain, leaning on her and letting her support him. "Okay," he said. "But, Marion...don't squash their dream. Even if they can't get him back, let them believe. Because sometimes..." He sighed, his glasses catching the distant light and obscuring his eyes from sight. "...sometimes belief is all you have," he finished, then looked over at her and smiled softly before kissing her cheek. "But we won't worry about that right now," he said. "Come on. Let's get out into this nice day." He bent without warning and ran his hand through the soft grass, smiling widely.

((:3))

Marion smiled a bit. "This is that Demigod's work. The fire ate up all the grass, but he's been rolling around and making it come back." She was dead serious about the 'rolling around' part. Cyprus was literally rolling around in the ashes, not caring how dirty he was getting. It took a few minutes, but grass sprang up where he was rolling. He had gotten a large circular patch by now, and he was taking a break for now. "And look. the sky is clearing up," She plopped down in the grass and laid there, looking happily up at the clouds.

Dmitry smiled and sat down next to her, laying on his stomach on the ground and feeling the water-soaked grass. He rested his head on his arms, closing his eyes and sighing as he slid his glasses off with one hand, holding them gently. It felt so good to just sit and not have to worry about anything. At least for a little while. And he already felt much better than he ever had. He had a beautiful, loyal girl sitting next to him, and though he was rather sickly right now, he could feel himself getting stronger as the sun began to shine.

Marion rolled onto her side, curling one arm over his chest. "You're smiling," She said, a happy one on her own face. "Genuinely smiling at something other than me. This is a first." She rested her head on his shoulder, unable to hold back a small giggle of happiness. In spite of her firm words before, she was so very content to just lie there with him.

He kissed the side of her face, saying "Well, when you're around, there's hardly anything else I can smile at. You capture my full attention." He stroked a lock of her long greenish-black hair back, stroking his pale fingers gently over her cheek. Then he very carefully stood up and slipped his glasses back on, saying "I'll try and transform now." He exhaled, concentrating, then his entire form arched upwards into a large wyvern. He snorted, sending a cloud of smoke out, then sat down when he grew dizzy.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Marion said quickly, leaning against him. She was still smiling happily, though. "Here, I'll make you keep yourself steady," She climbed up from his knee, scrambling onto the Wyvern's back and settling on his shoulders. "There we go. Now you have to be more careful so you don't drop me," She smirked, happy with herself for thinking of that.

He tilted his head back at her and let out a soft wyvern grunt, saying "Marion..." He shook his head with a roll of his eyes, then slowly stood up, trying to keep everything level so as not to knock Marion off. He stood, his legs shaking slightly, then turned a few circles and mostly stuck to walking around close to the cave. It was like riding on a small t-rex, and his scaled skin wasn't hard like Naybrin's. It was soft like leather, and so warm.

Marion hung onto him easily, knowing her weight meant little to him in this form. "You're doing good. Now stretch your wings a bit. Don't try to take off or anything, but flap once or twice. Just to make sure you still can, yeah? And if you can't, don't fret. We'll work on it. It's all a work in progress, right?" She smiled, running her fingers over his scales. She started cleaning a bit of dirt out from between one or two, wherever she could find some unattended part. After all, he couldn't see behind his ears. She was gentle and careful, smiling away as she worked.

He hummed in a soft, happy tone, then unfurled his long wings and held them open, judging their weight. It had been so long since he had last had them open like this. So long that, upon thinking about it, he didn't even remember it. Was there ever a time when he had opened his arm-wings? Had he ever truly even flown? He shook his head, then slowly began a steady beat of his wings, feeling his muscles twinge and pull.

"Steady, stay on the ground," Marion warned. "We don't want you crashing and breaking something important. One step at a time, remember?" She said, gripping him tightly in case he ignored her. She wasn't trying to hold him back, but she really did want him to be careful. She didn't want him getting hurt. Furthermore, if she got hurt from his actions, he might decide to never try flying again, and that would be awful...for both of them.

"I know, I know," he said, just content to simply work the muscles in his wings for now. He grew winded within the first few minutes, letting his wings hang as he panted. "Am I really that weakened?" he said, shaking his head. "I'm so...I don't know...disappointed. In myself, really." He sighed, then said "This isn't time for complaining, though. I must keep pushing myself." He lifted his wings and settled right back into his fluid motion, determined to regain his previous strength.