The Forgotten Zodiac

"Wh-what? I was still looking around, Cynyr, I--" He started to protest, but eventually relaxed and let himself be pushed out. "Cynyr, are you okay? What's going on?" Werr frowned. He hadn't even looked at the dead woman yet; it was obvious that she had been the one to take Diana, but why was she dead?

"No. Just go," he said sternly, giving the boy another push, a little harder than before. "J-just go. I don't want to be here anymore. We don't need to be here anymore. Let's just go!"

Welk frowned, then ran over and bumped Werr gently, pushing him towards Cynyr's back. "Here, sit on him for once," he said. "I'll fly just over your head, okay?" He nuzzled his dear friend, then flinched when Cynyr started running without warning. Welk could only follow, wondering what was eating at his sibling.

Werr held on for dear life, not wanting to fall off. "What the heck has gotten into you, Cynyr? J-just calm down and explain!" He demanded, but he didn't try to stop Cynyr at all. He knew better than to try. Honestly, his panther friend was scaring him a bit...Werr looked back at the house as it disappeared from his view, the trees getting in the way. Nothing seemed wrong with it...maybe there was something wrong with Cynyr. Lexi had been acting odd recently, too, and Werr didn't even dare think about poor Nate...

"Shut up," the panther spat, his fur refusing to lower until they were quite far from the house. "Just...just hush, okay? Hush."

Welk flew overhead, like he promised, looking concerned and flicking his tail rapidly.

Once they were close to town, Cynyr slowed down, breathing very slowly but heavily. He kept walking, looking a bit tired as Welk alighted delicately next to him. "Cynyr?" he questioned. "Are you okay?"

He didn't answer, still looking distant.

Werr was started to get a bit fed up with his friends drifting off into la-la land. First Lexi, now his older brother? Werr wasn't going to stand for it, and the fact that it seeemd to be getting more and more frequent only made Werr even more upset. "Cynyr! Explain yourself right now, or so help me, I'll walk back there myself and investigate it alone!" He snapped, cuffing his friend over the ear. Not enough to actually hurt, but just enough to get his attention.

To his surprise, Cynyr suddenly leap to the side at the cuff, yowling. "Stop it!" he shouted, ignoring how Werr fell off because of the sharp jump. "Don't hurt me! Stop it!" He hissed at Werr, then slowly blinked and sat down, covering his eyes with his paws.

Welk was at Werr's side in an instant, then he slowly said "...Cynyr? Did, um...did that house kind of...remind you of the place you were taken to when you were little? Where they...?"

His silence was plenty of an answer.

Werr watched his friend quietly, his gaze softening. He sighed and stood, brushing himself off. "I'm going to go ask Allie about the place," He said quietly, turning and walking back to the inn. It was only a few houses down from where they were now, so it wasn't like Werr was wandering off alone.

Nate staggered out of the house next, blinking in the harsh sunlight. He looked around curiously, his eyes falling on Cynyr and Welk. "Hello," He said, approaching slowly. "Have you seen Luen? I need a hug, and Seria is busy with Diana..."

The two cats exchanged a look, then Welk beat his brother to a "Not it!" and ran off after Werr.

Cynyr snarled after him, clipping his tail with a blast of wind, then turned to Nate and said "I won't lie. He's gone. Apparently, he ran off after transforming into some sort of were-deer-wolf creature. We have no idea where he is." He shifted to human form and stood up, blinking his bright yellow eye at Nate.

"No," Nate shook his head. "Forin said the same thing. Why is everyone lying to me? Luen wouldn't run off..." He had an odd look in his eye, one that told that his conscious mind was still clearly being affected by his most recent afflictions. He was trying to think straight; at least he could talk again, but it was doing more harm than good. It was a bit sad to see; Nate had been a noble, upstanding and strong Dragonian not all that long ago. Now...now he was just struggling to find some support. Someone to lean on and help set him right.

Suddenly, Nate said, "I think I should hit you. I want to hit you. You're lying to me, and I don't like that...but I don't want to hit you. I hit Forin, and that made Diana cry. Will Seria cry if I hit you?"

Cynyr flicked his ears down and moved back a pace, his hands coming up a bit as if to defend himself against any potential attack. "Don't you dare hit me right now, Nate," he warned. "I am not in the mindset for anything like that right now. Don't you dare." He hesitated, then very slowly took a step forward and lifted his hands, his tail curling down between his legs. With a calmly distant expression on his face, he very softly placed his hands on either side of Nate's face, staring right into his eyes with his single one. "Don't do something you'll regret later," he said quietly. "Calm down. You're still Nate under there. You're that one that's been there, nearly from the beginning.

"You're there."

Nate stared at him for a very long while before stepping away, not taking his eyes off of Cynyr. "I...I'll go see if Seria's done." He murmured, starting to walk away. The reason was apparent a few moments later, when a large ball hit his leg. He paused, watching as a set of three kids ran over, though they hesitated to take their ball back when it was so close to such a dangerous looking Nethini. The smallest one, a little half-cat girl, inched forward and reached down to take the ball, and just barely managed to get her hands around it before she felt Nate's claws grabbing her shirt. He snarled at her viciously, and she let out a terrified scream. Nate raised his claws, prepared to rip through the girl. She would fall apart like cut paper, she--

"Nate," Werr's voice, firm and serious, came from the doorway of the inn. "Put that down this instant," He ordered. Nate turned his gaze on the king, then slowly set the girl down again. She ran away, her friends running with her. Werr stormed out of the house. "Inside, now!" He snapped, and Nate started growling, but Werr rapped him lightly on the tail with his staff. Nate stopped at once and headed inside.

Werr sighed with relief. "I didn't think that would work...he's been acting like an animal lately, so I thought if perhaps I treated him like one..."

Cynyr turned away, 'tsk'ing quietly. "We need to get him fixed, and soon," he said, wrapping his arms around himself, slowly rubbing his shoulders and elbows. His joints. Welk poked his head out from around Werr, trembling softly. Nate scared him now, and he didn't want to be scared of him.

"Cynyr, come inside with us," he said, almost begging his oldest brother.

Cynyr hesitated, then nodded and said "Okay. I'll come in."

Welk smiled and pressed his nose to Werr's leg, wondering if Werr could feel how much he was loved.

"No kidding." Werr sighed. At least they knew how to control him a little better now. For now, at least. But how long would it be before animal turned into monster again? How long would Nate be able to last underneath this insanity that seemed to have broken him?

Werr followed Cynyr inside, sighing unhappily. So many problems...was it even possible for them to deal with them all at once?

"Come on!" Welk said, bouncing around a bit. "Let's go look for the vampire-curing lady! She's the one allegedy supposed to fix Luen, right? What if she can help Nate too! That was our plan, after all."

"It was," Cynyr said. "So why don't we at least go look for her? If she can help settle down all of this crap, then let's go. Naybrin is here with the girls, so we can just go."

((Hee hee~))

"Right. We have to find out where she lives," Werr nodded, thinking a bit. "We could try asking around, but I'm not certain how welcome we are in this town..." He looked around. Ever since they had showed up, it was as though people were avoiding being seen on the streets. Werr was beginning to wonder if anyone actually lived here at all, but he doubted there would be children and no adults. At the very least, they could ask the Peacekeepers...

"Well it certainly isn't my dashing good looks scaring them off," Welk said, shaking his thick mane proudly.

Cynyr rolled his eyes, then said "Then let's ask around. Come on." He turned and grabbed his bag from a chair nearby, then stepped out of the building, saying "I'll leave you behind."

Welk scoffed, then took human form and hugged Werr again, nuzzling into him before stepping away and following their eldest brother.

Welk dropped back to walk next to her, tilting his head slightly. "Are you okay?" he asked, his ears flattening against his head. He stooped and plucked a flower from the ground, tucking it behind her fluffy ear. He hesitated, then said "Isslia, I...I really like you. I don't want you to ever, ever be sad. I want to find all those people that hurt you and just...just freaking rip them apart! They don't even deserve to be alive! But you...I just want you to be happy. I want to make you happy. I want to make you happy every day, for the rest of your life, if I could. And if I can't do that, then I'll find someone else who can. Because love doesn't stop after something bad like that. Like my friend Nate. His wife had the same sort of thing done to her, but...it's like she's forgotten her past." He sighed, then blushed and said "Sorry, I-I tend to ramble when it's something I'm passionate about..."

The half-cat blinked, his crimson eyes widening, then he gently wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, saying "I promise I'll protect you. And I take my promises to heart! I promised my brother, Werr, that I would protect him too, and I have all these years. He knows it, too." He nuzzled the top of her head, then delicately kissed her forehead before just holding her close. He was warm and strong, but oh so gently with her. He took her hand and walked with her, making sure that he walked at the pace she set.

Cynyr glanced over his shoulder, giving a small chuckle before nudging Werr softly, getting a stroke out of the boy.