The Forgotten Zodiac

"Okay," Isslia said, seeming to calm down. She even let her tail wag once or twice as she walked beside him, her feet scattering gravel.

Werr seemed...distracted. His mind kept wandering back to Lexi. She...worried him. Especially as of late. She kept...drifting off. And it was starting to scare Werr. What if she nearly fell out of a window again? What if she hurt herself or someone else by accident? Werr just didn't know what to do...

Cynyr glanced up at him, then nudged him and said "Hey, snap out of it. Come on, we have work to do." He studied him, then said "She'll be fine, Werr. I won't let anything bad happen to her either. We're all here to protect each other. And each other's future." He shook his head once, then kept walking, flicking his long black tail.

"Right...I knew that." Werr nodded slowly, then sighed a bit. "I'm just concerned, that's all. She keeps zoning out, and I'm scared that she might do it again...and stay that way." He scratched the back of his neck, shaking his head. "Whatever. It doesn't really matter too much, like you said. We'll keep her safe together." He forced a smile onto his face as they approached the first door.

Complete silence met their knocking. Werr's smile left, to be replaced with a frown, and he knocked again. "Hello?"

"Go away!" The man inside snapped, eying them through his window. "Shoo!"

"Excuse me?" Werr furrowed his brow. "We just want to ask questions--"

"I'm not telling you anything about Herrace, and I don't know any war plans! Go away!"

The sound of sharp claws on a wooden door sounded as Cynyr dragged his paws over the door, leaving thick trenches in it. He ignored when Werr told him to stop, instead going for his own words.

"Oh, so you're racist, is that it? You think we're from Bulliete or something like that? Or are you just stupid? We're from Alastor, across the ocean. We were told Bulliete was our friend, that Herrace was our enemy, but then Bulliete stabbed us in the back. Why else would we march right in here? We don't want to die. We want to help. And right now, we're just looking for a woman allegedly able to cure vamprism. Tell me, know anything about that? Or would you rather me ask about 'war plans?'"

"Racism...more like fear. Don't you get it? You prance in here dragging along slaves and an easily recognizeable general of our enemies. Of course we're not going to welcome you here with open arms, and of course, people aren't going to be very willing to just open their doors wide. Even if you don't mean any harm. Somehow." The man said from behind the door, opening the slot in his door that allowed him to see out without looking through the tiny window. "Look, I'll tell you where that lady is, but after that, you've gotta leave me alone."

"That's all we need," Werr said with a small sigh.

"She's in a place called Juran. It's a jungle, almost. She lives in the trees. Some people think she's part squirrel for that, but she's only human. And they call her a miracle worker, but I know that she's just a crazy old hag who knows some stuff. That's it. Go away." He slid the slot shut again.

Cynyr snorted, then said "And have a nice day," before turning and brushing past Werr. Welk trotted over, still holding Isslia's hand, and said "Where are we going?"

"Juran. A jungle," Cynyr said, continuing to walk. "Just keep up."

Welk tilted his head at his brother, then pretended to bite Werr's shoulder, keeping up a generally happy air.

"We're just going by ourselves?" Werr frowned. "It would be easier if we had Naybrin...a trip like that could take days, Cynyr, and my map is back at the inn..."

"Juran is a half-day's walk from here. To the northwest." Isslia piped up. "I memorized a lot of maps..."

"Well...that's great, but we don't have a full day to spend on walking."

"Sorry..." Isslia looked down, disheartened by Werr's annoyed tone.

Werr sighed. "It's not your fault. Sorry, I'm just flustered right now...wait, didn't that guy say something about a general? Was he talking about Carlyle?"

"Yes," Isslia peeped again. "Carlyle Groy. One of three first-class generals and pretty much the best fighter that Bulliete has. Or...had. He's been known for going missing in action from time to time. Supposedly, he gets captured by the enemy, but a joke goes around the lower ranking soldiers that he has a hyperactivity disorder, and he chases after butterflies.

"His father abandoned him after his mother became pregnant with his two twin brothers. One of them was drafted into the war against his consent, and the other committed suicide after his mother died and the news returned of his twin's death. All three deaths were recent, and the whereabouts of Carlyle's father is still unknown." This was the most Werr had heard Isslia talk, really. And the creepy part was the fact that she seemed to know everything about someone else. "He has two known aliases. Burt Volden and Quint Winchman. He's a decent man at heart, but under serious scrutiny due to his MIAs. His young age makes him unpopular; he's often considered rash and he doesn't think things through very well, according to his peers." She finally stopped talking, hiding behind Welk. The odd look that Werr was giving her made her feel nervous. "S-sorry..."

"No, it's okay...I'm just wondering how much you know about me." Werr blinked at her.

Welk patted Isslia's shoulder gently, then said "You're smart, Isslia, and I'm glad that you're on our side with all of this information. But I have a question! How much do you know about me?"

Cynyr scoffed, saying "Welk, you're rediculous."

"What? What did I do?" the fire mage said, blinking at his sibling. "I just want to know. It's interesting."

"Whatever floats your boat, I guess," Cynyr said, flicking his tail and tilting his ears back.

"W-well, I..." Isslia looked down. "Not much. I was told to research the king, and so I did. All the documents they gave me said you were the king, but according to you...you're not the king. Werr is."

"It's true," Werr nodded. "My advisors and I have been planning ahead for something like this. I'm not strong...if everyone knew who and what I was, if I made enemies while I'm out of my country, they wouldn't have to look far to find my weaknesses. But all of that is under Welk's name. His weak points aren't the same as mine. This way, if the supposed king of Alastor is taken, Welk will be safer and--"

"I know the logic behind it." Isslia said quietly. "I know everything about you, then, Werr. Everything you allowed to be written. But you, Welk...I don't know much about you. There was mention of knights. Are you one of Werr's knights?"

"I am!" Welk said proudly, showing off his sharp teeth as he grinned. "Me and Cynyr are his only two personal knights. We follow him everywhere and it's our duty to protect him no matter what. We're all brothers, although Werr isn't related to us. But that doesn't matter. Me and Cynyr are only half brothers anyways. I'm a fire mage, but you knew that already. For the first years of my life, I thought I was a cat, then my mane grew in and I was a lion."

Cynyr put his paw over his face, muttering about Welk's social skills needing tweaking.

"I don't have a girlfriend yet," Welk continued. "I'm waiting until that special someone comes along. And I feel, somehow..." He grew serious and slowly cast his bright crimson gaze at Isslia. "...that I'll know when I see her," he said softly.

Isslia slowly nodded. "I understand that well enough." She squeezed his hand a bit, but didn't let go. "So, um...do you have any living relatives? I know that Werr has a cousin, but his location is unknown..."

"Toro? He works in Amnairus now. He's still an heir to the throne, but I'm not willing to make him take it. He's happy where he is." Werr shrugged.

"Am...nairus?" Isslia looked greatly confused, at that.

"It's part of what Kaislun is," Welk said, nodding. "Tartarus is the other part. It's like, a brother and sister world. They got combined into one, which is Kaislun. They're both beautiful worlds. I'll show them to you, okay?" He smiled, his hand warm over hers.

A woman scurrying down the street accidentally bumped into Cynyr, which caused the panther to yelp and jump to the side. The woman apologized hurriedly and ran away. The wind mage shifted to human form and rubbed his shoulder wearily, looking more pained than a single bump would've done.

"You okay?" Werr asked his brother, while Isslia was still asking questions.

"Tartarus...I think I heard Forin mention that once or twice. Is he from there?" She tilted her head from the side. "But I never read anything about the majority of the people in your group. That wolf scares me. If he can break into my memories, and see everything I've learned..." She trembled a bit, trailing off. Werr knew the rest, though. It wasn't hard to guess. She'd be killed for treason, and might even try to kill herself before anyone found out.

Welk frowned, then suddenly bent and lifted her right into his arms, carrying her bridal-style. Before she could protest, he said "Your feet are getting cut up from the gravel. And I want you to feel safe. There's no safer place than right in someone's arms." He tried to hold back the soft purr building in his throat, but Isslia could feel the vibrations coming off of his chest.

Cynyr shook his head, saying "I'm fine. Just keep walking, okay?" He flicked his tail, then hesitantly said "I've just been feeling a bit stiff lately. Nothing bad."

"Stiff? Cynyr...that's bad. What if we're in battle, and...and you lock up or something?" Werr murmured, frowning unhappily. "Did you talk to Seria about it? I...I don't think she would be able to do anything, but...we've got to find something..."

Isslia herself went stiff at first, fearing the worst. But slowly, she relaxed in Welk's arms. She realized what he had said was true; she hadn't noticed, but her feet were bleeding ever so slightly now. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, to make it easier for him to carry her.

Welk smiled softly down at her, then rested his head against hers and just kept walking.

Cynyr snorted, nearly looking like he was pouting, then said "Seria has been busy lately. I don't need to tell her something that will only worry her over nothing. I'll be fine. I just didn't stretch this morning, that's probably it. I'm not exactly limber right now."

"Cynyr, we've been walking for awhile now," Werr shook his head with a small sigh. "If you're not limber now, then something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong." He stopped and pulled his brother into a hug. "I'm...I'm worried about you, that's all. I'm afraid that if you do lock up...I dunno. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid..."

Cynyr tensed, but not for the reasons he would've long ago. He was well past his phase of being anti-touch, so this time, it was something different. But he sighed and put his arms around Werr in return, exhaling into the boy's black hair. "I'm fine, Werr," he said. "It's nothing I can't handle. You don't need to worry, okay?"

"That won't stop me from worrying," Werr snorted, but continued to follow the road as the gravel quickly changed to dust as they went further away from the village. Despite his protests, Werr had decided to just follow his brother and not bother returning to the inn. Obviously.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Isslia, not having gotten much sleep the previous night, was falling asleep in Welk's arms.

Welk shifted her up a bit, letting her head rest on his shoulder, then looked up at Werr and smiled widely at him, feeling quite happy. They walked on, not really needing to go back for anything in the first place. If they were hungry, all they had to do was step outside of the town. Cynyr or Welk could hunt for them, easily, and Welk's fire was warming enough.