The Forgotten Zodiac

Marion shifted back to her larger form and took a bit of the meat, though she left most of it for her dear Dmitry. He definitely needed it more, after all.

"What are you doing?" A little boy at the entrance of the alley blinked at them.

"Sammy, stop, didn't you hear what happened to Kylee?" A girl next to him pleaded, pulling on his arm and trying to lead him away, but he wasn't budging.

"The Peacekeepers got that bad man. These people don't look mean." Sammy snorted at her.

((Not permanant characters, but you probably knew that. xDD))

((Yup~))

Dmitry leaned back against the wall behind him, still munching on a bite of his breakfast. "Hey, that man is very, very sick," he said. "He's a...good friend of mine. You shouldn't call him bad. He's really very nice and loves children, but something attacked his brain and made him crazy."

It was better than explaining about what a Skinless Strider was.

"What are you two doing out here alone?" he asked, stroking Marion's head gently.

"He still attacked our friend. Now her mom won't let her leave the house as long as you guys are all here. And our watcher is mad that they postponed his death sentence." Sammy said confidently.

"We're orphans," The other girl said quietly, letting go of Sammy, though she hid behind him a bit. "Our dad died in the war...we live in the refugee house now, and we were assigned one of the peacekeepers as our guardian until a relative comes to pick us up, or we get adopted..."

Dmitry regarded the two quietly, then said "You two sound like good children. I'm sorry to hear about your father. I would suggest to you that you remain in your houses until we leave, just like your friend. We won't be here much longer. We're really only here for a few things before we move on." He scratched at the back of his neck, shifting his hat around, then said "It would be safer for you."

The girl started to pull Sammy away again, but the boy was adamant. "Are you going to leave your friend behind?" He questioned, his round eyes curious. He had no malicious intent or a wish for Nate to die. He was just innocently curious, no more.

"No. Friends don't leave their own, no matter what. We'll do something..." Marion murmured, then flicked her tongue out. "In fact...I believe Welk, Werr and Cynyr have returned from their...walk.

Dmitry glanced up, scenting the air, then said "You're right. Let's go greet them. You children should go home." He slid past them and trotted off, keeping his arms around Marion. He neared Werr and the others, calling "You're a bit too late on that antidote. Your dragonian has already nearly killed a small child. If not for your quick-minded healer, that child would be dead and Nate on his way to the gallows. But you've got a smidge of hope. They postponed the killing until your arrival. Seria begged them for it, so don't waste her tears for nothing."

"Well," Werr blinked, alarmed by the news.

"They wouldn't hang him," Isslia said quietly. "They would feed him to lions after cutting out his guts. The Peacekeepers are extremely careful with who they sentence to death, because it's the king's orders that this happen every time. You can imagine how odd it is...the king is a bit...loopy. But the Peacekeepers are supposed to be kind and more merciful than common guards."

"Oh...that's...that's good to know. Perhaps we can bargain for his release somehow..." Werr scratched the back of his neck, troubled. He made a beeline for the jail, ignoring his exhaustion. They had walked all night to get back here by morning, and now there wasn't even time to stop and rest...

Welk shifted to lion form and plunged forward, sweeping under Werr and carrying him right off to the jail. Cynyr, who was diligently following behind them, was carrying Isslia in his arms. He didn't want to, far from it, but it was hard denying Welk anything, especially when you considered what the young lion lerloch had been through merely a short time ago. Being separated from his body and all that.

Inside the jail, Seria was still there, her and Nate now both sleeping quietly together, curled up around each other. The half-cat healer had been stroking Nate's shoulders and back gently when she had dozed off, clearly exhausted.

Werr slid off of Welk and looked into the cell at them.

"You've arrived," Minerva stated from her seat next to the cell. "Shall I give you the evidence and reasoning?"

"Spare me. I'm going to fix him." Werr said, looking around. He found a bowl nearby and used that to hold the root. He took the end of his staff and used that to crush the root, wrinkling his nose at the pungent stench that wafted up to his nose. He shook Nate awake, desperate to have his dear friend and ally back in fighting condition.

Seria shifted, waking with a small "Nn...?" She pushed back and rubbed her eyes, then recognized them and said "You're back! Oh, thank goodness!" She stood and threw her arms around Werr, then Welk in turn. Welk smiled, wagging his tail once, then turned once Nate had passed out from the smell of the root. Welk scrambled for the bottle the woman had given them, passing it to Werr, who gave it to Nate. "You'd better be okay, Froggy," Welk said softly. "I won't let Tasia and Ariana be fatherless..."

Nate didn't move for what seemed like ages. Minerva was watching from outside, looking conflicted and slightly angry. She wasn't about to tell them to leave, though. She just...wasn't sure what to do with Nate. By all laws and codes of conduct, he had to be executed. But some part of her didn't want to that. Her quartermaster would be angry with her, but...

"Ser...ia...?" Nate slowly opened his eyes. He pushed himself upright, looking around in bewilderment.

"How do you feel?" Werr questioned.

Nate just slowly nodded. "Better."

Seria fell on him at once, sniffling and pressing close. "Nate, oh Nate, are you okay? Are you feeling yourself again?" She bombarded him with questions, all those concerning a friend to another. She hugged him tightly, then swarmed Werr and Welk again, unable to express her joy.

Cynyr slunk inside in his usual dark-presence sort of way, calmly reporting that Isslia was safe in the guest house with Lexi, who was itching to see Werr. It appeared she wanted to talk to him and seemed quite distressed over something, but could wait until he came to her.

"RIght. We need to get back to the inn, then, and--" Werr started, but Minerva cut him off.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but he's not going anywhere." She pointed at Nate, who had been smiling until she spoke. "I haven't excused his crime."

"You have now," Werr frowned at her.

"No. I haven't." She turned on him, looking serious. "He's a criminal, and that hasn't changed. I don't care if he was insane, he still has the potential to do it again. If I let him walk, not only will I get in trouble, but a bounty will likely be put on his head by popular demand, and the townsfolk themselves will chase you out of here before noon."

"Listen, lady!" Welk shouted, rounding on her at once. "If you think I'm going to let you so much as touch Nate, why I'm gonna-"

"No you don't," Cynyr said, grabbing Welk narrowly around his waist and holding him back. "Maybe you should give him some of that potion too, Werr. He's never been quite right in the head."

"Shut up!" Welk cried, struggling to be let go of. "Cynyr, let go."

"No."

"I'll make you."

"Yep."

"Let. Go."

"No."

A glare.

"Look, we're not going to let her lay a finger on Nate," Cynyr said, casting a meaningly, pointed gaze at the woman. "But to be safe, he should stay in here until we leave. Which will be very soon."

"He's not leaving." Minerva shook her head. "You take him out of this jail, whether by force or not, he'll be a wanted man with a nice price on his head. You'll be running from Peacekeepers and citizens alike, and--"

"We're used to running. It'll take a few days for the information to get across city to city. If we're not out of Herrace by then, well...it'll be more than just a wanted poster that'll be causing problems." Werr snapped at her. Diana had two days left. They had to get a move on soon, lest the poor girl meet her fate and Forin...well, Forin won't be happy. "We'll take him by force. You don't have to let him go. We'll do some damage too, to make it convincing."

"Fine," She snapped at him. "Go ahead and try."

"Why don't you say that to our good friend Naybrin's face?" Welk retorted angrily, full of fire, then let out a loud "HUMPH!" and promptly left, needing some time alone.

Cynyr exhaled, then said "Yes, perhaps we do need Naybrin's help on this one. The First of all Kings has power nearly everywhere he goes. He is divinely blessed by the Goddess, after all. He was her first thinking creation." He shrugged, then said "I'll stay here with Nate and Seria. We wanted to talk to him anyways. Werr, you go find your girlfriend, then go after Welk. Heaven only knows how much trouble he could cause."

"Right." Werr nodded once, turning on heel and walking out.

"Wait...what's going on?" Nate seemed to realize that he was in jail. He looked around more carefully, spying the shackle that had been placed around his ankle. Finally, his mind caught up with his ears and eyes, and he seemed to come to the realization that he had done something very, very bad. "Skies above...Seria, what did I do? I tried to stay with you, but you had to attend to Diana. I...I wandered downstairs and talked with that soldier for a few minutes...he's a decent man, but when he tried to stop me from leaving, I bit him. I think...I don't remember...Seria, what on earth did I do?"

She bit her lip and was about to explain when her husband beat her to it. "You attacked a young girl, but Seria healed her up right so," he said. "There's not a single scratch of lasting physical damage. And now you've got your right mind back, so pipe down and be grateful you didn't kill her."

Seria threw him a plaintive look, then said "Honestly, Cynyr, that could've gone much better."

He tilted his head with his eyes closed, giving a short "Hmm."

Seria exhaled, then nuzzled into Nate and said "We thought we had lost you permanently...oh, Nate..."

"Skies above...that poor girl..." Nate murmured, his head low. "Gods, what have I become...? Are you sure I'm better? Completely? I don't want to drop into that again..."

"How did you get into it in the first place?" Ophile questioned.

"I...I dunno. I just remember Lennon...wi-with that needle..." He shuddered, closing his eyes. "The rest of you were unconscious when he dumped us in the carriage. I didn't know what to do...there was nothing I could do. He...he was going to inject you, Seria. But I moved in the way. I guess he only had the one syringe, or he would have done it to you after I passed out."

((She wouldn't have been able to heal like that, soz. 936))

((Oh my.))

Seria clasped her hands over her mouth, looking mortified, then nuzzled against Nate and said "...Nate..." ever so softly. She sniffled and started crying, especially when Cynyr inched over and actually sat quietly next to Nate, his side brushing the dragonian's as he put his arms around his wife.