The Forgotten Zodiac

"That...would be okay." Isslia slowly nodded, reaching out and waiting for him to take her hand. "You...warmed my blanket the other night. I, uh...thank you." She nearly flinched away when he took her hand, but his touch was gentle and sweet. "Sorry for being such a deadweight yesterday. I didn't want to be left behind, but I didn't mean to be so...useless."

He curled his fingers gently around hers, smiling softly at her. "You're not useless," he said as they started to walk. "You're just not as strong as some of the other members of this ragtag group. But not to worry. I can protect you from anything that will ever try to hurt you. I won't let you be hurt again. Ever." His voice was thick with determination, and when he smiled at her, it was a kind, handsome look that fit his face perfectly.

"Strength....Forin was strong. That power...it scared me, almost." She shivered a bit. "He hurt Werr. I don't even know why...I guess he was mad." She sighed and looked up at him, her timidness and nervous tendencies obviously clashing with his confidence and outgoing nature. "Would you...be able to stop something like that?"

"Me? Maybe," he said. "I would put my whole being into, you'd better believe it. And if I couldn't stop him, then I'd go down trying. I never give up easily. Never." And he smiled a knowing smile, remember how he had literally gone to the brink of death for Werr, during their terrible, tortureous trial in the Eternal Garden. He shook himself, then suddenly watched Isslia for several moments before saying something else. "Do you like me?" he asked, then blinked a few times and said "N-not...not like that. In that way. I just mean...well...do you like me at all? Or are you just intimidated by me and going along with whatever I say? Or...are we friends?" His tail and ears were held completely still now, as if everything depended on her answer.

((I like how he didn't react to Werr being hurt. xDD I was expecting him to grab Isslia and run back.))

Isslia looked at him carefully, knowing how nervous he was. "I...' She looked down, rubbing her arm and letting go of his hand. "I told you before that I trust you. That I believe that if you can't earn my trust and keep it...well, then...no one can. I still believe that. You're kind of...my last hope, I guess." She looked up at him again. "I'd like very much to stay with you. You...do intimidate me, but that's not something I can help. Everyone intimidates me. But, I...I want to like you. I really do. You're kind, and gentle, and strong. But at the same time, I'm scared..."

((Oh. Well. Um. I just didn't notice that, I'm sorry. Let's have her say that later, and then he'll freak out.))

"You have the right to be afraid," he said. "After what you've been through. It must've been hard." Then he snarled and hissed out "I swear, if I ever find any of those people that did those terrible things to you, I'll tear their good-for-nothing throats out! They don't deserve to live." He panted for a second, then sighed and looked over at her, his eyes sad. He very carefully moved a hand up and stroked a lock of her hair back, saying "I just...I can't understand...why anyone would ever...ever...want to hurt someone as sweet and beauitful as you..."

He realized what he had said and made a funny sort of choking sound in the back of his throat, his eyes widening as blush crept onto his cheeks.

Isslia took a step back in alarm, staring at him as though he had called her ugly and fat. She got a little red in the cheeks and turned away, only to come face-to-face with a boy a bit older than her.

"Are you friends with that Nate guy?" He questioned angrily.

"N-not really..." She took a step back, more scared than ever, now.

"Yes, you are. You came here with them. That freak nearly killed my little sister,"

"I'm sor-sorry, I--" She cut off as he nearly punched her. She backreeled and bumped into Welk, promptly hiding behind him in terror.

"We don't want you people here! You'd better pack up and leave right quick." The boy snapped, fuming. Welk looked a lot tougher than anything he could handle...and now he looked mad, too.

Welk snarled and grabbed the kid around his neck, slamming him back into the building behind them. "Listen you smart-elec," he spat. "You don't know anything about 'that Nate guy' like we do. How would you like being injected with poison that erodes your brain and mind and makes it so you can do nothing, hardly even breathe, without feeling terrible, terrible pain. As that poison in your body slowly eats away at everything you hold near and dear to your heart. Like the memories of having a wife and only daughter!" Jaw trembling, Welk wrenched his hands loose from the collar of the boy's shirt, then said "Come on, Isslia, let's go." He took her hand, ever so gently, and let her off, his tail held stiffly behind him.

The boy staggered away, glaring after them.

Isslia followed, silent until she caught sight of a horse trotting towards them. Forin and Diana were on the back of it, and Spy was sitting on the horse's head. Forin stopped the horse next to Isslia and Welk. "We're leaving. We'll find you later, if we can. Welk...I hope you know what you have to do. I would do it, but you know what she said...I can't. It's too easy for me." He started the horse off again, then looked back over his shoulder to call, "Apologize to Werr for me, will you?"

Welk frowned, watching them head off, then said "Yeah, I know. Bye..." He sighed, then murmured "Find Luen safely...okay?"

Then he paused. "Wait...apologize to Werr? Why apologize? Did you do something to him?" He stared at their retreating forms, then turned to Isslia and said "I need to go to Werr. Come on." He scooped her into his arms and leapt skyward without thinking, feeling her shrink back against his chest.

Isslia whimpered, clinging to Welk tightly. "I-I told you, he hurt Werr..."

When they reached the king, Werr was still resting outside with Lexi. He didn't look too hurt, but he was definitely hurting on the inside. A nice bruise had welled up on his face, although most of the damage had been done to his chest and gut. "H-hey, Welk," He smiled a bit. He certainly sounded hurt. "I need to work on my grip...Forin ripped the staff right out of my hands..."

((I thought we cut out that she said that, in favor of putting it here?))

Welk stared down at his friend for a long moment, carefully setting Isslia down, then suddenly hissed and flattened his ears, saying "What was this all about?! Why did he hurt you?!" He hissed loudly, flicking his tail, then sat down next to Werr and said "Are you okay? You look terrible." He said it flatly, and there were stray tears in his eyes, and he was clearly beating himself up over not being around to help him. Though that was probably better for himself and Forin. He carefully reached out and gently rested his hand on Werr's chest, feeling the fabric of Werr's shirt beneath his fingers.

((No, I just assumed Welk wasn't paying attention. xD Whatever works for you, though.))

"Nah...I'm okay." Werr smiled, feeling his friend's warmth flow through him. It relaxed him further, which was good. "I...told him that we couldn't fix Luen. I thought he had taken the news well, but...he attacked me. He kept screaming something about me always having a plan and that I had to tell him. I don't even know if it was him...he looked weird. And his punches...he only punched me two or three times, Welk. I feel like I've been run over by a horse..."

((Haha, nice.))

Welk sniffed and wiped his face lightly with the back of his sleeve, then said "He...we passed them in town, me and Isslia. He asked me to apologize to you for him." He sniffed again, then leaned back and tucked his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and putting his chin and mouth into them. "...I should've punched him in the face," he muttered, looking so despondant and sad.

"It's fine, Welk. I don't blame you." Werr murmured, taking his friend's hand. He pressed Welk's hand to his chest again, feeling the warmth again. It was comforting and warm, and somehow eased his pain a little bit. It was probably just in his head, though. He really needed something cold instead, to stop the swelling, but he didn't care too much.

Werr sighed at last. "We have to save Diana, first off. We can't let that poor girl die...Seria told me that her fever came on suddenly and is already really high. She won't eat anything and she treats water as though it burns her...she won't last long, and she's suffering..."

"Then let's get going," Welk said firmly, standing and helping his friend up. "I don't want Forin after our throats if she dies. Let's go kick some Yemara butt, eh?" He smiled smugly, then said "I have no idea what we're going to do, though." He scratched his head, then looked to Isslia and said "Do you know of any way to get Yemara out here so we can murder her?"

Isslia blinked at him, then looked down. "You can't kill a Demigod's spirit, to my knowledge..."

"You can, actually." Cyprus said, hanging around them. "You have to destroy the center of their magic..."

Werr blinked, looking up at him. "Hey, Cyprus. Any ideas?"

"Killing Yemara is a bad idea." Cyprus shook his head.

"Oh. That's a shame." Werr sighed, assuming that Cyprus had simply said 'no'. The Demigod took offense at this, though, and glared at Werr unhappily before storming inside to find Naybrin or someone else who could translate.

Naybrin was inside, hanging from of the dinning hall's rafters by his tail like an overgrown bat. "Greetings, Cyprus," he said, pausing from his nibbling on a whole ham. "You are troubled. Could I be of assistance? Would you like a bite of ham? It's quite delicious." He nipped a delicate bite off, swallowing quietly before unwinding his tail from the rafter, landing on his hind legs next to the demigod.

((It's an inn, not a mansion. xDD))

"No, I'm okay. But Werr and Welk...they want to kill Yemara. It's bad...it's a very bad idea. Nothing good will come of it..." He murmured, shivering slightly. He and Yemara, as much as he disliked it, were closely linked. If her magic was crushed, his would slowly erode, and he himself would die. "I wish I could remove the curse...if only my magic was as strong as it once was...and the only reason it's weak now is because Yemara is stuck wandering this land as a spirit!" He whimpered, shaking his head. "Naybrin, I fear that nothing good can come of this. Any of this! Yemara knows that they'll try to kill her, she knew that...but their reckless actions will bring down the wrath of the Goddess upon them all, and...maybe even worse, if that is still alive..."

((Ah. So dinning room, then. xD))

Naybrin hummed and thought about it for a moment, then said "Well, I certainly don't want you to die, nor do I want poor little Diana to suffer. It seems we've reached an impasse." He thought for a moment, then a soft light entered his eyes. "Hmm. Maybe...just maybe..." He put his scaled mouth to the demigod's ear and spoke quietly to him, explaining a plan he had thought of. Before Cyprus could deny or agree, Naybrin trotted off down the hallway to find the others, the ham clutched tightly in his mouth.