The Forgotten Zodiac

((Awwww. -hugs-))

Carlyle watched her go, not stopping her this time. She was right, of course...gods, how had he been so foolhardy? Well...they had protected him this long. Prevented his death for such a long time...

He walked down the stairs and headed toward the door. He put his hands in his pocket as he stepped outside, for once feeling the sun on his face, the stiff breeze in his hair...and being happy about it. He smiled slightly, wondering what was getting into himself. Then it hit him.

Not the answer, but an arrow. The maroon ribbon on the end was clear enough to see; the Blood Hawks' mark. Mercenaries, basically. Someone had hired someone else to kill him. Carlyle stared down at the arrow in his chest in mild confusion. Why was this there? It wasn't supposed to be...then another hit him right next to it, and Carlyle sank to his knees as another hit his gut. He was too numb to feel the shadows grab him and drag him back into the house. Too blind to see Marion flumbling with the arrows and Galai fussing over his wounds. Too deaf to hear Zelana's scream.

*

Luen felt for his spoon, muttering "Who's idea was it to have soup for lunch?"

The currently-blind kirin was sitting next to Forin in the Kaislun grand dining room, his head bent very close to his bowl. He was eating his lunch very slowly, struggling to make proper contact from the bowl to his mouth with the spoon. He pushed the cloth bandages over his eyes up and attempted to see his bowl, which Forin knew without looking closely was a mistake. Luen's eyes were very red and puffy, plus completely blood-shot. His pupils were extremely dialated, so greatly so that Forin almost couldn't see any of the kirin's emerald iris.

He moaned and closed his eyes quickly after only a second of trying to see, quickly pulling the bandages back over his eyes and pushing his bowl out of the way, letting his head fall sharply onto his folded arms a moment later, his long ears drooping against the table and his antlers clicking against the surface of it.

Forin sighed, pulling Luen's chair back a bit. He picked up the bowl and spoon. "Say 'ah'," He insisted until Luen complied. He fed his friend; he wasn't shamed, nor did he want Luen to be ashamed by the fact that he could no longer properly feed himself. He only wanted Luen to be well fed, and not weakened by hunger.

"I remember when we first met you," Airlia commented, smiling slightly. "You were so grumpy and forlorn, not caring about anything but Diana..."

"I didn't know what friendship was, then." Forin tutted. "I thought friendship...showing kindness to others was a form of weakness. But now I know that it's a great strength. And I will do anything for my friends."

Luen's face turned a very pale shade of pink, but he didn't complain at all. He was probably only upset that Airlia had to see him so weak. Once he was finished, he just leaned against the table and rested his head on his arms, weakly rubbing his eyes with his hand. "Uhhh...it hurts so much..." he muttered, sweat dripping down the side of his head. He looked peaked and pale, and a small touch on his forehead told Forin that he had a slight fever.

"It's okay..." Forin did indeed check his temperature. "Come along. We're going to go soak in the hot springs now." He murmured, helping Luen stand and moving to lead his dear friend along. He snatched up a breadroll first, not having finished his own soup. "We can finish our training later. Much later. Okay?"

Luen called a vague goodbye in what he hoped was Airlia's direction, then let Forin lead him along until they reached one of the stream springs. Once inside, Luen immediately began feeling better. The springs, naturally plum-full of healing properties straight from the core of the world, were soothing and calming. The kirin settled into the water, sliding down against the edge and holding his breath in order to submerse his eyes. When he emerged again, Forin was relieved to hear him say "Ahh...no more pain. At least that's one relief I have..."

"Don't soak too much," Forin warned. "I don't know if it'll stop your eyes from healing. I don't want you blind, Luen..." He lowered himself into the water near his friend, patting him lightly on the shoulder. "I wouldn't mind taking care of you, but...you wouldn't be able to take care of Allie very much." The girl in question had been brought here by Titus; they hadn't seen much of her, due to the fact that she always came to call at bad times. When Forin and Luen were training, while Luen was passed out on the floor, so on.

Normally, Luen would've ran to see her, but, unable to see where he was going, he had decided to wait a little bit. He was upset over their bad timing, and he was worried about her reaction when she saw he was blinded. It was only temporary, he knew, but...still. It was just the unreasonable side of himself talking.

He folded his legs against his chest and rested his chin on his knees, which brought the water level up to just under his nose. He lifted his head just enough to speak.

"I don't want to be blind either, you know." He gave his light hiccupping laugh. "After this, Forin...I need to see Allie. I need to reassure her that...that even though I can't see her, that my eyes are damaged...that I still love her. And...and she should still love me."

"Why would she not love you, Luen?" Forin tutted. "She didn't love you because you offered to care for her. She loved you because you cared enough to even make that offer. Because you showed her love that she didn't have before." He picked up a rag and started cleaning off his friend's antlers. "She had it for a little while, and when it was gone, she tried to kill herself...you said that yourself. Don't worry now; she's with Luna and Airlia both. I made Airlia promise not to let her out of her sight. She seemed really excited to be here, even...she loves it. And she knows that you had to fight to get her in here.

Luen closed his burned eyes softly under Forin's gentle touch, then sighed and said "Forin...stop." He reached up and took Forin's hand, saying "You take care of me too much," with a delicate smile. "You've already done a lot for me. And I imagine this won't be the last time you help me. I just...can't have you care for me 24/7, you know? I could never ask that of you, or be so weak as to need that." He slowly put Forin's fingers to the bandages over his eyes, brushing the back of his friend's fingers against the cloth.

Forin was silent for a moment. "You said before...I would slaughter the whole world for you, if you asked it. You don't even have to ask me to take care of you, Luen. I do it because I want to. Because you're my friend." He let Luen rub his hand, looking distant and...tired.

Luen was silent for a moment, simply concentrating on the healing waters around them, then suddenly lifted his metal hand and touched Forin's cheek softly. It took him a moment to remember that he couldn't feel with that hand, so he transfered. "Forin...are you okay?" he asked softly, and Forin knew that if his eyes weren't covered in bandages and burns, he would have an expression of true concern.

"I'm fine," Forin shook his head, taking Luen's hand in his. "Just relax. Don't worry about this, for the love of the Goddess. Just let me worry about you. That's it. Okay? Please..." He pulled Luen into a hug, then climbed out of the water, grabbing a towel to dry himself off. "Tell me when you want out, I'll help you dry off." He smiled, though his friend didn't see it.

"Fo-orin..." A soft voice called in the distance. It sounded like Airlia...Forin stood, walking to the door. "Forin!"

"One sec, Luen..." Forin stepped out for a moment, pulling his pants on before walking out of the hot springs entrance.

He was instantly tackled by Dulce. "I challenge you to an arena fight, you little worm," He snarled, digging his claws into his smaller version's gut.

Forin choked out a weak, "No", but Dulce just laughed.

"You will fight me in the arena. Or I'll tear out your precious Luen's antlers off and rip out his eyes. Or," The demonic being chortled. "What's left of his eyes."

Forin snarled and pushed Dulce off of himself, holding his stomach. "You can't do that! He's a guest of Kaislun, you--"

"I can and I will. See, guests of Amnairus are guests of Tartarus as well. It's illegal to kill guests of Tartarus. It's not so illegal to just...wound them. Isn't it, you maggot?" Dulce sneered, making sure to keep quiet so Luen wouldn't hear. "Fight me in the arena."

Forin paused, thinking for a long time. "Fi-fine...I accept." He staggered back to the healing springs. Dulce left without another word. Forin lowered himself back into the water, submerging his stomach and watching the blood leak out. If Luen knew what he had just done...

((Remember, we agreed that Forin would win this. 8I It would look like he was going to lose, then he'd pull out a super win and beat the livingcrappingfreakingstupiduglydaylights out of Dulce.))

Luen looked like he was falling asleep, completely unaware of what had just happened to his friend. As Forin looked on, he seemed to wake up a bit more and instead submerged his face in the water, holding his breath for a while as he attempted to let his eyes get some of the healing springs' powers. He resurfaced when he felt the water shift as Forin reentered. "Hey," he greeted softly, turning his head in the wrong direction. "What's up? I thought you were getting out."

((xD Yeeees.Of coooourse.))

"N-no, I..." Forin took a deep breath in, trying to keep his voice steady. "I missed a spot of dirt. That's all." He shrugged, waiting until the healing properties in the pool stopped the bleeding. He then got out and fetched the bandages from his bag, thanking himself for keeping a roll in his bag so consistently. He applied it and pulled his shirt on. "You ready to get out?" He asked his friend, no hurry in his voice.

"Yeah, sure," Luen said, sounding a bit suspicious, and Forin could tell, even with the bandages in the way, that he wore an expression of such as well. He fumbled for a towel once he was out of the water, wrapping it around his waist as he attacked his white hair with another. Forin gave him his clothes and, once both were dressed, they headed off together, with Forin moving slowly to match Luen's pace and to help guide the blinded kirin along. "Can we find Allie?" Luen asked, though he knew he didn't have to ask. Forin would do anything he wanted.

They found the three girls out in the garden, chatting happily. Luna was back to fully happiness as she braided Allie's hair up into a beautiful bun, telling some overdramatic story about two avon lerloches and a human that walked into a bar.

"-turns to the guy and exclaims "Hey! If I want to order a drink, I'll order a drink!" So the other guy gets real mad, see, and he turns and says- Forin!" She noticed her boyfriend and immediately smiled widely, getting up to run over and hug him tightly, followed by a rather passionate kiss and a stroke down his back.

Luen, upon hearing her chatter and feeling Forin flush under the sudden, loving attack beside him, immediately searched for Allie. "Allie?" he called, turning his head in every direction, as if trying to see her past the cloths over his eyes.

"I'm here," Allie called, pushing her wheelchair foward until she could reach out and take Luen's hand. "Are you...okay? What happened...what happened to your eyes?" She sounded horribly worried.

Forin led Luna away a bit, not looking very happy. With anything. "Luna...Luna, Dulce...attacked me. Threatened Luen. He has all the laws correct, he...he'll hurt Luen if I don't fight him in the arena..."

Luna's eyes widened, then she quickly looked over at Luen. The kirin held Allie's hand tightly, kissing her fingers as he carefully sat down next to her chair, reclinging lightly on folded legs. "It's nothing," he said, unaware that he had his head in the wrong direction until he moved to touch her cheek. He ran his hand up her arm, getting his head in the right spot in order to 'look' at her. He stroked her cheek, then softly felt her lips with his fingers and moved his head forward with delicate accuracy, kissing her gently.

Luna watched, then turned to Forin and whispered "We're going to take this to Titus. Dulce can't bully you around by threatening an innocent kirin. Luen's hurt, it's just not fair of Dulce to even bring him into this..."

Forin sighed. "Titus won't do anything, Luna, you know he won't. Galai isn't here to talk him into it. Besides...I can't hide behind him anymore. I can't run away from Dulce anymore. I just..." He leaned against her, closing his eyes. "I need your support. I need your strength, and endurance...I can't turn into a monster during this fight, I don't want to..."

Luna wrapped her arms tightly around him, kissing the mark on his forehead a few times before tilting his head back and kissing his lips. "Go train with Luen more," she said. "J-just tell him why you need to train, and then do it! Train until you can use those powers! You know if you tell Luen, he'll go crazy helping you! Please, Forin, I can't lose you again..."