The Forgotten Zodiac

Boko walked carefully, not letting any of the thorns slip into his 'shoes'. "Thanks, Shiya," He smiled happily. "These work great." He purred, then quickly got back to talking to her. He liked talking to her, and there were no rules that said that he couldn't. "Would you like me to teach you how to hunt better?" He asked, smiling away. "I'm going to have to learn to fight better. We'll get better at things together!"

Shiya nodded happily, tucking her head gently under his chin to help protect her eyes from the brambles. "Yes," she said. "I'd like that. I'm not strong enough to take down deer yet..." She gave a soft purr, sighing and twining her tail into his, exhaling a small burst of warm flames from her nose.

"You don't have to be strong, you've gotta be smart!" Boko already had his eyes shut. He was able to pick his way through the brambles anyway, leading Shiya confidently. He giggled and purred away as they walked. "Taking out the legs is the most important part. If they can't run, it's suuuper easy to finish it off...oh, hey, we're almost out," He said, noting the lower brambles. He opened his eye, then darted forward to the bush-free path. He immediately flopped down and rolled around in the mud, happy.

Shiya smiled and watched him, then slid forward and joined him, wondering what he found so pleasurable in getting his scales all dirty. Dragons usually didn't do things like that, after all. They liked keeping their scales clean. But after a moment, she realized that it actually felt really good and cool against her diamond-hard scales. She trilled and sank down further in the puddle, grinning.

"SEE? It's awesome! I can't get Lutrez to do this with me," Boko giggled, shoving his nose in the mud and blowing bubbles. "Mommy hates it when I do this. She always makes me go to the river and take a bath. But," He rolled over and looked up at Shiya happily. "There's a method to my madness. The mud masks our scent and the color of our scales. We can sneak up on things a whole lot easier, see." He twisted his tail about, then started using it to smear more mud on Shiya. Over her shoulders and neck, mostly, but he avoided her face. Mostly because he started licking her nose scales again a few moments later.

((He's so hyperactive and random. xD))

((He's adorable~))

She purred and let him lick her, enjoying his touch, then said "We should keep going," and pulled herself free from the mud, giving herself a firm shake before turning to watch him get free next. Once they were ready, they continued onwards, finally finding their next challenge.

A wide, open field stretched in front of them, a field Boko knew at once was dangerous, probably because there were several large, skeletal horses were stalking back and forth, sharp teeth bared. They were made of magic cast by the Elders, but that didn't mean they weren't scary.

Boko curled his back upwards, much like a cat would arch its spine. He was still covered in mud; he slowly crawled forward, sticking very close to the ground. He got closer and closer, until they finally took notice; several of them stomped towards him, neighing and kicking out at him. Boko fled at once, sliding to a stop in front of Shiya. He turned, watching the horses trot back to their place.

"Bad horsies!" Boko practically barked.

Shiya cowered down against Boko, having never seen creatures like this before. The beasts strutted back and forth across the huge, wide clearing, snorting and exhaling thick tendrils of smoke. So far, it appeared that a mere two couples had managed to get across. These guards were relentless in their patroling and protecting of the field. Another of the many pairs lurking at the edge attempted to cross. They got a quarter of the way across before the bone-horses found them and charged, pounding across the ground. The two screamed and ran back to the safety of the trees.

"Hmm..." Boko rolled around and around until the caked mud dried and flaked off, leaving a mess on the grass beneath him. He stood and shook himself off, then giggled and snorted until the mud got out of his nose. Then he lifted his head and trotted towards the horses with the intent of talking to them. "Hellooooo~!" He called from the edge of their protected area. "Hello there! Are we supposed to talk to  you?" He questioned, smiling.

Shiya gasped and ran forward, quickly grabbing his tail and attempting to pull him backwards. "No, Boko, no!" she cried as the horses turned, curling their lips back from their decayed teeth and pawing the ground. They charged and Shiya squeaked in fear, pulling on Boko's tail to try and get him to move.

Boko didn't, however. He stood tall and firm, though his tail flicked around in front of Shiya protectively. "I just want to pass by!" He hissed at the horses. "Don't be so rude!" He curled his larger coils around Shiya, a glimmer of fear starting to emerge in his eyes. He didn't care about himself, he couldn't care less. But Shiya...

The horses screeched to halts in front of the two, gnashing sharp teeth and digging deep trenches in the ground with their cracked hooves. Their red eyes glowed angrily, but they weren't attacking them. They danced back and forth on their long legs, snarling. But they weren't attacking. No, it seemed like they wanted Shiya, but she was safe in Boko's coils. She was clearly much more afraid than Boko was. Perhaps they sensed her fear.

Boko noticed them squinting at the spot where she was, as if they couldn't quite see her well. As if they couldn't see Boko.

Boko blinked in surprise. Immediately, he wrapped himself up around Shiya until there was hardly any of her visible. "Trust me," He said to her, grinning. "Do you think you can do this?" He questioned. "Keep yourself tucked in my coils, and walk when I do. Do you trust me?" His grin faded as he asked that, staring at her with his wide, curious eyes. "Do you?"

"Okay..." she squeaked softly, shivering when the bony horses stomped their hooves and screeched, angry at not finding their prey. "I trust you, Boko," she said quietly. "I trust you." With the skeletal creatures hounding their every step, Boko began to walk slowly, letting Shiya keep up.

As Shiya thought, it occured to her what the deal was. The horses could only see fear. They had just barely been able to see Boko when he had started to feel afraid, but when he had stopped being fearful, they couldn't see him anymore. They sensed Shiya was there, as she was afraid, but they couldn't see her due to Boko being wrapped around her. That was why none of the other couples had been able to cross. They were scared.

Boko started forward, Shiya falling in step. They passed by several of the horses, and Boko quickly relaxed and starting trotting along at a faster pace. These horses were nothing to be scared of. "See, Shiya? If you aren't afraid, nothing happens." He purred as they reached the midline, but he didn't take his coils away from the dragonling female. He was still desperate to protect her. "They just wanted to talk."

"T-Talk?" Shiya said nervous, watching the huge horses that were following their every move. "Th-they haven't s-said a w-word..." Once they reached the edge, she started to feel better. That's when she looked up and saw that the stallions were looking less...skeletal. The more her fear ebbed away, the more she saw what Boko saw.

It was a group of wild horses consisting of a light-brown, a dark-brown, a red-roan, a white, a black, and a dun, and they were arguing amongst themselves. "It's NOT a dragon," the black one snapped. "It's a DRAKELING."

"But drakelings aren't friends with the dragons," said the white. "Unless we've missed something?"

"You're all fools," quipped the dark-brown. "Apparently, there was a war."

"A war?" the light-brown one said, flicking his ears. "Impossible. Naybrin wouldn't let that happen."

"I'm Zephyr's son," Boko replied, giggling a bit as he passed. "Not a dragon, but I'm still the dragon prince. It's confusing, sure, but...it is that it is." He helped Shiya along still, trotting with complete confidence. "You see, Shiya? See, see, see?"

"Zephyr? Who's Zephyr?" the dun horse said, and the longer that Shiya listened, the more she properly saw the herd of horses. "What happened to Naybrin?"

"Apparently, he is no longer the king," the white horse said, tossing her mane. "And this 'Zephyr' is your father? Hmm."

"Well, hasn't this one passed the test?" the black one said. "He's seen us, plus we're at the edge. We need to let him pass and keep going."

"Fine, fine," the dark-brown said, turnig his head sharply as another couple started crossing. "Oooh, look at them! They're rife with fear! Let's go, let's go!"

The horses all turned and ran for them, leaving the red-roan behind all by herself. "Well, congratulations on passing the test," she said, bobbing her head. "You should keep moving." She turned with a flick of her tail and trotted off.

"Thank you!" Boko called after her, then released Shiya. "See, all done. Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving!" He giggled. They were approaching the Hallowed Hills. Boko knew full well that they'd be able to rest and hunt a bit there. He hopped forward several paces, then hopped back to Shiya, only to hop away again. "You okay?" He questioned, starting to pant from his routine, but not stopping.

"Uh-huh," she said weakly, nodding once. "Just tired..." She blinked sleepily, lifting a delicate paw to rub at her eyes. Then she was hit from behind by something and sent reeling, yelping as she hit a tree.

Leonen and Nilia were standing there, and the large dragonling laughed darkly. "Too slow, love birds!" he called, racing away with his partner by his side.