The Forgotten Zodiac

((Es fine. :3 ))

"'Kaaay," Welk chimed, lolling onto his back as she walked out. "Man, I love that girl," he purred once she was gone. "I can't believe how lucky I am to be engaged to her. She's so perfect." His purring increased exponentially as he beamed up at Werr, though the boy could tell there was a lingering, penetrating sorrow in everything the lion did.

After all, Cynyr wasn't here to make that last support Welk needed.

"Yeah. I'm lucky to have Lexi. But...Welk, what are we going to do?" Werr said softly. "We could...have to fight Cynyr. What are we supposed to do if Veros sends him to attack us?" He frowned, looking rather depressed. But he had to snap himself out of it as the generals approached. "This meeting's going to be hectic..."

"I'm here to help you out," Welk said, standing up and pressing his head gently to Werr's hip, eliciting the boy to start rubbing behind the half-cat's ears. "And as for Cynyr...we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. He's going to be just fine, and so are we. We'll all be okay. Okay?"

"Okay." Werr nodded with a small sigh, then stood to greet the generals.

"Momma, I don't feel so well," Boko rolled onto his side, letting out a smoking belch. His stomach had been hurting since this morning, when he had accidentally eaten a strange fish. It had tasted good, but it hadn't really agreed with his stomach. "When is Vuker getting home? When will daddy be back? Is Naybrin coming home? I miss all of them..."

Vaira, her belly now beginning to swell with her pregnancy, gently passed her tongue over Boko's abdomen to soothe some of his pain. "I don't know when they'll return, sweetheart," she answered, passing her tongue over his cheek with a small sigh. "I hope they come back soon. But Naybrin won't be returning. He...had somewhere else to go that needed him more than us."

Boko crooned sadly, flicking his tail over his nose. "But I want Naybrin to come back. We need him, don't we? We need daddy, too...maybe we should go find him." He stood, walking to the door, but he walked right back. "Oh...I won't go anywhere without you, mommy. Are you sure you're not just eating too much?" He ran over and nudged her swollen belly, sniffing curiously.

"I'm pretty sure, sweetheart," she said, nuzzling him and curling her paws around him. He was getting pretty big; only his muzzle would fit into her pouch now. "Or maybe I'm not eating enough," she then said, and pretended to nip and bite at his flanks and tail, smiling when he giggled. "I'm sure daddy will be back soon, dear," she finished, resting her head on his back.

Boko turned himself about and stuck his nose behind her ear, crooning quietly. "I want to go get him and make him come home. He doesn't know that you're not eating enough. He'd hunt for you...but wait," He frowned. "I can hunt for you. Can I go hunt for you, mommy? I can bring you back a whole cow. I like cows, they're slow and easy to hunt."

"Well, you know not to take from the farmer's down at the base of the mountain, so I guess it's fine. Just make sure they're the wild yaks and cows around the Plains," she said, licking his ear softly. "When your new brother or sister gets here, you'll be able to help me take care of them, okay?"

"Yes! When are they coming?" Boko questioned, but he didn't want to know the answer, really. "Keep it a secret. I want a surprise! I'll go and get the cow." He darted away, but paused at the door again, watching his mother for a long moment before hurrying out of the caves.

He was running so quickly that he wasn't able to stop before he barreled into Shiya. "Oh no! I'm sorry, I should have watched where I was going...are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine!" she squeaked, having been knocked backwards and rolled onto her back. She wiggled around and got back up, setting to gently and lovingly licking at Boko's chin and cheeks with her little pink tongue. The red-and-gold dragoness was only growing more and more beautiful as the days passed, and constantly turning the heads of the young dragon males in the Sacred Plains. But Boko was her chosen mate, and they had become so very close lately, so much so that at times it appeared that they read each other's thoughts.

Boko lapped up the attention, purring happily. "Hey, come with me. I was gonna get a cow for momma. Maybe you could add some salt rocks to it! Would mom like that, do you think? Maybe some berries, too!" He nosed her, then jumped away, only to hop back and nuzzle her side again. "C'mon, come on, let's go!" He squeaked happily.

"Okay, okay!" she squeaked, giggling and happily trailing after him, a smile on her delicate lips. She easily met his stride and plunged ahead, already in thrill of the hunt. The wild yaks that lived on and around the mountain could sometimes be hard to take down; after all, they grew to be massive (side effect of being hunted by dragons; the bigger you were, the more chance you had to fight back), and it was dangerous for smaller ones like themselves to take them on alone.

Boko hopped along happily until they reached the edge of the hunting fields. He paused and rolled himself in dirt, tearing up a bush and fashioning himself some camoflague. "How's this, do you think? I'm gonna try a sneak attack today," He grinned, bobbing his head up and down, as usual.

Shiya smiled a bit at his enthusiasm before partaking in the dirt-roll herself. She needed it, much like Boko did; the gold swirls on her scales glinted like real ore in the light. "Let's go," she said, dropping her voice to a soft whisper as she started to creep along. Boko, as the more powerful one of the two, would help with the actual take-down while she, as the quicker one, would work as a diversion to separate a cow from the herd.

Boko prowled forward, silent as a mouse. His eyes fell on the herd after a few minutes of quiet stalking about; they were in the fields today, eating their grass peacefully. Boko pointed with his tail, giving Shiya a clue as to which cow he was targeting. The herd was a bit spread out now, but these yaks were intelligent; at the first sign of trouble, the big bulls would form a circle around the cows and calves, and if the drakeling were to attack, he'd be trampled.

Shiya, however, knew perfectly well what to do to gain the upper-paw over their prey. She saw the cow Boko wanted and nodded, slinking softly through the grass like a tigress stalking her next victim.

And then she leapt.

Shiya exploded out of the grass, rocketing skyward and bellowing loudly, startling the herd. Before the target could gain the safety of the group, however, a fireball flew down and threw flames into its face, causing it to veer to the side, trying hard to get away from the fire.

Shiya was easily able to keep the herd back and push the single one towards Boko. It didn't take long before the cow was out for the count; Boko's unique style of wrapping himself around his prey was lightning fast and impossible to get out of. With a bit of squeezing, the prey was rendered unable to struggle in a matter of seconds. Dead in a matter of ten. The rest of the herd fled at once, not willing to fight to save a dead cow.

"That was great!" Shiya called, gliding to a delicate halt nearby. She nuzzled and licked under Boko's chin, purring "I'm sure Lady Vaira will love it. She's always so happy whenever you do something, Boko. Your mama is such a loving dragoness..." She sighed, a bit wistfully; her mother had died when she was very young, and her father had passed away not long ago.

"She's happy when you do things, too. C'mon, let's go find some spices to put on this!" Boko nuzzled her in return, either oblivious to her unhappiness, or desperate to distract her from it. "You can handle the spice, right? Let's get this to the Sacred Plains first." He wrapped himself all around the cow again, starting to drag it back up the hill. Even if he was strong enough to carry it now, with his torn wing, it just wasn't possible.