The Forgotten Zodiac

((But ngh. Do I /really/ need to start? I guess I /could...))

((Well, you're the one with the plan. Creative control is yours, but that also means you get to start us off, haha.

It's either that, or I make something bad happen that you won't like.

No one will like it.

Don't make me.))

((Make the bad thing happen. Actually, when I have time, I'll work on it. First I have to do my Mennonite grammar thing.))

((No! I don't like when Bun does bad things!))

Kazue looked around. "This looks like a good spot. What do you all think? Camp here?" he asked, turning to the others. Igneous nodded, but said nothing, assuming that he hadn't been directly asked. Seeing as he was in insignificant human of the group, he didn't really have a say.

But Rin nodded as well. "I like it. It's nice," she said.

Kazue had picked a spot between two rock cliffs.

((Good catch, Hannah. I was just about to do the bad thing. This is only delaying the inevitable though, you know. Haw. I'm so evil.))

"If there were a rockslide, we'd have a problem," Ophile noted, looking up at the cliffs. "But it's certainly shaded enough for me, although I'll probably move away so I can moonbathe a bit after it gets darker."

"Good enough for me," Quint shrugged. Quinn just nodded in agreement with his twin, looking around curiously. He wondered if all this was manmade or not. Obelisk City was most certanly man-made, he knew that much.

((Do bad thing! Do it! Do it!))

Cancer shrugged. "Here works. Unless there is a rockslide, in which case Ophile is right, we'd all be dead." He set down his pack and pulled out a blanket roll, preparing to lie down and go to sleep.

"Well, if that happens, at least it'll happen in our sleep." Ophile pointed out, curling up nearby. "Goodnight, my lieges."

"Uh...yeah, goodnight, Ophile." Quinn said, wondering what the Spectral Wolf meant by such a word. Quint rolled out their own roll of bedding; it had a little bit of blood on it, seeing how Quint hadn't gotten a chance to wash it. Quint flipped it to the other side, but that side had a lot more blood on it. Quint sighed and turned it back around, lying on the edge. Quinn curled up next to him, closing his eyes tiredly.

((Later. After Tyler shows up. :T

Also, I've decided to give Borealis/other bad Zodiacs a little more incentive to find and kill the others, although they wouldn't know about it. When one Zodiac kills another, the murderer gains the special abilities of the dead Zodiac. Make sense? But like I said, they don't know about it, 'cuz they've never actually killed each other. Yet.

-sudden idea- ...yes, that'll fit just fine...holy bug in a pizza box...-mental cogs turning very, very quickly- I don't think I'll ruin it for you by throwing my ideas out just yet. Surprises are fun...))

((Now Hannah, have Kazue wake up to a strange noise. Then Tyler can be there. Also, how does you guys feel about hostage trade? Probably Isabella for Cancer.))

((Why would they do that? As far as they know, Isa is just a human, why trade a Zodiac?))

Kazue felt like he had only just curled up when a pitter patter of feet on stone woke him. He sat up, red eyes glancing around in the darkness. He tapped Ophile with his foot. This certain 'pitter patter' he knew. Those were human feet.

((I meant the various people get captured, but that meant hostage trade in my head. I don't know why. And Libra might. He has some of the original body's emotions, and the original body and Isabella had a thing. Had.))

Tyler was sitting smack-dab in the middle of the camp, all the various packs sitting around him as he went through them, tossing the things he didn't want aside and putting the ones he did like in Kazue's empty bag.

((I understand what Sage is saying. Libra and them catch Cancer, and Kazue and them catch Isabella, so they has to do a hostage trade. And yes, Sage, Zodaics aren't allowed to have 'things'. :T))

Ophile stirred, opening his eyes at once. He rolled onto his paws, eyes glowering with anger. He had been walked past, he could smell the trail! Good grief, how incompetent he must look. Right, gotta fix this...he thought silently, creeping forward, his black fur practically one with the dark shadows. He crept up behind Tyler, one paw at a time, silent as the grave.

A...child? Ophile hesitated for a moment. What was he doing? It looked like he was robbing the Zodiacs, and Igneous, too! He was making such a mess while he was at it, too. A growl rose in his throat as his muzzle drew within inches of the back of the kid's head.

((Pfffffff, Libra would if he wanted to, but originally, he was a manipulative, freaky, stalker-man. Isabella doesn't have a thing with /him/. It's just that, oh goodness this sounds dirty, his body has one with her.))

Tyler froze, a whimper escaping from his lips. "Who-who's there? Is that a w-w-wolf? Go away! I don't like wolves, they're mean and nasty!" He whispered fiercely.

((Yes. I understand. It makes sense to me. :T))

Ophile would have frowned, if his facial muscles were capable of such things. He continued growling and grabbed Timothy by the back of his clothing, dragging him out and away from the camp. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to steal, boy?" He snarled through his mouthful of clothing, though he made sure he was quiet so that none of the others would wake up. He did wish he had hands, though; the boy would probably make a lot of noise.

((It sounded really dirty though.))

Tyler struggled and shook his head. "I don't have a mommy, you big meanie. That's how come I had to take your stuff. If I didn't, the soliders wouldn't be happy, and then everybody would die!" He hissed. "I'll bet you want everyone to die though, 'cause you're a meanie!" At this point, he was near to tears, and his shirt was tearing, which was definitely not a good thing.

((Get your mind out of the gutter. -is way too childish to think about how dirty things sound-))

Ophile paused again. No mommy? How sad. He stopped pulling. "Soldiers? What do you mean, boy? Are there soldiers somewhere around here?"

((Trust me, it sounded very, very dirty. My mind is constantly in the gutter. It comes from having public-schooled friends.))

Tyler crossed his arms. "I mean the soldiers!" Now he was not only in tears, but trying to whisper and cry at the same time. "The soldiers who bring food if they're happy!" Furious, he turned around and punched Ophile in the nose. "Go away and let me take your stuff!"

((Okay. I don't really have any friends at my public school. Because they all talk really dirty and stuff, and they're obviously spiritually dead, so I just ignore them unless they're talking to me. But people don't talk to me, 'cuz I'm not interesting.))

Ophile yelped as the punch, however weak it was, hit him dead on the nose. He, instinctively (as he was still an animal and did indeed have those) clamped his toothy jaw down on the boy's wrist, inevitably injecting at least a little of his numbing poison, even though he wasn't biting very hard. It was still a child, after all...

Quinn, being the light sleeper that he was, sat bolt upright at the yelp, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Ophile? What's going on...?" He mumbled, realizing that everything was dark, and he couldn't see much anyways. Dark, indeed. Quinn couldn't suppress a small whimper; he really didn't like the dark much at all.

((Not that I say them, but I learned all the bad words I know in 6th grade on my bus. Homeschooled people's lucky. I have a filter.))

Kazue's acute vision watched all of this go on with mild intrest. At some point during Ophile's exchange, Aquarius had wandered over to his pack and began sorting through what was and wasn't his, repacking his sack. "Did he take anything, Ophile?" he asked softly. He glanced up at Quinn. "It's just a little human. Go back to sleep, Gemini," he said, sorting through his objects and happily finding nothing missing.

((No, because I got all of them in one year, curse words, the things worse than curse words that aren't actually curse words, all of it. And then my brain couldn't process it and I died and came back to life.))

Cancer groaned and sat up, awakened by Tyler's hysterically breaking down. "What's going on? Ophile, are you EATING that child? What in the world, Quinn! I don't know about Aquarius, but I would have thought you would have stopped him from biting that kid." He then stopped, taking in the emptied packs and Kazue in the middle of it. "Are you stealing our stuff? Kazue, what're you doing?"

Tyler stopped arguing, stopped fighting, but didn't stop crying. He simply stood there and pulled out his last defense, hysterical tears. He hoped if he was loud enough to wake up the lady; she would come over and make the mean wolf stop hurting him.

((Well, at least you came back to life. I would be sad if you didn't.))

"Wha? No!" Ophile growled, not letting go of the boy's hand, his voice muffled due to the fact that his mouth was full. "He hiht meh! He thole, no Kakue!"

Quinn covered his ears, due to everyone talking at once in addition to the crying from the boy. The Gemini boy shook his twin, tears starting to well up in his own eyes; he still couldn't see anything, either, so he had absolutely no idea what was going on or who was saying what, so on. The moon was covered by clouds, see.

Quint finally woke up, taking Quinn by the hand and casting an illusion on everyone else. Complete solitude; they would find themselves alone in a room, with no doors or windows. It wouldn't last very long on the other Zodiacs, but it would be long enough for everyone to calm down, shut up, and stop making Quinn cry.