The Forgotten Zodiac

"It looks destroyed. There you go, now you don't have to come." Darius shrugged and looked at the others, not really sure how to respond to Igneous' request. "You really won't enjoy it. We'll be camping in the open. We might get rained on."

Igneous was still all smiles. "Rain? That sounds wonderful," he said genuinely.

Quint and Quinn looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Darius had already said that it was dangerous and such. Ophile spoke up before they could come up with an answer. "It is unwise to turn away offered help," He said quietly, wrapping his tail around his paws as he looked up at Igneous.

"Alright." Darius shrugged. "If Ophile says yes, and no one else has an opinion, I say he can come. We can always abandon him if we have to."

Igneous, oddly, didn't seem offended by the suggestion that he might be abandoned, but that was probably because of the potent glare that Rin turned on Darius right after the comment left his mouth. Kazue rubbed the back of his neck and murmured something, then continued on up the path. Rin looked Igneous over, wondering if he were prepared for the journey ahead. He seemed to be; she assumed that whatever he needed was in the pack he already had with him. Igneous fell into stride by the twins as the group continued onward.

Ophile wormed his way between Igneous and the Gemini twins, not too sure if this human was trustable. Yes, Ophile said not to turn away help, but he didn't say they automatically had to trust Igneous. "So, looking for adventure? Or are you just bored?" He asked, looking up at Igneous.

Darius stared back at Rin, not at all worried about her glare. "I did say if we have to. It's not like I was threatening to kill and eat him as soon as we reached the surface. I'm giving him a chance, and making him aware that he is /not/ invaluable and can be disposed of if necessary."

"Right," Rin nodded, her glare not wavering, only being turned to the ground.

Igneous shrugged, looking to Ophile. "Something like that, I guess. I suppose I'm just getting restless. I don't like it here, much. It may be odd to say, with so few of us here in the city, but," he laughed slightly, "It's too crowded for my liking. Give me the ravged, empty surface world over the dismal, dark underground one anyday. At least there's fresh air up there," Igneous nodded. He looked down at the dog. "What sort of creature are you, exactly?" he asked bluntly.

Quint and Quinn followed Darius, although they didn't really want to 'dispose' of Igneous either. There were only so many humans left, after all...

"Hm, I think I can understand that." Ophile nodded. "I am a Spectral Wolf. The one and only, actually. Summoned by the bored Sylas, the Zodiac of Scorpio. I was summoned a very long time ago, you see, long before this Borealis business arose."

Cancer shrugged again, almost annoyed that Rin was getting annoyed. "He didn't take offense. I rather think that if it came to that, he'd be the first person to suggest it. You really don't have to be so upset."

Rin nodded curtly, saying nothing as she sped up to walk beside Kazue. Igneous smiled at Ophile. "So one of the Zodiacs made you? I didn't know that they could do that," he said.

"Of course. It's pretty difficult and takes at least an hour, depending on the design. It's different from Borealis' natural abilities, but only in the means of conception. Borealis gives things already existing life. Creature summoning, which is a bit of a misnomer, creates things like myself from scratch. It takes much longer, and has more of a chance of failing, but Sylas was pretty bored when he made me."

Cancer dropped back till he was next to the twins, not pleased with the idea that at this rate no one would want to talk to him by the time this was over. "It looks like she's going to be mad at me for quite a while. Oh well. Hopefully she'll stop hating me before the end of the century."

Kazue looked over his shoulder, laughing slightly. "You know RIn can't hold a grudge," he commented. The girl was currently clinging to his arm, but Kazue shook her off.

"As if anyone could hate Darius," Quint rolled his eyes a bit, smirking slightly. "Really, you should just learn to not make so many jokes. Because a lot of the time, they're really bad jokes."

"Well, at least he tries," Ophile chuckled.

Darius glared at Quint, mildly offended. "Maybe I was /partially/ serious. I mean, if we had to, we would." He glanced back at Ophile, a thin smile on his face. "At least /someone/ appreciates my sense of humor."

"Oh, come on..." Quint rolled his eyes again. "I don't think Rin would let you. Quinn would be kinda mad about it, too. You'd have a hard time actually doing it."

Quinn frowned, thinking about it. Yes, he would probably be really upset if they had to leave Igneous behind...

"What are we talking about? Me? I'm sorry, I zoned out a little," Igneous said, looking to the rest of the group. Kazue gave a small laugh. "I'll bet he doesn't last a week," he said under his breath, so that the human couldn't hear, but Rin did, and probably Ophile did as well. He recieved a sharp elbow to the ribs. Kazue, being as he was, didn't like pain at all. So he shut up.

Ophile didn't seem to mind. He actually didn't care for the human very much. It was his job to protect the Zodiacs, not some human who was tagging along. If it came down to it, Ophile would put the human down himself if it was required for the Zodiac's safety.

No point in thinking such things at the moment, though, Ophile thought to himself as they approached the stairs to the surface. It was a narrow staircase, that ascended steeply up several flights. At the top, they would come to a well-hidden trapdoor that would indeed lead to the surface world. The decayed and destroyed surface world.

Darius sighed, eyeing the steps up and not liking the idea of such a climb at all, but started up the stairs immediately, intending to get it over with. "Stairs, stairs, stairsey, stairs." He sung, under his breath, though anyone who was paying attention to him would have heard.