The Forgotten Zodiac

Rynyn frowned listening to him as they ran. "Why do you think I can't see them?" He asked. The information Subject was giving him seemed to confirm his suspicions that it this was just another exaple of Subject's imagination, but still, it was clearly distresing the younger boy. "And do you really think that they'd try to hurt us?"

"No one else ever sees them," Subject said. "And I know they'll hurt us, they've hurt me before! I don't want to be hurt, and I don't want you to be hurt, so let's hurry!"

Rynyn's frown grew a little deeper and he started running a little fast for Subject's sake. "How did they hurt you?" He asked, her voice a lot softer than it was before, but he didn't seem to notice. 

"They cut me," Subject said, his voice trembling. "There wasn't any blood, but they cut me and tried to stab me through the heart. They said horrible, horrible things, and hurt me inside, too. The only thing worse than them is the different place."

Rynyn frowned and held Subject's hand a little tighter as they ran. "If you can see them, you can tell me where they are and I'll stop them." He glared at the ground they passed under their feet as they kept running. "Don't worry." He looked down at the boy and offered him a small smile. 

Subject nodded. The pair of them only ran a few minutes further before Subject tripped and fell forward, crashing into the ground, his hand slipping out of Rynyn's. He immediately let out a scream, looking back and kicking wildly at nothing. "Get away from me! Let go of me!" He screeched, tears of fear sliding down his cheeks.

((Completely off subject; we need a definite bad guy, and fairly soon. If there's no main bad guy, the roleplay has no aim, and won't really work. :I Brainstormeh time?))

((It's not off subect. I don't really have any ideas... STORM OF BRAINS!))

Rynyn quickly knelt beside Subject and tried to help him back up without getting kicked. "OW!" So much for that plan. "Subject, what do you need me to do? He asked loudly over the boy's wails. He was kind of at a loss, as he seemed incapable of stopping whatever it was that was bothering his friend.

((-thinkthinkthink- Maybe...oh!

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...hahahaha...hahaha...ha...-cough-

Yeah. I have an idea. So the government is tired of the rebellion or whatever, and the people who are taking out the smaller encampments of rebels are actually a handful of highly trained assassins, the head of whom is our main bad guy. -victorious pose-))

Subject apparently broke his foot free, as he scrambled to his feet and started to run faster than ever. At least he was running the right way.

Rynyn ran after Subject and sighed loudly. He couldn't help but look back where Subject had fallen. He grunted irritatedly and started running faster. 

((OOooh. Sounds good to me.))

Subject slowed to a stop after just a short while, breathing heavily. He scrambled over to a tree, curling up between the roots and shivering, looking around wildly.

Rynyn looked down at Subject. "Hey," He knelt down beside the younger boy. "Are you alright?" He was panting very slightly from running. He was concerned because he had assumed Subject would be able to run longer than this.

Subject shrank back, shivering still. "I...he...it almost had me..." He sniffed, then smiled a bit. "I got away...you did too, I see...that's good. I kicked it in the face; they'll stay away for awhile, but...um...they'll come back. So we should hurry to the silent people place, there'll be light there, a-and...yeah..."

Rynyn looked down at the boy and held out his hand. "Good job." He said, smiling slightly. "Are you able to keep going?" He asked, straightening up a little. 

"Well, it's either keep g-going, or get hurt by the white people..." Subject nodded, taking Rynyn's hand and climbing to his feet with his help. "Let's go, but I don't think we should run anymore...they got my foot last time, s-so..."

Rynyn sighed and nodded, trying his best to keep smiling. He held onto Subject's hand as before and started walking again. "If you see them coming, let me know, okay?" He said, smiling at Subject concernedly. "I'll try harder to help you if it happens again."

Subject nodded, not looking up at Rynyn. They walked for a long while more, and Subject showed little other signs of distress until they broke out of the treeline. Although that time, it was more about something real, and not just his broken imagination; he had nearly stepped on a snake. It was a common garden snake, but Subject recoiled instantly with a yelp of fear as it hissed.

Rynyn stared ahead of them again, trying to keep watch for anything ahead of them. Occasionally he looked back over his shoulder, and then mentally reprimanded himself for thinking he'd see something. 
"WHOA-Hey!" He jumped at Subject's sudden fright and the snake's hissing. Rynyn made a frustrated growling noise and he stomped, fast and hard, on the snake. He didn't care if it bit him, he wouldn't be able to feel anything anyway.

The snake reared back and slithered away, hissing noisily at them. Subject hid behind Rynyn, trembling in fear yet again. He hated snakes. He despised the noise that they made, and their teeth, and the fact that they were basically a head attached to one big tail. All of it was quite terrifying to him.

Rynyn scowled at the snake as it left them alone. He sighed and glared for a moment even after the snake was gone, then turned to Subject. "You okay?" He asked, rubbing his foot that had stomped the snake on the ground. "It's gone now, so you don't have to worry about it."

((ENTAHH FIRST BAD GUY. MUHAHA.))

Subject was frozen stock-still in fear and panic. He was staring at his feet; wrapped twice around one leg and once around another was another snake. This one was larger than the other.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," Said a voice out of nowhere. It came from...the tree above them? Yes, sitting on a branch and looking down on them with dark eyes was an older boy, perhaps 19 or 20. His black hair was cut short, and highlighted with red. He had a dark red shirt, and black wool pants. Climbing boots were strapped onto his feet. Covering his shirt and most of his pants, however, was a patterned black and red wrap of sorts that looked a bit like a cape turned sideways. His left arm was covered by it, hiding the truth; there was no arm there. Rather, a short stub with white bandages wrapped around it to hide the scars.

He cleared his throat and continued. "That's an Eastern Coral snake. It's bite won't kill you right away, but it'll hurt like hell. Then you'll die. His name is Jack."