The Zodiac Cycle

1.17 Crawling Fish

"Look! He's back!" Carson saw Nolan first, standing as he reached shallow water.

He had returned alone.

"No luck?" Ash brought Nolans clothes to him as he got out of the water, wiping sand off himself and squeezing water out of his hair.

"No, I found her." He grumbled, pulling on his clothes.

"Then where is she?" Avery asked.

"Where do you think?" Nolan glared. "She didn't want to follow a complete stranger to out of the water where she loses her natural advantage."

"Dont you also have an advantage in the water?" George pointed out.

Nolan huffed "not the point."

"Well, are you going to try again?" Rebecca asked, sitting with Alex, the two of them leaning against each other.

"Not right now." Nolan walked with Ash over to a rock and sat down. Nolan started massaging his tail, Ash sitting with him and rubbing a hand on his back.

We were all quiet for a moment.

"What now?" Brianna looked at me.

I thought for a moment, looking at Keith who seemed more calm than usual, smiling at me as if to say 'your call.'

I tensed, I hated pressure and I hated leading.

"Now, I say we take a break. Stay in one place for a day to rest." I offered. Keith gave me a thumbs up, still smiling.

"Alright then, let's go find a place to stay." Alex stood up and helped Rebecca up as well, the rest of the group stood as well, all filing off the beach.

All except Carson.

I turned before the edge of the sand and looked back at him. "You okay?"

"Theres someone watching us from the water." As soon as he said something, I saw a splash, probably the person realizing they were caught.

We waited another minute, and when the person did not reappear, we followed the rest of the group. Within half an hour, we ended up in a coastal city and made our way through the business district.

"We should get some food." Rebecca looked back from the front of our parade. "Anyone here have any dietary restrictions?"

"I'm vegetarian." I raised my hand.

"I'm vegan." Carson added.

"Got it, anything else?" She looked around at the group and no one else objected.

We found a resturaunt that catered to our needs and sat at a large table. We all ate and chatted, still a bit down about our unsuccessful attempt to recruit the pisces. I couldnt shake off the feeling that someone was watching us though, but everytime I looked around, no one was.

We finished eating, paid, and left, heading towards the part of town that we could find a hotel at. Rebecca's parents nearest estate was down the coast, and it was already getting dark.

The sun was gone, leaving a bit of an orange hue to everything that wasn't wrapped in shadows.

We could see the hotel a block down from where we where, when we heard a clattering nearby.

I startled, still on edge, and whipped around. Someone ducked into an alley before I could look at them. I heard another sound and a crash. I exchanged a look with Carson, who shrugged a bit, annoyingly.

I huffed and walked over to the alley, peeking down it.

It was empty.

I walked down it a bit, scrunching my nose at the massive trash cans, their smell growing stronger the closer I got to them. Nolan followed me down the alley while the rest of the group stayed back.

"Hello?" Nolan was holding his nose.

We didnt get a reply.

I sighed, turning around. I hated the smell and I figured if we were being followed, we would catch them at some point, we just needed to be careful what we said.

Nolan didnt follow me.

I stopped and turned back to him. He was just standing there, with his arms down. He had let go of his nose and sniffed the air for a second, then turned and smiled at me a bit.

He took a couple more steps forward, to the edge of the trash cans and looked beside them, crossing his arms.

"Sea legs?" He asked. I assumed it wasnt to me, and also realized that who ever was following us was hiding behind the cans.

I heard a bit of a growl from behind the cans. "Screw off, I'm not following ya."

"I didnt say you were." He smirked at the female voice.

I finally decided to go back to him and look behind the can. The person startled. I didnt know what she was, just that she had a lot of fins and that she looked like Nolan and Ash, except her eyes.

"I-" she ducked her head a bit. "I wanted to see if ya were lyin about ya group, the one with all the signs."

Nolan tilted his head a bit, nudging me with his elbow. I glared at him a bit, was I really the best option?

I lifted my shirt just enough so she could see the sign. "And the others are over there if you want to see theirs." I motioned towards the group still waiting at the end of the alley.

She looked at the sign suspiciously, then poked her head out enough to see the group. A couple of them waved, and she pulled back.

"What exactly are ya after?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Uhhh..." I scratched my neck "it's hard to explain."

"We are bound by fate to protect the world." Nolan answered calmly. "There will be 12 of us total, we are only missing one other than you."

"Yer not gonna sell me, are ya?" She turned her head a bit.

"Nah, we're well funded." I chuckled.

She looked back and forth between me and Nolan, before sighing and leaning forward. "Bound by fate, so theres not much choice?"

Nolan nodded, smiling sympathetically.

She got up, propping herself on the trashcan. "Then I guess I'll go with ya." She reached one webbed hand at me. When I took it, she pulled me close jerky. "But this doesn't mean I trust ya yet, got it?"

I nodded, trying to pull my face back from hers a bit.

I turned to walk back out of the alley once again, Nolan following me this time, but we quickly were startled by a loud crash.

She had fallen down, face first into the asphalt.

"You okay?" I asked.

She put a thumb up, hoisting herself into a sitting position once again. "I haven't been on land since I was 6, so forgive me for not being very good at walking."

"Then how did you follow us all the way here?" Nolans voice dropped with annoyance and confusion.

She bit her lip and replied in a voice so quiet I could barely hear her. "I crawled most of the way."

(One or two chapters left in the first Arc. There's three arcs total, but this next chapter is going to be intense. Buckle up everybody, we are finally going to collect them all.
And the Capricorn... well... they might suprise you)