The Hidden Signs

Chapter 6

Virgo slowly woke up, She saw Capricorn and Taurus sleeping while sitting and leaning against the base of a redwood.

All Virgo could remember was when she was in the colosseum with everyone when an explosion went off. The air was warm and the subtle orange and yellow light from the sun rising made Virgo feel warm and calm. She sat up and looked down, it didn't surprise Virgo that she was on a redwood tree branch. She saw the other redwoods and another redwood but was fallen and on a dropoff of a hill. Virgo breathed a sigh of relief, The air was fresh and smelt like a warm summer breeze. She looked below her, Pisces,Scorpio, and Cancer were all sleeping, they were sitting and leaning against the tree, and leaning on each other. And above Virgo on a separate branch was Aries,Sagittarius and Leo were basically in the same positions. Virgo sat and wondered "How long had it been since they have gotten a decent amount of sleep?" she wondered for a second and decided it wasn't time to worry but to relax as they all needed it. Aquarius sat beside Virgo with a calming smile, "You're up early" She whispered calmly,"Yeah..." Virgo responded, "You were knocked out after the adrenaline rush you had wore off and the pain started to flood in..." Aquarius explained, "Are they all ok?" Virgo asked, She had forgotten that the other nine had been through quite a lot, "Yeah no major injuries, just scratches, bruises and a couple of scars but that's it" Aquarius answered. Virgo stood up and put her hair in buns and she crossed her arms and then slowly climbed down the giant tree. When she reached the bottom the forest floor was damp. Virgo walked around the forest for a bit enjoying the peace and quiet in the forest. Virgo had always admired redwood trees even before the school was destroyed, Virgo would often go to the forest after school and feed forest animals and do her homework. Virgo calmly walked back to the tree and climbed it again. This time the fire signs were awake. They all seemed amazed when they saw how beautiful the forest looked. Virgo smiled and looked over at Libra, She was awake, but she seemed worried, "What's with the worried look? You should be relaxed!" Virgo chirped, sitting next to Libra, "Yeah, but I can't help but worry about the others..." she whispered, "They will be fine, I am sure of it, I know Aquarius has already told you that they had no major injuries"  Virgo said smiling, Libra smiled back calmly, Sagittarius walked over to Virgo, "What do we do when everyone is awake?" Sagittarius asked, "Well I believe it would be a good idea to move a bit farther away from Ollie's lab, We don't want to go anywhere near there" Virgo Answered. "I believe there is a sequoia forest on the border of a town that is on the edge of this forest. It would be a good idea to head there, Sequoias are bigger than Redwoods."Capricorn budded in, Which startled Virgo and Sagittarius. "Well who is awake at the moment?" Virgo asked, "Everyone but Cancer and Pisces, I will wake them up if you need me too" Capricorn said, "Yes please, we should get going!" Sagittarius said, seeming impatient. Capricorn climbed up the tree to the two sleeping water signs, and Sagittarius climbed down to a lower branch to the Air signs. Virgo sat watching the remaining sunrise slowly rise into an early sun. Scorpio sat next to Virgo with a calming smile. "Morning"  Virgo whispered, Scorpio nodded, Virgo noticed that Scorpio seemed nervous, "Calm yourself, You're safe" Virgo said with a smile, She rested her head on the taller zodiac's shoulder, before she stood up seeing Pisces and Cancer slowly climb down the tree, Everyone was awake now, and it was time to head far away from Ollie's lab and into a new forest, A one with bigger trees and a safer environment, Or at least they thought it was safe there.

Once all the Zodiacs were ready they all slowly headed down the tree and started their journey to the Sequoia forest, and they journeyed to leave the dense redwood forest. Although it wasn't the most pleasant journey or peaceful. The Fire signs were constantly complaining, The Air signs were always bored, and The Water Signs were trying to shut everyone up. The Earth signs were just sick of the noise, "Just Shut up! please! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Capricorn yelled, "We're never going to get through this forest if you don't stop complaining!I won't fucking hesitate to shut you up myself, and I don't know how, but it won't be pretty..." She continued, They all shut up, for the majority of the trip. The Air signs played games while adventuring through the forest, like kicking a rock and seeing how long it would last before it went off the path they were walking. Or seeing how many Creatures they could spot during the entire thing.

Then finally they reached the edge of the Redwood forest, and into a clearing of a dirt path, They continued walking on the path until they saw a town, an old western styled town, it was just like their old home, broken and in ruins. Virgo noticed Scorpio nervously put her hood up. "Careful, Don't get cut by any broken glass, or just be cautious, we don't know who or what could be here waiting for something to appear and kill..." Virgo whispered to the Zodiacs, "It's creepy here..." Virgo heard Pisces whisper to Cancer. And Pisces was right, It was a ghost town, Nobody lived here anymore, they were most likely killed off, or they ran off, Broken glass was everywhere, and the dust that swarmed the air cut their throats and noses, Almost all of the buildings around them were broken and collapsed.

A large building was partially broken and still somewhat intact, it must have been a mall of some sort, a very big one at that, It was empty and dark, But they didn't go in. They all knew it was dangerous, Ironically the edge of the Sequoia forest was right next to the broken building. They entered the forest quietly, It was dark and mist was starting to roll in. They continued to walk farther into the forest until they found a good place to set up a place to stay, It was one of the biggest trees they had seen in their entire lives, it was huge, they all slowly climbed up to it's biggest and thickest branches, When they did they were amazed of how big this tree was, Many years ago this tree was 76 meters tall, but now it's a lot bigger than that, thanks to scientists and Dendrologist, they have found ways to make Redwood trees and Sequoia tree grow taller and thicker, and live longer too, if that was even possible. The trees were so thick that they had many layers of bark and if you were to carve something into it, it wouldn't harm the tree in any way possible. "Why did we have to choose the biggest tree in the world?" Leo asked, "Because we will be safe" Virgo answered, "What if we fall off?" Leo asked, "Well watch your footing," Virgo answered again, "Wow thanks for the Life saving advise, Bitch..." Leo grumbled, clearly not in the best mood. "Luckily we didn't venture too far from the town, so whoever wants to go to that broken down shop go ahead, just don't get lost, and take somebody with you" Capricorn said, obviously trying to stop Virgo and Leo from starting a fight, "Sagittarius can you go? Take Scorpio with you" Taurus asked, "Take anything useful, and can you try to find anything that can be used as storage? we could really use it" She continued. "Yeah, sure..." Sagittarius said quietly, Both Scorpio and Sagittarius slowly climbed down the giant tree and headed to Ghost Town. When they arrived it was colder and it was dark out now. "Why do you think they told me to go with you?" Sagittarius asked Scorpio, Scorpio shrugged, before trying to guess their reasonings "I mean probably because we are both fairly strong, smart, athletic, and also you can light things on fire too" Scorpio answered. Sagittarius nodded in understanding, she then lit a stick on fire, helping them find their way through the broken mall, they made it through the broken entryway and into the surprisingly and somewhat still stable main mall floor.