The Hidden Signs

Chapter 8

But of course Leo didn't sleep, she was still full of energy besides her dreading waking up early. She slowly climbed down the large Sequoia tree's trunk. It was wet and cold, and it made Leo's hands freezing cold, But Leo didn't mind. When Leo made it to the bottom she looked around, it was still very dark and foggy, But she felt a calm feeling in her body that made Leo feel warm. She grabbed a stick and ignited it at the tip making it a small torch, But she made sure the flame wasn't too bright and was dim. She looked around curiously. Her eyes would glow dimly in the dark night a lot like a big cat. Leo grew more and more wary as she strayed farther away from the Tree the other Zodiacs were in. The moment she heard a twig snap she quickly put out the flame without even blinking. She climbed into a tree with a small opening to the other side of the thick tree. It was a small window-like view, and it led to an opening in the dense forest. Two figures stood in the opening, one of them had brown hair that covered up their eyes and they had small nubs on their head, which signified they were at least 16 meaning they were growing small horns, and the other was taller and had Brown hair with maroon red coloring on her hair tips.

Leo climbed down the tree to get a better look at the two. They were talking quietly, but they looked in Leo's direction when they heard the snap of a twig. They started to slowly approach Leo's location, when she felt as if they had gotten too close, Leo ran off as fast as she could, and Leo could hear the two's startled voices as Leo continued to run back to the tree, she thought frantically; "Who were those people, and are they a threat to the others?" Leo continued to panic until she reached the tree, she quickly climbed up it and hoped that the two mysterious people didn't follow her. When she made it up the tree she stayed at the edge of the branch, making sure she wasn't followed. She eventually calmed down and fell asleep, still on edge.

Scorpio woke up the next morning. The air was cold and the warmth of the sun relaxed Scorpio. She looked at the other Sleeping Zodiacs, Leo was awake, she didn't look too happy though, "What's the worried face?" Scorpio asked Leo, She was sitting watching the bottom of the tree. "There are People out there..." Leo said quietly, "Last night I couldn't sleep, so I left the tree and walked through the forest, And I came across two people in a opening, One seemed younger than the other, One was shorter and the other was taller, maybe older than us or the same age, But i am pretty sure they saw me, if they didn't, well they definitely heard me..." Leo whispered, making sure not to awaken anyone. "Would checking it out make you feel better? Because I know you want to go back by the look on your face" Scorpio said calmly, a smile placed on the zodiac's face. Leo nodded. They Both headed down the tree. Leo led the way and they made it to the tree Leo hid in while she watched the two figures. They both climbed into the small hole and they both saw the figures, but only there were 5 now. The Two figures Leo saw were with the other 3, One of them had a Pixie cut, their hair was a silver white and they had heterochromia, meaning one eye was yellow and the other was blue. The other figure next to them had Short ruffled hair. They must've had a Dog-like zip because they had a long bushy tail and ears, their hair was golden brown. The one next to that one had Fluffy cotton-like short hair. She was short and was wearing a puffy jacket like it was winter, which must've just started to get colder as the air was getting colder, to the point where it could start snowing. Leo frowned. "Don't worry, They seem like they aren't a threat..." Scorpio whispered, trying to calm Leo. Scorpio could hear a little bit of the conversation from the 5 strangers: "Do you think there is something dangerous out there? We came across something last night but it ran off before we could figure out who or what it was..." The Shorter one said, their hair was covering their eyes "Relax Alfie! I am sure it was just a critter, too small to hurt any of us!" The one with Short silver hair said. 'I am not sure, It sounded pretty big...' The Tallest one there said. "Remember, we are looking for people, We can't let something like that distract us..." The short one said that had a puffy jacket. "Who are we looking for again, and where are we going?" Alfie, had said. "We are looking for 12 kids from Redwood high, they had been spotted alive after the attack there..." The tall one said. "Specifically: Leigha braveheart, Shimada Zodshirou, Bailey Riverstream, Flake ColdStone, Haze Aerheart, and 7 others..." The tall one said, "And why do we have to find them, Delta?" The Silver haired one said. Leo froze, The 5 were looking for all of the Zodiacs... Scorpio quickly grabbed some cloth out of her pocket, She grabbed Leo's hand and covered the symbol on her hand that gave away that she was a Zodiac. Scorpio did the same but used an Eye patch. "You know, Zodiac Zips can cause our hair color to change, And we can keep the fact that we have unnatural hair colors a secret, because it can be controlled..." Scorpio whispered, "Which is triggered by a fight or flight response when you feel as if you need to be hidden, like right now..." Scorpio continued, pointing out that Scorpio's hair had gone to a dark brown and Leo's was now Blonde again, "You're too smart..." Leo muttered, "maybe we should try to drive them away from camp..." Scorpio whispered, "That's a good idea, but how?" Leo asked "Simple" Scorpio answered and she Jumped down from the tree and signaled Leo to follow, Scorpio made herself and Leo visible in the sunlight, Delta, the taller figure spotted them, She had a phone and looked at it in a shocked manner, She pointed at the two and yelled : "That's, That's two of the missing kids!" Delta yelled, running at them, "Now what?" Leo asked, "Now, We run!" Scorpio said Sprinting away from them in a different direction from their camp, Leo followed her, Scorpio and Leo could both hear the 5 figures yelling at them, she heard the leader, Delta, yelling: "Stop them! don't kill them! At least knock them out!" She continued to yell, "Alright, now we go our separate paths" Scorpio panted whilst smiling, Leo also smiled. Scorpio went to the left quickly, while Leo climbed up a tree and went above the treetops that were thick enough to run on. She looked back and three were following her, "Come on! Stop running! We just want to help!" One of them panted. Leo then stopped and stepped to the side. The three that were chasing after her were going too fast and all three of them tried stopping all at once, but failed and they all tripped over another and fell into one pile. Leo's lion-like tail was swaying side to side curiously, She smiled as the three slowly got up and looked at her, they were all panting. "You... I need you... to come with us!" one of them said, still out of breath, "Yeah yeah, But here is my question, Why should I? And Why do you want us?" Leo asked, "We don't know... We, We were just told to find some random kids that went missing after the world went bonkers!"  One of them said, "We're not Kids... We are technically young adults..." Leo said, "Who are you anyways?" She asked again, "I am Taiga..." The one with short silver hair said, "I am Maddison, But please call me Maddie..." The short one with a puffy jacket said, "I am Max!" The one with Golden Brown hair said, "and you're Leilgha Braveheart!" Max said excitedly, but his excitement was quickly shattered, Leo glared at him, Her Yellow eyes, and Max's confidence quickly turned into a spec of dust. Her eyes were slanted like a cat's eyes. Leo heard yelling in the distance, "Looks like Delta isn't getting along well with your friend..." Taiga said, Leo smiled, "We don't need your help..." Leo said, still glaring, "stop being so difficult!" Maddie whined.  "We don't want to do this by force..." Max said, quietly. "You aren't taking us, Using force or not, we will NOT go with you!" Leo said sternly. Then Taiga tried to quickly grab Leo's wrist, Leo quickly jumped back, as Taiga tried grabbing onto Leo the more Leo would grow angry, Finally Leo kicked Taiga, Sending her onto the tree beds. Leo had her hands behind her back, She was smiling, "Do you want to awaken the Lion? It hasn't gotten time to play..." Leo said smiling, Taiga looked confused, and so did Maddie, But Max looked terrified. Taiga didn't seem to care, but she was growing more and more angry the more Leo resisted. Taiga eventually pulled out a Tactical military grade knife, She swiped at Leo, and eventually cut through the Bandaged up hand. The cloth fell on the leaf bed. Leo watched the cloth slowly fall and frowned, She lifted her injured hand as her glossy red blood dripped onto the tree tops, staining them a dark red. Leo examined her injured before licking the blood from her wound and looking back up at the trio, all in shock and discomfort. "You weren't injured on that hand before, what are you hiding?" Max asked, still a bit startled, Leo looked up at the Three, Taiga was now standing next to the other 3 again. She smiled, She turned her palm towards the standing three. Max's face turned pale, And the other two seemed confused at Max's reaction. He fell to his knees, "Western... Z-Zodiac..." He Whispered, "A what?" Maddie asked, still confused, "A Western Zodiac, It's a powerful zip that has been feared by Millions in the western side of earth, In fact, it is so strong that usually those found with it are usually killed off at a young age..." Leo said, still smiling, "But it seems that you are from the Eastern part of the world..." She continued, still smiling. "I don't care that you are 'Dangerous" we just want to get this stupid job done!" Taiga yelled, Leo's hair was now a glowing yellow and orange, her confidence had risen and now the three were going to face the lion...

Taiga's anger quickly transferred into fear as Leo's eyes started to glow a fiery orange. But the suspense stopped after a loud thunderous shriek rang through the air. Leo and the other 3 looked in the direction, the shriek didn't sound human at all, It was the farthest thing from Human, Leo covered her ears, They felt like they were going to start bleeding. When the Shriek stopped Leo panicked, That had to be Scorpio.