The Zodiac

Prologue

The Great Race

Once upon a time, the Jade Emperor thought it'd be better to assign an animal to each year so people could more easily remember the Zodiac cycle. So he decided to hold a meeting with all the animals and he would choose 12 of them to be the Zodiac animals. At that time, Cat and Rat were close friends. They were very excited about the meeting and decided to go early.

 However, Cat was a sleepyhead. He hardly ever woke up before noon. On the night before the meeting, he asked Rat to wake him early the next morning. When morning came, Rat got up early and quietly left for the meeting alone. When Cat finally woke up in afternoon, he knew it was too late. Feeling betrayed, he vowed that henceforth Rat would be his enemy. That is probably the main reason Cats are always chasing after Rats.

Another folk story tells that Cat and Rat were the worst swimmers in the animal kingdom. Although they were poor swimmers, they were both quite intelligent. To get to the meeting called by the Jade Emperor, they had to cross a river to reach the meeting place. The Jade Emperor had also decreed that the years on the calendar would be named for each animal as they arrived to the meeting. Cat and rat decided that the best and fastest way to cross the river was to hop on the back of Ox. Ox, being naive and good-natured, agreed to carry them both across. Midway across the river, rat pushed cat into the water. Then as Ox neared the other side of the river, Rat jumped ahead and reached the shore first. So he claimed first place in the competition and the zodiac.

Following closely behind was strong Ox who was named the 2nd animal in the zodiac. After Ox, came Tiger, panting, while explaining to the Jade Emperor how difficult it was to cross the river with the heavy currents pushing it downstream all the time. But with its powerful strength, Tiger made to shore and was named the 3rd animal in the cycle.

Suddenly, from a distance came a thumping sound, and the Rabbit arrived. It explained how it crossed the river: by jumping from one stone to another in a nimble fashion. Halfway through, it almost lost the race but the Rabbit was lucky enough to grab hold of a floating log that later washed him to shore. For that, it became the 4th animal in the Zodiac cycle. Coming in 5th place was the Flying Dragon. Of course, the Jade Emperor was deeply curious as to why a swift flying creature such as the Dragon should fail to reach first place.

The mighty Dragon explained that he had to stop and make rain to help all the people and creatures of the earth, and therefore he was held back. Then, on his way to the finish, he saw a little helpless Rabbit clinging onto a log so he did a good deed and gave a puff of breath to the poor creature so that it could land on the shore. The Jade Emperor was very pleased with the actions of the Dragon, and he was added into the zodiac cycle. As soon as he had done so, a galloping sound was heard, and the Horse appeared.

Hidden on the Horse's hoof was the Snake, whose sudden appearance gave the Horse a fright, thus making it fall back and giving the Snake the 6th spot, while the Horse placed 7th.

Not long after that, a little distance away, the Goat, Monkey, and Rooster came to the shore. These three creatures helped each other to get to where they are. The Rooster spotted a raft, and took the other two animals with it. Together, the Goat and the Monkey cleared the weeds, tugged and pulled and finally got the raft to the shore. Because of their combined efforts, the Emperor was very pleased and promptly named the Goat as the 8th creature, the Monkey as the 9th, and the Rooster the 10th.

The 11th animal was the Dog. Although he was supposed to be the best swimmer, he could not resist the temptation to play a little longer in the river. Though his explanation for being late was because he needed a good bath after a long spell. For that, he almost didn't make it to finish line. Just as the Jade Emperor was about to call it a day, an oink and squeal was heard from a little Pig.

The Pig got hungry during the race, promptly stopped for a feast and then fell asleep. After the nap, the Pig continued the race and was named the 12th animal of the zodiac cycle. The Cat finished as thirteenth place and did not make it in the zodiac.

As time passed, and as the human race became more intelligent and industrious, they began to question the accuracy of the Zodiac. Astrology could not be trusted, they began to say to each other. It was unreliable and completely false. Without the Jade Emporer there to reassure them, for he had passed decades before, the Asian population began to doubt. And then forget, of the 12 Zodiac animals. As the animals passed from young to old, and their aging bodies were close to releasing their spirits into the after life, the Rat made a last attempt to keep the Zodiac alive.

He told the others of his plan, "Each Zodiac must go and pick a human. A human up to your standards to replace you in this life, so we may continue to the next." And so they did. The Ox, would pick someone dependable and honorable. While the Tiger choose a warrior, with a brave and passionate heart.And so the others of the original Zodiac did the same. At the time, the Cat had been living on the streets, he had also heard of this. And chose a human with a heart full of vengeance, consumed with his anger from years before. The Rat had no guilt and had not thought of the Cat once since his betrayal, and went on with the Ceremony without a second thought.

Calling all of the Zodiac together,the Rat began transferring the animal's spirit and characteristcs over to the humans, along with the knowledge of the Great Race.First,the Rat drew a circal of dates around the Zodiac. Each animal took up a position in the circle next to its alotted years. The Rat then began the ceremony while the Cat waited in the shadows. One by one, first the Ox and then lastly the Rat, the humans became Zodiacs. "It is done." the Rat claimed and began to close the spell.

 At the last moment the Cat turned over a nearby lamp causing the building to catch fire. The animals scattered. Admidst the chaos, the Cat slinked over to the now shrinking spell bound circle, and miraculously, was made the unoffical 13th animal Zodiac.Little did he know that the dates were now smeared, making the years, months.

So a new Zodiac continues to strive in the modern world, with an additional animal, and shorter time periods.

Authors Note: I've taken the tradtional Chinese Zodiac and mixed it up a bit. Okay, maybe A LOT. But I've tweaked it to fit my story. If you enjoyed it, please tell me why or why not! I love constructive criticism and I'd like to improve. Thanks Everyone! - Hallie