A World of Stars ➳ A Zodiac Story

Chapter Sixteen: "A Little Nature Never Hurt Anyone"

"How about we go camping!" Everyone looked at him as though he was crazy. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

"I'm down," Capricorn shrugged nonchalantly, Taurus eagerly nodding behind her.

"No, no. Never ever ever. Nature is going to destroy my hair, my complexion, EVERYTHING!" Leo argued stubbornly. "I have never gone camping, and I never will." He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

• • •

  "I hate this," Leo grumbled as he carried a bag of camping supplies further into the woods.

"Oh stop being such a party pooper!" Aries said as she fell into step with him.

"I wasn't even allowed to bring hairspray to keep my hair protected!" Leo complained. Aries let out an exaggerated sigh as Leo continued to mutter under his breath. They got to a clearing out in the woods that was quite far from the cabin but not far enough that either of the force fields was close to them. Everyone bustled around, setting up tents and collecting wood for a fire.

  Capricorn stood on a log and cleared her throat loudly, attempting to get everybody's attention. It took a few tries but soon all eyes were on her, however, before she could speak, she was pushed off the log by Aries, who took her place. "Leave this to the experts," She said smugly,

"Then why are you there?" Capricorn fired back. Aries seemingly ignored the comeback and began her speech. Capricorn's comment wasn't enough to trigger her fiery nature.

"So, as many of you may have noticed, the sun is setting." She stated obviously, "We are camping."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Capricorn murmured softly, Aries shot her a glare before continuing.

"If any of you get extremely scared, remember the cabin is not that far away, but until then we are to pretend as though it's not there and we are proper camping. I know that this is not the ideal camping environment but we have to make do with what we have." She nodded, indicating that she had finished. Capricorn quickly took this chance and shoved Aries off the pedestal, or log.

"Very well spoken Aries," She said cordially, although Aries could sense a bit of spite behind her words, however, she took no offense and stuck her tongue out immaturely. Capricorn rolled her eyes jokingly, she preferred to keep on good terms with everyone. "Seeing as it is getting a little chilly, I say that we should set up a fire and roast some marshmallows!" A few whoops and cheers ran through the group as they went and gathered around the spot where they were going to set up the campfire.

  The fire crackled pleasantly after a few minutes. The heat from the flames warmed the cold bodies of the group as the huddled together with marshmallows hovering above the licking flames. The sunset behind the trees cast shadows across the clearing. A calming pink hue painted the sky.

  Their serene calmness was destroyed when Aquarius jumped up. Leo, who was leaning over him to get to the fire, fell down and almost rolled into the fire, thankfully being stopped by Aries. Leo sent a glare that could burn more than the fire. Aquarius seemingly didn't see the withering look and cheerfully exclaimed, "I'll go collect some more firewood." Sagittarius followed suit and hopped up from her spot.

"I'll help!" They both scuttled into the dark trees, a torch by their sides.

"They're not going to get firewood," Virgo said without any thought.

"How do you know?" Pisces asked,

"The firewood is there." He said through a mouthful of marshmallow, spitting soggy pieces all over the fire, not even looking up from where he was roasting another marshmallow. Libra took the impaled marshmallow just as he was about to put it into his mouth.

"That's enough marshmallows for you," She said as she stuffed it in her mouth, "You've eaten almost the entire packet."

"Ok, Mom." He grumbled as he swiped one from Cancer, who protested loudly. Gemini was offering hers to Cancer. Cancer declined politely, thanking Gemini before running into his tent and producing a ukulele.

"I was kidding!" Pisces exclaimed. Everyone sent him curious glances as Cancer grinned. "I was thinking about playing campfire songs, you know that cliché thing where people sing around a campfire?" He clarified,

"Oh right, Cancer can read minds," Leo said, as though it just dawned on him, although, knowing him, it probably did. Pisces settled the ukelele comfortably in the correct position and glanced around at the group.

"Well?" He said expectantly. When nobody replied he spoke again, "What do you want me to play?"

"Riptide!" Gemini blurted before anybody could get an opinion in. Pisces frowned slightly,

"That's hardly a campfire s-"

"Riptide," Gemini repeated. She seemed seemingly set on this song and Pisces sighed audibly. Taurus sent him a glance, it noted that he shouldn't try and argue. He then shrugged and began playing the chords. One by one they each joined in and started swaying to the calming tune as they sang along. Somehow, amidst their enjoyment, Aquarius and Sagittarius were swiped from their mind. They forgot about the two zodiacs, who had been out collecting firewood, for quite a long time now.

  There came a loud shriek from the woods. Everybody jumped up and grouped together, ready for an attack. The air of merriness immediately deteriorated. Pisces held the ukelele up as a weapon, knowing in his mind that it wouldn't actually do him any good. There was a rustle of leaves and the atmosphere tensed. Everyone remained in expectation when Sagittarius came sprinting into the clearing.

  She had tears streaming down her face as she gasped for breath. She collapsed on Aries as they all rushed towards her. Her breath came out in short shallow pants as she desperately tried to communicate. They all soothed her as Aries lowered her to the ground.  "Aquarius, he-we were attacked. I got away, they- it got him," she croaked abruptly, she had obviously run quite far, if it took her this long to catch her breath. They all shared a glance and started toward where Sagittarius had come from, Aries and Libra lagging behind as they helped Sagittarius up and they stumble over tree roots.

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Well then... didn't that take an unexpected turn, muahaha! Are you guys anxious as to what comes your way? Well, I guess we'll see, IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Don't forget to vote and comment!

Yours truly,

Zodiac Lover No.1,

Leslie