Zodiac Mansion

A Visit and Capture the Flag

The days after the zodiac's trip to the beach were spent with everyone doing their own thing around the house. Sagittarius was especially busy spending her time outside in the backyard, practicing her archery.

"Now hold still," She instructed a trembling Cancer, who was tied up to a tree holding an apple on her head. Why Sagittarius had chosen her to aid in her practice was beyond her.

"Please don't shoot me! You know your finger could always slip and-"

"Relax," Sagittarius said, aiming her bow and arrow at the apple. She fired the arrow, splitting the apple in half and nestling itself into the bark of the tree. Cancer shrieked in the process.

"Whoo! Bullseye!" Sag cheered.

Cancer breathed out an anxious sigh of relief after making sure she wasn't injured.
"Okay, that was fun and all but can I please go now?" She asked, still terrified and shocked that she wasn't shot in the forehead.

"Okay, okay," Sagittarius untied Cancer, who immediately ran straight into the house.

When Sagittarius entered the mansion, having put her bow away, everyone was gathered in the living room.

"What's going on?" She whispered to Capricorn who was standing off to the side of the living room.

"We're thinking of games to play," he answered.

"Ooh fun."

"Hey, let's play capture the flag!" Aries suggested.

Everyone seemed happy with the idea.

•••

"Okay, so this is what we're gonna do," Aries instructed.

The signs were all gathered at the park near the zodiac mansion. The park was huge and aside from having a playground, splash pad, duck pond, walking trails and so on, it had a huge field filled with super tall maple trees that were great for climbing. This spot was perfect for capture the flag.

"There'll be two teams consisting of six people. You will both have one flag that you will guard. To defend your flag, you can tag any opponent on your territory. If you get tagged, you have to return back to your side to get back in the game. The first team to capture the other's flag wins the game," Aries explained.

Libra leaned into Sagittarius and whispered, "Is it just me or is Aries literally an old high school gym teacher?"

Sagittarius laughed. "All he needs is a whistle and a clipboard."

"Ooh and some of those super short gym shorts."

Sagittarius snorted, holding her hands up to her mouth to mask her giggling. Libra joined in, and Sagittarius tried hard not to imagine an old gym teacher in short shorts.

"Alright, Virgo has put all of your names on a piece of paper in a hat. She'll pull out your name and tell you what team you're on."

Virgo stepped up towards Aries and dug her hand into a baseball cap, pulling out a name.
"Alright the first team, the red team, will be Sagittarius, Leo, Libra, Gemini, Aries, and Aquarius. On the blue team we have Capricorn, Taurus, Scorpio, Cancer, Pisces and me."

"Okay," Aries continued, pointing a finger toward one end of the grass.
"That end is the red team's side," He then pointed to the other end.
"And that will be the blue team's."

Everyone got into their teams. The red team put on red bandanas and the blue team put on blue bandanas to tell each other apart.