Killer Instinct: A Zodiac Story

Chapter 10: Unusual Guards

Aries - despite her confident demeanour - couldn't help but feel something prickling down her spine. The forest seemed to stretch on forever, but she marched onwards. There was something faintly familiar about the rows of trees all around her.

Aries briefly wondered whether she was leading her team in circles, but she shook the thought off. They had been marching forwards all this time; there was no way they could be marching in circles.

The other thought plaguing her was of Dr. M. She shuddered faintly at the thought of the vile man. The scar marring the skin between her left elbow and shoulder tingled, as if responding to her thought:

If Dr. M and Orion want us to 'bring peace to the world' and all, then why would he... make us suffer like this?

Aries flinched as someone tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, uh, Aries." Taurus said. "Should we stop to take a break for now? We've been walking for a few hours, and I noticed there was a stream nearby, where we can stop by and get supplies."

"Uh, yeah..." Now that she had been snapped out of her thoughts, she could hear the faint bubbling of water over rocks. Aries calmed her breathing and nodded. She stopped and turned around. "Alright; we're going to take a break by that stream over there. We should also stock up on supplies because we don't know how far the Central Empire is."

"Orion did mention something about an event where the king will be vulnerable, though." Pisces piped up.

Aries nodded. "So we can't rest for too long. We'll just have to get to the Central Empire as soon as possible and wait for the event to come. Better early than late."

The twelve teenagers found the stream soon enough. The Water Squadron were sent to collect water, the Earth Squadron to find food and the Air Squadron to scout. Aries called over the other two members of the Fire Squadron to cover up their tracks.

"We don't know whether there'll be guards from the Central Empire - assuming there are guards - patrolling around here. We need to cover up whatever we can." Aries explained. "You don't have to go too far back since I don't want you going too far, but also it's unlikely the guards will patrol there, since they haven't discovered the secret entrance yet."

Assuming we're anywhere close to the Central Empire...

"Roger." Sagittarius and Leo chorused.

The two of them turned to leave. Sagittarius glanced over at Aries and paused. "Hey, Aries... you're okay, right? Dr. M..."

Aries forced a smile, but Sagittarius's keen gaze made it clear that it didn't work. She let her expression fall and turned away, suddenly unable to meet her teammate's (friend's?) expression. "To be honest... I don't know."

Leo turned around and smiled sadly at Aries. "Well... if you feel like talking about it... we're always here."

"...thanks, guys. I'll... consider it. Maybe later."

"Alright." Sagittarius nodded. "Later, then." He turned towards Leo. "Let's go."

The two of them hurried away. Aries watched them until they disappeared between the trees, then turned towards where Libra and Virgo were packing up what they had into the bags they had been given before they left. Aries walked over and silently began to help them pack, not waiting for them to speak to her.

The two teenagers shared a glance. Libra smiled in greeting at Aries but said nothing, while Virgo dipped his head in a polite nod but didn't look up.

Aries appreciated the silence as they quickly worked to pack up everything the others brought them.

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