Gemini awoke to the sound of birds chirping amongst the trees outside and half expected her alarm to begin tinkling that annoying ringtone. Why had she chosen that annoying tone? However, all she could hear were the sounds of nature and some heavy breathing.
She snuggled in deeper into her sleeping bag but the heavy breathing seemed to get louder. She turned and was met by a pair of purple eyes. She screamed shrilly and jumped up. She was still in her sleeping bag, so she looked as though she were in a sack. She almost fell over but was able to maintain some balance. Her panic died down when she saw it was simply Aries. She hopped over to Aries in her sleeping bag and lunged at her, bringing them both down. Aries groaned as she tried to push Gemini off, "Jesus Gem, what the hell was that for,"
"For scaring me, especially first thing in the morning," Gemini replied placidly, placing her hands on her hips. Suddenly the tent flap was flung aside as Leo and Aquarius stumbled in their half asleep state. Aquarius held a saucepan in his hands, ready to strike and Leo was holding a rubber duck. They stood up straight at the sight of Gemini and Aries staring at them.
"Um, what are you doing?" Aquarius asked curiously.
"None of your business," Aries replied arrogantly.
"What did you think we were doing?" Gemini asked, genuinely confused. They both blushed slightly,
"Nothing!" They both said, their voices an octave higher than usual. Gemini shrugged it off and rolled off of Aries. She clambered out of her sleeping bag as a few other people joined them in the tent.
"Privacy!" Gemini said as she begun ushering them out of her tent, including Aries.
"Be out in time for breakfast!" Aries smiled sweetly as she went out. Gemini sighed and rubbed her temples. She could hear Aquarius and Leo arguing outside.
"Really Aqua, you gave me a rubber duck?"
"I panicked okay? I materialized the first two things that came to my mind!"
"So you hear a scream and think, 'Oh no, somebody's in trouble, let's go fight them off with a saucepan and a rubber duck'. You're not Rapunzel! And I can't fight people with a rubber duck!"
"I was half asleep!" Gemini laughed and tuned out their ceaseless bickering.
• • •
They all sat on a picnic blanket around the fireplace, there was no fire because the rays of sunlight reaching through the tree branches were enough heat. They had packed all their tents up because they would be heading back later on. As they sat and munched on their sandwiches, Capricorn observed everybody's quiet behavior. She noticed Taurus and Pisces seemingly avoiding each other's gaze and turned to Taurus, who sat next to her. "What's up with you and Pisces?" She whispered, Taurus immediately blushed at his mention, but hid it by covering her face with a curtain of hair. She looked around to make sure that nobody else was listening before turning to Capricorn.
"He kissed me,"
"WHAT?" Taurus shushed her frantically, "What?"
"On the cheek, obviously," She shook her head, "I don't know what to think." Capricorn shrugged,
"Ask him,"
"It's not that simple,"
"Yeah, it is," Capricorn shrugged again, "If you want to know something, be straightforward. No beating around the bush." With that, they stopped the conversation, turning their attention back to the sandwiches they held in their hands. Aquarius hopped up, stuffing the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth,
"Let's go to the lake!" He mumbled through a mouthful, spitting crumbs everywhere. They packed the remainder of things and began walking back.
"Ugh, this is so heavy!" Sagittarius complained as she moved her bag to the other shoulder. As they continued, the bag seemed to get lighter, until she couldn't even feel it on her shoulder, "It's so heavy my shoulder is going numb!" She said in surprise, she hadn't thought it was that heavy.
"Um, Saggi," Libra said, "Your bag is floating," Sagittarius spun so fast she almost lost her balance, She froze as she saw her bag floating in mid-air. Everyone had stopped now and stared in awe as she slowly reached her hand out to touch it. She stopped as she noticed sparks flying from her fingers. All of a sudden the sparks disappeared and her bag landed on the ground with a thud. Nobody moved for a second,
"I guess I've discovered my powers," She said quietly,
"No really?" Virgo mumbled sarcastically, his voice almost inaudible. They all congratulated her before moving on. Since most of them had already discovered their powers, it wasn't that much of a big deal for them. However, Sagittarius stared at her hand the entire walk there, glimpsing an occasional sparkle.
They reached the lake eventually. Leo transported with all their stuff into the cabin and came back with all their swimsuits. Soon enough they were enjoying themselves, splashing in the water as the sun glinted warmly on them. Taurus sat on the edge of the water, her legs dipped in. She watched the others clown around with a smile on her face. She barely even noticed when Pisces sat down next to her. "Why aren't you swimming?" He asked. She jumped at the sudden sound of his voice.
"I don't feel like it," she shrugged, her tongue burning with the want to ask another question that had been circling her mind. "Why did you kiss me?" Well, that was that. No beating around the bush, she thought to herself. Pisces immediately flushed at her boldness and at the question.
"It was a simple friendly gesture," he dismissed the question. To anyone else, it would seem like he was avoiding the real answer, but Taurus took it as though he was unconcerned and nodded. She had known that this would be the answer, but she couldn't but feel slightly disappointed. Pisces quickly got up and swam, trying to get the conversation off his mind. It had been too awkward. Cancer tapped on his shoulder. Pisces turned around to be met with his inquisitive eyes. "Nothing happened," He said,
"Wow, I'm supposed to be the one with the mind-reading powers," he chuckled, "Okay then, come and join us!" Cancer dragged Pisces to where the others were playing water tag. Pisces turned to see Taurus sitting with her head on her knees, watching them. Scorpio sat down next to her and spoke to her, she smiled at him and they started talking. Pisces felt a sudden pang of jealousy surge through him. He frowned, surprised at his own feeling, Taurus turned her eyes back to the lake and their gazes met each other, he felt his cheeks heat up, quickly turning away and putting his focus on Leo who was swimming towards him. Leo stopped in front of him and smiled evilly. Pisces realized that Cancer had left him.
"Tag!" Leo cried and tapped his shoulder, "You're it!" Pisces groaned and began pursuing Libra, who was closest to him.
• • •
Later on, they all were in the kitchen, sitting tiredly around the counter. Virgo shook his head for the umpteenth time, sprinkling the salty water from his hair all over the table, "Will you stop doing that!" Libra complained for the umpteenth time as well.
"Will both of you just stop!" Sagittarius placed her head in her hands, "We're trying to have a calm dinner." The group descended into a heavy silence. They picked at their spaghetti, none were hungry after the tiring day, all the fun had drained their energy and now they were sleepy and cranky.
"Jesus, you guys are like breathing corpses," Scorpio grumbled under his breath,
"It's not like you're any better!" Leo shot back,
"Guys," Capricorn said loudly, they both stopped glaring at each other and began picking at their food again. Virgo finally pushed his chair back and got up, everyone looked at him inquisitively,
"It's obvious that none of us are hungry, so why don't we put it in the fridge and heat up tomorrow or something." He proposed, everyone nodded their head tiredly and scraped their plates into a box, Virgo sealed it and put it in the fridge.
"Remember when Aries threw a plate at Capricorn?" Libra said suddenly, as an attempt to start a conversation. Aries laughed at the memory and Capricorn grinned. However, again there was an uncomfortable silence.
"Let's just go to sleep," Virgo finally said, this was met with a lot of eager nods. Everyone dragged their feet up the stairs and into their own rooms. In barely a few minutes, after everyone had brushed and gotten ready for bed. Scorpio stared at the stars that covered his ceiling, it had annoyed him when he first saw it, but now it soothed him.
He twisted, something inside him told him that something bad was going to happen, he didn't know why. He looked out the window and saw the force field shimmering against the dark sky. There was a sudden sting in his fingers and he winced. His eyes were drooping now, and as he slipped into a dream, he saw the shimmer of the field flicker, as though it was weakening. But that must have just been his sleepy brain playing tricks. Right?
~~~~~~~~~~
A/N Of course, it was his mind, do you guys honestly think I'd be that evil? Or am I? Well, I guess we'll find out when you read the next chapter. I don't think you should worry, or should you?
Don't forget to vote and comment!
Yours truly,
Zodiac Lover No.1,
Leslie