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The
Secret Garden - Aries' Victory (Part 1) |
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Characters:
*
The 12 children (zodiac)
* The three-headed wolf
- Princess
Andromeda
-
Cetus the sea monster
-
Algor the devil
- Goddess Artemis
(
*appears in this issue)
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The
silvery moon hung nonchalantly above while the
twinkling stars grinned playfully at the 12 children
below. The chilly wind urged the children to return
to safety but undaunted, the little ones persistent
in their quest - to find the Secret Garden.
"You
know, maybe we should head home now," suggested
Cancer as another gust of wind passed by. "
We can always continue tomorrow when the sun is
up."
"Yea
Cancer's right," Libra added enthusiastically.
" Tomorrow ain't a bad idea."
Aries turned and glared at them. " Move it
babies, we have a long way to go. The Secret Garden
beckons and there's no time to lose." With
that, Aries presumed to join Leo in front and
continued to lead the search for the Secret Garden
as a sulky Cancer tagged behind.
"Oh
c'mon," said Libra as he held the pouting
girl's hand. "Aries has a point too. The
sooner we get to the Secret Garden, the sooner
we can go home. Cheer up Cancer!"
The
little party walked on as Gemini's lively whistles
attempted to cheer them up. Once in a while, Leo
would check that everyone was in the group, and
this often got Sagittarius and Aquarius into trouble
as both had a tendency to wander off by themselves.
"Now
where is that Sagittarius again," frowned
Leo as he did a head count. " Aquarius, where's
that good friend of yours?"
Aquarius
gave a cheeky smile and shrugged. "He'll
come back when he wants to. Let him be."
"But
what if he's hurt or something?" Virgo fretted.
"This is the woods, anything can happen to
him! Maybe the wolves found him or maybe he fell
into a hole and can't get up! Maybe he's hurt
or even dying or maybe…"
"Maybe
you should just shut up Virgo," snapped an
irritated Scorpio. " Sagittarius knows how
to take care of himself, and I have a feeling
that he's ok so let's move on!"
"Wait!"
the exclamation of Aries made the group stop dead
in their tracks. "Holy Cow! Listen!"
The
group strained their ears and gasped. Not too
far away was the ferocious roar of an unknown
beast. Pisces shrieked and clung on to a shivering
Cancer while Virgo, in the arms of Libra, looked
ready to break down any moment.
"Let's
take cover over there," Capricorn pointed
to a dark cave nearby. "Hopefully it won't
see us."
"Hopefully it's a vegetarian," said
Gemini with a worried smile as the group ran and
sought shelter in the small cave.
The
children huddled close together as the roars and
footsteps got closer. Suddenly a thought dawned
on Pisces. "Oh no, Sagittarius!"
The group fell silent at the thought of the possibility
that Sagittarius was hurt or perhaps killed by
the beast. Calmly, Taurus who had been quiet all
the while gave tearful Pisces a reassuring hug.
"He'll be fine, don't worry. For now, we
have to deal with this monster or get trapped
here for the rest of the night."
Another
roar shook the earth and the beast came into sight.
A huge three-headed wolf stormed its way near
the cave, its noses sniffing the air and saliva
flowing freely from its mouths. It gave another
earth shattering roar, which made the children
shudder.
"It… it doesn't seem to kn.. know that
we're here," stammered Cancer, eyeing the
strange beast with wide fearful eyes.
"That's
because the wind direction is in our favour, Cancer,"
whispered Aquarius calmly. "Mr Wolf knows
we're here, but he doesn't know the exact location.
He can't smell us but he can sense our presence.
That's why he's so angry."
"If
that's the case then now's the best time to strike,"
Aries decided. "C'mon guys take out your
weapons and kill this creature before the wind
changes again!"
The
boys took out all they had - daggers, catapults,
marbles and water pistols.
"Split
the weapons amongst yourselves," commanded
Leo. "Libra, you stay here with the girls.
And be careful with the water pistols, there's
no water nearby for refill. Ready guys?"
"Hey
wait a minute!" Scorpio tugged hard at Leo's
sleeves. "I wanna go too! I can fight just
like any of you boys!"
Aries
roughly pushed Scorpio aside as he led the boys
out of the cave. "This is not playtime, little
girl. Stay here!"
Quietly
creeping out of the cave, the four boys hid behind
nearby bushes as the beast, with its back towards
them, sniffed the air impatiently.
"Lie low," Aquarius cautioned. "The
wind has changed its direction. I think he can
smell us anytime now."
The
beast gave a fearsome roar and stormed a few steps
towards the cave, just a few feet away from its
little ambush.
"Ok
listen up," said Aries in a low whisper.
"Leo and I shall distract it while the two
of you attack from the back. And then… what
the hell!!!"
A
spine tingling roar and a girl's voice made the
boys peer up in fear. Scorpio was facing the beast
head-on, a determined frown on her pretty face
and a sharp blade in her hand.
"C'mon
you ugly thing," she shouted. "Show
me how good you are!" The three headed beast
roared in amusement at the skinny child in front
of him. This drove Scorpio madder and she jumped
and lunged her blade into the beast's heart. But
the beast was too smart and too quick for the
little girl. It threw her to the ground with a
swipe of its paws and roared just inches away
from her face.
Scorpio
screamed and all she could remember was the three
headed beast opening one of its jaws and the pain
brought total darkness upon her...
(To be continued...)
-Melissa
2001
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