Zodiac Girls

The Revelation

Out in the woods, along a small trail, Clara walked throughout the night, a cloak over her body to keep her warm from the cold night. The cat beastie was lost in the dark woods, unable to find her way back home after going off on a small adventure, in an attempt to relieve herself from boredom when the other beasties were too busy to play with her for the day, as well as one other thing.

As she walked, Clara could not help but cautiously look around the area, quite scared by both the darkness and the silence. It especially did not help that the night sky was completely concealed by the clouds, making it all the more frightening for this small child.

Rustling was heard in the bushes nearby, causing her to come to a stop and turn to the shrubs, shaking quite fearfully. The longer she saw it move, the more she felt the need- the urge- to run. Eventually enough... she finally found it in her to do exactly that, as she turned and made a break for it, running from the shrubs.

The moment she ran, something shot out of the shrubs and chased after her. Clara did not bother to look back, for merely hearing the fast footsteps chasing after her was more than enough to make this child run even faster, away from the thing that was chasing her.

Unfortunately, not long into her run, Clara tripped on a pebble and fell to the ground. Looking back to the pursuer, the cat beastie was all the more frightened to see a small pack of wolves rushing closer to her. She closed her eyes, and braced herself for her impeding doom, when something jumped over her and struck the wolf closest to the child. The figure then proceeded to attack the other two canines, prompting them to target her instead of the weak child.

Clara could only watch on in shock and worry for the newcomer, as the latter slipped through each attempted attacks and harshly struck back at each wolf. Soon after, frightened by this powerful foe, the wolves all made their retreat, whimpering as they ran.

"Those wolves had better learned their lesson this time," the figure said, before turning back to Clara. "As for you... Do you have any idea how worried everyone was when you suddenly disappeared on us?"

The cat beastie looked down at the scolding tone, unable to face her savior. "... Sorry, Viper..." she could only say.

"'Sorry' is not enough. You're lucky I knew you'd be here, or who knows what could've happened then. Why didn't you tell anyone where you went?"

Tears started to form in the child's eyes at the question, especially at the tone being used. "Because... Everyone is busy... I didn't want to interrupt their work..."

"That's no excuse to not say anything."

"Easy for you to say! I'm the only child beastie! Even if I want to play with anyone else, none of the other kids want to play with me! ... They don't even see me as a person..."

At those words, more tears started welling up in Clara's eyes, in which the girl tried hard to hold back. She was taught that a proud beastie was not to shed tears, as they were a sign of weakness. However, after everything Clara went through, even just before she left the village for her adventure... She just could not hold back even if she wanted to.

As for Viper, the snake beastie could only look at the girl with a slightly saddened expression. It wasn't that she was disappointed in the girl, as it was more that she understood her situation. Not all humans saw beasties as equals, and considering how immature children can be, she can guess and say that none of the human child in the village truly understood what it meant to understand beasties, much less live alongside them as an equal. Such a thing would obviously lead to discrimination, and thus also lead to isolation. And isolation amongst beasties can be very dangerous. Besides, Clara was still a child; she knew the cat beastie knew about the unspoken law of beasties and tears, and also knew that such a law is far too much for a child who had to bear so much pain.

The adult beastie placed a gentle hand on the child's head. "I know it's tough to be different from everyone else... You're not the only beastie who is finding it hard to fit in to life in this village," she conforted.

Clara only sniffled in response to that. "... Liar..."

"I'm not lying. You said it yourself; I and the other beasties have been busy, but it was not just with work. Day in and day out, we tried to find ways to get everyone in the village to accept us for who we are, only to still be doubted by some people. Although... I never thought that would get passed down onto you in any way. You who is still far too young to experience any of this sort of pain... On behalf of the other beasties, I apologize."

Clara widened her eyes upon hearing those words. Then, overtaken by so much stress and grief, leaned into Viper and cried.

******

Day turned into night. After finishing the last of her work, which did not only consist of plans for the next teacher's meeting, but also events revolving around school, study sessions for upcoming tests, club activities amongst advisors, and various other work as the principal, Principal Vyper called Rain to her desk.

"Okay. You may wake," the woman said, snapping her fingers in front of the teen's face.

The moment she did, Rain flinched with a startle. "Huh?" One look at the night sky behind the principal, and she let out a shocked gasp. "It's night time?! How?! Wasn't it just the afternoon?!"

"If you can be patient for just a few more minutes, I assure you, all questions will be answered then," Principal Vyper said, pouring some tea in a teacup. "Would you like some tea? It's chamomile, and I much rather not have to force you to submission once more."

Those words confused Rain just as much as the sudden change in time. "'Force me into...' What are you talking about?"

"Rain Takone..." The tone the woman used to address the teen sent shivers down the teen's very soul. "Do not test me."

The glowing glare was the final straw for her, as Rain started sweating a storm upon the woman's presence. "... I-I'm fine with chamomile..." she stuttered out.

"Very good," Vyper responded, content with her words as she poured another cup for her.

With the tea set, Rain took the cup and saucer in her hands and sipped the substance. One sip, and she felt her whole being relax.

"Relaxing, isn't it? Especially for you," the principal then spoke.

"Yeah... Everything has been so stressful during the past week. I guess I needed a cup of tea to relax," Rain admitted.

She heard the woman stifle back a laugh and muttered out, "Well, I suppose there is also that as well." As much as she wanted to ask what she meant, the teen did not bother questioning it, and simply took another sip of the tea.

******

A few minutes later, Lucy and Sherry came into the room, as well as Rain's soccer coach and captain. Surprised as the orangette was to see the other two, for some reason, she lacked much strength to say or do anything, much less express much of her bafflement.

"Rain! You're really here?" her soccer captain gasped.

"Ah, captain. How fares thee~" Rain asked, in a tone that shocked the newcomers, as well as the teen herself, though she did not show it on her face.

"Oh dear. I see chamomile is a bit strong for you at the moment," Principal Vyper simply stated.

"Chamomile?" the coach questioned.

"Do none of you truly know? Chamomile helps one relax and reduces one's stress. This is especially true for felines."

At that, to Rain's chagrin, the others let out 'ah's in understanding. "Why did you all go 'ah' like it makes the absolute sense?" she questioned, slowly regaining her sense of self.

"Ah. She's coming back to her senses," the coach stated.

Finishing her tea, Vyper set her cup back on its saucer and lowered the shades on the windows. "All right... Now that we're all here, though this is earlier than planned, I believe now is time to reveal to our new member the truth."

Two words of the second half of that sentence caught Rain's attention, as she also finished her tea. "'New member'?"

"You wish to know the truth of yourself, do you not? Usually the truth would be revealed after the person remembers the forgotten past and accepts it, no matter how hard it is to even believe it, but considering your situation, both back then and now, I suppose the truth must be told regardless after all."

"The truth about what?" Rain questioned.

Rather than giving her a straight answer, the woman asked, "Tell me first, Miss Takone. What do you know of Chinese Zodiacs?"

The teen raised a confused brow at the question, but answered, "You mean the one with the years of rat, ox, tiger, and nine other animals? Just that each one come every twelve years. And that there was a folklore based on them."

"And that folklore being...?"

"Well... I only read it a few times, so I don't remember the whole story all that well. There was this animal race set up by god, who awards each animal with a calendar year based on their placings. By the time the race was over, the ones who made it to the finish line were a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a horse, a snake, a goat, a monkey, a rooster, a dog, and a pig."

As Rain said what she recalled from the race, Vyper only gave light nods, as that supposedly was how the Chinese Zodiacs came to be. At least... That was how they were said to come to be. "These past few days... weeks... months... even years... However long you've had your powers, have you had any strange dreams?"

When Vyper asked that- no, the moment she spoke about 'powers'- Rain was suddenly put on guard, and shot up to her feet. Before she could do anything else, she was suddenly tackled down by Sherry. "Let me go right now, Sherry!"

"No way! You're planning to run without hearing us out, aren't you?" the blonde deduced. "You can't run without listening to everything!"

"And give me one good reason why I should ever listen to you! To any of you! You all lied to me, this whole time! You knew about me!"

The coach was about to respond to the question, when the principal raised a hand to silence her, in which she did. "The dreams you've been having... Would they happen to be about this fantasy-like race called 'beasties'? People with animal parts. And considering your powers, I imagine you especially dream about a young feline beastie. The one going by the name 'Clara'."

At that, Rain ceased her struggling, and instead looked to the woman in shock. "How... did you...?"

"Only those who have these powers can have those dreams. Except... these are not dreams, but memories. And the person- the beastie- we mainly dream about... we are their incarnates."