《Zodiac High-The Series》18
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Taurus
Hands. Strong, large, steady hands. Smooth, unusually smooth hands. Hands on my waist. Hands pulling me close. Hands cradling my cheeks. Hands I could only feel. Whose hands were they? Why did I dream of them every night?
And why did I wake up every morning, craving those warm, warm hands? Where did they go when I was awake and why did they only come when I was asleep?
"Taurus? Taurus?" I looked up with a start, surprised to find Virgo waving a book in my face. "C'mon, start reading-you don't want to fail, do you?" I nodded, picking up the book to read it. Even though I was taking notes on the verse used in the novel, my mind subconsciously went back to those hands. Again and again. Were they a boy's or a girl's?
Were they nothing more than a fragment of my imagination?
I knew that was impossible-studies have shown that you cannot experience new things in a dream or see new people. My guess is that applies to hands as well. Maybe those hands were just somewhere, waiting...
"Hey, what's gotten into you? Get up, the class has left." Virgo nudged me. "Oh, sorry, just thinking..." She chuckled. "You do an awful lot of that, you know?" I laughed. "Oh... I never realised..." She grinned. Really it was scary how much this girl reminded me of Libra as a middle schooler. Same attitude, same smile, same laugh. Heck, even the same clothes. I wondered if Virgo was trying to copy Libra. I knew how obsessed my classmate was with perfection, and Libra was the embodiment of perfection.
She had it all: the looks, the smarts, the popularity. She had guys swooning left, right and center. Maybe the one with the hands was lost somewhere in that crowd of adoring fans, his hands forever belonging to Libra. Well, it made perfect sense for Virgo to want to be like Libra.
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I wondered if anyone would ever want to be like me. Sure, I was decent looking. My grades were good enough. And whenever I went to a party, at least one guy hit on me. Loads of guys had even asked me out. Sweet, cute, respectful boys. But my answer was always no. I only wanted the one with the hands. The one I had met, but just couldn't place....
"Wow. This is like your thing, huh?" Virgo asked. I frowned, confused. "The trailing off, I mean." I laughed. "I suppose." Virgo shot me a sideways smile. Just like Libra. "Hey, there's a game on right now. You wanna come watch it?" I nodded. "Sure, why not?"
.....
"And the ball is in Leo's hands..." I looked down from the bleachers, watching as the quarterback easily pushed the others aside, almost walking to the line. He was so calm, so assured. Unlike the other dirt-covered players, Leo didn't have a single speck of dust on him, his hands untarnished. Leo. His hands were so beautiful. God, they reminded me of those hands.
Wait....
"And Leo has scored yet another try!" Cheers erupted from the audience. The cheerleaders raised their pom-poms, the one at the front cartwheeling the length of the oval without stopping. Her brown-black hair played with the wind, the sparkle in those eyes visible from far away. Libra. All of a sudden, all the attention was on her. The stadium cameras turned toward her face, as if she was the school star. Well, she was. The football players crowded around her, grinning and showing off their tricks, looks, bodies-all in the hopes to impress the impossible-to-impress Libra.
Libra just smiled, laughed airily, played with the ends of her hair. She made it look so effortless, being stone-cold. I had a feeling nobody saw her that way but me. But I knew I was right. Libra had no heart. She toyed with people's emotions, using them for her own pleasure until they bored her. Then she dropped them just as fast as she took them. She was really and truly evil. And I was the only one who knew.
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But was she really evil? What if the hands in my dreams were hers? Would I think she was evil then? I never thought of her as evil in middle school or in freshman year. Truth be told, she didn't seem mean in even the slightest. But I knew she was. She was just as sneaky, manipulative and rude as her boyfriend, Scorpio. Honestly, they deserved each other.
But maybe... just maybe... Maybe I was wrong about her. I knew that the one with those hands was kind and caring. I just knew. And if it was her... well, it would make a big impact on what I thought of her.
"And it's a win to the home team!"
Cheers. Claps. And more cartwheels from Libra. She smiled, positively sparkling, when the football team lifted her up onto their shoulders, as if she was the trophy or the prize for winning. And she stayed calm, perched on top of their shoulders. It's almost as if she is a trophy. The school trophy.
And just as I'm looking at Libra, I see those hands. The ones in my dreams. I could spot them from a mile away. They're not Libra's smooth, well-structured hands, with the long, nimble fingers that she's broken so many times thanks to Taekwondo, but the fingers that still keep their dainty, soft form.
No, they're a football player's. One who hasn't gotten his hands dirty. One without a speck of dirt on him.
Leo.
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The Last Changeling
In a world filled with dangerous people and even more dangerous beasts, a small changeling fights against all odds to survive. Von is the last of his species, hunted to extinction by the enlightened races, his goal is not only survival but also revenge.
8 135Contact First
2039 - Earth A narrow beam energy signal appeared aimed squarely at earth from the TRAPPIST system. The communication consisted of a layered set of repeating data over several thousand wavelengths. Over the next few months scientists discovered that the lower wavelengths carried an encoded numerical language which could then be used to interpret the more complicated messages carried on the higher wavelengths. After half a year of painstaking work the signal was fully decoded. It described a small satellite launched along a precise trajectory towards the fourth planet of our solar system. Included was a package of advanced research that humanity would need to have ready in order to receive the satellite and decelerate it safely. The alien data provided the kick that humanity needed to turn from petty squabbling and unite to explore the final frontier. Major government and corporate leaders worked together to create the framework for the United Federation of Sol. UFS spaceports went from scaffolding to daily launches in every major city around the globe. Ships floated like dandelion seeds, spreading on solar wind to grow into colonies. 2397 - Mars orbit, Egeria Station The command center was a hive of activity as checks were conducted and systems initialized. Scientists flitted by like mayflies as communicators beeped and holoscreens spat out green tinted readouts. Nervous energy was thick in the air as everyone anticipated the culmination of over three hundred years of work. Massive fusion reactors under the planet's surface thrummed with barely restrained power as energy fed into a gleaming metallic maze criss crossing the planet. Metal fingers reached up, overshadowing the mighty olympus mons and trying to grab the stars. All over the solar system, people quickly turned to look as gigantic energy lances shot from the dusty fourth planet. Two years later. The same people that clapped loudly at the successful activation of project Hermes now wait with baited breath. A silver capsule trailing bright photonic sails is captured by a net of grav beams and guided with care bordering on reverence into the station. Holoscreens across the headquarters project an image of the sleek craft settling in the bay. Data connections are established and the holoscreens blink to white. Slowly an image forms on the screen. Across the headquarters people stare in wonder as a wholly alien face stares back. "Contact established. Welcome to the universe."
8 155Dragon Travels
Dragons. Mythical creatures that inspire awe and wonder in cultures all across the world. Wouldn't it be amazing to befriend such majestic beasts and go on an adventure with them? To be a dragon rider and live through a tale of epic proportions? Ryder, who's so obsessed with the idea that he nicknamed himself as such, certainly thinks so. Sadly, he lived in a world where such creatures only exist in fiction, and one where none of his peers or family shared the same passionate interest in dragons like him. Every night, he would fantasize what it would be like to live in a world where they do exist, and one day, his fantasy became reality. Upon landing in a new world, he found himself in the company of cheery and naïve plant dragon who was just as excited as him to be the companion of a dragon rider. After that, they encountered a worldly earth dragon, who followed them under the guise of guiding them while hiding her own dark secrets. Lastly, regarded by many as The Terror of The East, a dragon so powerful and terrifying that it's known as a demigod, lowered his pride in order to escape his thousand-year prison and joined Ryder's merry band. It isn't all fun and games as the Goddess who brought the teenager here has sent him on a mission - to rid the evil forces that had risen in the world and threaten the balance of the realm. Together with his three dragon companions, Ryder traveled across different lands as he found himself involved in the matters of both tragic and entertainingly eccentric individuals. So, if you like How to Train Your Dragon or just dragons in general, isekai adventure stories, and/or a found family-esque story with witty banters and interesting characters, then this is what you're looking for! Note: This is an anthology series, therefore the arcs are not presented in a linear fashion. There will be recurring characters and arcs that continues story threads from previous "chapters", but, for the most part, each arc standalone as a complete story, so you can pick and choose what you want to read. If you watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon series before, it's basically like that.I'm still relatively new in writing, so I would appreciate it if you'll be kind enough to provide feedback!
8 114LitRPG: Regarding that time I was Reincarnated as a Deep Sea Angler Fish. It was terrifying.
The world as we knew it has sunken beneath a large body of ocean water, as sea creatures and aquatic monsters from the other side then comes on over through the portals, located around the world.Earth has become entirely submerged in water, thereby making it the perfect habitat for oceanic life and sea creatures to prosper.How will our main protagonist Arthur survive by being reincarnated as a deep-sea Angler Fish? Additional Information: I was given permission by the author to post the story here on Royalroad. For the original novel. You can read it here by clicking upon the link below. Regarding That Time I Was Reincarnated As A Deep Sea Angler Fish. It Was Terrifying.
8 122Rise To The Absolute Zenith
After appearing in a new world under circumstances that shocked him, Blade understands that he was in for a challenging life. Still, Blade would never expect the pain and suffering he'll have no choice but to undergo. Hate, pain, and suffering would be his best friend in his journey to the Zenith, his journey to becoming what he truly desires...to become eternal and immortal, Blade will swim through an endless ocean of dead bodies and blood.
8 157Star Trek Picard - Infinite Pathways
After the events of Nemesis, Jean Luc Picard serves for three more years as Captain of the NCC 1701E, before being promoted to Admiral, eventually becoming a special envoy for the Federation aiding new races as they were integrated into its membership. Retiring from Starfleet, he returns to his family home in France, but quickly becomes restless with the quiet life. He decides to pursue his other passion in life, archaeology.He soon finds himself part of a new expedition to a largely unexplored region of the quadrant. To visit an ancient, now uninhabited world known as Othallia, where a mighty civilisation once resided. This race, known as the Triath were wiped out, seemingly over night. Arriving at the ruins of a major city, Picard is about to discover what led to their downfall and unwittingly releases something that has laid dormant for eons.Could this be the end of his journey? Or the beginning of a new one?
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