[color=eb5c1f][table] [row] [sup][h3][b][color=2e2c2c] ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ [right]▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅[/right][/color] [/b][/h3][/sup] [/row][row][cell][color=2e2c2c]______________________________________[/color] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/GaPMuB2.gif[/img] [/center][/cell] [cell][indent][/indent] [img]https://i.imgur.com/VM4mMLl.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/cnXCjYl.png[/img] [color=cd5c5c][sup][b]______________________________________________________________________________________[/b][/sup][/color] [sup][color=cd5c5c]⚚[/color] [color=crimson][b]LOCATION[/b][/color] [color=cd5c5c]⚚[/color] Training Ground → Infirmary → En-route to the Mess Hall[/sup] [sup][color=cd5c5c]⚚[/color] [color=crimson][b]OUTFIT[/b][/color] [color=cd5c5c]⚚[/color] [url=https://i.imgur.com/NBcjD49.png]Comfort fit[/url][/sup] [sup][color=cd5c5c]⚚[/color] [color=crimson][b]INTERACTING WITH[/b][/color] [color=cd5c5c]⚚[/color] Peter (NPC)[/sup] [color=cd5c5c][sup][b]______________________________________________________________________________________[/b][/sup][/color] [/cell] [/row] [/table][/color] [indent][indent][indent][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/hWzvjlN.png[/img] [color=cd5c5c][sup][b]______________________________________________________________________________________[/b][/sup][/color] [/center] [color=wheat]Someone once said that the early bird gets the worm. Now, Jackson had no idea what that honestly meant. He wasn’t technically a bird. Maybe in a symbolic sense because he was a Son of Hermes and for one time only, he could fly thanks to those footy-wooty winged shoes that his father so graciously gave him to escape the vile clutches of Kenji. But what about the worm end of that saying? Jackson wasn’t a worm. Or maybe he was and he spent his entire existence never knowing that fact? No, he wasn’t a worm. Worms were disgusting and Jackson was everything but. Not that he thought of himself better than worms. Worms were, after all, nutrients for those next in line in the circle of life. [color=crimson]“Wait, what was I doing again?”[/color] Jackson often got lost in thought and as he was midstep, he forgot what he was even doing at the training grounds. He woke up early today. He always was an early riser. Maybe it had to do with his upbringing. For as much as he’d hate to give Kenji any credit, those years spent being put through his torturous vision of what he called “parenting”, it had ingrained a habit into Jackson’s core. Because of all of those days, his body automatically woke up just as the sun was starting to rise. It’s been like this ever since he came to camp nearly seven years ago. Right. Back to figuring out what he was doing before he got sidetracked. Suddenly Jackson heard a battle cry from behind. One of the younger kids he helped train had their sword raised high above their head and came down with a thunderous vertical, downward slash. The instinct that Jackson prided himself in kicked in and he sidestepped the younger Demi as his movements were an example of his experience. The kid stumbled forward. In a fluid motion, Jackson’s body turned and the dull end of his wooden practice sword came behind the kick, bluntly tapping him on the back. [color=crimson]“Aaaand you’re dead!”[/color] “I’m not done!” Little [url=https://i.imgur.com/FWbGydy.png]Peter[/url], as they called him, declared as he charged forth. Peter was about five years younger than Jackson. A newcomer to camp and someone who Jackson took on as a student. He had grown to really like the kid and before long they had a schedule to practice every morning before Jackson began his own training. And Peter came wailing slash after slash. His passion to improve himself was only matched by his heart. Jackson grinned as he effortlessly blocked him, but after the first dozen, it was starting to be less of a game and more of an instinct kind of thing. Peter was better than he was a few months ago. [color=crimson]“Sorry, but it’s time to end it.”[/color] Using the same move as before but switching up his speed, Jackson ducked under Peter’s horizontal slash and reverse-gripped his practice sword. In the same motion, he drove the bottom of the wooden sword into Peter’s stomach. And it was in the aftermath of it all did he realize he did it too hard. [color=crimson]“Oh shit!”[/color] Oh shit was right. Jackson saw his student kneeling over on one knee, holding his stomach. Worried, Jackson rushed to his side only to see his student smiling and holding his hand up, giving Jackson a thumbs up. And the son of Hermes just laughed. [color=crimson]“I guess that concludes today’s lesson. Don’t get too cocky, alright? Control yourself and I might be the one keeling over in pain.”[/color] Jackson teased him and got to him at eye level. [color=crimson]“Now, let me go take ya to the infirmary. Lord knows someone’s gotta take responsibility for giving you that shiner that nobody will see unless you take your shirt off.”[/color] Jackson helped the young Son of Ares out of the training grounds and helped him secure a bed in the Infirmary. When he heard an earful from whoever was there (not like it was anything that he hadn’t heard before), he exited out of the tent, though he didn’t wander too far off. He wanted to just take a moment to reflect on what just happened. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to do. He could go back to the training grounds and get his morning training done before the usual suspects decided to infest it with their presence, but he wasn’t quite feeling it. Part of him wanted to go back to the Hermes Cabin and go back to sleep. But his body just didn’t feel like it was tired. So [i]what[/i], then? If not training and not sleep, what could the universe be trying to tell him? [i]grumblegrumblegrumble[/i] [color=crimson]“Of course!”[/color] He laughed almost in a facepalm-worthy kind of way. That’s what the universe was trying to point him towards. [color=crimson]“Thanks universe.”[/color] With that decided, Jackson made a beeline for the mess hall. If he hurried, maybe the line wasn’t that long. And if it was, then he didn’t mind fighting some to get people his food. The early bird might not get the worm, but he sure as hell was going to have his All-American breakfast![/color][/indent][/indent][/indent]