[color=wheat][right][sub][color=ff4500][b]LOCATION[/b][/color] — Forest → Cherry Blossom Groves
[color=f49ac2][b]TIME[/b][/color] — 4:30am - Before the Training Grounds Incident
[color=e99fed][b]FEATURING[/b][/color] — [color=#E99FED]B[/color][color=#E99CE6]e[/color][color=#EA9AE0]a[/color][color=#EA98DA]v[/color][color=#EB95D4]i[/color][color=#EB93CE]s[/color] [color=#EC8EC2]a[/color][color=#ED8CBC]n[/color][color=#EE8AB6]d[/color] [color=#EF85AA]B[/color][color=#EF83A4]u[/color][color=#F0809E]t[/color][color=#F07E97]t[/color][color=#F17C91]h[/color][color=#F27A8B]e[/color][color=#F27785]a[/color][color=#F3757F]d[/color] [color=#F47073]o[/color][color=#F46E6D]f[/color] [color=#F56961]t[/color][color=#F6675B]h[/color][color=#F76555]e[/color] [color=#F86048]H[/color][color=#F85E42]e[/color][color=#F95C3C]r[/color][color=#F95936]m[/color][color=#FA5730]e[/color][color=#FB552A]s[/color] [color=#FC501E]C[/color][color=#FC4E18]a[/color][color=#FD4B12]b[/color][color=#FD490C]i[/color][color=#FE4706]n[/color] [@HaleyTheRandom] [@AlteredTundra] [/sub][/right]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/q106dcW.png[/img]  [img]https://i.imgur.com/tnyaHKr.png[/img]  [img]https://i.imgur.com/RKIfST3.png[/img]
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[img]https://i.imgur.com/dVIbTtm.png?1[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/IHZp5bU.png[/img]
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[indent][indent]Jules had woken up that morning with her crackhead energy working over time. By the grace of the gods, she had managed to get a decent night's rest in between the sounds of her siblings giggling and sneaking out of the cabin. As soon as her feet hit the floor, Jules began shouting. 

[color=e99fed]”First day of camp losers! Let’s go!”[/color] She had walked throughout the cabin banging on walls and bed posts, doing her best to make sure that the whole Hermes clan was wide awake. The young girl stuck her tongue out as her siblings threw insults her way, giving them the stink eye while dodging various items being thrown towards her head. Jules managed to fight her way into the bathroom while there was still enough hot water for a shower. No matter how fast she moved, it didn’t seem as if Jules’s morning routine took any less time. She was on a mission to gather her brothers (Ty, Jackson and Oliver) for their annual tradition of first day camp breakfast - and [i]none of them[/i] were in their beds. 

Oliver was probably getting all primped up by the Aphrodite girls, Ty was probably still asleep in Erin’s bed, and as for Jackson… 

Dressed and ready for the day, Jules practically ran out of the cabin on her way towards the woods. Something in the back of her mind was nearly guaranteeing Jackson’s whereabouts for her. She waved to familiar faces and threw out some wicked one line responses, but nothing was keeping her from finding Jackson this morning. 

As soon as her bare feet hit the boundary line of the forest, Jules began to run. Like so many other campers, she practically knew these woods like the back of her hand - and she knew the path to Jackson’s cherry grove even better. Coming up on her destination quickly, Jules slowed her pace and began to look for ‘her tree’. Whenever Jules wanted to keep Jackson company at the cherry grove, she had the habit of climbing the nearest and tallest tree that [i]wasn’t[/i] a cherry tree - and this morning was no different. 

Spotting the back of Jackson's misshapen head, Jules began to climb the tree and quickly and as quietly as she could. Stopping about half way up, she crawled out to the middle of a branch and flipped herself upside down, hanging from her knees. 

[color=e99fed]”Good morning, Obi-Wan!”[/color] she shouted, probably scaring the shit out of him. 

Jackson had been in the middle of his morning ritual of praying and meditating in front of the cherry blossom tree that he had helped plant and by help, Jackson approached a rather odd future friend by the name of Kepano Ka’aukai. He remembered he didn’t have to bribe or forcibly persuade the green-haired son of Demeter. All he had to do was ask, mention the kind of tree, and Kep would help. Jackson remembered thinking how impressive it was he was able to accelerate the growth of the three so it would be as he remembered back at Kenji’s home. Thirty feet high and thirty feet wide, bearing the most beautiful pink cherry blossoms in spring. 

Though, now, the trees were as bare as Jackson’s mind was whenever he had to figure out any calculations. Jackson really didn’t excel at math…or science…or anything involving numbers. Just as well, he wasn’t a brainiac like that Haluk was. Or Brynn. He was smart in other ways. Like he could tell you how much twist you needed to put in your body to accurately throw a shuriken into a tree without damaging the sharp edges of the throwing star. Or how precise a slice with your katana or wakizashi needed to be to cut through five things of bamboo without damaging the blade. Or just how troubling it is to effectively execute the thousand years of death jutsu that Kakashi used on Naruto.

Like how he was a magnet for his younger sister, always bothering him when he was trying to get in touch with his roots in front of the tree that held a deep, personal meaning for the Son of Hermes.

Looking up at Jules, displaying an unique fusion of an expression of annoyed and amused on his face, Jackson asked as polite as he could muster, [color=ff4500]“What’s up, Spider-monkey?”[/color]

With her entrance not getting the proper attention that she wanted, Jules pulled herself up and re-adjusted so that she was sitting on the tree branch. [color=e99fed]”Couldn’t find Ty or Oli, so naturally I decided to come an’ bug you,”[/color] she quipped. [color=e99fed]”You didn’t all just think you could skip breakfast on me, huh?”[/color] 

The Japanese boy squinted his eyes at Jules. Half because of where she was and the early rays of the not-yet-fully-risen sun obscuring his vision and the other half at the annoyance creeping up inside him. [color=ff4500]”Correction,”[/color] he started, clearing his thoat dramatically, [color=ff4500]”[i]I[/i] didn’t skip breakfast. I had Omurice before I came out here. I skipped breakfast with [i]you[/i],”[/color] Jackson elaborated. The dance between eldest brother and youngest sister was one he did well. One might even say that Jackson thrived off of seeing her make faces at him. [color=ff4500]“Anyways, I came out here to be alone. Camp has yet to fully awaken, so I thought I would take advantage of it.”[/color] There was a somber, almost melancholy tone in his voice and a reflection of sadness in his earthy brown eyes. He hid it well but he knew Jules and knew she could see it, though he was hoping she’d read the room and not press him about it too much.

[color=e99fed]”Because you’re a stinky buttface,”[/color] the daughter of Hermes grumbled, listening as Jackson trailed on. It seemed as if they had vastly different plans this morning - a fact that both disappointed and intrigued her. Jules was a nosey little brat, and felt as if her brother's business was her own. Pushing his plans to the side so that she could drag him along for five seconds of fun was a common occurrence. Something in Jacksons tone was enough to let her know that wouldn’t be happening this morning. 

Crossing her arms, she asked [color=e99fed]”What’s eatin’ at’chya, Gilbert?”[/color] 

[color=ff4500]“You’re really not gonna let this go, are you?”[/color] 

It was rare that Jackson wasn’t able to ward off the nosey nature of the baby of the Hermes Cabin. It was rare that he could fake it enough to get her off his scent, but just as Jackson woke up today feeling out of it, Jules here woke up feeling especially consistent with her desire to not take no for an answer. On any other day, he wouldn’t be so hesitant to just talk to her. On normal days, he could muster enough energy to fake it.

Not today, though. Not when he couldn’t even hide it in how he spoke.

Jackson let out a long, exaggerated sigh. [color=ff4500]“As you know, when it’s spring time, this tree here is in full bloom. Cherry Blossoms falling from the branches slowly. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Coming here always clears my head when it gets too noisy,”[/color] Jackson admitted, looking at the bare branches. There wasn’t even a hint of the seeds coming in yet. [color=ff4500]“You know about why I wanted this and the others nearby to be built, right?”[/color] He asked, looking at his nosey baby sister. 

[color=e99fed]”Nope,”[/color] Jules quipped proudly in response to his first question. Hopping down from the branch she was perched on, the blonde stood with her arms crossed, leaned up against the tree as she waited for her brother to speak again. The somberness that had fallen over them reinforced her previous decision to not be a giant pain in the ass. 

[color=e99fed]”Something having to do with your mom, right?”[/color] she questioned, unable to remember the exact reasoning behind the purpose of the groves. 

Jackson nodded, gazing up at the blossom-less trees. It was unfortunate they weren’t in bloom yet. He knew he could easily ask a child of Demeter to make the tree grow the cherry blossoms, but that felt disrespectful to nature. [color=ff4500]“We had a whole section of cherry blossom trees at the compound I was raised in. There wasn’t a lot to like about that place, but every April, Kenji would always pause my training to celebrate nature and the beauty of the Sakuras. Mom loved them especially. She always loved flowers. And losing her was worse than when Firefly was cancelled, so planting these and getting the help from the others was a passion of mine.”[/color] 

Jackson thought to the last spring before his mother was taken away from him in this world, Jackson…Ryusuke…remembered the last happy memory of the last day when the blossoms were in full bloom, how they fell from the trees with a slow grace, it was like he was watching something out of a beautifully-animated Samurai anime. The way time stood still and everyone - even his bastard of an adopted father - stared with wonder, that was the memory Jackson thought about when he came here. It’s the reason he was here now.

To honor Sayuri. [color=ff4500][abbr=Japanese for To honor mother][i]Haha ni keiiwohyōsuru tame ni[/i][/abbr][/color]

[color=ff4500]“Even if they’re just naked groves, it’s relaxing and blocks out the bad.”[/color] He inhaled deeply as to swallow down the overwhelming emotion begging to surface, Jackson turned to his sister. [color=ff4500]“Do you have a place like that? Somewhere that you like to go to escape and allow yourself to feel? Maybe with a [i]certain[/i] blonde…”[/color] Jackson had mastered the ability to switch topics when he saw fit and this was a perfect fit for it. Plus he’s not as ignorant to his siblings’ lives that he wasn’t aware of [i]something[/i] happening with the baby of the Hermes cabin and that sunshiney blonde from Cali.

Listening as Jackson’s words tugged at her heart strings, Jules wished that there was something she could say to ease her brother's pain. She remembered how much it hurt when she lost her own mother, and could only imagine what Jackson was going through. Jules had never been the closest with her mother - but it still hurt. The thought only made her wonder what Jackson was truly going through even more. She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to him, other than offer a sympathetic smile. Fishing for words, she was grateful that Jackson decided to change the subject - even if the heat rose to her face as he did so. 

[color=e99fed]”Oh, you mean my future wife?”[/color] Jules half-joked, a mischievous smile on her face. She held Vivian near and dear in her heart, but marriage was a long way off no matter how much she joked about it. [color=e99fed]”I like the ocean,”[/color] she continued, hoping to not give her brother another chance to poke fun at her if she spoke fast enough. [color=e99fed]”There’s something about the smell of the salt - the sound of the waves. It calms me. Something about the water just… makes it all go away, ya know?”[/color] 

Listening to Jules talk about the ocean and how the ambience of it all from the waves crashing ashore to the smell of the salty air soothed her, he could tell it came from a genuine place. He nodded in that understanding. Two children of Hermes that had a thing for nature. Jackson was a stubborn root that found solace in the flowers of his homeland and the mischievous crackhead found her equilibrium by the sea. If she was the sea and he was the land, maybe that made Tyler the sky - three parts of a trinity that completed each other.

Jackson’s deep brown eyes looked at the tree, feeling something in the air tugging at him. The bare branches were moving just gently due to the sudden pick up of wind. Then, his gaze ventured off in the direction of the sea. He was lost in a daze as if he was imagining being right there at the shore, hearing the waves collide with the beach, hearing it splash against land. Then he looked up at the sky. Even if he was wrong about what Tyler represented to them, he liked to think he was like the sky. Maybe a gust of wind that fits the missing piece between the oldest Hermes kid and the youngest. The perfect balance of the two. But it was also about him, Atlas, and Sol. About him at the center of the grief he still experienced and felt for his mother, the lily that was taken from his life much too soon and moving on until the next bloom. 

Everything had a three-way dance. The beginning, the uncertain middle, and the end where solace could be found.

Closing his eyes, Jackson just let the words come out before he could even check if it was proper, [color=ff4500]“Three parts, trinity. United, complete cycle. Peace of mind is clear.”[/color] 

She watched as her brother drifted away again in to the safety of his mind. Not quite sure what to do or how to respond, she went with her gut. 

[color=e99fed]”Want me to sit with you a while? I promise not to be too big of a pain in the ass.”[/color] 

Jackson half smiled and looked up. [color=ff4500]“You not being a pain in the ass? Sounds like an impossible challenge,”[/color] he said and then looked at her, [color=ff4500]“But we’re two people who always meet the impossible and kick it in its hairy balls.”[/color] His head gestured to the seat next to him and Jackson just basked in the company of his kid sister who sometimes, only in moments when she wasn’t in full crackhead mode, reminded him of the firm softness his mother had. As weird as that might be, it was that he found comfort in.[/indent][/indent][/color]