Once a year Hakuryuu and his family had a picnic. Hakuryuu loved it because it was one of the rare moments when his whole family was together – his father, his brothers, sister and mother. Also the place where the picnic was held was great. Since the small forest with the beautiful lack, which they used for their picnic, was relatively far away – relatively because for Hakuryuu it was indeed a really long way, while it wasn't for his relatives – they didn't went there too often. This was probably due to the fact that he couldn't make as large steps as the rest of his family and that he had less stamina then them. Maybe it also was because he always was so excited that every passing second until they would reach the lack felt like an eternity.
When it was time for the picnic Hakuryuu got out of bed earlier than usual, because he wanted to help his mother with packing. This also included the food and since he was there he made sure that there was enough of his favorite dishes, especially his favorite sweets. Hakuei helped as well. Gyokuen, on the other hand, would be faster and happier, if her children weren't helping. She constantly had to check what her kids had put into the picnic basket and had to remove everything unnecessary, while packing all the things needed. It was the same every year. And as every year she managed the packing without much trouble – Hakuryuu and Hakuei were slowing her down, but they weren't a big problem. To a certain extent it was cute how they run around putting sweets into the basket, while removing all those things they disliked. In the end Gyokuen often let some of her children's sweets in the basket – it was nice to see how happy they were when they saw that some of their things were still inside.
Hakuyuu and Hakuren had been the same, when they were still small. Now they laughed about their younger siblings and their behavior. But only until Gyokuen started telling stories about Hakuyuu's and Hakuren's childhood. Hakuyuu was the type that silently endured this "torture" with a forced smile, however Hakuren always tried to stop his mother from speaking further. He failed every time, which made it even funnier for the rest of the family. One's family could be one's worst enemy! Sometimes Hakuren tried to distract his mother from talking about his childhood by asking about her and their father's past. How they had met or fallen in love. Although Gyokuen also answered very detailed, she never forgot to get back to her second son's past.
Meanwhile Hakutoku was silent for most of the time, but enjoyed watching his family interacting. He wanted to interact more with them as well, sadly he had nothing to talk about besides politics. He often interacted with Hakuyuu and Hakuren because of political issues, on the other hand, he barely had any interaction with Hakuei and Hakuryuu. Those two were still too young for the political world in which their father and older brothers lived. Hakutoku felt bad about it and although this family trip was the perfect opportunity to get to know his youngest children better and interact with them, he did not. Somehow he was unsure how to approach Hakuryuu. He knew that his youngest son was very sensitive and easily started crying and he knew that he himself could be very intimidating. Things had been easier with Hakuyuu and Hakuren – even with Hakuei. Like Hakuren she was brave and sought challenges. Talking and interacting with the oh so stern and scary emperor was nothing for those two. When Hakutoku compared his children like that he also thought about how amusing the thought that Hakuyuu might be as sensitive and whiny as Hakuryuu was. The only difference between them would probably be that Hakuyuu was able to hide his tears and his fear, while Hakuryuu openly showed them. Or Hakuyuu was not like Hakuryuu. Or they had other things in common. Who knew? Hakutoku could not look inside his children's heads, therefore he didn't know what they felt or thought as long as they did not voice it out loud.
Unlike his wife he also didn't know how to react when his son tried to show him something. Most of the time those things were totally ordinary, so what did his son expected of him? And how should Hakutoku react when Hakuryuu read his first words? Everyone could read at that age or learned how to read. It was nothing special, so why should he act as of it was something big? But for whatever reason this was expected of him. And maybe his lack of reaction was the reason why Hakuryuu kept his distance to his father as if they were strangers. Sad, very sad!
On their way to the picnic place Hakuryuu at first stayed at his mother's side and even helped her with carrying their stuff. Of course, he only had something small and light to carry. Soon, however, he decided that it was boring to stay by Gyokuen's side and he didn't want to carry anything around anymore. And why haven't they reached their destination yet?
So the first thing he did, before letting go of whatever he was supposed to carry, was to ask how long it would take them until they reached the picnic place and complaining that he was bored. Gyokuen answered his question with a smile and offered to carry him, in case he was already tired. Hakuryuu wasn't tried, he was bored!
Fortunately Hakuren was there as well and knew what a child like his younger brother needed right now. Children loved playing games and hence a game of tag was the best choice to entertain Hakuryuu. Also Hakuren therewith had an excuse to behave more childish – deep inside he was nothing but a child himself, however in this cruel world a man his age had to behave like an adult. Having little siblings could be such a blessing!
Hakutoku and Gyokuen said nothing when Hakuren and Hakuryuu started their game of tag, only Hakuyuu reminded his brothers to be careful and not to run too far ahead. Hakuei just watched silently as well. Although she wasn't tired and old enough to walk on her own, her father carried her. Talking with each other was easier that way. And like this the royal Ren family walked to their picnic place. Luckily, the weather was nice – not too windy or cold, but not too warm either.
When they reached their destination Hakuryuu wanted to decide where they would sit down. No one objected and so Hakuryuu search a little bit for the perfect place and found it near a bush with red berries – Hakuryuu did not know what kind of berries they were, but his mother told him not to eat them and so he did not even touch them. Once he hadn't listen to her and ate something he shouldn't have and got sick afterwards. Ever since then he listened to her, at least when it was about food which he could not identify.
Together with Hakuei he spread out the picnic blanket, so his family could finally sit down. Soon it was lunch time and everyone was hungry, thus Gyokuen put out the food she had made in the morning. Meanwhile, Hakuyuu was busy telling Hakuren not to be so rough and be more careful with Hakuei and Hakuryuu, especially around the lack. All Ren siblings had learned how to swim, but it was clear that Hakuryuu was not as good as his older brothers. The lack was not that big and Yuu and Ren as well as their parents were nearby so the chances of Hakuryuu drowning were quite small, yet the chances weren't zero and therefore Hakuyuu thought it was the best to remind Hakuren to be on the lookout with their younger brother.
"Stop worrying so much, Yuu. The water is not that deep here. Hakuryuu can stand in the water without problem and if he drowns knee-deep water, then..."
"Then what?", Hakuyuu asked and crossed his arms.
"I don't know", Hakuren answered, "But I doubt that anything bad will happen. Hakuryuu never went far into the water. Why should that suddenly change? And I will definitely not throw him into the water. So relax, mother and father do not complain anyway."
Hakuren knew that his brother only meant well, but it was so annoying sometimes. He was not a small and stupid child, so why was he treated like one? It was not their first time here and nothing bad had happened, of course this didn't mean that something bad would never happen. However the chances were small at least regarding Hakuryuu drowning. They did not even have taken anything with them for swimming.
Hakuryuu did not pay attention to his brothers and their conversation, although he knew it was about him. He was a big boy now, thus he could take care of himself. So he took off his shoes and rolled up his trouser legs, so they would not get wet.
The water was pleasantly cold, when he made his first steps. Of course Hakuryuu stayed close to the bank and in sight of his family. He was not brave enough to walk away. What if he got lost? Only thinking about it scared him.
His anxiety and his curiosity often got in each other's way. Whenever he gave in to his curiosity his fear got stronger, which ensured that he more and more often let himself be led by his fear instead of his curiosity. Hakuei was totally different from him. She was already inspecting the surrounding area. A lot of green grass, bushes, colorful flowers, trees and insects were all she found. However her little stroll was interrupted by her mother, because it was now time for lunch. It was quite impressive how powerful such simple words as "it's time for lunch" were. Hakuyuu and Hakuren stopped their useless discussion and Hakuryuu got out of the water. Although this wasn't much of a surprise. He was hungry and he was very well behaved. Most of the time he listened to his parents and older siblings. Things had been harder with Hakuren and even Hakuyuu, when they still were kids.
Everyone sat down on the picnic blanket. Hakuei sat between her parents and Hakuryuu sat down next to his mother and Hakuren. Hakuyuu sat between his father and younger brother. As always when they ate together it was quite cheerful. Hakuren had a lot to talk about and he loved to exaggerate. Hakuryuu as naïve as he was, believed every word his brother spoke and was amazed how great his brother was and what kind of thrilling adventures Hakuren had experienced. Meanwhile the rest of the Ren family silently laughed about Hakuren's stories and how excited Hakuryuu was. It was really cute.
"Hakuren, Hakuryuu don't forget to eat, my dears", reminded Gyokuen her two sons.
"Okay", Hakuryuu answered and demonstratively took a bit of his food.
Doing two things at the same time were still too hard for the child. On the other hand, Hakuren could hardly talk and eat at the same time. So he had to stop his talking for a while.
After lunch the three brothers got back into the water. Hakuyuu had sat down next to the lack and let his feet dangle in the water, while watching his younger siblings. Hakuryuu watched the fishes until they approached him, which caused him to run to Hakuren for protection. He disliked fishes so much that he did not even want them dead on his plate. There was no special reason for his dislike, he never had a bad experience with these animals, but somehow he did not trust these creatures. Maybe because all they did was "bubble" around and had those creepy pop eyes? Or because felt strange? Who knew? Much to Hakuryuu's regret the fish followed him for awhile and even Hakuren could not shoo away the animal. It was a very amusing scene to watch. Hakuyuu almost felt bad for laughing about it, when his youngest brother chose to hide at his side and therewith asked for protection from the bad fish! The best way to get away from the fish was to get out of the water – as far as Hakuyuu knew fishes could not walk or survive on land – therefore he picked Hakuryuu out of the water and set the boy down on the river bank. Hakuryuu hid behind his brother, just in case the fish suddenly grow legs and the ability to breath on land. One could never know what Mother Nature had in store for her inhabitants.
It took some time until the fish decided to let go of the Ren brothers and swam away. Although the danger was gone, Hakuryuu hesitated to return into the water. What if it came back? And what if it brought more fishes with it? He did not voice his concern because he knew his brothers would laugh about him, but this did not change the fact that he had these concerns.
"Come back Hakuryuu. The fish is gone, so there is no reason to stay out of the water. It is so nice inside", Hakuren tried to convince Hakuryuu, who, however, refused to get back inside.
"Don't be like that, Hakuryuu. It was just a fish. A fish cannot hurt you. Or do you want to do something else?", Hakuyuu said, while suppressing his laughter.
His little brother was just too cute. It could be extremely exhausting with him sometimes, but Hakuryuu was such a lovely little boy, so everything was forgiven.
Hakuryuu did not answer to Hakuyuu's question. His attention was directed to Hakuren, who made his way towards Hakuryuu and Hakuyuu with a sinister smile on his lips. What had Hakuren in mind? Probably nothing good.
When Hakuren reached his brothers he bend down a bit, so he could look Hakuryuu in the eyes.
"Come here, Hakuryuu. Let's have some fun together. And don't worry, I'll protect you from the evil fishes, promise", Hakuren said.
As naïve as Hakuryuu was he believed Hakuren and came out of his hiding place. Unfortunately Hakuren was a mean big brother and had a little surprise for Hakuryuu.
"Look Hakuryuu, no fishes are here."
To see if Hakuren said the truth Hakuryuu took a look at the water and this was the very moment Hakuren used to squirt some water into Hakuryuu's face, which caused the latter one to back away and started to cry out of surprise. To protect himself from another sneaky attack, Hakuryuu run to his mother, who put her arm around him and asked what was wrong. The look she gave her second eldest son spoke volumes. She was not pleased at the "little" prank he had played with Hakuryuu. Apparently, Hakuren was the only one who laughed about it. However, he stopped laughing when he saw his mother glaring at him and the disapproving look of his father and his older brother. He had fucked up!
It took quite some time until Hakuryuu calmed down and therewith stopped crying. During that time Hakuei returned from her stroll to show her parents the beautiful flowers she had found. She also showed them to her little brother, who had stopped crying and took a look at the beautiful flowers. They smelt nice too.
"Why don't you go with Hakuei and pick more beautiful flowers, Hakuryuu?", Gyokuen asked her son in a sweet voice and a smile on her face.
"Yes, Hakuryuu, let's take a stroll together and find more flowers", Hakuei agreed happily.
Hakuei liked showing her brother around and explaining things to him. It made her feel proud. She wanted to be the best big sister for Hakuryuu and a good big sister took care of her younger brother. Also spotting new things made people happy and this was what the youngest of the Ren family needed right now. Hakuren's stupid prank had almost destroyed the nice atmosphere and maybe even ruined the day for Hakuryuu – a little exaggeration, but the latter one would definitely remember that not so pleasant event and forget about all the nice moments. Something like this could easily happen!
Hakuryuu nodded in response and slipped down from his mother's lap. Hakuei immediately took her little brother's hand. Together they started to inspect the fruits that grow on the bushes, however they did not touch them, since their mother had forbidden it. Hakuryuu wanted to know what kind of fruits it were, but Hakuei did not know, what made her feel bad. She wanted to be a good sister and as such, she should explain things to her little brother and answer his questions. However, she did not know too much herself. Hakuyuu and Hakuren would probably know what fruits those red little berries were. Differently than his older sister, Hakuryuu did not linger on the thought what berries it were and instead was already fascinated by the next thing. This time it was an ant that carried a little stone – Hakuryuu at least thought it was one – around. Unfortunately he lost sight of it. Hakuei had followed her little brother, when she saw that he had already moved on. She didn't know much about ants, but the little bit she knew was enough to impress Hakuryuu, who listen careful. Although everyone knew he would forget it in a few minutes.
Not far away from their picnic place Hakuei had found a nice grassland with a lot of colorful flowers. There the two sat down and Hakuei tried her best to teach her little brother, how to make flower crowns. While Hakuei was pretty fast and made one flower crown after the other, Hakuryuu struggled a lot. He was too clumsy to make one and it was frustrating, he already had tears in his eyes. This was not fair! He really, really wanted to make a flower crown for his sister, who was so nice and had shown him how to do it over and over again. She was probably disappointed in him and he didn't want her to be disappointed with him.
"Hakuryuu, let's make a bouquet of flowers for mother. I'm sure she will love it", Hakuei said hoping to cheer him up.
Luckily her plan worked and Hakuryuu jumped up to start searching for nice flowers, which they could use for their bouquet of flowers. While searching he got distracted quite often. Sometimes it was because of a butterfly, then because an ant he had happened to see and another time because of some insects he had never seen before and asked Hakuei about. Although she was a princess she knew about a lot of insects, since Hakuren loved to share his wisdom with his younger siblings. Hakuyuu liked to share too, but he cared more for academic knowledge than some small animals. Not that he didn't know about them, it was just that he did not see a reason to explain them to his siblings. It was a good thing to have both of them as brothers, so one always learned a lot.
Unfortunately the peace was soon distrusted by Hakuryuu's disappearance. Hakuei had been so busy with picking flowers that she hadn't paid attention to him and where he went. Hakuryuu on the other hand was so busy with being amazed by all the flowers and the insects that he had not paid attention to where he went. It was not his first time seeing insects or picking flowers, it wasn't his first time here, but it was so easy to distract him. And when he got interested in something he often forgot about everything else around him. Normally this was not a problem, because he was surrounded by people, who knew him and who he knew. The palace was his home and therefore he knew where he had to go to or where he could find his family. This forest was not the palace and although he had been here before a few times, he could get lost quite fast and easy. A forest did not have hallways, one could go where one wanted, which made it harder to find someone. And since trees looked all the same to him, he also could not tell which "way" he had already taken and which not. So when Hakuei realized her bother was gone, it was already too late. She tried to find him and shouted his name, hoping he was near and could hear her, but this was not the case. Hakuryuu on the other hand, only realized he was lost, when he lost sight of the butterfly he had followed. He had turned around, because he wanted to tell his sister about the beautiful butterfly, but when he did so she wasn't there. There were only trees, a lot of trees and it was darker than before. He shouted her name too, also hoping she could hear him, but this wasn't the case either. Both panicked. Hakuei returned to her parents and told them, while cry, what had happened. Hakuryuu was on his own and tried to find his way back, but failed. He tried his best not to cry, because maybe his crying would cause some big animals like a bear – bears did not live in this forest, but Hakuryuu did not know this – to notice him. Maybe it would attack him? Not a nice thought and it even made it worse. How could it be so hard to get out of a forest? For him, a small and scared child it was pretty hard. He wanted to be at his mother's side!
On the other side, Hakutoku and Gyokuen were far away from being pleased when they heard that their son was alone in the forest and Hakuei could not find him. It took Gyokuen quite some time to calm her daughter down enough to understand her. Hakuyuu and Hakuren, who had sat down on the picnic blanket, helped their mother herewith.
"Gyokuen, you stay here with Hakuei, in case Hakuryuu finds his way back. Hakuyuu, Hakuren, the three of us are going to search for him", Hakutoku said.
At first Hakuei wanted to protest, since she felt responsible for her little brother's disappearance she wanted to help finding him, but given the fact that she also could get lost easily and was too upset at the moment, this was not a good idea. Since she was a smart girl, she understood this very well and stayed back with her mother. Maybe Hakuryuu really would find his way back here, then she would hug and apologize to him. She was a bad sister! She should have looked after him more. No one besides herself blamed her for what had happened. To the contrary Hakutoku felt responsible since he had left his daughter and son go too far away from their picnic place without anyone accompanying them. This was careless. Those two could have been attack by someone or got hurt or like now got lost. He should have known better, but now his youngest son was somewhere in the forest and his daughter was crying in her mother's arm. It was unusual for Hakuei to cry, she was a brave child and was tough. However losing her brother, while being in charge of taking care of him, was too much for her. Even an adult would have been worried and would have started to panic in her situation.
Hakuyuu, Hakuren and Hakutoku first went to the place, where Hakuei and Hakuryuu had picked flowers and started to search him from there. All three were unsure what to do exactly. How could they ensure that they searched the whole forest and did not miss Hakuryuu?
In the end they decided to split up and go in different directions. Despite that it took them a few hours to find Hakuryuu. The little boy had gotten even further into the forest and was so scared that an animal may attack him that he even stopped shouting for his siblings and parents. He was sitting on the ground and cried. When he had heard the familiar voice of his father he hesitated at first, but when he was sure it hadn't misheard, he tried to response, but his voice was too soft. Fortunately Hakutoku, despite his age, had good ears and heard the sobbing of his son. Well, it was more hoping that he had heard correctly instead of knowing he was right. But this did not matter as long as he found Hakuryuu.
Hakuryuu almost jumped into his father's arms, who hold him very tightly to ensure not to lose the little boy again. Losing him once was more than enough for one day. Gyokuen would probably kill him, if Hakuryuu got lost a second time. She was very doting over her youngest child, even more than she had been with Hakuyuu and Hakuren or Hakuei. Maybe it was because Hakuryuu clung to her a lot. He needed and wanted her protection and so she was protecting him.
Since Hakuyuu and Hakuren were still inside the forest searching for Hakuryuu and Hakutoku had no way of contacting them, he had now also to search for those two.
"Hakuryuu, we have to look for Hakuyuu and Hakuren together. Those two are also inside the forest. Will you help me searching for your brothers?"
Hakutoku knew he wasn't good with kids, but he tried his best and cheer his son, who was still crying, up. When he come home his clothes would probably be all wet, because of his son's tears. As response Hakuryuu nodded his head, but did not stop crying for now. Maybe it would get better, when they were back at home.
Finding the other two princes was not as lengthy as finding Hakuryuu and as soon as they were together they went back to the picnic place. Hakuei had fallen asleep because of all her crying. However, Hakuryuu woke her up to apologize to her for making her worry so much. As apologize gift he gave her some flowers he had picked before he had returned with his brothers and his father. During his walk through the forest he had lost the flowers he had already picked for his mother, so he had to get new ones.
Gyokuen also was happy to have her son back and didn't let go of him until they reached the palace and it was time for him to go to bed. This night Hakuei and Hakuryuu slept together in his room, because Hakuei refused to leave her brother alone again. Hakutoku and Gyokuen didn't mind it, since it did not happened often and it made their children feel better – Hakuren was the only one complaining since he also wanted to sleep with his younger siblings, but was not allowed to. He was too old for sleepovers, his father said. This was unfair! Maybe he should get lost next time!
This picnic was an event Hakuryuu never forgot, it also was the last one he had with his family.