The golden rays of the sun blinded Forest as he emerged from the stairs that led to the rooftop. He smiled to himself as he noticed Melody sitting on the ground, papers spread in front of her. Wyatt, Jack and Julianne accompanied her in huddling over the papers. Forest approached them and plopped down beside Melody. As she turned to look at him, the golden sunlight surrounded her, making her glow.
Melody looked at him. "What are you looking at?"
Forest smirked. "You." He ignored the fact that the others were there. He was proud of himself for being so smooth.
Melody looked back down at the papers in front of her, she smiled to herself. "Sorry, there's no time for flirting." Even though he was technically being shot down, he took this as a win. He made her smile. Forest smiled as he gazed at her focused face.
"Um excuse me, we're here too." Wyatt craned his head to get in his line of vision. He waved his hand to the his attention. He knew Wyatt was just teasing him
Melody gestured to the papers sprawled in front of them. "We need you to draw the layout of their hideout," She looked up at him and handed him a pencil. "You think you can do that?"
There was determination in her face. He took the pencil from her dainty hand. "I can try, I've never been good at drawing..."
Jack sat with his back straight and watched as Forest leaned over the large piece of paper. "If you fail I could always redraw what you have."
He glared at Jack, one hand on the ground to stabilize him. Of course he was good at drawing too. "It's fine, it doesn't have to be perfect," Melody said in an attempt to encourage Forest as he focused back on the paper and began to draw straight lines on the page. Melody's eyes vividly watched his movements. He drew a long straight hallway, with a few rooms that branched off, which he labeled accordingly. Then he drew a large square that was attached to the first vertical hallway.
He then backed away from the papers and pointed to the square. "All around here are rooms, she should be in one of the ones towards the back."
Jack frowned at the paper. "And how do you know this?" He looked at Forest with skepticism.
Forest rolled his eyes. "Geez why do always have to be on his back Jack," Wyatt said, defending Forest. Jack didn't reply and his face remained neutral and calm.
"How do we know which one exactly?"
Julianne asked, bringing the focus back to the plan.
Forest crossed his legs. "We search them all." His gaze was strong and determined. He was being completely serious. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt during this mission, more especially since he learned what the Silver Blades did to his parents. He was still somewhat in denial even though it happened years ago.
"Won't that take a long time?" Melody asked, concerned.
"Yeah, if it were just the two of us, so we'll need to know if you guys are in or out,"
He said looking at Wyatt, Jack, and Julianne.
They were uncertain at first so he asked them to come along to hear their plan and then decide from there.
"When is this getting done anyways?"
Jack asked. Forest was kind of glad he was asking questions, this mean he hadn't completely ruled it out yet.
"As soon as possible, really," Forest gave Melody a condescending look as she spoke. "I know we have to take the time to get ready and everything, but-"
Forest raised his hand. "I know."
Melody nodded. "It's my sister we're talking about..." She trailed off, her watery gaze landing on each and every one of them .
They sat in silence for a moment, before Julianne abruptly sat up. "We should go to the Flower Festival!"
"I dunno..." Forest said with uncertainty, but he actually had no idea what he was disagreeing to.
"It could be fun, plus there's going to be a masquerade party this year, and we could get information from all the adults that would be attending!"Julianne continued, arguing her case.
"I'm not sure how well that would work out..." Forest was having his doubts. He felt like the festival would distract them right before the mission.
Melody shrugged. "It's fine if we don't get any information, we could still go to just have fun..." It was obvious whose side she was on.
"I guess," He answered as he looked back down at the ground in defeat.
"So, we can go sometime after the festival, once we're done buying all the supplies and, maybe getting our weapons sharpened..." Melodys said as she formed a timeline in her head.
They sat in silence for a moment, gazing at the hand drawn map, then Wyatt spoke, "Where is this place anyways?"
"It's in the middle of a clearing, most of it is underground." He felt wary about telling them when they hadn't yet agreed, but what harm could it do? Worse case scenario they would tell someone, which want necessarily a bad thing. Maybe it was all the training from the Silver Blades kicking in.
Melody nodded. "Do you know when there would be a good opening to sneak in?" She peered at Forest.
Forest thought for a moment. "There aren't usually guards outside... and people are coming and going during the day because of missions. Plus if we go at night everyone would be asleep...Hopefully they didn't make any changes to security since I've left."
and cross his fingers he did.
Melody nodded. "We go at night then," She smiled up at him. "My sister might finally be coming home..." Forest noticed her eyes were watery with tears of joy. Forest reached up and wiped a tear from her face. Melody nodded and swiped at the tears that fell.
"Before we celebrate, what exactly is it we're supposed to be doing?" Jack asked, his face looked stone cold and defensive. Julianne and Wyatt on the other hand looked like they felt bad for Melody.
Melody quickly collected herself. she pointed to the right side of the square hallway, "Jack, Julianne, you two would go up this hallway and search every room, Forest and I will go up the other side."
Jack folded his arms. "And what do we do if we find her?"
Melody shifted her eyes toward him. "You would take her with you and alert us, using your communication watch," she nodded towards the watch that was on his wrist. "Now," She nodded towards Wyatt. "You would keep lookout and alert us if you see anyone." Melody gazed at the small group, hope brewing in her eyes.
Forest stood next to Melody, "So what do you say?"
There was no reply. Everyone stood in silence before Jack spoke, "This sounds dangerous."
Wyatt smirked and raised his hand enthusiastically. "I'm in!"
Melody beamed, then looked over at the others. Jack grabbed his brother's arm and pulled it back to his side. Wyatt seemed a little disappointed, but not too bothered. Julianne gently touched Jack's arm, and as he faced her, his face seemed to soften.
Jack looked back up at Melody, he squinted his eyes from the blinding sunlight. "I'll think about it."
Melody nodded. "Thanks!" She called after them as they turned to go back inside.
Then suddenly they were alone. It was just Forest and Melody. She looked over at him, "Could you talk to them for me? Get their answer tomorrow, please?" Honestly Jack's reply already surpassed his expectations. They would have to rely on Julianne and Wyatt to convince Jack.
Forest nodded. "I promise I will." He looked over at Melody through the sunlight, and they exchanged a smile.
Jack was in a hurry to get back to his dorm. Wyatt and Julianne trailed behind him as he swiftly traversed the halls.
"Come on Jack! She wants our help! We can't just say no and let her do it by herself!"
Wyatt argued as he struggled to keep up with his brother's swift pace.
"She won't be alone," He muttered. His face showed no emotion, even though he gritted his teeth. He didn't like arguing with his brother. He didn't like having to say no, he wanted to be his brother not his parental figure. But he didn't have any other choice, he was all Wyatt had left. Often, Jack felt that he was robbed of his childhood, but he always quickly brushed this thoughts away telling himself he was being selfish.
Wyatt crossed his arms and stubbornly said, "Well I don't care what you say, I'm going to help her!" And at that time they had reached their room and Wyatt stuck his nose in the air and marched inside.
Jack sighed, but Julianne caught his attention as she placed a comforting hand on his arm. "He really wants to help..."
Jack closed his eyes and inhaled. "I know."
There was a moment of silence where no one knew what to say, then Julianne changed the subject. "Look I'm really sorry about what happened, but you have to understand that my uncle was dying and he needed the help."
Jack wrung his hands through his hair. "I understand, but I still don't like it. You didn't have to throw away your potential."
He missed having Julianne around for support. She was his best friend and he missed her, things have been hard for him without her.
"I don't like the awkwardness between us," There was a moment of silence, then Julianne exhaled. "You know what, I'm going to help her. It would give me a chance to practice my skills..."
"It's too dangerous." He was quick to say that. He guessed it had became a habit now. He instantly regretted saying that to her though, he had no right to tell her what to do. Maybe that's why he lost her in the first place.
"Well what is it Jack? You didn't want me to quit my training as a Guardian, but yet you don't want me to go on a mission."
She looked at him in confusion and slight annoyance.
"I just care about you, ok?" He never really liked talking about his feelings, but loosing her made him realize what she was to him.
Julianne smiled. "I know, but you do have a weird way of showing it."
"Yeah, well... I'm sorry for avoiding you and ruining everything between us. Do the mission or don't, I give up on trying to protect everyone." Jack's hands twitched at his side in defeat. He was becoming increasingly stressed recently. With Wyatt and the accelerated program, it was becoming a lot.
Julianne stepped closer to him and reached for his hands. With her hands in his, she looked up at him and spoke. "I somehow don't believe you. Do you want to know what I think? I think that you are going to go on that mission with Wyatt and I."
Jack smirked and rolled his eyes. "You could always read me like an open book, couldn't you?"
Julianne smirked, then reached up and kissed him on the cheek. She spoke as she pulled away, "Goodnight, Jack." She walked away, leaving a stunned Jack, alone, outside of his room.