There's No Place Like Home [Open]

[Sakura Kura]

The days had never felt so long, nor the nights so short. But these last few years, things have been getting tough for the old Nymph flitting around the forest. She was still as bubbly as ever, helping wherever she could, but she did not have that spark she once had as a sapling. It was not difficult to see why.

She stood in front of her tree, palm out on the trunk, a heavy sigh leaving her lips. "It won't be long now. Maybe a few more years." Her words were quiet and sad as she stared at the graying bark on her trunk. Her tree was dying. She knew it in her heart, could feel it in her soul. She did not want it to end that way, but she knew that there would be no one that could help her. No one willing to help her. Everyone would say the same thing. "You've lived a long and full life, you can move on now." But she didn't want to move on. She wanted to stay and learn until she was as old and withered as her tree. She knew Nymphs that lived far longer than she had, and some of them were still living.

She wanted to be like them. Watching civilizations rise and fall. Seeing new saplings preparing to look over the Camp as she had done all of her life. She wanted to see more than just the camp boundaries. She wanted to see the little Godlings succeed in their quests. There was so much she wanted to do.

She gave another sigh as she sat on one of her roots, leaning her back against her trunk as she ran her fingers through her long locks. Cherry blossoms fell from them and she smiled, holding her hand up to the air, watching as the wind carried them away. She would miss the beauty of this place..

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[Hadley McMiller]

Hadley rushed out the door, lazily throwing her hair in a bun as she walked. She had everything she needed in her bag. It was about eleven in the morning, and the sky was overcast. The clouds were light gray, with a sun trying and failing to scream through. Camp just wasn't as sunny as of lately. It was really sad. With all the sick kids, and the prophecy and all of that crap, no one was totally happy. Except for maybe Ashley Coy, who had the IQ of a seacucumber, and had little idea what was going on. Unlike that Aphrodite, this fifteen-year-old Dionysus actually had any idea of what life was. Bad. Everything was bad. Bad omens, bad luck. Nothing good ever came out of living. There had been times when Hadley had so desperately wanted to go back to smoking, go back to drugs or just tie a rock to her leg and hop into the Sound. Anything. But she knew that she had to live on, and did so.

But now she was having a pretty good week, considering the situation, and wasn't going to ruin it. She was planting new grapes that could make you an insane psycho if you ate them. The first day she had tried growing them all at once, and was unconscious for seven hours, so lately she had been growing them little by little everyday. She was exhausted by the end of each day, but it would be so worth it to feed the grapes to some random monster and then have him go crazy while she threw knives at it. Oh. My. Gods. So. Much. Fun.

As she entered the forest, she could barely see the sun poking through the tall treetops, but she had sharp senses - even for a demigod - and could see pretty well. Enough not to get herself killed. She hiked along the weeds and leaves and crumbling sticks. A lot of the trees were starting to look sad because of the emotional cloud that masked the camp. It was, honestly, plainly gloomy wherever you went. Everyone looked miserable. The sickness was at its peak, Hadley thought. She didn't think that it could get any worse. Unless of course, people started to ... she didn't even wanna think about the possibility.

Hadley began to near the grape patch when she heard a sigh. She followed it to a nymph slumped against a withering tree. The daughter of Dioynsus saddened. This was what was happening. The nymph couldn't have been very old, but she looked like it was almost her time. "Is that your tree?" Hadley asked the tree nymph, not too far away. As she walked closer she began to see the more distinct features of the tree. It had green leaves, some beginning to be a bit crumpled at the ends, and the bark was beginning to darken in some places. The nymph didn't look the best herself. She looked stressed and worried and slightly unhealthy.

[Sakura Kura]

Kura did not know what she was going to do. She wanted to live. She wanted to see this madness finished. She wanted to help end the madness. But how was she supposed to do that in her state? She tried to keep her hopes up, but it was hard to put on her smiling face every day when she knew she was dying. The sounds of crunching leaves caused her to lift her head. She was surprised to see someone out in the forest. Most of the campers were usually weary of the forest, but it was nice to see a face that didn't look sad.

The words squeezed her heart slightly as she looked up at the girl. She nodded, though, a sad sigh leaving her lips. She stood, then, placing her hand on the trunk once again. She tilted her head back, looking up at her crinkling leaves. "It is.." She whispered softly, before she turned back to the other girl. "This is too much...It needs to end." She whispered again. Of course, she was speaking of the sickness. In the beginning, she had hope that it would not come to the trees, but it did in the end. She looked around, looking at the other trees surround hers.

[Hadley McMiller]

Hadley could totally agree. She looked to her grape crop, which was right near the tree, and shrieked with horror. They were wilting! She dashed to the crop and got on her knees. She inhaled softly and focused. Slowly, the grapes began to slightly restore. Hadley's breathing became shaky and slow. It was very hard to revive what was almost dead. The grapes began to ripen again. After they were back into the healthier state, Hadley laid down on a small bed of leaves. She sighed. This was rough.

She opened her eyes, and turned to the nymph, "By the way," she said shakily, her voice faltering with weakness "I'm Hadley. McMiller. Daughter of Dionysus, if you couldn't tell already." Hadley slowly got up on her hands and knees and waded through the leaves, not really finding much power to stand up yet, and opened up her canvas bag, which was resting in the dirt. She flipped it open, and took out a bottle of wine. She popped it open, and took a quick drink, indulging herself in one third of the bottle. She felt a common feeling, giving her enough power just to stand with shaky knees.

Carefully and slowly, Hadley stood - very shakily, I must add - and looked at the nymph, "They'll find a cure soon. They won't let anyone die. It just ... can't happen. Like, ever." she nodded firmly.

Then, Hadley looked at the tree and the nymph dying at its side. "After I get more power, I can try to restore some of the health. I can't tell you that it will totally work - because I've never tried it on trees before, but I can totally try." she said as she popped some squared ambrosia onto her tongue. She felt the warm taste of chewy dark chocolate chip cookies melt over her mouth, tasting bittersweet. Like dark chocolate, life is bittersweet. Sometimes feeling like perfection, other times feeling like crap. As for the current moment, more on the crappy side than the perfection side. Everyone at Camp Half-Blood knew one thing.

It would only get worse.

[Sakura Kura]

Kura gave the girl a sad smile. Just the sight of her rushing to the grapes to save them, and the amount of energy it took to save them made her heart ache. The sickness was affecting everything and everyone, and before long, there would be nothing left to save the rest. She wanted to move to the girls side when she laid down, but she knew that the girl had her way of dealing with these things. All of the Demi-Gods did. Every time Kura tried to help someone, she was scolded, and told to stay out of human affairs. The words always stung.

"Sakura. But you can call me Kura." She spoke with a soft smile after the girl introduced herself. Hadley was a beautiful name. Finally, Kura's smile faded and she wobbled her way over to Hadley. She knelt next to her and placed a soothing hand on her back. "We will find a way to stop this. I can't watch my friends and family die." She whispered softly with a gently sigh. Why did everything have to be so hard?

When the offer was made, Kura could not help but smile. This was the first Demi-God that had offered her help, that seemed to want her alive. Everyone else said that it was just her time, but she knew they were wrong. "That would be lovely...But you can't exert yourself like that." She gave a gentle smile before she looked to Hadley's grapes. She did not know if she could do much, but she could still see the bit of wilting in the vines. She scrunched up her face before she moved to them.

She reached out a hand, placing it on the ground by the base of the plants. She could feel the roots in her head, could feel the poison running through them. "Hey. You can't die. You're mother has put so much love and care into you. Reject the poison. Cast it out. I know you can do it. Push it into my roots if you need to." She spoke to the plant softly, almost with a motherly tone. She could see the vines getting a little greener, and could instantly feel when the sickness started to soak more into her roots. Her hair paled to a darker grey, and the cherry blossoms in her hair wilted slightly. Oh well, at least this girl would be happy for a while longer.