Camping in General

Day Two

Birds were tweeting, the Sun was rising and the sky was clear. Tranquility took over the atmosphere and everything was perfect. Zoisite sighed as the sunlight hit her eyelids and woke her. She felt strangely different somehow, like she wasn't alone anymore. It was a safe, reassuring feeling, and she subconsciously snuggled closer to where she thought that special feeling was coming from. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed around the tent, adjusting her vision to the brightness of the day. I'm sure I slept a bit closer to the wall... Only after that thought did she realize where she actually was. 

"I am so, so sorry!" she shrieked at Malachite who woke with a start.

Zoisite hurriedly pulled away and shrank back against the tent wall. Somehow, she had managed to scoot all the way over to Malachite's side of the tent during the night, and neither of them had felt uncomfortable enough for it to wake them. 

"Shhhh..." Nephlite groaned groggily. 

"Nothing happened. Breakfast time."

Malachite was up, ready and out of the tent quicker than lightening. He was met outside by Jadeite, who was humming (slightly out of tune) the Sailor Moon theme song and kicking a few stones around his tent. Although the Sun had started rising, the clearing was still relatively shady and hidden among the surrounding trees and bushes which towered over the camp. The shadows became longer and thinner as Jadeite moved onto his second humming song: Carry On. Fine slices of light graced the ground between the ghosts of branches, brightening up the whole area and making it come alive with glittery, hovering pieces of dust.

"No, Jadeite," Nephlite moaned. "Change it back!"

"To the theme song? Really?" Jadeite asked in shock. 

"Yep."

Malachite became slightly annoyed at the increasing volume of discordant humming but said nothing. His eyebrows met in a vexed frown as he added some more wood to the fire to keep it going. Eventually, he snapped due to Nephlite's terrible decision on accompanying Jadeite's humming with some scandalous vocals.

"Nephlite, although Jadeite may appreciate your singing, I do not. You sound worse than Queen Beryl in the shower."

"How do you know what Beryl sounds like in the shower?" Nephlite interrogated, seeming somewhat perplexed. 

"I would simply imagine a youma's impersonation of Zoisite," he replied, chuckling at the abstract thought. 

"It's been ages since you've laughed!" Jadeite exclaimed, grinning from ear-to-ear. 

"What? I missed it! Do it again," Nephlite demanded, crawling out of his tent. 

"No," he answered bluntly, his expression once again judgemental and harsh.

"What took you so long?" Jadeite queried the youngest general as she poked her head out of the left tent. 

"Oh, just—"

"I bet you two were rolling around in your tent last night," Nephlite said with a self-satisfied smirk. 

"She was."

"Malachite!" Zoisite roared, turning to face him.

Her cheeks were flushed and her fists were already clenched by her sides. It looked as if she might cry in the heat of the moment; tears of betrayal, broken bonds and fury. 

"No, not like that. You just happened to roll all the way over to my side of the tent. I'm mildly surprised that you've never fallen out of bed, or at least not that I've heard of," Malachite corrected, smoothing out the ascending argument.