Rhododendrons

Chapter 1: Soil In A Pot

"Hey, you over there! Stop jumping into the Creek!" A blond Junior Forest Scout shouted as the piercing blows of his whistle slammed against the vulnerable eardrums of the Creek kids just minding their own business by having fun swimming in the Creek.

"Not only can your cannonballs send enormous tidal waves to unsuspecting Creek kids, but the water caused by your splashes can form mud puddles nearby! All of you should really use your brains once in a while to consider that, other kids could slip on the mud and get hurt because of you!" He lisped in a loud, aggressive tone, while the kids he was lecturing presented faces of both guilt and annoyance.

The Forest Scout decided to make his way to the Trading Tree to get a quick snack.

"Move it, get out of the way!" He hollered as he forcefully pushed multiple kids to the side so he could get his way through to the front of the Trading Tree waiting line, in which he exchanged irritated and vexed looks with the kids he pushed.

"Hey Kit! Give me one Choco Roll and a juice box stat!" The blond demanded as he banged the cooler table with the palm of his hand.

"Aaaaaand will you trading something this time Mr. 'look at me, I'm so important because of my badges'" Kit remarked in a mocking tone.

Jason growled as he scowled at the trader, while he heard the kids he pushed to the back laugh and "ooooh" in response to Kit's roast.

"Yes Kit, I "finally" have something to trade," He said, slamming 3 gumballs and a slightly opened but (mostly) uneaten bag of caramel popcorn. His braces prevented him from eating these anyway, so he thought he might as well trade them in.

Kit examined the trading goods to see if there was any value to these items as she let out a lingering " Hmmmmm...".

"Ugh, fine" The girl exasperated. "It's a deal'

She handed the boy the Choco Roll and carton of apple juice.

"Heh, fair trade Kit!" Jason smirked with great delight, snatching the goods from Kit's hand.

"Good day to you then." he proceeded to scout salute the trader, marching off to where he was next needed.

"Whatever, just don't trade in leaves or whatever junk you find lying on the floor next time as you did before!" Kit yelled. But it was already too late, the blonde-haired scout already left the premises to hear her. Kit sighed in an annoyed tone.

"Jeez, Louise... Only a few weeks this kid's been visiting the Creek and he already acts like he owns the place" She muttered as she tried to calm down to get to her next customer.

"You better throw away that wrapper when you're finished with it! Littering is a violation of the Creek!" He demanded as he pointed at a kid eating a Choco Roll, plastic wrapper in their other hand.

"Okay Bossy Scout..." the kid muttered as they made their way to the closest garbage bin.

"Don't think I heard that!" the blond yelled.

The brace-faced blond, now satisfied with how "safe" the Creek is with the help of his knowledge of safety regulations, he went on with his day to complete a task needed to earn his Wildlife Conservation badge. Though, he's only earning it for himself.

It has only been a few weeks ago ever since he became a Junior Forest Scout, heck, he's only been visiting the Creek the day he became one. One day he hope's to at least recruit two members to his troop in a month or so, but it's going to be pretty difficult, as he comes off as quite a jerk to many kids.

As Jason made his way to a large tree and small clearing in the area, he began to set up a trap, a key to gaining the badge he needed. As the Junior Scout guide states to catch a small wildlife animal to earn the badge. First step was to hang a roped net on a tree branch.

A tough feat for the little ol' scout, but he didn't worry much; as he had earned his "Tree Climbing" badge awhile back.....after 127 failed tries with minor injuries.

Making his way up, rope clenched in his mouth and clawing onto the tree bark with his dear life. Struggling to hold on any longer, he plopped onto the ground. Yet Jason was not ready to give up yet. After trial and error, he finally managed to climb to the tree branch and tie the rope onto it. With only 105 failed attempts no less.

The next two steps were much easier as the boy lowered down the open net onto the floor, placed two carrots, a celery stick, and 5 pieces of caramel popcorn onto the net, and proceeded to hide behind a nearby bush.

'Just one pull of the rope and BAM! Hellooooo new shiny badge on my sash!' Jason giddily thought to himself as he waited for an animal to walk into his trap. Seconds became minutes and then became an hour. Jason became wearier, slowly closing his eyes and almost drifting to sleep.......until

He felt a slight tug on the other end of his trap. His heart raced excitedly, waking himself up from the drawn-out wait. Without hesitation, the little scout pulled onto the sturdy rope with great might.

A loud noise could be heard, three distinct ones to be exact. Though, for Jason, it didn't seem to sound like any type of animal he's ever seen before.

"WHAT THE- WHO DID THIS?!" a scrawny voice of what sounded like a young boy yelled.

At that moment, Jason realized, that wasn't an animal he just caught, it was some kids who somehow managed to fall into his trap and ruin his plans of earning his badge. His face turned red with anger and embarrassment as he came out of hiding from the bushes to confront these ruffians who messed with his contraption.

"Hey!" Jason blasted,

"What the heck are you guys doing in my trap!"

Scrunched up in one cramped ball inside the net were three kids: A tall messy haired red headed boy with an oversized orange and white striped hockey shirt, who seemed to be snacking on the carrots Jason placed, a short purple caped brunette girl with a tube sword and a yellow, green bird on her head with a mean looking scowl on her face, and a dark skinned boy with yellow-grey clothing, dawning a teal purse and a staff adorned with a giant blue diamond. He looked to be the leader of the group...

Author's Note: Thanks for reading guys. Yeah, I know. It's been like what...2 years since I first said I was gonna publish an actual chapter for this fanfic. But I finally managed to get it out. Sorry for the long wait. Truth is, I sometimes go in and out of fandoms or I get really busy with my personal life, and that's kinda why I didn't manage to get the first chapter out until now. But please expect the next chapter to be out maybe next month or so when I'm out of school. Anyways, see ya next chapter!