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The woods felt alive in a way that was hard to explain, like everything had been waiting for them to show up before it bothered moving properly. Zeta had insisted on it being here. Not the living room, not a backyard, not anything easier. Hiro had called it extra, Kage had called it camping with rules, and Zeta had just said it was the point.
Now they were here anyway. The campsite was simple—just a cleared space between trees, a small fire ring made of stones, and their bags dropped wherever people naturally ended up standing or sitting. Spring had fully taken hold out here. The ground was soft, the air warm without being heavy, and everything smelled like earth and leaves.
Hiro dropped his bag and immediately flopped into the grass, arms spread out like he was claiming the whole clearing. “Okay,” he said, staring up at the trees, “I get it. This is actually kind of worth the hike.”
Kage crouched near the fire ring, already turning stones in his hands, focused like he was solving something only he could see. Same face as Hiro, same build, but everything about him was quieter, more deliberate. “So this is Beltane,” he said. “It’s like Ostara, but everything is louder.”
“More active,” Zeta corrected, kneeling as she unpacked ribbons, small carved pieces, and flowers carefully wrapped so they wouldn’t wilt. “Ostara is early growth. This is when you can actually see it happening.”
Hiro squinted at the fire ring. “So the season is just… yelling now.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Zeta said.
Kage nodded seriously. “Season is yelling. Got it.”
Bibi stepped carefully over a root, looking around with a soft expression that lingered on the clearing. “You really picked a nice place,” she said gently.
Ahmed set down the heavier bag and scanned the area once, slow and steady. “It’s safe,” he said simply.
Zeta stood, brushing dirt off her hands. There was a small pause in her posture, like she was settling into what she had planned in her head. “Okay,” she said. “First thing—we set it up properly.”
Hiro pushed himself up on his elbows. “Define properly.”
“Stop talking and help,” Kage said immediately.
Hiro grinned as he got up. “You’re so bossy when there are trees involved.”
“I’m consistent,” Kage replied, already working.
Zeta handed him sticks and twine. “Make a simple frame between those trees. Nothing fancy.”
Kage studied the space, then nodded once. “I can do that.”
“I know,” Zeta said.
That made him glance at her briefly before he turned back to it. Hiro lingered near the fire ring, crouching down. “Is this where we summon forest spirits?”
Zeta didn’t look up. “No.”
“Later?”
“Also no.”
Kage didn’t even pause. “Stop trying to summon things.”
“I’m not trying,” Hiro said, lifting his hands slightly. “It’s just the vibe.”
Bibi let out a small breath of a laugh as she knelt to place flowers along the ground. Ahmed moved in without a word to steady the frame when Kage shifted it. Zeta moved between them, tying ribbons as she spoke. “Beltane is about connection,” she said. “Not just people, but everything that’s growing. It’s about noticing it instead of just passing through it.”
Hiro glanced at her, then away, like he didn’t want to make it a big deal even though his expression softened a little. “So we’re all just… stuck together.”
Zeta huffed quietly. “That’s a weird way to say it, but yeah.”
Kage tied his section carefully. “I think I get it,” he said after a moment.
Zeta looked at him. “Yeah?”
He shrugged. “Nothing is separate right now.”
Zeta nodded once. No argument. No extra explanation. Hiro stretched his arms overhead, then dropped them. “Okay, I’m starting to feel emotional about trees, so I think we’re doing it right.”
Kage glanced at him. “That’s new for you.”
“Excuse you,” Hiro said. “I am emotionally advanced.” Zeta snorted under her breath, still tying ribbons. They finished the frame together. Ribbons hung loosely between the trees, shifting whenever the wind passed through like they were part of the air itself.
Zeta stepped back. “Fire next.”
Hiro straightened immediately. “Finally. My moment.”
“You’ve lit one campfire,” Kage said.
“And it was perfect,” Hiro replied. The fire started small—just kindling catching slowly, then building as it found air. Zeta didn’t rush it. She watched it settle into itself, steady and warm. Bibi exhaled softly. “It feels different out here.”
“It is,” Zeta said. “Inside, you set the space. Out here… It’s already set. You’re just stepping into it.”
Ahmed sat on a log, watching the fire. “Then what’s next?”
Zeta looked at all of them—Hiro already too close to the fire, Kage steady and focused, Bibi calm, Ahmed grounded.
“Now we tie connection,” she said.
Hiro raised a hand. “Can mine be snacks?”
Zeta looked at him. “No.”
He shrugged. “Worth asking.” Kage passed out ribbons. They each tied one onto the frame. Hiro went first, leaning in close. “I’m connecting to food security,” he said seriously, then glanced at Zeta with a grin.
“That’s not what this is,” Zeta said, but she was smiling slightly.
“It’s close enough.”
Kage tied his more slowly. “Understanding.”
Zeta looked at him a moment longer than usual. “That works.”
Bibi tied hers gently. “Peace.”
Ahmed followed. “Stability.”
Zeta held her ribbon for a moment before tying it. “Connection,” she said simply. Then, quieter, “Actually being here with people. Not just near them.”
Hiro bumped her shoulder lightly, familiar and easy. “That one’s very you.”
Zeta rolled her eyes, but didn’t move away right away. The fire cracked softly behind them. The ribbons shifted in the wind, brushing together like they had decided to stay. For a while, nobody spoke. Hiro eventually leaned back on his hands, looking up through the trees. “Okay,” he said quietly, “this is actually really nice.”
Kage nodded once. “Calm, but not empty.”
Zeta looked at them, then at Bibi and Ahmed, then back at the fire.
“Yeah,” she said. “That’s the point.”
She didn’t say anything else after that.
She didn’t need to.