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As much as he liked hanging out in the manor what he really wanted was to go out on the field and kick butt. Staying behind while there are bad guys running around drove him a little stir crazy. So he felt like training out in the wilderness would do him some good.
As a runt on the streets he’d never thought he’d get to be a robin. He heard of the first robin moving on to the teen titans working with his own team instead of fighting for Gotham with Batman, which he supposes it’s all right. There’s other people and places that need saving.
But him a good for nothing little thief Jason Todd fighting alongside Batman. Hero of Gotham city billionaire Bruce Wayne, The Dark Knight letting him be robin and learn to fight. He also gets to be the adopted son of a billionaire and go to school and sleep in the biggest fluffiest bed he’s ever seen and eat delicious food whenever he wants. For fuck sake he lives in what’s practically a palace.
There’s forest behind the said palace held a multitude of wildlife. He would wander into the forest carrying snacks, a Swiss army knife, and an extending bow staff the first robin used to use. He used the bow staff as a hiking stick and poked around a bit. His ears, fingers, and nose got cold in the autumn air. It stung but he felt okay while wearing a warm oversized black wool trench coat he snatched from either Bruce or Alfred.
Alfred nor Bruce knew he was out here. He climbed under and over fallen trees and jumped up on large rocks. Bruce had only started teaching him how to be a robin so he was still expected to stay at the manor. But on the waiting for his next lesson bored him. He got through the homework quick and tripled checked it. He’s already finished organizing the Wayne library to Dewey decimal system, like it’s supposed to be and Alfred is starting to shove him off to do something else instead of letting him help clean.
Alfred would be fine with him going out to get some fresh air. Besides Alfred and Bruce doesn’t mind him practicing and training. Skipping from boulders to stumps to landing on piles of leaves was not only fun but also improved his agility.
He would grapple on a branch and try to swing up and sit on it or practice pull-ups. He was strong enough to get up on the branch but he would lose his balance when he tried to sit crouched on the branch like he’s seen the first robin do on a railing.
He would try walking on the branch and jumping to the next one across while landing on his feet. Most branches could support his weight since he was hardly weighed much. Though too many times he just misstepped and end up falling on his back into the leaves and mud bellow. Gee Alfred is going to kill him if this was his coat. He rolls over and gets up again using the bow staff. He presses his fingers on his back on his hip and near his butt he felt there was probably going to be a bruise. He rubs at the pain on his butt and limps a bit before climbing the tree to attempt branch jumping again.
When he starting to get tired of branch jumping he gracefully or as gracefully as he can jumps back down to the ground landing on his toes crouched not stomping down into the ground. He’s not sure how long he’s been hopping between tree branches.
He looks up at the tree he jumped down from and sees a squirrel looking at him curiously. He probably could have slept up in the tree. Who knows it might be pretty comfortable. Though he’s tired and didn’t want to go up the tree anymore.
He walks back to where he saw the fallen tree and pokes it with the bow staff keeping a distance who know what could be inside. He runs over to the other side where the tree snaps off from the stump and sees it’s hollow there could be tons of animals inside. Though the animals could probably be vicious if they found him messing with their home. Well maybe against better judgment his curiosity overpowered logic. He pushes the fallen tree off the splintered stump and it hit the ground with a reverberating thump.
He looked into the hollow of the tree and there was a nest of bugs inside. He considers collecting them and pranking Bruce somehow. He decides against it he’s not really too into carrying dirty worms and beetles into where he lives.
He snaps some branches from the log and makes a fire. It was going to get dark and cold and he didn’t feel like coming back yet. That and he isn’t really a fan of admitting he got himself lost. He could survive the night in the wilderness if it came to it. He’ll show them that he could take care of himself and adapt to any situation just like Batman can. He got himself into this mess and he can take care of himself until the sun comes back up.
He carries the bits of wood as he wanders around the forest while there’s still daylight. He comes across a small pile of rocks, actually two piles rested on a log. The smaller of the two piles had a rock on the bottom marked “T.W” the bigger pile was marked “B.W” .He guesses “B.W” probably belonged to Bruce. He stared at the two rock piles they seemed a little with like memorials.
He looks around and grabs a stone of his own and did his best to scratch a “J.T” into it. He debates whether or not to carve an extra W to the stone but that’s probably just wishful thinking and dumb. He can’t put his stone next to the two existing piles his could be mixed up or disrespecting whoever “T.W” is.
He decides on putting his rock behind a tree where nobody would really see it. He added a few extra rocks to make it a little pile that he could distinguish but nobody else would think anything of it. He continued on his way and realized that it was already getting too dark. He sat down and started on a little fire.
He could use the fire for light to see his way, but the problem is everything looks the same at night. In addition to every tree looking the same. He became more paranoid of things jumping out at him from the shadows, and with the fire he couldn’t take to the trees without worrying about setting the dry autumn leaves on fire or something.
After walking around in circles he’s tired. Sleeping in the wilderness is a lot nicer than in dirty alleys, abandoned warehouses or the gross smelling subways. Probably safe too all he would probably have to worry about is bugs, bears, and maybe an angry raccoon. He could probably avoid them all by sleeping in a tree. It won’t be comfortable and it’ll probably be really cold after he snuffs out the fire, but he’s nearly froze to death in his family’s crappy apartment many times before when they couldn’t afford to pay for heating.
He supposes he would be just fine. He snuffs out his torch and the outlines of forest trees turned to pitch black. He puts his hand out to touch the tree he was planning on sleeping in as if to make sure it’s still there and shimmies up the trunk.
He was jumping between branches in the day not lying on any of them so he wouldn’t have known how uncomfortable they could be. This bough was really big and supported his whole body, but he still had to be careful. He could fall off if he was moving in his sleep because of the discomfort.
He considers hanging upside down like a real bat. Well Bruce sleeps in a bed and not like a bat but what does he know maybe the little flying mammal is onto something…Well no not really the blood just flows to his head and makes him nearly fall to the ground.
He sighs and decides to meditate in the tree. If he can’t sleep he could at least try to shut out external distraction and relax. Maybe then he’ll end up falling asleep.
He normally falls asleep during the after training meditation. Bruce always likes to talk about how it clears your mind and gives you a break from the constant sensory overload and allows you to focus. Though he suspects it’s just Bruce’s way to shut him up after training.
Alfred just says meditation is a healthier way to deal with his problems than what he’s currently does, whatever that means. He’s decreased the amount of cigarettes he smokes but Alfred just walks off mumbling to himself about stealing jobs or taking after him. Even Alfred can be weird sometimes.
He sits in the tree cross-legged and balanced. His back is straightened and he folds his hands together open with his palms facing up. He controls his breathing by counting down from one hundred to block out other thoughts and focus on the numbers. After he finishes the countdown he repeats it until he’s cleared and stays in the tranquil feeling and falls asleep.
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“HEY JAYBIRD!” he startled awake and fell out of the tree to find himself in Dick’s hands. He groans. “Don’t you think you’re taking the robin thing too seriously? Sleeping in a tree” He was under the shade of the tree leaves but now he’s facing the sky. It was cloudy but it was still bright white in his eyes.
He rolls out of Dick’s hands and brushes himself off. “What are you doing here?”
“Just visiting Bruce. You probably better head back now they’re probably worried about you little wing” Jason huffs. Of course he was going to head back to the manor. It’s just he’s not entirely sure which way the manor is.
Dick thought it was cute how the little robin was literally sleeping in the tree. He was even holding a few twigs like he going to build a nest up there. He never went into the woods when he already had access to an advanced training room with everything he could ever need. That and he didn’t think Bruce would like him in the forest. Especially when they already had a beautiful garden. There wasn’t really a point to go out when the manor had everything they could need.
What he heard of Jason this kid was a city kid through and through. You couldn’t really blame him if he got curious of the world beyond the dark concrete jungle of Gotham.
“Is Bruce or Alfred looking for me?”
“Bruce is, Alfred is at the manor making breakfast”
“What’s he making?”
“How about we head home and find out and I’ll tell Bruce to call off the search party” Jason laughed at the thought of anybody caring enough about him to look for him, but he remembers that now he was with Bruce Wayne. It would probably look bad if you lost a kid you were responsible for and that kid ended up dying or something from a bear mauling near your house, no matter who you are.
The walk to the manor was quiet. He had the sense that Dick didn’t really feel like talking to him. So he kept to himself. As he walked he could see the caked mud had dried and now it was chipping off his coat. He wanted to take off the offensively dirty jacket to clean it or something, but it was really cold so he decided against it.
When they made it to the manor he could hear the butler approach and he could smell blueberry pancakes. His favorite! Alfred scowled for a second before putting the plate down and taking the coat off of him. He inspected the coat.
“I was hoping the smell of you favorite breakfast would guide you home but seeing you and my jacket all muddy I come to wonder whether it was worth it” He held the disgruntled expression for one more minute before it melted to an relieved and amused smile. Alfred hugged him. He was happy he’s home and he’s happy to be back.