Chapter 2 "S'mores and Scary Stories"
As the three "kids" got back to camp, Rex had a campfire going and something that smelled good cooking over it.
"It's about time the three of you got back," he said motioning them to sit down on the seats around the campfire that were hewn out of stumps, "We were about to send out a squad to find you."
"Sure smells good," Ezra added taking a deep breath. Sabine and Zeb were doing the same.
Hera came walking over after checking on Chopper who wanted to stay on the ship. The little droid wasn't thrilled at the idea of camping and had grumbled all the way to Kswah Prime.
"If you guys are going to go off exploring, let one of us know where you're off too. You do remember you three are recovering from the flu and Zeb, you're still not over it."
"Sorry", the three of them said heads hanging down.
Kanan just gave them stern looks like a father would do. That made them feel worse.
"Dinner's ready!" Rex announced as he brought over bowls of the delicious smelling food cooking in the pot. All the GHOST crew dove in and murmurs of obvious delight at the taste pleased him.
"Rex, what is this?" Zeb said smacking his lips, "This is great!"
"It's an old clone trooper's recipe called chili," Rex replied, "We used to make this alot when we were stationed in one place for very long."
Gregor and Wolffe were glad their friends were enjoying dinner, for the best was yet to come...
After everything was cleaned up from dinner, Gregor and Wolffe got out some other supplies from one of the cargo containers. In it were five metal sticks with forked ends, a bag of fluffy sweets, a bag of chocolate pieces and cookie-like crackers. Ezra, Sabine and Zeb looked on in total confusion. Rex saw the looks while he was getting the fire going better.
"This is the makings for s'mores," Gregor said handing Zeb, Ezra and Sabine a metal stick.
"S'mores?" Zeb asked looking over at Ezra and Sabine. All three of them shrugged their shoulders having no idea what was going on. Kanan and Hera looked on in quiet amusement at their puzzled expressions.
"The best part of a camping trip next to the campfire stories," Wolffe answered.
"Okay, you three, watch and learn," came Gregor's response.
The three "kids" watched him put a sweet on a stick and hold it over the coals to be toasted.
"Looks easy," Ezra said as he shivered a bit. Sabine and Zeb were shivering too. Zeb even added a sneeze to his miseries.
"You three go get your light jackets on," Hera said looking them all in the eye, "it's getting a little chilly out here, and I don't want you any sicker than you've been."
"Aw...Hera," Zeb said his ears drooping.
"Don't 'Aw Hera' me, Garazeb Orrelios. Do as you're told."
Zeb followed by his "siblings", went to the tent that the three of them were sharing, and came out with light jackets on.
Moments later, bruised feelings aside, Zeb, Ezra and Sabine roasted their own sweets over the fire. It took them a bit to learn not to torch them, but they soon got the hang of it. Gregor showed them how to take the sweet off the stick, put it on a cookie, followed by some chocolate pieces and another cookie.
"Try this," Gregor said to Zeb, "I know you'll like it."
Zeb took a big bite, his green eyes widening. He ended up getting melted chocolate and sweet smeared around his mouth getting the others laughing. Ezra and Sabine got just as messy with their s'mores.
"Wow!" he said his mouth full, "This is great! Can I have another one?"
"Sure," Gregor answered, "But just one more. These things are very sweet and too many can give you a stomach ache."
Kanan and Hera nodded but couldn't surpress the smiles they were trying to hide. This was the first time in awhile that Ezra, Zeb and Sabine were happy and getting along so well.
After getting washed up from the sticky mess, everyone relaxed around the campfire the sky darkening with night approaching. Wolffe and Gregor brought out a big cushion from another crate. They motioned Zeb, Ezra and Sabine to sit down the three of them a bit cramped, but not minding it. Their seating area was directly in front of Kanan and Hera's stump chairs.
Rex stood up in front of the fire near where the crew sat. Wolffe and Gregor sat nearby. They knew what was coming.
"There's another camping tradition, called the campfire story," he said, "The best ones are scary ones. I've heard alot them through the years, but the best one is about the giant bird of the planet Keeona. This one's been around longer than I've been alive."
"A long...long time ago," Zeb said as he chuckled. Sabine elbowed him in the ribs.
"Owww!"
Rex snickered at his friend's remark. He straightened up and stood so the fire would cast shadows on his face and upper body.
"Okay, here goes...A long time ago on the planet Keeona, two scientists who were digging for fossils found a giant egg. They took it back to the lab for study and hoped it would hatch. It took nearly a month but it finally hatched. This thing was the biggest, ugliest bird they had ever seen! It had a huge beak and sharp talons that could shred anything!"
Rex looked over at the three "kids" responses and got what he had hoped for. Ezra and Sabine were listening with interest their eyes wide. Zeb, on the other hand, was sitting trembling his eyes wide too, with fear. He continued the story:
"One day the bird got loose from it's confinement area and killed the scientists. Tore them too bits! It escaped the lab and began terrorizing the nearby towns. This creature killed thousands! Every night the people could hear it's awful cries, Caw! Caw! Caw!"
Ezra and Sabine leaned forward enjoying this story. Zeb wasn't and his fear grew. His trembling got worse and he scooted closer to Sabine the girl pushing him away. He just moved closer again. Hera and Kanan saw how frightened the Lasat was getting and nearly stopped Rex, but knew Zeb would get over it. They saw Gregor move behind them and he shushed them.
Rex continued: "This bird wiped out nearly every town on Keeona, then it flew out into outer space."
"How could the bird survive in the vacuum of space?" Ezra asked loving this story.
"Where did it go next?" Sabine asked. She noticed that Zeb was sitting closer to her and he was trembling from head to toe. The Lasat's teeth were chattering so loud that it could be heard over the crackling of the campfire. She didn't notice that Gregor was sneaking up behind Zeb. The former trooper saw that the Lasat was pretty scared and that was the best part of the story, scaring someone. Hera frowned and shook her head but a hand on her shoulder from Kanan stopped her from saying anything.
"No one knows. It has never been seen again. Legend says on a night like this you can hear it's calls. Who knows? It might very well be on Kswah Prime this very night."
Zeb swallowed hard, his lower lip quivering. That's when Gregor jumped behind him calling; "Caw! Caw! Caw!"
Zeb let out a scream of terror and jumped up off the cushion. He put his hands over his face making sounds of distress. Zeb looked like he was ready to burst into tears. Everyone started laughing at the Lasat's expression and feeling bad for scaring him.
"I'm sorry, Zeb," Gregor said helping his friend to calm down. It would be awhile for the shaking to stop.
"Rex," Hera said her face in a frown, "That story was a bit much I think."
"It's just a story...I'm sorry, Zeb."
Ezra and Sabine yawned tired from the day's activities. Zeb still shivered and leaned against Hera's knees. She reached down and patted the Lasat's shoulder.
"Ezra, you, Sabine and Zeb need to get some rest. "I'll see you guys in the morning."
In the "kids" tent, Sabine and Ezra fell into a peaceful sleep. Zeb just huddled under the covers thinking he would hear the Keeona bird. He lay there for hours until he heard Hera unzip the tent entrance to check on them. She smiled seeing Ezra asleep on one side of Zeb, Sabine on the other. The Lasat was wide awake the sleeping bag pulled up to his nose. Hera motioned him to sit up and he shook his head. She knew the bird story had scared him pretty bad.
"Zeb," she whispered, "Why not come out and sit by the campfire with Kanan and I. We don't need to wake up Ezra and Sabine."
The Lasat nodded and let Hera put a blanket around his shoulders. He followed her out and sat on the cushion in front of Hera's seat. She reached down and patted his head.
"Rex, isn't gonna tell anymore stories, is he?"
Hera smiled down at him seeing that he was relaxing a bit.
"I promise, no more stories."
Zeb leaned back his head resting against Hera's knees. His eyes began to close with oncoming sleep. The three clone troopers smiled seeing their big friend leaning close to Hera like a child. She smiled back at them and heard a sound from the road by the campsite.
It was Pricilla the campground manager.
"Just checking to see how you folks are doing on your first camping trip."
"Just fine, ma'am," Rex answered.
"This was the best thing for us," Kanan added.
Pricilla saw in the reflection of the campfire light, Zeb fast asleep, wrapped in a blanket his head against her knees. Hera caught the look.
"This one's having a bit of a hard time. Too many s'mores and a scary story told to us. He's also been pretty sick with the flu the past week. More so than our other children. He's been running a fever for the past few days but is slowly getting better."
"If you need any help with your...son, let me know. We have a family nearby with a doctor camping next to you. I've raised two boys to adulthood and got them through alot of colds and flu. Just keep him warm, give him lots of fluids and let me know if his fever gets any higher."
"Thank you," Kanan said waking Zeb up to get him back to bed. "C'mon big guy."
After Zeb was tucked back in and given another dose of medicine, Hera and Kanan went out to vist with Pricilla some more.