Chapter 10

Hunter blinked groggily, shivering slightly. His soldier instincts told him it was time to get up, to throw off the blanket and face the cold air around him head on and just wake up, but he was so comfortable! The sound of shifting wood caught his attention as he drifted in and out of sleep, the slight breeze of someone walking quickly by, and… what was that? Hunter took a deep breath through his nose, trying to place exactly what that smell was. That absolutely wonderful smell! It pulled him from his half-conscious state, and he opened his eyes, looking around slowly before sitting upright.

Fresh wood was in the fireplace, starting to burn steadily as small flames flickered around the base, and his brothers were all still sound asleep. At some point during the night, Crosshair had arranged his blanket underneath of him as a sort of makeshift mattress, but now, he was shivering slightly from the cold. Hunter rubbed his eyes sleepily as Anaria came into view. She pulled the extra blanket off of the stairs where she had placed it the previous night, walked over, and draped it over Crosshair's trembling figure. For a moment, the sniper's eyelids flickered, and Hunter thought he was going to wake up. But he didn't, and Anaria, who didn't seem to notice that Hunter was awake, tip-toed carefully away from Crosshair as the clone continued to sleep.

She went over to the kitchen and started pouring a hot drink into a large mug. Hunter suddenly recognized the smell, he didn't know why he hadn't earlier! Caf! He and his brothers had rarely gotten any on Kamino, as it was usually reserved for the higher ups, and even when they had managed to sneak some, it never smelled this good.

Hunter slowly rose from the couch, shivering slightly as he made his way over to the kitchen table, where Anaria had placed the mug. She smiled when she caught sight of him, holding up the pot of caf in her hand. "Good morning. You want some?"

Hunter nodded sleepily, and Anaria handed him a cup, which he took carefully before sitting down. He stirred in a bit of cream and sugar when Anaria offered it, and carefully, he took a sip, visibly relaxing, and smiling contentedly as he lowered the mug.

"Hazelnut caf," Anaria said quietly, taking a seat across the table from him. She wore an oversized cardigan which was wrapped tightly around her, and her hair was sticking out oddly in several directions- it was the worst case of bed-head Hunter had ever seen. Anaria sighed, taking another sip of caf as she looked around the room. The morning light was just becoming visible outside; a few rays of pink light peaked through the trees behind the house.

Hunter glanced at the clock and realized with surprise that it was only 4:30. "Why are you up this early?"

A brief smile flashed across Anaria's lips and was gone. "I could ask you the same thing."

"It was a bit chilly, and I heard the shuffling of feet and a log being placed on the fire."

"Ah. So, I woke you up?"

"For the most part."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. We should all probably be up, honestly. We still have some preparations to take care of before we head out today." Hunter looked around at his brothers, who were still in the livingroom. Wrecker rolled over, muttering in his sleep, while Tech snored softly. In harsh contrast to his fellows, Crosshair lay, quiet and unmoving, seemingly lifeless. Had he not grown up with Crosshair and known each of his brothers' sleeping habits, Hunter would have thought him dead.

As it was, Anaria too, was looking at the other clones, concern upon her face. "Is Crosshair good? He looks…"

"Like a corpse? Yeah, that's just how he is, no need to worry."

Anaria looked uncertainly from Hunter to Crosshair. "If you say so…"

Hunter chuckled. "How about you?"

Anaria made a confused face. "Huh? Oh! Right, up so early… Yeah, I just couldn't sleep."

She gave him a half-hearted grin, which he raised an eyebrow to in response. "Mhm."

They sat together in companionable silence for a time, sipping caf, watching the fire crackle.

Anaria cleared her throat, adjusting her position on the chair. "So, I know enough about clones to know that that's what you all are. And I hope you don't mind my asking this, but it's been bugging me for a while… If you're all clones… Why is it you all look so different from each other?"

Hunter took a slow sip of caf. "We don't look that different."

"True. You look like you're all brothers. But aren't most clones, you know… more clone-y?"

Hunter blinked. "'Clone-y?'"

Anaria waved her hand. "Yes, I know, that's not a word, but, you know what I mean."

Hunter folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. "Yes, I do. We're different from others. We're an elite, genetically enhanced unit: Clone Force 99."

"That's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that's what we thought. So we go by 'The Bad Batch'."

Anaria grinned. "Who came up with the name?"

"I actually don't remember. It was kinda thrown around for a while, and then, it just stuck."

"Well, I don't know if the implication is accurate…"

Hunter shrugged. "Everyone around us seems to think it is."

"Sorry… I take it you don't really get along with your fellow clones then?"

Hunter shook his head. "Not particularly, no. There's a couple that are tolerable, but for the most part, they don't tend to take kindly to deviants."

"Well, screw them. They don't know what they're missing!" Anaria grinned. "You guys seem pretty awesome to me."

Hunter chuckled. "Thanks."

"Of course. By the way, totally off topic, I know, but I almost forgot. Wrecker said Nikau got into some trouble yesterday on the mission?"

Hunter shifted in his chair, blowing out his cheeks. "Yeah, something like that. We were finishing up with our scouting and were about to head back, when one of Vandrick's men, the one that was here yesterday, showed up."

"Daneel?"

"Yeah, that's the one. He came out onto the landing platform, probably from the medical bay, we figured… Crosshair did shoot his ear off. Anyway, he came out, and Nikau lost it. We had to stop him from charging forward, and then as soon as we did, he took one of Tech's blasters from his holster."

Anaria's eyes went wide, her brows raised in shock. "He what?!"

"He wanted to shoot the guy, but we managed to talk him down. Wrecker spoke to him the whole way back, bringing up the rear. I didn't hear much of the conversation though."

Anaria cocked her head. "But you heard some…"

Hunter nodded. "Yeah, heightened senses is my thing. I was trying to give them some privacy, but it's kinda hard when we're all in the same group. From the sound of things, Nikau was talking to Wrecker about how Daneel had killed his mother, how he wanted revenge, basically a repeat of what you'd already told us."

Anaria sighed, setting her mug on the table. "That doesn't surprise me. The thought has practically consumed his life. It's hard for him, knowing the man who murdered his only family is just five clicks away, and he can't do anything."

Hunter nodded slowly. "I'd be upset if I was in his shoes as well. I don't know everything he said, but Wrecker apparently talked him out of the idea. Maybe some part of Nikau still wants that revenge. Maybe he's hiding it from everyone and plans on striking when we least expect it. You'd have to ask Wrecker." Hunter smiled softly, looking at the larger clone, who was curled into a surprisingly small ball on the floor, blanket wrapped tightly around him. "To others, Wrecker is known as more of the brute of the bunch, which can be true. He takes extreme joy in killing things and blowing stuff up. But he's also one of the softest, gentlest people you'll ever meet. He's tactless most of the time, but he knows people better than they give him credit for."

Anaria looked from Wrecker back to Hunter, smiling. "I can see why you're the leader. You know your brothers well."

Hunter shrugged. "I like to think so."

Anaria stood up from her chair, lifting her mug to her lips. "I'll have to thank Wrecker later. He did in one day what I haven't been able to do in years."

"Like I said: he's got a way with people."

Anaria nodded, smiling slightly, and Hunter made an inquiring motion with his head. "Going somewhere?"

"Hmm? Oh, um… no… I don't know why I even stood up…" She chuckled softly, looking into her mug. "Guess I'm not completely awake yet…"

"You should probably finish that caf then." He took a sip from his own mug, looking over at his brothers again. He was very very sorely tempted to try and get a bit more sleep… the caf warmed him from the inside, expelling any chills he may have had, and the fireplace crackled as the newly placed logs were slowly consumed by the flames, filling the house with a cozy, relaxing smell, and a feeling of comfort.

But he knew that if he did in fact fall back asleep, getting up would be that much harder, so instead he stood, taking his cup of caf and walked quietly over to the front door. Anaria, who had downed the rest of her drink and refilled the mug, followed him, and the two slipped outside as quickly as possible in order to avoid letting too much of the chilly morning air in.

Rays of warm sunlight peaked around the mountain, chasing away the stars that remained in the eastern sky. It was by no means bright out, but it certainly wasn't as dark as it had been when Hunter first awoke. It was a strange sight: Off to his right, the morning sky was strewn with blues and pinks, the soft clouds reflecting the dawn's light, while to his left, the night sky remained, it's dark blue tones slowly fading into a lighter hue. The air was crisp and clean, just warm enough that he wouldn't consider it cold, but cool enough to help him shake off the last remnants of drowsiness he had. It made him appreciate the cup of hot caf in his hands all the more and he took another sip.

Maybe it was because he hadn't had the opportunity to stop and enjoy the beauty of the few planets he had been to (what with a war raging all around him,) or maybe it was because he had spent most of his life surrounded by the sound of pouring rain and dreary grey skies on Kamino, but Timora was by far one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen. He kind of wished he could stay longer, but, he knew, duty called, and he was both grateful for it, and loathed it. The adventurous missions with his brothers were something he always looked forward to; it gave him purpose. But at the same time, this form of stability, the absolute normalness of the last few days (minus the pirates,) which he knew he'd never truly have, was something he craved.

He wondered what it would be like to live like a 'normal' person. He often wondered, in fact, what it would be like to be a normal clone. He assumed it was probably boring in most regards, but surely, it came with a decent number of perks. After all, he and his brothers had been shunned by others their whole lives for being different. It stood to reason then, that if different was so bad, then there must be something wonderful that came with being normal. Or, he thought, people were just single-minded and horrid, which was likely the more probable of the two.

He shook himself, taking a large gulp from his mug. Getting lost in his thoughts was something he had been doing more and more lately. Some would probably have called it overthinking. He wasn't sure if it was good that he considered so many things, the better to understand the people and the world around him, or if it was a bad habit which would one day get him into trouble. He figured it was probably the latter but brushed off the idea by reassuring himself that looking at things from various angles was something a good leader should always do, and he concluded that, while he should probably stop getting lost in his thoughts so often, it didn't hurt to stop and ponder the little things every once in a while.

Anaria chuckled beside him, and he blinked, looking at her in confusion. "What?"

"You're making weird faces. I can't tell if you're thinking really hard about something or extremely pissed."

"Oh." Hunter felt a twinge of annoyance and embarrassment. So much for the fresh air waking him up- he hadn't even noticed she had been watching him. He put his mug down on the porch railing. "Just thinking." He really needed to pull himself together- first wanting to sleep in and now being inattentive to his surroundings! This was ridiculous! How had he become so lackadaisical?! He flexed his shoulders, folding his arms.

Anaria chuckled again. "You good? First you're making faces and now you look as though you're trying to pull yourself out of a stupor."

"Well… I am. I feel sluggish for some reason- like I'm not as alert as usual."

"Really?" Anaria took a deep breath, shivering slightly and wrapping her hands tightly around her mug. "I wouldn't exactly call it sluggish, more like comfortable. I bet it's because you're used to fast-paced missions and action all the time and going from that to waiting and having the opportunity to relax is making you restless."

Hunter shrugged, considering. It certainly seemed like a plausible explanation. He snatched up his mug and downed the rest of his caf, taking one last look at the horizon. He was about to go inside when a wild motion caught his eye and he turned just in time to receive a bucket of freezing cold water in the face. He blinked, mouth agape, trying to process what just happened, and Anaria's light laugh rang out.

He looked down at the empty container in her hands and then up at her face, as she smiled mischievously but hesitantly, her eyes shimmering with merriment as she leaned nonchalantly on the porch railing "Are you awake yet?"

Hunter stared, not sure how to respond. "Y-yes. I'm not sure how I couldn't be after that. Where did you-?"

"Rainwater from the other night- I usually use it to water plants. Convenient, honestly- my bucket is empty, so the water won't grow stagnant and awful, and you're wide awake! I'd say that's a win-win."

Hunter wrung out his shirt, wiped his soaked hair from his face, and smirked down at her. "I'm gonna get you back for that."

She grinned. "No, I don't think you will." She snatched up her mug, threw the bucket aside and went into the house, grabbing a towel from the bathroom and chucking it at Hunter's face as he chased after her.

"Just chuck your wet clothes in the bin and I'll handle them later."

Hunter ran the towel over his face and head, handing his mug to Anaria, who took it and quickly refilled it. He hadn't intended to have another cup, but he wasn't about to complain.

Anaria grinned as she placed it down on the table. "Eesh, that really mussed up your hair, huh?"

Hunter smirked. "Well, at least it doesn't look like yours."

Anaria made an offended face, lifting a hand to her awful bedhead. "Hey! It's not that bad!"

"Have you looked in a mirror?"

She opened her mouth and then paused, quickly heading to the bathroom. She made a small noise of horror and quickly returned, her lips pursed, eyes downcast in embarrassment. "You're right- it's terrifying."

Hunter laughed, leaning against the table and taking a sip from his mug. "Yup."

Tech stirred on the couch, blinking blearily. He looked slowly around the room, his eyes finally landing on Anaria, who was silhouetted in the livingroom window's light. His eyes widened and he started, knocking a pillow off the couch, which landed on Wrecker's head. He woke up with a jump, let out a shout, and Crosshair shot upright, one hand clenched into a fist as he looked around in confusion.

He spotted Anaria and made a horrified and disgusted expression. "What in the name of- What womp-rat crawled onto your head and died?"

Anaria's jaw dropped and Hunter burst out laughing. Tech tried to compose himself, Wrecker stared about in confusion, and Crosshair continued to make a face.

"It's not- I didn't- I just woke up!" Anaria stomped her foot, trying, but failing to glare poisonously at the clones, while Hunter continued to laugh.

"Alright, all of you get up- there's caf on the table and we've got a big day ahead of us!" Hunter indicated the pot, and Anaria marched up the stairs, attempting to look somewhat dignified in her oversized sweater and baggy pajama pants, her hair still sticking out furiously at ridiculous angles. Hunter watched her leave as his brothers rose, and could have sworn he heard a giggle come from upstairs as Crosshair's confused voice shot across the room at him: "Wha- Why is your shirt soaking wet? You're dripping all over the place! Wha- Hunter!"

Anaria Doodle Below!

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