Almost done! :D
Hunter is getting sleep deprived, lemme just say. XD Hopefully it's evident enough.
Later...
When next Hunter opened his eyes, he blinked in surprise to see he had fallen asleep in the pilots seat, now kriffingly stiff from the uncomfortable position he'd been in for...how long? Eyes bleary, he checked the time. Near midnight. Had he really fallen asleep for that long? Had he really slept through dinner?
If that was the case, why was the Havoc Marauder so darned quiet?
That made him bolt up, heightened senses on alert.
Oh kriff, he thought, Oh kriff. If the Rapture happened and I'm the only one left...
Behind him, a muted 'clang' along with a faintly hissed curse.
He heaved a relieved sigh, sinking back into his chair.
No, not yet. Not there just yet.
But still, he sat up again, once again checking the chrono. Wait, it was what time and someone was up? Oh no...what were they getting themselves into now?
Then again, if he had been asleep, the rest of them probably forgot...or just completely ignored going to sleep (this was, of course, his befuddled mind at midnight, completely forgetting that the others were sick anyway and would gladly sleep for as long as they wanted...)
Grunting, he pushed himself out of his chair and into the main cabin, fully ready to tell whoever it was that was awake to hit the sack before he himself could finally slump into a warm bed. He was so tired he didn't even notice who it was and what he were doing...
Next morning...
Cough, cough-cough.
Letting out a pitiful moan, Hunter buried his head deeper under the covers.
Nooooo he did not want to be dealing with this, not again. What time was it? He didn't know, other then it was too early for this.
Cough, choke-cough.
Errrg, great.
Rolling over, once again, he was surprised (or would that be 'not'?) at the fact that it was Crosshair who was currently coughing up the storm over there.
Here we go, he thought, part two.
Residing himself to his fate, he once again, rolled out of bed.
''CH,'' he growled, ''now, you can tell me you're sick and I'll leave you alone. You tell me you're dying and we get off this rock and go back to the Negotiator no matter what the commander says.''
Wincing to himself, Crosshair cracked an eye open in the dim light, ''Any way to reverse those responses where I say I'm sick and we leave this place by any chance?''
''No.''
''Fine.'' rolling over on his side, he grumbled, ''I'll live.''
''Good.'' Hunter nodded once, already turning on his heel. ''That's all I needed to know.''
Walking back over to his bed, he paused, thinking about how he was basically now trapped in the barracks with three men who were sick...then grabbed the blankets and pillow and headed out into the main cabin. Muttering to himself a little, he made his sleeping roll and lay down, doing what he could to get comfortable given the hard duri-steel floor. Moments later, Snowflake woddled in and lay next to him, curling up on his lap.
Well, there was that at least.
That...but not much else. The ground was hard, the ship was getting cold (Tech had turned the temperature down again, kriff it), and his position was awkward because he couldn't find a good way to be elevated without sleeping standing up. And that wasn't all.
Apparently being hungry was enough to get the others out of bed before Hunter had managed to settle some-what.
Fifteen minutes later, Wrecker walked in (blanket thrown over his head and clutched at the throat like how some kids would play 'granny') - completely oblivious to Hunter there on the floor (probably due to the fact that his eyes were half-closed) - and headed straight for the kitchen area.
...Three minutes later, Tech walked in (like Wrecker, eyes basically close; yet unlike Wrecker, his blanket was wrapped around his shoulders more like a cape) and also headed for the kitchen area from which Wrecker had yet to re-emerge.
Closing the one eye he had cracked open to watch the procession, Hunter slithered under his covers - being careful not to accidentally scrunch Snowflake's wings with his arms from where she slept curled up next to his chest - and began counting softly.
After all, there was one more.
''One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine...''
''Erg?'' Snowflake shifted, golden eyes blinking open tiredly before she stretched, yawning.
Hunter just patted her head and told her to go back to sleep. What time was it? He checked his chrono, frowning at the time. No. It couldn't be.
The time said noon!
Rolling over sharply (once again, carefully as not to crush the baby dragon), he checked the Marauder's main chrono...only it said seven-fifty-two P.M.! But before he even had a chance to check the cockpit, there was a thunderous clatter...followed by hysterical cackling...It sounded like Tech.
What in the name of...?
He darted towards where the others had gone, followed by Crosshair who had sprung from the barracks, the dragonet staying where she was (adorably burying her head under the blanket Hunter left).
The sight Crosshair and Hunter found was a mess. And smack-dap in the center of it all were Tech and Wrecker. One look was all it took to find out what had caused the haywire reaction. The menace of vacation age: a half-eaten cookie lay almost crushed on the ground near Tech...and if there was one, there were probably others...before the Tech and Wrecker had shown up, that is.
They were sick, he was tired, they had had a cookie that made them hyper, he was tired and had no energy what-so ever to deal with this, they should have waited until morning, what time was it, (was it previously mentioned that Hunter was indeed tired?)...
That's it. It was the last straw.
''EERRRGHH, I SWEAR I AM BANNING THOSE THINGS!''
Picking up Snowflake (who was finally curious enough to leave her bed but tired enough to not join the other two) from off the ground when she came in, Crosshair looked at Hunter, ''Don't swear.'' he said, covering her ears, ''we have innocent lives here, don't you see? Innocent lives!''
Hunter blinked at him.
''Since when did you care?''
I will not entertain the thought too much at the fact that Crosshair momentarily paused to consider that before nodding and muttering, ''Good point,'' under his breath.
''Yeah,'' Hunter agreed, flinching at the noise Wrecker and Tech were making as they frantically searched for something...though what he couldn't tell (hoping that it wasn't anything explosive...he was pretty sure he had locked the ammo away too..) ''You care about as much as you have a conscious.''
''Which I don't? Just like I don't have a heart?''
Was he happy about that? Hunter didn't care. His back-up power for his back-up power for his brain had completely shut down by now and there was literally nothing to keep him from saying exactly what he was thinking. So he made it sound as if he'd heard it wrong and that CH actually wanted one.
''AAAAAwwwwww, Crossy wanna heart?'' he cooed mockingly. Then thought about it. ''Eh, you can have mine; when I got it, some weird things had to happen. Now, I'm too nice and I need to fix that.''
Turning to Wrecker and Tech, he growled, ''And it starts now...Although,''
Hunter turned back to the sniper, bright and seemingly chipper as ever.
''What do you think?'' he asked, jerking his head in indication to the others. ''What are you thinking about this whole 'cookie menace'?''
Crosshair watched him for a moment, then shrugged, almost amused despite the fact that that was the moment Tech chose to let out another evil cackle, making Snowflake jump.
''Somebody needs some milk.''
''MMMhhhHmmmm. Right. Okay.''
For the last time, he turned to the others and glared.
''Okay, now I stop being the nice guy...Wrecker, Tech, on your feet!'' he bellowed.
They both stopped, heads jerking around to stare at him...then fell on the ground, laughing...It didn't help when Hunter (against his usual, logical self - which at the moment was not present) decided to try to force them to do what he said...by going over and joining them.
Through the splitting headache, Crosshair had a feeling it wouldn't work. It didn't. So of course, as with nearly everything, he would have to be the one to settle things down by the only way he knew how.
Sticking two fingers in his mouth, he whistled, the sharp sound cracking in the tiny room.
That got their attention.
He jerked a thumb towards the door.
''If you wanna play, take it outside.''
There was quiet shuffling noise as Wrecker and Tech humbly bowed their heads and made their way quietly out the door.
Mouth hanging open, Hunter shook himself, nodding a thanks to the sniper before lifting his chin and flanking the others to make sure they went back outside. They were cold and they didn't want to, but it was either that or cross a sniper with a temper (Hunter was only so effective by now)...But, of course, he couldn't see that so he thought it was naturally attributed to him that the two rowdy ones were doing as they were told (again: befuddled mind that is now running dead; you must keep that in mind).
Crossing his arms over his chest with a self-satisfied smirk, he watched at Tech and Wrecker grouchily sat in the snow. Crosshair stood behind Hunter in the cabin.
''That was a way to do it.'' Hunter grinned.
''Yes, I believe so,'' he nodded before promptly booting Hunter off the steps and closing the hatch.
Crosshair rolled his eyes before glancing back down at Snowflake. ''They're nuts. You want to go back to sleep?"'
''Bah.'' she cooed.
''Okay, come on. Let's go before they find out that I didn't lock the door.''
Unfortunately and as usual, it didn't take long (although, luckily for sniper and dragonet, they weren't interested in them as Tech had an idea, Wrecker was following him, and Hunter was just trying to use the same magic he had earlier to get them outside). Except, as swell as the idea was for Cross and Snowflake - as that meant that they wouldn't be bothered for at least another two minutes - it wasn't so for Hunter.
Tech had - despite the momentary madness - thought to check the cam recorders for any new evidence against Wrecker...
The part with Cody telling Snowflake (Wrecker commenting loudly about how he called her Rakasha) 'attacking' Hunter was certainly a point of interest.
Blushing, Hunter ducked his head. He'd forgotten about that part...though he protested when Tech observed that he hadn't tried that yet.
He was done, he was tired, he had a wicked headache that just would not stop...And the constant noise was not helping in any way, shape, or form imaginable. Right now, all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep.
So he did.
If Crosshair could have been interviewed right then, annoyance wouldn't have even begun to cover the word. When Hunter had come in to sleep, that had meant that he expected him to leave...if only to keep an eye on the other two, of course.
Why was he always stuck with babysitting?
Sighing to himself, he made his way to the main cabin where Wrecker and Tech were fighting over who had really one on the VR game. How they could stand to look at a screen while they were sick, he would never know...Then again, so was he.
His next sneeze clearly testified since he could feel it deeper in his chest and blocked.
Great.
Also great was how his sneeze attracted the unwanted attention of certain deranged persons...
Beeep, beeep, beeeep, beeeep, beeep...
Hunter's eye slowly rolled open...blinked...then closed.
Beeeep, beeeep, beeeep, beeeep, beeeep...
Goooooo awaaaaaaay...
Beeep, beeep, beeep, beeep...
Who had set the alarm?
Beep, beep, beeep, beeep, beeep, beeep, beeep...
SmASh!
...Silence.
Hunter felt rather saw the timer-chrono being crushed into oblivion.
Pitter-patter-pitter-patter-pitter-patter...
''Urgh?''
A tiny tongue licked his cheek.
''Yeah,'' he mumbled, '' 'm 'wake...''
He heard her jabbering unintelligibly at him for only a moment before something jabbed him hard in the side.
''Hey! I was listening!''
Snowflake gave him the most dubious look imaginable for a baby dragon; it was obvious she wasn't convinced. He ignored that and yawned.
''What's going on?''
She screed, jolting him from his bed.
''Okay, okay, okay, I'll follow you, I'll follow you. Sheesh!''
He had just followed her towards the door when Crosshair met him on the way in.
''Wuss going on?'' he yawned.
Crosshair just shook his head, eyes practically closed as he walked by, patting Hunter on the shoulder as he crossed him.
''You don' neet to know. Jus' go back ta bed.''
''Wha' a-*yawn*-bout the others?''
''They won't be causing any trouble.''
With that and nothing more, the sniper hauled himself into his bunk, turned over on his side, and was fast asleep before any more could be said. As for Wrecker and Tech, Hunter decided to take Crosshair at his word. If a way had been found to keep those two quiet for the moment, he wouldn't question it.
One hour later...
''HUNTEEEEERRRR!''
Jerking at his name, the sergeant clambered to the main cabin...and paused, yawning.
While he gazed at the sight in front of him, he suddenly remembered Crosshair's words from earlier: 'they won't cause any trouble'...
That was certainly a way of putting it. Especially since they couldn't go anyway even if they'd wanted to; Being duck-taped to the wall had the tendency to put stuff like that on hold. Almost amused, Hunter ambled over to them, peering them both up and down from where they were taped.
''Should I ask how you managed to get yourself into this?'' he asked.
''It was Crosshair!''
''Right,'' he sighed, ''Of course, it was Crosshair. But aside from the obvious, how did he manage to rope - er, tape you into this?''
Tech and Wrecker glanced at each other sheepishly.
''We..uh...actually don't remember.''
''Yes,'' Tech added, wincing, ''We just woke up like this. Being taped to him and his constant chatter are not helping for my headache, however.''
''And my eyes hurt.''
Hunter sighed; he was beginning to feel it himself. The scratchy throat, blocked nose, heavy chest, burning sensation in the eyes, general lethargy. He hadn't coughed...yet. But he knew it wouldn't take long. With how tired he was, it wasn't any surprise that he had caught it...(granted, he had yet to admit that to himself).
''Well,'' he drawled, considering, ''If I let you down, will you go to bed?''
''Yes.'' was all they mumbled, eyes flickering closed.
''NooooOOOoooooo.''
Huffing, Hunter glanced over his shoulder to see Crosshair squinting at them, a scowl on his face.
''Dooooon't let them down.'
''You tied us up!''
''You wouldn't stop fighting.''
''What did you do to us?!'' Tech demanded.
''Only grabbed a tranquilizing cherry bomb. You were starting to go down anyway.''
''Then do you mind telling us why you taped us to the wall?''
''Collateral damage was in mind when I tranqued you.''
Hunter was beginning to move to cut the two down, but had to back off with the knife when Wrecker started wiggling furiously.
''Couldn't you have just given us something instead of making us collapse? My head hurts because of it.''
''And my head hurts anyway and this isn't helping,'' he shot back, turning on his heel and departing back into the crews quarters. ''Besides,'' he called, ''The food labels were switched so I couldn't tell what was what without it taking too long.''
Slicing the tape, Hunter took a step back and glanced in the kitchen area. The food labels had been switched? What the- well, it made sense now why Wrecker and Tech had gotten hyper. If the labels had been switched then they could have been reaching for something else when they grabbed the cookie box instead...But of course, that left a question...the same one they had been asking since they'd gotten there: who did it?
When they all woke up again - now miserable as they could be with fevers, chills, and blocked breathing - no one knew what time it was. The chronos were all different times and no one was willing to step into the cockpit because of how bright it was (apparently, being sick turned them all into light-hating orcs) and if that was the case then stepping outside to checks the system's sun's position was completely out of the question. Under normal conditions, they would have simply taken into account the fact that this planet had a slightly shorter rotation then most and then merely calculated how long they had before dark and therefor determining what time is was...But these were not exactly normal circumstances.
Thus, they didn't know exactly how many meals they had actually skipped...or which one they were supposed to be having. Differences in taste buds were conflicting on multiple levels and remembering how the food labels had been switched hadn't helped any.
Finally, the deciding factor of what they were going to have came down to one simple and logical answer: Snowflake had been whimpering (part of the reason why they'd woken up) and was now nudging her head towards a handful of bags of nurf jerky and trail mix.
While usually soup or broth was the preferred meal of choice...well, again: not exactly normal circumstances so no one even noticed. As a matter of fact, there hadn't even been much of a conversation until Wrecker had commented that Tech was still jumpy around Snowflake when she shoved her nose near his hand when he reached to grab something.
''I'm not jumpy around her,'' Tech retorted, ''she just surprised me.''
''And you don't want to be lunch.'' CH added, smirking a little.
''And that reminds me,'' Hunter brightened (almost like a maniac, Tech noted), turning to Snowflake before asking, ''Boiled, roasted, or fried?''
''What?'' Tech raised an eyebrow.
''Not what, who.''
''Who?''
''You.''
Tech blinked once...twice...thrice...''I beg your pardon?''
''Oh, no need to beg, I'm generally a very generous person.''
''Hunter, what has happened to you?''
''Insanity...Oh no, don't give me that look, I didn't mean me...But, I have been dealing with it for the past week or so so I know a thing or two about what it looks like.''
Behind them, someone chuckled.
''Oh that's rich. Coming from someone like you, that's very amusing.''
Hunter's eyes narrowed before he turned, flicking on the visual comm in the main cabin. It hurt to look at the blue holo of the two-foot smirking Commander Cody, but to glare at him was worth it enough to bare...especially since he seemed to have hacked into the system so he could get a hold of the cam-recorders on live feed.
''You know, commander, you've been having a lot of conveniently placed appearances. Don't you have responsibilities that need you at the moment? Where did you get all the time in the world all of a sudden?''
''My generals are dead and I'm retired.'' he answered simply, almost merely commenting.
''WHAT!?''
''Now, now, let's not be hasty,'' Cody raised his hands pacifyingly. ''As I said when I first told you you were grounded there: I expect you to behave; that includes not asking weird questions...cause then you get weird answers.''
''Then you're not-and they're not-'' Hunter raised an eyebrow and leaned forward a little to indicate the broken question...
''No, they and I are not.''
''Okay, just checking...So, uh...how much of the day have you been watching?''
Cody cracked a smile.
''All of it...and enjoying. Every. Second. Of it.''
Hunter should have planned some sort of revenge for the commander when he first sent them there; The list of reasons why he should was growing steadily longer. Only problem now was that he was too embarrassed to think straight. Cody was just standing there in the holo, smirking at them while he and the others couldn't really say anything except the excuse that they were sick and couldn't think properly.
At that, the commander simply nodded.
''Yeah, that's right. You guys have been sick, gotten on sugar highs, are now paying for it in misery, and yet here I am laughing with the sending noise canceled so you can't hear me...should I be the one to tell you it's almost time for you to go to bed too? Give you a bed time like back when you were Junior cadets?''
''NO!''
''Okay, well then, I suggest- ''
''But where are you?'' Hunter - exasperated - began, ''The timing is all-''
''Ababababah, don't worry about the timing. Whoever caused all the chronos to be off in their time will put them back to normal by tomorrow. Now, you guys are tired-''
''But- !''
''Go to bed and I will comm you tomorrow.''
As before, the comm fizzled and died...and - as was typical with the commander - he left with more questions then answers. But, they were all too tired to argue with someone who wasn't there so they - for the most part - did as they were told...
But that didn't stop them from wondering who it was that Cody had said would reset the chronos. How had he known that the chronos had been off? Did that mean that he knew who had been causing all the crazy happenings that had made their 'vacation' so eventful? Did he know? Was he the one who had told the person to do it or...or was he the one who was doing them?
He hadn't answered Hunter's question of where was he...and his timing was awfully convenient...
No, no it couldn't be. It was one of them, they were sure of it...only...Who?
It was near pitch-black. The Marauder was humming slightly, red and yellow lights twinkling faintly in the hallway. Snow and wind were howling outside. Hunter wasn't sure why, but he was awake. Something was weird...really weird. He couldn't get Cody's voice out of his head.
'Who ever caused the chronos to be off on their time will put them back to normal by tomorrow...'
For some reason, he had the gut-feeling it wasn't Cody so his earlier suspicion was immediately ruled out. Someone on the outside? No, too many security measures for that. That left it as an inside job. It was one of them...It had to be...But at Cody's command? During night? Who else stayed up late, was childish enough to pull pranks (though he usually ignored them in favor of adult things), and good with technology..?
CrASH!
Jolting from their bunks, everyone stared at each other. Hunter hadn't been the only one who had been thinking about it then. There was only one person missing...and this was their chance to catch him. They now knew who it was and they couldn't believe it...but then again, things had been happening that needed explaining...this was the only thing that made sense!
Racing into the main cabin, Hunter flicked on the lights...and they all stopped...gaping at the culprit who had made their trip so eventful...
Dundundunuuuuuuuuuuuuuh (you didn't think I'd spoil it at the end, now did you? Come on, what's the fun in that?) Dare I ask who you all think it is? ;J
The blanket thrown over Wrecker's head, was that a reference to Bluey? Yeeeeees, it was XD
Also: for the poll, it was a tie. So, I do process of elimination. The top two are going to be re-polled with another option...and this time, you can only pick one.
XD So, thanks for reading, hope to see you back again for the final chapter of Grounded: The Revelation! :D