{A/N: Sorry for the late upload}
(3rd Pov)
Crickets chirped and insects buzzed through the humid night air as darkness settled over Wake Island.
Soft footsteps crept through dark shrubbery, each one carefully placed to avoid detection. A light breeze rustled the underbrush, masking movements as a pair of children no older than seven scouted in the dense forest.
The dual moons of Reach cast dull glows onto the dank jungle. The pair kept to the shadows, steering clear of the light from above, remaining vigilant of their surroundings at all times
As they crouched down, disabling a small trip mine, the shorter of the two grew bored and tried to spark a conversation
"So…you're from Harvest, right?" Sheila asked over her shoulder as she began working on a foam trip mine.
"Yes," Cal responded from below a tree a couple of paces away.
"That's cool," Sheila said, nodding to herself, "What's it like? I'm from Algolis, and it is really boring, filled with a bunch of nerds," she joked, trying to get a reaction.
"A lot of corn…and wheat," she said flatly, like she tried to think of something else but came up with nothing.
'Damn, you are really making this difficult, Cal,' Sheila sighed, but remained determined to make some type of conversation, "Daisy's from Sargasso, I'm from Algolis, you're from Harvest, Benjamin's from Biko…" she paused as a realization struck in her mind, "Where's David from?" she asked
"I don't know," Cal responded slowly, "He's never said. I don't think he has ever said anything about life before training," Sheila frowned as she tried to remember a time David had mentioned his past.
"Maybe I should ask him?" Sheila suggested innocently but secretly, 'Maybe he's a plant in the program? Or maybe the doctor is his mom! She does seem to have private chats with him quite often. He could even be a TOP SECRET government experiment! Sheila smelled something that could break up the monotony, and she wouldn't let it go.
Cal shook her head, "I would be careful, perhaps he doesn't talk about it for a reason," she said unknowingly of Sheila's deeper thoughts.
"Aw, lighten up, Cal, he already knows about how we lived before the Spartan program. It's only fair that we get to know what he did before it."
Cal stayed silent for a moment, but couldn't help feeling a bit intrigued about her leader's past.
It was no secret that, individually, he was one of the most capable cadets in the entire program. Physically, he was in better shape than nearly every other member, maybe not as strong as Kurt or Samuel, nor as fast as Kelly, but he was in the top three in every test. That was not to mention his near-supernatural endurance; he by far outlasted everyone in any test of toughness or longevity. Similarly, in the classroom and simulations, he was again at the top of the class as the top three shuffled weekly with each test.
'What kind of life did he have for him to be so good at everything in training?' Cal asked herself.
Cal adjusted the grip on her training rifle and scanned the dark jungle beyond the glimmer of moonlight.
"Let's keep moving," she said quietly, though her voice held a tinge of thoughtfulness now.
Sheila didn't argue. She brushed the last bits of foam residue from her gloves and fell in behind her teammate, her mind still spinning with questions.
Somewhere ahead, the darkness stirred with distant sounds—leaves brushing, a branch snapping, or maybe just the wind.
…
..
.
Not far from the pair, scouting the rest of their team sat around a small campfire, having finished setting up their resting ground for the night.
The fire among them cracked and popped with tongues of glowing hot gases waving atop its wooden fuel like the branches of the trees surrounding them. David could feel the heat radiating from the miniature inferno as well as the smell of smoke. While the subordinates to his left and right were thinking of one thing, the only thing David had on his mind was whether or not the smell of smoke would give them away while in the jungle.
His mind was truly restless.
"What are you thinking about over there?"
"Hmm?" David shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts, turning to Daisy.
"Ah, it's nothing. Don't worry about it," he said, quickly grabbing another log to toss into the fire.
The moment the log struck the campfire, the flame shrank for an instant as the exhausted wood crumbled to dust before igniting on the new log. And so another bout of silence fell among the group.
David paused before remembering something he had yet to say, "Well done on getting your hands on so much stuff, Daisy. Without you, we'd be struggling," he spoke earnestly.
"Don't mention it," Daisy said, her eyes not leaving the light of the fire in front of her.
'Doesn't seem like she wants to talk,' David thought with a reluctant expression on his face. Turning his attention in the other direction, he glanced over at Benjamin's arm, "How's the bandage holding up?" he asked, looking at the now dark purple forearm that Benjamin couldn't keep from shaking.
"I-it's fine," the boy said, fooling no one.
David sighed, "Just make sure you're applying that ointment like you are supposed to," he said before smirking, "Can't have our trap detective out of commission now, can we?" he asked jokingly.
Benjamin, realizing he wasn't being pitied, widened his eyes ever so slightly before a smile bloomed on his face, "You can count on me, Captain," he said, saluting David. The fire caught his eyes for a brief moment, and his smile faded slightly.
"You know, nights like this remind me of… before this," Benjamin suddenly spoke, gesturing to the surroundings.
David shifted. The moment Benjamin spoke about his past, his fingers found work. Checking clasps, adjusting magazines, tightening his belt; anything to keep his hands busy and his mind off the things he didn't want to remember.
Meanwhile, across the fire from Benjamin Daisy's hand tightened around something. A small reflection of the object bounced and caught David's eye, making sure it did not go unnoticed by the boy.
"Me and my sister always liked laying in the fields on my parents farm and just watching the stars," he said with a nostalgic smile, "To be honest I always imagined myself to be captaining some type of ship one day. Life on the farm was… too boring, and my sister Ann would always make me promise that she could be my co-captain," he said his gaze getting distant.
"Do you guys have a brother or sister?" Benjamin decided to ask, trying to find common ground.
"No, I don't. Or at least I didn't…" crickets chimed in to fill the gap of sound as Daisy's voice trailed off. Her hand tightened around the small thing in her hand.
Beside them, David jabbed his thumb onto a double-stacked magazine of low-caliber paint rounds. The ticking of the spring in the plastic case blended into the pops of the fire before them.
David merely shook his head in response to the question, not taking his eyes off his equipment, but his eyes seemed a little distant. 'Where will I end up after this?' he asked himself, unsettled by the thought.
Crack
Yet he wasn't able to dwell on the thought for long. A branch just across the clearing snapped, and he leapt up to his feet with his rifle. Beside him, Benjamin did the same but remained crouched at his seat, and Daisy stood behind him, finger on the trigger.
"We're home~" Sheila chided as she climbed out of a bush before a paint round snapped into a limb beside her head, causing her to dodge to the side.
"What the hell! You almost hit me!" she glared at Daisy, who held a smug expression.
"Oh? Look who's taking things seriously now," Daisy mocked, lowering her rifle to her side
"Why-you!" Sheila threw down her rifle as she began stomping over in Daisy's direction. Daisy, at the same time, laid down her rifle, cracking her knuckles.
Before the two could come to blows, David stepped in, "Cool it, both of you!" he grabbed them by their uniforms, keeping them apart firmly. "Daisy, what the hell?" he asked, glaring at her.
"Don't, 'what the hell,' me. She knows she's supposed to give the signal before re-entering camp!" She jabbed a finger
"That doesn't mean you just get to shoot at me!" Sheila slapped her hand away as she held an expression that was equal parts exasperated and enraged.
David reset his grip and gave both a firm push away to create space with him standing in between them.
"Oh please, I could've hit you if I wanted to, but I didn't," she said with her hands on her hips, "If you can't even enter the camp following proper procedure, then how do we know that you actually did recon correctly?" She angled her face up slightly at the taller girl, not backing down.
"And how the hell do we know you aren't going to shoot me if I don't do something you like?" Sheila shouted back.
'Damn it, they both have a point.' David's eyes were bouncing back and forth as the argument continued, and he hesitated to take a side.
They once again nearly came to blows, and David grabbed them again, but this time, he had to put an end to it.
"Alright!" he yelled, getting everyone's attention, "You!-" the words got caught in his throat as his grip around their fatigues tightened, "Just-just go somewhere! You go over there- and you there," he manhandled them, throwing them into opposite directions.
"No more talking for either of you tonight. Eat and go to sleep," he spoke through his gritted teeth, "That is not a suggestion, that is not a request, that is an order," he said, exhaling sharply.
In the background, both Benjamin and Cal shared a glance before they silently agreed to stay out of it. Throughout the many fights, they'd never seen David respond like this.
Benjamin glanced down at his trembling hand.
'Even he's cracking…' he thought, feeling the pit in his stomach grow heavier.
David's reaction even made the two perpetrators pause. They both held apologetic expressions for a moment, but seeing his expression unchanging, they moved to the opposite sides of the site silently.
Daisy paused for a moment, angry, in large part due to the guilt of knowing she had done something wrong, as well as other factors she kept hidden from the team. Her fists balled, making the knuckles white and shaking with all her strength as she began to say something careless. "About time you acted like you cared. Too bad it's just for show," she spat out venomously.
David shot her a glare, and she stood there for a moment. Internally feeling a hint of regret knowing she shouldn't have said what she said, but no apology left her lips. Instead, she sauntered off in the direction David had ordered earlier.
No one said anything for a while.
The fire crackled quietly among them, spitting tiny embers into the night sky.
David didn't sit down immediately. He just turned his back to the flames, eyes scanning the dark beyond camp.
"You two as well, eat, and get some sleep," he ordered before picking up his rifle and heading to the forest.
"We move at dawn," he said over his shoulder before he vanished.
No one argued.
And in his absence, the fire felt colder.
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Chapter done. Not much to say. It is late and I am tired.
I just finished the augmentation chapter, and honestly pretty happy with it. I kinda dialed what I did with Anomaly in Space up to 11. But obviously I changed it quite a bit and dropped some details that I haphazardly included back then.
Anyway first week of classes down. Doesn't look like this semester will be too bad.
If you have any questions leave em. Till we meet again.