A Soldier's Secret

Part 5

I watched the sky streak shades of red and orange, the sun a minuscule dot in the distance. Benny liked sunrises. Said it had something to do with the steadiness, how a sun always rose, somewhere. But he would never see the sun again, with ever-closed eyes and a scorched body.

I could hear it, the roar of the flames. I could see the relief in His eyes when He hit the rocks. I could feel the pain in my arms, and smell the wretched stench of burning flesh. The sight of my General, the open mouth and lifeless eyes, clung to me.

"Cedar" My comm rang 

"What?" I snarled

"Where are you?" Rex asked

"I'm everywhere and nowhere, Rex" I barked, then closed it. I didn't want to deal with him, but he persisted

"We're leaving later today, Cedar. The Seppies fled after we hit them yesterday" Rex added 

"Fine" I growled, then started on my way down. My pack was down there, and my stomach was begging for sustenance. He wouldn't eat ever again, but He would want me to take care of myself. So when I found it, sitting abandoned by the ashes of a fire, I dug out food and climbed a tree for privacy.

My hunger satisfied, I looked down at the camp and saw the Jedi. I would have to meet them eventually. I stuffed my helmet back on and sighed. I had to postpone the meeting until I figured out how to make my helmet change my voice. I jumped until I was above the barracks, now packed into boxes, and started on my way down to the ground when I realised what kind of tree this was. I grinned, and brought out my knife, cutting into the bark to reach the sweet interior. The soft white substance was plentiful, made of sap, and long crystallized. I managed to grab handfuls of the stuff, a treat for later. I had gathered hundreds of strands like these for Benny when he got hurt. Now, I had to enjoy it alone. Alone, like Error. Alone, like any clone who had secrets. Maybe the mute clone would understand? No. I was alone.

"Cedar, why are you cutting a tree?" Rex asked me. I rolled my eyes and tossed him a strand

"Eat it. Tastes wonderful" I opened my comm. He bit into it, and shock came over him

"No way this was from the tree," He said

"Yes way" I sighed "It's hard to find this kind of tree" I patted the bark "And even harder to successfully harvest this stuff"

"How much do you have?" Rex asked

"Couple handfuls. The tree needs it too" I added

"It is delicious" He said "Well, you found an alternate food source, and certainly know more about it than me. Harvest as much as you think is safe" He closed the channel, then walked away. Permission granted, I climbed a little lower and harvested more, putting it in my pack. I saw him, the mute clone, and I scowled, making my way down toward him. He was alone, and I dragged the knife up to his throat

"You whisper a word about me to anyone, and you're corpse will never be found" I snarled, and then went back into the trees to harvest.

By the time I finished, I had a decent supply of the sap crystals, dutifully named by Benny. Rex sounded like he was going to get hooked if I kept supplying him, so I couldn't give him more. I had forgotten which tree I had stuffed the caffeine in, so I left it behind as we loaded the dropship. The Jedi had dutifully spoken with every troop, or at least, the younger Jedi had. I still steered clear, and I grinned when I watched her sulk away and report to the older one. I smirked, then stood aboard the dropship, watching the doors close and the ground zooms away.

The ship reeked of solvent and cleaning supplies, and I hated it. I liked trees, not metal mazes and plastic. Some clone named Cloud had told me to go to a specific compartment, and it turned out to be the barracks. Clones were either asleep or socialising, and I slung my pack onto an unclaimed bunk and sat down

"Hey! Came in with the 501st, huh?" Someone asked. I nodded.

"Oof. For a shiny? That's gotta be hard" Another added. I shook my head, and Jesse looked up

"Cedar won us a fight. Climbs trees and flies through 'em like a bird. Makes a damn good scout" He said

"Really?" They looked to me. I nodded again. Maybe Jesse wasn't too bad. I dug a string of sap crystals out of my pack and slumped against the pillow

"Better than Hunter, I bet" Someone mumbled, and I pulled my helmet up far enough to cram it into my mouth. I had closed my eyes and was on the verge of sleep when a fluffy ball of white fuzz jumped onto me. I made a sound of exclamation and the fluffy white ball purred as it settled against my chest, a bell jingling from around its neck. It was a cat, of all things. I scratched its head, and it made more purring sounds.

"Great...Snowball's here" Fives muttered

"And likes Cedar, for some reason" Hardcase added "The little demon doesn't like anybody" Snowball meowed, and I heard a tinny voice

"Family" It mumbled, and I shrugged and kept scratching Snowball.