Thalia's Tale (A Team Crafted Spinoff)

Thirty-Four: Did You Know?

The fire crackled in the center of the clearing, on top of a pile of dry sticks which had been gathered hours before. The clearing itself was green and surrounded by strong, mighty trees stretching skyward, shielding the forest floor from drizzling rain completely. It was dark out, and green was everywhere - from the leaves above to the short blades of grass below. Four sleeping bags had been laid out on said grass, and each traveller sat on their own.
    Thalia held a stick in her hand, poking at the ashes in their camp fire distractedly.
    "...Wanna play a game?"
    Vern cocked an eyebrow at Clancy. "What sort of game?"
    "Well, you ask, 'Did you know...' and you follow it up with something interesting. And maybe the first person to say something that no one knows wins?"
    "Wins what?" Logan asked.
    "Oh, I dunno." Clancy looked around. "Bragging rights?"
    "No no." Thalia said. "Bragging rights is too easy, let's do this for real."
    "Alright, fine. Winner gets..." He looked around and smirked. "Winner doesn't have to take watch at all tonight."
    "Oh I'm in." Thalia grinned.
    "All of the in." Logan agreed.
    "Yeah, why not... I'll go first." Vern took a breath. "Did you know... Ants can carry up to ten times their own weight?"
    "Yeah."
    "Yep."
    "Mm hmm."
    "Oh well aren't you all clever." Vern said with some venom in his tone.
    "Yes, indeed." Thalia said. "Are we going clockwise or counter clockwise?"
    "Let's go by order of last name." Clancy said. "So Barlow, Kal, then Keyes, then Lazorso."
    "Question." Logan raised a hand.
    Clancy raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Logan?" He said, calling on him as though he were a teacher calling on a student.
    "What happens if we have the same last name?"
    Thalia stared at him. "None of us have the same last name, Ginger."
    "I know, but hypothetically."
    Clancy snorted, ignoring the question. "Right, let's keep going then." He said. "Did you know... Tigers are actually a lot louder than lions."
    "No, actually." Logan answered.
    "I did!"
    "Me too."
    "Okay, um... Did you know..." Thalia hesitated. "Did you know Karl Urban's impression of DeForest Kelley on the set of Star Trek Reboot was so good it made Leonard Nimoy cry?"
    "I don't know who any of those people are." Vern said.
    Logan clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oh my god why."
    "Oh you nerdy nerd, I like you." Clancy smirked. "And yes, I knew that."
    Thalia winked back. "You got it, Clanker."
    Logan cleared his throat. "Oooookay." He interrupted rather awkwardly. "Did you know that murderous behavior could be genetic?"
    While Vern and Thalia stared incredulously, Clancy remained deadpan. "Yes." He said solidly.
    "Damn!" Logan said. "So close."
    "Okay, my turn... Let's have a little base fun facts." Vern said. "Did you know that the Sky was the third choice for an apprentice?"
    "Uh yeah." Clancy said.
    "Doesn't everybody know that?" Logan added.
    "Whoa what?" Thalia asked. "Who were the first two?"
    "First there was a Dutch girl named Andri Heide. She was pretty good; she was hanging in there. I believe Sky actually knew her a little." Logan said.
    "What happened to her?"
    "She died on a mission with him and a few others; it was apparently pretty intense. The second one was a shy guy named Alex Hettro, but he got scared and deserted. Commander Void, our last commander, didn't want to accept another apprentice at that point, but he was eventually persuaded by the Star Cadet leader - this woman named Amanda Griffin."
    "Wow, I didn't know that." Thalia said.
    "Clearly." Clancy said. He cleared his throat. "So... Did you know that David Tennant broke into the set of Doctor Who before he was cast as the tenth doctor?"
    "What?!" Thalia exclaimed. She and Vern both laughed, Vern less so.
    "Oh my god, he so would." Vern said.
    "Logan?" Clancy looked at him. "Did you know that?"
    Logan pursed his lips smugly and nodded. "There isn't a thing I don't know about new who."
     Thalia shook her head. "Okay, okay. Did you know... That David Tennant married the fifth doctor's daughter?"
    "Oh c'mon, everybody knows that!" Clancy said.
    "Yeah, it's like Whovian essential." Logan said.
    "Um, pardon me, I happen to be a Dweek." Vern said in a mock nasally voice, making fun of people who weren't very far into the fandom.
    Logan and Thalia both groaned obnoxiously as Clancy shoved him teasingly away. "No, Vern, no! Bad Vern!"
    All four sitting around the camp fire laughed.
    "Okay, okay, I got a really good one." Logan said once they'd calmed down. "Did you know that General Deadlox used to be blind?"
    "...Whoa." Clancy said.
    "Hang on a minute, what?" Vern asked.
    "...WHOA."
    "How can a master parkourist be blind?!" Vern exclaimed.
    "Thalia?" Logan prompted.
    Thalia smirked incredulously. "I didn't know that."
    Vern and Clancy groaned loudly as Logan cheered. "YES! I get to sleep!"
    "Hang on, though, I wanna know about this." Thalia said. "How could Deadlox have been blind?"
    "He was blind until he was fifteen due to a corneal disease." Logan explained. "At that point, he got a transplant in one eye so he could see. And during this time in history, there was a serious war going on. It wasn't just random attacks like now, it was a legit war. The world was on the verge of an apocalypse. So Deadlox decided to make himself useful, now that he was no longer disabled, and he joined the army. That's how Sky got in too. He got used to protecting him and he followed him into the military."
    "Hang on, hang on." Thalia said. "You said he just had a transplant only in his right eye. So his left...?"
    Clancy nodded wondrously. "You aren't allowed to fight if you have any form of disability. If he were to join at all, he'd have to be an inventor or diplomat, which I honestly don't think is his thing. So he hid it with his hair..."
    Logan smirked. "Deadlox is half blind."
    Clancy stared at him for a moment in shock before saying, "Follow you dreams, kids." Beside him, Vern snorted with laughter.
    "...You got that from Venom, didn't you." Thalia said.
    "Well, unlike some people I actually find base history kinda cool."
    "You ACTUALLY pay attention to her lectures?!"
    "Yep."
    "Damn, Ginger, you must have lost your mind."
    Clancy coughed and looked away. "Can't lose what you never had..." He murmured under his breath.
    Logan rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous because I won."
    Clancy snorted. "As if!"
    "You are!"
    "Nuh-uh!"
    Vern groaned loudly. "Ladies, ladies, you're both very pretty."
    Clancy glared at him. "I better be." He muttered.
    Logan glanced at Thalia. "Am I a pretty lady?" He whispered.
    "No." She replied.
    Logan just sighed. "I know..."

Clancy pulled his lab coat in tighter around him as he let out a hum of annoyance. It was cold at night, he quickly noticed. The fire had died down to a pile of glowing embers, casting little light around the camp. Logan and Vern were asleep; Thalia was warming her hands by the fire.
    With a sigh, she stood up. "Okay, Clanker." She said. "You go on to sleep, I'll take over watch."
    Clancy raised an eyebrow. "I've only been up for two and a half hours."
    Thalia smiled a bit. "I can't sleep." She said.
    Clancy shrugged. "Suit yourself. He hopped down from the tree the group had chosen as their watch post and walked past Thalia towards the fire. But before he could stop, Thalia spoke. "Clancy, can I ask you something?"
    "Yeah, sure." Clancy turned to face her, crossing his arms. "What's up?"
    "I just..." Thalia let out a breath, looking him in the eyes with effort. "I asked Venom... She said your records had been tampered with after you lost your lab partner." Clancy's shoulders tensed ever so slightly and he tried to hide it, but Thalia noticed. "You don't have to tell me. I'm just curious."
    Clancy didn't respond for a moment, and for the first time, Thalia saw the ghost of sadness in his normally friendly green eyes. "...It was back at Yoglabs. Her name was um... Her name was Rosetta. She was... Brilliant. She and I made a good team. We were best friends." He smiled sadly. "But then we got out first mission... Or she did. I was supposed to go, but I got sick. She took my place."
    "I thought cadets didn't really go on fighting missions." Thalia said.
    "That's because it wasn't a fighting mission." Clancy's reply was on the verge of bitterness. "It was supposed to be a diplomatic mission. She went with another two cadets and one fighter. That's it. Just one. I look back and I know I should've gone, but I know there's nothing I can do now and there's nothing I can change. I should've gone..."
    "Clanker, I'm so sorry." Thalia said. She hesitated, Clancy staring to the side as Thalia struggled to find words. "You... You loved her didn't you?"
    "...No." Clancy took a deep breath and looked up. "I don't swing that way."
    Thalia took a moment as his words registered. "Oh." She said.
    "Shut up, Clarence, I'm trying to sleep..." Vern murmured from on the ground beside Clancy. The Cadet smiled warmly and looked down at him.
    The corner of her mouth twitched upwards. "I knew it." She said.
    Clancy nodded, looking up at her. "Partners." He said. He took a deep breath. "Goodnight, Vaerin Kal. Good luck on your watch."
    Thalia nodded back and turned around, pulling herself into the tree. She sat down on one of the lower branches and looked up at the stars above, sighing as a cold breeze passed. It was gonna be a long night still...

Logan woke himself up. He blinked open his eyes and sat up groggily. He sighed and looked around. The sky was a light shade of pink and orange, as a red sun rose in the east. It was dawn... Why was it dawn? He looked at the watch tree and saw a figure sitting there, watching the sun as it rose. It didn't take a genius to know who it was.
    He groaned. "Oh, Thalia..." He stood and walked over to the tree, swinging up. Thalia glanced at him tiredly as he say beside her. "You were supposed to wake me up for my watch." He grumbled.
    "No I wasn't." Thalia replied.
    "We were kidding about the bet thing!"
    "I take my bets seriously." Thalia said. "It's a family thing."
    "Yeah, but did you really think I would want you to stay up for eight hours?"
    "It wasn't eight..."
    "Yeah it was!" Logan said. "I heard you and Clancy talking. You've been on watch since eleven last night."
    "So?"
    "So you must be exhausted!"
    "No." Thalia shook her head, looking away. "I'm fine."
    "Whatever, Kal." Logan took off his brown jacket and put it over her shoulders. "You're so damn stubborn..."
    Thalia didn't respond. She stared straight ahead tiredly for several minutes before she noticed Logan staring at her. She looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "What?" She asked defensively.
     "Nothing, it's just..." Logan looked away. "Nothing."
     Thalia sighed and tilted her head so it rested on his shoulder. "You're awkward and indecisive."
     Logan snorted. "You're stubborn and pretty."
    "Huh?"
    Logan froze. "S-Stubborn and witty, I said... Witty."
    Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a compliment, Ginger?"
    "...It gives a very echo to the seat."
    "Huh?"
    "It's Shakespeare."
    "Oh god, not the old English crap again."
    "It's not crap, it's brilliant!" He sighed and looked away. After a moment, he looked back again with a small smirk on his freckled face. "Did I ever tell you about the time Sky got trapped in the lab with a genetically altered chimpanzee?"
    "...What."