"So, what are you doing here, kid?"
Haze had helped 90 up onto one of the neatly made bunks and now the older clone had sat down on the floor across from him, watching 90 curiously.
Curling up, but leaving his injured leg extended, 90 looked shyly at Haze, his face a little red with embarrassment. "I came out here to hide..." he admitted."
"From what?" Haze asked, cocking his head and arching one eyebrow inquisitively.
90 looked down at the floor, fiddling with the edge of the blanket silently a moment. He didn't know if he should tell Haze considering he knew nothing about him. For all he knew, Haze could be lying. Maybe he was out here to spy on him and tell the Sergeant.
90 doubted it, though. There was something about Haze that made him look honest, and 90 trusted him.
"My batchmates, and my training," he blurted out, then kept going before Haze could interrupt. "I was supposed to go back to training after the painkiller kicked in because good soldiers fight through the pain and stuff, but I didn't want to go back because 67 hates me and I was scared that I'd get paired with him again. He doesn't follow the rules and he doesn't like me much. None of them do, except 17, he helps me sometimes and he doesn't mock me like the others. I don't know why, but he's nicer. Out here it's quiet, though, and no one can find me, so I come here to get away from them."
The words felt like they were scrambling over each other to get out as 90 let it all spill out, hugging his knee closer to his chest as he hunched over some. He bit his lip when he was done and looked up at Haze, unsure how the older man would react or what he would say.
Most people would just tell him to get over it and toughen up, but Haze didn't seem like most other people otherwise 90 had a feeling he wouldn't be sitting here listening.
There was a long pause as Haze seemed to consider everything he'd just heard, chewing on his finger a moment before he looked up at 90.
"Sounds like your batchmates have a complex," he said bitterly. "It's not your fault, though, they've just got their own issues. You can't fix them, unfortunately," he sighed a little, going back to chewing on his finger in thought before lifting his head and asking, "What do you think the problem is?"
90 frowned and let his eyes wander around the room as he considered his response.
"I guess...well, I'm not as skilled as them. I'm behind, and I follow the rules. They don't, which gives them the upper hand. My trainer doesn't like me as much either because I'm constantly getting hurt or failing," he said, looking at Haze for answers.
"Sounds like you just need a little help training, then. It's hard to have a fair fight with those who play dirty, but it's not impossible," Haze answered, rising from the floor. He walked over to the bunk and gestured to the bandages on 90's leg.
"I'm assuming that's the result of your most recent training?"
90 nodded and swallowed quietly. Haze just nodded and offered him a hand up.
"Well, I can't fix it, but I can show you how to avoid getting another," he offered. "You're what, ten? What class of trooper?"
90 let Haze help him to his feet and he gripped the older clone's hand a little for balance as he gingerly put weight on his injured leg, testing it a moment before he let go of Haze's hand. The painkiller was still working and the pain was just a dull ache. He could manage through that.
"I'm an Assassin Trooper, but we have ARC designations," 90 answered. "I'm ARC-90," he added when he realized Haze still didn't know his name.
"No name yet?" Haze asked, raising a brow as he left 90's side and gestured for him to follow as he started for the door of the barracks. 90 limped after him, nodding.
"Yessir," he said.
With a curt nod, Haze paused at the door and held out his hand. "Here, hold onto me so you can take some weight off that leg," he offered.
90 took his hand and let the older clone trooper help him as they made their way down to the old training decks. They were a little different than those inside the Tapioca complex as they were smaller and instead of sporting one set of specialty training equipment, they had everything.
90 stood by the door and looked at it in eager awe. As much as he hated training with his batchmates, he didn't hate training all that much.
"Cool, ey?" Haze asked as he let go of 90's hand and walked across the room to retrieve something out of a bucket. When he came back, turning the object over in his hands, it turned out to be one of the wooden training swords 90 was familiar with.
"You said you're an Assassin Trooper right?" Haze confirmed.
90 nodded.
"Well, then I assume you're familiar with this by now," Haze said, holding up the wooden sword that looked more like a child's toy than a weapon. "Guessing by your injury, you've probably started training with the real thing by now, but that's a moot point. What I want to show you is a few tricks I've learned about playing fair when your batchmates don't. Although, just keep in mind that your enemy won't play fair, but for the sake of keeping you out of trouble with your trainer, we'll keep it all within the rules for now. What form are you practicing?"
90 watched Haze himself in a bit of awe. He'd just met this man, who was supposed to be dead, and already Haze seemed to know everything about his trainer. Maybe it was true that the Alpha Batch had been taught everything.
"Form One," 90 finally answered after he started to come back to reality a little, but still watched Haze with wide eyes.
Haze nodded and took the sword in both hands as the Form One ready stance required. "I see you're all still using the original designations. That will make teaching you a litle easier," he said with a small smile. "So, you know that for every Form One attack there is a Form One parry, but what the big guys in charge won't tell you, at least until you're older, is that for every Form One attack, there is a corresponding parry in Form's three through five and for every Attack in Form's three through five, there's a corresponding Form One parry. Because you see, the reason they drill Form One into your head is that it relates to and corresponds to every other Form, forming the basics of your entire sword fighting skill set."
Listening intently, 90 nodded a little. He remembered Sergeant Dunn mentioning something about how important Form One was, but couldn't remember ever being told that it was the basic Form for all of the others. That made more sense to him, and he could feel the pieces clicking together in his mind. He smiled, seeing the connections between certain moves and parries. He almost jumped up to grab a practice sword as well but restrained himself because of his injury, plus Haze had started talking again.
"I think I can see you're getting it. But just to illustrate, say my attacker uses the first Form Three attack on me, striking for my shoulder's in a downward arc. Since Form Three is about power, this assumes they coming at me, either charging or somehow building up their own power to strike me. Now, of course, you have your basic Form Three parry to this, but that only works if you yourself are moving in order to deflect the powerful blow with equal or greater power of your own. But say you're not moving. You're stationary, and you have to deflect this powerful attack. Does that bring to mind anything?"
Frowning thoughtfully, 90 watched as Haze shifted into the Form One ready position as if anticipating an attack. It took him a moment to think of it, but then he sat up straight.
"The Form One parry for a downward slice!" he blurted out excitedly.
Haze shifted instantly into that position as if suddenly blocking an attacker, then lowered the training sword and nodded. "Exactly. It can be adjusted to block from any angle, but downward slice attacks are naturally powerful, therefore the Form One parry for them is intended to deaden their power without requiring you to move. Therefore, they are also effective many Form Three attacks to stop your attacker in their tracks and give you the upper hand."
90 nodded and smiled happily, seeing the correlation between the two and the connections between their uses. "Can I try?" he asked, wriggling a little bit on the bench where he was sitting and watching.
Haze laughed gently but he shook his head. "You're still injured, kid. You need to rest, but when your leg is feeling better you can come back and try, or maybe you can use it when you get back to training," he offered.
With an excited grin, 90 nodded. "Thank you," he said.
Haze put up the training sword with the other's and came to sit by 90, clapping his back gently. "Anytime, kid. It's nice to have someone to talk to again," he said, but then his smile fell and his eyes turned serious. "You can't tell anyone about me, though," he said sternly.
90 let his own smile fade into seriousness and he nodded grimly. "Yessir. I won't say a word about you to anyone," he promised.
Haze patted his back and allowed the smile to return to his face. "Good, lad," he said. "Feel free to come here as often as you want, though. I'll always be here, and ready and willing to talk, teach, or help in any way."
90 grinned again and hugged him awkwardly, but before he could pull back and apologize, he felt Haze wrap his arms around him and hug him back. 90 smiled wider at that and closed his eyes, hugging the older clone tighter.
"I mean it," Haze said gently.
90 nodded and looked up at him. "Do you get bored a lot?" he asked, curious about how Haze had kept himself a secret out here for so long.
Chuckling lightly, Haze nodded. "Yeah, I do. It's a little lonely with no one else out here, but I make it work," he said. "But hey, now I have you to visit me, and I don't have to worry about being bored," he said.
90 was pretty sure it was the friendliest thing anyone had ever told him, and possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever said. He liked it.
"Does that make me your friend?" he asked. He'd never really had friends before, except for maybe 17. He had batchmates, but that was really it.
"Sort of," Haze said, looking down at him with a gentle smile. "But if you ask me, I think that makes you my brother."
90's eyes got wide and he suddenly hugged Haze tighter, snuggling into his arms with a happy grin. He'd never had a brother before, but if this what was having a brother was like he liked it and he didn't ever want it to go away.
He heard Haze chuckle softly again and felt the older clone's fingers brush through his hair. 90 found that suddenly he was relaxed and a little sleepy, but he didn't mind it. Instead, he closed his eyes and curled up a little closer to his brother.
Haze sighed contently and just held him.
"Rest, vod'ika."