The general

Chapter 6

“I don’t know. My brain is dead,” The General groaned, flopping down on his tummy onto the floor where I was already sprawled out, half asleep and all sorts of grumpy. I stared at him. “What?” He stared back at me. He was wearing a V-necked camo tee and dark grey pajamas pants, muscles rippling as he stretched out. It was probably the first time that I had seen him out of uniform and it looked pretty good. Wretching my eyes away from his body, I glanced at him before glancing away and around the room.

            “Nothing, I just don’t see you much out of uniform.” I muttered.

            The General laughed in response. “I used to wear it all the time. Before all this.” He said, gesturing around him.

            “Do you miss it?” I blurted out, before I could stop myself. Berating myself mentally, I winced, hoping that he wouldn’t bite my head off for such a comment. In response, his eyes darkened. I began counting my seconds to my death.

To my astonishment, he just sighed and said softly. “Yes, I do.” Taking a deep breath, he continued. “I did not really have a choice, you know. From young, they already suspected that I was going to have powers because of my parents background, so I was taken away to train here since I could walk. They thought because both my parents had powers, I would have turned out extremely powerful. Unfortunately for them, one of my parents was a fire elemental and the other was a water elemental. So somehow my water powers turned out weaker than expected. Maybe its because the fire and water powers neutralized each other.” He sighed again, resting his head in his hand. “I always thought that its was because of my parents that I am General. After all, there are people who are more deserving than me.” He said, his eyes resting on me. “Starting with you.”

I shifted uncomfortably, guilt overwhelming me. I never knew that he had felt this way. Imagine all the pressure that I had put upon him by going regularly to the HQ to demand for a promotion. I thought.

            “Don’t say that.” I said, hands automatically reaching out to comfort him. “After all, you are better than me in some things, like hand to hand combat. Plus, you make a better leader. People listen to you and respect you. You don’t goof off and play pranks like me. For what its worth, I think you make the best general in the entire HQ. You care for us.”

            He smiled, white teeth gleaming under the light. “Thank you.” He said simply. “Come on,” he said, getting up. “Let’s practice some hand to hand combat before discussing more strategy.