So I’d already called a meeting before--but I hadn’t really done it on purpose, not really, I’d just called for someone whose ass I could kick and it very quickly shed light on a very bleak situation. Not gonna lie--I still break out in cold sweats when I think of how fucked we are generally. I’m not sure what Tembovu or Alysanne were actually doing with the warriors before now. What even the fuck.

Well, shit, whatever. Now it was my responsibility and it was giving me goosebumps thinking about doing something I’d done on accident not that long ago. Makes sense, right? I stood (paced, actually) on the flattened stomping field I’d been using as the sparring ground, working my nerve and getting my blood pumping for speaking in front of people. It’d been some time since I’d been named General--not that much, but enough where shit had changed and things needed to be clarified and put in their proper position. Or, at least, I had to get a good handle on my own peeps. There were several new soldiers I didn’t even know I had. Time to set some shit straight; there were still a couple vacancies that needed filling, and even though the King and Queen had their own ideas and privileges to set anyone rank whenever they felt like it, ultimately it was my responsibility to fill them.

Chico wasn’t really helping me discover these things and get the feel of my new shit--I mean, he was there, but the rank of General only applied to him very, very loosely, like an afterthought that he sometimes acknowledged. S’not like companions get their own rank and responsibility anyway, unless you count it when it’s tied to their bonded--and Chico had a thing where sometimes he was down with whatever I was handling, and other times he would just fuck off and do his own thing (which is where he was now, I dunno) and that didn’t really bother me. Whatever, man. Just don’t fuck it up for the rest of us.

I finally got the nerve to set the call for all the warriors to come to ME, blaring out a huge, powerful whinny to get my soldiers to gravitate where I was. [INSERT WARRIORS GATHERING HERE] It still sent a thrill of foreboding up my spine to see how small we still were as a group, which was exacerbated by the shiver that raked my bones anyway with how many people I still had to speak in front of. I’m starting to wonder if that kind of thing was ever gonna leave me--speaking in front of strangers and whatnot.

I cleared my throat and slipped into my Hurr-I’m-A-General persona, which was the only thing getting easier and easier as time wore on. “Alright, let’s keep this short,” I told them, my voice strong and loud, my gaze stern as I looked a group of warriors of every shape and size, “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Ros and I’ll be the one you’re gonna report to. If we ain’t met yet, speak up and tell me who you are.”

I waited, listening and acknowledging the names I’d have to work really really hard to commit to memory (since Cheek wasn’t here). Then I pressed on with buisness. “Alright, first thing’s first, Ru is Captain now, obviously.” I said that with a glance at her that bordered on apologetic; the memory of our last spar still filled me with a confused shame, but that’s another story altogether that I don’t feel like diving in. I pressed on. “We’re also gonna need a Sergeant here real soon, and I ain’t sold yet on who’s gonna hold that position--so if you’re lookin’ to climb rank then get your shit together and we’ll see what happens. People who do shit get rank.” Wasn’t that hard to follow, really. I scanned all the faces before me, doing my absolute best not to linger on Elsa’s mug any longer than necessary; honestly, I was wondering how she’d feel about the new Captain, and I hadn’t yet forgotten the way she’d looked at me when she found out I was her boss. It was the kind of look that made you remember.

“All y’all who’ve been tasked with a patrol, tell me now if you’ve completed it, and what you found,” I said with a flick of my tail, “All y’all who haven’t been given an assignment, sit tight and you’ll be given one. What’s more important, though, is that everyone here won’t be leaving without a sparring partner.We can’t be sittin’ idle; there’s too much shit we still gotta make up for.” I grimaced. “I know I’m pushin’ hard but we gotta push hard just to stay afloat. Time’s are hard right now; we’re livin’ on the precipice of something huge and we gotta protect our herd from it. An’ until we get more recruits that just means we’re gonna have to kick ourselves to make up the difference.” I hated it myself--hated constant patrolling, hated constant scheming, hated this constant pressure that kept me up at night, in the few hours I was forced to set aside for sleep--but the alternative scared me far worse. Somehow, somewhere--and I dunno when--I’d started caring about this place entirely too much.


"talk"