LJI Week 8: Copper, Silver, Gold
Captain Roger Bullock looked around them, peering thru the trees and the fog, and occasionally checked the small flat box in his hand. Finally satisfied, he tucked it inside his dark blue jacket. He nodded to his sergeant and sighed.
"We keep following the trail East. It won't get us across enemy lines, but something important is near."
He strode off down the trail, and the rest of his men fell into line behind him. The newest Private, Stephens, sped up his pace until he caught up to the side of Sergeant Paine.
"Sarge, what's he mean? I mean, I ain't questioning him, he's our Captain, but how does he know?"
Sarge stares him down for a bit, an eye to eye look that Stephens could feel measure his worth but at the same time stared thru him to a thousand miles away.
"Kid, why'd you fall in with us back in town? What'd you hear?"
Stephens shrugged, trying to avoid Sarge's stare as he answered.
"Same as most everyone I figure. Cursed, him and his men, to always be where they need to be, for the good of the war. It never turns out well for them, that's why there's so few with him."
"Sounds like a great reason to stay away. Why are you here?"
With a rare bit of courage Stephens looked up and met his gaze.
"Because every time, it *is* where he needed to be. The man is a legend, turning the tide of battle after battle, enough they say he was put on this Earth to win us the war. If it needs doing, how could I not help? I have to fight, and if I have to I want to follow the man led by God to do the right thing."
The Sarge barked out a harsh, cold laugh and stopped to stare at the kid.
"You're here to die, just like the rest of us, and there's no God in the plan anywhere. If anything He's watching us with anger and judgement, cause what's really leading us is Pride and Greed and dark magics."
Up ahead they can see the Captain stop and pull the small box out of his jacket and consult it again.
"See that, it's his compass. They say he put a part of his soul into it, in trade for what it does. Three needles, copper and silver and gold. Copper to point out what he wants to find. Silver what he needs to find. Gold to remind him of what's most important in life, so he never forgets."
Stephens shivered and watched as the Captain looked around, and occasionally turned and paced off in one direction or the other.
"What's most important? That'd be the war right? It points back to the Capitol?"
Sarge no longer laughed, and put a firm hand on his shoulder and gripped him hard.
"This is the thing you must alway remember, it's what'll keep you alive. That needle always points to one thing, and has never wavered all the times I've seen it. That needle always points back to him. In the end, nothing is more important than he is to him. He almost always follows silver, sometimes copper, but never forgets the gold."
Up ahead, the Captain pulled his jacket open to put the compass away again. He carefully watched as he slid the compass into the inside pocket, and made sure it didn't damage the small photo locket the gold needle pointed to. His eyes rested on the three small children pictured there, and nodded once before getting back to work.
"We keep following the trail East. It won't get us across enemy lines, but something important is near."
He strode off down the trail, and the rest of his men fell into line behind him. The newest Private, Stephens, sped up his pace until he caught up to the side of Sergeant Paine.
"Sarge, what's he mean? I mean, I ain't questioning him, he's our Captain, but how does he know?"
Sarge stares him down for a bit, an eye to eye look that Stephens could feel measure his worth but at the same time stared thru him to a thousand miles away.
"Kid, why'd you fall in with us back in town? What'd you hear?"
Stephens shrugged, trying to avoid Sarge's stare as he answered.
"Same as most everyone I figure. Cursed, him and his men, to always be where they need to be, for the good of the war. It never turns out well for them, that's why there's so few with him."
"Sounds like a great reason to stay away. Why are you here?"
With a rare bit of courage Stephens looked up and met his gaze.
"Because every time, it *is* where he needed to be. The man is a legend, turning the tide of battle after battle, enough they say he was put on this Earth to win us the war. If it needs doing, how could I not help? I have to fight, and if I have to I want to follow the man led by God to do the right thing."
The Sarge barked out a harsh, cold laugh and stopped to stare at the kid.
"You're here to die, just like the rest of us, and there's no God in the plan anywhere. If anything He's watching us with anger and judgement, cause what's really leading us is Pride and Greed and dark magics."
Up ahead they can see the Captain stop and pull the small box out of his jacket and consult it again.
"See that, it's his compass. They say he put a part of his soul into it, in trade for what it does. Three needles, copper and silver and gold. Copper to point out what he wants to find. Silver what he needs to find. Gold to remind him of what's most important in life, so he never forgets."
Stephens shivered and watched as the Captain looked around, and occasionally turned and paced off in one direction or the other.
"What's most important? That'd be the war right? It points back to the Capitol?"
Sarge no longer laughed, and put a firm hand on his shoulder and gripped him hard.
"This is the thing you must alway remember, it's what'll keep you alive. That needle always points to one thing, and has never wavered all the times I've seen it. That needle always points back to him. In the end, nothing is more important than he is to him. He almost always follows silver, sometimes copper, but never forgets the gold."
Up ahead, the Captain pulled his jacket open to put the compass away again. He carefully watched as he slid the compass into the inside pocket, and made sure it didn't damage the small photo locket the gold needle pointed to. His eyes rested on the three small children pictured there, and nodded once before getting back to work.