Extra 15: A Helping Hand

Herukah squeezed onto the same platform as Keshte, doing her best to keep her footing despite the giant of a man next to her.

Keshte was shocked, stepping off the podium and panickedly whispering “Herukah? What are you doing!? I'm trying to make a speech.”

“I'm here to help you.” The tailor replied resolutely, “You have been trying your best, but it's plain to everyone that you don't have what it takes to get the crowd under control.”

The leader hung his head for a second, a hint of a blush perceptible to Herukah even through his dark skin.

After a moment he regained his composure and answered with strength.

“No, I absolutely can not let you talk to the crowd, I have to be able to create a strong front and prove myself as a leader.”

A little bit of anger reached Herukah at the man’s pride, the emotion obviously showing on her face because Keshte’s burst of confidence melted in a single moment.

“Keshte, in the last 4 or so hours, we have trekked through kilometres of old, falling down tunnels carrying an entire base worth of supplies, while friends and family gave their lives to hold back the horde of angry Earliag so we could escape. An escape, by the way, which was only successful due to the actions of an ally you made less than a day before the attack and an incredibly lucky earthquake which just so happened to block off the path just as we had gotten through.”

The woman shook her head and continued.

“Right now, your people are tired, confused, grieving and in pain, and our inappropriate accommodations aren't helping that fact. This is no longer about how you look or what people will think of you, although those things are important, this is about helping and doing anything you can to help.”

Keshte was silent for a moment, but eventually nodded and moved back from the podium, giving the tailor room to speak.

Herukah promptly stood up, cracked her neck, took a deep breath and began her speech.

“LISTEN UP YOU KARSHETRE SCUM!” Herukah yelled with every bit of pent up rage she had left over from the slights of the day, causing practically every single person in the tent to jump with shock.

“Your leader has been trying to help you idiots for the last twenty minutes, and you can't even show the slightest bit of respect to the man who holds the whole organisation on his shoulders and saved every one of your asses about a hundred times each!”

“Look around you people, this place is a mess, there's wounded still out in the sun while space is being taken up by soap bars and mouldy flour and you lot are too busy arguing about it or feeling sorry for yourselves to actually rectify the issue!”

“And I get it, we are all tired and grieving our dead, and it feels right now that it's all over, that any moment the Earliag will come over the horizon and kill us all. But the thing is, we, all of us, have been doing this for a long time, and some of our older members might remember that this isn't the first time something like this has happened and none the less we came back stronger than ever.”

“You know why that is? It's because we, as a people, aren't individuals, we aren't divided like the Earliag or commanded like the slaves, we are a group of one mind and one goal, that is where our strength lies, the strength that puts us a step ahead of our enemies.”

“Right now, we are all hurting or trying not to think about the hurt, trying to remember or forget the people we lost, but right now we need to keep moving, and keep ourselves together or we will all be joining the departed.”

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“And keeping together means having a single set of orders and a single motivation, and I know some of you may doubt him, but there is no greater man for that purpose than Keshte.”

“Ultimately, whatever you believe is the best course of action, any decision is better than inconsistency and arguing, and as your leader, Keshte can provide consistency.”

A dead silence descended over the crowd as Herukah stepped down and the bald man stood up, sweat pouring down his face from nervousness.

Every set of eyes in the whole organisation was there, waiting, watching to see if the man could live up to his supporter’s claims.

“W-we, I mean, I…” he started, a sense of disappointment slowly settling in from the crowd at the lacklustre beginning.

Silently, Herukah desperately hoped that Keshte wouldn't waste the chance that was given and she knew even behind their mask, Detlashra was hoping the same.

Then, after a moment of excruciating delay, the leader took a deep breath as a new resolve washed over him, his face hardening as he began to rapid fire orders into the crowd.

Like a swarm of termites, the rebels got to work, shifting supplies and directing people and making plans, a scattered being made whole again.

Herukah stayed for a second at Keshte’s side, to be sure he would not falter, but once she was confident, she made for the crowd, intent on helping out.

She was, however, stopped by a heavy hand on her shoulder, a mask of stone coming to greet her face to face.

“Herukah, what you did was.”, Detlashra stopped to clear their throat, “What you did was very irresponsible, you shouldn't have to place yourself in a situation like that.”

The tailor in question interrupted, “Don't you dare try to give me a talk on responsibility, someone needed to do something, and nobody else was going to.” she harshly countered.

Uncharacteristically, Detlashra lowered their head and agreed.

“Yes, you're right, I misspoke. I meant to say that, as his second in command, it was my responsibility to help Keshte but I was unable to.”

It was only now that Herukah realised that the emotion that was hidden behind their mask of stone was not anger or entitlement, but shame.

“I'm sorry that you were the one who had to step up for us, that isnt your job and, I would like to know if you could… If you could teach me, and Keshte too, about how to be like that.”

The tailor stepped back in shock, unexpecting of such a raw and direct request from a man as enigmatic as Detlashra, but then she saw the request for what it was, an expression of trust and a grin that shone brighter than the rising sun took to her face.

“Oh Detlashra, why didn't you ask sooner!” she said joyfully, causing them to cringe and send her a death stare, “i'll gladly help you two out any time, but for now here's some quick pointers.”

“I could do what I did up there because I don't care what people think of me, half the time they will hate me for existing, so I've learned to stop thinking about it and let people make their own opinions. Now for you, public opinion is important and shouldnt be neglected the same way I do, but nonetheless, there are times to establish trust and there are times to establish authority, and in a position like yours, being able to make people follow your word is very important.”

“Really, the core of it is sometimes a situation demands that you truly give it your all, no fears about how you will be seen holding you back. For you, you possess a very quiet power, by nature you command respect, but that means when you try to become someone who stands out, you just don't have the reach, you're out of place.”

“Keshte is similar in a way, he's someone who naturally is meant to stay in the back, but he is being forced to the front and in all honesty, for who he is he is doing a truly admirable job.”

“But when you stop caring, give it your all, your natural position in life doesn't matter anymore and it becomes a matter of making sure people have no choice but to listen.”

Herukah giggled and shook her head, “ I won't give you a whole course here and now, you've got people to talk to and lead, and I imagine you would prefer this done in a place more private. But just think about what I said, and know that eventually, if you're between a struggle and a wall, you're gonna have to struggle through it anyway.”

Detlashra was silent for a moment, taking a deep breath then thanking her, before sneaking off into the crowd.

Now that he was gone, Herukah let down her cheery demeanour.

“This must have really gotten to him if he's asking me for help.”, she thought, Detlashra really wasn't the type to request things from others, even if he hadn't taken an oath to struggle alone in silence.

She took one final look around before ducking into a crowd, seeing the previous confusion on her colleagues faces turn to working determination as Keshte’s orders provided harmony to the chaos.

The others may be concerned, but Herukah had a good feeling that things were finally about to go their way.