A Leader's Duty

ch.9

Hours passed, the sun finally shining and the time for their doom came. Gempa gulped before entering the room, already expecting the worse.

"I see,"Kokoci sighed after hearing the report while Laksamana Tarung shook his head disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry, I will take any punishment you give me, but please spare the rest. I was to blame for not being able to lead them properly,"Gempa bowed and ignored Blaze's protest.

"Wha- no! You can't do that!"Blaze exclaimed. "I'm the one who caused the guards to notice us in the first place!"

"Even so, as a leader he has his own duty,"Laksamana said firmly while Kokoci stayed silence with discomfort clearly placed on his face.

"But-"Blaze was shushed by Laksamana's glare.

"All of you will be sent to a planet called Gevora to work on your skill as a team,"Laksamana said, his eyes challenged Blaze to protest but he surprisingly stayed silent. "You'll have two weeks to do so and afterward be given another chance in a mission. If you happen to fail again, then we won't have another choice but to sent you back to the acedemy."

"Thank you,"Gempa bowed once again and was about to leave with the others when Kokoci called him. "Yes sir?"

"Do you know why we chose you to be the leader?"He asked.

"No.."Gempa said in a low voice, the familiar feeling of failure once again spreading in his chest.

"We see your potential,"He smiled soothingly. "You may lack in some criteria, but your sense of responsibility and personality is suiting that of a leader. And that is why we assign you as the leader of this team. Don't think that you are incompetent of doing so because of a mistake or failed mission. This is your first time so of course you will do mistakes and I must say that your team is not the easiest to handle either." He sweatdropped at his last sentence.

Gempa's eyes widen in surprise and couldn't hold back a smile. He didn't believe to be suitable for this position, yet a commander had acknowledged him. How can he not be happy?

"Indeed,"Laksamana nodded in agreement. "We were wondering who to be in charge of this chaotic team and you were recommended to us." He smiled nicely for once. "I'm sure they would love to see you become a great leader."

His happiness was now mixed with curiosity. "Someone recommended me to you?"

"Yes,"Kokoci replied and gestured at the door. "Well, the ship's waiting."

"Ah- right,"He bowed for the last time before leaving.

"What did they say to you?" Taufan said as they sat at the said spaceship that would bring them to the assigned planet.

"Did they gave you a seperated punishment!??"Blaze asked, ready to file a complain for Tapops.

"No, don't worry,"Gempa smiled genuinely. "They just wanted to talk."

"About wha-" Taufan's words was cut off when they landed.

"Time to go."

○○○

"Mop mop!"The pilot wished them goodluck in their own alien language before leaving.

"Well,"Taufan said into the now sudden akward silent. "Let's find a nice place for our camp?"

Everyone agreed and they walked through the dense forest until they found a somewhat nice place to built theur camp where they would stay during the two weeks.

"This forest sure is huge,"Taufan said and tried to see the blue sky but his sight was covered by leaves. "I can't even see the sky!"

"I could burn it for you?"Blaze offered which Taufan immediately declined.

"Maybe try not to use your power? Forest are highly flameable.."Taufan tried to be as nice as possible and doing his best not to shiver at the imagination.

"No promises!"Blaze grinned at Taufan's horrified expression. "Just kidding dude."

"Thank god!"Taufan sighed in relief. "You just gave me a heart attack!"

"Hehe~"Blaze giggled while Taufan shook his head.

"By the way, where's Thorn and Halilintar?"Taufan said as he realized their missing presence, though he might aswell take back the second name.

"Thorn went to find a water source with Gempa while Halilintar is making sure that there is no wild animals around our camp by Gempa's order,"Solar reported.

"Eh? That guy actually listened to Gempa?"Taufan asked with doubt.

Solar shrugged and continued to build their camp with Ice who seemed like he had been forced to do so.

"Lazy polarbear,"Blaze shook his head before joining them, knowing that his twin was having a terrible time and doing a bad job.

"Wait-! I'm helping too!"Taufan giggled and joined them.

In the meantime Halilintar had already joined Gempa and Thorn since he was done with his task and had also found a water source while doing so.

"Thank you Halilintar!"Gempa thanked while Thorn filled their water bottle in the background.

"Mhm,"Halilintar hummed in respond. This time his hum seemed to be softer, but perhaps Gempa had just imagined it?

"There's also a big river not far from here,"Thorn said as his hands were carefully placed on the ground, eyes closed in concentration. "Maybe we could find some fishes there."

"Good. Then we won't have to worry about food then,"Gempa nodded approvingly. "Let's return to the camp, it's getting late."

The two agreed and walked back to the camp together. Just then a rustling noise caught Halilintar's attention and he quickly looked back, scanning for any enemy.

"Is something wrong?"Gempa asked, being just as confused as Thorn.

"No.."He replied, still feeling wary but he decided that he was just feeling too paranoid.

The other two looked at each other in confusion, but decided not to ask any further as Halilintar didn't seem to be in a good mood.

Little did they know that Halilintar's paranoid was indeed true as an unknown figure watched them from afar.

"The fun begins."

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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed ^^