Bayani Unmasked: A HENERAL LUNA & GOYO: Ang Batang Heneral One-shot collection

2. Living is Harder

Due to the trauma of everything that had happened up until this point, Goyo suffers from his visions; almost leading him to drown. A retelling of an iconic part of the movie from four different POVs.

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GENERAL GREGORIO "GOYO" DEL PILAR

Blood...

Since Kakarong de Sili, blood had been a sickening sight for Goyo. He hated it just as how much he hated the sight of wars and the sound of the sizzling bullets. But fate pushed him to be blinded and deafened by it. The trauma remained, and everything he had done will always haunt him.

Like those words of Manuel Bernal, mocking him.

"Tahol, Goyo. Tahol."

He closed his eyes, shaking his head to remove the memory. The more he suppressed them, the clearer they became. The more he wanted to forget, the more it was imprinted.

An eagle screeched, causing him to open his eyes in shocked. Lifting his head, he realized that it had been midday. And when he tried to sit up, he grunted in pain instead. Something stopped his movements just as he felt cold hands closing around his ankles, dragging him down. He tried to swat the hands, but his hands won't even reached them; instead, his hands reached out for his face, meeting the skin of his neck and feeling them wet with hot blood.

His chest heaved. He wanted to scream, but his throat felt tight. Blood bubbled from the open wound as he was left looking at the sight above, helplessly searching for that eagle. His mouth opened, desperate for the sound of his voice.

Desperate to breathe.

But instead of a shout. A howl—bark of a dog—escalated from deep down his throat.

It hurts... He thought as he closed his eyes instantly. Hands hopelessly clutching onto his chest; fingernails scratching his skin in an attempt to catch air. His hands flapped in the darkness, but the hands became stronger with pulling him down. And the second time that he opened his mouth, water rushed in.

He kicked the hands like some kid struggling to get away from bullies and to swim back to the surface. But even though the hands disappeared a second later, swimming to reach the surface seemed to be so far away.

"Goyong!" he heard his brother and his friends calling out for him. They helped him back to the shore, breathing heavily in panic.

Tears welled on his eyes as he stared at the ground beneath; him on his hands and knees, just as how a dog is, too different from an eagle which soars the sky with great freedom.

He was crying, when the realization hit him, "Kuya! Mamamatay ako!"

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COLONEL JULIAN DEL PILAR

When Goyo shook him awake in the middle of the night, he knew that there was something wrong. He tried reading the situation first—waiting for the distress if ever they were under attack—but there hadn't been any; just Goyo's soft-spoken voice as he was being distrub from his slumber. He knew at that moment on that something was troubling Goyo. And he didn't ask, knowing that his brother would not even say anything; instead, he allowed him with whatever plan that the younger del Pilar has.