60 Petty Feelings (1/2)

Rahul laughed out loud as he looked at my confused expression. ”You never even realized, did you. Well, not much of a shock there. You were always unexpectedly dense at different times.” He said and messed up my hair which were getting longer with time since it had been almost one and a half month since I last cut them. I wondered if there was a barber in this town was sold his/her services for crystals.

I felt my eye twitch as he continued to mess up my hair and I barked at him to stop and he laughed even more at me.

”Well, anyway. Now that you know that you've a talent with weapons, don't let it get to your pretty little head.” He said as he tried to reach my hair once more but a glare, promising death, stopped him from such notions and he took back his hands awkwardly and coughed a bit to cover up his awkwardness.

Then he became a bit serious and said. ”As I was saying. Just because you're a bit more talented than me doesn't mean much in the long run. Do you know why?”

”Why?” I asked.

”Because as you are now. You can not compare to me. Heck! I'm pretty sure Jasvinder and Gaurav can hand you your ass if you fight against them. But that's not the main point.”

”The main point is that there are hundreds, if not thousands of people in India alone who are strong enough to defeat me. And for every one of them, there's a dozen of so abnormals, mutant beasts or mutant trees than can chew me out just as easily.”

”So don't get cocky because of your talent. But don't sell it short either. Not many people are as talented as you at fighting. Use it as much as you can and hone yourself to become better than you are now. Do you understand?” he finished the last sentence as he looked at me.

”I understand.” I said and looked at him straight in the eyes.

After a long silence he finally nodded and went back to sit on his chair.

”So… You want me to go out and hunt on my own or…”

”No… no no. You are a prodigy at fighting but that doesn't mean that you can forget about the other aspects of life. Aspects that will help you greatly in this apocalyptic world.”

”Those those aspects are.”

”Camaraderie. First and foremost. No one can stand all alone all the time. No one is an island. We all need a comrade at one point or another.” He said.

”And?”

”And Leadership. Knowing how to lead people during these desperate times will always come in handy for you.”

”You said I will not. How will I learn leadership if I don't lead.”

”By following.” He said simply ”Before you learn how to lead. You must learn how to follow.”

”So you want me to join as a recruit.” I said more than asked.

”Exactly.” He replied with a smile.

”Jasvinder's?” I asked.

”No.” He replied. ”You'll join Gaurav's team as a new recruit. And not as my brother. But as yourself. Wear your mask all the time so that you don't get any special attention from other people and to make sure that you're treated equally.”

”I understand.” I said. ”Anything else?”

”Yes.” He said and took something out from under his desk and threw it at me.

I caught it and realized that it was a pouch. A pouch filled with crystals. I weighed it and realized that there were more than 50 crystals in there.

I looked at him and he just shrugged. ”You deserve it. After all the trouble you went through to search for the old man.”