All for us

"Tally! Open this door immediately!" The pounding was immense. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen her mother this upset. It sounded like she might crack the wood of her flimsy door. 

She hadn't moved since she flopped on her bed, and she had no intention to, no matter what her mother said. Arguing about the same thing over and over again was just exhausting. 

Of course she knew that not everything the military did was good, but there was always a good reason, she was sure of it. It seemed like the military was always conducting some kind of humanitarian mission, helping someone, doing good for their kind and humanity in general. They served and protected the people. It was brave. Heroic. 

She would give anything to wear the uniform. Anything to say the oath. 

It wasn't just the publicized missions that made her want to join. One witch in particular had her attention for as long as she could remember, and she admired her more than anyone.

General Sarah Alder. 

Her mother had forbidden her from keeping the poster of the General on her walls, stating 'She's a murderer and a criminal'. 

Of course she missed her aunts, and she knew there was no possible way for someone to be perfect, but everything she had heard about the General, not including anything from her mother, was only ever that she was the hero. She was strong and courageous, and more than that, she cared about her soldiers, she cared about her witches. 

It wasn't just her legendary personality attributes that she was obsessed with either. She had never and would never tell a living soul, but the general was pretty easy on the eyes. Those eyes. Those cheekbones. Holy shit. She could stare at her for hours. 

Which...maybe was why her mom wouldn't let her have that poster. 

Regardless, she would give her left arm to have a single conversation with the General. Not her right, because she would need that to shake her strong hands. 

Was her skin soft or would her hands be rough from still doing the hard work? 

Tally lay on her bed contemplating that particular issue, not even realizing her mother had stopped pounding on the door. 

Tomorrow she would say the oath, and next week she would be in Fort Salem. She couldn't wait. 

One week later: 

The stack of folders on her desk was smaller this year. There were only maybe 300, if that, thin manila envelopes neatly stacked in several boxes on her desk. 

The last few hours had been filled with just pawing over each cadet's file. She had made it through every box, but there was one file left. It didn't belong to any box. It was special. 

Cracking the seal on it, she delicately pulled out the papers within. A photo of a smiling redheaded girl was paperclipped to the front page. 

Name: -Tally Craven- 

She flipped through the pages, careful to read every word of it. The name was familiar and as she kept reading she found out why. The girl had four aunts that had died in recent years. That's why she was holding her file in her hands. 

The girl's mother had filed for an exemption from the mandate. It was uncommon, but it had been approved. Still she held her file, reviewing the details of a witch who had been at the point of choosing her own path, not bound to the militaristic life she herself knew, and yet she chose to say the words regardless. 

Without tearing her eyes away from the papers, she lifted her glass of whiskey to her lips, tasting just a small mouthful of the amber liquid on her tongue. 

No matriline was unimportant, but the girl's was significantly less significant than most. Each had their own strengths and weaknesses, but at this point the army needed every witch they could get regardless of skill. 

They would all benefit from this one witch's bravery and maybe it would rub off on others. 

It wasn't often that a dispensation was offered and even less common that it would then be rejected. This girl had nerve, dignity, and perhaps some sense of honor. She could tell these things even though she had never met her. 

If she was wrong about those qualities then she didn't know what kind of person had the audacity to turn down a get out of jail free card. She did know she would love to meet her though, just to find out. She almost felt like she needed to, to be able to learn how someone so young could choose this life despite being free from it. 

She sipped on her whiskey, finishing it off and flipping back to the first page with the photo. The girl had such soft brown eyes and her smile positively glowed right off the paper it was printed on. 

"Who are you, Tally Craven?"

Two days later:

Practically drooling, she watched the General's every move, every wave of her hands, and she soaked up every consonant, every vocalized vowel that left her commanding mouth as her hero stood on the stage at the front of the auditorium. She stomped her feet ecstatically whenever the pause in the General's glorious speech demanded it. This was too good to be true. She couldn't believe it. Through the course of the hour-long introduction she surely had pinched herself at least twice to confirm that she wasn't dreaming. But it felt like a dream. 

By the time the speech was over, she had goosebumps and she was having dangerous thoughts, thinking she wanted to try to meet the general, today, right now. 

Her eyes never left the General and her breath caught in her throat as she watched her move through the crowd to stand by the exit, actually engaging with cadets as they left the room. This was a dream come true. 

People began filing out, each shaking the General's hand as they exited. It took a long time, but it just showed that the General actually did have some amount of interest in welcoming new witches to this place and it wasn't all just fancy words. 

As she got closer, she was positively shaking with anticipation. The narrator in her head was telling her to relax, be chill, calm down and not embarrass herself on day one, but she knew herself. Deep down she knew that she was who she was and she was likely going to make a fool of herself. It's just a handshake. That's all. 

Only a few people ahead of her. Glancing around, she wondered if anyone else was as nervous to be actually meeting the General as she was. The girl behind her looked entirely disinterested. 

She had soft features, dark almost black hair against pale white skin, reminding Tally of a certain fairy tale princess. "Can you believe we actually get to meet her?!" Tally couldn't help herself, her excitement overflowed into nervous talking. As per usual. 

The girl shrugged. "Eh. The idea is to not stand out, I just want it over with." 

Tally wasn't sure why that shook her. How could anyone not be thrilled to even be in the presence of this magnificent witch? Especially after that speech, damn! "Oh. I guess. But standing out in a good way could help you get promoted faster." 

Again another shrug but accompanied by a sigh this time. "I guess I just don't care about that." 

Okay, she was flabbergasted now. This conversation was over. "Right. I hope it is over swiftly for you then," She turned around again, she was next. 

The smile on the General's face seemed genuine. Her eyes were a bright blue that rivaled the sky on the clearest day. 

It was her turn. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and stepped forward tentatively. But of course, it couldn't go without a hitch. One of her boots had come untied from all of the enthusiastic stomping during the speech and she tripped, stumbling forward. Goddess protect. 

Steady arms caught her by the shoulders and she looked up to be staring into those brilliant blues. "Steady Craven." 

Did she just say my name? 

"Cadet Craven, are you alright?" came that voice again. She blinked and tried to gather herself to stand at attention. 

"Yes ma'am, forgive me, ma'am," She said stiffly. "You know my name?" That was not meant to be spoken out loud. 

"I like to make an effort to know my comrades in arms. That surprises you?" 

Under General Alder's gaze, she was absolutely burning up. This couldn't be worse or more uncomfortable, even if she tried. "No-no of course not, I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't, I'm sorry, uh- it was a very nice speech you gave."  

The girl and a few others behind her tried but failed to stifle their laughter. 

Tally knew her face had to be the brightest red by now, she turned to leave quickly to spare herself any further torment but she felt the General's hand on her shoulder again, freezing her where she stood. 

General Alder tilted her head and smiled. She is gorgeous. "Not going to accept my personal welcome to Fort Salem?" Her voice was steady but in her question there was a softness. 

Tally shifted uncomfortably. "Well no, of course I was but I-," She glanced briefly at the witch behind her. She looked so smug or something else, but her brain didn't have a chance to reach a conclusion. 

"Pay them no mind, Tally Craven," The General's intoxicating deep voice brought Tally's attention back to her face. "And there is no need to apologize for anything. I see you, even if they do not. They do not understand the bravery, the sacrifice, and the strength of character that it took for you to be standing here today among them. For that, they should be grateful. For that, I am grateful and truly honored to be in your presence. I know you will do great things here," She extended her hand and Tally just looked at it like she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She couldn't believe this was happening. Finally. 

She took her hand and shook it professionally. Her skin is so soft. 

"Welcome to Fort Salem, Tally Craven, I am proud of you, I have no doubt we will cross paths again," Alder smiled at her and Tally was hypnotized. 

"Thank you, General, I hope so," She had to pull herself together. She smiled and released her hand. "Have a good day." 

General Alder tilted her head again with a slight raise of her eyebrow, a mild look of confusion gracing her features. After a beat she nodded. "You as well, Cadet Craven." 

Have a good day?! What was she thinking? She could have come up with something better. 

Thankfully now she was in the fresh air and maybe the sea of people that still had to meet that amazing woman would erase that experience from the General's memory. 

Could she be more embarrassing? She prayed she would be forgotten swiftly. 

The girl didn't turn around, but even as she walked away and disappeared into the crowd of cadets, Sarah found herself following after her with her eyes. It wasn't a common occurrence these days that a first impression surprised her. After 300 years, people were boring to her. Of course they were all different, but really they were all the same: very easy to read. Tally was and she wasn't at the same time, which was refreshing. The poor thing had tripped and stuttered around, but even still, she could tell there was something about her. She hadn't played herself off as braver than she was, not like some of the other cadets did. They would puff up their chests and strut around like they had any clue in the world what they were doing here. Craven had not pretended to be anything she wasn't. As clumsy as she apparently was, Sarah was impressed and intrigued to say the least, even though their total interaction clocked in at a minute or less. Hopefully her training would work the clumsiness out of her and she would be left as a model soldier. 

"General…Sarah...earth to Sarah…what's wrong with you? Pay attention!" her oldest biddy, Amanda, spoke firmly through their link. The urgency of her words brought her back to the moment. She briefly glanced over at the elderly woman who stood beside her and met her curious, confused eyes. 

"Apologies, I was just…thinking," she silently replied, returning her gaze to the next cadet in front of her with a polite smile. This was the one who laughed at Craven for tripping. Reflexively she clenched her teeth barely able to force out a welcome. She couldn't remember her name, but she knew she wouldn't forget her face so quickly. 

"Never could have guessed that, General, it's not like we can feel your thoughts or anything like that," another biddy, Helena quipped and Sarah heard the slight sarcasm in her words, and worse what followed was suppressed giggling from two other biddies. She knew Helena to be less mature than her compatriots and often was not the best influence. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked with an internal sigh, her eyes fixed on the next cadet as she welcomed her.

"Nothing, ma'am," Helena responded but that wasn't good enough. Sarah glanced over her shoulder, giving her a warning look. "My apologies, ma'am." she continued, but Sarah wasn't quite certain she meant it.

When the last cadet was through, Raylla Collins or something like that. Admittedly, she couldn't remember even though it had been only seconds since the biddies had reminded her. The cadet either didn't notice or didn't care, which was good for her. She was relieved to finally be done. 

It was probably nothing but after Craven, the rest of the event was a blur, she couldn't recall a single other cadet's name after that point.

Brushing that feeling off, she felt the beginnings of ache in her feet from the prolonged standing. She couldn't wait to be in her office and sipping on a glass of her best whiskey.

Finally she exited the hall followed by her biddies and they made their way to the administration building. It was a beautiful day outside and if she didn't have more paperwork waiting for her, she would have liked to take a longer walk across the base. Alas it was only a short distance further before they would be back inside. As they made a turn toward the building, she caught sight of the familiar red hair out of the corner of her eye. She gave her only a quick glance and a nod, and the girl froze where she stood, nodding her head only slightly. Without stopping, she and her biddies continued inside the building. 

She didn't truly think that much of it, but seeing her again did bring her back to their initial meeting. The more she thought about it, she had high hopes for the girl and she would have to keep an eye on her progress.  

"Sounds like special treatment," Sarah heard in the back of her mind. Sometimes, on rare occasions when she was distracted in her own thoughts, she forgot that she shared her mind with seven others. She didn't turn around and kept walking.

"Care to tell me what that was supposed to mean, Christina?" she asked, underlining the question with an accusing tone in her voice.

"Oh, nothing I mean, I'm just saying," her biddy, April, said as if Sarah was supposed to understand what that meant.

"Just saying what, exactly?" She was getting gradually more irritated by all of them with each passing moment. She was tired and no longer in the mood, but clearly they couldn't help themselves. 

"Oh you know, it's just that we know you, and you don't usually pay any attention to the new recruits beyond the obligatory speech, let alone focusing so intently on one in particular," said Christina and practically the instant the thought left her and flowed to Sarah, the General halted without warning, causing her as well as the other biddies to bump into her back. They hurriedly shuffled back a step as she turned around to address them out loud.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked, paying particular attention to Christina. 

"Sarah seriously, that hurt! We may not be older than you, but we sure feel like it!" Amanda said stiffly, rubbing her arm. The rest stayed silent, she was the only one who dared to speak to Sarah like that.

Sarah sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "You're right, I apologize but I still want to know what you mean," she felt slightly guilty, annoyed, and curious at the same time.

"Nothing, the cadet is clearly special, that's all, you seemed to have already taken a liking to her," Amanda explained on Christina's behalf.

"I like all of my cadets," She retorted immediately with a roll of her eyes.

She watched the biddies exchange a glance between them all and she narrowed her eyes, silently expecting a further explanation. 

"Yes…but well, you were more touchy feely with this one, were you not?"

Scoffing, she threw her hands up. "She tripped and fell into me! What would you have had me do?! Let her fall to the ground in front of all of her peers?! We were lucky enough to have her here, she just as well could have chosen to do something else with her life. I was not about to let her humiliate herself for no good reason," Sarah explained sharply. "It was the least I could do." 

"Please, General, it wasn't just that. You said her full name like five times, nothing about what you did or said was the 'least you could do'," One of her more sassy biddies, Holly, piped up, and the rest of them started giggling. "I mean you could have helped her find her footing, shake her hand and send her on her way, but we were all there for your conversation, “'I am grateful and truly honored to be in your presence, Tally Craven, I know you will do great things here’," She imitated her. "'I am so proud of you, Tally Craven, I have no doubt we will cross paths again'," The way she emphasized different words could have made the whole thing highly suggestive and Sarah was beside herself. The audacity of these women sometimes, and even still they continued. "How many others did you speak to like that, and then continue thinking about. We all know the answer is none," Holly crossed her arms and looked pretty smug while the rest of them giggled or nodded in agreement.

"Not to mention we saw you nod at her. Literally just now. You are sneaky, but not that sneaky," Helena joined in too. Goddess protect her. This was just too much. 

"Enough!" Sarah finally snapped, glaring at them dangerously. "I will not entertain this slanderous talk any longer, it is wildly inappropriate." 

"She is into you though, she has to be," Helena added. "I mean did you see how red her face was and how she was looking at you, goddess," She fanned her face and Sarah was on the verge of losing her cool completely. 

What part of 'Enough' didn't they understand? This was not a conversation she wanted to have in the hallway where anyone could potentially hear them, so she turned around to keep walking, only responding through their link. "She certainly is not, but even if she is, she would not be the first, nor the last. Regardless, that does not change how inappropriate this conversation is, and I expect better from you all," she tried to scold them again but they apparently were beyond listening to her and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Okay, our apologies. It has been a long day. We were just joking around. You're right she isn't, and you wouldn't want her to be. We, all seven of us, were all, collectively, seeing something that wasn't really there." Holly finally was the one to concede, though Sarah knew very well that she was being less than genuine. 

"That's right, there was nothing to see. I do not like her in any way, professional or otherwise, and that is the end of it," Sarah sighed in relief.

"Yes, we were mistaken." Amanda jumped in as well, surely they could all sense her frustration and they were finally reacting to it. 

"Exactly, you are sorely mistaken and now please stop with this nonsense, and do not bring it up again," Some of them were giggling again but she ignored it. She headed towards her office while thinking about their words. They were all children, even if they looked old, and every now and again they would act like it. Shaking her head as she finally was able to sit down at her desk and rest her feet, that was some of the most ridiculous talk she had heard in a very long time.

The emotions Tally walked away with confused her. Disbelief being the primary state of her mind. She had met her idol, shook her hand and actually exchanged words. A dream came true. It didn’t go like she planned, because of course she couldn’t just be normal, but still, could it have been better? The General, of the whole army, knew her name. Not just her last name, her first name too, and she said it out loud not once, but twice at least. And she smiled at her. Definitely much better than she had ever imagined. Was her life complete now? There was nothing else she needed after hearing her say her name and seeing her smile. If she did nothing else in her whole life, she would be okay because just that small interaction had her on such a high.

So much so that she hadn’t given any thought to the direction she was going and ended up walking in the opposite direction of her barracks. It was fine, she would find her way around eventually. Admin was not that far away from where she was supposed to be, but when she turned around, she heard the distinct collective footsteps on the pavement of the General and her biddies. 

Her feet stopped and her breath caught in her throat as she watched them walk by. She would have sworn she made eye contact with the General, but the nod she gave was in her head right? The General hadn't nodded at her in particular had she? Turning around, there was no one behind her. Goddess the General had been looking at her. 

They didn't stop, they just kept walking, but Tally didn't move nor release her breath until the door to the building shut behind them all. 

After a brief moment to recollect herself and her thoughts, she strolled off toward hopefully where her barracks actually were. 

Thankfully she finally found it and judging by the voices, her unit mates were already there. 

Who she presumed were her two unit mates were already there, getting settled in. Pushing the door open tentatively, she hadn't known what to expect but from first looks they both looked like nice people. 

When the taller one with brunette hair heard the door creak open, she looked up from her bags and her eyes widened. “Oh my goodness, it's her!" 

"Huh?" Tally cocked her head to the side. 

A blonde haired girl poked her head out from the bottom bunk and smirked. "You’re the one who tripped into the General. How did she not send you packing right there?" 

The brunette scoffed and looked her up and down. "You've got balls. I don’t know if I could have shown my face here ever again. That might have been enough to turn me into a dodger and run away from here." 

Tally shifted between her feet and laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah well, she said I didn't need to worry, she was pretty sweet about it actually." 

The other two went slack jawed. "You didn't just call the General 'sweet' did you? On day one?" The taller one looked as though she was questioning everything. 

There goes her face burning up again. "Uh well-maybe sweet wasn't right? Nice? Pleasant? Generally not awful?" She sighed in defeat when neither of them seemed to accept her response. "So, my name is Tally, and you are?" She tried to change the subject. 

"Leaving," The taller one looked disgusted and pushed past her, leaving the room and slamming the door behind her. 

"Oh- yeah we can catch up later, I guess," Tally mumbled. 

By now the blonde had rolled out of the bed and was standing in front of her. "Don't worry about her, Tally, her attitude will be the end of her. Miss goodie-two-shoes Abigail Bellweather, thinks, since she's a high Atlantic - that she knows everything and is better than everyone so don't take it personally," She explained. "I'm Raelle, by the way," she outstretched her hand and Tally shook it gently. 

"Nice to meet you, finally, I can't believe this is real," Tally said in awe, side stepping her so she could see the rest of the room before she threw her stuff on the top bunk. 

"Believe it, we are now slaves stuck in this hell hole," Raelle muttered ruefully behind her. 

She turned on her quizzically. "You're not excited to learn some workings and do some good?" 

Raelle rolled her eyes. "I don't know what it is you think we are going to do here, but it isn't all going to be roses and butterflies, so no…I'm not excited." 

"But the General's speech was so inspiring," Tally thought back to earlier with a sigh.

"Push. Bullshit. Lots of fancy words don't make us the good guys, Tally," Raelle crawled back into her bunk. "You'll see soon enough I'm sure. Even the General is not the hero you think she is." 

Tally didn't respond, instead she just climbed up into her bed to start unpacking. 

This wasn't what she was expecting from her unit, that's for sure, but maybe it would come in time. It couldn't have been a total mistake to be here, right? 

The next few days were filled with more of the same growing pains that came with being stuck twenty-four-seven with new people, but slowly they were getting to know each other. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. 

In the back of her mind though, she wished she could speak to the General again. There was no reason to, and surely they didn't have much to talk about, but still. To be in her presence again was her new life's dream, having since accomplished her previous dream of just meeting her. 

Three Days later

Sarah sat at her desk, alone in her office with just a mostly empty glass of whiskey and a dying fire to keep her company. It had gotten quite late and the sun had set hours ago. She wasn't in the mood to retire just yet. A restlessness had settled into her bones and kept her awake.

The day had been more stressful than most due to the number of meetings she had and then there was the task of sorting through the individual files of the newest cadets. Again.

She could have easily left that to the biddies but she had dismissed them already to give herself some marginal peace of mind. 

Sorting paperwork or simple things like that had always calmed her down in a way, so it was not a dreadful task. Her biddies had questioned her need to go through them again, but she insisted that once more through would assure her she hadn't missed anything important worth knowing.

She took the final large sip of the whiskey that she'd currently been holding and came across the next file. The attached photo showed the familiar beautiful young woman with red hair and charming dimples. 

Sarah couldn't help herself and smiled as soon as she spotted it. It was only her in the office after all, and she knew her biddies were sleeping. There would be no teasing over this.

Realization dawned on her as she held the photo, that cadets weren't allowed to smile in these pictures. She had been either too focused or too distracted the other day to realize that fact, but in the quiet of her office now, she chuckled to herself. 

Sarah wasn't surprised that this particular cadet had gotten away with it. She knew they had barely spoken more than a few words, hell, she herself had done most of the talking and perhaps she was overthinking it, but she felt like she somehow knew this woman. Everything she knew about her came from the file in her hands, and yet the details struck a chord with her. There was something intangibly familiar about her, something that she could not quite place in the girl's eyes here in the photo, but it was there in person too. 

In any case, as she managed to put the photo down she decided that either she had smiled and the officer who took it hadn't noticed or cared, or the officer did notice and had been persuaded by those very…cute…dimples to keep it just like this. 

"Tally Craven," Sarah sighed, and shook her head. 

Why was she so interested in this cadet? Why did this picture make her smile? None of the others had. Why was she staring at this photo for more than a minute now without reading any of what was written in the file? What exactly did her biddies see that made them behave so far out of line three days prior? 

She was more than grateful they hadn't mentioned Craven again since then, but she still didn't understand why they were so adamant about it in the first place. All she did was catch her when she almost fell to the ground and glance at her in passing. Those aren't crimes. She would know. Were good deeds forbidden now? Or perhaps they were just beneath her in their eyes? She was the General afterall, but for goodness sake, she drew the line at intentionally allowing a new recruit to embarrass themselves. 

Regardless of all the questions, Sarah wanted to know more about her and it was strictly professional, nothing more.

The days passed quickly, none of them had a chance to catch their breath, let alone have time to let their minds wander beyond the confines of their training. There was something nice about that though. After a week, the three of them were finally starting to get along, at least from Tally's perspective that was. 

Training together, classes together, breakfast, lunch and dinner together, the only time she had to herself was when she closed her eyes at the end of the day. Even now they sat together outside on the quad lawn between the administration building and the barracks. The breeze was cool, the sun was warm on her face, and the grass was soft under her. Anyone who wasn't in class was surely outside, it was gorgeous. 

"So I think our first time trying to wind strike went well," Tally broke the silence as she dug into her sandwich. 

Abigail was laying on her side toying boredly with some grass in her hands. "Yeah I guess…at least you didn't fall over this time." 

Tally glanced at Raelle who was laying sprawled out on her back with her eyes closed. "Yeah well, we're all still learning, at least we are getting better, right?" 

Abigail flicked a small rock away from her with a scoff. "If you say so, but we are behind in points and if we don't get it together, it doesn't matter if we're 'getting better'. You wanted to go to the pageant right, you were so excited when they announced it." 

Tally nodded. She needed to go to the pageant. She couldn’t imagine living with not going. The events, the fanfare, the historic reenactments. 

“Right, so it’s not enough to be ‘getting better’, we need to be the best!” Abigail nudged Raelle with her foot making the blonde grumble and squint over at them. "Did you hear that? We need to get our heads in the game, meaning you, too." 

"Mhmm. Sure sure. Together. Rah rah rah," The blonde raised her fist half-heartedly. 

Tally stifled a chuckle but turned away when she heard the familiar voices and footsteps on the walkway behind them. She shouldn't. But what came to mind when she glanced over at the group of witches was that she wanted to speak to her again. 

"You too, Tally, whatever that is, you need to get your head into the training," Abigail said over her shoulder but Tally wasn't really listening. 

She nodded but didn't look back at her. "Yeah, in the game, will do, I'll be right back," Before she could stop herself, she was on her feet and walking on an interception course with the General. 

"Wait where are you-," Abigail tried but Tally got out of earshot after a few steps. 

The General's words had remained with her, bouncing around her head. She used them every day so far. The General herself told her she was brave, and those words made her believe it. They made her feel stronger than she knew she was, but she thought it helped her, and she hadn't really thanked her. The past few days she had been thinking about it, and this was her chance. 

So there Alder was, purpose clear in her pace, but that didn’t deter Tally from her course. This may be her only opportunity for a while, she had no idea when she would get another chance. Certainly she wasn’t going to go to her office for something so trivial, but if she ‘ran into her’ only for a minute while she was outside, then surely it would be okay. 

Abigail’s little comment nudged her brain and urged her to turn around but when she caught the General’s eyes from afar and noticed a warm smile grace her face, she knew she made the right decision. Besides, it was genuinely important for her to express her gratitude, why wouldn’t the General appreciate it?

Her unit mates would see and she knew they would have things to say to her about it later, but oh well.

"Hello General," Tally said and stood at attention, right in the General’s path. She forgot how blue Alder's eyes were from this close.  

Sarah just finished a conversation with her daughter Anacostia. She wanted to know how the new Cadets had settled in their first few days and to see how she herself was doing in her position as drill sergeant this year. They barely saw each other whenever basic started anew but they both made an effort to see each other whenever they could.

“Thank you for updating me, keep up the good work,” Sarah said with a nod as she opened the door to her daughter's office and stepped into the hallway where her biddies were standing in a straight line, patiently waiting for her.

“Of course. Yes, thank you for stopping by, General,” Anacostia replied with a curt nod. Sarah put her hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently before leaving.

On her way back to the administration building, Sarah contemplated the report Anacostia had given her when she spotted the army's newest addition of soldiers sitting on the freshly mowed lawn. It was a nice day today so it had been no surprise to see them outside, enjoying the sun and fresh air. No weatherwork today, it seemed. 

What kind of coincidence was it, that a certain redheaded Cadet was currently walking toward her because only minutes ago, her and Anacostia had discussed this cadet and her unit in particular. What her daughter noted from only a few days of training was good. Although they had their differences, Craven, Collar, and Bellweather had gotten in sync quickly and seemed to work well as a team. There was room for improvement but that wasn’t unusual, Sarah thought to herself. A slight smile crept up her face when she saw Craven head in her direction.

“What’cha thinkin?” Sarah heard the voice of her youngest Biddy, Lisa, in her head. She was up to no good, judging by the tone of her voice. Not her getting involved in this too, Sarah thought to herself. Lisa was usually so quiet and calm, but the others were a bad influence the other day with this utter nonsense. Her biddy didn’t have to ask anything more specific than that, her tone said it all. 

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked, preparing for an unsatisfying answer. She thought she made it quite clear for them to stop bringing this up, apparently not clear enough.

Continuing to walk while she waited for an answer from the youngest, Sarah shot the young cadet a well hidden glance and smile without her own brain's permission, hoping no one would see. She had forgotten how beautiful she was, but of course many of the young women here were beautiful.

“Not so hidden, you know that right?” Danica pointed out, unceremoniously derailing her thoughts, and opening the door for further comment from the others. 

“I mean she is pretty, no argument there,” Selina added as well and Sarah could hear all of the others giggling. So not one of them wasn’t going to be involved in this. The other day it was her usual troublemakers, but these three were still new and had until about now stayed in line. The general rolled her eyes in pure annoyance.

And what did Craven want? she asked herself. The Cadet was heading directly at her and stopped right in front of her. Sarah didn’t need this right now, it would only encourage them.

“Quiet!” She commanded the seven women who were currently driving her mad. They were discussing amongst themselves, accusations and wild theories, but they were not making any effort at all to keep them from her. There was no way she would accept this kind of behavior from them any longer but she also couldn’t reprimand them at the moment. Not here in the open. Not now when Cadet Craven was here. She only heard a “So sorry!” before it became quiet in the back of her mind, just as Sarah came to a halt in front of the cadet.

“Hello General,” Craven said and stood at attention before her.

"At ease, Cadet Craven. What can I do for you?" Sarah asked, it wasn’t that she didn’t have time, but this had to be quick so her biddies wouldn’t annoy her even more.

"I'm sorry to bother you, General! I just saw you and wanted to speak with you for a moment,” Tally spoke formally, her hands held behind her back and her shoulders rolled back. 

Sarah glanced at her up and down. “I am quite busy, cadet. Make an appointment with my administrative assistant,” That oughta shut her biddies up, she thought. 

The cadet’s eyes widened but just as quickly, she nodded and stood at attention again. “Of course. Yes ma’am, my apologies ma’am,” Her voice had lost some of its energetic tone. 

“Wow, so nice of you, Sarah,” Danica scoffed bitterly through their link.

“What are you doing?! We all know you have nothing to do right now!” Christina stated upsettingly. 

“That was cold, even for you,” Amanda muttered telepathically, and Sarah could feel the rest of them were disgruntled as well. 

She didn’t bother responding to her biddies complaints though, she focused on Tally. “I look forward to having a meeting with you when you get it scheduled, Cadet." 

The girl just looked at her stoically, apparently not affected by the statement. “No need. I just wanted to thank you, that's all, but I will not waste anymore of your time, General.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet of her,” Selina hummed. 

"Thank me?" Sarah repeated, confused because Craven already thanked her. “There is no need to thank me, Cadet. I wasn’t going to let you fall to the ground when I could have prevented it.”

The cadet shook her head quickly. “No, no, sorry, that’s not…no. I should’ve expressed myself more clearly. General, I don’t want to steal too much of your time but I really wanted to thank you for the things you said. The things you said about me or about my character, that I am brave for saying the words when I didn’t have to. I did not and still don’t regret my decision to come here whatsoever, but what you said really resonated with me and showed me that I made the right decision,” Cadet Craven said, a proud grateful smile on her face, Sarah couldn’t help but smile back.

"Oh,” This was one of those rare occasions where she didn’t know what to say. “Thank you, Craven, I appreciate it but there is still no need to thank me, even for that. I meant every word I said and I have the utmost respect for you,” Sarah explained. It was such a brave thing to do in the first place, and then again to have the audacity to approach her, Tally had nerve, that much was clear.

"Thank you ma'am, that means a lot to me. I have immense respect for you, too. I mean, obviously," the young woman said with a nervous smile and Sarah had to be careful not to chuckle at this, her rambling was quite endearing. "-Uhm yes, well, anyway, I'm sorry for taking so much of your time, I’m sorry again!"

Sarah nodded. "Thank you as well and you’re welcome but you are right, I do have some things to attend to so if you'll excuse me then, Cadet," Sarah said politely, but perhaps a little too firm judging by the look on Craven's face. She seemed confused but Sarah was not about to ask why. It was sweet of her to thank her but that didn't mean they had to talk about it more.

"Y-Yes of course, have a nice day, general!" The young woman said as she stepped aside to let her pass and smiled at her, the dimples prominently on display made Sarah smile back once more. Why must they be so infectious?

"I appreciate that, I wish you the same," She said and continued toward the administration building at last.

“I do not want to hear one word out of any of you. We will be having a long conversation about this later!” Sarah growled to her biddies and for once no one was talking back to her.

Across the courtyard, unbeknownst to them both, they were being observed intently. 

A few minutes prior:

There she was just shy of a week on base, sitting in the shade leaning against a tree, notebook and pencil in hand. Her contempt for the army and her boredom were already at their peak and she had nothing better to do than sporadically doodle amidst watching the rest of her class. It was somewhere between amusing and annoying; watching all of these witches enjoying themselves, bonding with their units or whatever. Ugh. She had no idea where her own unit was. She didn’t care. Solitude suited her fine. 

Most of the witches were coming and going, walking to and from their classes, but she paid them little mind. Her attention was on the ones that were lingering in the yard. There were a few groups here and there, sitting or standing, generally being happy. One group of three cadets were sprawled out on the opposite of the field. Looking closely, she recognized one of them immediately. The red hair sparked her memory. It was the girl who stood in front of her after the induction speech. The one who tripped onto the General. She chuckled out loud to herself.

What was her name? She tapped her pencil against her notebook, as if the action would help her remember. Curse her for being too amused and not paying attention. It was Tally Craves- or something. Either way, her interaction with the General was intriguing. It was obvious from the second that girl turned around to talk to her in line. Tally’s excitement was written all over her face and she could hear it in her voice. It was gross. It couldn’t have been more clear that she had a crush on the General. But what was more interesting, now that she thought about it, was that the General hadn’t spent nearly as much time on introductions with anyone else. 

She shrugged it off, it probably didn’t mean anything. “Now who are your unit mates, Red?” She muttered out loud as she gazed over the brown-haired girl sitting next to Tally. When the girl turned, she recognized her easily as a Bellweather. Poor Tally, she thought. 

She couldn’t quite see the third girl who was laying completely spread out in the grass. She didn’t care that much but hopefully whoever it was, she was nicer than the Bellweather chick, because otherwise Tally would be in for a rough time here. 

The sound of synchronized footsteps took her attention away. The entourage of eight were walking through the quad. The General led the group of her biddies, clearly with an intended purpose and destination. Their pace was not leisurely, which made it all the more curious when all of the sudden the General’s march faltered but didn’t quite stop.

She missed nothing and quickly followed the General’s line of sight to one red-haired girl pushing herself off the ground and walking toward her. 

The third witch in Tally’s unit had sat up, apparently trying to stop the redhead. She couldn’t get a good look at her but didn’t pay her any mind, instead she was too focused on following Tally as she approached the General. “What are you up to?” She couldn't explain why, but she was mildly interested in what was going on.

This right now was the second time, to her knowledge, that they were interacting, which was weird. What reason could Tally possibly have? She herself wasn’t terribly supportive of the hierarchy or the army in general for that matter, but she also wasn’t here to make waves. The audacity this girl had to approach the General and interrupt whatever she was doing was beyond bold. 

The two of them gave each other a quick glance, followed by a fleeting smile and stopped in front of each other. What they were talking about she didn't know, she wasn't nearly close enough to hear them, but the way they looked at each other wasn't just "friendly." Or was she just imagining it? She wasn’t sure since she couldn’t quite see Tally’s face clearly. It didn't matter, she was already shipping them. Hard. 

As she leaned back against the tree again, grinning to herself, she recognized one of the girls from her own unit had come to sit a few feet away, and she too was staring at the redhead and the General. Glory was her name. Neither of them had made an effort to get to know the other thus far, as at first glance they didn’t have that much in common. However, if Glory was seeing what she herself was seeing, perhaps they did have something to talk about after all.

Maybe she wasn't the only one who thought there was some tension between the General and the Cadet. Perhaps she could talk to Glory about it, if it ever came up, of course. 

When Tally finally stepped aside and the General passed with her biddies, she looked down to her notebook again, quickly scribbling down a few thoughts her imagination had conjured regarding everything she had just witnessed.