The Ladder

When he heard of the first march, Kobi was sceptical. But then the voices kept growing. And they made him feel alive. For the first time in so long, hours of toiling, surviving day by day, he could literally feel hope brighten within him. And so he decided that these were brothers he would join, that this was a cause worth fighting for.

At first, the response from the authorities was little, before they soon became violent. But the more violence they rained on Kobi and his comrades, the bigger the movement grew. They were finally getting to the hearts and minds of the people. Even as forces tried to dissuade others from the movement with sneaky tactics.

You see, the first casualty in battle is always the truth. And so, a misinformation campaign was launched, a fight for the minds and souls. A battle for the control of the narrative.

While some got distracted, and others convinced to leave the cause, most remained against all odds, against a great deal of violence, abductions- the order of the day at this point. Some never to be seen ever again.

There are two proven ways to take something from someone, you either convince or manipulate them so they can give it willingly or use force and violence. Manipulation had failed.

In Machiavelli’s book The Prince, he advised would-be rulers to always choose fear over love. Fear, he believed, was a more effective tool for control. He recommended the use of brutal means by men the ruler trusted who would later be sacrificed (even killed) in order to appease and gain favour from the people once the objective of instilling fear was achieved.

It was said that the great warriors of before, the Mau Mau, never allowed a man who had been captured by the enemies back into the fold, back into the forest. One, because they could have been turned, obviously. But more so, because they would divert the attention of the other soldiers, who would want to hear stories, who would want to know what happened.

Was the oppressor merciful? And what did he do to you? And as these stories were told, some would take a liking to their oppressor- oh, they are not as bad as we thought.

To avoid the softening down of the soldiers, and possible infiltration by the oppressor, they never allowed them back into the fold.

Kobi had grown to like a fellow comrade that he looked up to, Dani. Dani had been abducted, and it had been days since they had last heard from him. They made noise, created banners and posters, and hung them in the night for all to see what the oppressors were doing to their fellow brothers. They soldiered on, until on one cold afternoon, Dani was found by the seaside, tortured and exhausted, a shell of his former self. They took him in, and dredged on, as Dani recovered.

Within no time, his focus, his anger, all seemed to have been rebirthed. The fire in him burned like it had never burned before. When he spoke, many listened. Kobe looked at him in awe.

One day, just one day maybe, I'll be like him, he thought.

Dani had a funny stature – not that tall, and slender with fiery eyes. When he looked at you, it almost felt like he was looking right through you, right at something beyond your skin, beyond what was tangible. He was said to be part of the Brotherhood – a group that was said to have taken an oath to fight to the very end. Many argued about the group's existence.

As the movement grew, Dani got more powerful and even bolder. Many even whispered that their leaderless movement was finally getting someone who could show them the way forward, lead them unto the light, for these were dark, dark times.

In the words of Littlefinger, "Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail, and never get to try again — the fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but they refuse. They cling to the realm, or the gods, or love ... illusions. Only the ladder is real, the climb is all there is."

And climbing Dani did, his confident voice commanding many.

Kobi was not too far behind him.

But unfortunately for Kobi, the light at the end of the tunnel, he realised a little too late, was not salvation, but an oncoming train.