Yours, Raven

Six

Six
• • •

Two weeks after Nicholas had left, Elliot left too. Raven cried again in her room. Although her introverted brother never told her in words how much he loved her, she knew how much he cared about her. His actions proved it to her every day. And Raven treasured her big brother like the rarest piece in the universe. She was going to miss him a lot.

Out there in Dehradun, Nicholas was training to be a soldier. Out there in New Delhi, Elliot was attending university. Out here, back at home, Raven was still going to school and being silly.

Everyone was moving on with their lives.

16 months of training later, Nicholas became Lieutenant Nicholas Ronglo. And in the same year, when the rounds for recruiting volunteer soldiers for The Parachute Regiment came around, Nicholas volunteered. Out of nine hundred volunteers between the age of nineteen to twenty-three, Nicholas was among the one hundred and twenty selected to go further with probationary training.

Just before probation began, he called home since it would be three months' long probation of intense training and he had further plans too. He called home to let his mother know what he had volunteered for, so she wouldn't worry too much when she doesn't hear from him for quite a long time.

"Para what?" Grace asked.

"Parachute Regiment," Nicholas answered.

"What was that again?"

"It's another level of military. I will have to go through another training and see if I get selected to become a Paratrooper."

"What if you don't get selected? Will you lose your job?"

"No. Even if I don't get selected, I'll still be a Lieutenant."

"Oh good good. But why another training?"

"This is for a special group of the army. We have to be more capable and. . . Strong."

"But why?"

"Because. . ." Nicholas paused for a while, thinking how he should put it to save his mother some mercy from a panic attack. "We face more action? We go on a bit tougher missions."

"Will you go to wars?" He could see the lines between her mother's brows appear on her face with the way her voice was getting a tad bit anxious.

"Not really?" He lied.

"Nicholas! Tell me the truth!" Grace demanded, getting that he was hesitant to talk to her about it.

"Nu, don't worry. It's just that we fight more. It's more fun and I'll be fine." He was trying to put it as simple as possible for her. But, the truth was, it would never be that simple and every atom in his body he was up for it. Excited, to be honest.

The training, in fact, was one of the hardest military selection ever known to man and he'd have to go through hell. That was why they recruited only volunteers, only those who knew well what they signed up for. And the training was just the beginning, an introduction to a life of literally battling death every other day.

"Explain how going on tougher missions is more fun." Nicholas could well see in his own imagination the rising anger of his mother, through her clipped words that she forced through her lips, how beads of perspiration would appear on the tip on her nose, how her breathing would quicken and get heavier.

Nicholas sighed and licked his lips before he answered. "It's fun, Nu. It's interesting. Well, just trust me on this one. I know what I'm doing and this is for the better. Even Dev, you know my best friend from here? We're all going together. Anyway, how's everybody at home?"