Six
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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?"

"We're all good. How are you? Are you eating well? Do you ever get sick?"

"I'm good. I eat well and I don't get sick. I'm perfect. What about you? Do you get sick?"

"I'm good too. I don't get sick but once in a while I'd lose my strength but, I guess that's because I don't work as I used to anymore. No more exercise. Raven would come up and look after me, clean the house, do the laundry, cook food . . ."

"She can cook?!" Nicholas' voice suddenly got astonishingly loud and then he laughed.

He couldn't believe that the girl who grew up like a princess was finally cooking.

"Of course, she can. She's like a lady now, you know. After Elliot left and all, she seems to grow up suddenly. She's doing all the chores at home. Her mother doesn't even do much now. But she's still a bit clumsy. Very funny. Sometimes, we'd just watch her and laugh. She has broken about five of our bowls." Grace laughed into the phone.

"Mhmm. I'm sure." Nicholas laughed too. "Growing up so fast, huh. Is she even starting to have boyfriends or what?"

"I don't know." His mother laughed again. "She's becoming prettier too, day by day. I think there are some boys in school who likes her. She used to come home grumbling to her mother that they're annoying her."

Nicholas softly chuckled to himself. He could picture the little shotgun grumbling to her mother.

"She's a great help to me. Tungdarshang is also here, but she's still too young. She can't do things like Raven does."

"Yeah? She's that good now?"

Tungdarshang was the fifth-grader daughter of Pushang Koshel. Grace had called her to live with her since she was alone in the house, now that Nicholas had left.

"How's Claudia, by the way?" he asked.

Grace stopped speaking and went silent for a few seconds. Every time he called home, which wasn't often, he asked about her. He didn't use to in the first year, but lately he seemed to be left with no other option than to ask.

She'd sent him only two letters since he joined the probation. Nicholas continued to write to her for sometime only to be kept waiting with no reply. Just as he suspected, their relationship had faded and now, it was just completely gone.

"She's fine, I guess. Still working in the ships. How long is your training, by the way?" Grace steered the topic from Claudia as soon as she could because she knew that there was still a part of Nicholas who still wanted to get in touch with her. They way their relationship ended had been unfair and a part of him still longed to talk to her.

"Three months. That is mostly why I called. I won't be able to reach you at all during these three months. So if you want to say anything to me, you'll have to write. And if I get selected, I'm planning to undergo another form of training for six months. For Special Forces. Nine months all together."

"What is going on, Nicholas? Do you really have to do all that? I mean, your post is already good enough."

"I've made my decision, Nu."

"But what's the use?!"

Nicholas sighed and answered, "I just want to do it." He said in simple sentences.

Mostly, it was about honor and service for the country but he knew there was no need explaining that to his mother. All she'd understand was the grocery business.

"Even in this post, I don't get to talk to you often. Now I'm sure, I'm never getting in touch with you," Grace grumbled disappointedly, starting to sniffle a little.

"We will, mom. Every time I get a chance."

"And how often will that be?"

"Often. But not too often."

Grace went silent for a moment. Nicholas calmly waited, counting every second, wondering what could possibly be in his mother's mind at the moment. Then she spoke again, "No matter what I say, I know you will do exactly what you want. You've always been like that ever since you were a kid."

Nicholas smiled to himself. He remembered how his mother told him that, when he was six years old, he had stood for four hours straight by the door, the rain beating against his face, drenching his body head to toe, and no matter how many times his mother tried to drag him inside, he'd hold on to the door-handles and remain at the door.

He had wanted to play in the rain with Elliot and their friends. They had made a rather life-like paper boat together, and they had longed to see it sail in the rain, but their mothers had prohibited them, telling them they would get sick. So, he stood by the door, wet all over, just to show it to his mother that he wouldn't get sick. Grace had been worried sick and mad at him all evening, but he didn't get sick. He was that strong-headed.

The stubbornness seemed to grow with his age. He always knew exactly what he wanted, and he'd always find his way to get them. And nothing would get him to change his mind if he had decided for once. Even to become a soldier, Grace had wanted him to sit for public exams like UPSC instead and maybe become the Sub-divisional officer or the Deputy Commissioner of their district, but Nicholas simply said he hated office-jobs and went forward to join the military.

So, Grace decided to let him have his way since it would only be a lost cause to try stopping him.

"Can I call you back after a while today?"

"Within half an hour."

"Okay. What Para did you say it was?"

"Paratroopers."

"No. The other Para."

"Parachute Regiment."

"Alright. I'll call you back."

As soon as they hung up the call, Grace immediately bolted her house and strode off towards Raven's, grumbling under her breath. "Para this, para that. Meaningless."

At the gate, she met Raven, who'd only returned from school. It was mid-summer during May, just before the summer vacation. Raven looked worn out and close to passing out as a sheen of sweat shone on her face like a metal plate coated with oil. She had her blazer draped on her forearm.

"Where from, Darcha? Come in." Raven smiled at her, holding the door section of the wrought-iron gate wide open for her.

"Thank you. You're just in time. I need you to check something for me on the internet."

"Sure."

Since Grace was illiterate, she'd always come down to Raven whenever she needed help now that her son was away from home.

Raven removed her school shoes, placed them in the shoe rack just near the steps and they went in together.

"Mom!" Raven called at the door. "I'm back. Where's the phone?"

"You come back from school and look for the phone before anything?" Her mother answered disapprovingly from the kitchen.

"It's not like that. Darcha Grace just wants me to check something out."

"Tracy, you need to hear this." Grace hurried inside the kitchen where Tracy was cleaning a bunch of Mustard leaves. She sat down on the next chair at the table and told Raven's mom all that Nicholas had said.

With the phone in her hand, Raven was also sitting with them, listening as she drank a glass of freezing water to cool herself.

"And that's what I want you to check out for me. Parachute Regiment. I know, Nicholas didn't tell me all about it for some reason. I have a feeling he's in for trouble."

"Okay." Raven went straight to Google and searched it up.

She found out that The Parachute Regiment was a part of airborne operations. The aim of the regiment was mostly quick deployment of soldiers behind enemy lines to attack enemy from behind and destroy their first line of defence, hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, unconventional warfare, counter-insurgency, seek and destroy . . . All in all, it was a very active regiment.

When Raven explained all these to her Darcha, Grace was pissed off at once.

"What's the use?! Really, Tracy. Seek and destroy and all these insurgencies and terrorists, he doesn't even have to sign up for it. I don't understand this kid. He volunteered!"

"Yeah," Raven's mom agreed. "He's putting himself in danger."

"He'll have to qualify first," Raven said, looking down on the phone and skimming her eyes through the articles. "There's three months of training and it is very hard, it says. Like, only twenty out of a hundred gets selected. If he gets selected, he'll be a Paratrooper which means, he's an Elite soldier; one of the best in the country. And if he likes, he can opt to join the Para Special Force which will be another three months training."

"That's exactly what he said. He's planning to do that too. That idiot." Grace was furious at this point.

"And it says that it is one of the longest and toughest trainings in the world," Raven added.

"Really? What do they do? The training." Grace asked.

Raven read for a while and as she did, nervous fingers crept up to her neck and she swallowed.

Her eyes glued to the phone screen with a frown, she said, "They're trained for basically everything, jungle warfare, water, mountain, desert, high altitude . . . The training is so hard! They go through sleep deprivation, exhaustion, humiliation, physical and mental torture . . . It says some people even die during the training. This is so frightening!!"

By now, Raven was just as frightened and worried as the two older women.

"What has gotten into the mind of this boy?!" Grace threw her hands up in frustration, exclaiming. "He signed up knowing all these! This is it. I'm calling him right now and telling him not to go on with this madness."

Raven nodded frightfully in agreement with her Darcha as Grace pulled out her phone from the pocket of the loose pant she was wearing and dialed back to her son.

"Yeah, Nu," Nicholas answered at once.

"Nicholas! Stop this madness at once. What do you think you're doing?!" His mother chided him at once before anything.

"What's going on?"

"I'm talking about your Para. I asked Raven to find out about it for me in the internet and you're in for a madness! Some people even die in the training, Nicholas!"

Nicholas breathed deeply and said, "Don't worry, Nu. I'm not going to die in the training. I promise."

"How can you be sure? You're all I have, Nicholas!" Grace snapped at him with a slight trembling in her voice as tears filled her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry. What? I'm telling you, there's nothing to worry about. If I promise, it means I promise. I'll be alright. If I can't do further, I'll just stop. We could do that too. Anytime we want. We just have to fill up a form and leave."

"That's not all. What's the use, Nicholas? What's the use?! We have enough food to eat and a house to live in, you don't have to go earning for more. And it's not like we're a big family either, just you and me. It's already enough!"

"It's not about the money, mom. This is all service for the country," he replied calmly yet again.

"You've done enough," Grace sulked.

"I'll be alright. Don't worry. When I come back home, I'll bring an enormous gold necklace for you. One that's as wide as a plate," Nicholas joked with a light laugh. Then he shouted over to his comrades in Hindi.

"You can even speak Hindi now?" His mother asked excitedly since the majority of the people from their region weren't Hindi speakers. And even Nicholas was only speaking English besides the common state language, Manipuri, and his own mother tongue, Uipo tlou, when he left.

"Yes, I can speak Hindi now," Nicholas chuckled back, finding it funny how his mother could change topics so easily.

"That's good. Knowing languages is important. No matter where you go, always try to understand the languages."

"Yes, Nu. Can you pass the phone to Raves?"

"Sure. Sure. Here, Raven. Nick wants to talk to you," Grace said, handing the phone over to Raven.

"Me?" Raven's eyes widened, suddenly nervous and guilty that she probably had betrayed him by browsing about the regiment.

"Yes. Here."

Swallowing nervously, she took the phone and held it to her ear. "Hello."

"Raves."

Her heart skipped a beat the moment she heard his voice, a voice so familiar she could instantly picture him in her mind. And he sounded so close like he was right beside her, whispering into her ear; almost tangible and real.

"Nick."

"How are you doing?" His voice seemed to soften for her.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm good too. Nu told me you're growing up fast. Is it true?"

Raven chuckled, "Nah. I'm still the same."

"How so?"

"I don't grow at all. My height is still the same," Raven replied disheartened, making Nicholas laugh.

"How tall are you now?"

"Two inches short of five feet."

He chuckled back, "Eat lots, Little Dumpling. Else you'll remain a little Dumpling forever."

"I'm trying my best." She laughed too.

A dash of familiarity and homeliness took over him at the sweet sound of her voice. He suddenly missed home. He practically pictured the entire village; the chirping of sparrows, the orange glow of sunset beyond the hills, the quietness of twilight, all at once like a painting illustration of a jumble of emotions.

Nicholas was quiet. She waited, starting to feel a little awkward now.

"Raves." He called softly again. His voice now serious and deep, it sent a frightening chill down her back.

Every time he called her Raves, the tone of his voice would change to something calmer and deep. It felt as though he was calling out right into her soul where all her emotions lay bare.

"Yeah."

"Thank you so much for taking care of Nu," He said in a voice filled with emotion and sincerity. It tugged right in Raven's heart.

"That's okay. I'm just helping around. Not doing much." Raven returned kindly.

Nicholas smiled to himself. Raven had denied but he could hear she was growing up. There wasn't anything like a change in her voice but, with the way she was speaking, he could hardly picture a little girl anymore. She seemed far from being childish. He wondered what had made her that way. Just one year back, she couldn't even prepare her own breakfast.

He felt sure that he would have to prepare to take in what he would see of her when he returns home for holidays.

He couldn't wait to see her again.

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