JARUMA

New life

It was late in the evening when the carriage finally came to a stop. The votja warrior jumped off and landed on the ground with a lot of force as if a rock had been thrown on the ground. I heard approaching footsteps towards the part of the carriage where l was seated.

In a few seconds, l found myself facing the fierce votja warrior who still had his icy life threatening glare.

" Get off." He said in a voice that sent shivers down my spine. I quickly gathered my bag which was the only luggage l had since l didn't have much and jumped off the carriage as fast as lightning.

The votja warrior started walking a head of me and gestured for me to follow him with his hand. I quickly obeyed. As l moved, l noticed numerous votja warriors, all in their uniforms. They were all busy doing something. Some sharpening swords, others drinking from small wooden cups, others arm wrestling, playing cards.

None of them seemed to pay attention to me and those that looked in my direction, said hello to their fellow warrior who was leading me, gave me deadly look and moved on.

There was a fire burning somewhere as some roasted meat, which smelt quite wonderful. There were both men and women, old and young.

We finally arrived at a small rusted gate and entered. I noticed a bunch of tents all over the area. It was a vast area and my eyes grew wide. The little noise that was coming from there, all fell silent as the votja warrior passed by the tents.

I was led to a tent after walking for over 7 minutes. I was already tired to be honest.

" This is where you will be staying, organize your items. He said. With that, he left.

I took one last look at him before he disappeared behind other tents. I took a deep breathe and opened the tent. When l got in, l noticed two girls who looked my age. They had horror written all over their faces and were obviously holding their breath. After what seemed like an eternity of staring at each other, one of them stood up.

"Is he gone?" She asked. I nodded and she let out a sigh of relief. She had short black hair with dark brown eyes  and a fair white skin.

" You must be our new roommate, right?"She said. I simply nodded and plastered a small smile on my face.

" Am Adira, by the way." She said.

" Jaruma." I said. She nodded and turned towards our other roommate who was still on the ground. She stood up and smiled.

" Am Amari." She said beaming. I simply smiled back and nodded. She had dark brunette hair with warm brown eyes and tanned skin.

" That's your bed. Adira pointed to an ugly small  wooden bed. I nodded and proceeded to take up my position. The moment l sat on it, it screeched. I organized my space. There wasn't much room for all three of us but l we could make it work.

As l unpack some of my stuff, memories of home come rushing to me.  Tears well up in my eyes but l remember grand father 's words.

Rather than crying and pitying yourself, why not endure it and make something better out of it.

I blinked back the tears welling  up  in my eyes and breathed in to calm myself down.

No sooner had l finished organizing myself than a loud sound echoed. Amari and Adira told me that we were being called for a parade. They quickly ran out of the tent and l followed them.

We found several other young boys and girls lined up. Boys had their own line and so did girls. I joined the line behind Adira.

Soon, a  fierce looking muscular votja warrior stepped on the raised platform we were lined in front of. Just looking at him made me want to bury myself in the ground. He cleared his throat and started speaking with anger written all over his face and l just  shuddered.