happyLand

A few days after her arrival at happyLand, Thia had finally began to not adjust to her new home, she had been really weak when she arrived at the Island with a lot of children like her, both boys and girls, although a different situation to her previous dilemma, she couldn't help but feel the odd similarities and she had already begun to curse her bad luck that seems to put her in this situation. She saw other kids of different ages and playing with all the freedom they could get, apart from some few restrictions the children where allowed to do what they wanted. A day after their arrival the men that bought them had explained their situations, they were in a military camp for Eru kingdom called happyLand, they were all orphans and since they had no family the Kingdom had decided to train them and put them to good use, there were told they could play for the first week but from the next week their assessment will begin and after they've been assessed, they will all begin training based on the results of their assessment, they knew not all the children could become soldiers but the Kingdom also needed spies, assassin's, and even great intelligent people that could help the kingdom in diverse ways. Thia who listened to all this felt there was something they had left out felt she needed to escape, but when she had tried she realized they where on an Island, what was she going to do swim across, even if she could she would not know where to go to. She decided to stay until the opportunity to escape presents itself at which she would take it and save herself, she remembered what had happened in the Mansion and she began to shake, she remembered the faces of her dead friends and that would haunt her for the rest of her life, she sometimes felt like ending her life but she felt the urge to press on as see if something could come out of a life that was meant to be lost, that's how she felt Everytime, she felt like she was living a second chance and she was determined to see it through no matter how hard it felt. She remembered Zinesh's words "life can be hard Thia, and we can't change that, but we can always search for what it takes to survive, we are at least given that much"

Maybe it's power, or money or strength, I'll find exactly what it takes for me to survive. Thia thought.

"Hello there" a voice said to Thia as she sat alone under a tree as the other kids played. "I noticed you always sat down here instead of joining the others to play".

"Do you have a problem with that"? Thai asked with a cold tone.

"N-no not really I just came to ask if I could sit with you, I'm quite tired of playing".

"Suit yourself" Thia replied,

"I'm Miriam, nice to meet you" the girl finally introduced herself.

"What's your name"? Miriam asked.

Thia didn't want to make any friends because of the trauma she had in the previous weeks and she could see Miriam died in different forms as she stretched her hand towards her. The memories of her friends death was still very fresh in her mind. After some seconds of sticking her hand out with no response Miriam finally withdrew her hand. It seems she's not interested in being friends she thought as she sat down quitely beside Thia. After a while of silence Miriam spoke again,

"Are your parents also dead"? Miriam asked

"Mine died a year ago and I'm left with my big brother, his name is Gobi. He was here sometime ago in happyLand before leaving for an assignment. I was brought here because we didn't have anywhere else to go, they said I will be safe here and as long as my brother does his assignments well, I'll be taken care of and given lighter work".

"Do you have a sibling"? Miriam asked Thia.

"Your brother, you mean he was able to leave this place" Thia asked trying to get more information

"Yes Miriam replied, he send me letters once in a while".

"So you mean we can leave this place alive"?

"Of course Miriam responded, where you not listening to the men that brought us here, this is a military camp and they need soldiers, as long as we train well and do what we are told, we will leave this place".

"But we'll never be free" Thia said.

"Freedom? I wander what that really means" Miriam responded,

"My parents were free but they suffered alot before they died, their lives were theirs to live but they never lived it like it was, in the end they died miserably". Miriam said.

Thia thought of her family and wondered if her mother was miserable, taking care of their family, working and putting food on the table, I wonder how she felt, I miss her so much Thia thought,

"How about you do you still have anyone left"? Miriam asked

Thia thought for a second before answering

"No I don't, my family was wiped out by slavers".

"I'm sorry about that Miriam" said.

What did you mean by what freedom really means" Thia asked Miriam.

"Do you prefer being a slave".

"Not really, Miriam responded, what I want is to wake up and not really have to think much of what to do, it might seem lazy but if I were to do it myself I'm afraid I'll regret my actions, but if someone else was to make such a choice for me it makes my life easier". Miriam said

"You're just running away" Thia said

"Yes I Know". Miriam responded

"I'm Thia" she finally gave her name to the girl by her side.

"You seem more interesting than those Kids". Thia said pointing at the children playing without a care in the world.

"Not all of us are just children Miriam" said despite the fact that everyone there were Between the ages of 5 and 15.

"You can say that again grandma" Thia said as the kids burst into laughter. Their journey in the happyLand camp would be short but it wasn't going to be just what they had expected.

After a week of rest and playing, Thia and Miriam moved to a hall with the rest of the children, they were all going to be assessed according in different aspects and according to their age groups, Thia looked at her group and saw that there were over 30 children within her age group that were together ready to be tested. After a while an instructor came and explained how each assessment would go, first they would have a physical assessment, the a psychological assessment, intellectual assessment and finally a special assessment for those that displayed special skills. Miriam and Thia being of the same age were in the same group, they had both grown closer after their meeting some days back, although Thia had not totally opened up to Miriam, she was still the closest she had to a friend in the whole Island. She had not made any attempt to speak to anyone else.

The test began with the psychological test they all took turns speaking with different instructors to determine the state of mind of each child, the military were not taking any chance when training their next generation of spies, assassin's and soldiers, happyLand was a special training ground that produced nothing but the best for Eru kingdom, after the psychological test they took the intellectual test which involved solving puzzles riddles and a question and answer part. Thia took the test and although she was not the smartest of persons she was still able to give her best, Miriam on the other hand although she hated thinking too much, she was very smart and was able to solve most puzzles.

Then finally the physical test began, Thia knew she would pass the test as he was physical fit due to her constant training with her Uncle, she had become very strong and fast but she had yet to notice the changes that had occur in her body after the incident. The physical test began and they were made to spar with one of the instructors, anyone able to make the instructors move from his position was considered a pass automatically, if the person was unable to achieve this, other criteria would be used to judge the persons performance.

After the test began only two students were able to make the instructor move a bit out of the children that tried, even Miriam had fail woefully as she was not able to even do anything note worthy, after all the children had gone it was finally Thia's turn, she stepped forward and in her head she had always wanted to test if she could still remember Zinesh's training, it had been a while since she practiced and she felt she would lose her touch if she doesn't practice.

Ding! A bell rang signifying the start of Thia's physical test, Thia heard the sound and ran with great speed towards the instructor, the instructor was surprised at the child's first move, he had been an instructor for a while and it had only happened once when a child brought to happyLand was able to perform that technique without even being taught, he had heard of the story and even confirmed it, that man was the only man that had ever spent the shortest time training in happyLand. The instructor came back to his senses as he felt a kick coming towards his face, he was unable to dodge on time so he blocked it with his arm.

Bang! A sound was heard as Thia's kick collided with the instructors arm.

"What"? The instructor was left in awe as the strength behind the kick was alot more than he had predicted. He was finally able to find his footing and push Thia back, The child landed and was ready for another attack but the bell rang again signifying the end of the test.

'What, is time up"? Thia thought, but she looked towards the instructor and saw that he had been pushed from his position with her first and only attack.

The instructor who had tested Thia looked at his arm and saw that he was slightly bruised, he looked at Thia with surprise, I never thought I would ever see a young child that could perform blink. Even some soldiers find it difficult to perform such a technique.

The instructor approached Thia and decided to ask

"Who thought you how to use blink"? he asked.

"Blink"? Thia asked confused by what the instructor asked

"I don't know any blink" she finally responded.

The instructor was shocked, how can she not know what she just performed few minutes ago. The instructor stared at Thia for a while before walking away, I'll keep my eyes on her, she might just be the new Hazel of this generation, he thought as he left the room to tend to his bruise.