The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Revelations-Part 2

"Wow," muttered Lakshman, looking around. The forest was thick, teeming with life, from monkeys, furry and mischievous, and with red fur that made him think of himself and his twin, to snakes, cold-blooded and dark eyed, which he felt drawn to. He walked through the forest, and it was then that he realized that he must have left his dagger behind. "Okay, let's just get the water and get out of here," Lakshman told himself, and quickly grabbing a pot, dove it into the waterfall calmly and grabbed some random plants and berries.

Studying them closely, and then shrugging, Lakshman was about to head back when he felt like someone was watching him. He heard a hiss, was that a snake, and it sounded almost scared. He caught a fleeting glimpse of a fleeing python that was slithering on the ground, before something long and clawed caught up to him. "Oh no," whispered Lakshman. "When I said that I would die for them, I didn't think I meant today!"

-----O-----

"What's taking him so long?" Ram worried. "Is he in trouble? Oh no, oh no! What if he's caught somewhere? What if he's killed? Oh no, and I let him go!" He didn't have to worry, for Lakshman dove over the edge of the mountain peak and collapsed on the bedrock. Shatrughan walked forward in confusion as Lakshman took a deep breath. "Did he fall back asleep guys?" he asked innocently, before quickly jumping back, startled as his twin lifted up a pot of water and a fistful of plants.

He stood up fully, and there were scratches on his torso and neck. "This is what happens to me when I forget my dagger on the peak of a mountain." he hissed in exasperation, before setting down the water and plants. Shatrughan grinned guiltily and brought out the daggers out of where he was hiding them. Bharat smacked the back of his head angrily as Lakshman rolled his eyes. Shatrughan was feeling plagued with guilt, however, and his face sunk down and he turned away.

"Oh, it's no problem, Shatru, really. I wasn't close to death or injury, or anything. There was just this rakshas, and a bunch of snakes were running-er-slithering away. I didn't manage to get away in time." he shrugged. "A matter of luck, really, don't beat yourself up about it. I wouldn't." Suddenly, the entire family heard another, louder, more insistent hissing, and Urmila woke up, Ram having sprinkled some water on her face.

The first thing she saw was her husband being surrounded by snakes, big and small, green and white. "AAAH!" shrieked Shrutakirti. 

"AAAH!" shouted Bharat. 

"AAAH!" yelled Sita. 

"AAAH!" yelped Shatrughan. 

"AAH!" cried Mandavi. 

"Oh, cool." said Lakshman as the snakes circled around him. "That's interesting, I wouldn't have thought serpentine behavior was so complex, but it appears my mindset should be changed immediately, stat, as soon as possible."

And that was when Urmila realized something about her husband as he waved innocently at the snakes. Yes, he was ruthless and short tempered and mean. But he was also innocent, in some cases. He was completely clueless when it came to women. He had a huge soft spot for animals of all sorts. And he had heavy, deep feelings that would often affect his actions. Urmila smiled as Bharat complimented her husband on his vocabulary. What complex beings men were!

Lakshman was having no such deep thoughts, just pure relief as he glanced at the smiling Urmila briefly. He was attacked by a monster, apparently called the enemy of snakes, and was about to give up when the blood-drained, dry face of Urmila came to mind. How his heart ached when she was unconscious! It was as if he couldn't live without her even for the few moments that they were separated, when her amber green eyes did not meet his. They could never be separated again, he decided.

--------O-------

They must have taken a wrong turn, for no one knew where they were once they had gotten off the mountain. It was obvious that they were somewhere outside of Kosala, definitely not in Malla Republic or Videha, perhaps somewhere in the no man's land in the middle, where no government governed. Dasharath refused to rule that place, leaving it to the wild animals to roman that no industrialization should ever reach!