The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Gaining Allies

Hanuman walked at a quick, brisk pace, and Ram and Lakshman followed, not even seeming out of breath. The former looked excited at the prospect of allies, and the latter, cautious, though he was optimistic seeing as the monkey named Hanuman or Pawan (he couldn't remember), hadn't attacked them yet. "Just this way, please. Raja Sugriv will meet you in a second!" Hanuman led them to a cave, where, at the mouth, they sat.

Hanuman felt strangely tranquil as he observed the two humans from the corner of his eye. One was dark, muscular, strong, and held on tightly onto a bow, but radiated a calm aura, calm enough for how frantic he had to have been for his wife. Hanuman felt something divine, something completely otherworldly, off of him, and something drew him to the man as if he was his life's purpose. Ram? That name sounded familiar, as if it had been beating in his heart since birth. Was he destined to help this man? Hanuman hoped so; he wanted to save that princess from Ravan before anything happened. From Rajkumar Lakshman's description, she seemed quite kind indeed.

Speaking of Rajkumar Lakshman, appearance wise, he was different from Ram enough that Hanuman, at first glance, would not have thought them brothers. He was fair, very fair for a man working in the forests, and tall; one of the tallest men Hanuman had ever seen. He had as dark eyes as Ram had icy blue, and was lean. And he seemed weirdly cautious; enough to have one hand poised close to his dagger. This was the one that had told him about his brother's plight. Hanuman smiled softly. Men were so unusual, but not these two. They seemed good. Devoted. Loyal.

Finally, a loud thumping, and a small amount of chattering echoed from inside the cave, and Hanuman looked up, before glancing at Ram and Lakshman, who were busy staring apprehensively at the cave; well, at least the latter was, for the former looked more eager than anything. "I think that means that Raja Sugriv is ready, Ram and Lakshman sir. Let us go!" He jumped up, and the princes did so slowly, before Lakshman, with a small smile, put a hand on Ram's shoulder and gave him a small smile. Ram let go of a breath, and nodded, letting himself follow Hanuman into the dark crevice, Lakshman taking up the rear.

The mountain was large, but it seemed not nearly large enough for this cave to be accommodated inside it, for it was huge! Humongous! It was large, dark, and Ram could barely see through it till it seemed one monkey had lit up a fire. Suddenly, he felt as if he could see the entire monkey population of the Earth (but that was not the case; Ram had just never seen so many monkeys at once before). Small, large, tall, thin, wide plump, muscular, lean! What a variation! And they all looked back at Ram with curious eyes.

Finally, one walked forward, one wearing a small crown. "Hanuman has told me that perhaps we could be allies," he spoke, with a calm, silky smooth voice, beckoning the two to sit down. "You see, I think that we could help each other! My name is Sugriv, and I am a prince who should be king, I suppose similar to you." He looked towards Hanuman. "You have told me their stories, and perhaps now I could tell them mine." Hanuman nodded.

Sugriv, rather, Raj(kumar?)a Sugriv turned towards the brothers and began to speak in a tired, weary old voice that made the two feel that he had relayed the story many times before. "You see, I have a brother named Vali. We were very close, many years ago! Did everything together! You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but it's true. He was the older one, and soon he got crowned king. I, of course, expected that, and was fine with it! But then, something terrible happened-" he took a deep breath.

"We got news that a monster was devastating the bottom part of Kishkindha, our kingdom, you know? So the two of us, the king and his younger brother, went to stop it! The rakshas went into a cave, and Vali followed, telling me to man the entrance. I did so hesitantly, for I too wanted to fight, but I do as I'm told. Suddenly, I heard a roar! A loud roar!" A loud roar echoed through the cave, and Sugriv rolled his eyes. "Give me a second, please." Then he turned around. "That was not necessary, Neel."