The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

An Offer of Peace

Ram exhaled a breath, before straightening his shoulders from where they were slumped and rolling them, before taking another step. Then another, then another. Soon Ram was not just stepping, he was walking. It was mechanical, walking, one foot after the other. He was like a well-oiled machine, and then, suddenly, he halted. But his army did not, walking off of the bridge, crowding around him, sitting themselves down after the long walk, looking around for palm trees and danger and food.

Everything felt so otherworldly, for only a cross of the ocean. Could it be-that Lanka existed in a different world than the mainland? The winds were unfamiliar, infused with the smell of absolutely nothing when the breezes of the ocean were salty, and Ayodhya's had the musty ones of rain. The sand was pebbled, and Ram lifted his bleeding foot up thoughtfully, studying it. Was this Lanka's first line of defense?

Surrounding Lanka, he knew, were tall, golden gates, the likes of which no one could climb or scale or crawl underneath. But surrounding those gates, there was just grass, sand, beaches, hills, and mountains, left almost untouched by the demons who preferred a more sheltered, luxurious life to one in the forests. Then again, Ram thought with a smile as he set his foot down, didn't everyone?

The buzz around him, the sound of monkeys chattering amongst themselves, the sound of walking around, the palm leaves rustling as they were found, all of it was just another tune in the background, His surroundings seemed blurry as Ram rolled his head, his eyes not drifting from the golden dome of Lanka, the tall towers and the large buildings, all gold, gold, gold. How was it that a city could rebuild so quickly?

Lakshman walked up, and calmly set a hand on Ram's shoulder. Ram whirled around, his eyes looking crazed, his figure pale as if he had just awoken from a sleepy trance. Lakshman did not mind. "Bhaiyya-sit down." he said. "Sit down and let me bandage your foot. You could get infected from this sand. I can make you a new set of slippers, or someone else can too if you would like." Ram nodded, and walked in large paces towards a woven mat of palm leaves, sitting down, and not even noticing as the dull, throbbing pain in his foot that he didn't even know existed, just faded away.

----O----

Hanuman watched Ram as he sat cross-legged looking off into the distance, a distance that did not exist. Everything seemed blurred together, and Hanuman looked at Lakshman as he walked closer with a small log of wood. Hanuman walked up to him. "Bhrata Lakshman-is Prabhu Shri Ram alright? He seems very absentminded, and I do worry for him. Is he having a flashback? Can I help in any way? Oh, I am very eager to help!"

Lakshman shrugged, kneeling down on his haunches and fixing the rope on a pot. "I don't know what's happening, and in times like this, bhaiyya does get very annoyed when someone disturbs him, or at least, when I disturb him. He's probably thinking deeply about something-he does do that sometimes. Perhaps he shall break the guise for you, Hanuman." Hanuman nodded, but not wanting to risk anything, he continued to pace till Ram finally got up, his glazed over eyes finally a clear blue again.

-----O-----

Ram stood up, his eyes darting over to where the sun set down the mountains, barely slipping into the shadows. He had finally found something he could remember Ayodhya by, the forest by, the beaches by. Didn't they all share the sun, which would sink behind the mountains, creating a meshed array of vivid colors? Didn't they all share the mountains, whose shadows would fall upon both lands indiscriminately?

"We have reached Lanka!" he began. His voice was quiet, and yet it carried throughout the crowds of monkeys. "We have reached Lanka, my friends, but if we fight Ravan, we still stand to lose lives." The vanar sena looked amongst each other uneasily. "So I will give Lankesh one last chance. But the problem is-" Hanuman leaned in eagerly, excited to help any way he could. "I don't exactly know how."