The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Something Great, Something Terrible

A/N-I'm baaaaack-I have 0 clue if it's been a week or not, but I've missed this story too much to care. Okay? So no complaints. 

Tomorrow arrived too quickly for Ram, and as the sun beat down upon the sands of the mainland, but not upon the island, Ram paced across the shores of the city, Hanuman, Angad, and Jambavan only able to watch as their leader waited. And waited. And waited. Nal was positioned at the best viewing spot, and occasionally Ram would look at him imploringly, but Nal always had to shake his head and Ram would look away, his face becoming grayer and more solid by the minute.

The sun set without hesitation, and the night arrived with a wash of dark, and there Ram stood, just watching. Not doing anything but watching, as his army assembled once more. He spared one last, lingering glance towards the silhouette of the skyline of Lanka, almost regretfully, as if it were his fault that Ravan did not return his wife, before turning back to his army, determination etched on his face.

"We have given Ravan three chances to return Sita. he has not taken any. We have warned him that if he does not return Sita within the time of the sunset on exactly today's date, that we will be hostile enemies, I will consider our relationship one of unfriendliness, threat, and threat always has to be eliminated. We have warned him that we shall declare war." He took a deep breath. "I, Ram, declare war on Ravan, the king of Lanka. May the best man win."

-----O-----

"Ram has done something both terrible and great." Kaushalya remarked almost nonchalantly. "I can feel it diving into his heart almost reluctantly, but he felt a necessity to do it." The question was left unasked, but answered quickly by Kaushalya, who had set down her spoon. "I can feel what my son feels. His emotions are mine. And right now, he's so many things I can barely stand to move. A man cannot feel all of these things."

"Well perhaps he's not a man after all." Sumitra mentioned, her whispers as light as the air. "Perhaps he's a divine being of some sort, come to rid us mortals, and rid the Earth itself of all terrible things. Born to you, Kaushalya, born to be a hero. That is his life's work, his life's reasoning. Blue eyes, dark skin, tall, brave, and almost ethereal. Perhaps it is that our Ram truly isn't ours. Ram is the world's miracle." she looked away as if having waited to say those words for years and years.

Mandavi leaned forward. "Yes, but the question remains! What do you think he did that could have caused this feeling in Maa Kaushalya? Both terrible and great, what is both terrible and great at the same time?" Mandavi rubbed her wrist thoughtfully, and Bharat glanced at her for a moment as her mind buzzed. "The exile was both terrible to us, and a great sacrifice for him. But he cannot be exiled again, now can he?"

Urmila rubbed her chin. "A double edged sword. It is both terrible, because it can take lives, both innocent and horrible. It can shed blood and slice flesh and rip families apart in terrible ways, in more ways than one. But-" she took a deep breath. "The artsmanship of it is great. The building of a double edged sword, the imagining of it. A double edged sword is both terrible and great." she looked up, and met the smile of Sumitra.

"Yes, but none of those things are things he could have done." Bharat implored. "He could not have-as Mandavi said-been exiled again, for since we are still his home kingdom, we're the only ones that could exile him once more, and he can't step foot into another kingdom now can he? And Ram can't do a double edged sword. Maybe he bought one, but Ram always prefers the bow and arrow, now doesn't he?"

But Kaikeyi shook her head, adjusting her white sari as she glanced at Shatrughan and Shrutakirti, both of whom had refused to speak. Shrutakirti, she thought, may know, and Shatrughan was trying to stop her from uttering the word. But n one was stopping her. "War." Kaikeyi whispered, and the terrible word sent a shudder through all of them simultaneously. "Isn't war both great and terrible? Great in its power and victory. Terrible in its consequences and loss. Ram has declared war."