The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Character Drabbles-Part 5

A/N-Thank @lakshmila4ardi for this part, because she requested it. She specifically said Angad and Neel, and you all LOVE Angad and Neel. Like, literally, you all love them. Some of you even said that Nal and Neel are your favorite characters. Especially @Ramayana_lover, she literally will write an entire book about ANgad and we'll all read because we love her and her writing.

Angad "The Clear Minded"

Sure, he had been raised by Vali. Vali was his father. Angad had always looked up to him. "Son!" laughed Vali as Angad splashed around in the pool at the age of five. "Come out! You'll get a cold!" But Angad had not listened, and continued to jump in the clear blue pools of Kishkindha, completely unaware of what might happen. And Vali just continued to laugh and shake his head knowingly.

A few hours later, Angad was lying in bed with a blazing forehead, blankets, wet cloths, and a persistent cough. "Papa!" he cried, sitting up. "How did you know? You must be a fortune teller!" Vali shook his head but Angad grinned and pulled his blankets closer to himself. "Papa, you're a fortune teller! I know you are! You told me that I would get sick, and here I am, sick! Tell me Papa, who am I going to defeat in war?"

Vali could not deny his son the childish imagination that he knew would soon disappear. "You'll defeat some great prince some day, Angad. You'll defeat some great prince." Angad leaned in closer, his eyes only widening, urging his father to tell in more detail. "Some great prince who has opposed your cause. You'll give out a mighty roar and land atop his head and destroy his chariot! This prince was forever undefeated, perhaps he even defeated a God, but you shall prove to be the exception!"
And Angad had gone to sleep that day dreaming about defeating demons and rakshasas, and woke up insisting upon training. And he trained and trained and trained, out in the rain again, getting sick again, having his father tell him the same story again, and training yet again. Angad never doubted that he would indeed win against some great prince someday. After all, his father had said it!

"GET OUT!" It was an unearthly roar that shook the kingdom that day. Angad could barely hold onto his shaking throne. "GET OUT YOU TRAITOR, BEFORE I KILL YOU!" Angad could only twist his head and watch as Sugriv drooped, and turned around, stepping a foot out of the palace, then another, then another. Angad thought he could trace his footsteps up towards the Rishyamukha mountain.

Uncle Sugriv had always been as light and airy as Vali was growly and intense. He had laughed with Angad when Vali didn't have time. He had sat next to Angad and read him stories even if he wasn't sick. Angad could not see a clear reason why Sugriv would have to be banished so. And it was that day when a tiny part of Angad's innocence shattered like a vase falling. His father's words were not the whole truth, ever divine. They may be law, but the laws weren't always righteous.

It was that moment which made Angad get up from sobbing over his father's unmoving body and shake hands calmly with Hanuman as he saw the battered and regretful body of Sugriv looking away from him with shame. It was that act of Sugriv's that made Angad sure he had made the right decision. His father would not have been nearly this regretful. He would have simply beat his chest with the final victory and walked away.

And so, even when he saw his mother in Sugriv's arms, he did not falter from Ram's army and beliefs. Angad was his own person, and he knew what to do, so very clearly at that moment that he was sure that if he let the chance go, he would never be so sure of anything else in his life. He could feel the doubtful gazes of some of Sugriv's most loyal men, and he would bear his teeth if anyone dared question his loyalty.

Another reason why he had joined Ram's army? They didn't take him just as the progeny of his father. They took him as the crown prince of Kishkindha. They took him in as a fighter. They took him in as a mercenary who would ever follow the path of righteousness. They never cast an eye on him that was unfriendly. Prabhu Shri Ram had accepted him as if he had been loyal from the beginning. Hanuman was now his protector and good friend. Uncle Sugriv always placed him in charge of the army, as if more sure in his sense of ruling than his own. They took him as some different than-