The Inseparable Princes

96. The Ultimate Duel (Warming Up XD)

The sun rose from the east, not from the the west as you may have thought for whatever reason, and slowly lit up the vast, empty battlefield. Empty. It looked nice that way, unlike how it did at night with the bodies of various demons and monkeys strewn across, until other demon and monkey soldiers carried them back, to treat the injured, to cremate the dead. 

Rama walked out of the tent, squinting a little as the rays of the gradually rising sun made his dark skin glow. He walked farther, into the battlefield, his bow in his hand, as he looked off into the distance. Emotions. He had them too. Godly, divine emotions, one could call them, but they existed. He smiled, taking a deep breath. His Sita was there. She would be with him soon, if he lived, which he knew he would. He would have to, for his Sita, for his brothers. What if he didn't, he thought. But then, he just smiled wider, watching as the sun rose higher up, seemingly exterminating darkness from the land of Lanka for years to come. Rama was used to that. Smiling through adversity. Smiling even when things were going horribly wrong. And then, finally, smiling after his victory. 

"Prabhu," began Hanuman, appearing out of practically nowhere, surprising Rama greatly. 

"Wow, Hanuman! You appeared out of nowhere, that was fishy!" he said jokingly. "Yeah, you were saying?"

"You seem so fresh today?" said Hanuman, his tone a little exclamatory, a little questioning. Rama raised a brow, turning to him. 

"So was I not agile and energetic enough until today?" he asked, smiling ever so slightly. 

"No, no! That's not what I meant. But you seem almost, I don't know, rejuvenated! Yeah, that's probably the word!" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as Rama chuckled. 

"Good, then, right Hanuman? It's unannounced, of course, but clearly, everybody knows that it's between Ravan and me from now. It's obvious. And I like being fresh during wars, rather than being sleepy and all bored, isn't that right?" Hanuman nodded, and Rama continued. "What do you think will be the result of this?" he asked inquisitively, walking with Hanuman, almost like they were inspecting the battlefield. "Who will win? You're an intellectual, and we all know that. Tell me, and think of it analytically, logically. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that, though." Hanuman thought for a moment, just to reassure Rama that he wasn't just saying things to flatter him, while consciously slowing himself down so that he could be a little behind his Lord. Rama promptly pulled him back next to him. "I said we're friends! And I don't like any of my friends walking behind me." he said, as he always said, to millions of people whom he wished to walk alongside but they would always insist on following him step by step. "Tell me,"

"Prabhu, obviously you're winning." said Hanuman, his voice reflecting the confidence he had in his heart and his mind. "I'm telling you, you don't need to use all your prowess against him. Or against anybody, really. Ravan is going to lose to you. You'll win and nothing can ever convince me otherwise."

"That's a lot of trust you're putting into me. Why, though? We've just known each other for a few months." said Rama. He knew more than that, it seemed. Rama was speaking with a hint of Vishnu there, with that bit of mischief, somewhere in her heart. Hanuman didn't reply. Rama was just pulling his leg, of course. Hanuman knew that he was eternally devoted to his Lord, the Lord of Saketa. And of course, things weren't as straightforward as they looked. They had met a few months back, but they had so much trust in each other that they knew that they had known each other for more than that much. "Tell me, Hanuman?" Rama tried again, smiling at him a little teasingly. 

"Prabhu, I don't have an answer to that, and you know it. That's why you keep doing this." said Hanuman, shaking his head. Rama laughed. He had fun annoying people at times. Being nice, he loved it, but irritating people and asking them questions that would annoy them, that was a lot of fun, and he realised it a little later than Shatrughna had. That youngest prince, he was an enlightened prince at just the age of two, and Rama found it interesting.