Hostage

The capture

Countless soldiers died in the battlefield. Countless innocent lives have been taken away in this never-ending battle for the crown. 

'When will this war end?' Muses a man standing in the middle of the battlefield. He is there standing proud, with brightness that belongs to none other than Suryadev himself emitted from him. 

That man is no other than Vasusena, or often known as Karna, the King of Anga, and the Davneer, a loyal devotee of Suryadev. His beautiful face is marred with a frown, and his eyes seem troubled. His heart is in turmoil right now.

The reason for this being the visit he got from two of the people he really respected and revered, Krishna and Kunti. They both revealed his heritage at these times near the war and shattered his worldview. The two people he least expected to betray him. Karna is not a fool, he knows that Kunti did not approach him because of her love. She approaches him because she wants her sons to be safe. And Krishna... he obviously only cares about making Yudhistira as king and guarantee the survival of the Pandavas. So he only wants to rope him to their side and plans to make his best friend give up his dreams.

Karna is startled awake when he senses a gada being thrown to him. It belongs to the second Pandavas, Bhimasena. Karna immediately dodges the attack, but his chariot is destroyed due to the impact. After making sure his charioteer is okay, Karna goes to a fight of gada with Bhima. 

From an outsider's standpoint, it seems like two enemies fighting each other with all their might. But little do they know of the inner storm raging inside Karna's heart. 

The fight is leaning to Bhima's favour. Karna is obviously already at a disadvantage here because one, gada is not a weapon he is the most proficient in, in contrast to Bhima whose main weapon is the gada. Two, he cannot go all out to fight the second Pandavas because he knows of the truth, but Bhima does not.

In the end, Karna faltered and creates an opening for Bhima to strike. He aims for Karna's head, but Krishna's voice is suddenly heard.

'Bhimasena! Do not kill him! Just immobilize him and take him hostage. He will be an important asset in defeating Duryodhana.'

Bhima is surprised. He knows that Duryodhana favours the man, but he didn't know that his cousin will be able to give up the crown because of a mere Suta, whose armor, which according to Bhima is the reason for Duryodhana befriending that low-born. He feels a pang in his heart at the thought of it and immediately attacks Karna, avoiding the vital parts. He would not kill the archer now anyway, Bhima does not forget how his brother Arjuna vows to kill Karna. 

His attack renders Karna unconscious. Bhima lifts him up in bridal style and goes back to his camp. Along the way, he meets many of the Kauravas and they, recognizing Karna, tries to get him back and starts attacking  Bhima. Bhima cannot fight while carrying someone, so luckily, Nakula arrived at the scene and helps him fend off the Kauravas, though without throwing him an incredulous look.

When Bhima arrives to his and his brothers' camp, he gags Karna, ties him with a special rope  and blindfolds him. 'It is in case he tried something.' He would reason, but it is just some hidden desire of seeing the mighty and beautiful King of Anga helpless and bound, deprived of his sight and weapon.

~After the sun sets and everyone is in their respective camps~

The Pandavas and Kauravas are back in their camps. The Kauravas, especially Duryodhana, are enraged by Karna's capture, while the Pandavas are confused and starts bombarding Bhima with questions.

"Bhrata Bhima! Why is the enemy here? And why is he gagged and tied?!" Protested Nakula.

"And blindfolded too." Added Sahadeva.