Lightning Strikes

11

Hi everyone, me again. I took a bit of a break, wasn't getting anything done. This is the result of that week of horrible writing, but I promise the next chapter is better (and on time, because I finished writing it already). Have fun and sorry about the delay!

"Arundhati, to defeat anybody, you must defeat yourself first," Ganesha lectured. Aru listened intently. "You must conquer your hunger, your thirst, your sleep, and by doing so, you will conquer your mind."

Aru nodded. "How do I do that?"

"Figure it out," Ganesha said. "In case you doubt yourself — remember, you are a reincarnation of Arjuna, the one who conquered sleep. You can do much more than an ordinary human can."

Aru pondered these words as they kept training. "Aru, go ahead and shoot for a bit. Then we'll eat lunch."

"Alright," Aru said, nocking an arrow. She fired shot after shot, not even thinking about the time. Every time she ran out of arrows, she picked them up and shot once again.

A few hours had passed before Kartikeya came to visit her. "What challenge has my brother given you this time?" he asked.

"A rather big one," Aru said. "I'm still trying to solve it."

"Solve it after eating," Kartikeya said. "Come with me."

Aru turned around, ready to follow Kartikeya. That was when it hit her. She had to conquer hunger and thirst. Could that mean what she thought it did?

"I'm not coming," Aru said. "I think that's my solution, actually. Tell your mother that I'm not coming today."

Kartikeya looked at her with a raised eyebrow and then nodded. Aru kept shooting.

She ignored the pangs of hunger that were gnawing at her, and just kept shooting. She nocked arrow after arrow, and kept collecting them. Aru was nothing if exhausted. "Come for dinner, Aru," Kartikeya called.

"Not today!" Aru responded.

"What kind of crazy shit did he ask her to do? I need to talk to him..." Kartikeya muttered as he walked away.

Aru was starving by now. Beads of sweat fell down her face, but she did not stop. The sun set as Kartikeya came a third time. "Aru, it's getting dark. Go to sleep now."

"Not yet, Kartikeya," Aru said.

"Okay, that's it," Kartikeya said. "Ganesha! What is wrong with you?"

The next morning, Kartikeya came back to the archery course. "Were you shooting all night?" he asked.

"Yeah," Aru affirmed. "I don't think I did too badly."

"You didn't do that bad," Kartikeya said grudgingly. "Based on the arrow marks on that tree. Was that where you were aiming?"

Aru nodded.

"Anyway, it's time for us to spar. Come on."

Vajra came out of her pocket and into her hands. She once again clashed with Kartikeya, locking the two spears in a battle of strength. Unsurprisingly, the god won it. He pushed Aru back, and Aru swung at Kartikeya, getting refuted time and time again. "Come on, Aru," Kartikeya said. "You're so weak right now! Every swing that you take has no power! Do you really think you can match my power?"

Ganesha came to her later. "Aru, good work," he said, not acknowledging her refusal to sleep and eat. "What did my brother tell you?"

"He said to not try to match his power," Aru supplied. "He said that I can't do it."

Ganesha nodded. "He is right. You will never be able to match the raw strength of a major god. We will have to work on your quick movement and rely on it in order to defeat your enemies. Let's forget about archery for now. Instead, we will use this."