Kurukshetra: The defining Krishna-Arjun journey

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟞: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕'𝕤 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣

Krishna's pov

Everyone flanked Arjun, yet kept a respectful distance when he walked with trembling knees to visit his son's body except Krishna and Srutakarma who walked alongside. The latter was still thinking fervently about Arjun's rash oath, so he did not register they had reached the corpse till it was right in front.

Whatever the body resembled, it was not Abhimanyu's. Mangled, disfigured, bled dry, you could not imagine it laughing with the innocence so characteristic of what it used to be.

Krishna blinked back burning tears and glanced sideways. Arjun's eyes were closed, his face lifted to the sky. He was breathing unevenly though his mouth.

Yudhishthir and Krishna caught his arms gently and led him back to their camp.

***

Arjun and Srutakarma held each other, sobbing, till the child fell asleep in his father's arms. Arjun was still weeping when Prativindhya came and carried his younger brother away to their tent.

It was a long time before Krishna could convince Arjun's brothers to leave his side in favour of getting some sleep, for though their world had tilted on its axis, the war would not relent.

By then, Arjun was curled up motionless on the carpeted floor, gazing fixedly into the fireplace.

A chill went down Krishna's spine. Remonstrations about his friend's reckless, unthinking promise rose to his lips only to die away as he observed Arjun's shivering form.

Tentatively, he went up to wrap an arm around Arjun.

"Are you cold?" whispered Krishna.

Arjun nodded. "Did the temperature drop suddenly?"

"Probably," said Krishna, because Arjun did not need to be reminded of the reason he felt cold all of a sudden.

Arjun lapsed back into silence. Krishna lifted his head onto his lap to smoothen his forehead and wipe his damp cheeks. Arjun simply let him.

When the silence got too oppressive, Krishan spoke.

"Abhi died a hero's death, Parth. Mourn him, but do not forget his valour."

"Surely he is not gone forever, Madhav?" said Arjun pleadingly. "He was laughing with me just yesterday--he can't be gone forever, can he?"

"You will meet him again, someday." Krishna wished he did not sound so shallow.

"Soon, I hope," said Arjun. "Tomorrow, preferably."

"Parth--" Krishna's voice was strange. "Please--please don't say that."

Even in that state, Arjun seemed to have noticed the strange note in his voice. He turned over till his face was buried in Krishna's lap.

"I'm sorry, Madhav," he said, sounding all muffled. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Krishna ran his hand through his hair, trying to keep his tears silent and not choke on them. He did not know how he managed it, when Arjun was apologizing for hurting him after all that Krishna had done to him today. Kept him away from the chakravyuh whilst his son was being butchered.

Eventually, Arjun's erratic breaths gave way to even ones. Krishna sat still to let him sleep, even if not in peace. Judging by how frequently Arjun's body jerked, he was in the grip of the worst nightmares of his life.

Between soothing his friend's head each time he thrashed and keeping his tears at bay, Krishna worried deeply.

Kill Jayadratha by sundown tomorrow.