Vakṣaṇī Dharmā : The Song of Mahabharat

10| Light and Dark

It was the dead of night when two figures, the size of bears, emerged from the shadows. They walked towards the lonely garden of a palace filled with wilting roses and dried trees. The sight was truly depressing. Waiting for them was the same woman in red from whom Mrithika had the fortune of escaping. Or least to say, the same woman who acted as a medium for Mrithika's untimely time travel.

Her dark eyes were narrowed to slits but the men could see that it looked as menacing as ever even in the dark.

"Did you find her"? She asked in deadly calm voice. The bulky looking men cowered before the woman in red. They gulped. It was always the calm before the storm.

"N-No, Ranisa", The first one stuttered with his eyes downcast.

Her ruby coloured lips curled into a sneer. Distaste and disappointment evident. "A girl. A mere little girl escaped before your eyes and you could not see it, and now you claim to not find that midget. How depressing".

The men gulped, "It's not our fault that she disappeared, your highness. We searched everywhere, questioned all the possible ones who might be behind it, we even contacted our men in the neighbouring states but no one has seen her! It's like she had just...vanished!"

"NONSENSE"! The woman shrieked, her shrill yet strong voice piercing the midnight silence. A few sleeping birds squawked in annoyance but the woman dismissed their cries with an irritated click of her tongue.

The men cowered further into the shadows. "Fools", she snarled, her white canines gleaming dangerously in the dark as she continued, "How can she just vanish! Just say that you lack the competence to find a girl"!

"Ranisa, if you don't mind, can I tell you something"? The second man stepped forward, his voice timid in contrast to his intimidating stature.

The woman raised an eyebrow and gave a curt nod.

"H-How about we file a complaint in the police station? I'm sure with enough money we can shut their mouths and put them to use.

"Money is a fickle thing. It can be used to buy one's loyalty but don't you think it can eventually backfire on us too? And if that doesn't happens, there will always be a smarty pants in a group who thinks of himself the highest supreme do - gooder," She ran a hand through her straight dark locks in frustration and stress, "This won't do. Informing the police would attract unwanted attention. You both are dismissed, I'll use somebody more advantageous to look into this matter. GET OUT"!

The two men bowed and muttered a soft "Yes, Ranisa" and left. Once a good distance away from the woman, the first man turned to his comrade and whispered distastefully, " That crazy woman! She herself had let that little street rat escape right under nose, TWICE! Mind you, and expects us to find her"!

His comrade scowled and reprimanded him quickly, "Jatinder, have you lost your mind while searching for her? You do realise that if Ranisa heard you then your head would be sacrificed unceremoniously?! Now shut up! At least we don't have to tire ourselves by searching for that rat"!

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

"Mrithika, I've never seen someone do archery that badly before"! Arjun exclaimed in disappointment, shaking his head for the umpteenth time when the arrow released by Mrithika landed near Nakul's leg who was quick enough to dodge it.

"Agreed, Bhratashree", Nakul said sourly and threw an accusing look at Mrithika, "You could have killed me"!

Mrithika rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Oh please, that thing barely touched you. You were the one who decided to be drama king and jumped like a monkey ten feet up in the air"!

"I did not! AND I'M NOT A MONKEY"!

"SAYS YOU"!

"That's enough. Stop it both of you", Yudhishthir stepped forward between the two, his calm yet steady voice breaking apart their bickering.

Mrithika stuck out her chin haughtily and huffed, " Anyways, I just have a bad teacher".

Arjun gasped loudly at it, his palm going over to his heart in a hurt expression. Yudhishthir raised an eyebrow at her statement and the other brothers looked amused, their eyes darting between the two.

"You call me a bad teacher? Excuse me, miss spoiled princess", Arjun started with a baffled utterance and continued, "I have trained a warrior of the Yadavkul, Satyaki, and he's the best warrior I've ever seen. Just admit it that you're a horrible student".

Mrithika averted his accusing gaze with a sheepish look -- scratching her nape she saw Sahadev chuckling at her. Her cheeks heated up. Yes, she was officially and again, embarrassed by Arjun.

"You know what? I give up. Probably archery isn't for me."

"That's because you lack patience, Mrithika. You need at most focus and concentration, without which you can't master the art", Arjun explained.

Mrithika stared at him for a while before Nakul interjected, "Perhaps, you should try your hand at sword fighting. It does not require patience and you need to solely depend on your instincts and the flow of adrenaline that guides you. You have to always be on your toes to deliver a quick attack or jump to defend yourself"

Arjun snorted, "Right. And that sword will definitely be bigger than her, I'll be surprised if she manages to balance herself".

Mrithika glared daggers at him, "Excuse me? Nakul, I'll gladly take sword fighting than archery any day. Archery's trash anyway. Oh my gods, I rhymed"!

Arjun rolled his eyes, looking quite sour at the insult of his choice of weaponry. Nakul beamed, "I know! Sword fighting is better than archery. So, let's find you a perfect sword that you can balance and Sahadev can teach you"!

The smile vanished from the younger Madreyā's face, "W-What"?

"Yes Sahadev, you're going to teach Mrithika sword fighting since the both of you seem like pretty close...friends"! Nakul added the last part slyly. A pink tint appeared on Sahadev's face while Mrithika looked confused.

"Yes, we are friends"? She replied unsurely gaining a snicker from Arjun who quickly covered it with a cough.

"Brilliant, then if you'll excuse me, I have to go and help Mata with something", Nakul commented and slipped away before Sahadev could protest.

Arjun gave Sahadev and Mrithika one last glance before running behind Nakul, leaving a seething Sahadev who was snapped back into reality by Mrithika who was waving her hands wildly before him.

"Hello, Sahadev are you there"!

"Huh", he blinked his eyes in a daze. Mrithika frowned for a moment before asking, "Did you get a vision or something, Sahadev"?

"No - no I didn't", he replied shaking his head and continued, "Let's first find you a proper sword".

A/N

Lol, I know I said I'll update right after my exams have finished ( which they did on 2) but didn't because...well... I got caught up with some drama.

But anyways, before I forget I would like to thank all of you for your love and support because AMITAVĀ has officially reached 2.2k views and 230 votes which would be impossible without my lovely readers!!!
I still can't believe it has reached 2.2k views when this is my first ever work on Wattpad. And of course, I got a new cover which was made by miss @-glitterysoul .