•|| Arjun~ Becoming the Peerless One ||• (II) ✔

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝟸𝟾

Hastinapur, Guru Dron's Ashram

Arjun's POV

The dog jerked its head repeatedly cooed, as if requesting us to free the arrows from his mouth. But who had the audacity to do such a task? 

For some reason, blood rushed past my reins. What could've the poor animal have done to receive such a treatment? What if he  was hurt?

Nakul, without a word shoved himself from the crowd, appearing miffed as he kneeled down in front of it, "Carefully, it may be hurt or something-" He nodded, we all knew how much Nakul was affectionate towards animals, and such activities over the harmless ones was one of the pricking reasons for his dissatisfaction. He gathered the dog in his arms comfortingly, and one by one pulled out the arrows very gently.

"This—"

"What's wrong Nakul?" I immediately intervened stepping a bit forward.

"Bhrata Phalgun, the arrows didn't scar him even a bit! I mean—" He fumbled, equally amused and as well as perplexed. A surge of relief swept over me, though I was a victim of the same confusion. Did not hurt him? That means were the arrows just shot to seal his mouth?

 The dog relieved of the same, began to joyously lick Nakul as a sense of affection, he smiled and cradled it in his arms. 

"This, this is highly amusing!" One of the Prince commented, kneeling down towards Nakul and examining the arrows that he had removed from his mouth, "Amusing? Really? This is not the way to treat any animal!" He breathed out, gritting his teeth as he lifted the dog up, "Hurt or not I don't care, this is cruelty indeed!"

"That's true, but—don't you think we should, once see who had done such a task?"

"That person should be taught a lesson," Nakul mumbled, making me and Sahadev step towards him and comfort him. The dog was mostly looked after Nakul, he was almost his companion and his affinity towards him had him this time. Jyesth came running after a while, equally amused after we recounted him what happened. 

The dog began to nudge Nakul, "Looks like he is trying to say something..." 

"Put him down Nakul, let's see what he does." Jyesth narrowed his eyes at the animal, who was put down and it grabbed Nakul's dhoti in his between his teeth and attempted to drag him, as if wanting to take him to his offender, "Coming, little fellow coming!"

"Haste! Follow him!" We quickly marched towards the wilderness, where the dog was swiftly taking us, barking at intervals and wagging it's tail. He took us deeper, probably where he had wandered off, and we arrived at several settlements installed at intervals, and instantly we realized we had reached to some tribal settlement. There were many tribes that established their settlements outside on the borderlines of Varanasahrya, and were in touch with the royalty of Hastinapur. Pitamah had made sure there was peace between the Kurus and such tribes, atleast on borderline terms.

My eyes took around the houses made of hay, as few men and women were engaged in their daily tasks. A few youngsters greeted us, their wooden diadems had feathers stuck on their heads and a peculiar armlet wrapped around their bicep concluded one thing—

The tribal settlement was undoubtedly of the Nishads, the mix of Shudras and Kshatriyas. 

"Is this the Nishad settlement?" A few of them questioned, but the dog began to growl and bark, again pestering Nakul to follow him. We stared around, hoping to find the one who had done such a task, and began to trace the duo again. 

And with that, distinct sounds of someone shooting arrows reached my ears.

"Bhrata Bheem, did you hear?" I whispered and nudged Bhrata Bheem, who spun around me with a furrowed glance, "Someone is shooting arrows?"

"Exactly! Come here, follow me!" I stepped out and immediately began to rush towards where the twangs and swishing of arrows where coming from. The rest of them began to follow me, making me halt at the sight in front of me. My breath hitched for a moment, with my eyes raking over the dummy set up of our practice arena—our practice arena?

There were pots hung, dummies made of dried grass and targets set around, even the setup of shabdhvedi did not miss my sight. There were weapons kept around, though not as polished or novel like us. And quivers full of wooden arrows with feathers attached to it—the same arrows that had sealed our dog's mouth. Nakul gathered the dog up, his jaw clenching and ready to confront the offender.

"Nakul, wait!" But instead he rushed towards, behind the tree where the sounds of archery was being the most prominent. I followed him and so did the rest of us, only to come across the tall and well built stature of a young individual who was facing his back against us.

And amusedly, he was not at all perturbed at our arrival. As if he did not even hear us. 

This—this is what I used to do....I bit my lips, noticing the striking similarity in our stances. The same concentration, the same focus—the alignment of his focus right upon the target. My gaze inadvertently shifted towards Vasusen, and as predicted, he glanced back at me with a piercing bewilderment.

He too was taken aback and beyond. Along with me. As the days passed, the rivalry from his side only intensified. I had tried my best to control my temperament and attempted to be friendly, but seems like he wasn't on a mission for that. 

I saw hatred swirl in his eyes, for me. A strong hatred— and for same reason Bhrata Duryodhan and Kauravs were siding against him. And as the years in Gurukul swept over, it appeared as if Bhrata Duryodhan's hatred specifically towards me had increased in manifolds. 

"Was that you who had sealed the dog's mouth with arrows?" Nakul suddenly began, laden with slight annoyance as the animal growled lowly in his arms. The youth paused shooting arrows and spun towards him; dressed up in clothes laden with dirt was enough to portray his involvement with weaponry and practice for long hours. His matted locks sprawled across his sturdy shoulders, a ragged angavastra casually draped against his shoulder.

His eyes scanned all of us, with a tinge of wonder in those calculative eyes, "What did I do to receive the glimpse of so many Princes from all over?" He let out a snicker, striding towards us with his bow. His gaze landed upon the dog curled up in Nakul's arms and barking at him continuously.

"Oh, so he was yours." He whispered, his lips articulating into a curve, "I hope I did not scare the fellow much. He was barking too much for his own good, needed to shut him so as not to distract myself."

Nakul exchanged a look at us, "He could've been hurt, you know."

"He isn't." His words were short and crisp, a titter escaping him, "He wouldn't rather, Raajkumaar." 

"How were you so sure?" Bhrata Duryodhan began all of sudden, his eyes raking him all over. My eyes were already fixed on the youth by now, amusement and wonder already consuming me with each passing moment. He was extremely sure that the dog won't be hurt and that was true; the precision with which he had shot the arrows had made it sure that only did it's job to seal it's mouth.

"Sure? Prince, it requires load of practice and not a child's play!" He sighed at the question, striding towards us, "It took me years to build the skill, all thanks to my Gurudev." 

His stance suddenly softened at the mention of his teacher. Who was such a skilled Guru to teach this Mahoday such extraordinary skills? And for some reason, a sense of curiosity entered my heart for him, his eyes reflected dedication and immense love for archery.

Just like me.

★★★★★★★

A/N

I see Arjun deviating from his track 🌝🌝🌝🌝.

Btw, any words for our cutest animal right activist Nakul? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

He seems so furious on the dog's offender lmao 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.

Also I was seeing the sequence of Eklavya in SP MB, they got many aspects and nuances incorrect over there. The basic crux was same but the justification given by Dron lacked strength. And also they complete deviated Arjun's point of view to something else which was something else in BORI CE. 

Signing off for today!

Kiritija Nushkie