Karna & Arjun - The Union of Brothers

16. Foresight

"Who are we waiting for?" Sahdev asked Arjun after standing inside a dark cave in the woods.

"Shhhh.. Lower your volume. He might be here any moment," Arjun said while sliding his finger through his bowstring.

"You mean the mole? How are you so sure? And who is he?" Sahdev fired multiple questions at Arjun.

"Since we got on that Vimaan, multiple challenges have been thrown at us and we have tried to tackle those as a team and I have observed almost every warrior carefully. I see that every warrior is either chasing glory or running away in fear on different occasions. But this one warrior with the leather angavastra seems to be extremely detached from feelings like these. He doesn't take the lead, doesn't have conversations, and doesn't even form alliances. How's it that not a single elite young warrior knows him? We don't even know his name," Arjun explained his stance.

"You could be right, but shouldn't we involve someone senior like Ashwatthama before acting on it?" Sahdev questioned Arjun's actions.

"Do you think Gurudev would appreciate that? We are on our own Sahdev, let's not rely on anybody. We need to..," Arjun stopped midway through his sentence as he sensed somebody's footsteps approaching them.

"I am disappointed. I was excited to face off with one of the most skilled archer in the entire Aryavrat," said a mysterious voice with almost forced husky texture.

"I am not surprised at all since hiding seems to be your core competency", Arjun said as he realised that his target has been hiding behind him in the cave and has been observing him.

"I will happily demonstrate my core competencies once the tournament gives me an opportunity to disarm you off your favourite astra, your pride," the voice revealed its face by creating a small ball of light in the air using qi energy.

"What's that? You don't need a arrow or any projectile to invoke that divine energy? Who are you? Are you a prince or from a kshatriya warrior family? Tell me the name of your kingdom," Arjun expressed his restlessness.

"Too many questions, that's how you extract knowledge from Guru Dron, Right? This ain't Guru Dron's aashram. You need to find the answers yourself. I can help you with my name, it's Chitrang," said the warrior with broad shoulders and popping veins.

Sahdev could see Arjun tightening his grip on the bow string but experienced a sudden blackout. As he opened his eyes, he could see his environment changing every moment. Constantly transitioning between different kinds of grand palaces and forests. He could also find himself in the middle of a battlefield during that trans like state. After a couple of minutes the the transitions slowed down and he could see his brother become a strong man wearing a silver armour and wielding a divine bow with hundreds of strings. The warrior on the other end had transformed into a beautiful yet strong woman holding a garland in her hand. He realised this warrior was Princess Chitrangada of Manipur who was disguised as a male warrior and is destined to marry Arjun. He could also see their son growing up to become a strong warrior standing face to face with a much older Arjun. The visuals started to melt before he could make sense of anything. The molten visuals transformed into the drops of water that were sliding through the surface of rocks in the cave while reflecting the glow of the energy conjured by young Chitrangada disguised as a boy.

Sahdev picked up a small stone with sharp edges and cut off Arjun's bowstring with an efficient throw. Arjun was surprised by his brother's act and found himself surrounded by darkness as Chitrangada's energy ball disappeared and she swiftly escaped the cave.

"Why did you stop me?" Arjun asked Sahdev.

"Because I had a vision," Sahdev answered.

"What kind of vision?"

"This warrior," Sahdev paused as he realised that he could risk the future by telling Arjun. "This warrior is not the mole. We need to keep looking," he continued after some contemplation.

"Ok, but we can't ignore what was there in front of us. He has received a different kind of training," Arjun expressed his hunger to learn this new technique.

"That is qui energy. It is a part of Northern cultures. He might have learnt it from the locals. Karn and Suyodhan are also taking lessons from the locals. I heard Rukmi and Eklavya talking about the dojos where the locals learn to fight," Sahdev said.

"Then what's stopping us. Let's find the smallest dojo here and work our way to the top. We cannot disappoint Guru Dron," Arjun asserted and they started walking towards the city.