Pralay Aagman

[01] flight from shambala

a/n: the first chapter is starts right where the film left off. {warning: mentions of death, blood; swearing}

**

His hands gripped the controller as the acceleration launched them into the endless sky, a shade of glaring red and orange from the fires that roared beneath. Bhairava shook with the force of it, heart racing in anticipation. He had always enjoyed the speed but today the thrill it brought him hit too close to his childhood days with the captain.

It was strange, for those memories to willingly make their ways through his thoughts after years of him trying to keep them suppressed.

A thud pulled him out of his musings and Bhairava turned quickly to find the source of it. It was the bounty girl, collapsed on the floor, probably from exhaustion and dehydration. Huh, perhaps he'll offer some water once they land.

Offer some water? Show her the littlest grain of kindness and then throw it all away by dropping her off at the complex to collect his handsome bounty?

Yes, that's exactly what he was supposed to do. He'd been doing this for years, he was well versed with it. But for some reason, it didn't sit right with him this time.

He glanced at the girl again, who was clutching her belly.

All of the bloodshed and ruination, an array of corpses, of old and young alike, for an unborn who was unaware of the misery of the world he'd be born in? Why? Why were the people of Shambala ready to give their lives for this particular girl? Why was the Complex so hell bent on capturing her?

He had witnessed the battle between the rebels and the complex forces mere minutes ago, and was an active participant in ruining the beautiful city. One would call him the harbinger of the destruction that left Shambala in shambles and despite having a silver tongue that slayed with words, Bhairava couldn't find a point to counter it.

Every inch of his body ached and it wasn't the tell-tale tingle of muscles that followed him after a victory. No, it was too painful to be considered anything satisfactory. The old man had to be on some kind of high grade steroids. There was no other way a punch could feel like being run over by a truck. Bhairava was no stranger to nasty fights with both man and machine, but the oldie seemed neither. Just thinking about the implications of that thought was enough to erupt a volcano of questions.

He felt too tired to ponder them. What exactly had happened? One moment he was lying on the ground, defeated for the first time and the next moment SUM-80 was in his arms? Whatever that took place between those two events had sucked all the energy from him, both physically and mentally. All the adrenaline from his body was replaced with tiredness but he could faintly remember power, right beneath his skin, seeping from his body to something and seeping into his body from something. It felt like home, in a way he couldn't decipher. Bhairava was sure he had never felt that before.

He really needed to stop thinking, because a headache was already worming its way through his system.

"–irava! What is wrong with you?!" Bujji's distressed voice cut through the haze he was floating in. It jostled him in his seat and he frantically turned to look at her.

"What?"

"What? We've flown past Kashi despite me telling you the landing coordinates for the past five minutes and for some reason we're rapidly heading south-east and you ask me what?"

Oh, Bujji's voice felt so comforting at the moment, the only thing carrying a sense of familiarity among the unfamiliar maze he was trapped in. Her tone was laced with disdain and– even though she'd never admit it– fondness and Bhairava found himself smiling. She was his best friend– his only friend and the only one he would completely trust with his life.

His eyelids were drooping and the instruction went past his lips almost subconsciously. "Autopilot on, Bujji."

He could distantly remember words of protest before the exhaustion completely took over. His face slumped over the controller. Bhairava blacked out without waiting to check if they landed safely or not.

*

"Who was he?" Raia asked and Ashwatthama had no answer to that. Well, he did, but he had no idea how to even begin explaining what was going on in his head. He just stared at the sky where they had disappeared, tears of terror clouding his vision. He had failed to protect Mata, to keep her safe. One job, one life to protect and he couldn't even do that properly.

"This isn't the time to be angsty." Ashwatthama's eyes snapped towards Raia and she held his gaze firmly. Eerie it was, how the little girl had shown no sign of being intimidated since the very first time she had met him. Was he somehow losing his scary streak?

"I need to find Maa." Ashwatthama said, mostly to himself, ready to sprint in action once again. He knew he couldn't trust that man at the moment, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Uhh, I think you mean we–" Raia interjected, raising an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed at the idea of his solo mission. "–need to find her. And don't worry, we will."

"Listen, I think this has been enough adventure for you. This place is safe, stay here and–"

"No! Don't even think of leaving me behind!" Her panicked voice was high pitched, child-like. She was just a child and no child should ever accompany him. It was highly dangerous for Raia to follow him. Not for him of course, no one could touch him but Ashwatthama would crumble if something happened to his apprentice.

"To come with me is an open invitation to death and–"

"Oh and staying here would be worse than death!" Raia cut him off again, fist balling and the fury in her voice ringing louder than the victory acclamation that sounded throughout the ruins of the city. "They'll be back! They'll keep coming until they round up every single rebel now that they know Shambala's location! They'll probably throw me in the labs or a whore house– is that what you want?!"

Ashwatthama flinched at her words. The mere thought of it was enough to cause bile to rise in his throat. Her words were horrid but not devoid of truth. He took a deep breath, trying to reason with the stubborn child. "Raia, the people of Shambala will protect you."

"We both know it so let's not pretend like you can't beat the shit out of every single one of them." Okay, another accurate observation.

After long moments of back and forth staring where neither of them were ready to back out, Ashwatthama relented, his shoulders sagging. "Fine." He offered his bandaged hand so she could climb his shoulder and they could be on their way. Time was running out, they needed to find Maa before she was in the clutches of evil.

Her eyes flickered from his face to his outstretched fingers, head tilting sideways as amusement seeped into her voice. "Do you know where she is? Where do we have to go?"

Ashwatthama blinked, a frown forming on his wrinkled face. Well, he hadn't thought about that. "I'll figure it out on the way."

Raia huffed a laugh then, a laugh and see, that was just outrageous. What else were they supposed to do?

"That won't be necessary, Old Sir. I put a tracker on that abductor's car."

**

a/n: here ends the first chapter. i hope you enjoyed reading. let me be completely honest, i absolutely adored raia. so yeah, there will be a lot of her here. and oh, bujji and her interacting would be everything.

kudos and comments are always appreciated. please, please comment. 

thank you for reading!