|| Never Without You || [ The Tale Of Arjun-Draupadi ] (I)

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝟹

Kaampilya, Paanchaal

"What?"

Balram and Saatyaki both exclaimed, gazing back at Krishna who's lips curved up further.

"You mean this Brahmin—this Brahmin is Arjun?" Balram looked back at the Brahmin, who thumped down the Kindhura on the floor, the edge of it striking the hard ground erupting a steely cackle. There was a awed silence that had followed, as people were stunned. The Kings and Princes had their mouths shut as they watched the youth single-handedly questioning their worth. 

Krishna chuckled under his breath, "Who else apart from him, Dau?" 

Arjun inhaled deeply, gripping firmly on the bow's midpart. Swiftly he wrapped the string that was dangling from one end on the other edge of the weapon. Curling his fingers on the taut elastic, he let out a twang, that immediately reverberated in the arena.

It was loud and clear, as if everything had fallen into place appropriately. 

Karn watched him with wide eyes, his jaws clenching and so did Duryodhan. Duryodhan grumbled under his breath, looking away in pure jealousy but Karn could not. He stared as the Brahmin walked up towards the pool with confident gaits, and he couldn't help but clench his fists. 

By now everyone had started cheering, murmuring or watching with a bated breath. 

Arjun watched the reflection of the artificial fish revolving, as he half knelt on the floor with his knee. Thousands of gazes were on him, thousands of assumptions were made and so were the expectations. But right then, there was nothing that would shift his focus. His alert eyes flickered upon the reflection, as he settled an arrow on the bow. 

Locking the arrow in between the weapon, he positioned it vertically up and again gazed down, watching the eye of the fish's reflection. 

The beady little eye of the fish had all the focus of Arjun. 

His fingers drummed upon the midriff of the bow, the string taut with the arrow on it and ready to be released.

The tension was too thick to cut with an axe, as even the royalties had stood up. Some praying his failure, some merely watching and gritting their teeth. Men had even climbed over each other to gave a clearer glimpse of what was happening. Some prayed, some murmured, while the rest were cheering or had their gazes fixed in amusement. 

None wanted to blink, what if they miss it?

Arjun bit the corner of his lower lip, his brows narrowed further as he waited for the fish's reflection to align with his aim. He exhaled deeply, his racing heart shouldn't betray him. It was a question of his years' hard-work and his Guru Dron's blinded trust on him. 

And, for her.

The fish's reflection appeared closer, and soon was under his arc to aim on. 

Without wasting a single moment, his artful fingers released the arrow. 

Everyone's eyes immediately followed the arrow's trajectory above, their gazes widened and breath caught in their throat. 

And in a while, there was a huge uproar of gasps and shrieks. 

The arrow had hit the fish' eye, perfectly.

.

.

.

The crowd turned berserk, as they watched the remaining four arrows being shot up right into fish's eyes, piercing one another. 

Arjun watched into the pond, the reflection of the pierced arrows revolving. The great uproar, joy and shrieks of wonder drummed in his ears. The winds suddenly felt cool again, as it rustled with his sweaty locks of hairs stuck on his forehead, while he closed his eyes letting out a heavy, deep breath.