En-route to Kaampilya

"What?"

The air around them seemed to thicken with uncertainty as Kunti's bewildered gaze darted between her sons. "This is—what is all that you're saying?" Her voice wavered with a mixture of confusion and disbelief, her brow furrowing as she struggled to comprehend their words.

"Right now, I am just feeling clueless as ever," Yudhishthir scrunched his forehead, grasping them with his hands. Perched on a weathered boulder beneath the sprawling branches of the banyan tree, his forehead creased with deep furrows.

Arjun had never seen his eldest so unsettled.

He rubbed his eyelids, clutching his forehead as his lips twitched. "This is all so..."

"But a father-in-law's words can never be false, Yudhishthir." Kunti remarked, biting the corner of her lip, "But..."

A deed that was against the Veds and against societal norms. Denying every aspect, they had to leap ahead of it. The world could averse them. May resent them.

As the cool winds swept through the clearing, rustling Arjun's unruly curls and sending a shiver down his spine, he closed his eyes briefly, seeking solace in the depths of his own convictions. Despite the chaos swirling around them, he remained strangely calm, his demeanor strangely appeared to be untouched by the turmoil. Arjun had the knack of seeming unnaturally allayed, even in the worst scenarios.

Eternal soulmates—that's what he had said. Arjun exhaled, momentarily closing his eyes.

Eternal soulmates. Beyond birth. Beyond the shackles of the world. Unbound, uncurbed.

"I-" They were interrupted suddenly by the sounds of footsteps from an elderly couple, whose kindness had allowed them to stay there for the night. "Pardon! But the meal is ready!" The lady smiled at them, peering from the door. "Please, do come inside."

"What happened? You'll appear so—" She tilted her head, smiling softly. "Is there anything wrong?"

"No, it's not so; we are coming soon." Kunti instantly smiled back, shaking her head as she followed her into the hut.

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The full moon cast its cool luminescence, and the clear night sky glittered with countless stars.

Roaming around like vagabonds, almost two years had passed for them. Away from their homeland and people, they hatched conspiracies and a narrow escape from death. The mishap at Varnaavat had shaken the poor mother of Pandavs so much that she had sobbed in their arms, requesting them to be away from Hastinapur. The land of treachery would do them no good.

Kunti had lost all hope. For her, it was better to stay alive at that moment.

Begging for alms, they sheltered wherever they could. Wandering around without any purpose.

But they were happy. Just happy to be with each other. Away from the feign and sham of what had promised them a life of grandeur. After all, a thirst for grandeur could never keep avarice at bay.

It was true. Arjun did not mind toiling under the sun for alms, sleeping on the hard ground, or walking through the tenacious paths. Not till they could laugh, joke, and be with his brothers, whom he loved more than his life. Pain seemed blissful when the five were with each other.

At least, they were together.

When the Pandavs just felt that they were finally coping, they had to now fight against the entire world.

For someone, they barely knew, perhaps.

The woodfire flickering beside him vividly irradiated his dark visage. He flipped the other side, watching the wavering flames that had enveloped them from the cold. Blissful in control, vagarious when unleashed.

The fire had barely intrigued him once. Until the fireborn—

The flames pirouetted without a bash. Flaring ceaselessly, unbothered. Untamed, unfettered. Yet caging one under it's solacing warmth.

He rested his head over his arm, his halcyon ambers mirroring the flickering flames. Mirroring the very essence of his existence.

'Eternal soulmates'. He didn't know why the thought kept on ransacking his mind all over again, like a voracious ocean hauling back a haywire boat that was trying to drift far away. Arjun firmly shut his eyes, his heart rumbling further against his chest.

There was something. Beyond the stars, the moon, and the earthly realms.

Which he felt he was so aware of yet unaware of at the same time.

He didn't know—he felt somewhere there everything was right. As if, it would happen how it should. The world may shun them, but—why did it feel so right for him?

As if it were what should happen—it's something that shouldn't—yet it should.

It should.

This strange knot of dubiousness was stubborn enough not to unravel itself. Wound with destiny and time, it seemed ruthless enough to reveal itself, harboring ambiguity yet coveting him with a promise of vividness.

This seemed like a war in itself. A war that not all could ace. For it was not a battle of ravish, to destroy or vanquish lives; a battle to vanquish the vagary. To vanquish the dubiousness and vagueness.

This war was for himself and against himself at the same time. A war that perhaps fate had conspired for him.

For that, Arjun had to trust. The truth.

Fight for the truth—fight—fight against all odds.

Fight against the world, against the norms, against everything. Vanquish the dubiousness. Break every bond; break the shackles that would bind them; for once, stand with the truth—fight for the truth—for his eternal soulmate.

And warring was his amour, for the Prince of Heavens was the God of War.

Fearing fate was never Jishnu.

Never.

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"This is the last..." Nakul kneeled down, upturning the water pitcher, which was half empty. Bheem slowly allowed Kunti to climb down from his shoulders, while the latter poured the water into a makeshift leaf bowl for his elderly mother to quench her thirst. They had finally found a clearing after watching the water birds swoop somewhere in between the trees.

"The sun is going to be down soon too." Arjun clicked his tongue, striding over to a tree and breaking a sturdy branch. "Jyesth, should we settle here for the night?"

"Hmmm," Yudhishthir wiped his forehead with his angavastra, staring up. "We're near Ganga, almost. Let's stay here and rest for the time being; we'll see if we can find any village or town nearby tomorrow."

"Alright, so let me just go and fill the pitchers then." Arjun collected his bow and began to hang the empty pitchers from the ends. Bheem took the broken branch, lit a fire from the previous one, and threw it away, stamping with his feet to extinguish it. "Let me come too; it's getting dark."

"Be careful...." Kunti nodded, sitting on a boulder slowly.

"Doesn't.....this forest look unnaturally quiet?"

"Hmm, I have heard that some Gandharvs reside in this area." Sahadev sauntered and kneeled beside his mother, crossing his brows as he spread a grass mat on the floor. "They may be around. We shouldn't be, I guess."

"Let them be no! It's not as if we're going to disturb them or anything," Bheem whisked away his words with a small smile, joining Arjun.

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Ganga was tranquil.

"That's probably the last one," Arjun breathed out as he came out of the waters and handed the pitcher to Bheem, who covered it with leaves and hung it over the bow.

"Alright, listen, Arjun, let me go and just check around, okay? Let's see if we find any better places to reside. We'll call Maa and our brothers then." Bheem looked around at the banks.

"Okay, but be careful and don't go much further. I am waiting." Arjun tilted his head, adjusting the bow against the tree with a little smile. "Yeah, just wait here for me." Bheem patted his shoulder, grabbing the fire-lit stick, and began to stride away.

Arjun sighed deeply.

Days and nights had elapsed as they journeyed towards the north to reach the capital city of Paanchaal.

Bheem and Nakul had almost stopped with their silly jokes; Sahadev felt like he had exhausted his wondrous tales, and Yudhishthir was solemn as usual. There was this strange, eerie somberness that had been embedded within them since that day.

The stagnant waters occasionally rolled against his feet with the gush of zephyr. Blue lotuses strewn all over the river were fluttering their petals. Arjun glanced down at the crystal-clear waters for a moment and then slowly stepped inside. A soft exhale left his lips, feeling the empyrean aura of Ganga as he strode inside further, closing his eyes.

After all, she was like a mother to them.

"Show some way to your son, mother." Arjun mumbled inadvertently under his breath, cupping his hands with the cool waters and splashing them on his face. His conscience felt soothed for a while, a seraphic tenderness engulfing him. He hummed softly, pushing back his tresses as he took a dip within.

'You're Narattma Arjun. You know everything.'

He slowly felt himself growing languid in the waters, feeling as if his body was light enough to be floating along the waves.

So calm, so blissful, and so placid...

'I am nothing without you, Sachi. Just a lifeless carcass.'

Arjun gasped deeply within the waters all of a sudden. His breath escalated almost instantly as he panted. 

★★★★★★★★★

A/N

Abhi maja ayega na bhidu 🌝🌝🌝🌝

Signing off for today!

Kiritija Nushkie