Character Drabbles-Part 2

A/N- No joke, perhaps only second to jealousy in Lakshmila, this chapter was one of my most requested chapters ever! You guys loved the first part, very, very much, and so here, I present, a second part! In case a Part 3 is wanted, send me a comment! Also, I'm revising the part 1 chapter, and I don't think I ever mentioned forgotten characters, but I guess Sita is now a forgotten character. Alrighty-do! Oh, also... I am not publishing tomorrow as I want to have a day of vacay-shun. Goodness knows, I need it!

Shatrughan "The Responsible"

Soumitri, Shatru, Ramanuja, Bharatanuja, Lakshmananuja, Prince of Kosala

Son of Raja Dasharath and Rani Sumitra

Husband of Rajkumari Shrutakirti of North Videha

When someone looked at Shatrughan, they never thought that he was responsible. Shatrughan understood that, being known as the prankster. The one who made jokes. The one who made people laugh at the worst times. The irresponsible. However, Shatrughan liked to think, and tell himself too, that sometimes, he did show a tiny spark of that maturity that Bharat and Ram bhaiyya had.

"No! No, please no!" Ram shrieked into the forest. "Not Lakshman. Not Bharat. Please, please no. You can't do this to me, universe! What did I do to deserve this?" Shatrughan bit his lip, his heart racing as well. The trees appeared to be leaning over. In fact, the trees appeared to have eyes. He blinked. Eyes?

The eyes on the trees also blinked, and he noticed, from his spot down below, that the eyes were bright red. Shatrughan might be known for his weird ears, which seemed to have an on and an off button for working, but he certainly was not known for having bad eyes. And red eyes meant that the trees were monsters in disguise. Indeed, he could already see the legs that they were sprouting from their trunks.

Shatrughan gulped. He had brought everything in his supply cabinet, courtesy to Lakshman's ominous, and often, correct thinking. They would be able to defeat this monster, just, how? Swords wouldn't work. He clutched his head as Ram continued to sob, on his knees, making a pitiable sight of himself. Ram bhaiyya would know!

Guru Vishwamitra always told Ram bhaiyya everything! Which meant, he would know how to defeat these tree-monsters. The tree-monsters, speaking of which, had begun to sprout arms as well, each ending in a thin finger with a single, pointed claw. Shatrughan didn't like the look of those pointed claws, and began to shake Ram's shoulders. Ram would not be awoken from his sobbing, and Shatrughan grumbled. Bharat would have been able to wake him up, and Lakshman, violent in nature and spirit, would have been able to tell him just how to mutilate those trees! Inconveniently, neither of those brothers was here. Finally, Shatrughan reluctantly began to tell jokes.

"Hey bhaiyya. Maybe they meet a tree nymph and run off to marry them? I never trusted Bharat anyways, that flirt." he shook his head, and Ram awoke from his trance, glaring at him. He still wouldn't get off his knees, so Shatrughan tried another. "Maybe Lakshman is speaking to serpents right now. Nice conversation. Would you like to come over for a cup of tea?" he tried in a British accent. Ram quickly stepped up.

"Now is not the time to make jokes, Shatru." he swallowed hard, looking around, his eyes landing on the trees, which had started to move from their places. Trees were not mobile things. "Ped-asur." he muttered. "The only way to vanquish them is a fire." Shatrughan grinned. Ram bhaiyya was back!

Now, Shatrughan paced in front of the throne of his father. That spark of responsibility was nothing compared to this one he was about to shoulder. He stared at his father's golden, magnificent, bundle of pride. He had never imagined that he would even have to think about being king. He was the fourth in line. The only way for a fourth in line to become king without the crown prince, third prince, and wife getting exiled of course, but that rarely happened, was for all of his brothers to...die.

He inhaled sharply. "Ram bhaiyya and Lakshman bhaiyya are in the forest. Bharat bhaiyya is going through a midlife crisis. I have to become king if he doesn't recover." Shatrughan winced, walking towards the throne, then away from it. Guru Vashishta watched as his mind was indecisive, from a distance.

FInally, squaring his shoulders, Shatrughan sat on the throne. A sense of confidence rushed up, from the golden seat itself, up his spine, directly into his brain. He had sat upon here once, before. As a child. This was different. He was a child no more. He got up. Now was not the time to dilly-dally. "Bharat!" he roared, to the brother he knew was also watching, hidden from sight. "If you don't listen to Ram bhaiyya's command, I will!" he quieted down. "Neither of us will be ruling, not really. We'd just be sitting on a throne." he stared back at the golden seat. "Just sitting on a throne."

Bharat refused to do even that. Five days later, Shatrughan refused the coronation, and sat his mothers, all three of them, even Kaikeyi, on the queen's throne, his wife on his adviser's panel, and kept the rest of his father's courtiers. Then, swallowing hard, he stepped up on the throne. "I'm just sitting on a throne, that's all I'm doing. Nothing much, Ram bhaiyya is coming back soon to be the real king." he muttered to himself as the first citizen walked in to seek his counsel. "Just sitting on a throne."

A/N- Again, Shatrughan is never, or barely ever, perceived as responsible. However, he did rule the kingdom for fourteen years so that it wouldn't lay in ruin, since Bharat, in my version, did not rule. Bharat did stay in the kingdom, he did not live a rishi's life, he just didn't rule.

Sumitra "The Understanding"

Rajkumari of Kashi

3rd Rani of Kosala, Wife of Raja Dasharath

Mother of Lakshman and Shatrughan of Kosala

(Note-Got them sniffles while writing this one... Proceed with caution)

When Sumitra was told that she was going to get married to Raja Dasharath of Ayodhya, she wasn't quite sure how to feel. He already had two wives, and she knew that one of them was very beautiful. So how would she play into this lovely family? Nevertheless, Sumitra understood her father's excitement at the alliance. Kashi and Kosala? He never thought that would ever happen!

Kaushalya didi and Kaikeyi didi were the best sisters ever, better than her own. She thought she would have to compete against them, and came there hardened, and when she saw them for the first time, they too looked apprehensive. She didn't know when they abandoned this feeling of hatred, or at least partiality against her, but eventually they did.

Raja Dasharath did not like her as much as Kaikeyi didi or even Kaushalaya didi, and Sumitra understood that. Kaikeyi was exceptionally beautiful, she was youthful and serene, and as far as Sumitra had heard, she even had saved his life! That warrior-queen was not what she saw every day, just a kind human being who wanted to be the best she could for all of her children. For that matter, Sumitra wasn't quite sure what Dasharath thought of her as but the third queen.

Then, the arrival of her children. Her dear Lakshman and dear Shatrughan. Shatrughan brought her all the happinesses a son could bring, picked her flowers, and played with her when he was little, and assisted his brother in everything else. If Shatrughan brought her happiness, Lakshman would increase it double fold. He would water the flowers that Shatrughan picked, painstakingly carve the toys that she would keep on the nightstands, walk up to her and increase her good moods with a tight hug. Sumitra never wanted to be separated from them.

And now Lakshman stood in front of her, no longer the toddler who fought with Shatrughan. No longer simply the brother who followed Ram around. No longer the third prince, not skillful, nor the eldest, the crown prince, nor the youngest, most doted upon. Sumitra felt part of her soul being ripped apart from her, that Lakshman, her Lakshman, the prince whose fate was cursed to be like hers, the third, the follower, not the favorite, nor the youthful, destined to share, not even the largest in status, was leaving her.

"Maa," his voice broke. His voice had never broken in front of her in her life! He fell at her feet, clutching them tightly, and somewhere, her heart stirred. These hands were holding her feet just like the child used to press them when she slept. These hands were holding her feet as if they never wanted to let go. These hands were desperate for a little reassurance. And he had turned to her. For she was his only mother. Lakshman had always respected her as the main mother. The one he turned to. This was the only preference she needed. Not the preference of Ram, Bharat, or even her king.

"I understand. I support you," Sumitra said, her voice strong. "You will make me proud by following your brother." She wiped away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. "You will follow him, you will make sure no harm comes to your brother, your bhabhi. You will stay strong for your grieving wife and mother, don't let a single tear show," she sniffled as he nodded. "I am no longer your mother, just a fading memory. The two people you follow are now your parents, you understand me?" Lakshman nodded as he sobbed, his entire body shaking, as Ram and Sita looked on. "And-" her voice broke as well. "Y-you will return." her voice quavered as he nodded again. "You will return from your journey, fourteen years later, and you will tell your mother a story. A bedtime story, about all your travels, do you understand? A nice, long story." Sobbing, she lifted him up and clutched him tightly, both of them crying silently, as they always did, into each other's hair as he nodded again. "Take care," she whispered. "Of yourself too." He had never replied, no nod. Sumitra had known he wouldn't.

Over the next fourteen years, Sumitra silently grieved for the loss of her husband, not plagued with the guilt that Kaikeyi had, nor screaming, shouting, and shrieking like Kaushalya at Dasharath's death. She was a source of strength for Shrutakirti, Mandavi, and Urmila alike, a bringer of hope for the family. She constantly repeated that she "understood" Ram, Sita and Lakshman's decision to go into the forest. And she did understand.

Urmila had walked over to her, right after the news had been delivered that Lakshman was hit. "How do you understand everything? How is it so easy for you? You lost two sons and a daughter, that day." Sumitra looked over at her wearily. "How are you so divine, mother, can you tell me? If you ordered Lakshman to return, how could he disobey you?" she had begun to cry small tears. Sumitra beckoned her closer, hugging her tightly as they both stared at the tiny rattle Lakshman had left with her before he had left. Such masterful handwork. Sumitra could remember when those very hands used to grasp around a rattle of similar construction, shaking it animatedly before throwing it blindly, right into the basket, which lay ten feet away. Now he must be using that aim to make sure his father and mother were not troubled.

Sumitra could remember when those hands grasped a sword for the first time, when his tiny body teetered for a second before he stood up and let out the tiniest battle cry, running into the wall with the sword. In those fourteen years, they must have clutched one of metal, running through countless monsters, shedding blood without blinking. Sumitra could remember when that hand clasped around her finger, studying it curiously, before shaking it so thoroughly that Sumitra's entire body felt rattled, when she had first realized he would be an earth shaking warrior. How he must have used this strength to build houses and boats, and all sorts of things for his mother and father. How those hands would be now lying, lifeless, on the hard ground of the battlefield. And so, Sumitra began to speak.

"Ram is divine, auspicious, otherworldly, as is Sita. It is our duty, as mere mortals under the gods fine eyes, to take care of such incarnations whom we have been blessed to meet. My son is doing that for me, fulfilling my duty. He can never disobey my command. Never. I said that he would return, having done his duties to Ram and Sita . I left a loophole." she took a deep breath. "If he doesn't come back, Ram and Sita will still be able to tell his story, for he lives inside of them! If Ram and Sita return, he will also, even if he doesn't bodily!" she burst into tears as well. "He could never disobey his mother's commands. If I had simply told him to live, he would have. But I know, if he dies, it is so that Ram and Sita don't. I accept that. I understand his devotion." she took a deep breath. "Understanding comes in acceptance, Urmila dear. Ram and Sita have come here with a purpose. If Lakshman needs to go, leave this Earth behind for their comfort, that they may fulfill that purpose they have descended upon this world to complete, so be it! I have accepted that, from the moment he was born. From the very moment that his dark eyes first turned to me, his first steps, his first word. I understood that if my son, Raghuvanshi, warrior unmatched, ever dies, it will be for Ram and Sita."

"You will return," she repeated, thirteen years after the chariot departed from Ayodhya, escaping their sight. As they all sat, broken, in the throne room. As the news of the imminent death of the third prince, not the crowned, not the favored, not the skilled, not the youngest, but the third slowly destroyed them from the inside out. "You will return, and speak, on and on, and on and on like you used to do as a child, coming up with the most marvelous variations for my bedtime stories." Urmila hugged her tightly from the side. "Every rakshas you meet will die, not having a chance to glimpse your brother and sister. The thorns will penetrate your feet, not Sita's soft ones, nor Ram's. You will ensure their every comfort without caring for your own. I know you, Lakshman, warrior of the Raghu clan, very well." By now, the entire family had turned to her, listening in horror and slight awe.

"If you don't come back, the last words you utter will be of your father's, and your mother's. Ram, and Sita. If you don't come back, it will be for the lives of Ram and Sita ." She wiped away the last of her tears, and stood tall, her jaw clenched, her eyes widening fiercely, her fists tightening, and her head held high, like the Queen of Kosala that she was, pride and dignity radiating in the every blink of her eye. The third queen, the wisest, the strongest. "I said to give the two every comfort, to ensure their lives go on. I never said that for you, knowing that you wouldn't agree. I said to protect them with your life." Shrutakirti let go of a single shuddering breath, letting Urmila lean into her, and Mandavi clasped her hands together, turning a pale white. Kaushalya collapsed in her chair, Kaikeyi looked brimming with guilt, and Bharat's head sank into his hand as he silently sobbed. Shatrughan simply closed his eyes, running his hands over a small wooden statue. One of himself. Sumitra took a deep breath, and her voice, strong and confident, thundered in the high ceilings of the throne room. "If you don't come back, it will not be for that shakti astra. If you don't come back, it will not be because of that Indrajit, nor because of the diabolical Ravan. No. If you don't come back, it will be for the order of your mother, Sumitra of Kashi."

A/N- That second part was so easy to write, it just flowed out of me, but so hard, I get sniffles. I understand that Sumitra sort of overshadowed Shatrughan here, but I meant for that to happen. Sumitra, the one person, whose orders Lakshman would never, ever deny. That segment was both inspiring and heart wrenching to write. Oh my goodness. Anyways, I am only including two, here, but I think that that's enough. In case you want a Part 3, please let me know, along with the characters you want to see portrayed. That second piece of writing was one of the most beautiful things I have ever written, my gosh. Anyways, in case you didn't understand Sumitra's part, she was the first to realize that Ram was Vishnu and Sita was Maa Lakshmi. She sent her son to protect them with his life. She did not tell him to live, and so if he died, it would mean he had protected them to his fullest, with his life. I just realized that the Sumitra segment included a lot of Lakshman instead of Shatrughan. Oops...yeah, that's my bad, honestly. Sorry about that. I seem to be including an "overdose" of Lakshman.

This is our 50th chapter guys. Just....wow. WOW 50 chapters, 7K views, 800 something likes later... hasn't this been a divine journey. Apparently a never ending one too. Wow. How many chapters am I going to write in this thing, by gods?

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE CHAPTER SO FAR AND WHY? Please let me know, PLEASE. This is a very important poll I'm taking to see what kind of writing style or writing moments you all like.