"Look, I see the archway again!' cried Ram, pointing towards the familiar entrance as the entire procession walked towards the familiar hermitage. Lakshman smiled at it reminiscently and Vishwamitra continued the trek. As they passed through the entrance, eyes were drawn to the two princes. And suddenly, a crash! Ram jumped.

Rekha didi, the lady that Lakshman used to carry firewood to, had dropped her pot of water and was sobbing, having not seen the princes for three years. Her helper was less speechless.

"Look! Prince Ram and Prince Lakshman are back!" Multiple pot drops responded to her call and people rushed down from their chores to get a glimpse of the boys they had so missed. Ram tried to resist as people continued trying to feed him sweets, but eventually gave in.

Lakshman was having a harder time of it, however. "Shatrughan!" Lakshman shook his head. "No, Rekha dadi, I am Lakshman. Shatrughan's twin." After several convincing sessions, Rekha didi finally came up with a solution.

"If you are Lakshman, then you should be able to carry all the logs of firewood that fell yesterday back and forth from the forest." she challenged stubbornly. Lakshman froze, before smiling sheepishly.

"Just teasing you grandma, I am Shatrughan indeed!" he laughed nervously. Except, at this point, Rekha didi was determined that he was who had previously said he was and that he must carry her firewood in an act of courtesy. Eventually, someone pushed the mad grandma out of the way in the growing line to meet the princes and stuffed a chili pepper into Lakshman's mouth, which he ate without complaint.

"See, lady? Only Lakshman would be able to manage that level of spice!" the helper stated before shaking her head. Vishwamitra had walked away, expecting this reaction from the hermitage dwellers, who had missed the princes dearly and were bound to pamper them.

"My brother will take over for me, the guru needs me!" Ram excused himself, throwing poor Lakshman under the bus as he caught up to Vishwamitra. However, only seconds later, Lakshman escaped the crowd as well.

"You have to tell me your secrets, Laksh." Ram whispered to him as they both followed the sage eagerly. Vishwamitra gestured them faster and closer to him and they began to speed walk towards the yagna area.

"Monsters, wild creatures, horrid demons, and many other rakshasas have been attacking our sacred fires, blocking their path towards the heavens and throwing impure things like blood and bones over them to stop our prayers." Ram's eyes narrowed.

"I wish for you, princes, to guard us as we perform our yagna. May god be with you, the monsters are ruthless and cunning." Both of them touched the feet of the Guru and took their place outside of the fire dutifully as sages walked out and began to perform the ritual.

7 days and 7 nights Ram and Lakshman stood guard without falter, demons not daring to come there in fright. The 7th night, Ram's eyes drooped for a second, and he quickly made his lids fly up again, angry at himself for feeling sleepy.

"Lakshman, are you tired?" he called out. With how much of a morning person his brother wasn't, Ram would not be surprised if he had fallen asleep under the discreet cover of the night, the twinkling stars lulling him to sleep slowly.

Ram squinted his eyes, but he could not see Lakshman's tall, broad, dark silhouette in the night, and shook his head. He could easily cover for-

"No, I am not." he heard an unsleepy voice, and saw a figure steadily approaching him. There, Lakshman stood, not showing any symptoms of fatigue, right in front of him. "I have to always remain alert. The stars are my companions, and their brightness ensures that I do not sleep." Lakshman glanced at him for a second.

"I am hungry though, if you snuck any of those sweets they were showering you in, bhaiyya, please do share!" Ram laughed, shoved him, and they both resumed their posts, conversing in loud calls to each other as the yagna continued.

The 8th day, the morning to be specific, was different. Lakshman had noticed something, and had looked up from the ground quickly, and Ram was keeping close tabs on his reactions. He had sent a quick glance towards the sage, who knew what was happening, and internally prayed for the brothers.

"Bhaiyya," Lakshman pointed darkly towards where the first demon, with wings like a bat, and complexion like the night sky was flying out of the trees. Ram could feel attention upon his back, and knew it was the prayers of the sages, who trusted the princes with their lives. Another, and then another, and Ram quickly armed himself.

"Our main job is to protect the fire, maybe they won't attack if we only put up a shield." Ram stated hopefully. Lakshman teetered for a moment.

"What if we create a one-way shield? We can attack, but they can't?" he proposed, and Ram quickly agreed. It would be hopelessly vain of him to believe that the monsters would not attack later.

A large, blue colored shield went up, around the fire and then merged beautifully on the top. Ram nodded at Lakshman, gesturing for him not to use his sword. He didn't want his slightly reckless younger brother to get too close to the monsters, and a close-ranged weapon like a sword would ensure that. No, arrows were fine.

Suddenly, the sky filled with dark grey clouds, darker than the night. The princes heard a loud roar, and a serpentine hiss, before a large, three-headed snake slithered in front of them. It towered over them, its sharp fangs bared, hoods wide, and shining yellow eyes studying them closely, almost pitifully. The three heads opened their mouths wide, and a gust of strong wind flew from their mouths, suctioning the two princes in. Ram felt the world twist around himself, colors blend and spin dizzyingly, and he reached his arm out helplessly.

His palm scraped against a sharp branch, and automatically grasped around it, hanging onto the tree, and jumping off, his legs crumpling underneath him. Breathing heavily, he looked up, just in time to see Lakshman being suctioned into the snake's mouth. He could scarcely believe his eyes for a second, before it felt like a shard of glass pierced his heart, ripping it in half.

"Lakshman!" he roared, standing up, stumbling, as the ear piercing wind whistled around him like the taunting sound of a flute. His hair flew, eyes narrowed dangerously thin, and he focused his entire fury upon the monster that had swallowed his brother, pelting it with arrows and weapons without sense.

Lakshman faintly heard his brother's call, and turned around immediately to see what was troubling him, and remove that trouble from his life. The problem was, he couldn't see at all; it was pitch dark. He blinked for a moment, before remembering the suction, and eyes wide, he began to hit at the roof of the snake's mouth angrily. In vain. The monster didn't budge, and Lakshman drew his sword angrily.

"You dare cause my brother pain and suffering?" he hissed, not angry about almost being snake-chow, but angry that him being snake-chow made Ram angered. With that, he drove the sword into the snake's mouth. The snake opened its ravine widely, and Lakshman crawled out. In its dying moments, the serpent recognized the form of its king, Adhisesha, and sighed. To go across such a fearsome figure was imminent death indeed, and it felt honored that it had met the king. Perhaps he could explain himself later.

Lakshman dropped down and enveloped Ram in a hug, which he returned briefly, before returning back to the fight. The endless supply of monsters didn't seem to dwindle at the death of the three-headed monster, which, Lakshman conceded, had been a good fight.

"Look!" Ram heard and turned around quickly. Another giant, bearing a great semblance towards Tadaka, was walking forward. "That must be Marich, Tadaka's son, come for revenge." Ram whispered to himself.

"You killed my brother, my mother, and now I kill you two!" they heard a raspy cackle, and a smaller giant than Subahu walked forward in massive steps. He opened his mouth, jaw laden with sharp teeth like a king's throne would be embellished with precious jewels. Ram and Lakshman would be apprehensive, but they had faced giants who were taller, mightier, and frankly looked scarier than Marich.

"And you'd think that a giant his size would have a brain that's proportional, but nooo!" snorted Lakshman, shaking his head, and continuing his process of eliminating the numerous bat-like demons as Ram focused on killing Marich. Before he killed him, however, Ram felt an ounce of pity for the monster.

If someone killed his mothers and brothers, especially Lakshman, Ram would feel vengeful as well, go out to kill recklessly without creating a battle plan. No matter how evil, murderous, or harmful this monster was, the great Ram felt pity for him.

"Go, do not feel vengeance more." Ram murmured, before sending an arrow strong enough to carry the monster flying through the skies and crash him into the sea between Lanka and India. Ram's good choice would come back to haunt him years later, but the time to think of that was not now.

As the last of the monsters died, and the yagna finished, Ram and Lakshman worked on disposing of the monster bodies and finally, and an exhausted pair of brothers, leaning on each other for support, walked back towards the guru, where they beamed at Vishwamitra. Well, Ram beamed anyways, Lakshman just looked up pleasantly.

"You did well, rajkumaron, rest for a while now." Vishwamitra bid them a good day, and headed back towards his cottage. Ram turned around, checking himself for injuries, and assuring Lakshman he didn't have any either.

"Oh thank goodness! Medical treatment means no sleep!" Lakshman groaned, and collapsed upon the hard dirt ground without a single care, where he promptly fell asleep, his very light, innocent snores making Ram laugh.

"I'll make a feast for you while you sleep, Laksh. You deserve it." Saying that, Ram walked away, returning with a large plate of rice, peppers, and lentils, which he slowly ate while watching his brother sleep. Vishwamitra watched this from far away.

The next day, he called his charges forward. "To thank you, Ram, I give you this quiver. It has an endless supply of arrows, and will aid you in your forward expeditions to eliminate the world of all troublesome monsters as the King of Ayodhya." he handed the quiver to Ram, and he took it graciously.

Vishwamitra thought his next statement completely through before speaking, as he had no idea of what the king's patience was for the return of his children, especially Ram, whom everyone knew was the king's favorite, someone he could not live without. Ah well, thought Vishwamitra, he should be able to handle another month of separation! They deserve a bit of relaxation, and Lakshman needs some more sleep, something he won't be able to get with Shatrughan around. Vishwamitra shuddered at the thought of having a room next to a mischief maker like that, and made his decision quickly.

"Before I hand you two back to your father, who is probably having a panic attack without you, we will make a trek towards Videha, specifically, Mithila. The good King Janak's father is marrying off his daughter, Sita, and we should attend the ceremony, it would only be courteous." He took a deep breath.

Ram and Lakshman nodded ahead at this plan. "I think there will be plenty of festivities there as well, so you may enjoy yourselves there, after all this hard work. Dasharath won't mind, would he? He has Shatrughan to keep him on his toes." Lakshman winced at this, and Ram brooded for a moment. Sita seemed like a very familiar name, did he know of it, or perhaps meet someone who had the same name?

Well, if she was the Princess of Videha, he ought to remember what she looked like, as Videha was a good friend of Kosala's. He chided himself in his mind. I should tell dear Laksh every important thing. Ram told himself. He holds grudges very well, so he must have a good memory!

Little did any of the trio know how fateful this trip was going to be for all of them.

A/N- Well, this is my second transitional chapter! After this, our fourth era will have begun, which is to say the Sita Swayamvar Era! After this, none of the princes will remain romance-free bachelors anymore! And we will have much more of the princesses!

For Ram and Sita, I plan to have them as a love-at-first-sight sort of thing. Bharat and Mandavi are the shy, quiet couple. Lakshman and Urmila would first be enemies, (but only for the first day), and then good friends, and then married. Shatrughan and Shrutakirti would be the humorous couple, although it would fall upon Lakshman and Sita to bring them together, as they hate each other at first.

What do you think? Yes? No? Maybe so?

Shoutout to: 123dubeynisha-You're very kind, and thank you for voting on my chapters!

Shoutout to: Luminary_Community My very first attempt at a contest. Eeeeeeeekkkk.