So, now, Raja Sugriv certainly wasn't stupid enough to forget to dispatch his subjects again. But he was worried that he would. So he called everyone he planned to send out, all the able, willing, and most importantly, devoted monkeys and bears in his kingdom of Kishkindha. Sugriv cleared his throat and spread his arms out as the entire kingdom stared back at him inquisitive and ready to follow his every orders.

"My friends, my subjects," he began, looking into each and every eye that studied and heard his words. "I have made a promise to my ally and good friend, one which I intend to keep after a blasphemous delay. We are going to search for Yuvrani Sita of Kosala, who was abducted from Panchavati forest a few months ago. Her husband and brother-in-law are searching for her. We have news that she was taken by Raja Ravan of Lanka."

Sugriv pointed to the four groups that he had assembled. "We will search for this pious woman in each and every direction. One of you will go to the north, another to the south, another to the east, and another to the west. We will not delay. Either come back with Maa Sita or information about her whereabouts, come back having searched every single direction and having had exhausted all of your resources, or don't come back at all."

No one had ever seen Sugriv, believed to be a gentle sort of fellow normally, so authoritative. Hanuman grinned. Here was the king that would help them defeat any army. Here was the king of the people. Here was the king that Prabhu Ram had trusted with the finding of his wife, and here was the king that would prove that trust to be well-placed. Here was his best friend, and his employer, and his king, all in one. Now wasn't that rare?
Angad looked between their group. Between them, they had Hanuman, a mighty warrior and accomplice as well as a good leader, Jambavan, king of the bears and wiser than any of them, as well as older. And then there was him, son of Vali, previous King of Kishkindha, and Yuvraj of the same. Between them, they had a force to be reckoned with. And they were heading South. Angad tried not to think about the fact that Yama always went South, because what was the point of that? He snorted.

"We have a lot of manpower," Hanuman began as they started to walk out of the city. "And we have the blessings of Prabhu Ram. I have a good feeling about this direction. It just feels like the place to go, the right path. Doesn't anyone else feel that way? " When all he got was silence the very excitable and optimistic Hanuman jumped about. "Come on! We need some spirit between us, or how will we brave the journey?"

Jambavan shook his head. "The only way to get more spirit into these monkeys is a cued Bollywood sing and dance along, and my back is too creaky for that, not to mention that Bollywood hasn't even been invented yet of course-" When all he got was a few inquisitive looks back, Jambavan grunted. "Okay, I agree. These kids are way too quiet and reluctant to do anything. The question is-how do we get them happier?"

Hanuman hummed as they climbed over the first hill in their path. "You know, when I was younger, to make me happier and more easy to deal with, my mother always gave me fruits and sweets, but I suspect that we don't have enough sugar around here to make sweets, now do we?" Hanuman thought about it for a second. "You know, I don't think that we have enough desi ghee around here either."

Angad cleared his throat. "I don't think we have enough food around here, forget desi ghee and sugar and whatever else it takes to make a sweet." Jambavan grunted in agreement. "How about a chanting mantra though? Something to get them riled up and ready for war, you know? Even though we're not fighting. We might as well be with how grim we are." Angad looked about. "Not that I like fighting, too grisly, but sometimes we have to do it."

Jambavan shrugged. "A war brings people on each side together in order to tear two other halves apart, is it not? It is preventing 16 tears into a fabric in the palace of just a single. I agree with what Yuvraj Angad has said. It does make sense. Now we just have to come up with a war chant! Something not too torturous, not too weird, and not too corny!" Hanuman nodded along like he did almost everything the old bear said.

Angad thought about it for a moment. When his mother brought him up, lullabies had always calmed him down. So perhaps something the opposite of a lullaby? Something that had a joyful beat and succeeded in waking the snorers up? "What about something happy, like...say... FOOD! IS! THERE! FOOD! IS! THERE!" Hanuman jumped as Jambavan burst into a low, grunty laughter at Angad's sudden joyfulness at the thought of food.

"Maybe something not as hopeless as that, Yuvraj. They'll get awake and happy alright, but quickly saddened and disheartened too. It is best not to remind them of food, don't you think? What about something more calm and composed like....Evergreen pine trees, brown yellow grass, the sun is setting, we'd better move fast!" Angad scratched the back of his head, still nodding, not wanting to insult the bear.

Hanuman blanched, however, and shook his head quickly, much to Jambavan's aghast. "No! It's too poetic! Besides, our army and men are observant beings. They definitely know that the sun isn't setting and that pine trees are evergreen and that the grass is as lush and green looking as ever. No, we need to come up with something that makes their blood boil and their spirits soar." He rubbed his chin. "How about the chant of Jai Shree Ram!"

And that's how that happened, my friends.

-----O-----

At some point, Hanuman and his friends reached a desert. The sands blinded their eyes with their goldeness and the cacti just stared back at them. "Hey, is that a tumbleweed?" Angad asked as a little ball of something rolled by them. "Where are we, Hanuman? My father said that there's some desert in the central mainland, but he didn't exactly say where." He paused for a moment before clearing his throat again. "You know what he also said? He said "Angad, if you went there, I would be laughing my brains off, because you'd not know a thing about deserts!"

Hanuman patted Angad's back optimistically, looking off into the horizon prophetically. "Well, it's good for you Yuvraj, that one of us probably does know about deserts." Angad raised his eyebrow at the word 'probably' and Hanuman winced. "I mean, we're ten thousand strong, right? One of us has to know about deserts! I mean what are the odds that none of us have been here before?"

The odds were pretty good actually, because none of them had been in the desert even though Hanuman had personally interviewed each and every one of the ten thousand strong army. And, as the three leaders found out, sometimes, strength wasn't in numbers. Especially when the numbers consisted of thirsty and starved monkeys and bears who constantly groaned and moaned for food.

Hanuman coughed. "You know, I think your previous battle cry of "WATER IS THERE!" may actually work. I mean, none of us are really sure of anything anymore, right? I think I see a puddle of water there, but then I remind myself that I am in a desert, so..." he trailed off, looking as if he longed to jump in the nonexistent pool of water. Jambavan quickly brought him back onto the trail before he could peel off like an orange.

Angad, meanwhile, had spotted a luscious looking palace in the middle of the desert. Jewels lined its walls and the gardens were full. What were they full with? Well, ladoo plants and bushes filled with jalebis (because jalebis grow on bushes, everyone knows that), and barfi adorning the tips of the flowers and little leaves made up of a delicacy called chocolate that Angad had discovered a few days ago.

There were crystal clear pools of cool water, and one was even filled with wine. The palace rose up into the distance, where Angad thought that he saw men drinking out of hollowed rubies. Diamonds lined their crowns and emeralds were embellished in their bows and peacock feathers lay at the tips of their arrows, and they ate luxurious Western sweetmeats, and Angad reached out dreamily till he thought he saw a piece of kale there and quickly rolled his eyes and walked back to the path.

"Eternal knowledge...." Jambavan trailed off greedily till Angad gently smacked him on the head, and he was brought back to life. But then, all three froze as they saw one last mirage in front them. And that was Ram killing Ravan. Of course, each saw it differently. Jambavan, crafty and wise, saw Ram poisoning Ravan's drink. Angad, only slightly violent and very thoughtful in war, saw Ram having created a master battle plan to defeat Ravan, and smiled. But Hanuman, noble and loyal, and knowing how Shri Ram would have liked to kill Ravan best, saw an arrow piercing Ravan's heart.

Nal stopped in his tracks once he saw the three leaders staring off in the distance. He too looked, and thought he could faintly see a battle, but nothing too great. He shrugged his shoulders, and turned towards his friend, Neel, who also stared at them confusedly. "Maybe they're just in a coma or something, maybe they're dreaming...."

Neel rolled his eyes, and waved his arms around. "Together? They're all in a coma together?!" He shrugged his shoulders and the entire army went off till finally, the three recovered from their mutual coma and ran to the front again. Together, the group walked through a tunnel, dark and lonely, and out into a beach. A lonely beach. An empty beach. Nal claimed that he could see a strip of land in the distance.

"What do we do now?" asked Angad forlornly. "This beach is as empty and pale as a man looks like when he is dead. Shells lie in the distance, purples and blues, and swirls alike. Skulls, too, crumbling and decomposed. What do we do? Where do we go? Perhaps this search for Maa Sita is successful elsewhere. Perhaps someone else got lucky in their search for her. But we do not know. Where do we go, Jambavan, only you could tell us?"

But Jambavan shrugged, remaining wordless, choosing not to impart knowledge that could be inaccurate rather than tell possible lies and misleads. Angad groaned again, running around as Hanuman looked off into the distance as the choppy waves licked the golden sand of the seas uncertainly, and welcomingly, as if they knew something that lay beyond.

----O----

Sita looked up from her endless meditating, her eyes not clenched shut anymore as she thought she could see where the land of Lanka ended and the sand started, for the first time. For the first time, she thought she could hear the choppy waves of the Indian Ocean ringing in her ears and calling out to her hopefully, as if they wished her to cross them. Somehow, for the first time, Sita could envision the mainland again, she could feel herself crossing it, if only in spirit.

"Trijata," Sita called out to the single kindhearted demoness among all the demonesses of Lanka, among all her guardians. "See? I can feel it. I can hear it. I know it, as certain as my heart is beating and that it only beats for Dasharathnanadan. He is coming for me! My Lord is coming for me! Listen, oh land of Lanka! You will be mutilated, destroyed, your inhabitants will be ruined! Dharma will be restored in this heavenly kingdom, your king shall be dethroned and beheaded, and a new king, unplagued by the sins of greed, gluttony, adharma, disloyalty, murder, and infidelity, will take his place, as dharm always shall adharm."

A/N-A short chapter, but a really, really fun chapter to write, so yay! I'm happy about that! I just wanted to include a quick filler chapter, because for me, this tale is really going too fast now. We may even finish before 110 chapters *cries* NOOO! Well, actually, I think that the war may only take five chapters, you know? I don't know what to do anymore! Where are my slow burning skills when I need them? Disapparated. Poof. Gone gone gone gone. 

Does anyone know how to write an action scene? Tips?! If you do, I will write for whatever plot you proviiiiiiiddddeeeeee...