A/N-I'm baaaaack-I have 0 clue if it's been a week or not, but I've missed this story too much to care. Okay? So no complaints. 

Tomorrow arrived too quickly for Ram, and as the sun beat down upon the sands of the mainland, but not upon the island, Ram paced across the shores of the city, Hanuman, Angad, and Jambavan only able to watch as their leader waited. And waited. And waited. Nal was positioned at the best viewing spot, and occasionally Ram would look at him imploringly, but Nal always had to shake his head and Ram would look away, his face becoming grayer and more solid by the minute.

The sun set without hesitation, and the night arrived with a wash of dark, and there Ram stood, just watching. Not doing anything but watching, as his army assembled once more. He spared one last, lingering glance towards the silhouette of the skyline of Lanka, almost regretfully, as if it were his fault that Ravan did not return his wife, before turning back to his army, determination etched on his face.

"We have given Ravan three chances to return Sita. he has not taken any. We have warned him that if he does not return Sita within the time of the sunset on exactly today's date, that we will be hostile enemies, I will consider our relationship one of unfriendliness, threat, and threat always has to be eliminated. We have warned him that we shall declare war." He took a deep breath. "I, Ram, declare war on Ravan, the king of Lanka. May the best man win."

-----O-----

"Ram has done something both terrible and great." Kaushalya remarked almost nonchalantly. "I can feel it diving into his heart almost reluctantly, but he felt a necessity to do it." The question was left unasked, but answered quickly by Kaushalya, who had set down her spoon. "I can feel what my son feels. His emotions are mine. And right now, he's so many things I can barely stand to move. A man cannot feel all of these things."

"Well perhaps he's not a man after all." Sumitra mentioned, her whispers as light as the air. "Perhaps he's a divine being of some sort, come to rid us mortals, and rid the Earth itself of all terrible things. Born to you, Kaushalya, born to be a hero. That is his life's work, his life's reasoning. Blue eyes, dark skin, tall, brave, and almost ethereal. Perhaps it is that our Ram truly isn't ours. Ram is the world's miracle." she looked away as if having waited to say those words for years and years.

Mandavi leaned forward. "Yes, but the question remains! What do you think he did that could have caused this feeling in Maa Kaushalya? Both terrible and great, what is both terrible and great at the same time?" Mandavi rubbed her wrist thoughtfully, and Bharat glanced at her for a moment as her mind buzzed. "The exile was both terrible to us, and a great sacrifice for him. But he cannot be exiled again, now can he?"

Urmila rubbed her chin. "A double edged sword. It is both terrible, because it can take lives, both innocent and horrible. It can shed blood and slice flesh and rip families apart in terrible ways, in more ways than one. But-" she took a deep breath. "The artsmanship of it is great. The building of a double edged sword, the imagining of it. A double edged sword is both terrible and great." she looked up, and met the smile of Sumitra.

"Yes, but none of those things are things he could have done." Bharat implored. "He could not have-as Mandavi said-been exiled again, for since we are still his home kingdom, we're the only ones that could exile him once more, and he can't step foot into another kingdom now can he? And Ram can't do a double edged sword. Maybe he bought one, but Ram always prefers the bow and arrow, now doesn't he?"

But Kaikeyi shook her head, adjusting her white sari as she glanced at Shatrughan and Shrutakirti, both of whom had refused to speak. Shrutakirti, she thought, may know, and Shatrughan was trying to stop her from uttering the word. But n one was stopping her. "War." Kaikeyi whispered, and the terrible word sent a shudder through all of them simultaneously. "Isn't war both great and terrible? Great in its power and victory. Terrible in its consequences and loss. Ram has declared war."

"But upon whom?" Mandavi pressed. "Why? Why would Ram bhaiyya declare war? There's no real reason for him to! Declaring war is not something for a man who has been exiled, no matter what his previous few years have gotten him through. What could change such a thing? Bharat? Shatru? Anyone?"

But they were silent, till Shrutakirti spoke up. "Ram bhaiyya has only taken two things of value to him from Ayodhya." Everyone looked up. "Sita didi, and Lakshman bhaiyya. The only reason he would wage war is either because something happened to Sita didi, or something happened to Lakshman bhaiyya." Urmila drew in a deep breath, her face turning paler by the second, and Shrutakirti could only rub her hands furiously in order to stop her from fainting.

-----O-----

"We have officially declared war, which means that soon, we shall be fighting. If not tomorrow, perhaps the next." Ram began somberly, watching as the generals straightened immediately. "And we need to prepare. We need to declare legions, specialties, sort through the vanars to see which ones are the strongest and should be at the front and the back of the pack. We need to come up with military strategies. So many things, Sugriv, all in one day, isn't it?" Ram rubbed his arm, which he had bumped against a palm tree. "Last time I waged war, or rather, my father did, I had the comfort of books and towers and canons. We have none of those things this time, but we have something much greater." Sugriv tilted his head. "A good reason to fight for."

Vibhishan walked up, folding his hands together. "Right nearby is the Suvela Mountain. We can stay there for some time, as we train and plan. It won't be a tough climb, but it will be tough enough that Ravan and his army shouldn't be able to reach us easily. Meanwhile, since this dry land is right outside of his palace, not only will we not be able to hide, but Ravan can easily spy us and our training." Vibhishan took in a deep breath as Ram nodded.

Angad turned around as Sugriv walked closer to Ram in the guise of asking something. "Alright!" he said. None of the monkeys, who were busy talking with each other, or eating, listened. "ALRIGHT!" he roared, and everything was silent. Even Ram turned towards the crown prince in surprise. "Alright, we've decided to move to the Suvela Mountain for cover and disguise. Organize yourselves and follow Shri Ram!"

Ram smiled and nodded, picking up his bow and grabbing Lakshman's arm before he got lost again. "Come on, it's not far." he began, and they began to walk towards the tall peak in the distance. It was a pleasant surprise when they all had discovered that the sun did not shine nearly as brightly on Lanka as it did on India. But whatever sun there was, it quickly became too much as the heat began to build up as noon approached stealthily.

The climb up the mountain was always the tougher one, Ram told himself. The climb up was always the harder one. He turned his head back to see the condition of his army. Hanuman, in his giant form, carried some of the older monkeys and bears. Nal and Neel were holding some of the ones who had accidentally injured themselves. Sugriv was busy chanting to keep the army's hopes up, and Angad had decided to crack some jokes.

Ram cracked a smile, and shook his head. "Look," he heard Lakshman whisper, and did exactly as he said, just as he took one more step. The peak of the mountain evened out into a sandy plateau. The breeze was cool and rushed through them like a clean knife. Ram continued to walk, right to the edge of the plateau, where he could see the valley below, between the two mountains. It was beautiful, the layers and bands of orange and yellow and rocky brown.

Behind him, he could just feel relief wash over everyone as they gathered on the plateau. The very top of the mountain was completely covered with golden dirt and earthy soil. It was somewhat similar to the rainy lands of Ayodhya. Ram let out a sigh as Vibhishan, for the first time, shed himself of his anxious and fatigued face, and let a smile spread across it. Hanuman clapped him on the shoulder, and Angad grinned at everyone.

Neel walked up, and held up a bag of coconuts. "Let's partay!" he cried, and a loud amount of cheering went up from the monkeys. Lakshman glanced at Ram for a moment, his fist clenching, but Ram shook his head. It was best to let them have their fun before the great war. He didn't know if he'd have enough of an army after this to crown up the top of the plateau as it was now. He should enjoy the calm before the storm raged, wiping out everyone.

-----O-----

Nal and neel danced around as some of the monkeys clapped and whistled. Angad laughed and cheered. Hanuman occasionally looked towards Lanka thoughtfully before back at the group. Sugriv had just calmly set his crown beside him, and was monitoring everything, not one to descend into the intoxicating addiction of partying once more once he knew that he had a goal in mind, and that he had a responsibility as king. But overall, there wasn't a tense person in the area. It seemed as if everyone had a smile on their faces, pleasant and calm or enjoyable and indulgent, it didn't matter.

Ram closed his eyes as the cheers continued on into the night. At some point, even Angad had started dancing around and eating coconut, though albeit, not as crazily as Nal. It was as if, for once, one time in the past few months, everything was back to normal again. Ram could smile for a moment without looking over his shoulder or remembering the pleading face of Sita. For one single moment, Ram could hear the dancing and cheers and luxurious enjoyment of those he called friends without wishing that he was back at the palace.

The crowd jostled occasionally to the edge of the plateau, then back towards the center. The most important people were in the middle except Ram and Lakshman, who chose to sit near to the edge. The monkeys were both sleepy and excited at the same time, in a drunken stupor without even having drunk, Colors meshed together, some became dizzy. Ram almost stood up, but in the end decided not to, as the monkeys pushed themselves back towards the center again.

The breezes suddenly increased. It all happened in seconds. Nal pushed neel pushed another vanar towards the edge of the plateau, who pushed Lakshman by accident, who fell over the edge with a yell, Ram also, as well as some more vanars, who were pushed by the wind. Everyone froze. Eyes widened, and Raja Sugriv immediately stood up, his mouth open with horror. Angad dropped his coconuts, and they all, in one sleek movement, ran towards the edge. Hanuman was still frozen with disbelief, his hands trembling, and his mouth agape, before he too got up and pushed through the crowd, looking over the edge. "No-" he whispered. All he could see for what must have been miles was dark emptiness.

"That valley is steep, Hanuman. The rock is weak." Jambavan finally said. "Even if they caught onto something, the chances of that thing remaining are very, very slim. The only thing we can do is wait and hold our hands down as far as we can. But-" Jambavan looked towards where Sugriv nodded at Hanuman.

"Hanuman and Angad can both fly. If they perhaps flew down and checked it out, picking up everyone who's holding onto the edge of the valley-maybe we could still save some." Sugriv said hopefully, folding his hands together, as Angad geared himself up eagerly and Hanuman immediately chanted Ram's name and grew a foot in size.

Jambavan shook his head wisely, but for once, his words were reluctant in their tone. "That valley is steep, and gravity is a thousand times more powerful there. The underworld is closer than ever, and the underworld has a magnetic pull. If Hanuman and Angad went down there, they would not only be pulled down, they would also pull down any remaining survivors. They also wouldn't slow down in time."

Hanuman jumped up and down, but somehow, he heard a grunt. He rushed again over towards the edge, where he heard loud rumbles, before a hand touched a ledge. A dark hand. Hanuman exhaled as Ram gritted his teeth, and brought a monkey over on the plateau. Then another, then another scampered up. "It's a chain." Nal whispered accurately. "He's holding them all up and pushing them over before he himself comes up."

Monkey after monkey walked back onto the plateau. Finally Ram looked down once more. "Alright Lakshman, make sure you hang onto my arm. I'm going to climb. You're too heavy for me to pull up." He heard a snort and a cynical comment that would have made Maa Sumitra twist her son's ear, fourteen years gone or not, and Ram smiled and shook his head, pushing himself up once more.

Ram stepped foot on the plateau once more, but his face was not one of relief. It was one of terrified horror, as he ran back to the edge once more. "LAKSHMAN!" he roared, his hands migrating exasperatedly to his hair. "God-I-he-one of us let go!" He looked over once more, leaning dangerously over the edge. Bands of red and orange were not visible to him anymore, just the dooming darkness of the canyon that he didn't know how he saw as beautiful before. There was no pale hand holding on. There was no head peeking over. Lakshman wasn't hidden behind them. He had fallen. To his death.

Not really. "Why'd you let go?" Ram heard a voice ringing in his ears, and leaned over once more. Lakshman whisked himself up the ledge and sat down on the plateau. Ram exhaled and allowed his heart to slow down.

"Well, at least all of us survived, right?" Hanuman asked hopefully, looking around as any wounds were treated quickly by vanar doctors and specialists.

Not really. One vanar lay down in the middle of the plateau, tended to furiously by a teary Neel. His mouth was slack, and his teeth bloody. A large gash spread across his head, and his body occasionally twitched spasmodically. Ram walked closer, calling to his knees as the vanar's eyes finally focused. On him. "Jai Shri Ram." he murmured, before the life left his eyes, swept out like a storm. Neel shook his head and removed his finger from the monkey's throat. The pulse was gone.

"This is war." Ram said, his voice as cold and clean as a sliver of ice. "And war leaves no survivors. Starting tomorrow, we train." Angad nodded, and the entire army straightened. Coconut shells were swept off, all luxurious were disposed of, and weapons were pulled out. War left no survivors. But it left victories, it left pride, and it left devotion. And they were going to be damned if they lost even one of those.

A/N-So obviously a grimmer chapter. I wanted to make the death of that monkey a bit more tear-jerking, but what can you do? Emotions are not my strong point, and that's alright. I actually planned to start the war next chapter, but that's not happening guys. Because your gal procrastinates as much as she can. I'll take that procrastination award back Miss Satyakirti.

Okay, so I don't know what to write here except-There's going to be less YudhKand, alright? I'm going to be terrible at Yudh Kand. PLEASE. TIPS. SOMEONE. ANYONNNEEEEE.

By the way, I am back from my hiatus. @Ramayana_lover wasn't writing (the old meanie), and of course, the rest of you weren't spamming (you meanies), and I have 13104027302 books to review/judge/read (them meanies), so we're busy now. 

Also, I'm, like, really invested in themes now. I made a cover for @Vadehi9 (the legend), and now I made a random Ramayana Theme, which no one wants to see, so we're not putting it here, but STILL. 

I've just gained the best new title for a story..... Mahaputra: The Sons of Dasharath. I MEAN-RIIIIGHT?! So good! I even made a cover for the book!

Bootiful.

Except, the only book I can think of that the title would fit.....is this one. Obviously, I'll write more Ramayan books in the future, but none that would fit this title.

So, should I change the title of this? But then my cover wouldn't match! And I love the cover, and not only do I not want to replace it, I'm scared that @parampremika will be offended. So...Mahaputra is just part of my notebook I guess. WAAAAAAAAH-Do any of you have any book ideas that would fit this title?