The moment the sun peeked over the silhouette of Lanka, Ram was up and out of his bed, grabbed his bow and paced out of the cave impatiently. The minute the dawn had overtaken the night, Hanuman had readied his mace and strode out of his bed. The second the stars blinked away, Angad shook Sugriv awake. It was unnecessary. None of them had slept in the first place. None of them possibly could. This was the day of reckoning. Thousands of monkeys would leave the mainland sometime soon. Thousands may not return.

The scorching sun would beat down upon them soon enough, but for then, the chilliness of the dark night still lingered hesitantly. Ram, Sugriv, Hanuman, and Angad agreed to meet on the welcoming sands on the beach, where the rising sun provided ample light to see, speak, and listen. The four groups came from every direction except South, where there were only choppy waves and the dark shadow of Lanka.

Nal and Neel dragged a large wooden slab over, and in a flash, placed palm leaves on the sticky sand for the leaders to sit upon. Thin sheets of bark were spread across this makeshift table and the musty smell of damp bark drifted about in the crisp dawn air. Ram sat down on the largest palm leaf, and Sugriv and Angad on the opposite side. Hanuman began to speak to the monkey artist, who drew a detailed map of Lanka just from Hanuman's memory. This map was placed in front of Ram, who nodded.

"We need to make a plan." he began sharply. "I may have not been a prince for fourteen years, but I have enough of a memory to remember this part of being royalty." Ram cleared his throat, and Lakshman calmly set down a few pieces. Large stone monkeys were the leaders. Smaller ones were the archers. And then there were the ones that charged, the swordsmen and the macemen. And right at the front of this army was a small figurine of Ram. Lakshman stepped back, glancing at Lanka for a moment before simply averting his eyes to the ground.

"Lanka has an army alright, and a great one, commanded by Ravan." Hanuman grunted, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Ravan meant to try and make us underestimate him, I'm sure, when he tried to protect his garden. He sent some of his weakest guards to defeat me that day in the Ashok Vatika. I wonder, was it because he thought I was too weak?" He cleared his throat. "Nonetheless, Ravan has a large army, larger than even we have. And we have the entire vanara population of the world."

Ram looked up, his ice blue eyes meeting the ones of Hanuman. "Which means, Pawanputra, that if and when we defeat Ravan and his army, we may as well have defeated a good population of the world's demons, terrors, and rakshasas. If we win this battle-Raja Sugriv-we will not only regain Sita, crown Vibhishan King of Lanka, but we will also have finished off a great section of terrible demons."

Ram turned around to face Lakshman, who had crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Lakshman, go get Vibhishan from his quarters. We need the information-if he gives it. He has a good idea of Ravan's might in battle." Lakshman turned around and stepped away from eyesight, eventually returning while escorting Vibhishan, who walked with a sense of urgency and eagerness. Ram smiled. "Here is where we need you most, my friend. Tell us-how mighty is Ravan and his sons in battle?"

Vibhishan sat down on a hastily brought palm leaf as well. A heavy wind passed by, and Vibhishan swallowed, closing his eyes. "What Ravan will do first-his first line of defense-will be sending his main army, and a few lower class generals, to fight you. Normally, the enemy falls even at this line, but there are a few that have crossed it. He does this to appraise the enemy, see how good they are. He also does this because he doesn't need to do anything else. By the great army of Lanka, the enemy falls."

Vibhishan took in a deep breath as Ram's sparkling eyes urged him on. "If you pass this "test" of Ravan's, he sends his generals next. His generals, and a more well prepared army. Higher class, better fighters." Vibhishan looked away. "The capable armies fall, but the superhuman ones go to Ravan's next level. No one has passed this one. Ravan sends his sons. Atikaya, Narantaka, Meghnath, Kumba, Nikumba. Sons, nephews, brothers, cousins. No one can beat them-rather, no one has beat them so far."

Sugriv straightened up. "We will beat them. We can easily break that record. Our strengths are not only in numbers, but in doing the right thing. Besides, it isn't as if we don't have great fighters on our side as well! Hanuman can change size. Angad can fly as well. Nal and Neel are fearsome fighters-" The entire group turned to the two unassuming vanars, who were busy playing 'sticks'. "-or at least very distracting ones. I can fight well, despite not being as great as Vali. And there's you, Prabhu Shri Ram, as well as your brother."

Angad nodded. "We're no less than them. If we do not make the essential mistakes to loss, then we will be as good as them, if not better. We cannot get too high in our heads. Dharma always wins, yes, but perhaps this battle, we lose, which leads to something greater. We cannot be too sure of anything. We always have to have back-ups of everything. And lastly, we cannot underestimate them-however Ravan's army seems quite weak as Hanuman himself was able to defeat them."

Ram turned around and raised an eyebrow at Lakshman, who sighed and crossed his arms again. "Hanuman is a great fighter-I admit that without trouble-but we have to remember that Ravan was defending his garden. He was not defending his city, his crown, and his pride. Hanuman may have killed his son, but his son was sixteen. Hanuman may have killed all of those soldiers, yes, but there are thousands more. This could all be just an illusion too. Ravan might have tried to convince us to make a mistake, that he's weak, weaker than he actually is. He knows the rules of war too." Ram shook his head and turned back to his table.

Hanuman snorted. "You're overdramatic. You should be Neel's friend." Lakshman ran away before Neel could tag along again. "Oh. Does he not like making friends? That's the only thing I've seen him scared of? Making friends." Ram shook his head dismissively; at another time he would have looked after his brother in confusion, but he was too focused on planning.

-----O-----

But now the sun had arrived with pomp and unwelcome, and with it, its entourage of blazing fiery heat. Lakshman calmly worked on building shade roofs with palm leaves, which he attached to wooden poles, quickly stuffed into the hard, dry, caked sand. The army rested under these mini-huts, but Ram stood out in the sun, looking over the ocean once more. Angad walked over, putting his feet in the warm water and splashing around.

Then Nal and Neel, who competed to see who could do the better tricks while swimming. Some of the monkeys lay down and tried to get a tan, but Jambavan sat under his exclusive hut, drinking cool water. Raja Sugriv offered an empty shade place to Ram, but he shook his head. "No-no-I don't require it. Blazing heat is often common in the Panchavati." Ram smiled, and turned away from the water, walking towards his bow and quiver of arrows.

Sugriv cleared his throat and opened his arms wide to the lounging monkeys. "This is your last day of rest before we leave! We are currently running over possible plans to cross the ocean. We have none yet-but we shall have one soon. Till then, enjoy this place- and don't get too used to the comfort. It'll only be worse when we get to Lanka." he paused. "And collect as many coconuts as possible. Food would be necessary there."

Nal laughed and cuffed Sugriv's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Don't be so harsh on them, Raja Sugriv. It will still take us a while to come up with a plan, now won't it? Once we do have a plan, then they'll get up, now won't they? Besides, it's blazing. How are they going to collect coconuts in this heat?" Sugriv pointed to Hanuman, who was busy shaking palm trees by uprooting them and taking them out of the forest. "Well you shouldn't hold everyone to Hanuman's standard."

----O----

The evening arrived, the sun sunk further into the gravitational pull of the West, and with it, it welcomed chilly breezes, gently ruffling Ram's hair and making Lakshman's bangs fall into his eyes. Lakshman smiled, and folded his arms together, not bothering to sweep them away. Somehow, it reminded him of better times, when the most of his troubles were the endless hair in his eyes and the wind that blew them there.

Sometimes, he turned back to watch the vanar sena. He watched them beadily, and prayed to every God he ever knew that they-and he-were capable enough to fight the war. He never told Ram bhaiyya. Ram bhaiyya, who currently had his hands folded behind him and was looking over towards the dark shadows of Lanka like he often did. Somewhere, Ram thought, that if he stared long enough, maybe the answer to cross the oceans would just come to him like a spark of light.

Ram wanted answers, he wanted righteousness. He wanted the truth. Lakshman just wanted a bit of certainty that they would win. Ram turned around, his eyes piercing in not an unfriendly way into his brother's. He felt the uncertainty in his anuj. "It's not unrealistic to imagine or want for us not to be exiled, Laksh." Ram said, his voice calm, almost ethereal. Lakshman's small smile disappeared as he shifted about. "It's not unrealistic to doubt our current prowess, doubt the army's current prowess, and wish deeply for Ayodhya's army to have been here to support us. But-" Ram made to take a step forward almost confrontationally. "It certainly is unfair for one to do so. They put all their faith in our ability to win-our ability to keep them alive-so we should put all our faith in their ability to fight. All of it."

Lakshman turned around to watch his brother as he approached the generals and the chiefs, and the King of the monkeys. He swallowed hard, exhaling a little puff of air in relief. Ram bhaiyya hadn't figured it out. "I have faith in them bhaiyya." he whispered. "More than you could ever imagine. I know they can defeat Ravan's army. But I don't have faith in myself." The moon rose above the army like a beacon of light staring down at them, and the man turned again to look up at it. "I have faith in everyone but myself, bhaiyya. I let Sita bhabhi disappear. I left my wife alone. I did not believe my own brother. I would not have faith in myself if I were the most confident person in this world."

----O----

"There's only one way to cross this ocean." Hanuman began determinedly the next morning. "I can carry all of you. I can become 500 times larger. I mean-it would work, right? And if I can't become that large, Angad can carry a few people too!"

Ram shook his head. "Nah, that's not fun enough. We need to do something else. How about I fast for one week before pleading with Varun, Lord of the Sea?"

Sugriv shrugged. "Yeah, that should work."

-----O----

"Oh Varun, lord of the Sea, please give us passage!" Ram declared seven days later. There was silence, the sound of choppy waves and silence. "Please give us passage." Ram began again, his voice becoming slightly more firm, and irritated. Nothing. Ram crossed his arms. "Oh Lord Varun of the sea, I beg of you, please give us passage." Nothing, and Ram stepped back, grasping his bow and arrow.

"You have five seconds before I release this arrow and dry up the sea!" Ram boomed, his voice echoing like thunder along the mainland beach.

A/N-Have we ever had a cliffhanger in this story? Nope. Because you all know what's happening next. And it's very discouraging guys. YOU NEED TO NOT KNOW THIS STUFF!

I'm so excited to start a Historical Fiction, for some reason, I even made a cover. 

I thought I was writing a horror story before I decided-nah. I don't like scaring people. But my GD skills are getting bettah! This almost looks like a 6-year-old didn't do it! Anyone want a cover? Joking. 

So, guys, what was your favorite chapter so far? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM? no more updates till all of you answer. 

Also, the #treejustice #tressnobend #AshokVatikatreejustice movement is somehow gaining traction??? How? But I saw Ramayana_lover include it in her book, and then you all have been commenting it everywhere, and keeping it in your bios (thank you, Apukar and lakshmila4ardi). But it's hella confusing? How did you all become so suddenly passionate about this movement?