"This thing is confusing me now."-Author

"He will die. At the first ray of sunrise, he will die." Sushen managed to choke out, before turning away uneasily, not being able to meet anyone's eyes. But if he would have seen, if he would have had the courage, then he would have seen Ram's face morphing into horror once more. He would have seen the body being dropped in shock.

He would have seen the monkey army recoil in shock. He would have seen Angad run off to vomit. Sugriv knocking his crown off of his head in his rapid shaking of head. Nal and Neel would have adopted twisted, turned faces of shock. Vibhishan's face would suddenly grow into something of extreme guilt, the type to forever scar the soul and the drive to live; it was indeed he who had suggested Lakshman for the job. Knowing of the shakti astra.

But Hanuman did no such thing. If anything, his shoulders just squared even more, his rippling muscle and the veins popping up in his arms suddenly showing. The adam's apple in his neck bobbled angry, and the thin red lines in his bloodshot eyes became more obvious. "And there is nothing we can do?" he asked, his voice angry. "Absolutely nothing we can do?" He leaned in, as if he could clarify the question.

Sushen seemed to consider it for a second, and Hanuman (and everyone else, Sushen was the star of the show at this point, and an open book of emotions) noticed the hesitation. "N-No." he said, his voice trembling ever so slightly. "There is absolutely nothing you can do. He will die at sunrise. Such is the curse of the Shakti Astra."

But Hanuman wasn't about to give up as easily, and neither was Ram. "I assure you-" Ram said, his voice firm. "That you may tell us anything. We are offering asylum. We do not intend to hurt you in any way, shape, or form. Please, just figure out a way to heal my brother. You are our last hope. If anything is holding you back, STOP-stop letting it hold you back!"

Sushen shook his head rapidly, his face suddenly devoid of all color and emotion but terror. "The only other option is-well-quite frankly, it's-" he paused, wiping leftover sweat from his face with a handkerchief from his bag. "Impossible!"

"IMPOSSIBLE?!" Hanuman roared. "Nothing is impossible! Just tell us, Sushen sahib! I have some beef (this is a sacred story, beef shall not be mentioned) tension left over with the sun! Sucky thing, that Surya is!" he glared openly at the sky, at the mountains in between which the sun would rise like a beckon of hope. "I will figure out a way. If I have to imprison the sun and keep it in my hold, I will!"

"Well, there is something." Sushen said, clearing his throat. "A herb, a booti, called the Sanjeevani. It is located on a secluded mountain in the Himalayas, the mountain range of the Great North. If you could get that before the sun rises-Well, the chances of survival are pretty certain. It is a marvel he is still alive with the blood lost. A machine, this one is-anyways. It would be quite impossible, I-"

Sushen choked on his words as Hanuman grew a few thousand in size, towering over all of them like a God, like Vaman over Mahabali. "I can assure you," Sugriv laughed in spite of himself as he craned his neck to stare at Hanuman. "That nothing is impossible for our Hanuman." Then, his face darkened. "Nothing. Lakshman bhaiyya will live. He has to live!"

Without allowing anyone else a chance to interfere, Hanuman was standing again, growing ten sizes more and inhaling another deep breath. Humongous monkeys and their unusual powers had quickly become a normal sight to see for poor Sushen (who was adjusting poorly to the environment), it seemed. "I, and only I can make it to the mountain in time." The sky was no longer orange, a deep saffron. The sun had long set, and was soon to rise. The odds were against him.

But Hanuman would twist the odds. It was like a game of cards, all of this, with a devil dividing the hand, and eyes watching his every move and play. But Hanuman, too, could play against the rules. Who said that the sun had to rise so soon? No one might miss it for a few more hours, perhaps!

-----O-----

The Earth shook as if its very crust was being broken apart. A heavy wind pushed through the thick air, and Ram looked up, his hair flying precariously around his face as he watched Hanuman disappear into the clouds way above. The last of the monkey's bare feet had flown into the sky, and yet Ram still kept looking. There, there Hanuman would show up with the mountain once again.

Perhaps if he kept staring, the journey would become shorter. How much time had passed? A few minutes maybe? Hours, months, years had flown by. Where was Hanuman at this point? Was he perhaps navigating difficult winds? Ram rubbed his eyes, stroking his brother's hair softly. Hanuman was like another brother to him. Imagine, all five siblings peacefully sleeping, at this time surely, in Ayodhya. Sugriv and Angad leaned in to whisper to each other.

With a pang, Ram remembered Ayodhya, and his head sunk again, rubbing the soft side of his temple with great difficulty. What would they be doing, sitting there? Ram wondered how his Bharat and Mandavi must be doing. His smile at this was weak, a mere showing of the teeth. The whispering between the two got louder.

And Shatrughan and Shrutakirti? What of them? Maybe they still had it in them to celebrate. How was he supposed to face them? If Hanuman, and their hopes didn't return from the Himalayas, how would they fare? How could Ram return to Ayodhya. All over again, Ram felt a rush of something dart up his throat, and gaged, his face screwing with disgust. Disgust at Lankesh? Meghnad? Or was it simply a throbbing hate....for himself? Sugriv seemed to get physical now, waving his hands around.

And Urmila? The mothers? How could he go back to them with simply ashes? Would he even get ashes? What would happen when the light of the sun did grace the once alive, pulsing body of his brother? That inevitability, that certainty, and slow disappearance of the barely visible pulse in his neck, would it take time to sink in? Hit him like a wall?

And then, Ram reminded himself that he currently had one of his best soldiers out to combat that very situation, and some breath reappeared in his lungs. His gaze once more drifted to the sky. Any moment now! It was that moment that Sugriv decided to exclaim "It's only been ten minutes?!" Ram groaned and fell back again.

----O-----

The skies weren't as calm as Hanuman would have liked for the cross-continental affair, but the fates weren't on his side with Lakshman bhaiyya being injured in the first place and all, so Hanuman didn't mind too much. Besides, what kind of a useless son of the God of Wind would he be if he couldn't even handle a little windstorm? A lame one, that was what.

The ocean was larger than Hanuman remembered. Was it only a few weeks ago when they had crossed the long stone bridge? He looked down, at the mismatched array of rocks, at the tossing and turning of the oceans, at all of the discarded memories that floated about the bridge aimlessly. He didn't go down and relive them. There just wasn't enough time to.

More than the memories, he was looking forward to the feeling of being on the motherland again. He thought he could see the tip of green land from his eagle position in the sky. Something swelled in his tossing stomach, and put his mind at ease. There it was once more, the place he could call home. The place where, Hanuman realized, they all called home.

Lush forests and soft sands, free of blood and salt, that was Hanuman looked forward to. As if welcoming him back, a land breeze brushed past the edge of his hair like a beckon. Perhaps he shouldn't have smiled, but the constant nausea he had felt at the back of his throat disappeared. For once, once in a long while, he could pretend to live blissfully back in home, without having to participate in the war. He would do anything in the service of Prabhu Shri Ram, but war was a terrible prospect.

There was a sort of completeness that filled his heart when he finally flew over the tip of the mainland after what seemed like hours. Two things formed satisfaction; a good self, and good surroundings. Hanuman supposed that he had been lacking the latter for a while now. But still, he wasn't fully satisfied. Not until he reached the mountain. Until then, no amount of home or self sufficiency could please him.

He flew over the edge of the peninsula.

------O------

A sudden chill welcomed Hanuman as he flew past the plains and plateaus. Like magic, the air thinned dramatically, and his nostrils flared in excitement. These tall peaks, covered with delicate snow that sparkled like diamonds even in the low sun, and the tall green trees that poked out of the empty monotone, and the bright flowers which dotted those trees like patterns, they all must be the Himalayas!

The only problem was-there were too many. Hanuman hadn't expected, like, a single mountain, or two mountains. He wasn't stupid. But there were more mountains here than they had people fighting in Lanka! Wherever one looked there were mountains! Giant masses of rock, cutting such sharp silhouettes against the sky that Hanuman feared they were fashioned swords for giants.

Which one could possibly be the mountain he wanted? Heck-the healer hadn't even given him a name? What was he supposed to do with the name 'Sanjeevani'? He had no idea what the herb looked like, what the mountain looked like. He had no idea what the Himalayas looked like, he might have ended up in the Appalachians for all he knew.

And everywhere, all there was waswhite, bright, twinkling white, and Hanuman winced with the effort it took to see anything but this white. White here, white there, a little red, but-wait-red? A sudden leap in his heart, and Hanuman whirled around in midair like a helicopter, only to meet a group of sparkling red forests on top of the tallest mountain of them all.

"Ah!" he cried. "Here's the main act, the star of the show! How could I have ever looked upon these other mountains when the spotlight is on you! Forgive me, oh Shahrukh Khan!" Eager, he flew towards the mountain, and landed with such vigor that birds within many kilometers were displaced (#helpthebirds #birdmigration #displacementofthebirds). "Lookie!" he shrieked to himself. "There's so many herbs I have no idea what to do!"

Then he paused. "Wait, I have no idea what to do." He swallowed the lump in his throat and stared at all the herbs around him. "Oh this is a wonderful turn of events," he huffed. "I had a problem of lack of herbs before, and now there's too many?" He shook his fist at the sky. "I might as well just take the whole mountain and solve my problems!"

A sudden gasp interrupted his thoughts. "Wow, Hanuman! I have never doubted your genius! Well, except for all the times I have, but-" He grinned so hard that his cheeks could explode, and grew fifteen sizes again (his bones were elastic, let's deal with it), and dug his hands into the rock. "Let the genius healer figure out just which one of these is the Sanjeevani for himself! I'm a board certified superhuman, not an encyclopedia!"

Now the only problem was that the stupid rock wouldn't give in. So Hanuman gave it a kick, and promptly stubbed his toe. "What do I do now?" he whined. "The mountain won't give. It's as if it's solid rock and doesn't want to be lifted from the place its been living for the past thousand years. Come on, you need to do some tourism, get a tan! You've been much too pale sitting here in the Himalayas!" He paused, stroking his chin. "Or do you want to get kapowed?"

And though Hanuman couldn't hear it, the deity of the mountain was sitting (not standing; mountains don't have legs), and listening to all of this. "Really?" it asked. "I am looking a bit pale these days, aren't I? And Lanka, you say? I hear there are sandy beaches and fresh ocean waters there! I have had a lack of water these days, this snow is dehydrating me." Suddenly, Hanuman kicked it again, exhaling smoke from his nostrils (like a dragon, guys, #DragonHybridHanuman), and it huffed.

"Such disrespect, I've never felt it in my life! Lucky for you, vanar, the idea of a little vacay from these inferior mountains sounds appealing, even with you as a tour guide! Yeah, yeah, I'll give, stop being so impatient."

With another punch, a thin crack spread throughout the base of the mountain, and Hanuman's eyes widened. "I guess you really don't want to get kapowed, huh? It's as if you have a mind of your own!" Chuckling, he bowed before the mountain in pranam, before pushing it over in one fell.

"Quick, make a wish!" cried another mountain to its friend. "That's a falling star!"

"Jai Shri Ram!" Hanuman roared, before lifting off from the cracked circle of rock and zooming back towards Lanka.

"And good riddance!" called the deity of Everest. "You were overshadowing me for some time!"

A/N-I've had enough. Two months of not updating this thing and it's really sucky. Get ready friendos, Mochi's back, maybe not, but I'm writing again for sure! I was thinking of starting a Ramayan Incorrect Quotes book, because those are short, funny, and easy. What do you think?