by H. K Oby
Interesting. I did not expect that. Like Amaira said, there is more to this guy than what’s on the surface.
All three of them had their own reasons for deciding to work together. Amin was reasonably sure that each of their motives went beyond what they had just said, but at the moment, it was enough.
He decided to keep his expectations low. He was already expecting that both of them might turn on him if things got bad, but he also told himself that he shouldn’t be surprised if someone with an actual siddhi came along and offered to take his place, and he found himself being ousted without having a say in the matter. All he wanted was information from them, so he chose to get started on the matter right away.
“Now that that’s settled, there are a lot of things I need to know…”
Both of them took up positions leaning against the wall. They talked for an hour, Rishi and Amaira taking turns to explain basic things such as the location of the cafeteria, the schedule of an initiate, and everything they had experienced so far.
It was easy to summarize everything they said: almost all initiates didn’t bother to talk with them or liked bullying them because they were weak. Food was available three times a day at the cafeteria. If you didn’t get there in the appointed time, you would have to go hungry. Every day, there was a sparring session in the morning that began fifteen minutes after that clanging, signifying that it was 6 AM. The sparring would go on for the entire day if that giant decided it. Otherwise, when they reached a certain level, they would be assigned to new classes where they could explore their siddhis further.
The first trial was in three months. They didn’t know what was going to be tested, but they had been told to train diligently. Even in the first trial, weaker Deathsworn would be weeded out to die. The reasoning was that it was better to have only the strong survive rather than allow a weakling to remain so that disaster could be avoided even if it meant that there would be fewer who could fight.
After all the essential information had been passed on him, they left, saying that this was a nice secluded spot in the quarters where they would be able to train peacefully without being interrupted by others. The supervisor had apparently told them that they could change their residence whenever they wanted; they just needed to come to him. After they returned, the two of them took to their huts, with Rishi saying that he needed rest, but Amaira telling him bluntly that she wanted to try hard to access her granted siddhi.
Amin bid them both farewell and found himself alone in his hut, again.
The two of them had said that they weren’t very hungry, so they would skip dinner. He was told he was welcome to go if he wished, but Amin had decided he would stay back, too, just to enjoy some quiet time, himself.
It was early evening. Lying on his bed, he went through the events of the last few days.
He had found long back that it was best to take a step back in this manner, sometimes, just to evaluate where his life was and where it was going. If it had veered into a direction he didn’t like, he would be able to identify that and work on getting back on track, and twice so far, such reflection had saved him from certain ruin.
He went through everything that had happened dispassionately, making a mental list of things he had to keep in mind.
So many bullies in this place. I’m gonna take care of all of them, in my own way, in my own time. My mental strength is abnormally high, but I have no siddhi that can utilize this advantage. The vanaras don’t like me; I should keep an eye out for them. And that keeper; oh the things I want to do to him…
He created a list of goals, next, asking himself what he wanted to accomplish and working out preliminary plans to get to a point where he could see them being accomplished.
First and foremost, I have to handle this siddhi situation. I know how far people can fall behind if they don’t take steps beforehand to even the odds. The elder said that siddhis can be learned through study. Is there a library of any sort here that I can use? That should be my first priority. Next, I have a feeling that that giant is going to pick on me. I have to handle him, somehow. There are way too many ifs and maybes, so I should work on turning them into solid facts.
By the time he was done, he found himself yawning. The nurse had said that he would be need rest if he wanted to heal fully, and his stomach still felt slightly sore. Deciding to take her advice, he drank some water and went to sleep, finding to his surprise that it came easily.
The clanging woke him up. Years of mornings waking up to loud sounds that might mean his hiding place had been discovered by the police enabled him to dart to his feet in the very next second. He ran out of the hut and spotted Amaira and Rishi behind him, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes while running in the same direction as him.
He spent as little time as he could in the bathroom, multitasking by also using the twig he had snatched up before exiting his hut. Even then, by the time he came out, the other two were waiting, and without a word, they set off together.
He was relieved when he saw a few others also hurrying along. When they reached the sparring round, people were still trickling in, so it seemed that at least for now, his skin was safe.
Loud footsteps made him turn around and see that the giant was heading toward them. Sneering at his smile that had popped up because of the fact that he wouldn’t be getting a punishment, he shouted, “Three of you, with me! Time to test your mettle. Team 85, gather at the central ring! The rest of you, begin warmup! Don’t let me catch you slacking off!”
They obliged anxiously, wondering what they had in store now, and soon, Amin was back in that roped-off area. For once, he only knew as much as the others; they didn’t know why they were here, but as three men walked up to them from the east, a sinking feeling appeared in Amin’s stomach.
We are going to have to fight them, aren’t we? Or at least try to fight them before they wipe the floor with us.
“Three on three, you’re going to fight. When I say stop, you stop. I need to see what the three of you are made of before deciding what to do with you. Give it your all. If you hold anything back, I’ll know. The better you do now, the easier it will be to place you. That applies to the two of you, anyway. As for you… you’re dead meat, but I’ll still have to waste some time training you. Alas, I have no choice.”(insert something witty here from the giant)
Plain savage. I can’t wait to see the look on your face when I prove you wrong.
Amin raised his hands, intending to take out all of his anger on these three initiates. They hadn’t discussed anything about fighting, so the best he could hope for was that the others would hold their own until he finished off at least one of the three and came to help them.
They were given no time to plan anything. The giant blurred and left the ring, and not even a full second later, the three members of the opposing team jumped towards them.
Of the three, Amin chose the largest, a guy as tall as him with a curved nose that made him look as if he had a permanent sneer on his face. The only way to fight that he knew was to go for the vitals and end his opponent as quickly as possible. He punched straight for the stomach, muscles straining to give him every ounce of strength and speed he could muster, teeth gritting as he put all of his will behind his attack.
It struck, but he had to yelp and snatch his hand back. It felt as if he had hit an iron board.
His opponent just laughed. One hand shot forward, aiming for his hair. Ignoring the pain, he ducked.
Which was when the other hand struck him, the uppercut so strong that he rose into the air and floated for a moment.
Both hands struck his stomach next, sending him skidding across the floor, coming to rest three feet away, eyes staring at the sky in a daze.
His vision suddenly went black. A body fell onto him; it was Rishi, his voice coming out in he labored jerks.
“Come at me… give me all you got...”
There was no relation whatsoever between what he was saying and what had happened. A loud
scream distracted Amin next. Shoving Rishi away, he half rose and saw that the third member of the team--a guy who was definitely still a teen with half-grown whiskers on his face and a bruise on his right cheek--holding Amaira up by her hair as if she was a toy. She tried to hit him, but her punches and kicks barely reached as this guy’s hand had grown longer, too, keeping her well away from his body.
He flung her in their direction casually, then, before dusting his hands as if he had taken out the trash. She landed beside him, moaning in pain, and the giant reappeared.
“Outstanding performance! Oh, I don’t mean you. I already had low expectations, but you managed to shatter them all the same. The difference is too large. I’ll choose a different team tomorrow. For now, take yourself to the infirmary, then report to the Master of Novices.”
The giant grinned and walked away, but the team they had just fought — or at least, tried to fight — laughed out loud. It was due to something the giant had said, but Amin didn’t have the energy the reason things out.
His jaw felt as if it had been dislocated, and his stomach hurt again. The other two were better off. They were able to get to their feet, and except for their pride, they didn’t seem to have been bruised anywhere else.
Special treatment for me. How new.
Cursing under his breath, he turned around and started the walk to the infirmary. They made the journey in silence, and when they reached, the old lady wasn’t present. She arrived a few minutes later, beaming as if she had had the best time while they waited in pain. Her expression soured as soon as she saw them; without asking a single question, she looked at them all calculatingly then began to grind together a mixture from herbs she picked out from the walls and the ceiling.
They were made to gulp down another concoction that tasted even worse. She pointed to the door when they were done and said, “I expect I’ll see you tomorrow, and for quite a few days after that, too. I’ll keep the brew ready. If I’m not here, just drink it and see ourselves out.”
So that’s how it’s going to be. Can’t say I’m too surprised.
It felt exactly as if he was reliving his first induction into a scammer’s group. He had been made to do all the grunt work, not even being given enough to eat while being ordered to clean even the bathrooms. He had hated his position. The bottom rung of the ladder was the worst place to be, and he had worked assiduously to learn as much as he could to get out of the pit that threatened to gobble him up if he was even the least bit lazy.
The other two looked supremely dejected as well. He didn’t know what they had been expecting, but he could tell that they had assumed things would be different.
Before they left, they asked the lady where they could find the master of novices and received an answer with the first chuckle he saw her make.
“On the main road that leads to the sparring ground, go in the other direction until you reach a forest. Cross that forest and you’ll find who you’re looking for.”
They obliged, and as soon as they reached their destination, they understood the reason behind the team’s laughter.
It was the training ground Amin had seen in the air before. Kids were arranged in a neat formation, mimicking the movements of a man wearing the same clothes as them who stood at the head. A middle-aged dhoti-clad man with a goatee was moving among the kids, correcting a hand here, a leg there, and when he caught sight of them, he smiled mockingly and asked, “Shanker sent you?”
They nodded.
Standing up from the kid he had been instructing, the master of novices shouted, “Children! Meet your new disciples. Until they learn the basics, all of you will instruct them. Say hello.”
Mortified, Amin watched as all the kids grinned, most in an evil manner.
Are these the same kids who looked so disciplined from the air? They can’t be. Maybe it’s a different group. Or perhaps they’re going to take out all the frustration they feel from having to show so much discipline on us…
They spent the entire day being shown the primary forms of fighting by children who took turns. It was so humiliating that at one point, Amin felt like spanking each and every kid there, both due to their caustic remarks and the way they tried to act like adults and failed spectacularly, causing the three of them to wish they could cover their faces and slink away. They didn’t even stop for lunch; they were let go when the sun began to set, and drearily they made their way to the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was also similar to where they had spoken to the first elder and the infirmary. It had a long wooden table in the middle where all sorts of dishes had been placed. All you had to do was grab a plate and serve yourself what you wanted.
The moment they entered, they were given a standing ovation of a mocking sort by everyone present. Amin was too embarrassed to care; ignoring everyone, he snatched a plate, dumped food on it without even seeing what it was and ate with only half his mind on what he was doing.
He had to admit that whatever he was eating was delicious, but he just wanted to be out of there as quickly as possible. He couldn’t not overhear the snatches of conversation all around him, with most people betting on how many days they would be sent to the children.
Amaira and Rishi also followed his lead, stuffing their mouths and chewing as quickly as they could. The three of them left barely 15 minutes later, to more jeers and jokes that made Amaira’s ears turn so red that it looked as if she had a flashlight shining on them.
They reached his hut and collapsed on his bed, all three of their weight making the bed squeak but hold. Amin buried his face in his hands; the other two just looked into space, probably thinking the same thoughts as him.
I don’t know how many more days of that I can take. I don’t know how much more these two can take. I’ll probably survive much longer, but I don’t want to have to survive. I told myself that a life like this is behind me, that I rose out of it. I don’t want to go through the entire process again! I need a shortcut. Things have to change. And they have to change now.
Mustering up the last of his energy, he stood and declared, “I’ve had enough of playing fair. From now on, no more rules. We are getting out of the bottom as quickly as possible, no matter what we have to do. If we have to cheat, we’re gonna cheat, because honestly, I don’t care what we do if it means that we don’t have to go back to those stupid kids. We are definitely being singled out – I saw others who were also learning the same basic forms like us, but in the sparring ground, not with the kids. Come with me. It’s time to take action.”
CHAPTER NINE
FIVE MINUTES LATER, the three of them stood in front of an unadorned door outside a hut that was utterly unremarkable.
Frowning, Amin turned to the other two and asked, “Are you sure? This looks exactly like all the others. Why would the supervisor live here? It must be a privileged position, right? And why does he have no other name than his title?”
Amaira and Rishi hadn’t been convinced that they should go see a superior just because they didn’t like how their time was being spent here. He had had to drag them along, Rishi whining for half the way and Amaira sulking for the rest, but he had got them here and he didn’t intend to go back until he accomplished what he had set as his goal in his mind.
The whole idea had come to be because when they were telling him about the supervisor, both of them had heaped praises on the man’s attitude, saying that he was the one who made them feel the most welcome among all the others they had met since arriving in Ayodhya. Amin knew that kindness was like a resource; as soon as it was identified, it was best to exploit it as quickly as they could before it turned into something that wouldn’t help them.
Knowing the keeper, he was sure that if the man wasn’t up to it yet, he would definitely get onto the task of defaming Amin as much as possible over the next few days. Before that happened, he wanted to ask this only kind individual in the entirety of Ayodhya for advice on how they could get out of their predicament.
Taking a deep
breath and calling forward all the skills of sucking up he had obtained over the years, he pushed open the door. Apparently, the supervisor even had a rule where anyone who needed him could just walk into his home without knocking.
The interior was the same as his own dwelling, with that unique kind of bed and those beaten down pieces of furniture. The bed wasn’t empty; an individual sat on it cross-legged, his eyes closed, his face so peaceful that Amin was reminded of that moment when he had first seen Narad.
‘Individual’ was the word he used in his mind as this was not a man. Hair covered most of his body, except for most of his face and chest. It was a vanara, albeit one wearing clothes unlike the others he had seen so far whose fur had barely sufficed to cover their most private parts. This one was dressed just like the first elder and many others he had seen since coming here, yet on him, the garb was strangely out of place, probably due to how much his sheer size filled up the baggy dhoti. There was also another slight difference: a long, narrow piece of embroidered cloth, almost like a shawl, was draped majestically over his neck and dangled in front of him almost to the ground. Amin knew what it was. Traditionally called a khanduva in some parts of india, it was part of an attire that had been common among kings of old and had been adopted now as a formal garb when dressing in a dhoti, meant to be worn on the right shoulder, hanging equally on the front and back of the body, embroidered side up.
The vanara opened his eyes as soon as they entered, his wide lips cracking into a grin.
“Here already? After talking to you two, I was sure you would be like those who persevered until the end, or at least until Shanker took pity on you. Oh, I understand. You are not here of your own accord. Amin, is it? I’ve heard so much. Please, come in and close the door behind you.”
The two had taken a step back as soon as the vanara spoke, even though the monkey man wasn’t even berating them in his deep voice that had a casual tone. Glaring at them in gratitude for the support they were showing, he closed the door and stood with his legs spread apart, adopting the position he typically used when getting ready for a fight.
