Chapter 1- The encounter

Ruhani Verma took off her helmet and shook her hair free, taking a deep breath. She was right now standing in Leh's famous Khardung La pass, leaning against her bike and taking in the magnificent view before her. The mountains and nature never failed to amaze her, no matter how many trips she took. There were blues all around, but the kind of blues she loved. The sky was at its purest blue and so was the lake deep below the valley she was standing in. The mountains, pristine white and shiny, glittering with their snowy layers. Not a soul was in sight at the moment, except some mountain birds which fluttered high. The breath she took was filled with pure air and contentment. The chilly wind only served to cool her face, as she was well prepared for the cold weather in her thick black leather jacket, pants, boots and other winter stylish winter wear.



She smiled to herself softly. The view gave her inner peace. Nature, when left undisturbed, respected and untarnished by man, was the most beautiful thing in the universe. She had learned to mingle with it and become one with its elements, especially the mountains. She loved the high they gave her, literally, much more than any wine ever could. She enjoyed living by the edge. She loved the risks and thrilling adventures that came along with being a professional, successful mountain biker with a youtube channel of her own. At the moment, she had been part of a group mountain bike trek with about 10 other people from Leh to Siachen Glacier base camp and back. She had accompanied them till Siachen Glacier base camp and had an adventure filled week in the while. The group had 5 guys and four girls apart from her and they were all adventure seekers, fun to be with. The challenges of the weather and mountains in one of the world's coldest places was also better faced with a group. They had camped by the base, talked, partied and laughed, and experienced the thrill of zooming by one heck of a gorgeous view on their bikes. Hers was a BMW R1200GS , a big blue beastly machine suited for the mountains and rough terrains, costing a whopping 19 lakhs. She was proud of it. 



Though she enjoyed the company, soon the need for solitude adventure took over her and she decided to make the return trip back from Siachen base camp to Leh on her own , looking for some peace and quiet. She had that and much more as she zoomed back, sometimes fast and sometimes slowly , savoring each moment, seldom seeing people, becoming one with nature as she, the mountains, the snow and the sky stared at each other unblinkingly, as if only they existed in the world. This trip had thus been very fulfilling and she was looking forward to finally going back to Leh, rest in a hotel and then head back home. She was about 3 and a half hours away from her destination according to her estimates. She was in no hurry and was riding leisurely, enjoying every minute of it. She leaned over the edge of the cliff, smiling in contenment. 



'That is unsafe, don't you know? You might fall off.' She heard a smooth baritone and turned around, startled. She squinted to focus on the man infront of her due to the sun. Around '5 10' , he towered over her short 5 ‘2’ frame. He had messy dark curly hair which reached his neck, a strand of which fell on his forehead. He had a very fair skin tone typical of mountain people and caramel brown colored eyes which seemed to crinkle with mischief even as they focused intensely on anyone. He looked to be in his early thirties. He carried a backpack slung over his back and was dressed in brown leather to combat the cold. She felt a mild thud of her heart and quickening of her pulse, a typical reaction at seeing an attractive face in the middle of nowhere and immediately chastised herself for it. She frowned at him. “Who are you? The fun police? I can take care of my safety, thank you very much for your concern.” She replied to him, irritated. 



Kabir Razdan looked at her, annoyed and irritated at the attitude he got in return for looking out for a random stranger’s safety. It wasn’t his duty to warn her as such, but he had seen many accidents in the mountains here in his lifetime due to sheer carelessness and hated the idea of any person losing his or her life because of it. This girl didn’t seem to care for any of it, though. He considered her carefully. Because of the helmet in her hands he could make out that she was a biker. She had long, straight black hair which reached her waist, deep black eyes, a rosy skin tone and cupid shaped lips. She somehow managed to look fierce and adorable at the same time, probably due to the combination of her height and her biker clothes. He judged her to be 31 years old. It wasn’t everyday he found a random beautiful girl in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, and hence he was distracted and couldn’t hear what all she said to him next. He frowned and held up a hand. ‘Jeez woman, I was just warning u. Standing that close to the edge is dangerous as u may fall off any second. Several such accidents happen in these parts. You may be able to take care of urself but it was my duty to warn. Rest is ur choice.’ He muttered and turned around, ready to leave. He didn’t like distractions and she was a big one, at least visually. He had a trek to finish and a peak to climb. He started to walk ahead of her.



It was then that Ruhani realised that she had been rude and irrational to him. She felt bad now, she could never imagine hurting someone deliberately. She ran behind him to catch up. 'Excuse me..Suno..I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap..you just startled me that's all' she huffed but he continued walking , not sparing a glance at her. She followed him a bit but was then indignant at him being cold and aloof to her now. She stopped. 'Fine. Leave. It's you who is being impolite now Mr and I just wanna say that..' she couldn't finish her sentence. A huge gust of snowstorm blew up around them and sort of hit her and had her reeling backwards. The apple tree just near her shook and fell. Her eyes widened and breath quickened. Panic set in and had her frozen, she could not comprehend anything. 



Kabir who had decided to leave her alone and want nothing to do with her was melting a bit at her apologies but decided nonetheless to avoid her a distraction but just then he heard loud sounds and turned around to see her standing there stunned. He now realised a snowstorm was brewing around them and a tree had crashed near her. He panicked. His healing life saving instincts kicked in and he ran to her side hurriedly. She was still numb. He shook her. 'Are you okay? ARE YOU OKAY!?' He literally screamed in desparation and it was then she snapped out of it. She looked at him, fear and shock evident in her eyes.



He spoke very softly and gently to her now. 'Its okay. You are safe now. We will be safe. It is a snowstorm, they are common here. I am sure u know this and might be even used to it but just in shock right now because it happened suddenly near you. Calm down. Breathe. It will be fine. ' He said , holding her hands tightly in both of his, rubbing some warmth into them. The color returned to her cheeks and her breathing normalized. 'I..I am fine. Thank you.' He nodded. 'You are welcome. Whats your name, by the way?' he said to distract her. 'Ruhani. Yours?' He smiled. Her heart thumped. 'Ah. Soulful. Nice. I am Kabir. Nice to meet you Ruhani.' He said and they both were about to put their hands out for a shake and it was then that they both looked down and realised that their hands were still enclosed tight in each other's. Their eyes widened and met in shock and embarassment when they realised they had been holding each other's hands since long. They had an eyelock for a moment before snapped they out of it. They dropped their gazes and hands and looked around everywhere but at each other.



It was then they noticed that the snowstorm was raging furiously and that they were stuck in the middle of nowhere in the open with no means to hide. They looked at each other in panic. 'We need to run but I don't know where we will find refuge! There is no residential place here..' Ruhani mumbled, looking very worried. Kabir thought it over. 'There is one place close to here where I was resting for a bit. It will help us hide even though it's not much. It's an old mountain chalet owned by my friend with a room and bathroom and attic attached but I can't get there on foot now and..' Before he could complete she was beckoning him to follow her, rushing to her bike. 'Come on we don't have time. You know a shelter, it can help me also. You don't know how to get there afoot, I have a bike. Come on let's go it's an emergency.' He was dazed but followed her quickly and sat behind her as she zoomed off, fighting with the bike against the furious snowstorm. The chalet was close by and they reached the place in half an hour and quickly went inside and locked the door, breathing a sigh of relief. It was better to look at a storm from its other side than being in the middle of it.



They both had simultaneously sunk on the hard wood floor. Ruhani now looked around her. The chalet was small as he had said, but had an old world charm. It was made entirely out of wood and had a big fire place stocked with wood, and a table she assumed was to have food but no other furniture which Kabir explained was because it wasn't in use now since many years. She looked out the window at the furious storm. 'Boy, how are we going to escape this and reach our destinations? It looks intense and could take a while to clear up. I read that some of the storms in these areas last weeks..' she murmured. Kabir sighed. 'I don't know. Nature here is just as unpredictable as it is beautiful. Let's try to contact people asap before we lose our phone signals.' They both took out their phones and called home. She called her mother and explained the situation, told her not to worry and asked for news update on the weather in Leh. Kabir called his younger brother and did the same. When they both hung up, their faces were almost as white as the snow outside. 'The news says that the snowstorm will last for around 7 days or more..' Kabir whispered. 'All roads leading from here to any city have been blocked and flights suspended. Which means that..' Ruhani said. And then they exclaimed together as realisation dawned 'We are both stuck here for a week or more with no other safe option to go anywhere else!'