Friendship And Rivalry ( Part 2 )

The guard behind him cleared his throat. "That's because he lost his temper, Your Majesty." He interceded thoughtfully, "Your Majesty, this is a really bad idea. If the little general gets hurt, we won't be able to bear the consequences."

The other one too spoke up with a helpless look. "That's true, Your Majesty. Kabaddi is a dangerous sport. As you know, if they get a chance when you go to opposite team's court, they will pummel you to ground by piling together! It's a sport based on a battle tactic as you know, when an elite warrior enters the enemy lines alone. The foot soldiers would throw themselves on him regardless of the cost, to restrain him with their bodies. The warrior would simply suffocate to death or be killed off in another way when he has nowhere to move. If you go into the enemy court carrying an injured soldier, as an elite warrior, you would be losing out on agility. It would be easy to fall into their encirclement, and give them an opportunity to bring you down with their numbers."

Vajra thought for a moment and frowned, looking at them. "So what do you do with the injured soldier if you were the one who has to break through the enemy lines?"

The guards looked at each and said unanimously. "We leave him behind."

Kush was interested as well, so he tilted his head to show he was listening.

"What?!"

"Your Majesty, for the sake of survival, it is impossible to bring the injured soldier if you are to break through an encirclement by yourself. Even if he is your comrade who has gone through life and death with you, there is no choice but to leave him behind. In war, only if you survive, can you help your country and your countrymen. Losing your life foolishly only means that you haven't done your duty properly."

Vajra's eyes turned dark and opaque. "But what if it is me? What if I was the one that's injured and I was also the size of a grown man who will restrict your agility?"

The two men didn't even look at each other this time. "Then we will take you anyway and hope for the best."

"Why? Didn't you just say it was a hopeless situation?"

The guard shook his head thoughtfully. "It is not hopeless if it is everything you believe in."

The other one too chirped in. "Your Majesty, saving a comrade who is part of your mission and saving the monarch that represents all the missions you will ever take part in…How can these two things be the same? The Aditya provides the fire that burns in a soldier's blood, provides water that cools the land. He is sun that nourishes and is moon who presides over one's dreams. He is the deity of desire, as well as the one who oversees bonds between men, transforming them into roots of a tree and the shade of a forest. The Aditya allows men to become gods when he presides as Martanda. Leaving him behind means the death of all meanings, so it is impossible to leave him behind."

The two men took a step back and gestured expansively, smiling, "If you have that kind of a conviction, then by all means, play kabaddi while carrying your injured friend on your back."

Vajra looked deeply at his guards, Hayanda and Sandhya of the Surya clan, who he felt were too treacherous together. Now he could neither leave his injured friend behind nor could he decide to take him. What if his conviction was not enough?

Just as he was still pondering over the matter, he heard a stubborn voice from behind. "I want to play! I have the conviction!"

Turning around in surprise, he looked at the pale boy who seemed to have lost a lot of weight. "Kush?"

"I want to play!"

"But what conviction do you have Grass?" Vajra asked amused.

"To switch places with you, Cactus," Kush said with fiery eyes. "I have conviction in myself to be the fire in my soldier's blood."

Vajra tilted his head in thought. Did the barbarian beat this boy's brain silly?

"You mean we can beat them even I'm carrying you?" he asked, suddenly enlightened.

Kush nodded. "Yay! Let's do it then!"

"But shouldn't you be trusting me rather than trusting yourself?" the boy asked as he carefully placed the injured kid on his back. The guards adjusted his splinted hands and legs so they wouldn't move carelessly.

"Trusting you is not enough. I need to have trust in myself even if I cannot move a single limb. Only then will be worthy."

"But do you trust me?"

When Vajra opened the flap and stepped outside, Kush was still taken aback by the harsh sun and the dusty terrain without a single tree to be seen.

"Nope."

"Damn you! I've gotten really strong now. I'll prove it to you!" Vajra started to run.

"You're an idiot in warfare. Doesn't matter how strong you get. Just follow my lead, okay?"

As the two children bickered, Vajra reached the playground and directly joined a team. The boys who saw him do that let one boy from the same team go to the other side so as to even out the numbers. Not a word was passed among them even when the children recognised who Vajra was carrying on his back. The barbarian children and even some Marut children among them were used to the tribe system. Where there is strength, leadership automatically follows. Where there is no strength, leadership is replaced. Right now, Kush was injured. So the barbarian children saw him no different from themselves.

When he went into the opposite team's court, Kush directed Vajra continuously. "Go to the left! The left!"

"Ram into that cluster of three. Ram now, don't care about me!"

"Run, run, run!"

"Flick the sand with your left foot. Pivot. Pivot. Pivot!"

"Beat that fat boy first, he's the weak point. To the right, to the right! Beat the fat boy to mess up their formation!"

The barbarian children didn't care Kush was injured, they threw themselves at Vajra just the same. But Vajra was not only adept at listening, he was also good at analyzing. He tied Kush to himself with the waist band and employed several tricky maneuvers to beat the entire team before he returned to his own court. He surprised even Kush.

The two boys fell on a mound of sand laughing endlessly after winning without a hitch.

"How did you do that!" Kush asked, watching another player from their side go meet the other team. "I thought you would lose for sure! I was prepared to have my bones reset!"

Vajra was surprised to hear that. "You idiot. Would I ever put you in such danger? I brought you out because I had confidence in myself."

"But you…" Kush wouldn't believe it. "You're a weakling!"

"Shut up!" Vajra laughed, throwing some sand on his friend. "I'm not a weakling. I'll have you know that I took down the commander of the imperial guard all by myself when I escaped from the palace that time. And that's the highest rank in the military after my big brother."

"He must've been caught off guard," Kush was quick to deduce.

"So what? That is also a hole in his defence that I took advantage of."

"Very well," Kush smiled, rejuvenated. "Let's go again!"

"Let's go!"

The two boys played until the sun dipped into the western horizon, yelling till their throats were hoarse and till their faces were unrecognizable with dirt and sweat pasted all over them. Never once did the two get caught, not when they went to the other side, not when the other side came to them. They were together the undisputed kings of the game, and of course, unbeknownst to the other boys, the territory too. What was truly a victory though was the fact that not a single splint that was securing Kush's appendages was ultimately disturbed. He felt, of course, brutally battered, but that was not Vajra's fault and it was a pain he welcomed in comparison to lying restlessly in bed all day unable to move an inch.