A Mysterious Man

It was a silent morning with beautiful sun rays greeting the forest where Chandra as a running away princess and her female attendant, Rose, were hiding from the new successor of Bhagavanta Kingdom, the stepbrother of Chandra's father, King Antasena.

Chandra was in her endeavor to calm her mind and practice contemplation to become calmer, more alert, and wiser in handling some wrecks in her life, mainly that those wrecks were dealing with King Dragon's men who tried to fight her and bring her to King Dragon's kingdom as a submissive captive for his one of entertaining women.

Her Guru, Brahma Adytia, a very wise man who taught her how to control her mind and handle her power that power could be destructive at some points she lost her temper.

"Princess Chandra," a young woman was running to approach Chandra who was sitting on the grass in a lotus position, outside the hut where both of them were living.

That young woman panted and threw her body down on her knees in front of Chandra as she slowly opened her eyes.

"I told you, Rose, don't call me 'Princess' again," her voice changed so heavy in the pitch as her eyes were staring at the young woman.

The young woman nodded her head and tried to regulate her breathing rhythmically.

"Chandra, something happened!" The young woman looked at her in a worried sight.

"What do you mean? We've been living in this forest for years! Anything could happen here," Chandra got up from her sitting position. She breathed deeply. Her nose could smell the aroma of some wet reeds just poured down by the morning dews.

"I just took some water to boil over there," the young woman pointed behind her, some leaves on trees were swayed. "I saw something!" She rubbed her face with her two hands. "It's crawling among the shrubs," wiping her nose and trying to hide her shock.

Chandra looked at her, "Go inside the hut!" She took her sword and sheathed it. She threw a bottle of potion to the woman that she called Rose. "Smear it whenever you hear something growling! It can vanish your human smell from wild animals or anything, something else! Wait for me there," Chandra looked at her and asked her to go into the hut behind them.

She waited for that young woman to lock the hut's door. As she sighed, walking thoroughly in a silent footstep into the forest. Chandra tried not to make any walking sounds as she learned how to walk using the front part of the arch pads of her feet. 'Keep alert and no voice, ' she watched her every step, avoiding to step any dried leaves or branches that made a cracking sound. Her Guru always asked her to walk along with the wind, not to carry the burden of her body weight forward or put the mass too much backward, as it would affect the speed in making steps.

"Just move into the wind with emptiness," Brahma Aditya said one day. "Remember to stay in harmony with the wind, feel the breeze, let them move your body, let your soul guides you on how to move!" Her Guru, Brahma Aditya taught her. She stopped as she smelled the body aroma of an animal. She moved silently as she uncovered her sight away from leaves in front of her squatting position.

'A white horse,' she thought and tried to find out who the master of the horse was. The horse tried to drink from the water pond between them. Chandra felt suspicious about the watercolor. She came out from her place to avoid the horse drinking the water of that pond.

"No, don't! Hush," she tried to hold back the horse as it jumped off frightening. Chandra stood still in front of it. She tapped its neck as the horse seemed to reach its stable emotion.

"Where is your master?" She rubbed its neck and spread her sight around. She couldn't see anyone but she found that the horse had its halt rope and saddle on it.

"What happened to you?" She asked as she held the rope and walked it to the river stream nearby.

"It's safe for you to drink, buddy. Choose the water that it flows," she whispered in the horse's ear. She stood beside it and watched it drinking.

Chandra was sure that the horse had to belong to someone, its instinct did lead it to choose the water that it didn't flow as the horse got used to drinking from the water tank or container provided. The wild horses would choose reversely, they preferred to drink any water that it flowed unless the water was scarce.

She sighed and spread her eyes to her surroundings. 'Should I take it to the hut?'

Chandra thought as she looked at the horse. She was about to unsheathe her sword when she saw some leaves were moved by something.

"Who's there?" She asked out there. She saw the horse looking at the bushes around them too. She held the rope and moved it behind her. The leaves were moving noisily as something was walking throughout. She was waiting, and her ears tried to capture any sounds. 'Something was moving there, as the breeze delivers the aroma, my gosh, what kind of smell is it? It smells so stinky!' She rubbed her nose. The horse stayed calm as Chandra took a look at it. 'It didn't react strangely,' Chandra could inhale in a more relaxed way. She just kept waiting for whatever appeared from behind the bushes.

A few seconds later, she saw something crawling among the bushes behind them. A man with some leaf covering his head and back, and he smelled so stinky. He stopped crawling just a few steps in front of Chandra's lower legs.

"What are you doing, Dude?" Chandra asked him and looked at him curiously as the man stood directly when he found that he saw a woman in front of him clumsily.

"What are you thinking I am doing of course I am in undercover and survival mode," He looked at Chandra angrily.

"Why do you smell so stinky so?" Chandra covered her mouth and nose with her hand.

"Listen to me, I am in the forest, and I have smeared myself with some animal's shits as I learned from the book to avoid some predators. But, see, what happened? I was caught up by a male badger who wanted to mate me, could you understand?" He answered Chandra in a high pitch. He seemed so seriously got heated with all that had happened. "I was running and then, I should crawl to avoid him seeing me, and my horse was running away from me as she could not stand with my aroma!" He explained impatiently.

Chandra listened to him but she couldn't stand not to laugh. 'My Gosh, he smelled so stinky, did a skunk sprayed on him?' She sighed, some badgers and skunks were living in this area. It seemed that they were sharing a tight boundary for each territory.

"I think a skunk has sprayed on you, that's why you smell so stinky," Chandra explained and still squeezed her nose.

The horse tried to stay away from the man as he approached it. It tried to escape as it lifted its front hinds. Chandra tried to halt its rope and tapped its chest. "Calm down, buddy! He's your master, don't you recognize him?" She looked at the horse and then, turned her eyes to the man.

He was standing next to them and then, he stepped backward as he got the response from the horse. He threw the leaves on the ground. Dusting off some soil from his clothes, he turned his eyes to the horse. "It's me!" he grinned at the horse. Again, the horse tried to stay away from him as he tried to touch her. "Calm down, Beauty!" the man spoke to the horse.

Chandra was caressing the horse. Then, she put her eyes on the man who was standing beside them. The man's face was smeared with some dirt. 'Was that the badger's shits?' she examined carefully trying to hide her laugh. 'My Gosh, did he smear his face with those shits?' her pupils dilated and covered her mouth as she got very surprised by what that man had done. 'He didn't look like an army that just did undercover. He, my Gosh, did it because of a book that he read! What kind of a silly method to undercover wild animals' instinct to attack? Didn't he know that animals only attack to get their prey and whenever a human or another animal gets across their territory boundaries?'

That man cleared his throat. He tried to make Chandra stop staring at and examining him. "Yes, I know that I am charming but please stop staring at me like that!" he grinned at Chandra and stroke his hair with his fingers.

Chandra smiled as she realized what she stared at. "I just wonder what kind of a man are you? Did you smear those shits on your face?" she cringed as she imagined that but the other side of his story, he made her burst into a laugh.

That man wiped his face with his sleeve. "Don't worry, it's only some shits. My good-looking aura will not be affected!" he, again, grinned and he had a positive smile combined with over-self-confidence, silliness, and a good sense of humor.

Chandra cleared her throat as her mind tried to say, 'Whatever you said, Dude!' She tapped the horse's neck and admired her beautiful white color. 'She looks so elegant and admirable! I wish I will ride it someday!' Chandra took a deep breath.