Ashram 01 - I Really Can't Help It!

Yep. I really can't help it. I've just written the first twist in the story, and the main plot has been revealed. I just HAD to share it here...

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“I got some of these,” he said, laying the leaf down and uncovering it. Inside was a whole feast. Some ripe yellow bananas. A bunch of green grapes glistening in the sun. A couple of pears and a small cluster of figs.

“It’s not much, but…”

“You forget I am a Hrishi’s daughter, my lord,” Sharayu said, “I am quite used to such fare. I thank you for it.” She picked up one of the figs. The Yuvraj kept the leaf next to her and sat on down on a rock opposite. For some reason, sitting together like this was very homely.

Sharayu finished her fig and picked up another. They were sweet, tangent fruit, savory for a morning like today. The Yuvraj had a pear in his hand, and he smiled to her.

“You’re welcome,” he said. For a while they ate in silence. There was only one more fig left. Sharayu looked at it tempted, but then passed it over in favor of the grapes.

“Did you expect to meet Lakshman at the Ashram?” the Yuvraj asked. Sharayu looked up at him, surprised.

“Yes,” she said, “I thought I would find all of you there. Wasn’t he there?”

Aditya frowned at her.

“Why should he be there?” he asked.

“Because all of you were to be there,” she answered, “I hadn’t thought I’d find you so easily, really. What with the horrors surrounding the Ashram and everything…” She shook her head and plucked a grape off the bunch.

“What horrors?” Aditya asked. She looked at him then, a very somber look on her face.

“The Ashram.” If it was to be an answer, it was a very inadequate one, and he said so. Blushing furiously, she stood up.

“The Ashram, my lord! Don’t you remember anything? How do you think you were there?”

Now he came to think of it, what had he been doing there? Placing his fingers on his temple, Aditya tried to remember why he’d decided to sleep in such a desolate place. Why he’d gone to visit such a desolate place.

“You don’t remember,” she sounded concerned, and hobbled toward him. “What is the last thing you know?”

The last thing he knew? “I don’t know,” he said, “I can’t remember anything...” He stood up himself, and walked away toward the stream. Tossing the half-eaten pear into the water, he turned to face her.

“Why did you say you’d expected to find all of us there?” he asked.

“Because I did,” she replied, “Don’t you remember fighting with the daitya?” The daitya, the demon monster. Yes, he remembered the beast alright. A mix-breed of a wild cat and a human, a crass science experiment by a mad Hrishi.

The damned thing had run riot around the forests, destroying human life, crops and disupting Ashrams. Add to this the rumor that the creature had been granted a boon by Lord Shiva that the one to slay the monster would be resigned to death themselves!

The Hrishis at Saint Kathali’s Ashram had summoned Aditya and his group of friends from their Gurukul to tackle the beast and kill it.

“You remember?” He looked up at Sharayu and nodded.

“We killed the thing,” he said, “Took us bloody- took us nearly the whole day, but we cornered it and killed it.”

“And do you remember what happened after that?” she asked.

Aditya tried to remember. Focusing hard on the fight, on the moment when he’d felt his sword drive deep into the creature’s chest, Aditya tried to remember. But he’d been too weak by then, much injured himself in the fight.

“No,” he said, fearing she would have the answer, “What happened?”

She looked uneasy. Waving her hands in the air, she pointed at him, then the gushing stream behind him.

“Gosh, I never thought you would actually not know!” she said, anxiously, “You and all your friends… You died. Or everyone thought you did. It was said to be because of the boon granted to the daitya. But then the Hrishimunis, they kept you in the Ashram, and declared that all of you had been sent into an enchanted sleep. And they did some yagn and said when something with the stars and their constellations happened, you would become alright…”

Aditya stared at her, a feeling of dread starting in his stomach.

“I had thought I’d find all of you still sleeping when I found you,” she hobbled closer to him, her hands fluttering about her hair, “Are – are you alright?”

Aditya couldn’t speak. “That Ashram,” he manage finally, “Why did you think there would be horrors there?”

She looked at him quizzically, nervously. “That was Hrishi Kathali’s Ashram. Or had been, at least. They kept you there and everybody said there were all kinds of charms and spells cast on it to keep away intruders.”

That ugly, barren land had been Hrishi Kathali’s Ashram!

Closing his eyes, Aditya remembered the lush greenery of the Ashram he had known. Wild deer coming in to graze. Young disciples and saintly Hrishis. Blustering lads and blushing maidens. The prosperous huts and temples.

“And the others?” he asked, “Lakshman and Atreya and…” he trailed off at the look on her face.

“I don’t know,” she said, “I seriously don’t. But–”

“But?” Aditya asked, stepping closer to her. She limped away from him. Almost mechanically, he caught her arm and led her to the rocks. “But?” he asked when she was seated again.

She was wringing her hands nervously now. “But the legend. Everybody knows the legend. You’re famous for it!”

“But?” Aditya asked, his voice getting a dangerous edge now. She paled and dropped her hands into her lap.

“But the legend,” she repeated. “It says that at least one of the Princes should remain in enchanted sleep forever more. Not all of you can recover.”