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***

Deep inside the dense forests near the mighty kingdom of Panchal, all the princes had settled down for the night, preparing themselves for the fight ahead. Just after dinner, Yudhishthir and Arjun had begun discussing about the best formations which could be useful in the war. Sitting outside surrounded by countless dense trees whose canopies only let a meagre amount of the sliver moonlight in, they were waiting for their brothers, who were still not finished.

Having gone over all the basics, the two brothers eventually made it to the topic of how they were supposed to coordinate or cooperate with their cousins, since they knew Duryodhan would never listen to anything they'd say, no matter how advantageous it might prove to be.

"How are we supposed to succeed if no one listens to our strategies jyeshth?" Arjun asked worried, lining up his arrows.

"I am sure we'll be able to cooperate with each other anuj. This is for Guru Drona." Yudhishthir answered as he meditated to keep his mind centred for the coming day. Despite everything, he wanted to believe that this war they had to fight alongside their cousins, would not be an issue.

"But how can- -" Before Arjun could question further, a sudden rustle from behind a large bush drew the brothers attention, making them distinctly aware of their surroundings. Both of them looked at each other, questions evident in their eyes.

Was someone from the Kauravas listening?

Or was it a spy from Panchal itself?

Arjun silently reached for his bow as Yudhishthir extended his hand towards his spear, passing each other a look. Yet, they shook their heads and put down their weapons and rather stood silently, waiting to nab anyone who'd come out. They waited and waited... until the rustling sounds came closer and closer...

Without warning, two figures jumped out!

Yudhishthir and Arjun immediately sprung into action, jumping on the two men, who grunted as they caught them.

"Jyeshth, we've both got one in our hold. How do we get the rope?"

"Let's call out for Nakul and Sahadev! They'll both tie up these thieves." Yudhishthir said, looking at Arjun, ignoring what the men in their hold were rambling about. The brothers struggled to keep their hold as they called for the twins. To their surprise, it was Bheem who came out. But Bheem, upon spotting his brothers instead of helping, unexpectedly started to laugh, clutching his sides as he doubled over.

"Bhrata Bheem? What's so funny that it's more interesting than these thieves at hand?" Arjun questioned.

"Oh yes! They are both thieves, my laddoo thieves!" Bheem chuckled once again while his brothers glanced at each other, confused, that's when they noticed that the men in their holds, had strangely stopped struggling.

"Your laddoos? Those were our laddoos! You were trying to steal ours!"

"Oh! Really?" The mighty Vrikordara came forward and grabbed the thieves by their ears. They did not run, they just whined. And suddenly, everything became clear to Arjun and Yudhishthir. "Nakul...? Sahadev...?" The brothers snickered upon realising that they had caught no thieves, but the poor Madreayas who were only trying to save their share of laddoos from Bheem!

"Ow- - Bhrata Bheem! My ear, my ear-" Nakul whined as Bheem let them both go.

"Be thankful I didn't touch your hair, my priye anuj! Now where are those laddoos? I need that extra energy for the battle ahead."

"Alright... Here you go..." Sahadev heaved a sighed and finally handed him the laddoos, while Nakul shot him a betrayed look. Bheem snatched them away, satisfied. But then looking at the sad faces of the twins, he gave them one laddoo, which they happily split in half.

"Someday you three are going to give me a heart attack." Yudhishthir exhaled, shaking his head, but a light smile remained on his lips. He knew that no matter what awaited them tomorrow, there was one thing that could never be spoiled and that was their bond.

Arjun went back to examining his arrows, so intricately designed, sharp enough to cut through his finger if he wasn't cautious. He held one in his hand, the moonlight reflected off of its metal tip. He never thought about it too much and yet, it was somewhat unnerving that these arrows would soon bring an end to someone's life.

He shook his head at his thoughts and kept it back, carefully arranging it with the others before he could go to slumberland. But then, his eyes caught a glimpse of familiar box that a certain princess had given him. Arjun gently opened it and once again began observing the five blue stones within. What was their purpose? He had thought the entire journey here. But he could not figure it out, at least not yet.

While putting the box back, he noticed the bandage on his hand had gotten loose. He removed it and tied it again as nicely as he could on his own. "Not too tight and not too loose." Arjun chuckled, suddenly remembering Aarohi's firm instructions, making his mind wander. She always looked so confidently at him, boring those onyx shaded eyes straight into his copper ones. It was so rare for him. Usually, as soon as he glanced over, all the maidens immediately turned away, blushing.

Aarohi was... well... as cliché it might sound but she was different from every other woman here, almost contrasting. Sometimes so utterly unbothered that one would want to have her attention so badly. She was bold, a little mean and at times so stubborn or maybe she just didn't care about him. But there was a spark of something between a certain sadness and a deep intensity in her, some things that brought so much pain that she would rather keep them buried in the darkest corners of her mind.

Would he ever be the one to know?

He wondered, wondered and wondered...

***

Back in Hastinapur, after dinner Aarohi lounged in her room with Dushala. The girls were having some light conversations before they went to bed. But, Aarohi kept sneezing after every moment or so.

"Oh my goodness! This is your seventh time sneezing Aarohi!" Dushala gasped dramatically, then proceeded to lean in conspiratorially, whispering as she wriggled her eyebrows, "Did you know that when a person sneezes so much, it's most likely that someone is remembering them..."

"You're so funny sometimes that I forget to laugh Dushala. You and me both know this is because of all the water you threw at me." Aarohi grumbled, falling back onto the bed.

"Alright alright, my queen. It's all my fault." Dushala waved her arms, wandering around the room. To Aarohi, she looked like her normal self, but in reality she was waiting for the right moment to tell her something. Something she'd done that she knew Aarohi wasn't going to like. She paced, coming to a stop near a bedside table, were she saw a neatly folded shawl resting. "Hey, who's is this shawl? I've never seen it before."

"Huh? What shawl...?" Aarohi yawned, getting up. When her eyes fell on the garment, she gulped. 'Great job Aarohi, you forgot to put it away! Maybe I should just burn it! Ugh- no, I'll return it to Arjun.'

She walked around the room and nonchalantly took it from Dushala.

"Well, the weather is getting cold, so bhrata Krishna gave it to me before he went back to Dwarka." She explained and Dushala nodded. For a moment she was surprised by her own ability to keep a straight face as she blatantly lied.

'It's close enough... Krishna or Arjun... Eh, whatever.' She shrugged, thinking while Dushala decided that this moment was good as ever to tell her.

"Aarohi, you're not going to believe if I tell you something... that I did. You're not going to like it." Dushala's shaky voice chimed in. Aarohi let her continue, raising a confused eyebrow at her. How bad could it be anyways?

Dushala hurriedly started speaking whatever she could get out in a single breath. "So you know how we discussed that whatever happened with Angraj was a bit unfair? Well, today I saw him practicing archery and he looked so miserable and then he saw me and approached me and I suddenly suggested that - -"

"Dushala... get to the point... what did you suggest?" Aarohi was growing more worried by the minute.

"Well... I suggested that we could go to a little trip in the forests tomorrow. And that you would come along too." Dushala finally blurted out.

Aarohi looked stunned. The same thing she was trying to avoid was happening again and again to her. She shook her head in a firm no.

"Oh come on! You'll feel better after wandering outside."

"Um... no. Wandering outside is the exact opposite of what I do to make myself feel better!" Aarohi argued.

"You have no other option than to come with, because I'm not going alone, alright? And that's final." Dushala declared, crossing her arms.

"Well I'm not- -" She went quiet for a second, as something came to her mind. "Your brother Yuyutsu... he's here, right? In the palace? Why don't you invite him along for tomorrow?" Aarohi suggested.

"Aarohi... but bhrata Yuyutsu's relationship is complicated with all of us..." Dushala trailed off, moving towards the open windows to get some air.

"I know, but just know that if he doesn't come along, I'm not going and that's final too."

Dushala sighed, she knew Aarohi wasn't kidding. "But why him?" She asked.

"No particular reason... but I've never seen him around, except the formal events, even if he's always here." She muttered but there was in fact a very good reason. Because, the more people on that little trip, the better. That way the chances of her getting into a individual conversation with Karna would be close to none. And this made her feel slightly better about going. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but only that she felt nervous going alone. Besides, the other option excluding Yuyutsu would be... Vrikasura. And that she would never agree with.

"Alright I guess, I'll ask him." Dushala tried hugging Aarohi good night but of course, she instead did that weird gesture of shaking her hand. How could someone not like hugs? She shook her head and proceeded to her room.

The next morning, the group of four were already making their way through the beautiful forest, looking at different wildflowers as they went on.

They had all come together from the palace. Aarohi and Dushala took a ride in a carriage while Yuyutsu and Karna rode their horses ahead. Although, Karn did raise an eyebrow noticing Yuyutsu with them as he wasn't informed beforehand, they all had greeted each other formally. But Aarohi was busy thinking if she had come across as rude today. In an attempt to try and maintain the distance between her and Karna and keeping the conversation to the minimum, she had just given him a curt nod instead of using her words when he had wished her good morning. The gesture seemed too cold, even for her, but he didn't say anything.

Finally as they reached to a scenic spot, they stopped near a beautiful stream flowing right through the middle of the endless trees. Dushala made her way down the carriage, but her footing wavered as she stepped down to the wet soil.

"Careful Dushala." Thankfully, her half-brother came to her rescue before she could fall, to which she smiled gratefully.

"Aarohi, come down fast, look it's all so beautiful! We're going to unpack some fruits, and other things okay?" Dushala cheered, clapping her hands together and dragged Yuyutsu to the back of the carriage, this forest getaway was proving to be so refreshing.

Aarohi allowed herself a faint smile, seeing the ice break between the brother and sister. Those two could have become each other's support through the tough times, but even them simply chatting with each other was frowned upon by her hundred brothers.

"Be careful, alright? It rained buckets day before yesterday so the soil's still wet." Karna warned her.

But lost in her thoughts of what could have been, Aarohi didn't pay any attention to the warning. She didn't slip on the ground, but instead missed a step coming down the carriage and fell forward... right into Karna's already outstretched arms. To him, for some reason, Aarohi seemed distracted today, not to mention a bit distant than usual.

"Oh- sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention." She muttered, feeling wobbly on her feet as she removed his arms from around her.

"I had a feeling... Will you let me help you get down?" He held out his hand.

"It's only one step, I'll be fine." She spoke and stepped down herself, trying to maintain her aloof expression.

They went towards the brother and sister who had already set up a blanket and were now keeping all the delicious food on it. Aarohi and Karna decided to help them too. Dushala told them to unload the fruit basket, so naturally they reached for it simultaneously, their hands brushing together and their eyes met for a moment. But Aarohi gently pulled away, breaking the contact as quickly as it came and gestured Karna to go ahead while she grabbed a smaller container as well.

"Oh wait, should we build a little fire to keep warm? Especially for Aarohi, she was sneezing all night yesterday." Dushala suggested, while Aarohi frowned, not liking the fact that she had declared that in front of everyone.

"Oh no. Are you sick rajkumari?" Yuyutsu asked, while Karna gave Aarohi a worried glance. But she just dismissed all their concerns with a wave of her hand. "It was just because Dushala had drenched me in water two days back, but I'm fine now."

"Hey, I said I was sorry." Dushala smacked Aarohi's arm, irritated that she'd revealed that too while the two men chuckled. As a cold breeze blew, Aarohi ended up shivering and sneezing once again.

"Oh no, it looks like we'd better find some dry wood. Maybe there's some around." Yuyutsu said as he got up. "You're right, I'll check in the carriage if there's any." Dushala nodded in agreement and before going handed Aarohi the same shawl that Arjun had given her. Karna agreed to stay there with her.

Well, it looked like there was no point in avoiding either Karna or Arjun. One sat right in front of her, while the other, even though not here physically, was here through his soft shawl that was wrapped around Aarohi's shoulders.

Having nothing else to do, both Karna and Aarohi sat in comfortable silence, simply observing the scenery before their eyes. Then their gaze drifted towards the sky, which was filled with rain clouds.

"We should get back soon, huh?"

"Mm, probably. Wouldn't want you to get even more sick." Karna said. He scrutinises Aarohi's stiff expression for a second, then his gaze softens.

But all of a sudden, a soft rustling comes from the grass behind them. Aarohi's lip quivered as she assumed it to be a snake or something even more dangerous. Yet, Karna was as calm as ever, in fact he was smiling.

"What- -what is-" Suddenly on edge, Aarohi turned her head around and tried to voice her concerns, but she was stopped as a long finger came to rest on her lips. "Shhh..." Karna then smiles and points to a beautiful deer and her two babies, grazing on the grass just ten feet away from them.

They remain motionless, watching until the deer move away, out of sight.

Turning back, Karna finds Aarohi smiling.

"Oh, so you're not completely jaded?" He teased, while Aarohi looked a bit taken aback by the sudden comment, which made him laugh. And just like that as Dushala and Yuyutsu came back with some wood, they laughed and enjoyed the picnic, feeling at ease in each other's company.

But for Aarohi, this wasn't going to last for long as her bracelet turned black, when the friends came back at night. Once again she knew she would be thrown into new problems and incidents, none of which she wanted any part in.

***

Okay everyone, I hope that was a refreshing chapter, because there's going to be more drama in the later ones. Maybe a few drops of tension here and there too. So get ready.

I'll update soon, please do complete the Vote Target fast and leave your comments, they make my day.💕

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