Phalguna was not lost, no matter what anyone says he was not lost. He had meant to get deep into the forest. Phalguna was five and that's basically an adult yet his parents still insist on treating him as a child and that meant not going into the forest alone. Phalguna loved the forest but most of the time his parents were way too busy to come with him to the forest and so spending time in the woods remained a luxury.
Now though, as previously mentioned five years is basically an adult and Phalguna is going to go the forest by himself. Ignoring the tiny bit of guilt for disobeying his parents, the petite boy continued on his merry way deep into the woods.
The woods of Shatashringa were awe-inspiring. The tall trees from the sentinel like oaks to the delicate and strong pines each can humble a person. They were proof nature's beauty at its finest. Dewy green grass and the droplets of water still clinging to the trees from the last rain made the forest all the more ethereal. Growing up amongst such a place, was it any wonder that Phalguna forever preferred sleeping on grass and under the stars.
From the coos of the cuckoo to the mewls of the bounding rabbits, each sound was a melody to Phalguna's ears. Just like another almost identical boy in Gokul, the animals flocked this dark boy too, something which delighted Phalguna.
The rabbits were quick to come to his side and be petted and cuddled by him with the birds being delighted to use Phalguna's head as their perch. The foals of the herd of deer too were quick to crowd the boy. Soon the animals turned docile in front of the child. From the gentlest of the rabbits to the most ferocious of the stags, none could resist the charms of the boy with silver marks.
It will always be this way, Arjun will forever Nature and Nature will love Arjun back with a hundred times more intensity.
Gentle petting and cooing soon turned into a game of tag with the animals scampering from the small hands of Arjun as he ran behind them. Laughter of Parth mixed with the joyful mewls and coos of his new animal friend and Shatashringa came to life. The mountain itself beaming with the laughter that calmed Narayan himself.
Faraway in Gokul, the enchanter suddenly felt content beyond belief and he knew it wasn't just the successful Makhan heist which is causing him such joy. The joy he felt was another's joy which has bled into him. For Arjun's joys was his joy and his joy was Arjun's. Because that's how it is, Krishna is Arjun and Arjun is Krishna but Krishna is Krishna and Arjun is Arjun. Does it makes sense, no but that's how it was. They were one and the same but they were also different. Yet these thoughts were far from Kanha's mind as he focused on the makhan he liberated and the content his twin was feeling.
Phalguna was thrilled. The Forest was way better than he expected. The animals were so kind with the babies playing with him and their parents keeping watchful eyes but never interfering. He has already decided to come every day to play with his new friends. Friends were a new concept to him with his brothers being his only companions but now Phalguna could proudly say he has friends and a lot of them at that.
A harsh roar broke Arjun from his musings and suddenly there was chaos.
The animals didn't want to leave their new friend behind but instinct overtook them. A prey will always run when the predator comes. A predator has came and they were the prey. The herd of animals suddenly took off running leaving Arjun behind placing the enormous tiger which barrelled into the clearing. With saliva dripping down his sharp fangs and the look of a being whose hunger has left him senseless, there was no way this tiger would recognize the boy in front of him as the part of the preserver as other animals has done before.
Even frightened, Phalguna could recognize the beauty of the mighty animal in front of him. It was enormous easily towering over Phalguna with vibrant orange body which had black stripes all over. The graceful slender body with powerful legs made for high jumps made it a source of fear for the other resident of them forest. Its amber eyes were gleaming with viscous sort of intelligence and its snarled mouth revealed razor sharp teeth with the fangs being bigger than Phalguna's hand.
Phalguna knew that this tiger was different from his friends but he was only five-which he realized is not grown up at all- and had no way of hurting the tiger and even if he did Phalguna with his gentle heart would never hurt a animal who was only following his instinct to hunt and eat, so he stood there frozen with his eyes closed.
Moments before, Amravati.
The ruler of Amravati was perhaps one of the most powerful beings in existence. Regardless of what mortals would assume, one does not just become the king of gods by arrogantly monologuing and drinking while sitting on the throne.
He was an Aditya, born to Devi Aditi and Rishi Kashyapa yet out of all 11 brothers he was the one who was chosen as the king. From defeating Vritra to bringing sunshine, rain and prosperity, Shakra did each duty given to him meticulously. As for arrogance, who would not be arrogant when having all the power he has at their fingertips except for the Trinity and their respective consorts.
One thing Shakra cherished above all was his children. From Jayant, his elder and heir to Arjun, his youngest each was deeply loved by him. Now Shakra prefers to spend a lot of time with his children to get to know them which wasn't a problem in most cases but his youngest was born of Niyog which means Arjun would always be a Pandav before a Shakrasuta. Pandu's right to Arjun would always outstrip his own.
Hence, Shakra had to find other methods to get to about his son after all people could point out a hundred of his flaws yet being a bad father was never one of them. Now he was thanking Narayan for his overprotective tendencies of keeping an eye on his son using the special looking glass he had Vishwakarma make.
Moments before he was chuckling at the antics at the antics of his darling child and now he was scrambling to do something to save his child from becoming Tiger chow.
While he himself could not go to rescue him because he was not called-a fact which caused him no small amount of resentment-he could send aid and what better aid than his beloved and loyal mount.
"Airavat" boomed his voice to the mighty elephant. "Go your Prince needs aid"
With a speed that belied his size Airavat rose and was on the way to the Kanistha Shakrasuta before anyone else even processed the command.
The pain he was expecting never came but what came was a mighty boon.
Phalguna's jaw dropped as he opened his eyes. The elephant standing between him and tiger was five times as big as any other elephant-though something tells him he could be even bigger- and pure ivory in colour with sharp, long tusks which could make even the best of warriors pause. It was clear it was no mere elephant.
Turning to the tiger, Phalguna again gaped in surprise.
Had it been any other elephant, The tiger would have been wary but still would have fought yet it knew even through the hunger induced haze of his mind that defeating Airavat, the king of elephants and the mount of Shakra himself was way out its league. As the haze reduced, it also recognized the divine aura of the child that it failed to recognize before.
Respectfully, the tiger gave a bow to the elephant and then a slightly deeper one to the child who to the amusement of both the tiger and the elephant, tried to bow back to the tiger.
The tiger turned then and bounded away from the clearing.
Phalguna took a tentative step toward Airavat and when he wasn't rebuffed quickly sprinted to Airavat and hugged its giant ankle. The elephant picked the child up with his snout causing him to squeal in surprise and sat Phalguna on top of his head.
On top of Airavat, Phalguna felt none could hurt him as if a silent sentinel was standing behind him ready to protect him and Arjun never felt like that with anyone other his family which in his mind made Airavat family.
That is how the rest of the family found Arjun after searching for him for hours on top of the mighty Airavat gazing in wonder at the world.
I am so sorry for the late update but college happened. Now that my college life is finally steady I can get back to regular updates.
Anyway yes Airavat came to save Arjun because I like explore the relationship between Arjun and Devraj a bit more. who liked his overprotective tendencies?
secondly, unlike the fans of certain someone who likes to pretend that their hero is killing demons as a baby like some sasti copy of Madhav, we don't do that. Hamara Arjun bade hote hote itna OP ho jayega ki we don't need to masala to make him interesting.
But to those who want to know....Phalguna ko daat to bohot padi.
anyways how was the chapter????
Jai Shree Krishna