Jungle Series: Journey Continued
As the traveling party started moving forward shera moved to the nearby rock and placed all the fruits on the hard surface. then retrieiving a knife from her waistbelt she cutted all the fruits in much smaller pieces and released one of the end free of string from the thick wooden bow.
while the curious onlookers are still pondering over her actions nobody dared to ask anything as her earlier display of talent had left no doubt in anyone's mind of her capability and thus gaining their trust.even veer was silently watching her actions though highly curious he didn't raise any questions with the mild fear of another time being outwitted by this mere chit of a girl or though may be in denial u can say she had managed to gain his trust also.
after cutting the fruits in desirable size she again proceed in her journey on the banks on the lake but this time she was doing something which the others fellow companions were looking with interest yet couldn't make head or tail of her impending actions.shera has dipped the tip of her arched bow in the lake water which has again transformed in the thick stick as seen earlier and while holding this in this peculiar position she was proceeding further.after few steps she retrieved the stick back from water and touched its dipped end for the moistness. then moving further she again repeated procedure but this time also she move further after checking the tip end .unable to hold his curiosity anymore veer was about to ask the reason for this otherwise stupid activity but halted her queries as the fiery girl had permanently halted after checking tip end this time.
satisfied by the finding shera quietly inspected the moist sand retrieved from the tip end and started further
procedure.seeing the curious looks on the royal party she just smiled and turning back she held the thick stick high in air,rotating it with full force keeping the wooden part in her hand while the strong metallic string suspended loosely in air from the other end.the rotating string suddenly gain momentum and with sheer force shera threw the rotating string far across in the lake.the thrown string covered few yards distance before falling in the lake but instead of getting lost in the darkly muddy water it gripped something hard and held back in its place giving a sudden jerk to the puller.such was the force it exerted that for a moment shera thought she is going straight in the lake with the stick but a strong grip on the stick had prevented her descending action.seeing the first the griping strong hand and then looking to her left encountering the aggressive prince determined face holding the stick firmly while on her right dharam had already planted the bhalla's supporting stick firmly in the ground and now tying a thick rope made of entangled bush to it which he has just retrieved from nearby ground.
after finishing the task the brothers duo tied the the wooden bow to the bushed rope completing the task of makeshift temporary bridge for crossing the murky lake.
itne nasamajh nahin hai. sighing shera mentally appreciated the efforts from the royal duo.
chalo acha kam se kam kuch kaam to aaya in logon ka saath. as she was about to disclose further plans veer had already started to cross the lake firmly holding the bow bridge when shera pulled him back by arm just in time before he placed his step on the thick grassy green coat lying on top of water.
quite taken aback by the her action veer just glared back and was about to question her behavior when bhalla horror cry interrupted his thoughts and he turned towards the frightened lad who has gone quite numb by fear just whispered
"Saaap !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".hearing this word veer focused his attention on the bhalla's earlier pointed direction. noticing the cause of his fear was thick bundle of snaked forms lying on the green coating just where he has earlier placed his foot .realizing for the first time the amount of danger he just put himself into veer was quite shocked. this is the second time in the same day when he has lost control over his actions as well as situations .what was that in this girl that made him lose his self control even on the petty issues.
veer!!!!!!! dharam concerned voice mix with little disappointment over his restlessness shake him from his reverie.
vishpaan karne ki kafi jaldi hai. came a sharp and bitter reply from shera who had started muttering to herself
har kaam ki jaldi hai pata nahin shera ke jeevan main aane ki itni jaldi kyun thi kya kahan ji aap bhi na . even she can't help complain to kahan ji for sending this strubbron creature in her life.
veer flinch at the sharp tone and turn his face towards the mischief monger to reply back her earlier statement as its her entire fault can't she just alert them beforehand instead she just been busy in her thoughts and showing superiority to others ,irritating hell out of him and now this she had guts to question his actions also .Just what the hell did she think of herself.
khud ko kahin ki maharani samhjti hai kyaaa......... pehle to kuch bola nahin ab zeherele bol phoot rahe hai.... veer was cursing the moment he agreed to his brothers wishes to take help from this girl.
seeing the situation was going out of hand and his brother is on the verge of loosing his control dharam started talking to shera quite grateful for saving his brothers life for the second time. whats that in this day two times in a row veer was being saved from danger that too by the same person as in earlier instances it was veer who would have done this for others.just thinking about his dear brother dhrama's gratitude towards the stranger doubled as he flashed her a sweet smile and talked in his much softer tone..
shera yeh saab???????????quite baffled by the elder prince softer tone and charming smile shera wondered for the umpteenth time whats there with these two brothers one was waiting to swallow her alive while other one was giving killer smile like she has just saved his own life instead of his pigheaded worthless brother whom just moments back she was praising for his intelligent actions so much for intelligence.
yuhghhhhhhhhhhhhh. quickly recovering from her train of thoughts she addressed the elder prince with the much respect he commanded
sarkar shera aap sab ko yehi batana chati hai ki yeh vishalaa jharana hai.naag devta ka nivass sthan .iska to pani bhi itna jehrela hai ki agar khoon main mil jaye to insaan ka bechna namumkin ho jaye.
to kya issi par khade rehen ka irada hai.phir itni mehmant karvane ke kya jaroorrat thi.veer replied annoyed with her ever so intelligent talks.
shera ne kissi ko madad karne ko nahin kaha tha ab agar kisi ko khud hi har kaam ki jadli ho to shera ki kya galti hai.exploded the quite girl in quite high pitch volume taking others by surprise with her temper but this time even shera had lost her remaining self control.frustrated with this annoying stubborn creature, starvation and fatigue from all day's travel even she just burst out. venting out all her frustrations in the bitter tone even she was at her saturation point forgetting about all code of conducts , differences between their social positions , ignoring his royal stature she was hell bent on teaching this indecent ,ungrateful moron some lessons of basic manners .so much for saving his life that twice nope thrice and twice in the same day. oh lord !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dekho tum ........... tumhari himmat kaise muhjse iss tarah baat karne ki ............ tum.................veer started marching towards this ill mannered girl.
main kyaaaaaaaaa.............Hannnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even shera faced the stubborn prince with chin held high even she was getting totally out of control.
bas karo tum dono.........yeh kya ho raha hai ... hum yahan bich jungle main na jane kitne kahraoon ke beech kahde aur tum dono bachoon ke tarah lada rahe ho. veer yeh kya tarika hai shera se baat karne ka humne tumhe samjhaaya tha na.......seeing veer was about to protest dharam just placed his hand out indicating his brother to stop his childish behavior right now indicating its enough taking a pause he now addressed shera who was quite shocked by the angry outburst from the otherwise calm prince and had already realized her mistake just had her head down with shame
shera humara yahan se niaklana bahut jaroori hai to hum chate hain ki aap sirf yahan se nikalane par dhyaan de.finishing his statement he waited for her reply.
ji sarkar.......... ho agaya........ then pausing she quickly faced the younger prince and apologized for her behavior in a much sincere tone
shera ko maar kar dijiye rajkumar.. usse aap appse is tarah batmaeezi se baat nahin karni chaiye . then whispering to herself
akkair app arayawart hain aur rajkumar bhi shera ko kahan itna haq hai aapse sawaal poochne ka.cursing herself for crossing her limits and such feeble self control she was completely ashamed of her earlier reactions.
here veer was feeling no less guilty .quite thrown off guard by the sincere apology even he was finding it difficult to meet eyes of his brother who was adorning a see what u have done look on encountering the ashen face girl who has already apologized for no fault of her own.even before he can do any damage control bhalla shrill voice diverted their attention back to problem on hand.
arre saare saaph chale gaye.shuriya naag devta. the adorable lad is still looking at departing silmy creatures unaware of the earlier trasnpired ugly spat he was talking in his own enthusiatic voice.
while dharam just signalled at the other two's to quickly join them in solving their problem. while shera moved with silghtly ashen face quite disturbed with earlier spat masking all her emotions with her confident posture this time veer beat her in masking emotions much better but dharam can see through that fake confident i don't care look.sighing dharam just look towards the almighty at making such a weird pair and mused
jidhhi !!!!!!!!!!! PART 2(A)As the trio embarked their journey towards lake with shera leading this time without objection from anyone not even from veer she prepared herself for the risky trip by tying the sack securely around her and then retrieving cutted down fruits. As She was about to start holding fruits in her left hand while firmly gripping bridge edge in right when for a moment she Closed her eyes and said a quick prayer to kanhaji for success.
Opening her eyes she glanced towards bhalla who was looking more anxious by each passing moment and bursted out when she tried to assure him by her charming smile.
shera aapko yeh sab karne ki koi jaroorat nahin hai hum koi aur rassta bhi to le sakta hain.
letting out all his innermost fears he choked on his words
yeh bahut zokim wala kaam hai, junglee janwaar tak thik tha par yeh saap...... yeh to itne zehereele hain aur phir aap hi to abhi kaha tha na ..........
pausing for a breath he suddenly goes out of control shaking his head vigorously he said out loud
nahin nahin hum appko yeh nahin karne denge . yeh saap aapke dost nahin hai jo aapko nahin dasenge par hum to hain . hum aise nahin hone denge Then turning towards his brother he pleaded
dharam tumhi mana karo na. yeh galat hain wo saaph bahut katarnaak hain.bolo na dharam kuch to kaho tum chup kyun ho.................he was on the verge of tears seeing his favorite companion going in the mouth of death just for their safety .he shuddered even with slight thought if she fails what would happen to her.
now after seeing his friend apprehensions even dharam started having doubts of sending this stranger to deaths door. Can he be that selfish to reach a mere place on time or to save some invaluable metal coins or wealth will take such risk.Is it worth it. Maybe a stranger still this girl's life worth much more than their goal of teaching their enemies a lesson. after all she is a citizen of his state and him being a royal is it not his moral duty to protect her from all dangers while here he is willingly provoking her to sacrifice her life or may be not but still take such terrible risk.oh lord ! what he is suppose to do . NO NO he can't do this perverts act. he will stop this . They will figure out some other way. Finally he decided and put an end to debacle in his disturbed mind.
While royal party is still overcoming their apprehensions shera was busy analyzing these different species of human form. are they really this much good or it's just a facade????But how could this be possible as what would they gain by saving her. She is a just worthless sharmik girl in front of them while on the other hand they all belong to such respectable families .neither there would be any monetary gain nor they are lecherous type who treat women as piece of flesh then why do they care If something happens to her. God why they are showing this much concern .its making her extremely confused & nauseated and certainly she is not used to such treatment.
as shera was busy pondering over thoughts dharam clears his throat to get her attention. After finally reaching a decision he tried to say something when veer interrupted.
tumhe humare liye yeh saab karne ki jaroorat nahin hai hum doosra rassta khoj lenge.veer stated quite matter of factly seeing even his brother is thinking on the same line he continued
tumhe shayad aisa jaaanleva mazak karne ka shauk hoga par hum aryavrat kisi ka fyada nahin uthate phir chahe wo dost ho ya dusman.he replied sacarstickly taunting her earlier actions indicating that his gesture of ensuring her safty is purly moralistic no emotional value is attached to it.quietly masking
his concern under arrognace he just wanted to move from this place as soon as possible.though he has no doubt that the girl is extremly courageous but still he could not gurantee that she can accomplish this task succesfully so agreeing with bhalla's doubts even he thinks its better they detour to a diffrent way to reach their destination.
after listening veer bitter statement shera was highly offened here she is risking her life for these stone hearted aryavrats instead of thanking her he is doubting her capabilites . sudeely feeling a strong urge to hit something shera felt her temper rising from dead after their earlier ugly spat.though this lad belongs a good reaspectable family even that can't change the fact he needs some good lessons in manners.
taking a deep breath to calm her tense muscles she replied.
maaaf kijiga sarkar shera koi sant nahin hain jo kissi ke liye kuch kare balki wo to sirf ek swarthi aur gairzimmedar ladki hai jaise ki sarkar pehle hi samajh aur keh chuke hain so wo jo bhi kar rahi hai apne liye kar rahi hai.she replied tauntily and then continued in slight bitter tone
aapke na hone par bhi wo yahi rassta apnati.shera stopped for a moment after completing her statement to see the desired effect and then in the same bitter yet challenging tone finsihed off by saying
rahe baat aryavraton ki fyada uthane ki to wo to sarkar behtar jante honge . hain na rajkumar.she sacrasticly replied taunting the stubbron lad about his unsuccesful attempt of follwing her for their own selfish reasons.
flabberstab for a moment with the amount of bitternesss in her tone the royal party understood her minching words correctly as they realised what she said was indeed true but veer being the sturrbon one can't give up witout fighting till the end though realising this time he had crossed his limits and offended her he irratingly asked
har baat main jidd karne ki adadat hai yah yeh bimarri padiyshee hai. veer said crossing his arms he was ready for her counterattack as he was quite sure she too won't back out without proving her point.
veer bas karo tum. shera veer ki baat ka bura maniye uska matlab aapko dukh pahuchane ka nahin tha. dharam seeing the situation again going out of hands intervened while thanking god for sending him along his brother in this trip or else the sturbbon duo would defintly have killed each other. halting his thoughts temparioply from the two he addressed shera in a concerned tone
hum manta hain ki aapne hamari bahut madad ki hai aur hum yeh bhi jante hain agar hum na bhi hote to bhi aap yehi raasta leti par hum yaha majood hain yehi sach hai. aapne hume yahan tak surashit pahuchaya hai aur ab humara yeh farz banta hai hum aapki suraksha ka dhyan rake isliye hum aap se yeh kehna chate hain ki yun khatra mol lena thik nahin hain. hume koi rassta khojna chaiye.
no matter how much she hated the stubbron prince shera can't deny the fact that she is awe of dharam gentleness and repected him to undefined limit. so after hearing his sincere statement she quitely replied
rajkumar shera aap ki udarta ki tehe dil se izzat karti hai. aapne shera ko itna maan diya yehi shera ke liye garv ki baat par shera jaanti hai wo kya kar rahi hai. bharosa rakiya ........chehre se bahle hi sahi par shera itni nazook nahin hai aur na hi bewkoof jo josh main hosh kho de.
then pausing she said determinely
rahee baat doosra raasta khojne ki to shera manzil ke itne karib pahuch kar piche hatne waloon main se nahin hai aur na wada thodne waloon main se.haan agar phir bhi aap logon ko lagta hai to aap log doosre raaste ja sakte hain. par shera ko maaf kijiye. shera muskilon se darkar apne raaste
nahin badlegi.shera finshed her speech on a silent note pointing the end of this discussion.
after seeing all the other three silent shera concluded of her success in silencing their doubt to some extent and making her stand quite clear and so asked everyone in quite gentle yet firm tone
ab agar agya ho to yatra shuru karein.seeing no other option left the royal trio quitely abied with the detemined girl's wish all the while diffrent emotions were playing in eveyone's minds .while dharam was desperatly justifying his actions to his disturbed mind repeatidly calming himself for his futile yet unsuccesful attempts to stop her , bhalla was furiously praying for his freind well being only veer was standing there expressionless.
well expressions are not veer mind's agenda right now as he still can figure out what he is feeling.just after shera completed her determined speech to take the risky path veer had heard somehing in her voice or maybe its in his heart a diffrent feeling altogether which he can't comprehend. its like he can't understand his heart .was it anxiety of something bad happening to this stranger , admiration for her courage giving her much owned respect or faith in her capabilites which he always had in her yet never chose to acknolwgede. he was feeling all diffrent emoptions in one single time which is giving
rise to immense annoyment over his helplessness to stop her sturbboness.
while the royal trio were busy in their brooding thoughts shera had already reached at the starting point of her journey. before steping on the bridge she addressed dharam in a soft tone
rajkumar dharam getting no reaponse from otherwise attentive prince she again repeated her call this time a bit loudly
rajkumar dharammmmmm jerking from his toughts startled dharam looked towards the direction of the voice form where his name was called & got quite surprised on finding it was shera who has called .shera's momentary gesture had caught him offguard as till now far as he can remember she had never addressed him by his name much because of respect of him being a royal and to some extent hesitation also but now suddenly what had happened that cause such change in the entire scenario. this girl never cease to surprise him first by facing these dangerous circumstances so boldly and then confronting his stubbron brother and matching up with his wit well she surely is an interesteing species created by god.
after seeing shera was still waitng for his acknowledgement he replied
ji shera kya baat hai.facing the elder royal shera replied in most sincere tone she can muster at that difficult time
rajkumar shera kitni bhi kabil hai yeh to ab is samsya ke katam hone par aapko shayad yakin ayega par phir bhi jane se pehle shera aapki baat na mane ke liye maafi chati hai aur haan ek akkri vinti karna karti hai.touched by her sincere & earnest reply dharam addressed her soflty
aako maafi manne ki koi jarrorat nahin hai. humne sirf apna sughav diya mana na mana aapki marzi par nirbhar karta hai.yeh aapka faisla hai jiski hum izzat karte hain aur rahi baat bharose ki to hume pura yakeen hai ki yadi aap hume yahan tak sahi salamat pahucha sakte hai to aage bhi kayaabi aapke hi hogi. dharam replied confidently
aap bataoiye aap humse kya chati hain.surprised would be an understatemnt for veer at this sensitive talk between his brother and the stranger as he was quite shocked by shera soft hearted aplogy to dharam as well as dharam's sincere reply. for the first time in his life he was jealous as she chosen dharam instead of him for seeking help but he discarded all these thoughts to concentrate on the ongoing conversation noticing bhalla who had till now his eyes closed for praying unknown to everyone's presence also divereted his attention on that .
on the otherhand shera was still overcoming from the content feeling of heavy burdon lifting off her shoulders after registering dharam last statement. somehow dharam has managed to untie the knot she encountered in her
consicous for her evil plots plans against the duo but after hearing his statement her guilt for the deed had indeed lessen and a tiny ray of hope had arisen that someday maybe they will forgive her or more she can forgive herself for hurting them.though she never complained or questioned and accepted everything as kahanji decision and was ready to face the concequences owing to her actions but then being a god fearing and self respecting girl she too wanted to get rid her guilt by explaning
everthing but unable to do so due to unboundable circumstances .now she is much relived partially though but still something is better than nothing ,at last kahanaji had given her hope.
shukyiya khanaji.now putting all her thoughts on hold she calmly requested
sarkar shera bas itna chati hai ki jab shera apne kadam pull par rake uske har kadam se phele aap yeh phal uske kadam ke theek aage jharane main dhal dain. then pausing
aapki chook shera ki jeevan ko bhari pad sakti hia .umeed hai aap shera ko niraas nahin karnge.saying this she hand over the poisonous fruits to elder prince while still awaitng for his reply but instead of dharam's calm voice a much aggresive tone replied
tum uski chita mat karo hume apna kaam theek se aata hai bas aap apna kaam par dhayaan dijiye aur haan jab khatar mol lene ka tay karhi liya hai to zara dhyaan se. then muttering to himself
ziddi kahin ki . pata nahin iske ghrawale isse jhalte kiase honge.ek sadharad ladki hai to yeh haal hai kahin agar koi rajkumari hoti to pata nahin kya karti.shera at once realised that the younger lad had heard the entire converstaion and was just behind her back. unknown to others even shera registered for the first time that all tiny doubts her heart encountered till now had calmed down and just his presence had doubled her confidence that nothing is impossible.
quitely composing herself she turned towrds him at once having an instant eyelock with the stubbron voice owner then without breaking eyecontact she just placed her hands forward and said
TALWAAR kya TALWAAR veer replied at once quite confused and not able to understand her he repeated thinking maybe he had heard something wrong.
quitely gesturing towrads his sword hanging in his waist belt shera again repeated
aapki talwaar.tumhe talwaar kyun chahiye this time after getting confirmation that he had heard correctly veer was more curious than annoyed mused to himself
ab isse talwar kyun chahiye.fikar mat kijiye sarkar shera ko vaar karne ke liye udhaar ki talwaar ki jaroorat nahin padegi shera replied quite naughtily after seeing the younger lad hesitaion in letting go of his sword.
huhhhhhhhhh veer sighed loudly and was about to revert back when dharam intervened
shera aap haamari talwaar le sakti hain.nahin dharam main de raha hoon . veer replied quickly retreving his sword hastily and placing on her shera's outstreched hands while causing amused reactions from both shera and dharam.
shukriya sarkar. shera replied in her equal quick tone while controlling her lips from twitching into a broad smile at the sturbbon prince haste actions.
while the other onlookers just waited with bated breath shera atlast started her journey on the bridge by balancing the veer's sword on her hands horizontally and setting her first step on the narrow
edge just after dharam dropped the first fruit piece .
quitely thanking god she faced the elder prince who by now was waiting patiently for her reply.
this update is specially dedicated to ashah030 as she is one who motivated me and also for my sweet cute_madhu.as i have commented earlier i will writing the next part as a romantic encounter betwenn VS so do watch out and please long comments about how should i improve my writing skills its my request to all my readers Thank you.Edited by sosweetsumi - 16 years ago
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