*Caution: Mentions of Animal Sacrifice and stuffs*
Yashvanth sipped his tea waching Keshav flip through the pages of the Shiva Puran sitting on his bed. Devrath was working out.
Yashvanth, however couldn't stop thinking of the swayambar.
*Flashback*
As expected, Joshika had set up an obstacle course to show sword skills for the contest.
Yashvanth got ready with his sword. First he had to slice up as many of the flying fruits as possible, which was easy for him. "Fruit Ninja" is what Keshav would've called him.
Yashvanth shrugged the thought off and focused on the next round. There were animal carcasses hanging and he had to slice it as neat as possible. He sliced off the chicken and the fish. There was a large goat on the last one. It reminded him of the time he told Keshav about how he would sacrifice goats only to see a terrified expression on his face.
'Focus Yashvanth focus' he told himself, after having his sword getting stuck on the spine of the goat. One more attempt and the goat was sliced.
Next there were a line of fruits sitting in the table that he had to slice all in one go. That was easy.
Lastly he had to hit a sand filled woodden box untill the doll inside it dropped to the ground. There was a really cute rabbit toy inside that Keshav would surely love.
(If you've watched forged in fire you're familiar with these)
Yashvanth picked the bunny up and put it in his pocket.
"YASHVANTH YOU NEED TO GET TO THE FINISH LINE!" Joshika shouted.
"Ooohhh... Really?" Yashvanth only just realised he was a few deca-meters away from the finish like.
(One deca-meter=10 meters)
"JUST RUN!" Joshika shouted. Yashvanth dashed to the finish line.
"And that's 3 minutes." Joshika said. "Pretty fast even though you phased out in the middle" she said. "The fastest till now"
"So, I won?" Yashvanth said holding Joshika's hand.
"Yash, there are 3 more people after you." Joshika said. "But I think you'll win" she whispered.
Yashvanth went back to his seat. "Not like anything's gonna happen if I loose" He told himself.
"I might be married to a fairy by the end of the day" Joshika said to her friends.
"So you want him just cause he's a fairy" Maina said.
"What?? No no no" Joshika chuckled. " I mean yeah he's a fairy but also he's funny, smart, a fairy, a handsome fairy and HE'S A FAIRY!!" Joahika said.
"Joshika, would you have choosen Devrath if he'd participated?" Alia sais
"DEVRATH??" Joshika said. "It's just a pity he doesn't take part in Swayamvars or anything" she frowned. She walked back to see the other participants. But she tripped upon a rock.
She was held by a strong pair of arms. She found herself staring at the eyes of her best friend since childhood.
"Careful Joshika, you aren't used to walking in land with legs so you might trip"
"Thanks Sagar" Joshika got up. "Thank you again!" She said.
"No problem" Sagar said. "I'd look out for you my whole life" he shyly muttred.
"What?" Joshika asked as she held his hand.
"N-n-nothing"
Joshika looked at Sagar. She'd always been very close to him since childhood. From sharing everything to being there for each other through highs and lows.
"You aren't participating in the Swayamvar?" Joahika asked.
"Nooo" Sagar said. "We're friends. It'll be awkward. Hope you get a great guy tho"
"Really" Joshika laughed. "Remember our pact?"
"You're just 24" Sagar said. "Way long time to reach 30 and you're getting married." He said.
"Well... " Joshika said. " You know, if, by any chance my marriage of today doesn't seem to work out, and you happen to still be unmarried, let's open the pact again!" She said.
"Yeah, right" Sagar laughed as he sat on the audience, beside Joshika's brother Mayank.
"You shouldn't be here you know" Mayank said. "You should be there" he pointed to the participants.
"I'm not one of the best swordsman. I'd loose anyways" Sagar said.
"Common you're not that bad!"
"But compared to Yashvanth?? I'll look like a clown" he chuckled.
"You can atleast try!"
"I don't want to make a fool of myself"
"Common, I know how badly you want Joshika." Mayank said. "And I can say you're the perfect guy for her."
"I'd never be able to defeat that son of Agni" Sagar said. "I might end up regretting it if I loose"
"If you don't grab your sword and participate right now, you will be regretting when you see her married to someone else, knowing that you had the chance but were too scared to try" Mayank said.
"When you put it that way..." Sagar said. "Where's my sword??"
"Here, you came here without it but I managed to get it" Mayank said handing Sagar his sword. "Joshika! Look who's joining!" He called his sister.
"Sagar?" Joshika exclaimed.
"I th-thought I'd try" Sagar said.
"He's the last one..." Joshika said. "Just go after him"
"Ok" Sagar said.
"So Joshika, is the benchmark still-"
"Yashvanth, yes Bhratashree. No one has completed it in 3 minutes" Joshika said. "He's already 4 mins in" she said pointing to the present contestant.
When Sagar's turn came, he felt nervous. But he focused on the obstacle course. With swift strokes he successfully sliced the flying fruits and the animals. He cut the line of fruits in one go and took the toy out of the box in two swift strokes and dashed to the finish line.
"That's 3 mins!" Joshika said.
A mumur went through the crowds.
"I didn't know he was so good, at par with Yashvanth!"
"Where was his talent all this time."
"Who'll Joshika choose, seeing there's a draw"
"It's a draw between Yashvanth and Sagar"
"I prepared a tie-breaker round, for this" Joshika pulled out a card.
"I have some questions you gotta answer fast, no thinking" she said.
"Gotcha" Yashvanth said.
"Okay!" Sagar said.
J: What's more important, Love or Wealth.
S: Love
Y: Love
J: Fire, Water or Air?
S: Water
Y: Fire
J: Would you be powerful or wise?
S: Wise
Y: Wise
J: Sky, ocean or Land
S: Ocean
Y: Sky
J: What do you see in me
Y: You're caring and sweet
S: You're Joshika and that's what matters.
J: Ah... Okay. Next question, Tradition or Modernity?
Y: Tradition.
S: A Mix of Both. Evolve with time but don't forget your roots.
J: Who do you want to spend your life with.
S: Joshika
Y: Kesh.... JOSHIKA. Yeah you Joshika. That was just a slip in tongue I'm so stupid.
J: Final question, where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Y: Ummm.... Well.... Maybe I'll be more smarter, healthier and happier than now... And..... I just let fate decide.
S: I'm in the kitchen. Making food for Joshika, who's pregnant with our second child. Our first one is running around the kitchen... And... We're a happy family.
"Joshika" Maina said. "I know how badly you want to be with a fairy but-"
"No Maina, I want to be more with someone who loves me." Joshika said, picking up the flower garland. "Someone I've always loved, just never realised"
Joshika went and put the garland on Sagar.
"See!! I'm glad you decided to try!" Mayank said. "Yashvanth, stop crying. You'll find someone"
"I'm not crying because of that" Yashvanth said. "His answers! They were so sweet" he said.
End of flashback
"Ahem ahem" Yashvanth was taken out of his thoughts by Devrath.
"You've been staring at Keshav for, like, 20 minutes straight." Devrath smirked.
"I what?" Yashvanth chuckled. "Bhratashree, it's not what you think haha" He said.
"That's why you were just gazing..."
"I wasn't gazing... I was just thinking about the Swayamvar. You know, Joshika and Sagar actually seem like they meant to be" Yashvanth said.
"I know what happenned at the swayamvar" Devrath said.
"Well I still don't know how that Sagar could tie with me" Yashvanth said.
"And you lo-"
"I DIDN'T KNOW THE FULL RULES, I THOUGHT YOU'D JUST HAVE TO USE YOUR SWORDS AND DONE!" Yashvanth cut him off.
"That was a tie, you lost the tie breaker!"
" You should've seen Sagar's answers. There was no way I could beat him!"
"Oooh yeah ofcourse" Devrath said. "Specially since you said you wanted to-"
"THAT WAS JUST A SLIP UP BHRATASHREE!" Yashvanth said. He looked at Keshav looking outside the window. "My tongue slipped!" He whispered. "I've been spending a lot of time with him, I'm pretty sure you would've said his name too!" Yashvanth said.
"Yeah" Devrath said. "Like Ross said Rachel"
"Who said what?" Yashvanth asked.
"Ross said Rachel"
"And who are they?"
"They're from this seri-"
"Bhratashree, since when did you start watching series and stuffs? We don't even have TV or electricity here"
"I didn't but... You know, Kai-"
"Bhratashree, you still think about him?"
"Well" Devrath Sighed. He was tearing up. He nodded his head, Yashvanth hugged him.
"I think someone's coming here" Keshav said looking out of the window. He saw two figure flying closer to the tree. They seemed to be fairys just like Yashvanth and Devrath, except that they flapped their wings in a continuous straight and fast motion, unlike the boys who used to glide through the air.
They laned near the tree. Keshav noticed the two boys. Their wings were like those of a nightangle. One of the boys seemed about his age, the other one had quite femminine facial features.
Devrath opened the door.
"SURPRISE" The newcomers yelled.
"OH MY GOD YOU GUYS" Yashvanth and Devrath hugged them.