"After that, we came out of the small opening near the broken shore, guiding through the ruins and charred forest, we found a temple and then a village, but we found this place and chose to use this as a hideout before finding a new place.
"The most painful thing was to leave my Grnadpa Vasuraj behind while fought against that monster Raaksha." Sohajan said.
Rudra heard all of this while clenching his fists, his eyes filled with a hint of guilt and pain for whatever happened. His clan, his friends, his sisters had all gone missing. This was when Rudra realized about other members Sohajan had mentioned.
"What about sister Sohika and the seal warriors?" Rudra asked.
"Right now they are in a different hideout in hopes of avoiding any attacks on all of us!"
"Then we shall meet them and discuss on what to do next!" Rudra said.
"You are right, but according to me, you should first take some rest.
"You are severely injured," Vedna said.
Rudra though for a second and then nodded his head. He then pointed towards indu. "By the way, who is that girl?"
"That's Indu, she is a friend of mine, she was sent here in the mist mountains for a minor training expedition from her academy." Vedna said.
Saying this, Vedna and Sohajan got up and walked away, leaving Rudra alone for a while to rest. Meanwhile, Rudra's mind again dived into the flood of memories within him. He remembered the moments he had spent with his sisters.
"Brother, Brother!" voices of Kavya and Anya echoed in his head as he recounted those moments.
"Brother, Sister Mayra has brought you a present on your birthday!" Anya said.
Rudra was just a ten years old kid then, when during his birthday, Mayra brought him a special present. Mayra walked in, cradling a small box in her hands with the same elegance, that made even her hairs and fragrance startling.
"You guys remembered my birthday!
"How did I not remember it?" Rudra was confused as he scratched his head.
"Because you are stupid," Mayra gently slapped on Rudra's head.
"I don't care, I want to see my present."
"Be patient, those who keep patience get to taste the sweetness of the fruit," Mayra said as she opened the box, only to reveal a silver band with specific patterns and symbols carved along it's edges.
Rudra furrowed upon the sight of the band. "What kind of present is this?"
Mayra stared at Rudra's expressions. "You won't realize it now, but one day, you yourself will call this the best gift in the world.
"I bought this band in the nearby Durga temple with Grandpa, and i prayed to goddess Durga to bless this band, it will always protect you when I am not around."
"You are nothing but a trash,"
"Did you really think you can get away from us!" different voices echoed in his head as he recalled the scenes of him being bullied.
Rudra tried to blow a punch on the nearby boy's face, but the boy ducked down and slammed his fist on Rudra's abdomen. Rudra fell down to his knees as he puked blood, a bone-cracking chest pain surged in his chest, his vision went momentarily blur as he felt he would faint anytime.
Rudra furiously rubbed his eyes, and got up on his legs, but as if his own body had given, Rudra fell down again. This was when he heard multiple sounds of legs and punches being smashed onto those boys, and a familiar scent of her elder sister lingered in his nostrils. Rudra raised his head onto to see a female figure with long flowing hairs beating the pulp out of those guys.
That was Mayra, who slammed the head of the guy who punched him into the ground. "How dare you to bully him!
"He is my brother, and no one can bully him when I am here.
"Next time if anyone else from you hits him, them I will break their limbs." Mayra said as she brutally twisted the hand that hit Rudra earlier with bone cracking sounds and then left it on the ground. That guy screamed in agony while grabbing his arm, writhing on the ground In pain.
Mayra grabbed Rudra's arm and straddled it around her neck, supporting him to stand up. She then somehow dragged Rudra to the medical house to receive medications. Rudra felt a slight sense of relief before ha fainted. The next time Rudra opened his eyes, he found no one near him except of his sisters, Mayra, Anya and Kavya.
"Who told you to go out alone?" Mayra asked Rudra.
"I wanted to distract myself from negative thoughts!"
"Don't have any negative thoughts brother, we are here for you!" Anya said.
"Yes, we will always be there for you, we will love and standby you forever!" Kavya chimed in.
"That's so nice of you, now do us a favor and wait outside for a few moments." Mayra said as she pushed both Kavya and Anya out of the room and the expressions on her face took a stark change.
Her heartwarming smile was replaced by enraged her brows furrowed, she asked. "What negative thoughts did you have?"
"That… I am a loser, I don't deserve to be a saint cultivator."
As soon as Mayra heard this, she smashed her fist onto a nearby table, her lips were tightly pursed, indicating she was holding back her anger. Subtle signs of her agitation were evident with controlled intake of breath in anger. Her clenched fists clearly showed signs of her suppressed aggressions towards Rudra.
In just a few moments, Mayra exploded. "How?
"How can you be influenced by the small talks of those rats.
" You are my brother. You are Rudra, whatever is happening, your weakness, and your condition, it doesn't determine whether you are strong and worthy of not.
"What actually matter is that if you manage to keep blazing like a lone fire in the breezing ice winds of this life, or let the ice winds and tiny specks of dust erase you into nothing else but smokes."
Mayra took a deep breath as she said. "Remember what Grandpa said!
"You will always face difficult situations in your life, some will even break your will and turn you way of thinking but that doesn't mean you should stop living.
"Just keep your mind calm and steady, think through it, then react accordingly, and learn from it, this method will always keep driving you in your life.
"The path of this life is always filled with pain, you just need to improve and become tough to endure them for yourself, for your beloved." Mayra said as she caressed Rudra's head with a warm smile. This gesture somehow implied some relief in Rudra's heart.
Tears streamed down Rudra's cheeks as he remembered these moments, how his sisters had always cheered for him, stood for him and even cared fro him, how his grandpa, despite what others said, never showed any distrust in his capabilities, always motivating and giving him life lessons.
"I promise grandpa, my sisters."
"I will endure the pain and become strong enough for you, for my loved ones." Rudra grinded his teeth.
This was when Rudra realized something. Vihaan, his Grandpa was a very responsible leader of their clan. But even after such a calamity broke upon their clan and the kasvyagiri, there were no signs of Vihaan's appearance to support his people and clan.
Rudra hadn't seen Vihaan since the evening the clan tournament ended. Vihaan said that he had some matters to take care of, such that if once solved, they would only lead in the clan's rapid growth with multiple powerful warriors joining them. What was he talking about?
As much as Rudra thought, he got nothing at the end. It seemed that he couldn't get to any conclusions without further hints.