IT WAS THE RED ZONE....They both realize at the same time and stop fighting...
Sharp's eyes slowly becomes normal ,so does his breathing and heartbeat...."my hand, I can't feel anything"
And a drops falls from the sky on his hand...a drop of oil...a drop of burning hot oil...he shakes it away and they both run under the bamboo platform....a sudden downpour of burning oil..."so this is the redzone"
Sharp and kokperk are sitting against the tree under his shelter ,both battered in blood, hurt, bruised and tired...
Kokperk as he breaths heavily "you broke my ribs, I think"
Sharp looks at him "iam sorry , i just couldn't control anything, it felt like I wanted to live...and my body moved on its own..."
Kokperk looks at him , confused "why are you apologising to me? I was going to kill you, you defended yourself "
Sharp looks down "I know , but, I can't stop others from hurting people if iam just like them...if i hurt people...even if i have my reasons...I don't have the right to take someone's life...why did you just kill that person, you could just walk away and he could go home and be with his children. You took everything from their family. It doesn't bother you?"
Kokperk was speechless, he knows what's right and what's wrong, but he somehows ends up hurting people , his mind justifies it in it's own way but right now ,he was speechless. They both just look at the ground as the downpour of burning oil continues....
One hour passes by...
Sharp's hand is cut, he wraps his hand with his belt. and his knuckles are fractured."ouchhh! it hurts so much ,it didn't hurt when I punched you"
Kokperk replies "yeah , that would be the adrenaline flowing through your veins"
Sharp asks " adrenaline?,never heard of it "
Kokperk replies "My dojo master told us about it. He said Adrenaline is in everyone's blood, it acts when you are in a do or die situation, But for some reason, your body produced way more adrenaline than normal, your Adrenaline level was so high that it broke your body's subconscious limiter."
Sharp is confused "subconscious limiter ? "
Kokperk explains " human body is capable of producing a force so strong that our muscles will break our own bones. To avoid that ,there is a subconscious limiter ,but you broke it. No wonder your power sent me flying and broke my ribs along with your own hand"
Sharp's brain is fried "I don't think I follow , but It looks like you know a lot , it's sad that we both are going to die here " he says with a
Smiling face.
Both chuckle .
There are shallow cuts all over his body
They sat there for 13 hours straight...both of them... didn't move an inch. A very awkward atmosphere was slowly turned into a weird acceptance of their fate.
the downpour stopped but it was already night time.
Sharp gets up "there are lions here, we should go sit in the tree house "he says with his hand towards kokperk trying to help him ,
but kokperk is confused "you shouldn't help someone who just tried to kill you"
He says and tries to get up but as he gets up he falls on ground again.."these broken ribs ,they are puncturing my lungs and heart"
Sharp gives him a hand, "you caught some fish didn't you, give me some and I will let you stay here. It's a deal ,so iam not helping you . This is a mutual agreement."
Kokperk grabs his hand..and they both get up.
They slowly climb the tree house and enter the house. The roof is almost burnt by the hot oil. But the leaves and bamboo platform is intact.
Sharp jumps out and garbs the fish...he's been hungry for two days now. And he is hurt. He tries to light a fire with stones and dried leaves but he can't do it. Kokperk peaks through the door and calls sharp "hey, you are doing it wrong..." Sharp takes it up in the tree house and kokperk makes a small fire , a small piece burning leaf and a small stick slowly burnt.
"Take it ,putt it on the ground, put some dried leaves on top of this and blow on it."
Sharp does as told...he blows on the half burned coal.."it's not working"
Kokperk replies "blow slowly and for longer, slow sustained blows will work".
And it did work ,as the dried leaves burn, he puts bigger pieces of wood around it and he then cleans the fish..puts a stick through them and starts cooking them on the fire. Soon they had dinner and slept. And the next day , they see that the sand in the hourglass is empty. That means their time has ended.
Soon they hear some people walking and shouting "any survivors?"
They both shouted at the same time "heree!"
It's finally over. The soldiers came to collect the survivors. And they also found a dead body of a army official near them. They ask them "do you know anything about this dead body?"
Sharp replies " no we dont--
"It was me" says kokperk."he interfered ,so i killed him"
They didn't say anything,"get in the chariot, these guys are on the verge of dieing , treat them"
They both climb up the chariot and sit down, as the chariot starts moving ,they started chuggin down water from an 'animal skin flask' known as 'Mashak'., it took them two hours to reach the army camp. Two female and two male Vaidya came and helped them. ('vaidya' are the ayurvedic healers. They use their knowledge of different roots and stems of different plants to treat people.) The older male ,is a senior Vaidya, his long white beard and wrinkles on his face are enough to feel his experience. He says " they both have broken bones ,it will take at least a month to heal them completely, bring me the roots of arya tree , turmeric and leaves of the Himalayan yellow grass"
Both Sharp and kokperk are taken to a seperate tent. Sharp asks the Vaidya "are we the first candidates to come back"
Vaidya replies "and the last one too , all the other candidates are dead. Some impaled by falling arrows, some killed by animals and others died because they ate poisonous fruits"
Sharp gulps "and i thought my last two days were bad"
The Vaidya says
"The AAE HEAD actually chose to use hot oil on you to increase your chance of survival "
This special treatment, again. Kokperk notices this bothers Sharp.he understands him.
The Vaidya washes their bodies, grinds some roots and stems and applies the paste on their wounds. The Vaidya then applies some warm oil on his hands and starts massaging Sharp's hand and kokperk's chest and they feel a sharp pain for a second. Then the Vaidya uses some thin pieces of cloth as bandages and neatly wraps the chest and hand of both kokperk and Sharp .
"Don't take this cloth off for atleast a month, after that you should be okay" and you can walk right?
They reply "yes"
"Great ,go and drink some milk, eat some meat or eggs in that tent over there ,go ahead"
Both Sharp and kokperk look at eachother and then leave the tent. As they leave , Master Monim walks in form behind "So , What do you think"
Vaidya replies "I have seen many crystal infusion marks. There is no mark or anything on his body. But I did notice his wounds ,they look like they healed quick. Maybe it's his blood's natural ability. don't get me wrong it's still extremely rare, but it is possible that his blood is naturally pure. "
Master Monim - " pure blood you say?"
Vaidya "it is written in our book. The book that fell from the sky. Written by the 5GODS OF FIRE. CHAPTER 4, VERSE 15," those children , i sculptured with love in my palms , at the dawn, possess the purest blood; and I shall keep thee and thy children from their dæmons and spirits. Thee may create , thee may destroy"
We don't know how these crystals work. But we ,Vaidya of the North think these crystals purify your blood, giving you abilities a normal person can only dream of"
Master Monim as he leaves the tent ,"maybe, maybe not , I don't believe everything iam told but yeah , I will be taking these kids with me. Thanks for their treatment "