"This looks like a good spot," Savitri decided, dusting her hands of dirt as she surveyed her handiwork. The campsite was done and the fire was ready. They couldn't find a cave to sleep in, although Suman had quietly suggested Kandrat's cave, Savitri wasn't betting on another rakshasa somehow being in the same cave, so they decided to just camp in an open area. That way they could avoid a surprise attack by rakshasas in caves and have the landscape as a weapon. Or at least, that was her reasoning.

Speaking of weapons, Savitri glanced at Suman, who sat on a log they had dragged to the firepit with a pathetic slouch to his back. He kept whimpering and sniffling, cradling his broken bow. Even though she was irritated at his complaining at first, Savitri felt sorry for him. She didn't know how important the bow was to him, so it wasn't fair to just brush it aside. He could have done the same with her quest, and she was grateful for his help with Kandrat, otherwise she'd have been rakshasa food.

Picking up a few fruits, she walked to sit beside Suman. Patting his shoulder, she handed him a fruit and wiped his eyes gently.

"Thank you for your help today," she murmured over the crackle of the fire. "If you weren't with me, then I probably wouldn't be here today."

"It's nothing you should thank me for," Suman replied miserably. "I'm just doing my duty."

"Well..." she nudged him with her shoulder. "You were very brave."

That made him scoff. "It's my job to be brave," he said quietly. He set the bow down and turned to her. "But you were brave too. And very intelligent. I admire that."

Savitri smiled. "I was a little scared," she admitted. "But we work well as a team."

Suman smiled too. "We do," he agreed.

Silence overlapped the cackling of the fire. As Suman resumed picking at his broken bow, Savitri gazed up at the stars. Dyumatsena had said that Satyavan was among them, to Saibya's horror. Thinking back to her face made Savitri chuckle, but her laughter subsided as she became entranced by the stars. Searching for Satyavan's star, she thought of Dharmaraj taking Kandrat's soul. It hadn't even occurred to her that he could have had a family, as odd as it was for a rakshasa, but dwelling on that thought dampened her mood even more.

"I'm not very sleepy," Suman announced as he stood. He stretched his arms and a few of his bones popped back into place. "I think I'm going to try and fix my bow, or make another one." He paused. "I think you should make one for yourself too."

Savitri blinked. "A bow for me?" She asked. "I don't even know how to shoot a bow."

"Then you can learn. Besides, it's easy!" Suman seemed to forget his earlier self-pity and suddenly seemed revived. "I'll teach you! I'm a great teacher!"

Savitri frowned. "This isn't time for games, Suman," she sighed.

"No! No! I'm serious!" Suman scrambled to his feet and dropped his bow on Savitri's lap. She watched him silently as he ran around the forest, collecting different materials in his arms in a bundle before he finally settled back into his spot.

"You don't really think that I can shoot a bow, can you?" Savitri, still unsure, asked.

"Why not?" Suman asked. "You've lived in the forest, after all. Surely you learned from your husband?"

That made Savitri flush, although she wasn't sure if it was from shame or from the mention of Satyavan. "I never hunted," she explained. She pushed a small twig into the fire with her foot. "Satyavan always did the brunt work. My mother-in-law, Saibya, kept me home. I know how to cook and clean and make clothes, but I am not a very good huntress."

Savitri glanced at Suman, trying to gauge his reaction, but the aloof boy only shrugged and took his broken weapon, placing it between them.

"That's not a big deal," he said. "Anyone can learn. Granted it may take a while, and we don't have that time but..." he shrugged again. "You'll be fine."

Savitri wrinkled her nose. "I don't think you understand," she said. "I've never shot a bow before. Or any weapon for the matter. I wasn't born in the forest, Suman, I married into it."

"Okay." Still, Suman didn't seem perplexed. He strung the thin blades of grass and ripped the prickly twine apart. "How does that put a deterrent in your shooting skills?"

Annoyance cascaded in Savitri's belly. "I was a princess, Suman," she snapped irritably. Her cheeks still burned. "I grew up with the life of a royal. I was given everything I ever desired - I never made anything by myself."

"You made food," Suman said. "And clothes and baskets and pottery. How is making a weapon any different?"

Savitri bit the inside of her cheek. "Satyavan refused to let me," she finally admitted. "He wanted to keep me safe - away from anything that could hurt me."

"And yet, here we are." Suman cut the bow string and tied it to the two ends of a strip of wood he had been shaving. He tossed the bow to Savitri and laughed quietly when she fumbled to catch it without hurting herself. "To survive, Savitri, you can't discriminate on anything. Demons and predators don't care if you're a woman."

"I never brought my gender into this." Savitri grumbled. She wanted to display her anger at his insistence in a much sharper tone, but the slender object in her hands entranced her and played with her words in the air. She'd held weapons before - spears, maces, bows and arrows - but they were only under the supervision of her father and he'd have anything that hurt her destroyed the moment they pricked her delicate skin.

Suman watched her quietly as he fixed his own bow. Her brown eyes were wide with awe and reverence as she carefully plucked the bow. A tune similar to that of a veena spread around the campsite and tickled Suman delightfully. Warm, sunny memories flooded his vision, if only momentarily as the sound faded to a sweet hum. It seemed that every bone in his body melted and Suman found himself gazing at Savitri longer than he should have.

"Sorry," he apologized quickly, when Savitri caught him staring at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare at you."

She was supposed to feel annoyed, she knew, but Savitri found herself laughing. It was a charming little giggle, one from the throat. To Savitri's ears, her laugh was like the low rasp of a snake crawling along a floor of light, dry grass, but to Suman it sounded like the bells of a temple, ringing loudly and without fear - proud of their stature, beauty, and glory.

"It's okay," she said, composing herself when she heard the snake slither up her throat. She looked at the ground, then glided her gaze to the bow again. "You're an amazing crafter, Suman."

"Oh, I could do better." Suman waved his hand, but a small smile appeared from the compliment. "But we don't have the time right now, so that was the best that I could do."

"Well, I think that it is astounding work." She inspected the bow again, and this time when she turned it on its back so that the bow string was facing upwards, she noticed a small inscription on the handle.

जीवन

"Jeevan?" She asked. "Life?"

Suman shrugged. "Elements of life," he said. He turned over both his bows to show different inscriptions. प्यार and परिवार - pyaar and parivaar; love and family.

Savitri's eyebrow rose. "You're very..." she searched for the right word. "Poetic?"

Suman laughed. "I wouldn't say that," he said. "I just think that when fighting, it's good to remember the elements that make up a life, because they can just as easily take one away."

"It seems that Sage Agastya's teachings have been stuck in your brain," Savitri said. "But why did you give me life?" Her eyes narrowed. "Are you implying...?"

"Implying?" Suman tilted his head. "Implying what...oh!" He jumped up and Savitri almost fell back on the log she was sitting on. "Did you see that?"

"What?" Savitri threw back the odhni of her sari and sat up properly. She glared at him. "What are you looking at?"

"That!" Suman jumped again, but this time he jumped at whatever he was looking at instead of jumping up. Like a predator pouncing on prey, Suman dove into the bushes and popped back up after a few moments, looking quite victorious.

He had better caught something worth helping on this quest, Savitri thought with a scowl, watching him as he skipped back up to the log and sat down. His hands were cupped, and when he opened them, Savitri found herself staring into not one eye, not two, but eight large, glassy eyes.

"Spider!" She screamed and lunged backward, successfully propelling her body off the log and doing a backwards dive into the dirt. She was lucky that Suman had played soccer with the rocks that were once seated behind her, but after seeing the hairy creature in Suman's hands, she wished that she had gotten a concussion. At least she could forget the face.

"Hey! Be nice," Suman chastised. He petted the spider's head gently. "She didn't mean that, sweet spider."

"Sweet?" Savitri screeched. Habits forced her to stand in a stiff, dignified pose and brush her clothes daintily, but every fiber in her body pulled away from Suman and his new friend. "Suman, it's a spider!"

"She," Suman corrected. "And yes, I know. Look at the web she made." He scampered over to the bush and gestured to the gleaming web that was nestled between the bushes. "It looks like she made a star!"

"I don't care!" Savitri snapped. "Make it go, please!"

Suman sighed. He gazed sadly at the spider, who cocked her head at him.

"I'm sorry, old friend," he murmured. "It seems that you have to go home."

"Yes, home!" Savitri snapped. "Where it-she belongs."

Suman pouted. "Yeah, but she would have been a cool pet," he said, releasing the spider back into the wild.

"No, absolutely not." Savitri shivered and when she sat again, it was closer to the fire and farther away from Suman. "No pets, especially spiders."

Suman scowled. "Fine." He sounded and looked like a child when he plopped down on the log with a frown.

Savitri rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop acting like a bachcha, Suman. Once this quest is completed, I am sure Sage Agastya will let you have as many spider pets as you please."

"Maybe," Suman grumbled. His gloomy gaze fell on his bow, contemplative, and suddenly a spark lit in them. He grabbed the rock he had been using to shave the bow's stick and turned the bow onto its back, carving with hurry.

Curiosity peeked through Savitri's glassy gaze. "What are you doing?"

Suman didn't answer her. He continued with his work silently, and Savitri let him. Moments passed and she found that with every chip of wood that flew from the weapon, she moved closer and closer to him until she was peering at his handiwork over his shoulder.

Huh, he smells like firewood, she thought briefly before Suman began to speak.

"I made Makadee."

"Makadee?"

"My spider friend, who you so thoughtlessly banished, princess," Suman quipped, but it was less whiny than before. His voice was more assured and calm, lightened with the anger that burned in the fire that prickled before them.

"You named the spider...spider?" Savitri sounded unimpressed.

Suman blushed. "Yes, it's my spider...Makadee!" He beamed. "Maybe I'll see her again? Do you think?"

"I...maybe?" Savitri hesitated. "But hopefully not until the journey is over."

Suman laughed. "Okay, I guess so."

He handed the bow to Savitri's eager hands, and without thinking she found herself tracing the carving. It was so detailed and intricate, looking almost exactly like Makadee. The legs were thin and long and didn't dip into the wood as deeply as the Makadee's large body did. Thankfully, Suman didn't add the eyes.

"How did you learn how to make weapons, Suman?" Savitri asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"The day I met you, you were dressed like a prince." She glanced at him, hoping to get a reaction out of him, but all Suman did was shrug and pick at Makadee's shape on his bow.

"I was?" He asked. "I don't remember."

"You were." Savitri nodded. "So, I assumed you were a passing prince or something and usually princes don't know how to make weapons?"

"I was in town," Suman replied, setting his bow down. He leaned forward and tossed a few more sticks into the fire. "We should put this out soon," he mumbled to himself.

"But you said that you were picking fruits for Sage Agastya?"

"I can do more than one thing during the day, you know?" Suman seemed to smirk, but it was too dark that Savitri had difficulty deciding. "They're old clothes, anyway. It's nothing special."

"They seemed new," Savitri responded. "But did Sage Agastya teach you how to make weapons?"

"No." Suman tossed some dirt into the fire and watched it sputter and claw at the ground before it finally vanished, leaving smoky wisps that floated up to the glimmering sky. He slid to the ground and laid on the dirt with a sigh. "My parents taught me."

"Your parents?" Savitri didn't mean to sound so surprised, but she found it hard to hide the stun that paralyzed her tongue. She couldn't really imagine Suman's parents. Would they be as aloof as he was? Certainly not for a man who could afford such rich robes for his son.

"Hm," Suman hummed in reply, turning to his side.

"So you weren't raised by Agastya?"

"Hm."

"Can you - oh." Savitri had prepared to scold Suman again, but when he was already fast asleep. His flat, muscled chest rose and fell with every soft breath that slipped from his lips, and soon, much to Savitri's chagrin, he began to snore.

"Wonderful," she muttered and, after a moment's hesitation and small prayer of no insects crawling into her clothes, Savitri crept onto the ground beside Suman and nestled her head into the log like a soft pillow (even though the log was far from soft).

She had only slept for around an hour or so when something cold and heavy brushed past her feet. Instinctively, Savitri leapt up and grabbed her bow. Her hands shook as she picked an arrow out of Suman's quiver and surveyed the area.

Who is it? She thought, but didn't dare to say it out loud. Sleep clouded her vision and she found stomach sparking with irritation that she had been woken. Disturbed and drowsy, she dropped back onto her bottom and prepared to return to bed when she saw it.

Or rather - him.

Standing a few feet away from her, buried in the thickets of trees and bushes, Satyavan, glowing a bright neon blue with wispy, silvery chains wrapped around every limb of his body, floated before her. He was still as pale and as sad as ever.

Satyavan! Savitri's mind woke up hurriedly, overjoyed. She didn't want to move for fear he'd run like a frightened deer.

Satyavan looked at her as though he were seeing through her. His eyes were so emotionless and glassy that Savitri couldn't help but look away. He then looked above her head, but at nothing in particular.

"Satyavan..." Savitri whispered. There was that wave again, pushing to crash on the beach that was her cheeks, but Suman snorted suddenly, and Satyavan's eyes widened. Before Savitri could reach out to him, Satyavan turned his back to her and in a bright blue flash, he dashed into the forest.

Not again, Savitri thought. She snatched Suman's quiver and her bow. She paused, gazing at Suman's sleeping form.

I'll be back soon, Suman...hopefully, she thought before she ran into the forest.