Whereas both Savitri and Suman expected for Darchan to be a small, quaint village like Laalmishra was, they were both pleasantly surprised to find out that it was, in fact, a magnificently grandiose town instead.

Of course, it was still small in comparison with the other towns that were more inland, but it had a fresh, novelty atmosphere to it.

The gates were wide, expressive, and extremely pigmented with a vibrant gold color. They dominated the richer buildings in the city and loomed over everyone that dared to approach it. Two guards dressed in yellow-colored, short uniform dresses and dark red turbans stood at the entrance of the gate on either side of the gold pillars. Nearing it, Savitri could see that the pillars had different depictions of various battle scenes - some with successes, some with failures.

"They look like little toy soldiers," Suman whispered in delight. "We should make some one day. Kids love those kinds of toys."

"Better than clay balls, I suppose," Savitri agreed.

They stopped in front of the gate and the guards approached them in sync. They had practiced this routine many times. When she was little, Savitri used to accompany her father to guard inaugurations. They always moved together, like a dance that they had perfected and performed many times.

"Who are you?" The guard with the curly mustache and sleepy eyes asked. "What do you need in Darchan?"

"I'm Savitri," Savitri introduced herself. "And my friend is Suman. We're traveling to Mt. Kailash for a religious pilgrimage."

Liar, she thought, but the mustache guard seemed to buy it. He glanced at his partner.

"Tell them to open the gates," he said. The younger man nodded, but not before he leaned over to whisper something in his friend's ear. The mustache guard's eyes grew wide.

"What is your full name?" His words were directed to Suman.

"Suman Jahan." Came Suman's tight-lipped reply. His expression was opposite that of the guard's. While the man looked as though he had cold water splashed onto his face, Suman looked quite constipated, and in a very undignified way. He shifted closer to Savitri and his fingers curled around her elbow.

"What are you doing?" She hissed. "What's wrong?"

"Let's hurry up and keep going," Suman responded. For the first time, his tone wasn't light or cheery. He spoke with a deep voice that was both commanding and intimidating, practiced to the last letter, like speaking through a conch shell.

"There's a funeral procession happening on the main road," the young guard said as he ran back up to the three of them. "Be careful over there. You can go through the back roads if you wish, but there are some holes in the ground that we have yet to patch up, so it may be more difficult to walk through."

"We'll take the main road and wait for the procession to pass," Suman responded quickly. "Thank you for your help."

"Of course." Both of the guards bowed. "Thank you for visiting our humble home, and we hope that you stay safe on your journey to seeking Lord Shiva."

Oh, that's right, Savitri realized. Lord Shiva lives on the top of Kailash. Hopefully we won't have to go that far to reach Naraka.

"Yes, well, let's go." Suman all but pushed Savitri into the opening gates. His insistence confused her, but she didn't question him because she found her complete attention captured by the all-powerful, all seeing, Mt. Kailash that ascended over the glimmering kingdom. Now that she was closer, Savitri could see the snowy glaciers that coated the mountain like milk and the gray clouds that surrounded the tip like old cotton.

"Why were you in such a hurry to enter Darchan?" Savitri asked Suman when he had finally stopped pulling her. They took the main road, looking around expectantly for the procession that they could start to hear small trickles of. "What did the guards say to you? Why did they ask for your full name?" Which I didn't even know that you had!

"It's nothing," Suman said brusquely. He pulled his bow from his back and planted his thumb on the pointed, scraped tip. "Oh look, I can see the procession."

"That's not an answer, Suman," Savitri said. "And don't think that you can avoid it. You can't drown in your own mystery forever."

"It's worked for years," Suman responded dryly. "And if you recall, I never asked you about your life. You told me on your own terms, so I'll tell you on my terms."

"When? When I die?" Savitri asked crossly. "It's not fair that you keep so much from me."

"Hey, I am doing you a favor," Suman's ill-tempered voice rose. "Imagine what you would be doing right now if I hadn't come with you?"

"I would have been on the top of Mt. Kailash by now, that's what I would have done!"

"Absolutely not! You would have been dead! Do you know how many times I've saved your life? Did you count?"

"Did you count how many times I saved your life?" Anger blossomed in Savitri's stomach like spring had arrived early. Above them, the clouds clustered together, eagerly watching the argument that was unfolding below and turning dark gray with excitement. From their side, Savitri could hear the procession nearing - she could even see some of the men - but her head was too hot to care.

"Of course, I counted!" Suman threw his hands up in the air. "Do you not think that I don't know how much of a coward I am? Don't you think I care? Well, imagine being told how utterly useless you will be when you grow up from everyone that you've ever met! Just because you're afraid of heights and like making flower crowns!"

"Oh really?" Savitri's hands found her hips in frustration. Her hands were rapidly growing warm. "Well, imagine having your entire life planned out for you! Imagine growing up with your mother dead! Imagine living in lavishness and yet being so lonely that you wished that you could die!"

Suman's eyes narrowed. "Well, we're going to hell, aren't we?" He spat. "Maybe you can have your wish come true."

"And spend eternal misery with you?" Savitri's eyes burned. "I've already been doing it for two weeks."

She regretted it as soon as she said it. Innocent dark eyes popped from Suman's face. All the anger that boiled in his gaze evaporated immediately and left the dewy leftovers trickling down his cheeks in two, fat droplets. The sky laughed and bellowed, enjoying the show below them immensely.

"Suman, I-!"

"Don't." Suman wiped his eyes with such animosity that it looked like he was going to poke his eyeballs out.

"Really, I..." Savitri stopped herself before she could finish her sentence and let her voice trail into the oncoming music. She was aware of the procession approaching her and passing behind her - she could feel the wispy touches of flying odhni's and waving hands as the townspeople clapped their hand-held symbols and chanted - but even though they were so close, she felt further from her goal than she had ever felt before.

Loud music filled the space between them and Suman turned his back to her. She didn't try to call for him again and just watched him silently as his head disappeared into the crowd of men and women dressed all in white.

Hai bhagwan, she cursed her luck. What have I done?

"Hey! Move if you aren't going to walk!" A loud-mouthed, obnoxious male voice called from somewhere in the crowd.

"Oh, sorry!" Savitri, her legs numbed with disbelief at her own sharp tongue, stumbled into the procession and mindlessly followed the crowd as they toured the streets. It gave her an opportunity to be able to appreciate the stunning artwork that had been molded into the homes with intricate detail, but only Suman swarmed around her mind like an anxious bee.

"The leopard...it was the leopard..." she heard a group of older men behind her murmur. "This is becoming a problem...so many young boys and men...gone..."

Again with the leopard? Instantaneously, the bracelet around her wrist felt heavy. This is becoming too much! Satyavan...the leopard...Suman...What is it with men?

"He was a good boy!" She heard an elderly woman laugh. A drop of water fell on her nose and she wiped it away. "Always helped his mother...always looked after his siblings."

"He used to play in the mud!" A young girl recounted with a lofty smile. "We would make mud pies together! He always made the best ones."

"The cattle loved him," a man beside Savitri said. "I remember - one time we were herding them to the fields when he decided he was going to pretend to be Lord Krishna and play his flute - oh god! He was anything but the Lord. He couldn't play to save his life!"

This is...odd...Savitri observed the members of the procession silently. They weren't crying - in fact seldom few were. Many of them were laughing, in fact, as they shared stories with one another. They smiled and patted each other on the back, but no condolences were shared. Some of the boys - little boys - pushed between her legs in a hurry. With laughter only a child could possess, they weaved around the people with little garlands in their hands. They danced in the drizzle with the adults in the front and pretending to help lift the blankets that the bodies lay on.

"I'll make a garland for you," Suman had told her with the boyish grin that she had come to enjoy seeing. "No, a crown! A crown worthy of a princess!"

"Oh, Suman..." Savitri didn't feel wrong in asking Suman the questions that she did - after all, how did the guards only know him? The squishy, limp ache in her chest remained though. She should not have yelled at him.

"You look troubled, beti." An elderly woman, the one who had been talking about the man that helped his mother, appeared beside her. "What is it? Are you thinking about a loved one?"

Savitri wiped her nose when more drizzling drops fell on it. "In a way," she said. "I said something that I shouldn't have said and now...he's left me."

"Hm..." the woman sighed. "You know, beti, they are never truly gone."

"What do you mean?"

"They always come back," she said. "He will come back, when the time is right."

"And if he's...dead?"

"Death is merely a new life," the woman explained. "We cannot avoid it, so we must embrace it, because life is always an adventure. What makes death any different?"

"I...don't know."

"Exactly." The woman beamed. "There isn't anything different with death. We are simply in a new body and a new world, that's all. Yes, we do leave our loved ones, but we will see them again! Be it in Lord Indra's palace or Dharmaraj's fields, we all return to each other."

"What about the ones we left behind?" Savitri asked. "What do they do?" Briefly, she thought about her in-laws.

"They keep going," the woman replied. "Every person has a different journey. We don't know how long it will take, but we should cherish every moment that we created along the way. The bonds, the memories - that is our reward. And we should improve them while we are alive. We should make them the best that we can."

Make your home the best that you can, Savitri remembered her father saying to her in a heated flashback. Make yourself the best person that you can be, beti.

Papa...Savitri's heart swelled. The woman smiled with the utmost gentleness at her.

"You have lost someone dear to you," she murmured, and patted Savitri's damp hand gently. "You have an opportunity to make things right. Don't fall into the wrong path."

Suman...Satyavan...

Savitri put a finger to her nose to keep from sniffling. "Thank you," she murmured, and tilted her head back as the rain plopped onto her bare shoulder, then her hair, then trickled over her lips like cherry juice. It was going to rain, she realized. I should find Suman now...take some shelter then.

She left the procession in a hurry. Mud slapped the soles of her feet from when her shoes collected them as she ran, but she had no time to think about that. I have to make this right.

Suman was sitting with a group of young, tired looking men in ripped, faded clothes when she found him near one of the cattle fields. A good distance away from where the men sat, she saw a group of around a hundred or so cattle grazing the grass without a care in the world.

"Suman!" She called his name. "I need to talk to you."

The men all glanced up at her, then directed their attention to Suman, who had his back turned to her. He swallowed the last of what looked to be milk in his cup and stood, still not facing her. When he turned, his bloodshot eyes fell directly on her feet, like a scolded child who looked ready to beg for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry," he choked. "I'm sorry for shouting at you. I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark. I'm sorry for - huh?"

Savitri had her arms wrapped around his neck, her chin touching the top of his back as she hugged him with all of her strength. Suman, still recovering from the shock that shattered the part of his mind that dictated his actions, reciprocated her embrace after a few seconds had passed.

"I should apologize too," she murmured. "I shouldn't have pressured you like that. It was rude of me."

"You were right to," Suman said a bit miserably. "I was keeping you away."

"You can pull me in when you're ready." She smiled. "Now, come on. It looks like it's going to start pouring and I'd rather find some shelter before that happens."

"I quite like the rain," Suman said. "I used to make mud pies when I was younger...or...well, anything with mud, really."

Well, at least he's back to being himself, Savitri thought, although she did display her disgust with a slight wrinkle of her nose. Suman laughed.

"Hey, Suman!" One of the men called him. "What about the leopard?"

Savitri frowned. "Leopard?"

"The one that's been killing all the men," Suman clarified. "The one that...killed Aarvi. We're going to track him."

"And get revenge on what he's been doing to us and our families," another man added. "This has to stop, and we're going to put an end to it."

Bellows of thunder came out of Savitri's mouth when she opened it to voice her concerns, one of them including the unneeded killing of an animal. The cowherds shot up from their seats faster than Takshaka's magical arrow and they bolted towards the spot where the cows were grazing - at least, where they were grazing. Suman and Savitri watched the men chase the cows - or maybe it was the cow's chasing the men? Either way, they definitely weren't going in the direction of the town.

"Are you sure killing the leopard is the right decision?" Savitri asked unsurely, playing with her knotted fingers. "I mean, why have more deaths in this world?"

Suman didn't answer her. He stared at the golden kingdom below him, then at the gloomy mountain that loomed above it. The sky crackled again, another warning, before it let its tears cascade onto the ground like a shower of coins.

"Ugh!" Savitri covered her head with her hands even though she knew that it would do no good in protecting her from getting wet. "Suman! Let's go!"

"But look at the shiny rainbow..." Suman gasped. He pointed at the spot just above the kingdom but just below the fog that covered the tip of Kailash, where the rain and sun met in a smoky kiss. He was right. There was a rainbow - a godly arch separated by different colors that flickered depending on the point of view that Savitri looked at. She didn't care too much about the sight, though, and was focused more on the soddy feeling of her clothes sticking to her body and the chill that cuddled closer to her.

"Suman!"

"What?" Suman whined. "Why are you in such a rush to find someplace to hide in? Look at them!" He pointed down to the village, where the procession had stopped, the bodies had been burned, and the townspeople all danced merrily around the pit that was once lit with fire.

"They must be crazy then!" Savitri yelled. "Let's go!"

"No." Suman shook his head stubbornly. "Let's dance!"

"Dance?"

"Yes, dance." He took her wrist and pulled her out of the shadow that the tree behind them had created. "You've danced before, haven't you?"

"Not often," Savitri mumbled. "Once or twice when I was younger."

"Now that is a lie."

"How do you know?" Suman raised an eyebrow, and Savitri's chest fell. "Fine, it's a lie. I did dance, but never with somebody else! It was always on my own."

"Well, now you're going to share the stage," Suman said. He held both of her hands, one on the side and one above his head. Then, he spun her around and picked her up, locking his arms under her kneecaps and spinning both of them around like a whirlwind.

Despite herself, laughter spilled out of Savitri's lips like an uncontrollable fountain. "Suman!" She squealed. "Put me down!"

"Not until you dance!" Suman shouted over the thunderous intrusion. He did put her down though, but held her hand tightly in his as they moved front and back, front and back, holding their arms out like a swan ready to fly then gracefully pulling back towards each other. A few times he'd spin her, and a few times she'd spin him, and then he'd pick her up and they'd dance around the splitting rays of the rainbow, laughing and hitting each other with their doused clothes.

And when they finally stopped dancing; when they collapsed under the large, wide leaves of the tree and nodded off into a doze, ignoring the mud that sucked on their toes or the sheer wetness of their bodies, Savitri began to wonder about what she had been missing throughout her entire life, and if she did succeed in scaling Kailash, would she be able to feel the cageless freedom that she had felt in the rain again?