Nature in Hiding

36- A calculated help

As the seconds ticked by, the elements grew more and more worried. Like Ahana had first predicted, no one traveled through that narrow road in the afternoon. And that meant that there was no one else who would know about the incident and help the man.

Avan's eyes welled up as he looked at the crying girl who kept screaming, "Help," and "Dad, please wake up."

The girl seemed so helpless. Avan turned towards others to see if anyone out of them would be willing to help them out.

"No," Ahana said firmly, even before Avan could open his mouth to ask. "We aren't going to help them. And that's final," she said sternly.

"But he might die," Avan protested in a whisper.

"I agree. We can't just leave like this," Neer said, earning a glare from Ahana.

She looked into the eyes of the kindest idiots she knew, before giving them a reality check. "We will also die if we go there and help him out. Don't forget the situation we are in. We are currently wanted and in hiding."

Neer sighed, knowing where she was coming from. But he couldn't just leave the man to die. "I know that too. But a betrayal by some people doesn't make an entire species bad. Would you be able to live peacefully after that man dies? After knowing that we had the power to help him?" He questioned, hoping she understood his point.

"And where has helping those so-called other humans got us? Not once, not twice, we have helped them everytime we saw them in need. They might not have betrayed us like those...," Ahana trailed, not saying their names for the sake of Avan, "...those people, but they all see us as villains. It didn't take a second for them to forget about our help and turn against us."

Sameera who had been quietly listening to the twins' banter until now, spoke up after hearing those words from Ahana, "But we never helped them with the intention of getting praised or to be seen as superheroes. So it shouldn't matter if they didn't stay loyal to us or turned against us. We helped them to save them and we did. That's it."

"Alright fine," Ahana said, agreeing with Sameera to some degree.

Neer and Avan raised their fallen heads in hope after hearing Ahana, but they facepalmed when they heard her following sentence.

"However, we still can't help that man. Using our powers right now is suicidal."

"Ahana is right. We can't use our powers," Gyaan said.

Ahana's face lit up hearing him. "See! Even he agrees with me," she exclaimed happily, causing Avan, Neer and Sameera to growl.

Fighting against Ahana was hard, but fighting against Ahana AND Gyaan was impossible.

"But that doesn't mean we shouldn't help them," Gyaan said, causing everyone's expression to turn into the exact opposite of what it was before.

"Excuse me?" Ahana asked in shock.

"We can't help them as elements, but we can surely help them as fellow humans."

Before Ahana could protest or Gyaan could explain more, Neer was already on his feet, running towards the injured man.

"Neer, No!" Ahana yelled, before running behind him. Even if she didn't agree with him, she couldn't leave him alone to fall into trouble.

Others soon followed behind.

"Please help," the young girl of maybe 5-6 years pleaded when she saw Neer coming towards her.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright" Neer assured the girl, before checking whether the man was still breathing or not.

Sighing in relief that the man was still alive, he started patting the pockets of the man.

"What are you doing?" Ahana asked, kneeling beside him.

"I am looking for his mobile," Neer answered, while continuing his search.

"Tadaa!" He exclaimed, finally founding the mobile.

"You could have just asked the girl instead," Ahana muttered with a shake of her head.

Neer just stuck his tongue out in response, before standing up and moving a little away to call the ambulance.

While he was giving away the details, Sameera and Avan comforted the girl.

Sameera picked up the girl in her arms, and patted her back soothingly. while Avan spoke whatever came into his mind to divert the girl's attention from the drastic scene.

"Shit! The man won't survive until the ambulance arrives," Gyaan mumbled to himself in worry. He thought of healing the man without anyone's notice, but unfortunately, Ahana, who was kneeling beside him, heard his mumble.

"Don't you dare," she whispered through gritted teeth, knowing very well where his mind was going.

Not bothering to reply to her, Gyaan placed his hand on the man's chest.

"Gyaan, I will kill you," Ahana threatened.

"Make sure that the girl doesn't look here," Gyaan ordered, ignoring Ahana's threats and glares.

Ahana muttered curses under her breath, but did as she was asked.

"Damn you all. Even after getting back-stabbed, they all still don't come into their senses. Instead of planning revenge, they are still helping these selfish species," Ahana grumbled.

Throwing her arms in the air, she rambled, "Go ahead. Don't listen to me and do whatever you want. But don't come running back to me for help when everyone gets captured again."

"If you are done blabbering, let's go. We need to leave before the ambulance arrives. They will ask us thousands of questions about the incident. There's a risk of getting our identities exposed," Gyaan said, pulling Ahana out of her angry rants.

"Now you care about our safety," Ahana snorted, before turning to leave.

Gyaan didn't bother arguing with her, knowing that she was going to lose the fight without him needing to utter a single word. He simply waited for her to notice the scene, with folded hands and a smirk.

"Huh?!" Ahana was baffled when she noticed the man was still injured and unconscious. She looked at Gyaan with a question in her eyes.

"I didn't heal him completely," Gyaan answered, "We cannot get found out, after making so much effort to plot our deaths. I have just healed him enough for him to survive until help arrives. Doctors would do the rest."

"Whatever," Ahana huffed arrogantly, trying to hide her embarrassment.

She should have known that Gyaan wasn't like other elements. He wouldn't put them in trouble by being an emotional fool. Unlike the three kind souls, who jumped at every opportunity to help others, Gyaan only helped when he was certain that the help won't come back to bite him.

"Let's go," Gyaan simply said, not highlighting his smartness for once. However, the smirk on his face was enough to infuriate Ahana. Because that dreaded smirk of his was a clear indication of his victory.