The Bend in the Road (A Karna-Arjun what-if story)

The complementary archers

Arjun's pov

Day 2 of the Battle of Kurukshetra

When Arjun was woken up by Madhav the next morning--if it could even be called morning, because outside, it was pitch dark--Abhimanyu was sleeping peacefully in his arms. He seemed to finally have stopped shivering.

"The child could have been born with a little more practicality than his father," Madhav remarked as Arjun got up slowly, trying not to wake up his son.

"Like his uncle?" asked Arjun.

Madhav winked. "I didn't even need to say it."

"Stop being annoying early in the morning, Madhav." Arjun yawned. "Are the others up?"

"Can you hear Drish shouting?"

"No."

"Then I assume no one is up yet."

"Point," said Arjun. "And why, may I ask, did you wake me?"

"We did not get the chance to discuss much about yesterday's outcome," said Madhav. "It was not good for us, you know."

Arjun nodded.

"I do not mean Uttar's death," said Madhav. "It was bad for us, numbers-wise. We lost far too many compared to them, and remember we have four Akshouhinis lesser to begin with." 

"I know."

"And you would not happen to know how to go about repairing things today, would you, Parth?"

Arjun stared. "Er--we go in with a more attacking formation?"

"It will cause little difference. Till their commander is fighting, we will keep losing more and more."

Arjun finally got what Madhav was getting at. His heart sank.

After yesterday, when his friend had given him a glimpse of his true form--which had made him ashamed of having addressed him like a friend--Arjun no longer felt like he would absolutely not be able to take up arms against the ones he loved.

But he still knew he could not do it happily.

"We," he began hoarsely, "we--have to put Pitamah out of action, you mean."

"Unfortunately, there is no we in this. There is only one person in our army who can do that."

Arjun brushed a lock of hair away from Abhimanyu's forehead, stalling. But he knew Madhav was right, and he knew Madhav would not let it go.

"All right," he said finally.

***

Drish starting to shout outside was taken as cue by most of them to start putting in an appearance outside their tents.

Yudhishthir caught up with Arjun.

"Vrishaketu was here, asking after Abhi," he said. "He is better now, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is fine. He just woke up..."

"Tell him to go and visit Vrishaketu before he leaves, if there is time. The child did seem troubled."

But Abhimanyu did not need to go over, because it was Vrishaketu who turned up again, looking for him soon after.

"Greetings, Rajkumar Arjun," he said politely. "Is Abhi awake?"

"Yes, he must be coming out by now..." 

At the too-mature look of concern about Vrishaketu's demeanour, Arjun felt a sudden upsurge of affection for him. Considering the resistance the two children had faced from their fathers, their attachment to each other was admirable.

"I heard you and your family took care of Abhi when we were away at the funeral grounds," said Arjun, automatically tousling Vrishaketu's hair the way he did with Abhimanyu or Srutakarma. "Abhi is lucky to have a friend like you, Vrish."

Vrishaketu looked both confused and pleased, but could not say anything; Abhimanyu had emerged out of their tent, and rushed over to them. He seemed to have shed all his tears at night, because he was smiling in a very familiar Abhi-manner.

"Good morning, Father. Morning, Vrish."

"Morning to you, too," said Vrishaketu drily. "I see you have started smiling again."

Arjun thought his son was not only lucky to have found such a friend, he was lucky to have found him so early in his life. 

He had found Madhav much later.

Though at least he had found him. Not everyone found such a friend in their lifetime at all.

And NO ONE, Arjun's mind reminded him, got someone like Madhav.

***

That day, the minute the conches had stopped blowing, Madhav steered the chariot towards Bhisma.

"Bhisma must be defeated to minimize our deaths, Parth. Be prepared, please."

This time, Arjun kept his Gandiva in position. As their chariot blocked Bhisma's, Arjun caught his grandfather's surprised smile.

Then he nodded, as if granting him permission to attack.

Arjun never knew how he kept his arms from shaking as he shot the first set of arrows. He was absurdly relieved when none hit Pitamah.

Pitamah is the greatest warrior the world has ever witnessed. I cannot hurt him. Nothing I do can hurt him.

As a large number of Kaurava footsoldiers and rathis joined to defend Bhisma, a single chariot joined Arjun's with a shower of arrows towards their enemy commander.

It was the King of Anga, his jaw set. He, too, it was clear, knew that Bhisma could not be defeated.

At best, he could be restrained.

Every arrow Arjun released towards Pitamah broke his heart a little more. All his efforts at making himself desensitized, to stop being attached, to think solely like a warrior were for naught. The only thing to be thankful for was that he did not start crying right there in the battlefield.

But at the same time, Arjun appreciated, at the back of his mind, how much he enjoyed fighting with Karna. 

Among his brothers, he and Bheem were the only two extraordinary ones, at par in skill. But their styles were far too different; their discussions involved arguing over the superiority of the mace or the bow; and they had never really fought together, so in sync, without words, complementing each other.

They could anticipate each of the other's moves, and aid it. They did not even need to talk.

Even fighting side by side, having each others back, Karna and Arjun could not, as was ingrained within them, keep themselves from exchanging taunts every so often.

When Krishna swerved the chariot to avoid a barrage of spears flung at them:

"Vasudev saving you just in time, Arjun," Karna called mockingly. "Nobody was surprised, did you notice?"

"Get yourself a better charioteer, Angaraj!"

When Karna was grazed by an arrow that drew blood from his shoulder:

"Is your armour not infallible after all, Angaraj?"

"I can shoot at you right now and prove it is more infallible than yours."

"Would shooting an ally not be against your dharma?"

"Try me."

Arjun caught Madhav, inexplicably, chuckling.

But he knew perfectly well he did not mean any of the taunts, and he did not detect any true venom in his partner's barbs, either.

He had certainly never had such a satisfying partner in battle. Somehow, it helped to focus on enjoying the fight rather than focus on who he was fighting against.

As he and the Angaraj kept Bhisma busy, their army fared much better than the previous day.

The second day ended on a sort of stalemate.