Nature in Hiding

60- Yara rooting for Hritika

The minute Hritika received the message containing the loophole in the video, Hritika face palmed. She couldn't understand how she could miss such an obvious thing. That too after having reviewed the video so many times. Not wasting any more time, Hritika ran towards Vivaan and Rehyaa. Nihal and Yara took one glance at her running form, before taking off after her.

"Did you find any evidence?" Yara asked from behind.

"What evidence?" Vivaan asked with raised eyebrows, after the trio came to a stop.

"Well, you see...," Yara trailed off, not knowing how to explain. She had totally forgotten that her day out with Hritika yesterday was a secret from others.

"It's not exactly an evidence, but an observation," Hritika answered instead, making Yara sigh in relief.

"An observation that can show you that the video of elements we saw wasn't exactly true," Hritika informed them, before looking at them hopefully, "And maybe, can make you give them shelter in our pack house once again."

"Huh? Didn't Nihal check its reliability? Nihal, you said that video wasn't edited, right? It was supposed to be an actual recording," Vivaan questioned with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah...that's what I found out from my contacts," Nihal replied to Vivaan while scratching his forehead as he himself was confused.

Nihal then turned towards Hritika and questioned, "Was there a mistake in what our contacts informed us? And if you found the proof, shouldn't you have just publicized it. Then the elements could go back with their heads held high and wouldn't need our protection."

"I agree with Nihal. If they are really innocent then they can go back to their old lives instead of hiding here," Rehyaa said, not understanding Hritika's request to take them back in.

"What's wrong?" Yara asked in a soft voice to Hritika as she noticed her fallen face.

"What I have is not actual evidence but just an observation. This is not enough to get them out of trouble from the human authorities. But I was hoping that this would be enough for us to trust them and provide help until an actual proof comes up," Hritika answered in a resigned tone.

"What's with the sad face then? Just show us what you got," Nihal said in a soft, encouraging tone.

"Yeah go for it. We have blind trust on Hritika's observation skills," Vivaan said in a cheerful tone, encouraging her as well.

They had felt bad for not trusting her gut instincts for the first time. But they knew where Hritika's heart was set and didn't want her to make a mistake out of her newly found feelings. They all knew if it turned out to be a mistake, Hritika would regret it more than they would do for trusting her instincts. But now that she had something as evidence, they were ready to believe her, no matter how small that proof was.

"It wasn't actually my observation, but it is really something important to notice," Hritika informed them truthfully, before asking them to circle around her so she could show them the proof on her mobile.

"We have already seen the video of Neer attacking that man, Hritika," Vivaan muttered with a sigh, as he backed away from their so-called circle.

"I know that," she deadpanned, before pulling him back to the circle. "Just observe it clearly."

"Did you see Neer standing there perfectly fine after draining all the water from that man?"

"Yes...," they all trailed off unsurely.

Hritika sighed. They were right on track. She took a deep breath, before speaking again, "Complete dehydration is no easy task, right? It takes up a lot of energy."