The LEGEND OF AIR AND GROUND

Biggest Carp

***

It had been a few days since Maya had locked herself in her chambers. Her chamber doors were shut; even to her personal maids.

Nobody knew what Maya was doing inside.

Serendipity had initially refrained herself from barging in because she felt like the world owed Maya some time. But now, it had gone for far too long. According to her, even Ruhaan, who would usually have nothing to do with the queen was beginning to panic for Maya- meaning it was time for Serene to do something; she had to.

The people around the Palace were beginning to talk. There were many theories:

Maybe the King and the Queen had a quarrel.

Maybe the Queen is a witch who needs days to rejuvenate her skin.

Maybe the Queen is dead.

***

In the southern lands, a fisherman threw his large net to the river. He had much fishes to capture that day. He had to sell a few, and a few he had to take home for his meal.

His wife and he didn't need much. Two to four fishes would always suffice. He salivated on the thoughts of the fish his wife would fry for him. Even though fishes were a regular part of his diet, he felt like he could never get bored of fish.

'It has every nutrient a man requires' He would debate, whenever his wife would ask him why he loved fish so much.

Perhaps, to some extent, he had taught himself to love the flavor of fish. It was what his father had grown up eating and so had his grandfather. He knew no other flavor to compare it with. And certainly, in comparison to the porridge he would get in alternate days, fish tasted far better.

"Come on fishes; come fulfill your destiny" He shook his net around the river waters, hoping to attract a huge amount.

"Good day for the fisheries huh Pimaan?" A boat-rower said as he took off his sweat filled muslin cloth wrapped on his head.

"I thank the gods for making me a fisherman everyday, rower" Piman yelled, chuckling at his own one-liners.

The rower joined in on the chuckle. This was their livelihood. They were both fed by the water; Piman by the existence of the fishes, and the rower, by the deep waters which people couldn't get across without his help.

"And I thank the King for not making a bridge here" the rower added.

Piman chuckled; he and the rower, although not friends, but shared a good rapport with one another. It was liberating to see someone so far away understand you like that.

The rower dragged his wooden boat off to the shore and placed it upside down to dry off the water inside.

"Take care of her, will you?" He said as he wiped his wet hands on his pants and walked, without turning back to see if Pimaan even agreed to watch over his boat.

Pimaan never really got to ask where the rower would go in the middle of the day. That was a question he had saved, in case he and the rower ever sat down for a talk.

***

It had been almost 3 hours since the rower had left. Pimaan's bucket was full of fishes. 'One more batch wouldn't hurt' He thought as he tiredly laid his last net of the day down in the water.

He shook the nets more violently. He was getting tired.

"I'll take whatever I'll get to home" He spoke under his breath. Piman had calculated it well. He didn't need much fish for his meal anyway, hence he didn't need to wait as long as before either.

In his swift and skilled movement, Pimaan began to pull the net out of the river. To him, this was the best part about fishing: seeing all the time and effort he put come out in the form of fishes. Like usual, the net felt heavy- as if he had caught the biggest carp of the river. It had happened to him once, so Pimaan's muscles weren't surprised to the weight.

But Pimaan was left surprised; so bewildered that he thought his heart would gallop away from his chest. Because inside the net wasn't the biggest carp of the river.

It was a baby.

***

Serendipity had worn her best velvet cape. Golden colored with complex embroidery on the outside and the softest purple fur on the inside. As she stood tall, with her hair tied in a formal bun, she realized how long it had truly been since she had dressed up.

Serendipity had a reason dress up today. She would finally express her unclarified feelings to Ruhaan.

In her heart, she knew that her feelings for Ruhaan weren't very intense; not enough for her to express them right away.

But Ruhaan was her comfort place; no-one quite understood her like him. The people of the ground looked at her as if she were a villain; a cruel witch. The people of air would look at her with respect, but only the kind that came from a place of fear. Ruhaan was the only one who treated Serene like a person. He was the only one who made her feel like a person.

"There's no one better for me'", she whispered to herself as she hooked her sapphire earring.

'Or no one better for him than me' She thought as she giggled softly to herself.

But before she would go to Ruhaan, she would have to solve something first; something that someone as benevolent and calm as Ruhaan had seemed to get distraught of in these recent days. Her exchange with Ruhaan had to wait, she had much more pressing matters to attend to first.

She had to get Maya out of her chambers. The palace walls were talking too much; and that did not go according to Serendipity's liking.

She floated off from the dressing table and glided out of her room. Making her way to the central courtyard, she moved towards Maya's chambers. On Serene's arrival, the team of maids outside Maya's chambers lined up to greet Serene.

"Good evening Serendipity" They greeted meekly with their heads bowed down.

Serene glared at the shut door intensely. She almost felt as if Maya had shut the door to her face. Because despite numerous tries, nobody had been able to break the door down. It was as if Maya had been waiting for Serene to fix what she broke.

"Maya" Serene spoke her only word.

As usual, Maya's room went reactionless. Serene knew it was time. She was the most powerful being in all of Land and Air. At first, she couldn't believe she was using her powers for a petty event like the Queen throwing a tantrum. But it wasn't to be forgotten than Maya was no ordinary Queen.

Serendipity closed her eyes and with the use of her hands she forced the most violent gush of wind the palace had ever seen. Some maids around Serendipity lost balance and fell. But Serendipity stood tall and unshaken. The intense gush of wind was merciless- leaving no area untouched. The maids were beginning to question if the entire palace was going to get blown off by Serendipity's violent winds.

Much to the maid's shock, the impenetrable door still did not seem to budge. The maids had begun to gasp. 'Did Serene's powers go in vain?' they almost thought, until the door creaked open by a few inches, revealing a small glimpse of a dark chamber.

"Stay here" Serendipity ordered the maids as she entered Maya's room. The maids were far too excited to see their mistress.

"The Queen will let you enter very soon. Spread the news", Serene said as she closed the door from inside.

Serene's conviction was such that the maids dispersed in the enormous palace in excitement. They would find great joy in spreading the news about Maya's open door and Serendipity's valor.

***