Sootputra: The Unsung Hero

Karna

Sootputra: The Unsung Hero.

Chapter 1: Karna

I've always heard that when you are near the doorstep of death, your entire life flares in front of you like the last burst of suffocating fire. I've thought of this as a truth that I'll eventually have to face but in the end, it's all a lie. I can't even see myself from a day ago let alone my entire life, still, I haven't forgotten the moments that led me here made me who I am, the struggles, the loss, the sins, the mistakes, the wrongs, the sacrifices.
You want to know about me but sometimes I wonder that if I even do know myself. I don't know where to start the story or where it all started but I'll try to begin with the earliest thing I can remember...an Arrow.

ssssss........thump

The tail of the arrow vibrated as it struck its mark. 

"Vasusena, it's your turn now," said the boy that has just landed a bull's-eye on the tree stump.

The boy's body was frail, his skin was palish white and he wore the getup of a sage with a bald head except for a ponytail behind. He wore several bracelets, armbands, a necklace made of a string of rudraksha beads. But the most intriguing part about the boy was the red gem that was stuck on his forehead and shown brilliantly enough even in the dead of night.

"Just you watch Ashwathama!" I jumped down from the branch I was sitting on and took the bow and quiver from him.
"So This is how Guru Deva told us right."
I loved archery when I was a child.

Despite being a charioteer's son I wanted to be an archer. My Guru Dronacharya had an Ashram where he taught various forms of skills needed in battle and politics.

But I didn't care about any other skill, I was just interested in one thing.......Arrows. How they winged in mid-air and how they pierced their targets even if it is so far away. I wanted all of it for myself. That's why I joined his Ashram where I learned the basics of the craft like any other boy aiming to be a soldier does.

There I met Ashwathama and we quickly synced. It may have been because we both loved archery but more so because we both carried a precious thing on us. He with his Precious stone in his forehead and I with my kundals(earrings).

"Okay then ......fooooh." The air rushed in my chest.

"Here we go." I calmed my breathing and pulled the string with the arrow all the way, aiming for the target.

ssssss.........thump

The arrow zipped through the air, cutting it like a sword and pierced the stump.

"Woah...Vasusena, I knew it as usual.
You hit the same spot as mine and your power was more too.  you pierced right through the tree. Your aim is already good. " Ashwathama said with idolization in his eyes.

"The piercing maybe because I am a year older than you.

That's why my arrow had a little more power.
Don't worry Ashwathama your shot was too good and with your father's tutelage you will surpass me in no time." I said to the humbling archer closing his eyes and laughing.

"Oh, I definitely will surpass you, But not with my father's tutelage." His face turned down and his voice picked a low pitch.

"He's currently busy with the royal students that joined a year ago and the first time in all these 12 years,  doesn't have much time to spend on his son. Especially not during the training hours." I can already tell that more than the training Ashwath missed his father.
"So shall we pack? It's almost Dusk." I tried changing the subject.

As we were collecting all the arrows scattered on the grounds, there was someone running towards us. The sounds of his footsteps reached before he did. They were fast and growing louder by the second.