Kirti Kriti Aur Kartik Ki

Chapter 4

A/N: This chapter consists of a lot of time skips as I don't want to dwell too much into the bonding thing or else it will just elongate the story more than necessary. But I will surely start an OS book for the same so... feel free to prompt what you want me to write :)

And I know it might be earlier than expected but... I had an announcement to make so... yeah :) And hoping that everyone is safe and sound wherever you are! And people affected by Nivar, I pray that you all come out of this cyclone safe and sound. The situation in my area is quite stable as of now :)

'English/Tamil'
(Translation)

The next morning, the cousins were feeling a bit too stubborn and got off the hut to start walking around and Kunti did let them, on the condition that they move around with one of the brothers' by their side as
1) They were unknown to the place
2) They didn't know the language 
3) They needed someone to keep an eye on them and not strain themselves too much.

And their 'tour guide' for that day was Arjuna, who'd begged his parents to be the one to show the duo around all by himself. The elders, though a bit wary, let Arjuna do as he pleased, thinking that it would help him learn more.

He was silent for the most part unless he was trying to teach them the language by pointing at things and telling their names at random or trying to teach them the basics of the letter by writing on the sand. At least that was until Kartik mentioned about adventure.

"An adventure? What should I do? Where are we going?" he asked in excitement, looking like a kid who ate too much sugar. Kartik just laughed and said "Our belongings, by the lake. A treasure hunt?" Kriti asked and Arjuna nodded his head before talking at high speed about how excited he was with this task.

When they reached the lake, they drank some water before starting the hunt, the two of them giving Arjuna the chance to find the pack by playing "hot and cold" with him.

"This feels heavy for what you said was in there" he asked in confusion when he'd finally found the pack. The duo looked at each other and opened the pack and laughed when they saw some additional books stowed in there.

Could be useful for telling stories? ~ Mahadev

"Those are just some storybooks for us so that we don't get bored" Kartik explained as he looked through the stack of books stowed. 'Panchatantra'  'Ponniyin Selvan' 'Silappathigaram' ''Ramayan' it read and Kartik facepalmed.

"What language is that? I've never seen it before" Arjuna asked as he picked up the first book of the Ponniyin Selvan series curiously. "That is our mother tongue, Tamil, the other one is a foreign language which we had to learn because of foreign traders" Kritika explained

"Then why don't you know our language?" Arjuna asked, his brows furrowed. "We know just a little as we just started learning it before the kingdom burned" Kartik said.

"Oh..." he said as he looked down, his enthusiasm giving way to the guilt of reopening their wounds. "Now don't look so sad my little typhoon, its time we head back or else your parents will scold us only" Kritika said and Arjuna gasped, his eyes wide as though he'd forgotten about that small time limit his parents had given him.

"Why are you calling me that? What does that mean?" Arjuna asked in confusion. "Typhoon is... a storm that can be destructive to anyone who isn't close to them..." Kartik said. "Ty-poon" Arjuna said testing the word in his mouth before nodding, liking his nickname.

"Do the others get nicknames too Kriti?" he asked curiously. "Surely they will! What makes you doubt that?" she asked. "Umm... Bratha Bheem and Jyeshth Bratha are elder than you..." he trailed off. "Oh that... why don't we ask them then if they will like nicknames?" Kartik suggested as they neared the settlement.