Bab 73: Friendship And Rivalry ( Part 3 )

Vajra gently released Kush's bindings and helped him sit on a large sand dune. Following that, he threw himself back and spread his legs, panting heavily. Only now did he remember how many close calls there were when he nearly dropped Kush or was otherwise unable to protect him.

"Are you alright?" he asked, showing his teeth. "I sent my men to fetch your doctor. He will check up on you soon."

Kush smiled as well. "That was fun."

"A little bit…Those boys were brutal. He he."

"I could've kicked their ass anytime."

"Yeah, Mighty General you, could have."

"That's true," Kush said haughtily. "It would've been no fun had I played alone."

Vajra smiled and didn't refute.

Kush frowned. "But that's the same with you, isn't it? I'm sure you would have no problem returning when you went into the other side, but when the enemy player came to your team, you're no good. So it couldn't be fun for you, either…but in a different way."

"What do you mean?"

"You're no team player! You don't know how to interact with your team's soldiers and coordinate with them in real time. That will lead you to being ostracized or sacrificed by them when the elite from the other side arrives. If not that, you would've sacrificed others for your survival."

Vajra was a little disturbed by that. "I would never do that…"

Kush shrugged. "Then they would sacrifice you. If I wasn't telling you how to lead the encirclement, you would've been left out by your team this time. You don't know how to read the movements of those who are not hostile to you…" Kush raised an eyebrow. "But you know, even those on your side can sacrifice you, just like what your guard told you when he spoke about the injured comrade. Call it helplessness, call it weighing the team's benefit, but it does happen."

Vajra was never part of any team where he was the same as everybody else. But he still couldn't help but think to his stepmother, who was the most obvious, yet was the last culprit that he unearthed while investigating the conspiracy against his brother and himself. This led to her being able to restrict his actions several times. It all happened because Vajra was unable to read her because she was family and she was technically also against the grand prince. At least until the grand prince's son truly took over Dhija and the grand prince defected, she was in a way, playing for both sides. Vajra couldn't read her in that case. He took Kush's lesson seriously and nodded.

Chuckling, Kush rubbed his head like a big brother and threw his arm around Vajra's neck. But then he remembered he was his rival and awkwardly removed his hand.

Vajra laughed, knowing what was on his mind. After spending six months together, how could he not know what this greedy boy always wanted? "Grass, rivals can be friends first," he said.

"Really?" Kush asked, his eyes shining.

"Of course!" Vajra nodded eagerly, letting a bunch of sand fall from his head in the process. "Friendship and rivalry are all part of brotherhood between men. You can want what I have and I can want what you have, and we can still be friends!"

Kush narrowed his eyes and probed him. This civilized boy can easily play tricks on him and Kush who grew up in the mountains and by the rivers just wouldn't know.

"It's true!" Vajra gestured enthusiastically. "In the ancient era, the Devas and Asuras were actually friends and rivals both. If you are just friends, you can at most have fun together or take up a meagre venture that lasts for a lifetime. If you are rivals, you can fight for what each other has. But if you are friends and rivals both, any undertaking you perform together can split the seas and transform mountains!"

"So what did the Devas and Asuras do together?" Kush was peeked, considering his teacher was from the Chandra faction which was a major Deva faction, while the Maruts tended to mix with the Asura sects. Many of them came from those independent sects that operate based on the law of the jungle. This was the official definition of Asura in these days.

"They were said to have taken up a major undertaking of churning the ocean of milk for one thousand years!"

"The ocean of milk? What the heck is that?" Kush frowned. "What did they churn an ocean for? And with what?!"

"He he, never mind those details. They churned it in order to obtain the nectar of immortality, which they planned to share with each other."

"Did they?"

"Nope. The Devas conned the Asuras out of it at the end. But the main point is," Vajra raised a finger and explained eloquently, "They also obtained a great many things in the process such as the world tree, Kalpavruksha, the sacred cow Kamadhenu, the white elephant Airavata which is now the mount of brother-Indra, a heavenly horse, all kinds of herbs, jewels and more importantly, several divine weapons and armaments. You could say that most of the divine treasures of the heaven and earth today have been obtained by the Devas and Asuras in this single instance of cooperation."

"But what does it all matter when the Devas cheated the Asuras out of the ultimate fruit in the end?"

"Such is rivalry," Vajra smiled and shrugged. "Somebody wins and somebody loses. But this story isn't just about that, is it?"

Kush considered it with mean eyes for a second. If I am friends with him now and take the ultimate fruit in the end, it could still work out…

"Okay."

"Ok, what?"

"Ok, lets go churn the ocean of milk."

Vajra looked at him blankly. The red desert and the twilight sky cast undulating shadows on his small face. A light smile tugged involuntarily at the corner of his lips.

Despite how dirty he was, Kush only felt that the prince was pure and fresh. Even when he found him bedraggled and breathless in the jungle a year ago, he still felt he had the resilient clarity and inherent shine of a diamond, that he was not dirty at all.

"I heard them call you, Your Majesty."

Vajra changed his stance slowly, nodding. "Brother-Indra returned a week ago."

"Returned? Brother?"

"Returned to Devlok. Monarchs of different reigns in Aditya clan are naturally each other's brothers."

"So you are already king?"

Vajra nodded gently. "Technically, the reign changing ceremony is yet to be held. But the kingdom cannot be without a king for even a day. So, yes, I have already ascended, though not yet declared."

"Why not?"

Vajra shook his head. "I do not yet have the qualifications."

"You mean your age?"

"Not that. In Rtadhara, a prince must lead the army on a campaign and return victorious in order to possess the qualifications to be declared king."

A flash went off in Kush's head, but he decided not to say anything right away. He hid a smile and changed the subject.

"I still don't understand why you call your father, your brother."

"He he. Trust me, I didn't want to. But for the past week, the brahmins have brainwashed me with all this information. Now that I'm Martanda, my understanding of relationships within the family changed entirely!"

"Tell me!" Kush showed that greedy black glint in his eyes again. This was the oldest royal family in the known world and the one that has the most grasp on the mysterious thing called a 'divine sanction' that rules the current Earth. Kush had a feeling that a divine sanction is not exclusive from relationships between families of gods.