Chapter C: Character

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Advaita heard something from inside the cave. He heard a roar again. He decided to climb a tree which was nearest to him as he knew the beasts couldn’t climb. But this time he was not sure as it was a white one. With bow on his shoulders he ran as fast as he could to climb the tree.

The character in him asked him to save himself. “A human being may be born but the identity of its character is forged from the decision one makes“. He remembered his Dad’s words as he climbed. The roar again from the cave got his attention back. He waited.

He could hear some laughs from a distance but could not make out where they were coming from. He saw some movements in front of the cave. He struggled to get a clear view. “Could it be another white beast” he thought. He waited again.

There were a few roars and cries which made Advaita climb down a few branches and have a look at what was happening in front of the cave. He saw that there was indeed a white beast but just a cub. He decided to get down and pick up the arrows which were lying on the ground.   

The cub saw Advaita coming towards it. It initially roared at Advaita. The cub’s height which looked smaller from the tree was not small anymore. The height of the cub was up to his waist. It could be few months old he thought. Advaita made himself look bigger. He opened his hands fully and did a shout like never before. The cub got behind its Dead mother.

Advaita now took his bag of arrows. He took one arrow out and pointed it towards the cub. The cub hid behind its mother. Advaita felt bad for it. He decided to leave it alone. Couple of the folks who went inside in search of him had bags with them. He decided he would go and see if he could get them. He was hoping it might contain food or water as he felt hungry.

The more he went inside the darker the cave got. The darkness started to haunt him. ”You are no more a kid, develop the character in you. Build the strength of your character” He said to himself. He started to move parallel with the wall by placing a hand on it. As he moved ahead he found a body. He could feel the blood. He wanted to prove himself as a character of strong will.

In the darkness he searched the body. He found a pouch. As he took it from the ground, the sound from the pouch gave him assurance that there was water in it. He heaved a sigh of relief. He drank a little water from it and decided to move further to search for the other bags. As he took a few more steps, he heard a roar from the cub again along with some grunts and giggles. He stopped and decided to go back.

Advaita moved slowly as he was nearing the exit of the cave. His arrows ready to be shot. He saw that two Hyenas were busy eating the fallen beast. Another Hyena was moving towards the cub. He looked around to see if there were any one. But could not find any. He was not sure whether he should wait or make a move to kill the Hyenas. The character in him was getting forged as he decided to help the cub. He was not going to just wait and see a cub die….