They, (just Jal, since everyone else was still in shock, and when Lakshman [ the only one not in shock other than her] tried to help, Jambavan had decided that they were running out of herbs and that there was only one golden-skinned redhead giant sized warrior prince who could do the trick). And so "they" pulled Angad towards the makeshift stone wall surrounding the tents, followed stumblingly by the rest of the generals of the monkey army which had shaken Ravan's to the core.

Well, they didn't seem in a 'world-shaking' mood anymore, especially since they too had been (literally and figuratively) shaken to their core, and the giant who had caused that shaking had also made off with their King, leader, general, and good pal Sugriv. Nal was the first to recover, and nudged Neel, who almost always had something good to say in a time of crisis. And so Neel did look up. "The Healing Tent is still up," he pronounced weakly. "Which means that the injured soldiers can still be cared for, once Lakshman bhaiyya returns, of course."

"And besides," Ram picked up. "-today we have shown to Lankesh that even after sending a giant, he cannot counter dharma. We must have lowered his ego. There is something else too! Because of Sugriv and Angad's legions, many monkey lives were saved! Our Healing Tent is holding up, and so even the injured can slowly recover from this battle." He looked around hopefully, and even as the monkey army shuffled in agreement, the mood did not seem to lighten or turn optimistic any.

Lakshman finally returned with the herbs and handed them to Jambavan, who gratefully took them and raced out of the awkward scene as soon as he could. Then, he glanced at Angad, who still swung his legs, occasionally was handed a cool glass of coconut water, from which he could forlornly sip. The war had paused for a moment, and Lakshman looked towards the other side, where the rakshasas were charging again. "He's not dead." Lakshman said out loud, not to anyone in particular. "The chokehold which Kumbhakaran used was not strong enough. Passed out? Maybe. Dead? No. Besides, Raja Sugriv likes to fly, right?"

-----O-----

It was a loud and angry voice that penetrated Sugriv's long sleep, and he drowsily blinked his eyes, expecting to see Angad's 'excited-for-war' face shaking him up, or at least Ruma's kind one. Instead, he saw the bright colors, well, mainly gold, that was Lanka. Wearily, he continued to blink his eyes rapidly, and allowed them to sink below himself, where he saw numerous men (?) cheering, either waving around signs or pumping their fists.

And what this thing he was slung not-so-comfortably upon? Sugriv felt the blood rush to his head, and discreetly pressed his temple with the hand near his head. No one noticed a thing, and the ones who did, did not speak. A dead man pressing his temple? Impossible! He curiously pressed the blubber (or whatever it was) underneath him, and saw the rather thick skin. Sugriv paused for a moment, and then realized he was being carried on Kumbhakaran's shoulder, and gagged, sticking his tongue out.

Quickly clambering up, he crawled into the hook of Kumbhakaran's crown, right above his ear, and Kumbhakaran, perhaps a thousand times larger than the king, did not notice a tiny speck moving around on his body (and if he did, he may not have been able to register it, because like dinosaurs, the biggest of them had the smallest of brains). Kumbhakaran came to halt in front of the balcony that was attached to Ravan's private quarters.

Kunbhakaran paused, clearing his throat as the path which had been cleared for him quickly disappeared as the crowd gathered around the base of his shoes, staring up at his enormity. "Bhrata!" Kumbhakaran boomed, his voice easily overtaking the cheers. "See what gift I have brought for you here! You asked for a mere hermit, and I got you a KING! See here, Sugriv, the king of Monkeys, on my shoulder!" Everything went silent, the cheers, the stomping of feet, even the gentle breezes caused by the waving of signs. If Lankesh was going to step out, the time was now.

And he did. Ravan looked up from his resting place on the bed, glancing for a moment at the concubine which had also been there, lying luxuriously (and also quite suggestively, but let's keep this PG-13) on the chaise longue in his room. The booming voice rang in his ears, and Ravan, for once, actually grinned. In a flash, the covers were thrown off, the concubine was out the door, and Ravan straightened his clothes, before shoving the door open to his balcony, and spreading his arms widely, stepping out.

"Kumbhakaran!" he boomed excitedly, (though his booming wasn't as loud, this doesn't matter). "Your words overjoy me more than anything! Truly, I've never been this happy in my life!" (because the birth of Meghnad was just a fluke, was it?). Then Ravan paused, and his smile disappeared, his fangs receding again. His shoulders fell down for a moment, and the crowd was quiet once more. "But where is he?"

Poor Kumbhakaran here thought that maybe Ravan had gone deaf or had short-term memory. After all, hadn't he mentioned that the King was on his shoulder? "Right here, bhrata, on my shoulder...." Kumbhakaran pointed to his shoulder, and patted it, before his eyes widened to the size of ferris wheels. He desperately patted at his shoulder, before whirling around. As he did so, Sugriv, who was now at the back of his crown, got his first chance to shake his booty snarkily at Ravan, who hid his eyes quickly.

"Ha ha Ravan!" Sugriv laughed, and quickly climbed to the very peak of Kumbhakaran's crown, shaking his booty there too, before jumping around on the demon's head. "It isn't quite so easy to kill me, Hanuman-wanna be! I am Sugriv, and I command more men than you can dream of, Ravan! But if you did, no doubt they'd die on the first day of this war! Admit it, you're losing!" Kumbhakaran used this moment of weakness to try and grab Sugriv, but Sugriv simply jumped off of the post and onto his face, finally managing to attack his eyeball repeatedly, before hovering in the air in front of an infuriated, and now half-blind Kumbhakaran.

"If this is the mere King of Kishkindha, the warrior whom you decided wasn't good enough, imagine how the two "hermits" must fight, Kumbhakaran! Idiot giant! Never try to challenge Prabhu Shri Ram again!' Sugriv roared, beating his chest with great power that it thundered throughout the entirety of Lanka, before zooming off in the distance, his eyes narrowed on the dark green tents where he wondered how everyone was doing.

-----O-----

They weren't doing very well. Angad was biting his nails and pacing around, and Jal had finally decided to get back to her sewing once she realized that Angad wasn't going to get any better. But once she left, Angad's issue took a turn for the worse now that he was completely alone (for Lakshman had decided he wasn't a very good emotional support animal), and had to be the third wheel yet again. (which you all still think).

"If he was alive, then he would have returned by now." Angad whispered, as another round of generals and soldiers went outside, escaping from the heated confines of the tent (though it provided shade), and the sight of seeing their Yuvraj sad, or lacking of something. The vanar sena prided themselves on their leaders, especially Sugriv and Angad. If there was going to be an overthrow of the rulers, one could bet that it could have been anywhere except Kishkindha, because Kishkindha's royals were loved like the subjects' own family.

Angad played with the village kids and never seemed to put his nose up though he was the privileged and very accomplished son of the great and fabled Vali, and lived in the palace of luxuries and advantages. Vali and Sugriv always made it a point to make sure that their villages and subjects were happy, and thriving, and if there was even one sign that this was not the case, then half the royal treasury would be dedicated to just that. Sugriv always was close to the villagers, and he was often found roaming the streets of Kishkindha.

So it was very important to the vanar sena, perhaps more than any other army, that their leaders were happy. Some of the Healing monkeys mourned their king, and even the injured warriors, who were often found moaning and groaning and wincing (not without reason, for they were quite brutally hurt), did not say a word as they were treated with countless stinging medicines, having so much pent up pain on the inside that even the most terrible of exterior pains would not make them burst the pipes and start the waterworks.

Angad glanced up to where Jambavan wordlessly scooped out a handful of herbs sparingly from the sack which was getting lighter and lighter by the moment, and gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes, and finally standing up as if after much thought, and wrapping his hand wordlessly around the cool gold handle of the mace. Lakshman was the first to notice, setting down his grass mats and watching Angad. Nal nudged Neel, and they too stood up, as Jal stopped hunching over her sewing.

Before anyone could ask what the heck he was doing, Angad answered their unasked questions. "We're just sitting here! I can't do this! Kumbhakaran has injured so many of our soldiers that, see-look!" Angad pointed to where Lakshman sat, and froze at being the center of attention. "Lakshman bhaiyya has to unravel more grass mats than ever! We're running out of nearby herbs, even with the new discoveries! Kumbhakaran has caused endless devastation to our army! We can't just sit here as he takes the body of Uncle Sugriv to Lanka and they have a day of endless celebration while we lick our wounds like dogs!"

Hanuman nodded, his brow furrowed angrily as he straightened himself, grasping his own mace, and swinging it around his own body for stretching. "Yuvraj Angad is right!" he declared. "Prabhu Shri Ram, our King is hurt, maybe dead-" Angad inhaled sharply. "And countless of our men are injured, just because of this single giant! With your blessings, perhaps we should start planning on how to kill this-this-this-this" he struggled for a word that sounded both terrible and good.

"ABOMINATION!" Nal yelled, teeth bared. There was suddenly a rush of air, and Jal squealed, but everyone else was turned towards the other side. "Shush Jal! What we need to do is plan, and then we'll destroy this giant who has dared touch our King!" He thumped his mace eagerly, and others followed as Ram watched, raising an eyebrow, but not saying anything against it, for the truth was that he too was simmering, ready for revenge.

Vibhishan, for once, did not interrupt with a weary word or two, just taking a long and noisy slurp of his English tea and settling back in his chair, just watching. "We need to rip his body into shreds!" A loud cheer. "We need to wrench his head off!" Another roar of agreement from the crowd. "We need to harvest all of his jewelry and throw it into a fire!" Before the hollers of agreement, Jal squeaked. "Jal, look, I know you're enthusiastic," Nal sighed. "But maybe continue with your sewing, yes?"

"No!" Jal cried, standing up. "Look! Raja Sugriv!" They all whirled around, where Sugriv stood, still holding his mace limply, jaws dropped. Ram was the first to grin, and widely this time. Hanuman dropped to his knees, and Nal and Neel too, in a sign of respect. There was silence, and Angad almost barrelled into Sugriv, before deciding he would just dignifiedly stand there, holding his mace in both hands.

"We were all a little excited for my return, were we?" laughed Sugriv, his eyes crinkling happily. "Well, I am glad that I was missed. I thought you all would recover in mere seconds and forget all about old Sugriv. I would have at least liked to see Angad being crowned king in my place, but of course, what can I do if I'm actually dead?" Sugriv shook his head as Angad made a little noise of disbelief, before quickly shaking his head and staring at Sugriv.

"We're glad you returned, Uncle. Lakshman bhaiyya was going crazy, he was basically a heap of sobs." They all turned around towards Lakshman, who had quickly healed from the shock, and was still rolling out the grass mats, humming or saying something to himself quietly. Angad cleared his throat expectantly, raising an eyebrow, and Lakshman looked up, before quickly realizing what was happening.

"What? Oh. We need to make his body an unrecognizable mass of bloody red meat pulp that will rest in heaps upon the dusty battlefield, soaking the Earth red for miles and miles on end and never washing out, for Ravan to come collect and cremate and remember!" Nal rubbed his eyes as Jal dropped her sewing just trying to picture that.

Bonus Scene

"Wait, so you beat your chest?" Angad asked, wide-eyed as Sugriv relayed the tale privately to him. "And you talked all about your devotion to Prabhu Shri Ram? Really chacha? That must have been wonderful! I wish that I was there too! I could have watched you teach those rakshasas a lesson. But no, I had to be cooped up here because I can't do anything fun at all!" he pouted like a little child, thinking of all the missed opportunities, especially when he could have 'OHHH'ed when Sugriv roasted them.

"Don't be so proud of me yet," Sugriv laughed, setting aside his mace and rubbing his hands together. Angad knit his lips tightly together and crossed his arms across his chest as if to say that he wasn't proud at all. "Besides, there is no doubt that you could have done a much better job at roasting them than me. And maybe you'll get your own chance to roast them, and then I won't be there, and I'd be the one telling you that. Everything happens for a reason, Angad. Remember that!" Sugriv paused. "The only thing I regret is that I took so long and made you all worry."

'No no!" Angad declared, shaking his head and putting his mace down. "You couldn't possibly be sorry for being captured, Sugriv chacha! Besides, none of us were worrying, we were boiling for revenge! The only one worrying was Lakshman bhaiyya." Angad winced. "That sounds like it should have been said in reverse, but trust me, its the truth." Sugriv raised an eyebrow. "AWWW-the one time I get the chance to throw someone else under the carriage!" he shook his fist at the air.

A/N-Someone. Anyone. Help me. Please. HELP ME-Oh God. So maybe this thing will take 5 chapters instead. UGGHHHHHHH-STUPID! I promise, I am not trying to elongate it! it's just my writing style! LIKE WHAT THE FREAKING HECK-5 chapters. To kill Kumbhakarna. *grits teeth*

So....no update tomorrow. Just wanted to add something. You know how I was planning to write something called 'The Impassive Queen'? Well, turns out, there's already a book like that, called 'The Bygone Empress' by @DrKanu. So...No Mandodari book after all!

By the way, I think I won this:

For the Princes of Ayodhya. Exceeeept-they mixed up the genres. So....Fleeting Moments won 2nd Place in Historical Fiction, and this won 3rd Place in Oneshots. *slaps head*

Which means that, as of now, for this book, I have gotten 2nd Place in HF in the Strawberry Milkshake Awards, and 3rd Place in Oneshots in Butterfly Awards.

And Fleeting Moments has got 1st Place in OS in Historical Awards, and 2nd Place in HF in Butterfly Awards. GOD THIS IS CONFUSING! 

STILL YAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYYYYYYYYYYYY-

Okay.