"Money? I think I have some. Why?" Daru said.
"Would you give it to her if I asked, please?" Shambhu asked him.
"Why not. You are my friend and I don't need the money anymore. But what happened?" Daru agreed without hesitation.
"Hmm, I'll tell you with the others." Shambhu nodded and then turned towards Umaa, "Sister, just wait here. I am coming back in just a minute."
'Why would someone who doesn't look like he earns himself do this?' Umaa thought to herself. She was surprised seeing his actions. "You don't actually need to do it, Brother." She said 'Brother' with slight hesitation.
"If I don't help you as much as I can, even after knowing your story, I won't be able to call myself a man or even a Human with pride anymore," Shambhu said and went to meet his team.
"Do people really help someone without expecting anything in return?" Umaa asked herself. But then she looked at her sister's happy face, her lips curved upwards very slightly in a smile.
Shambhu went to his team, explained everything to them and then made the same request as he had made to Daru.
"We have already eaten, so there is no more problem in giving her the rest of the money," a boy from the group said.
"Even if we had not eaten, I would have given her my money," a girl spoke.
"Yes, we could have shared our meals and given half of our money if we had known it earlier," another boy supported her.
"Guys, what's done is done. Just give me what you have left." Shambhu brought them back to reality. All of them transferred their remaining money to Shambhu by scanning their I-bands.
Shambhu then went back to Umaa, his team following him.
"Sister, this is what we had left from the money given to us. It's not much but it can get four full meals here. Please take it," Shambhu requested her. Umaa slowly brought her left hand forward, and then projected her QR code. It was like a hologram, just above the real screen of the I-band, of what was actually on the screen. After scanning it, Shambhu could transfer the money he had. He also transferred his contact info to her.
"I know I am not powerful enough to make a change, but you can contact me if there is a problem. I will do whatever I can," Shambhu said to her. Umaa just nodded. She was already feeling burdened by his help and favour, and had no plans of troubling him in the future.
"Sister, don't see this as a favour. We are Protectors; even if we are still in the Academy, it's our duty to help and protect." Shambhu could understand what was on her mind.
"I will remember this favour," Umaa said with teary eyes. Seeing that Shambhu was going, Shree came up and hugged his leg.
"Big brother, thank you. But can we meet again?" she asked.
"Nobody has seen the future, Shree. But I hope we meet as soon as we can," Shambhu said while ruffling her hair. She looked up with a happy smile, and that was enough for Shambhu as payment. After final greetings, they went on their patrol duty.
The rest of the day was going just as it was in the morning, except for Shambhu's worldview. He had witnessed the catastrophe with his own eyes and had seen people dying in unimaginable ways. But at that moment their deaths didn't affect him because of his brother's injury and his knowledge and belief that souls never die. Later he didn't get time to think about it and its comprehensive effects. The realisation about the despair and destruction it had truly caused dawned on him today. Those who die just go to the next life or whatever it is after death; the real suffering is for those who live.
Even though he believed in Karma, it still saddened him.
He was still in his thoughts, but a voice brought him to the real world.
"Brother, don't you think we should return now? It's already 5 o'clock and we have to reach back by 6 o'clock. It's a long walk and we are all tired. What do you say?" Daru asked him from his left.
"Yeah, you are right. We are as far as we can be while staying in our designated area. It will be a long walk. Let's go back," Shambhu ordered and started walking. He was again lost in his thoughts.
"Shambhu, isn't that the girl who called you big brother?" Vajra asked him while shaking his left shoulder.
Shambhu looked up. They were at an intersection. On the road which led west, further away from the Peacekeeping Department's headquarters and out of their designated area, a group of small children was walking. There were two men in the back and a lady in the front of the children. On the right of the group, a little girl with shoulder-length brown hair and wearing a yellow frock was walking. She looked pretty similar to the girl he had met; in fact, Shambhu was confirmed about her identity. He was about to dash towards them but,
'Don't rush and first listen to me. Just walk behind them and don't let them go out of your sight,' Raktaa stopped him.
"Let's follow them," Shambhu ordered and started walking. The team fell in line, as well.
'Today was the first time that you had not used your knowledge and let your emotions influence you for a long time. And see what happened,' Raktaa said. 'You couldn't do your duty properly. If not for Vajra, you wouldn't even have noticed her.'
'You are right. But what should I do? Should I just shove every emotion out of my heart?' Shambhu asked, still just following the children.
'That would be cruel to yourself. Emotions are what make a human a human, but letting emotions guide you ultimately turns you into a beast,' Raktaa guided him. 'Why didn't you cry at their death?' Raktaa asked. She had looked into his mind through his brain during his thoughts. 'Because I know death is not an end,' Shambhu replied.
'Then don't you know about Karma?' she asked again. 'I do,' Shambhu replied without a thought. 'Then why not do your Karma, follow your duty with the guidance of the knowledge you have, rather than being influenced by your emotions?' Raktaa explained and questioned in one breath. After calming down from the immediate rush, Shambhu took the guidance from his moral compass, Dharma. This time it had came through Raktaa. He acknowledged his duty as he should have.
'You are right. I was troubling myself without a real problem. I can't control the world. I only control my actions. Thank you, Raktaa.' Shambhu was back on track again after half a day.
'I am always here for you. It is one of my five fundamental duties, after all, to show you the right path as a wife,' Raktaa said in a tone which was trying to suppress a smile and a happy giggle. Who doesn't like getting complimented, after all?
"Shambhu, we have to get back too. Are you just going to walk behind them? At least confirm her identity," a voice came from the back.
"Yes, I was just making a plan," Shambhu said while looking at the holographic projection of the map of the area.
"Listen, I will enter the street on the right. It turns left ahead, and after a second left turn it rejoins this road again," Shambhu said.
"I will go ahead, verify her identity and possibly their purpose behind gathering over ten children. You all will keep track of them. I don't want them to notice you if something is bad. I will message you in that case, Daru," Shambhu laid out the plan.
"You can count on me for support," Daru voiced his agreement.
Shambhu left them behind and started moving as fast as he could.
'Raktaa, what can we actually do to know their motives?' he asked.
'Hmm, after our partial merging, our connection is now strong. I can send a part of my spiritual energy connected with my mind and vessel and talk to a child. This is still risky. If someone severs the connection, that part will be cut from me and will leave a wound,' Raktaa gave her opinion.
'Okay, then we will do this if the people protecting those children are not too powerful,' Shambhu said.
In just a few more seconds, he was back on the main road. He was walking towards the group, which was on the right side of the road from his viewpoint, while he was on the left.
He could now clearly see it was Shree.
'Raktaa, I'll bump into her and then try to talk to her and the lady in the front. Be ready for your task.' Shambhu took the final call. The lady in the front seemed a nuisance. She was wearing a black gown, and a slightly transparent veil was hanging from her round, cone-shaped bamboo hat covering her face. She had a sword on her left hip.
The busyness of the road supported Shambhu's plan. Since Shree was more towards the central road, Shambhu got a chance to bump into her. ' It feels bad to hurt her intentionally, but then again, it is necessary.' He thought to himself.
He tried to move ahead of the people walking on his side and accidentally hit Shree with his knee. She winced in pain.
He took the chance and immediately knelt down. He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her face just to confirm again and consoled her, "I am so sorry. You didn't get hurt, right?"
It is said that you can peek into one's heart through the window of the eyes. And he was looking straight into that window. The girl tried to put a veil over the window, but how could an innocent soul master such a deceptive skill. Her heart was filled with an ocean of sorrow and pain, and the wetness was visible in her eyes as incomplete tears.
'A child can't even cry if she wants, huh. Raktaa, take over. I'll distract the guard lady,' Shambhu said.