The four friends waited at the edge of the water. In the distance, they could see Lanka, the island where Ravana lived. Samaira, the girl who saved them from Ravana's mortal form a few nights ago, led them here. She could feel a strong presence emanating from the island that was not Ravana, and she insisted that their fourth warrior was waiting for them there.
Now, the four of them awaited to board the boat Vishnu sent to take them to Lanka.
After a moment of reflection, they climbed in. It did not take long to travel to the island, and the heroes left the boat with growing unease. They knew that the battle would now begin at any moment, and they each mentally prepared themselves.
"Hey, ye!!!" A voice called to them. The heroes turned to see an old man hobbling towards them. Reminded of their last encounter with a strange man, the group readied their weapons. However, Samaira held out a hand to stop them.
"Ahh, put yer weapons down. I'm here to help, ungratefuls." The man mumbled to himself for a bit. "I've waited here for ye to arrive, took ye long enough. I'm Rachit, and I guess I'm s'posed to help ye defeat Ravana. Let's do this quick, ma back aches and I'm hungry." The man hobbled past them in the direction of the center of the island. The heroes looked at him in shock. Out of the ragtag group they'd formed, this was the most surprising addition.
But there was no time to dwell on it, as the island began to quake. Ravana knew they were here.
The heroes could see snakes slithering out from every direction, and two giant forms were lumbering in the distance. Viswamithra turned to the four warriors.
"The snakes are Indrajit's doing, so do not discount them. They can put you to sleep with one bite. As for the figures, they are Ravana and his brother, Kumbakarna. I believe you are all ready for the battle ahead, and so this is where I take my leave." He smiled at them and touched their hands, and then stepped back into Vishnu's boat. It immediately began to float back across the sea.
The warriors turned back to the island and began to fight their way to the center. Kyra sliced with her sword, Samaira used her eagle, Rachit whacked them with his cane, and Neerav used a spear that Kyra helped him make. The heroes made quick work of the snakes, and finally reached the middle of the island. Ravana and Kumbakarna towered above them, grinning. The true fight began.
Ravana sent forth more snakes, a spell of complete darkness, his brother, and a flaming trident to try and defeat the mortal warriors. Luckily, the gods were watching, and gave each warrior incantations in order to stop the onslaught. The heroes pierced at Ravana with their weapons, but they were almost useless against his armor.
Neerav stayed back and surveyed the situation. He knew there had to be something they could do to defeat him......
There!
The warriors had been attacking with all their might at Ravana's head, but Neerav realized that his heart was nearly three times as protected as the rest of his body. That must be his weak spot!
Neerav called to the group, and they retreated into the surrounding forest. Neerav explained his plan to the group, and they nodded in agreement.
When they returned, they each took their places. Kyra headed straight for Kumbakarna and began to climb him, Samaira hopped onto her eagle and took to the sky, and Rachit gathered up all of the snakes to use them as leverage. One by one from the air, the heroes shot forth with their weapons in full force, knocking the armor from Ravana's heart. His chest was exposed. Neerav ran towards Ravana's chest, jumping from atop a rock. The other three blocked any attacks aimed at Neerav. As he flew through the air, he realized he wasn't going to make the leap. He began to fall.
But the gods were not about to let him lose. The golden chariot of Vishnu appeared beneath Neerav and carried him back up and forward, propelling him and his spear straight into Ravana's heart.
The moment it struck, Ravana began to crumble, and the villains of the island crumbled with him. The light appeared back in the sky, and the chariot lowered Neerav back to the ground. The warriors were shocked. Was this it? Was it over? A cheer erupted from the gods, letting them know that it was. Rachit hobbled towards the chariot, mumbling something about taking a long nap when he got home. Samaira clambered back onto her eagle, said goodbye, and flew away.
Could they go back to their normal lives so quickly? It all seemed so abrupt to Neerav, but perhaps that was best. He turned his gaze to Kyra, who looked back at him and smiled.
Yes. Perhaps that was best.
Image Information: Hatake Kakashi Eye Details by Gejsi on Pinterest
Author's Note: This story ended up being a bit long, but I'm hoping the story was interesting enough! I changed quite a bit in retrospect, but each action took inspiration from the original. Garudo the eagle is what Samaira uses to fight, and the snakes and Kumbakarna are all present. The original is much longer, as it goes into detail about the defeat of Kumbakarna and the snakes, and involves more than just four warriors fighting. Rama does notice that Ravana's heart is where he must attack, and sends a surge of power into him (given by the gods). He also uses a chariot to carry him through the air and attack, so I definitely wanted to include it at the end, although it plays a much smaller part. I wanted to keep the fact that Ravana was covered in armor, as it played into my ending very well that way. My version was a physical parallel to how Rama cut away all of the negative emotions of Ravana as he died. I also wanted to add a slight element of romance, as Sita played a VERY important role in the original. I will admit, it is only a slight implication, but I didn't want the romance to be a focal point.
Rachit's name means "invention," and I chose his name because his character is a completely invention of mine when I was first thinking up the story. The other characters were inspired by already existing characters. I also thought it sounded really cool.
Kyra's name can be derived either from khur meaning "sun" or kyrios meaning "lord." I thought both sounded just about right for a fiery girl with a regal demeanor about her.
Bibliography. "Ramayana" by R.K. Narayan. Source: Ramayana