a/n: content warnings: death scene in the last few paragraphs

In everyone's eyes, he was the embodiment of charm. His black curls rested on his forehead gracefully and often swayed with the playful breeze. Perfectly shaped eyebrows rested above his doe eyes that frequently sparkled with mischief. His soft, rose-pink lips were forever carved in a delicate smile. On his wrists hung gold bracelets that matched perfectly with his tan skin and lotus-shaped hands.

To add to his charm, he was also a master player of the flute. Since he had been introduced to it at a young age, he carried it around with him, often whipping it out to carve new patterns with it, or play a serene melody.

His music attracted crowds of people who ran behind him to fulfil their hearts with his haunting tunes. In fact, his melodies were so powerful that even animals flocked around him, mingling among the humans to enjoy the music. Peacocks danced in his wake, and monkeys swung on trees above him whenever he sat down under a large tree to entertain everyone.

His words? Eloquent, beautiful.

His tone? Soft-spoken, heart-warming.

His mannerisms? You'd fall in love within the blink of an eye.

Such was the grace of Krishna, enchanter of hearts, soother of souls, the supreme lover, swayer of mind and body to his divine tune.

'Krishna, I see you're playing the flute again,' Mother called from the kitchen. 'You didn't even say hi to me when you came in. How did your exam go?'

Krishna laughed as he stood up, dusting himself. The crowd groaned at the loss of music. 'Sorry, everyone, you'll have to go home now. I have to tell mother how the exam went, then she'll fatten me up with loads of butter and milk. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to play for all of you later today.'

Grumbling, the crowd slowly picked themselves up and stretched languidly, before thanking him and heading back to their respective homes. Krishna ran home as well, immediately dashing into the kitchen where he was met with the smell of mouth-watering food. He hugged his mother from behind, peeked over her shoulder, and quickly spooned in a little bit of the kheer she was making.

'Krishna!' His mother scolded, lightly slapping the offending hand. 'How many times have I told you not to do that? You'll burn your tongue!'

Krishna withdrew his hand, face still contorted from the piping hot kheer. Mother laughed and hugged him.

'I missed you, Krishna,' she said. 'You've been away for so long now. Stay here with me, at least until the results come out and you have to move again.'

Krishna laughed. 'Yes ma, I'll be here for you to feed and pamper to your heart's content.'

He quickly reached out to steal another spoonful of kheer and ran away before she could reprimand him again. Shaking her head, she turned to the stove and tended to the food.

'Soldiers! Attention!' An army trainer ordered loudly. The sound of boots stamping the ground in perfect unison ran through the ground. The trainer surveyed everyone with hawk eyes, making sure they were standing correctly, before continuing.

'Now, as you all know, you've been chosen out of the lakhs of candidates for this year's batch. Train hard, do well, and you can reach high places. Slack in your efforts, and the results will not be pretty. Is that understood?'

'Yes sir!'

'Is that understood?'

'Yes sir!'

'Louder!'

'YES SIR!'

The trainer nodded before getting them started on the drills.

Hour after hour passed as he relentlessly pushed the boys to see how far they could go before they broke. Finally, when the darkness had begun spreading like a blanket, he dismissed them to their barracks.

The batch was quite good. Many of them were sharp, and their endurance and stamina were top-notch. The trainer finally allowed himself a smile in the dark. He was going to have a good time training this batch.

And he did.

He would wake them up at the crack of dawn, mercilessly shaking them if they grumbled. Then came the morning jog, where they covered kilometers in one stretch. The rest of the day was spent either on tactics, combat training, drills, or army rules. The boys were only allowed small breaks in between and had almost no free time till they were dismissed for the day.

Krishna loved it there. He had worked hard since childhood to make it to where he was, bypassing lakhs of contestants. Even though he had gotten in, his efforts and dedication hadn't dimmed. He worked relentlessly day and night, barely taking the allotted breaks to spend them freely. He was either up studying, doing physical training, or volunteering in various odd jobs so he could understand every nuance of the military. His friends would often invite him to spend his day off with them, but he would decline, choosing to spend his time attending seminars and talking to senior officials about their job.

Like this, the training years passed, until it was time for them to complete their training and be allotted their roles in the field.

'All of you have really done me proud these past few years. I'm pleased to say that you're one of the best batches I've ever had the honor to train. I hope to see you all do well and reach high when you're out there. Now, without further ado, let's list down our best performers. The first place goes to Krishna Yadav.'

There was a polite smattering of applause. No one was surprised in the slightest, or too disappointed. Anyone could see that he earned the title fully. Krishna was called on stage and congratulated. He was glowing with pride that day. He'd gotten the very role he'd aspired for so long now. It was only a matter of time before he would go even further up and up.

He grinned at his mother before bowing and accepting his epaulet. He parroted his pledge and solemnly swore to fulfill his oaths no matter what the cost might be.

'Sir! The left flank has been breached! Reinforcements are in a short supply as well. What do we do?'

Krishna narrowed his eyes at the map laid out in front of him. He moved figures of soldiers around, muttering to himself and shaking his head occasionally. It didn't even seem like he'd heard the panicked soldier. Just when the soldier was about to repeat his words, he looked up, an idea gleaming in his eyes. He leaned in and all the officers huddled around him to hear his plan.

'The Pakistanis have occupied these ranges right?' He asked, pointing to the series of mountains they'd failed to protect. Everyone nodded. 'And our soldiers have still captured fort here, here, and here.'

Everyone nodded again. 'Very well. I'll be leading the attack force to recapture this mountain. At the same time, another force led by General Kabir will move parallel to us here.'

The other officials nodded with a loud yes sir and a salute. Krishna walked out of the tent to brief his team about the mission. Both teams scaled the mountain ranges assigned to them and successfully took out the invading forces, with Krishna sustaining a few minor injuries.

He was later hailed as a hero, a brilliant tactician, and a brave soldier.

'Come on, come on! Don't lose hope men, fire at them with all your might!' Krishna yelled, cheering his troops on and motivating them. The army that had been advancing rapidly began retreating, as the Indian army fought with renewed hope instilled in them by the charming Krishna.

The enemy moved back to a safe distance and Krishna ordered a ceasefire. He had seen something amiss, and he wasn't the only one. There were some unexplainable flashes of color from the enemy front. He ordered for his binoculars to see clearly. Peering through them, he cursed lowly and handed them over to his co-general.

General Kabir inhaled sharply and muttered, 'Those people are truly wicked. They've used our citizens to form a defense line, knowing we won't shoot directly at them. Barbarians.'

Krishna was boiling with rage. How dare they. He felt like throwing himself at the enemy, but the civilians' terrified faces forced him to think logically. 'We must use stealth on our side, General.'

Kabir eyed him suspiciously. 'What do you have in mind, Krishna?'

He sneered at the enemy and whispered the plan to Kabir. He was hesitant about the plan, but something needed to be done, and this wasn't the time for such arguments. Kabir called a few of his men and ordered them to execute the plan.

Once again, Krishna looked through the binoculars and watched as his soldiers dressed as the enemy and silently slipped into the enemy ranks. Being highly trained, they were able to easily blend in.

They quietly stood behind the soldiers that were holding the civilians upright and, one by one slaughtered their enemies. A whole chain of soldiers went down, as the Indian soldiers ran forward to protect the civilians from the backlash. Since many of them had managed to camouflage themselves, the soldiers were able to escort the civilians to safety.

As soon as they were out of the way, and the enemy was still confused and disoriented, Krishna let his men loose and they went wild, boiling with anger at the sight of innocents propped mercilessly as human shields.

Krishna was an absolute beast, roaring with rage as he fought with an assortment of weapons, switching from one to another effortlessly. In the middle of it all, he was taking on three soldiers at once when he heard a feminine voice cry out from behind him. Stunned, he turned around to see a young woman fall to her knees, a blade piercing her stomach.

She had taken it for him, he realized. Krishna saw red as he screamed, pulled out his gun and started shooting at everyone who tried to come close to them. When his soldiers finally got the message and left him alone, he ran to the dying woman.

'Why? Why did you run into the middle of a battlefield? Didn't you know you could've been killed?' He sobbed.

Her eyes fluttered weakly. 'My.. my son. I saw – I couldn't see him anywhere. When I...I tried to search for him, I saw that you were about to... to be stabbed. I warned you but you didn't hear me. So I did the only thing I could.'

Krishna held her tightly as he pulled out all the painkillers he had with him and gave them to her.

She was beyond saving, but at least she wouldn't be in too much pain when she died. He pulled out the flute he always carried with him and played a soft melody. Her lips were adorned with a smile as her breathing ceased and her grip on his hand loosened. Krishna gently laid her down and got up.

The war wasn't over yet, and he intended to win it. Grief temporarily choking him, he called out orders for a more united attack and his team hastened to obey.

They were going to win this, no matter what.

'Mama! Mama!' A small boy piteously cried out, bawling loudly. They had won the war again but had borne severe casualties. While a majority of them had been soldiers, the only civilian casualty was the young woman, whose name Krishna later discovered was Radha.

He had personally hunted out the now orphaned boy, taking him under his wing. Sudama, as he introduced himself, had been living with his single mother for as long as he could remember. His father had left them long ago, turning them into immigrants, wandering from place to place in search of food and shelter. They'd been captured by the Pakistanis on the border and had been turned into human shields.

The poor boy was traumatized by the events and kept crying for his mother at night. Krishna had brought him home and left him in his own mother's care, but the boy refused to go to bed at night and continuously cried for his mother.

So one day, Krishna tucked him in bed and pulled out his beautiful flute. Sudama quietened as soon as the flute was brought out, fascinated by the delicate instrument. Krishna placed the flute to his rosebud lips, closed his eyes, and played a soothing piece.

Sudama was smitten with the flute and by the end of it, begged Krishna to teach him as well. Krishna smiled and pulled out a new flute he'd bought specifically for Sudama.

'I bought this for you,' he said. 'I'll help you play every night before you sleep. Is that a deal?'

Krishna held out his pinkie, and Sudama grinned, clutching the flute as he intertwined his pinkie with the awaiting one.

'Deal.'

A/n: Taddaaaa!!!!! The new part of a hopefully very long book released. Honestly, I had no idea where I would go with this, and even after completing it, I still have no idea where I've gone with it.

But I think it's good, and hopefully, you do too. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Stay tuned for more! 

And in case you were wondering, the first war that I wrote about really happened, it's called the Kargil war. It was fought between India and Pakistan in 1965 concerning certain areas of Kashmir because Pakistan occupied portions of Kashmiri territory, which was a part of India. (No hate, please. I'm just stating facts.)

The second war happens after the first one and is purely a figment of my imagination. Though India and Pakistan did fight more wars, this one had nothing to do with them.

And as for inspiration, I recently finished Shershaah and was deeply inspired to write about the Indian Armed Forces. I have a deep respect and admiration for them, having grown up on tales and movies of their bravery, and wanted to give my own tribute to them.

I can't say this enough, but thanks for reading!!