CHAPTER 4 - My Great-Grandmother is an S-class...

RUDRA POV

My wish was granted, and little too soon at that. Barely an hour had passed after the revelation of out family history while still immersed in my daydreaming I followed my Grandma who led the way when I heard sounds of fighting, and after a few minutes of walking in the direction where the sounds came from we arrived at a large clearing in the forest which appeared to be inhabitated; arriving there I looked for the source of the sounds and was shocked by what I saw.

In front of me were seven well-built teenagers whose age I would assume to be 16-18 years old, they were fighting a old woman who looked somewhat older than my granmother she looked somewhat over 50, oh and my grandmother despite nearing sixty looks just over 40; now where was I? oh yeah those boys who were fighting the grandma, they were being pummeled to the ground; over and over again.

Believe me, I don't think they were bad at fighting. In fact, I think any of them could beat two or three of me, but that old lady was the amazing one. She was moving like her age spots were power sources boosting her.

I winced in pain when I saw her uppercut one of them in the jaw with her Dhaal(shield) and then slap kick him in the cheeks all the while deflecting two talwars attacking her with her own.

That old lady was like a goddess of war if someone like her comes at me I don't think I will even try to put up a fight, 'not like I could put up a fight even if I tried', their combat drill ended when all seven guys were down once again this time for good.

Dismissing the boys the old lady turned toward us looked at my mother and spoke,

"Shanti, what wind brought you here today?"

"What? Can't I just come to see you 'maa(mother)'?" replied my grandma making my brains shot-circuit for a moment.

'Huh! Maa means mother,

mother+grandmother = great-grandmother

Great-grandomther = dead

Old lady ≠ dead

L.H.S. ≠ R.H.S.

Something's wrong here!!!' ( ◐ o ◑ )

"Let it be, who's the boy?" asked the old lady as she looked at the little-old-me who stood there questioning reality.

"Your great-grandson."(Grandma)

'Great–grandson, her's? She's really Great-Grandma!! How old is she!?' ∑(; °Д°)

"Rakesh's son? How is he doing?" asked GG(Great-Grandma) as she put the talwar and the dhaal back on weapon stand

"He and his wife passed away four years ago," Grandma said as her words made the movements of the old lady pause for a bit before she turned towards Grandma.

"I see and why did you not inform me?" asked the Old Lady as she looked at my Grandma as I could feel the air become heavy, like the something intangible was pressing the very environment around us. I could feel my breathing become difficult as if a stone was pressed on my chest, it like the air became solid as my lungs struggled to take a breath.

"Stop it, mother!!" shouted Grandma; and is if her words had broken a spell the suffocating feeling disappeared like it was an illusion, naught but a trick of the mind.

Great-Grandma took a breath and heaved a sigh, her straight back hunching a little as she spoke,

"I apologise for losing my composure but you should have told me. How did they die?"

"The police said he was hit by a stray bullet fired by thugs during a fight between gangs," Grandma said. 

"That turtle, I knew that slowness of his would get him killed someday!" said GG as she cursed under her breath yet my Grandma remained silent, perhaps sensing something my Great-Grandma looked at me and then back at my Grandma and nodded her head which appeared to be some kind of saignal as my Grandma told me to wait there as the entered a room beside the clearing.

SHANTI POV

Seeing my mother cursing her grandson and looking at me with a thoughtful expression, I gave her a signal to talk alone to which she nodded her head as she gestured towards a room.

Knowing that I could delay no longer I asked Rudra to wait on the spot as I followd her in, she stood by the door which she closed as soon as I entered and the ONLY WORD she uttered was

"TALK"

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"Everything because I am not believing that stray bullet lie," said my mother as she kept her gaze focused on me, it still amazes me how she see through things and have such presence depite being over a hundred years old.

'Maybe it's the experience?' I thought to myself yet I couldn't help but question her

"How did you know it was a lie? You know with your grandson's pathetic reaction speed it's an entirely plausible scenario to die by a stray bullet and drag his wife along."

"It is precisely because I know him that I understand it's a lie, you forget my daughter that it was I who trained him and it was also me that deemed him unfit for combat arts but that did not mean I taught him nothing, I taught him how to survive by avoiding being anywhere dangerous andplanning ahead. And despite his lack of physical prowess and careless anture my Grandson was quite smart.

While it pains me to admit that him dying from a stray bullet was an entirely plausible scenario, the chance of that happening with his wife nearby is impossible. He could die from a stray bullet alone but with his wife nearby he will never allow such a risk. So TALK." said my mother asshe explained her reasoning and as much as I hate to admin in such matters she understood Rakesh's capabilities better than me.

"I investigated the crime scene, the bullet wounds, the bullet marks and the signs of a gang-war everything matched what the police said." I stated as I took abreath and organised my thoughts.

"But?" prodded my mother.

"My son died a street away from the place the gang-war took place and the scene of the fight shows signs of intense gunfire, in such a fight and a closed off area how many casualties do you think the gang-war would've had?" I asked my mother.

Taking a moment she seemed to emulate the scene in her head as she spoke "dozens?"

"Right? I thought so too but when I snuckin and checked the police records the total number of dead people was five and two of them were from our family, there was no Gang-name and the number of people hospitalised was seven with light injuries and only two of them being bullet wounds. Does that make sense!?" I asked as I vented my frustration at the powerlessness of the situation.

"And you did nothing?!" asked my mother as she flared.

"I couldn't. I didn't have the connections, the criminals meticulously erased their tracks and I feared Rudra might be targetted so I had to protect him. You have seen his kundli(life char) too, right?" I asked mother to confirm if my interpretetaions were correct, my words seemed to have silenced her objections as I felt her raging emotions calm down slowly.

"Yes, but I've never seen anything like it. I wonder what's gonna happen to our world for a fate like this to be written." said my mother as she sighed and looked away putting aside the matter of Rakesh's death.