Ajay ran through the thickets deep into the wilderness away from Banapur.

"Soren, where should we go?!" Bhadra turned to Ajay for comfort in leading the way. Ajay just held her small hands firmly as he cleared through the forest with determination to take Bhadra to safety.

So why was Ajay escaping with Bhadra in hand? Ajay had severely underestimated Sabal's redefined determination, he wouldn't just wallop in sorrow after experiencing a constant defeat, he'd go at it till he won and that was precisely what he was doing now. Sabal was taking full control over the Golden Path with the help of a platoon of US spec-ops troopers that Willis requisitioned. That meant usurping control even from Amita, the first place he ordered his men to go looking was Amita's house where Bhadra was located in order to take custody of her.

"Over here! I've found them!"

"Hey, stop right there!"

"Traitor!"

On their tail were the fighters Sabal sent to collect Bhadra but Ajay had got to her first. One thing led to another with him taking the easier route by killing eight of the twenty guys sent to get her.

-How could one foreign asshole cause so much trouble!?-


That same morning-

On his way out of the barracks he noticed everyone whispering to one another.

"Dude, I think somethings up!" Hurk came over to report. Even he was aware that something was happening.

"Hey brother, mind filling us in?" Hurk came over to have a friendly chat with the usual group that kept the rumor mill spinning.

"Hurk. Not good I'm afraid, brother! It appears that American Spy Sabal invited has brought over company from his country." The gossiping fighter told him.

Ajay's eyes widened, he didn't want to believe Willis was actually capable of calling in outside forces. Why did he rely on Ajay the last time then? Was it to reduce liability onto him and the CIA or were things getting so desperate he requisitioned the US military's spec-ops to help him out?

-What type of soldiers were they?- Ajay showed his message to the fighter.

"I dunno brother…. Oh!- Wait! Byas! Didn't you receive a picture of them from Abiral?" The fighter called out to his friend who came over while scrolling through his phone.

"Here!" That friend passed his phone over to Ajay.

The smartphone could capture a high-definition picture of Willis and Sabal conversing angrily with the Golden Path fighters on one end and the spec-ops soldiers on the other. Ajay zoomed in on the emblem of one of the soldiers.

The emblem was a black spade facing upright. With the Latin words 'Semper Fidelis' initialed below its circumference. There was only one branch in the US military that had it.

-SOCOM marines, Willis has really done it now!- Ajay couldn't help but frown at the rapid change of events

"You know who they are?" The fighter asked as he seem to show some figure of understanding upon looking at the picture. Ajay typed out his thoughts for the fighter and Hurk.

"Damn! That's some real serious black-ops shit right there!" Hurk declares in his usual bombastic way but with a hint of fear, this was after all having a slight probability of contending against 'merica's finest.

Ajay tapped Hurk on the back and presented him his text.

-I have a bad feeling somethings happening. Be prepared to leave tonight, we're returning.- Ajay had gone through with him some contingency escape plans while incognito and expected him to follow through with it.

Hurk nodded understanding what Ajay was conveying and went about doing what was necessary. Through the three weeks with Ajay, Hurk had matured considerable. Ajay had taught him to fight on his own and even given him lessons on CQC which Ajay remained unchallenged within Kyrat. Hurk himself was aware of how far he'd lost touch with his own life, but it couldn't be helped. Ajay learnt from his past one day over a few glasses of beer, Hurk had been subjected to a lifetime of unfairness in life. Hurk was the way he was because it helped him forget the pain of loneliness, so Ajay found they had more in common than most. Which was why Hurk was still a better friend even in his past life. They did what they did in order to find their place in the world and others to accept them for who they were. Except Ajay never got to live to see that day, he didn't know what became of Hurk then after leaving.

"Morning, Soren. Are you well and rested?" Kamala came to pick him up for their daily missions.

-I am, thanks for asking.-

"No worries, we'll be doing an assassination mission today. Off the tea factory, there's been a contract for a hit on a Royal Army sniper that's been killing men, women and children along a roadblock. It's time to end his miserable life!"

Even in the Royal Army, there were a few evil and sick people that needed to be wiped from the face of the earth. Ajay had no qualms with clearing the ranks in the Royal Army through the Golden Path. When he got back he'll begin enforcing heavily on military justice within the Royal Army and whatever became of the Royal Guards, which he learnt had been broken up into smaller groups. Punishments would be done by a certain mistress in Durgesh Prison.

Ajay nodded and followed her.

"Where's Hurk?" Kamala asked.

-He won't be joining us today, he's running some errands for me. I'll cover for him, don't worry.-

"Ditching work on you again? And just when I thought he was cleaning up that act." Kamala sighed.

-No, I'm being serious this time. He's helping me.-

"Oh- Oh! Alright, let's head off shall we. Then we can be back before sunset!" Kamala told him in her usual cheerful mood.

Ajay travelled off with Kamala and her usual crew, completely unaware and unprepared for what was about to transpire in the Golden Path and in Banapur.


Sabal arrived at the staging area of the attack of Varshakot stronghold where he met with Solomon, Willis and his new plus twenty. Gathered with him were over three hundred seasoned warriors of the Golden Path he had called in from the reserve.

"Willis, what is the meaning of this?" Sabal asked for an explanation in an intimidating tone.

Willis certainly knew what he was talking about, because him and Mohan had told him the same thing before. So he had crossed the line by bringing in the soldiers.

Captain Goh and the marines were taken a little aback by Sabal's appearance.

"Damn, who's the comical villain?" One of the marines couldn't help but whisper to his Officer.

(Baam)

Sabal had heard it and drew his 1911 without warning and gunned down the marine who mocked him mercilessly. The marine lay dead from next to his Captain whom was too shocked to comprehend the turn of events.

"Sunnovabitch!" The marines aimed their guns at the ready pointed at Sabal and the Golden Path warriors aimed theirs at the marines. They entered a standoff with no one pulling the trigger yet.

"Give the word, Sir! And I'll drop him!" Perkins shouted angrily.

"That won't be happening sergeant." Willis stepped between them and lowered Perkins rifle as he walked up to Sabal.

"But-."

"Perkins, shut up! All of you, lower your weapons! That's an order!" Captain Goh commanded, as the marines obediently lowered them, albeit reluctantly.

"You've set a pretty poor first impression on my homies, Sabal!" Willis said smirking, disinterested in the actual welfare of his expendable assets.

"That's the whole point, you were told not to bring in external elements which I had told you time and time again! That dead one was a reminder to all of you, that is how you'll eventually end up if you interfere with the work of my forces. You can die here and no one will ever remember you, because your country will deny liability towards you! So take a moment to think about your loved ones, what kind of humiliation they would have to go through when the news of you renegading against your country!" Sabal told the marines with a cruel grin. His words were like a sharp knife because they could imagine that happening and it was worse than death.

"With all due respect, sir. We will be sure to carry out our mission without interfering, you have my word!" Captain Goh said with respect towards Sabal with all the rational composure he could muster, he was silently gritting his teeth due to the manslaughter of his man by Sabal by the latter was right. Their presence was not supposed to be known in Kyrat.

How could he and his men fall so deep into this CIA maniac's game of power. He had contacted the Director on the situation and Lynch's answer was…

"Oh! Trying to finish were he started, eh? Well in that case give him what he wants, your mission still stands so don't get wise or I'll send in another team to do you job!" Giving Willis command of them in an instant, just as Willis had foreseen. In the end, all the CIA executives truly cared about were their careers. Sending good loyal men to their deaths, just to satisfy their lust for power.

But David had no choice, if he returned without Willis to Russia or state side he'll be instantly marked as a traitor, him and his men. The marines looked to him eager for words of comfort when they were enlightened on the situation they fell into. Despite his reluctance, he couldn't give his dear men any answer. There was only one route for them, assist Willis in his request and take him to Russia where he should have gone and hope they all make it out alive. Except they had taken their first casualty and it wasn't to enemy fire. Sabal was the head of the Golden Path which Willis was trying to get to usurp the local dictator's power. His personality was less than desirable but to Willis he was what weakened the country's integrity in the first place. It was almost like Panama, David wondered if his predecessors went through the same kind of dilemma.

"Right, now that we've gone through the unfriendly formalities, pardon my French! Let's talk about what they can do for you!" Willis treated the death of the marine as if it was Sabal squashing a bug under his boot which aggravated the marines but what could they do.

"Now that you mention it, I'd like them to do a few things for me. I wanna see what the American special forces are truly capable of!"

"I've already plan for them to kill Badala soon, but I heard you've been having problems with Amita again." Sabal grinned maliciously at Willis's suggestion.

"Yes. Yes I have…. I think it's time to erase that problem permanently!"


Ajay and his patrol unit had returned from the assassination mission to Banapur. It had taken longer than expected because the sniper was on the run and they had to search for him. They eventually tracked him to an outpost where he tried to hide from them. Unfortunately, they got to him first before he entered the outpost where he could have sought protection from the outpost guards. Ajay took his signet ring as evidence for the kill and gave it to Kamala to collect the reward, which she did.

The family which posted the request thanked her fervently but she passed it as just doing their job. Ajay could see that Kamala really meant it, it was also her simple actions that taught him humility and righteousness.

His burning anger and hatred quenched considerably from when he entered this timeline on several occasions. He wasn't thinking of just causing hurt for Sabal and Amita any longer. Maya, Bhadra and Kamala, were all partly responsible for this change in his attitude. Maya taught him that despite his grievous mistakes of the past he should always fight on regardless and learn to depend more on others. Bhadra taught him to treasure his existence more, he wasn't just a mindless killing machine, he was capable of bringing joy to another person's life. Kamala taught him that despite all the shitty people that were around there were also good honest folks who genuinely wanted to make a difference.

All of these aspects gave Ajay the rational thought he needed to carry out his plan to destroy the Golden Path on their own while still save as many people on the South who might have been dragged into the conflict. The people in and under the Golden Path territories were still Kyrati citizens, the kingdom's people which the Royal Army was still sworn to protect. It meant that just because they were near the Golden Path didn't mean they supported the Golden Path's actions.

Ajay had come across dozens of opportunities to kill Sabal and Amita, that's how lax the were within Banapur. But he refrained because if they weren't balancing each other out, the Golden Path would rip itself inside out. Then there was Willis, who would no doubt step in and manipulate whatever weak remnant leadership of the Golden Path was left and justify US intervention in Kyrat. Ajay knew better than to go up against the world's most powerful military force, whatever ulterior motives they had. Kyrat was abundant in all sorts of precious stones and minerals, that was exactly what Willis was trying to get at for the United States and its voracious economy. Pagan's illegitimate rule was only further justifying the need for American involvement. The only way for the Royal Army to win is to find Willis and kill him while destroying the Golden Path at the same time. That way, when the war is won and there is an outcry for US involvement, the US congress will quickly deny it. Then they would try to pull out all assets involved in Kyrat.

Another critical part in this battle was Ajay's coronation ceremony in the latter stage. Because he was the son of Tarun Matara and of Mohan Ghale the founder of the Golden Path, these two facts made him the most qualified to rule over Kyrat. The death of the final bloodline of the Kyrati monarchy meant the state was to be handled by Tarun Matara, Ishwari Ghale. Ajay's status as Mohan's son taking the throne would prevent the Golden Path from moving any further. There was a large majority of old guard still loyal to Mohan and to have his son take power was the dream they always wanted.

The reason he delayed the coronation to fight with the Golden Path was because if he went straight to becoming a king, many would think Pagan was manipulating him from behind and that would give the Golden Path enough excuse to war against the Royal Army. But the months of involvement in this civil war as Badala would prove he wasn't under his control. He also needed the support of the people during his ascension which was why he worked at improving the lives of the Kyratis' as a simple person, until Pagan made him a vice-lord.

"EUhhhghh… finally it's over!" Kamala stretched her limbs as they alighted from the back of the truck in Banapur in the evening.

"(Sigh)…. Maybe I can treat you to that dinner like I promised."

Kamala reminded him, she seemed adamant about having him tag along for a meal or drink. Ajay found her a little over-friendly at times, not that it was a flaw in her character. He just nodded his head to agree with her and she led him to a popular local eatery that sold barbequed pork on rice.

"Thanks!" Ajay handed her portion after collecting their food and placed it in front of her at a quiet corner of the restaurant.

Kamala dug into the hearty meal after saying a prayer, Ajay patiently waited for her before eating out of respect even if he didn't pray to one.

Ajay had often pass but never eaten in the restaurant in his past life, and really regretted it because it had decent food and a rare ambience in the form of mountainous scenery.

-Thanks for the meal, Kamala.- He wrote.

"No worries! You deserve it, I'm sorry we haven't been having much fortune in the way of rewards but I'll do my best to ensure you have a competent commander!" She declared with a thump on her chest. Ajay chuckled at her tomboyish ways, making her pout at his mockery of her.

-Kamala, I have something I would like to tell you.-

"Mmmm?.. What is it?" She asked with her mouth full from eating.

-I'm leaving.-

Kamala choked on her food as she saw the message, Ajay passed her a cup which she took and drank to clear her windpipe. Then she grabbed his hand to steady his hand to read the phone message.

Kamala's expression crumbled as she confirmed the text and fell back in her chair.

"Why… Is there something that displeases you working with me?!" Ajay shook his head. Kamala immediately reached over and clasped his hands afraid he would leave the next minute.

"Soren. Please tell me why you're thinking of leaving!?" Ajay's expression held composure as he typed it out to her.

-This has nothing to do with you leadership quality. By far, I still think you have more qualification to lead the Golden Path than Fryface and the Ultra-feminist.-

Kamala snickered a little, forgetting the original reason she asked him.

-My time here is up.-

"Time? Don't tell me… you're dying!- Ouch!" Ajay hit her on the head for thinking that.

-I haven't been truthful to you this entire time, in fact my very existence is a lie.-

"Huh?... No! It doesn't matter! As long as you're around, I don't mind!" She was wearing a pleading face to him as he looked straight at her.

-Please don't do that.- Ajay said to himself.

Ajay wrote a final message to her.

-I've enjoyed our time together, Kamala. But I have a mission to accomplish, I hope I'll be able to see you again after this civil war. And not during it. Farewell.-

"S-Soren?... Wait-…"

Ajay got up from his seat and walked off leaving her in the restaurant alone. Kamala neither chased after him nor called out to him again. Instead, she was left in tears from the loss of someone dear to her.


Departing from the restaurant left Ajay with an ugly emotion, disgusted at himself for hurting Kamala but he had no choice. He prayed in his heart he wouldn't encounter her again when he returned as Badala or for her to throw her life away in some ridiculous assault.

A message pinged on his screen.

*Packed and ready! Waiting by the buzzer.* Hurk had already prepared his things and said his goodbyes before heading to the evac point with a hidden buzzer they parked in a cave not far from their position in Banapur but by the lake.

*Good, I'll be their shortly. Just want to ask someone something first.*

Ajay texted as he returned to his bunk to collect his things, the person he was referring to was Bhadra. While not being too optimistic about bringing her to a better environment he did have hope, he could take her to a place where she could explore her inner self and make her own decisions. He'd be there to support her the entire way, it's all he ever wanted to do for a dear friend.

Ajay threw his things onto his backpack as he headed in the direction of Amita's house.

(BANG) (BABABABABANG) The sound of machine gun rippled in the air followed by shouts and screams from the terrified villagers.

-Did the Royal Army attack again!?-

There was no sense in attacking Banapur, neither did he receive any pre-emptive info that there was an impending attack.

-Bhadra!-

Ajay ran up the steps towards the small house where Bhadra was, Amita wasn't around at this time as she was at The Tea Factory sorting out her usual shipments of drugs to the medical centres around Pacchim Valley.

"AAHHHH! Help!"

"Stop struggling! We won't hurt you, we're just sent here to collect you for Sabal that's all!"

"NOOO!"

The house came into view and Ajay saw bodies of Amita's hidden guards lying dead around the street, up where the house was, a group of men were dragging Bhadra out of the house.

Bhadra saw Ajay below and called to him with pleading eyes. "Soren, HELP!"

Ajay stumbled for a moment as her calls awoke some distant and guilt-ridden memory in his sub-consciousness. The day he let Sabal crown her Tarun Matara, she too begged Ajay to help her. Back then, he thought although she didn't want it now she would come to understand the importance of her job in saving lives. But he was wrong. He noticed too late Sabal's true colours and was sure she fell into his grasps because he let her.

Ajay's body was filled with anger and hatred packed to the brim ready to explode. He knew what he had to do this time. Pulling his kukri out from its scabbard and rushing towards the ten-odd men.

He roared with a fury to overcome all of his past sins and carve the future as his own.

"NEVER AGAIN!"


A red haze that clouded Ajay's vision faded restoring his sight to what was in front of him, bodies lay rupturing with blood flowing down the steps with equal amount splashed across the walls. Ajay took account for his previous actions. He had seen Bhadra being taken against her will after Sabal's men tried to take her, he stepped in with knife in hand and they didn't take kindly to his aggressive action.

Guns were blazing at him as he jumped to the safety of a wall while throwing his knife and impaling a fighter in the head. A fighter informed them of who Ajay was and they continued to pepper his location to suppress him from coming out to attack them, Ajay threw a smoke grenade at them which separated their eye contact from one another. He converged inwards and stole a knife from one of the fighters and started to butcher them. When the smoke cleared, there were bodies littering the street in blood and gore. Bhadra was stumped at the door shivering at Ajay's handiwork. He found it difficult to approach Bhadra as he realized what he had done in front of her, reluctantly turning around to make his way towards the evac point.

"S-Soren! Wait!" Bhadra caught up to Ajay and slammed into him with her hands around his waist.

"I'm sorry!... It's my fault!- (Hic) Because I called for help-…they!-…" The girl began to cry. Ajay had misread her emotions. She wasn't afraid of Ajay but felt responsible for the deaths of those men even if they killed her caretakers and tried to kidnap her.

Ajay silently consoled her with a hug as she cried against his shoulder. After a brief while when she had stopped crying, Ajay separated her from him and held up his smartphone.

-I intended to leave Banapur today, and was heading to your home to ask you. Would you like to follow me out of this place?-

Bhadra gasped at the message, as she didn't know how to take it, Ajay held out a hand.

"Will you let me give you the means to find your own happiness?" As Ajay spoke his first words to her, Bhadra's eyes widened with shock and blushed bright red as she found his voice to be so gentle towards her.

"I-…..I-…..I will!" She reached out and grabbed Ajay's hand. And for the first time in her life, Bhadra had made her own decision.


Returning to the present, Ajay and Bhadra ran through the forest with Sabal's men hot on their heels.

"There they are! Stop right there!" The commanding voice only made them double their steps. Bhadra made a miscalculation on her steps because of the darkness of the road ahead.

"Oww!" Bhadra tripped and Ajay quickly came over to her side.

"Ouch!" As she lifted her leg the pain from a sprained ankle was agonizing.

"You've sprained it." Ajay could see they were short on time and reached over and picked her off the ground and carried her instead.

"Bear with me." Ajay said as he ran with her in his arms.

"Uh-U-Um!" Bhadra nodded and held on tightly as Ajay increased his running speed through the thickets and bushes.

Close by in the back, torchlights were shining the surrounding looking for them. Originally there were twenty, now there was an entire search team of fifty. Sabal may have been informed of his groups failure and dispatched more to apprehend him.

Ajay continued to run through the forest at top speed without a thought of looking back, he ran for almost five minutes and slowly the distance between them and the fighters was increasing thanks to the warriors losing breath to Ajay's amazing cardio. But he didn't stop then.

Ajay picked up his smartphone and hit the speed dial.

*Yes?*

"Bring the buzzer to this location!" Ajay tapped on the GPS in his screen.

*They chasing you?! Alright! I'll be there ASAP, E.T.A damn quick!*

"Whatever just hurry! I have an extra passenger too!" Ajay said before putting his phone away.

*Y-You what?! Hey wai-!* Ajay had cut off his sentence as he stashed his phone.

"Was that Hurk?"

"It was, he was with me in this!" Ajay took the time to tell her.

When Ajay reached the evac point which he specified to Hurk on the coordinates on his phone, he stopped and bent down to place Bhadra on the ground.

"….. I don't know if I want this…. But I know if it isn't here I'd certainly fall within Sabal's grasp!" Bhadra contemplated aloud, although she wasn't wrong with that analysis.

"…"

"Where are we going, Soren?" She asked eagerly looking to him for guidance.

"To the last place they'd suspect, to the Uttar Region, Northern Kyrat!" Ajay explained to her. Bhadra couldn't help but leave her mouth wide open. She had talked many times about how she would love to go to the top of the mountains were in the North just to see what it was like and now Ajay was granting that wish. Although in a more desperate situation.

"Don't worry, so long as I'm here they won't lay a hand on you." He assured her.

"Mmm! I trust you, Soren!"

There was a brief moment to serenity between them and the surroundings, the wind had completely cut off.

"Bhadra, I haven't been entirely truthful about myself….."

"Hmm? You mean like you could speak this entire time? That's all right, I fact I like your voice! It's so kind!" She told him honestly, Ajay couldn't help but smile wryly at her simple words.

"That's not all, the truth is my nam-."

"There's the traitor!"

"Get'em!"

Ajay was interrupted by the Golden Path search team as they found him with his back to the ledge of a cliff.

"Stay behind me!" Ajay called out as he raised his rifle.

"Uh!- Yes!" Bhadra positioned herself behind Ajay for cover.

"Hand over the Tarun Matara!" (BAAM) "Urgh!" Ajay gave the man his answer and took aim at the others and started firing focus shots at the torchlights which were giving their position away in the darkness of the forest.

(BAAM) (BAAM) (BAAM) (BAAM)

Ajay fired in single shots at the Golden Path fighters taking out one by one with each precise shot. The Golden Path fighters fired at him indiscriminately forgetting that Bhadra was with him, at the moment their lives mattered more. Ajay maintained his footing on the coverless cliff ledge as he sent a constant stream of lead at the fighters. He reloaded with streamlined efficiency and fired with lethal accuracy, showing them what he could do with an AK at a 150 metres.

"Damnit! Why did it have to be Soren?!" One of the fighters expressed their regret at making Ajay turn against them.

They were all aware of what Ajay was capable of from what Sabal told them but they knew the importance of their mission in retrieving Bhadra to solidify Sabal's control over the Golden Path permanently. Sabal was presently working to make Banapur and the Golden Path main camp his, they could not afford to let him down now.

But going up against Ajay was the one thing they dreaded since his debut and today their nightmare had come true.

For every shot Ajay fired, a comrade fell. Just why in the world did Bhadra mean so much to him?

Ajay dedicated his every ounce into dispatching the warriors to reduce the probability of him getting hit on open ground, he was the only thing between them and Bhadra. So he would do everything to protect her. Bhadra shut her eyes tight with her hands cupped around her ears behind Ajay, doing her best not to scream or faint at the killing that Ajay was doing.

"Hurk! Where the hell are you?!" Ajay cursed under his teeth. The Golden Path warriors were getting smarter as they understood their flashlights were giving them away in the darkness and switched them off, but Ajay was patient enough to wait for the muzzle flash of their rifles to shoot back.

The sound of a propeller blade beating the wind became louder, Ajay didn't need to turn his head to know Hurk was close by.

"Soreennnn! I'm hereeee!" Hurk yelled out.

"Fly past! We'll latch on in-flight!" Ajay ordered him to strafe past them instead of land as it made him the prime target for the warriors below.

"Alright- Ok! I'll make another pass!" Hurk circled around to fly over them again.

Ajay took out his last set of smoke grenades and threw them on the floor to mask their visibility to the Golden Path fighters.

"Their flying out, don't let them get away!" The Golden Path fighter advanced out of cover to quickly reacquire them.

Ajay fired a burst through the smoke and scored a lucky hit on two warriors but made the rest reconsider running blindly through the smoke.

"Soren! We'll give you one last chance, we'll even turn a blind eye to all of this just hand over Bhadra!" The lead fighter tried a last ditch attempt to negotiate with Ajay.

"Soren…" Bhadra became concerned with the situation she put Ajay into and wanted to resolve it by turning herself in.

Ajay reached out and pulled Bhadra towards him, holding her tightly in one arm. "Ah!-" Bhadra was surprised by his action.

"Never!" Ajay responded coldly, he gave his final response causing them to be stunned as the mute spoke to them.

"Soren last chance!" Hurk called out as the buzzer made a last pass.

Ajay drew out his grappling hook and twirled it around and launched it at the hardpoint under the buzzers belly. The buzzer carried Ajay and Bhadra away from the ground into the air before the Golden Path had time to respond.

"Hold your fire! Do you want to hit Bhadra?!" The leading member shouted at the rest.

"But Soren!-."

"We've lost them this time, but there isn't much places to hide in Pacchim Valley. We'll find them eventually." The leader informed them and made his way down the hill back to join the coup d'état in Banapur. But by then, Sabal had already usurped control.

Meanwhile on the buzzer, Ajay was struggling to bring himself and Bhadra who was clinging onto him to the provisional seat of the buzzer. The buzzer wasn't meant for more than two people so it was having a hard time flying when they were carrying a four-person weigh. That's right, Hurk was twice the weight of an average person on Kyrat.

"I've sent a call to that Saras chick you told me about, we should be able to see them when we reach King's Bridge!" Hurk informed him of their pickup.

"Good job, Hurk!"

Ajay finally sighed in relief as they passed over the last of the control points of the Golden Path without resistance or retaliation.

"Soren, are we really going to the North?"

"We are, there are a lot of things I wanna show you there. I guarantee, you won't regret it!" Ajay gave her a reassuring smile, she put her trust in him so he wasn't going to left her down.

Bhadra's eyes glittered with excitement that she almost forgot the vertigo she was afraid of a moment ago.

They passed over the monastery of Chal Jama, Bhadra looked long and hard at the famous landmark.

"I've never been further than there before, this is all new and very exciting for me!" She admitted.

"Whatever adversity you face, know that I'll be watching over you from now on." Ajay placed his hand on her head gently.

Since Bhadra was sitting on his lap because the buzzer offered her no space to sit she leaned further into Ajay, treasuring the contact she had with him while there was the opportunity to do so.

They flew through the quiet night without disturbance except from the beating wind from the propeller blades. Up ahead, a convoy of jeeps and trucks were waiting for them.

Hurk skillfully landed the buzzer near the road as they stepped out of the mini-helicopter.

Saras happened to be waiting up in front.

"You didn't have to come yourself." Was Ajay's response as a greeting.

"Well, hello to you too! I've not seen you for three weeks so I thought of getting a look at you all scruffy like!" She said in her usual playful manner.

Bhadra hid behind Ajay unsure of this new contact.

"Oh? And who's this gorgeous girl? Don't tell me your strike zone has gone so low that it encompasses younger girls too!" Saras laughed as she joked.

"Jokes aside, Bhadra this is Saraswati Roka."

"H-Hello."

"Hello dear, my friends call me Saras so you're free to call me that too!" Saras gave her a big warm smile to ease the young girl's heart.

"Saras, this is Bhadra. The person that the Golden Path believes to be the next Tarun Matara." Saras was taken astounded by his remark and couldn't help but look at Bhadra once more. It made Bhadra feel embarrassed when Saras stared too much.

"Oh! So sorry I made you feel too uncomfortable!" She apologized.

"It's alright, Bhadra. Saras is a dear friend of mine."

"Mmmm….Dear friend? More like potential groom candidate am I right Badala?"

"W-What?..." Bhadra took a step back when Saras mentioned Ajay by another name than Soren, but a name that everyone in the Golden Path feared.

Ajay could see her stumble back slightly afraid.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, Bhadra. If you had known would you have talked to me normally?"

"N-No…. I mean- It doesn't matter who you are, I trust you, Sor-uh- Badala!" Bhadra told him with all the courage she could muster. Ajay and Saras chuckled at Bhadra's unfamiliarity to his name.

"You can stick with Soren if you want!" Ajay told her gently.

"No. If that was your real name all this while then I'd rather call you by that name, Badala!"

"Wow! Isn't she a lively one!" Saras whistled at Bhadra's confidence.

"Can we go back now?" Ajay wanted to return to the valley for a hot bath and change of clothing.

Saras chuckled once again before calling her units in the convoy to saddle up in their respective vehicles.

Bhadra sat with Hurk in the back of the jeep Saras was driving as Ajay sat shotgun to the driver's seat. Saras started the engine and drove off.

Saras chuckled again midway without an explanation.

"What?"

"No. I was just thinking, you wouldn't believe how much Maya has changed the valley!"