Chapter 5: Village of Davi.

"I apologize for ignoring you earlier miss. I and my family are deeply indebted to you for saving my sister." His words carried a sense of sincerity which could be felt just through the look on his deep brown eyes. Anaaya wanted to say something cool but her stomach thought otherwise. Dhruv laughed his gut out making her want to die on the spot.

"Was that a sound of the thunder? Hahaha. Brother, let's take this weird girl home." He undid the cloth on his hand which was binding him to his brother as he clapped his hands while jumping around her in circles. Anaaya was fuming mad from embarrassment, "Who is weird here, weirdo!?"

"Miss, please don't take his words to heart. As you can see, he is a little... sick...". He tried his best to explain to her.

"I hope his invite still stands..." Her words earned a chuckle from the siblings as they guided her back to their home.

Dhruv seemed to have taken a huge liking to her. Throughout their way back, he continued to peek at her from time to time and kept chuckling softly. Anaaya would sometimes glare at him to hide her embarrassment from earlier.

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The people in the village looked starved, dull and lifeless as they moved like a bunch of puppets under control. The farmers were harvesting their crops mumbling something under their breath as they sighed.

"What is this place...."

"This is our village named Davi. Dhruv will guide you to our home. I have got something I need to buy." Anaaya opened her mouth to say something but before she did he was long gone. She huffed at the girl and Dhruv with her arms crossed over her chest as she rolled her eyes, "Seriously! He left us in the care of this weirdo?"

Dhruv walked near her as he flicked on her forehead. "Ouch!" Anaaya rubbed her forehead as she shot daggers at him. He mimicked her exact actions. Crossed his arms over his chest as he rolled his eyes at her with an annoying grin plastered on his face, "Didn't your parents teach you to be respectful towards your elders?" Her jaw dropped to the ground. At that exact moment, Anaaya was like a little cartoon character where the smoke comes out of their nose and ears. The girl chucked sweetly at Anaaya's exaggerated expressions.

The smiles on their faces didn't last long when they saw a hooligan making a mess out of their home. Dhruv tried to stop him but got punched in the gut as he fell to the ground groaning in pain. The girl started hitting her head as she continued to scream. The villagers tried to calm her down as they were worried about her being so worked up.

The hooligan kicked Dhruv multiple times as he demanded money. For a moment, Anaaya froze on her spot witnessing all those things in front of her eyes.

"Please leave... Please.... My brother will bring you the money today... Please..." Dhruv begged holding onto his leg. His face turned pale from all the kicks he had taken. The hooligan snorted at Dhruv as he eyed both the girls, "If you don't pay by today, my master shall consider the girls sold."

The villagers gathered around to help arranging the things back. Anaaya ran to Dhruv, looking so flustered at his blood dripping face, "Looks painful... I am sorry I couldn't help..." She genuinely looked apologetic towards Dhruv. He gave her a toothy grin as he stroked her head, "Dummy! Why are you sorry?" Her eyes glistened with tears seeing him grin from ear to ear like an idiot in that situation.

Thanks to the help of the villagers, they were somehow able to arrange the things back into their home. It seemed like none of the villagers were startled by what had happened which raised a question in her, "Does this happen often? That hooligan... I mean..."

Dhruv looked at the sky as he rubbed his left shoulder. The atmosphere was a bit tense. "All the villagers owe money to the village chief. He sends out his hooligans to collect from us..." For a moment it felt like Dhruv was a normal guy. His eyes looked sharp as he spoke about those people. "Don't worry. My brother will take care of it." He changed his skin in an instant as he started laughing and skipped all the way inside their home.

The man finally returned to their home. Seeing the situation he immediately understood what had happened. Anaaya went to him looking so dejected. "Dhruv got hurt while he tried to stop that hooligan and your sister is kind of having a panic attack...."

He dropped whatever he had on his hands as he rushed inside to see them. Anaaya collected the things he had dropped and found that he brought them both a pair of cute looking cotton saris.