**Setting: Night, outside the gurukul**
Defying gurukul rules, Neer slipped past the guards into the darkness. When he returned, Agni
stood before him.
**Agni (sternly):**
"Where were you, Neer? Don't you know leaving the gurukul at night is forbidden? You've
broken the rules.
Neer (laughing mockingly):**
"So? Have you never broken a rule? Oh, I forgot—you're the guru's favorite, made of rules,
Agniveer. Rules don't break for you. I like going out whenever I please. The guards didn't even
notice me. And listen… I'll go out every night now."
He smirked, looking into Agni's eyes. "Are you jealous that I can go where I want while you're
chained by your rules?"
Anger flashed in Agni's eyes. He drew his sword and struck at Neer, who dodged nimbly. Neer
countered with his own sword, and their blades clashed in a flurry of sparks. Agni invoked his
fire element, attacking Neer, who ducked, but a nearby hut caught fire. Neer quickly
extinguished it with his water element, then retaliated with ice arrows, which Agni melted mid-air
with his flames.
Lost in battle, they lost control until Dharaaya intervened.
**Dharaaya (sternly):**
"Enough!"
She raised a stone wall between them using her earth element.
**Dharaaya:**
"What are you two doing at this hour? If anyone sees you, you'll be expelled!"
**Neer (childishly):**
"Dharaaya, he provoked me into fighting!"
**Agni (calmly, glaring at Neer):**
"Dharaaya, you go. I'm returning to my chamber."
Agni left with a lingering look at Neer. Neer smiled, satisfied, and headed to his chamber.
Dharaaya dissolved the stone wall and returned to her chamber, worried.
Agni returned to his chamber, but his mind was restless. Neer's challenging smile was etched before his eyes. But in that fight, there hadn't just been anger... there was a strange thrill. He realized that Neer's chaos had ignited a fire within his own disciplined core that he didn't know existed.
Meanwhile, in his own room, Neer stared out into the darkness, a triumphant smile playing on his lips. "Finally,"he murmured to himself, "I made that stone-hearted man feel something. Now the real game begins."