Palakkad, Vijayanagara Empire.
The sun rays filtered through the canopy of the tall trees onto the face of Bhairava, who was lying on a straw mat that he used to sleep on for the night. He woke up groggy, his upper body naked as he ruffled his disheveled hair.
"Damn this sunlight." He cursed.
He got up from the mat to find Vikrama still sleeping. He was used to getting up early for his training. The sun was just rising, and he figured that Vikrama would be exhausted from the trekking yesterday.
He saw the guards standing in the distance watching him like he was some animal. Some villagers peek through the wooden walls to see him, mostly children and young men.
"Ugh!! I need to wash!"
He remembered seeing a creek on his way here. He gets up and grabs a set of clothes and goes to wash himself.
Bhairava headed in the direction of the faint splashes of the water. He found the creek, clean water, and no one to disturb him.
