{"submission_id":"724509","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"743","keyword_name":"adventure","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"2920"},{"keyword_id":"60","keyword_name":"cat","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"110713"},{"keyword_id":"5214","keyword_name":"combat","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"690"},{"keyword_id":"44319","keyword_name":"contemporary","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"101"},{"keyword_id":"10159","keyword_name":"cyclops","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"379"},{"keyword_id":"6979","keyword_name":"danger","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"342"},{"keyword_id":"398","keyword_name":"demon","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"18402"},{"keyword_id":"2193","keyword_name":"fantasy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11600"},{"keyword_id":"123","keyword_name":"female","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"519890"},{"keyword_id":"112296","keyword_name":"garuda","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"51"},{"keyword_id":"1440","keyword_name":"human","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"46903"},{"keyword_id":"165","keyword_name":"male","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"639871"},{"keyword_id":"3313","keyword_name":"monkey","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"4907"},{"keyword_id":"77810","keyword_name":"rakshasa","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"16"},{"keyword_id":"597","keyword_name":"werewolf","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"5589"}],"hidden":"t","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"0","create_datetime":"2014-11-06 04:09:48.802946+01","create_datetime_usertime":"06 Nov 2014 04:09 CET","last_file_update_datetime":"2014-11-06 04:04:30.373769+01","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"06 Nov 2014 04:04 CET","username":"Simoni","user_id":"279733","user_icon_file_name":"75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_small":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","file_name":"973438_Simoni_side_story_3_ramas_arrow.rtf","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/973/973438_Simoni_side_story_3_ramas_arrow.rtf","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/973/973438_Simoni_side_story_3_ramas_arrow.rtf","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/973/973438_Simoni_side_story_3_ramas_arrow.rtf","files":[{"file_id":"973438","file_name":"973438_Simoni_side_story_3_ramas_arrow.rtf","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/973/973438_Simoni_side_story_3_ramas_arrow.rtf","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/973/973438_Simoni_side_story_3_ramas_arrow.rtf","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/973/973438_Simoni_side_story_3_ramas_arrow.rtf","mimetype":"text/rtf","submission_id":"724509","user_id":"279733","submission_file_order":"0","full_size_x":null,"full_size_y":null,"screen_size_x":null,"screen_size_y":null,"preview_size_x":null,"preview_size_y":null,"initial_file_md5":"5a517d9424357e0e4bbbfeec0186d5ab","full_file_md5":"5a517d9424357e0e4bbbfeec0186d5ab","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2014-11-06 04:04:30.373769+01","create_datetime_usertime":"06 Nov 2014 04:04 CET"}],"pools":[],"description":"I honestly had a bit of a hard time keeping this going near the end. Dawn is the energetic wisecracking prankster of the group and its easy to forget that her backstory is actually pretty tragic. I admit, with no shame, that I teared up a bit writing it. \n\nAs for the earlier bits... I wanted to do a story where the girls get a reality check of sorts. They're used to dealing with Fullmoon thugs, they took down Paale when he was still a sin-eater, and they're kicking ass left, right, and center. Its no fun when the good guys are guaranteed a win. I wanted something that actually had the potential to really cause severe injury or even kill one of them. \n\nOf course it -wouldn't-, but I wanted the chance of it happening. I wanted something that would remind them that they're not immortal superheroes on some Saturday Morning cartoon show and that the good guys won't always win. The Rakshasa took down three of them and severely traumatized one and it was only because Nelen unsealed his blood magic at it's full potency and Arja let loose with her fire magic in combination with it that the Rakshasa got taken down. \n\nIncase it wasn't implied in the story, Nelen can't just do that whenever he wants. The bandages are used to -seal- his magic and keep it under control. The details of that aren't going to be revealed just yet, but the non-spoiler version is that if he doesn't keep them sealed that he can't control his powers fully and they become a danger to everyone around him. \n\nFor the mythology aspect, Rakshasas are a type of Indian demon known for cannibalism, shapeshifting, illusions, and being all around evil bastards. They're much stronger than mundane humans and the specific Rakshasa was one that bore a grudge specifically against Arja's kinfolk, being the spawn of the Rakshasa king Ravana, who's fortress was burned down by Arja's ancestor, Hanuman before his defeat at the hands of the hero Rama (one of the incarnations of Vishnu). For the details on -that- story look up the Indian legend of Ramayana. \n\nI took some liberties with that story too mind you. In the legend the arrow that Rama uses to slay Ravana is a gift from Brahmin, one of the chief deities of Hinduism. Making it a Mundane Blade was done because I wanted to hint at the origins of the Mundane Blades themselves. You can pretty much be guaranteed that this will come up again. \n\nBut yes, I wanted to put the team in a situation that was actually life threatening and had severe consequences. If they had lost then the Rakshasa could have realized that they were onto him and fled with Rama's arrow until he worked out how to free Ravana, which would have had catastrophic consequences for all of India. \n\nFortunately Arja and Nelen were able to defeat him with Dawn's aid once they managed to distract the Rakshasa long enough for her to break free and, in a fit of rage, overpower it's own Maya magic with her Wonderland Eyes long enough to get it on the ground for Arja to finish it off. If they hadn't, well, probably would mean that the roster would have lost someone. I could go that route someday, but I really don't want to if I can avoid it. As good of an opportunity as that would be for some roleplaying it would also be a very sad direction to take the story, so don't expect it unless there's a VERY good reason to do it. Optimus Prime isn't a cast member here guys, nobody wants to win the 'Die Heroically' achievement. ","description_bbcode_parsed":"I honestly had a bit of a hard time keeping this going near the end. Dawn is the energetic wisecracking prankster of the group and its easy to forget that her backstory is actually pretty tragic. I admit, with no shame, that I teared up a bit writing it.
As for the earlier bits... I wanted to do a story where the girls get a reality check of sorts. They're used to dealing with Fullmoon thugs, they took down Paale when he was still a sin-eater, and they're kicking ass left, right, and center. Its no fun when the good guys are guaranteed a win. I wanted something that actually had the potential to really cause severe injury or even kill one of them.
Of course it -wouldn't-, but I wanted the chance of it happening. I wanted something that would remind them that they're not immortal superheroes on some Saturday Morning cartoon show and that the good guys won't always win. The Rakshasa took down three of them and severely traumatized one and it was only because Nelen unsealed his blood magic at it's full potency and Arja let loose with her fire magic in combination with it that the Rakshasa got taken down.
Incase it wasn't implied in the story, Nelen can't just do that whenever he wants. The bandages are used to -seal- his magic and keep it under control. The details of that aren't going to be revealed just yet, but the non-spoiler version is that if he doesn't keep them sealed that he can't control his powers fully and they become a danger to everyone around him.
For the mythology aspect, Rakshasas are a type of Indian demon known for cannibalism, shapeshifting, illusions, and being all around evil bastards. They're much stronger than mundane humans and the specific Rakshasa was one that bore a grudge specifically against Arja's kinfolk, being the spawn of the Rakshasa king Ravana, who's fortress was burned down by Arja's ancestor, Hanuman before his defeat at the hands of the hero Rama (one of the incarnations of Vishnu). For the details on -that- story look up the Indian legend of Ramayana.
I took some liberties with that story too mind you. In the legend the arrow that Rama uses to slay Ravana is a gift from Brahmin, one of the chief deities of Hinduism. Making it a Mundane Blade was done because I wanted to hint at the origins of the Mundane Blades themselves. You can pretty much be guaranteed that this will come up again.
But yes, I wanted to put the team in a situation that was actually life threatening and had severe consequences. If they had lost then the Rakshasa could have realized that they were onto him and fled with Rama's arrow until he worked out how to free Ravana, which would have had catastrophic consequences for all of India.
Fortunately Arja and Nelen were able to defeat him with Dawn's aid once they managed to distract the Rakshasa long enough for her to break free and, in a fit of rage, overpower it's own Maya magic with her Wonderland Eyes long enough to get it on the ground for Arja to finish it off. If they hadn't, well, probably would mean that the roster would have lost someone. I could go that route someday, but I really don't want to if I can avoid it. As good of an opportunity as that would be for some roleplaying it would also be a very sad direction to take the story, so don't expect it unless there's a VERY good reason to do it. Optimus Prime isn't a cast member here guys, nobody wants to win the 'Die Heroically' achievement. ","writing":"[b]This takes place between Part 9 and 10 of the main story [/b]\n\nOur story opens in India one morning, Lupe the werewolf sleeping next to Natasha's coffin as Drusilla enters the room dressed in leathers with a spear strapped to her back and a chain leash in her hands. She asks Lupe if she's ever been hunting before to which Lupe scoffs and tells her that of course she has, she's a werewolf! Drusilla explains that she means actual hunting, not just stalking prey and such. \n\nApparently back at her home on the Island of Sicily her tribesmates would use wolves for hunting, as dogs were a bit too... fragile... for the sort of prey they went after. There aren't any wolves in India, so a werewolf would have to do. By this point Lupe has begun to see Arja and her housemates as her new pack and, after getting roughed up by Drusilla for eating a few of her outfits, sees Drusilla as higher in the pack than she is, so she allows the cyclops to collar her and lets her lead her out of the village where the group lives and into the jungle. Drusilla tells her to sniff out a tiger and, after sampling the air and ground a bit with her nose, Lupe says she smells a 'big cat', pointing off into the trees as she does. \n\n[i]Drusilla hunkers down as she grabs her spear \"Alright, now we track it.\" she says \"Use the smell to lead you in, also keep your eye open for tracks, or fresh kills, or anything else a tiger would leave.\" \n\nShe nods, though she's not sure what a tiger is, as she lets Drusilla unhook her leash (the jangling chain would give them away), the wolf girl stalking her way through the undergrowth as she follows the scent. Despite her hyperactive nature she turns out to be rather good at stealth, barely disturbing the foliage as she lets her nose guide her along... and then we come to a clearing with a cow in it... well, most of a cow... more than half... of the outside. There's large claw and fang marks on the cow's body, and it's clear no human could've made them. \n\nDrusilla nods approvingly \"Good work.\" she whispers, looking around the cow slowly \"Big marks, nothing human did this, must be a big tiger though.\" she says, looking around for a trace of further clues around the cow \"Still smell it Lupe?\" \n\nLupe nods, though its not difficult. She points at the trees and foliage around the corpse, a trail of bloody pawprints leading away from the kill... and then in the bushes you see something else. A pair of legs sticking out from under the leaves, -human- legs. It looks like the cow wasn't alone. \n\nDrusilla sighs softly \"That's a shame.\" she says, walking to the legs to check on the corpse \"Always sad when that happens, it's still pretty wild out here.\" she says as she uses her spear to move the bush's leaves and such aside. \n\nA young Indian man is laying under the bushes, one of his arms completely gone and his face a mess of scars and claw marks. Perhaps the cow was his, or perhaps he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, either way whatever killed the cow tore him apart. \"Mrrf...\" whines Lupe. \"Cat smell really strong that way.\" she says, pointing past the body and into the trees. \n\nDrusilla furrows her brow \"That's weird, big cats don't usually rip limbs off and all, and why would it focus on the face...\" she says, looking to where Lupe was pointed, \"Be on guard, this may be something odd.\" she says as she creeps to the trees nearby, \"This is an important job of a hunter, keeping the city and its people safe from the wild...\" \n\nShe nods, then blinks and sniffs at one of the bloody prints on the ground. \"Big eye... tracks wrong.\" she murmurs. The shape is all off. Its not a pawprint, its a footprint, and a huge one too. Bigger than a grown man's.[/i]\n\nThis changes things. A shapeshifter would be something they'd need help with, especially one able to leave footprints this size. Drusilla wonders if it's a weretiger or something but Lupe shakes her head, saying that it doesn't smell right. Werewolves aren't the only theropes in Romania, and she can tell the difference, but she can't tell -what- it is other than not something like herself. She then suggests they 'go ask monkey', which means Arja (Lupe isn't good at names, so she just goes by what they are rather than who. Arja is monkey, Natasha is Alpha-bat, Simoni is bird, etc). \n\nDrusilla nods in agreement, reasoning that it's far too late to save the poor guy they found, and they quickly head back to the house, finding Arja meditating in her room. \n\n[i]Drusilla looks around for Arja, eventually finding her in her room meditating, the girl in 'ape mode' as she kneels in front of a statue of her ancestor. \"Uh hey Arja, know anything about a tiger that turns into a man and kills people?\" Dru asks, honestly sounding a little nervous as Arja's eyes fly open in shock when she hears the description. \n\nLupe nods at Drusilla's words, \"Big eye took Lupe out hunting, Lupe smell cat, but not cat, all wrong.\" she yips, having changed back into a werewolf once they got inside. \"Found cow and human, all eaten. Cat thing left footprints.\" she adds. \n\nArja stands up quickly \"Shit, good work you two but yea, it was good you got me...I think you found a Rakshasa...\" She says, walking to her closet to get her armor, gold and iron blended breastplate and gauntlets, that left her fingers exposed for claw attacks, her lower half remaining unburdened by armor though. \"It's actually a misnomer that they're 'tiger demons', they're actually closer to vampires...don't tell Tash that though...though many of them possess shapeshifting qualities, and if you can shapeshift in India a tiger is a pretty excellent choice to murder and devour without being caught.\"[/i]\n\nAs Arja gears up Simoni returns, flying in through the window. Arja fills her in and she gets ready herself, changing human long enough to strap a quiver of arrows and a bow onto herself before going back to her garuda form and adding a set of razor sharp metal clips onto her talons. As she does Arja gets her fighting staff out of the closet as well. A sturdy wooden pole with an iron ball on one end and a wicked claw shaped like a monkey's hand on the other. \n\n[i]Lupe tilts her head, \"So... Rakashakashamaaska... shaha... very bad?\" she asks, apparently having trouble pronouncing the name. \"Very really very bad?\" she asks, tilting her head the other way. \n\nArja nods \"They are, barring some truly evil divine beings, some of the worst creatures in my people's legends. They are cruel, they are cunning, and they see everything as a source of food. When they were first made their hunger was so great they tried to eat the god Brahma who just gave them life, they got their name because the word Rakasha is close to a way to shout for help in my language, which is what Brahma yelled when they were on him, and Shiva had to knock them to earth. We're raised to believe every creature has the capacity for goodness and nobility, but they are the closest we can see to genuine pure evil...\" \n\nSimoni confirms this, its pretty much word for word what Lakshimi told them. Lupe whines, \"Um... Lupe smell something else too... smelled kinda like some metal thing...\" she mentions. \"Rakashamanasmaakaska-\" she starts as Simoni cuts her off, \"Lupe, just call them tiger-demons or something.\" she says. \n\n\"Rrf... Tiger-demons use weapon?\" she asks, tilting her head. \n\nArja frowns \"Sometimes, they're very intelligent so they have forges and such but they tend to stick to claws and fangs unless it's proper war.\" Dru shook her head at that \"The body was torn apart, both the cow and the man, doesn't match a weapon.\" \n\nLupe nods, thinking, \"Rrf... smelled metal though... metal... wood... feathers...\" she blinks and notices the quiver on Simoni's back. \"Smelled like those.\" she says, pointing to the arrows sticking out of it. \"Metal smell different though.\" \n\nArja frowns, \"A bow and arrow? Huh, that's rare for them. They drink blood through their hands and eat flesh, range isn't typically the best way for them to fight...\" she says as she shakes her head \"Dru, stay here, if it comes running to the city go all Cyclops rage on it, seriously DON'T hold back\" she says as she nods to Simoni and you \"Come on.\"[/i]\n\nDrusilla stays behind on guard duty as Lupe leads the group back out to the clearing where the bodies are, then the three search the area further. As they look Lupe finds a torn up messenger bag that was tossed into the bushes. Inside the girls find a handwritten journal and textbooks, the subjects suggesting the Rakshasa's victim was a student of Archaeology at a local school. The journal details how he discovered a very old arrow and was bringing it back to town, thinking it could be some kind of cultural artifact. \n\nArja comments on the age of the arrow, suggesting it might be magical in origin, but Lupe says that it smelled funny... like 'magic, but not-magic'. As the girls think on this Lupe suddenly growls and looks off into the trees, barking out 'Tiger-demon!'. The rakshasa was coming back! \n\nArja and Simoni quickly shoot up into the canopy as Lupe ducks into the brush, hiding as the demon stomps it's way back into the clearing. \n\n[i]After a while the bushes part at the far side and a gigantic monstrous creature lumbers into the field. It looks like a large human, but twisted and misshapen with claw-like hands and feet, dark blue skin, burning red eyes with goat-like slits for pupils, a pair of curling horns jutting out of it's forehead, and large fangs sticking down from it's mouth. Its -huge- too, easily ten feet tall and muscular. Even Drusilla would be hard pressed to fight something like this. \n\nThe rakshasa glares about the clearing, then walks to where Lupe found the bag and digs around in the foliage. After a few minutes it grows agitated, then snarls and stamps its foot. \"GONE!\" it roars in hindi, the word slurred by it's fangs, \"Gone gone gone!\" it punches a tree, hard, splintering the bark where it's fist hits and almost knocking Simoni from the branches... but thankfully her talons have a good grip and she manages to keep from crying out or dropping any arrows. \"Grrr... I need those notes... I found his arrow, but I don't know how to get him out!\" it snarls, then glances around the field... \"Hmph... Maybe one of the humans found it...\" it says, scratching at it's chin through a thick bristly beard, \"Grr, well tonight then...\" it mutters to itself, calming down apparently, \"Tonight I'll head into town, find the human who took the bag, eat them, and get it back.\" it says, \"I have to get Father out...\" he nods, then stomps off into the jungle again, apparently having not noticed any of them.[/i]\n\nThe girls come out of hiding after the demon leaves, Arja looking visibly shaken. She tells the others that they need to get that arrow, NOW. Simoni seems to agree, but is troubled by how upset Arja is. After all, they can always get help from Hanuman's Temple if the problem simply goes from being one rakshasa to two. Lupe sniffs around, but says the smell of the arrow is too faint, the demon didn't have it when he came back. \n\n[i]Arja shakes her head \"No, if he's calling it father...this is bad. In the ancient days Rama was a mighty warrior god, he led MANY crusades against the demons, the Rakasha especially. They were led by mighty demons they called their kings, ancient Rakshasa, said to be the first ones created by Brahma himself who ate his divine flesh. Rama was mighty but even he couldn't KILL them, he had to weaken them, trap them, banish them, anything to get them away from the mortal world.\" \n\nShe winces, \"Oh jeez... yeah, thats bad.\" she nods, fishing around in her pocket and pulling out her phone. \"Should've done this in the first place. I'm calling Nelen and telling him to get back here. We're gonna need all of us.\" she says, dialing the number before turning around and talking into it as Lupe pads up to you, \"So... bigger-tiger-demon in arrow?\" she asks. \n\nArja nods \"More or less, if he figures out how to get him out...we're all in very big trouble. The kings of the Rakshasa enslaved not just entire villages but entire KINGDOMS, only the gods themselves could even weaken them enough to lock them away.\"[/i]\n\nSimoni informs the others that Nelen and Dawn were on their way back and suggests they go warn Arja's grandfather and Lakshimi. They'd definitely need help if the demon was able to find a way to free it's master from the arrow. The three head off immediately to the temple, entering through one of the reflecting pools in town. Simoni goes upstairs to inform Lakshimi while Arja tells her grandfather the situation. \n\n[i]The group made their way quickly to the main temple, Arja near throwing herself down in front of her grandfather, meditating as usual, both faces' eyes closed as he listens. \"This is very bad\" he mumbles as he slowly stands, Lakshimi already on her way down, the garuda looking very distressed as well, it seemed both races had reasons to fear this development... \n\nSimoni follows her, changing back as she lands, and takes out the journal that they found, flipping through the pages. \"So yeah, apparently this arrow could have a really powerful rakshasa demon inside it, dunno which one though.\" she says, showing them the sketches of the arrow before going back to the journal, \"Wait... here's something. It mentions that it was used by Rama to defeat the King of Lanka here... any idea who that is?\" \n\nArja blinks as her grandfather shakes his head. \"Lanka is the island fortress of Ravana, an Asura and Rakasha lord. He was once a noble follower of Shiva, whom Hanuman was an avatar of, until he decided he would surpass his master, as so many Asuras felt their right.\" he shakes his head slowly \"This is very troubling, if this creature is his spawn, he'll be coming here soon, I imagine even if Arja didn't pocket the book as she did he'd assume we did. Ravana being released would be one of the worst things to happen for our people...\"[/i]\n\nIn Indian legends Hanuman the Monkey King burned down the fortress of Lanka that Ravana ruled over... its safe to assume he'd bear a grudge if he got free. As the group discusses it there's a splash from the pool, Nelen and Dawn climbing out and heading over to discuss the situation. Nelen asks if there's any weaknesses that the Rakshasa have, reasoning that most western demons have some kind of bane that can be used against them (holy symbols, silver, the sound of bells, etc) while Arja suggests that they simply get the arrow away from the demon and bring it to the temple to seal it away in the vaults underneath it. The Rakshasa most likely wouldn't be able to fight it's way through all of Arja's family to get the arrow back before being defeated. \n\n[i]The old monkey shakes his head \"Cutting their heads off tends to kill them...most times.\" he says, shaking his head again \"That's the problem, they're so damn hard to kill. Most of them have their own specific weaknesses, like one I fought in the Punjab region had a hate of cats, but this other down in Burma dissolved when shot with silver...\"\n\nArja frowns \"Ok so what do we know about him. If he's the child of Ravana then...he's very powerful...but the downside is he should be weak to the same things Ravana was...\" \n\nHer grandfather just frowns at that \"Then he's unstoppable because Ravana had the power in him to conquer all things, even divine ones, not even Shiva could stand against him.\" \n\nArja just shakes her head at that \"No that's physical weakness, Ravana was weak because he was arrogant, cruel, spiteful...he was stupid! He was so focused on revenge and rage he hardly ever thought things through, and we saw his 'son' have a little meltdown because he couldn't find a damn book. If we can get him mad he'll drop his guards!\" \n\nDawn grins wide, \"I think I can take care of that~\" she giggles, swishing her tail as Nelen smirks at her, \"Well, he may be strong, but I bet a supernatural strain of syphilis would slow him down at least.\" he nods, flexing his fingers as bloody tendrils snake out from between the bandages. \n\n\"Oh, and I think we might have some time to get ready.\" says Simoni, \"The thing was muttering about sneaking into town tonight... aren't those demons weaker during the daytime or something?\" she asks. \n\nArja nods \"Which is why we CAN'T wait till night. We have to take him down now, if we let him get stronger at night and go on his rampage he could hurt someone in town. We need to move fast, take him down in the jungle, and find his treasure.\" \n\nSimoni blushes, \"Er, yeah, right...\" she mutters. She was hoping that we'd be able to wait until Natasha was awake too. To be quiet honest, that thing scared her... a lot. She could feel how strong it was. Nelen nods at this, \"Alright, so we're heading into the jungle on a monster hunt. Lead the way girls.\" he says as he and Dawn head back to the pool, Lupe following them out.[/i]\n\nThe five of them leave the temple and head back into the jungle, Lupe sniffing out a path ahead of them to guide the group to where the demon was making it's lair. When they arrive Arja takes the lead, giving the others instructions as they prepare for a fight. \n\n[i]Arja nods, \"Simoni, get in the tree, I want you to divebomb him as soon as he comes out, claw the shit out of anything you can\" she says \"Dawn, you just start pissing him off when Simoni gets him, same to you Nelen, we're gonna hit him HARD and try to set him off.\" she says, conjouring a fireball in her hand and lobbing it into the jungle where Lupe was pointing \"RAKASHA!\" she roars out \"HANUMAN'S CHILD COMES FOR YOU! I HAVE YOUR BOOK, I HAVE THE KEY TO FREE YOUR TRAITOR FATHER!\" \n\nSimoni nods and flies up into the branches. Dawn grins at her and flexes her fingers, ready to hit him with every batshit insane vision she can think up. Nelen just nods grimly as he cracks his knuckles, generating his tendrils as Lupe growls. \n\nFor a moment there's nothing... then a loud bestial roar shakes the forest as the rakshasa charges through the undergrowth, snarling as it's burning eyes lock onto Arja. Despite being ready for it Nelen and Dawn both take a step back as, in it's rage, the demon seems even larger than before. \n\n\"I -thought- I smelled that accursed monkey's stench...\" it snarls through it's fangs, \"Where have you hidden the book girl?! Surrender it to me or I'll make you beg for the release of death!\" it bellows, it's claws extending into talon like-shapes... then the beast lets out a hiss of pain and arches it's back as Simoni swoops down, slashing her claws across the demon's spine. The sudden noise snaps Nelen out of his daze as he points to both Lupe and Dawn, shooting a burst of blood at their hands and dying their claws a bright crimson, \"GO! GET HIM!\" he yells as the two rush forward, raking their claws across both his legs as Nelen's blood seeps into his body through the wounds, the skin around them beginning to blacken and rot within mere moments as a supernaturally enhanced disease eats away at the demon's flesh. \n\nArja cackles loudly, huge, whooping, laughter filling the jungle as she bounces around the demon, swinging her staff to hit him with the heavy weighted ball right in the ankle \"What's wrong, the mighty child of the lord of the island fortress is being overwhelmed by children?\" she mocks \"Your father was a coward, a miserable worm who betrayed his god thinking it would grant him power! You think bringing him back will help you at all?\"[/i]\n\nDespite the monster's size the battle seems to go well, Dawn and Lupe darting around too fast for the demon to grab as Arja smacks at the rakshasa's ankles with her weapon, trying to knock him off balance while Nelen lashes at the demon with his blood, shaping it into a long whip-like weapon. As this happens Simoni prepares to dive again, aiming her talons at the demon's throat... and thats where it all goes wrong. \n\n[i]The demon snarls in pain as Simoni swoops back down for another run past... then she lets out a shriek as the rakshasa's hand snaps out and grabs her around the leg, swinging her around before slamming her HARD into a nearby tree. Her eyes roll back and the garuda slumps to the forest floor unconscious. \n\n\"SIMONI!\" yells Nelen, rushing over to her fallen body as Dawn hisses and focuses on the demon's face, her eyes flashing as she strikes out with her Wonderland Eyes... but the demon just glares right back and Dawn's eyes go wide as she suddenly falls backwards, screaming as her magic gets sent right back at her. Rakshasas have the power of Maya (Illusion) after all, and he's been using it a lot longer than some cat. Lupe growls and rushes up a tree, then leaps, aiming her fangs at the demon's throat and sinking them in as she digs her claws into the demon's shoulders. The rakshasa snarls and grabs at her, but can't seem to get a good grip on the werewolf. \n\nArja looks to Simoni with her eyes wide, roaring in rage as well as she charges the demon like a wild beast, leaping to the trees and swinging off one branch to land right in the demon's face, her staff held in her tail as her own iron claws rip at the demon's face, eyes especially... \n\nThe demon snarls up at her, then manages to get a grip around the scruff of Lupe's neck and clubs Arja off his face by using Lupe as the club, it glares at the werewolf, still snarling back at him, then grabs her by the legs and slams her into a tree several times over before tossing her away. She lands with a yelp and doesn't get back up. \n\nNelen gets up and looks around the battlefield. Simoni is unconscious, Lupe as well, and Dawn is curled up on the ground with her eyes wide and staring, locked into the demon's illusion. \"Dammit... I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this again...\" he sighs, \"Arja! If this goes wrong, get the others out of here and run as far away as you can!\" he says, putting his hands together, fingers facing each wrist... and then there's a tearing sound as he rips the bandages off his hands. \n\nHe grits his teeth as Arja gets a glimpse of a pair of bloody sigils cut into his palms, then he lets out a loud yell as his whole body goes almost white, a mass of bloody tendrils bursting out of the palms of his hands. Some are just tentacles, some are covered in razor sharp teeth, and a few even have gaping mouths on them. He glares at the demon, sweat beading on his forehead, and then all of them shoot forward at once, slamming into the rakshasa and tearing chunks of flesh out of it's arms as the creature howls in fury and pain. \n\nArja takes her chance when the demon's overwhelmed by the blood magic, moving to stand between it and the downed girls before unleashing her own attack, roaring loudly as her eyes flash with fire, her mouth seeming to distend unnaturally like a snake's as she shoots a massive gout of flames at the howling beast, using her fire to keep his wounds from healing as the blood magic rips and tears through him.[/i]\n\nThe rakshasa seems able to weather even this assault however, protecting it's face with it's arms as it slowly stomps forward, pressing through the crimson tendrils and the blazing flames... but as it does it loses it's focus on the illusion it forced on Dawn. \n\n[i]Nelen's body is almost white now, all his blood in the tendrils attacking the rakshasa as Arja's flames wreathe it's body, the demon struggling forward, holding up what's left of it's arms to protect it's head as it takes one step, then another, then another... walking slowly forward as it struggles its way towards the two of them. \n\nAs it does however it loses control of the illusion. Dawn sitting up and shaking her head, \"Whuh... where...\" she blinks, then she remembers what happened and turns to face the demon, her expression twisted in fury. She teleports above us, glaring down at the rakshasa, and her eyes glow a bright acidic yellow as the demon stumbles and falters, falling to the ground with a terrified scream. The minute it's down she pounces, clawing at it's eyes, its face, it's neck, anything she can reach.\n\nArja signals with her hand for Nelen to get his blood back, slowly advancing on the demon, still spiting fire, avoiding Dawn's fury of course before she gets right up to the fallen creature's head, reaching a hand down to gently lift Dawn as she ends her flame breath attack, the wounds effectively too burned to heal any time soon. \"You have one chance, demon.\" she growls in a cold voice, grabbing her staff and holding it over his head \"Where's the arrow? Tell me and you can die with some honor in your soul.\" \n\nThe demon looks up at Arja through what's left of it's eyes, Dawn glaring at it with tears down her face before she quickly runs over to Nelen, rubbing her eyes on her arm as she fishes a roll of bandages out of his pocket while he struggles to force the blood back into his body, then quickly rebandaging his hands. \n\nThe demon grins at her, it's mouth all shredded, and replies, \"I spit on you, child of Hanuman. If you want Rama's arrow, find it yourself.\" \n\nArja nods, \"Let no one in the realm of the dead say I was cruel in your last moments.\" she replies grimly, bringing the orb down HARD right into the demon's head, then again, and again, and again, the girl's small form heaving with breath as she caves the creature's skull in before walking to check on the girls, composing herself again on the way.\n\nLupe is already struggling to her feet, the werewolf girl healing rapidly as they are known to do, but Simoni is still unconscious. She's not bleeding or anything though, it looks like the bow and quiver absorbed most of the impact... she'd probably need a new bow after that given that there's a large crack running along the wood. Nelen is sweating bullets, but as Dawn finishes wrapping his hands the bandages glow a faint blue, runes visible on the cloth for a moment before the glow fades and they appear normal again. \"Whew...\" he sighs, \"That makes three times I've had to do that...\" he wipes his forehead, then hugs Dawn to him as the cat buries her face in his chest, sobbing quietly.[/i]\n\nThe group is beaten and battered, but alive. Arja however feels overcome with guilt at the rashness of her actions. She says that they should've waited and worked out a plan, figured out some way to fight the demon that wouldn't risk so much. Nelen just shrugs and tells her that they're all alive. In his experience that's a win. \n\nArja picks up Simoni, cradling the girl in her arms as she asks Lupe to sniff out where the demon had hidden the arrow. Lupe nods, stumbling a bit as she's still punch drunk from getting slammed into the tree like that, but manages to find the trail. \n\n[i]After a good mile of walking she finds a spot of dirt that's been freshly dug up and starts to claw at it, then comes up with a leather tube, pulling it out by the handle, \"Arrow.\" she says, handing it to Nelen as he opens the tube. Inside is a very old looking arrow with a metal arrowhead. \"Huh, so this is the arrow that thing was so nuts about? It doesn't look like mu-AH JESUS FUCK!\" he yells as he reaches a finger in, then recoils suddenly, breathing heavily, \"... son of a bitch... Arja, look at this...\" he tilts it so she can see the arrowhead. \"Don't touch it! Just... look at the metal, right around the edges.\" he says. \n\nLooking closely reveals a very thin aura of what looks like nothingness, as if the edges of the arrow are surrounded by some sort of black hole. \n\nArja gasps softly as she looks at it \"Oh my god, it's a Mundane Blade...\" she says, shaking her head \"That explains so much...that's how the gods beat the kings, they... absorbed them, then they locked the tools they used away.\"[/i]\n\nRama's arrow, the magical artifact that was used to defeat the Rakshasa King Ravana, is one of the Mundane Blades. Like the sword wielded by Franklin Fullmoon it has the power to absorb any magic that it comes into contact with and, with magical beings, it can absorb them completely, trapping them within the weapon. \n\nArja suggests that this may be what they need to defeat Franklin, suggesting that they use their own Mundane Blade against him, but Nelen shoots the idea down. He says that if the arrow winds up destroyed it could very well accomplish what the rakshasa was trying to do in the first place and free Ravana. Simoni seems disturbed by it too, Dawn hissing loudly at it as she hides up on Nelen's shoulders in her animal form, and even Arja notices a sort of pull from the arrowhead... a sort of gravity that seems to suck all the energy out of the air around it. \n\nThis also creates a new problem... \n\n[i]\"Wait... Arja, how are we going to get it to the temple?\" asks Nelen, \"Those things cancel out any magic they get close to, and I'm pretty sure that'd include the portal we use to get there in the first place...\" he adds, \"I gotta admit, I was wondering why something like that wasn't sealed up there already... maybe it can't actually be in the supernatural world?\" \n\nArja blinks \"Shit you're right, it'd be like bringing a black hole into the middle of a city...\" she says, shaking her head \"Well this got problematic then...how are we supposed to store this?\" \n\nSimoni raises her hand, still moving a bit weakly, \"I got an idea...\" she says, \"Send it somewhere that doesn't use magic at all.\" she nods, pointing behind her ear. \n\nLupe tilts her head as Nelen nods, \"Huh, well that would keep it safe from other rakshasa. I mean its not like Indian demons have a space program...\" he nods. \n\nArja grins \"That's fucking brilliant!\" she says, nodding eagerly \"Alright signal big blue, we'll tell her the truth, this is a VERY dangerous earth artifact but it only is dangerous to magic and the supernatural, which her race seems to have nothing on.\"[/i]\n\nSimoni uses the implant behind her ear to contact the alien, Bethandi Shuda, and inform her of the situation. A few moments later Bethandi beams down and accepts the arrow and the case from them, taking it back up to her ship for safekeeping. The group heads back to town and Nelen volunteers to go to the temple and inform Arja's Grandfather and Lakshimi of their success and tell them that they need to hide the rakshasa's body before any mundanes can find it. They enter the house and Lupe wanders off to find Drusilla while Dawn changes back into her humanoid form, curling up tightly on the couch. \n\n[i]Arja sighs, still holding Simoni protectively \"I'm so sorry...\" she simply says, nuzzling her face into the girl's shoulder. \n\nSimoni hugs her back, getting to her feet now that we're inside. She's shaking a bit, but otherwise seems unhurt, \"Hey, it needed to be taken down Arja...\" she replies, \"Maybe we should've waited, but now we know that it can't free Ravana.\" she smiles sympathetically before looking over at Dawn. \"Are you alright?\" she asks the cat, \"I don't think I've ever seen you go this long without making a joke or something.\" \n\nDawn just grumbles and rolls over, her tail wrapped around her legs. \n\nArja walks over to sit by Dawn, rubbing her head softly \"What'd he show you...\" \n\nDawn grumbles a bit, then mutters, \"The day Nelen and I met...\" she replies.[/i]\n\nThe rakshasa had cast a spell to bring up the most traumatic vision it could to torment Dawn when she tried to use her Wonderland Eyes on it, and she wound up trapped in a vision of the day that she first met Nelen. \n\nHe'd been fleeing from a group of Fullmoon warriors led by Franklin, hiding in a warehouse that Dawn's litter had been using for a home. He'd gotten pretty good at hiding too and it was only because Dawn was across the building at the time that she survived when, in a fit of rage over being unable to find Nelen, Franklin unsheathed his sword and took out his frustrations on Dawn's mother and littermates, the sword not even leaving bodies behind as it absorbed them into itself. \n\nArja and Simoni give her a sympathetic hug, but its clear the cat wants to be alone as she vanishes, reappearing elsewhere in the house. Simoni sighs, but doesn't go after her, deciding she needed some time alone after something like that. She does tell Arja that it'd be best not to try to use a Mundane Blade against Franklin anyways. Even if they could find another one that didn't have something like Ravana trapped inside it none of them would even be able to use it at all. The swords eat anything supernatural, including themselves. \n\n[i]Arja nods, sighing softly \"You're right, it's probably not good to resort to his weapons to hurt him anyway.\" she says, rubbing your side as she leans on you \"Hey...killed our first demon though.\" she says with a grin \"We're gonna be heroes when we go to the temple next...\" \n\nShe nods, \"Yeah... But... I hope we don't run into another one for a -very- long time.\" she winces, rubbing at her back. \"Lucky I didn't break any bones when I hit that tree.\" she sighs, then giggles and lays across your lap, \"Think I could get a backrub?\" she asks. \n\nArja smiles \"Yea, luckily Rakasha are rare, even here in India, thankfully the ancient wars were mainly successful.\" she says as she rubs Simoni's back slowly, using her strong grip to knead her muscles. \"You and I...we're gonna win this...\" she says softly \"We can beat Franklin, together.\" \n\nSimoni nods, reaching a hand up and squeezing her arm, \"Together.\" she smiles. \n\n\nAfter a while Nelen comes back and heads into his room, flopping down onto his bed. Dawn appearing next to him and wrapping her arms around his middle. He sighs and smiles sadly at her, stroking over her head and ears. \n\nHe remembers that day too, coming out from his hiding place after Franklin had gotten done taking out his frustrations on Dawn's mother and littermates, finding her alone among the wreckage of the box they'd been living in, the kitten crying over a small splattering of blood on the ground. She'd hissed at him at first, he'd smelled the same as Franklin (to her anyways), but he explained that he'd been kicked out and didn't have any family either. \n\n\"We strays gotta stick together right? C'mon, you can come with me.\" \n\n\"Mrwl...\" \n\n\"Whats your name little kitten?\" \n\n\"Don't have one... we don't use names human.\" \n\n\"Hm... I gotta call you something. Hey, the sun is coming up. How about I call you 'Dawn'?\" \n\n\"... I like it...\" \n\n\"Alright Dawn, lets get out of here. He might still be searching around for me.\" \n\n\"Here...\" \n\n\"Huh? W-WOAH! What the... hey, this is that gas station outside of town, how...\" \n\n\"I can do that, we all could...\" \n\n\"Huh. Dawn, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine.\" \n\n\"Hehe... me too...\" she grins.[/i]","writing_bbcode_parsed":"This takes place between Part 9 and 10 of the main story
Our story opens in India one morning, Lupe the werewolf sleeping next to Natasha's coffin as Drusilla enters the room dressed in leathers with a spear strapped to her back and a chain leash in her hands. She asks Lupe if she's ever been hunting before to which Lupe scoffs and tells her that of course she has, she's a werewolf! Drusilla explains that she means actual hunting, not just stalking prey and such.
Apparently back at her home on the Island of Sicily her tribesmates would use wolves for hunting, as dogs were a bit too... fragile... for the sort of prey they went after. There aren't any wolves in India, so a werewolf would have to do. By this point Lupe has begun to see Arja and her housemates as her new pack and, after getting roughed up by Drusilla for eating a few of her outfits, sees Drusilla as higher in the pack than she is, so she allows the cyclops to collar her and lets her lead her out of the village where the group lives and into the jungle. Drusilla tells her to sniff out a tiger and, after sampling the air and ground a bit with her nose, Lupe says she smells a 'big cat', pointing off into the trees as she does.
Drusilla hunkers down as she grabs her spear "Alright, now we track it." she says "Use the smell to lead you in, also keep your eye open for tracks, or fresh kills, or anything else a tiger would leave."
She nods, though she's not sure what a tiger is, as she lets Drusilla unhook her leash (the jangling chain would give them away), the wolf girl stalking her way through the undergrowth as she follows the scent. Despite her hyperactive nature she turns out to be rather good at stealth, barely disturbing the foliage as she lets her nose guide her along... and then we come to a clearing with a cow in it... well, most of a cow... more than half... of the outside. There's large claw and fang marks on the cow's body, and it's clear no human could've made them.
Drusilla nods approvingly "Good work." she whispers, looking around the cow slowly "Big marks, nothing human did this, must be a big tiger though." she says, looking around for a trace of further clues around the cow "Still smell it Lupe?"
Lupe nods, though its not difficult. She points at the trees and foliage around the corpse, a trail of bloody pawprints leading away from the kill... and then in the bushes you see something else. A pair of legs sticking out from under the leaves, -human- legs. It looks like the cow wasn't alone.
Drusilla sighs softly "That's a shame." she says, walking to the legs to check on the corpse "Always sad when that happens, it's still pretty wild out here." she says as she uses her spear to move the bush's leaves and such aside.
A young Indian man is laying under the bushes, one of his arms completely gone and his face a mess of scars and claw marks. Perhaps the cow was his, or perhaps he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, either way whatever killed the cow tore him apart. "Mrrf..." whines Lupe. "Cat smell really strong that way." she says, pointing past the body and into the trees.
Drusilla furrows her brow "That's weird, big cats don't usually rip limbs off and all, and why would it focus on the face..." she says, looking to where Lupe was pointed, "Be on guard, this may be something odd." she says as she creeps to the trees nearby, "This is an important job of a hunter, keeping the city and its people safe from the wild..."
She nods, then blinks and sniffs at one of the bloody prints on the ground. "Big eye... tracks wrong." she murmurs. The shape is all off. Its not a pawprint, its a footprint, and a huge one too. Bigger than a grown man's.
This changes things. A shapeshifter would be something they'd need help with, especially one able to leave footprints this size. Drusilla wonders if it's a weretiger or something but Lupe shakes her head, saying that it doesn't smell right. Werewolves aren't the only theropes in Romania, and she can tell the difference, but she can't tell -what- it is other than not something like herself. She then suggests they 'go ask monkey', which means Arja (Lupe isn't good at names, so she just goes by what they are rather than who. Arja is monkey, Natasha is Alpha-bat, Simoni is bird, etc).
Drusilla nods in agreement, reasoning that it's far too late to save the poor guy they found, and they quickly head back to the house, finding Arja meditating in her room.
Drusilla looks around for Arja, eventually finding her in her room meditating, the girl in 'ape mode' as she kneels in front of a statue of her ancestor. "Uh hey Arja, know anything about a tiger that turns into a man and kills people?" Dru asks, honestly sounding a little nervous as Arja's eyes fly open in shock when she hears the description.
Lupe nods at Drusilla's words, "Big eye took Lupe out hunting, Lupe smell cat, but not cat, all wrong." she yips, having changed back into a werewolf once they got inside. "Found cow and human, all eaten. Cat thing left footprints." she adds.
Arja stands up quickly "Shit, good work you two but yea, it was good you got me...I think you found a Rakshasa..." She says, walking to her closet to get her armor, gold and iron blended breastplate and gauntlets, that left her fingers exposed for claw attacks, her lower half remaining unburdened by armor though. "It's actually a misnomer that they're 'tiger demons', they're actually closer to vampires...don't tell Tash that though...though many of them possess shapeshifting qualities, and if you can shapeshift in India a tiger is a pretty excellent choice to murder and devour without being caught."
As Arja gears up Simoni returns, flying in through the window. Arja fills her in and she gets ready herself, changing human long enough to strap a quiver of arrows and a bow onto herself before going back to her garuda form and adding a set of razor sharp metal clips onto her talons. As she does Arja gets her fighting staff out of the closet as well. A sturdy wooden pole with an iron ball on one end and a wicked claw shaped like a monkey's hand on the other.
Lupe tilts her head, "So... Rakashakashamaaska... shaha... very bad?" she asks, apparently having trouble pronouncing the name. "Very really very bad?" she asks, tilting her head the other way.
Arja nods "They are, barring some truly evil divine beings, some of the worst creatures in my people's legends. They are cruel, they are cunning, and they see everything as a source of food. When they were first made their hunger was so great they tried to eat the god Brahma who just gave them life, they got their name because the word Rakasha is close to a way to shout for help in my language, which is what Brahma yelled when they were on him, and Shiva had to knock them to earth. We're raised to believe every creature has the capacity for goodness and nobility, but they are the closest we can see to genuine pure evil..."
Simoni confirms this, its pretty much word for word what Lakshimi told them. Lupe whines, "Um... Lupe smell something else too... smelled kinda like some metal thing..." she mentions. "Rakashamanasmaakaska-" she starts as Simoni cuts her off, "Lupe, just call them tiger-demons or something." she says.
"Rrf... Tiger-demons use weapon?" she asks, tilting her head.
Arja frowns "Sometimes, they're very intelligent so they have forges and such but they tend to stick to claws and fangs unless it's proper war." Dru shook her head at that "The body was torn apart, both the cow and the man, doesn't match a weapon."
Lupe nods, thinking, "Rrf... smelled metal though... metal... wood... feathers..." she blinks and notices the quiver on Simoni's back. "Smelled like those." she says, pointing to the arrows sticking out of it. "Metal smell different though."
Arja frowns, "A bow and arrow? Huh, that's rare for them. They drink blood through their hands and eat flesh, range isn't typically the best way for them to fight..." she says as she shakes her head "Dru, stay here, if it comes running to the city go all Cyclops rage on it, seriously DON'T hold back" she says as she nods to Simoni and you "Come on."
Drusilla stays behind on guard duty as Lupe leads the group back out to the clearing where the bodies are, then the three search the area further. As they look Lupe finds a torn up messenger bag that was tossed into the bushes. Inside the girls find a handwritten journal and textbooks, the subjects suggesting the Rakshasa's victim was a student of Archaeology at a local school. The journal details how he discovered a very old arrow and was bringing it back to town, thinking it could be some kind of cultural artifact.
Arja comments on the age of the arrow, suggesting it might be magical in origin, but Lupe says that it smelled funny... like 'magic, but not-magic'. As the girls think on this Lupe suddenly growls and looks off into the trees, barking out 'Tiger-demon!'. The rakshasa was coming back!
Arja and Simoni quickly shoot up into the canopy as Lupe ducks into the brush, hiding as the demon stomps it's way back into the clearing.
After a while the bushes part at the far side and a gigantic monstrous creature lumbers into the field. It looks like a large human, but twisted and misshapen with claw-like hands and feet, dark blue skin, burning red eyes with goat-like slits for pupils, a pair of curling horns jutting out of it's forehead, and large fangs sticking down from it's mouth. Its -huge- too, easily ten feet tall and muscular. Even Drusilla would be hard pressed to fight something like this.
The rakshasa glares about the clearing, then walks to where Lupe found the bag and digs around in the foliage. After a few minutes it grows agitated, then snarls and stamps its foot. "GONE!" it roars in hindi, the word slurred by it's fangs, "Gone gone gone!" it punches a tree, hard, splintering the bark where it's fist hits and almost knocking Simoni from the branches... but thankfully her talons have a good grip and she manages to keep from crying out or dropping any arrows. "Grrr... I need those notes... I found his arrow, but I don't know how to get him out!" it snarls, then glances around the field... "Hmph... Maybe one of the humans found it..." it says, scratching at it's chin through a thick bristly beard, "Grr, well tonight then..." it mutters to itself, calming down apparently, "Tonight I'll head into town, find the human who took the bag, eat them, and get it back." it says, "I have to get Father out..." he nods, then stomps off into the jungle again, apparently having not noticed any of them.
The girls come out of hiding after the demon leaves, Arja looking visibly shaken. She tells the others that they need to get that arrow, NOW. Simoni seems to agree, but is troubled by how upset Arja is. After all, they can always get help from Hanuman's Temple if the problem simply goes from being one rakshasa to two. Lupe sniffs around, but says the smell of the arrow is too faint, the demon didn't have it when he came back.
Arja shakes her head "No, if he's calling it father...this is bad. In the ancient days Rama was a mighty warrior god, he led MANY crusades against the demons, the Rakasha especially. They were led by mighty demons they called their kings, ancient Rakshasa, said to be the first ones created by Brahma himself who ate his divine flesh. Rama was mighty but even he couldn't KILL them, he had to weaken them, trap them, banish them, anything to get them away from the mortal world."
She winces, "Oh jeez... yeah, thats bad." she nods, fishing around in her pocket and pulling out her phone. "Should've done this in the first place. I'm calling Nelen and telling him to get back here. We're gonna need all of us." she says, dialing the number before turning around and talking into it as Lupe pads up to you, "So... bigger-tiger-demon in arrow?" she asks.
Arja nods "More or less, if he figures out how to get him out...we're all in very big trouble. The kings of the Rakshasa enslaved not just entire villages but entire KINGDOMS, only the gods themselves could even weaken them enough to lock them away."
Simoni informs the others that Nelen and Dawn were on their way back and suggests they go warn Arja's grandfather and Lakshimi. They'd definitely need help if the demon was able to find a way to free it's master from the arrow. The three head off immediately to the temple, entering through one of the reflecting pools in town. Simoni goes upstairs to inform Lakshimi while Arja tells her grandfather the situation.
The group made their way quickly to the main temple, Arja near throwing herself down in front of her grandfather, meditating as usual, both faces' eyes closed as he listens. "This is very bad" he mumbles as he slowly stands, Lakshimi already on her way down, the garuda looking very distressed as well, it seemed both races had reasons to fear this development...
Simoni follows her, changing back as she lands, and takes out the journal that they found, flipping through the pages. "So yeah, apparently this arrow could have a really powerful rakshasa demon inside it, dunno which one though." she says, showing them the sketches of the arrow before going back to the journal, "Wait... here's something. It mentions that it was used by Rama to defeat the King of Lanka here... any idea who that is?"
Arja blinks as her grandfather shakes his head. "Lanka is the island fortress of Ravana, an Asura and Rakasha lord. He was once a noble follower of Shiva, whom Hanuman was an avatar of, until he decided he would surpass his master, as so many Asuras felt their right." he shakes his head slowly "This is very troubling, if this creature is his spawn, he'll be coming here soon, I imagine even if Arja didn't pocket the book as she did he'd assume we did. Ravana being released would be one of the worst things to happen for our people..."
In Indian legends Hanuman the Monkey King burned down the fortress of Lanka that Ravana ruled over... its safe to assume he'd bear a grudge if he got free. As the group discusses it there's a splash from the pool, Nelen and Dawn climbing out and heading over to discuss the situation. Nelen asks if there's any weaknesses that the Rakshasa have, reasoning that most western demons have some kind of bane that can be used against them (holy symbols, silver, the sound of bells, etc) while Arja suggests that they simply get the arrow away from the demon and bring it to the temple to seal it away in the vaults underneath it. The Rakshasa most likely wouldn't be able to fight it's way through all of Arja's family to get the arrow back before being defeated.
The old monkey shakes his head "Cutting their heads off tends to kill them...most times." he says, shaking his head again "That's the problem, they're so damn hard to kill. Most of them have their own specific weaknesses, like one I fought in the Punjab region had a hate of cats, but this other down in Burma dissolved when shot with silver..."
Arja frowns "Ok so what do we know about him. If he's the child of Ravana then...he's very powerful...but the downside is he should be weak to the same things Ravana was..."
Her grandfather just frowns at that "Then he's unstoppable because Ravana had the power in him to conquer all things, even divine ones, not even Shiva could stand against him."
Arja just shakes her head at that "No that's physical weakness, Ravana was weak because he was arrogant, cruel, spiteful...he was stupid! He was so focused on revenge and rage he hardly ever thought things through, and we saw his 'son' have a little meltdown because he couldn't find a damn book. If we can get him mad he'll drop his guards!"
Dawn grins wide, "I think I can take care of that~" she giggles, swishing her tail as Nelen smirks at her, "Well, he may be strong, but I bet a supernatural strain of syphilis would slow him down at least." he nods, flexing his fingers as bloody tendrils snake out from between the bandages.
"Oh, and I think we might have some time to get ready." says Simoni, "The thing was muttering about sneaking into town tonight... aren't those demons weaker during the daytime or something?" she asks.
Arja nods "Which is why we CAN'T wait till night. We have to take him down now, if we let him get stronger at night and go on his rampage he could hurt someone in town. We need to move fast, take him down in the jungle, and find his treasure."
Simoni blushes, "Er, yeah, right..." she mutters. She was hoping that we'd be able to wait until Natasha was awake too. To be quiet honest, that thing scared her... a lot. She could feel how strong it was. Nelen nods at this, "Alright, so we're heading into the jungle on a monster hunt. Lead the way girls." he says as he and Dawn head back to the pool, Lupe following them out.
The five of them leave the temple and head back into the jungle, Lupe sniffing out a path ahead of them to guide the group to where the demon was making it's lair. When they arrive Arja takes the lead, giving the others instructions as they prepare for a fight.
Arja nods, "Simoni, get in the tree, I want you to divebomb him as soon as he comes out, claw the shit out of anything you can" she says "Dawn, you just start pissing him off when Simoni gets him, same to you Nelen, we're gonna hit him HARD and try to set him off." she says, conjouring a fireball in her hand and lobbing it into the jungle where Lupe was pointing "RAKASHA!" she roars out "HANUMAN'S CHILD COMES FOR YOU! I HAVE YOUR BOOK, I HAVE THE KEY TO FREE YOUR TRAITOR FATHER!"
Simoni nods and flies up into the branches. Dawn grins at her and flexes her fingers, ready to hit him with every batshit insane vision she can think up. Nelen just nods grimly as he cracks his knuckles, generating his tendrils as Lupe growls.
For a moment there's nothing... then a loud bestial roar shakes the forest as the rakshasa charges through the undergrowth, snarling as it's burning eyes lock onto Arja. Despite being ready for it Nelen and Dawn both take a step back as, in it's rage, the demon seems even larger than before.
"I -thought- I smelled that accursed monkey's stench..." it snarls through it's fangs, "Where have you hidden the book girl?! Surrender it to me or I'll make you beg for the release of death!" it bellows, it's claws extending into talon like-shapes... then the beast lets out a hiss of pain and arches it's back as Simoni swoops down, slashing her claws across the demon's spine. The sudden noise snaps Nelen out of his daze as he points to both Lupe and Dawn, shooting a burst of blood at their hands and dying their claws a bright crimson, "GO! GET HIM!" he yells as the two rush forward, raking their claws across both his legs as Nelen's blood seeps into his body through the wounds, the skin around them beginning to blacken and rot within mere moments as a supernaturally enhanced disease eats away at the demon's flesh.
Arja cackles loudly, huge, whooping, laughter filling the jungle as she bounces around the demon, swinging her staff to hit him with the heavy weighted ball right in the ankle "What's wrong, the mighty child of the lord of the island fortress is being overwhelmed by children?" she mocks "Your father was a coward, a miserable worm who betrayed his god thinking it would grant him power! You think bringing him back will help you at all?"
Despite the monster's size the battle seems to go well, Dawn and Lupe darting around too fast for the demon to grab as Arja smacks at the rakshasa's ankles with her weapon, trying to knock him off balance while Nelen lashes at the demon with his blood, shaping it into a long whip-like weapon. As this happens Simoni prepares to dive again, aiming her talons at the demon's throat... and thats where it all goes wrong.
The demon snarls in pain as Simoni swoops back down for another run past... then she lets out a shriek as the rakshasa's hand snaps out and grabs her around the leg, swinging her around before slamming her HARD into a nearby tree. Her eyes roll back and the garuda slumps to the forest floor unconscious.
"SIMONI!" yells Nelen, rushing over to her fallen body as Dawn hisses and focuses on the demon's face, her eyes flashing as she strikes out with her Wonderland Eyes... but the demon just glares right back and Dawn's eyes go wide as she suddenly falls backwards, screaming as her magic gets sent right back at her. Rakshasas have the power of Maya (Illusion) after all, and he's been using it a lot longer than some cat. Lupe growls and rushes up a tree, then leaps, aiming her fangs at the demon's throat and sinking them in as she digs her claws into the demon's shoulders. The rakshasa snarls and grabs at her, but can't seem to get a good grip on the werewolf.
Arja looks to Simoni with her eyes wide, roaring in rage as well as she charges the demon like a wild beast, leaping to the trees and swinging off one branch to land right in the demon's face, her staff held in her tail as her own iron claws rip at the demon's face, eyes especially...
The demon snarls up at her, then manages to get a grip around the scruff of Lupe's neck and clubs Arja off his face by using Lupe as the club, it glares at the werewolf, still snarling back at him, then grabs her by the legs and slams her into a tree several times over before tossing her away. She lands with a yelp and doesn't get back up.
Nelen gets up and looks around the battlefield. Simoni is unconscious, Lupe as well, and Dawn is curled up on the ground with her eyes wide and staring, locked into the demon's illusion. "Dammit... I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this again..." he sighs, "Arja! If this goes wrong, get the others out of here and run as far away as you can!" he says, putting his hands together, fingers facing each wrist... and then there's a tearing sound as he rips the bandages off his hands.
He grits his teeth as Arja gets a glimpse of a pair of bloody sigils cut into his palms, then he lets out a loud yell as his whole body goes almost white, a mass of bloody tendrils bursting out of the palms of his hands. Some are just tentacles, some are covered in razor sharp teeth, and a few even have gaping mouths on them. He glares at the demon, sweat beading on his forehead, and then all of them shoot forward at once, slamming into the rakshasa and tearing chunks of flesh out of it's arms as the creature howls in fury and pain.
Arja takes her chance when the demon's overwhelmed by the blood magic, moving to stand between it and the downed girls before unleashing her own attack, roaring loudly as her eyes flash with fire, her mouth seeming to distend unnaturally like a snake's as she shoots a massive gout of flames at the howling beast, using her fire to keep his wounds from healing as the blood magic rips and tears through him.
The rakshasa seems able to weather even this assault however, protecting it's face with it's arms as it slowly stomps forward, pressing through the crimson tendrils and the blazing flames... but as it does it loses it's focus on the illusion it forced on Dawn.
Nelen's body is almost white now, all his blood in the tendrils attacking the rakshasa as Arja's flames wreathe it's body, the demon struggling forward, holding up what's left of it's arms to protect it's head as it takes one step, then another, then another... walking slowly forward as it struggles its way towards the two of them.
As it does however it loses control of the illusion. Dawn sitting up and shaking her head, "Whuh... where..." she blinks, then she remembers what happened and turns to face the demon, her expression twisted in fury. She teleports above us, glaring down at the rakshasa, and her eyes glow a bright acidic yellow as the demon stumbles and falters, falling to the ground with a terrified scream. The minute it's down she pounces, clawing at it's eyes, its face, it's neck, anything she can reach.
Arja signals with her hand for Nelen to get his blood back, slowly advancing on the demon, still spiting fire, avoiding Dawn's fury of course before she gets right up to the fallen creature's head, reaching a hand down to gently lift Dawn as she ends her flame breath attack, the wounds effectively too burned to heal any time soon. "You have one chance, demon." she growls in a cold voice, grabbing her staff and holding it over his head "Where's the arrow? Tell me and you can die with some honor in your soul."
The demon looks up at Arja through what's left of it's eyes, Dawn glaring at it with tears down her face before she quickly runs over to Nelen, rubbing her eyes on her arm as she fishes a roll of bandages out of his pocket while he struggles to force the blood back into his body, then quickly rebandaging his hands.
The demon grins at her, it's mouth all shredded, and replies, "I spit on you, child of Hanuman. If you want Rama's arrow, find it yourself."
Arja nods, "Let no one in the realm of the dead say I was cruel in your last moments." she replies grimly, bringing the orb down HARD right into the demon's head, then again, and again, and again, the girl's small form heaving with breath as she caves the creature's skull in before walking to check on the girls, composing herself again on the way.
Lupe is already struggling to her feet, the werewolf girl healing rapidly as they are known to do, but Simoni is still unconscious. She's not bleeding or anything though, it looks like the bow and quiver absorbed most of the impact... she'd probably need a new bow after that given that there's a large crack running along the wood. Nelen is sweating bullets, but as Dawn finishes wrapping his hands the bandages glow a faint blue, runes visible on the cloth for a moment before the glow fades and they appear normal again. "Whew..." he sighs, "That makes three times I've had to do that..." he wipes his forehead, then hugs Dawn to him as the cat buries her face in his chest, sobbing quietly.
The group is beaten and battered, but alive. Arja however feels overcome with guilt at the rashness of her actions. She says that they should've waited and worked out a plan, figured out some way to fight the demon that wouldn't risk so much. Nelen just shrugs and tells her that they're all alive. In his experience that's a win.
Arja picks up Simoni, cradling the girl in her arms as she asks Lupe to sniff out where the demon had hidden the arrow. Lupe nods, stumbling a bit as she's still punch drunk from getting slammed into the tree like that, but manages to find the trail.
After a good mile of walking she finds a spot of dirt that's been freshly dug up and starts to claw at it, then comes up with a leather tube, pulling it out by the handle, "Arrow." she says, handing it to Nelen as he opens the tube. Inside is a very old looking arrow with a metal arrowhead. "Huh, so this is the arrow that thing was so nuts about? It doesn't look like mu-AH JESUS FUCK!" he yells as he reaches a finger in, then recoils suddenly, breathing heavily, "... son of a bitch... Arja, look at this..." he tilts it so she can see the arrowhead. "Don't touch it! Just... look at the metal, right around the edges." he says.
Looking closely reveals a very thin aura of what looks like nothingness, as if the edges of the arrow are surrounded by some sort of black hole.
Arja gasps softly as she looks at it "Oh my god, it's a Mundane Blade..." she says, shaking her head "That explains so much...that's how the gods beat the kings, they... absorbed them, then they locked the tools they used away."
Rama's arrow, the magical artifact that was used to defeat the Rakshasa King Ravana, is one of the Mundane Blades. Like the sword wielded by Franklin Fullmoon it has the power to absorb any magic that it comes into contact with and, with magical beings, it can absorb them completely, trapping them within the weapon.
Arja suggests that this may be what they need to defeat Franklin, suggesting that they use their own Mundane Blade against him, but Nelen shoots the idea down. He says that if the arrow winds up destroyed it could very well accomplish what the rakshasa was trying to do in the first place and free Ravana. Simoni seems disturbed by it too, Dawn hissing loudly at it as she hides up on Nelen's shoulders in her animal form, and even Arja notices a sort of pull from the arrowhead... a sort of gravity that seems to suck all the energy out of the air around it.
This also creates a new problem...
"Wait... Arja, how are we going to get it to the temple?" asks Nelen, "Those things cancel out any magic they get close to, and I'm pretty sure that'd include the portal we use to get there in the first place..." he adds, "I gotta admit, I was wondering why something like that wasn't sealed up there already... maybe it can't actually be in the supernatural world?"
Arja blinks "Shit you're right, it'd be like bringing a black hole into the middle of a city..." she says, shaking her head "Well this got problematic then...how are we supposed to store this?"
Simoni raises her hand, still moving a bit weakly, "I got an idea..." she says, "Send it somewhere that doesn't use magic at all." she nods, pointing behind her ear.
Lupe tilts her head as Nelen nods, "Huh, well that would keep it safe from other rakshasa. I mean its not like Indian demons have a space program..." he nods.
Arja grins "That's fucking brilliant!" she says, nodding eagerly "Alright signal big blue, we'll tell her the truth, this is a VERY dangerous earth artifact but it only is dangerous to magic and the supernatural, which her race seems to have nothing on."
Simoni uses the implant behind her ear to contact the alien, Bethandi Shuda, and inform her of the situation. A few moments later Bethandi beams down and accepts the arrow and the case from them, taking it back up to her ship for safekeeping. The group heads back to town and Nelen volunteers to go to the temple and inform Arja's Grandfather and Lakshimi of their success and tell them that they need to hide the rakshasa's body before any mundanes can find it. They enter the house and Lupe wanders off to find Drusilla while Dawn changes back into her humanoid form, curling up tightly on the couch.
Arja sighs, still holding Simoni protectively "I'm so sorry..." she simply says, nuzzling her face into the girl's shoulder.
Simoni hugs her back, getting to her feet now that we're inside. She's shaking a bit, but otherwise seems unhurt, "Hey, it needed to be taken down Arja..." she replies, "Maybe we should've waited, but now we know that it can't free Ravana." she smiles sympathetically before looking over at Dawn. "Are you alright?" she asks the cat, "I don't think I've ever seen you go this long without making a joke or something."
Dawn just grumbles and rolls over, her tail wrapped around her legs.
Arja walks over to sit by Dawn, rubbing her head softly "What'd he show you..."
Dawn grumbles a bit, then mutters, "The day Nelen and I met..." she replies.
The rakshasa had cast a spell to bring up the most traumatic vision it could to torment Dawn when she tried to use her Wonderland Eyes on it, and she wound up trapped in a vision of the day that she first met Nelen.
He'd been fleeing from a group of Fullmoon warriors led by Franklin, hiding in a warehouse that Dawn's litter had been using for a home. He'd gotten pretty good at hiding too and it was only because Dawn was across the building at the time that she survived when, in a fit of rage over being unable to find Nelen, Franklin unsheathed his sword and took out his frustrations on Dawn's mother and littermates, the sword not even leaving bodies behind as it absorbed them into itself.
Arja and Simoni give her a sympathetic hug, but its clear the cat wants to be alone as she vanishes, reappearing elsewhere in the house. Simoni sighs, but doesn't go after her, deciding she needed some time alone after something like that. She does tell Arja that it'd be best not to try to use a Mundane Blade against Franklin anyways. Even if they could find another one that didn't have something like Ravana trapped inside it none of them would even be able to use it at all. The swords eat anything supernatural, including themselves.
Arja nods, sighing softly "You're right, it's probably not good to resort to his weapons to hurt him anyway." she says, rubbing your side as she leans on you "Hey...killed our first demon though." she says with a grin "We're gonna be heroes when we go to the temple next..."
She nods, "Yeah... But... I hope we don't run into another one for a -very- long time." she winces, rubbing at her back. "Lucky I didn't break any bones when I hit that tree." she sighs, then giggles and lays across your lap, "Think I could get a backrub?" she asks.
Arja smiles "Yea, luckily Rakasha are rare, even here in India, thankfully the ancient wars were mainly successful." she says as she rubs Simoni's back slowly, using her strong grip to knead her muscles. "You and I...we're gonna win this..." she says softly "We can beat Franklin, together."
Simoni nods, reaching a hand up and squeezing her arm, "Together." she smiles.
After a while Nelen comes back and heads into his room, flopping down onto his bed. Dawn appearing next to him and wrapping her arms around his middle. He sighs and smiles sadly at her, stroking over her head and ears.
He remembers that day too, coming out from his hiding place after Franklin had gotten done taking out his frustrations on Dawn's mother and littermates, finding her alone among the wreckage of the box they'd been living in, the kitten crying over a small splattering of blood on the ground. She'd hissed at him at first, he'd smelled the same as Franklin (to her anyways), but he explained that he'd been kicked out and didn't have any family either.
"We strays gotta stick together right? C'mon, you can come with me."
"Mrwl..."
"Whats your name little kitten?"
"Don't have one... we don't use names human."
"Hm... I gotta call you something. Hey, the sun is coming up. How about I call you 'Dawn'?"
"... I like it..."
"Alright Dawn, lets get out of here. He might still be searching around for me."
"Here..."
"Huh? W-WOAH! What the... hey, this is that gas station outside of town, how..."
"I can do that, we all could..."
"Huh. Dawn, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."
"Hehe... me too..." she grins.","pools_count":0,"title":"Side Story 3: Rama's Arrow","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"text/rtf","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"5","name":"Strong Violence","description":"Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"30","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}