Chapter #4Tejral, the gluttonous "goddess" by: regulus11   In a little village of the Motee Marshes, there was a great ruckus. All the people were leaving their huts and were directed toward the same places; all the people were bringing something with them: food. Every person either had a chunk of meat, and it didn't seem to be a preference of a specific kind, a fresh pike, or just a couple of papayas. Among those people, there was Jiroo.
Jiroo was a young boy of the village, only 8 years old, but that day, it was the first time for him to bring food for the goddess. This tradition began only a couple of months ago, when, apparently, a goddess arrived demanding a lot of food or she would've had destroyed the village, and every few days, all the citizen had to bring their share to the altar to satisfy their demand. Jiroo never had the occasion of bringing food before though, his parents thought it might have been too dangerous for him, but the boy wanted so desperately to see the fearsome goddess, that his father allowed him to go.
So Jiroo was bringing a peccary leg, with a big smile full of excitement and fear at the same time. He followed the crowd, his older sister grasping his hand, until he reached the altar.
It was a large rectangular stone, with torches at its corners and three some pots with perfumed ashes at every side.
The people got in line and, one after another, everyone put their food. The village was very small, barely 100 inhabitants including the children, but the citizens managed to amass enough food for a large family.
"Where is the goddess?" Asked an impatient Jiroo.
"She hasn't arrived yet" replied his mother.
The kid waited thrilled for the goddess. Would have she come from the sky in a storm? Riding a wyvern? Erupting with a flame? And what was she like? All these answers were answered after a few minutes of waiting.
The goddess came simply walking from the forest, and it wasn't exactly how he expected.
The goddess was a lady with a doughy body covered almost entirely in orange fur with black stripes, sans for the palm of the hands, the plants of the feet and the belly. The latter was especially noticeable; it was big and sagged in front of the thick thighs.
Her face was round, with puffy cheeks. She had big yellow diamond eyes, a black cat-like nose and a pair of black horns near her tiger ears. The hair on her head was short, barely reaching the chin and was black at the tips.
She was wearing a simple piece of cloth around the chest, which wasn't very large compared to the rest of the body, and a loincloth covering the genitals (if a goddess had any, thought Jiroo). The clothes had gold coins attached to them, which tinkled at every step when the clothes waved.
This wasn't what Jiroo expected, as to him; she resembled more a fat cat than a vengeful goddess.
And he was right as Tejral, wasn't a goddess, but a rakshasa, a tiger-like creature that lived in the marshy jungle. They were a race of skilled hunters, able to catch even the largest Triceratops with their strength.
Tejral tried to make the most serious and scary expression she could put. And all the humans slowly retreated while she advanced toward the altar. Then she sat, and her expression switched toward a happy and gluttonous one, with a big smile while she licked her lips, and her striped tail wagged back and forth behind her.
Tejral too lived off hunting, until, after stumbling across a village of humans, she noticed how those tribal people were scared of her, and came up with the "vengeful goddess" idea. Either the villagers paid her a tribute in food, or she would've destroyed their village utterly. The plan worked, and she suddenly found a very easy way to get all the food she wanted. Why bother hunting when she could get much more without breaking a sweat?
The rakshasa was devouring all the goods that were on the table. The villages there were full of good hunters, so she could taste all the delicious meats of the area every day, and they even left some fruits too; she wasn't a fruit lover too, but why bother to refuse them when they were so good? Especially the red and juicy ones; and in that moment she sunk her fangs into one, and all the sweet juice poured on her soft cheeks.
Three humans, along with a much older one, came in front of her. Tejral could see the terrified expression on their faces, with one breaking into a sweat. Two humans had a wooden flute in their hands, and the third a little drum.
"My goddess, Tejral" said the old man, the chief. Even if old, he still had a body that would make any average person envious, after all, he wasn't the chief only because he was the wisest (but not wise enough to see through Tejral's facade, thought the rakshasa with a grin) "I thought you might enjoy some music while you're eating our offering" he added, and pointed at the other three with his hand, waiting for Tejral's approval.
Tejral, with a mouth full of food like a chipmunk's, nodded. Some music wouldn't have minded her, and if it was good, she might had begin to "honour" this village more with her presence.
Tejral was, in fact, too greedy to stop to a single village, she wanted more. And thus, most of the villages in the area were serving her, bringing food on regular basis. And noticed how some began bringing more for her approval, either with more food, gold offering (a Rakshasa never refused gold) or other services.
Naturally, all of these had some consequence, as the once slender Tejral had almost doubled her weight in a few months. And her previous slender form could have been proved by the golden bracelet on her wrist, which was too small for her flabby arm.
Thankfully, the villages didn't questioned how could have a goddess gained weight, and so far Tejral was having the time of her life, even if her new size brought a couple of drawbacks, the pros were just too many.
She liked the music they were playing, but she didn't bother too much, as she was concentrated to the food on the altar. Once she was finished, she patted her overstuffed gut and asked for help to get up.
"I hope you appreciated our offering" said the chief.
"I did" replied Tejral with a big smile "I won't destroy this village" then she turned to her "scary face" "But I ask for another offering in three days, at the same hour.”
"Ok, we will" replied the chief bowing to his knees.
"Then, I shall take my leave of you," said Tejral, holding her belly as if she was pregnant, and slowly going back to the jungle.
Tejral walked slowly back home, while trying to remember which village was next morning. She had now planned meals *ahem* offerings with most of the villages in the area, but even after a couple of months, she hadn't remembered it quite well.
"Oh yes, the one near the waterfall" said Tejral at low voice. That village was full of fishermen, and thinking about the delicious fish she would have eaten the next day, made the rakshasa already hungry, despite all the stuff she had eaten not long ago.
Then, as if a real goddess heard her desire, she saw a peccary with three piglets. She licked her lips, and raised her hand with sharp claws, while also grabbing a branch which seemed sharp enough to work, and then she moved as quietly as she could, and jumped toward it with a surprise attack.
Unfortunately, the animals were too fast and escaped, while she was winded after a few meters of running. She tried to throw the branch as a spear too, but missed all of them.
Tejral stopped, with her still full belly rising and lowering with her breath. She was getting too out of shape for such activity, but her stomach was getting so used to all the extra food, she needed more to satisfy her gluttony. She thought perhaps she could demand more food from the villagers.
She walked back to her tree and sunk her claws into the bark, pulling her weighty form up until she arrived at her tree-top hut. One of the downside of this "goddess" play was that she had to walk a lot to get her food, if only she could stay in one of the villages forever...
She lowered herself onto her pile of fur that served as a bed, next to a dusty javelin who hadn't been touched in months, and closed her eyes.
The next day, she woke up, and her large stomach, having digested all the food of the day before, was growling, demanding to be filled. Tejral was more than happy to oblige, and left the hut to go toward the next village...   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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