Traipsing through the forest, her belly gently wobbling with each footfall, Tejral was so preoccupied with her performance in the next village and the ensuing feast that she forgot the first rule of the Marshes, especially in the rakshasa hunting grounds.
Always watch your step.
Tejral gasped as the ground suddenly gave way beneath her, a thin layer of sticks covered by leaves snapping under her weight. Her life very briefly flashed before her eyes before she came to a sudden stop, hiccuping as her belly bounced on the rim of the hole and squashed up uncomfortably against her chest. Feeling a similar tightness around her hips, she tried to shimmy her body before her foot brushed against something wooden and very very sharp; a punji stake, mere inches from sticking her like a pig.
"Ha! I got you, little piggy!"
The underbrush nearby started to rustle as another rakshasa leapt out, young and wiry with white fur striped with black, the handful of gold coins on her own plain loincloth tinkling. Her amber eyes fell into a scowl as she looked at the much chunkier rakshasa in an undignified position. "What are you doin?" she hissed, brandishing a spear. "Get out of my hole!"
"Does it look like I'm in here on purpose?" Tejral snarled. "I'm stuck!"
"You're...stuck?" The white furred rakshasa said before seeing why the heftier huntress was stuck and promptly breaking into a fit of giggles. Tejral rolled her eyes, trying not to look like she was utterly humiliated at being seen in such a position.
"Yeah yeah, make a totem carving and it'll last longer," Tejral said as the smaller rakshasa doubled over with gleeful laughter. She let out a soft huff, which disturbed the dirt around her enough that she slipped down half an inch. "C-could you hurry up and help me out here?" she asked, feeling nervous about the sharpened sticks below her feet.
"Sure sure, let's get the piggy unstuck," the smaller rakshasa said, straightening out again and dusting off her paws like nothing happened. Taking a vine hanging from a nearby tree, she wrapped it around itself to make a sturdy rope and hung it over a low hanging branch, handing one end to Tejral and taking the other with both hands. "On three, one, two, HYUP!"
The smaller Rakshasa pulled on the rope with such force that she lifted herself off the ground,Tejral yelped as she was pulled free like a plug, and the two promptly smacked into each other face first, landing in a heap on the ground. Fortunately for her savior, Tejral had landed on the bottom and so she lifted and lightly tossed the smaller huntress off of her.
"Pongi wins again!" the white and black striped rakshasa announced triumphantly as she bounced to her feet and posed dramatically, waiting for Tejral to stumble to her feet.
"Could have been worse," Tejral admitted, brushing the dirt off her hips. "Thanks for helping me out of there, ah...Pongi."
Pongi beamed. "Always happy to help! But you still owe me a hole. I spent a good hour setting that up."
"Well I...wait, what's that sound?"
The two rakshasa's ears perked up, recognizing the pounding rhythm of a drum beat, one that they missed while they were freeing the fatter huntress from her predicament. Pongi brandishes her spear as Tejral brought her claws out, expecting the worst.
And the worst was what she got. Out of the underbrush came dozens of faces, human faces, painted in terrifying primary colors. Stopping short at the sight of the two rakshasas, they drew back, raising spears and bows, as their leaders stepped forward, adorned in exotic feathers and brandishing ceremonial blades.
A chill ran down Tejral's spine all the way to her tail as she recognized some of them; the chieftains who she had been exploiting ever since she started her little goddess scheme. Figures that of all days this would be the one where it all came around to bite her right on the butt, but didn't they think she was still a vengeful deity?
"There she is, the wicked goddess Tejral!" the war chief leader cried out. "Come, let us slay her and be rid of her foul curse!" The villagers all let out a fearsome battle cry, filling the jungle with the sound of their fury.
"Oh, so you're Tejral?" Pongi said. "Cute name!"
"Thanks?" Tejral said, ducking as a spear whizzed past her ear. "Damn! We gotta get out of here before they make us into blankets!"
"Why? They aren't after me!" Pongi insisted.
"And kill her pet too!" one of the villagers howled, hurling a bola at Pongi's head, which wrapped around the tree behind her as she spun out of the way.
"Okay yup time to go!"
The two rakshasas bolted. dashing through the marshes under a rain of arrows and javelins as fast as their legs could carry them; even Tejral's chunky thighs were keeping up with the nimbler Pongi through sheer skill and adrenaline. Heading for the thicker part of the jungle where they could vanish, a large man dressed in rakshasa skins stepped out with a massive club to cut them off. Pongi dodged by inches as the two turned to run away from the warrior, heading across the river. Still more villagers emerged like vipers from the water, firing blowdarts that pinged off the tree bark.
"How many people are trying to kill you?!?" Pongi asked as she flailed to dodge the projectiles.
"It's a very long story!" Tejral shouted, jumping over tripwires that sprung out of the tall grass, somehow managing to overtake the smaller Pongi only to stop short as a sheer drop came up, the river turning into a noisy churning waterfall. Tejral allowed herself a moment to breath, clutching a stitch in her side.
"HYUP!"
The breath was promptly knocked out of her as Pongi collided right into the fatter rakshasa, sending them both over the edge. The villagers gathered around the cliff and watched as the two vanished into the mist at the bottom of the waterfall, never to be seen again.
---
"Hey, tubby! Wake up already!"
Tejral flinched, her head pounding as something jabbed her in the ribs. Opening her bleary eyes, she realized it was Pongi poking her in the chest. "Gerroff!" Tejral barked, smacking her hand away and choking up water as she shook her head, hoping to clear it up.
"Oh good, you're not dead!" Pongi said brightly, despite her rumpled waterlogged fur as she sat down on a large stone on the riverbank. "I thought you drowned or something, we traveled along that river a good distance y'know!"
"Yeah yeah, not dead. No thanks to YOU though," Tejral snapped. "You almost killed us!"
"So maybe I did, buuuut you'll forgive me when I tell you what I found!" Pongi said in a sing-song tone.
"And what is that?" the chubby huntress asked. Pongi smiled and pointed over her shoulder towards...
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