Starvaa

Dhar ran as fast as he could. He ran away after the revelation from the people who he considered as friends. He learned that he never led a rebellion or got executed. Only a war criminal to then get killed by a monster. He’s sure there’s more to it, but all he could think now is of Zebei and Kushi. Dhar felt betrayed and lied to by them

How could they? How could they?

That’s what he kept asking himself. And yet, he could still hear their voices despite them not being in his radius anymore. He’s all alone.

He stops his tracks to take a breather. He was sweating, coughing, and wheezing after over-extering his stressful run. Once the moment of silence was done; he let out a huge, frustrated scream. However, the scream had attracted some monsters: the Vetala.

Dhar noticed them when he heard bushes rustling and monsters growling. He looked back to see them coming towards him. Small, round critters in bowls(Hungry Ghosts) and bigger ones that looked like goblins(the Belu). Dhar took out his sword, however his battle stance was too tired and sloppy.

“Oh come on... I don’t have time for this... ” He muttered, panting. He saw the Belu charge towards him with a spindash attack. The swordsman barely had the time to react with a block as instead he was met with a hard crash. He was slammed against a tree, followed by getting tackled by a Hungry Ghost down into the ground. He struggled to get up but was stepped on by another Belu’s foot. Dhar laughed quietly and mumbled,

“So... This is it haha... This is where I might die... again.”

He closed his eyes. He blacked out(and possibly accepted his fate).

As the monsters were about to kill him, they halted once they heard flapping in the air and also something burrowing below them.

The Vetala were suddenly swarmed by a colony of bats and a labor of moles. The Belu tried to swat the bats away with their daggers, however the blades were knocked out of their hands by the slap of their wings. Meanwhile, the hungry ghosts fell into the holes thanks to the little diggers. Once the coast was clear; the moles crawled out and picked up Dhar’s unconscious body, then took him somewhere safe. Somewhere into an old place filled with vines hanging around the walls and big roots seeping in rocky halls. There were also an assortment of vases lying around.

Within the ruins, the critters enter a den to lay the man’s body onto a bed of flowers. Strangely, the bats and moles began squeaking as if they’re calling for someone. Just as Dhar was about to wake up from the noise, a shadow looms over him and the small animals.

Dhar groaned as he sat up, still in pain from what happened half an hour ago.

“Ugh... Am I dead? Probably not...“ he slurred as rubbed his forehead. His head stinged from the touch. The surge worsened when he got another vision.

A burning village.

A brunette girl with beads around her head.

Ajna.

“Ow..! Ow..! Another memory...? What’s going on?–Huh?”

Before he could process the vision he saw, he felt something drop on his head a few times. He yelped and glanced at what hit him. It was a couple of small, plump dark fruits. Before he could pick one up, he realized someone was in front of him as he jumped back.

Now seeing them in full view, it was a tall woman... Quite the strange one in fact. All covered in gray-ish brown fur; her long, white hair with black streaks on the sides; bangs covering her eyes and nose; and she looked like a mix of a bat and a mole.

Bewildered by the encounter, he pointed at the mangosteens, “Are these... For me..?” He hesitantly asked. Although quiet, the hybrid nudged the fruit to him. Dhar took the response as a yes and he picked it up; splitting it open with his thumbs to reveal the white, thick rinds inside.

This is safe to eat right?

He grabbed a piece and ate it. He hummed in relief, tasting the sweet-tanginess. While continuing to munch, he looks at and asks the creature who was eating along,

“So... Just wondering... Did you save me?”

She nodded and ate a mangosteen(with no need to break it open), then had her paw motioned to the critters in the corner. Dhar’s head shifted to where she was pointing at and his eyes widened.

A few bats were eating as some were resting, meanwhile the moles... Well they dug off to gather more food.

“Huh that’s actually impressive... Thank you, miss uh...”

A squeak slipped out from the hybrid’s mouth. The man’s head tilted and asked if she had a name. After a few other squeaks as an attempt to speak, the woman muttered her name,

“... Tiny...”

“Thank you, Tiny.”

“... Mhm.”

Later, Tiny began to scratch the stone pavement. Dhar watched, noticing she was actually drawing someone. He realized it was the same girl that he saw from his memories,

“That’s Ajna... Do you know her? “

Tiny shook her head and muttered the name…

“... Shiva...“

“Ah so she was the one who named you that?”

Another nod from the hybrid. Dhar analyzed the carving again, a bit unsure.

The person looks way too similar to Ajna

He looked up at Tiny and asked her if she knew where she could find the girl. The hybrid nodded in affirmation and stood up, soon guiding him out of the den and ruins. Out of the ruins, she pointed towards a path. As Dhar was going to thank her, both of them unexpectedly heard some voices echoing within the place.

“You said he was taken in here, right?”

“Yes, sir! I’m sure of it!”

Dhar was in shock, realizing that he was being tracked down. He muttered “the Neo-Ravannavar Army” as an indication and looked at Tiny, worried. Tiny waved her paw as a signal for him to go, willing to fend off the army. “W-what? Are you sure?” The swordsman was gently pushed away by her. He understood the message and told Tiny to be careful, later parting ways with her.

After another long run, Dhar checked behind in case he was being followed. Despite the coast being seemingly clear, he still expressed worry about his new friend. For now, he decided to take a break as he saw the sky was late already. He scanned the forest and saw there was a straw hut nearby. “It couldn’t hurt asking the owner to let me stay in for the night... Right?”

He gulped and he slowly walked towards the entrance.

A sharp woody smell tingles his nose, possibly an incense as he detected. As he was about to knock on the door, there was a low growl that he heard from the side. Wary by the sound, the swordsman got off the porch and saw something glowing in the bushes. He saw a large, striped feline slowly crawl out of the leaves which startled the man.

A tiger!? ... Guess I’m going to die then.

Before the tiger spirit could lunge at him, he stopped when he heard his owner call out to him.

“Bom, why aren’t you eating your dinner?” Both the man and tiger turned to see a woman in dark clothing with fur at the ends of her sleeves and dress, holding a lantern. Her eyes darted to see the one who spooked her orange pet, “What in the..? You?” Her voice was raspy. Her reaction when seeing the man was a mix of confusion and annoyance.

Out of desperate times, Dhar clasped his hands together and begged.

“Look, I’m sorry for barging here but I need a place to stay..! Please, I’m being followed by the Neo-Ravannavar army.”

The shamaness rolled her eyes and stepped aside,

“Ugh... Fine. Get in here or else I'll have Bom eat your butt.”

Ignoring the last bit the owner said, Dhar thanked her and walked inside the hut. Inside was a bit cozy. There were paper streamers hung around the walls, a small shrine in the corner(which had an incense and a bowl of food offerings), and a book shelf next to it.

By the couch; a small, blue tapir with a red cape hopped off and ran over to the man.

Her little paws go and try to wrap her them around his armored ankle, an attempt to hug it. This humored the man a bit as he knelt down to the little one,

“Is this tapir also yours, ma’am?”

“Somewhat... That’s Roti. She used to be someone else’s but her owner’s gone, so I’m taking care of her now. You can sit, lie, or wherever, just don’t break anything,” the shamaness said as she hung her lantern on the wall. Dhar nodded to the tired woman and carried Roti to go sit over to the couch.

“So uh... I guess you also know me?” He asked.

“Maybe. Name’s Razmi by the way.”

“...”

“Okay yeah. 5 years ago, you were kind of annoying... I guess. Although, it did feel weird when you died.”

Razmi stated as she took her seat across from him. Things were later awkwardly quiet. Dhar watches her eat a plate of cooked fish and veggies, sensing some weird tension... or he’s thinking this Razmi woman isn’t much of a “people person.”

“So... You came back and don’t remember anything huh? That sucks.” She laughed quietly as she tossed the fish skeleton through the window. Crunching was heard outside, definitely from Bom enjoying his bony meal. Dhar rubbed the back of his neck once he received a glare when he asked, ”Last two questions just for confirmation: how did I die..? And do you know where I can find Ajna..?”

Razmi finished eating, giving him the silent treatment. She later walked her way to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Meanwhile, Dhar(disappointed from no response) examined the sky through the window. It was already nighttime and he should get ready to sleep. He took the sword off his red sash and laid it down on the table. Next, he lied down–with Roti relaxing on top of him–grabbed a blanket off the back cushion and tucked himself in.

Soon, Razmi returned as her pet tiger phased into the room. The two settled down on the floorbed as Razmi gazed over to Dhar’s sleeping form.

She grumbled something under breath, still annoyed about Dhar’s presence. She finally decided to respond to his questions,”You died by a blast from Ajna. She was like this big, red monster and was basically like a part of this goddess named Kala.” An eye opened from the sleeping man, peeking in interest.

Dhar mumbled, “I have heard of Kala a few times by some... acquaintances... who I travelled with. I heard of her from the Neo-Ravannavar army too. But I never asked why or what did the army want with her.” Both of his eyes now look at the ceiling, pondering back to the people that he considered as friends. The shamaness noticed his frustration, however she resumed explaining to Dhar about the truth. About everything.

Dhar learned that Kala was the Goddess of Life and rebirth. Someone who was dissatisfied with her worlds–especially the world everyone like Dhar currently lives in– due to how miserable the people’s lives are. She was bitter. She wanted to make the perfect world of what she envisions to be... Until she found Ajna. She watched over her adventures. From being stubborn and hot-headed to growing into a girl who wants to do better.

To avenge her home and help those in need.

However, it seemed like Kala stopped thanks to the young girl. However, those who were friends with Ajna were unsure of her and the goddess’ fates. They seemed to agree that their dear friend was gone peacefully.

Dhar’s face solemned as he glanced at Razmi, “Do you... wonder if Ajna reincarnated?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes I see a girl who looks just like her, but it was just a random one,” the shamaness claimed and petted the sleeping Bom. “... You know... I heard from someone in the Iron Kingdom who saw someone who looked just like her, but more purple.”

“Did they specify what’s colored in purple?”

“No... She didn’t say in what detail...“

“Maybe that girl was a purple raisin,” the woman snickered, tucking in a blanket to cover her and her tiger spirit. Dhar huffed a small laugh and petted Roti.

“Alright fine... I could take you to Ajna’s home village,” Razmi said and laid down on her bed. Her words made the man sit up and spoke “really?”, sounding thrilled by the answer. The tired Razmi waved her hand lazily and replied, “Yeah, yeah... Just don’t burn down the village like what you did to Ajna’s. That’s what she told me... Now to sleep.“

On the next day, Bom and Roti were the first ones to wake up. Not because they had a good rest, but it was disrupted after they heard lots of marching outside. The tiger spirit nudged his owner with his snout and growled at her. Luckily, Razmi managed to wake up and scratched Bom’s ear. “What..? Whaaat..? You’re not usually this up and early,”

The shamaness noticed her pet was getting all defensive when gazing at something outside. She shushed him and got off her bed to go take a peek. “Oh... that’s why. Hah... Thanks, Dhar,” she cursed as she grabbed a pillow and tossed it to the sleeping man. Roti dodged it while Dhar –the unfortunate– woke up from the hit. He sluggishly got out of the couch, about to ask her why she threw a pillow at him but was told to be quiet. Razmi pointed at the window and Dhar went to go look.

Chills were sent down the man’s spine. His eyes were shaking to see that the Navar soldiers had arrived. He saw that there were scratches and a few damaged pieces of their armor, guessing Tiny did a number on them. But it was not enough to knock them out. A soldier noticed and Dhar immediately closed the curtains.

He looked at the shamaness and whispered, “Razmi, they’re here..!”

“I can see that... Ugh and I just renovated this hut...“ She groaned and went to grab her lantern. As for Dhar, he grabbed his sword, “Do you have any ideas?”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Open the door! We know you’re in there, Dhar !” The soldier yelled.

He flinched which even scared little Roti too. Razmi on the other hand was unfazed as her tiger wisped into her lantern, “Isn’t it obvious? We maul them. Now get behind me,” She ordered.

So Dhar stepped back to get into position as Razmi grabbed the doorknob, bracing for battle. Her lantern brighted and growls from Bom were heard inside, ready to pounce at any moment.

The Navar soldier outside yelled again,

“Don’t make me repeat myself! We’ll be busting this door down in 3! 2! 1–GAH!”

WHAM!

The door swung open when Bom jumped out of Razmi’s lantern and attacked the guy. As the tiger spirit went to pounce on his next target, his owner followed up with a wave of fireballs at a few other soldiers. Some blocked with their shields while the other men charged with their swords up. Dhar manages to jump into the scene and uses his newly awakened ability to restrain his opponents. The dirt rose up and formed into hands to go grab their ankles. The swordsman tried to keep restraining them, however he saw a soldier break out of the earth-hand’s grasp and ran towards him.

The shamaness detected this and summoned Bom to knock the soldier back with an upwards claw attack.

Dhar sighed in relief, “Phew..! Thanks, Razmi.”

“Don’t think we’re buddies or whatever...“

“I didn’t say or think–Ah never mind. Look out!”

Dhar goes around her to block a shield bash and pushes his foe away, which knocks him to one of his teammates. The battle was going fine so far... Until a Navar soldier snuck up on the swordsman, reaching his hand out that had a certain mechanical gauntlet. The gem on the palm started to glow which Dhar’s body reacted to. The reaction was sharp and painful for him, feeling his iddhi getting drained. He screamed as he quickly elbowed his attacker from behind, pinned him down, and stabbed him. “B... Bastard...“ Dhar panted as his iddhi was being recovered .

His name was yelled out by Razmi in need of some back up. The swordsman turned to see his ally get pinned down by other Navar soldiers, about to get her energy drained by the gauntlets. Dhar reaches his hand out to form more earth-hands, but his iddhi was just recovering and his power was barely working.

Come on... Come on..! Earth, give me strength..! Please!

Unfortunately, he gets pinned down by a couple more Navar Soldiers. He begs them to release him and the shamaness, but no luck. Razmi plopped her head in disappointment,

“Well... There goes my 5 years of peace. We’re both gonna die because of you, Dhar.”

“Honestly... You do have a point. I should have kept running, so you wouldn’t be involved in this!” Dhar exclaimed. “Meh... I kinda expected this ever since the Neo-Ravannavar army formed,” Razmi stated nonchalantly. Both of them soon screamed when they felt their bodies being drained by the mechanical gauntlets.

Slowly... Slowly...

They were getting numb.

Dhar watched Razmi pass out from exhaustion, surely he might be next to black out. Even so, his mind kept telling him to keep fighting. He tried, although he was too weak. Especially when he and Razmi are restrained by the Neo-Ravannavar army. As he was about to accept his fate, he heard familiar squeaking. Familiar wings flapping fast. Bats..? Not only that, the ground bursted into holes and there were moles crawling out.

The critters swarmed the Navar soldiers to attack and their leader(Tiny) flew in to swipe at the higher ranked soldiers. However in the midst of the swarm, he noticed another person rush in... Someone who he wasn’t familiar with. A girl fighting with an axe. Too tired for Dhar to see, he blacked out.

“Dhar?! Razmi?! Oh god... You two, hang in there! Tiny, help me carry them to the village!”

...

“Dhar?!”

...

“Come on… come on..! Oh wait!”

...

Dhar, wake up. We need you.

Dhar’s eyes shot open as he gasped. He looked around to see he wasn’t at Razmi’s hut anymore, now resting inside a house. There were small, potted plants hanging around wooden furniture; oddly there was an axe on the table too; and a circular shield on a wall above a shelf of trinkets.

Less organized than Razmi’s hut is what he noted

“Ah you’re awake! I thought you were dead for a second time!”

A girl’s voice made him jump. But then Dhar paused... Has he heard this voice before? His head shifted to where he heard it. In front of him was a villager girl with brown skin; messy, purple hair ties into a ponytail; and in tropical clothing. The most notable thing about her was the red prayer beads resting on her head.

Dhar was speechless, he couldn’t believe his eyes. It IS her, right? Before he could try to process what’s going on, he was met by Roti jumping on the bed and hugging him. Despite the swordsman being so confused, he needed this as he patted the little tapir.

The villager laughed and said, “Good to know that Roti is doing well heheh!”

“Y.. Yeah... W-wait!” Dhar darts his head to look at her again. Before he could speak, the girl held up her hand, “Now, now don’t worry! Razmi is okay too. She’s being taken care of at the infirmary! As Tiny and her friends, they went back to the ruins. I know you have maaaany questions, but how about you rest up for a bit?”

“... Right... Right... So uh... Who are you?”

She giggled and placed her hands on her hips,

“The name’s Ajna. But to those outside, call me Shiva,” she said.

She said her name. Dhar actually found her. He actually met her.

Ajna.

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