A New Friend
"Sabal is gone, no more Tarun Matara. You're safe." Amita had cooed, just before turning to her men, "Take her back to the camp."
Those were the last words Bhadra had heard from Amita, and the Tarun Matara had a feeling that if the older woman had her way, they'd be the last she ever did. The teenage chosen one was laying on her side in the bed of a Golden Path pick up truck, hands and feet bound painfully tight, duck tape over her mouth.
The same two fighters who'd hit her over the head and abducted her where in the cab. When she came to, Bhadra had been surprised to find a caged, white furred tiger riding in the back with her. The feline eyed the girl curiously through the bars, occasionally letting out a soft growling purr. Despite her situation, Bhadra couldn't help but find the tiger's soft looking black and white fur quite beautiful. The cat was too big to be considered a cub, but also wasn't yet an adult. Kind of like me the supposed goddess thought, They probably didn't think you were fit for the arena. So they're getting rid of you...again, kind of like me.
The truck continued along one of Kyrat's many dirt roads for two hours, Bhadra and her new friend being jostled around the entire trip. Realizing she was likely en route to her doom, the teenager couldn't help looking back over her short life. She was sad to find she couldn't remember her parents faces, though she could recall a general sense happiness and safety when they were alive. She did recall they'd once had a huge fight, had it been about her? In any case, her parents were killed by the Royal Army and Bhadra had spent the last few years as a ward of the Golden Path.
Particularly Amita.
The young Tarun Matara huffed bitterly when it dawned on her that some of her happiest memories where with the Golden Path co-leader. The older woman had quickly become like a stern but loving aunt. Her tone never left any room for argument, but it had always been clear the woman had her best interests at heart. At the same time, Bhadra had always felt a swell of pride whenever she managed to get Amita to loosen up, however briefly.
And yet, Bhadra was now being carted to probable execution, by two men who could only be acting on Amita's orders.
Had most of her and Amita's interactions been a lie?
Had it all been a lie?
With a muffled cry of anguish and impotent rage, Bhadra shook such thoughts from her head, the tiger seeming to purr sympathetically. In that moment, the teenage girl desperately wished someone would save her from her cruel fate, the way Ajay had saved her from the fire.
Thinking of the Son of Mohan soothed the girl somewhat. Ajay had been just about the only true friend Bhadra had ever known, it seemed. She smiled behind her gag as she thought of the time he'd snuck her into the woods to ride an elephant. Amita and Sabal had been livid, but the experience was more then worth it. There had also been the time he'd taken her fishing, only for a Devil Fish snatch his catch just as Ajay had reeled it in. There was also the time they'd practiced archery together and she had had to give him pointers. And all this without anyone's permission. But what stuck out most was one single sentence from Kyrat's Prodigal Son. "What do you want, Bhadra?"
It was the first time anyone had ever asked the Tarun Matara such a thing. All her life, Bhadra had been guided along, often physically, by those around her; Amita, Sabal, the temple priests. The teen sighed as, not for the first time, it settled in that she'd never been allowed to truly decide anything of any real importance for herself.
Finally, the truck pulled to a stop.
Bhadra was caught somewhere between resignation and fearful survival instinct as she heard the cab doors open and the two fighters got out, chatting as they did.
"It doesn't really feel right, you know." the one in the head band said, making his way to the bed.
"Don't tell me you really buy that stuff about her being a goddess?" The one in the cap asked moving to stand beside his friend.
"No, I mean...she's just a kid." the head band said, "Though now you mention-"
"Look, it has to be done," the capped one sternly stated, "Lets just get this over with."
The capped Golden Path fighter lowered the bed of the truck and drew his khukri as he reached for Bhadra. The green eyed girl struggled and screamed into the tape over her mouth as she was pulled toward her killer, his blade closing in on her throat.
"EAGLE!" the head band wearing rebel suddenly shouted. The rebel holding Bhadra whipped his head to the side, just in time to see talons rip at his face and eyes. The man released both Bhadra and his khukri as he stumbled back under the bird's assault. As gunfire, screaming, and eagle calls filled the air, the condemned teen eyed the blade lying beside her.
As quickly as her bonds and stiffened limbs would allow, Bhadra wiggled around until she was able to get a grip on the blade, tumbling off the truck in the process. It was an awkward, somewhat frantic process, but she was finally able to cut her hands free. She was than able to cut her feet loose more easily, and finally pulled the tape from her mouth. Seeing the two rebels still locked in a struggle with the persistent eagle, Bhadra rose to make her escape.
"Grrrarrr!"
The little goddess frozen in her tracks and looked back to the blue truck. The white tiger looked at her with wide eyes and pawed at the bars of his cage, as if appealing for help. "Grrr, raah!"
Bhadra stared back for a few long, indecisive moments before assuming what she hoped was a stern pose and tone. "Do not eat me when I set you free."
Climbing back into the Golden Path vehicle, Bhadra quickly slashed through the ropes holding the cage door shut and swung it open, allowing the young tiger to make his own bid for freedom. "Go!" Bhadra said as her traveling companion escaped, "And don't get caught this time!"
"What the hell!?" Bhadra looked back to see the Golden Path members had finally dealt with their avian attacker, and now noticed their victim's escape attempt. The teen jumped over the side of the blue pick up and dashed into the nearby woods, the sounds of her captor's right on her heels.
For what felt like hours, the green eyed teen led the two rebels through the woods. Her wrists and ankles burned and her body was generally sore, but she knew she couldn't stop. Finally, the weary girl ducked behind a tree, sinking into a fetal position to be as small as possible. Bhadra panted as she laid her head on her knees, tears stinging her eyes.
"Got ya!" a voice snapped as Bhadra was suddenly kicked on her side. She looked up to see the bloodied cap wearing rebel standing over her, his AK-47 leveled on her face. Just as the teen was about to brace herself for the end, a white shape tackled the rebel from behind.
The shape, the tiger Bhadra now realized, racked his claws into the Golden Path fighter's shoulders and clamped down on the rebel's neck with his powerful jaws before the man could even scream. The two collapsed in a heap beside Bhadra, the rebel's neck snapping with an audible crunch.
The tiger raised himself off his victim and turned to Bhadra, rubbing his head against her chest with a reassuring purr. Bhadra, in turn, rapped her arms around the tiger's neck, closing her eyes and rubbing her face against his soft fur with a softly murmured "Thank you."
Releasing her new companion, Bhadra looked to the fallen rebel and after a moment's thought, took his Kalashnikov. Even Amita had never allowed her to handle a rifle, but the teen had seen enough fighters handling their weapons to understand the gist of how they worked.
"We should go," the teen said after pilfering a few other supplies, the black and white feline seeming to understand and even looking to her for guidance, but guidance to where? Bhadra truly didn't even know if she was still in Kyrat. Even if she was, it was unlikely any corner of her homeland was safe for her anymore. For a brief moment, the Tarun Matara wanted to roll into a ball and cry, but she purged that impulse just as quickly.
One day, Bhadra promised herself, she'd return home, she'd see things finally made right in Kyrat, and she'd bring the Wrath of Kyra down on Amita's head. But that was for another time. For now, she and her new friend needed somewhere to rest. The exiled Tarun Matara picked a random direction, West, and the two set off into the forest together.