Chapter 14
Do not blame god for creating the tiger, but thank him for not having given it wings. – Indian Proverb
Skyfall
Southern Kyrat
Ajay fired his Sixer into the brain of a begging rebel. It was tedious work taking back what was theirs, but it was all worth it. Ajay looked over at the small hills of burning bodies around the camp.
The Chosen were a vicious lot. If they weren't burning your shit, they were burning people, if they weren't burning people, then they were burning land, and if they weren't burning the land then they'd start the cycle over again.
Ajay didn't understand any of it. It was just senseless destruction for senseless destruction's sake. How the Golden Path could just let Noore and her people do this to their own country was beyond his comprehension.
When the vehicles rolled in to deal with all the bodies, both old and new, he started going through anything important that belonged to the Chosen. Ajay found several correspondence with a map detailing certain locations.
It seems these location were important to the Chosen and their dark mistress of the moon. He looked at the map and saw that a place called "Yakshini's Flesh" was close by.
Hopping into a vehicle he drove off and came upon a cave. Before Ajay walked in he stepped in a puddle, but when he looked down it wasn't water, but blood. He looked around and saw a couple of chosen lying on the ground in a bloody heap.
Ajay inspected the corpses and saw that they were shredded or torn apart. By something that had big teeth and claws.
Going further inside there were more bodies in the same condition. Further into the cave Ajay found cages. Empty cages. On closer inspection there was something inside the cages, but something let them out. Something with a lot of strength and massive claws.
Ajay looked around the cave further and found crates full of food and alcohol, weapons and ammo, gold and treasures. Offerings, he guessed.
After grabbing a bundle of rupees, Ajay called in the army to collect everything in the cave. He made his way to the next spot: another cave. Though this one was different.
It's corridor was longer and hanging from the ceiling was a velvet cloth leading into it. Ajay was surprised to find that the entire cave was a dungeon. There were deep cells running the length of the cave walls, thankfully there were no people inside. No, the only people around were the ones outside the cells and . . . dead. Like the other cadavers from the last cave they were mauled to death by some beast or beasts considering the number of different flesh wounds on them.
The cave seemed to spiral leading into a deep center were other corpses laid. But these corpses were long dead. Already have decomposed down to the bone. After exploring a bit more all he found was a bit of loot. There were other things like gimp outfits and other leather wear, restraints of all uncomfortable kinds, torture devices, and . . . "toys." Now that Ajay looked at some of the blood-covered, mangled bodies, which ranged from men to women, most of them had been wearing very provocative and tight outfits with markings reminiscent of BDSM practitioners.
The dungeon theme was creepy enough as it was, but now he felt he had to scrub himself clean when the day was over.
"So that's why this place is called 'Yakshini's Bondage.'"
Leaving that place behind, Ajay headed to the third location. It was another cave, but this one was bigger and wider.
Suddenly he heard a scream come from the cave and he dashed in without hesitation. He entered the main room of the cave, which was circular. The place had some kind of old temple inside it, but it was furnished with cloths of red, soft carpets, throw pillows, and beds. A large brazier stood in the center of the room. It would be pretty if it weren't for the piles of corpses.
Everyone was dead, with claw and teeth marks rending their naked bodies.
Ajay heard a roar and a screaming whimper.
Tigers.
Growling tigers came from all directions. He saw who screamed, some poor naked woman, clutching her neck and shoulder.
Ajay unleashed Fierce and blew a pouncing tiger away. Another cat tried to flank him, but Ajay was too quick and blasted it's soft underbelly. He pulled out his assault rifle and shot any tiger in his sight. He brought his jade kukri and slashed at any that tried to get too close.
The large cats were clever and persistent though. They tried to corner him, push him into a tight spot, but he wouldn't let them. He ran slipping through their perimeter and tossing a Molotov. The pussy cats whined in pain as the fires took them and Ajay put them out of their misery by spraying them with bullets.
When all the beasts were dead Ajay went to check on the injured woman. She was completely naked and reminded Ajay of Noore's female guards from the arena. He knelt down and saw her wounds. They were fatale. She only had seconds left.
"What happened here?" Ajay got to the point.
The woman sobbed as she spoke. "W-w-we were entertaining g-guests. J-just a-a-a-another d-day. E-everything normal." She whimpered. "Then those t-t-tigers attacked. Out of nowhere. Killed e-everyone."
The last of her life drained from her eyes. Ajay frowned sorrowfully and shut her eyes.
There was nothing left in the cave, so Ajay exited to see if he could find other clues. He did in the form of bloody tracks. He followed them quite a ways before finding out it led him toward two tigers. The two ferocious felines seemed to be circling some hole in the ground. No doubt the person that left the trail.
Ajay pulled out his bow, aimed it, and found his mark in the tiger's head. The second tiger now fully alert, charged at Ajay, but it charged right into his second arrow.
Ajay looked down in the hole. It was dark, but he could tell there was water at the bottom. After hooking his grappling hook he shimmied down into the water.
There was some kind of shrine at the bottom. A shrine, lo and behold, dedicated to Yakshini, but also, interestingly enough, Yalung. The Great Demon's statue was erected on one side of the room and a beautiful buxom woman statue erected on the other.
Damn. That was Yakshini? He could see why people dedicated themselves to her. She was gorgeous! Maybe that's why a man was dying right under her statue.
Ajay walked up to the bleeding Golden Path member. As soon as he saw Ajay he pulled out his gun and was about to fire, but Ajay was faster and shot an arrow at him. It pinned his good arm to the statue.
Ajay approached the man as he cried out in pain.
"Please, just end it already." The man begged.
Ajay had an arrow at the ready, but he didn't aim it.
"Not so fast. I want to know what's been happening around here." Ajay said.
"I'm not telling you anything!"
Ajay looked at the man's injuries. They were treatable, but they had to be tended to soon if the man wanted to live. Ajay grabbed the arrow and yanked it out of the man's arm, making him scream in pain.
"That wound looks bad. I'm nothing if not merciful. You tell me what I want to know and I'll give you one of my med-kits. You can live to see tomorrow."
The rebel frowned. He seemed disgusted to even consider telling him anything, but his wound constantly reminded him that he needed first-aid.
. . .
. . .
"Fuck. What do you want to know?"
Ajay smirked. "What's with all the tigers? I've never seen this many in one place before, let alone so blood thirsty."
"Have you heard about the Sky Tiger?"
"The man-eating tiger? Yeah, I've heard of it."
"Well, what I bet you didn't know is that the Sky Tiger is the offspring of the famous Bhaji the Miracle Tiger."
"The who?"
"Bhaji." He stated like it was obvious. "He was a tiger that was famous in the arena. A real killer that beast. He won a hundred rounds in the arena and Noore rewarded him by releasing him into the wild after giving him a cloak of flowers and a crown."
"interesting."
"Well, Bhaji would go onto mate and have kits of his own. One of those kits would turn out snow white."
"The Sky Tiger."
"Right. Well ever since Noore went independent she's been wanting more dangerous animals for her arena and army and the Sky Tiger was too irresistible to her. The offspring of Bhaji the miracle tiger? How could she refuse?"
"Don't tell me you idiots actually went hunting for that creature with the intent on capturing it? Alive." Ajay said feeling a headache coming on.
"No, man. We did something stupider. Turns out, the Sky Tiger's got a streak with it. There were tigers all over the place and that damn man-eater was sitting on top of the highest rock like it was a fucking king. We attacked and the beasts retaliated."
"During all the commotion, one of the guys found something easier to take and we ran."
"Something easier?"
"Turns out the Sky Tiger's a she."
It took Ajay a moment before he finally realized what the man was implying. "No. You didn't."
The man nodded almost ashamedly. "We did."
"You took a tiger's baby?!"
"Yeah."
Ajay almost didn't have the words to say how stupid that was. "I feel like this is going to be some cautionary tale that old people will tell kids in the future."
The man chuckled humorlessly. "Wouldn't surprise me. Anyway. After we captured the little kit it wasn't a day before we got swarmed by tigers. We all broke off trying to get away from the beasts, but it was like every damn tiger in the valley was after us. There was nowhere we could run where those tigers couldn't follow."
"Where is that tiger cub now?"
"I can't tell you that."
Ajay reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of scotch. "I got a bottle of scotch right here that can help those wounds. Vintage. It's all yours if you tell me where that cub is."
The rebel stared at that bottle like it was gold. "Is that the fifty-year-old bottle that only the king drinks?"
"That's right."
The man didn't even hesitate. "Give me that bottle first and you got a deal."
Ajay obliged and as soon as the man had it in his hands he took a huge gulp before pouring it on his wounds. He hissed in pain before taking another drink.
"We took it to the newly refurbished Rochan Brick Factory.
"Newly refurbished?"
"Noore's had it turned into a fortress."
"What are its defenses?"
"High walls, several mortars, machine guns, and lots and lots of guards."
"Weaknesses?"
"None that I can tell you."
Ajay pulled back on an arrow.
"No seriously, I don't know! It's not like I've checked it out. If there was any weakness I guess maybe the walls are still new, so susceptible to concentrated blasts or blunt force?"
Ajay took that. "Okay." He reached into his pack and through a med-kit at the rebel's feet. "Here. And let the Golden Path know that even I can show mercy when it counts."
And with that Ajay left the soldier and headed to the Rochan Brick Factory.
Rochan Brick Factory
Ajay scoped the place out and the rebel was right. The place was heavily fortified, the rebels and chosen have been busy. They erected ten-foot walls out of the leftover bricks from the last time he was there. There were guns and mortars and snipers scanning the area for enemies.
Ajay took out a syringe and injected its contents onto his arm. Suddenly his senses heightened, he could smell, hear and see things most normal humans senses wouldn't be able to. It was a rush. Suddenly he could see every armed guard in the complex and could even make out the hunters among them. There were also elephants penned somewhere close by inside. He could also smell all the drugs and chemicals coming from the main building.
Ajay could even sense all the tigers roaming around the place. They were prowling around the area, looking for ways to get inside. It was scary how smart they were being, avoiding the sentries and making sure not to trip any traps. They KNEW that what they were looking for was somewhere in the fortifications.
Ajay took out his radio and contacted Fang Squad.
"Sivudu, are you there?"
"We are always here for you, Ajay. How can we be of service?"
"You know where the Rochan Brick Factory is right? Well the Golden Path and Noore's Chosen have turned the place into a fortress and I need to get inside."
"If it's as armed and defended as you say, surely you don't expect us to just charge in?"
"No, but I do have an idea."
. . .
Ajay's Fangs came up the road loud and proud. They didn't hide the fact they were about to attack, so the rebels quickly prepared. Getting on their guns and ready to load the mortars.
But before they could do that, there was a sudden loud boom and the ground beneath their feet collapsed. Their walls crumbled. Then another wall, then another, and another until four holes were made in their wall.
The Fangs cheered and hooted as they drove right through the breach and fired their guns at every living thing. The new fortress was now on high alert and the chosen sent out a distress signal.
A helicopter began to take flight and add an advantage to the rebels, but they were quickly shot down by Ajay carrying a rocket launcher. He smirked as he saw the bird go up in flames. He looked through his camera and saw rebels on the roof trying to flank his men. They went just as fast as the copter when Ajay shot them with a rocket.
Moving his sights to the other holes he made with those C4 blocks, he saw tigers pour in through them and join in on the chaos. They mauled and gutted any man unfortunate enough to be in their path. They even attacked the rebels riding elephants. It was amazing to see three tigers bring down an elephant along with their rider.
Ajay left his position and headed down to join the fray.
"Sivudu, don't leave your vehicles. Just keep moving and being a distraction, otherwise you'll join the rebels in being snacks for the tigers."
"What's with all the fucking tigers?!"
"I'll explain later. Just keep attacking and did you bring the explosives?"
"Yeah, I got men working on setting them up now."
"Good." Ajay shot an arrow into a man's head. His target was the main door to the whole building. He shot another arrow into a man's back. Then two into a rebel's sternum. A tiger ran right at him, but a single arrow to the head stopped it.
Halfway to the door. A car full of rebels tried to ram him, but Ajay lit an arrow and shot it through the windshield and hit the driver. All the passengers caught flame and the car veered crashing into a wall, where they got crushed by a ton of bricks. A helicopter arrived and it wasn't a friendly. Ajay took out one of his special explosive arrows and brought it down with ease.
He finally made it to the door and entered the building. It was quiet. He could barely hear all the commotion outside. He slowly walked through, bow and arrow at the ready.
A noise drew his attention and with fast reflexes he shot an arrow into a sneaking rebel. Ajay collected the arrow and continued on. He placed explosives in key locations that would make it easier to bring down the place. More rebels would drop to his arrows before they realized he was there. He walked up to a pair of doors and heard people arguing.
"I just need a little more time! The nerve gas is nearly complete. Noore and Amita would want this finished as soon as possible. I can't let them down!"
"Have you seen outside, Chemist? Tigers and Royal Army are tearing this place apart! I don't care how close to done you are, Lady Noore and Amita will understand. You're too important to them to risk your life for some gas that will only give us a slight edge. Plus, you know we have other cargo to deliver to Lady Noore."
Replacing his bow with his Fierce, Ajay burst through the door and blasted the first person he saw. Which was a skinny, gaunt man, wearing rags and black, circular glasses.
"Nooo!" A pyro shouted in great dismay.
The rebels inside started shooting at him. Ajay ducked behind a table before he was riddled with holes.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" The Pyro yelled. "That chemist was doing important work for Mistress Noore and you shot him!"
"Thanks for the recap." Ajay responded. "Here have a grenade."
He rolled a grenade on the floor making the rebels scramble. A few got caught in the blast.
The pyro ran, ordering his men to kill Ajay.
Ajay poked out of cover and shot two rebels with Fierce. Their bodies flew across the room from the impact. He quickly reloaded his gun and fired again, getting a rebel in the head, making him do a flip before hitting the ground. Ajay fired again, but missed.
He got back into cover before he was riddled with holes. Crouching Ajay took one of the grenades on the table and tossed as he rolled to another spot. The grenade went off and it turned out to be a smoke grenade. But for some reason the gas was yellow and orange. He heard some of the rebels whimper. Then he heard them scream. Gunfire went off, but they were far from hitting Ajay.
Ajay heard bodies drop one by one. Soon the shooting stopped, and the gas disappeared. Ajay looked at the grenades on the table and examined them.
"What the hell kind of grenades are these?"
Regardless, Ajay grabbed any and all available grenades. He didn't want these in the Golden Path's hands. They were effective and lethal. He went through the door the pyro went into and entered another lab.
Once again, he was greeted by rebels. Ajay tossed one of his new grenades and let the rebels deal with each other. He blasted a few rounds from his rifle to thin them out faster.
Finally he caught up with the pyro, but this time he was waiting for him.
"In the name of my mistress and priestess Noore. In the name of Yakshini, the dark witch of the moon. I shall purify your sins against us by purifying your existence from this world." The pyro declared.
He unleashed fire from his flamethrower.
Ajay quickly jumped back through the doors. He hated pyros. They were so difficult to deal with because they had reach with their flamethrowers and the fire just got everywhere. He tried shooting the pyro, but the fires, kept getting in his way, obstructing his vision.
Suddenly rebels began coming through the side doors and opening fire.
"Nobody's allowed to kill him!" The pyro yelled. "You were proclaimed champion in the arena by the king himself Ghale. What a farce! I'm the one and only Champion of Shannath. I've been Noore's champion for years and if you think I'll let you walk out of here with that title, you're dead wrong!"
Ajay was pushed back again. The flames started licking at him that he had to pat himself up just to put the flames out. In these closed spaces, it was not turning out good. He was about to use his special new smoke grenade when he heard the sound of growling.
Then a man started screaming as he was dragged across the floor by something big.
"What was that?!" A rebel shouted.
There was a roar, then a cracking sound. A man got his head caved in. Another roar, a man's throat was torn open. People began to freak out and shoot at the mere sight of the attacker. Soon their numbers dwindled down to just Ajay and the pyro.
"Where are ya, you bastard!" The pyro shouted. He shot his flamethrower madly, causing the fire to spread even more.
"Looks like you met your match, fucker." Ajay said.
Suddenly, the pyro screamed and something tackled him to the ground. The creature roared and bit down on the man. His screams became muffled by squelching and tearing of bloody flesh. Ajay finally came out of his cover and found the champion dead. He saw the beast over the deadman's body and only had one response.
"That is a big fucking tiger."
The Sky Toger had to be the most beautiful and majestic creature he had ever seen. It's white and black fur, though splattered with blood was shiny and stunning. Its eyes were crystal blue and glowed in the dimmed lighting. It was also bigger than the average tiger and in it's massive jaws was the head of the former Champion of Shannath.
The tiger crushed the head in it's mouth and making its way toward Ajay.
"Oh shit." Ajay pulled out his assault rifle and fired. The tiger veered left and hid from Ajay.
Ajay began to check every side of him. He turned right, left, back and around. For such a big beast it sure was stealthy.
Ajay saw it and fired. He could have sworn he hit it, but like all of the unnatural beasts he's fought in this damned country, it just shrugged off the bullets.
The Sky Tiger jumped onto a table and pounced at Ajay. He rolled out of the way, but it still managed to scratch his shoulder. Ajay winced and hissed, but ignored it to shoot his gun. He got the animal, but it still kept coming.
Ajay slowly backed away. He turned around quickly thinking he heard something. It was hard to tell with the fires around him roaring. He turned around again, but from the side the tiger leapt through the flames and brought Ajay down.
The Sky Tiger had his gun in its jaws and the two struggled. Ajay grunted when the beast swiped its paws at him, cutting his face. Ajay pulled out his Jade Blade and swiped it across the tiger's face making it back off.
Ajay got back up and tried shooting his gun, but it was empty. No, the tiger dented the weapon with it's mouth. The tiger tried to bring him down again, but thinking fast, Ajay grabbed the barrel of the gun and swung.
There was a loud crack when the gun collided with the skull of the Sky Tiger. His weapon was ruined, but the tiger was disoriented.
Ajay ran into another room and hid behind some crates. He was breathing heavily and felt exhausted. Pulling out a syringe, he injected himself with painkillers and suddenly he was ready for round two.
He heard the door open and the quiet foot falls of the Sky Tiger. Ajay pulled out Fierce and readied the gun. Silence. Ajay waited for the beast to come around the corner, but it never came. Then he felt the hairs rising on his arm.
Looking up and there was the Sky Tiger on top of the crates, snarling at him. Ajay jumped away and rolled before the tiger could pounce on him with its great weight. Fierce fell out of his hands and the quickest weapon Ajay could grasp, was his kukri.
The Sky Tiger swiped at Ajay and Ajay swiped at the Sky Tiger. They gave each other six feet of space and circled one another, waiting for the other to make a move.
They both slashed and left marks on the other. Some deep and others shallow, but both wouldn't back down.
Then they heard a mew. And suddenly they both perked up. There was another mew and then they looked at the source of the noise.
In a big grey box with only a small window with bars, was a baby white tiger, calling out for its mother.
In that moment, the Sky Tiger became more desperate and therefore more daring. It took a leap of faith and jumped at Ajay.
Ajay, momentarily stunned from seeing the baby tiger, was too late to stop the beast from pushing him down. But as the large body of the tiger pounced on him, on automatic instinct, Ajay brought the kukri up and stabbed the tiger in the gut as it landed on him.
He screamed in pain as the tiger bit down harder and harder on his arm, twisting back and forth but he just kept stabbing the animal in the gut. Even managing to drag the knife across the feline's body.
The Sky Tiger couldn't take the pain and reeled back and this gave Ajay the opening he needed. He got the Jade Blade close to his face and thrusted upward.
Blood splattered on his face as the Sky Tiger's neck bled out from the new gap. Ajay could hear the beast choke and gag, almost similarly like a cat hocking up a hairball. After half a minute, which felt like an hour in the moment, of bleeding and having a blade in the throat, the Sky Tiger finally died.
Ajay took a silent moment to catch his breath before attempting to push the Sky Tiger's carcass off his body. It was difficult, since the tiger weighed more then normal tigers, but he did it.
Standing up, Ajay looked at his work. Then the noise of loud mewing got his attention. He saw the baby sky tiger pawing and mewing at its dead mother from behind its bars. Ajay suddenly felt a pain of guilt in his soul.
"Ajay, come in Ajay."
"Yeah, Sivudu?" Ajay sighed.
"You alright, sir?"
"Peachy." He said annoyed and tired. "Did you finish what I asked?"
"Yes, sir. Got the bombs all prept and everything we can blow this place whenever you want. Preferably before the reinforcements arrive, sir."
"Good, come pick me up at the main entrance." Ajay looked at the dead Sky Tiger and then at it's crying child. "Actually, can you send to men to me first. I need help getting something."
"What?"
. . .
"Move! Move! Move!"
Ajay ran out of the building with the Sky Tiger kit under his arms. Behind him were two of his Fangs carrying the corpse of the Sky Tiger. They loaded the body into the truck, which Sivudu was driving and Ajay ordered his Commander to drive.
"Is that the Sky Tiger?!" Many of his men, including Sivudu, shouted with awestrucked voices.
"Yes, now drive!" Ajay shouted impatiently.
"Hang on!"
Sivudu stepped on it and all the Fangs left the Rochan Brick Factory.
Ahead of them were Golden Path reinforcements, but some blasts from their Highpowered .50 Cals and a few rounds from Ajay's rocket, they made a clear getaway path.
"Are we clear?" Ajay asked.
"Yes!" Sivudu answered.
Ajay pulled out a detonator and pressed the button.
They all heard the explosions. Every soldier who could watched the smoke stacks of the factory topple and fall to the ground. Then the rest of the building began to explode and soon the whole place came down in a beautiful display of destruction.
Ajay and his Fangs cried out in victory as they drove away from the Golden Path's great defeat. Now the only fortress left in the south was Bhagadur.
Royal Palace
Ajay returned to his room and slumped in his couch. He let out a long sigh as he just tried to relax from the whole ordeal. He looked over at the Blood Ruby sitting on a stand, seeing his reflection in the gem, but ignored it when he heard a mewl.
The baby sky tiger was on the ground pawing at the remains of the Sky Tiger, which was just it's fur turned into a rug. It was a actually a very depressing thing to see.
Guilt began to wrack Ajay, but the mother tiger didn't give him much of a choice and in the law of the jungle only the strong survive. Still, he felt bad for the poor kit.
The baby sky tiger got on the rug of its mother and pawed the back, before curling up and tried to sleep on it.
Ajay wondered if he should have left the little creature, but a part of himself chastised for even thinking that. The baby tiger had no one any more. Its mother was dead by his hand and he felt responsible for the creature. It was alone in this world. Just like he was alone when his mom died.
Though the only difference was that he had no one to blame for his mother's death but himself.
He got up off the couch and approached the new orphan. The baby sky tiger suddenly got up and hissed at him. Ajay wasn't perturbed. The only thing that he was afraid of that was the baby's size were honey badgers. And the baby tiger was no honey badger.
His hand stuck out to pet the cat, but the kit bit him. Ajay didn't flinch and just let the baby sky tiger bight down. After a while the kit stopped and just stared at him.
"I'm sorry." Ajay said.
The baby sky tiger, after a long moment of eye-locking staring, started to rub it's head against his hand and Ajay was happy to comfort the orphaned tiger baby.
"I'll take care of you from now on." Ajay said. "You don't have to be alone."
The baby tiger mewed. Suddenly, Ajay had a thought.
"You're going to need a name."
The cat just looked up at him with big blue eyes. For a baby tiger, that would grow up to be a massive predator, it sure looked innocent. And that's when Ajay came up with a name.
"How do you like the name . . . Lakshmana?"
So I wanna ask, who here is excited for the next Far Cry Game? I know I am! If you leave a review tell me your thoughts on the next game. Personally, I look forward to it. I know there's a lot of controversies with it, but fuck that noise. I don't care if I'm killing white Christians on American soil or whatever. Doesn't matter to me what race, color, or religion they are. If they're attacking my character, I'm shooting the bastards. Besides, we get to fly planes, go fishing, and hunt wolverines! Wolverines! There's a reason they named a superhero after those things!