Elephant and Tiger
Disclaimer: I do not own Far cry 4, its characters or its story.
Warnings: Swearing, mention of blood.
Chapter 4 - Hunters
Once Ajay and Jessica went inside the house, they stepped into a heated fight between Amita and Sabal. "This is about lives. If we don't act, people will die." Sabal says with a serious stare to Amita. "This is about war, we need that intel." Amita counters. "We're talking about soldiers we can use, remember what you said about Darpan?" Sabal asks. "And if I had a choice between Darpan and the intelligence, I choose the intel." Amita says and gets up from the table leaving the house. Sabal shakes his head, pats Ajay's shoulder and leaves the house as well. "So what now?" Jessica asks. "Well as the woman said. Our choices will matter. I have an idea, you go talk to Amita, while I will talk to Sabal." Ajay suggests. "Good idea. But what then?" Jessica asks. "Simple if the mission can be split in two, each one of us will take one." Ajay says with a smile. "Let's talk to them. After that we will meet in front of the house." Jessica nods and they leave the house and split up to ask Amita and Sabal the mission details. Ajay walks to Sabal who is sitting behind the house. "How can I help Sabal?" Asks Ajay and Sabal looks up. "One of our camps is about to get overrun. Don't know when, but it could get messy. I need to send them all the support I can, so if you want to help, get over there brother." "So if one person would help the people, the other could easily go for the intel." Ajay wonders and Sabal nods. "That is a good point brother. You and Jessica right?" Ajay nods and walks around the house where he and Jessica agreed to meet after they talk with both of the leaders. Meanwhile with Jessica she walks to Amita. "Amita, I can get you that intel." Jessica says and Amita claps her hands together. "Okay. We've been hearing of a major attack for a while, and then Banapur was hit. But it doesn't feel right. I think something big is coming and the intel could confirm that, but we haven't heard from the camp since the attack, so watch yourself. " "So there are two camps?" Jessica asks and Amita nods. "And if one person would go for the intel and the other to save the people, would that do the job?" Amita thinks for a while but nods. Jessica smiles and leaves. She meets with Ajay and explains Amita's story. When she finishes Ajay explains Sabal's story. After that Ajay has a plan in his mind. "Okay so here's the plan. You go for the intel in the upper camp and I go save the people in the bottom one. Any questions?" "Just one. Will we ride in one car or two?" Ajay laughs and says. "One, we will split up once we are there." And with that they move to the car with Ajay again in the driver seat. "Will you ever let me drive Ajay?" Jessica asks with a smile. Ajay winks and says. "We both know who the better driver is." He gets to the driver seat and Jessica mutters. "Says the one who fell from the cliff." Ajay turns to her. "I heard that." Jessica also gets in the car and they both leave to the Golden Path camp.
Once they arrive to a crossroad Ajay stops the car. "Okay so let's recap the plan. You go to the Alpha camp and gather the intel Amita wants. Meanwhile I will offer my help in the Bravo camp. What do you think?" Ajay explains the plan and Jessica nods. "That is a good plan Ajay. I agree." She moves out of the car and starts to move to the upper camp. Ajay quickly jumps from the car and stops her by grabbing her arm. "Be careful Jess. I don't want anything to happen to you." Jessica smiles and hugs Ajay. He is stunned for a bit before he moves his arms awkwardly to hug her back. Lately Jessica's hugs had a weird effect on him. Like he had butterflies in his stomach. She ends the hug. "You too." She finally goes to the Alpha camp and Ajay just stares after her. When she is out of sight he goes to the Bravo camp.
Jessica's mission:
As Jessica continues her way up she sees a fog all around her. As she walks closer to the fire in the middle of the camp she sees a lot of dead bodies. Most of them have an arrow stuck in them, but some of them have wounds from an animal. 'Who could have done this? Pagan's soldiers don't use bows.' Jessica thinks this to herself and she pulls her own bow out. Jessica knows that she has to loot the bodies to find the intel. She finds the first one with luck on her side. Suddenly an arrow flies past her. "What the..." She exclaims and sees a person with a bow on a top of a rock. She shoots her own arrow but it misses him. He sends another flying to her, but she dodges behind a rock. Once again she takes a deep breath and shoots. It hits him to the neck and he dies. "I need to be quick. There could be more of them." Jessica whispers to herself. She moves around the camp quietly as she can so the hunters don't know where she is. She soon finds another part of the intel and right after that a wolf comes out of the bushes. "Oh great." She mutters. With no time to load the bow she draws out her pistol and shoots the wolf. This however attracts the attention of other hunters in the camp. Jessica finds cover behind a rock and waits for the hunters to come closer. Hunters move quietly to her position. She gets her knife ready and jumps from behind the rock. She kills the first one with ease and throws a knife towards the second one. With pleased look on her face she sets to find the last piece of information. Once she finds it she calls to Amita. "Amita, I got the intel." "Good job Jessica! Now since you are finished you can go and help Ajay. And what is in the intel?" "It looks like a map of a temple or something." Jessica explains. "Okay Jessica, this could be important. I will check it out. And thank you." The call ends and Jessica starts to move to the other camp, but she doesn't notice the last hunter who is still alive. He loads his bow and shoots Jessica in the left shoulder. She cries out in pain and with her right hand reaches out to her pistol. Before the hunter can shoot once more, Jessica shoots him. She looks to her left shoulder and sees the arrow. "Fuck sake. I don't think I will be much of a help. I hope Ajay is okay." So with nothing better to do she moves back to the car.
Ajay's mission:
Ajay moves swiftly to the Bravo camp. Once he was there, he was greeted by a rebel leader. "Ajay, so glad to see you. We're ready for the bastards, so grab mines or get behind the turret. Let's hurt them." Ajay nods and sets some mines around the camp. He gets his assault rifle ready, while the rebel leader says. "Remember, they can come from any direction." After few minutes one mine blows up and another rebel sees what is against them. "It's Hunters! Hunters are coming!" Ajay starts shooting at the people in the trees. The battle is intense . They are coming from all ways. Ajay was almost hit by an arrow, when he was dodging. Once the hunters start shooting the fire arrows it gets worse. Even some animals like wolfs are coming at them. Ajay and the rebels however push back everything that gets throw at them. Once the hunters are on retreat, Ajay calls Sabal. "Sabal, the camp is safe." "Okay brother. Head to the other camp and see if you can help Jessica. And Ajay you saved lives, I knew you had this. You're Mohan's blood, a real son of Kyra." The call ends and Ajay moves to the other camp.
On a way there he sees Jessica walking slowly to the car. "Jess!" He calls and she turns around and smiles. Ajay runs to her, but closer he gets, he notices that she is little bit pale. "Jess, are you alright ?" She nods and once she tries to move but she stumbles and Ajay catches her. He then sees the arrow in her shoulder. "Oh shit! Jessica what happened?" "I didn't see a hunter behind me. It's not that bad really. I just can't reach it to treat it." Ajay frowns. "Are you sure it's not that bad ?" She nods. "Just get me to the car and there should be a med kit and with that you will treat it."
They get to the car with Ajay helping Jessica with walking. Soon they find a med kit and Ajay treats Jessica's shoulder. Her shoulder proved to be in good condition considering it was shoot with an arrow. "You will need to take off your jacket and shirt Jess." Ajay blushes and Jessica becomes red as well. "Okay." Jessica agrees and takes off her jacket and shirt. Ajay turns around, but once he hears her voice saying. "You can treat it now." She holds her jacket to her chest and Ajay turns around a once again blushes. Instead of thinking something not appropriate of his friend he clears his throat and asks. "So what was in the intel?""It was a map of a temple or something like that." She answers. "I hope it's worth it." Ajay mutters. "What did you say?" "Nothing Jess. Nothing." Once he is finished, he turns around and Jessica puts her shirt and jacket back on. Ajay and Jessica get into the car with Ajay again as the driver and the rode to the outpost so they could get a rest. Once they arrived, Ajay insisted for Jessica to have the bed at the safe house and he slept on the floor.
Next morning after they had something small to eat, with Jessica's shoulder being better, they headed to Sabal house. On the way there both of them spoke casually and Ajay's questions were mostly about her shoulder, which annoyed Jessica, but she thought it was nice from him. Once they arrive, they see Sabal sitting on a box. Ajay announces his and Jessica's presence. "Sabal." Sabal looks up and smiles at Ajay. 'Oh yes, I went along with Amita's plan. Of course he looks at Ajay.' Jessica thinks as she watches Sabal. Sabal stands and pats Ajay's shoulders. "The champion returns! Defending that rebel camp saved a lot of lives. It's what your father would've done. That's the Golden Path. That's the direction we were going before Mohan died. That's why I stepped up. Because I knew your father, and I respected his vision." Jessica then spoke up. "But that intel could be important." Sabal looked at her. "I will give you credit Jessica. It was brave and I must say I'm glad that both of you handled the missions. You are great fighters." Sabal moves into the house and looks to Ajay. "You need to learn what drove him, what drives us. Go to the monastery." He closes the door. "Well I guess we should go." Ajay says and Jessica nods. The once again go to the car and ride towards the monastery. Then suddenly somebody known calls them. "Uncle Pagan here, just checking on my favourite nephew and niece. So tell me you two, who are you rooting for so far? Has Ajay fallen into Amita's honey pot, or has Jessica been dazzled by Sabal's flowing locks and bad-boy jawline? Hey, each to his own, that's your lifestyle choice to make. He isn't my cup of tea, contrary to the rash assumptions some may make about my appearance, I am indeed batting for the other team. You more than most should know that there was only ever one woman for me, my boy and girl." Ajay looks to Jessica and says. "No comment for that." Jessica nods and they move to the car.
Once they are there, they get out of the car and go in front of the monastery. Ajay continues inside but Jessica stops. Ajay notices that Jessica is behind him so he turns around. "Are you coming Jess?" She shakes her head. "No. Sabal talked to you mostly. So I will just wait outside." "Are you sure?" "Yeah just go Ajay. I will just sit on this rock and wait for you." Ajay wants to say something but Jessica cuts him off. "For god's sake, I won't go anywhere. I promise." Ajay nods and with a guilty look moves inside the monastery. As Ajay walks inside the monastery he is greeted by a person named Raju. "Ah, the son of the great Mohan. Sabal tells me you're ready to learn what inspired your father." Ajay nods. Raju continues. "Banashur, god of gods, sang the world into existence. For that, we give him thanks. We thank the gods for giving us life. Please take an offering basket." Ajay takes the basket and goes to complete the monastery pilgrimage. Meanwhile outside Jessica thinks to herself. 'Oh son of great Mohan returned. Now I have to kiss his ass all the time. They just see me as a woman wielding a gun I guess.' Suddenly Amita calls her. "Jessica, the intel you recovered, that map? It's the monastery. The army's going to attack your location any minute now." "I will defend it with Ajay." Jessica responds and stands up from the rock. "Good luck and be careful." The end calls. Jessica moves to speak to the person in the door. "Warn everyone to stay inside, the Army is coming to attack." The person nods and Jessica pulls out her assault rifle. Even with a hurt shoulder she will fight. Inside the person Jessica sent warned everyone including Ajay. He quickly moved outside and the door shut behind him. He runs towards Jessica who is getting ready to defend. "Jess! You should have gone inside. Your arm is hurt." Jessica glares. "I can handle this." Ajay shakes his head. "I wish you wouldn't be so stubborn." He takes the left side and she takes the right. The battle for the monastery soon begins and shooting is heard from everywhere. The army tries to plant bombs, but both Jessica and Ajay stop them soon.
Once it's over Raju walks out of the temple and bows to Ajay. "You saved us. You are your father's son, Ajay." Ajay cuts him off. "I wasn't the only one defending it..." He was cut off by Raju thanking him again. Meanwhile Jessica wasn't pleased very much. She soon came to realization that she is indeed jealous of people looking up to Ajay this much. She didn't want to admit it at first but now it was clear to her. She decided to call to Sabal about the monastery since Amita knew. "Sabal, the army attacked the monastery, but me and Ajay drove them off." "Thank Kyra you were there, sister. That place is a symbol for our people, and they need to see stability. Mohan understood that. He could have used more people like you and Ajay in the war." Jessica sighs as the call ends. She turns around and sees Ajay walking towards her. "We are pretty good team, aren't we?" "Yeah I guess." Jessica frowns. Ajay sees this and asks. "What's wrong Jess?" "Everything! I got the intel for the attack on the monastery and nobody thanked me for warning them! Nobody cared that we both defended the temple! They only see you!" Jessica kept this frustration to herself for a while so she started crying. Ajay doesn't even think and hugs her. "You are important Jess. And if they don't see it, they are blind. Come on look at yourself. It's second day after your arrow wound and you are already using your shoulder, even if you shouldn't. Besides without you, I could be possibly dead." Ajay's words sues Jessica's fury and she apologizes. "Sorry that I yelled at you." "It's okay just let it out." After few minutes Jessica calms down and she and Ajay go to a car to get to the outpost and sleep after a long day.
Next day Jessica has an idea to look to Banapur. Ajay agrees and they both go. On the way they see a smoke coming from next to the lake. They stop the car and see people around the fire. They get out and go to the fire. From the looks of it, it was a funeral. Ajay and Jessica just stand there not knowing what to do. In a few minutes Bhadra joins them. "Paying respect to the families?" She asks. "We have never seen anything like this." Ajay explains and Jessica nods. "Well. I've never seen anyone carry around their mother's ashes." Bhadra says with a smiles. Jessica laughs quietly. "Good point Bhadra." Ajay chuckles. "Yeah. Do you think my father's funeral was like this?" Bhadra looks away for a while. "I was too young, but I know his death broke the Golden Path." She hears a door open behind her and she starts to move that way. "Things would be different now if he'd died fighting, but he didn't. He was murdered." She turns around and starts to walk away. Ajay goes closer to her with questions. "Murdered? W- wait. What happened?" Bhadra looks at him and explains. "All I know is that he was killed in his house, east of Banapur. It's still there. Maybe you could go there and find out more about him. Just be careful, that area belongs to Noore now. I have to go now." And with that Bhadra goes away. "That house is definitely worth look around, don't you think?" Jessica asks Ajay. He just nods, too lost in his own thoughts. "You want to visit it today Ajay?" "No. Not today, let's just have a look around for some things to do." So for the rest of the day they are helping people of Kyrat with their struggles.
