Rutukas the Bloodhound

"Hello, anybody home?" said Rikki. "Who's there?" came a barking voice. "Who and what are you?" said Rikki. "I'm a bloodhound. Now what and who are you?" he growled. "I'm Rikki-tikki-tavi, the mongoose." said Rikki. "Mongoose? What is that? I've heard the name Rikki-tikki-tavi before. Heard you were a great enemy of that dreaded Cobra Queen who makes her lair hundreds of miles northeast of here!" he said. "That's because I'm a snake-killer. Avíá and I eat snakes." said Rikki. "Do you now?" said the bloodhound. He came into view. He was quite large and the two mongooses were at first frightened, though not for long as it is very hard to frighten a mongoose for any length of time, but soon realized that he wasn't going to hurt them. "What's a bloodhound?" asked Rikki. "I'm a dog. I track and hunt animals. My Father Rúda worked for the humans by tracking other humans. Unfortunately that didn't save him from the snakes last week." said the bloodhound. "I'm so sorry! Nagasta has lost her family and apparently enjoys destroying the families of others. She's personally eaten two of Darzee's children, had her snakes, led by her late daughter Ragiva, kill all of Avíá's family, wiped out an entire human village, killed Medalíana's husband, and now apparently has killed your father. I'm going to Kalindo to try and stop her." said Rikki. "Did you say Kalindo?" said the bloodhound. "Yes. The Magical Herb of Kalindo. Makes you immune to snake venom for one bite. Or so I've heard." said Avíá. "I've heard of such a plant, but you've got to have a death wish to want to go there!" said the bloodhound. "Look here. I'm afraid Nagasta is going to kill more humans!" said Rikki. "Well, I'm a dog, not a…er….mongoose. I'm not good at snake killing. What do you expect me to do?" said the bloodhound. "Give us a place to hide. The snakes are looking for us. Could you tell us more about Kalindo?" said Rikki. "Come in then. Quickly!" said the bloodhound.

"My name is Rutukas. I'm the guardian of my Master and his wife. I'm trying my best to keep them safe." he said. "What have you done to make the Queen so very upset?" "Quite a few things. Several she knows and several she doesn't." said Rikki. "What do you mean?" said Rutukas. He told how he had fought Karait, Nag, and Nagaina. How the cobras had plotted to kill the humans and how he had intervened. How Nagaina had botched his attempt to kill off all of the cobras. How Nagasta had escaped and returned for revenge. How he had kept her from attacking in the middle of the night. How he had defeated Kinsta. How his plan worked and it seemed Nagasta had decided to come after him before dealing with the humans. How he had to send his family into hiding. About his meeting with Avíá. And about their adventures up to that point. "And so we came here looking for a place to hide. Our next obstacle is the Great River. And after that the…." said Rikki. "Giant Spiders." said Rutukas. "Poisonous I expect." said Rikki. "Yes. They're led by the Tarantula Emperor. He is quite terrifying if the stories about Him are true!" said Rutukas. "Could you tell us more?" said Rikki. "Yes. But in the morning. I shall have nightmares if I bring up those terrible beings. Your stories about the Cobra Queen are already enough to give me the collywobbles[1]!" said Rutukas. The three of them laid down on the floor and went to sleep. Avíá rested her head on Rikki's shoulder. The man came in, wondering what was making all the noise. He noticed the two sleeping mongooses. "That's good. These mongooses will keep away those accursed snakes." he said.

Tucker the Mouse

"Have you seen them anywhere?" a krait[2] asked a mouse. "You can go ahead and kill me but I am not telling where they are!" said the mouse defiantly. "Who said anything about killing you?" taunted the krait. "I'm not going to get their location by eating you. However, your sweet little girl on the other hand, she looks delicious. I haven't eaten all day!" He moved toward his daughter, who turned very white. "All right. I'll tell!" said the mouse in desperation. "Hurry up, or I'm having a little mouse for a midnight snack!" threatened the krait. "The little house near the river! Now let my daughter go!" said the mouse. The krait moved away from his daughter. "Cross me again and I promise I won't be as nice!" said the krait before leaving. "I've got to warn them!" said the mouse.

Tales of the Land of the Giant Spiders

Rikki and Avíá awoke at dawn, a little stiff from sleeping on the wooden floor, but still feeling refreshed. Rutukas awoke as well. "So," said Avíá, "How do we get across the Great River?" "You'll have to be careful. The current is very strong and is nearly impossible to swim across. Your best chance is to ride across on a tree trunk or to ride on a floating device that the humans have. My Master has one. We can push it to the Great River and you can use it to sail across the river. He'll be upset. He uses it often to go fishing, but he has two of them. I trust you both can fit in one." said Rutukas. "Ok, so what about these Giant Spiders?" said Avíá. "That's a very bad business. Going there." said Rutukas. "They can't be that much worse than cobras!" said Rikki. "I don't know much about cobras, other than that they are poisonous. However, these spiders are also poisonous. And they can move faster than snakes too I've heard." said Rutukas. "Has anyone ever been there?" said Avíá. "Plenty. But as none have ever come back, we can't say for sure how bad they are." said Rutukas. "I don't like the sound of that!" said Avíá. "These spiders, they don't eat mongooses, do they?" said Rikki. "They've eaten mice, insects, and birds. I've heard of a few that attacked a few rabbits and ate them too." said the bloodhound. "What of the Tarantula Emperor? What is a tarantula[3] anyway?" said Rikki. "It is what the Giant Spiders call themselves. He's the biggest of the lot of them. And the evilest. He bullies the mice and birds around there. The other Giant Spiders are afraid of Him." said Rutukas. "Where does this Emperor live?" said Rikki. "Near the Gate of Kalindo. Only those whom He allows can pass. All others who try are killed from what I've been told. Only birds can get past, and even they are in trouble if they ever dare to land in His domain." said Rutukas. "Can he be reasoned with?" said Avíá. "Not likely. Not unless you can kill Him. He's mighty proud, and strong enough to obliterate anyone who's foolish enough to challenge Him." said Rutukas. "I think I'll try and reason with these tarantulas all the same." said Rikki. "Well don't expect a warm welcome!" laughed Rutukas. "Don't worry about that. We've had our fair share of 'warm welcomes' on this trip already!" laughed Rikki.

Krait Attack

Tucker came running into the room. Rikki quickly caught him between his paws. "Hungry?" Rikki asked Avíá. "Starved." said Avíá. "I'm looking for Rikki-tikki and his friend Avíá." said Tucker. "Well, you found us." said Rikki. "Yeah. Really sorry about this" said Avíá, "but mongooses have to eat too." "If it's any consolation to you, I kill mercifully. I'm not like Nagasta's lot. I can't even stand to see a snake suffer. Now hold him down, Avíá, while I quickly slash his throat." said Rikki. Avíá held him down and Rikki raised his claws. "Though I'd much rather be eaten by you and your friend, O great Rikki-tikki, than those wicked kraits, I'm begging you not to eat me! I've come to warn you. They threatened to eat my daughter unless I told them where you were. I had no choice. They'll be upon you soon. Now could you please let me go?" asked Tucker. "Thank you for the warning." said Rikki. Avíá released Tucker. Rikki-tikki looked outside and saw about fifteen kraits approaching the house. "Get your master and his wife awake. Perhaps they can shoot some of them. My boyfriend and I will deal with the snakes." said Avíá to Rutukas. "You two are dating?" said Tucker in shock. "The first and only girl I've ever dated in fact." said Rikki-tikki-tavi. "So you've heard of me too?" asked Avíá. "Yes. The mighty Avíá-tía-tárá. Killer of the fearsome Ragiva." said Tucker. "You flatter me." said Avíá. Rutukas came back into the room with the man and his wife. "Hey boy! What's all this for?" said the man's wife. A krait, the one that had threatened the mouse earlier, came into the room. "I see you are trying to make my life difficult, Tucker.[4] Well I can always have a little play time with your sweet daughter after I'm done with you and your nasty friends!" said the krait. "I sent her into hiding with my wife." said Tucker the mouse. "We'll find them, and they'll die just like you. And we'll be sure to finish them off slowly." said the krait. "Picking on children!" said Rikki-tikki, his eyes aflame. "You disgust me! I shall eat you from the tail up!" "Ha! There are fifteen of us!" said the krait. "Careful. The man is going for his gun!" said Rikki.

"We'll get to him first! " said the krait. Several kraits came into the room. One came toward the man but was bitten in half by Rutukas. "Stay away from my Master!" he barked. "I'll make you pay for that!" said the first krait. He came toward Rutukas but was seized by the tail and killed by Avíá. The kraits came toward Rikki and Avíá. The man shot three of them and Rikki and Avíá each killed off three more apiece, taking them on one at a time. The remaining five came at the man's wife but Rikki quickly jumped upon one and killed it and Avíá took care of another. The final three moved at Rikki, who killed the nearest and then retreated. Unfortunately, the man had fired all of his rounds at the kraits and his gun was empty. However, he smashed the skull of a krait with his gun as it tried to bite his wife. The final krait went at the man, who was busy attacking the krait and didn't notice. However, Avíá bit the krait from behind and then clawed him to pieces. "My!" said the man's wife, who had turned very white, "Those mongooses saved our lives!" Avíá and Rikki ate the dead ringleader. "He won't be bothering your daughter ever again." Avíá said to Tucker.

Crossing the Great River

The humans fed Rikki and Avíá, though they ate little, wanting to be as thin and quick as possible to outrun any more snakes they might encounter, not to mention the mysterious tarantulas. "Goodnight. "said Avíá to Rikki. Rikki fell asleep. "You think it'd work out between him and me? He's so helpful to everyone. Also, he's flat out adorable. "Avíá said to Rutukas. "I think you're asking the wrong dog. It's your decision. "he said. The next morning at dawn, Rikki, Avíá, and Rutukas carefully and quietly took the man's boat and pushed it down to the Great River. Near the shore, about two hundred snakes barred their way. "Now what?" said Rutukas. "I've got an idea!" said Rikki. "Push the thing down the hill and flatten them?" asked Avíá. "You can read my mind. That's one of the things I love about you!" said Rikki. "Surrender mongooses!" said a king cobra. "Ok. We surrender!" said Rikki. He and Avíá quickly jumped in the boat. "Now, Rutukas!" Rikki yelled. Rutukas pushed the boat with all his might and Avíá and Rikki went zooming down the hill, flattening a king cobra, a viper, a python, a krait, a cobra, and a dusty brown snakeling. The boat hit the water, splashing Rikki, Avíá, and a dozen snakes. Rikki and Avíá were nearly thrown out by the impact but Rikki managed to stay in and grabbed hold of Avíá and stopped her from falling in. "I'd love to stay and chat," said Rikki to the snakes on the shore "but Avíá and I have to get to Kalindo." The two went downstream for about a mile. "I've never been on a floating device like this before! I shall have to do it again sometime!" said Rikki, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Rikki, we need to get out of this thing!" Avíá suddenly said, turning white. "Come on! I'm enjoying this!" said Rikki. She pointed and Rikki turned and saw that they were in danger of going over a huge waterfall. "Paddle with your paws and try to get it to the shore!" said Rikki. They paddled and came close to shore. They jumped, just in time, and landed on solid ground. The boat meanwhile went over the waterfall and was smashed to bits at the bottom. "Phew! That was close!" said Avíá. "Guess those people won't be getting their thing back now." "Now to see how terrifying these Giant Spiders are." said Rikki. They wouldn't have to wait long to find out.