Blackness. Then sound. Then breath.
Arjun blinked.
His vision was upside down, maybe sideways. Something warm dripped down his cheek. He groaned. His leg throbbed like it had a heartbeat of its own.
Then he saw it.
The beast.
Right in his face.
Its hideous, scarred, bloodied snout was one inch from his nose, exhaling hot, foul air. Its black eyes glistened. Its mouth slowly opened to reveal rows of jagged yellow teeth.
"HI!" Arjun shouted with a cracked voice, flailing back so hard he hit his head on a rock. "OH GOD YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!"
He reached for the gun—not there. Not even the comfort of false hope.
The monster tilted its head. It looked dazed. Then, just as Arjun prepared to be eaten alive, it collapsed. Hard. Breathing heavily, twitching—but clearly wounded. Immobilized.
Arjun panted. "Okay... okay. You're dying slowly. That's... cool. That gives me a little bit of time to panic."
Footsteps.
He turned.
And there she was.
A woman.
Maybe 22 years old. Bronze skin, hair braided with feathers, beads, and vines. A spear slung across her back. She wore what looked like armor made of woven roots, shells, and shimmering insect wings. Her eyes were sharp. Intelligent.
Also, very clearly annoyed.
She stomped over to Arjun and pointed to his leg, which still had the arrow stuck in it.
"You! Gwoth-da mok!" she said, stabbing a finger at him.
"I-I'm sorry?" Arjun blinked. "Did you just call me a goat mug?"
She shouted louder. "MOK! Tegi wra!"
He tried to stand. Failed. "Okay, okay, look, I don't know what a 'wra' is but I feel like you don't like it."
She knelt, yanked the arrow out of his leg.
Arjun screamed, flailed, and tried to crawl away. "WHAT THE — You could've said something! Like, 'Hey, I'm about to remove a javelin from your soul meat!'"
She rolled her eyes. Her voice was flat. "Nith. Groth awah."
Arjun stared. "Listen, lady, you're hot but terrifying, and I have no idea what you're saying."
She pointed to herself. "Shava."
"Ah. Okay. Cool. Sha-va. Nice name."
She pointed to him. "You?"
"Arjun."
She blinked. Then slowly, with perfect confusion, "Arr-chune?"
He nodded. "Close enough."
She looked at him like he was a hyperactive duck that somehow learned to speak. Then she stood up, slung his arm over her shoulder and began dragging him away from the beast, toward what looked like a tunnel covered in moss and glowing fungus.
"Wait, where are we going?" he groaned.
She tapped her chest. "Shava."
"Yes, yes. You are Shava. I got that."
She tapped his leg. "Mok."
He frowned. "That better not be what I think it means."
She grinned.
The beast behind them let out a slow, rattling breath. It was still alive.
Arjun and Shava didn't look back.
Instead, Arjun muttered under his breath, "Okay. Jungle girlfriend who doesn't speak my language and stabs me as a greeting. Sure. This is my life now."