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The first time I started to see creatures outside my understanding was a couple years ago. I was in Madhya Pradesh, a large forest found in central India. I had heard some reports of a creature that was living in the forest, and the reports were surprisingly varied. People described the creature in the forest as a Bigfoot, but some of the reports seemed to indicate that it was more like a Chupacabra. The reports got me interested in looking for what was out there. My first day looking through that forest was useless; I was mainly just trying to get deeper in.
The further I got into the forest the more tracks I could discover, but it was not until my sixth day in the forest until I found an interesting track. It had rained for the last two days, and the ground was very muddy. This meant that it was easier for animals to leave tracks. The track that interested me resembled a Bigfoot track, but it was different in some aspects. The size of an average man's foot is about 26 centimeters. This footprint was around 60 centimeters in length. The track was shaped like a Bigfoot print, but it was thinner than it should have been for how long it was. The other difference was found in the toes. The arrangement of the toes was similar to a human, just like Bigfoot, but instead of human-like toes it had long toes tipped in claws. This creature walked upright like a human, but was definitely not a Bigfoot. This creature was large, but more predatory. I had considered that it could have been a large, upright Chupacabra. Chupacabras are creatures that feast on the blood of goats. They leave behind few traces other than the puncture wounds on the neck. Many say they resemble mangy dogs, but are larger with long fangs. There are also reports of a chupacabra attacking a man's farm in the area, but this creature was much bigger than any Chupacabra I had heard of.
Looking back on this trip I wish I had just taken a mold of the print and gone home, but there were more of these tracks. These tracks continued off into the forest. The creature had left a trail in the mud that was easily followable, and I stupidly decide to follow this trail. The mud made the trail easy to follow, and there were no other tracks to follow. This trail should have been easy to follow, but the trail kept getting caught up in other tracks. I kept losing the trail at the same point. This is when I made an insane discovery, something that would change the idea of animal biology. I was not losing the original trail. The problem was that the tracks were changing. The creature's foot actually changed shape. The footprint was now that of a smallish monkey. Further down the trail the prints became those of a large feline.
Following this trail I found a small clearing and an entrance to a cave. I hid in the tree filled area at the edge of the clearing and watched. I was trying to do surveillance, and I was hoping to see the creature leave its cave. Another new problem emerged as I sat in the forest. Emerging from the trees were three men. There was an old man leading two men dressed lightly, but resplendently. One of these young men seemed to have argyria, as he had blue skin. These men were walking with a purpose, they were heading into the cave. Then I noticed what the two young men had. They both carried bows and had arrows with them. Were they hunting? If they were hunting, what creature were they hunting? Then I remembered the creature that was in that cave. By the time I realized they were hunting the creature I had tracked it was too late; they were already in the cave. I moved as quickly as I could while being quiet, and looked into the cave mouth.
I finally laid my eyes on the creature I had tracked, and it was hideous. It was an enormous creature that could be said to vaguely resemble humans in body shape, but there was too much off about it. It had two huge fangs, it had long claws, and its eyes appeared to be made of fire itself. Its face was twisted in an inhuman way. Looking around the cave I learned even more about the creature. I now knew this creature's diet. The cave it lived in was scattered with human skeletons. One human was still only partially eaten. That is when a chill ran down my spine. This creature had been fairly close to my camp. That could be me on that cave floor. The two young men were still approaching the creature and the old man was waiting just inside the cave.
I snapped back into focus and looked back at the creature, but it was not the creature that I looked at earlier. It had changed slightly. Now it had red hair and black eyes, and looking closer it was clear that the creature was a she. Then all hell broke loose. The creature started hurling boulders at the two young men. They were surprisingly calm. The blue one just shot arrows and took her arms off. This does not mean it had thin arms, or arms that should be easy to cut off. The creature had arms covered in muscle, but this man's arrow had so much force that it blew the arm off the creature.
Then all of this got crazier. The creature turned INVISIBLE. It was not a trick like the chameleon's color change, or the octopus and its method of matching shape and color of the environment. This creature just disappeared. The creature just became see-through, but I knew it was still there as it continued to kick rocks around the cave. That is when the man shot another arrow and took the creature's head off. This is around the time I fainted. When I came to I was in the cave alone with the creature's corpse. Once again the creature looked different from how it had. Included is a sketch of this creature. I hope you believe me on this. I know this all sounds crazy, but this was my first encounter with these creatures.
Author's Note: I chose to do this first story as a look back at the first encounter. I plan on doing the other stories an in the moment note taking diary of encounters. This was chosen as it would give more feeling and thoughts of the narrator as they are seeing this creature the first time. It would also held see the narrator's thoughts at they following the tracks. This first encounter uses the story Thataka for the Public Domain Edition for the Ramayana. I trimmed out the part of the story of the sage giving the princes their celestial weapon, as I felt that I wanted to focus on the creature. I also used the Wikipedia page on Rakshasas to give a better description of the creature's appearance, as the appearance is not really touched on in the PDE Ramayana. Focusing on the creature and on the trail it left I wanted to create a better image of these creatures. The image used was obtained here and it is a sketch of a Rakshasa by Respekosmilus.
Bibliography: Donald A. Mackenzie. Public Domain Edition Ramayana. 1913. Ramayana: Thataka
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