Storytelling Week 7: Hidimbi and Bhima

"Sister, do you see those brothers living in the forest," Hidimba said, indicating towards the viewfinder. "They are living alone and would be perfect for our research on the human species!"

Hidimbi looked through the telescope, spotting the people her brother referenced almost immediately. There were five brothers grouped around a campfire and they were in the middle of nowhere, the perfect place for an abduction without witnesses.

"Send me down, send me down!" Hidimbi shouted enthusiastically. "It's my turn to do the abducting, you know that's my favorite job."

Hidimba smiled, gesturing to the teleportation pad in the middle of the room. Hidimbi hopped on the teleportation pad and disappeared immediately.

****

She hid in the bushes, watching as four of the brothers left the campfire, presumably to find some food, and left the last brother behind. His back was towards her, perfect for an abduction without incident. With four of them gone, hopefully she could pick them off individually.

As she planned her attack, the last brother turned, revealing his face to her. Her thoughts instantly left her, for she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. Forgetting her plans, she emerged from the bushes, startling the man. 

"Who-what are you? And what are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I am Hidimbi," she said, squaring her shoulders. "My brother sent me to abduct you for our research on your species, but I cannot. I saw your face and now I could never hurt you! Come with me and I will keep you safe from him."

As Hidimbi spoke, her blue skin faded to a dark brown, her single eye split and grew into two, and her hair grew long and curly. 

The man's eyes grew wide. "I am Bhima, but I could never leave my brothers. I want to be with you, but I cannot leave with you. I cannot leave my family!"

At this, Hidimbi enthusiastically claimed, "Well, they can come with us. We can all go together! But we must go now or my brother will come-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a flash of light appeared behind Bhima. Her brother appeared from the light and, before she could warn him, attacked Bhima. Hidimba was trying to abduct him where his sister had failed, so he had not brought any of their sophisticated weaponry. Bhima bested him almost immediately.

"Hidimba, Bhima stop!" Hidimbi shouted. "Hidimba, I love Bhima and Bhima that is my brother. Please stop fighting each other."

At her words, the two slowly drifted apart, both bruised and bloody. 

"You love him?" Hidimba asked. 

"I do," Hidimbi said. 

"I love her as well," Bhima added. "I would like to marry her, if my mother will approve of it."

"Well, it's settled then," Hidimba said. "I will return to our home planet, and you will stay here. I wish you every happiness."

Alien Abduction found on Wikimedia Commons

Author's Notes

For this story, I kind of wanted to make another sci-fi story so I picked Hidimbi and Bhima's story so I could include aliens. I made Hidimbi an alien instead of a rakshasa, but I also made it where Hidimba was not killed by Bhima. Hidimbi and Hidimba seemed to have a good relationship before all this, so I did not want him to die for some guy she just met. They won't see each other again for a long time, or possibly ever again, but at least he isn't dead. The version of the story that I used was the one from Peter Brook's The Mahabharata.