Nivitha sighed and sat under a tree. She and Sathvik had been walking for over 5 hours now and it was really dark. "Do you think we'll find our friends that came with us? Or meet Krishna or Kurus?" asked Nivitha.
"Someone I know had told me that there's only one way to find out. " Sathvik replied. "Where do you think we'll sleep tonight?"

"I guess we can build a small tree house and sleep there." Nivitha remarked.

"Treehouse?" exclaimed Sathvik. "You can make a treehouse? Did you bring anything for that that I didn't know about?"

"There are branches and rope in this forest. And we can use something as a hammer." Nivitha said confidently. "Help me find them."
They lit a torch they had with them and then searched for twigs and branches. Finally, they found a pile of some branches and ropes big enough. Nivitha then stood at the bottom of a tree with a smirk.

"How are you planning to build it?" asked Sathvik.

"Climb up and build," Nivitha stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The tree was very tall. "You sit here and pass me the materials required." She said.

Then she slowly jumped and tried to climb up. Unfortunately, since she had no experience, she came back down. She repeated the process but was not reaching a good height.

"If you go at this rate, then we are going to return when Rita Ma'am is 80, irrespective of whether there's a time difference," Sathvik called out.

Nivitha grunted in anger and disapproval. She tried to climb more hardly as if she was set out to prove him wrong. After half an hour, Nivitha did successfully reach the top and Sathvik helped her build the treehouse. To his surprise, she was a good craftsman and was able to build a strong tree house even if it was temporary. But by the time the construction was complete, her chest had a small scar, formed from the vigorous climbing. Unlike his friend, Sathvik had used a rope ladder to climb up and down the tree.
"How are you perfectly fine after all these climbing?" asked Nivitha.
"Unlike you, I actually thought logically using my brain." He commented.

It was already night and both of them laid at two opposite corners of the structure they made, slowly drifting off to sleep.
......................................................

The rays of the sun shone upon the two children, waking them up. They were fresh and relaxed when they got up. Nivitha checked her watch, which displayed 7:30. Then, after packing, they continued their journey.

They had travelled almost 2 hours when they heard a rustling. They rushed behind the nearest bush and hid clearly. From behind the tall bush, they could see a weird huge man-like creature. He seemed to be searching for something but thankfully didn't notice them. They had never seen a Rakshasa before to compare the figure to, but the moment they saw him, they understood who he was.
"It's a Rakshasa! What do we do?" mouthed Sathvik.

"Stay hidden silently. I guess he'll go after some time." Nivitha mouthed back.

But luck was not with them, and when an insect flew next to them, Sathvik clapped his hands, trying to kill it.

The Rakshasa had heard them. He advanced towards the bush and addressed the two terrified pre-teenagers. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" As a matter of fact, as scary as he was, the Rakshasa was terribly confused to find two small children in weird clothes, travelling without any fear.

Nivitha's costume ↓(This is not Nivitha. This is just her costume.)

Sathvik's costume↓ (This is not Sathvik. This is just his costume)

Nivitha slowly gathered up courage and got up. After all, fear doesn't save you from anything. She then, kept her hand on Sathvik's shoulder, nodding to him and stepped forward. "Hello, Mr Rakshasa. I don't know if it's the right way to address you and we don't know your name. We are sorry if we offended you. But please do not eat us. We are two lost kids and shall pass through this forest quickly." She said smiling nervously.

Sathvik and the Rakshasa had the same bewildered look on their face. The Rakshas had that look because he didn't understand what the kid meant except for the words 'naam', 'bhavan', 'kshamyata' and 'parantu'. She had spoken in Hindi. He also didn't understand why the kid was speaking to him with folded hands instead of running away as usual kids did. Sathvik too was bewildered because not once did he expect his friend to actually speak like that to the Rakshasa. He started to wonder whether she was in her right mind.

The Rakshasa, at last, spoke in a booming voice, "Very well, I do have an option of letting you go. But why should I do that for you? After all, you seem to be a human and humans are not our allies."

Somehow, Nivitha guessed his words almost correctly. "I promise not to tell anyone about you. I shall give you this as a peace offering. And you must surely know that, according to law, the human who is ready for a peace offering must be spared." she said with a smile.

"A peace offering?" asked Sathvik and the Rakshasa. But Sathvik was quick to correct himself. "I mean of course, how I could forget that," he said, understanding that Nivitha had a plan upon seeing her look.

"We do not obey the laws made by humans, child." said the Rakshasa.

"Humans?" Nivitha gasped. "Are you telling me that you do not know the law which was made and agreed to by your King and God too?"

The Rakshasa was confused. He had never heard of such a law.

"And Mahadev will only bless the Rakshasas who abide by this law even if he does great penance." Nivitha further added.

"But I had not heard of any Rakshasas following such a law. If there was something like that, my kin and ancestors would have followed it too." the Rakshasa replied.

"That's because no other human child had actually travelled alone and the adults never give gifts to someone considered an enemy," Nivitha replied.

The Rakshasa was convinced. "Fine. But if I am not satisfied with your offering, I shall not leave you." he said. Nivitha nodded.

She opened her back and gave him a small snack she had with her and also a small wrapped box.

Luckily, he loved her snacks and liked her gift. He smiled at them. "I am pleased with your gift. You may go. I shall not harm you."

The friends shared a surprised look. They had successfully come out safe after meeting a Rakshasa. They then at a faster pace, continued their journey through the forest.

That's the 9th chapter. Hope you like it. Can you believe that they actually escaped a Rakshas? Well they mostly did that cause the Rakshas was friendly.  Not all Rakshasas are bad after all. Bye.