So this one gets weird! But also cool! You can jump on into it if you want, but here's my train of thought from when I made this one.
A podcast I listened to mentioned Primal Rage. I remembered being vaguely aware of it but never playing more than a few minutes of it. I looked into it and remembered it's actually pretty sweet backstory of monster T-rexes and giant monkeys punching the shit out of each other so hard that humanity just gave the fuck up and started worshiping them as gods. They'd even run around on the battlefield to pray and you could kick or eat them at your leisure.
Super cool premise. I'd been wanting to write a primitive story for a long time now as well. I remember seeing those old movies on TV about cave people, to the point where they didn't speak any clear language and pushed boulders over on claymation dinosaurs. There was always a hot cave princess woman, and usually a catfight. It was a simpler time...
I toyed with making some kind of primitive clan war, then of giant avatar woman possessing or channeling their deities to war with each other. Then I decided to lean into the Primal Rage idea more and make their "gods" just plain animals. I leave the story actively vague about whether this is a far future or ancient past; all that matters is humans can barely speak and they are so powerless in the face of all these giant super animals that they rely completely on them. It's more important for their leaders to be able to communicate with the mile-long snake than it is their fellow humans, because one of those can protect your whole village while the other can't. I started to love the challenge of writing a fight that paralleled another; that their kaiju-level monsters were fighting over on the other side of the battlefield, beating the shit out of each other in ways similar to their priestesses. Pulling hair was ripping off a horn and biting was... well, biting. It's why I bounce back and forth fairly regularly in the story, mirroring one to the other. I don't think it's full on Pacific Rim mirror mode stuff, but more of a morale thing. If your Godbeast is doing good, you feel better and fight harder. A sudden counter means an extra distraction. No matter how much they act it's magical, this story's world is brutal, and simple.
I like the challenge and loved the worldbuilding, and I always liked me some kaiju fights and making up weird cultures. Kind of hoping this gets enough love that it'll become a recurring thing.
Leega was their priestess, and that meant she was savage and strong. It was this way for generations, as the weak did not survive on their world for long. They had no record of the year, since time was vague to them. Any means of tracking it were not invented yet, or perhaps long forgotten. Either way, humans did not rule this world. They hadn’t the strength or tools to do so. They were at the whim of the Godbeasts, and that meant doing anything to appease them.
Leega had sent speakers to see the Venom Clan when they came hunting around their territories, but they had returned with their lead messenger's decapitated head. As priestess and leader of the Stonehammer Tribe, she had to respond in kind. Their culture was not old enough to have true traditions, but their brutal rites made the solution clear: she would need to see Arragunn.
Leega was very old for a priestess. She was nearly forty years (not that she could count that high), clearly a blessing from the Godbeast's approval of her worth. Words and numbers had little meaning to humans who spent their lives worshipping and pleasing their respective Godbeast. It was why those wise enough to be "speakers" were so rare and valued, able to communicate between the tribes. No matter how treasured they were, there was none more important than the priestess. No other could speak to the Godbeast or interpret its sounds. She could even bare her spirit to the holy warrior and urge it to defend them when any of the countless perils of the land arose. Arragunn's divine strength had saved them from floods and wars many times in the past, and she was sure it would do so again.
Leega made her trek to the sacred caves. Massive mountains of fallen trees and rock formed a huge shelter for the Godbeast, so humble as to live among them and walk the same filthy earth as they. Leega came with her usual attendants who herded along the cattle they sacrificed to him on such special occasions. She wore the long, dark brown furs across her shoulders, complimenting the bright but dirtied white of her hair. Her body was lean and fit, never shaming her Godbeast with laziness or weakness. She sparred with the soldiers as much as she lead her tribe, giving the icy-eyed woman a commanding presence. Leega gruned and waved a hand at her underlings. They halted and with some gesturing, one handed her the reigns on the lead ox. She walked closer, alone apart from the trailing animals. Ten fat cows were true sacrifices to keep her deity pleased.
The smell was immediate. She crossed the threshold and breathed deeply, feeling the presence of her Godbeast all around her. The very heat from its body seemed to fill the cave and cover her skin. She could weap from its powerful presence, and her eyes watered as she simply smelled its divine sweat and fur. She ventured on, accepting his presence as she gave a soft call. She was no speaker, but she knew a handful of words. They weren't needed when her Godbeast knew more than she ever would, even about herself. She felt Arragunn's movement through her soles and smiled. There were mad hermits who believed in things that dwelled above, living in the stars or below the earth. She pitied them, because they would never witness their thing of worship. Her Godbeast loomed over her, looking at her with his great dark eyes and dense brown fur. Unlike those fools, she could reach out and touch her deity.
Arragunn was an ape that, even in its hunched posture, was four stories tall. Its wooly brown fur coated much of its body, bearing streaks of white like warpaint. Its leathery skin was only exposed on its fists, feet and stomach. It sniffed the air and furrowed its thick brow at its company. It licked its lips as it eyed the cattle, showing its anticipation for its sacrificial treat. Leega gave a needy grunt, clenching her fists and pulling them closer to her. She wordlessly pleaded for him to accept her gift. To hear her words. She was his humble mouth and eyes to the tribe, and she hoped he would hear out her wishes.
In its divine wisdom, Arragunn judged the gift to be worthy. He knuckle-walked up to the uneasy cattle and lifted one in its hand, eating most of one in a single gruesome bite. Leega smiled with glee as her deity messily appreciated the sacrifice. The bloody gorging didn't bother Leega in the slightest; if Arragunn wasn't capable of brutality, how could they trust it to protect them? The priestess stayed away from his meal and ran a hand gently over its flank, appreciating her Godbeast's power. When it was done feasting, she addressed her deity again. She gave a seething grunt as she stomped the floor of his cave. A challenging battle cry to inspire the warrior spirit within Arragunn. It slurped the bloody meat from its lips as it looked at her ponderously. Leega gave another war grunt, more desperate as she stomped the ground again.
The deep and low voice echoed hers. Arragunn thumped his knuckles on the ground in a mirroring gesture. Leega smiled wide and gave another, more passionate snarl. There was battle to be had, and they would need to be fierce to protect her people. Arragunn replied with a string of gruff bellows, its deep voice echoing off the walls of its cave loud enough to rattle Leega's brain. The priestess smiled and hugged him by his shaggy wrist, scratching and petting appreciatively. She was almost buried in how thick its fur was, soaking herself in the feel and smell of her deity. She shivered as its divine fist wrapped around her lower body, lifting her off the ground. It had happened a few times before, but she never grew tired of seeing things from such a height as Arragunn's shoulder. She sat on its thick shoulder and hung onto its fur, stroking the side of its head and neck as Arragunn tromped out of its cave. The other humans gave him a wide berth as Leega pointed the way towards the Venom Clan.
There was much empty space between the two tribes, an open area that served as their easily watched border. She saw the people of Venom ahead, and how they immediately fled on the sight of her mountainous ally. Arragunn overtook one and popped the screaming man into his mouth for a snack, but he was otherwise content to let them flee. Just as they saw the ape coming, it was easy for Leega to see when their challenger was approaching. A horned beetle the size of a jumbo jet skittered across the earth, its shell a mix of sickly green and abrasive reds. A small but sharp set of mandibles peered out from under its armored carapace as if truly wearing its shell. Discolored markings were painted across its sides and back; banners of the Venom Tribe's presence and support of the enormous creature. A young woman straddled its horn suggestively, thighs wrapped around the carapace weapon. As Arragunn started to snarl territorially, Leega started to climb down its furry arm. The ape didn't take its eyes off its foe, but it offered a hand as a platform to set her down. She could see the vague figure atop the beetle do the same, sliding off as the insect lowered its head for her to leave before things got ugly.
While the beasts stopped short of each other, hissing and grunting, Leega stepped away from her master and towards the other side of the battlefield. Leaving plenty of space for their Godbeasts, the other woman did the same and approached her opposing priestess. The Venom Clan were tunnel-dwellers, so she was pale of skin and dark of hair. Her skin bore a few dark spots like freckles around her shoulders and chest, which was (like much of her body) slimmer and more taut than her older rival. The Venom priestess was closer to the norm for her kind, somewhere in her early twenties. She carried a staff of dark wood and wore many smaller furs tied or sewn together, draping loosely off her body. As she sized up Leega, she moved with a slow strut that wiggled her hips, clearly posturing in an almost flirty manner to show off her figure compared to the older woman.
"Hashra," the pale priestess declared, rapping her knuckles on her collarbone to indicate it was her name.
"Leega," she replied in her deep and serious voice, tapping herself in a similar gesture.
Hashra sneered and waved her staff towards the giant beetle. "Karaka!" she declared, shaking her weapon in the air. The stones and seeds inside it rattled as the insect flared up its wings on cue, more for show than purpose as its pincers parted and gargled. Like Arragunn, the rival Godbeast seemed to have been named for the sound it made.
Leega looked annoyed and unimpressed as she clapped her hands and pointed at the giant ape. "Arragunn! Arragunn kill!" she insisted, throwing what little of the common language she knew in there for emphasis. The gorilla stomped its heavy feet on the ground, shaking it beneath Leega's soles as a reminder of his power. He let out a savage roar while his great fingers dug trenches in the earth, throwing dirt and grass about for more territorial posturing. The giant insect skittered in place, snapping its pincers and thrusting its horn in what Leega hoped was unease.
Hashra snarled and bared her teeth, stepping up and shoving Leega in her chest. "Old priestess!" she jeered, spitting on Leega's foot. "Karaka be eating!"
The beetle started making short and rapid movements towards the ape, who watched it warily with big fangs bared.
Leega's face went red with fury before she snapped back. "Arragunn break Karaka!" she barked. Arragunn barked and sprayed frothing spittle at the insect as it started moving into striking distance. He thumped his fists on the ground, shaking it again. Hashra scoffed dismissively, her faith apparently unshakable in her own Godbeast. She shoved Leega again as Karaka lunged with its arcing horn, landing a glancing cut along one of Arragunn's arms. Leega wouldn't stand for it, grabbing the priestess by her dark and braided hair and throwing her to the ground. Reacting in kind, Arragunn grabbed the base of the beetle's horn and hurled it to one side, sending the creature sliding and then tumbling off to its side.
Hashra looked wide-eyed at Leega's speedy takedown, surprised by the mature priestess' skill and strength. She swung her staff, rattling as it cracked against Leega's knee. The chesty priestess crumbled to her other knee with a shriek, no longer watching as Arragunn lumbered after Karaka. As he approached, the beetle twisted itself and rammed a hidden stinger into the giant ape's leg and drew a pained bellow from it.
"Filthy!" Leega barked, diving after Hashra. The pale priestess raised her staff but Leega grabbed it on either end, pinning her as she tried to wrestle it away from her. Her size and experience was proving to her advantage as she pressed it back, overcoming the young Venom priestess. Hashra managed to jerk her weapon to one side, cracking Leega across the jaw and nearly knocking her off. It wasn't enough to stop the frenzied warrior priestess, who dove on her again and knocked the weapon away. "Filthy fuck!" Leega insulted as she brought several harsh fists down into Hashra's lovely young face.
Far behind them, Arragunn shrugged off the latest cut and grabbed the beetle's stinger. Karaka twisted and thrust her thorax, getting a few more pinpricks of wounds on the ape before it twisted sharply to one side. It swept its mighty arm and swung the beetle with it, stopping abruptly to let Karaka whip forward. Its solid but inflexible body betrayed it as the stinger broke off in Arragunn's fist, letting the beetle crash to the ground and tumble end over end.
"Filthy meat pile!" Hashra hissed back bitterly. The Venom priestess shoved her hand into Leega's face, raking her nails over her tender skin. Leega twisted and jerked to keep her from hooking her claws into any of her eyes or mouth, but it was enough for Hashra to slam a knee into her groin. "Feed Karaka you blood!" Hashra shouted viciously, spraying her spittle on Leega as her attack stopped to drop off of her and clutch her unprotected groin. Hashra rose to her knees, taking Leega by the hair and pumping her knee repeatedly into her stomach. Each blow drew a heavy groan from the sturdy cave cougar.
The Godbeasts charged at each other again, Arragunn overpowering it once again. It wrestled it to the ground, gripping its horn when the Karaka raised its wings again. This time, it sprays a noxious chemical into the gorilla's face, stinking and burning as it let out a furious howl. The beetle drove its horn into Arragunn's chest, knocking it onto its back without quite piercing its thick belly skin. The insect queen latched her thin, hooked legs onto Arragunn's fur as her sharp pincers gnashed and drooled hungrily as it lunged for Arragunn's belly.
"Break! Die!" Hashra cursed down at the rival priestess. Leega managed to catch her by the leg and swing her to the ground, wrestling her way on top of the priestess. Hashra reached out to claw her face again, but Leega bit down between her fingers, refusing to let go until she pulled her hand free.
"strong! Not die!" Leega shouted back at her, the frenzied wild woman clocking Hashra with a blow to the mouth. Blood sprayed from her mouth as her lips hit her teeth, reeling the younger priestess. With a furious roar of her own, Leega grabbed Hashra and rose to her feet, hefting the smaller Venom woman into the air. Her pale and slender body briefly felt ridiculously small in her hands, especially pressed against her bigger tits. She dropped back down abruptly and brought out her knee, letting Hashra bounce off of the hard joint with a short gag as she fell into the soil.
Arragunn whipped its loping limbs around, thumping Karaka's dense armored shell a few times. While it was on top of him and had him pinned, the ape's brief blindness didn't matter anymore. The angle left its softer underbelly and spindly legs vulnerable as he grabbed one of the higher appendages caught in its fur and bit through a joint. The bitter blood spilled out as Karaka shrieked, but Arragunn drove a fist into its underbelly with a satisfyingly meaty crunch. The insect tried to retreat, but its claws were buried too well into its opponent. Arragunn rose and caught it by the edges of its shell, rising and spiking the creature's side into the ground. It hissed and twitched its way back to its feet. it didn't seem to miss the one leg much, but its shell was cracked and oozing something as its wing hung limply from beneath its armor. The ape roze and roared at it, wounded but every bit as frenzied as it was hurt.
Hashra moved wearily to one side, stumbling awkwardly to her feet. The pale woman looked warily between Leega and her staff, making a break for the weapon instead. Leega charged after her and kicked her legs out from under her. The Venom woman still kicked her in the stomach, losing her loincloth in the process but uncaring as she caught the edge of her staff. She rammed it into Leega's chest, its rough tip leaving a shallow scrape across her breast. She swung again but Leega caught its end, stomping the middle to snap the weapon in half.
"Run! Weak!" Leega screamed at her. She grabbed Hashra by the hair and pulled her closer, slamming an elbow into her nose that left the thinner woman reeling. She tried to stagger away, jerking violently as she clawed and kicked at Leega's thicker body. Hashra finally pulled hard enough to escape, but she screamed as a fistful of dark hair was left in Leega's fist. The Stonehammer priestess threw it aside like an old rag as she marched after Hashra. "Break the weak!" Leega shouted after her in challenge, unwilling to let the defiant Venom Clan priestess escape after such blasphemy.
Karaka shrieked and charged wildy, slashing the air with its horn and gnashing its mandibles. The horn rammed into Arragunn's ribs, opening another wound to darken its fur with blood. The ape caught it by the base of its horn, smashing its fist into the back of its head. Karaka let out more rabid hissing as it jerked and pulled, connecting with a few harmless but stinging bites to Arragunn's legs before it pulled away sharply. Arragunn had twisted away at an angle where it escaped, but he broke the majority of its horn in one hand. Karaka let out a wild squeal, still flailing about when Arragunn stabbed the horn through the side of its face. A loud and meaty crunch sounded as the bladed horn rammed through its eye and into its head.
Hashra scrambled away from Leega, the white-haired priestess pursuing her relentlessly. Hashra threw dirt at her and hissed bitterly, idle threats and posturing to try and keep her away. The stronger priestess was not convinced, pouncing on Hashra and pinning her wrists. She slammed her knee into the pale woman's stomach, her weight and strength plowing it deep into her belly. Hashra gagged and wheezed, writhing like a hooked worm beneath Leega. She mounted Hashra, her full hips resting on the Venom woman's smaller breasts. Her legs spread to pin down her upper arms, giving the pale priestess a degrading eyeful of her snow-white bush beneath her short loincloth. Hashra grunted and seethed, drooling in her pain and outrage. Leega grabbed her hair and squatted over her, relishing her victory as she rubbed her genitals on the losing woman's face. Her pubic hair scratched at Hashra's skin while her scent invaded her nose, the thrashing priestess screaming muffled curses and threats into Leega's privates. It only seemed to excite her more, humping aggressively without any hint of care for Hashra's comfort.
Karaka was too heavily wounded to put up much more of a fight. It got another bite taken out of Arragunn's thigh, but he walloped the insect in the side of the head and buried the horn deeper into its brain. Sloppy vital fluids flooded the ground below as the giant ape bellowed, hammering an overhand fist where Karaka's head met its body. With a meaty crunch, the insect crumbled to the ground, its legs twitching as its dying brain made desperate attempts to save itself. When it finally stopped, Arragunn hooked its fingers under its shell and lifted Karaka's corpse in the air, shaking it in a spray of gore as it hooted and roared in triumph, declaring its victory loud enough to be heard across the land.
Leega's body shuddered at the sound of her deity's victory. It send a last shiver down her spine to make her orgasm on her opponent's face, messily spraying Hashra with the degrading fluids. A sticky celebration of her deity and the death of the usurping Godbeast. The pale priestess sputtered until she bit down on Leega's labia. The Stonehammer priestess yipped and recoiled, allowing Hashra to scramble to her feet and run for the hills. "Karaka eat!" Hashra screamed back at her. "Kill tribe! Eat children!" Her threats fell on deaf ears as Leega watched her go with an unphased smirk. Hashra ran blindly while looking back at her, only thinking to look up as a great shadow fell over her. The Venom Clan priestess looked up to see Arragunn raising Karaka overhead and hurling his opponent away. The titanic beetle's corpse landed right on top of the gawking priestess, instantly crushing her to death beneath the tons of her dead Godbeast.
Leega gave a shrill howl of triumph, wiping the sweat from her chest and the cum from her thighs. Arragunn lumbered over, injured but not the worst he had been. Her monstrous deity grabbed the dead beetle and started ripping it to pieces, feasting messily on the dead god's corpse. Leega watched with pride, chanting and singing in nonsensical noises while petting his leg. Arragunn devoured the dead megafauna until it was a wet and empty husk, gorged on its fellow monster before it grunted and lumbered back towards its cave to rest and heal.
Leega followed to see him home, deciding her mighty Godbeast had done more than enough for their puny mortal lives for the day. She arranged another sacrifice in his honor for the next day, which was easy enough to find. The Venom Clan was crippled without their leader or their worshipped monster. Many of them came to the Stonehammers, desperate for protection from the elements and wild beasts. They were welcomed on few conditions; their blind faith in Arragunn and that they gather the remaining survivors of their clan to feed to said Godbeast. They were quick to comply and return to feed him Karaka's stubbornly faithful worshipers. Leega was pleased to see that those who joined more than made up for those speakers and warriors lost from skirmishing with the Venom Clan.
Leega returned to her crude hut to rest herself. She kept no wife or husband, and no children of her own besides the orphaned ones she cared for in the village. Arragunn was enough to fill her entire spirit. Her people were fed and warm, and more importantly, so was Arragunn. She screamed to the night sky in a tribute to her treasured and beloved Godbeast. A fearless howl that challenged the stars themselves to defy his holy and brutal strength. She then settled into her simple bed, quickly drifting into sleep and dreamt visions of Arragunn. It would not be their last fight, but she was sure it would not be their last victory.
