Chapter 4: Reports

"Zimwi, watering your clothes will not make them grow," Okoye said with a scoff as she leaned against a banana tree and looked down the hill towards the little homestead besides the lake. Five square huts sat lined up in a circle surrounding an open clearing of grass. Their doors all faced towards the center of the clearing and towards the small green lake. The dense foliage of the surrounding forests cut off the homestead from the view of any one passing by on the dirt road running past a few kilometers away.

Bella sat cross-legged on the ground, focused intently on scrubbing suds through a blue piece of clothing in a blue plastic bucket. She looked up in surprise as soon as she heard Okoye speak to her. This was not Okoye's first visit to her home. The past few weeks had brought Okoye as a distant observer, as unengaged and silent as the hawk that hunted in a nearby tree each evening. This was the first time the General had deemed Bella worthy of any form of communication.

"I am trying to wash them," Bella responded, creating a soapy avalanche of bubbles as she threw in her t-shirt in disgust. "I may not sweat anymore, but this red dirt is impossible."

Bella pointed over her shoulder to where a lopsided rope hung between two trees. It sagged under the weight of clothes dripping with soap suds and muddy water.

Okoye momentarily forgot her dislike of her assignment and burst into a laugh so loud she scared the weaver birds off the nearby acacia tree.

"Mzungu! Unafanya nini hapa?" Okoye said, continuing to laugh so hard she held onto her protesting stomach as if to keep it from bursting. Okoye descended down the hill with quick, light steps and came to investigate the dripping clothes. She poked a pair of jeans with her spear and grimaced at the sprinkling of brown water that fell from the ankles. "Nguo zako ni chafu. You do not know how to wash your clothes?"

"Sure I do. With a washing machine."

"My two year old nephew can wash better than you. Kuja hapa," Okoye said, opening and closing her palm, beckoning Bella to come. Okoye grabbed an empty 20 litre jerrican and motioned for Bella to bring another. "Let's fetch some more water before we begin."

They walked to the muddy shores of the lake and filled their jerricans to the brim with the lake water. Okoye gracefully swept the heavy, yellow container onto her head and walked back to the hut with one hand carrying her spear and the other keeping the container balanced precisely on the purple cloth ring she had made to wrap around her head.

Bella watched, thought for a moment, and then proceeded to carry the jerrican in her hand.

"You are too mzungu," Okoye said as she flicked her eyes back to see Bella easily carrying the 40 pounds of water in one hand. Bella rolled her eyes and sped up, blurring easily past Okoye.

"Eeeee!" Okoye exclaimed and then clicked her tongue. "You can move as silently and quickly as a cheetah and yet you do not know how to wash your clothes. Now, empty your buckets. We are starting over."

An hour later, the properly washed clothes hung, securely fastened with clothespins, on the straightened clothes line. They no longer dripped water, soap, or mud but instead swung in the breeze, drying in the heat of the midday sun, filling the warm air with the scent of Omo.

Bella looked at the line in relief. Her new hut came stocked with more of the daily necessities of a regular human life than her last, but that didn't mean she understood how to use them.

Okoye rinsed the remaining soap off of her battle-scarred hands and picked up her spear from the ground.

"Thank you, General," Bella said. Okoye nodded.

"Now, the reason I came was not to wash your clothes," Okoye said as she pulled out a khaki knapsack and handed it to Bella. Bella opened it and squeaked in happiness when she saw a hairbrush, toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, a solar radio, and a notebook. She hugged the contents to herself.

"Thank you!"

Okoye watched her with pursed lips and one eyebrow raised.

"What?" Bella asked, noting her expression.

"You are supposed to be a near-invincible creature of the night. You do not instill fear by squeaking like a young meerkat."

"I do not want to be feared and I am not invincible," Bella responded, her voice fraught with the fragility of a crystal glass. Her eyes scanned the green and brown ripples churned up by the midday breezes over the lake.

"I know your people do not want me here and you are afraid of me. I am not asking you to trust me or to welcome me here with open arms. I just…I don't know the words…," Bella said and bit her lower lip in thought. "My body may have changed into a mythological monster, but on the inside, I am still only Bella and I am far from invincible." She turned to face Okoye, "I didn't choose this life, but now I have it. And I am here."

Okoye turned to her with a fierce, unsmiling gaze. "The first secret in becoming invincible is to instill fear," she said. "And to make others think you are invincible. You may know you are not, but do not let your enemies know."

Bella nodded.

"Now, I will need to run a few tests on your body and abilities. The King would like to know as much about you as he can," Okoye said she pulled out a hand-held computer and began to swipe through various screens, projecting a 3D image into the air between them.

Bella's eyes grew wide. "I've never seen a computer like that. What is it?"

"We develop our own technology here. You will not have heard of it."

Bella gave Okoye a quizzical expression as Okoye continued to enter data into the projected screen.

"Zimwi, you wish to speak?"

"No."

"Your face is speaking even if your words are not."

"It's, I don't know, you just taught me how to wash clothes by hand and now you are working on an oober high tech computer thingy. I find that rather ironic."

Okoye rolled her eyes. "I can wash clothes with my hands or a machine. I can kill my enemy with a handmade arrow or a finely calibrated laser. What your people would call 'primitive' our people call 'flexible' or 'versatile'. Forgetting how to survive without technology will not aid our survival. My troops can move just as easily through New York City as they can through the deserts of the Sahara because they know how to adapt to whatever environments, peoples, or technologies they have available to them."

Bella nodded again and kept silent as Okoye began to poke and prod her arm with some kind of small, black sensor. It beeped and shone a green light as Okoye brushed it across her skin. Okoye entered the results into the holographic screen.

By the end of the afternoon, Bella felt a bit like a performing zoo animal or a lab rat after Okoye finished her arsenal of tests.

"Now, the last thing I need today is for you to place a sample of your venom into this vial," Okoye said as she handed Bella a small glass vial. Bella carefully placed a sample into the vial and handed it back to the General.

"Shika. This is for you," Okoye said and handed Bella a small pile of black fabric.

"What is this?"

"A body suit, and a burqa. You hardly inspire fear by sparkling," Okoye said wiggling her fingers in the air. "You also aren't exactly inconspicuous. I'd wager at midday I could see you shining all the way to Kilimanjaro. Now, the body suit fabric is tight enough to not be snared on thorns, strong enough to withstand animal claws, but flexible enough to let you run. The burqa is to cover yourself when you are near people. If you walk around in a body suit, people will ask questions. If you walk around in a burqa, everyone will assume you are a very strict Muslim and no one will ask questions. You can walk even through our capital without drawing attention to yourself."

"Thank you," Bella said, slipper her hand into the smooth, soft cloth.

"Don't thank me. I am only the messenger. Shuri sent it."

"Who?"

"The king's lastborn. She is too curious for her own good. We caught her listening outside the door of a council meeting and before she could be caned for her tabia mbaya, she suggested we give you these."

"Thank her for me."

"I will, but I have a feeling that the msumbufu may sneak past security soon in order to try to meet you herself."

Bella laughed. "If that happens, what would you like me to do?"

"Eat her. It would be a just punishment for filling all the soap dispensers with henna powder last month."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

The sun burned the grass around Bella in its midday strength. A chorus of insects and birds sang in harmony from the dense undergrowth enclosing her compound. She could smell the warmth of the dirt drying from the night's downpour and the damp grass. She quickly finished her cold bath and dressed herself before climbing a tree to watch the mosaic of animal and insect life around her.

She heard a pair of booted footsteps approaching before she could see the figures. One set she recognized as T'Challa's. The other set belonged to a stranger. She waited till they were within eyesight of her perch and dropped noiselessly to the ground.

T'Challa's companion jumped in surprise before ducking behind T'Challa. T'Challa clicked his tongue and pulled the man forward. He was a short, stout man, barely taller than Bella. His skin shown three shades lighter than T'Challa's in the sunlight and he compulsively pushed black, thick-rimmed, square-framed glasses further up on his stubby nose. His round, dimpled cheeks gave him a youthful appearance, in contrast with the immaculately shined black dress shoes and freshly pressed collared shirt and tie he wore. His hair stuck out in all directions, rolled into thick, short dreadlocks that resembled an army of caterpillars marching around his head.

"Bella, let me introduce you to Secretary Norris, Director of Technology and Innovation for the Wakandan government," T'Challa said. T'Challa stood straight and firm as he made introductions, once again garbed in his cat-outfit, holding his mask in his hands.

Bella nodded at the visitor and held out her hand to shake his. He looked at her gloved hand as if she would burn him with her skin, before shaking it as quickly and limply as he could.

"Secretary Norris, it is good to meet you."

"Please, you may call me Chuck."

"Chuck?"

"Yes. My given name is Chuck."

"Wait, are you telling me your name is Chuck Norris?"

"Yes."

Bella failed to stifle her giggle. "Is there a story behind your name?"

"Secretary Norris' parents have an affinity for American television," T'Challa interjected with a smile, noting the man's embarrassment. "All his siblings are named after their favorite heroes."

Now, Bella burst into a peel of a bell-like laughter that bounced off the nearby trees. It took a moment to recompose herself. She welcomed the men into her hut, motioning for them to sit on the golden-colored foam couch while she sat on a wooden stool and removed her black veil. Her dark brown hair cascaded down her back as she pulled off her mask.

"Well, Chuck Norris, for what do I have the pleasure of this meeting?"

Norris sat momentarily silent, staring at Bella's face, before being roused by T'Challa's intentional throat clearing. He blinked, then glanced at T'Challa and back to Bella, shifting his weight as he sat and shuffling papers in a binder nervously.

"Ms. Swan, I am in charge of a project researching your origins. I am about to commence an exploratory journey to your last known habitation to find the information that I cannot obtain from government and internet archives. Before I depart, I would like to inquire into your ability to recall your previous life experiences."

Bella looked at T'Challa.

"You have been researching me?"

"Yes."

She nodded and wrung her hands together.

"First off," Norris said, "The police reports and news said your father and two companions died in a fire at your home," he said, fiddling with his glasses on his nose again. "Do you have any memories of the fire?"

"I never saw a fire. I saw three bodies in the living room."

"You are sure?"

"Yes. There was so much blood. I was afraid and I ran and then there was something large that came and took me away."

"Something large?"

"Yes, like an animal. A dog or a wolf or something. I'm sorry, I know I'm not making much sense," Bella said, furrowing her eyebrows as her golden eyes unfocused, trying to see a past that was now hidden from her.

"Do you remember what happened to you in Phoenix?"

"Phoenix? Oh, my mother lived in Phoenix. Is Renee still alive?"

"Yes. Renee and Phil Dwyer are alive and well and living in Florida."

Bella exhaled her unnecessary breath and crossed her hands over her chest, lost in thought again.

"Bella, do you remember how you were injured in Phoenix?"

She looked at them again. "I was injured in Phoenix? Yes…" she trailed off, compulsively rubbing her wrist. Suddenly she looked down and flipped her forearm over to show the perfect crescent scar.

"This was Phoenix," she said. "That's all I remember."

"Thank you," Norris said, jotting down notes on a small tablet.

"Now, Bella, we would like to test your strength and speed against a more formidable opponent than the General," T'Challa said. "Would you be willing to spar with me a round or two so we can get an idea of what you are capable of? Secretary Norris will record footage to bring back to our lab for analysis."

"You make me sound like a lab rat."

"Well, yes, you are."

Bella blew a strand of hair out of her face. "That's awkward. But, ok, with one condition."

"What's your condition?"

"I would like to know what you learn when you finish your analysis."

"I am amenable to your request," Secretary Norris said, jotting down another note.

The three stood and went outside into the sunlight. Bella burst into a million colors that shifted and danced off the red dirt of the hut and the inky darkness of T'Challa's Panther Habit. Secretary Norris stood mouth agape again before shaking himself and pulling out his recording device and pushing some buttons.

"I am ready," he said, standing back as far as possible from the pair.

"I don't want to hurt you," Bella said to the Panther. "And I don't really know how to fight."

"I am more durable than a normal human, Bella, and my suit is impenetrable, even for your teeth," he said, pulling on his mask and beginning to circle around her.

"Good to know," she said and crouched into a defensive posture.

T'Challa lunged and knocked Bella to the ground. She lay momentarily stunned as she internalized the speed and strength with which he moved. She leapt to her feet and ran towards him in full pursuit, letting a slight growl slip from her lips.

All Chuck Norris could see was a blur of black and shards of light and color. Birds in the trees squawked in protest of the sudden explosion of crashing bodies of stone and power and they took wing in a fluttering and flapping above them. The trees shook violently and threw out leaves as they collided with the swirling figures.

T'Challa suddenly broke into a sprint and Bella followed, overtaking him in only a moment or two before he leapt into a tree branch and she followed. They swung through the branches of neighboring trees before a branch proved unfit for their combined weight, cracked, and poured them both to the deep undergrowth beneath.

T'Challa and Bella sprung to their feet and picked leaves and sticks off of themselves. T'Challa removed his mask and looked at Bella, a brilliant white smile upon his face.

"That was awesome!" she suddenly exclaimed. "How did you…how can you…what are you?"

"I am the guardian of my people. I have the power of the spirit of the Black Panther within me that gives me the strength and skills I need to be their protector. Yet, I find you are a match for even my strength," he said, and bowed his head towards her. He reached out to slide his palm against hers before sliding into a handshake.

"You…wow…I just…That was amazing," Bella paused, still staring at her opponent with a look of undisguised awe. "Wait, Panther? That explains the cat-suit, I guess. I really wondered."

"Eeeeee. Cat suit? I like to think I am much more intimidating than a house cat. The Panther Habit is a special armor that gives me added protection."

"So, I guess I should take it as a complement when you chose to visit me without wearing it?"

T'Challa laughed. "Or you could take it as a complement when I wear it to visit you. It is a rare occasion someone is dangerous enough for me to feel the need to arrive armed."

The two returned to find Chuck Norris weak at the knees, his arms shaking as he struggled to keep the camera still.

"Secretary Norris, we are done here."

"Yes, sir."

Ooooooooooooooooo

"I would like a report on the progress of Bella Swan. What have we learned in the last two months?" the king asked his General and his Director of Technology and Innovation.

Norris pulled out a meticulously organized printed binder and began to flip through pages. He pushed his black, thick, square glasses further on his slightly stubby nose and began to speak.

"My king, I have quite exhausted the information available on the worldwide internet databases. Thus far, I have gleaned that Isabella Marie Swan was born September 13, 1987 to a Renee and Charles Swan in Forks, Washington. Renee and Charles filed for divorce during her infancy and there were no other children born to either parent. Isabella lived in Arizona for most of her childhood. Her mother remarried and, shortly thereafter, Isabella returned to Forks to stay with her father in 2005.

"February 2006, the authorities were called to the home of Charles Swan where three bodies were found burned along with the home. The bodies were later identified as Charles Swan, William Black, and Jacob Black. After the incident, there was no trace of Isabella until the next day when her personal vehicle was found in the ocean after being driven off a cliff. Inside, they found traces of a struggle and some personal effects, but no body. The police declared her dead and a funeral was held in March, organized by her mother and stepfather.

"Bella has no memory of a fire and claims the deaths occurred before the fire. She also remembers being assisted in her exodus by a companion, of sorts. Based on her medical records and the scar on her wrist, it appears she had interacted with mazimwi before and survived."

"Thank you, Secretary," the king said, rubbing his hands through his beard.

"Did your sources mention who called the authorities?" T'Challa asked.

"Ah. Yes. A man identified as Sam Uley notified the police both of the fire and the car accident. He confessed to being a family friend," said Secretary Norris, pulling out a picture of a large, dark haired man. "Though Bella did not recognize his photograph. She did, however, vaguely recognize photographs of all three deceased men."

"You will go to Forks and speak to this man. Find out what you can about what he saw. Go as soon as you can and report back to me what you learn."

"Yes, my King."

"Now, General? What do you have to report?"

"My King, I have visited the homestead weekly. During my visits, I have educated our visitor on the basic history, geography, and ecology of Wakanda. I have taught her how to wash clothes, build a fire, heat water, sweep her hut, and flat iron her clothes. In addition…," Okoye cut off and turned to glare at Secretary Norris who sat snickering behind his palm.

"What do you find humorous, Secretary?"

"Hakuna, General," he replied, failing to stifle his humor and instead grinning even wider. "My imagination is simply conjuring the image of Wakanda's most talented general teaching a deadly zimwi how to flat iron a pair of trousers," Norris said, breaking into a full belly laugh.

Okoye crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, muttering something about her job description under her breath.

"Secretary, tosha. General, you are fulfilling your assignment with honor. Continue your report," T'Chaka said, sternly staring the Secretary into solemnity before motioning with his hand for Okoye to continue.

"As I was saying, I also have conducted some preliminary tests of her abilities. She does not need water, sleep, rest, or food. She is impervious to temperature changes and climate. Her speed and strength rival, if not exceed, the Black Panther. She also has enhanced hearing, sight, smell, memory, and mental capacities. She can detect changes in her environment as far as five kilometres away.

"In addition, she is a voracious reader. I bring her stacks of books every week and she finishes all of them, committing them to memory with perfect recall. She has learned all the skills I have taught her with great eagerness."

"Thank you, General. Have you felt in danger from the zimwi?"

Okoye's stern face broke into a small grin. "Yes, my king. When the zimwi tried to start a fire for the first time in her hut, I felt we were all in great danger of the hut catching fire. It was almost as dangerous as her attempts to chop down firewood with a panga. It is good she is more durable than a human and so managed to retain all her appendages."

Norris began to laugh again until T'Chaka hushed him. "General?" he said, his voice laced with authority to quell the mirth in Okoye's face.

"No, my king. I have never felt myself to be in danger for my life or person or those of anyone in our vicinity. She has shown nothing but self-restraint and an unwillingness to use her powers to harm people. She lacks any technical skills in fighting beyond what her nature has instilled in her.

"I also would mention that she does not have the ambitions of a warrior. I believe she has the heart of a mother instead. She will fight with fierceness for those she loves but not for her own honor."

"Very good. Thank you, General. Now, we have received reports of rebel soldiers transgressing our borders trying to loot resources from the Congo again. You are to take ten of the Dora Milaje to investigate the disturbances. I want to discover if these rumors are valid and if so, find out which government or rebel group is responsible. We will not tolerate another bloodbath like the Second Congo War."

"My King," Okoye said, crossing her arms over her chest in salute.

"Another thing, General. You will take Bella Swan with you on your mission."

"My King?"

"I would like for you to test her heart as well as her abilities."

oooooooooooooooo

Translations:

Zimwi(s)/Mazimwi(Pl): for the purposes of this story, vampire.

Mzungu: originally meant someone who was lost. Currently means someone of European descent or foreigner. In this context, it is emphasizing the lost foreigner meaning.

Unafanya nini hapa?: What are you doing here?

Nguo zako ni chafu: Your clothes are dirty.

Omo: brand of laundry detergent

Kuja hapa: come here

Shika: take

tabia mbaya: bad manners/bad behavior

msumbufu: person who disturbs/annoys others.

Tosha: enough

Chuck Norris: American T.V. actor who has become a bit of a cliche or legend for his "tough guy" persona (a Google search for "Chuck Norris jokes" can explain a bit of the legend).

Panga: machete-used in farming, clearing brush, harvesting, and protection.