Chapter 8: Invitations

"Eeeeee! My first trip to America and do I go to Los Angeles? New York? Boston? No! I go upcountry to the middle of a village," Secretary Norris complained as he walked with General Okoye to the council chamber. "I didn't see the sun once in the entire week I spent there. Not once! And the rain? It was enough to bury Noah and his ark twice over. And, my dear, let me tell you about the size of the slugs I saw there…"

Norris stopped his tirade upon entering the presence of his sovereign. T'Chaka sat in a chair behind his desk drinking a steaming cup of chai. The tribal elders, Zuri, and T'Challa sat nearby, garbed in their formal ceremonial clothing, in preparation for the council meeting.

"That's another thing," Norris said, dropping his voice to a forced whisper. "No chai. I asked for tea and they gave me hot water and a tea bag. Can you imagine? They call themselves a world power and they do not even know how to make tea properly…and I haven't even told you about how I starved. Imagine! Bread and cheese and they call that a midday meal? I have never been so happy to see kalo and groundnut sauce in my life as when my mother cooked for me when I returned home…."

"Karibu nyumbani, Secretary Norris," T'Chaka interrupted, forcing Norris to raise his head and realize the rest of the council had been listening in on his rant. "Now, I would like your report, secretary," he said before adding in a lower voice, "Your report on what you were sent to learn, not on the conditions for chai."

"Yes, my king," Secretary Norris said, standing up and straightening his blue and yellow collar. "During my research mission, I visited the local secondary school, the former Swan homestead, and the conservation area for the local aboriginal population." He paused to fidget with his glasses again before shuffling through his meticulously organized binder. "Here are the conclusions of my investigations." He proceeded to share the entirety of his findings from his Forks expedition for the next hour as the council sat and listened in silence.

"You will inform Bella Swan of all you have learned…except for the intentions of her friends to have killed her on sight. She has enough losses to grieve," T'Chaka said thoughtfully. "Now, General, what is your report?"

"My King, I believe my mission had much superior access to chai," the General started with a smile before growing serious. "However, I am afraid I must report that the situation I found across our borders was even worse than the original reports led us to believe. We found evidence of both rebel and government soldier activity from Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, and the DRC. We also suspect extensive looting of resources from the DRC by all government and rebel forces. While none have dared to cross into our dominion, I still worry that it would take very little incentive to spark another return to violence as we saw during the Second Congo War.

"We were able to intervene on behalf of a few villages on the Congolese border and protect them from some rebel attacks, as well as restore some of their livestock, however it does appear that the Russians, Americans, Chinese, and Bulgarians have been busy flooding our neighbors with weapons again.

"In addition, we discovered an international petroleum company called Ketterly, Inc. They are too near to our borders on the Ugandan side. While they claim they are conducting exploratory drilling with support and permission from the Ugandan government, I think we should be vigilant."

"What is it that you fear, General?" T'Chaka asked.

"I do not like it. They may behave as if Ugandan oil is their prize, but their eyes wander. It could be a convenient cover to investigate our resources as well. I suggest we keep the border guards on alert and that you put some pressure on President Museveni."

"The council will take your considerations very seriously, General. Continue."

"Finally, apart from the usual disturbances that our neighbors provide, I am more concerned by the unusual activity that we experienced. First of all, some of the villages we spoke with spoke of a strange sights and we, ourselves, happened to come across unusual supernatural activities."

"General?"

Okoye pursed her lips and debated internally for a moment before continuing, "Nyelu. Nyelu is awake and we met him on our north western border, within Wakanda."

The entire conference room erupted into gasps, whispers, nodding head wraps, and tapping feet.

"How?"

"No!"

"It is not possible!"

T'Chaka called the room back into order. "You are certain of this?" he asked.

"Yes. I saw him myself. He grabbed my shadow."

"Now we know you are lying," Zuri said. "You would not be standing here if your story were true."

Okoye tapped on a button and projected an image of the event to the council chamber.

"The zimwi, she kept Nyelu from stealing my shadow," Okoye told the council. "I do not know how. Our combined physical efforts made no impact but Nyelu could not grab hold of her shadow. Then she came and shielded me and that made Nyelu drop my shadow as well and so we both survived."

"Zuri, how is that possible?" T'Chaka asked.

"My king, I have never heard of such a thing. Nyelu's grip has never been escaped before, at least not when once he has grabbed hold of a shadow," the old priest said, mouth open and hands busily wringing together.

"He both recognized her as zimwi and still attempted to steal her shadow. Then he was surprised that his attempts failed. That is not all."

"Proceed."

"During our travels home, we were attacked again by invisible assailants at the crossroads on the road towards Masaka. Our company suddenly stopped moving, our eyes were blinded of who we are to each other as sisters and we began to fight each other and call each other such names as I would be ashamed to ever hear repeated.

"Soon, we senselessly turned to blows against each other and blood would have been spilled except for the zimwi interceded. She could not understand our quarrels as she was not affected by our assailants. She tried to use words to bring peace but when that failed, she brought her arms to restrain us from each other. That also failed to bring peace.

"Then, she reached out her mind instead of her body and instantly, the soldier nearest to her dropped her weapon and could see again. The zimwi did the same for the three women around her and the same effect was reached. She realized then that we were under attack and she could shield us. She shielded three to four at a time, used those of us who were sane to help bring the others under control, and led us all to safety. Once we were a kilometer away from the crossroads, we found our senses were regained and our infighting ceased and we apologized deeply for the shame of our actions to our sisters.

"We have since tried to test what we have determined is some kind of shield. The zimwi cannot keep bullets or physical objects from causing harm to those around her, but she is able to protect from neural and spiritual attacks. The mganga we brought in to test her had never seen anything like it. He tried his most powerful medicines and fetishes, but could not break through. The zimwi protected up to five other watu around her. She thinks she can grow it further."

The room erupted once again into questions and comments from the council.

"General, we thank you for your report and your investigations. We will call for you," T'Chaka said. Okoye crossed her arms in salute. The council deliberated for five hours together on all they had heard. Okoye was not surprised to be summoned back into the council room late in the evening. Nor was she surprised with their conclusion.

"General, we need the zimwi in the Dora Milaje," T'Chaka said.

"Yes, my king. Do you think she will be willing?"

"I will send T'Challa to speak with her. If she agrees, it will be time to introduce her to the real Wakanda…and I would like you to personally see to her military training and the development of her gift."

Okoye nodded her assent.

"What's this, General? No protest or misgivings?" T'Chaka said with a slight smile.

"No, my King. It is as I foresaw and would have suggested myself. I take it you have a position in mind for her already, once her initiation and training is complete?"

"I might have one in mind," the King said. "And I believe the rest of your guard will be relieved by my choice."

Here Okoye laughed out loud and tapped her spear on the floor. "I agree with all of my heart, my King."

"I will send T'Challa directly," the King said.

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A/N

Karibu nyumbani: welcome home

Zimwi: vampire

DRC: Short for Democratic Republic of the Congo….massively large (i.e. in U.S. terms, about the size of the Rocky Mountains to Pacific Ocean, from Canada to Mexico), incredibly rich country in central Africa. Unfortunately, the combination of the mineral wealth of the Congo, ethnic conflicts, and international meddling and exploitation, the Congo has destabilized a pretty good chunk of sub-Saharan Africa for decades. Look up the Second Congo War, otherwise known as the Great African War, for one of the largest and most recent.

The spirits of the crossroads: this legend comes from the Baganda, a Bantu people of central Uganda, though the belief in spirits inhabiting liminal spaces, such as crossroads, is pretty common cross-culturally. I read this one in a book called The Baganda by John Roscoe.

Mganga: shaman, traditional healer

Watu: people