Chapter 5: A Fool
When they returned to their home, Kaxa was furious. The moment Q'Wasim had closed the door behind him, she snapped, "I cannot believe you did that!"
"Did what?" Q'Wasim asked. Q'Wasim didn't think he had done anything. It had been the elder who had made things difficult.
Kaxa seemed to read his thoughts, for she said, "You completely ignored the elder even though he was trying to help you."
Q'Wasim blinked. "Help me? How?"
"By giving you an excuse to pull out of the damn tournament," Kaxa said.
Q'Wasim was silent.
Kaxa kicked off her shoes like they had personally done her grievous harm.
Q'Wasim watched as his sister began to pace around their dimly lit living room. "Q'Wasim, we are part of the Kamal tribe, the lotus tribe. We are healers and scholars. You spend most of your time digging around in the dirt. You cannot think that you are ready to compete against the other tribes."
"Of course, that's what I believe," Q'Wasim said with a frown. "I wish you would have a little more faith in me, sister." Even after all these years, it still hurt to know how much Kaxa doubted him.
"Faith?" she demanded. "How am I supposed to have faith in an oversized uncoordinated oaf from the Kamal Tribe whose only weapon is a suit of armor that weighs a ton and a half!"
Spurred on to defend Priyansi's work, Q'Wasim stepped towards his sister and said, "That is not fair, Kaxa. You haven't seen the latest model. It's made from mosan I found in the western part of the jungle. It improves mobility by—"
"Q'Wasim, I don't care how much it 'improves mobility'," she said, making a dismissive gesture. "It won't stop you from getting stabbed by an arrow, or poisoned by a dagger, or cleaved in two by an ax. And don't even get me started on Chinmay. He'll—"
"Kaxa!" Q'Wasim said. Sharp as a knife, he cut through the rest of her tirade. He had tried to let her speak, but enough was enough. "I am not as weak as you think. I will become the next Crimson Tiger. It's what I've been training for all these years. You know that. Everyone knows that."
Q'Wasim couldn't believe he was having this argument again. When Q'Wasim had first stated he wanted to become Crimson Tiger, people had dismissed the idea. The Crimson Tiger had to be the best warrior in the country. He was also the partner, protector, and political envoy of the High Priestess, making him the face of Takanda and the second most important person in the entire country.
Such a responsibility did not work with the traditional Kamal lifestyle. The Kamal tribe was one of the few Takandan tribes that was allowed to leave Takanda. Kamal tribespeople usually went on decade-long pilgrimages after finishing their apprenticeships at age twenty in order to gather knowledge for the tribe. As such, most of the Kamal tribespeople in Takanda were either young or elderly. Adults in the Kamal tribe were required to only return once to have children and frequently were not seen again until they were old men and women.
So, when Q'Wasim began training under Gaven, people thought it was a passing fancy. When Q'Wasim had eventually earned the right to learn directly from the Vajra tribe masters, only a few had taken notice. When it became known Q'Wasim planned to study geology with a specialty in mosan, more had been convinced. After all, the rare gemstone was only found in Takanda, and thus studying it would mean Q'Wasim would spend most of his life in the country. Finally, when Q'Wasim had cut his pilgrimage short, returning after a few years instead of the traditional ten, most people had been forced to realize he was serious.
No one had challenged Q'Wasim when he had declared himself the Champion of the Kamal Tribe two years ago. There were still people like Kaxa and Chinmay who doubted Q'Wasim's skill, but it had been a long time since anyone had questioned Q'Wasim's desire to compete. However, tonight first the elder and now Kaxa were trying to dissuade him.
And Kaxa wasn't done, she said in a softer voice, "Q'Wasim, it's like the elder said. Things have changed with the new ritual. Surely you must see that. Before, the tournament wasn't a life-threatening competition and there were no celestial weapons involved. Now there's a very real chance you could die tomorrow and I don't want to lose you."
"I know," Q'Wasim began, "but Kaxa—"
"But nothing!" Kaxa shouted at him. "You are being a heartless fool!"
"I must do what I must do," Q'Wasim said, standing tall and sticking out his chin.
"Argh!" His sister threw up her hands and this time, it was Kaxa who stormed out. She did not look back as she marched past him and out of their home.
When the door slammed shut behind her, Q'Wasim sighed feeling all of his anger and self-righteousness drain out of him like juices from a crushed fruit.
That hadn't gone well at all.
Kaxa had never approved of his wanting to become the Crimson Tiger, but she had never been this against it either. Things had changed, but Q'Wasim's resolve hadn't.
Q'Wasim knew the Crimson Tiger title was not a mantle to be taken lightly. The Crimson Tiger was a warrior. He had to be willing and able to put blood on his hands to preserve the sanctity of Takanda and sometimes…
That blood was his own.
Q'Wasim knew that when he started on this path. Just because things were turning deadly sooner than expected didn't mean Q'Wasim was going to back down. He planned to see this through to the very end.
A/N: Well, I think that constitutes a decent launch. I am going to go work on other fanfics for a bit, but I'll be back with another chapter hopefully next week. In the meantime, please follow and review!
