Chapter 3
Cody began stir up from his unconciousness as he then slowly stat straight up. He groaned as he rubbed the side of his head that was sore.
"Ughh... what happened?"
Then his eyes lit up in horror.
"THE SETTLEMENT!"
Cody then quickly checked his surroundings and saw Rosa, Greg, Fred, and Stan next him, who are also unconcious, while inside what appears to be a large tribal-looking tent.
Cody was very confused.
If we're caught by the guerillas, shouldn't we be held in a building while tied up instead of being in tents and left untied?
He didn't have the time to think of an answer as Cody began to try waking everyone up. As they groggilly woke up, Greg was about to let out panic scream when Cody quickly hushed them all.
"Are we—" Greg was about to ask while everyone looked concern, mostly himself and Stan (mostly Greg), until Cody quickly answered in a whisper "I don't think so. The guerillas wouldn't just leave us alone unguarded and untied."
"Then where the heck are we?!" Stan asked quietly in a worried, concern, and sightly annoyed tone.
"We're appear to be in Swahili tribal tent?" Rosa replied quietly in slight awe.
The boys turned to Rosa.
"Are you certain?" Cody asked in a low voice.
"I'm positive." She replied, "... Although the structure and woven design is a bit different while looking somewhat older —while moderately kept preservedly new in a way— from the ones I've seen with my parents in other tribes."
"I thought you said you knew?" Fred asked in the same volume as the others.
"I said it's an unfamililar form of Swahili—"
"WE'RE ASKING IF YOU DO OR DO NOT KNOW WOMAN?!" Stan demanded in a panicked and annoyed tone.
"SHUT UP!?" Cody said warningly in a half-quiet tone as Rosa frowned angrily at the suit-wearing teenager, "DO YOU WANT WHOEVER TOOK US KNOW WE'RE AWAKE?!"
Stan shook his head. Cody then slowly crouch-walked to the exit of the tent as the peered outside. Everyone followed his example while unknowingly arrange a tower of peering heads (Cody on the bottom lead up to Rosa, Greg, and lastly Stan on top). What the sneaky teenagers realized is that it's already night by the moon high in the sky with the bright stars. They also saw tribesmen walking about as the men carried spears and shields while some are armed with bows and arrows while the women are carrring filled pots on their heads.
The teenagers quickly went back inside the tent as they began to talk quietly with each other in huddled circle while crouching.
"Well, at least we're not in the hands of the guerillas." Fred said.
"I don't feel any better." Greg said.
"This is amazing!" Rosa said, "The clothing of the tribe and the appearance of their tents look like if they from the ancient past of Eastern Africa itself."
"It doesn't look like it since the women are somewhat modestly dressed." Stan stated.
Rosa gave him a look. Then Stan raised his arms half-way up defensive as he said with clear honesty "I'm just pointing it out. I'm not suggesting anythng!"
"Also how did they get us without anyone noticing them, and why would they take us?" Cody asked.
"Your guess is good as ours." Fred said.
"You don't think they're cannibals right?" Greg asked in a worried tone.
"I can assure you, we are not canniblas."
The perfect English accent caught them off guard as they quickly turned around and saw a handsomely muscular tribesman with long dreadlocks, tied in a ponytail (while reaching down to the middle of his back), in front of them. He's dressed in a somewhat royal-fashion, with the only legwear being his loincloth, while adorned with both wooden and metallic bands along with tattos across his arms and tribal face-painting.
The teenagers scooted back quickly as the man slowly approached them in a unthreatening way.
"Don't worry, your all safe in my father's tribe."
"How do we know if we can trust you?!" Cody asked with seriously unconvinced tone, "You don't sound like a tribesmen."
The man in front of them chuckled changed English accent into a familiar one "That's because I'm one of the selected few that are chosen as scouts —or "protective spies" if you will— to ensure the safety of our tribe. Changing our accents is one of the things we learned to do in order to blend in with the people of the ever changing modern world."
Cody's eyes widdened as he recognized the voice and then the man before them. "You're the man I bumped into back in town earlier!"
The man bowed as he added "I was pretty convincing wasn't I."
Cody was utterly speechless as Fred questioned "Well that's not enough to trust you! How do we know this isn't some cover up to pretend this "tribe" of yours isn't actually guerillas in disquise."
"You can't honestly believe that!" Rosa said in disbelief, "This way too authentic to be a ruse!"
"Fred's got a point Rosa." Cody said agreeing with him, "You said that you just met the guy just today yourself. This can't be a coincidence!"
The man then shook his head as he sighed disappointedly. "If my words won't persuade you to believe me. Then maybe this will."
He then reached for something inside his pouch hanging around his belt. The man then pulled out a crumbled up photo as he then approached and handed it to Cody. The teenager cautiously took the photo from him. As he looked at it, and soon with his friends, it was a picture of tw groups of people huddled together smiling. The group on the left is group of what appears to be a expedition team of some sorts while the other is the some members of the tribesmen. What caught Cody's eyes the most is the two people, in a side-hug, between the groups.
The one on the right is the man they talked, in his mid-twenties, wearing the exact pendant that Cody has. And the one on the left is none other than his sister, Ariel!
"You knew my sister?!"
The others are shocked as he is.
The man nodded. "She was the smartest, bravest, and... the most beautiful woman I've ever met. A great friend that I dearly miss."
The man knelt in front of Cody as he placed his hands on his shoulders. "I'm truly sorry for your lost, and what you had gone through."
He said it sincerely as a tear ran down from his right eye down his cheek as he stared deeply into his eyes.
It sounds like he knows what really happened to Ariel.
To confim his answer, the man mouthed sympethetically and quickly so the others couldn't see, "I know what the "Car Accident" really is."
Cody's eyes are widdened with shock. Before the teenager could ask the man many amounts of questions, the man stood up and stepped back as he said "My father sent me to fetch you children."
"Hey, we're not kids! We're teenagers!" Stan pointed out as if insulted.
"What for?" Rosa asked.
"For dinner of course." The man replied while opening the tent curtain entrance/exit, "It's been a long time since we had outsiders in our tribe."
The teenagers approached him as the man held out his hand to Cody "If you don't mind, I like to have the photo back please. It's the only copy that Ariel gave me."
Cody, understanding how he feels since he too was given something by his sister that he cherishs, gives back the photo to him as the man places back into his pouch.
"Thank you." The man said sincerely.
Cody nodded. The man then began to lead the teenagers to where the feast is being held.
Cody, Rosa, Greg, Fred, and Stan huddled among other tribesmen around a bonfire as they ate their dinner as some of the men and women danced around following the beats of drums. The food they ate was... somewhat pleasant to the eyes and satisfying enough for both the palate and stomach of the teenages although Rosa ate like it was a common thing to eat. She told them to be a plolite, especially towards Stan, when eating, staring, and recieving the food in front of them.
When they ran out of food, the women (both young and old) gave them more servings. Some of the serving women are around the teenagers age as they served their food to them with their "modest" clothing making the boys really nervous, mostly Greg, but it didn't effect Stan at all. Instead, it pleases him.
Every time one of the tribal teenage girls served Stan his food, the teenager gives them a seductive grin and wink which made Rosa roll her eyes in disgust. The girls then giggled as they spoke in a language different from the other languages currently spoken in Africa. The teenagers realized this as the other tribesmen spoke this foreign language as well.
"Do you unstand what they're saying Rosa?" Cody asked.
"Unfortantely I can't." Rosa replied, "But from the sound of the word structure, dialect, and accent, I believe this a ancestral and deep rooted form of Bantu with some hinted blend of Swahili."
The teenage girl stared at everything around her with excitement and awe. "Mom and Daddy would love—" Rosa stopped in mid-sentence as her expression changed to deep sadness as her tears began to fill up her eyes. Sensing that his friend was about to cry, he was about to comfort her until the beating of the drums stopped.
This grabbed the teenagers attention as the tribesmen moved aside as three people approached them. The one on the right is the man that spoke with them earlier, the one on the left appears to be a very old shaman, and the one in the front-and-center appears to be the chief of the village (the man's father). Rosa quickly rubbed the tears out of her eyes before they arrived. They stopped in front of them as the chief began to speak to them "Hello young ones. My name is _. You've already met my son_. And we welcome to the tribe of _." The names and last words were spoken in the tribe's incomprehensible language in which the making the teenagers go "Huh?"
The chief shook his head as he sighed before adding "My Swahili name is Tukufu while my son's is Kijani. Our tribe is also known in Swahili as the vizuka vya kuhamahama."
The boys still don't understand while Rosa gasped. Cody was the only that noticed the teenage girl's reaction.
"Again. Huh?" Fred said.
"Do you what that is?" Cody asked.
"I thought it was a fairy tale." Rosa muttered to herself.
The rest of the boys then turned towards her.
"Can you please explain?" Gary politely asked.
"Yeah! Don't leave us hanging girl!" Stan said.
"The vizuka vya kuhamahama, it means "Nomadic Ghosts". I learned from what an elderly Swahili tribesman told me and my parents four years ago. They're a tribe that are descendants of a long forgotten kingdom in East Africa. He says that they avoided contact with other people, including the first Caucasian settlers, for so long that they're considered non-existant." Rosa replied.
"You and your parents are lucky to hear such a tale. Many other tribes of Eastern African —while those outside haven't even heard of us— rarely know what you've been told. But that's only a fragment of what our tribe is."
That got the teenagers attention.
"For our tribe is divided into twelve others —we are residing one of them— scattered across the plains of Kenya and Tanzania. And I, being High Chief and descendant of the royal family of the forgotten lost kingdom, rule over them while each chief in them is under my command."
"Whoa..." the boys said.
"Amazing!" Rosa added with awe.
"Wait a minute! If there are twelve sub-tribes, how do you all reamain undetected with that many of you this entire time?!" Greg asked.
"The spirts of our ancestors blessed us camouflaging our tents, hiding our fires, and defening our sounds within the tribe by night as we rest while we remain invisible by unwanted human eyes by day as we travel."
Rosa was intrigued by all of this while the boys aren't convinced with this "spirit" nonsense.
"But as the days of modernology approached," Kijani began to add, "Three from each sub-tribe is chosen —on a rare occassion one will volunteer him or herself— and is sent to schools across the globe, while acting as orphans with no background with many different names, to learn everything they can until they finish college in order have the knowledge the need to act as both spies and protectors of our tribe."
"I'm still against you for volunteeringing my son." Tukufu said, "You know you will someday take my place as High Chief."
"Until that day comes father, I will continue to serve and protect our people 'till my very last breath."
"Don't your dare say such things! You're my only heir!"
Kijani stood firmly with unchanged expression. Cody was astonished by Kijani's sense of duty before lineage.
"What's the name of your tribe's language?" Rosa asked, "I would like to know how to speak it as well."
"Also what happened to the kingdom?" Cody also asked, "And why divide your tribe across the lands?"
"The knowledge of the name for both of the language and kingdom is forever lost to us." Tukufu replied, "Along with the kingdom's history... which should remain lost."
The teenagers looked puzzled as Tukufu quickly answered both Gregs and their upcoming question. "Our kingdom was so grand, many lesser kingdoms across Africa seek to conquer it. All of them failed each time and then kingdoms from other countries began to hear word, they seek to conquer it as well. In order to protect their people, they destroyed their kingdom from within while choosing a selected few to be part of the tribe that we know of today."
"And for the reason to divide it is that the kingdom once stood as protectors to Africa's most precious land, the _. In Swahili, it is known as the ufalme wa maisha."
"The 'Kingdom of Life'." Rosa translated with awe.
"And in it's very heart is the _. In Swahili, it is also called the Mti wa uzima."
"Thy 'Tree of Life'!?" Rosa exclaimed, "Not just a regular boabab?!"
Tukufu nodded.
"The tree of what?" Stan asked.
"According to the legends from the tribes of Kenya and Tanzania," Rosa began to answer, "it is a tree with magical properties. And some say it's the very first tree in existance."
"So kind of like the Garden of Eden." Fred asked.
"Sort of." Rosa replied, "Basically it's a Swahili version of it while acting out sort of as a second one."
"No offense your majesty," Greg said to Tukufu, "but soon or later, the satellites will find both your tribes and this 'Kingdom of Life'."
Tukufu, Kijani, and the shaman stared at each other stared at each other for a second and then began to laugh their heads off. The teenagers don't understand what's so funny.
"Like I said before, the spirits of our ancestors protect us. Even from your 'metal eyes' among the stars. And as for the Kingdom of Life, it's shielded by the Tree of Life itself." Tukufu replied.
"Aren't you worried about someone end up wandering into the kingdom?" Fred asked.
"There's a reason why our tribe is nomadic." Tukufu said.
"Hold on a second," Cody began to ask, "Your not saying that the Kingdom moves on its own right?"
Tukufu nodded. The teenagers eyes are then widened in disbelief.
"That's impossible!" Greg said, "A entire landscape doesn't just move! The continent would felt and know about it! Plus magic doesn't exist!"
Kijani, Tukufu, and the shaman smirked at each another believing otherwise which got the teenagers to raise their eyebrows.
"That's because the Tree of Life keeps the Kingdom of Life in an entirely different realm of our own." The shaman replied.
"So, this tree is making the kingdom 'dimensionally transcendental'?"
"Exactly." Kijani replied. Tukufu and the shaman clearly has no idea what that is... that includes the rest of the teenagers.
"Hey Greg!" Stan said, "The rest of us averagely smart peoople have no idea what that is?"
"Basically, the Kingdom of Life is small from the outside and much bigger in the inside." Greg replied, "I learned that from a Doctor Who episode, The Robots of Death."
"Nerd..." Stan whispered comically.
Greg ignored him. "But that's still impossible since that concept is fictional!"
"It is not impossible. And all of it is true!" Tukufu said, "This is the most well kept secret in our tribe."
"Then why are you telling us this?" Rosa asked with the other teenagers agreeing with her.
"That brings us to the point why you are all here instead of in the hands of the guerillas." Tukufu replied.
The teenagers almost forgotten about that as they remembered back what happened at the town.
"OUR PARENTS?!" Cody exclaimed with conern as Rosa then also exclaimed similarly "THE TOWNSFOLK?!"
"Your parents are fine." Kijani answered with a calming tone, "They're currently at the American Embassy in Nairobi."
The boys then let out a long and loud sigh of utter relief while Rosa let out a muffled cry of utter relief and joy.
"Unfortanetly, the same cannot be said about the town and the portion of its people."
The teenagers relief is short lived as their expressions changed to that of horror.
"No..." Rosa could hardly believe this as tears began to stream from her eyes. "NO..."
"Dang..." Stan said with the boys agreeing with him.
Cody then began to comfort her as Tukufu began to speak "We saddened by this tragedy. It is unthinkable that the people that share the same land, blood, and heritage would do this to one another."
Rosa began to sob as she hugged Cody.
"So you're going to take us to our parents right?" Fred asked.
"We cannot." Tukufu replied.
The teenagers then stared at the High Chief bewilderedly in disbelief.
"Why not?!"
"These guerillas have been growing in numbers lately as they have no common goal with each other while being chaotic, disorganized, and unpredictable." Kijani replied.
"That can't be a problem for you guys; like your father said, the tribe can't be seen." Cody said, "Can you just use your spies to get us to our parents safely?"
"You're right, but the spirits of our ancestors only protects our tribe meaning only you and your friends can be seen." Tukufu replied sadly, "Plus we don't want risk our spies to get caught with you."
The teenagers can hardly believe this. "Can you "ask" the spirits to make us unseen just this one time?"
The shaman shook his head. "The spirits cannot change what has been set since the establishment of our tribe."
"Then how are we going to get back to our parents?!" Stan asked with frustration.
Tukufu raised his hand to silence him.
"From permission of our ancestors, you will recieve help from those within the Kingdom of Life."
The teenagers are speechless. This very idea stopped Rosa from crying.
"You're making us go there?" Rosa said, "Are you sure that's a good idea? Has anyone ever been there?"
"The last ones to visit there is my ancestors before they destroyed their kingdom and formed this tribe."
"And there are actual people that live there?! Can they really help us?" Greg asked.
"Actually—" Kijani was silenced by his father's strict warning look as the High Chief replied "Yes. They have ways."
"Why go all this way to help us?" Cody asked, "Even sending us to the place that your tribe has been guarding their entire lives."
"That is because of your sister." Tukufu replied.
"MY SISTER?!" Cody said with shock. Then he remembered the photo that Kijani gave him as he pulled it out form his pocket. "What does she got to do with this?"
"I'll let Kjani explain." The High Chief stepped back and allowed his son to step forward.
"Twelve years, a plague struck this sub-tribe and all hope seems lost... until Ariel and her other expedition friends found us. Our shaman thought the reason why they can see our tribe is that the spirits of our ancestors deemed them worthy by sensing the purity of their hearts. They helped saved and in return we welcomed them as one of our own. They stayed with us for two months in which your sister, Ariel, and I became great friends. Since I l— care for her as friend so much, I gave her the very symbol of my royal tribal heritage... the pendant you now wear around you very neck, before she and her friends left after swearing not reveal the existance of our tribe."
Cody then looked and touched his pendant with awe.
"Which was not your right to give in the first place!" Tukufu stated, "It is meant to be passed down to the next generation of our family!"
"It became mine the moment you gave it to me at birth father." Kijani said otherwise, "Besides we no longer need it! It's instructions are ingraved into our very minds the moment we're taught about it. Others outside of our tribe can't decipher it anyways."
What is Kijani talking about? Cody tought as his friends have the same questioning look on their faces.
"What's so important about it?" Stan asked, "It's just a wooden pendant."
"The pendant is made from a piece of bark from the Tree of Life itself." Tukufu said.
"Really!?" Cody held his pendant while amazed about where it came from, "So the engraved symbol of a tree on the back, is it the description of the Tree of Life?"
Kijani nodded.
"That's so cool!" Rosa said.
"And that is why we saved you and your friends while helping you get back to your families; because of what your sister has done for us." Tukufu explained.
The teenagers don't know what to say. Especially Cody.
"So are you guys are going to take us to the kingdom?" Rosa asked with excitement.
"That we cannot do I'm afraid." Tukufu explained, "We've have sworn to protect from the outside. We are only allowed to enter if the kingdom is in great danger from the outside, within, or both."
"Then how can we enter the kingdom without you guys helping us?" Gary asked frantically, "You even said the kingdom constantly moves!"
"The pendant Cody wears isn't just for looks." Kijani began to answer, "It is also a map."
"WHAT?!" The teenagers shouted.
"Cody sometimes let us look at the pendant he wears and lent me tell ya, it does not look like a map!" Fred said.
"If you discover the meaning of the pendant, you can enter the kingdom within three days despite of it constantly moving." Kijani answered.
"Can you just tell us—" Stan stopped talking and then looked annoyed, "Let me guess, the "spirits" to told you not to right?"
"You're catching on quick." The shaman said with a hidden smirk.
"But what about provisions, tents, and—" Greg asked but Kijani quickly answered, "You already have the stuff you need which you all have already brought."
"Wait a minute, you guys have our luggage?!" Fred said.
Kijani nodded. "We'll also provide you provisions and other necessities you might need."
"What about the wild animals we might encounter?" Stan asked with uneasiness.
"If you leave them alone, they won't bother you." Tukufu replied.
"And who we are supposed to go to in the Kingdom of Life?" Rosa asked.
"In the Kingdom of Life, there are many lands some of each ruled by one royal family —and no there isn't one royal family that is higher above others and that rules the entire Kingodom of Life— while others are are each ruled by other forms of leadership. Once you have entered the kingdom by the third day, keep following the instructions on the pendant for another two and you'll enter the Pride Lands; ruled by King Simba, son of Mufasa." Tukufu replied, "And no, the Tree of Life is not in the Pride Lands. Once you meet him, Cody must show the pendant to him and say "We are sent here by the Nomadic Ghosts"; then you must explain why you're there and thus they will help you."
"How are to supposed to talk to talk to them if we can't speak their language." Cody asked, "And how will we know once we arrive there?"
The shaman then called upon a five women each carrying a carved wooden bowl, with engravings of animals (some recognizable and some unknown), filled with some sort of liquid.
"By drinking this, you will gain the ability to understand those that live in the Kingdom of Life; a gift which _, Mungu in Swahili but you children know him as God, taken away from man after the fall of our ancestor's kingdom." The shaman replied, "And you will know by seeing Pride Rock, which is in the very heart of the Pride Lands."
"Can you be more descriptive on this 'pride rock?" Greg asked.
"You will know when you all see it." Tukufu answered, "It's not that hard to miss."
The boys were not pleased with the answer.
"Wait a minute, don't they speak the same language as you and your tribe?" Fred asked.
"The only language they speak is that of in the Kingdom of Life." The shaman replied.
"No offense but like I said before. Magic, potions, and other stuff like that don't exist except in stories, games, and movies." Greg said, "The only "magic" we have is parlor tricks and science."
"Where all of you are going, your current perspective of life will be forever changed."
The teenagers' eyebrow raised in question.
"What do you mean it'll change our perspective?" Cody asked.
The shaman didn't reply as Tukufu stepped foward and said "Before you drink the potion, you must swear —like Ariel and her friends— to never mention anything we just told you and about our tribe to anyone else while respecting the laws that reside in the Kingdom of Life."
The boys looked skeptical at the potions the women held.
"Is it really necessary to drink it?" Cody asked.
"What if you're trying to poison—" Stan asked but Rosa spoke up while looking at him with disbelief.
"You can't be serious?! They wouldn't try to kill us after putting through all the trouble in saving us! Plus they wouldn't dishonor themselves after what Cody's sister and her friends have done for them!"
"I can assure you that it is not poison." Kijani said, "You will need it to understand them.
The boys remained skeptically quiet for a while until Cody spoke. "If my sister trusts them... so will I."
Soon Greg, Fred, and then Stan reluctantly agreed to make the vow while Rosa was already on board before the boys.
The High Chief then nodded in approval, while Kijani smilled, as the women handed the teenagers the bowls. Cody starred at the contents of the bowl: the liquid is sky-blue with yellow, orange, and savannah oily filmy on its surfaces. As he continued to look at it with slight queasiness, he could've sworn he saw rainbow colored lights fading in and out inside.
"Has my sister and her friends drank it?"
"You and your friends will be the first outside of our tribe to drink this potion." Kijani replied.
"Have you and your people drank it?"
"Yes. when we turn three years of age, it is tradition to drink it."
Cody and the others continued stare the the potion as the shaman approached them.
"Cody Wilder, Rosabel Smith, Greg Neilson, Fred Chikafuji, and Stan Johnson." The shaman said while the teenagers are surprised that he knows their full names, "Do you swear that you will not reveal the existance of our tribe and the Kingdom of Life. And do you swear to keep the secrets we have told you while obeying the laws that reside in those lands."
"We swear."
Then the shaman raised his staff and began to rattle it around the teenagers while chanting something the tribe's language. After he was done while being in front of them, the shaman then said "You may now drink."
Hesitant at first, Cody then drank it all down to get it over with. He nearly gagged while coughing at the same time, To him, it tasted like spoiled rotten fruit! The others followed his example and had the same reaction as him.
"MAN THAT WAS RANCID!" Stan exclaimed in disgust.
"WHAT WHERE YOU EXPECTING IT TO TASTE LIKE? GRAPE JUICE?!" Fred said.
"Well it was definately an experience." Rosa coughed.
"Something I definately don't want to repeat." Greg added while still gagging.
The teenagers then waited to expect any changes. After a minute nothing happened.
"So..." Cody began to speak, "did it work or—"
Then out of nowhere, one by one, the teenagers then collaspsed on the floor. Cody felt like his stomach was on fire as the pain slowly began to spread to his veins, muscles, and mind. Cody couldn't speak due to the agony he and his friends are now experiencing. Now they began to convulse as their hearing slowly began to deafen and their sight slowly began to go dark.
OH GOD, STAN IS RIGHT!? THEY POSIONED US! Cody thought frantically.
Before Cody blacked out, he heard Tukufu saying "Forgive us for the pain you're going through. We went through the same process as you when we took it. After you recieve this great and treasured gift, we all wish you on a safe safari to the Pride Lands."
Author's Note
Kijani's appearance is slightly inspired by Tarzan's from Disney's 1999 film Tarzan (except he's African instead of Caucasian).