Chapter 1

"Xhosa." + "Emphasized Dialogue."

"English."

Thoughts.

– –

I twisted and tugged on the large, circular necklace that seemed so unbearably tight around my neck all of a sudden. The beaded disc was beautiful, but with the amount of beads that it was made up of and even more necklaces set on top of it, it became horribly heavy and uncomfortable to lug around for hours. Apparently in my tribe, the more was better; it showed my status in my tribe, which was pretty up in the chain. My blood connections with the chief family was very close and I, in fact, was a first cousin to the Elder's niece. What this meant was that I was second in line as heir to the tribe.

This was great because I didn't have to worry about the expectations that my cousin Nofoto suffered from, but it also sucked because I had to stick with her in nearly everything since I was both the next in line if anything happened to her and was also to be her adviser for her future political involvement in Wakanda. Shadowing her father with her to talk with other tribes or getting involved with our own tribes issues and improvements lost its glamour and excitement and quickly became such a chore.

Spending my years as a child learning my studies, sticking myself to Nofoto, learning the unique martial arts of my tribe, and juggling with keeping my friendships at a comfortable relationship was draining. Now as an adult of 27 years, I didn't have to bother with education anymore having finished my private studies a year ago, but everything other responsibility became more intense and held more weight. All my decisions were measured since the consequences not only would affect myself, but would have an impact on my cousin as well.

I did everything in my power to makes sure she prosperous in every aspect of her life, and I did this not only because I was loyal and had the best of my tribe and country in mind, but she was nearly my sister. We were stuck at the hip since we were born and had a bond rivaling those of twins. Just because we didn't share the same mother didn't mean anything to us.

But I was also content to do my best to keep her successful because I was not at all comfortable with bearing the burden that was the leadership of the tribe.

Chiefdom was not something I don't believe I was ready for or would ever be.

– –

"Aysh, Nofoto, are you ready for the ceremony? We need to be an hour early—before any of our people are there. You know this." I tugged on my bracelets in agitation and then knocked on her room furiously. "He-llo, anyone there? We need to go!"

A muffled reply comes through the door, "Yes, yes, yes. I'm ready, I'm ready. No need for the ruckus."

The door swings open and walks out my cousin, decked out in the traditional garb and jewelry the woman of my tribe were famous for.

I smiled, canines nearly poking out from my thick, red stained lips; she looked beautiful.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" She worried, and touched her mouth and cheeks for the leftover snacks she must have been munching on not long ago. The smell wafted from her face and hands.

I shook my head and continued to smile, offering her my arm. When she finally decided that she was safe from public humiliation, we linked arms and walked down the halls, meeting her father and mother at the door.

When they caught sight of us, they both smiled.

"You both look beautiful my daughter, niece. The saying that our tribe are not only known for our power but also our good-looks is rightfully justified!" The chief boasted and nearly crushed his wife in his one-armed hug. My aunt swat him irritably all the while grinning a white, blinding smile. When he let her go, she immediately smoothed down her clothes and fixed her jewelry that became disarray with his manhandling.

Nofoto rushed to her mother to kiss her hands and on her forehead that was leveled a few inches below her own, and rearranged a necklace that hadn't been spot. Meanwhile, I went to kiss my uncle's hands and hugged him tightly. My cousin and I then switched places and did the same.

"Today is a blessed day. We thank Bast for her generosity and compassion," my aunt said as she went to hold onto her daughter again. "Our future king will be a good one. One that will keep us protected from the outside world like his father and ancestors had before him, and we will thrive under his rule."

The words and the tone she said them in was profound, and we all found ourselves bowing our heads in emotion.

"And I will help him, mother." My cousin added fiercely as she brought one of her mother's hands to her forehead. "With your blessing."

My aunt smiled proudly. "Yes, you will." She then looked at me. "And you will help her in her journey, no?"

I nodded seriously and took her other hand. "Of course, Aunty. Have I not dedicated my whole life for this?"

"Then we are in good hands. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us."

My uncle opened his thick, long arms and dragged all of us in a hug, ruining the moment by laughing. "Come now! We all know my daughter will be his right wing woman, advising and overseeing the country along side him." He let go and signaled the guards to get ready for our departure. "But first, we need to crown the Sikhulu! Let us be on our way!"

The view was gorgeous from where we were standing. The weather was perfect and the plants were at the peek of their beauty from the greenery that they displayed. It couldn't get anymore perfect. But what added to the moment was the excitement buzzing in the air. All the people of Wakanda had passed their mourning stage of the passing of our late kumkani, and now were excited to bring a new monarch in his place. It was a new start everyone needed. It was the beginning of a new rule.

"I've never been so excited in my life!" I whispered to Nofoto. She turned her head toward me and nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

We had just finished the loud ritual that signified the crowning of a new kumkani, and was now waiting for the High Priest Zuri to give the kneeling Sikhulu the liquid that removed powers of Black Panther. I shivered in anticipation when he began drinking purple liquid and clenched onto my robes when his veins purpled and began to look visible even from the place where we were standing.

I sniffed the air to find out if there was any difference in his anatomy.

What I found was that the smell of him decreased and was made less potent. Less feral.

I was surprised to find that I still liked it.

It appealed to my feral side because even though he was many times over weaker than us now, he was still a suitable king that she found worth submitting to. It calmed her demand of challenging this man—a man who claimed to rule all, including myself, without a single challenge for the seat. I was relieved that it was less likely now that I would instinctively jump to challenge him if he ever opposed or got in the way of my actions in our future interactions. Listening to a man lesser than me force everyone into following his rule would have made my feral resistant and hostile. My feral already thought that because of our superiority we were better suited for the position of power so if she even sniffed a hint of weakness, it was inevitable that she would get me in trouble for her over-dominating personality.

I jolted when the booming voice of my uncle sounded next to me, "-will not challenge today."

When I startled back into reality, my eyes darted back to the yet to be crowned sikhulu who's eyes roved over my family, suddenly making eye contact with mine, as brief as it was. I nearly jumped at the shear intensity that his eyes emitted. My feral approved, tickling the back of my mind pleasantly with a low hum.

Oh.

My eyes immediately turned to the floor and my head involuntarily bowed to acknowledge his rank.

Okay, well that potential confrontation for a challenge was a lot more less likely now. There was little chance I would ever go up to him and get in a fight. My feral side finally settled in its corner and content itself with the fact that there was indeed a human (although less powerful than myself) who was deserving enough to reign over the country. We were in good hands.

I sighed to myself and reached out to grab my cousin's hand to squeeze it. I gave her a small smile that relayed everything I wanted to say. She smiled back in a pleased manner when she realized from my relaxed form that from now on there was going to be no problem with cooperating with T'Challa in the future. This was in a very important moment in our lives because we were afraid that my feral wasn't going to be happy with the prince's higher ranking, which would eventually leave me with having to abandon my position at the royal court entirely as not to challenge him.

I turned forward to watch the proceedings when my keen ears caught an echoing sound of around eight to ten feet walking through the caves of mountain.

I moved my spear into an inconspicuous stance, oblivious that my movement had caught my cousin's eye and made her tense, familiar of my combat-ready position that signaled incoming danger.

A familiar scent caught my nose; it was one I had discovered many times in my adventures in the wilderness.

I tugged on my uncle's sleeve anxiously.

He turned his head to give me a chiding look that told me to stop making a scene and pay attention to the crowning, and discreetly removed his clothing from my grasp.

"Uncle, the Ja-" He then moved his hand to the top of my back warningly and I ignored that by opening my mouth to warn him once more, but by then it was too late and the Jabari were already in our presence. They were bigger than I imagined. Probably more powerful too. For such big men, I would have imagined they would sound louder than an average person but they were actually light on their feet. It was easy to deduce that they learned their stealth because of their primitive way of living, which required a great amount of skill in the ways of concealment in order to hunt for food for their tribe.

Everyone, including the Dora Milaje surprisingly, had only realized that they were approaching when they began their loud grunts and ape-like noises as they came out of the tunnels.

Until they were fully in view, they made no move to hide their power and completely removed all forms of stealth, stomping all over the place mimicking the apes they held in high regard. M'Baku, their young chief and king, came up to our prince chanting loudly as his warriors stood back responding to his shouts.

"M'Baku, what are you doing here?" Our witch priest asked him agitatedly with a harsh stare.

With his head motioning to the surroundings, the ape-man replied lightly, "It's Challenge Day."

My feral became deeply amused at the balls of this ape-man. She liked him. I didn't.

The chief of the outcast tribe then moved to look at the audience yelling his distaste at our ways of living with technology and I grimaced in agitation. But when he made towards our princess, who flinched back in total terror, I snarled lowly, desperately wishing to drop down to where the royal family were standing and gut the stupid man. Nofoto too looked livid with anger, her eyes burning into the chief who had the nerve to threaten a royal in the presence of her loyal people.

The Dora Milaje have more than a fair chance at defeating them if this encounter becomes hostile, I thought snidely. And I wouldn't mind giving a little taste of what I have in store if he makes one more move.

M'Baku then turned towards T'Challa, yelling his displeasure and taunting the prince with the death of his father. At that point I nearly had enough and had to clench my clothes with white knuckled fists to keep myself in place. No one. I mean, no one, was going to come to our territory, come in front of our people, and tell our prince that he didn't have the right to be king.

My chest rumbled quietly when T'Challa interrupted M'Baku and consented heatedly. "I accept your challenge."

As the whole scene between the Sikhulu and Jabari leader unfolded, my feral woke and began to pace agitatedly, upset that someone had the gal to challenge our new alpha. But what was worse was that he actually had a chance at winning.

My heart pounded furiously as I struggled to restrain myself from jumping down and joining the fight, especially when T'Challa was knocked down to the water at one time. The drums beating, the chants, and the violence going down in the water made my heart quicken and was coaxing my feral to come out. The moment I felt my nails grow into sharp points, I quickly slid my hands into my robes. My teeth also began to elongate and I had a hard and awkward time trying to keep my lips covering them. I looked a sight with the evident bumps of them hiding behind the skin between my lips and chin. To mask my features, I lifted my robe covered hand over the bottom of my face to look like I was appalled of the occurrence down below.

Rhino dung. He's going to get himself killed! I bared my teeth threateningly behind my sleeve when blows on the Sikhulu were achieved. Men. And whats worse: Alpha men.

The dreaded instant when the uncontrollable rumbling in my throat was getting out of hand and people around me were looking around for the culprit, I involuntarily reached out and grabbed the forearm of Nofoto. She jumped at the feeling of the point of my nails digging into her arm, breaking the skin even though I was holding her as delicately as I could. The scent of fresh blood made my feral stir even more. At that point, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to get out of there.

Nofoto got one look at my face and began to shove her way to the exit. Her parents hissed and scrambled to get a hold of us, but I pushed my cousin in front of me and dodged their hands with ease. I followed closely behind her, keeping my face low and covered in case anyone spotted my teeth or unnaturally small pupils. Unfortunately, I had no way of covering my pointed ears and I hissed to my cousin so, so she took off her robe and placed it over my head then continued to drag me out of there. The spear that I held was forgotten on the floor.

If I weren't so panicked about almost revealing my secret in public, I might've been horrified that she took it off in front of everyone. A woman in our tribe, and a high ranking one no less, was respected by the value and quantity of their clothes and jewelry, so removing and giving it to someone below them was a social suicide. Thankfully, no one was to be bothered and were all invested with who would come out victorious in the fight, so we were able to flee with almost no problem. In the cave I threw the suffocating piece of cloth back to her as I past her, running into the wild with inhumane speed before I did anything rash.

Instead I focused on the rush of freedom that made me excited and compelled to run at my full speed in the tall grass, leaping over rocks, bushes, and other obstacles like a gazelle. This went on for a while until I felt like I had to move from the fynbos floor, so as soon as a large tree came in sight, the provocation to climb it was inescapable. I brought a clawed hand a second before my nearly flying body met the tree and dug into the bark. I did the same with the other and repeated the action many times.

From an outsider's perspective, I made a terrifying and amusing sight. Terrifying because of the raw power and skill I displayed, and amusing because I looked like a cat clawing its way up a tree. What added to the image was the outfit and jewelry that I was wearing that did not suit my acrobatic movements.

I became confused when climbing was more just a tad bit more difficult than I remembered until I realized one important, yet missing, factor. I kicked off my leather sandals without a second thought and began climbing with all four limbs. It was just as I thought. Climbing with only my arms was easy, but the addition of my feet made like second nature.

Much better.

One branch after the other passed me and soon the distance between me and the jungle floor turned into a few of meters in seconds. The top was in sight.

I slowed before I reached the top of the tree and found a stable branch to crouch on; I could go no further since the higher branches were likely to break under my weight. As I settled into mediative demeanor to settle my inner-self, or in other words, my feral, I set my gaze upon the view that extended as far as the eye could see, which was saying something since I was acknowledging my super sight too. The fynbos, a biome filled with greenery, dozens of different sorts of cacti, and a few trees, spanned for miles, and even though I knew that the city wasn't far, I recognized the area that I was sure the cloaked city was situated—yet still, it was a sight to behold.

I'd never seen anything more beautiful in my life.

A long while later, when my thighs began to feel a little exerted from crouching, I shifted into a lying position with my arm under my head, gazing ahead.

Hopefully another 50 years of peace. I turned on my back and looked up at the sky.

The future looks unsettling, I sighed in my mind, lifting one clawed hand and focusing on the way my nails retracted and settled to its previous form. The acute and undiluted vision that took over my sight weakened back to my normal human one, my hearing that encompassed all was now limited to the thirty meters around me, and everything seemed more muddier than before.

I could stay feral forever but for some reason, subconsciously, I always turned back human whenever my powers deemed unnecessary. Once, I tried to see what would happen if I kept my powers on as long as possible, but as soon as I wasn't paying attention to it, it retreated. I was shocked to say the least; heightened senses and strength was not something that could easily slip away from me without noticing. Whenever I consciously retracted everything to its normal condition, the difference in myself and how I responded to the world seemed unmistakable.

As long as I get to spare some time to do stuff like this, then I won't turn stir crazy in that loud city. Then I thought of T'Challa. But then again, with monarchs like ours, who says that they won't make me go insane.

I quickly sat up. Speaking of the Sikhulu. Isn't he the Kumkani now? Or is it possible that the Jabari chief won the seat?

It was very possible that I could have now been serving a new linage. Even without the powers of the Black Panther, the ape-man man was insanely strong for a human. I heard it from my father himself, who never explained how he came upon this fact.

There actually was a very good possibility that he could be more stronger than T'Challa, who drank the potion to remove his powers. Although with all his brawn, T'Challa still held something more powerful: skill and will power. T'Challa was unbelievably impressive as a fighter when he was human and I was sure that the motivation to keep his country under his safe rule would enhance that feature many times over.

At that thought, I never felt prouder.

As a human being, he could't get anymore perfect. I'd now this because I spent my whole life watching him from afar—it was literally my job description. Throughout the many years that I spent time behind my cousin and watched her interact with him, I found that there couldn't be a man more suited to the throne more than he, and with that my loyalties were quickly rooted. I looked forward to the many years that I would help my cousin serve him.

My mother wasn't wrong, our people would thrive in his care.

It's time to see the verdict of the dual. I initiated my powers and climbed down nimbly.

Slowly jogging through the jungle, I decided to enjoy what it had to offer and took the time to smell, look, listen, and feel the area. But incase that there would be the occasional hunter or shepherd passing by, I hid my powers fifteen minutes before I caught sight of the entrance.

When I reached the border of the city, I smiled at the familiar guards who bowed their heads at me. They knew of my ventures out in the wilderness, and even though they had no idea what I was up to, they trusted my ability to keep myself safe. For the last fifteen years I had been going in and out of the city and not one time have I come back with an injury—although I should thank my healing ability for that. Deep research told me that Ferals were more likely to attain healing abilities. I saw it from mutants like the Wolverine, Sabertooth, Lynx, WhiteBear, and many others.

For every street that I entered, the crowd doubled in size, until I reached the most congested one located in the heart of the city. Instead of going my home that was thirty minutes away and contacting Nofoto who would be fretting over me for the scene at the arena, I found that I could easily posses the knowledge from gossiping citizens.

The crowning was the most important news of the year, and there was bound to be some information that leaked out shortly after the event.

A few minutes later, I would be found in a shaded stall leaning against a wooden post and enhancing my hearing to overhear the tittle-tattle of two elderly woman beading away at the jewelry they were going to sell in a week from now when they finished.

"-ness. She said that she heard from her husband, who was there to witness, that he had his thighs locked around the Jabari and begged him to yield. She said that he became blue since he took a very long time to and was seconds from suffocating to death. The Inkosi is a very compassionate man. We are lucky that Inkosi T'Chaka raised him so."

"Quite right, darling. Did you also hear that the ma-" I had my fill, and with this information in mind, I turned to go back home.

I wasn't so surprised at the outcome, only a bit relieved. The throne was secure for the next four or five decades.

For a moment, I turned back to gaze at the palace that stood so magnificently miles away on a high mountain.

My Kumkani T'Challa. May you lead us in difficulty and support us in prosperity.