AKAME ASSASINATION (15)
"I've got it."
The sun had not yet risen that morning yet Gil was already up and at it again. His daily quote was about to be met in less than 5 minutes. 3000 push-ups non stop. If he managed it then it would beat his previous record of 3000 push-ups in 10 minutes.
"That Chi training I did the previous day seems to be helping, my body feels much lighter now. Its like I'm unburdened." It was unclear who he was talking to. Well at the very least the girl seemed to think so, but Gil was facing her direction.
To her it was as though Gil was just spouting off nonsense since she couldn't understand him anyway. And what he was doing made even less sense to her.
"2997…2998…2999… 3000." He got back up and stretched himself. "I was counting, and it was definitely five minutes."
The girl didn't respond.
"Its rude not to respond, even if you don't understand me."
But no matter how much Gil tried to connect with the girl she just wouldn't budge.
"Man." He rubbed the inside of his ear, "You really don't wanna talk huh."
***
JUST A BIT FURTHER NORTH
0545HRS
The massai are a nomadic tribe meaning they have a tendency of not wanting to settle in one place for a long time. Now in the past this was usually necessary because of their constant search for greener pastures for their animals. But of recent years they haven't had that much land to graze their large herds of cattle in. Not only that, but they also lack the means of moving.
"They have been obstructing our movements chief." A wise elder spoke from behind a curtain. The room the Chief was in was a circular one, at the centre was a bright red matt where the chief sat. Around him were dents in the wall which were chambers that the elders sat in.
"I can see that, what we currently need is a solution." The chief answered, "Can we speak to the Pokot? Perhaps they can lend us a bit of land for the season."
"I'd like to believe that." Another elder spoke, "But its looking more and more unlikely each day."
"Yes, the 'government' plans to completely box us in and give us no alternative but to join with the rest of… society." He shuddered as he said that, the thought of it alone disgusted him to the core.
"Its… annoying, I mean why even do this?" The chief sighed, "We don't want to change our culture into what they believe it should be changed into, yet they still do this. If it comes down to it we might have to…"
He didn't finish that sentence, nor did he want to. So many days had gone by without so much as a wink of sleep for the poor chief. With land that would have been used for pasture and agriculture being minimized day in and day out he might have to ask the government for help.
"Impossible!" Screamed one of the elders, "We will not give up, ask the Pokot, they will lend us land and I will guarantee it myself."
There were murmurs in the council room as most of the elders discussed among themselves privately. This was a matter of self sustenance.
'The Pokot and us haven't been on the best of terms, they could use this as an excuse to increase their share of land, not only that they might want something In return. Something that we might not be able to give them…' This greatly worried the chief, even now, 'Nala… my greatest fear is that you might not even have a tribe to rule over.'
SWOOOSH!
The mats that hung over the entrance door flew open, and suddenly two men knelt in front of the chief.
"Zena, Orinx." The chief called out their names, "What do we owe this interruption to?"
Zena was the older of the two brothers, "Forgive us chief, but we come bearing tragic news."
Zena was a tall man a staggering 6'5 which in it of itself was scary to say the least, and the tattoos he bore on both hands was also an indication of something else.
"This better be important." Although the chief said this his face bore something more in the realm of depression rather than anger, "This meeting is very important."
"I promise you, it is." Zena said silently smirking.
'Pitiful isn't it?' Zena thought, 'The great Chief of the last remaining Massai in the entirety of Loliwe. A man said to have fought in over 4 great battles and won, a man said to have fought a white magician and won without use of any sort of magic and won. Now look at you as you sit there on the great mat gifted to us by the gods, unable to do anything but sit there and sulk. It truly is pathetic what you have been reduced to, but then again this might be the best time to strike.'
"Alright then boy, speak!" One of the elders shouted from inside the chambers.
"Of course." Zena's face became serious again. "It is about the priestess, Nala."
The chief's eyes finally came back to life, his face was no longer filled with depression but rather pure rage.
"Treed very carefully." His voice was sharp and commanding.
"Of course, simply put… she is dead."
BWOOO!
"!"
There was an intense explosion of energy that radiated from the chief's body.
'This is crazy, I had only heard about it from folklore.' Zena thought, 'But this is insane.'
"We think she is!" Orinx spoke out of turn, despite his brothers constant warnings about deviating from the plan. However, in his defense the terrifying presence he felt before he couldn't help but do so.
"You think!" The chief leaned forward, "Do not patronize me boy! Why exactly would you think so?"
'This fool!' Zeno was now sweating, 'That just got him more riled up.'
"Its because we are still yet to locate her." He had to pull a smart play here.
"She has been missing for 4 days now, and in these 4 days what have the both of you been doing?" The annoyance on his face was now completely evident. "So you come back to me to tell me that you two, the best in this land have failed to locate my daughter. Of what use are you to me then?"
'This is bad, this is so bad. If we had told him she was dead and just left it at that we could have backed up that claim by stating that we saw being devoured by one of the many creatures roaming around. But this goddamn retard of a brother I have made the situation insanely bad for us because now the chief believes that not only did we waste time looking for her but we also are incompetent and couldn't locate her. Guess we'll have to use the ace up our sleeves.'
"Well, we might not have found her, but we have found something else of interest." Zena proposed.
"?" The chief leaned back in his chair, "What might that be?"
"Tw--o, two things of interest." Orinx stammered but he realized his brothers play and wanted to join in.
"Two?"
"Yes and one of them is a white man."