"I'm off to become a Hunter Nana." Ore said as he walked out the door of their reddish mud house, waving at his grandmother who sat in the garden at the entrance of their home watching him run out of the yard, wearing dark brown airy pants, a cream sleeveless cotton top and a black crossbody bag made from the skin of the legendary black rocket eel, with his short black locs dangling as he ran.
"Good luck my baby boy." She says, waving back at him "May our ancestors protect you."
Ore ran through the colourful residential area of the Mashujaa country down to the house of his best friend, Roy. Who, just like Ore, plans to become a hunter of the Ichrak empire, their home continent.
After covering the distance of five more houses the same size as his, each having a unique paintings of black, red, yellow and green ovals on the outer walls. Representing the name of the household and how many generations have lived in it, and their yards beautified with sunflowers and different fruit trees.
The cool breeze and sweet aroma of freshly baked bread flew through his body and reached his soul, his mouth watering, even though he had already had his Nana's beautiful pancakes for breakfast, the buttery vanilla scent of the bread washed away his already full stomach, unable to hold himself, he sped up to the source of it all.
He calls out to his friend on reaching the sixth house, "ROY! GIVE ME SOME BREAD."
The neighbours around giggled at how he shouted out for bread like he had never eaten it in his life.
Ore at it again, they said. As they walked by the Kisasi household. The towns family of bakers and pride of the Mashujaa pastries.
Roy walked out the front door of their home with a tray of bread in his arm, walked past Ore and went straight to the house opposite theirs, then into the houses Ore had passed, delivering their order of bread.
With one last bread on the tray, Ore quickly rushed to take it but Roy weaves out of the way and sets a foot for Ore, tripping him face first into the ground.
Everyone around burst into laughter.
"Close one Roy. But you lose." Ore said with his mouth full of bread and his hands holding him from being completely on the earth.
"Ohhh Ore won today. Haha." Said Roy's mother who was loading in more bread for delivery onto the family coach attached to two pitch black Yellow-horned Rhinos, the mobile means of transportation across the land of the Ichrak empire.
"Grand Rising, Mrs. Kisasi." Greeted the lady next door from her garden, plucking ripe Eto fruits, with her left palm raised and her head slightly lowered, as a sign of respect.
"Grand Rising, madam Joto. Is she ready? I'll be heading out soon." Replied Roy's mother. A beautiful dark skinned woman in her late thirties with a full puffy afro and a green and yellow headband on her head, wearing a short sleeve yellow dress with the green and red oval patterns of the Kisasi home.
Roy and Ore walked back to the front of the Kisasi home, with Ore's mouth stuffed full with the rest of the bread.
"Eat more like a human, you hungry hippo." Roy said slapping the back of Ore's head, as they both stood next to the coach waiting for the third person amongst the children in town who will be joining them for their journey to become an Ichrakian Hunter in the years to come.
"Oh, there she is." Said Mrs. Kisasi as Amara walked out onto the serpent shape street with flowers of different kinds on both sides, wearing a
"Grand Rising Ma." She greets just like her mom had done earlier. Bowing her head to a much lower degree to show the difference in age and how much respect she holds up for Mrs. Kisasi.
She turned and looked at the boys, with Ore not paying her any mind as he continued chowing down on the bread with almost no manners, he turned to her and waved. To which she quickly ignored, turning her attention to Roy, who was wearing the tradition attore of his household, just like that of his mother but with inverted colours and in a darker shade, as he deems himself unworthy of donning the complete perfect colour tone of his family until he holds a great name like every other member of his family.
She smiled at him and climbed into the coach, in her light brown dress with purple, green and black oval patterns and five yellow stars on it, with a leather red backpack on her.
"Oi, she smiled at me, Ore." Roy said blushing with a broad smile across his face as he tapped on Ore's shoulder.
Ore who had been ignored by her frowned and replied nonchalantly, "And so? Won't make you a hunter tho."
Roy looked at him with a brow raised and replied with a smirk. " Someone's jealous. Hehe."
"No I'm not." Ore said angrily as he swallowed the last bread in his mouth. And stepped on the stairs of the coach.
"Alright you two, get in, let's head for the Zohak port and meet your instructor, you got a long journey to the capital, so get along now." Mrs Kisasi said as she put on her large strawhat. "Goodbye people... I'll be back later." She said as the Yellow-horned Rhinos who had been eating Eto leaves began moving after she said the words Atche.
The townspeople all waved at them as they drove by, the next batch of Ichrakian hunters were about to be born and their town of bakers was about to become glorious once again.
The group rode through the forest part out of their town heading towards the Zohak Port in the northern part of the country, with the rhinos hitting their average 120kmh speed along the smooth path.
The forest just outside the large residential town of Mashujaa, was filled with so many people plucking fruits and leaves of different shapes, sizes and colours which they used in the making of different pastries for different parts of the country and the continent at large.
Many of the people waved at the group as they rode by, as they all recognised the Kisasi family pattern on the coach the Yellow-horned Rhinos pulled with their massive elephant-like bodies.
On reaching the end of the forest path, they got to an open field filled with lush sun flowers, roses and a rainbow coloured plant covering over fifty acres of land to their left.
"Mom it's the Canchelle." Roy said as the rode by. The very flower that gives their bread its alluring and overwhelmingly mouth watering aroma and taste. Something only a Kisasi can easily spot as they mainly grow up seeing said flowers around their family bakeries.
"Yes, dear. It's our family's signature flower." She replied from the front seats of the coach mini trailer-home sized coach they rode in.
She turned around and looked at Amara, "Did you know the Canchelle is actually a very poisonous flower. They say just a single one of them has enough poison to kill even a Zohak. Interesting right." She says with a smile.
Amara who didn't really react to that information as she had never seen a Zohak to make sense of what Mrs. Kisasi was saying, simply nodded in agreement.
"Hmm, seems like you doubt me, because we use it in our breads and no one has died. Haha. Well, you see, our family has a full understanding of the plant and it's flowers and have learnt how to perfectly prepare it and use it in making our very own special bread. Which Is now a global success since three generations ago..."
"Uhm. Mrs. I actually don't know what a Zohak is. That's why I didn't really know how to react." Amara cuts in in a meek tone.
"Oh... my bad."
"Noo way. You haven't heard of the great bird?" Ore said in a loud voice, with excitement all over his face. "Well, you see the Zohak."
"Bam."
A smack to his head from Roy. "Shut up Ore, she didn't ask you. Don't you see how you scared her."
"Hahahash." Amara laughed
The coach went silent. They couldn't believe she could laugh out loud.
"Well, Amara. Today is your lucky day. I guess those two morons filled your head with stories of hunters to make you join them as you were growing up. But, since you've decided to be one, you'll be able to see the Zohak and fly to the Capital of the Ichrak empire, Orhue today in one." Mrs. Kisasi said with a smile.
"Well we'll be there soon, so be prepared for a sight like never before. And do well to not be scared or overwhelmed by them. They do smell fear and it makes them a little too reluctant to fly. Haha good old days. I think I was your age when I flew in one." She added with a warm look on her face hidden by the large strawhat she wore.
"And we are here. Welcome to the Zohak port, my little hunters." Mama Roy exclaimed as she said Atche once again to halt the rhinos.
The three friends all stepped out of the coach and before them was a land mass so big their town could be fit into it fifty times over and still won't fill it up.
"Well then let's go through the entrance and have you guys meet up with your instructor." She added as she brought out six large Eto leaves from the trunk of the coach and dropped it in front of the rhinos, tapping them and telling them thanks for bring us here. "Be good you two, I'll be back."
They walked down to the entrance of the port, which had a big board with the drawn of three birds of the same shape but of different colours, one white, another black and the last brown, with the text, "PORT ZOHAK" written underneath.
At the entrance they meet a slim man wearing an all black uniform and a badge having a bronze I on the left chest region.
"Mr. Zaria." Called out Mrs. Kisasi "They're here. Your three little hunters."