Unskinned

Brahmuhn woke up with a long yawn. He felt the ground around him and grabbed his knobkerrie. 'Cheetah.'

Cheetah was exhausted. The leopard had drawn most of his energy and even worse still, he had stayed up to keep guard for another three hours before sleep slew him.

Brahmuhn walked towards him and shook him awake.

'It's time to move,' said Brahmuhn.

He slowly got up and with weary eyes, looked around him like clueless prey. He looked as vulnerable as a chicken in the rain. When he tried to support himself with his arm to get up, his wounded shoulder reminded him of the violent and bloody struggle he had had the previous night. The wound stung a lot and he could not help but scream. The intense pain made him fully awake.

Brahmuhn grabbed his arm and pulled him towards him. He examined the shoulder then looked into his eyes.

'I fell.'

Even if Brahmuhn would have been intoxicated by mbanje, he would still not have believed this lie. He sighed. He knew that if he tried all the more to get an honest answer out of Cheetah it would only be futile. He was not the type to easily break. 'We have to move,' said Brahmuhn.

Cheetah grabbed a few leaves from the ground and pressed them against his shoulder then tied strings of wet tree bark on it. After he had killed the leopard, he had dragged it deeper into the bushes to conceal it from Brahmuhn.

'Where to, my chief?'

'Somewhere. Anywhere.'

'My chief, you already know that some Shona chiefs are envious of you. They might try to destroy you themselves. And what better way to solidify their power and reputation than to destroy the legendary Brahmuhn?'

'Like you said: They will try.' He walked a few steps before sitting on a small boulder. 'Why did you decide to follow me, Cheetah?'

The question was unforeseen. 'Because…because I am forever loyal to you, Your Greatness.'

'You have a wife and two children. Go back to them instead of following a roving exile like me. They need you more than I need you.'

He walked over to him and sat at his feet. 'Perhaps. But they need you too, my chief. The rightful ruler of Chaponda Village.'

Brahmuhn turned his eyes to the ground. 'Yet I broke their spirit by betraying them.'

'And you can rebuild it by earning their trust. They may have been furious with you but I doubt that they still feel the same way now. They know that there is no one else fit to lead the village than he who does it with an iron staff…and that is you, my chief.'

He scratched his chin for a while. 'And you?'

He looked confused, 'I what, my chief?'

'How do you feel about what I did?'

He also stared at the ground, looking as guilty as a dog found with a live chicken in its mouth. 'My chief…I cannot…'

'How do you feel about what I did?' Brahmuhn asked him again.

He began scratching his knee pointlessly. He was still unwilling to answer.

'It boils you inside, doesn't it?'

He scratched his knee some more. 'My chief…' he gritted his teeth, '…never has anger overcome me than when you did not deny the allegations the Elders had thrown at you so blatantly in the presence of all the people. Never have I…never have I felt so betrayed. My children imitated you. They wanted to grow up to become like you, to be you when they grew up, but when you did not even attempt to deny what you did…the looks on their faces…they…'

Brahmuhn's heart sank. The Vadhindi were the ones who had trusted him most.

Cheetah continued, 'But then again, when I wanted to marry my wife, Rutendo (Gratitude) we were confronted with such hostility and opposition from both our families. They tried so hard to stop us from seeing each other but we always found a way to meet, to touch, to be together.'

'So, what are you saying?'

'Love, my chief. Love. Love is capable of binding one to the rules but at the same time, it can grant one the power to break them. That is how powerful it is. One day when we met secretly, I planted my seed in her. I gave her a child and thus, our marriage became inevitable. My chief, I know how you feel about Buhlebenkosi now and I guess somehow your actions are justified. Give your people a "child" and your marriage to them shall also become inevitable.'

He nodded thoughtfully. He took up his knobkerrie and began walking further into the forest.

Cheetah got up and began following him.

'My chief, where are we going now?'

'Do not worry, Cheetah. I am only following your advice. I am in love with my people and the child I shall give them is Mbada's head.'

Cheetah was relieved that they now had an objective: Matanda Village. Not many words were exchanged between the two warriors as they made their journey. A question like, 'it's hot today, isn't it?' would earn them at least five minutes of dead silence, but a question asked and answered would earn them twice the stretch. This however was not an awkward kind of silence. It was more "manly". Besides, the two had a lot of personal questions to ponder in their heads.

After at least a four kilometer walk, Brahmuhn gently slapped Cheetah on his back. 'I'll catch up with you soon,' he said before he turned to the side of their path and walked towards an isolated thorn bush. He wanted to relieve himself.

Cheetah continued walking further.

After a short distance, Cheetah heard the crackling of a fire not too far off. He looked behind him to check if Brahmuhn was behind him. He needed his approval to investigate the noise of the crackling fire, for where there is fire, there are people. Brahmuhn, however was nowhere in sight. Nevertheless, he decided to investigate.

Cautiously, he walked over to where the sound of the fire was coming from. When he peeked behind the bushes that concealed the answer to his curiosity, he realized that he may have made a reckless and potentially consequential mistake.

Gathered around a small fire were four gigantic men. Their eyes were pure white, just like their hair. They were at least thrice Brahmuhn's size and their faces looked as grim as hell. They were cooking fish in the fire.

Cheetah was a skilled warrior, a man who had taken countless lives on the battlefield without a single thought spared for them, but this…these men looked highly unusual. His heart immediately gave way to fear.

'Who are you?' he asked them, trying his best to summon a threatening tone but somewhere along the way, fear snatched it and it came out feeble like a cornered mouse.

None of the gigantic men answered. Their faces still carried the same grim expression.

Cheetah began to unwind his whip from his hand, now getting ready to attack. 'I said, who are you?!' the coward-like voice slipped out again.

The men began to stand up.