Khethiwe

While T'Challa and the others were waiting, J'Zaki was fighting for his life.

He and M'Baku were in the training room, having a spar but it was far from fair. M'Baku was much larger and had a heavy knobkerrie in his hands as well as hard armor. J'Zaki was left without any armor and was only given a small stone knife.

The entire time, J'Zaki was struggling. Struggling to find an opening from the experienced opponent in front of him. Struggling to not get knocked across the room whenever he was struck. Trying to simply survive.

J'Zaki kneeled on the ground trying to catch his breath.

M'Baku looked down on him.

"Boy. Do you think that you can beat me?"

J'Zaki just shook his head. It felt like his heart was trying to climb out of his throat.

"Why? Because I am stronger than you? Because I am older? Larger?"

The boy nodded. M'Baku seemed like an insurmountable mountain.

All his other teachers seemed like they were trying to teach him at first before they sparred. But this wasn't it. This was a true test of his skill before he was given the chance to learn something. And it wasn't even a fair fight. He was given a small knife against a much larger and heavier weapon that fit his opponent.

"Then you are a fool. You are a child of Wakanda and one of the Jabari! We do nothing but make the word 'impossible' our slave.

The Jabari may use primitive weapons but we are the fiercest warriors on the planet.

Wakanda is one of the smallest nations in the world on what others considered the most backwaters continent but we are the most advanced and powerful civilization to ever exist on this planet.

So stand up! Stand up and fight me! Whether you win or not, that can only be determined if you continue on until the end."

J'Zaki was still exhausted. Every muscle in his body wanted him to stay where he was. But against his will, his knees started to bend as he slowly stood up. It took him a few seconds, but J'Zaki stood up to face M'Baku.

M'Baku nodded as he saw him slowly rise. But when he looked into the boy's eyes, he was surprised. J'Zaki's eyes had changed.

He no longer had the beautiful brown eyes that he did before. Instead, his eyes had become white save for a small black dot in the middle and a black tomoe floating on a barely visible line.

"What da fuck is this?!"

J'Zaki couldn't hear him. Instead, he was focused on what he was seeing. He could see all around his body like he had eyes all around him. His mind was completely overwhelmed with all of the information he was suddenly taking in and the young prince began to pass out.

The last thing that he saw was a bright, white fire inside of M'Baku. J'Zaki collapsed on the ground in front of M'Baku.

The Jabari chief looked at the kid in front of him in confusion.

'Dear Hanuman, what on earth have I gotten myself involved in?'

M'Baku had no choice but to call over a healer to check on J'Zaki's condition. But all the man said was that J'Zaki had received a small shock and would be waking up at any moment.

So M'Baku sat next to the unconscious boy, waiting for him to wake up. After 10 minutes, J'Zaki sat up and looked at M'Baku in confusion. When he woke up, his eyes had returned to their original brown color.

"What happened?"

M'Baku smacked the kid on the back of his head.

"How should I know? I just remember your eyes turning white before you passed out. What do you remember?"

J'Zaki began recalling what he saw and explained it to M'Baku. The older man had a contemplative expression on his face before he grabbed J'Zaki by the arm and dragged him to the Jabari Library.

He threw the boy into the room before he began going through the large book on the center pedestal. He kept flipping through the pages while J'Zaki looked on in confusion.

"What are you..."

"Quiet! Just give me a moment!"

M'Baku kept looking through the book until he found what he was looking for and shouted "Ah-ha!" After he got the page, he pulled J'Zaki over so he could see what he was looking for.

"Have you ever wondered why the Panther Cult came to be the only religion and the gold Tribe came to be the royal family? It was because they had help.

Not of an outsider but from another Wakandan. One that was born with gifts not granted by the gods. Instead, it was a gift they were born with and learned to harness much later.

The first could speak to the trees and animals as well as control them. With nature on his side, there was no way that the other cults could resist the panthers. The second was one who could understand the nature of any material they touched. She learned what Vibranium was capable of and taught it to the other members of the Gold Tribe.

The Khethiwe. The chosen ones."

J'Zaki knew what he was talking about. He guessed that something like that might be the truth if he wasn't hallucinating the last thing he saw. Although he didn't know the older term for it, he knew the modern one.

"A mutant."

M'Baku nodded. That's exactly what they called them now.

"Yes. And from what you have told me, your eyes allow you to see far more than what others can. But this is also a detriment for you. You have the eyes of a god but the mind of a mortal. You will not be able to use it casually without much training.

That is what we shall focus. Making sure that your Khethiwe abilities are able to help Wakanda reach its next stage, just like the previous two had done."

J'Zaki nodded. He knew that he needed someone to guide him. And no better place than the ones who had mastered the old ways so well that even the Wakandans did not dare to wage war on them casually.