Gbekui

<p>Ku-kru-kooooo! . Atsu woke up to the belling of the natural alarm not far from his roughly packed leafy pillow. His face contorted into one of hate as his arms shot up towards the large red cock which was lucky enough to have evaded the threatening dwarf claw on time.<br/> It's head would have been lopped off otherwise.<br/> Atsu sat up and yawned. He scratched his chest and looked around. The 'holy' bokor was sitting, legs touching at the heels to form an O in the middle.<br/> He seemed to be mumbling something that Atsu couldn't really make out no matter how much he strained his ears. <br/> The bokor's shea buttered head was reflecting the first rays of the morning sun. Seeing this, Atsu couldn't help but grin. Though Abeiku was quite handsome even without hair, Atsu simply couldn't picture himself in that state. He contentedly tied his locks together behind his head as he grabbed his prized cudgel which lay by his side. It was what he managed to take in the last minute to replace his hunting tools during his fierce struggle with those dwarfs.<br/> After hearing Sadiku's will the night before, Atsu had felt an overwhelming pressure of responsibility latch onto his head. What was he, a mere sixteen year old hunter supposed to do to help in this war? This was clearly a battle between bokors. The title of 'chosen' just didn't seem to fit him at all. After remembering Abeiku's last words however, he had a smidgen of hope.<br/> " Bokors don't thrive where there are no normal men little brother. It is very true, but as normal as they may seem, if they do all in their power to keep healthy, they might never even need a bokor to give them cure before they go grey. This way they get to keep what little goat or cowrie that they may have possessed. Making the bokor lose potential gains. <br/> After sleeping on it, Atsu seemed to have understood the wizard's 'parable'. Thus his happy mood this morning. He had even accepted the dwarf claw wholeheartedly. If having an asernal of herbal knowledge, skills and equipment could give him a chance against bokor Deku, he was ever ready to accept Abeiku as a mentor. <br/>"The grey folks always say<br/>Plenty of meat never spoils the soup. It won't hurt to know more. " <br/> He climbed up the tall tree under which they had made their little camp the night before and looked down on the plains of Zewu once more. He tightened his grip on his cudgel as the thought of his sister serving as a breeding machine flashed in his head. He almost started calling to sogbladza again had Abeiku not stopped him on time. <br/>The young wizard looked as normal as ever, except for a long knife tucked neatly on his waist this time. <br/>" We have to get moving" .<br/> After joining the young wizard on the ground, they chose a small farm path and swiftly set off. <br/> It had been more than two days, neighboring settlements might have already gotten a whiff of the situation and started making moves towards the village.<br/> "Where are we going? Shouldn't we be waiting for your master ?".<br/> " Sadiku has entrusted you into my care brother. You're now my responsibility until you're spiced enough to face off against Deku. Sadiku will find us later and apply finishing touches. But for now, trust my intuition." <br/>Atsu scratched his non-existent moustache and asked again after a moment of thought, " Why can't he just fight the battle himself, he is spiced enough I think...". <br/> "My master always has a tangible reason for his actions. I'm sure he has his own reasons for not partaking in this war directly." <br/> "Okay fine I get it, but I was asking..." <br/> " We need to get as far away from the battle field as possible. Deku would probably steer the war towards the plains. That would put us in danger should we be in the region." <br/> 'Why do you have to be so snappy sometimes? Because you think you are a bokor? ' Atsu made a slow motion slap towards the bokor's shiny head, grinning widely as his hands got closer. ...<br/> Meanwhile in a throne room nestled far away in the planes of another dimension, twelve burly dwarfs knelt down in front of a sleek cedar throne embedded with uncountable cowries in an elaborate pattern. Its occupant would have made a fine comedian had she looked a little silly, but that won't be the right word to describe this personality. Her skin was far more smoother than any bokor could have boasted of. She had a cute face, and her hair was long and thick black. The unusual giggling coming out of her pink lips and the large canine teeth protruding from her mouth was the only thing that seemed a bit off. Even so, the expression on her face was a stark contrast to the weird guttural sounds she was making.<br/> A look of hate and utter disgust was plastered on her face as her eyes seemed to burn holes into the backs of the kowtowing dwarfs. In short, she was a horrifyingly beautiful but erm ... cough an amusing existence.<br/> Gbekui and his fellow dwarfs had clearly failed in their mission to guard the god river. After Atsu's seemingly unhindered jolly ride in the river, coupled with his miraculous escape, the queen's reprimand was clearly going to result in most of their body parts missing. " I understand, my queen. I and my comrades have failed in our task to protect what is rightfully yours. Please punish me , but I beg on behalf of my comrades. They were only following my orde...." <br/> "Spare me some fresh breath you worthless bug. Find that boy and complete the transformation. You have a month to complete this , and make sure to lose your lives doing so if you have to. <br/>Return empty handed and I'll have your very souls fed to the grave termites whilst you are still breathing.(Spat)... and make sure you scrub that when you leave, ..dismissed".<br/> Gbekui wolfed down some roasted plantains as he stared at the blackening blue sky. There was still some traces of the queen's spit from earlier, making their descent from his hair to the rest of his face, but the rough and vicious man could not care any less. <br/> Occasionally, he takes a sip of palm wine in his most cherished gourd, relishing the taste every time. At the edge of the endless space above him, pink lights merged with green ones into interesting shapes that made his mind go adrift. The sparkling of little stars here and there in the vast sea of dark-blue made his heart light as he went deep into thought with nostalgia fueling his emotions. Atsu would have snorted at the scene. It was quite the sight, to see a being so vicious a while ago suddenly settling down to enjoy flowery scenes. <br/> Gbekui's family had guarded the god river for ages. Because of their continuous exposure to the river which was even more frequent than the royals, their genes underwent special changes that plastered multiple parts of their body with runes. <br/>The average dwarf doesn't compare to them lest they had special techniques of their own or treasures that allows them to harness energy from the 'unknown'.<br/> It must be said that these techniques and mystical relics were only possessed by the higher echelon of the colony. Even if the poor manage to find one, they won't let it be known to others before they are able to harness enough power to protect it. Gbekui's family had proven themselves worthy enough to hold onto their title as the guardians of the god river and thus they haven't seen rivals in a while, though they were not oblivious to their presence in the shadows. <br/>The river was a deity that they worship and was thus seen to be holy. It granted passage into the realm of humans , though the river only serves the royals in that sense. Commoners would have to locate special anthills guarded by other members of Gbekui's household to be able to access the human realm. <br/> Over the years, Gbekui has met many hunters and wanderers who made their way into the dwarf plane. Over ninety five percent of those people were caught and transformed, a bloody scene each time and also quite a quick process. The moment the god river comes into contact with an open wound, it infuses dwarf traits and instincts into the intruders body. It even takes care of brainwashing , provided the guardians did their part and made an injury to the intruder's head. It was a process Gbekui quite enjoyed, seeing his personality. But you see... things are bound to go left sometimes when you want it to go right. The transformation....<br/> Well it didn't always go the desired way all the time. Those are the five percent that escaped. Atsu just happened to be a part of that five percent, who were often high graded warriors and experts who were so graceful in their moves that, their bodies seemed to be repelling the clubs.<br/>It was the same percentage that Gbekui always ignored and never bothered to report.<br/> But today, something unexpected happened. The kid received numerous blows to his body and a significant one to his head, but all that refused to bring a change to his height and legs. He was still tall, and his feet were still pointing forward after receiving so many club blows. The only visible change was his claw and the tattoos which were okay since he was going to join Gbekui's guardian clan anyway.<br/> As for the brainwashing, it was very obvious nothing of the sort happened, since the kid was still struggling to escape. It was an anomaly that gave Gbekui the headache since those tattoos were going to be an evidence of his failure. <br/>Dwarfs go into the human realm every time. It would have been very hard to keep such a blazing bonfire out of their sight. <br/>' A month? What am I supposed to do with a month? Ride a broom? ... C'mon. ' <br/>Or I should just leave all of these.<br/>There were many families hiding in the shadows and ready to take advantage of the slightest opening to grab the title of guardian for themselves.<br/>It was a title that puts them very close to the royals which to them, was very beneficial in politics.<br/> (Spat)' Politics my foot'. Gbekui laughed at the families trying to gain power through a guard job. All Gbekui's household gained was the VIP treatment given by the masses who had no idea what was going on behind the scenes, and the runes which came with their own set of advantages.<br/> He looked around the now moonlit night. He had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even realize it became dark. The grassy field he was sitting on was now glowing with a white holy light.<br/>It made his heart thump with panic and a sense of urgency as he shot to his feet.<br/> At the same time, a silhouette of a crouching beast could be seen among the grasses with slightly shaking pupils as it seemed to strain his heart to elasticity.<br/> ' Pa...', " Papiko! " stop it. I'm fine ... Gbekui rushed to the squirrel and grabbed it into a cuddle. He brushed it's fur and the holy light subsided. All of Gbekui's deep cuts from the queen's thorough punishment earlier in the day were all healed. He smiled at the being and patted it on the head. <br/> Let's go home my friend. Dinner should be ready by now.<br/>It's been a long day. ( Yawns) <br/>Where their feet stepped, fireflies jumped into the air and created a beautiful scene as dwarf and squirrel made their way to who knows where.<br/> </p>