The Kalahari

Fictional experience of two boys of the Kalahari.

“Sky Warrior”

Deep in the Kalahari, the sun does not rise, but instead breathe, alive. Under the gasp of the cosmos the thin branched, thorny trees glint of the fiery light, shining down upon the savannah. The grasses grow gold, rising tall, and waving like a friend you can't remember. Baked, is the ground, cracked like a bone spilling marrow of richer substance underneath. The world is renewed, and the nocturnal creatures flee, for they are not welcome in this new land. The land of the visible, illuminating the creatures of Africa.

The light first hits the tiny scarab beetle, its sleek body repelling it like a foreign invader. This light of course meets the eye of the raptor, the other eye focusing down upon a meerkat. The meerkat all too aware, swoops down into its’ burrow, but not before it meets the eye of the rattlesnake. The rattlesnake, now lost in chance scuttles away, only to be near trampled by a slender horned gazelle. This gazelle has attracted the view of a great and mighty beast, the lion, waiting to make it’s move. Off to the side is the cheetah, to weak to compete with the lion. Farther away, hidden in the shadows there is a puma, the color of the clouds above.

This puma lies in the darkness, shielding itself from predators and light. Pure white, is its coat, from head to tail. It seems as if the black had burned away, leaving behind a coating of milky ash on the animal's skin. The animal is said to have come from the gods, to be of the sky itself. Miles away, it can be heard, bellowing back and forth the name “Sky Warrior, Sky Warrior”.

The fire bursts into spectacular uncontrollable rage. Willow branches are tossed inside, and it grows larger and larger. Dancing around, in a parade of reverence for the Sky Warrior itself, is nearly the entire tribe. The celebration goes on, but off hiding under a canopy of canvas are two boys. Dark skin, like that of wet mud, cover the boy’s lean muscles. A loincloth, made from the skin of a gazelle hangs down from there waste to upper thighs. Their hair, curly and short, holds nicely to their heads, making all so apparent the boredom on their faces. The older boy brings his long arm to his face, pressing the skin on his forehead white with his palm. “Khari, is the Sky Warrior for real?”. Khari stares in front of himself for a few moments, but then whips his head forward with certainty, “Of course he is real. Acachi you dope, I know where he lives”. Acachi leans in closer, bright brown eyes beckoning for more knowledge. Khari continues “He comes out by dawn, to give good to the world. That is where we would find him”. “But Khari, lions hunt in dawn”. “Ah yes, but you see, the Sky Warrior comes to protect the true and maintain the order of beings”. Acachi inches forward, his voice audible as a whisper, “Let us find him”. “Of course my dear Acachi, but first we must dance”. Under the rising sun the two boys joined the circle around the fire. The sun up above illuminates their faces, while the fire down below does so more intensely.

The shadow lay right at the boy's feet as they began their departure. Acachi held a gourd, filled to the brim with water to his lips, and then let it swing down on its harness. Khari just finished stuffing a few small pieces of fruits into his mouth and then began to speak with his mouth still full, “We head to where the grasses meet with the forest, and then we wait”. Acachi felt a cold rush travel down his spine, he shivered. He remembered the stories, of men twice their size and age being brought down by lion, trampled by wildebeest, even mauled by cayman at waterholes. Acachi, still said nothing. He faced his head straight, looked towards the barely visible grasses, which would lead to the trees, and ran. He broke into a comfortable, effortless stride. As if nature and grace were aligning together at this moment. Khari, caught by surprise sprung forth by his side. “Sky Warrior, here we come” Khari shouted. Acachi said nothing, he only nodded in agreement.

They ran for hours, under the scorching sun, determination fueling ambition, but mortality reaches reality.  The air wheezed out of Kari’s mouth like a hissing snake, seemingly pushing him back. “Aaaaa-cachi, waaait” he wailed. Acachi stopped and looked back, the expression on his face seemed eerily close to that of a disappointed father. “The Sky Warrior will not come if we are not there”, Acachi superficially stated. “Well, about that, I…”. Khari stopped dead in his tracks, as if hit by a train. The look on Acachi’s face edged all too close to disappointment. Acachi, without saying a word, broke back into a stride and flew down the sun baked clay. His feet grasping the ground, the grasses were in sight. “A joke” Khari shouted, “It was just a joke”. But Acachi was too far gone, he couldn't hear him, nor was he listening. The warrior would be found.

Now miles away, the tribe was no longer dancing and the fire ceased long ago. All that remain are the ashes, the powdery white coating to be used as ceremonial paint. “My boy” a lone mother cried. “Where has my boy gone to?”. Not ten yards away, as if by echo, another mother yelped as well. “My Khari; Where has he gone to?”. The two mothers shuffled over to each other, still lost in thought. Tribe men and women ran over, fearful of the possibilities. Already the murmur had begun “The lions will rip you to shreds”. “Ya, but it's the hyenas you gotta watch. They'll chew up your bones”. “The caymans, now that'll getcha”. The murmur stopped as the woman began to converse. “I'm going out for our boys”, Acachi’s mother pronounced. “I could not call myself a child of the earth, if I do not try to keep safe my child”. A man broke out of the pack, a warped grimace extended across his face. “No wives. Let us lone men search for your child”. A deep voiced shout of agreement came from the back of the pack. The woman shook there heads. “We are mothers, we protect our children”. Taking no more questions, they broke into a stride of where they were last seen. Like expert trackers hunting for the kill, they used Acachi’s and Khari’s faint footprint on the caked mud ground to lead them in the right direction. They ran side by side, like lionesses, their eyes glared fierce.

Acachi and Khari made it to the grasses, the forest was about a half mile away. Their bodies felt excruciatingly hot and caked over with turnt up dust. There eyes stung from staring into the sun ahead, and there mouths were as dry as the ground beneath them. “A break”, was all Khari could manage before he fell to the ground. “What a buffoon”, said Acachia as he walked over and handed him the water gourd. Acachi fell to his side and began to rest. “Khari?”. “Ya?”. “I know the white warrior isn't real. Or at least he wouldn't show himself to us”. Khari only responded with silence. “But, it’s okay, this is fun”. Khari turned over to Acachi with a wide eyed grin and began jokingly punching him. The boy’s broke into playful roughhousing, looking very much like two lion cubs. Maybe so a little too much because before they knew it two lionesses were upon them.

Acachi made it to his feet, right as the largest lioness sank its jaws into his arm. Blood seeped into the lionesses mouth, but her grip remained unchanged. Acachi began beating at its’ skull, all the while it wouldn't let go. The sun was beginning to set. And the hues above turned from yellow to orange to blood red and purple. The eyes of the lioness remained distant, as if she was as unlucky to be there as Acachi. To the side of him Khari was still on the ground, as the lioness went for his neck. This one being smaller, he was able to ward her off with kicks and punches, but he would tire, they both knew it.

Acachi looked at his arm, he was badly wounded. He looked to Khari, he would not last much longer, and gashes from the long sharp claws were appearing all over his body. In a flash, like that of a cloudburst, came the Sky Warrior. Its’ body slammed into the lion attacking Acachi, sprawling out its claws and grazing it across its face. Not to kill, but to warn. It sleek white body moved fluidly, blue eyes shone bright, with a maw consisting of faint white whiskers. The puma was smaller than the lionesses, but it was stronger. It moved like a shadow and fulfilled its’ action of scaring the first lioness off. The second one now ready to maul into Khari as he loosened his control through weakness, turned to face the white warrior. The Sky Warrior did not attack, but instead stared, deep into the lionesses eyes. She turned and ran, but not before bowing. As soon as he came, he left, and the boys collapsed unconscious. The mothers arrived hours later, to find them badly hurt, but not dead. “Oh sweet Khari and Acachi. What kept you from death?”.

Upon waking up, the boys were in an enormous amount of pain. Their mothers screaming for them never to run off again, while kissing and hugging them the entire time. When all settled down, the mother's lined the boys up together, and simply asked “Why? Why did you run off?”. The boys did not answer, but instead took off running towards the campfire. “Acachi. Khari. Get back here.”, the mothers yelled angrily wondering if their children had lost their sanity. The two boys bowed by the fire, and reached under their loincloths. They pulled out two white tufts of hair, held it up high for all to see while still bowing. By the time all had noticed, celebration broke out. The boys threw the hair into the fire. The night sky beckoned down to the fire as all held its attention. The dancing, nor the fire did not stop until morning. The Sky Warrior lives on.