Mission

I still find it difficult to realize. I have been accepted as a Blade, how marvelous… Not only that, but Tariro and Shungu have also been accepted. I am relieved for them. They deserved it. Yes, even you, Shungu. No matter how uncomfortable I may feel around you, you have worked as hard as Tariro and me to achieve your goal. Moreover, you also have greatly supported Tariro, and I’m grateful for your generosity. For sure, this is a very precise and targeted generosity, but it is there nonetheless, so I thank you.

I wonder what will happen next for us. Will we receive a more precise and intense training? Will we have the opportunity to train with real steel weapons, as we did during the trial?

After the long-awaited announcement from the Herald, we learned that the supervisor from each group would find a moment to speak privately with the new members. I was not surprised to discover that each group had a supervisor. It seems to be something necessary to coordinate everything. I do not know the details of the missions every group has to carry out when going outside, but I am sure it needs a large amount of preparation. On the other hand, I wonder who the supervisor of the Blades is. From my previous experience and regarding the usual member coming into the training room to exercise their fighting skills, I would stop my judgment on Mundra. In my point of view, he is the best fighter within The Community. And I do not say this so I can strew roses at my feet. Still, I indeed am one of the few who can hold their ground against him. Anyway, Tariro and I have planned to tidy the corridors and rooms this afternoon. We almost never decide to choose this work activity, as it is one of the least interesting. But, for once, we both feel rather thankful due to our recent acceptance into the Blades. We want to pay back The Community that welcomed us warmly.

Then, as we are both sweeping the floor with a broom in our hands, footsteps can be heard from the other end of the long corridor that separates the women’s bedrooms. Neither Tariro nor I pay attention to it. Some people often come back to their room for one hour or two in the afternoon to rest if they have finished their daily work duty earlier. Mundra is the one to reach us while we carry out our task. Always wearing the same look of deep confidence with his precisely cut short hair, Mundra raises his voice so we can hear him easily, even though he is still some feet away from us.

“I am glad to find both of you. As the Herald told you this morning, the supervisor of the Blades must speak with you. So, here I am.”

Tariro and I look at each other with not a hint of discovery in our eyes. During the meal, we had spoken with Shungu about the most probable supervisor from our group, and it was Mundra on everybody’s mind. I nod cheerfully. Knowing who was going to come does not mean I am not interested in what he has to say.

Smiling from my curious eyes, Mundra continues, “Tomorrow, every new member has a free day. Which means that The Community allows you to leave the building and go where you want in the city of Gungara. You must simply come back at the beginning of the night. Feel free to do what you want as long as you do not expose your affiliation to The Community.”

Pausing through his instructions, his smile widened as if different news was waiting for us. Mundra ultimately concludes with the last and most important piece of information,

“The next day, you will face your first mission as a Blade. It will include every new member and me, no more, no less. This way, I will have an easier time managing all of you without busying my head with the other more experienced Blades… That’s it, you know everything. There is nothing else to tell you. Rest well and see you both the day after tomorrow.”

Without giving us any chance to respond, he leaves in an instant. Apparently, there are some new Blades members he has yet to find. Reacting more quickly than I, Tariro chuckles,

“There are not many people waiting for me outside. I will probably benefit most from this day by getting plenty of rest, as Mundra hinted we should.”

Not completely sharing Tariro’s opinion, I state my decision, “That’s definitely a good idea, but I won’t follow you on this. I have some plan of my own.”

Then, I explain to Tariro what I mean and who I wish to visit tomorrow. Her eyes are focused, and she stops sweeping the ground as I explain my plan. Once I am done, she answers with a hug and wishes me good luck. Her hands are soft and gentle on my upper back. She grips me sincerely, the warmth of her body spreading to me as her fingers slide with care on the bottom of my neck. I can never refuse a hug from Tariro.

The next morning, I woke up early, determined to make use of this day and finally catch up with a long-made promise. One whole year had passed since my feet felt the outside breeze, free from the walls in The Community gardens. The sunlight is somewhat more intense, and the wind fresher as it bounces between the streets. Being away from a familiar environment for a long time helps us see it with new eyes when we return. Indeed, with my newborn spirit, each house of Gungara brims with history and magnificent details. I never really grasped how hazardous the stones composing the houses were. Someone sufficiently inspired could see various shapes and patterns emerging from this random chaos. On my way, I am able to draw the head of a crocodile and the silhouette of a msasa tree leaf.

Today’s weather is unbalanced, the sky varies from gray clouds, short falls of rain, and sunny spells. However, the temperature is high enough not to get uncomfortable. It helps me finish my small trip as I see the house I am looking for at the far end of my field of vision. Nothing has changed, a modest stone house with one large tree in the garden. This is the house from my previous lover, the one I promised to come back and give news to one year later. Here I was, right before the door, hesitant to announce my presence.

Breathing slowly, once, twice, thrice, I find some courage and gather my strength to knock on the door. I wait a few seconds before a middle-aged woman stands before me. I instantly recognize her. She is Nyasha, the mother of Imani, my former lover. Her hair is dark brown with well-cared curls forming a natural sphere above her head. I glimpse some slight white hair, which did not exist one year ago. Her features are calm and serene. Age cannot hide from her face, but it suits her. Wisdom emanates from her eyes. She is dressed simply in a large pale purple tunic. I fear that she does not recognize me, but it does not happen as she puts me in her arms without saying anything. I accept it pleasantly, even though I was the one to ran away from her son’s life. She does not seem to hold any grudge against me. Thanks, Nyasha. Your kindness means a lot to me.

Entering her house, I wonder if Imani or his sister is in the house, but it does not seem to be the case. Hearing my untold question, Nyasha speaks,

“Imani and Runako left the Kingdom of Zimori. Thanks to your own experience and Imani’s various trips to Linghua when he was younger, his sister and he have decided to live on the other side of the sea. I receive some news from them from time to time, and they seem to be happy…” her voice breaks a little. This must be difficult for her to recount those events, and this is as difficult for me to hear. Unable to ponder my own emotions, I let her continue.

“Imani could not bear your absence and left to become a healer. Runako followed him to start a new life as a merchant. Thanks to your people, my children can now live the life they always dreamed about. I could not be happier for them…”

Silence. I travel back one year, to the moment I found the courage to join the Community and serve Yulin, the spirit of the moon. So, my former lover has already left to become a recognized healer. I continue to not understand why men are not allowed to practice healing in Zimori… And the same thing is true on the other side. This Kingdom does not trust women to manage money, so a woman cannot trade goods. This is marvelous if Runako found a way to work as a merchant. I remembered how both Imani and Runako had difficulty talking to one another. I am glad to know they were able to help each other by leaving together.. My eyes start to feel blurry as I think about their choices. With some effort, I respond to Nyasha,

“I promised your son to come back in one year. I knew and even hoped that he would be far away by then. This is what’s best for him and his sister… Still, I would lie if I told you that I had not wished to hug him once more. If you have the chance to write him, please, Nyasha, just tell him that I came to visit.”

She nods to my words, unable to utter anything else. I wait a bit for her to recover before accepting her offer of a meal. We cook together, mostly in silence, simply appreciating one another’s company. Her own mother, Imani’s grandmother, is in the other room, sleeping soundly. She is very old now and needs someone to take care of her daily. This is one of the reasons why Nyasha did not leave with her children. The other aspect is her work. She is a renowned healer in Gungara. Almost everyone knows of her exploits. My former lover’s passion for healing emerged from observing his mother when he was a little boy. She cares so much for others. I really admire her.

Time passes, and as the middle of the afternoon points out, she encourages me to leave so she can take care of her mother before leaving for visiting a patient. We hug each other one last time, and I soon depart from this house with warm souvenirs from my previous life.

I walk back to The Community, a mix of gratefulness and sorrow within me. My former lover is far away, in my home country. How peculiar. We have both decided to live in each other’s places. Live well, Imani, you deserve it.

Coming earlier than expected, I still have lots of time left in my day. However, I do not know how to occupy it. I am not used to having that much free time in a day. Since I joined The Community, every day has been busier than the previous one. Perhaps I should follow Tariro’s idea and sleep a few more hours until the end of the afternoon. I am certain that my sleep is lacking from the moment I began to meditate for the spirit of the moon, Yulin. How can I avoid it? She only responds at night. On the other hand, I got used to it and no longer feel tired.

Well… I will just spend more time in the training room. Tomorrow, Tariro, Shungu, and I have our first mission as Blades. I would rather feel confident about it. The rest of the day goes by smoothly as I continue to sharpen my skills with a spear and a shield.

My evening meal and night meditation also go without any problem. In the blink of an eye, I am already in the hall the following morning, communicating with the spirit of the sun, Zuva, along with everyone else. As it ends, I join Mundra, the supervisor of the Blades, who is waiting for us at the entry of the training room. The other new members are here, too. We are a total of six, seven if we include Mundra. For now, nobody talks much, and a light sense of tension and anxiety lingers in the atmosphere. Without uttering a word, Mundra waves his hand, asking us to follow. We walk until we reach the opposite side of the building. We have reached the men’s bedrooms. Unsurprisingly, neither Tariro nor I know this section well. We all stop in front of one of the doors, not knowing why we are here. Mundra takes out an old iron key and uses it. We discover that one of the bedrooms is in reality an armory. Various steel weapons fill the wall. Under them, some pieces of armor are stored. Those are the same ones as the equipment worn by the guards in Gungara: leather breast coverings, shoulder wraps, and headbands. Each of us finds the most appropriate outfit and weapons, preparing for the mission to come.

Tariro does not have much difficulty finding an armor that fits her. She has always been slimmer than I. As for me, I have a huge difficulty in finding an armor corresponding to my proportions. You can tell that not a single woman ever needed to wear those things. The leather covering for the chest compressed my breasts. This is far from being comfortable… Yet, I have no other option, so I grin and bear it as women often do.

Once we are all ready, Mundra looks at us with approval, his silhouette surrounding us with order and certainty. His armor fits perfectly, like a second skin. You can tell that this outfit is his favorite one. Right now, right here, he is our supervisor, there is no doubt about it. Accordingly, he starts his brief, “Next time you have a mission, you can directly wait before the armory now that you know of its existence. So, let’s move on. Here is the introduction for today’s mission. The field’s advisor needs our help. He’s one of the four most powerful people in the Kingdom of Zimori after the king himself. He owns and controls most of the fields providing food to Gungara. And, in this period, his workers currently undergo the main harvest of the year. Those few days are very important for the advisor, and he can’t risk losing anything. However, he knows that some crazy thieves often attempt to rob portions of his harvest at night. As the official guards are already occupied within the city, the advisor does not have enough manpower to cover the period of the harvest. This is where we arrive to help him protect his supplies in exchange for interesting funds for The Community. The fields are right on the outskirts of Gungara, on the other side of the high walls and the river. We will have to walk for around two hours to reach the place. Also, we will stay awake all night to protect the fields, so be aware of your limits. We will not take rounds, nor will we eat after our departure. Things will not always be this difficult, but we want you to surpass yourselves for this first mission.” Mundra sighs, “Any question?”

No one asks. Either Mundra’s explanation was very clear, which is the case in my opinion, or the ones who did not grasp everything have not dared to share their uncertainty. Although it was precisely explained, I am surprised by the difficulty of our first mission. The training we went through over the last few months, along with the trial, makes perfect sense in this instant. They were not kidding.

We soon eat our meal with special dry supplies in the room adjacent to the armory and leave The Community. Tariro, Shungu, and I try to stay together on our way to the outside fields.

We cross the high walls surrounding the city. They are grand and majestic. The sun has erased many tints of the stones, making it a uniform sage barrier, rousing with age and sturdiness. The same thing cannot be said about the bridge. Various passages damaged the wood a little by little. I do not know how often they have to build it over, but I am certain that it happened at least once since I came for the first time in the Kingdom of Zimori. Adding to the overall unique scene, the river around Gungara is also baffling. No matter how many times I had the opportunity to enter the city, I never tire of the sight. Being connected to the ocean makes the water movements of the city rather intense. The surface gleams with power and abundance. I can easily understand why the ancestors of the Kingdom of Zimori decided to build their main city in this area. There is no doubt that all of it was already beautiful even without the city.

Soon, we can see the endless fields coming in our sight. Most of them are covered with sorghum, a consistent grain that we can use with many recipes. It fills one’s stomach easily, and it is not that difficult to cook with. What I like most about sorghum is its deep brownish-red color that appears right before the harvest. It creates a beautiful glow on the horizon, as if the sun spirit Zuva had descended to the earth to share a portion of their grace. Along the fields, granaries resembling tiny houses are dispersed. A middle-sized hatch is visible on the side of each granary. It is needed to put the grains inside when they have dried enough. And that is the exact reason why guards are needed. A short period of time is necessary before the sorghum can be dry enough. It can go from one to three days. Meanwhile, the sorghum is spread on reed mats to make it dry. Next to it, we can see many waving baskets. Those are needed when one is harvesting the sorghum. The large basket has one handle on each side. This way, the worker picking up the grains will put them inside before moving the basket alongside them until it is full. I wonder how much work is needed to craft one waving basket. The patterns created by the weaving are precise and exquisite. When I compare it to what we do in the Empire of Linghua, it is nothing alike. Even if the basket from Linghua seems sturdier due to the material difference, the patterns of palm leaves from Zimori are too beautiful to ignore.

Stopping on the edge of the fields, Mundra scatters each of us all around so there is no area that we do not survey. Luckily, Tariro and I are next to each other, only separated by a few feet. Minutes after minutes, the night falls on our shoulders. Everything is calm and comforting. At the moment, I do not feel any tiredness. We are already far into the night, but thanks to my usual meditations for the spirit of the moon Yulin, I feel good. On the other hand, I cannot say the same about Tariro. I sometimes watch her as she drifts off into the night, her upper chest rising and falling with each slow breath.

Teasing her, I suggest, “Hey Tariro, feeling tired?”

I watch her waking up from my question before she says, “Have you said something?”

“Yes, simply that you are sleeping during your first mission. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

Distinguishing her facial features, I can see that she understood my sarcasm. Keeping her seriousness, she retorts, “Xia, how do you manage to stay awake so easily? Do you have any tricks?”

I am not surprised by her reaction. I know she is still a bit stressed by the mission. Adapting my tone to her, I reply, “Hmm… I think about important spirits like Zuva. Connecting with them helps me to stay awake.”

“Oh! I see. That’s a good idea. I will try that, but first I have to leave you for a few minutes. My body is no longer asleep thanks to you, but now, it urges me to pee… I will do my best to be as fast as I can.” Hurriedly, she moves away silently, her legs brushing against the closest sorghum plants.

I sigh. Tariro is definitely a unique character. Suddenly, my ears react to some strange noises behind me. This does not make sense. What kind of noises could it be? Worst, it comes from the reed mats where the sorghum is drying. Tariro left in the other direction. Do not tell me I am alone when thieves decide to show up? Wondering, I move in the direction of the noise, trying to discern what is happening.

Damn! This is my luck… Three people are trying to hide between the sorghum stems. They seem to be wearing dark brown clothes, their faces covered by tissue. As I get closer while remaining silent as the night, I make out the shapes of waving baskets full of sorghum on the backs of the thieves. Now, there is no hesitation. I must act. Once I am close enough, almost ten feet behind the closest one, I rush into action.

I stab the back of the right foot before me with the tip of my spear. The man screams and falls to the ground, alerting his comrades. The other two immediately run off, no longer caring about being heard. Even with their two woven baskets full, they are much faster than I expected. I have difficulty catching on with the second thief. When I reach his level, he stumbles to the ground on his own. Astounded, I stop my track right away. What happened? As I try to understand the situation, a hardened stick of wood plunges into my stomach and touches my ribs. I cough and feel dizzy for a second. However, I am fast to recover, and, as the man prepares his stance for a second shot, I crash his face against my shield. With the hurt he inflicted on me, I am in no mood to ponder my strength. He falls on the spot. Now, there is no misunderstanding about why he is on the ground. That will teach you! Sadly, the last thief is already too far away. This short altercation gave him enough time to run…

As I start to think about the many consequences, I hear a sliding noise coming from the direction where the last thief has just fled. Who is it now? Then, as my eyes adapt to the coming silhouette, I smile. Well done, Tariro! She is coming back from her break, the last thief unconscious behind her as she pulls him over with one hand. I congratulate her, and soon we are joined by Mundra, our supervisor, and Mbiri, another new member. They heard the clash and came over to help. Yet, it is already over. It is what it is. Tariro and I are just too efficient.

After hearing what happened in detail, Mundra adds, “You did great. Who would have expected our first two women in the Blades to be so good? Are you sure you’re real women?”

Tariro and I look at each other in silence, not knowing how to react to this weird, awkward compliment. Next to us, Mbiri laughs with ease. He seems to find it very funny, too funny for my taste. I glance in his direction, a killing glare in my eyes. In an instant, he shuts up, and silence comes back. I prefer that.

The remaining hours of the night go by smoothly, and we come back to The Community without meeting any other problem. On our way, we dropped the three thieves. The real guards will know how to deal with them. By the time we have removed our outfits and weapons and put them back in the armory, Tariro and I are already in the refectory, glad to eat a long-deserved meal after this tiring night. Once we reached the building, Mundra asked us to hold on and stay awake until the beginning of the evening. This would be a bad idea to break our sleep rhythm and go to bed too early. We agreed and, after our meal, went to work once again in the cleaning group for the afternoon. Before, I could not understand what kind of people would prefer the cleaning work activity compared to the other ones. Completing this first mission makes me realize that this is the best activity to survive with a minimal amount of energy. I guess that most people choosing this work for the afternoon are groups coming back from draining missions. I hope this will not happen too often…

Finally, I step into my room. It has been so long. Feeling the urge to sleep, I prepare to lie on my bed. However, a powerful sensation coming from nowhere decides to grab my insides. This must be Yulin. They seem to be waiting for me. I understand, they are right to remind me. My first and most important role is to commune with Yulin, no matter how exhausted I am…

Standing in the middle of the room, I stretch my arms. After doing this so many times, my body knows the motion by heart, its rhythm memorized in my flesh. Calling for Yulin, my mouth opens,

“Moon raises, mind praises.

They are the peak of our dreams, yet they protect.

They are the limits of our streams, yet they connect.

Yulin, beauty of white, shining of light.

Reach your devotee and show them the way,

for they truly wish to reach the bay.”

Abruptly, I sense Yulin coming to me in a baffling manner. They are there, more strongly than ever. By each second passing, the feeling grows. It has been a few days since I sensed Yulin emerging and awakening as I never did before. I do not know how, nor can I explain it clearly, but Yulin is more present. I suspect that something is happening to the moon. As I observe it daily, I can now tell his changes and variations more precisely, not confining myself to the moon phases.

Then, in a fraction, silence. A new feeling rummages in my mind, something odd, almost like a hand stretching to embrace me. I feel called in a new way to the moon. A different connection is being created between Yulin and me. I can sense things more clearly, almost as if Yulin were talking to me. For a reason I cannot explain, they are asking me to be prepared for tomorrow night. The impossible might happen. Which impossible? What is it? Have I won the trust of the spirit of the moon? After all this time? I ponder the questions over and over as my connection with Yulin dissipates and my body falls on the bed. Sleep comes easily.