Saint Joseph School

((The events in this arc take place in the past during my absence, but after the events just recently portrayed in the work: Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down"))

"Dar, we need you to come home for the weekend."

The words struck Dar deep inside his core, but only reflected in a gruff scowl that frightened the stucco wall into fearing for its continued un-broken face.

"Why? What's so important that ya need me down there now? It's a five hour train ride with all the connectin' rails."

"It's about your grandad." Dar froze. He knew exactly why they wanted him back. It was something to do with the Angavu. While Dar's commune with the Spirits was secret from most of the family, his dad's side of the family knew about it. Specifically his dad and his uncles, sons of the previous Angavu before Dar. They never told him about it, or admitted that they knew about the Spirits, but the Spirits themselves told him. They knew. The spirits knew the sons of Irvin Brown, the last Angavu, and had spoken to them. Uncle Scottie let on once that he knew about the Spirits, but that was all. An aside comment asking how Dar was handling his "roots". But that wasn't enough. It wasn't anything that could tell him about what the hell the Angavu was, and what it was supposed to be. An old hurt rose up inside him, an anger and sadness aimed towards the family that kept a secret of who he was from him, even when he came face to face with the deadly and frightening truth.

For a long while, Dar stared at the wall, considered punching it instead of yelling at his father, which wouldn't have helped anyone because his mother would hear of it and he'd get it worse than he'd ever be able to give it within five years. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to see them, to listen to them as they hid behind the idea that he was still ignorant to his identity.

If they wish to talk to you about the Kongwe Angavu, then perhaps you should go.

Indeed. They would be able to tell you far more about being the Angavu than we could, of course.

The hissing chuckle of the androgenous Janja only increased the anger Dar felt.

Stupid son of a...mocking me in my own head...

"Dar?"

"Yeah dad...I'll be there." Dar mumbled, hollowly. The response surprised him at first. He wasn't expecting to say yes, but something prodded his body to do so.

"Alright, I'll email you the tickets. I'll see you soon Dar."

"Yeah, alright." Dar mumbled, wanting to punch the wall again and hung up. Fighting the urge to throw the cell phone at the wall, he compromised by tossing the phone lightly on the bed and storming out the door, banging into Thorn who wasn't watching while he walked down the hallway of the quad. Dar didn't even look back as the much smaller, winged boy was spun about from the force. Slamming the door open, Dar jumped into the air, letting a cold, slithering sensation burst through his veins as his body contorted and twisted in the air, turning into a skeletal snake covered in a transparent, ameoboic skin that shifted and fluctuated so much that it didn't hold any sort of form to allow it to be called anything remotly serpentine to match the skeleton.

Clad in the form of the Avatar of Janja the Cunning, the Angavu took to the skies, the skin twisting, and reaching forward in sinewy tentacles as if to grab the very fabric of the sky in order to pull it forward. Leaving the school grounds, the Angavu soared over the skies of Paragon until he found himself in the King's Row section. The run down ghetto of the city was still filled with trash and gang members. Skulls hung out on street corners, or skulked next to buildings, ready to spraypaint tags on walls, or snatching and grabbing from poor individuals who were trying to walk home. Flashes of his own run in with a gang just a few years ago blitzed through his mind as another flash of anger rolled over his heart. Descending in a lazy arc, the Angavu slithered in front of a pair of Skulls, already trying to mug a young man.

"Stop shaking you punk! Get your walle-What the HELL is that?!" A skull yelled from beneath his mask, looking up with widened eyes at the frightening form of Janja's Avatar.

"Shoot it!" The other cried, frantically, forgetting their mugging victim and turning his revolver towards the Angavu. The skeletal jaws of the Webweaver's Avatar opened, spewing two lances of bright silvery energy directly at both of the Skull's hands. The guns flew out of their hands, causing them to double over in pain, clutching burnt flesh from where the energy seared their skin.

"Run you assholes. Before I really get mad." Dar's watery voice, amplified by the power of Janja, sneered. The thugs ran faster than Dar expected. The mugging victim shook, hidden behind a trash can, looking towards Dar with such fear that it actually frightened Dar.

"Monster! Help! A hero! I need a hero! A monster!" He cried, running down the alleyway behind him, away from Dar. The snake-like avatar floated in the air, watching him leave. The cold sensation crawled out of his blood, like placing frozen hands in hot water, warmth flooded up his limbs, back to his core as the Avatar of Janja bled back into that of Darweshi Brown. Dar's eyes kept looking back towards the alleyway, emotions tightly under wraps beneath the mask that was his face.

"A monster..." Dar whispered. Part of him believed it. The part of him that remembered how he treated people. Tossed them aside, or physically hurt them. Images of Jess, Beth and Luke hung in his head, overshadowed by the frightening visage of Ghadhabu. The other part told him that it was a lie. Billi's face and voice prominent in that wave of mental images. He could hear her voice, with her southern drawl that made him laugh a little bit inside each time he heard it, saying in his head that he wasn't a monster. How could she love a monster?

Monsters always love other monsters. I should know.

Dar tried to surpress a shudder.

He needed to see Billi.

Standing in front of the front door to his house, Dar was reminded of the last time he was here...for Thanksgiving Dinner so many months ago. He took a shuddering breath and steeled his resolve. He was going to just open the door, walk in like the long awaited son, and calmly ask his father and uncles just what they knew about the Angavu.

Dar's thoughts drifted back towards Billi. They had gone off to Orbouros, their usual spot, and talked for a long time. He always seemed to be more vulnerable around Billi. He didn't know what it was, but he could take off the mask and stony exterior, if not in totality, at least in part so that he could vent some of that building pressure within him. She was, as always, full of smiles and understanding touches. Her skin felt like a cool spring breeze during a heat wave which always seemed to give him goosebumps. The best part was, she understood him. Even when he didn't say anything, she seemed to know what it was that he was thinking. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was so attracted to her...

Her hug and knowing smile was the send off he needed to make the trip all the way down to Philadelphia to see his parents again. He could see the sadness in her eyes about having to be separated for a few days, but could tell that in her heart, she knew just as well as he did, that it would have to happen.

Now he was back home, looking intently at the peeling green paint on the door to his house, which was in a half-way diapilated state of disrepair. Another shuddering breath and intent focus on the door to drown out the whisperings in the back of his head, he knocked and pushed the door open. Warmth and smells of sweet potatoes rose from inside, wafting over him like a blanket. For a few seconds, Dar felt like he was five again, coming in from a heavy snowstorm to a warm house and a warm dinner. That soon fell away when his father, along with Uncle Scottie, came walking into the hallway.

"Dar!" His dad said with a smile and outstretched arms. Dar's stomach did a small flip. What the hell was wrong with him?! He was one of the toughest, meanest guys at SJS. A feared linebacker and bolstered as the Angavu. Why was he so afraid right now?

"Heya Sir." Dar said, meekly giving his father a grin and shutting the door behind him.

"Too much a teenager to give your old man a hug huh?" He said softly, with a curl to his lips in amusement. Dar shrugged, uncomfortable.

"What's this all about Dad? And how much leave do ya get anyways Uncle Scottie?" The large marine barked out a laugh, his voice rough from constant yelling. "Where's Uncle Ray?"

Dar's dad and his brother Scottie traded looks. "Well Dar, he couldn't make it. He does have a new baby on the way."

"In any case, we need to talk. It's about your grandpa." Scottie said gruffly.

Dar looked at both of them with a stony expression. It seemed as if neither of them wanted to come out with it and actually tell him.

The hell with it.

"This is about grandad bein' the Angavu right?" Dar said quickly and with a fair bit of venom. The words rocked Dar's dad back on his heels, and Uncle Scottie narrowed his eyes, keeping his shock well controlled.

"How...how do you know that word?" Dar's dad asked, getting back some of his composure. Dar's fists clenched and his shoulders started to shake.

Yes Angavu...see how they keep secrets from you. If they knew how strong you were, they would've told you. No. You are weak. They wanted to protect you. And they insult you.

Yes. And on purpose.

"How could you not tell me...." Dar whispered, still shaking. "How could you not tell me about him!? About me!?" Dar cried out, looking up at his father, his mouth curled into a sneer and eyes burning red hot. A sudden realization came over Dar's dad. It was visible in his face. The secret was out and he knew it.

"Oh Lord...you know..."

"He was going to figure it out sooner or later." Scottie barked, his stance shifting slightly, putting more weight on the balls of his feet.

"Of course I figured it out God damnit! I'm the next freakin' Angavu! Me! I've been having to deal with these damn ghosts for years now! Ever since I got SHOT!" The two men exchanged glances. "And you never told me! You knew but didn't tell me anything! You sent me off to SJS because that's the only place that'd take a schizophrenic black kid that could survive three gunshot wounds! I've had to deal with all of this shit on my own! You sent me there because you knew I had the Spirits but you wouldn't tell me ANYTHING about them!" Dar raved, his voice getting a hint of crackling fire within it, characteristic of Ghadhabu. Dar's dad looked at him, sad and hurt.

"Dar...we're sorry..."

"Damn right you should be sorry!" Dar cried, taking a step forward. It was then that Uncle Scottie moved. He was fast, faster than Dar could think, or even react. The large Marine grabbed one of Dar's arms at the wrist and pulling on it while twisting. Suddenly, Dar was against the wall with his arm twisted painfully behind him.

"Calm down boy. Now." Scottie leaned in, whispering in Dar's ear. "Don' let him manipulate you. You know who I mean."

Dar struggled in his Uncle's arms, but found them to be a strong as cast iron. Sighing, Dar tried to pull back on his raging anger. "Yessah." He said softly.

"Now then boy," Scottie said, taking over the conversation. "Your parents and I knew that you were the Angavu. It's hereditary. It will only pass on after the previous Angavu dies and it passes through the male bloodline. Your grandad died before you were born, and you were the first boy to be born in the family after he died. You were destined to be the Angavu. So yes, we knew you were the Angavu."

"Then why-"

"We didn't tell you about it because the Angavu was not supposed to manifest this early." Dar's dad said, walking up and putting a calming hand on Dar's shoulder. "We knew it got jumpstarted after your accident and we sent you to SJS because we thought they could quiet or supress the Spirits until your mind was mature enough to handle them. Obviously, it didn't work."

Dar's body shuddered. Trying to protect him...by lying. By keeping the truth from him. Ghadhabu was right...so was Janja. They lied to him.

"Darweshi." Dar's dad said softly. "We didn't know how badly you were suffering through being with the Spirits. Not until recently."

"What are you talking about?"

"We know about your latest attempt to synchronize the Spirits to your soul." Scottie growled. Dar's blood froze. They knew? How in the hell could they know? The only people there were himself, the Spirits, and Billi. Sure there was the huge ass tree, but there was no one there!

"How? What are you talking about?"

"You're from a family of people descended from Maasai Laiboni Darweshi. We know all about Spiritwalks. Even though we can't go on them, we know of people who can. There's still an active Laibon in Philly. He's been observing you through Spiritwalks since Thanksgiving."

Rage spiked up in Darweshi again, this time so red hot and powerful, that he almost broke free of his Uncle's surprisingly strong grip. The Marine put more pressure on his joint, keeping it locked.

"What the hell are you doing?! You sent someone to spy on me!? Oh I'm sure he told ya a lot a damn fuckin' things huh?! Spyin' on me an' Billi? He's probably the one who's ta blame for all my problems in the past months! How could you?!"

"Calm down boy. You can ask him yourself if you calm down and act like a man instead of a child."

"What?"

"We're going to take you to meet him."

"Where are we?" Dar asked, getting out of the beaten up Ford pickup truck, wedged tightly between two other cars in the already crammed pay lot.

"We're here to meet the other Laibon, Dar." His dad said, leading the way into a familiar run down pawn shop. Inside, the strong smell of burning incense and leaves wafted up from the floorboards. Rows upon rows of trinkets, on shelves crowded the store with the far walls being covered in various African artifacts.

"Wait..I've been here before." Dar said to himself, remembering the trip he made here to get Billi the horse brush. From behind the counter, the proprietor looked over his newspaper, staring at Dar for a while, then up to his dad and uncle.

"It is time?" The store owner asked, raising a dubious eyebrow. Uncle Scottie nodded gruffly. "Please follow me." The clerk said, putting his paper aside with a sigh and latching the front door shut, turning the "OPEN" sign around in the window. The clerk was small, perhaps five feet three inches, and built like a twig, perhaps even malnourished. Taking out his keys, the clerk fumbled a bit until he grabbed one that looked more wooden than metal, unlocking the door to the back room.

He is an Akamba Laibon. Not as spiritual as the Maasai, but they know what they are doing.

The Akamba were weak and pathetic. They were never entrusted to hold the Angavu. I'd never let Mkulima take the mantle.

Dar grunted, trying to ignore the commentary in his head. So inwardly focused was he, that he didn't pay attention to the surroundings, or what the Laibon was saying.

"Dar?" His dad asked, tapping the boy on the shoulder. Brought out of his daze, Dar looked over to his dad, who pointed to the Laibon.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said." Dar mumbled, quasi-apologetically.

"I said," The Laibon remarked in a slow tone. "That you are still too young to wear the skin of the Angavu." Dar growled at the man. Yeah, of course he was too young. Everyone thought so, so why should he take the role of the Angavu? Oh yeah, because he didn't have a damn choice. "And, you cannot separate yourself from your Guardians."

"Look old man, I didn't have a choice in the matter!" Dar spat at him, taking a step forward, only then realizing just where he was. It seemed as if they had gone from the back of the store into a cave. Which shouldn't have happened, considering that they were just in downtown Philly, where the nearest thing to a cave would be about ten miles south of the store. The cave was dark, dry and almost stifling. The heat had increased a good twenty degrees from the frigid Philly air. If anything, it reminded him of the entrance to Cimerora...

The Laibon smiled, flicking a hand up, causing the walls to erupt in fire, spewing forth from the twisted claws of several torches which rimmed the edge of the cave. It wasn't a gigantic cave, but it was easily big enough to fit Dar's whole football team in it comfortably. Distantly, bright white light shone from the apparent exit. "Watch your step Angavu. Time is short and you are in a dangerous predicament."

Dar grit his teeth, his anger growing up towards the breaking point again. Silvery threads of energy bled out of his skin, rolling down his shoulders. Taking one step forward, Dar slammed his foot down, causing the cave to shake and threads of energy to flow all over the floor of the cave, coating it in an aurora of silver light. "Will someone tell me what the HELL is going on here!?"

Dar's dad and Uncle were pushed back from the force of the stomp, but the Laibon seemed to just smile, taking a few steps toward Dar, seemingly gliding over the ground....no...he WAS gliding over the ground. "Calm down Angavu. I am taking you to my Elder. Elder Kwasi will help you to connect yourself to what you are. All will be revealed then. For now, please, be patient and quiet."

"No, I ain't goin' nowhere until I get some fuckin' answers. What the hell am I doing here? Why the hell did you two bring me to this wacko?! What the hell is this supposed to do?! And where the FUCK am I?!"

The Laibon only smiled, and walked out of the cave. Dar cursed and chased after him, forgetting about his dad and his Uncle behind him. Who needed them? What good were they to him right now?

Dar sailed up the rocky incline, bursting into the harsh sunlight above. Recoiling from the flash, he shielded his eyes and slowly adjusted to the surroundings. About him was tall, golden grass, stretching out in infinite distance, spotted here and there by tall, flat trees. Mountains speckled the distance, along with one larger mountain far to the north. It was insanely tall, and flattened at the top, like a plateau, yet capped with deep white snow. It was a mountain he had seen before, but only in textbooks and dreams. Animal calls filled the sky as long, graceful birds took flight, soaring over hulking bovine creatures with shaggy manes and long horns. Impossibly tall animals so disproportionate that it seemed illogical picked leaves off the sparse trees, wiping them clean of foliage.

Cranes, Wildabeast, and Giraffes oh my.

"Welcome, Angavu, to Africa."

"Africa?" Dar asked, incredulously.

"Yes Angavu. You can see Mount Kilamanjaro on the hori-"

"Africa?!" Dar yelled, interrupting the Laibon. The man blinked at Dar and sighed. "How the hell did we get to Africa?! Are you even listening to me?!" Dar called, charging after the Laibon, who started walking off in a seemingly random direction across the savannah. Surging to keep up, Dar tried to grab the Laibon, but his hand always seemed to come only just a bare inch away from grabbing him. "Would you just stop and let me know what the FUCK is going on here?!" Dar cried, looking about them, suddenly noticing that his dad and his Uncle weren't among them. "Where the hell are my dad and Uncle?"

"They must wait for us to return at the Nexus. They cannot follow you on this journey." The Laibon said simply, not stopping his insanely fast walk across the golden sea of grass. Animals stopped to stare at them when they got close, absently muching on vegetation and giving them rather uninterested glances until they were well clear of them. Dar was sweating, a good five minutes into their trek, still loathing that he had to leave his dad and Uncle back in the cave; but he wasn't going to get any answers standing still...and he felt as if something was drawing him to follow this man, to find out what he had to say, and what was behind the Angavu itself. Intense heat from the unforgiving sun raked over Dar's skin and brow, threatening giving him a wicked sunburn. Hell, that'd be something to explain to Billi, how one of the darkest kids at SJS got sunburnt over the weekend.

"Keep up Angavu. We have much more land to cover." The Laibon called from a good couple dozen yards ahead of him. Dar cursed, spitting on the ground, which had turned dusty and sparse as they continued their journey.

"I am keeping up damnit...." Dar muttered to himself, picking up the pace, feeling it hit him in the side. This was getting worse than some of Coach Water's practices. "How much farther?"

"Until nightfall." Dar cursed. By the looks of things, that'd still be a few hours from now. Minutes bled into hours, and as the hours dragged on, the sun slowly began to set over the horizon, hidden partially behind low mountains. Through their hike, Dar had been witness to hordes of animals he had only seen in zoos. Packs of zebra, with their hooting neighs trotted past him, close enough to toss a stick at if he chose, intent on reaching their own far off destination. Two bull rhinos clashed off in the distance, charging at one another, trying to gore each other with wickedly sharp horns. Shivers ran down Dar's spine as he saw the similarities between the beasts and Ghadhabu himself. The thought drew painful memories back to the surface of his thought. Two herds of gazelle leaped and grazed near the horizon. While the herd feasted, one of them had its head up, staring intently at the two men walking through the savannah, its eyes nearly unblinking and dark, almost piercing Dar's skin and seeing the thing that he was underneath. The ornate black markings on its white and tan face around the eyes reminded him of Billi. The thought gave him a little extra strength to continue moving forward. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it not only for his own state of mind, but for Billi's safety as well.

As the sun turned the sky into a deep purple, threatening to blue and black, a spot of light on the horizon drew Dar's attention. A small fire roared, contained within a pit of stones. Low hedges of wicked looking thorns stretched out in random directions, flowing in some unseen order, like veins in a person's arm.

"We are here, Angavu. You should rest. I introduce you to Mzee Chui in the morning." The Laibon said softly, ushering Darweshi inside a break in the razor-thorn hedges, where a makeshift gate was held open. There were two huts, caged within the hedges, with two smaller cages within the compound that held cattle. Four cattle, one in a cage all by itself, and another cage that had three within that one. The Laibon ushered Dar into the closer of the two huts, which was the one that was more diapilated than the other. Big surprise there...let the elder Laibon get the sweet hut with a roof that didn't have a giant hole in it.

Inside the hut was dirt ground and, surprisingly, military issue aluminum cots with faded and well worn green polyester canvas spread between the cheap metal frame. The walls were sparsely decorated with hanging plant leaves and bottled up pottery with who knows what inside the waxed seal at the top of the neck. But what was most out of place was the Michael Jackson poster, torn in more than a few places, stuck within some of the thatch of the roof. Dar had to laugh a little to himself before resigning to his cot. If the poster was some sort of way to keep Dar from getting angry by confusing him, it worked...for a few seconds at least. Glowering, Dar laid on the cot, furious at the Laibon for leading him on this wild goose chase without telling him anything, despite obviously knowing SOMETHING. He was angry at him for leaving his dad and Uncle behind, even though Hodari whispered that they probably had just gone back through the Nexus...whatever that was...back to Philly. All in all, Dar was just blindly angry because...well...he just was. Life would be so much simpler if this had just never happened to him.

Bitterly, Dar cursed the Angavu and turned over on his cot, staring at the wall, drifting into a fitful sleep.

=================================================================

Dar dreamed. He dreamt of his home in Philly. Of his friends back in Saint Joe's. Of Billi. As his dream continued, it got more and more real. The colors sharpened. Shapes became distinct, and all of Dar's senses started to awaken to the world that was building around him. He stood atop a mountain. It was decently warm, despite the snow that flurried about him and picked up on the ground. The wind picked up, kicking the snow flurries into a small blizzard. Shielding his eyes, Dar peered through the swirling snow, where a figure started to appear. It was the gazelle he had seen earlier, only it looked slightly different. It looked sleeker, longer, and slightly taller. Moreover, the facial markings beneath the eyes seemed to shift and move, making ornate designs under the dark eyes. Eyes that were just solid orbs of jet black. The ears perked up, facing Dar. Then, when he took a step towards the gazelle, it bounded off, lost in the snow in the blink of an eye.

Confused, Dar watched, staring at the area that the gazelle had just been when there was a soft touch to his shoulder. Turning around, Dar's breath caught in his throat. Billi stood behind him, in her jeans and red T-shirt, her cowboy hat off and hair let loose behind her rather than be in her normal loose ponytail. A wave of relief washed over him as Billi smiled, looking as if she didn't quite believe she was looking at him.

"Hey girl." Dar said softly, smiling and placing his hands gently on her shoulders.

"Hey boy." Billi said in return, smiling brightly.

As Dar looked down into her eyes, the wind picked up again, howling and deafening, sending the snow between them, blinding and obscuring them from sight. Dar kept his hold onto Billi, and right as their lips were about to touch, Dar hit the ground hard.

================================================================

Looking up from the spot where he fell out of his cot, he looked upwards at the breaking dawn through the hole in the thatched roof above.

"God damnit."

Shaking the sleep and post dream jitters out of his body, Dar made his way out of the hut, staring at the orange sun, just over the horizon as it steadily rose to the sky. Barely the start of the next day and it was already hot as hell. Flicking his T-shirt off, Dar hoped that it wouldn't get too much hotter than it already was. He had gotten used to the colder temperatures of the states north of the Mason-Dixon. Yet, he did have to sit back and admire the beauty of the world about him. This was Africa. His ancestral home. His heritage. His legacy. The very power which courses through him, the pain of the four Spirits within...they come from this land. This is where he came from. This is where so many of his people desire to go.

This was home.

The tranquil beauty of the scenery was something enthralling, and kept him watching it for some time. Completely forgetting about the Laibon that brought him here, and the "Elder" which was supposed to help him. It wasn't until the hard wood walking stick slammed down on the back of Dar's head, that he remembered that someone was here.

Stars flashed over Dar's eyes, blackness encroaching in from the sides as his hearing went fuzzy. The blow sent Dar to one knee, his hands reaching back to clutch at the already forming welt that sent waves of pain down his spine.

"What the hell!?" Dar cried angrily, looking back over his shoulder to find a middle-aged man, almost skeleton-thin, with about a half-inch of bristling gray hair sticking out of his head that contrasted heavily with the dark black skin. He wore a pair of blue athletic shorts and a white T-shirt that had a picture of Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk. Across his chest was a bandolier of narrow-necked clay jugs, each about the size to fit in a man's hand.

"Lost in thought. You're distracted. Mind not one." He said in heavily accented English. Smiling, the man slung his walking stick over one shoulder, evidently not needing it. "I am Mzee Chui. Come Angavu, we walk." The Elder said again, shrugging his shoulder slightly, adjusting the bandolier. "Come. Come." Chui mentioned, urging Dar to follow him back to the huts.

"For fuck's sake...Try to go fuckin' home to ask a fuckin' question and I get shipped off to fuckin' Africa where I gotta stay in a fuckin' hut with a fuckin' hole in it with no fuckin' floor and it's fuckin' hot and there ain't any water for fuckin' miles and I got fuckin' Rafiki as my god damn guide..." Dar growled angrily to himself, staring at a beetle that wagged its little antenna at Dar from its perch on a nearby rock. Despite the beetle's attempts at divulging the mystery of life to Dar with his little antenna wagging, it seemed no less impressed with Dar's rant than it had the fly that had zeroed in on Dar's bald head. As soon as the fly landed on Dar's head, the walking stick lashed out, striking Dar in the gut and knocking the wind out of him.

"You not listening. Come. You listen later." Coughing like mad to try to regain his breath, Dar stood, glaring daggers at the old man before stumbling along behind him.

He is Akamba. He cannot defeat us Angavu. Let me take that stick from him and skewer his insides with it. Plug up the holes in his hut with his skin and organs.

"Shut up..." Dar wheezed, trying to mentally banish Ghadhabu away from the forefront of his mind.

You cannot remove me so easily now Angavu. We are in the Old Land. We are where our power is strongest. Can you not feel it? The fire that burns through the ground of this place? Reach out to it. Let it consume you.

"Fuck...off." Dar growled, reaching his hand up to catch the falling walking stick that was aimed at his collar bone. The stick stopped and adjusted in mid air, striking his shoulder first, causing Dar to drop his guard hand, and then slam back down on the collar where it wanted to hit the first time.

"You have much to learn." Chui sighed with a "tsk". Once inside the second hut, which was a little larger than the one that Dar had stayed in with the other Laibon, who was strangely absent, Dar could at least stop worrying about getting hit with the stick again. Chui placed it along the far wall, where it seemed to blend in with the rest of the wood and mud wall. The place looked like a Middle-Eastern bazaar, with various hanging jars of who knows what, plants, animal parts, cloth, and who knows what else filling the room so much that Dar had to keep his head ducked down lest he run face first into a shrivveled up animal leg or something.

"Alright Rafiki," Dar muttered, sitting down cross-legged in front of the Elder Laibon, that was pouring some sort of liquid into a pasty pile of muck in a wooden bowl. "What the hell am I doing here?"

"You are here to learn, Angavu." Chui said, carefully mixing ingredients into the bowl. "You are here because you must control the Spirits. Or they will control you."

"Yeah, in case you haven't noticed old man, I've been tryin' that and it ain't working." Dar muttered angrily. The old guy reminded him of Busaru with his "telling without saying anything" approach. It was really getting on Dar's nerves to be left out of the loop like this.

"It is not something that can be taught. Only seen and discovered."

"So how the hell do I do that?"

"We walk." Chui said, muttering something in quick, sharp tones over the bowl. Dar half expected a flash, or sparks, or something magical to happen, but nothing did. "Eat the paste. Then we walk. And then you will see."

Dar looked down at the foul smelling paste in front of him, angry and scared at the same time. It probably tasted as good as it smelled, which was not something that Dar wanted to experience. Especially first thing in the morning. He took a two-finger scoop of it, looking at the brown paste with a curled lip. The stench of mildew, rotting meat, and ether made him gag slightly, causing him to pinch his nose shut with one hand and shovel the shit down his throat with the other, nearly throwing it up after he did so. As the paste went into his system, he felt...nothing. Nothing special happened at all.

"The hell did you just make me eat?"

"It is an old potion. Made to assist us on our spirit-walk. You don't want to know what's in it."

Dar's face blanched. "The hell did you put in it?"

"Roots of the Nyar Lwet and Ombassa plant, ear of the Hunting Dog, sap from a baobab, ground pebbles from the Great Mountain and testicle of the rhino."

Dar froze, already feeling the gorge in his stomach rising, knowing what it was he just ate.

"What?" Was the only shocked word he could get out before his body convulsed as if electrocuted, pitching himself to the side, where he thew up in a conveniently located bucket. (Damn that old bastard for knowing this was going to happen) Rolling his eyes into the back of his head, Dar felt as if his body went completely numb.

And then, Black.

When Dar awoke, he thought of two things immediately. The first was that he was going to take Mzee Chui's face and ram it repeatedly into a wall until it looked like the paste he was just fed. The second was that there was a huge lion's face about three inches in front of him that was ready to gobble Dar up like a tiny chew toy. Giving out a startled cry, which sounded odd for some reason, Dar backpeddled, using his hands and feet to crab walk away from the lion as quickly as he could. He stopped once he got a few feet away, realizing that the lion head did not belong to a lion at all. It belonged to the body of Hodari the Brave.

Hodari had always been the most "normal" of the spirits Dar had encountered. It was a man, for the most part, standing a sliver over seven feet in height with enough sinew and corded steel muscles to be classified as an Olympic sprinter. On his shoulders were the two opposing lion's heads, whose manes drifted over his shoulders and back, forming into a long cloak that reached down past his knees. The fusion of lion fur and his own flesh was so complete, that you couldn't tell where the lion part began and where the human part ended. His skin, dark as coal, offsetting the golden feline eyes in his head, almost shone in the unnatural light of the world Dar found himself in.

Blinking the wonder and shock out of his head, Dar stood, saw a world around him far different than any he had ever seen before. The sky was a strange color of yellow and orange, constantly shifting and battling against a blue and purple color. The swirling images in the air shifted so frequently, it was like looking at the Northern Lights, or a hippie in a tie-dye T-shirt on a roller coaster. Despite the changing sky colors, the ambient light never changed, staying uniform, and without source. The savanna had also changed. Instead of flat endless grasslands broken up by sparse trees, the scene had changed to that of a nightmare metropolis of creatures moving to and fro along streets of neon green light. Ordered in the same way one might call a Celtic swirl/circle ordered, the little spirit creatures, looking far more real than Dar had cause to want to believe, sped about in their own little ways. Some slithering, flying, skittering, but all moving with some sort of purpose. It was astonishing to watch, but even more disturbing were the rivers that cut through the landscape. Swirling and churning like rapids, rivers of black and red fire cut through the golden land. It pooled in certain areas, but where it pooled the heaviest was where the Laibon's huts had been. A large lake of black and red fire bubbled and frothed, making it impossible to see the huts, if they were even there at all.

The place felt strange, oddly familiar in some way that he couldn’t put his finger on, but strange nonetheless.

“Where…Where am I?” Dar asked, looking over towards Hodari, who stood crouched, a rough hewn spear in one hand, resting against the ground and his shoulder, eyes gently resting on Dar’s shocked form. Dar’s voice seemed distorted, as if from far away and heard through an echoing cavern.

“We are in my home Angavu. We are in the world of the Spirits.” Hodari’s voice was much more solid than it had ever been, as if he was speaking not only in Dar’s ears, but in his mind as well. Deep basso with the sound of rocks grinding together behind it only gave Hodari an even more stoic appearance.

“The…spirit world? Are you kidding me? Where the hell is Chui? Why are you here?”

Hodari smiled, showing feline teeth with rather long fangs. “ You are not listening Angavu. We are in the spirit world. This is my home. You are my guest, as I am your Guardian. The others are here as well, just not present. You can still feel them. ”

Now Dar remembered where he had felt as if he’d been here before; the spirit world. It had to be. One of the few times he was in Croatoa, he had stepped into a circle of toadstools and woke up in a strange twilight world which felt a lot similar to this…but nowhere near as…powerful.

There was the sound of footsteps behind them, to which Hodari looked up and Dar finally got to his feet. Mzee Chui, stood just as he did when Dar had last seen him, but his outfit had changed dramatically. He wore long robes of red and purple, his hair shaven, and large hoops of precious metals adorned his face, ears, and neck. In this, he looked every bit a Masai Laibon as internet pictures would tell you. But not only that, he stood next to what looked to be a large crane. The bird was a pale blue in color with four eyes and what appeared to be six different sets of wings. Its legs were long, far longer than what was normal proportions for a crane. Dar was about to move forward on Chui when Hodari’s hand came down on Dar’s shoulder, with all the weight of Biff trying to sit on him.

“You are awake. Good. And your Guardian is with you. Better.” Chui said with a nod.

“Angavu, you meet Mvuvi the Fisher.” Hodari said, inclining his head towards the crane. The crane, bowed deeply, which was odd to see in a bird. It even used a wing like an arm to cross its chest as it bowed, the other wings flourishing out to the side.

“I am honored to meet the Angavu at last.” The bird said in a high pitched, and young female voice. It was if a ten or twelve year old was speaking through the bird, with flutes playing in the background. “I am Mvuvi, the Guardian to Mzee Chui.

“Yeah, alright what the hell is going on?” Dar growled, looking between Hodari and Chui for answers, and getting only blank stares, although he could’ve sworn that the lion heads on Hodari’s shoulders blinked just then.

“We are to show you your path Angavu. To learn your future, you must learn the past. Mvuvi will gather memories of this place, and memories of Guardians of the past to show you who you are. Once you have been shown, you will know, and you will choose.”

Dar blinked, looking at him with furrowed brows. “Choose what?”

“You will choose which path to take. The red, or the black.”