Hey so I'm writing a blind character who's typing on a Braillewriter and reading what he's typed. When Blind people get emotional reading something, would ya'll by any chance slow down the speed of your finger reading braille and pause to collect yourself?
Like the name he's typed is the name of his dead sister, and it hurts him sometimes to even hear it. So if you knew it was coming (since you wrote it), would you stop your finger right before the name?
Sighted people while reading can't help but read the whole thing, so could linear tactile reading could be different?
[Seeking feedback from consistent Braille users!]
Hi, I’m not sure of this one myself and so this question is harder to answer. I would like to give a few thoughts and then direct you to the notes of this post in case any helpful Braille users would like to share thoughts.
If he knows the name is coming and is emotional about it, he can pause before getting to it. He could also simply collect himself after reading it. While tactile reading is different from reading print in that you can pause reading in the middle of a word, this may also be more consistent with less experienced Braille users, since Grade 1 or uncontracted Braille is longer, as it spells out each word without shorthand. Grade 2, or contracted Braille, uses shorthand. Here is a helpful guide. And here is a video of a blind person writing the name Heather in Grade 1 Braille, which is longer, and Grade 2 Braille, which is shorter. The way things are written may also depend on the language he reads with, as different languages will have different spellings and therefore different contractions or shorthand.
For example, a name written in contracted Braille might take up less space and be quicker to read, unless he is recently learning contracted Braille. So while it is possible to pause in the middle of a word, it may depend on the word, how it is written, and leve of experience.
Does anyone have any additional thoughts from the anon? What seems like a realistic situation to you?
A/N: sorry in advance 😅 this is a very long chapter. But I hope y'all enjoy it 💜
Narrative
Queen Stella arrived with King T'chaka to see his brother N'Jobu. When they get to the door Stella and T'chaka wait behind while the Dora Milaje knocked on the door. Stella looked at T'chaka as he put his helmet on, "Yuh seen his son? him suh cute." Stella gushed. T'chaka scoffed and ignored her. Stella rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Muss yuh be an ass bout everything? dat is yuh nephew."
A man opens the door and the Dora Milaje walk in slowly with their spears, they ask N'Jobu who he is and he tells them he's the prince by showing his tattoo on his bottom lip. The Milaje hit their spears on the ground 3 times letting us know know it was ok to enter.
They walk into the apartment and N'Jobu kneels at the sight of us. "My King. Queen Stella pleasure seeing you again." He says to her. She smiled at him and T'chaka rolled his eyes and smiled walking towards his brother.
"Leave us." He tells the boy in the corner. N'Jobu tells them that the boy name is James and he was very trustworthy to stay. T'chaka and N'Jobu hug and they talk about how he's been, saying he looks strong. T'chaka then tells his brother that he ran into a problem, this man named Klaue stole a ton of vibranium and bombed the border.
T'chaka looked hard at his brother and said it was a inside job. He continues to stare at him like he's giving him a chance to answer. N'Jobu looks at him confused as to why his brother is looking at him like that. "Why are you here?" He asked, T'chaka. The king walks to his brother and his face turned angry, "I want to know why you BETRAYED WAKANDA!?" He yelled, at N'Jobu.
N'Jobu got defensive and said he did no such thing. Stella walked forward a little because she could tell this was going to turn messy. T'chaka turned to James and told him to tell N'Jobu who he really was, Zuri, son of Badu.
N'Jobu looked furious and he grabbed Zuri, starting to yell at him that he betrayed him, he trusted him. Just to find out he was a wakandan spy this whole time.
T'chaka them begins to tell N'Jobu that he has to return to Wakanda to face his crimes, and N'Jobu refuses.
As the two argue Stella walks towards the window and sees two boys playing basketball, and Stella recognizes one of them to be N'Jadaka. She rushes from the window and tries to get between them, "Wi can't duh dis here. Tink of da boi. Even though N'Jobu Did sup'm dat was wrong, Him did it for him family."
T'chaka pushed Stella back and she glared at him. "This has nothing to do with you. But with him. He BETRAYED HIS HOME!?! therefore there must be CONSEQUENCES!" Stella got angry and walked closer again, "FI GUD REASON! yea it be wrong him had no CHOICE!"
she yelled at him. They go back and forth, the argument getting more heated by the second. Till T'chaka has enough and takes his claws and stabs killing N'Jobu. Stella Screeched out catching N'Jobu's body, cradling his head as tears formed in her eyes. She looks up at T'chaka mortified, "Y.- Yuh kill yuh own bredda." She said, tears streaming down her face.
T'chaka bends down and grabs Stella by the throat and she grips his hand, he gives her the most menacingly look he could muster. "You speak of this to anybody, it shall be you with panther claws IN YOUR CHEST!" She glared at him, and grabbed at his suit causing the Dora Milaje to walk closer. "It nuh mi yuh should be worried bout, but wah wi happen wen Bast comes fi yuh" She said. He backed away going to leave.
"What about the boy? My king." Zuri asked, T'chaka. He looked at him then to Stella and turned back to the door. "Leave him. He's not my concern." Stella stared at the empty space the king stood at and her heart dropped. Zuri gave her a sympathetic look and walked out with Dora Milaje.
Stella was speechless and swallowed a sobb forming in her throat. She looked down at the now dead prince in her lap, who has now turned cold. She brings her head down and kisses his forehead. Her heart picks up when she heard little N'Jadaka yell for his baba running up the steps. She quickly raises her hand over N'Jobu's body turning it into air, her heart aches as he completely disappears.
Little N'Jadaka runs into the apartment with a big smile on his face, but his smile fades as he sees Stella on the floor with tear stained cheeks. "Who are you? Where's my baba?" He asked her, frowning. Stella gets up and walks carefully to N'Jadaka, her mind is racing. How do you tell a child that their only parent left was killed and she couldn't do anything about it.
"Mi name Stella mi an yuh baba are great friends." He smiled at her but it fell again. "Are you from Wakanda? Where's my dad?" Stella tried to stay strong in front of the young boy, but she's never done anything like this before, this was probably the hardest things she's ever had to do.
"No mi nuh from Wakanda." She lightly chuckled. "But mi been tuh wakanda plenty of times, yuh baba went ta Wakanda for an emergency." He looked upset and looked at the ground then back at Stella with teary eyes. "He left me?" His voice cracked. Stella heart broke into more pieces when he said that, this was going to be harder than she thought. "No..him be back inna couple days. But till den him tell mi tuh luk afta yuh. Ave yuh eva been tuh Jamaica?" She asked, giving him a big smile.
He gave a tiny smile back and shook his head. "Well guess wah mi Queen of a place inna Jamaica called Sun City, an yuh baba ave been plenty of times. suh yuh can truss mi, mi wud neva hurt yuh. Ok?" She said, giving him a reassuring smile. Sticking out her hand gesturing for him to grab her hand. He looked at her hesitant, "how come he's never mentioned you." He looked at her quizzically.
"Cuz mi suppose tuh cum ova soona but sum things come up. But this time mi had time tuh come vist yuh. But yuh daadie had urgently lef to wakanda, but like mi seh he\'ll be back inna couple days tuh come get yuh. But yuh baba talk bout yuh alla di time, even showed mi pictures." She said, crouching in front of him. "Ya believe mi now?" He still looked hesitant but let her grab his hand. "Mi promise ya baba mi would look after yuh. And mi promise nothting will happen to yuh." She gave him a sincere smile. He smiled back at her and nodded.
She stood up and told him to go get his things. He went and pack some clothes and other things he wanted to bring. She took some of his bags and asked if she could pick him up, he slowly nodded and she picked him up and kissed the side of his head.
Causing him to smile a little he probably hasn't felt motherly affection since his mother was in jail. Making their way outside a black Cadillac Escalade came to view with guards standing on the outside. While N'Jadaka was packing she called her husband and told him to send a car her way. N'Jadaka hid in the crook of her neck and wrapped his arms around her. She whispered to him that It'll be ok, that he was safe. Getting into the car she told him to lay his head on her lap and go to sleep, that she'll wake him up when they get to the airport.
He protested that he wasn't sleepy but his eyes suddenly got heavy and he layed on her shoulder. She layed his head on her lap as they rode to the airport. She didn't realize she was crying, until she wiped them away. Today had to be the most heart breaking days she'd ever been through, and she's had plenty. But she's going to make N'Jobu a promise to take care of his son, and make sure N'Jadaka sees his mother again. But most importantly she was going to make sure N'Jadaka makes it to Wakanda, whether T'chaka likes it or not.
Alfre Woodard as Queen Stella Williams
Stella is the descendant of Ayao. Ayao is a minor orisha in the Lucumi/Santeria pantheon. She is the orisha of the air. She can turn any living form into air.Ayao is considered to reside in both the forest and in the eye of the tornado.
Summary: it's been months since the last time T'challa saw his wife.
Warnings: Strong Language & Smut.
Translations: Sthandwa( My Love) Ndiyakuthanda (I Love You) Ndiyakuthanda nawe ( I Love You too) Ukumkanikazi Wam ( My Queen)
3rd pov
"Just don't freeze when you see her." Okoye told prince T'challa. He smirked knowing who she was referring to and couldn't help the bubbly feeling he felt, at the thought of seeing you again. T'challa loved how she always put others first before herself, he admired that you loved helping people in need.
It's been 5 months since the last time he's seen you. He missed your soft plump lips and your deep brown eyes. He missed your warmth, and the way your body pressed against his. You have been busy on missions and him busy with his kingly duties, there just hasn't been time to see each other.
But at this moment he was more then happy to see his lovely wife again. "What are you talking about? I never freeze." He played offended. He crossed his arms and was dropped onto the ground of the Nigerian jungle closer to the truck that was secretly carrying his wife.
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Y/N Pov
It was dead silent all you could hear was the moving trucks. There was no sound coming from the truck, but to not make any noise was a good thing. I heard the men outside speaking rapidly, about something that felt off to them. My heart rate began to pick up, that they were going discover me in here.
I looked at the women and children silently crying, whispering hushed prayers hoping that they'll make it out alive. I slowly took out my weapons, and removed the cloth revealing my face having the women and children gasp; them realizing who I was.
I softly smiled and put my finger to my lips telling them to be quiet. I stood up and tried to reach for the truck handle when a loud explosion blew everyone to the ground. You could hear the gunshots ring out. I tried looking for my sister but she was busy fighting the traffickers.
I went around the truck and started fighting the men. A large man ran towards me with a gun and started shooting at me. I swooped down and kicked him in his crotch. He dropped the gun and I went to pick it up, and hit him in the back of the head.
I repeated same thing with the other men, also shooting a couple. My sister looked at me making sure I was alright, I nodded at her and we ran off to fight some more.
I felt someone grab me from behind and tried to put me in a choke hold. I lifted my body up doing a scissor kick bringing him to the ground, knocking him unconscious. Then everything became silent and stopped. It was over with most of the men dead, and a few unconscious.
Then I saw him and my heart began to pick up again. T'challa started walking slowly towards me, but stopped and prepared to attack when he saw a man who was really a boy with a scarf covering his face. "DON'T! HE'S JUST A YOUNG BOY." I pulled off his scarf and the boy slightly shook in my grasp. "He was kidnapped like the rest of the women and children." He ran off running into the arms of his mother, who hugged him tightly and continued to say thank you to us over and over.
We escorted the women and children on to the Talon Fighter, I made sure everyone was ok and told them that they was safe now.
"Y/N." T'challa breathed out slowly. He had taken his mask off now revealing his face, that I missed so much. My heart began to flutter. "I missed you so mu-" He cut me off and pulled me into a longing kiss. His left hand cupped my cheek while the other one held onto my waist, while I wrapped both of my arms around his neck.
"I've missed you so much, Sthandwa." He said, looking at me with mirth in his eyes. "What are you doing here, my love? You messed up my mission." I asked him, suspiciously.
"I knew you would be here, so I wanted to come help. And before you say anything, I know you can take care of yourself; but I couldn't bare the thought of something happening to you." He said. Pulling me closer to him if that was even possible. I smiled sweetly at him and gave him a chaste kiss moving my fingers through his coils, we moaned content with each other's embrace.
We pulled away and pressed our foreheads together. "I missed you, my King." I said, looking into his eyes. He pulled my head down into the crook of his neck, and hugged me tightly. "I missed you too, my Queen."
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A/N: Nasty time 😏😏
3rd Pov
The way his lips dusted her skin sent another shockwave through her body, she felt tingles radiate and all the way to her toes. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck as their hips rolled together, and she looked down at the bulge in his pants, biting her lip at the sight.
T’Challa’s hands slid down to her ass and gripped her so tight she moaned from the feeling and wetness pooled between her legs while he kneaded her ass, testing the weight of it in his hand. “Bast I missed you so much, Ukumkanikazi Wam."
T’Challa’s deep voice made her even wetter, and she moaned, at the feeling he was giving her. He nibbled on her earlobe, and she nearly melted in his arms, both of them whispering how much they loved each other and how much they missed each other.
He nibbled on her neck and lifted her leg onto his shoulder, tracing his fingers up her sides. He knelt down in front of her warm heat and blew cool air onto her clit, causing her to shudder. He then started devouring her like a madman who hadn't eaten in days.
She clutched his hair, arching her back from the bed, gasping and tightly closing her eye's. She let out a scream that echoed off the walls. Her stomach clenched as she sensed her release approaching.
As her orgasm raged through her body, T'challa pressed down on her hips to keep her in place. Her vision blurred as she gasped for air. T'challa cleaned her up and littered kisses all up her body, and kissed her lips, letting her taste herself.
He encircled her legs around his waist and placed their hands above her head. He leaned down and kissed her softly. "Are you ready, my love?" He asked, her. She nodded and kissed him so passionately that they drew back and stared into each other's eyes.
He pressed his throbbing head against her entrance teasing her clit, and pushed in. Eliciting a quiet moan from both. "Ndiyakuthanda." He told her, pressing his forehead against hers. She kissed his lips again and quietly said, "Ndiyakuthanda, nawe"
A/N: hope y'all like it. I never wrote full smut so I need to practice a lil more, but hopefully y'all liked this.
Hi! Is it alright to ask to request for a Nakia x widow! reader? Where the reader and her are childhood friends, always telling each other their passions and dreams, and while the Red Room still existed and Dreykov would take little girls to convert them into highly trained assassins, you happen to be one of those victims. And one of the reasons why Nakia became a War Dog was to look for you, to investigate what had happened to you because she knew you weren’t truly dead and T’Challa agreed to help her since he was already Black Panther not to mention he was also close to you. Once they realize you’re under control after you attacked them, they take you to Shuri who manages to get you out of the mind control and take off the tracker in you- but afterwards your stuck with the trauma (much like Bucky) and Nakia never left your side, being there when flashbacks came, being patient with you whenever you’d get frustrated easily or she’d show you Wakanda and reminds you of the parts you’ve gone to whenever you were kids, of the memories you both have created. And for the first time in forever you find yourself having feelings with free will, having feelings for Nakia….you could add on more details if you want. But would you be able to do it? If not, it’s alright🙂 your writing is very good btw
Introspection | Part 1 out of 2
A Red Room Widow Story
Nakia x Female Red Room Widow! Reader
Summary: After hanging out with you as kids, you disappear, and Nakia spends her life trying to find you again. Decades later, she finally finds you, and sees that you're an assasin. A victim of the red room.
Angst, Hurt, Mystery,
Word count: 11.1k
Warnings: Depictions of Violence, Mentions Past Abuse, Abuse Trauma, Blood, For Mature Audiences Only
The palace of Wakanda stood mostly still. Only busy in the training rooms and the throne room as the sun began to shower it in light, letting people know that the day was starting.
You stood in front of Nakia, who stood in front of T'Challa; tiptoeing into the throne room that held the king and the other tribe leaders. Nakia breathed nervously as you all stood behind a large pillar that blocked your small figures from view. The breathing was loud, and clearly intentional, as Nakia only let out a laugh when T’Challa poked her to stop.
“Ow!” she whispered, coming closer towards him as a warning to scare the prince. He instinctively backed away, making Nakia smile in contentment.
“Shhh-” you hushed at them, annoyed at the two for doing such a terrible job at being stealth. Movement behind you stopped suddenly and the silence all across the room told you that something was off.
You looked around at the clearing of a throat and a tall figure’s shadow towering over yours. You turned, knowing the figure of the King well enough after so many years visiting the palace.
“K-kumkani T’Chaka. Molo.(K-King T’Chaka. Hello.) “ you crossed your arms in solute and respect while T’Challa did the same, his father scaring him probably more than he did you.
“T’Challa. Y/n.” T’Chaka responded, doing the same.
You raised an eyebrow at only the two names called and looked around only to realise that Nakia wasn’t as quick to comply with the unspoken surrender of your attempted spy work as she was not in her previous spot.
You looked at T’Challa, who was also just as confused as you, and the two of you realised that you had been set up.
“Have you forgotten your manners, Prince. We are busy with important matters that regard the nation. It is no time to be making noise in the throne room, my boy.” He said, placing his seemingly massive hand on his son’s head in a gentler manner than he spoke in.
“Yes Baba. Sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Oh, it will. With those two by your side, there will always be mischief. Tell Nakia I said hello.”
The king waved you off and let you and T’Challa flee in embarrassment as the Dora Milaje that stood at the door shook their heads, smiling at the two of you.
“That was close, you two.” Nakia came from the wall not even 5 steps from the door, smiling like nothing had happened.
“You are a traitor.” T’Challa said, pointing at her as he walked the two of you to the outside garden.
“Me? What would make you say that, T’Challa? I did nothing.”
You sighed, “Kia, you strayed away from the plan without telling us and let us take the fall. You are definitely a traitor.”
“I was protecting myself. King T’Chaka is scary.”
“Sure, but you couldn’t have warned us when you did it, even though it was your idea to go there?” T’Challa added.
Nakia shrugged, not being able to defend that. The three of you walked around the garden, sitting in silence as you rested from the long week of school. People all around thought that the three of you as a trio were the most chaotic people in the palace, so your quiet moments were a blessing to all. T’Challa was the thoughtful and sensible one, Nakia was the caring but playful one and you were the quiet and patient one that went in between the other two when they bickered, which was often. Nakia liked pushing T’Challa’s buttons and T’Challa had spent so much time dealing with Nakia’s nonsense, he was not as tolerant to it now as before. They bickered like the Jabari Tribe with the rest of the tribes, sometimes.
Nakia picked at the flowers that surrounded you all. You carried them for Nakia when her hands got full and T’Challa just stared out, thinking- as usual.
“What are you thinking about now, Prince of Wakanda?” you asked, less serious now that the earlier adrenaline had faded.
“Do you think father is right? Am I too mischievous?”
“He didn’t say that.”
“I know, but I want to be a fit king one day, not someone who plays all the time. We will be the leaders of the nation at some point.”
Nakia let go of the flowers she held and stepped in front of T’Challa flicking him in the forehead.
“We’re twelve. Trust me, we have plenty of time to dwell on having to lead the nation at some point in our future. We were just having fun.”
“Well…” you said and Nakia groaned knowing you were about to play the devil's advocate as per usual.
“We just interrupted a meeting of national importance. Maybe we shouldn’t do that anymore.”
“Y/n-”
Nakia was about to argue, but an older voice came, softer than the last one that scared you, but still holding much power.
“You definitely shouldn’t do that again.” you all turned and smiled seeing Queen Ramonda, looking as sweet as ever, but still intimidating.
“Ma! Nakia made us do it!” T’Challa said, making Nakia gasp at his sudden betrayal.
“I’m sure she did, son. But I’m not here for that. I was just wondering if you all had plans for today, because we have places to go.”
You stepped up to answer, “Nakia and I are just here for the morning, Queen Mother. We are leaving for my house soon.”
She nodded, happy that she wouldn’t have to ask you to leave. “You should look at the Dora Milaje in training before you go.”
“Why?” you asked.
“The two of you have the potential to be great warriors. It would be an honourable service to the country.”
Nakia nodded hesitantly, biting her tongue as to not disrespectfully reject the idea of being an Adored One in front of the queen.
“Mother, I’m with my friends. I would prefer it if you did your Dora Milaje advertising another time.” T’Challa said, directing his mother to go on with her journey wherever she was headed in the garden.
For a second. You could almost see T’Challa roll his eyes at the woman, and Ramonda clearly saw it too, giving the boy a glare of warning.
“Go get ready, T’Challa.” she said walking off.
The prince turned in the direction of the palace, prompting you and Nakia to do the same.
The three of you separated when T’Challa arrived at his room. He hugged you and Nakia and went in to get ready, while you and Nakia said your goodbyes to the king in the throne room and left towards the river tribe village where you both lived.
“General Nakia of the Dora Milaje.” you tested out, not amusing the other girl.
“I’m not going to be a Dora.”
“I didn’t say you would be. I was just testing the title out. Either way, why are you so annoyed, you act like it's a curse to be a part of the Dora.” you looked into her eyes for an answer, but were met with a blank stare.
“Is it because you know I’m better at fighting than you?” you teased. That peaked her interest, getting her to look at you like you had just told a lie.
“What? I was just stating a fact.”
“You just talk sometimes.” she said, rolling her eyes and walking faster towards your house.
Hours later, you could tell she took it personally.
“Nakia…” you said as you stared at the girl, who shot bullets from her eyes to your body where she stood.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” you asked her, putting your hands into a fist while she approached you slowly.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
The distance that had been between the two of you was taken away when Nakia ran very closely towards you, nearly throwing you off your feet. Her hand came into contact with your arm and her long nails ran down to your hand.
“We said no nails!” you whined while she smirked at you, aiming for your face next.
“We also agreed not to make combat a competition, but somehow you got to do that.”
You rolled your eyes at her petty decision to make a whole thing out of a reckless comment that you made. The girl really took things to heart.
You swiped her hand away when she tried for your face and twisted her wrist, surprising her with a kick to the knees. Seeing her face, your lips parted into a toothy grin as she struggled to get out of your grip.
“See. I was right. I am better at combat.” you repeated your previous comment, feeling proud.
“Y/N!” your mothers voice came from the house, startling you into letting Nakia go, allowing her to regain advantage and pin you down. The impact of the ground left you breathing heavily. Nakia kneeling over you, smiling. You groaned, wanting to curse your mother for sabotaging you.
“That can’t count! She scared me.”
Nakia shook her head, being too prideful to admit that it was an unfair advantage, “There are no rules that state that I can’t use your mother screaming for you to my advantage.”
She laughed as you pushed her off of you, going to see what your mother needed badly enough to ruin your win.
You walked over to the round home that stood only a few metres away from where Nakia laid in victory. You entered the house, looking at the tall woman who looked at you in her typical uneasy way.
“Ma?”
“There’s lunch on the table.Take it, you and Nakia haven’t eaten since dawn.”
Your mother was brief with you, and she looked annoyed. The phone that she kept rang over and over.
Only one person ever called on that phone. Dreykov. A russian, you assumed from hearing him speak it on the phone sometimes.
Your mother starred between you and the phone for the time that it rang, waving her hands for you to stop looking at her and go out with your food. You shrugged, going off to get the food that sat on the table where you usually ate.
Taking yours and Nakia’s plates, you made your way out of the door, seeing that Nakia had moved closer to the door of your house.
As soon as you were out of earshot, your mother answered the incoming call. A pointless wait as her voice projected loudly enough for you to still hear her very clearly at her volume.
“Dreykov!” She pretended to be cheerful. Her conversation proceeded in Russian, which she refused to teach you out of “love and care for your growing brain.”
She always told you that a growing mind didn’t need extra pressure from another language. You had many reasons to differ, considering that she had taught you many other languages. You could tell that she just didn’t want you to know what she said on the phone with the strange Russian man.
“Dreykov!” you mimicked her expression as you handed Nakia her food. She went into a fit of laughter at your scarily accurate impersonation of the woman, taking the plate graciously and beginning to gouge on the meal.
Having less manners with just you around, she spoke with her mouth full. “Who is that anyway?” She asked when you’d sat down next to her and her laughter had subsided. You sat closer to her whispering for precaution, “I’m not sure. Ma argues with him on the phone a lot. Something about me I think. But I don’t know.”
Nakia nodded, pretending to be calm and understanding, but really she found that to be worrying. Shashi, your mother always scared her for some reason. She had a suspicious aura that surrounded her, making Nakia feel like she needed to be cautious around her no matter how nice she seemingly was. It made her feel like she needed to protect you too.
Knowing how sensitive you were about Shashi, she never once brought it up in the years that you had been friends. Instead she was polite and pretended to have the same fondness for your mother as you did.
Shashi was your adoptive mother. She took you in as a baby when your biological mother left you in her home village in the border tribe and fled inland with your father. Although she was from the river tribe, she took you, an orphaned border tribe baby, into her home and had loved you as if you were her own for 12 years, alternating between the river and the border. Nakia felt like this kindness made you sort of blind to the suspicious things about her.
She had a history outside of the country, Nakia knew clearly from the international contacts, but there was a lot missing from her story that nobody in the border lands or the river tribe village would ever tell Nakia about.
Nakia had only seen the woman do good things, so she tried to refrain from saying anything about her feelings towards her to you.
Shashi was always the first to take you and her to places when you wanted, and she cared for you in ways that kept you as her top priority. Nakia cared for you a lot too, and if that meant tolerating a scary woman for the remainder of her life for her best friend, the twelve year old was willing to do it.
You heard your mother speaking, gradually more aggressively in a mix of Russian and English, already imagining that her hands were in fists, but you forced yourself to stop thinking about her and Dreykov, seeing that Nakia stayed silent besides letting out a hum once you had explained.
Nudging yourself onto your friend, your previous playfulness returned. “You know I was about to win, right. My Ma is the only reason you had the chance.”
Nakia’s serious face morphed into a happy but disbelieved one. “The only reason? HA!” she let out a chuckle, more real than the words and you smiled seeing her smile. “Your grip would have loosened soon enough, and I would have done the same thing and won.”
“Your face didn’t seem to think so. You looked quite worried, Kia”
She shook her head in denial, refusing to admit it. “That was my temporary thinking face. I was thinking.”
Seeing your face, she nudged you with her body . Rolling her eyes, “Why do you even care? You want to be a historian out of all things. It won’t matter to you so just let me have the win.”
“Nakia,” you said seriously,”What kind of friend would I be if I let my future Dora Milaje friend think that she won a fight when it was just because of a distraction?” you teased, prompting her to push you harder in annoyance.
“I’m not going to be a Dora!” she groaned.
“I’m just giving you options. You’re amazing at battle and combat, Kia. Use it.”
Her cheeks flushed at that, “I don’t know. I want to help people. People who need it, not just the rich monarchy that are under no threat most of the time.” she said. You let out a fake gasp, and clutched your heart, careful not to make a mess on your clothes.
“Don’t let the elders hear you say that, Nakia.They will say you have insulted great honour and punish the both of us.” you joked.
“I’ll just tell them that I respect the honour but I want no part in it. I just want to do more than that, you know.”
“No, I understand. You’re too good to just guard the palace royals. You have a world to save.”
Nakia smiled, loving how understanding and encouraging you were. She thought you could be much more than a plain old historian, but you seemed to really want to do it, and you supported her outlandish dreams, so she played along. She planned to stick with you if you became anything, really.
“Well yo-”
“-I know I’ve kept her away for twice as long as I said but I don’t think she’s ready! She’s only a child!” your mother’s near yell through the phone rumbled around, probably being heard by most of the village.
Concerned, the two of you stood up and walked into the house with your empty plates.
“Ma?” you questioned as you and Nakia went to wash your hands. You looked at her, wondering what had gotten into her. She never yelled. Ever.
Your mother huffed and hung up the phone only to plaster a smile on her face and go towards the two of you.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten the two of you.” she said.
Nakia dried her hands after washing them, looking at you for direction as to what to do. Shashi was having a moment, much like many that she had in Nakia’s eyes, but this one was different.
“Ma… what happened?”
“Nothing,umntwana wam.(my child)”
“Ma?” you tried again.
“Y/n, I said it’s nothing!” Shashi raised her voice.
Nakia watched the showdown of glares that went between you and your mother.
“I-I’m going to go now.”
You looked in Nakia’s way, “ No, don’t. We still have time before sunset.”
Your mother cleared her throat, prompting the both of you to look at her.
“I think Nakia’s right. It’s getting late and she still has to walk home.” your mother said. You looked at her in a confused way. “ She lives less than 5 minutes away, Ma.”
Nakia watched Shashi give you a glare, and decided to start her journey. She got her bag that she came with and greeted your mother.
She hugged you as you stood outside, arms crossed in frustration. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t worry.” you kissed your teeth at that.
Nakia let go, her eyes telling you to fix your attitude. “I’ll meet you at the river in the morning. I promise.” she said.
Holding her hand out, she put her pinky finger out. “Love is beautiful?” she smiled at you waiting for you to respond.
You uncrossed your arms, put out your pinky, smiled, and happily replied, “friendship is better.”
The two of you linked fingers, and gave a half-wakanda salute with your other arms.
Once you let go, Nakia went on her way home.
You turned towards your house when Nakia seemed far enough to be close to her house.
You walked in smiling, ready to apologise to your mother for your sulking earlier on. You were met with her at the door, face tight and sorrowful.
“Get your things. We’re going somewhere, tonight.” she said.
“Where are we going?” you asked, with a bag in your arms, as you walked with your mother. She had rushed you, only letting you get a few of your belongings so that you could leave to go somewhere, but she had failed to tell you where you were going.
“The Border-Lands.”
“Oh.” you said excited. You visited your birth village often, so you were familiar with the Border-Lands. The only difference was that it was never this late when you started travelling there.
“Who are we visiting?”
“Y/n, I don’t have time for questions. We have to get there quickly.”
You wanted to ask why you didn’t just take a quinjet there if it was so urgent, or even an evening train, but you didn’t want to make her more antsy.
You walked with your mother, letting her take your hand as you walked through the different lands towards the border of the country. You took in the darkening night sky, looking at the full moon that followed you as you walked. The wind blew east, pushing you away from your destination.
Halfway there you felt the grip of your mothers hand tighten, and your heart skipped an unexpected beat. You grew more wary of what she was doing, and your gut could feel that something was wrong with your mother.
Memories of Nakia and T’Challa being suspicious of your mother came to mind. They tried to hide their fear for the woman, but it was always obvious. Nakia couldn’t hide her feelings at all. You heard her whisper a thing or two about how scary your mother seemed and how she thought that your mother was strange all of the time, but she never said anything to you directly.
The most you ever heard from her was a few months ago, when you came into the palace just after she and T’Challa had. She spoke in a whisper to him. “I think that Shashi has a secret past. One that not even Y/n knows about. “
“What makes you think that?” T’Challa said
“She just looks dangerous, and I know that she is not the person that she pretends to b-” you walked in at that point and she had stopped talking, going in to hug you like nothing had happened.
You went along with it, understanding why she didn’t think she could tell you about her thoughts. You didn’t believe them and it would be a waste of time trying to convince you of anything.
The only thing that ever made you want to confront her about it was the looks she gave her when she thought you weren’t looking. She looked scared straight.
You didn’t think that your mother was scary but the memory of her looking at her like that made your heart pound at the tightness of her hand around yours.
At the beginning of the Border-Land Village, your heart raced in dread and you had to ask again.
“Ma…where are we going?”
She sighed, finally looking at you for the first time. Tears developed in her eyes as she stopped and held on to your shoulders.
“Y/n, you know that I love you, my child.”
“I…do.” you hesitated.
“Well, I’ve done some bad things in my past. Very bad things. I come from a place nobody should ever be. I grew up there and when I was finally old enough, I was given the option to leave. I left, and I was free, but it came at a cost.” Her grip was inescapable now, and you felt your other hand reaching to try and slip out of the grip.
“Ma?” you asked.
“Y/n, I’ve made some bad decisions.”
The two of you got closer to a large object, one that looked oddly similar to something you had seen on tv.
“Ma! What’s going on?!”
“Please understand that I had to, Y/n. I had to.” with that she took your arm and used it to lift you up. She threw you onto her shoulder and bolted towards what you now saw was a helicopter that held a man in it.
“Let me go! Ma!” you protested, trying to get her to let go but she was strong. A lot stronger than you would have ever assumed. She was a tall woman, sure, but she had always played a very frail role. One where she could never have lifted you up, but she did it so effortlessly now.
You scratched her all over, using your teeth and nails to dig in wherever you could.
The helicopter came into full view, and a pudgy white man smiled obnoxiously as he approached you and Shashi.
You could feel that your energy was lowering, the walk having tired you out already.
"There she is!" He laughed out as she finally let you down but kept you in her grip.
"This is the final thing I will do for you. I'm done after this." Your mother said, looking directly at a large bag that he held.
You exchanged a look with him. The brief second of eye contact sent chills down your spine.
"You made this decision, not me." He threw the bag at her and it landed on the floor.
She stared it down, as if analysing if he was being truthful.
"Open it."
He grew confused, "Do you really think I would trick you, Sashi?"
You looked at Shashi, growing more scared that the content in that bag was only made of wrongdoing.
She spoke in Russian, directing him towards the bag.
He grumbled, but relented and walked to the bag, unzipping it to show dozens of wads of cash stuffed inside.
Seeing this, the grip on you was immediately released and you were practically thrown to the man.
You left no time to spare, and tried to make a run for it. You escaped him easily but she was quick to chase you down to the ground.
"Y/n. Don't fight this!"
"I TRUSTED YOU!"
"I'm sorry." She attempted while she held you down as you kicked and screamed.
"YOU PROMISED YOU'D TAKE CARE OF ME!"
"I DID!"
"YOU JUST SOLD ME!" You hand slashed her face and your nails dug in hard. 4 lines of blood dripped down her face, symbolising every nail besides your thumb, which left a bruise.
A hand touched her face, and when she saw the red, she lost it.
Grabbing you straight by the arms, she threw you off the ground, and into the man's arms. He shot your restless body with something. A sedative, you realised.
A single tear fell as you looked at her, "I'll never forget!"
She mouthed something, but you were in the vehicle before you could see, going for your necklace, you realised that it was gone. You'd lost the matching necklace that you had gotten with Nakia.
The tears started to flow, your need for saving, setting in.
'Nakia was right.' You thought.
Slowly fading out of consciousness, the man turned to you as you sat in the helicopter and you flew off.
"My name is Dreykov."
The Next Day…
Nakia woke up with dread. Her heart pounded through her chest and her breathing was fast and constrained. Her body felt uneasy and her head was cloudy. She couldn't help but feel like there was something off.
Staring into the sun through the window, her skin absorbed the little energy that it gave her. Then it clicked. THE SUN. Why was it out? What time was it? Looking at the clock on her beads, she was indeed late.
She threw her sheets off of herself and rummaged around getting ready to go to the river. It was headed to midday already, and you had agreed to meet before the sun even rose. She knew you would be upset, if you were still even there.
“Mother, why didn’t you wake me up? You knew I was going to the river today” she complained to her mother when she finally left her room- ready to leave. She went to the kitchen to pack food. She took only the things she knew that you loved, knowing that she would need to butter you up if she were to arrive so late.
“This child,” her mother said to herself. “I woke you up and you shrugged me off and told me to go.”
Nakia took no time to argue with her own mother, needing to go to you before you forced her to admit that the previous day had been a faulty win just for you to forgive her.
“Bye, Mother.” she said, rolling her eyes at the woman’s smirk.
Nakia tied the large bag that she carried to her side and ran to the river, needing to save time. The trip wasn’t long on foot for a growing teenager, but it still left her winded by the time that she had arrived at the East edge where you would usually meet.
To her disappointment, you were not there when she arrived. She looked around to see if you had possibly hidden to scare her at the split second like you did sometimes. You weren’t behind any trees, nor had you travelled north of the river to fish while waiting. You hadn’t even gone for a swim in the river, the shore having no trace of recent steps besides Nakia’s.
“Y/n!” Nakia attempted to get your attention. Maybe if she declared her apologies publicly you’d stop messing with her.
“I know I’m late. You can come out now. It won’t happen again.”
“She’s not here, Nakia!”
Nakia turned to see Sumbeh, a village elder fishing on a boat nearby. Nakia grew saddened that you had decided to leave but she understood. She would meet you at your house.
“Did she go back home or towards the palace?!” she yelled out towards him.
“She never came,Nakia! I’ve been here since before dawn and I didn’t see her here not even once!”
Nakia’s eyebrows creased together and she audibly huffed out. “Thank you, Uncle!” she said, not trying to show her concern to him. He was a busy man who was on the brink of retirement. She didn’t want to put unnecessary stress on an old man’s heart.
Taking her bag, she walked from where she came from, but hesitated when she needed to turn to go to your house. Her head told her to run when she approached. A foul stench came from the inside of your home through your window. Alcohol.
She went up and knocked on the door, waiting for whoever was even still alive in a place that smelled like a dead person. Shashi was quick to open the door in an antsy manner, only to breathe out seeing that it was only Nakia.
“Oh um- Molo Ma’Shashi. Is Y/n home? I missed her at the river and Sumbeh said that she never arrived in the first place.”
“She’s not here.” the older woman croaked, voice hoarse and wobbly. Only then did Nakia look up properly to see the state of the woman. 4 large swollen scratches on her face.“Ma’Shashi, are you okay? Do you need me to come in?”
The woman shook her head. “I’m fine, child. Now, go. Y/n isn’t here.”
“Do you know when she will be back? I bought good food and I can’t eat it by myself.”
That struck a nerve with the drunk, “Go eat that with T’Challa. Y/n will be gone for a while. Go! GO!” she screamed, scaring Nakia off.
“This woman.” Nakia said, rolling her eyes while walking away. “I was just asking a question. So rude.”
Nakia felt something was off, and she wouldn’t let it go that easily, but if going to the palace would take her away from Shashi, she would take the day off and ask you what was wrong with her when you came back.
On Monday the next day, you weren’t at school in the morning, and Nakia was forced to sit with the kids that didn’t even like her. She sat in her first class, Writing, and started her essay on her favourite new piece of technology for kids.
‘My favourite new piece of technology for kids is… Y/n is so inconsiderate sometimes. I went to her house and had to face Shashi by myself and she didn’t even try to find me yesterday.
I love it because… I love the girl, but she needs to warn me when that woman drinks.
I would make it at… Let me stop complaining, she’s not the person I’m mad at really. I’m angry at T’Challa. He clearly cheated while we were sparring yesterday. General Zola scared me with her training voice and I got distracted. Maybe that is how Y/n felt. I’ll have to apologise to her. Whenever she shows up of course.’
Her writing was cut short when the teacher cleared her throat and called for the class's attention.
“Everyone. Your parents are coming to pick you up early today, as we are cancelling the rest of this week’s lessons due to some unfortunate news that they will explain to you at home,” she started, “Everyone will wait here until their parents come and then those of you who...”
Nakia had turned to face up to listen but her mind zoned out halfway through. Class had never been cancelled before.
As the teacher spoke, she specifically looked at Nakia, giving her eyes full of sorrow. Nakia looked down feeling that the stare was becoming unsettling.
While the others celebrated, she sat, plotting the speech that she was going to give you when you were back. She wanted to reprimand you about abandoning her so suddenly, but she knew that she couldn’t stay mad. Her mind occasionally swayed in the direction that thought that something must have been wrong, but her head told her not to worry.
Time came and went and her mother hadn’t come to pick her up. The clock had nearly reached noon by the time that Nakia was left alone with only the teacher there, everyone having gone with a guardian or with someone they knew.
“Nakia…” Ms. Lenowa called, waving her over to her desk. Nakia groaned and dragged her feet to the teachers desk. The day was getting hot and she just wanted to be home playing.
“Your mother is about to arrive now. We are going to take you somewhere and talk.”
“Why? Did I do something?”
“No, but what we need to discuss is very important and will be big news for a young child like you. We want you to be with people that you trust when you find out.”
Nakia sighed, “Okay.”
In no more than another hour, Yaa had arrived and she and Ms. Lenowa were taking Nakia into the river tribe village.
They travelled to the edge of a river, to a section that was unoccupied. Yaa laid down a blanket and let Ms.Lenowa sit, as well as Nakia, before also sitting down facing Nakia.
“Mother, what is going on?”
“Nakia…my child.” her mother took a shaky breath, ”Do you know why we never moved out of the village to go to the city despite me working there?” Yaa paused, but not long enough for her to respond.
“It was because I saw how much you loved being close to the river with Y/n.”
“It reminded me of the childhood that I had with Owa.” she looked at Ms. Lenowa, or Owa, the best friend that she had grown up with.
“We used to play on this side of the river, where nobody could disturb our play. We would laugh together, just like you and Y/n. Watching the two of you grow up I loved watching the two of you build that bond.”
“Mama, what’s wrong?” Nakia wiped a tear that fell down Yaa’s face as she thought back to her earlier days.
“Nakia…” Owa took over, seeing as her friend wasn’t ready to say the words. “Shashi called today. She told us some bad news.”
“What?”
“Y/n… Y/n’s no longer with us. She has gone to be with the ancestors.”
Silence filled their surroundings, and the moment was still. Yaa let out a sob at the words, seeing her daughter’s mind searching for any appropriate answers. She immediately went to hug her daughter.
“No,” Nakia breathed out, her tone in complete disbelief.
“If she’s with the ancestors then she’s dead. She can’t be dead Ma. I just saw her a few days ago. She was fine. How can she be dead?”
“She’s dead, my love. I’m sorry, but it’s true.”
Nakia threw herself off of her mother, standing up off of pure adrenaline. Tears fell and her throat grew tight. Her skin began to crawl and her body came to a defence.
“No, Ma! Don’t say that! She can’t be dead! She can’t just be alive one day and gone the next. That’s not how it’s supposed to work!”
“Nakia, please!”
“No Aunty, Owa! She’s not dead! I’ll ask her mother myself. She’s got to be wrong.”
“Don’t Nakia. The woman is grieving.”
‘She can’t be grieving, because if she’s grieving then I’m grieving but I’m not grieving because she’s not dead.’ Nakia thought as the tears intensified.
“Nakia? Are we understood?”
“Yes, mother.”
The two women let Nakia stand in her world, staring into the river. Nakia stood, watching as the river grew colourless, as well as the grass, the trees. In just a few minutes her world lost its colour. Everything real seemed fake and everything that should have been fake was somehow real.
There was no way that you were dead. You had a better chance at being Black Panther than dead. And although Nakia didn’t know if this was just denial speaking, she knew that she wasn’t dumb. Things weren’t adding up.
Days later, Nakia stood in King T’Chaka’s arms. While a few steps away T’Challa stood in Ramonda’s arms as they all looked out into the garden. They then sat on the ground, looking at the view, as tears fell down all of their faces, even the King.
News had travelled quickly, and everybody around seemed to know about your untimely death. Shashi was on the national news ready to spread the lies that she had found you dead at her home on Sunday morning. The whole of Wakanda felt pity for the single adoptive mother that was also a friend of the royal family.
Nakia was quiet as she watched the news initially in her mothers arms at home, but as soon as she was taken to the palace and was able to escape, she was very clear about her speculation.
She had cried out to the royal family, telling them that something was severely wrong; that Shashi was up to something. Ramonda had stopped her rambling, hugging her and allowing her to breathe and calm down.
T’Challa had been with T’Chaka when the 4 got together, and he had clearly also been crying. Nakia tried once again to explain what she thought was going on, but her words clearly got to T’Challa and he lashed out at her.
Ramonda took T’Challa while T’Chaka took her and they sat on opposite ends, doing nothing.
Nakia cried. First because she had upset T’Challa, then because nobody believed her, and finally because she was starting to think that she was the crazy one.
“I’m sorry for upsetting him. I just wanted him to know that I think something is wrong.”
“What do you think is wrong Nakia?”
“Shashi, my king… I don’t have proof but I have this bad feeling about her, and I had a terrible dream that Y/n screamed for her a few nights before she died.” Nakia choked at the words ‘died’, not having said that in reference to you yet.
“Is she really dead, T’Chaka?” she asked him, trusting him more than anyone at that point, “Or am I just crazy?”
T’Chaka sighed, not knowing what to say to the twelve year old that seemed to have the worst case of denial in the eyes of her mother. He wanted to say that she was right, but that would only stir things as a king, and he didn’t need that.
“I think that we have to accept some of what has been proven to us in this life Nakia. We cannot reverse death.” she deflated at his words but then he leaned in and whispered, “but I also think that you should never ignore signs and gut feelings because in them lay warnings and hidden truths.
I can’t tell you that Y/n is alive because that would be lying, but if you have a feeling that there are some pieces missing from this, then I say go look for them.”
Nakia nodded, taking that as a hidden message for her to keep looking into Shashi and her hidden past.
“Thank you. I think I’m going to go home. Just to help my mother with the funeral plans.”
The king nodded and let go of her, looking down at her with eyes of compassion but also of warning. Knowing Nakia, T’Chaka knew that she would go searching where danger lay.
“We’ll see you there.”
Nakia nodded again and turned, walking out of the garden passing by T’Challa who still looked quite distraught.
“I’m sorry.” she mouthed to him, before greeting Ramonda and going home.
It was agreed that your funeral would be held in the Border-Lands, where you were born. Too many people were there in Nakia’s eyes. People who were never there for you in your real life.
Nakia had anger in her more than sadness as your coffin was brought out by random people that were supposed to be family but clearly were just Shashi’s old friends.
Nakia observed how 4 of these people held up your supposed body in the coffin, while there really only needed to be 2 doing it- telling from the distributed weight that was being carried by all 2. You were nearing your teenage years, your body would never be that light when included with the weight of the actual coffin. Nobody else seemed to notice that.
The coffin was clearly too small to have ever fit your body if it had ever been put in there too, and nobody seemed to point out how if you were to be put in that coffin, your feet and a large chunk of your leg would have been left with no space to fit.
Nakia knew that it wasn’t paranoia with the coffin. You were too tall to fit in it, and for Shashi to not even try to lie well was just a different level of disrespect from her.
Nakia hadn’t spoken to her since the Sunday when she found her drunk. Yet another thing that didn’t add up. If you had died that Sunday morning, why hadn’t she mentioned anything to her. Or better yet, why had she lied and said you were just gone when you were really dead.
The woman’s story never seemed to add up, yet she sobbed her eyes out as the funeral went on, and she cried when you were lifted into a quinjet.
Nakia watched as the woman looked like her world had shattered, yet still she couldn’t seem to feel sympathy for her.
On the other hand, T’Challa kept to himself as he cried next to his mother and father, choosing to still not talk to Nakia after the palace events.
Yaa wrapped her arm around Nakia for most of the ceremony, but left once help was needed to set up the celebration portion of your funeral, where your life would be talked about all around and your life would be commemorated. While more people went inland, Nakia stood still where she was.
Footsteps approached and Nakia looked to her left, only to see the woman she despised most.
“Shashi.” she said, not bothering to show any form of respect.
“Nakia, your mother tells me that you have some things that you want to say to me that I should be prepared for.”
Nakia looked up at the woman with the still fresh scars covered by makeup. She wanted to ask what happened but she knew that the woman would lie.
“Not really.” but then a thought crept up in her head, one that she couldn’t let go of.
“Actually… I have one question. Who is Dreykov?” the older woman immediately tensed, eyeing the girl like she’d sworn.
“Nobody that you want to know, little girl.”
Nakia grew more confident that he was involved. “She’s not dead, is she?”
“She is gone, Nakia!”
“Say the words and I’ll believe you. Say Y/n is dead and I’ll leave it.'' Nakia looked for any sense of honesty in the woman's eyes. For anything that could help her find you or at least find out what happened to you.
“She is gone.” Shashi said, and then proceeded to walk to where the others were.
Nakia turned and walked the other way, not wanting to be near people who wouldn’t help her. Her evidence was piling up and soon she’d have you with her.
With her head held down, she thought back to the happy last day that the two of you had. And all of the ones before that. The laughs that her mother said resembled her childhood days.
Tears formed for the first time through the whole day. What if she didn’t find you? She needed you to be back with her, because you were the one who was with her for her favourite memories. Memories that she didn’t have enough of. She cried thinking of how she wouldn’t be able to make more memories with you. She needed more time with you.
‘Love is beautiful.’ she thought to herself. Your voice rang in her ear. “Friendship is better.” you said in her head. Just as she heard your imaginary voice, a glimmer came from the ground, and Nakia finally became aware of what she saw.
It was a necklace. Your necklace. And it was covered in blood, much like the ground that surrounded it.
Someone had clearly tried to hurt you. But it had to be someone you trusted, because there was only blood at that specific point.
She picked up your necklace, and placed it in a pocket, before going back to her mother, making sure to mark where she found it so she could come back.
5 YEARS LATER
“SHASHI, OPEN THE DOOR NOW!” Nakia screamed as she pounded on your childhood home’s door, demanding to see your mother. She’s been waiting for over an hour, screaming for the constantly drunk woman to open her door so that they could have their monthly, scream off where Nakia pried for more information on your disappearance.
Shashi hadn’t ever really agreed to these conversations, but it had become a new normal for the two. Every month, Nakia would come banging on the door with new questions that she would ask the older woman, who always refused to answer them. Every now and then, she would slip up and give Nakia a piece of information that was either extremely useful or completely useless. It just depended on what time of the day it was, and how drunk Shashi was.
Nakia had tracked the two constants and figured out that she got the best information in the morning before the sun had struck 12 o’clock, but only on days where the woman was extremely drunk.
The door swung open and the drunkest drunk of Wakanda came out of the door, hobbling around.
“WHAT?” she yelled, leaning towards Nakia and nearly tripping over her own feet as she moved. Nakia barged into the house, her mind set on finding physical evidence without the woman being able to fight.
Just as she predicted, the woman barely noticed how Nakia moved from the door to the inside of the house,as she still stood looking out with anger like someone stood in front of her.
Nakia put down her bag and began the rummage. She went through your room years ago, so there was no point in trying that again, but now she targeted the older woman's things.
She had only 2 minutes at most before Shashi sobered up from the bright sun and found her out.
She looked for documents, phones, or any form of evidence that would help her find the people that she needed to find. She knew that you were taken out of the country. A discovery that was made only weeks after your funeral. She knew that you fought, and she knew that you weren’t told about it, because all of your stuff remained neatly in your room.
If Shashi wasn’t so troubling to deal with, Nakia would have just reported her to the authorities, but with little physical evidence, people would just think that she was having another denial breakdown like she had a few years before. She needed to find something that could either help find you or at least get Shashi prosecuted.
Something like the phone that she used to use when she talked to Dreykov. Nakia searched the room specifically for that, but it was nowhere to be found, something Shashi had probably discarded after committing her crimes.
The sound of a groan told Nakia that her time was up, the drunk was going to kick her out and continue drinking. The drinks never finished and the house smelled like somewhere where humans weren’t supposed to live.
“NAKIA! If you want to be a spy so badly, why don’t you become a war dog! Do the nation some good, instead of disturbing my peace.!” the woman wobbled into her room, with a fresh glass of whatever she mixed together to make sure she was knocked out before sundown.
“There is no peace here, Shashi. Only alcohol, that you never seem to run out of.” Nakia joked, receiving a glare from its intended target.
“Okay, sorry. Low blow, I just wonder how you afford all the alcohol when you haven’t worked since her death.”
“Ahh-ssah-sin muu- neee.” Shashi stuttered.
“What?”
“ASSASSIN MONEY, now get out of my house, before I tell your mother that you are harassing me again.”
Nakia rolled her eyes at the threat. The great angry Yaa was Shashi’s only escape. If her mother finding out that her investigation was still going on didn’t scare her so much, Nakia would have ignored the woman and continued pressing the issue, but it wasn’t important. She had gotten something. Assassin money. That had to be about Dreykov. So it was good enough.
“Fine, I’ll go. And maybe I will be a war dog. It would surely help stop people like you from selling children!” She covered her mouth at the realisation of her words mixed with the nod of shame that Shashi took.
“No-you sold her?!” Nakia looked at the woman, “YOU SOLD HER!”
“Nakia. GO!”
The teenager walked out, tears of both dread and fulfilment developing. She had finally started to figure it out, so she could find you. But you were sold, and who knew if you were still alive.
She immediately ran towards the palace, needing the best technology that she could get. Nobody minded her as she passed them by, running like she had places to be. That had just been the way Nakia acted most of the time since your funeral. She travelled like she always had to be somewhere. Like she was trying her best to escape the world that she lived in.
As she arrived, T’Challa stood in a room full of all the evidence Nakia seemed to have collected over 5 years. She had called along the way to tell him to review the old evidence. He had finally gotten onto talking to Nakia, after 2 years of not talking, and although he had doubts about Nakia’s half-decade-long obsession, he was always willing to help.
Nakia greeted him and then swiftly moved on to write down “assassin money,” on one of the holographic documents she had open.
“Assassin money?” the prince asked.
“That’s what I got from Shashi today. It has to be about Dreykov. I just know it.”
“Nakia, you talked to a regularly drunk woman at the height of her drunkenness. Are you really willing to believe that anything she says at this point would be valuable?”
“Yes.” Nakia said, moving herself around to another section of the room.
T’Challa sighed, seeing that he would have to have the conversation he didn’t want to have.
“Nakia…don’t you think that maybe you could be overthinking it?”
“How so?”
“Nakia, are you sure that you didn’t just get the measurements wrong on that day. You were young and it was your first big loss, what if you were just seeing things wrong and all of this is just you pushing the false evidence.”
“Do you not want her to be alive?”
“I do! I do…but there is a major difference between wanting and believing. I can want her to be alive without believing that she is.”
“ Well she is.” Nakia walked away from him, her mood suddenly more ruined now than when she spoke to the drunk.
“Nakia, i didn’t mean it like that.” the prince said, feeling like he did at 12, “She was my friend too. And if you think that she is alive, then I do too. I’ll help. Whatever you need, except helping you terrorise her mother.
I can’t do that, I have training.” he said the last part with a smirk.
Nakia shoved him and he laughed, allowing her to join. T’Challa loved poking fun of Nakia’s monthly meetings with her top suspect.
With the new evidence however, Nakia could feel herself making a decision on her life.
“I think I’m going to become a War dog.”
18 years later…
2 decades had passed since your disappearance, and many people had forgotten. That’s how it felt to you. An assassin whose only job was to kill who Dreykov told you to kill and leave no traces when you left.
Over twenty years of control, abuse and misery that was buried deep within yourself. Your mind constantly forgetting the bad memories while you worked. There was no place for guilt or regret of fear in an assassin’s life. You had to get the job done and pretend that nothing happened.
But when you got to go back to your house, the one that Dreykov gave you when you graduated out of the red room as the top assassin of your group, all that you did was try to think of those memories again. You wanted so badly to retrieve them from your head and remember what life was like before this, before your mother sold you. But you became less good at remembering and a lot better at forgetting. And with the new trackers and controllers that Dreykov had improved to keep the Widows in line, you never had much time to do so.
At the house, you were given time to eat, sleep and train. Right before he would send you out to kill. It was better treatment than most widows, as you didn’t have to go back to the red room to train, or to do anything. It was a part of a deal. One that you made more than a decade ago, when you had taken your place as the best assassin in widow history. After killing the president of a country that you no longer remembered, Dreykov granted you one gift, and that was to never have to see the room, or anyone from it ever again. You would work alone. No partners and no distractions. It was a deal you felt proud of, none having gotten one like that before.
You travelled the world and shot the most sinister, important people in many countries. Some who were evil, and some who Dreykov was paid to kill for fun.
You never asked questions, nor did you really care at that point. You thought you were happy, or at least less stressed than you used to be.
Over 20 years and it was yet another day where you were to kill someone for the fun of one of Dreykov’s clients soon.
It was farther, in a different country, so you’d have to wait to fly over before you could hatch out an appropriate plan of action. So you decided to take a break. The only break you knew. Ballet. You went to the studio in your house and put on your ballet slippers. They were worn out, unusable really, but you used them to train yourself to stand stronger than the average ballerina. You were taught to be the best performer, even if that meant that you were to dance on worn out shoes that hurt you.
You started your music, and began to dance. The routine was tight, and lacked error. Your technique, even in the presence of nobody, was like that of a dancer performing in front of a stage of thousands of people.
The only problem was that you weren’t alone. You could feel it. Someone’s eyes were on you. You approached the studio window and closed it, leaving the room to close every other window and curtain in the house so that you could inspect what was going on from the camera’s outside.
It looked like an assassination was coming early.
Nakia looked through the window and then immediately closed it when she saw the face. Your face stood across the street of the fairly abandoned neighbourhood in Italy. Your face just as beautiful as she remembered it to be, only less happy.
“T’Challa. She’s there. I just saw her. We found her.” she whispered to the black panther through her ear piece.
“Are you sure?” he asked, in the next room looking for the same thing that Nakia was. You.
“Of course, I’m sure. I’ve been looking for 23 years. I think I'd know if my life’s mystery had finally been solved.” Nakia said, annoyed at the question but also so relieved to see your face. It was only for a split second, and it had only been a glimpse but it was more than she had gotten since she was a child so she would take it.
She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn’t realise that T’Challa had come back into the room she was in, and he was worried.
“Nakia, somebody just left that building, and they do not look like they were ready to give us any hugs of rejoice.”
Before anything could register, an explosion hit the building and Nakia and T’Challa went running out. T’Challa switched into his suit and grabbed Nakia, jumping down to the ground floor and then putting them down so that they could make a run for it. Smoke filled the premises and shots fired all around.
Nakia screamed as a bullet nearly hit her, only for it to only graze her arm.
T’Challa turned to you and saw that it was definitely you. Or at least somebody that looked exactly how you looked as a child just in adult form.
He took the bullets and used the kinetic energy absorption in his suit to send his own explosion towards you, knocking you off of your feet.
“Y/n!” He said as he looked at you, shocked that you were attacking them.
“Y/N!” Nakia ran to you on the ground, still in shock from the impact that the black panther suit had. You had never been knocked off your feet before, and you weren’t used to it.
“Y/n, what’s going on?” came dreykov’s voice in your ear, his tracking and controlling system catching that you were in hot waters and letting him know to check what you were doing as your next assassination was only scheduled for a few days from then.
“Nothing master. "You said in Russian, Nakia recognised it since she had learnt it as a war dog. She looked at T’Challa as she sat down next to you, and they both knew that you were not alone to your own thoughts.
You lifted your hand to your forehead and felt blood, your blood, on your hands. That was another first. Ready to grab Nakia by the neck and make her pay for ruining your perfect performance and then injuring you, you brought your hand to it, but you jolted at the intense shock that went through your body,
“What did you do?!” T’Challa yelled at Nakia, while coming to the two of you.
“I shocked her with my beads.” she said plainly, allowing her and T’Challa to lift you up and take you onto the hidden quinjet on the roof that had been in the sky for hours, waiting for you to be identified.
“Are you sure that this is a good idea? To take her back to Wakanda now. Did you see the way she spoke? She was talking to someone,Nakia. They could be controlling her. We can’t risk taking her back for them to follow.”
“So what do you suggest we do then, Prince.” Nakia rolled her eyes at the man trying to delay your homecoming. T’Challa sighed and got up to make a call, while she stared at you, holding your hand as you stayed unconscious.
“I’ve found you.” she whispered, letting the tears fall freely now.
“After all of these years, I've finally found you, Y/n. I wasn’t crazy.”
“You weren’t.” T’Challa said as he got back, coming towards the two of you as he went to hug his emotional friend. Over the years that he had been involved in helping find you, even he thought that what they were doing was crazy. But Nakia never did, and he could tell that Nakia really loved you during that time. She still told stories of your childhood together being the mischievous trio that interrupted the morning meetings.
Now all three of you were grown up, and there you were. Laying in front of him when he was sceptical for so long. He also breathed a sigh of relief knowing that his friend was back.
You all sat there for a few hours, while Nakia had to shock you a few more times, as they waited, but soon enough, another quinjet landed on the roof in secret, and the young yet brilliant Shuri came into the building holding a case.
“Shuri!” Nakia called as the girl got to them, and knelt, looking at the woman that she had heard so much about but had never met. She was in just as much shock as T’Challa had been, as most people truly believed that you were dead.
Shuri got to work, opening her case and spraying you with a red dissolving powered spray that made your face twitch, and your body become at ease.
The two non-science people looked at Shuri with questions in their eyes.
“It deactivates mind control.” she said. She got to work patching up your head wound.
5 minutes passed before you started to become conscious again, and when you opened your eyes to the three people that stood in front of you, and when you didn’t hear the voice that corrupted your brain, tears formed instantly.
“Kia…” you choked out at your best friend, now a woman looking at you with tears in her eyes.
You then looked to your left and saw your royal friend, “T’Challa…you’re the Black Panther, now.” He nodded and shed a tear himself, seeing your face express itself just like it used to.
You then looked at Shuri, feeling bad that you couldn’t name who she was.
“I’m Shuri, the one who decontrolled you. I’m T’challa’s sister.”
Your mind was overwhelmed, not only by the fact that T’Challa now had a sister, but by the fact that she had taken you out of Dreykov’s control.
Instinctively, you looked for a sharp object and stabbed your leg.
“What are you doing?!” Nakia screamed, wanting you to stop.
Removing the tracker chip that was inserted into your leg when you got to the room, you showed it to them before destroying it. Shuri was quick to help you wrap your leg while you just looked at everyone that was around you.
Your smile was slowly fading, and by the time that you were taken onto a quinjet with Nakia and T’Challa and his sister took the other one, your face had completely fallen and your breathing had turned uneasy.
“Y/n, are you okay?” she said. Seeing you fidget. You nodded, having no words for her, yet so many questions.
Hours later, the quinjets had landed, and you were back where you were born. Where you grew up. Where you were sold.
“I can’t be here.” you said stuck in your position sitting in while Nakia tried to take you out into the palace.
“Will he come for me?”
“No he won’t, y/n. He can’t do that anymore.” Nakia said, approaching you.
Not convinced, you stood to start the quinjet again. Ready to fly to the red room yourself before he could come and take you himself.
Nakia saw the panic attack coming, and came to you immediately.
“Hey, breathe with me…” she let you follow her breathing for a while before continuing, “ He will not come for you again, Y/n. Nobody will. I promise.”
Those words brought back pictures. Ugly ones. Of you in the red room. A gun in your hands, imagining the people who hurt you as you shot. The sudden image scared you, and you broke down crying. You let Nakia hug you, and soon you refused to let go of her. She held you, and rubbed your back as tears fell down both your faces.
“I’m home.” you cried.
“You’re home now, Y/n. And I’m here for you.”
The night sky glistening in Wakanda, as you slept in Nakia’s arms refusing to let her go, after Shuri had done some tests on you to see that you were in good condition,
T’Challa’s footsteps felt loud as he approached the house where it all started, his first trip there since months before you disappeared.
He knocked on the door firmly.
“Shashi! It’s T’Challa. Open the door!”
The house smelled better than Nakia used to describe it, no alcohol was being consumed now seemingly.
The door opened and Shashi’s frame came into view. She had grey hairs now, but she looked better than she had in the years that followed the ‘death’..
“My prince. What brings you here?”
“We found her, Shashi.” Shashi’s face fell immediately, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
“She was never dead, and you knew that! When people hear this, things will not be good for you.” T’Challa turned and left, knowing that the Border Tribe elders were alert and prepared for her to flee so if she tried, it would be pointless.
He left the woman who had gotten too comfortable ignoring her past, suddenly scared for what was to come to light.
Author's Note: My Nakia Debut everyone. Part 2 will be out as soon as I get to writing it, but I am busy with school so don't be surprised if it's not this weekend or early next week
FOR TENOCH AND LUPITA PLEASE a fantasy romcom set in mexico about a human school teacher and an undercover fairy who meet at a parent teacher meeting about the fairy's kid and later meet at the bakery the fairy owns. Then the fairy makes some food for their kid to take to school and debate whether or not to add a love spell into it, and decides not to.
But the food is like a love spell in itself, and the teacher visits the bakery regularly.
After some time, they fall in love (obviously), but find it hard to tell each other, but show it by helping each other. Then it's revealed that the fairy is the last of their kind, and they need to find humans who likes their art in order to survive.
The baker is in fact, pressuring their kid to learn cooking to survive and in the process compromising their studies. The teacher notices something wrong and becomes like a second parent to the kid, who's buckling under the fairy's pressure. The kid can't explain to the teacher what is really going on, but the teacher tries to understand nevertheless and confronts the fairy eventually.
In the process, the fairy lashes out at their kid and the kid runs out of the house and almost gets hit by a car, but the teacher chases after the kid and saves them, only to get injured. The car rushes off, and the teacher is losing blood, so the fairy uses their healing powers as a last resort.
The fairy is heartbroken and realizes that they were not seeing beyond their own trauma, and now that it's easier to explain their situation to the teacher, they come up with a solution to take the pressure off the kid.
A year later, the kid is doing really well in school and has also pursued music and not baking. Not many people flock to it like they do to the bakery, but they still have fans online and they're way happier now.
The fairy still works in the bakery and smiles over the counter at the teacher, who's waiting for their order. The teacher is surprised to see that they got a huge cake instead of their order, and when they take a closer look, the icing reads... well you know what it's gonna read.
And the baker gets down on one knee.
~
I'd write it, but I'm not Mexican, and I want the story to talk about Mexico and have the subtext of the issues there and also have little details of the various cultures. And a lot of music.
Because we need a scene of the fairy and the teacher dancing.
In mine, Lupita is the fairy, but it works either way... that's why I made it gender neutral. I'd love it if a Mexican writer took notice of it. I wouldn't mind it being used as long as it's written by the right people!
FOR TENOCH AND LUPITA PLEASE a fantasy romcom set in mexico about a human school teacher and an undercover fairy who meet at a parent teacher meeting about the fairy's kid and later meet at the bakery the fairy owns. Then the fairy makes some food for their kid to take to school and debate whether or not to add a love spell into it, and decides not to.
But the food is like a love spell in itself, and the teacher visits the bakery regularly.
After some time, they fall in love (obviously), but find it hard to tell each other, but show it by helping each other. Then it's revealed that the fairy is the last of their kind, and they need to find humans who likes their art in order to survive.
The baker is in fact, pressuring their kid to learn cooking to survive and in the process compromising their studies. The teacher notices something wrong and becomes like a second parent to the kid, who's buckling under the fairy's pressure. The kid can't explain to the teacher what is really going on, but the teacher tries to understand nevertheless and confronts the fairy eventually.
In the process, the fairy lashes out at their kid and the kid runs out of the house and almost gets hit by a car, but the teacher chases after the kid and saves them, only to get injured. The car rushes off, and the teacher is losing blood, so the fairy uses their healing powers as a last resort.
The fairy is heartbroken and realizes that they were not seeing beyond their own trauma, and now that it's easier to explain their situation to the teacher, they come up with a solution to take the pressure off the kid.
A year later, the kid is doing really well in school and has also pursued music and not baking. Not many people flock to it like they do to the bakery, but they still have fans online and they're way happier now.
The fairy still works in the bakery and smiles over the counter at the teacher, who's waiting for their order. The teacher is surprised to see that they got a huge cake instead of their order, and when they take a closer look, the icing reads... well you know what it's gonna read.
And the baker gets down on one knee.
~
I'd write it, but I'm not Mexican, and I want the story to talk about Mexico and have the subtext of the issues there and also have little details of the various cultures. And a lot of music.
Because we need a scene of the fairy and the teacher dancing.
In mine, Lupita is the fairy, but it works either way... that's why I made it gender neutral. I'd love it if a Mexican writer took notice of it. I wouldn't mind it being used as long as it's written by the right people!
people moving to tumblr from twitter please fucking reblog art likes literally dont do anything except make the artist upset bc they have 2 reblogs and 55 likes
theres this one person who reblogs this post like 20 times a day and then sometimes will also reblog it like 200 times at once and also anytime it appears on their dash they apparently will queue it again too and i just want you all to know that you pissed them off real bad and that should be your sign to reblog art actually. for them
A lithe creature glided through the shallows, avoiding the sharp corals and barnacles with practiced agility. The salt-encrusted rocks made its dark body stand out starkly in contrast. Y/N waded into the water, with his eyes fixed on the approaching fish.
With barely a splash or ripple in the pacific lagoon, the creature emerged: a merman in the same shade as Y/N, but with an unearthly violet hue to the skin and scales covering his body. The scales grew more densely packed down his body until they covered the iridescent tail that he rested over the white rock. His eyes glimmered through his ornately crystalized dreadlocks as he regarded Y/N with a charming smile.
"Sawubona... Umhle." He spoke- almost sang his greeting. But Y/N wordlessly stepped forward to take the broad, webbed hands into his own and plant a soft kiss onto the merman's salty lips.
The Prince of the Sea giggled like a dolphin before returning the kiss more deeply, and flaring the feathery fins that lined the sides of his torso, in excitement.
" Why do you take so long?" Y/N complained.
" You kiss me better when you miss me, Y/N..." The merman replied.
(This but with shorter locs, no starfishes, and male)
Louis's palm landed with force on the supple flesh of T'Challa's backside, making the King moan.
"I need you inside, Daddy... Please Louis..." he arched his back, looking behind his shoulder at the vampire who was teasing him. Louis's pale eyes glittered as he smirked at the cute mess sprawled on hands and knees before him.
