#mwangi-idi

Instead of making his presence known out right, Idi just sat there and waited til Kali sensed him. Being one the stealthiest Tarks in history, he was able to sneak up some of the best assassins around. He even snuck up on Reptile once, and that was real feat in itself. 

//2 part Drabble starring Idi. 

Pt 1 Takes place during the uprising of Kotal 

Only three of my Tarks have a human fc. 

Azizi - Denyce Lawton

Idi - Wentworth Miller

Lerato - Hale Appleman

//After some revising, this will now be three parts. Pt 1 can be read here.

As Idi walked alongside his brother, paying half a mind to what he was telling him. He couldn’t help but notice the other tarks around him. He looks back as he passed two older tarkata dragging a tark his age by the wrists. The kid was roaring at  the top of his lungs, doing his best to get out of their grasp. His parents just stood by and watched, knowing if they tried to interfere there would be consequences. It was a sad thing to see, a child begging for their parents to save them from a fate that they knew would come. The kid bit one of the older tarks, getting a small window of opportunity to run. And run he did, run right back to his mother arms and clung onto her. 

“Idi!” 

“Hmm?” Idi looked away as he heard Benzi raise his voice. He looks up at his brother with a confused expression. “Can you repeat that?”

“Uh huh.” Benzi knew what Idi was looking at, something he chose to ignore outright. It was the same thing every year, nothing he hadn’t seen before. Placing a firm hand on the back of Idi neck, to keep him looking ahead. “Ignore everything happening now, just focus on yourself.”

“Understood.” Idi responded, not one to protest against his brother. Though it was easier said then done. Sure he could pretend to be blind to his surroundings and drown out most of screams and cries of tarks but he couldn’t help that feeling of dread creeping into his veins. As if he was being tested, another young tark his age could be seen running, almost towards him. It made him stop in his tracks, frozen in place until Benzi had the right sense of mind to pull him out of the way. Both of them just watched the frightened tark continue to run, seconds later two older tarks were chasing him down. 

“Go.” Benzi commanded, fearing that all this chaos would affect his little brother. 

The walk to the ‘proving grounds’ was a short one, a half mile walk from the Kamp, in the center of an Oasis that served as the Ritual place for the Kwanzaa Tribe. Hundreds of Tarkatans stood in a circle, just off the edge of the lake. Right in the center was circle  line dug up and filled red sand, serving as a ring for kombat to take place. An old Tarkatan war flag was planted on the line where the Four Elders of the tribe sat, waiting for everyone to arrive. And right in the center seat was Baraka, he stood standing with his arms crossed, brows knitted in frustration as he heard the scared tarks in the distance.

Standing in a line on the other side of the ring were the young tarks who were set to compete. A total of 16 boys, 21 girls stood side by side, with their fathers or other Guardian standing behind them. Idi was the 7th one in line, standing between two boys who had a few inches over him. It was obvious to most people that Idi was outmatched when it came to size, whereas most boys his age were around 5’3 and higher, he was 4’11. Benzi assured him that he didn’t stop growing, just he took longer than other kids. Not to mention the fact that all these kids were hitting puberty. 

A horn sounded off, signalling the beginning of what would be considered a bloody night. The crowd quieted down as Baraka walked to the center of the ring, Jabari and Chuma at his side. Baraka turned his head to Jabari and notions to him to go. Jabari walks pass him towards the line, all the young tarks watched as he goes to the end of the line and stands behind a young girl in blue at the end of the line. Most of them recognizing the girl was Jabari sister, Mudiwa. All eyes went back to Baraka as he started to give the usual speech he gave every year. 

Last year Idi was suppose to participate, but due to the fact that there was an odd number of young tarks, he was given a pass. Of course he was teased by tarks both young and old, most of them saying he was lucky to live another year. Idi ignored them, spending most of his time hiding in the trees or shadowing Benzi when he was around. Then 3 months ago, Benzi took Idi with him on one of his trips, returning to kamp three weeks ago. Some people were surprised to see them back, thinking Idi was possibly being kept away or turned Jambozi so he could avoid the ritual. The only ones to know where Idi really went were Baraka, who agreed to let him go in the first place. 

“Idi, look over there.” Benzi whispered in Idi right ear, pointing to the left side of the crowd. Idi was confused at first, wondering who his brother was pointing at. Then he spots a familiar figure among the crowd, one that sort of stuck out from the others. A tall figure in a long gray robe with a dark hood. Curled up around the bottom of the robe was a thick white reptilian tail that swayed back in forth in the sand. 

“Master Varanus.” Idi sounded excited but knew to keep his voice low. As if he was heard, the hooded figure pulls down his hood to reveal his face, getting a few surprised looks from the tarks standing near him. An albino Zattaren was a sight to behold, a rare one at that. Still the tarks did nothing but stare, sensing he was only here to spectate. Idi gives a quick nod to the Zattaren who nods in return with a small crooked smile. 

“First to fight, Lulu vs Nkechi. Best of luck to the both of you.” Baraka announced the first fight, making his way back to his seat. Idi blinked, having missed the speech and possibly the rules that were spoken. Still he knew the rules beforehand so it wasn’t like he was missing anything. He looks to his left to see the two girls making their way to the ring, both of them accompanied by their fathers. They were led to the center of the ring, given one last praise from their fathers who then steps out of the ring to stand behind the Kiongozi seat where they have to stay until the fight was over. Chuma steps in the ring, motioning for the girls to take a respectful tarkatan bow to each other. This year, Chuma would be the one to ref the fights since it was usually the Kamanda job to do it. 

Both girls crossed their arms with their blades extended and bowed to each other then took their fighting stance. Chuma took a step back and looks to Baraka who raised his right hand, giving the signal. Chuma looks a both girls and raised his left arm, the girls trained their eyes on his arm. As soon as his arm-blade extended, the girls shout and charge at each other with blades drawn.