Once upon a time, in the land after the fall of
ogres. In a different realm, where diviners were as important as rulers. When
the male sun shone with love and the female moon proudly lit the paths of late sojourners.
When diviners beseeched Khakaba to summon strong winds to ward off chikhungu
toward the great waters of Walule…
When neither Bailifuma
had mastered the art of tickling the skies nor did emande, the game bird, fly on the left-side spelling doom on Baala warriors. There lived a young
girl, humped, orphaned. Nakhayuyu daughter of Mbirira of Basilikwa, they who
came caring raffia palms.
By the mercy of her clanspeople, her days moved on
sluggishly.
She knew not of where she had come from. Nakhabale, on her death rack told her someone
with a bile-green heart had blew bad winds upon the homestead.
In the twin-seasons before the great famine of
Mutabani, Mbirrira, her father, had been felled in the week-long war between Bamuki and Bamuruku. But didn’t Nasookho, the aged Omuyemba seer, forewarn them? In their sheer pride, they charged on,
suffered great causalities under the poisoned arrow-shower of Bamaasai Bamuruku Warriors.
A few moons
thereafter, Nabwami her mother passed through red Manafwa River crossing
towards Mitoto, the dreaded land with Mitoto trees. Never to return. And now,
her only caregiver Nakhabale slowly sank low, her long-gone ancestors calling
out, in the next world. Just a young girl, Wanakhatandi
ketekhe arie?
But an oracle had spoken; Nasookho in his youthful days
gave word. In his second sight he told people of his persistent dream. That at
a ripe time, there would come a woman-warrior. A new kind of bull on the kraal.
That ekhutu would transform into ekhuchuru (the falcon), flying high in a
land where no good person survives.
Seasons upon each other, the old prophecy had slowly faded in the minds
of the clan's people. A woman had her place after all, but never on the front
battle lines-they had dismissed.
One evening, Nakhayuyu made way through the thick
and thorny bushes down to the Manafwa River. On her head was luucho, steadily balanced. Slowly, she walked,
choosing not to listen to pangs of her empty stomach. Her mind wandered. ‘I
have some eleusine left, after getting water; I will pick some Khakayanga herbs
and cook for my khocha from
Ebukaramocha. He, indeed, has come with good tidings. Senke requests for my
presence. At dawn we sojourn to the land of Bamasaaba’.
Nakhayuyu edged closer to the river bank. Alas!
She heard a smooth voice speaking nearby. She lifted
her eyes towards the gushy currents of the river. There was a hand raised above
the waters. A hand of a female, carrying kumwendo, slowly moving it. From underneath
the water, the voice whistled on. As if someone, were drowsing; in a distress
call. Nakhayuyu physical state would not allow her to jump in and save the mysterious
person. If only she had come with Walekhwa or Muyundo; but they had gone
grazing mukewa ya Musioba and probably swimming in River Namwenula. Emichi mikali lifwa! Bali emechi
burerere. Nakhayuyu stood still.
Momentarily, she was stuck. Yet, the voice seemed so
familiar, calling out to her to do something. Pebe! Lusambu nelwalomaloma? She wanted to shout for help, but her voice
trailed off. She blacked out.
After three days and three nights, she woke up. Slowly,
she struggled to open her eyes. She could see lusuli that was unfamiliar. She was at Matumbufu Nalukuluku’s; the
village omulakusi. He was smiling at
her with his big teeth, holding kuwendo similar to the one in the river.
Nalukuluku said to her uncle on her left side, that she was of excellent
health.
But something had occurred.
She had become a girl
after the god’s own hearts.
‘From now, you will be Nakhayuyu Namwendo
Nabulicho. You are now a warrior; the ekhuchuru
bird that Nasookho predicted ten seasons before Wele wa Kasawa brought people
on the Mountain-Hill of Bukusu. Wake up and take kumwendo; with it you will cure, save, advice and open the skies at
the hour of need. Your word will open and seal. Mbiriira your great great grandfather
must be proud of you. And should be Nakhayuyu Nekoye, the great woman whose
rope our people used to cross the massive river of the North; that cuts through
the desert.’
Busia
bwasia nako! A heroine had been reborn in the clan
of Bamuki. Since the heroic days of
Nekoye, the humped girl had been given divination powers. Embuuni ekhuuna khelebende! At the next sunrise, Wekuke, the oldest
of them, staggered into the homestead. ‘My gods can now let me rest in peace,
my eyes have witnessed the new elevation. An Omumuki feminine warrior has been born, just like in my dream last
night.’
Later, the sun went down on him, taking him far away,
at peace with self.
From the very day, intuition and uncanny powers came
upon the daughter of Nabwami. Her gourd directed her wits. She had been given
the wisdom to see before anyone else, and ‘kill’ herbs to healing flesh and
mind. Back in her munjeko, through premonitions she guided men of battle.
Undisputedly
and in exact sense she spoke, the gods delivered the enemy unto Babukusu
warriors in the Battle of Lelekwe. For sure, the gods lived through her words!
Unheard before, each day her homestead flooded with clansmen
and women, long-distance sojourners, military elites and all those in need of
her portion and healing. She blessed the newborns, fished out the witches and dedicated
lands to plant eleusine.
Bali
sisiowo sikekhe ne sikali. Nakhayuyu Namwendo forever
remained a household name. A warrior who went to battle before it began, a
healer, seer and good judge through the land of Thigh of the Elephant. Not only
to Bamuki but to all clans people and
far-fetched berende in need.
In her natural form, slow spoken but deeply wise,
Nakhayuyu showed no revenge to those who had despised her and denied her food.
She spoke the truth, serving all in the Trinity of Wele Khakaba, Mukhobe and Mung’oma.
A story is good, until another is told
……………………End…………………………….
Note: This is fictional work, name of characters and
some events have been made up. Events mentioned did not happen in the said
clans. The piece is for pure enjoyment, and of course a little lesson in the
way you interpret it.
