The Black Panther (Discontinued)

Ororo's Letter ( New Chapter)

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I stopped reading and looked up at him remembering what the letter said on the front.

" Actually I think I'll read it when we get back. She told me to read it alone so I think that's what I'll do. Those are her wishes ", I told T.

" Understood ", he nodded.

After our dinner date we went back to the loft. I sat in the bathtub with the letter having a soak. I figured now was the perfect time to read it since I was alone now.

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" My Dearest Harper, I know you might feel frightened but you have no reason to be. I'm closer to you than you think. You and I have shared an invisible bond for a long time. I am very sick and I'm getting worse but I'm not afraid. In my dreams you are my comfort and solace. I started dreaming of you 6 months ago. I've seen your face as clear as day. There isn't a detail I've missed in my drawings. For awhile I didn't understand the significance of your existence but I found answers. I'll start from the very beginning.

My mother came from a tribe known as the Kulati. Our tribe was raped and conquered once, just like Cai & just like Cai, every Kulati person had a similar look. After the colonizers left and died out of Kulati, the people of Kulati were afraid of the outside world. Over time the people in this tribe started to look like one another and visiting the outside world was forbidden. For a long time they stayed inside this deserted part of Kenya, not daring to find out what the world had to offer. My mother Princess Onkoya, was the most daring woman I'd ever met. She knew that outside of her village there was a big world waiting for her. I attribute my braveness and courage to her. Our tribe had warriors that would hunt and gather for the women and children in the village. One day a strange man was found in the forest with a big broken air plane. To the Kulati, this airplane seemed like some evil man made machine. They'd seen these machines fly above the village before. Believed to be evil, they'd shoot arrows and bows at it as it flew by. The Kulati believed that every part of the outside world was evil and plagued with dark spirts and illness. When they found this man they realized he was injured and needed help. Many of the men wanted to shoot him to end his suffering. They didn't want to bring this man back to the women and children. My mothers brother being brave like his sister, felt sorry for this man. He convinced the chief of the tribe (my grandfather) to let him into the village and get nursed back to help. It was a miracle for the chief to even allow this man to come back but he approved. The warriors brought him back to the village and though scared, the women treated his wounds from the plane crash.

There was one woman in particular who cared for him the most - my mother. She tended to his wounds, held his head for him to drink and fed him with her hands. As this man started to gain awareness of his surroundings and became stronger he'd always ask for the woman with the braids to her hips, my mother. When he was strong enough for conversation she'd ask him about the outside world. This man revealed that he was royalty, from a place called Cai. He'd been touring Africa and soon planned to head to Egypt. He wanted to see what more the world had to offer as well, he was an adventurer. My mother was intrigued by this.

The people of the village grew to tolerate this man and let him stay until he found a way back. When he was healed he'd sleep in his plane and worked in the forest to stay out of people way. He started to repair his plane and every night that he fixed this plane my mother would join him. This man could speak her native language and he knew many languages. He'd teach her the names of different tools and would ask for her help by handing him tools. She was so captured with this plane that she asked to ride it when it worked.

It took him 3 months to repair his plane but he was missing one thing, aviation fuel. He would have to find a way to the city which was a ways away, in order to buy this fuel. He had a lot of money to buy this fuel so that wasn't the problem. He figured if he walked far enough he could catch rides along the way and eventually he'd be in the city. When my mother realized how long it would take this man to get to the city, she wanted to go with him badly. She'd always wondered what else was out there. She asked her village to go with him but they insisted that a man should accompany him on his journey. She went with him anyway, sneaking out with him during the dead of the night.