The Rise of Kid Panther

1

April 4, 2035

    Sometimes I ponder at how different my life would be had I not eaten blue metal that day. I'm the The Crowned Princess. This whole kingdom is going to be under my control one day and I can't even keep my emotions in check.
    It seems like everyone has something to say about how I should act, especially those who should learn when to hold their tongue when speaking to their future Queen. These are just some of the things I hear:
"Princesses don't smack on their food."

Don't princesses wake up early?"

"Princesses are usually nice to people".

"How do you expect to find a husband if you can't cook a meal for everybody?" As if I'd want a husband.

    I think you get it. People don't understand how hard it is to explain how I really feel sometimes. I mean the vibranium literally changed the structure of my DNA  and altered the chemicals in my brain.
    In most cases vibranium is highly fatal when swallowed, so at times I wonder "Why didn't I die?" The vibranium never left my system, it just became a part of me. No matter what was done every attempt at trying to extract it went wrong, it's like it didn't want to leave.
    There are only a few people that I share these thoughts I have. like my best friend. O'Wana. Daughter of Okoye.
    She is fierce as she is soft. She's rough and intimidating, but when you get to know her she's bright and sarcastic and so very kind and is always smiling. I'm really glad to have her. Sometimes I like to look back at the first time I met her.

October 18th , 2024

   "Baba, can we go now?" I asked my Father impatiently. "Yehlisa umoya. Calm down". He replied. "I promised Wakili I'd help him find a good shepherd dog for when he's gathering cattle." I replied in an excited manner.
   "I'm too busy with my duties. Okoye will take you". He tells me. "Okoye? But she never lets me do anything." I replied annoyed. My father turned his head and said to me, "That's her job." He stands up and touches one of his Komoyo beads calling Okoye telling her to be at the front of the palace doors ready to escort me to the Border Tribe.
   He walked me down to the front doors at the entrance of the palace and said, "You are to wait here until she arrives." He sounded serious but I didn't care at the time. When my father was no longer in sight, I ran out and went straight to the Border Tribe.

"Wakili!" I shouted from a distance. "T'Zani! Finally you're here! I was just bringing the herds back into the cages. My sister-" I cut him off, "you have a sister? How come I didn't know?" "Well we don't really like alike, we're twins but you've seen her before." He replied.
   "Really? Can I meet her? I asked. "You already have," He laughs. "Maybe if I can find her I will probably introduce you however she's around this time she's usually busy with fight training with the other girls."
   "Maybe I can help you find her". I tell him enthusiastically. We went looking all over the Border Tribe for her and almost even got lost when we went into the woods.
   "I can't find her. I don't know where she went." He told me sadly. I told him that it was okay and that there was always a next time. Then suddenly, we both turned our heads as we heard Okoye's voice in the distance.
   "Usengxakini enkulu! You are in big trouble!" She shouted looking directly at me. "Hi mom". Wakili says quietly. She turns the direction of her eyes of me and onto Wakili. "Mholo my son. How are you?" in the most motherly voice ever, as a kid it baffled me the way she could change the tone of her voice in an instant. "I'm good." he said smiling, I think my favorite physical feature of his was and still is his smile. It lights up something warm in me.
    She turns her her eyes from him to me. It's like a switch from love to anger. "T'Zani, Your father said to wait until I arrived to escort you to the border tribe, did he not? And yet you are here, running around the kingdom and disobeying your father, the king's wishes." I never understood why people would always add "the King" when threatening to tell him what wrongdoing I did as if it was supposed to scare me. If anything it taught me who's a snitch and who isn't.
    "What if something happened to you? or to Wakili? What am I supposed to tell your Father? That you left before I got there to escort you? You are not being careful. Just wait until we return."
   "Please don't tell the King Mama! We were looking for O'Wana. T'Zani wanted to meet her." Wakili intervenes. 
   "Was someone looking for me?" A voice unknown to me calls out. When I turned around that's when I saw her. She was around my age, she looked exactly like Okoye. I couldn't believe that I never assumed that she was Okoye's daughter. Same full lips, brown eyes, the only differences is O'Wana's hair is short. A TWA(tiny weenie afro). She had a red shirt and black leggings and black work boots. On her left hand, she held a long stick. A small one that's just her height. I stared at her for what felt like forever.
   "Well? Was someone looking for me?" She asks again. "Actually, I was. My name is T'Zani." "The princess?" She asks shocked and gave a little curtsy but I told her that it wasn't necessary. "I'm O'Wana. I see you've met my mom and brother. "She's my royal escort. Goes with me everywhere." I enformed her.
   "And one day you will be T'Zani's royal escort." Okoye tells O'Wana. We both looked at each other and smiled. "Maybe she could be my escort now, so that way you don't always have to follow me around." I suggested. "No," Okoye replied, "She hasn't completed her basic training and is only a child. The time for her to escort you will come but now is not that time.
   We both said okay at the same time. "Hey O'Wana, Do you wanna go to the mountains with me?" I asked. "Sure! I've never been there before." "Really? It's so beautiful I promise you'll love it. Wakili do you want to come with us?" "I have to go back to the Border Tribe, maybe next time we can actually look for a shepherd dog." I nod my head and said "Next time, definitely."
    We walked Wakili back to the Border Tribe then headed for cliffed mountains, and from that day on, O'Wana has always been my closest companion. I can't remember when she didn't have my back and I didn't have hers. She really is a sister I never had. And with my royal duties increasing as each day I get closer to becoming Queen, I know she'll help me make the wisest decisions for our country.