Metal.Fangs

AT THE BEGINNING

At the beginning, there were the people of Chumaa which translates to people of metal. This was because of their skin tones. Some were bronze, some were iron, some were steel some were lead among many other dark metal tones. Most people of Chumaa were iron in complexion. At the beginning, they are believed to have been created from the eternal darkness before the sun intruded the earth space. They believe so because to them, they believe that they have a very intimate connection with the darkness. In the darkness, the people of Chumaa believed that when the earth sent the sun away, it was their turn to reconnect to that which they came from. So they would rest whenever the wicked sun was out then spring back to life  whenever the sun had been chased away by the earth. At the beginning, they would freely feed on animal blood without being judged. At the beginning, there was no need to hide their fangs because they were the accessories that made them who they were. At the beginning, they were unapologetic of their ability to hear words from a distant away and respond to a conversation to which they were not a part of without being seen as intruding or eavesdropping. At the beginning, everything was perfect until they started mingling with the strange humans who came from a weird community. The community across the two mighty rivers was rumored to have strange people who could comfortably work under the cursed sun.

The people of Rangi; the community across the two mighty rivers had also heard of a strange community whose gates you could just walk into during the day, carry their granary stock without anyone noticing. Very strange people they thought. The discovery of the people of Chumaa was made by Omollo the village messenger. At the beginning, there used to be a well-built man, strong and physically fit who was in charge of relaying messages to villages far away. Omollo had just replaced Dika, a former messenger who was found dead a week after he was late from his mission. The Kingi, which was the name of a king at the beginning, decided to send a rescue team to find out what could have befallen Dika. The warriors found him and all were lost for words. They did not just understand how possible it was for an animal to suck dry  its prey but fail to feed on its flesh! Surely wonders will never cease. This puzzle would however be solved years later when they would first come to contact with the people of Chumaa.

At the beginning, animals had already learnt that around the region near the boarder of the first river lied danger. There were animals faster than them that always pounced on them at any slight chance they would get. With time, they learnt to keep themselves alive by avoiding the land of predators. This in turn, made some people of Chumaa to look for food far from where they lived and with time, they found themselves in the land of Rangi. What a tragedy! The people of Rangi only had four guards at the village gates. There were two main gates. The one at the front and the one at the back. Each was guarded by two guards. It was a huge shock on the people of the village when they woke up to their four guards and some cattle dead but not eaten. " Look, the same pattern of teeth Dika the messenger had around his neck when we found him dead a while ago!" one of the villagers noticed. A huge blanket of sadness covered the village of Rangi. They have seen wild animals attack them and their livestock before but they were sure they had never seen an animal that just kills for sport. The village seer was called to help in solving this strange riddle.

The people of Rangi had gathered near the village's granary where they would store supplies for the village. They were eager to know what this animal was that would kill man and beast alike and not feed on their flesh. The seer arrived. "The children of darkness have decided to cross over the two great rivers. They are hungry an will not stop until they feed on the last life of Rangi. They are hungry and thirsty and do not care from where they get to fill themselves up. That is just ho selfish they are. Please, get me our great messenger Omollo." The seer said as Omollo walked fast amidst the villagers to get to where the seer was. " My child, a while ago you made light of a village whose people sleep during the day, dis you not?" Omollo was asked. "Yes great one. The village of Chumaa still baffles me! On my way back from delivering a message to the land of  Dibwa a while ago, I had not eaten or drank a sip of water for two days as my supply ran out. I luckily came across the land of Chumaa where after calling out on the villagers and knocking at their gate for long, I decided to get within their gates. I found very little food and water . After waiting for a while, I assumed they could have been to a ceremony but this was not the case since on my way out, I decided to have a peep at one of the houses only to notice them all asleep. That, to me oh great one, was very peculiar." Omollo recalled the event of  his return journey. "The food you found within their store, what did it consist of child if at all you remember clearly? of cause besides the water" "A lot of very smelly carcasses oh great one."

The villagers had unraveled the mystery that had befallen them. The children of darkness clearly wanted war. They had declared that they wanted to go to war with the people of Rangi. The people of Rangi would have their vengeance first before anything. They were a very peaceful community but their peaceful nature never meant that they were a people who would be mistreated and just let it pass. Never. They sharpened their spears, made ready their bows and arrows, they prepared their best soldiers to go to war. They were angry and wanted vengeance against children of darkness. They had no problems with them in the past but what they had done was unforgivable! Lino, the chief worrior, always had a strange saying that went " an eye for an eye will make the world see  better." Every time someone tried to correct him, his explanation always made his strange saying have sense. "If you take my eye, and I take yours and we put them together, how many eyes do we have? We have two and two eyes put together obviously a wider view is achieved compared to the one eye left on both of us." He would say laughing out so loud. A very silly explanation but with time, the worriors adopted it and soon it would become a common saying whenever anyone from Rangi wanted to revenge.

The people of Rangi were fully prepared at the third day. Chumaa people seemed to have given them time to forget in order for them to attack again or maybe they had carried a part of the livestock of Rangi people which they would feed on until they ran out. The plan was to attack during the day sine it was already known that the sun took their strength from them. Some  of  the people would be killed and left in the Chumaa land, some would be taken hostage. They would be ambushed and would act as a source of local entertainment as the hostages would be matched under the sun which did not do them justice strength wise.

As the Rangi finally reached Chumaa land. they tiptoed into the village during the day. The Chumaa territory was dead asleep. The villagers were woken by wailing of women and screaming of children. The rest of the village watched in despair as their village members were being dragged into the sun. It was pain and confusion for their leader Dawe. He clearly could not understand what was happening. "An eye for an eye will make people see better!" Lino was heard saying as he dragged a Chumaa member into the sun. The Rangi cheered as they watched the poor man burn to death. "You animals came to our village, killed our four brothers, killed our livestock and even carried extra with you! For years we have lived peacefully until recently when you beasts decided to invade and defile our territory! "Lino said as he waved his hands towards his soldiers ordering for more of the Chumaa people to be dragged into the sun. "We do not understand what it is you are talking about. If I am not wrong, the well built man standing behind you entered our granary a while ago but no harm befell him. This is how much we value peace." Dawe said. This really surprised the people of Rangi. Omollo was both surprised and confused. He decided to speak up. "But, Sire, if your people did not commit this crime, then who did?" Omollo asked. "Child, I do not know. What I know is that the children and innocent people you have killed today are not apart  of the crime that took place within your boarders." Dawe answered still standing on his window while staying away from the sun. "Apart from you children of darkness, there is not any other indecent animal that bites wrists of human beings, their necks and that of animals only to leave them without feeding on their body. Is there?" Lino sked shaking his head.

It was later realised that it was the three notorious village youths, Wawe, Niyo and Barnabas were seen crossing over the two great rivers into the land of Rangi. The three were seriously wrong and their mischief had brought the village to its knee. Their actions had caused innocents their life. At the beginning, the people of Chumaa were only allowed to feed on the blood of prisoners, or any person who was taken captive from war but never on the blood of innocent people. Yes, it was true that the animals were migrating but killing innocent people has never been an option. The three mischievous young men were to be handed over to the people of Rangi and they were allowed to do with them as they pleased. their plea for mercy fell on deaf ears. In order to keep peace and good relations between the two villages, the Rangi decided to bring five hundred heads of cattle to help the Chumaa survive and to thank them for letting Omollo the messenger carry their supplies without permission and without hurting him. Let there be peace.

With time, the people of Chumaa decided to intermarry with their neighbouring villages. As time passed, their blood would become weaker and weaker and soon, they were able to become like the other mundanes. Their history became diluted and the people who became the Chumaa were no longer the originals but a mixture of blood, culture, beliefs and taboos. Even though they had taught themselves not to feed on humans, most people from the lands beyond in the capital never wanted to associate with the people from this side of the country. This explains why the bridge that linked the island with the mainland was destroyed since to the people on the mainland and in the capital, everyone on the island were people of Chumaa and they were all savages who did not deserve support from the main government. The government decided to give the island a total blackout making sure that no services reached the people of Chumaa. The people however did not know much about the mainland and the capital as much as they would hear rumours of the sun shining throughout the capital both day and night.