N'Jadaka and Bear were seated with a good view of the outside as the royal talon fighter flew to the capital of Wakanda. The only thing they could see for miles was dense forested areas. After ten minutes passed they could see a mountain in front of them that the plane was heading for. As they flew closer to the mountain Erik glanced at Bear who just smiled slightly in response.
Just as the plane hit the mountain, it passed through a barrier and a sprawling metropolis could be seen in the distance before them. Erik was stunned, it was his first real time seeing the place his father always talked about with such passion. Erik studied the city while the plane took them to the outer area of the capital city of Wakanda next to a giant panther statue that overlooked the city. When they exited the back of the plane, Erik took a few moments to admire the view before Bear and himself were ushered into a building underneath the mountain the panther statue sat on.
It was a facility that they used for what seemed like prisoners as far as Erik could tell. Bear was allowed to stay with Erik while they did a blood test. But that wasn't saying much, the room they were brought to was almost completely bare besides a table and some chairs for them to use.
Someone came into the room after they were dropped off and took a blood sample before leaving them alone. It was about an hour later when Owibiah came inside and said, "Sorry for the wait N'Jadaka, we just wanted to verify that you were actually N’Jobu's son."
N'Jadaka nodded his head as he asked, "It's fine, I expected I would have to be tested. So what happens now?"
Owibiah glanced at Bear as she said, "We have one small matter to deal with, your friend Bear didn't come up when we looked for him. His face doesn't exist anywhere digitally and the name Bear doesn’t really help us much either."
N'Jadaka looked over to Bear for a moment before he said, "He almost always wears his mask and he doesn't normally travel in places that have working electricity, much less cameras to take his picture."
"Could you give us more info about him? His real name perhaps and where he was born along with the year?"
N'Jadaka glanced back at Owibiah as he said, "Give her your information, Bear."
Owibiah looked at Bear as he said in a heavy Russian accent, "Mishka Medvedev, Yakutsk, U.S.S.R. 10-12-1963"
Owibiah raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Doesn't that mean Bear Bear in Russian?"
Bear just smiled as N'Jadaka looked at Owibiah and asked, "You speak Russian?"
"All Dora Milaje are required to speak at least five languages fluently, I can speak ten. If you will excuse me for a little while, I need to run his information." She left the room right after.
It took over half an hour before she came back to the room. She glanced at Bear before she looked at N'Jadaka and said, "Bear can join you, but he needs to be restrained."
N'Jadaka nodded his head and said, "That's fine, Bear let her cuff you."
Bear grunted as he put his hands out. Owibiah came forward and put a small bead on each of Bear's wrist. Within a second they each expanded and turned into a pair of heavy duty handcuffs that magnetically locked his wrists together. Owibiah stepped back as she said, "The king and tribal leader's are awaiting you in the Council Chambers, please follow me."
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N'Jadaka and Bear were led out of the room and back to the royal talon fighter. After they boarded the plane, they were treated to a beautiful view of the city. The city itself was beautiful and mixed technology with nature in a delicate balance. As they flew, other craft could be seen flying around the city, traveling from one area to another.
Within a few minutes they were taken to the heart of the city and a tall beautiful golden spire. On each side of the spire stood tall onyx colored panther statues each one was almost half the height of the spire itself. The aircraft landed in front of the spire on a large platform. As the aircraft opened its rear hatch N'Jadaka and Bear were greeted by ten women of the Dora Milaje. There were five women in a line to each side of the aircraft’s ramp standing at attention.
Owibiah walked out onto the ramp and stopped to look at N'Jadaka as she said, "Follow me and once inside the council chambers do not speak unless you are asked to."
N'Jadaka nodded his head before he and Bear silently followed Owibiah down the ramp. Once on the ground the Dora Milaje formed up around them as they walked. N'Jadaka wasn't sure if they were considered prisoners or V.I.P. guests with this type of treatment. But he decided to put his trust in Bear and his team that everything would be okay.
As they walked through the spire, N'Jadaka took in the details of the place. It was a masterpiece of construction, but it was also a masterpiece of art. Everything flowed together organically and looked almost like it was natural. Even the things you could tell were man made, somehow blended into the structure naturally. They were led to a unique elevator that was easily big enough to hold all of them.
The elevator was stationed on the outside of the building and enclosed in glass. It was actually more of a single half circle platform than what a typical elevator looked like. Which gave it an amazing view of the beautiful city outside. Another interesting thing about the platform was how it operated. Since there were no walls, there were no buttons to push. N'Jadaka watched as Owibiah used the beads around her wrist which showed a holographic display she used to control the elevator.
As they rode the platform to the top of the spire, almost no motion was felt at all by anyone on the platform. Even though you could see the city becoming smaller below you. It made for a very strange and disconcerted feeling for N'Jadaka which made him close his eyes. He took in a deep breath of air, then slowly exhaled it. When he reopened his eyes they were already stopped at their destination.
They exited the platform on the top floor and were guided to a set of tall ornate double doors that opened up into a large rounded meeting chamber. There was a reddish brown platform in the middle of the room, it almost looked to be made of clay. Upon the clay platform rested six metal colored chairs and a taller throne made out of metal and wood.
The throne was at the back of the clay platform. It was a lot bigger compared to the other chairs and had two points coming out of the back near the arm rests that reached up over the throne and stopped at points just before they connected with each other. On each side of the throne were three chairs in a row boxing in the sides of the clay platform. All of the chairs were currently filled with people.
The man seated on the throne was older, his hair had started to become white showing his advancing age. But he still looked strong and capable as a leader. His face was unreadable as he studied N'Jadaka and Bear as they approached the middle of the room. N'Jadaka’s hands clenched slightly as he looked at the man who looked a lot like his father.
A woman in the chair to the king’s left was currently holding his hand. She showed no sign of her current age at all, if it wasn’t for where she was seated and how she was interacting with the king. N'Jadaka would have thought she was a younger adviser instead of the queen.
Everyone else seated in the chairs had a quiet and subdued demeanor. N'Jadaka took a moment to look at everyone as he came to a stop just before he stepped on the clay platform. The Dora Milaje who were guiding him spread out, but four of them stayed right behind him and Bear. Owibiah walked forward and stopped before the man on the throne as she said, “My king, I have bought N'Jadaka son of N’Jobu and his companion Bear as asked.” She then stepped to the right side of the throne and took up her position next to it.
The man was quiet for a few moments before he said in a deep voice, “Today is a day for celebration and also for mourning. Today my lost brother’s son has returned and even brought us a gift. But his coming also brings news which we have feared for years, that my younger brother is dead.”
Bear who stood behind N'Jadaka noticed as the boy's fists clenched tighter the longer the king talked. Bear glanced around the room for a moment, he already knew this meeting wasn’t going to follow the script. He only hoped that Erik didn’t try to kill the king, it would just make things more complicated.