Àgbẹ̀ tó jẹ iṣu tán, tó tún jẹ èbù iṣu pẹ̀lú rẹ̀, kí ló máa jẹ láàmọ́dún?
What will a farmer who ate his yams along with the yam seeds, eat next year?
The world seemed to tilt and Odion fell away, finally feeling like himself. He fell to his left knee, his right hand to his temple. He hated when this happened but the headaches after were short lived but mind splitting.
He raised his head up to see Aniga looking at him with brown eyes which were strange for a tortoise, it made him look intelligent and cunning. He was about four feet tall and stood on his hind legs, his shell on his back like a hemispherical schoolbag. His skin was green and wrinkly, his underbelly a dull shade of yellow. He flexed the muscles in his left claw and then his right, he looked at Odion once more and then turned away, walking past him.
Despite Odion's state, he stood up and chased after Aniga then dragged him by his shoulder. What happened next was a blur and before he knew it, Odion was belly-down on the ground, his arm pinned behind him.
He felt the sharp pain erupt at his shoulder point and knew instinctively that it would be dislocated with a little gentle move by Aniga. "I don't know who you are." He said, with a voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in a long time. A voice time had long since worn down, leaving strain behind. "And I don't care, but I have a war to fight, I don't need this or you."
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Odion would've made a witty response but he was too busy concentrating, trying to find his centre like he'd once learned while he wrestled with the other boys in the street gang. He grunted as he gritted his teeth, twisting his waist and as Aniga shuffled to find his bearings, Odion whipped out the dagger, the bright sunlight bouncing off the blade of the knife.
Aniga stopped then and looked at Odion- no, he looked at the dagger with a mix of curiosity, awe and something else, a deep guttural fear. There they stood, looking at each other, quietly observing.
Odion took two breaths before speaking. "I know you're scared and confused but the war is over, but something else is coming and I need the chain."
Aniga asked simply. "Where did you get that dagger?"
Odion began to answer. "You just tried to dislocate my should— "
Aniga moved faster than any turtle should have and he closed the space between them in a matter of seconds, his staff suddenly under Odion's chin, ready to strike. Odion was really getting tired of being at the receiving end of that thing. "Sango gave it to me before he... before he died"
Aniga shuffled back as if Odion had hit him, though he had wished he had. "No, no it can't be. No, she wouldn't." He muttered under his breath, frantically moving around, circling himself on the lawn.
"What are you talking about?" Odion asked.
Aniga ignored the question, waving it with his hand. "You said the war was over, what year is this? What happened?"
Odion sat down on the lawn, tired from his journey so far and filled Aniga in on everything that had happened. Though he left out some details.
Something about the turtle didn't seem right with him.