March 5, 2015
Baaba: Chapter 1
Baaba: Chapter 1
by safohen
On a cold, rainy day, the Supi, head of all the asafo companies in the city and a tall, dark schoolgirl entered the Sunyani High School building.
In the SHS Form 2A classroom, the Supi watched quietly as the girl wrote down a complex series of equations until the entire board was filled. She stepped back and gestured proudly to the board,"This is my theory of interdimensional travel.'
'So it would be possible to send ten asafo companies into a different dimension?" asked Supi Kuukua.
'Yes' replied Baaba. 'In theory anyway'.
'Would it be possible to seal off dimensions as well?'
'It would be extremely difficult but not impossiible, given the proper equipment'.
'I see'.
'Supi Kuukua, all of this is mostly theoretical but may I know why the asafo of Sunyani would be interested in sending Asafo companies into other dimensions?' As far as I am concerned, these empty dimensions would be perfect for storing otherwise dangerous waste materials, like nuclear waste for example.'
'Except for the fact that they are not empty' said Kuukua grimly.
Baaba stared at her in surprise, then chuckled, 'You're not implying that these dimensions harbour kakai(monsters) or something like that.'
Kuukua rose to her feet. 'Let's take a walk'.
As they left the school and walked down a narrow bushy path, the Supi sighed. 'Many years ago, our predeccessors were attacked by )botan kakai (rock monsters) every 8 months, forcing them to move closer to the Sunyani's present location.'
'My ancestress, Supi Sakyiwaa discovered that akodze (weapons) forged from certain parts of the forest, were the only akodze capable of banishing these kakai. She declared thse spots sacred and refined the forging process, creating better pamo akodze (weapons of banishment).'
'Before the year was over, she appealed to the elders to build a village in the middle of the forest for the asafo, charging them with the sole task of banishing kakai.
'The word 'kakai' means a frightening creature that scares children' Baaba pointed out. 'I find it very hard to believe your story'.
The Supi stopped briefly as they reached the middle of Dinn ( Silence) Forest as the clang of metal against metal rang out across the forest.
Overhead, huge red clouds had gathered . Baaba was stunned to see several asafo slashing several chiselled, sword-bearing creatures.
Each had a small white point in the middle of a pitch black eye and carried akodze with serrated blades.
One of them glanced at Baaba with two pairs of soulless eyes, and Baaba recoiled in fear as its immense killing intent flooded her senses. It flung a serrated spear at her which the Supi snatched in midair before it could puncture the child's throat. Two asafo stabbed the kakai on both sides with akofenas and it vanished, with a burst of wind.
The asafo were fiercer than the kakai, each one slashing through 5 kakai at a time until none were left. After checking to ensure that her heart was still in her ribcage, Baaba took a deep breath and walked towards the battlefield.
She picked up a fallen akofena , noticing that a tiny circle on the blade.
The red clouds above them suddenly dispersed and the rains stopped abruptly, to Baaba's surprise. She could only guess that the sudden rainfall and the red clouds were formed by the kakai entering her dimension.
At the asafo village, Baaba made her observations, 'There's a constant force separating our world from the kakai, that I call the Ring, which is reflected in the circle engraving on the pamo akodze. This engraving is formed on the earth as a result of kakai attempting to breach the Spiral and invade our world, much like a body producing antibodies to fight off foreign invaders'.
'I suggest that we create sensors, sensitive to the formation of seikwan (paths of destruction) formed when a place becomes more susceptible to a kakai breach.' Because of this, Denden town will have to hold regular evacuation drills in case the seikwan ever reach the town which should have at least 15 escape routes.'
'In your view, how long will it take for the barrier to be completely broken? .'
'Given the rate of spiral decay due to the kakai breaches over the years and the period of the first kakai breach, the barrier will cease to exist by next month. If that happens, all the kakai will flood our dimension, causing the extinction of the human race!'
A heavy silence fell across the room as the asafo realised everyone they knew and loved might die in a month's time!
'To prevent this, I will need to build two transdimensional devices. One that will enable us to travel to the kakai dimension and generate an energy field preventing kakai from breaching our dimension when we are gone. The second will be in the form of an akofena, which I will fuse with the 'take off point' that kakai use to breach our world.'
'Take off point?'
'Yes, it would have to be a hill or a mountain that kakai leap off from, into their sky. Their appearance in our sky creates the red clouds and disturbs the atmosphere, creating sudden, unexpected rainfall. Building these devices should take me a few days'.
And so for the next three days, , Baaba combined banishing kakai by day with building the devices at night . Seikwan sensors were placed throughout the forest, increasing kakai attack response times by fifty percent.
One rainy Saturday, Baaba slashed through the blades of five kakai before banishing them with five swings of her akofena.
More kakai fell from the clouds and the two ladies synchronised their attacks, with Baaba slashing and stabbing from the left and Kuukua from the right. The schoolgirl cut through several steel needles shot at her from five kakai and darted towards them.
She drew out her machetes and slashed the necks of two kakai, banishing them. She spun around an akofena thrust at her from the left and stabbed her attacker in the chest. She blocked a swing from a kakai in between her machetes and swung once, breaking it and slashing its head.
Without looking, she flung a machete into the chest of a kakai that leapt at her from behind. The kakai was banished in midair and she caught her falling akodze before quietly sheathing it. Some of the kakai began to slowly step away from her but she drew five arrows from her quiver and released them, striking five kakai in the chest.
Kuukua flung a spear into the chest of a kakai, banishing it.
She darted towards the kakai, slashing through them effortlessly. She blocked three akofena with her machetes and shoved against them, pushing aside the kakai.
She then stabbed two of them in the chest and spun underneath the swing of a clawed hand and slashed upward, from head to toe. Baaba and Kuukua stabbed two striped akofenas into the ground right underneath where the red clouds had been, sealing off that area from future kakai breaches.
In the SHS Form 2A classroom, the Supi watched quietly as the girl wrote down a complex series of equations until the entire board was filled. She stepped back and gestured proudly to the board,"This is my theory of interdimensional travel.'
'So it would be possible to send ten asafo companies into a different dimension?" asked Supi Kuukua.
'Yes' replied Baaba. 'In theory anyway'.
'Would it be possible to seal off dimensions as well?'
'It would be extremely difficult but not impossiible, given the proper equipment'.
'I see'.
'Supi Kuukua, all of this is mostly theoretical but may I know why the asafo of Sunyani would be interested in sending Asafo companies into other dimensions?' As far as I am concerned, these empty dimensions would be perfect for storing otherwise dangerous waste materials, like nuclear waste for example.'
'Except for the fact that they are not empty' said Kuukua grimly.
Baaba stared at her in surprise, then chuckled, 'You're not implying that these dimensions harbour kakai(monsters) or something like that.'
Kuukua rose to her feet. 'Let's take a walk'.
As they left the school and walked down a narrow bushy path, the Supi sighed. 'Many years ago, our predeccessors were attacked by )botan kakai (rock monsters) every 8 months, forcing them to move closer to the Sunyani's present location.'
'My ancestress, Supi Sakyiwaa discovered that akodze (weapons) forged from certain parts of the forest, were the only akodze capable of banishing these kakai. She declared thse spots sacred and refined the forging process, creating better pamo akodze (weapons of banishment).'
'Before the year was over, she appealed to the elders to build a village in the middle of the forest for the asafo, charging them with the sole task of banishing kakai.
'The word 'kakai' means a frightening creature that scares children' Baaba pointed out. 'I find it very hard to believe your story'.
The Supi stopped briefly as they reached the middle of Dinn ( Silence) Forest as the clang of metal against metal rang out across the forest.
Overhead, huge red clouds had gathered . Baaba was stunned to see several asafo slashing several chiselled, sword-bearing creatures.
Each had a small white point in the middle of a pitch black eye and carried akodze with serrated blades.
One of them glanced at Baaba with two pairs of soulless eyes, and Baaba recoiled in fear as its immense killing intent flooded her senses. It flung a serrated spear at her which the Supi snatched in midair before it could puncture the child's throat. Two asafo stabbed the kakai on both sides with akofenas and it vanished, with a burst of wind.
The asafo were fiercer than the kakai, each one slashing through 5 kakai at a time until none were left. After checking to ensure that her heart was still in her ribcage, Baaba took a deep breath and walked towards the battlefield.
She picked up a fallen akofena , noticing that a tiny circle on the blade.
The red clouds above them suddenly dispersed and the rains stopped abruptly, to Baaba's surprise. She could only guess that the sudden rainfall and the red clouds were formed by the kakai entering her dimension.
At the asafo village, Baaba made her observations, 'There's a constant force separating our world from the kakai, that I call the Ring, which is reflected in the circle engraving on the pamo akodze. This engraving is formed on the earth as a result of kakai attempting to breach the Spiral and invade our world, much like a body producing antibodies to fight off foreign invaders'.
'I suggest that we create sensors, sensitive to the formation of seikwan (paths of destruction) formed when a place becomes more susceptible to a kakai breach.' Because of this, Denden town will have to hold regular evacuation drills in case the seikwan ever reach the town which should have at least 15 escape routes.'
'In your view, how long will it take for the barrier to be completely broken? .'
'Given the rate of spiral decay due to the kakai breaches over the years and the period of the first kakai breach, the barrier will cease to exist by next month. If that happens, all the kakai will flood our dimension, causing the extinction of the human race!'
A heavy silence fell across the room as the asafo realised everyone they knew and loved might die in a month's time!
'To prevent this, I will need to build two transdimensional devices. One that will enable us to travel to the kakai dimension and generate an energy field preventing kakai from breaching our dimension when we are gone. The second will be in the form of an akofena, which I will fuse with the 'take off point' that kakai use to breach our world.'
'Take off point?'
'Yes, it would have to be a hill or a mountain that kakai leap off from, into their sky. Their appearance in our sky creates the red clouds and disturbs the atmosphere, creating sudden, unexpected rainfall. Building these devices should take me a few days'.
And so for the next three days, , Baaba combined banishing kakai by day with building the devices at night . Seikwan sensors were placed throughout the forest, increasing kakai attack response times by fifty percent.
One rainy Saturday, Baaba slashed through the blades of five kakai before banishing them with five swings of her akofena.
More kakai fell from the clouds and the two ladies synchronised their attacks, with Baaba slashing and stabbing from the left and Kuukua from the right. The schoolgirl cut through several steel needles shot at her from five kakai and darted towards them.
She drew out her machetes and slashed the necks of two kakai, banishing them. She spun around an akofena thrust at her from the left and stabbed her attacker in the chest. She blocked a swing from a kakai in between her machetes and swung once, breaking it and slashing its head.
Without looking, she flung a machete into the chest of a kakai that leapt at her from behind. The kakai was banished in midair and she caught her falling akodze before quietly sheathing it. Some of the kakai began to slowly step away from her but she drew five arrows from her quiver and released them, striking five kakai in the chest.
Kuukua flung a spear into the chest of a kakai, banishing it.
She darted towards the kakai, slashing through them effortlessly. She blocked three akofena with her machetes and shoved against them, pushing aside the kakai.
She then stabbed two of them in the chest and spun underneath the swing of a clawed hand and slashed upward, from head to toe. Baaba and Kuukua stabbed two striped akofenas into the ground right underneath where the red clouds had been, sealing off that area from future kakai breaches.
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