a challenge

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authors pov

10:20 AM. WAKANDA, AFRICA 

the bird are flying up in the sky over the sea as wakandian boats travel on the sea. the sound of the upbeat drums could be heard all over wakanda. the boats all go towards one direction, with civilians standing on them; dancing and cheering to the traditional music they and their ancestors have heard many times before.

on one boat, princess shuri and queen ramonda are dancing together in traditional clothing. 

and on another, y/n is dancing in green as her people sing and bang their drums. she's in her ceremonial outfit, her red locs tied up in a high ponytail. she has white paint on her face which she loves.

"ukuya phambili!" okoye says, raising her spear.

"ukuya phambili!" everyone repeats and the rest of the soldiers and the rest of the dora milaje slam their spears on the bottom of their boats, sending a wave in the ocean. the wave lifts a building up from the water which creates three whirlpools near the magnificent waterfall.

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a ship, similar to the one that okoye was flying at the start, flies through the waterfalls, reaching its stop. people start to sing in xhosa, the ship hovering above the water.

t'challa steps onto the water, it goes towards his ankles. his dark brown eyes scan around, seeing all the people that are here. a vast amount and all the civilians are dancing, moving side to side in beat with the music. t'challa continues to look around for one person. his girl, his queen.

he spots her standing next to her father, but she isn't looking towards him. that doesn't matter to t'challa. he'll fight to be king for her.

the prince or soon to be king has war-like paint on his face, two lines on his cheeks and one on his forehead. on his bare toned chest, he has black leopard like paint on each side. y/n looks towards him and like he knew, he looks straight at her. but she doesn't realize he is. slowly, y/n checks him out, making him fill with pride. 

when she reaches his eyes, her face goes warm immediately. she looks away biting her lip, trying not to smile.

he looks towards his family, who look at him with pride. he smiles at them as they sing with everyone else. the ship flies off, making everyone stop singing.

"i, zuri..." zuri says as he is in his purple robe. "son of badu...give you prince t'challa...the black panther!" t'challa raises his arms, making a cross with his spear and his shield before kneeling on the water covered ground. everyone cheers before making a cross with their arms. "the prince..." zuri holds a bowl of a purple liquid. "will now have the strength of the black panther...stripped away," t'challa drinks the liquid as zuri pours it in his mouth. 

the drums are heard again as everyone has their arms in a cross in front of their chest, their chest bopping up and down to the beat of the drums. t'challa tries to contain a groan of pain as black veins pass through his body. t'challa sighs, the pain pass through him. he stands up, the drumming stopping.

"dumisani izinyanya," zuri says towards everyone.

"dumisani izinyanya!" everyone repeats. 

"victory in ritual combat...comes by yield or death," zuri says to the crowd. "if any tribe wishes to put forth a warrior...i now offer...a path to the throne," he points towards t'challa.

a warrior from the merchant tribe shouts out, his people repeating the phrase. 

"the merchant tribe will not challenge today,"

the border tribe shouts out the same phrase.

"the border tribe will not challenge today,"

the mining trive shouts out the same phrase.

"the mining tribe will not challenge today,"

"i will challenge today," y/n says as everyone looks at the river tribe. t'challa looks at the red-haired girl. oh no, he can't fight her. she's a better fighter than he. he'll lose. but does it really matter? maybe, she'll make him her king.