บท 12: The Hono Fruit.
As they were going deeper and deeper into the woods, the inside was being beclouded. The dark green color the plants there brought forth clearly indicated how healthy they were. The beautiful colors of flowers within the mist made this place look extremely beautiful. The air around them was extremely parky, though it gave them pleasant feeling as they breathed it.
After walking for a while, Ochieng noticed Mudho behaving queerly. Its breathing was extremely quick and was trembling in agitation. It wanted to go for something but somehow feared the man on top of it. Ochieng' could not help but ask, "What is it Mudho?"
Instead of giving an answer, it responded by pointing it's massive paw ahead of it. This only left him befuddled because he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary in front of them. If it was his first time in the forbidden land, he could have been surprised because he had never seen the plants he was seeing here back in his clan, not even in the Kobuthi forest he used to visit while he was still at home. However, in the forbidden land, he had seen most of those plants except that those in front of him were healthier.
"I can't see anything." After checking keenly and not seeing anything, he shook his head.
"You mean you can't see anything?" The beast was bewildered, "don't tell me you are blind."
Ochieng' couldn't take it anymore, he jumped from the animal's back and stood in front of it. He asked quite indignantly, "What do you see?"
"That is what I see... That azure plant. "It pointed.
Ochieng' turned his head to the direction it was pointing. There he saw an azure plant standing amid other plants with different colors. Hanging on it were seven fruits purple in color. The fruits were glittering with white light. He had seen very many fruits in the forbidden land but this was one of a kind.
He felt like going for them but he couldn't do so until he was sure he knew what the fruits were. He had picked fruits like that only to be tortured in the end. Other times he nearly died. If it was not for Mudho who could come up with antidotes all the time he took those fruits, nobody knows where he could be at the moment.
Other fruits had the ability to give strength that was not found in other animals or humans. Take for example his ability to kill with his breath, to sharply hear, smell, feel and see, were all thanks to the fruits he had devoured in the past.
"What fruits are those?" Ochieng' asked with shimmering eyes.
"That is the 'hono' (miracle) fruit. It can cure wounds on the spot."
"What??"
"That's true... I happen to have seen one from one of my ancestors. I have experienced their miracles myself."
"You must be joking with me, right"
Manifestly Ochieng' could not believe what the animal was telling him. The animal could however not be bothered with explaining because it knew the young man would know whether he was lying or not. It walked to the plant, picked one of the fruits and beckoned Ochieng to come closer. He cut his chest with it's claw outright he drew closer. The man was surprised with the lion's action when it threw the fruit to him.
"Try it." It said.
The boy bolted the food immediately it fell on his hands. He then started feeling warmth in his stomach the moment the fruit landed in there. The warmth spread all over his entire body. As the warmth diffused in his body, he saw his wounds healing at a terrific speed and his scars dissipating. His eyes popped, mouth wide open in skepticism.
What did he just see?
Was it really happening on him?
His skin transubstantiated to become as delicate as an infant's. The scars, pimples and wounds that were on him a moment ago had vanished. The warmth that came from his stomach was still there, he was wondering why that was happening when Mudho, who seemed to have noticed what he was thinking about explained, "The 'hono' fruit medicinal efficacy is so stiff that just a bite could have healed you completely. You didn't have to consume a whole fruit."
"Back then, my ancestor divided among several lions including myself just a bite of the fruit and what happened to us was exactly the same as what you've just seen today."
"You mean..." he was too flabbergasted to speak.
"You can consider yourself lucky this time round. This is actually a blessing to you in disguise. The ancestor who gave us the fruit ate a whole fruit like you did and he got the ability to regenerate and his face remained the same as it grew... " The beast explained though he didn't finish because it was cut short by the man.
"Did I hear you right? Did you just say it got the ability to regenerate after consuming just a fruit?"
"That is right. "
"Then why did it die in the end? "
"He was one day involved in a battle with another powerful beast. The beast killed him but when it learnt about our ancestor's ability to regenerate, it incinerated him."
"I see..." Ochieng' nodded concealing the excitement within him though Mudho could see that from his face.
He ran to the tree and picked the remaining six and stored them in his pouch. It was after he saw the beast looking at him with conflicted expressions that he remembered how prehensile he had been. He then removed one fruit and tossed to the beast. The beast immediately gobbled it up and what happened to Ochieng' a few minutes ago happened to it.
"I hope they won't rot inside my bag." He wondered
"My ancestor kept some for over two hundred seasons without losing their property. It was those fruits he gave us their bits. I heard from one of my elders thirty seasons ago that we were the fourth generation to enjoy my ancestor's fruits. "
After listening to that story, Ochieng' took one of the fruits out to probe it further. The fruit was perfectly spherical and as big as an adult's fist. It was purple in color and inside it seemed to contain an invincible white light. He sighed deeply and returned it back to his pouch at a speed that one could think he feared someone snatching it from him.
After storing the fruits, they decided to proceed forward. Just before they made a step, a gray bird with white wings appeared and landed on a tree just before them. The bird was as large as a fully grown eagle. It resembled a parrot in appearance except for its sharp pointed orange beak.
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