Baraka Khamis

Baraka Khamis is the daughter of the One-Handed Girl from Blessing or Property, better known as The One-Handed Girl from Andrew Lang's The Lilac Fairy Book.

In the Royal-Rebel debate, Baraka considers herself a Roybel. As her Mama and Baba grow ever the more ill in their island kingdom, she believes it is inevitable that she can completely avoid her story. That said, with her brother – Ghani – not wanting to to accuse accuse her of being a malevolent witch (let alone cut off her right hand and drive her out of town due to envy), the two have promised each other not to go the malicious route that their mother and uncle took.

Personality
There is always that one quiet student that shows up for class. You know that girl – listening to the teacher without interruption, hates being called up, barely ever interacts with her fellow classmates, and always seems to be the third wheel without when it comes to partner assignments. You might not know this student's name, or really anything else for that matter (aside that she's pretty as hex and and too awkward to approach), but you know she exists. Always there, but rarely in the spotlight.

Well, that one quiet student is Baraka, and all that most seem to know is that she has an odd obsession with snakes and that her admittedly handsome brother is Mr. Badwolf's teaching assistant. But as with all people, there is much, much more to her than cute slithering reptiles and even cuter older siblings. Never tell her that snakes aren't cute. She will fight you.

One trait of note is that Baraka is a survivalist. Sure, she adores the splendor of royal circlets and sequined hijabs, but the princess has always been attuned with the environment and scaley fauna within it. Nature-loving students will take notice of her constant visits to the Enchanted Forest – taking notes on edible flora, studying in peace, and may even come across her well-made attempts at making temporary shelters. Although this is expected of her, since destined to be leave both her hometown and be cast into the woods by her Prince Charming's family, she's always seemed to embrace the skills and hobbies required of her story.

Moreover, on occasions where she actually approaches others (or when others approach her), the girl tends to surprise her fellow students – both for good and bad reasonsing. On one hand, when she finds someone annoying as hex, Baraka will make it known in one way or another... even if it means gifting kangas to unassuming students with rather interesting messages printed in her native tongue.

Her wry demeanor is notorious when it comes to those finding themselves of her bad side, and she isn't above trying to get the message across in a calm yet covert way. That said, though she never means to take it too far, her lack of sociability makes her come across as much, much harsher than the intends to be.

A notable example is when she gave the son of King Midas a artfully weaved kanga made from gold thread with the sentence "nilikudhani dhahabu kumbe adhabu" stitched onto it; it translates to "I thought of you as gold but you are such a pain" in Swahili. Although her intention was to signify that she wants to enjoy his company monotonically (after all, she would have never wasted golden thread on a commission for someone she truly hated) and wants to get the bottom of his (admittedly really irritating) demeanor, Auliver, well, he didn't exactly take it that way. To say the very least.

On the other hand, if a person intrigues her with common interests (snakes and nature aside, she's especially big into modest fashion and advocacy in general), the person in question will never see the end of her support and presence. Nor the end of her talking. Oddly enough, she talks a lot under the right circumstances, sometimes to a fault. Though demure and quiet at first glance, Baraka shows an exceptional astuteness when it comes to environmental and human rights. Her benevolence extends to persons and animals of all creeds, and she won't let bad deeds and ill feelings get in the way of another's well being.

Appearance
Baraka is a pretty girl of average height and a lean build with a slight pear shape. Her features are soft with heart-shaped face, wide nose-bridge, and the placid expression of someone who peacefully minds her own business. Hands and face aside, she has a rich, dark complexion that remains mostly covered in public.

Her round eyes are a brilliant bright blue, and when not covered via hijab, her thick dark hair – most often in cornrows or other intricate braids – has a skunk stripe in the middle of her hairline. She wears a hearing aid on her right ear to to moderate hearing loss on that side. This (along with her eye and hair color) is the result of having type II waardenburg syndrome.

Accessories-wise, Baraka's motifs tend to include hamsa amulets, vines, and pumpkin/squash flowers.

Abilities, Hobbies, and Interests
[tba]

Basic Summary
Close to death, the father of two children asked what both of them wanted: his Blessing, or his Property. While the brother wanted the latter, the sister wanted his blessing. After his death, their mother fell ill and asked the same question, resulting in the same exact answers as before. After the two mourned their mother's death, the brother kicked his sister out of the house and left her nothing but a pot and a mortar. Every day the people in the village would ask to borrow her pot in exchange for corn, ensuring her survival. Her brother secretly stole the pot and mortar after a while due to jealousy, but after receiving pumpkin seeds and planting them, she was also able to barter for food by selling them.

Meanwhile, her brother's wife sent a slave to buy one, but the sister let them take it for free in spite of having fewer pumpkins left that day. With no pumpkins left the day after, the sister told the slave that there any more on the vine. Upon hearing the news, her brother's wife wept and told her husband that his sister wouldn't sell the pumpkins to her despite selling them to other people. Enraged, the brother tried to cut the pumpkin patch down. When the sister got in his way, he cut both the vines and her right hand, then sold the house that his sister has earned during her sales and bartering.

The sister hid in the forest, and slept every night in the same tree for seven days. A king's son came to rest under it one day, but was woken up by the girl's tears. Falling in love and enamored by her story, the prince brought her to his kingdom in secret and married her. She bore a son a year later, and while the king and his parents went traveling, news of the king's son wedding a one-handed girl in the forest soon spread to the brother's village. Having squandered most of his wealth, he recognized the girl as his sister. He went to the king and queen's palace claiming that their daughter in-law was a witch who a.) killed every man she married, and b.) whose hand was cut off as punishment. Though the brother told them to kill her, the king and queen exiled her and the baby instead while their son was away.

Left with nothing but an infant and an empty pot, she came across a snake while wandering in the woods. She agreed to letting it hide in her pot as she walked, and in exchange for protecting it from being eaten by a larger snake, told the girl to bathe in a certain nearby pond. She suddenly dropped her baby in the water as she entered, and the snake told her to use both hands to pull him out. Putting the stump of her arm in the water, she pulled out her son and regained her hand. Soon after, the snake led her to its parents who were grateful that she saved it.

After a while of staying at their place, the snake told her to ask for its father's ring and its mother's casket before she left. Its parents told her that the ring would provide her food, clothes, and shelter, while the basket would provide her protection from harm. Meanwhile, as the brother rose high in the king's favor, his son returned from his journey and was told that his wife and child were dead.

The sister used the ring to make a fancy house on the outskirts of the king's son's town. She lived there for years and the baby grew to be a hardy young boy. when rumor of the house spread to the king, he decided to visit with his son, the girl's brother, and his viziers. The sister used the ring to give herself a golden veil to hide her identity before letting them in. She and her guests sat down to talk, and the girl told them her story.

Upon recognizing her, her husband took his wife back. The king asked the sister what to do about her brother; and as he did to her, she exiled him.

The Andrew Lang version can be read here. Another version, Blessing or Property can be read here.

How Baraka Ties Into It
The king's son finally became sultan after the tale, and a year later Malenge, the previous One-Handed Girl, gave birth to Baraka. Ghani, her son, was age 8 at the time.

Although previous brother titles have occasionally been the sister-legacy's cousin, this wasn't the case for Malenge nor this generation's Khamis siblings. Because the brother in the story tends to be a prince alongside the sister, this means that past brother-legacies end up becoming malevolent monarchs who rule over a large amount or "property" and let them become poor as a result of their greed – aka, an entire kingdom suffers simply because Destiny Says So.

Unfortunately Ghanyan, Baraka and Ghani's uncle, is no exception. While he rules one of the islands in the Zanzibar Archipelago with an iron fist (after all, he wasn't "put out of town" while living in someone else's homeland), Malenge, her husband, and daughter reside happily in their small kingdom on Lamu Island, Kenya. Meanwhile, Ghani currently lives in a cozy apartment at Book End to be closer to his job and focus on getting his PhD in Sociology.

Their story won't start until both of them graduate in the next few years, and with their mother on the brink of terminal illness, neither sibling wants to follow their destiny by the book. Since both their mother and uncle's kingdoms reside in the Swahili Coast, both fear that Ghanyan might seize Lamu for himself were Ghani follow his in his footsteps (and lose the kingdom to his uncle alongside the "property" that Ghani is destined to waste away).

As a result, the Khamis siblings believe that sharing their parent's wealth and blessings – rather than leaving one of each to both siblings – is the smarter and safer political maneuver. While this doesn't ensure that they're completely safe from Ghanyan's harm, working together instead of against each other might be the key to breaking the cycle of Evil Uncles that result from their destiny.

Enemies
[filler until she actually has any]

Romance
Well she kinda has a prince charming but ???? [filler text more details at 9]

Notes/Trivia

 * [filer text more details at 10]