Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ My Naga Knight ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Notes: don't worry about the other chapters being updated or what have you. I am merely going back and rereading them and finding some typos or awkwardly placed words/phrases that I want to remove or fix. I have gotten to the point where I am easily annoyed at typos or hiccups in phrases so, yeah—just fixing typos and grammar issues.

 

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The polished surface upon the spoon caught Touya's reflection as the demon eyed it with curiosity. The tip of his snake tail flopping back and forth upon the floorboards, he hummed a bit to himself in thought as the silverware dangled in front of him from where he held it. “What a funny looking item,” he muttered to himself mostly.

 

The stairs creaked as Jin's large reptilian body slithered down them carefully so he wouldn't fall. Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, his baby blue eyes looked up at the top of the steps with a sorrowful expression before bothering to turn his attention to Touya. “They are both asleep. They should be okay.”

 

Touya put the spoon that he took interest in upon the kitchen counter where he found it. “I wouldn't be so sure, Jin.” The multi-blue scaled colored snake demon met his friend halfway with a soft sigh through his nostrils. “They are young humans and don't have a mother or father. A human doesn't find for themselves until they have least been around for twenty years and are with a mate. They are too young to have a mate let alone be able to take of themselves.”

 

Jin scratched the side of his head with his index finger wondering what to do now knowing the two children would starve. “I remember when I was young, I used to watch the kids eat eggs and pigs,” Jin remarked as he cupped his chin in thought. “Bacon—isn't that what cooked pigs are?”

 

“I don't know,” Touya remarked with a simple shrug. “Do you even know how to cook all of that?”

 

Jin's elfin ears seemed to shift slightly as he looked over at the door. The crimson scales of the reptilian half of the demon crawled against the wooden floor as he made his way towards the exit of the building, “I dunno how to make any of that. But I can bet you anything we can steal some of it in Eytheria's Market Place.”

 

The narrow eyes of Touya had never gone so wide in his entire life as he heard the words surface from his partner's mouth. “Jin—wait a minute!” He ordered as he hurried out of the house to follow the persistent snake demon. Jin had already made his way towards the dirt road that would lead to the Eytheria drawbridge, making Touya have to scurrying to catch up. “Jin, will you just hold on a second!”

 

Jin refused to as he continued his way down the road placed before him in quite the hurry.

 

Touya had to really dash after the determined demon before finally catching up, neck and neck to him so as to slip in front of Jin with his arms outstretched, “Jin—stop!”

 

Jin halted quickly when Touya prevented him from going any further. Growling a bit in the back of his throat, the demon tried to get around his friend only to be blocked from doing so, “Touya, get out of the way! I need to feed them!”

 

“Jin, they are not your children!” Touya hissed in a low whisper, his finger jabbing Jin's broad chest. “They are not yours to take care of! Dustin plans on moving away from the farm soon so why do you even bother giving them hope? Nature is going to claim them soon enough so just let it go!”

 

The crimson scaled snake demon snorted irritably, his breath released through his nostrils in an icy vapor thanks to the chilling air as he wrapped his tail about Touya's quickly to remove his obstacle with a harsh tug. “I made a promise and I intend to keep it no matter how ridiculous it may appear to you and Dustin!”

 

Touya's body was dragged to the side, causing him to fall upon his front from the surprise of it. His nails dragged against the ground beneath him with a hiss from the impact his chest had with the ground. Snarling a bit in return, the ice snake demon tried his best to get his tail out of Jin's only to no avail seeing as the demon was stronger than he was.

 

“You can either help me or leave, because either way, I am going to get them fed,” the crimson scaled snake demon insisted as he continued to his destination.

 

“You shouldn't even be out here with your scales trying to heal from the fire,” Touya remarked, getting back on his reptilian half to catch back up with the hurrying Jin. His arms making their way about Jin's, he tried to pull the demon in the other direction only to find himself literally being dragged. “Jin, come on! Let's go back home and wait for Dustin. He's probably waiting for us as is at this moment—.”

 

“Touya, leave me alone or help me!” Jin insisted loudly once more, jerking his arm away from his friend to dash on ahead without another word.

 

The sky blue haired demon paused for a moment to watch as Jin hurried on ahead without much thought on the matter to the raised drawbridge that was spotted just up ahead embedded within the towering walls of Eytheria's Market Place. Sighing in almost defeat, Touya shook his head and followed Jin without saying another word this round.

 

The castle walls towered over the snake demons as they stood there to look at the very top from where they were gazing at the walls from just beyond the moat. There were three entrances all demons knew about and the two main ones were going over the top or going underwater to break the bars that were placed in a small opening that led streams inside of the castle walls outward. But knowing that he would have to travel in and out with food of some kind, Jin decided to take the other one which was located on the far side of castle walls. There was a hole in the wall allowed for small and medium sized demons to sneak into that was covered up by a boulder seeing as some demons didn't want the Eytherian Knights to know there was another entrance into the castle walls that was created a long time ago.

 

The crimson scaled snake demon making it to the boulder pushed all of his strength into it to move the obstacle with Touya's help so they could reveal the entrance they needed to enter through. Both were quiet as they looked at the entrance before them with uncertainty. Touya could tell Jin was debating on what to do seeing as he had never been behind the walls before and he wasn't sure what would be there. Slithering up close to Jin, Touya tried to peek into his friend's line of sight.

 

“We don't have to do this if you don't want to,” Touya reminded him.

 

“I have to,” Jin whispered before making his way through the slightly large fracture in the wall.

 

Touya waited until the tip of Jin's tail disappeared into the darkness that the crack in the wall produced before bothering to slip in after him. The darkness consumed them both as they continued to drag themselves towards the light that was just ahead of them. Jin was cautious as he finally made it to the other side, peeking out just beyond the other side to look at the quiet Eytheria market.

 

The roads in the market place were a lot firmer than the ones outside the walls and the houses made quite the maze on the inside for the demon as he eyed the area carefully from where he remained within the wall. He couldn't help but awe at the sights before him even if it was dark at the moment and the place was dead minus a few positioned guards.

 

The redheaded demon was about to slink out beyond the bushes that covered up the brake in the wall but stopped when he saw one of the knights walking by. He remained quiet as his eyes pierced through the darkness that shrouded his figure in the Eytheria shrubbery. His ears wiggling slightly to the sound of the armored knight moving onward, Jin peeked out a bit further to see if the coast was clear seeing the knight's back was facing him now and there was none up ahead.

 

“Come on,” Jin insisted quietly before slithering off quickly to the next corner of houses that rested behind the protective walls.

 

Touya was hesitant at first before seeing that everything was clear, following quickly after Jin down the road before them.

 

The buildings that seemed to stand a mile high to them shrouded the snake demons with their shadows as they slithered carefully about the maze like market place. Staying close to the walls, Jin came to the end of the line of buildings that were stacked side by side to find the center of the market place. Guards were positioned near certain entrances and exits, making it difficult for Jin to decide where to go for help.

 

“This would be a lot easier if I were human!” Jin cursed softly to himself as he stayed hidden in the darkness.

 

Touya looked out at the guards that were separated from one another in wonder as he sighed a bit at the predicament. “Jin, there is seriously nothing we can do at this point. We might as well go home and wait for Dustin.”

 

The door to a nearby house in the back part of the market place slowly opened, allowing the light from the doorway to leak out and pour over the snake demons' bodies. A cat making its way out of the building and into the street caught sight of the demons and knew right away what they were. The house pet hissing and puffing up angrily at the reptilian halved creatures lunged at Touya's scaly half to dig its nails within it protectively.

 

Feeling the sudden sting to his lower half, Touya flinched and hissed silently so as not to alert the guards that were nearby. Looking down at the spotted cat hissing and carrying on caused him to shift his attention to the opened door and the woman standing within the doorway. Seeing the woman in the doorway not too far away from where they were attempting to hide, Touya inhaled sharply, “Jin…we've been spotted!”

 

Jin looked down at his friend before shifting his focus on the human standing not too far away from them. He said nothing as he stood still with his mouth gaping open in a bit of fear.

 

The woman seemed to stand there for awhile taking in the sounds about her before finally speaking, “Who's out there?”

 

Jin was a bit confused as she should have been able to see him and his partner, thanks to the light pouring out from her house glistening off of their scales. Looking down at the hissing cat who could obviously see them, and didn't want to be near them once it managed to pry itself away from Touya, Jin slithered into the light wondering what was wrong with the middle-aged woman. She was a light skin tone and had shoulder length blond hair that waved slightly in curl. She wore a long nightgown that was an off-white color that reached down to her ankles as well as a necklace of some kind decked out in rare jewels found in Eytheria.

 

“Who is out there?” She asked once more, bending down to scoot her cat inside before looking back at the world about her, acting as if she didn't see Jin who was soon right in front of her.

 

The childlike snake demon got right up in the woman's face noticing that she was unflinching from the demon being so close—soon finding the reason why. Her eyes were filmed over, indicating she was blind. “Oh, I am sorry,” Jin began causing Touya to panic in the background. “I didn't realize you were blind.”

 

The woman was quiet for a moment before managing a smile, “I can feel your breath on my face. You're awfully close to me to see that.”

 

Hearing that she was blind brought a bit of calm over Touya as he slipped over next to Jin's side.

 

“I am sorry,” Jin apologized with a sidewise grin as he backed up. “I was in the market place with my friend, Touya here in hopes of finding food for two girls we are raising.”

 

“You both are raising two girls?” The woman said aloud as her eyes gazed about the scenery before her though it was all dark to her. Stepping aside, the woman waved for the demons to come into her house even if she couldn't see them. “Come on inside. I don't know why you two are doing this so late but I want to hear more about this.”

 

Jin and Touya looked at one another with a simple shrug knowing it couldn't hurt seeing as she was blind. “Just watch where you place your body,” Touya whispered in a warning to Jin as he slipped inside before him.

 

The floorboards creaking underneath the reptilian bodies of the demons, they made their way into the house before closing the door behind them so none of the guards would create problems. The house was quaint and quite small compared to the one out in the woods where the farm girls lived. The two beds rested in the living room and close by the kitchen area making the demons eye the small décor with interest.

 

“So you are both males?” The woman asked, finding her way to her bedside easily enough making it appear to the snake demons that she did have sight.

 

“Last time I checked, yes,” Jin joked as he made his way towards the female. “My name is Jin and I promised this woman who I had to watch die that I would protect her children.”

 

“These girls are not yours?” She asked in confusion on the situation. “My name is Lily by the way.”

 

“They are not related to me, no,” Jin admitted, sitting on the side of the bed with Lily. “The problem is I don't know how to cook and neither does Touya, so I was wondering if there was something here that could help or maybe some pre-made food for them.”

 

Lily could tell the male speaking was passionate about taking care of the girls that were not his as she thought on what to tell him. “You sound like you are poor and so are these little girls. Are you poor?”

 

“No, no, they own a farm nearby,” Jin explaneed with a nervous chuckle as he raised his hands up as if in defense. “I just don't know how to cook is all and I want to feed them because they are not old enough to have a mate that can take care of them.”

 

Lily raised her brow at hearing Jin phrase it that way, “You mean, a male companion or a husband?”

 

So that's what they are called, Jin thought to himself before nodding. “They are little girls and they don't know how the farm works and neither do I.”

 

The woman moistened her lips in thought before helping herself to gradually stand. Jin watched as she struggled to get up, prompting the demon to quickly get to his serpent half he stood upon to help her. Being she didn't have any sight, Jin felt it must have been difficult for her to get around in Eytheria as well as her own house.

 

“It's okay,” Lily insisted even if she appeared to be leaning on Jin a bit when she finally got to her feet with his assistance. “I've got it, I promise.”

 

“Are you sure?” The redhead asked as he released the blind human.

 

“Being blind since the day I was born has some advantages,” Lily said, attempting to sound grateful as her hands found the stove she had in the kitchen area. “Growing up blind gave me the ability to map out the places I go to everyday in my mind and I know where everything is.”

 

“You don't have a—husband?” Touya struggled to remember the term as he tried to avoid the hissing cat that obviously didn't like him and was giving him the evil eye from one of the beds.

 

“I did once,” Lily answered searching through her cabinets to find the things she needed. “He left me though. I don't know what happened, but I guess he found someone better looking than me.”

 

“I am sorry to hear that,” Jin said sympathetically.

 

“Don't be,” Lily insisted softly as she lit the wood that would help her food cook. “If being blind I couldn't see through his cold-heart, than I deserved what I got.”

 

Jin slithered up closely to Lily as he listened to her story still feeling a bit bad for her, “You are hard on yourself.”

 

“You're going to have to pay close attention to me,” the woman said in attempts to change the subject. “I can show you how to cook, but I am sure if anything it may take more than one lesson. If you want to drop by, I will be more than happy to show you both.”

 

Jin exchanged a glance over at Touya who was standing near the dining table a respectable distance. They knew if they were to learn, it would have to be late at night or early in the morning. The ice serpent nodded at the question written on Jin's expression though hesitantly knowing that the demon was trying to take on too much for one such as him.

 

“We are both night people,” Jin admitted as he looked over the woman's shoulder. “We would have to come at night if that is okay and not a problem.”

 

“It's fine by me seeing as I am awake until my body gives out on me,” Lily said, pulling out her cooking pan and a few eggs to show to the men in her house. “Are you watching? I am not doing this for my own benefit, you know.”

 

“I am watching,” Jin replied close to her ear and cheek. “If you can feel my breath, you will know I am watching.”

 

Lily couldn't help but giggle since the feel of his breath in her ear and close to her face tickled her. “You don't have to watch that closely, but so long as I know you are, let's get started.”

 

 

 

Jin stayed beside Lily and watched carefully how she made the meal she was preparing for them. There would be times Lily would step aside for a moment to allow Jin or Touya to take the handle to show them there was nothing to it. Being she couldn't see how they were doing, she had to taste the finished product herself just to make sure it was okay and eatable.

 

Taking a sip of the vegetable soup she was showing them how to make later on in the night, Lily nodded with a slight shrug, “It didn't kill me and it's not as bad as the last one you made.” Her hands finding the towel she needed to wipe her hands clean, Lily did so as the clock hanging on her wall chimed three times to indicate the hour. “It's eleven at night, isn't it?”

 

Touya looked over at the wooden clock on the wall to spot the time, “It looks like you're right.”

 

“I am feeling quite tired,” Lily admitted, wiping her brow with the back of her hand from the heat of the fire. “I am going to have to clean up this mess and go to bed. Hopefully you both learned something while here.”

 

“If anything, I can cook eggs and soup decently,” Jin chuckled in a bit of relief.

 

“They are not hard to make if you know how long to cook them and what to add,” Lily said, putting out the fire that acted as the heat for her oven. “If you want to serve them bread, I have some bread that can sate the children for tomorrow morning if you wish to take it.”

 

“That would be wonderful. The more we have to give them the better,” Jin praised as he helped clean up the area for the blind woman.

 

Lily smiled at Jin briefly for his help in cleaning up her kitchen. Once he cleaned off the pots and pans they used, she took them and put them back where they were supposed to go. Cleaning off the top with a wash rag, Lily's eyes gazed at nowhere particular, “As for how to work the farm, you might want to ask some of the farm owners out there. I don't know much about slaying cows and pigs to make meat or bacon. All of that comes that way to us from the farms.”

 

“We'll do so, thank you, Lily,” Touya riposted as he found the bread she said they could take with them if need be.

 

“Do either one of you know how to milk a cow, or do you need help there too?” Lily wondered with a slight yawn that she covered up with her hand so as not to seem rude.

 

Jin saw that Lily was ready to go to bed with how tired she was. He took her wrists gently and helped her towards her bed so she could go to sleep once they left. “There you go. I watched the previous owners do so, so I can milk a cow if need be.” Jin pulled the covers out from under her body so he could cover her up for the night seeing as it was the least he could do for the small cooking lessons. “We'll lock the door on our way out, Lily. Thanks for your help. We will be back when we are able.”

 

“I'll keep my door unlocked from six to eleven p.m. so if you want help, please show up around that time frame,” Lily yawned with a slight stretch. “Take care of yourselves and goodnight to you both.”

 

Touya slithered quickly out of the house with the items they needed, not exchanging a word to the woman seeing as the place made him very nervous. Jin couldn't help but stop to blow out the candles that lit the house so the woman could sleep. Hearing her kind words, the demon nodded in the dark room with a smile upon his face.

 

“You too, Lily,” he whispered before heading out after Touya once he locked the door.

 

The two snake demons made it to the back east road of the large Eytheria Market Place to spy a few guards around, minding their posts. Staying close to the dark walls with their bodies lowered out of the guard's line of sight, they hurried to the shrubbery that covered up their escape to head back out to Eytheria's vast plane.

 

 

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The morning sun steadily began to rise prompting the rooster to crow at the Cormac Farm. Neda could only flinch slightly from the persistent bird attempting to wake everyone up as the soft morning breeze graced her beige tresses. Fluttering her eyes open to the room about her, the young girl was surprised to see she was under the covers and in a new nightgown when she remembered differently before falling asleep. Her hand meeting with her forehead, as if to try and remember what happened last night while she was sleeping, Neda vaguely could recall a dream of her being helped to bed by her father.

 

Forgetting about the fire that consumed the barn and the serpents that she thought killed her parents, Neda couldn't help but look hopeful, “Daddy?” Her eyes gazing about the bedroom eventually wandered over to Blythe who she could tell was injured by something from where she stood upright in bed. “Blythe!” She panicked, throwing the covers off of her body so she could hurry over to her sister's bedside. “Blythe, wake up!”

 

Blythe moaned and flinched slightly from the yelling and shaking of her weary body. Managing to squint through the bright light that emptied into their room, she saw the fear in Neda's eyes, “N—Neda…? I—where—what happened to me?”

 

“I don't know,” Neda said, her tone still carrying worry as she looked at the sling her arm was within. “I woke up to find you like this. You went after Stella last I spoke to you…and it got so late and I became tired and fell asleep.”

 

The older Cormac sister looked up at the ceiling in attempts to recall her memories of yesterday. “I went after her and she,” Blythe paused a minute, closing her eyes to try and remember the rest, “she hit my arm, is what she did. But then I was bit—Oh, God, I was bit by a poisonous snake!”

 

Hearing this made Neda remove the covers to examine her body, “Where?!”

 

“On my ankle I think,” Blythe pointed out with a grunt as she attempted to sit upright.

 

Neda threw the long nightgown out of her way to look at Blythe's ankles only to find the one she was pointing out was wrapped up and seemed fine. “Blythe, you wrapped yourself up. Why are you so worried?”

 

“What?” Blythe wondered aloud, her voice filled with astonishment. “No, I never did that to myself!” She insisted with a furious shake of her head. “I passed out when the poison threatened to overtake me! I didn't even wrap my arm!”

 

Both of the girls were quiet, wondering what to believe this moment seeing as nobody was around their farm for miles. The two of them thinking on what to say were both halted when the smell of food enticed their senses. Neda could make out what was cooked as she looked over at her sister with confusion.

 

“Did you cook, Blythe?”

 

“No, I don't know how to cook,” Blythe answered softly. “You know that.”

 

Neda got to her feet to help her sister up seeing as she was still suffering through miserable pain at the moment. Once the young girl managed to get to her feet with Neda's help, the two of them made their way downstairs to the kitchen and living room to find that breakfast was already made for them. There was milk for the both of them as well as vegetable soup, eggs, and bread and butter for them. Knowing that neither one of them made the food, they cautiously walked towards the table wondering who could have done so.

 

“This doesn't make any sense,” Blythe whispered as she made her way over to the circular, wooden dining table to look at the meal. Seeing as she was the oldest, Blythe took a sip of the soup first cautiously while Neda watched. After a moment or two of letting it sit, she shrugged with the same confusion written on her face. “It's—fine. It's vegetable soup.”

 

“Who would make this for us?” Neda asked, taking the glass of milk to test the food further. Reaching for the bread basket to get herself something to nibble on, she spied a note sticking out from under it. “What's this?”

 

Blythe sat down at the table to begin eating when Neda found the note. Putting the silverware down a moment at the announcement of finding it, she waited to hear what was written upon it.

 

Dear Girls,

 

I am sorry for the loss of your parents so consider this my eternal apology to you both. I will try to feed you when I am able since I promised someone special I would. But you both need to promise me you'll learn as you grow to handle yourselves for I can only do this for so long.

 

Enjoy the meal. My friend and I spent a lot of time on it to keep you two alive as promised.

 

J & T

 

“That's it?” Blythe asked with a shrug as she nibbled away on a piece of bread.

 

Neda looked on the back and front of the piece of paper confused. “Yeah, that's all it says. Do you know who `J' or `T' is?”

 

“Mom and dad could have met someone in the market known as that,” Blythe suggested. “But I wonder why they never came to speak to us personally.”

 

Shrugging at the note, Neda put it back on the table before inviting herself to her chair to eat. “At least if anything someone is watching over us.”

 

Blythe knew she couldn't argue with that as she nodded to her sister, digging into her eggs to eat. Neda followed after her sister in eating unaware that the redheaded snake demon was making sure they were going to eat the breakfast without problems.

 

“It looks good,” Jin whispered, prying himself away from the windowsill that peaked into the kitchen and living room.

 

“Let's go,” Touya insisted just as quietly before diving through the foliage to get back to where they promised Dustin they would be.

 

Jin attempted to follow after but stopped a moment to look back at the house before him. Hoping deep down they would be okay until he could return, he pried himself away from the Cormac house and headed into the woods after Touya.