Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ My Naga Knight ❯ Chapter 11

Author's Notes: Sorry, sorry guys. School was a pain in the ass, and I was doing some artwork for my DA page, so I apologize. I am trying to catch up on my stories. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

 

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The hooves of the stallion the winter elf was riding upon with Neda beat into the cobblestone ground, galloping towards the market place of Eytheria where Neda had wished to go. The elf pulled on the reins of the horse to make the speckled beast stop in the middle of the large, market square. “Well, here it is,” Nash responded as he looked over his shoulder at Neda.

 

Neda took in the sights that the setting sun illuminated with its mixed colors of soft pinks, purples, and reds. Dismounting from the horse without help, Neda gazed up at the towering houses and the few booths, which she could see within the dim light. “So this is the market place?” She asked Nash, her eyes still locked on the beauty of the residences side by side.

 

“You must really be isolated at your farm,” Nash responded, nudging his stallion with his heels to make it move forward slightly. “This is Eytheria's Market Square as well as homes to the citizens of Eytheria who are lucky to live here so close to the castle.”

 

“I used to come up here with my dad when I was growing up, but he stopped taking me when the roads to and from our farm got dangers thanks to demons,” Neda explained. Crossing her arms upon her chest, she nodded to the winter elf kindly. “Thank you for the ride. I appreciate it.”

 

“You are welcome, young lady,” the winter elf said in return to her kindness. Nudging his horse gently, he guided him onward into the many alleyways and roads that littered the town behind Eytheria Castle's walls.

 

Neda held her sketch book in front of her dress, her boots kicking at the firm ground beneath her to watch as some of the stores were closing up for the coming night hours. She let her feet wander throughout the center square of the Eytherian Market, stopping at a bench she gently bumped into. Rolling the palm of her hand under her dress to keep it from wrinkling as she was always told to do by her mother, Neda sat down on the wooden bench to start sketching, roughly the sights before her. “It is much different from the farm. It's hard to even see the forest beyond the walls.”

 

Sketching to the best of her ability for the coming hours, the sunset was soon covered by a blanket of stars. Neda continued to draw upon the blank sheets of paper she had until a droplet of water mated with the parchment she was currently drawing upon. Gazing up at the sky, another drop of rain tapped upon Neda's booklet and her tanned skin. The thunder rolling in the clouds to warn of the coming rainstorm, Neda quickly closed her book and got up to try and run into the alleyways where she prayed she would be safe and dry.

 

As she tried to stay out of the downpour, which soon started, Neda shivered with a chatter of her teeth near a wooden house her back was resting against. “Why is it raining tonight? The rain is always so cold at this time of night, and I didn't bring my coat.”

 

The lights dimming one by one inside of the houses and out, Neda sighed through her nostrils, left there in a dark alleyway with nobody to keep her company. Sitting down on the damp ground, she brought her knees to her chest. She shedding her tears all to herself, Neda wished silently that her parents were there with her.

 

 

 

 

The rain mattered little to Jin even if the touch of the water was cold to his crimson colored scales. Slithering up to the risen gate, he sniffed the ground quickly to try and pick up the scent of the farm girl, whose trail was being washed away by the rain. “Did she go beyond the wall?” Jin wondered aloud to himself as he made his way to the crack in the wall he could use to get in and out through.

 

The serpent demon's scales squeezing through the crack, he made his way to the other side. Staying hidden in the darkness that the walls created, Jin's baby blue eyes shifted about the roads before him cautiously in attempts to spy some of the guards. Through the downpour, Jin could make out the figure of one of them standing on duty to his left. The smell of the iron made him want to hiss in displeasure, but he held back his uneasiness around the smell of the guards before quickly darting out of hiding to slip beyond the corner and down the road before him.

 

“I wish the rain didn't come at a time like this,” Jin grumbled as he stopped at a four way road up ahead, wondering where to go next. Erecting himself on his serpent tail, he tried to take in the scents around him. The faint smell of the youngest Cormac daughter was overwhelmed by the rain and scent of wet iron and stray dogs. “This is hopeless…there is only one other option I have.”

 

Turning back around quickly, Jin headed back down the long pathway he was upon to hunt for the right house. Dashing into a nook on the left where a door resided for the entrance of the house, Jin took in the scent of the person behind it quickly before knocking on the door with his knuckles.

 

The lights came on from the other side of the mahogany carved door as did the sound of a cat meowing and hissing. The light that Jin could clearly see shining from under the crack of the door was blocked by someone on the other side. Handle of the door turning, the woman opened the door. “Tabby, hush!” She demanded at her hissing cat. Her eyes, void of color gazing out at the darkness she could only see, the woman shrugged. “Hello? Who is there?”

 

“Lily, it is me, Jin,” Jin responded as he held onto her upper arms gently. “I have an emergency—may I come in?”

 

“Oh—Jin—of course, come in,” Lily allowed as she stepped aside for the snake demon she could not see.

 

Jin made his way carefully inside, making sure his serpent tail didn't touch the middle aged woman. Careful of the cat, who wasn't too fond of him, Jin made his way over towards Lily's bed, where he perched himself upon the covers, his tail coiling about upon the floor. “I am sorry for waking you up so late, but I have a problem. One of the young girls I watch over is missing, and I followed her trail to beyond these walls.”

 

Lily wrapped her cold body in the woolen blanket with many white tassels hanging from the edges, listening to Jin's story with a worried frown. “Oh my, and it is raining outside. She will freeze to death or get very sick if she doesn't get inside!”

 

“That is why I came here, and I am asking this big favor of you. Can you please go out there and hunt her down for me?” Jin wondered, fidgeting slightly with his hands. “I know I should be the one out there, but—I am not allowed here, and if the guards spy me, I will be killed.”

 

Lily sighed, not wishing to go out at this hour, but she knew she couldn't allow a poor girl to freeze to death in the middle of the night. Feeling her way towards her closet, she pulled out her cotton dress, which rested near her heels, and a shirt with long sleeves and white, faux fur on the collar line. “What is her name?” Lily asked, heading for the bathroom to change in private.

 

“Her name is Neda I think,” Jin answered as he kept his eyes on the territorial cat, who was eyeing him rather oddly.

 

“You `think'?” Lily scoffed as she reappeared with her attire on. “Where are my boots?”

 

Jin wiggled his ears slightly at her words, grabbing up her boots she was hunting for to hand to her once he slid off of the bed. “Here—I don't know their names too well, but I am sure that is her name.”

 

Lily accepted her boots from Jin, slipping them on her feet quickly with a nod to the serpent demon before raising her hood up over her head to protect her hair from the rain. “Alright then, I will go out and find her. Please stay right here with the lights off. It is abnormal for lights in any house to be on at this hour. The knights will check in if there are.” Heading for the door, Lily grabbed onto the handle to point to a drawer close to Jin. “There are candles and matches in that drawer, so you can light them if you wish. I will be back later.”

 

Jin watched as Lily left the house, leaving him to turn off the lights. He preferred the darkness anyways, so he remained upon the bed, coiled up on the covers to wait anxiously for Lily's return. The sound of the cat threatening to hiss once more caught Jin's attention on the bed as he looked down at the cat's gleaming eyes he could make out perfectly in the darkness with his own. “I guess it's just the two of us, eh, kitty?”

 

The cat hissed, his fur standing on end to show his uneasiness with Jin in the room.

 

“You don't talk much, do you?” Jin said once more, thinking that domestic animals were supposed to, since he could and he was half. Lying on top of his own dampened scales, which were still wet, Jin closed his eyes with sigh as he still felt on edge within the enemy's territory.

 

Lily's boots dashed through the poodles that were in her way as she kept her hooded coat, tightly wrapped about her body to keep herself warm. “Neda!” She called loudly in hopes of the young girl hearing her. “Neda, where are you!”

 

Neda still had her forehead buried into her knees, soaking wet in the cold, bitter rainfall. Her fingers numb as well as her legs, she tried to pick her head up off of her knees to look down the roads, which were to her left, right, and in front of her. She could just hear someone calling out to her, though the sound of it was awfully slurred to her ears. “B—Blythe…?” Neda wondered as she forced herself to stand to the best of her ability.

 

Her clothes clinging tightly to her small body, her dress dragging nearly on the stone ground, Neda pressed her frozen hand upon the buildings to help herself down the left path where she thought she could hear the voice. Breathing heavily, the air released into crystalline vapor, to show how cold it was outside that night in the downpour. Her name being called once more made Neda stopped, turning around in wonder of where it was coming from as it appeared to be coming from everywhere.

 

“Neda!” Lily called yet again, her hands feeling in front of her for anybody. “Neda, where are you!”

 

One of the guards on duty caught Lily's words through the storm, making him rush towards her within his heavy, damp armor. “Ma'am, what are you doing out late at this hour? You should be inside. It is too cold out here for you.”

 

“I am sorry, but I am looking for a little girl named Neda. She is nearing her teens and should look like she works on a farm,” Lily explained with a slight shiver under her apparel.

 

“I think I might have seen her enter the market square, but I am not sure where she went to after the storm hit,” the guard responded, grabbing onto Lily's hand. “Come, come, we can find her.” Running with the woman, he looked down some of the divided roads in hopes of finding Neda, calling her name with Lily as they went.

 

“By the Goddess, I pray she is not dead somewhere,” Lily murmured to herself as she continued to search for the young farm girl.

 

The knight turned one of the corners down the stone road, which led from the bench he remember seeing her at to hurry towards one of his fellow knights he could just see through the harsh weather. “Durward!” He yelled over the storm. “We can get Durward to help us find her. I could have sworn I saw her rush down this way. Durward!”

 

Durward turned around in the storm with a young female leaning upon him. Keeping her close to him, he walked forward slowly to the knight, who was running towards him. “What is the matter, Addison?”

 

The knight addressed as Addison stopped in his tracks to look at the young girl Durward held close by him. “Is that her? Is that Neda, the one you've been looking for?” He asked Lily before glancing at Durward once more. “Where did you find her?”

 

“I found her wandering aimlessly around here,” Durward answered as he helped the exhausted Neda over towards Lily.

 

Lily reached out for Neda to feel of her face gently with her trembling hands. I am not sure if it is, she thought to herself. I have never been near this child before. “She is burning up. Yes, it is her. I need to get her home and quickly.” Taking Neda into her arms, Lily held her close to her chest with a nod at the men nearby she could sense were still there. “Thank you for your help. I need to get her back to her father. He is worried about her.”

 

“Come on, I will escort you both home,” Addison offered, guiding her back down the many roads with his hand on her shoulder.

 

Lily felt her stomach knot up in worry. She feared what the knight may say if he were to spy Jin in her home after the snake demon had already told her he was forbidden from ever coming behind Eytheria's walls. Please, Goddess, do not let this go sour…

 

Jin remained coiled upon the bed sheets until his ears caught the sound of two voices outside the door. Not recognizing one of them, he panicked at the smell of iron before slipping his serpent half under the covers, knowing the dark would conceal his other awkward appendages. What the hell are the knights doing here!

 

“Thank you for the help, sir,” Lily replied on the other side of the door. “I can take it from here. She's very sick so I need to watch over her.” Grabbing onto the doorknob, she realized she couldn't open the door by herself with the weight of the cold child weighing her arms down.

 

“Let me get that for you,” Addison insisted as he twisted the doorknob for her to open the wooden door for Lily. “You try to do so much by yourself that would think you are all alone. Why doesn't your husband help you?”

 

“I don't have a husband,” Lily answered confused at what the guard was saying to her, she entering inside of her house quickly with Neda.

 

Addison tilted his head in bewilderment as well, peeking within the dark house to spy Jin from the abdomen up just barely within the thick darkness. “I thought he was your husband and this was your daughter.”

 

Jin titled his head to the side confused at the term he wasn't too familiar with even if Lily explained it days ago to him. “Me—her `husband'?” He wondered.

 

Lily helped Neda over to the bed where she could feel Jin resting under the covers. Placing her hand on his cheek, she caught the demon's attention with a brief smile. “Neda isn't doing too well, so I need you to hold onto her for a moment for me, okay?”

 

“Of course,” Jin whispered in response in the darkness of the house, his arms keeping the cold child close to his broad chest.

 

Lily headed back over towards the door to wave the knight away from her doorstep. “Please, sir, we don't have time for questions. The girl is sick, and I thank you for your help. But right now, I need to make sure she makes it through the night.” Without waiting for a response, Lily closed the door before turning to light the candles in the room. “I am surprised that man didn't kill you when he saw you.”

 

“I guess he didn't recognize me,” Jin whispered in the densely lit house. “What is wrong with the young girl?”

 

“She has a high fever,” Lily explained as she got out a bowel to fill with cold water. “Do me a favor and get her out of those clothes. She needs to dry off. She is completely soaked.”

 

“Um, okay,” Jin replied, scratching his head in wonder of how to get the clothes she had on off. Moving the covers off of Neda, he tilted his head in wonder at the belt he saw looped about her waistline. His fingers gripping onto the leather strap, he moved it a bit thinking it would slide off only to find it remaining where it was. “Okay, okay, I know how this works,” he whispered in confidents to himself. His finger tapping on the metal part of the buckle for a moment, he moved his fingertip against the small metal bar he saw looped through one of the holes in the leather. Managing to get it out of the gap, Jin felt the leather loosen about Neda's waist, allowing him to pull it off of her body.

 

Placing the belt over on the nightstand, he pulled off her boots next before working on pulling off her dress as well. Jin could tell that the fabric was clearly soaked as the dress and boots continued to drip from the water it had come in contact with. Hearing the floorboards moaning underneath Lily's feet, Jin shifted his attention over to the woman with a cock of his head. He watched as she brought the wicker stool close to the bedside so she could help Neda feel better.

 

“Should I take off her clothes underneath the one she had on top?” Jin asked with a slight twitch of his elfin ear.

 

“You mean her undergarments?” Lily wondered, dipping the clean cloth she had into the cold water to place on Neda's heated forehead. “Yes, remove those as well. I am pretty sure every inch of her was drenched from the cold rain. She was out there for awhile.”

 

Jin did as he was asked and removed her underwear for her to put on the floor as he did the others. “Do you think she will be okay? I promised their mother I would watch over them both, not join her in the afterlife.”

 

“She will be just fine,” Lily replied, getting to her feet once more. “I will make her some soup so you can feed her. Just keep that cloth on her forehead. Her fever needs to go down. The soup should help.” Making her way over towards the kitchen, which was right near the bed the two were in, she knelt down to pull out a pot she could use before searching for the right ingredients. “You know what they say, `feed a fever, starve a cold'.”

 

Jin was baffled by the saying as he scratched his forehead in thought. “I have never heard that. Where I come from, if someone was ever sick like this, we stayed close to them until they either got well or died.”

 

Putting the broth she had already made in the pot to reheat it, Lily worked on lighting the wood with a match, inquiring Jin's remark. “Where exactly do you come from? I have not known a civilization yet to do something such as that.”

 

“I cannot tell you,” Jin responded honestly, trying to keep Neda warm under the covers. “Your kind of race is not exactly all that accepting of me.” Feeling the young farm girl trembling still in displeasure, Jin slipped his scaly half gently about her body in hopes of getting it warmer.

 

“Obviously the mother of the two girls you watch now was accepting of you,” the blind woman remarked without fear in her tone, stirring the soup she was tending to.

 

The fingers of the wind demon rolled through Neda's wet hair, not wishing to think on that night as it had made him a bit fearful of barns. Sighing through his nostrils, he thought about Pearl. “The only reason she was accepting was because of me saving her from the barn fire I accidentally caused…” His voice trailing off, Jin shook his head wishing to be rid of the fresh memory. “Having to watch her die was the hardest thing for me, but I promised her during the moment that I would watch her daughters, and so I will—in the darkness.”

 

“I won't pry then as to what you are,” Lily promised, sipping the soup she had upon the wooden spoon. “All I can say to you, Jin, is it is best to let go such hard thoughts upon yourself.” Finding the soup to be just perfect in temperature, Lily filled some of it within a bowel, supporting the hot bowel with a tray as she did so. Carefully turning on her heels with the broth swirling slightly thanks to the motion, she headed for the stool she had been upon previously. “It is best to let the past go so that you can care for the girls you promised you would.”

 

Jin watched as Lily situated the tray perfectly upon the bed, raised slightly above the two under the covers of the bed. He witnessed as she turned the silver utensil towards him in bewilderment. “Aren't you going to feed it to her?”

 

“Why should I when she is not my charge?” Lily asked with a shrug, her glazed eyes wandering about the candlelit home. Her fingers searching over the fabric for Jin's hand, she took it within her own to substitute for her gazing him in the eyes. “Jin, it is your job to make sure these girls make it through till they find a husband. You willingly took on the job of their mother and father, so it is best to start being one now.”

 

Nervously Jin took the end of the spoon to have it play with the soup it was within. “I guess you use this thing to pick up the soup, right?” Jin said aloud to Lily.

 

Lily furrowed her brow in wonder of what and who he was if he never had seen a spoon before. “Well—uh—yes, of course it is, Jin.” Chuckling briefly with her head tilted to the side, she smiled at him. “Great Goddess of the skies, Jin, how do you expect to take care of these kids if you don't know half of the things they do?” Her fingers finding the serpent demon's hand, she helped fixed his fingers about the spoon tightly. “Hold it like this and scoop up the soup like this, and then bring it to her lips to make sure she swallows it.”

 

Watching and listening to her closely, he managed to get the silver spoon filled with the warm broth to Neda's trembling lips to get it inside of her mouth for her to swallow. Jin pulled back the spoon, watching as Neda flinched and shivered some more next to the chest of the demon. “Is she supposed to look like she is in pain? I thought she was supposed to get better with this magical soup.”

 

“There is nothing magical about it,” Lily said to Jin as she motioned for him to continue feeding her. “She probably looks as though she is pain because you didn't blow on the soup to cool it down. It is awfully hot.”

 

“You want me to blow in it?” Jin asked with his ears lowered slightly in incomprehension. “Why would you want me to do that?”

 

Closing her clouded eyes for a moment with a soft smile, Lily reopened them with a shake of her head. “I want you to blow on it to try and lessen the heat for her when you feed it to her. Take this as a lesson to bring back to your demon kind when you return home to them.”

 

Hearing Lily call him a demon made Jin freeze momentarily with a slight hiss within the depths of his throat. “How did you know that? You haven't felt of my scales, and I didn't make a sound to you that would say I was one!”

 

Chuckling behind her tightly pressed lips, Lily shook her head once more. “You gave away plenty of signs, if not more than enough tonight. When I first met you, my cat wasn't too keen on you and your friend's presents here, and he only gets that way if the person is evil at heart or smells of demon. I trust his intuition,” she said with a smile, looking over at the dining chairs where she could feel the feline staring at her through the dark. Lily turned her focus back on Jin. “Also, when you walked upon my floorboards, they moaned more than once every time. When a person walks, the boards indicate the movement twice or so, depending on how many steps I can sense they are taking. Yours and your friend's were just abnormal to me. And now with your inability to go out through Eytheria without causing an uproar and without knowing how to feed or take care of a human girl…it all became pretty clear.”

 

“You do not run or try to cast me out,” Jin pointed out in a leery tone. “Why do you allow me in your home where other humans would have me beheaded?”

 

“Maybe being blind is a curse in that you cannot see the beauty that the Great Phoenix Lady created, but it is a gift in that I can see what is inside the person a lot better than others can.” Placing her hand on Jin's cheek, she let her fingertips wander to the edge of his face where his red hair hung, touching the scales that were embedded back there. “And I can tell you mean no harm to anybody. You are just a baby yourself by the feel of the position of your scales. I think you're probably nearing your middle thousands—maybe 1,322 or 1,400. You are a snake demon, aren't you?”

 

“Yes, but I am a lot different from my fellow serpent demons,” Jin explained as he let her hands wander about his face. “Touya and I can control elements unlike the others. I control wind and he controls ice. And I am 1,350 years old, thank you,” he chuckled. Jin soon waved his hands slightly. “Wait, how do you know so much about serpent demons?”

 

“Keep feeding her,” Lily instructed softly, getting to her feet to change herself so that she could dry off. “When I was a little girl, my father used to watch demons from afar and write articles on them. He wasn't very popular because of it, but he did what he enjoyed and enjoyed what he did.” Stepping into the bathroom, Lily continued her story. “Anyways, he would take me with him sometimes, even if I couldn't see, to tell me everything he observed and written down.” Lily tossed off her dampened shirt before working on loosening her belt. “The serpent and wolf demons were his favorites, so I know all I do about them. He surprisingly died of natural causes, and before he passed, he gave me his research thinking maybe one day my child could continue the research he adored.”

 

Jin split his attention between Lily and Neda, twisting his elfin ear towards Lily, changing in the bathroom. “But you don't have a child to take on your father's work. Did your last mate not give you one?”

 

“No, I am afraid he didn't.” Putting on her nightgown once more, Lily tied her hair back as she reappeared from the bathroom. “And I am starting to get too old to have any.”

 

“How old are you?” Jin boldly asked, giving the sick Neda more soup carefully.

 

Lily couldn't help but laugh briefly at his question. “I am 38 years old. I am hardly at my prime to have children.”

 

Jin fed the last bit of the soup to Neda as he wrapped her a bit tighter within the covers he had her in. “But you can still have children. I can smell your ability to do so.”

 

Lily laughed yet again as she took the finished soup bowl and the tray to put back over to the sink near the oven. “Jin, I wish I could have a baby, I really do, but I highly doubt it will ever happen. Humans stop their ability to produce eggs, not to mention their energy leaves them as well.”

 

“If you want a child, I can help you,” Jin offered, bringing Neda closer to his body tenderly. “I am picked often to have babies with others. I can help you if you want.”

 

Washing the bowl in the sink carefully, Lily dried it off before putting away where she had found it in the upper cabinet. Catching Jin's comment, she offered a brief smile at the thought. “You know I would like that, Jin, but I would need help raising a baby. Besides, the baby would be a mixed breed. While I wouldn't mind at all, and it would be a dream come true for my deceased father, the people around here wouldn't take too kindly to that.” Lily wiped her hands clean, making her way over towards the bedside to feel of Neda's forehead once she removed the cloth. “She still has a temperature, but it isn't as high as before. She should be fine, but it is best I keep her here until she is well enough to return home.”

 

“I am afraid I will have to leave in the morning,” Jin whispered, watching as Lily headed over towards the other bed in her home. “I have a serpent female I promised to offer my powers to her babies, so that means I have to be with her during and after her pregnancy. I wish I could stay with Neda and her sister more, but I am unable at the time.”

 

“I will be sure she gets taken care of and gets the message. Where exactly did you say she came from again?” Lily asked, making her way to her free bed.

 

“The Cormac Farm,” Jin answered. “I am sure she knows the way to her own home when she becomes well.” Keeping his serpent half about Neda gently, he buried his cheek upon the pillow he now shared with the young child.

 

Lily pulled the covers back on her other bed she had open for company ever since her husband left her, sliding within them to make herself comfortable. Tabby, her cat, hopped upon the end of the bed to curl up in peace along with his master he had known for quite a few years, released a content purr within the depths of his throat. “Goodnight, Tabby,” Lily whispered to the cat with a soft yawn. “Goodnight, Jin. I hope you sleep well.”

 

“Goodnight, Lily,” Jin responded with a powerful yawn, which expressed his sharp teeth. “I hope you sleep well too and thank you for helping me.”

 

The candle that Lily had placed upon the nightstand in between the two beds kept the house lit for awhile until finally blowing out on its own. The storm continued ruthlessly throughout the night. However, the sound of the rain tapping upon the wooden home and stone streets soothed both Jin and Lily as they slept.