A Nagas tale

The duty of A leader

I was forbidden from seeing Audrey. My mother placed restrictions around the hospital so I would not stick to Audrey while they treated her wounds. She gave me a log of the families that would be coming for the gathering of the tribe. "Keep yourself busy! Sitting around Audrey will not make her wounds heal any quicker." she scolded me the first few hours I'd gotten back from the other world. I did not want to leave Audrey's side worried about her but looking at the calendar it was March 31st which meant I had no time to set everything up properly. "So Are you ready to start setting everything up?" I look at the chief this idiotic bat of a friend. I nod "Alright! So I brought my wife and daughter to help set up the decor and my sons to help move anything heavy! what did you bring?" He asks I turn to my men who gather the needed firewood for the large bond fire. "Alright! So we have tonight to set up the seating for the families and their tables." his wife takes the page with the decorations my mother usually used for these ceremonies. "Hm, this is pretty cutesy for a beast like you." she scoffed before taking her daughter to help set up the area. "ah that wife of mine." He chuckles "She fits you, Leon." I chuckle already used to his snappy wife's attitude. I lead him to the storage room where my mother stores all the tables and chairs. I had the men clear out an area so the younger more daring guys could test their strength or for any drunk bastards to take out their bets. It's already midnight by the time we set up the area. "Man, I envy you guys for having such a big celebration like this." Leon offers me some sake as we sit in his house. I take a drink not wanting to be rude. "I heard Audrey got hurt." I look at him as he sets his cup down. "How is she doing?" He asks I look at my empty cup "I haven't been told anything for the past nine days." I answer feeling annoyed with the restricted information. He sighs "Ya'Know I like that ball of fire." he chuckles. I look up at the dark skies and smirk "I like her too." He sighs "I swear you can be such a tease with your words." He huffs. I turn to him "I thought You would have said something like... I don't know. I'd give the breath from my body for her! Or I worship the earth she walks!" He mocks. I chuckle my stupid friend still finds ways of figuring out my mind. "You make my affection sound meaningless." I look around his house spotting his wife peaking into the room. "I would protect this forest, or burn it down if she so asked." Leon sits up "h..hey now!" he seemed to panic. I laugh at his panic "If Audrey does not make it out of that hospital, I will burn this world down and any other world." He chuckles "Ah she's got you wrapped around her fingers." he hands me another cup. "Our souls have become a ball of unruly wires." I correct. He nods "Alright I feel envious of how highly you are praising her." He laughs. I down the alcohol before setting the cup down "I should head home before you give me too much." I scoff knowing he would try anything to get me to spill my guts. He laughs "Alright, have a safe trip home." he waves me off. I walk out of the dining room his wife walks over to me. "So I think you have something to say," I ask she follows me to the door. "I want to give you and Audrey my blessing. If she does make it out alive I was hoping she could come by so I can apologize for how I acted before," she speaks without hesitation. I nod "I will make sure to tell her to come over." I walk out of their house and begin my walk home. The next morning I greet the families that are coming in from around the forest. They did not greet me simply bowed their heads too scared to look at me. I dislike the fear these people show me. It's stifling when all they do is cower. 'Please wake up Audrey.' I look out into the forest waiting for the next group. 'Mother told me it took three days for them to fully heal all of Audrey's injuries.' The next group walks up "Good morning!" I see a younger more spry child burst from behind his parents. I smirk "Morning." I answer to which he puffs his chest. "I turn 10 tomorrow!" He declares. I chuckle moving my hand up to him. I notice his mother reach for him. I ruffle the kid's hair "Well, then happy tenth birthday kid." I offer. He beams a large smile "See momma! I told you leader Kogen is not scary!" he beamed at her. I move my hand away from his head seeing his father. He bows his head "Good day Leader." He offers his greeting. I nod "It's good to see you made it to the gathering." I offer my respects to the man. "How is your mother doing?" he asks. I turn towards the hospital "Busy." I answer to which he laughs "Still raising that little girl?" He asks. I nod "Yeah she turns 11 this June." I tell him. "Ah, it's almost time for her to find her husband huh?" he asks. I frown at the Idea of Yyvonne getting married off. He chuckles "Ah A protective father good! Good!" he pats my chest before leading his family of five past me. His oldest puffed his chest in a challenge. I smirk "Give it a try once it's time." I agree with his challenge. I wait for the next family missing Audrey's curious questions. 'Kogen! What is aura made of?' I recall her asking me this question before. Her three brown eyes filled with curiosity. 'God how I miss her.' I watch the forest till mid-day once all of the families have made it back. I look at the log consisting of ten families some of which are branches of the original five families. There are times when the rear loners decide to come to try their luck and this year it seems there are 15 newcomers. Five come from the main city in Olerion three are from the area controlled by the leader of the Fox tribe and the other seven come from the area controlled by the Leader of the Lynx tribe. I turn and head to the gathering where the chief and his family helped filter the families to their spots and the newcomers to their place to sit and talk. I stand at the center of the dining area looking at familiar faces and new faces. 'This will be the people I will be in charge of bringing together.' I can see the girls are evenly split this year. "I will start by thanking the families for taking their time to come down to this little village of mine." I started having rehearsed this speech all night last night. "This month of April we will gather to test our might, and to unite new families." I look at the faces watching me. 'They all respect me due to fear for my reputation as a killer.' I take a deep breath. "This year we will do as we have al." "We will be changing the rules for this year's gathering." I flinch turning to my mother. "what!? Changing the rules!?" Some of the older men start bitching. My mother smiles at me as Audrey runs past her. My eyes widen as she tackles me in my shock I stumble back. She wraps her arms around me tightly before rubbing her face on my clothes. "A... Audrey?" I hold my arms up unsure if I was daydreaming. "tsk, Audrey! I warned you that some of your wounds are still not fully healed!" My mother scolds. Audrey laughs brightly "S...sorry I know you wanted to look all cool and stuff but ugh!" she turns to my mother. She sighs "I swear you are such a handful." she sighs. I look at my mother unsure still if this was real. She chuckles "You aren't sleeping or daydreaming." she assures me. I quickly crouch lifting her from her waist up into my arms. Audrey let out a pained laugh "Sorry If I was late." she whispers. I hid my face in her stomach to keep the others from seeing the wreck I would become. She puts her hands on my head "Kogen." she whispers my name. 'oh god yes, talk more.' I catch the scent of blood. I move my face away from her stomach "Don't reopen the wound!" My mother slaps me. I take a breath to recover my composer. "You still need to get the gathering started." she reminds me. I look at Audrey and let out a deep sigh of relief. "Yeah, right." I put Audrey down and looked at the people that waited. They seemed startled by my sudden action. I clear my throat "As I said this year we will change the order of events." My mother speaks up. I look at her wondering what she had up her sleeve. "But for the explanation I will leave that to my daughter-in-law." she turns to Audrey. Audrey seemed a bit hesitant but took a step forward. "This year I want to start testing the compatibility of the man and women auras." she states. The men quickly stand up "That is ridiculous! Women do not have naturally occurring auras!" they protest. I wait for Audrey to back off. Instead, she takes a step closer before flaring her aura. My mother follows after her to prove their argument wrong. "Women have Aura! There is a difference between not having and being unwilling to discover it." she bites back at them. They back off as Audrey stops her aura "If you think so then how do you suppose we find their auras?" The father of house Ore the one not afraid to step to me asks. Audrey nods looking at the girls "We need to expose them to the auras of another." she states "What!? That would kill them!" the father of house Birch protests. Audrey nods "There are risks to this process, but it's a way to prevent later hardships." she states. "Later hardships? Are you talking about the women dying during their pregnancy?" The father of the house Mcneil asks. Audrey nods "I believe I have found a way to prevent any... deaths due to the illness." she states. "Oh and have you found what this illness is?" the Birch asks mockingly. Audrey frowns "I believe the cause for their deaths is Aura shock." Her answer creates a silence. "How are you so sure?" I look at the daughter of house birch. Audrey nods "I spoke with an Ancestor." She answers to which the girl's father scoffs "An ancestor? So what are you claiming to be part of a long extinct naga tribe?" he mocks again. I frown wanting to shut his mouth I take a step closer. Audrey lifted her hand to stop me before nodding I noticed the headpiece on her head 'Is it concealing her eye?' I watched the elder and the man she called her father walk into the area. "Those are some bold words, little girl!" he bites at her. She sighs "To be so disrespectful to the heiress of house Ezra." The elder walks into view. He did not hide his form slithering in without much regard for the venue. "My sweet baby you stink of blood." He huffs slithering over to Audrey. She chuckles "I'm not a baby." she answers he nods "Well, yes you are since You are still only 201 years only compared to this old fossil you are but a baby." he explains. She sighs "T...the elder." The men quickly bow their heads to pay their respects. "I trust in my child's words." He turns to the men. "You call her your child as if her father isn't standing out here." the man scoffs. "Hm? Oh, you have one foot in the grave! so shut it and die in a hole!" The elder seemed upset. "So what is the plan little one?" he asks Audrey nods "Well, If I could ask for volunteers." she leaves them the option. The daughter of the birch house stands "I want to try." she states. One of the newcomers steps up "I would like to try as well." he offers. Audrey turns to the girl who seems a bit unsure. She looked at me as if looking for assurance she was doing the right thing. I nod letting her do as she stated. She takes a deep breath before walking over to them both. She takes her hand "I know this will be scary, but don't let the fear of it drag you out of it." she instructs the girl. She turns her eyes to the young boy. "If you feel she can't fight your aura off stop." She orders. He nods letting Audrey take his hand. She takes a deep breath "Take her hands." she steps back "Before we start." she turns to the girl. "what do you think of his scent?" she asks. The girl nods "It's nice, he smells like a bush of blueberry." she answers. Audrey smiles before turning to the boy. He looks away from Audrey and nods "She smells like lemons." he tells Audrey. She nods "Alright, this will need a lot of trust on both ends, more so from your end." she turns to the girl. "Focus on his scent it might help ease the fear." she offers another tip. I can see she is nervous so I walk over to her side. I take her hand ready to help if things go south. "Alright, we can start." She gives the word. The boy starts timidly "Don't do it slowly, make it seem like she is facing danger." Audrey scolds. The boy nods nervously releasing his full aura. The girl flinches stumbling as her body is put under the pressure of the boy's aura. He pulls her into his arms. "Meditate, don't give in to the threat." Audrey speaks. 'Is she familiar with this process?' I wonder as she squeezes my hand. I watch the girl's aura suddenly flare pushing away the boy's aura. She gasps for air lifting her head from the boy's chest. She looks up at him in utter shock. Audrey sighs my mother claps encouraging the others to do the same. "You seem to be very well-versed in this process." My mother points out. Audrey turns to her and smiles before patting my stomach. "I went through this same process with Kogen." She explains. I look at Audrey as I recall the first day we got home. 'I remember it then but her aura was already active.' I wondered as she smiled at me. "So what will this achieve?" My mother asks. Audrey nods "I learned from the ancestor that this large death toll in pregnant women happened before." She tells my mother and everyone around. "These deaths occur due to an evolutionary difference between men and women." She frowns "And also due to a bitter gods punishment." she sighs shaking her head. "As beasts evolved into beastmen women evolved as well." The boy stops flaring his aura followed by the girl. "The bitter god of the sea punished women for being able to bring life into this world. As it was this god's main job to start with." she explains. "To punish them he took their beast forms. In the process of removing their beast form, this caused their auras to go dormant since there was no way for them to access it." She shakes her head and turns to the new couple. "These auras can be activated by putting their bodies through a 'dangerous situation.'" she air quotes. "With this their bodies will release the auras that have gone dormant, cultivating their aura." I am startled by the information she has. "This is also how Aura bonds are created. These aura bonds are an amalgamation of the perfect blend of both parties." she lifts her hand pushing our bond out for them to see. "Audrey!" My mother quickly tries to stop her. I take her hand to stop her from using her aura. She laughs softly before falling into a coughing fit. "Tch! now you've done it!" my mother quickly moves me away she starts pushing her aura into Audrey's chest. "I swear you seem so quick to cause yourself harm!" she scolds as the elder offers to take Audrey to a spot so she can sit. "Kogen, can you take care of the rest?" My mother asks. I nod "Alright, I will take over." I agree as the elder takes Audrey out of the venue. I'd love to keep Audrey with me but with how wounded she is she should rest. "Before I start, Mother can you send over some of the medics?" I ask she nods "Alright, I will send them over." she answers quickly following the elder out of the venue. I watch as they leave the area "Audrey looks very tired." I turn to Leon as he steps up to me. I nod before turning to the others. "I will continue as my Wife asked only after medics have come into the area, so for the time being I encourage those seeking a partner to mingle and make your picks." I tell them. 'We take pride in caring for our partners.' I recall what Dad told me before. I look at the older generation and the newer ones. "We take pride in caring for our partners, I believe nurturing our partner's auras is part of the care we provide." I realized maybe that's what he meant by it since he and Mom were one of the last ones to create an aura bond. I watched as the women and men gathered and mingled. Slowly they paired off talking with each other separately to get to know one another. "Do you think Audrey is speaking the truth?" I turn to Leon who is sitting off to my right with his wife. "About what?" I ask. He looks over to the couple that have already achieved the goal Audrey had set out. "That doing these aura bonds would help buffer the death tolls?" he asks. I look at the couple before looking out at the others. "I don't doubt her." I assure him of my trust in Audrey. The medics Arrived about an hour after my mother left.  I asked the couples to take a spot they found the most comfortable for them before we started.