A Nagas tale

An Heiress's duty

My morning started as usual for the past month. I woke to a puddle of drool after a night of paying for my taunting crimes. I can hear Yyvonne chatting away with Kogen about her lessons and training. I push my heavy body off the futon ready to curse my devious taunts. Kogens always asked me to let him handle making food for us and I guess he found a way to get his way. I gathered my clothes for the day thankful Dad had found a liking to Ivonka. I pull out my favorite style of shirt which is a sleeveless sports top and some caprice cargo pants Dad had asked Ivonka to make for me. He came by on the first of June to give me the pile of sets he had her make for me. I was baffled by how much he brought me. I look at my new closet finding my entire wardrobe was now nothing but the spots top and the cargo caprice pants. 'I only told him I liked these for the heat of the desert and he's gone overboard.' I chuckle at how silly my dad was being. I look at the sword in my closet. The black sheath looks like electrical tape and it holds the hilt sealed. I walk out of the room and head to the bathhouse. After a good scrub, I sink into the warm water loving how my muscles relax. I look up at the ceiling wondering what I'd do now that I am back here. 'I don't really have a job and I feel bad for lounging around the house like a bum.' I sigh pondering what I could honestly do. After a while, I got out of the bath and dried myself off changing into my clothes. I walk to the room with my head covered by the towel. I look at the futon 'We've had to wash a few now.'  I pick up the futon and set it aside 'I'll need to wash it before I go off to do anything.' I pat my hair dry as I brush out any messy knots. I picked up the hair stick Kogen had gotten me for my birthday earlier this year. I pick my hair up in a bun before walking out of the room. I look into my room that's being repaired by Otani's siblings. The walls are repaired and the next thing in line are the mats and then the doors. I walk to the kitchen where Kogens already on his way out with the food. I take my tray and follow him out to the dining room. "Did you sleep enough?" he asks. I nod "Yeah, I'd say I slept enough." I assure him. He nods setting down his plate we all sit and eat some breakfast. "So what's on the agenda today?" I ask Yyvonne her eyes light up "Today there is a festival at our school!" she tells me. "A festival?" I am excited to hear that things like festivals are also a thing here. "Have you been to one before?" she asks I nod "I have gone to a few fundraisers! back home they were called Jamicas." I tell her. "what were those like?" she asks I nod "Well, normally it was a gathering of random games and food stalls where they tried to gather money for charities like orphanages and treatment money for sick people." I explain. She seemed interested "They had a place for orphaned children?" I turn to Kogen who asks. I nod "W... well yeah, These places have a lot of stigma around them based on reports of abuse and neglect but there are some that truly care for the children who have been displaced due to wars or being abandoned by their parents." I explain. He frowns "They abused the children?" he asks. I nod "In my time of working as a journalist I've seen my fair share of abusive orphanages." I can see he did not like the idea. I can understand that feeling. "So how are the festivals here?" I ask Yyvonne wanting to steer the conversation away from that topic. "This year the festival is going to have food stalls! and then there are recruiters for Algarias guard coming in to find new members for their ranks." She tells me. "Oh! That sounds cool." I answer finding the possibility of Yyvonne being taken to a different base a bit unsettling. "If we decide to go with any of the other bases we can go beforehand and visit the facility!" She tells me. I nod "Oh are you looking into joining?" I ask. She nods "Yeah! I wanted to Join Kogens base but they don't allow family members to operate in the same base." she sighs. I looked at Kogen wondering if he was okay with it. He didn't make any facial movements to tell me he had a problem. I look at Yyvonne who has just turned 11 and now she is talking about moving to a different base. "When would you be going to the base?" I ask she nods "Well, this year is the last year I train in Grandma Academy so I believe during the start of next year I will start my formal training in their base." she tells me. "W..what? So soon?" I ask. She nods "It's the starting age for trainees." I look at Kogen as he eats. I frown 'So little?' I take a deep breath 'Man this world is hard to get used to.' I sigh. "They will not put the trainees in the front lines. They will attend the academy in the base and train with their seniors to learn the ropes around the base." I look at Yyvonne 'So like an exchange program only it's a permanent move.' I deflate before eating some more of my food. "Did you already pick which base you'd go to?" Kogen asks. Yyvonne nods "Yeah! I was thinking of joining the base in Juniper City!" Yyvone answers. "Hm going under their wing huh?" Kogen asks. I feel so out of the loop that I stop asking questions. I finish my food and try my best to be happy that at least Yyvonne knows what she wants to do with her life. After breakfast Yyvonne left for her lessons leaving me with Kogen "You seem down." He noticed. I nod looking at the stack of books I'd plan on reading today. "W...well, I just feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea that Yyvonne will be leaving the forest." I mutter. He nods "It's for the best that she does what she wants." He reassures me. I nod "Yeah, I guess you have a point." I sigh feeling like such a bad person for not being happy for her. "I understand you are not comfortable with the idea but, Roy, Ulysses, and Troy are trustworthy." he assures me. I sigh looking out the back door when I feel Grandpa's Aura. "He seems to think it's fair game walking into my territory." Kogen huffs. I look at him and nod "I agree, I mean what if we were in the middle of it?" I taunt before quickly rushing to the back door to see what Grandpa wanted. I hear him let out a grunt before chuckling. I set my books down on the catwalk where I liked to read. "Oh! there is my beautiful forest Nymph!" He quickly hugs me I laugh at his stupid pet names. "You can call me Audrey Ya'know." I answer. He shakes his head "I only call you as I see you." he refuses. Kogen pulls me away from Grandpa's hug "What is it?" He asks getting to the point. "OH! Right! haha keeping this old man's mind on track my boy." Grandpa chuckles as he pulls out a book. "I came here to give Audrey her very own Naga log." I look at the book he hands me. I noticed the cover is made with snakeskin and bound with twine. "Uhm, n..neat cover." I grab it a bit put off by his choice of decor. He nods "This is the skin I salvaged from your great-grandfather's tail." I drop the book in disgust. "EW! What the heck!?" I ask. He picks up the book and frowns "Audrey, do not disrespect your great-grandfather's body." He huffs. I watch him clean off any dust that might have gotten on it. "D..Did you have to give me the skin of a corpse?" I ask he nods "It's tradition for the older generation to offer their skin to the new generation as a sign of protection." He tells me. I feel a little uncomfortable with carrying around my great-grandfather's skin with me. "I made this for you to use to log your life and world events for the next generations." he tells me. I nod "Uhm... I appreciate the thought." I take the book again looking at the skin and finding the black hue of the scales a bit curious since Grandpa has green scales and Dad's tail is brown. "Take care of it, I believe you will have a lot to log." he smirks. I nod "I will." I set the book down on the stack of the others. "Thats one thing I came for!" he pulls another book out and hands it to me. "The other thing that I came for is to let you know your formal training will start today." he smiles at me. "F...formal training?" I ask he nods "A Naga has many duties and things to learn so I wanted to get you started." He sighs "I would have started teaching you when you were five but late is better than never." He sighs. "Today's lesson is reading through your great great great grandfathers logs." He tells me. I look at the Naga skin-bound book "Alright, do you want me to do anything specific with it?" I ask he shakes his head "No, I need you to read it and I can bring the rest to you once you are done with this one." He sighs "I would have given you the oldest ones but they are in such disrepair I fear pulling them out of their case will ruin them." He explains. "After you've read through all of them we will start your physical training." he explains. "Physical?" I ask he nods "Physical training is needed for you to be able to protect the forest if it's needed." He explains. "We naga have a different fighting style which I feel you might struggle with since you do not have a beast form but we can tweak it for you." he explains. "Thats why I need a little more time so for now read through those logs and try to understand the generations-long passed point of view." He tells me. I looked up at Kogen who seemed uncomfortable. "Once Physical training is done you will start with spell casting and spell creation." he lists off some more. "I don't need to teach you the ancient tongue since you picked that up pretty quickly." He chuckles. I nod excited to have something new to do. "I do hope you find their logs interesting and make sure to keep them away from any humidity." he warms me. "I will come back in two weeks to check on your progress." he turns and starts walking away. I look at the book in my hand "Well there is my answer to what I'd do from now on." I mutter. Kogen nods "I would stop you from doing anything dangerous but, this is your duty as the heir." he sighs. I look at him and smile "I will be as safe as possible." I promise. I pick up the book Grandpa gave me to write down and decide I'd follow Kogen to his office so I wouldn't be here alone and bored. I set the books down and went for the ones I had brought out. I set them by the table and rushed to the room to pull out my bag. "Are you coming with me?" He asks curiously. I nod "Yep! I might get lazy if I sit at home." I mutter. He chuckles "Alright, once I'm ready we can go." he offers.