A Nagas tale

Troublesome two

I dusted the portrait I had hired some local artist to do for me. I smile looking at the group of this year's couples my eyes lingering on the Luvosky siblings. 'To think they came here to seek refuge from a family feud.' I sigh turning to the girls who are thankfully playing with their toys. I looked at my log book to see the most major events I made sure to write down. A lot of it was the girls' milestones and my efforts to recover my aura. Today is the twin's 1st birthday! so I am making sure our home is clean and ready to receive guests for their little party. Kogen had decided that buying beef from Torry was not enough so he went out hunting in the early morning for some dear. I looked at the decor I had bought this morning before he left to decorate the house. I took my time in setting up the decor and checked on the cake. I  wanted to make some birria but all of the spices I got before were not good anymore so I needed to wait for the next time Kogen orders some. Astrid became a great fan of dear meat and Tabitha preferred more fruit-based food. Astrid was more carnivorous than I would have thought but seeing as she is like me a Naga she needed time to get used to veggies and fruits. Tabitha on the other hand had a better balance of food. She loved salmon and dear meat but she is also obsessed with berries and occasionally a few squashes. I did my best to get Astrid to like veggies but so far she's only found a liking to carrots and potatoes. I wished I could ask Grandpa what I could do to help Astrid widen her palette but he is not here and Kogen is more used to the bear palette and the leopard palette. I walk back to the dining room where the girls are still distracted by their toys. I set up the banners around the room and made sure there was enough space for my guests to sit on. Kogen seemed to stick to the old traditional Japanese style house so there are no chairs only cushions. I rush to the storage room connected to the house and find a few more cushions. I quickly take them back to the dining room. The girls as I feared had run off. I sigh "Alright! We will play Hide and Seek!" I shout before counting down knowing the girls loved this game. I quickly start looking around the house finding Astrid hiding inside my bedroom. She laughed and tried her best to run away but I quickly caught her. I put her in her crib so she wouldn't run. I start looking for Tabitha but she is not inside the house. I start to panic rushing to their room. I feel my heart drop when I see Astrid is not in her crib. "OH shit!" I check under their cribs but they are not there. I check the closest in my bedroom and theirs but they aren't there. "Oh! fuck!" I cry running out of the house. "Tabitha! Astrid!" I shout panic setting into my stomach. I run around the front yard and find the main gate is still closed. I turn my head towards the backyard. I noticed the back gate was wide open. "Oh no!" I panic rushing to the doors. I look around the flower beds I planted after the ceremony but they are not there. I panic and run out of the back gate. I spot Astrid's shoe on the ground "Oh my god!" I pick it up and look towards the mountain. 'Grandpa! do you see the girls!?' I ask. I start following the path Kogen made for me towards the cave mouth. 'No! I can't see them!' He answers my heart drops. 'Keep looking!' I demand rushing towards the mountain  "Tabitha! Astrid!" I call out to them. 

"I envy you, Kogen!" Darius chuckled as he helped me haul the dear home. "Astrid!!! Tabitha!!!" I flinch hearing Audrey's voice. "Oh, that does not sound good," Darius mutters. I quickly rush to Audrey's voice. I find her holding Astrid's shoe on the verge of crying. "Girls! this isn't funny!" she shouts. She is making her way to the mountain. "Astrid!" she shouts I drop the dear "Darius! start looking!" I order. He nods rushing towards the mountain. "No! That way!" I point past Audrey away from the mountain. He nods rushing in that direction. Audrey turns to me her eyes wide. "I..." She seems scared. I shake my head "Don't worry about it, how long have they been gone?" I ask. She nods "It's been half an hour." she answers. I noticed Audrey did not have her shoes on and her feet were dirty. I pick her up "Can you find their aura?" Audrey asks. I nod closing my eyes and focusing on the girls. I feel my stomach drop when I can't feel them anywhere around us. "They are... gone?" I ask. Audrey frowns "How can they be gone!?" she sobs. I look at the mountain "Audrey! go up to he cave! do what you did before maybe there is a better chance." I offer the idea. She sobs "I'm sorry, I got distracted for a second." she sobs. I shake my head knowing how troublesome the girls could be. I kiss her on the forehead. "As long as they are on this Island we can find them." I assure her. 'that being said they are not safe even within the island.'  I set Audrey down "Go!" I order she nods quickly running to the cave. I checked the grave sight just in case they went this way. I looked in every tree hole on the way up making sure they were not hiding. I checked on the branches knowing Tabitha had started to climb. I get to the graveyard feeling my body relax spotting the girls sitting in front of Iris's grave. They were sitting just a few feet from me and still, I could not feel their aura. I take a step closer and stop when the will-o-wisps appear around me. I look at them mildly annoyed. 'Did they lure the girls here?' I wondered as I saw four of the wisps floating above the girls. I watch the girls reach for the wisps with large smiles on their faces. Iris bops my face as if telling me to calm down. I sigh "Did you bring them here?" I ask. Iris bops my cheek to confirm what she's done. I sigh "You worried your mother." I scold. Iris quickly backs away shrinking in size. "Dada!" I look at the girls who finally noticed me. "Astrid! Tabitha! I'm not playing Hide and Seek anymore! you girls win!" I hear Audrey call out. I turn seeing Audrey climb the steps to the graveyard. After she announced her defeat the girls revealed their auras. I turn to them in shock 'Where are they hiding their auras to hide from Audrey!?' The girls burst into cheerful laughter at their win. Audrey steps onto the graveyard her tears dried already. She sighs "Grandpa Ash pulled a not-so-fun prank." she grumbles. I rub her back to soothe her settling panic. "Astrid, Tabitha, Let's head home." She walks over to them Iris bops Audrey on the cheek. Audrey puts her hand on Iris "It's fine, this was your grandfather's plan." she assures Iris she was not in trouble. "seriously though all you had to do was ask 'Hey Audrey do you mind if we give the twins our blessing for their 1 year on this planet?'" she grumbles. She picks up the girls "Iris, you can come with us if you want." she offers. Iris surges her aura and quickly finds a spot on Audrey's shoulder. I frown seeing Audrey walking without her shoes. I shift into my beast form "Get on my back, you'll hurt your feet." I tell her. She looks at her feet and agrees setting the girls down first. She climbs on with Iris still tucked to her shoulder. On the way down I hear Darius screaming "Oh get off me you pests!" I turn to see him rolling down the side of the mountain with the wisps chasing him down. "Oh, Leader! you found your wife and children!" His face is flushed as he spots us. He gets on his feet "I thought I'd check the mountain but those pe" "will-o-wisps." Audrey corrects he nods. "Ah yes, Mother the will-o-wisp chased me down." He tells us. Audrey giggles "Yes, The will-o-wisp are past generations of Naga that have lived and died on this Island." She tells him. His eyes widen "So many." He mutters. Audrey nods "Yes, Please do not try to climb this side of the mountain, I believe Kogen's shown you the cut-off point." she reminds him. He nods "Yes Mother, I will follow the guidelines." Audrey chuckles. "I will go retrieve our hunt before the scavengers get to it." He tells me. I nod "I'll be there once I get Audrey and the girls to the house." I tell him. He quickly runs past me to where we left the hunt. "You can drop us off at the gate honey." Audrey tells me. I shake my head "No you will hurt your feet." I remind her. "But, they are dirty I'll need to wash them off before getting into the house." She tells me. I sigh "Besides Darius needs help with the hunt." She reminds me. I give in "Alright, just be careful." I walk up to the back gate seeing it still wide open. 'Did I forget to close it?' I wondered. Audrey slides off my back and gives me a quick peck on the snout before walking into the house. "hurry now! the others are supposed to come in about an hour." she reminds me. I look at the twins who are too busy playing with Iris. I head back to the spot before shifting into my human form. Darius is looking up at the mountain I follow his gaze and find a wisp floating behind a tree. I bow my head and pick up the buck I'd hunted down. "I heard of legends around the will-o-wisps." He mutters. "what have you heard?" I ask. We start walking home. "Well, my mother used to say that Will-o-wisps are souls that angered the gods and were doomed to roam this earth without a physical body." he tells me. I sigh thinking back to what Audrey has told me and what I've read in her notes. "If these are older generations of Naga I wonder what their sin is." He mutters. 'Boy Audrey would have a field day with him.' I shake my head "I would say their only sin was living in hiding for as long as they did." I answer. He tilts his head "Living in hiding? The Naga tribe? aren't they living within the village?" He asks. I shake my head "No, the snake tribe is far too diluted to be considered Nagas." I answer. "then there are more within the mountain?" He asks. I shake my head "No, As of a year ago there are only four living Nagas within their forest." I explain. "Four?" he asks. I can hear him nearly tripping. We get to the gate where I spot Audrey setting up the rest of the banners with the girls. "Audrey, Her father and her grandfather, and the youngest of the four Astrid." I explain some more. Audrey turns to us and smiles "Kogen! I set a spot for the pit!" she points to the side of the backyard. 

Darius helped Kogen dig up the dirt to create the pit for the bucks. Audrey walked around the hanging bucks as Idris and Leo skinned and processed the meat. Astrid and Tabitha played with the flowers at the center of the yard with Iris. Darius's eyes seemed to follow Audrey around as she tried to help as much as she could. 'I heard that the Naga tribe defeated the God Ozaies who was thought to have been sealed.' He looks at Kogen as he starts lining the walls with some foil and some banana leaves. 'This must be a lie, I came here seeking refuge from the Naga tribe to start with.' He found it hard to believe that only four Nagas existed in this world. "Big brother Audrey is taken." He turns to Aria who walks over to him with a plate of chips. "Audrey made these! They are so good! and the dip is so flavorful!" she chirps. Darius takes a chip and dips it in the dip on the tray. "Alright, I'll get the meat seasoned and ready for smoking." Kogen stands up. Darius nods following Aria to the catwalk. "Aria would you believe there are only four Nagas in the world?" He asks his sister. She eats her chips and nods "I believe it." she answers. Darius looks at her curiously. "That easily?" He asks. Aria nods "We both witnessed Mother's aura during the ceremony," she hums in delight at the dip. "I have been searching for auras that feel like hers on this Island and the only one that's come close to it is Astrid," she explains. "Darius remember when Dad told us to always check our surroundings? well, I've been feeling the aura in this area and I do not think there are only four," she answers. She points to Audrey "Before Mother got angry in the ceremony this forest had no aura despite its reputation as the living forest." she explains. She looks up at the sky "At first I only felt Audrey and Astrids, but I've been feeling the forest a lot these days, and while yes Mother's aura is entwined with the forest's aura. The constitution of the forest's aura is consistent with two other auras." She picks up another chip and gleefully munches down. "Two other auras?" Darius asks. She nods swallowing her food. "Both of which are Naga, but one of them feels... hollow... like a dead Naga still clinging to life." She explains. Darius looks up to the mountain recalling the cut-off point Kogen had warned him about. "So I can believe there only being four Naga's currently on this Island." She concludes her explanation. Darius nods 'Then there are her father and grandfather so not really four but six Nagas.' Darius sighs as Kogen calls for his help. Once the meat was set to smoke for the night they grilled the leftover dear meat and beef. The others poured into the house and celebrated the twin's birthday complete with 'El tio boracho.'