Providence: Book One

Chapter Eleven: Yukina

Chapter Eleven

Yukina

Kotone smiled when she saw Rio at her door, panting from having run all the way from the bakery, but she smiled and graciously invited her in.

"Is something wrong, Shiori?" she asked, giving her a quick once over.

"No, not at all, Natsu said...well, I was thinking...I'm sickly I know, but I was thinking maybe I could help you? Only for a little while, you said I had a talent for herbs and medicines..." Rio felt her face heat up as she spoke, she was worried about being rejected. Maybe Kotone had only told her she was good to make her feel better.

Kotone smiled, her bright green eyes were as warm as summer.

"I'd be happy for your help, you have a natural talent for herbs, and sometimes my work load gets a little heavy, but there are some things I have to warn you about if you work with me."

Rio cocked her head, but remained silent.

"You will see wounds, rotting, putrid, you may even see some death. You're a sweet girl Shiori, sometimes those images stick in your mind. Can you tell me honestly that you can handle it?"

Rio pursed her lips, she thought back to the Shrine, the fire and the screams, the clash of steel and the splatter of blood hitting the cobble stones. She thought of the images Ekirei seared into her mind.

"I can handle it." she said honestly. Kotone smiled.

"There's something about your eyes, I've never seen anything quite like them. I believe you."

Rio felt a surge of relief. The two girls smiled at each other, each feeling a sense of companionship that they had sorely missed. Suddenly Kotone stood up and walked to the small sectioned off room where she dried all her herbs and mixed her medicine. Drying plants were tacked up on every wall. Strings of garlic and pearl onions hung here and there like the hanging lanterns Rio sometimes saw at Shrine festivals. A large mortar and pestle sat on a small wooden table in the centre of the room, clay pots filled with salves and ointments of every kind cluttered every available surface.

"Would you like some tea?" Kotone asked. Removing two small clay cups from a cupboard. "We have a lot to talk about, and we'll be happy for some refreshment by the end of it."

~x~X~x~X~x~

Kotone meticulously showed her every dried plant in her medicine bag, explaining their uses and effects. Rio had learned some of this during her last stay with the healer, but she went into greater detail this time. Willow bark was important, boiled in hot water it could work as a pain killer without the dizzying narcotic effects of the poppy seeds.

She taught her how a warm decoction of the bark and cones of a magnolia plant was an excellent treatment for rheumatism, and how hemp, when rendered into an oil could treat all sorts of illnesses, arthritis, bone spurs, even tooth aches.

Rio loved learning about all the different herbs and remedies that Kotone had, the two girls talked and laughed like friends who had known each other all their lives. Rio had never had a friend her age before, and Kotone was so worldly and kind, every word she spoke had a slow thoughtfulness to it. She reminded Rio of a sunflower, bright and sweet and new.

Just around midday, there was a frantic ringing at the brass bell that hung by Kotone's door.

Kotone stood silently from her place at the table and opened the door to a small boy, no older than Suzu. His knees were scraped and dirty and his face was grubby with dirt and tears.

"Please Lady," he said, addressing Kotone in a tremulous voice. "It's my momma, she's havin' her baby and it's not goin' so well." the boy spoke with the quick high voice of someone on the verge of a panic attack. Kotone was slipping her outer robe over her shoulders before the boy could even finish speaking. She looked over her shoulder at Rio.