Negeyari's Begining Chapter 4

Chapter 4
---------


"Its Itchy!!" Negeyari whined as she scratched her tail while sitting on the floor, a pale coat of dead skin covered her stripes but still clung to her scales. Kuela looked extremely concerned and didn't want to see her daughter suffering "Can't you peel it off?" The little naga just looked at Kuela pleadingly, "I tried...it wont come off....." Kuela then tries helping Negeyari by pulling on the dead skin around her fin but the naga let out a yelp as it started pulling her new scales, "Oh I'm sorry!" Kuela quickly apologized and started scratching the Nagas tail which put her at ease. Nahal just watched the scene with a hand behind his head "Looks like you need to visit Gakiri, he'll know a way to remove it..." Negeyari looked hopeful "A way thats doesn't hurt? I only seen him do tricks for me." Nahal just comforted the naga by patting her head, "Don't worry he knows alot more than it seems, he's been a shamen here for a long time after all..."

Negeyari and Kuela waved to Nahal as he and his crew headed out on their fishing boat once again, the young nagas appitite has increased after she began going through her little growth spurt. The two made their way to Gakiri's house on the edge of the jungle, many trinkets and symbolic symbols adorned the exterior. The two peeked in the open sliding door, "Gakiri are you here?" Kuela asked then the two heard the obvious signs of snoring and saw the old Shamen alseep on his bed. "I guess we should wait for him to wake up?" Negeyari asked as she looked at Kuela, "Hmm... I suppose we can, I'll scratch your tail in the meantime." Kuela replied as she smiled at the naga. Suddenly without warning a ominous shadow appeared in front of them when their attention was on one another, slowly they turned and saw something horrible! A face pitch white, curved canines protruding from its horrible mouth, a large bulbus nose, and terrible eyes that gave them a piercing stare. The two screamed in unison, immdieately grabbing onto each other. A hand reached up and slid the mask up revealing Gakiri's face behind it, "Ohohoho what brings you two here today?" Kuela looked extremely upset as Negeyari gave a sigh of relief, "Curse you Gakiri! I hate it when you do that!!!" Kuela ranted, as Gakiri continued to laugh.

"So judging from your itchy tail, you need to have that skin removed?" Gakiri said with a warm smile. Negeyari nodded eagerly, "Yes its driving me mad, c-can you do something about it Gakiri?" Gakiri croutched down and studied Negeyari's tail with a serious look, "Afraid not, it will still be a couple weeks until it can be removed..." Negeyari gasped in horror, "A....couple weeks?!" the little naga whined. Gakiri just laughed, "No not really...let me see what I can do." Gakiri said as he stood up and turned to the many herbs he had stored. Negeyari just sighed and looked sheepish, "Don't scare me like that..." she said in a low voice, as Kuela smiled and patted her
back. "So your already starting to grow, I wonder how big you'll get..." Gakiri said as he began mixing a variety of herbs. Negeyari just blinked, "I was told by daddy that I would be big, as big as he is?" she replied questioningly. Gakiri just laughed, "Perhaps....Perhaps bigger." the old man replied. "B-bigger? How much bigger?" the naga replied, shock evident on her face. "Well...we will talk about that in a moment...now lets see....never helped remove a snake skin before..." he said as he continued to mix herbs. Kuela just rubbed Negeyari's back and whispered, "You might be surprised.....just try to remain calm when you find out..." the naga looked at her mommy nervously but simply nodded. "Well this should do it I think..." Gakiri said as he handed a small pouch pull of herbs to the naga, "Just mix this in the water, the next time you take a bath." Negeyari nodded and smiled, "Thank you so much Gakiri!" Gakiri smiled at the naga, then his face turned serious as he sat down. "Well then....let me tell you a story, one that happened a couple hundred years ago in this exact village." Negeyari went from smiling to paying close attention right away, as Kuela sat down next to her.

Gakiri cleared his throat as he began, "Well...many years ago this village was under the rule of a powerful and evil wizard named Kran. He lived in the black tower that the temple here is built around..." Negeyari interrupted, "A powerful wizard....like you?" this made Gakiri laugh, "I'm just a old performer of tricks. Now as I was..." He continued "Our people were powerless to stand up against Kran, and he dealt a harsh punishment to those who did rebel against him. It wasn't until one day that a flash of light appeared before his tower, a young girl with the ears of a cat...and a giant naga so large, humans must have looked like mere insects." Negeyari interrupted again, "A giant naga?? You mean like me?" she asked with a surprised look, Gakiri only nodded before he continued. "The cat girl was exhausted and powerless to defend herself, as the naga seemed confused, it was at that moment Kran showed up before the naga. It seemed he was welcoming it, but before he knew it the naga became agressive and tried grabbing him. This is where Kran made his mistake and attacked the naga, bringing forth fire that pelted her." Once
again Negeyari interrupted, "Why did she grow agressive?" Garkiri coughed, "Let me continue..." Negeyari just blushed "Oh...sorry..." "This enraged the naga, and a fierce battle was fought, Kran while floting in the air circled the naga, attacking it with his spells, as the naga tried swatting him. The naga began to take serious damage, and slumped to the ground. This is where Kran made his fatal mistake, he thought he won. As he hovered closer the naga struck him to the ground with a slap! Kran was severely wounded and the angered naga picked him up, he managed to scream and protest to the naga but it did him no good and the naga swallowed him alive....."

Negeyari was shocked, "The naga ate the wizard?!" Gakiri only nodded again. "The naga then laid on the ground badly wounded. This is when the girl with cat ears stood up, she seemed to converse with the naga for a while then began to heal the nagas wounds. Our ancestors made their way to the tower and the naga seemed friendly towards them, she said she was here to free them from the evil wizard. She was hailed as a hero, but she also said she had to go away. Our village provided her with food from the sea, until a day later the naga named Rosa waved and said farewell before she dissappeared in a brillaint light. The girl with cat ears said her farewells too, and disappeared soon after." Gakiri paused looking at Negeyari who was wide eyed, "Thats the story of the Serpent Maiden." Negeyari was at a loss for words at first, "Serpent Maiden...? You mean what some of the people call me?" Gakiri nodded, "Indeed you are the second Serpent Maiden Negeyari." The naga asked anxiously "So will I get that big too? So big that humans will look like bugs?"
Gakiri only smiled, "Perhaps...but theres a serious question I need to ask, if you were that big. Would you eat humans?" Negeyari immediately shook her head "Definatly not! All the people here showed me such kindness, I would never think of eating a human!" Gakiri chuckled, "Ohohoho Thats a relief, I thought I would be the first to go too!" This made Negeyari make a face "No you don't look tasty at all! Erm....no offense Gakiri." This made Gakiri laugh, then his face turned serious again "Keep in mind not all humans will show you kindness, there are those that might try
and hurt you, what about them?" Negeyari blinked and looked to the side "I...don't know.....if I say I wont eat humans....I should probably not eat any of them, even the bad ones..." Gakiri just smiled, as Kuela gave Negeyari a hug, "No matter how big you get we'll still be here for you..." Negeyari smiled, "Of course...you'll always be my mommy and daddy...and this village will always be my people..." Negeyari said as she got emotional, and began softly crying.

Kuela and Negeyari finally got ready to leave, and Gakiri walked them out, "Remember if you need anything let me know, I'll come by later to see if those herbs work." Negeyari smiled cheerfully, "Thank you so much Gakiri and thank you for telling me that story, it gives me alot to think about!" Gakiri just patted Negeyari on the head "Ohoho anytime my young naga, a old man my age has many more to tell." Kuela and the Negeyari waved to Gakiri as they made there way towards the
village, "So do you want to take a bath once we get back?" Kuela asked. Negeyari just shook her head "I want to stop by the farms first! If I grow giant I wont be able to help catch rats!" the little naga said with vigor. Kuela laughed "Thinking with your stomach again, what am I going to do with you..." she sighed. Negeyari just beamed "Feed me of course!" she said with her tongue sticking out, Kuela just laughed. Goro tipped his hat as he saw the two approaching, "Well if it isn't little Negeyari, feeling hungry I take it?" he said with a grin. "Yeah! I need to eat as many field rats as I can because I wont be little forever you know!" Negeyari replied with a smile. Goro looked interested, "Oh? How big are you going to be?" he asked "Giant! So giant that everyone in the village is going to be tiny compared to me!" the little naga replied. Goro looked at her strangely then laughed "Well as long as your little, feel free to catch as many rats you want." Negeyari smiled, "I will!" and with that she was off prowling the fields. "Quite a handful isn't she?" Goro asked Kuela, "Don't get me started." she replied with a smile. Before long the naga returned with a full belly, and they waved goodbye to Goro and the farmers. Soon they arrived back home where Nahal waited for them, "Welcome back, I brought back a good catch today." he said. Negeyari just patted her full stomach as it digested her meal, "Ugh I can't eat anymore, I think I'm going to just take a bath, Gakiri gave me something to help with my tail..."

Nahal just smiled, "I'll prepare the water for you." he said as he headed back to start a fire in the wood burning oven below the bath. Soon the bath was ready and Negeyari eagerly slipped in after adding the herbs to the water. Anxious to rid herself of the dead skin on her tail she soaked in the hot water, the aroma of the herbs didn't help the fact that she was tired after eating a meal and fell asleep shortly after with her head resting on her arms. After a few hours passed she awoke, and looked at her tail, she could feel the water found its way under her dead skin. With a gentle pull on the dead skin around her fin, it slipped off easily and without any pain, her tail was now a vibrant striped pattern. She was so happy that she didn't have to itch her tail anymore and sprung from the bath and quickly dried herself and put her clothes on. Bursting from the bathroom she displayed her shed skin cheerfully "It worked! It slid right off!" Kuela and Nahal smiled and looked at the vibrant colors of her tail, as vibrant as the day she was born "I'm so happy that it worked, we shold keep that skin as a keepsake of your first shed skin." Kuela said with a smile. Negeyari just blinked, "But I'll shed many more, I'm going to grow giant remember?" Kuela just kept smiling "But this one is special..." It was time for bed, and as Negeyari slid under the covers of her futon, the young Sea Krait Naga could only imagine what it will be like being a giant among the villagers.