At the Daystar villa outside of Twinlight city, Jemba and his wife Xiaoning were cajoling three two year old children into learning to cultivate. The kids were rambunctious and only thought of playing with their new companions who truly held their full attention. After being unable to get the kids to do anything for half an hour Jemba finally looked at the protectors who were either fighting, playing with their kid or just lazing about (can you guess which one is doing which) and spoke with emphasis for them to hear, “Well Xiaoning since we can’t make the children concentrate I suppose we should turn our eyes to other matters.”
Xiaoning answered with a bemused expression playing along, “What matters are you referring to honey?”
He smiled and continued, “Our new family needs someplace to sleep tonight right? I’m sure the cat would enjoy a nice flea infested bed to sleep in,” At that the lion raised its head with a snap to look at him nearly head butting the rider on his back. “And the Chen’s could probably do to have one for the dog as well,” The wolf froze mid jump to the chagrin of little Sisi. “They may need to get some ever frost for the snakes bed since it may get with all those flames it spits out,” The snake which was about to launch a blast at the hawk missed its shot as it suddenly froze in place. As the hawk was about to make a comeback shot at the snake Jemba finished his threats with, “and a nice dark little bird cage for our little feathered friend since it will need somewhere to sleep as well.” The hawk about to land a hit on the snake plowed into the ground before it could stop itself. As all four animals looked at him in alarm Jemba sighed. “It is an awful shame all these big strong wise critters who have seen battle first hand and experienced the horrors of death are incapable of directing their companions in training and preventing themselves from losing another comrade in battle. All these fine specimens may look real reliable but I guess they can’t be expected to manage to trick these two year olds into what is good for them, what a shame, guess we’ll have to do it ourselves after all, too bad.” The animals immediately shot an irritated look at him then started trying to manage the kids. After an hour, between the adults and the protectors, they finally managed to get the kids calmed down enough to do some exercises. Once the kids got to having fun doing it the adults took a break and left the animals to keep them busy.
Xiaoning finally asked Jemba what he had Touma working on. Jemba explained. “Several travelers have mentioned running into rogue critters on the forest paths in double or even triple the numbers they normally run. I just wanted him to check out if there is anything wrong deeper inside we should be worried about. After that we went through a couple years ago I thought it best to take no chances especially with us having kids now. Plus I have to put our bet to use on occasion or there is no point in having made it in the first place.” ”HaHAHa.” Jemba’s wife just looked at him with a what am I going to do with you look in her eye.
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Meanwhile…
Back in the Night Orchid villa, a woman with a frail body lay in the shade with a caretaker checking her vitals for the second time that day. Touma’s wife Yun Chen was severely injured shortly before giving birth to her twin children. While in recovery the doctor told her she could never bear children again and was lucky to be alive. In spite of surviving she lost most of her vitality and was bound to a bed and a strict diet.
After the woman checked her vitals was finished she told Yun some bad news. “I spoke to your physician before coming over today and he told me his final prognosis. After making you stable, there was no longer any doubt in his mind. He said that as things are going you will have no more than two years to live at the absolute best.” Yun’s nurse let that sink in for a moment before continuing. “six months of that will have you in a near unconscious state if not totally catatonic. As much as I admire and appreciate you keeping me around and the generous pay I have to say that I don’t want to watch you as you waste away. It near breaks my heart to see you yearning to hold your kiddies only to have to give them up as they start getting restless. I plan to resign at the end of the month so I really hope you can find someone to take my place.” By the time she had finished speaking the woman was losing her composure.
Yun smiled, “That is fine dear, and you don’t have to keep staying around just to keep me company. I remember what happened to you when your Pa passed away. I’ll tell Touma when he returns and let him begin searching for someone to fill your shoes. I would try to keep it from him but he knows when something is up like a hound knows the smell of roast beef. Sometimes it makes me wonder who exactly the wife is around here.” With a little giggle she relaxed back into her seat before suppressing a cough.
In the forest to the south of Twinlight city Touma had come upon an area of wood where at which the woodland critters had utterly abandoned. Not even a bird could be seen flying overhead. After searching for the majority of the day he finally stumbled back out of the abandoned area and immediately had to fend off a pair of panthers before returning his way home. As he made his way back he stopped by the Daystar villa to pick up the children. After informing Jemba about the strange empty section of the woods he returned to the Night Orchid villa.
When he walked in the door he knew the instant he saw Jun’s face that her days were finally numbered. Her apologetic face said it all. After letting the twins visit for a moment he made their protectors run them up stairs and moved to sit down beside her. He sat silent for about five minutes, “How long?”
“Two years max. with the last half spent catatonic,” she whispered. Touma made a prolonged grimace as he took her hand and held his to her cheek.
“If I had Xiao Ming in my hands right now I’d break his neck.”
Up the stairs the protectors had gotten the kids into bed and slipped out of the room. Once they made it outside they heard the words of the two adults and the three of them froze. The hawk in particular lowered its head a bit further.