One With Nature

Name?: 2

"My... Name... Yang?"

"My Name IS Yang," I corrected the little girl as she sat in front of mr. "You're almost there. Keep trying," I encouraged.

It's been... a busy week. With trying to teach Yang how to talk, keeping her warm, and stopping her from literally walking out of the cave for no reason beyond 'must move or me die', I have been had my work cut out for me.

And Yu, who was just watching from the side while sitting on a table and drinking tea, has been as unhelpful as usual.

"Okay, one more time," I said as I moved by hands slowly with every word. "My. Name. Is. Yang."

"My... name... Yang," I ran a hand through my face as she gave the same result she was giving for almost a whole day.

"You know what's your problem?" Yu asked, finally saying something.

"I have an unhelpful partner?"

"You have a partner? Are they imaginary?" I gave her a deadpan look at her response.

Yu placed down her tea and stood up from her seat. She went to a chest that was covered in talismans and opened it up to reveal some slaps of meat.

The box was something Yu made. Somehow, it keeps meat fresh no matter how long it stays in there. Anyway, she pulled out a piece of meet and walked up to me and Yang before holding it to the latter.

"What's your name?" She asked and Yang tried to reach for the meat, only for Yu to pull back. "No. Tell me your name, or no meat."

My eyes widen in shock as, for the first time, Yang's expression actually changed from her usual dead look. She looked frustrated.

"My... Name... Yang."

"Say it correctly, or no meat."

Yang's frown deepened and she seemed to struggle letting the words out. "My... Name... Ees... Yang."

What the hell just happened?

"Good. Here," Yu gave the meat to Yang, who wasted no time in beginning to eat it. She looked at me and motioned to the girl. "This is your problem."

"I didn't treat her like a dog?" I asked in frustration.

"No, you were treating her like a human," Yu didn't seem to care about my frustration. "She might be a hybrid and has human blood, but she also has Oni blood. They're creatures motivated purely by what they want. Stop trying to see her as only human, and actually acknowledge she's an Oni too."

Wow. Actually good advice from her.

She's also... right. Goddammit, Svend always listened in carefully to what I say and I believed Yang would do the same while completely ignoring their different origin.

Honestly, this one is on me.

"Alright, thank you," I said.

"Whatever, it was getting sad seeing you fail so much," and we're back to insults.

Honestly, I'm just grateful she actually said something helpful. Even if it was the total of four to five sentences. That's actually a massive improvement on her.

"Okay, let's do this," I said as I turned to Yang who just finished her meal. "Yang, I'll give you extra meat tonight if you get it right before dinner. Now, what is your name?"

"My... name eez... Yang."

We'll keep trying. I'm not giving up on her anytime soon.

(Discord server: https://dis cord. gg/ y4YwFbPr)