Disclaimer:- I own nothing.
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The God Yato
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The first time Yato saw the new immortal, he couldn't help but think that the spirit looked a little too young to be off on his own.
The white haired boy looked no older than six and power rolled over the kid in waves. If Yato had to guess he would say that the brat would fill in the empty slot the Seasonals had been struggling with for little under a century. Old Man Winter had left a gaping hole in their rotation and the weather hadn't really been the same without him around.
The kid wondered around timidly, bringing snow into the area. Yato watched from afar as the boy walked between the foliage, giving it a generous dosage of frost as he went. Often the child immortal would stop and stare at something and something would get a little too much frost to be healthy. The spirit would then pause, noticing that something wasn't quite right, and then move on. An air of confusion following him as he went.
Briefly Yato wondered how long this new immortal had been around for. (Obviously not that long if his stiff, awkward movements had anything to go by.) He also wondered where Mother Nature was. Normally she wouldn't let her new Seasonals out of her sight for a couple decades until she was sure that they wouldn't botch anything up. Untrained Seasonals could be dangerous, that normally went double for the Winter's Shepard.
The boy broke into a run, stumbled, and then leaped into the air. He dipped dangerously close to the ground for a moment before righting himself and then disappearing off into the distance.
Yes, Yato thought, a very new spirit indeed.
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The second time Yato came across the young immortal was more than two years later.
The frosty spirit was rushing between a group of playing children, looking no older than he did from the last time Yato saw him, throwing random snowballs where he could and generally causing more confusion. The little immortal laughed and shouted alongside the children and for a moment Yato thought that he could actually be seen.
That thought was quickly put to rest as a girl rushed through the spirit.
The boy gasped and curled into himself. Yato winced. Having somebody rush through you couldn't have been pleasant. The boy's already brittle happiness shattered and he took to the air to avoid having another child run through him.
Yato watched on as the spirit tried to calm his breathing and valiantly try keep the tears that had started to well at bay. The spirit's face crumpled and with a hiccup, he flew away.
The storm that ravaged across the land that night tore down most of the town.
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The third time Yato saw the spirit he could not stand by as the kid drowned in his sadness.
He knew that he could get into some serious trouble if other gods took notice that he was meddling with a young (impressionable) spirit but as he stood in the shadows and listened to the child as he pleaded with the moon, begging to know why he was left alone, the god of calamity could not sit by passively any more. He had heard of stories circulating amongst the supernatural already. Stories about the new Winter, how he was childish and unskilled, how he didn't care for the balance and what his season did, how he didn't respect other spirit's territories, and Yato felt a terrible anger bubble in the pit of his stomach.
How could they expect a newborn to know these things without being taught as much? They all punished the child but did not stop to tell him what he had done wrong. Yato remembered a time where he had done terrible things and never saw anything wrong with it. He remembered the confusion he felt when all the other spirits would turn tail and run, the hurt he felt when nobody would speak to him and not know what he had done to them to deserve such a harsh treatment.
The child was now curled into a ball underneath a rather large tree with an intense air of misery. Yato wasn't sure when he had started to move forward but soon he was moving out of his hiding spot. As he walked he noticed another thing that just added to his ire.
This kid was Blighted.
His left arm right up to his ear was a huge bruise and Yato had no doubt that it hurt. Yet another thing that should have been taught to the kid alongside his Sheparding duties; protecting himself from the Far Side.
The crunch of the snow under his shoes was painfully loud in the deafening silence of the night and Yato was surprised when the child didn't look up at the sound of his approach. He stopped just in front of the kid and waited until tense arms unwound to find watery blue eyes looking up at him.
"Hey there, kid." Yato said softly, "You certainly look like you've had a pretty crappy day."
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It took some convincing but eventually the spirit ("M'name's Jack. Jack Frost.") agreed to follow Yato to a nearby shrine. The child was a little hesitant at first but Yato was unsure if that was because the kid could tell that he wasn't a god with the most friendly aura or if it was the basic 'stranger danger' caution all kids came standard with. So Yato decided to put the kid at ease the only way he knew how; he took the child's hand in his and started talking.
"So what's an Westerner like you doing this far East? Especially this country. Not exactly as safe as you're used to, I would assume." Yato hummed and tilted his head, "Far Shore beasties love it here. Not sure why though."
"Far Shore?" Jack quarried quietly, cautiously, but with a shine in his eyes that spoke of just how much having somebody to talk to meant to him. Yato's thought process stumbled to a stop.
"How much do you know about the world you've been living in kid?" he asked after a while. He needed to know what the kid knew and judging by the frosty blush that coated his cheeks, it wasn't much.
If the Newborn was a god he could have made an estimate closer to human years but spirits were a bit harder to judge. They could go for centuries looking like an infant without changing. In fact, Yato was pretty sure there was already some love deity out there that was a couple hundred years older than himself and looked like a five year old.
"Okay listen up." Yato said as he picked up Jack and set the child down onto the wall of a shrine well. "Since your knowledge is obviously lacking, the great me shall endeavour to cure you of your cluelessness."
He dipped a cup into the cold water and brought it up full. "Lesson 1!"
Splash! "Hey!"
Yato leaned against the well and smiled jovially as Jack chipped pieces of ice off his cloak.
"Lesson 1: Purifying wounds!" he continued. He took Jack's arm gently in his arm and watched as the water made the blight sizzle when it touched skin but froze when it was on fabric. He eyed the spots that were dry and dipped the cup back into the well for a fresh batch of Blessed Water to pour onto the boy. He had to dip a piece of his sleeve into the water so he could wipe at the blight behind the boy's ear. He spoke while he worked.
"This right here is what you call a Blight or an Impurity, its a wound caused by ayakashi that corrupts the soul and slowly turns them bad. Very nasty stuff if left alone. Eyes growing absolutely everywhere, I swear."
Yato eyed the clear pale skin for a moment before looking up into bright blue eyes once more.
"Is your arm still bothering you, kid?"
The look of wonder on the spirits face when he watched the rapidly receding blemishes was enough to convince Yato that he had for once done the right thing. He stood up and bowed dramatically to the child.
"Now, let me introduce myself. I am the god Yato, at your service."
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Okay so I have a couple more chapters written out for this fic but this is the longest one by far. There just wasn't anywhere to cut it where it wouldn't feel awkward.
Also, I know I have other fics to update but this plot bunny was an utter monster and wouldn't leave me alone (Even after I had written seven different versions of the same story). So after much deliberation, this is the version I have decided to stick to.
Drop me a review and tell me what you guys think of it.