"This elixir I've concocted contains healing properties of bloodstone and sapphire. I've had it soaking in the suns brightest rays since early this morning, it should rid you of that tumor in a few days time." A feminine voice spoke, scooping the liquid in a large wooden spoon. She held the elderly woman, making her sit upward. "Drink." She instructed, holding the spoon to her lips. The woman complied with orders, sipping the liquid slowly. The healer grabbed an additional stone, green malachite, to draw out any remaining toxins in the woman's system.

After laying the elder back down, she rolled the malachite between her palms until it was warm from her energy and placed it over the location of the tumor. A green aura radiated from the stone, slowly fading into a dismal grey color.

"Oh, Yara. I am forever indebted to you. My village needs me, my end was near before I could anticipate it. You have truly been a blessing, I don't know how we'll get along after your departure." She reached a meek hand up to cup Yara's cheek, soothing back her hair with her thumb.

Yara leaned into her palm, accepting her thanks. "I have no need for payment, Saeko. You have plenty of good years left in you, I'm simply here to see that you carry them out. I'll allow you to rest but first," Yara paused, pulling out a raw cut of black tourmaline. She wrapped a wire around the widest part, creating an eyelet to lace a piece of twine through and fashioned it into a necklace, "This is black tourmaline. It acts as a guardian stone, hang it in the village entrance while I'm away and it shall keep you safe until I make my return. However, I am not needed anywhere else for the time being so you shouldn't be putting it to use any time soon. I'll tend to the children, you focus your energy on the malachite for a quick recovery." Yara tucked the stone beneath Saeko's pillow and ducked out of the hut, returning to the village center.

"Yara! Yara!" The village twins called her name enthusiastically, waving their arms wildly as they approached.

"Yara! The stew is done!" The young boy spoke, pointing to a pot overhanging a pit of fire.

"Oh? Did I prepare it to your liking?"

"Saeko makes it with more potatoes."

"No she doesn't, Reo! Yara, make my stones magic! I wanna heal people, too!" Rina, the sister, pushed her brother out of her path, shoving two stones in Yara's cornea. They were mere river rocks but far be it from her to stop a little girls dream of helping others.

"My, what beautiful stones you've picked. Reo, I'll put on a fresh pot of potatoes for you as soon as I 'bless' Rina's crystals." Yara outstretched her palm for the girl to drop the rocks in and knelt down to Rina's height. Yara touched the rocks to the jade hanging in the center of her gunmetal head chain, "Rina, do I have your word that you'll use these crystals for good, and good only? Only to help people, never to harm?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Are they magic now?!"

Yara closed her eyes and hummed some mystical sounding mumbo jumbo, making a show of it for the child's amusement. "They are ready, healer Rina. Make good decisions." She handed the rocks back to the giddy girl and stood up, turning her back to prepare potatoes for Reo. As she began chopping, she heard a woosh behind her, followed by tears. Rina had cut her brother with her sharp finger nail.

"Stop crying, Reo! I'm going to fix you, because I'm magic now."

Yara kept cutting produce but let out an exasperated sigh. "That's...one way to do it." She made a mental note to explain how her powers actually worked and that there was nothing magic about it.

"Forgive me for intruding, miss, but are you the Jade Samurai?" A voice Yara didn't recognize sounded from behind her, a males voice. Whoever it was, it wasn't village folk. She didn't turn her attention over, though.

The blade of the knife fell quick and jammed its way into the wood underneath. Yara had to tug hard to remove it. She smirked and twirled the knife on her shoulder, causing the fabric of her kimono to tear, "I left the Kesshō clan years ago. I did not agree with the path my father went down and desperately wanted me to follow. Though, because of him, I suppose I will always be known as the Jade Samurai. So, to answer your question, yes. I am Yara Aratani. Have you been put under orders from the great Masahiko to recruit me once more?"

"No. In fact, I have no relation to your father, nor am I apart of the Kesshō. I'm just a messenger from a medic. We were called to your people and I was given your description. I've roamed for months now to find a girl matching your appearance, one who has the jade stone embedded in their hilt. Masahiko has grown quiet ill. I'll admit, the Kesshō insisted we weren't needed to give medical assistance. We suspect we were just there to deliver you the news. Yara, your father is quite ill. I can't give you a precise update on his condition, since it took me so long to locate you, but my only suggestion now is to go to him."

Yara nodded, tossing the potatoes in boiling water. "Understood."

Authors Note: Hello, hello, Yu Yu Hakusho fans! This is my first attempt at anime in over, like 7 years? The last YYH fic I started was on my old pen name (I no longer have access to that account) Wasting Word, if you'd like to head over and take a peek. You'll see it's a quite a different undertone, so we'll see how this works out. I've mainly been spending my time doing rewrite on old fics on that account but I'm happy to be getting back into my roots. I'm hoping that I make it more than two chapters in with this one, but I have high hopes! Of course, I don't own YYH except Yara and basically everyone you don't recognize from the series. Hope you all enjoyed this little snippet. Until next time.