Chapter 21: The Journey

Neiko and I head towards the village gates.

"Neiko, we have to get to the Ryuuchi Cave. You know where it is?"

At the mention of the Ryuuchi Cave, Neiko accelerates out of the village.

"Wait up!"

I follow Neiko through paths I've never used before. Does it really know where the Ryuuchi Cave is?

Neiko kept leaping forward without stopping for more than a day. I was starting to get tired, but no matter what I said, Neiko didn't stop.

"Neiko! I need to rest!"

It finally stops after almost two days of travelling. I collapse on the ground next to Neiko.

"Neiko… I have limits…"

I eat some food pills. Neiko looks at me. By the look on its face, I figure she's asking for food.

"Catch your own food. I have no more strength to do that."

Neiko hisses at me and nudges me.

"Fine. Fine. I'll go get you something…"

When will that snake ever listen. I go and try to find some food for Neiko. I get my hands on a few rodents and some bird eggs.

"That's all I could get. If you want more, go get something by yourself. I'm going to sleep."

Neiko gobbles everything. It then wraps itself around me and we both fall asleep.

I wake up feeling the ground moving under me. I open my eyes and…

"Neiko! Why are you so big?"

Neiko was almost as big as the trees in the forest. It was crawling with me on its back.

"Where are you going?"

Is it still heading towards the Ryuuchi Cave? I wonder how long we still have to get there. I have to admit, Neiko is much faster than before. It's probably the fastest way to travel like that. It's a good thing that I didn't wait any longer before trying to find the Ryuuchi Cave. Neiko would've ended up destroying my apartment if it stayed there. Being on Neiko's back is giving me a lot of free time. On top of that, Neiko doesn't get tired as fast as me. I think it can go on much longer, but it stopped when I was at my limit yesterday. Neiko is a female from what I've checked… I should address her as a she instead of an it from now on. She's become much more sensitive and intelligent. Recently it feels like she's much more than just an animal or a pet to me. She became my companion and I feel a little sad that I won't be able to see her every day when I leave her in Ryuuchi Cave.

After three full days of travelling, Neiko finally decides to take a break. She looks at me.

"I know, I'll go get you some food. You deserve it after all this."

I have to make sure I don't venture too far, though. I have never been in these parts before. It looks like we're going to be out of the forest soon. I should pack more food for Neiko. Who knows if I'll be able to find anything else after.

Is it me, or are the animal are starting to get oversized around here? The rodents are almost as long as my arms. I capture a few of them. On my way back, a giant rat tries to attack me. It's almost five times my size! Neiko might be bigger, but she's a special case. Are the rodents I captured still babies? The giant rat tries to attack me again. It's pretty easy to dodge, but I need to get rid of it so that I can feed Neiko and let her rest. If I use a fire jutsu, the forest might catch on fire… My earth jutsu won't work against an oversized rat. Shadow Snakes might do the trick if they poison it. Let's hope that rat isn't immune to normal snake poison.

"Shadow Snake hands."

My snakes bite the rat. It stops for a bit, but then grabs them and gobbles them. So it is immune to snake poison… At least these ones… I'm out of ideas. Maybe I could slash it with a sword.

I extract a sword from the snake stored in my mouth. I try to cut the rat with my sword, but its skin is too thick.

That's when I hear a very familiar hissing. I see Neiko coming at full speed and attacking the rat from behind. Now that I look at it, Neiko has actually become much bigger than I thought. She's almost twice the rat's size. She bites the rat and, to my surprise, her poison works. The rat is paralyzed. Her poison must be a pretty powerful one. Neiko doesn't stop there. She starts to eat the rat whole.

"If you eat it all, you won't need to eat all the stuff I hunted. I guess we'll leave those for later then."

After she finished swallowing the rat, she wraps herself around me and falls asleep.

"Rest well, Neiko."

I've grown very fond of her, I got to admit.

The next few days were without much happening. We reach some rocky paths. After going through these, we arrive at a giant swamp.

"We're close aren't we?"

Neiko nods.

"You can nod now?"

It's not just her body that's growing, but her brain too.

After more of a month of travelling, we finally reach rocky gates that are covered with some kind of wall climbing plants covering them a little.

"Is this it Neiko?"

Neiko nods.

So this is the entrance to the Ryuuchi Cave…