The sun beat down relentlessly onto the desert. The wind howled over the empty expanses of land between what few cities were present in the unforgiving wasteland. As footsteps and traces were washed away by it, the dunes and rolls of both sand and rock absorbed the heat without complaint.

In the cities, people were doing their best to avoid being outside. Many of them had finished their shopping as early as possible to deter from being caught in the high noon heat. The street vendors were out of course; they were always there early. Dressed appropriately to hide in the shade of their shops and greet customers.

The biggest of these markets was that of the large Egyptian city where the Palace of the highest family was. The people in this town had long been ruled by kind and caring princesses and princes, and this time was no exception.

Well, two thirds no exception.

Under the shadow of the palace wall, a tall man with broad shoulders was slinking around. A long blue wrap was draped over his hips, and a red cloth that was embroidered with yellow about his shoulders. His sandals made scuffling sounds as he ducked behind a building quickly to avoid a large group of people approaching. Once they had passed, he gave a small smirk and snuck up behind them. The line formation they were in made it easy for him to slip a hand into one boy's robe pocket and produce a few coins from it, before rushing off.

His eyes were cold and stormy grey as they scanned the crowds; looking for another victim. Out of habit he ran a hand over his unruly white hair. He knew these streets like the back of his hand; he had been here long enough after all. It helped when one spends the majority of their life having to sulk through them under the cover of dark. The only reason he was out this morning even was the fact he had run out of the food he had stolen last week. The man quickly glanced at the coins he had taken from the boy. Not much, but it would at least buy him enough for the day.

Except that stealing was easiest to get away with when you were actually buying something as well.

The thought brought another grin to his face. Finally he reached the busy market streets; his gaze set on the stand where a young girl worked. He had heard her talk before while he was hiding near, and knew both that she made lots of mistakes while working and that she was easily flustered. When someone came by and spoke nicely to her she focused only on them and ignored everything else to the point that she often even left the booth to talk to them. 'Stupid girl.' He thought.

Even now she was talking to a man just to the side of her stand. He was thin and cheerful; with black hair and emerald eyes. In contrast to her own brown hair and blue eyes, he stood out. Not many people in the desert had such pale skin. The thief sauntered over and carefully examined an apple with disinterest. The girl glanced at him briefly "Oh just a moment!" She said before looking back at the pale man.

"No problem." The man added. She answered something the other had said quickly with a smile, just as the white haired man snuck a few of the apples into his arms under his cloak. By the time the girl had returned to her booth, he was gone to the other side of the street.

A few minutes later, he found himself in a rundown attic of an old building, far from where most citizens lived. This had been his home for many long years, and it was evident in the few things he had stolen that wasn't food (some clothing, gold jewelry and an assortment of blankets). A large red tapestry was hung up over one side to keep the night cold winds out, and a smaller green one with the pattern of an Egyptian god was on the far right of the middle floor, at the bottom of the staircase leading to the opening the other tapestry covered. As the man emerged from the hole in the floor into his home, he coughed from the dry air. The green needlework was pulled back over the hole, and he dropped the apples from his sleeves onto the pile of blankets he used for a bed.

"Oh man." He groaned, stretching his neck. "It is way too hot." Carefully he pulled on the corner of his red robe until it slid to pool in his lap.

The man turned to gaze out the small window beside him. A sudden image of things long past flashed before him, and he took hold of an apple angrily as if to crush the nostalgia in his heart.

"One day.." He whispered. "I will get away from this. And I will find my parents too."

Determination surged through him, as he smiled and bit into the apple with a snapping sound.

"Marik? Marik!" A woman's voice echoed through the empty halls of the palace along with the sound of hard bottomed sandals. Her long hair was a dark black color, dancing around behind her as she briskly stalked down the corridors. The white alabaster and gold accents in swirling patterns cast ancient runes onto the floor, and images of Egyptian creatures and Gods were upon the walls. The woman huffed as she came again to a hall devoid of the blonde she was looking for. "Marik, for Ra's sake. Where have you gone?" Her patience was wearing out and she didn't have time to play hide and seek with her younger sibling.

"Isis,"

The woman looked up, down the hall to her right where a man had appeared. His head was bald except for a black ponytail on the back of his neck, and his eyes were dark. On his left temple was the inscription of their ancient family ritual, healed but not faded.

"Rishid," Isis answered. "Have you seen-"

"Marik is in the courtyard." He briefly answered, sensing his sister's distress.

She smiled. "Thank you." She grabbed bunches of her dark, royal purple robes in her hands so it wouldn't drag as she broke into a slight jog in the correct direction. Outside, she stepped onto the top of the stairs leading to the courtyard and glared slightly when she spotted her intended target on the far side; near one of the ponds. Isis gathered the dress again and tiptoed down the stairs slowly. "Marik." She snapped.

The boy sitting on the rim of the pond innocently looked over at her with his wide, entrancing lavender eyes. His blonde hair was once again a mess (somehow it just made him look even more alluring though. Combined with the fact almost no one in Egypt was blonde) as he laid there with his feet in the air behind him. His left sandal was being chewed on by the red lizard dragon he had as a pet. Isis almost sheid away at it. Ever since Marik had first played with the ancient creatures, he had made his Slyfeir into a house pet by shrinking it's size dramatically with the help of a magician. His other shoe was hanging off his upside down foot. His own robes were a bright white; a sort of tunic with a brown, gold engraved belt, and gold jewelry around his forearms. A pair of gold earrings hung from his ears. Usually he dressed nicer but he wasn't going anywhere today (and apparently not meeting anyone important either). "Yes sister?" He murmured.

She pursed her lips. "What are you doing out here? I told you someone was coming to meet you." She gave the dragon a wary glance when it growled and attacked the shoe again.

Marik grinned and said "He won't hurt you sis." Just as the creature in question tossed it's toy aside and jumped up next to the blonde to curl up on his back and around his neck. Isis sighed.

"Animal aside, why are you out here? You know it is important to meet these people. After all, you can't keep refusing proposals." She scolded. "When will you just pick one?"

The boy's eyes suddenly became angry. "Isis I find no value in marrying someone who I don't know-much less love!" He replied.

The girl folded her arms over her chest and turned away from him. Honestly. Did he really not understand the importance of this? The country needed to make an alliance to help the citizens and to prevent more waring. But Marik refused to even give the suitors a second glance! At first Isis and Rishid had begun to suspect that Marik refused the princesses who came because he had decided he was gay, and so they had extended the announcement of Marik's being of age to many princes as well. Isis couldn't deny that many of them would have made excellent allies, even if they were guys, but their personalities were so cold she could tell they would just use and hurt Marik along with his position for their own gain. And as infuriating as her brother could be about half the time, she didn't want him to be hurt.

"Marik." Isis finally said, moving to sit beside him. His gold jewelry made a jangling sound as he scrambled to sit up and sent Slyfeir crawling away. The boy looked kind once more while he gazed upon his elder sibling. "You know how much this matters..."

"I know." Marik assured. "I just...I don't want to be with someone I don't actually care about."

Isis slightly frowned but leaned closer and put a hand on Marik's shoulder. "Brother... You know we don't have that luxury right now." Her voice was soft, pained. She didn't think she would be happy in a forced marriage either. The only reason she didn't have to worry so much about it was because Marik was technically the only one of them who could rule. Rishid was adopted so he was not of royal blood, and Isis (being a woman) wasn't to rule anywhere. She just got sent to another palace to be a quiet wife. (Luckily that wasn't a huge priority). "The people are suffering from the raids during the attacks recently. We need allies."

Marik's cheekbones flushed with anger, but he didn't reply. Instead, he got both of his sandals with his toes and slipped them on. Once he had, he stood and simply strode to the far side of the courtyard with his pet right behind him. Isis almost rolled her eyes. Why was he so stubborn?

She clenched her hands together delicately. 'If I could find love for Marik I would.. But what can I do? He can't wait around for it to come to him...' Her eyes turned toward the direction the city was in, mournfully praying that they would find a solution to this all.

author notes: pplease tell me what you think! This was a suggestion from a friend on tumblr (opera goose).

First attempt at yugioh fanfic especially citron shipping.. But I write a lot of them for other fandom's.

Thanks for reading! :)