Sands of Egypt 1
Jono: Alright so this is mmy first Yugioh fic ever and since I know how I can be when writing this is really just a test for myself to see how committed I'll be to my stories on here.
Characters: Atem, Mana, Jono, and mentions of Mahad
Pairings: None
Warnings: AU, not canon compliant, mild cursing (courtesy of Jono)
Rating: K+
Words: 2,306
Summary: Mana sneaks Atem into the village under the cover of night where Atem picks up a street rat to take home
Journey into town
Mana snuck about the palace halls, slowly but surely making her way towards the Prince's room while keeping out of the guards sight. She had a plan to take Atem into the village beyond the palace walls, in order to show the young prince how his people lived and to have some fun. Ducking behind a pillar she holds her breath as a pair of guards make their rounds in the hall that leads to the Prince's room.
Once the sound of their footsteps faded she interaction action. Hurting down the hall while making ad little noise as possible Mana reaches the door to Atem's room in record time. Without hesitating she quickly slips into the Prince's room and carefully closes the door behind her. Turning around she holds back a shout of surprise as she nearly jumps out of her skin. For standing but five feet in front of her was Prince Atem with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Care to explain the reason for sneaking into my room this tine Mana," Atem asks not sounding impressed nor pleased with his friend and servant. Mana having recovered from her shock simply grins brightly and hugs the prince with her usual enthusiasm.
"I've come to take you into the village," She whispers to Atem excitedly as she releases him from her hold and nearly bounces in place.
"The village, " Atem repeats his interest peaked as he uncrowded his arms and regards Mana openly. He had yet to be allowed into the village as his father and his six guardians kept saying it was too dangerous for the young prince. So the fact Mans stood here offering him a chance to go made his heart beat a tad faster with anticipation.
"Yes the village silly I found a way to get there without any of the guards noticing," Mana states cheerfully as she gives into her excitement and bounces on the toes of her feet. Atem's smiles at his energetic and expressive friend before a thought suddenly dawns on him.
"What about Mahal," He asks with worry and slight suspicion lacing his words. This causes Mana to freeze as she looks into her prince's eyes before smiling sheepishly.
"Mahad might have been the one to show me the way we'll be using to sneak into the village, " Mana states sheepishly as she scratches at she cheek with her left index finger. Atem just shakes his head with a sigh thinking he should have known. He imagines how his most loyal friend and faithful servant would react should he learn of Mana's plan. Looking back up at Mana he sees that she was now dejectedly looking at the floor.
"Well what Mahad doesn't know won't hurt him," Atem states with a small smile causing Mana's haze to snap up to his. The bright grin returns to her face as she nods eagerly before grabbing her Prince's wrist.
"Right now come on we're burning precious moonlight, " She states in an excited whisper as she drags Atem to the door before slowly opening it and checking if thecoast was clear. Atem simply chuckles at his dear friends antics before he is dragged down the halls of the palace.
Escaping the notice of the palace guards was such a simple task Atem frowns and makes a mental note to make a few changes once he is Pharaoh. Since for now the lack of tight security was in his favor as it made it easier for him and Mana to sneak around.
Pulling the tattered headdress and rag like cloths tighter to his body Atem directs his frown to Mana. The girl was dressed in similar ratty clothing but didn't seem bothered by it one bit unlike Atem.
"Tell me again why we have to dress like this," Atem asks the displeasure of being forced to wear such garments clear in his tone as he picks at it with mild disdain.
"To blend in silly can't have people knowing we're from the palace and then tell the guards," Mana stated with a mildly irritated tone as she places her hands on her hips. She had expected her prince to understand the reason the clothes were necessary, as they were going against the Pharaoh's wishes and therefore could get in huge trouble.
"Oh," Atem breathes out as understanding dawns in his eyes. He sometimes forgets that Mana could get punished severely for doing him favors such as this. So the fact she still risks so much for him makes him incredibly happy to have her as a friend.
"Yeah oh," Mana sighs out before she smiles at Atem and once again grabs his wrist. "Now come on we have a village to explore and limited time on our hands," She states cheerfully as she begins to once again drag her prince away from the palace.
Although the sun had set long ago and the moon hung high in the sky, the village was far from quiet. While it was hardly the lively hustle and bustle that occurs during the day one could hardly say it the village was asleep. Villagers walked about the streets and a few street vendors called out to the people trying to entice them to buy what they were selling. Several torches lit up the streets just enough for people to see but not enough to chase the shadows away. Street performers kept close to the torches or under them as they put on their acts except the fire breathers who kept to the shadows.
Mana and Atem walks along the streets looking around in awe and excitement as they go from one vendor to vendor. The two palace children also stopped to watch several of the street performers with the giddy joy only children such as them could pull off. Mana kept pointing at things with enthusiasm and interest as she tugged on Atem's sleeve to direct his attention to what caught hers.
Mana and Atem's laughter was cut short as they were running towards another group of people by a loud shout. "Stop thief!" Stopping in their tracks Mana and Atem look at each other with uncertain expressions. Mana looks around wworried suddenly rethinking her decision to take Atem on this impromptu feild trip. Atem on the other hand turned towards the direction in which the shout came from and suddenly found himself with a chestful of blond.
"Waahh," Atem and the blond bundle that ran into him cry out at the same time as they fall to the ground. A cloud of dust rises in the air as the prince and the stranger hit the ground causing Mana to turn around.
"Ah are you two alright," Mana asks a bit frantically as she kneels next to her prince's fallen form and the one who ran into him. The blond picks his head up and looks up at Mana a worried expression before he looks down at Atem.
"I'm fine and sorry for running into your friend," The young child with blond hair and lightly tanned skin states as he jumps off Atem. The boy turns as if to run away as Atem sits up rubbing the back of his head.
"Wait," Mana says while she grabs hold of the young boy's arm to keep him from running off. Atem stands up as he looks over at Mana stopping the younger boy from running off. And upon taking a closer look he notices the loaf of bread clutched tightly in one hand.
"Hey let me go," The boy states with a near panicked look as he looks off into the direction he came from. Mana stands up keeping her grip on the boy opening her mouth to speak before the same voice that cut through her and Atem's laughter before cut through the air once more. "There he is and look he has friends too!"
"Run," Atem shouted as he grabbed the young blond's other arm and began to drag him in a random direction with Mana swiftly following his lead. The young boy almost trips in surprise before he steadies his pace and keeps up with the two older children.
"What are ya doing," The boy calls out as the two older children dragging him take a sharp turn to the left and continue to run.
"We're helping you of course,"Ana replies with her normal friendly and enthusiastic tone while she follows her prince's lead. The blond just stares at the two strangers dragging him with wide eyes as he continues to run with them.
Eventually the three children lose their pursuers among the throng of people as they ran through the village streets. Atem only stops running though when he sees that they were near where Mana and he exited the palace from. Mana comes to a halt next to her prince and smiles when she notices where they were. The blond boy on the other hand tried to break free from the older two's hold and kept running which only resulted in him falling on his butt as neither Mana nor Atem let him go.
"So what's a kid like you doing stealing a loaf of bread," Mana asks the young boy curiously as she wonders about the boy's reasons behind his actions.
"Mana his reasons are no concern of our," Atem states simply as he looks down into honey amber colored with his own ruby red ones. The boy meets the Prince's gaze head on with determination and a fire like none other Atem has seen burning in his eyes. Mana huffs as she lets go of the boys arm just to cross her's over her stomach, to show she wasn't pleased about having her question brushed off.
"What's your name young one?" Atem asks curious as to who this boy was and if he'd be brave enough to stare him in the eyes like he is now if he knew that he was Prince Atem.
"Jono and I ain't young I'm six ya know," The blond boy now known as Jono replies heatedly obviously not liking being called a young one. Mana peers down at the boy with raised eyebrows as she had not expected the boy to only be a year younger than her. Atem though merely smiles slightly as something just clicks inside him while he stares into Jono's honey amber eyes.
"Well hiya Jono I'm Mana and this is my dear friend Atem," Mana states with a gentle smile and a friendly tone as she sits down next to Jono who has yet to get up from where he fell. Atem sees recognition flash through the honey amber eyes he was starting into but Jono refuses to break rye contact.
"What's the Prince doing out here," Joni asks while he narrows his eyes at Atem suspicion and curiosity shining in his eyes. Atem raises an eyebrow at Jono impressed with how the younger challenges him so openly.
"What are you doing stealing a loaf of bread," Atem throws back at Jono with a slight smirk as this causes the younger to finally advert his gaze.
"Trying to survive? " Jono mumbles out barely loud enough for Atem to hear although Mana has no trouble sitting next to the blond.
"Survive?" Mana questions with confusion lacing her voice thickly as she glances up at Atem before looking back at Jono. "But don't your parents provide for you," She asks with her tone still confused but traces of worry bleed through. Atem too stares down at the younger male now more curious than ever and slightly worried he already knows the answer to Mana's question.
"I don't have any," Jono states simply as he hangs his head although he refuses to cry in front of anyone so he holds the tears back. Mana gasps softly as her fears were proven correct and she looks up at Atem with a pleading look. Atem meets Mana's look head on and ponders over her silent request.
"Mana helped sneak me out of the palace so I could see what the village was like," Atem speaks up answering Jono's previous question. Jono looks up at his prince with watery eyes that refused to shed tears. Smiling softly Atem pulls Jono up on his feet, to which Mana quickly follows, before he starts tugging the younger towards the secret tunnel in and out of the palace. The same tunnel he and Mana used to sneak out.
"Hey where are you taking me?" Jono hisses out lowly as he didn't want to draw any of the palace guards attention as they drew closer to the palace wall. Mana just laugh gleefully once she catches on to what Atem was doing before she grabs a hold of Jono's free hand.
"We're taking you home Jono," Mana states matter of factly as she releases his hand and runs ahead of the two boys to open up the secret tunnel. This only confuses Jono more as he looks from the girl to the prince with wide and worried eyes.
"You are coming to live with me in the palace," Atem states in a tone that said there would be no arguing or changing his mind.
It wasn't until after Jono was already inside the palace walls and Atem took off to speak with his father that the Prince's words and actions truly sunk in.
"LIKE HE'LL I AM!" Jono shouted in anger at the Prince's actions that dictated how he would now be living.
~OWARI~
Jono: So there you have it my first one shot of this collection while it really isn't that good I hope y'all enjoyed it. So yeah reviews would be really nice and appreciated ya can tell me what ya like or didn't like as well as submit requests for my next one shots such as characters that will be involved pairings scenarios or the likes I'm open to ideas folks.
SOO until next time!