A/N: Hey guys! So this is the first chapter of my story (essentially a retelling with artistic license) exploring the friendship the develops between Yami and Yugi throughout the series. I've started at volume/season 0, because I have an obsession with the super dark Yami...and how he ends up becoming a trusted friend and protector.
Feel free to review, follow and critique ^^ If you have something you want to say or ask, don't hesitate to message me~!
~HAPPY READING~
In the dark, shadows crept and curled. Caressing him. Consuming him. Before long, they were him – his very essence. He was nothing and everything; stretching on and on in an endless maze, the only world he knew.
He wanted to scream into the void, end the oppressing silence – or was it noise? He didn't know anymore. Within him, amidst the acrid anger and hatred, there was a horrible, nameless emptiness. It slowly carved away at him. He could feel it grating. Scraping. He needed to escape. It was swallowing him. He was drowning.
Escape!
As though in answer, he felt the shadows crumble. Pinpricks of something foreign speckled the darkness. It was warm. He seized it. In a sudden surge he felt his world melt away. He opened his eyes, blinking in the brilliance of the strange place.
Ah, he sighed, breathing in indulgently. I remember this feeling. Life. He felt something cool and smooth against his skin and looked down. A golden pyramid was being gripped tightly by small hands – his hands. He could feel a strong pull towards it. Hear the shadows whispering, calling him back. But he couldn't go back. In his mind, he felt another presence – the warming light that broke his pyramidal prison – and a ceaseless worrying coming from it. Images flashed through his mind, imprinted with pain. Hurt. Fear. In all of them – a man. Ushio, the Other's memories said; he didn't know its name yet.
I see…
His lips curled. He felt the shadows grow in response, feeding on his fury. They hummed softly, giving words of encouragement. Of revenge; of justice; of his duty. He remembered it now: to pass judgement on mans' sins with the terrible power bestowed upon him. Only he could cleanse their souls of the evil that festered.
He placed the pyramid down and flexed his new hands experimentally. They felt good. He stood up, moving swiftly. He briefly caught sight of a boy and paused. The boy stared at him with an unshakable intensity, violet eyes narrowed. He raised his hand. The boy copied him.
Merely a reflection, he noted. His body was short, slim and considerably young; his cold eyes too harsh on this childish face. He noticed an ugly blue and purple mar on his cheek bone and touched it curiously, hissing when he did. Pain, real and physical. He wasn't used to that. That man had caused this body harm. He will not escape lightly, he thought, the smile in the mirror twisting. Justice was his duty, after all.