Amme: Hey hey! This is the collaboration I've told you all about! Well here it is! And it's been crafted with the help of Winged Sapphire Wolf!

Sapphire: Hi! Glad this is finally up!

Amme: hee hee... well I updated about four stories at once, so I thought I'd give people the chance to read all those first before reading this one.

Ashley: Fair point.

Crystal: All that matters is that it's up now. :)

Amme: thanks Crystal. Just so you know; Crystal, Ashley, Sapphire and I will be featured in this story, but we're not being main characters, so don't be put off.

Kathy: What about me?!

Amme: oh yeah, this is my OC Kathy.

Kathy: nice to meet you all. Let's get reading, and remember to put good reviews, this will be good!

Sapphire: Enjoy it!

The slaves cart road smoothly over the sands of the desert, the path worn almost rocky by years of constant travel.

Heba woke as one such jolt bumped his head into the side of the wooden wagon. He sat up with a small gasp of pain, in the darkness he tried to figure out where he was. The closely packed bodies of the other slaves and the capturing grip of iron shackles around his wrists reminded him where he was.

Heba looked around half sad and half angry that this had happened. He tugged at his bindings yet again, wincing when the metal rubbed his sore wrists; he had tried to escape so many times. But even if he got loose… he couldn't leave.

A pale hand covered his wrist. Heba jumped slightly and looked at the hand's owner. Matching amethyst eyes looked back at him worriedly, sadly and with a hopeless resignation. "Heba, don't," the youth pleaded softly, lest he wake the others or disturb the traders driving the carriage.

The youth cupped Heba's sore wrist gently "You've hurt yourself enough, please don't," he whispered.

Heba sighed and let his head fall back against the wagon's wall with a soft thump. "What difference does it make if I tear my hand off or not?" he demanded in an acid tone.

His brother flinched and slowly pulled away. The pale skinned youth curled up and wrapped his arms around his knees, looking rather hurt.

Heba breathed in deeply before reaching out and putting a chained arm around his twin's shoulder comfortingly. "Yugi… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you," he whispered, rubbing Yugi's shoulder and smiled at him kindly.

Yugi nodded and shifted slightly closer to Heba as the traders above moved around, most likely to swap driver. After a minute of quiet the two breathed again. Yugi looked at his older twin and smiled "It's alright, I'm scared too," he admitted softly.

Heba scowled slightly but didn't deny it. It was very hard to hide things from Yugi, they had been together since birth and could all but read each others minds, they knew the other that well. Yugi shifted again, and they sat back to back so that they'd be more comfortable, it was almost impossible to lay down in the cramped conditions. The space they gave up by sitting upright had been claimed by the others, not that the twins could blame them. It was every person for them self in this life.

Yugi smiled slightly. Not us, we're lucky. I'm lucky to have Heba.

Heba squeezed Yugi's hand slightly and sighed. "Do you… see anything?" he asked lowly.

Yugi closed his eyes and focused his mind into the swirling grey mist only he could see. After a moment he shook his head "No. Nothing's clear." Yugi turned and partly glared over his shoulder, only a smile was pulling at his lips "You know they rarely come to me if I look!" he whispered with a small laugh.

Heba giggled as well, and nodded slightly "Yeah… I know… just checking we weren't going somewhere worse than this."

Yugi shuddered against his back and Heba instantly regretted voicing his thoughts. Yugi was worried enough with just his own.

To a stranger their conversation would have seemed like the whisperings of imaginative children, or crazy teens. But Heba and Yugi weren't normal. They came from a proud tribe of people who used to live by the Nile in peace, making trade on what they farmed and what they fished.

But they weren't an ordinary tribe, or village. They worshipped the gifts of magical sight. In their tribe, any rare twins that were born were treated like royalty, as they possessed the gifts of hindsight and foresight; the ability to see back and forward in time, in the form of visions.

Heba and Yugi were such twins. Yugi, the younger twin, possessed foresight. He could see into the future and often received visions. Yugi was sharp in mind and gentle in spirit, and very protective of those he loved.

Heba, the eldest, possessed hindsight. He could look into the past and retell events in perfect recall, he, unlike Yugi, could often invoke his power at will as the past was set in stone and the future was in a constant messy mist of decisions and outcomes. Heba was fiery in spirit, making him seem rather aggressive compared to Yugi. But he was equally sharp in mind and only lashed out when it was necessary.

Though their personalities were often different they looked identical apart from their skin. They possessed large amethyst eyes, childlike features, slender frames with star shaped tri coloured hair. Heba blew his blond bangs out of his eyes, slightly angry at the people who had chained him. He didn't like being a slave, already he had been beaten for trying to escape… and for his witty comments.

He had only started to behave lately as they threatened his brother. Heba was very protective of Yugi, he was all he had left…

Yugi sniffed suddenly. Heba jumped and looked over his shoulder worriedly. Yugi sniffed again and wiped at his eyes. "Yugi?" Heba whispered as he put his arms around Yugi's shoulders, turning completely around to make sure his brother was alright.

Yugi wiped at his eyes and looked at Heba sadly. "I miss home," he whispered as he began crying again.

Heba found himself shedding a tear at the thought of their former home; former because it didn't exist anymore. He pulled Yugi close and nodded "Me too," he admitted thickly.

Yugi sniffled lightly into Heba's shoulder as their thoughts travelled miles away to their burnt down village.

A few weeks ago everything had been normal. Their lives were lazy, complete and happy…

"Yugi! Heba!" a teenage girl called to her brother figures. She waved madly, her short curly brown hair being pulled by the wind and her grey eyes bordering on cross. "Get out of that palm tree and help us!" she ordered, pointing to the fishing net that was almost brimming with fish.

Yugi leaned out over the leaves and waved cheekily. "Okay! Be right down," he promised, sliding down the tree in a strange-looking hug.

A black-haired girl, ankle-deep in water and struggling with the nets chuckled at the sight "You look stupid Yugi, and get over here Sapphire. These fish won't haul themselves," she pointed out.

Next to her a girl with blond coloured hair with blue and red tips also wrestled to bring the nets to shore. She glanced up and saw that Heba was staring into space. "Heba? Are you helping or not?" she asked.

Heba jumped after a moment and looked down, "I'll be right there Crystal, keep Ashley's head on will you?" he looked up at the sky again before shaking his head and slipping down the tree to join his friends.

"Well, you know how hard that can be!" she said.

Ashley gave her a funny glare, "What was that supposed to mean?" Crystal just chuckled before going back to the nets.

Sapphire shook her brunette head at the twins "Honestly, how are we going to get dinner with you two starting random tree climbing races?" she questioned with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

Yugi sheepishly smiled "Sorry?" he offered before running over to Ashley and Crystal and grabbing the net too.

Sapphire raised an eyebrow at Heba, who raised one back mirroring her hands on hips action. The teens burst out laughing after another moment of silent standoff. Sapphire put an arm around Heba's shoulders. "Because you lost the race, and missed out on hauling fish, you get to do the gutting," she said with an evil, but innocent smile.

Heba shuddered at the thought, wrinkling his nose, but didn't complain. He had lost, fair and square, though it wasn't his fault a vision had taken over him as he reached the top. "Not my fault, I had vision."

Crystal looked up with an interested look. "What about this time?" she asked as they finally pulled the fish load onto the banks.

Heba shrugged as he got out a few knives used for gutting. "There used to be a house where we're sitting. I saw a flood wash it away…" he said distractedly. After a moment he shrugged "It looked abandoned anyway."

Yugi looked at the lines in the sand, telltale regular flooding signs, "Maybe the people left because of all the flooding?" he suggested as they sorted their catch. Heba didn't comment.

"Hey!"

All five of them looked up as two more voices shouted. Amme and Kathy waved from a raise on the dunes. Amme had short blond hair and blue eyes, she was also pale like Yugi. She laughed and pointed into the distance as she shouted "The traders are coming!"

Kathy cupped her hands to her mouth and bellowed "They're on the horizon! We need to set the stalls up!" Kathy also had white skin, she had blond hair but it was shoulder length and the tips past her chin were black. She had darker blue eyes than Amme.

Ashley looked up in surprise "Okay!" she yelled back at them. The two girls began a slow jog over to help, each carrying a basket or two for the fish. Ashley looked at her girlfriend Crystal with a confused face "That's strange… they normally don't stop by here for another week…" she thought out loud.

Crystal and Sapphire nodded in agreement. Yugi scratched his head "Maybe they're a different group?" he offered before helping Heba gut.

Kathy and Amme arrived at their sides. Amme panted slightly "Sorry for the short notice, but if we want to sell stuff we have to get this back to the village right away." She placed her woven basket by the fish and began to carefully pack them inside. Kathy helped and Crystal was soon lending a hand.

Ashley finished packing a basket and groaned "There's tonnes left ungutted!" she complained. "How are we meant to fill enough baskets to sell?" she asked no one in particular.

Yugi smiled "You go and set up the stall and Heba and I will keep gutting. We'll work faster that way," he smiled sweetly, taking the gross job away from the girls. Heba pinched his ankle lightly in reprimand for dragging him into the messy job too.

The girls all beamed and agreed without complaint. Kathy messed the twin's hair affectionately "We owe you
one. Oh and you're Grandpa said to be back before midday, come on girls. Race to home!" she challenged.

Amme and Ashley at once burst into a sprint. Sapphire and Crystal close behind. Crystal gasped "No fair! We're carrying baskets!"

Ashley looked back and laughed, "Not our problem! Come on Amme, let's show these little girls who is the fastest." Amme nodded and the two ran faster with Kathy following behind.

"I…hate…your girlfriend!" Sapphire said, panting as they ran.

Crystal weakly nodded, "I'm so…making her…sleep in…her own bed…tonight! You heard that?!" Ashley just laughed with the others as they kept running.

Yugi and Heba laughed before going back to gutting the fish. Heba wrinkled his nose and said "Next time we go to the river to fish I'm playing sick." Yugi just smiled, hearing the thundering of hooves as the traders arrived. But only thirty seconds later did the first of the screams happen.

The twins stood up and paled, frozen in place, as they heard their village scream. Yugi ran to the top of the dune and gasped in horror, Heba right beside him.

Bandits, mercenaries and two cruel, veiled war 'queens' plagued their village. Swords flashed and blood was everywhere, the sand was muddy with the liquid. Yugi frantically searched for their friends in the chaos. Heba grasped at Yugi and they looked up as the war 'queens' shouted orders. One was pale skin, blue evil eyes, and had brown straight short hair. The other had slightly darker skin, black hair in a two small buns, and cruel, dark brown eyes.

"Kill the men and women and take the children as our prisoners!" yelled the brunette as the other laughed wickedly.

Heba saw one man look their way and he urgently tugged at Yugi's hand. "Yugi! We've got to move!"

Yugi resisted until he saw the man charge at them with a blade drawn. Heba ran, pulling Yugi with him down towards their fish and past their half finished work. They knew that they'd never be able to outrun the man, and certainly not if he gained a horse!

Yugi's eyes gazed over for a second and he suddenly shouted "Into the river!" at his brother.

Heba gave him a look over his shoulder, "Into the rapids?"

Yugi shot him a pleading look, his vision showed them a path to safety. "Trust me."

Heba debated for one more short second, then dove into the water, Yugi being pulled in behind him. As they battled to stay above the water, they were being carried away; faster than the horses and way quicker than a running man.

At nightfall they washed up in the middle of no-where, and only then did they realise what had happened. What they had lost. Yugi burst into tears, thinking about his friends, his elderly Grandpa and his home that they could see burning in the distance.

Heba was crying too, he punched the earth with a fist weakly, the fight with the rapids had tired him out too much for it to be impressive though. Eventually he sat up and pulled Yugi with him, they held each other as it finally dawned on them that they were now all alone and lost in the world. Yugi shivered in his wet clothes and Heba took charge.

Taking his brothers hand he turned and began to lead him away. "Come Yugi, let's go."

Yugi hesitated for a moment, but a vision, in the form of a small headache, showed that there was nothing to go back to should they return. He sniffed again and nodded, letting Heba lead him further from their home. They grieved for their surely dead village and prayed for them in every temple they came across; hoping that they'd be granted the afterlife though they hadn't received a proper burial.

They led the lives of wanderers until they were captured by slave traders. They were to be sold in the Palace Markets with the other unfortunate captives.

While they were travelling to the market, the slavers forced the slaves to play music, on a variety of instruments. If they didn't sell they would gain tips from impressed, rich shoppers.

Yugi and Heba had been given flutes and they'd often practice to please their masters and to avoid getting beaten. As Heba had been on the first day since he refused. Though Heba often got into trouble trying to escape, and the men had been cruel enough to use Yugi against him.

This led them to the present day. They were only a day or two away from the Palace Market, and only a day or two away from a lifetime of enslavement, beatings, orders and unfairness.

Yugi dried his eyes eventually as his throat began to ache with stifling sobs. Heba smiled at him and nudged the person next to him to get some more room. "Come on, let's get some sleep." They lay so close together it was as if they were Siamese-twins.

Yugi cushioned his head and sighed sadly "I hope we'll stay together. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too," Yugi admitted softly.

Heba smiled and sighed at the same time. "We'll run away at the first opportunity and we'll use our gifts to find each other. That's what we'll do," he decided. Yugi giggled at the sound of the adventure and closed his eyes. Heba felt a giggle of his own grow in his throat. "We'll be fine," gods willing, he added in his head.

Yugi nodded before letting out a light snore.

Heba rolled his eyes, typical Yugi. The tanned twin eyed his wrist, wondering if he should try to break loose again… a yawn of his own surprised him, and he discarded the idea to catch a few hours of sleep as well.

Yugi watched another slave girl leave, pity in his eyes as he knew just from looking at the greasy man, that her life would be hard from now on. He murmured a prayer to the gods and squeezed Heba's hand again, terrified of leaving him.

The market was busy, people were bustling everywhere, it was very noisy and there was a large crowd in line for slaves. Yugi and Heba had been put on the musicians 'spot' and so were temporarily off-limits to the potential buyers, thankfully.

Heba had considered grabbing Yugi and running for it, all they had to do was slip the rope around their ankles…

But another slave had had the same idea, and was now lying dead in the back of the wagon; he had been hit over the head by one of the men. And as desperate as Heba was to escape, he didn't want to risk death or his brother.

Yugi played a small harmony on his flute and Heba obediently echoed it at a different pitch. They had eared a few tips, Yugi suspected that the slavers would hold onto himself and Heba as long as possible, and as long as they proved useful in earning money.

Yugi sighed as they finished their song and collected a few more tips. Yugi was just about to suggest another tune when a blinding headache overcame him. He grabbed his head in both hands and groaned, nearly falling to his knees. Heba at once jumped up and grasped his elbows. "Yugi? What is it? What do you see?" he whispered furiously, ignoring the looks from people around them.

Yugi gritted his teeth with his eyes tightly closed. "I see…" he began, but he trailed off as he took in his vision. It wasn't the first time they had hurt, normally the more painful they were the more important or dangerous they were. Yugi opened his eyes wide and looked around frantically.

"There's a thief… and a man… he's going to get killed!" he hissed at Heba.

Heba's eyes widened. He looked around, noticing that they were getting weird looks. But that didn't matter! A man was going to die unless they did something! He ignored the whip that cracked right by his ankle and gave Yugi's shoulders a brief shake to wake him up. "What did he look like, the man?" he whispered.

Yugi bit his lip, unconsciously rubbing his head as the pain vanished. "The man had a white beard, a brown cape…" they scanned the crowds, but about three men could have been their potential murder victim.

Heba groaned slightly and shook Yugi's shoulders "Anything else? Come on Yugi!" A man could die here! The slave trader threw a stone at them to get their attention as the whip's noise wasn't.

Yugi began to hyperventilate before a certain feature came back to him. "The man's got a gold eye!" he whispered. Heba began scanning the crowd again, but Yugi knew that there was no time.

Yugi blinked as the slave master stood up, feeling the familiar sense of déjà vu as thing happened exactly as he saw only a minute before. Yugi turned and ran at the man on the far left, the thief just about to handicap him and tear out his golden eye. Yugi tackled the man out of the way of the knife and Heba followed Yugi's tackle, only he took down the thief.

Heba pinned the man down with his slight weight long enough to tangle the rope tied around his ankle around the man's wrists as well.

Yugi and Heba panted as they realised what they had just stopped, the scare they had avoided. The market began to panic slightly and others whispered furiously amongst themselves. Yugi glanced at his twin and they shared a brief laugh before Yugi looked at the elderly man he'd knocked down. "Are you alright sir?" he asked the tall cloaked man politely.

The man sat up spluttering "What the devil is wrong with you?" he demanded. His only eye glaring at Yugi.

The pale youth cringed and pointed to his brother, who was still keeping the thief pinned on the ground, with difficulty as he wasn't able to move properly due to a tied up ankle. The knife was lying by the thief. Yugi meekly explained "There wasn't time to warn you, sorry if the fall hurt you," he apologised with a bow.

"You brat! What do you think you were doing?" the slave trader demanded, yanking Yugi back by his elbow, roughly. Yugi yelped and struggled as he was held up close to the man's face. "I should have you killed for your insolence!"

He threw Yugi down and raised the whip.

"No!" Heba shouted out.

But someone else go there first.

"Stop right there!"

The slave trader froze at the tone of authority. The one-eyed man pulled his hair to the side and said "I am Priest Aknadin! Brother to the Pharaoh, and Father of the High Priest! Stop what you're doing at once!" he snapped angrily.

The slave trader paled, he lowered the whip and gasped again as a few guards in disguise moved and took the thief out of Heba's hands. "We've got him son," one grunted.

Another helped Heba up with a chuckle "That's creative thinking, using your ropes," he complimented.

Aknadin nodded at them before turning to the slave trader and an astonished Yugi. "These boys saved my life. I'll save them from you, I'll buy them both. I was looking for a good pair anyway," he added as he pulled out a small sack of money.

Heba snorted, by the size of the man's eyes he would surely be doubling or tripling his price as they spoke. He ducked under their arms and picked Yugi up carefully "Are you alright?" he asked in a whisper.

Yugi nodded, covering the slightly red skin of his arm "Yeah I'm fine, the Pharaoh's brother?" he gasped in amazement. Heba echoed his astonishment, they looked at the man they had saved and felt the hairs on the backs of their necks stand on end. Destiny's touch…

After two minutes of tense arguing the priest gestured to the two boys in a kindly but authoritative manner. "Let's go," he ordered. The two boys fell into step behind him, thankful of their loss of restraints.

Heba and Yugi stuck close together, Yugi smiled at his brother as he realised that they'd stay together now. He reached out to hold Heba's hand "We're not going to be apart now!" he whispered.

Heba blinked and smiled widely too. "Thank the gods the vision came when it did. One we'd have a dead Pharaoh's brother, and two we could have been sold to jackasses." Yugi giggled at his joke, making the guards glance at them before returning to their stoic stances.

Yugi looked at Aknadin, or the back of his head at least, and shyly reached out. "Um… excuse me sir?"

Aknadin looked over his shoulder sharply "You'll address everyone who's not a slave as my Lord or Lady or by their title, sir and ma'am for the guards, since you didn't know that before I'll let it pass," he explained briefly.

Yugi nodded and timidly pulled back until he gathered his courage to ask again. "M-my Lord?" the man turned with a nod. Yugi felt Heba squeeze his hand "Um… I was wondering… what jobs my brother and I were to be given."

Aknadin frowned, his wrinkles making it look like a huge change in expression and not a simple change. He looked up as the Palace came into view and smiled at the sight. "You're to be given as gifts to the Princes, for their eighteenth birthdays. They'll decide what your duties are, if they like you that is."

Yugi shuddered at how un-reassuring that was, he didn't know.

Yugi gasped as they looked at the large Palace walls and felt a rush of magic, almost like he was about to receive a vision, but no vision came and soon the feeling faded. He turned and smiled at Heba, who was blinking in confusion. "I have a good feeling about this place," Yugi whispered softly.

Heba looked at the large stone Palace, its endless bricks, countless rooms and never-ending corridors, lush gardens and secret places. Not to mention endless food supply and company. Heba smiled as he felt the rush of 'good feeling' sweep over him again. He smiled at Yugi and nodded "I think so too," he admitted at last.

As they entered the Palace gates, the nerves returned and the butterflies began to flutter again. What was in store for them in the stronghold of Egypt?

Amme: Ta-da!

Kathy: so... we're dead?

Amme: yeah, sorry guys, but we'll be with Yugi and Heba in spirit, also I couldn't bring myself to have Ryou or Malik killed in our place.

Ashley: not too happy about it... but it's okay.

Crystal: Yami and Atem had better treat those boys right or I'll come back as a poltergeist just to throw things at them!

Ashley: that's my girl!

Sapphire: I'll be writing chapter two, be patient, because this is being written by two authors (very awesome ones might I add) it'll take a bit longer to update than any other of our stories.

Amme: Subtle Sappie. Thanks for being so understanding, I hope you liked the start ;)

Kathy: Review!