Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Dangers of Silence: Chapter 1: First Meeting
Characters: Ryou, Juudai
Word Count: chapter: 1,000||story: 1,000
Genre: Drama, Angst||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Advent Calendar Challenge, Day #14 & Diversity Challenge, section H, #10, a multichap with at least six chapters.
Notes: This takes place in an AU. Details will come apparent in the story. Because other than a few basics, I don't know myself. Among those basics are that none of the other characters have ever met Juudai or even heard of him.
Summary: Lost in a strange world and held captive by the mysterious Haou, Ryou must find out what's going on before he is broken.

Ryou tested the strength of the chains many times. Each test ended with the same results: nothing at all. No matter how hard he wrenched his shoulders or strained his arms, the chains didn't loosen by so much as a breath. Clearly this Haou meant to keep his prisoner secure.

Who is he? Ever since their arrival in this world, the rumors and whispers of the strange dark overlord filled the air. No one that any of them spoke to knew anything about him, other than the fact he was terrifying and unstoppable, he held sway over a huge army, and to be captured by him was the ultimate nightmare.

This was a nightmare it seemed that he was destined to live through. Plans had been made on what to do if they encountered any of Haou's warriors, but all of those plans fell apart when it actually happened. Not by any fault of anyone's, he knew quite well. But they simply hadn't expected it. Their plans had hinged on them knowing the encounter would happen and having time to defend themselves.

They hadn't anticipated a group of armed, mounted warriors descending on them in the middle of the night, wiping out their guards in a haze of fierce attacks, and scattering the rest of them. At least Ryou hoped they'd all been scattered, because that meant that the survivors could be alive.

Footsteps sounded, the heavy echo of metal-shod feet. Ryou tensed; what he'd heard of Haou included the fact that the man never appeared in public without his armor. Was he one of the warrior-types? He'd hardly be the first Duel Spirit that they'd encountered here.

His cell door didn't have a window to it, so Ryou's first sight of Haou was when the door swung open. There stood someone perhaps a bit shorter than he was, but his presence made up for any lack of height. His face couldn't be seen behind his visored helmet, but Ryou knew right away the other stared at him, and there was no compassion in him at all.

Ryou lifted his head proudly. He was Hell Kaiser, and he would not bow down to anyone.

"Haou, I presume?" he asked, with a curious tilt of one eyebrow.

There was no answer. The armored warrior only stepped further into the cell, which hardly seemed large enough for both of them right now, and continued to regard Ryou. The Kaiser wondered if this was what a bug felt like when being stared at under the microscope.

Well, if Haou wasn't going to be talkative, then Ryou was the master of not speaking unless he had something important to say. And at the moment, he didn't. He wanted to be out of here and to find out where his companions were, but he wasn't going to ask. Either Haou wouldn't answer or there would be a price for the information, and given what Ryou had heard of this overlord, it wouldn't be a price that he wanted to pay.

Haou stood in front of him in utter silence, head moving only slightly now and then, and Ryou guessed he was trying to get a better look. With his wrists chained to the wall, there wasn't much more that could be seen. Ryou wasn't going to suggest that he be freed. He hadn't given up on the chance of escaping, either. Or being freed. Fubuki and Edo were both clever enough to pull something like a rescue off. Fubuki would think it the greatest prank in the world to rescue a prisoner from the depths of this castle. He'd do it for that alone.

Haou stared intently at him, or so Ryou surmised he was doing. He couldn't guess entirely with the other's face being so perfectly concealed. Such an intent stare unnerved him. He'd never had anyone look at him like that, not even Edo, who came closest of anyone to making Ryou uncomfortable.

He almost felt as if there were fingers going through his mind, brushing past all of his secrets and memories.

Then the odd sensation, if sensation it was at all, faded away. In that same moment, Haou turned on one heel and walked out the door, which closed behind him.

Ryou shook his head. He had no experience being a prisoner, but he thought perhaps this wasn't what usually happened. He'd never thought about what to expect, but now that he considered it, he wondered why nothing else had happened. No torture. No pain. No questions demanding to know where his companions were. Nothing at all. Just a few minutes of quiet staring.

This is who everyone is so terrified of? It didn't make sense. And because of that, Ryou didn't trust it at all. There was more going on here than met the eye.

Ryou hadn't ever regretted not having a watch before. He'd seldom needed to worry about the time and there were always other tools, such as his cell phone, and some of the newer breeds of duel disks had clocks built into them. But here he had neither cell phone nor duel disk, so he had no idea of how much time passed before the door swung open once more.

He expected Haou. Or perhaps someone else. Anyone else; he wasn't certain of who. What he didn't expect was a boy who looked a little younger than him, maybe around Shou's age, though this one was taller than his brother. Dressed in a rough brown tunic and sandals, he carried a tray filled with covered dishes. Ryou could smell several delicious aromas coming from behind the covers.

The stranger looked up at Ryou and smiled a small, almost nervous smile. "Hi, there. I'm supposed to see that you eat."

"And you are?" Ryou asked, not fully trusting this situation yet. This person looked like a human, but what humans were in this world of spirits other than the ones he knew?

"You can call me Juudai."

To Be Continued