Me: My first story!

Nohin: But didn't you post this on already on DA?

Me: Yes I did, but since it's a FF I decided to post it here as well.

Ninha: Well she didn't get many comments on DA for this, so maybe she'll get some comments here.

Me: That's what I'm hoping. Anyway, enjoy my first FF. It'll be 7 chapters and they are pretty short. Hopefully any other stories will be longer and better!

Chapter 1: A nightmare coming true

The boy ran across the desert sands of Kemet. His blonde bangs were plastered to his sweaty face and his black spikey hair with a magenta sheen along the edges whipped it the wind. He knew it was pointless to run, since the men chasing him were on horseback, while he was on foot. Still, the fear that gripped his heart made him keep on running. He heard the sounds of galloping hooves and jeering laughter come closer. It wasn't long before he was surrounded and forced to stop, panting from exhaustion and fear. Five men on horseback circled him, their horses kicking up the desert sand and making the boy cough. The men loudly laughed about his predicament.

After a while the five men stopped their horses and got off as the dust started to settle, grinning and smirking as they approached the terrified boy. The leader of the group was a man with white hair reaching just past his shoulders and icy-blue eyes. A scar ran from the bottom of his right eye down to his cheek, and his face was set in an evil smirk. The boy bravely tried to punch him in the face, but the man easily stopped the boy's fist with his hand and punched the boy in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain and gasping for air. The men laughed evilly. The man grabbed the boy's spikey hair and jerked his head backward, forcing him to look into those icy-blue eyes.

"This is what you get for trying to steal from the Thief King." He said menacingly, while one of his men clasped an iron collar attached to a chain around the boy's neck and locked it.

Yugi's life had been a normal one. He lived in a small village in the desert with his parents and grandfather. His father used to make toys for children and Yugi always got to try them out first. Even as he grew older, people always mistook him for a young child, because of his love for toys and the fact that he was very small for his age. His large amethyst coloured eyes always glowed brightly with innocence when he smiled. He used to smile often, until two years ago, when the Thief King's band suddenly appeared on the horizon and started to raid his village. The guards of the city were too few in number to stop the raid. Yugi saw how the bandits killed every person in their way, including his own father, who died trying to protect his family. His mother was then taken by the bandit who killed his father, only to be found back dead in an alley, her clothes ripped apart and her body covered in blood.

After the raid, Yugi lost some of his innocence. He stayed behind with his grandfather and a few other survivors. They tried to rebuild what they had lost, but Yugi's grandfather was old and unable to work hard enough to keep himself and his grandson out of poverty. Yugi didn't play with toys anymore since he too had to work hard to get at least some food in his stomach. Now, two years later, fourteen-year-old Yugi decided to seek out the lair of the ones that destroyed his life in the hopes of stealing some food or money. He was soon discovered however, and started to run for his life, but to no avail. Now he stood there in the middle of the desert, surrounded by the very men that destroyed his life and chained by his neck for his foolishness.

The other four men backed away while the Thief King took the chain and pulled it roughly, causing the boy to yelp in pain and fall to his hands and knees. He glared angrily up at the men surrounding him.

"Hey boss, looks like this kid's got some spark left in him." One of the men called, "Since he loves running so much, why don't you let him run some more?"

The Thief King chuckled at the suggestion. "That's not such a bad idea." He commented before yanking the chain and walking back towards his horse. Yugi tried to resist, but wasn't strong enough to stop himself from being dragged along by the collar around his neck and stumbled after the Thief King. "Let's see how long you can stay on your feet now kid."

The Thief King mounted his horse and kicked it into a gallop. Yugi tried to stay on his feet as he was dragged along behind the galloping horse, but stumbled after only a few steps. He grabbed the collar in an attempt to keep it from biting into his neck. He felt the desert sand grate against his bare arms and legs, but it wasn't nearly as painful as his neck. He screamed in pain while the Thief King galloped in circles and his men roared in laughter.

Yugi didn't know how long he had been dragged behind the horse, but when the Thief King finally slowed down he was covered in burn marks, blood, and bruises and barely conscious. He wished this torture would be over now; that the Thief King and his men had had enough of a laugh.

"So, what do we do with him now boss?" One of the men asked.

The Thief King looked at the sprawled small body behind his horse. He softly tugged the chain, but there was barely any response coming from the boy. He could easily leave him there to die. Considering the state he was in, he would probably die from the heat and his injuries. Yet another thought occurred to him. He was the Thief King, yet had no slaves working for him. He smirked as he began to like the idea that was forming in his head even more.

"Strap him to a horse. From now on he will repay his foolishness by becoming my personal slave."

The iron collar bit into his flesh as the chain was being yanked, but Yugi hardly felt it anymore. The punch in his face that followed was much worse. He yelled in pain as he fell backwards, but had no time to recover as the chain yanked him forward again, bringing him eye to eye with his master.

"If I ever see you drinking water without permission again I will do much worse to you than this slave." The Thief King growled before letting the boy go. "You will sleep standing up tonight." The Thief King took the chain and hung it on a hook that was jutting from the wall before walking away.

Yugi looked at the chain. It was hung from one of the links close to the collar so that Yugi couldn't sit, let alone lie down without choking himself. It would be easy for him to unhook the chain, but he knew that doing that would only earn him a beating much worse than he'd received just now. He'd learned that lesson after he did just that during his second night as a slave to the Thief King. Ever since he was captured about a month ago, he had been beaten on a daily basis, but some were worse than others. It all depended on what Yugi did and on the whim of his master. If Yugi pleased him, he would sometimes let him sleep on the floor or give him some extra food and water, but that wasn't a guarantee. Despite his throbbing cheek and the fact he had to sleep while standing up, Yugi's master had actually been quite lax in his discipline today, making the few gulps of water that Yugi had taken without permission worth it. He sighed as he settled his back against the wall and closed his eyes. He couldn't prevent the tears from leaking from his eyes as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

R&R please?