Well, I've finally done it! I've gotten the balls to post my very first fanfiction! Yay! Go me! Any who. Please be gentle with me, 'kay? =3
Hopefully this story is to your liking... I stayed up pretty late the other night trying to write this and only got four hours of sleep as a result.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or it's characters. I only own my characters Oba and Shoshan and any other characters I decide to throw in to this concoction of madness. Safiya, Atsu, and Ata belong to Yume-Ebony (who is also the same Yume of Yume no Kuroi). If I did own Yu-Gi-Oh! and its spin-offs, I wouldn't have to go to college to earn a degree, I could retire early at the age of twenty.

Now enjoy the story.

Scroll One:

-Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little death that brings

total obliteration.-

She had been found, with her umbilical cord still attached, at the feet of the statue of the great Goddess worshiped by those of Luxor—she was taken in by the priests and priestesses of the Temple of Mut. When they had found her, she had the stem of a flower in her hand. At the end of the stem was a fully bloomed lotus—so they named her Shoshan. As the years past, she was raised as a temple maiden to take on the chores of keeping the temple in good shape. She befriended most of those who worked in the temple, becoming their little sister. On her sixteenth birthday, she was taken to the Head Priest and Priestess. It was the Head Priestess who told her of her future—and what was to come of it. "My child... You have a darkness within you that none of us can cleanse... I am sorry...

She stared at the Head Priestess with confused brown eyes. "You must leave the temple by midnight tonight... We will provide for you a horse, food, and water... You must earn money on your own..." The old man who was the Head Priest looked at her with cold eyes. "We cannot keep you here any longer..." She could see the sorrow in his grey wisdom filled eyes.

The thought of losing one of his children struck his heart with grief. "But why? What is this evil spirit that plagues me!" she cried out, large tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She didn't want to hear the answer to her question, her heart was already in pain as it is from the news of having to leave her home. She turned on her heel and bolted from the chambers and locked herself in her room,crying herself to sleep—hoping that this was just a horrible nightmare.

A knock on her door awoke her from her restless slumber. She soon found herself at the stables with her oldest friend, Tau. "Apep—he plagues you with chaos and destruction..." he said, his deep voice rumbling in his chest. "Tell no one of the darkness rooted inside you, do you understand? If someone were to get wind of it, they could use you to bring down the Pharaoh Atem."

She nodded.

The desert was such a barren wasteland—it was funny how many animals and plants could survive its intense heat during the day and chilling winds at night. But here she was, traveling through the greatest hell on earth created by the Gods themselves. Her hood did very little to protect her head from the sun beating down on her. The warm breeze blew sand everywhere, thankfully, she had wrapped a piece of cloth around her mouth as to keep the blowing sand out. She had no family—that she knew of from either side of her family and she had no home to call her own, she was an outcast, a drifter who wandered from city to city, village to village, to take on odd jobs to earn money for food and water for her journey. Her current destination was to get through the desert to Egypt's most powerful city, Cairo. She wasn't foolish to walk that kind of distance, she was traveling by horse.

Her horse, a roan colored stallion, walked sluggishly through the sand. In the distance, their target was an oasis that had miraculously survived in the barren wasteland that was Egypt. "Ra, could it be any warmer today?" she mumbled to herself. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. She hadn't slept in a few days, having been traveling since the beginning of the week.

In the far distance, her ears picked up on the sound of horse hooves heading her way—and from the sound of it, it sounded like there were at least six sets of four legs headed for her. Opening her eyes, she grabbed the hilt of her falcata ,that she kept hidden from prying eyes, beneath her hooded robe and brought her horse to an abrupt stop. The horse jerked his head back, startled. "Whoa, Oba, easy boy." She patted the beasts neck and directed her look towards the oncoming dust cloud. She could hear whooping and yelling. Thieves. She kept her hand under her robe, grasping the handle of her falcata tighter.

As they came into view and began to circle her now panicking horse, she kept her head down and watched from the rim of her hood at the ugly men who surrounded her. "Give us your goods and maybe we'll let you go unscathed," one said, bringing his horse to a stop just a few feet in front of Oba.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we kill you and take your things anyway," a different voice said. A hand reached out toward her, grabbing her shoulder—trying to yank her from her horse.

O Goddess Sekhmet, give me the power to defeat thy enemies. As if the great Goddess answered her prayer, the young travel brought forth her weapon and slashed upward into the man's arm. Blood hit the sand without a sound—it stained the ground with a ruby colored puddle and an arm lay in the middle of it. The men backed their horses away from the woman. "If you wish for the same fate as your friend here, then be my guest. If not, then leave me to my journey," her voice was calm, she nudged her horse forward, passing the men as she went. "And send a message to your master—if he wishes for revenge, then he can find me in Cairo." Squeezing the sides of her horse, she took off at a gallop, leaving the dying man and his friends in the dust of her tracks.

***

Safiya watched from the second story of her family's home as her father sold their hand crafted pots to those who stopped by the stand just outside their home that also doubled as a travelers inn. Her auburn colored hair was pulled back into a loose braid that hung over her shoulder. She sat on the windowsill and turned her copper colored gaze from staring at the busy streets below to the bright blue skies above. It's going to be a warm day... Hopefully the crops won't catch fire... The small village she lived in was a small farming village that sat just on the outskirts of the large city known as Cairo. She had just come in from the fields, helping her friend and their family bring in the summer harvest. After being outside since the crack of dawn, she was sore and she wanted nothing more than to sleep and rest her feet and back—both of which screamed at her in protest for the pain.

Down stairs, she could hear her younger brothers Ata and Atsu, arguing about chores. A small smile formed on her lips. Despite them being a pain in her back side, she was going to miss them dearly when the end of the summer season came. It was then that she was to travel to the palace in Cairo to work as a servant for the Pharaoh Atem and what was left of his royal family—the next in line to take the throne. Both the twelve year olds helped out their mother by running errands to and from the small market located in the middle of the village.

She had heard stories from the others who had glimpsed the young Pharaoh. All of them said the same thing—"He's absolutely beautiful!" and "He has the most gorgeous amethyst colored eyes". Although she'd never been to the city itself, she allowed her imagination to fill in all the gaps of what the young Pharaoh looked like. It made her heart race.

Down below her windowsill, she took notice of a hooded rider getting off of their horse. The rider was draped in dark heavy robes, his face barely visible. She could see the strangers yes—they were a light brown color and filled with mystery. He held the reigns to his horse who shook his head, letting his ebony colored mane sway. Her father told her something and Safiya watched on as the mysterious rider disappeared around the back, heading for the stables and reappeared moments later with a small stack of coins in hand to give to her father.

Having become curious of the stranger, Safiya ignored the pain in her joints and went down stairs to see her mother conversing with the rider. "If it's a job you are wanting, I'm sure I can find something for you to do here at the inn—as long as you work here, you don't have to pay for your room," her mother said. "Judging by the look in your eyes, you must be exhausted." Her mother caught sight of her daughter standing on the stairs. "Safiya, take our guest to one of the vacant rooms—then go help your father with the stand outside."

Safiya nodded, her braided hair rubbing against the underside of her chin. The masked rider turned towards her as she left the stairs and headed down the hall towards the last room that was vacant. They arrived at the room. "This is where you will be staying. You should probably rest before you go to work," she advised to the figure.

He shuffled past her, the material of his robes lightly brushing her hand. Standing in the middle of the room, the light eyed stranger began to disrobe himself—dark crimson wrapped hair made itself known to the young sixteen year old. As the layers of robes disappeared, the young copper eyed teen began to see more feminine curves to the rider. The rider, whom she thought was a he was actually a she. The redhead had to be at least a year or two older than her. "One of my brothers should be here soon with some food and drink for you Miss--"

"Shoshan. My name is Shoshan. There is no need to call me 'Miss'." Her voice was raspy from lack of moisture.

"--Shoshan. My name is Safiya. If there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to come to the front desk and ask. Dinner is at mid-sundown." Safiya turned on her heel and left the young woman to her own devices.

Shoshan nodded and closed the door to the small room. Although her stomach growled for food and her throat ached for water, all she truly wanted to do was sleep. She had gone at least about two to three days without sleep—when she made camp at night while traveling, she kept a small fire going and stood guard as to keep her horse, Oba, safe from predators and thieves. Her eyes traveled to the soft bed against the wall and lay down. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

Safiya made her way to her mother. "Our newest guest, she is a woman—she's probably a year or two older then me—why is she traveling by herself!? The desert is a death trap for women who travel alone! It's filled with wild carnivorous beasts and thieves."

"Couldn't you tell by the way that she dresses, the look that shows in her eyes. She knows how to take care of herself, Safiya," her mother chided.

Kuro: Review, rate, message me! I hope to get good feed back from you. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Shoshan - Translates from Egyptian to mean "Lotus"

Safiya - Translates from Egyptian to mean "Pure"

Ata and Atsu - Translates from Egyptian to mean "Twin"

Oba - Translates from Egyptian to mean "King"