Phoenix's Ashes
Prologue
Soft warmth.
Smooth sheets.
Lazy shadows behind the eyelids of a drowsy mind.
Bliss.
It was the favourite part of his day. After all the difficulties of the day were over and all he had to do was rest. Bathing in the twilight moments between sleep and waking.
A small frown.
But one thing was missing.
The frown deepened. What was it?
The quiet swish of a door opening, almost silent footsteps across plush carpet.
A small sigh as deft fingers touched his cheek, brushing away floppy hair from closed eyes.
The affectionate touch, as gentle as a feather, lowered to caress his neck, just below his ear. His shadow of a frown turning into a sated little smile.
"Yuugi." The gentle whisper of a deep voice caressing his ears and sleep fogged mind. He slept still.
"Aibou." The gentle voice was amused now. He didn't want to wake up; he had found what he was looking for.
But he would do anything for his yami.
One tired eye cracked open halfway before stopping abruptly as a lead weight seemed to pull it closed again. Damn he was tired.
He missed the crimson eyes of his other softening with unmistakeable fondness.
"Hikari." He asked again almost completing the collection of nicknames he had for Yuugi.
Said boy opened one eye again and this time when it reached halfway he managed to make it stay there.
"Hai." He replied, a small yawn punctured his word making it almost indistinguishable but his yami understood.
His yami always understood.
"I have to go out for a few hours Aibou, it appears the others have gotten themselves into no small amount of trouble." He tried to hide his distain for the blonde's antics from his voice; Yuugi was tired.
Yuugi did not ask what his yami meant knowing he probably didn't want to find out.
"'ere you going?" his voice slurred under sleeps instructions. He heard a sigh.
"Too far from your side little one for my liking. But I shall be back before dawn breaks I promise." The voice was so soft and caring, how could he not trust?
He closed his eyes again, "m'kay." He was too sleepy to say much.
His other's expression softened even more, "I'll return as soon as I can Hikari."
Another little smile crossed Yuugi's lips as his yami moved silently across the room. He was asleep before the door closed.
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He re-entered the state of mind between dreams and reality with the sensation that something was wrong.
Groggily Yuugi pried open his eye again. A pleasantly dark room met his fuzzy thoughts and he raised his head slightly of the pillow and frowned, nothing was wrong. Everything was as it should be. The messy room of a teenage boy was perfectly normal.
Yuugi snuggled back up to his pillow and moved his gaze to the skylight. The sky was clear, little stars twinkled like bright promises painted upon an inky black canvas.
A crescent moon moved slowly across the rectangle of glass giving his room a surreal glow. He closed his eyes again.
Nothing was wrong; everything was as it should be.
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Heat.
Course air grating at his lungs.
Noise.
Flickers of deadly light behind his eyelids.
No, wrong! Terrible, terrible wrong!
Yuugi woke quite suddenly. Severed from his dream's images by a fit of hacking coughs.
He fell out of bed, still coughing, and attempted to stand.
Noise. Too much noise! Crackling and roars and the splintering of wood.
Thick black air clawing like a vicious animal at his tightly shut eyelids as tears sprung to their corners. Yuugi had attempted to open them and immediately they snapped shut again.
Dark, dark swirls of smoke. Light, bright golds and reds and oranges and ambers flaring from under the door, contrasting horribly with the soft silky moonlight now hidden from view.
Nasty, evil, dark, light, go away!
Yuugi fell to the floor again unable to break the barrier in his mind between panic and confusion to rational thoughts.
Wrong! It was all wrong!
A defining bang from far away or close by. He could not tell.
More coughing, wrenching up black soot from a burning throat, his voice was lost. As was his sight.
Blind panic was overtaking confused misunderstanding at the loss of his senses as smell was lost to the black, burning, terrible sent and hearing overwhelmed by the roars and crackling and the wailing of spirits already lost.
He crawled blindly, unaware of even his own movements, until something white hot flared across his hands and stomach.
Pain. Utter undiluted agony. It mixed with the panic and confusion, flaring like wildfire throughout his small body and leaving a traumatized mind in its wake.
The boy scrabbled backwards scraping his knees and burnt hands.
Black smoke surrounding him. Inside him now. Snuffing out his light, his life.
No! A sudden spurt of crystal clear realisation shot through his befuddled thoughts. No he couldn't die, he couldn't! Not now, not like this!
Noise. More noise. From outside now?
No! Make it go away! Make it go! Where was his yami! He wanted his yami!
Unbearable heat.
Defining noise.
Evil light.
Endless darkness.
Choking on smoke and writhing in agony.
Confusion and panic and utterly terrified.
There was no air left. Only desperation. Only darkness.
Darker and darker… a… light?
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(hiding) okay and before you all kill me let me remind you this is a prologue. Yuugi isn't gone. I already have the first chapter written all it needs is to be typed and perfected (to be honest I'm not that happy with this prologue so it may be changed at one point. Or whenever I get off my lazy arse to do it.) so it should be up soon. Within a week or so (or as soon as I get a break from that cess pit known as work).
Review please!