S/N: Hi! It be Sara, the co-author/beta reader of Darkfire! We be here with a new tale, and for the wondering: Wolfheart will update, it's not abandoned. And an interesting tidbit: This first chapter was created almost entirely on the FF messaging service.
D/N: I have no idea how I thought of this. But think of this as a I don't know think what you want. But I like it and Sara is right we will update Wolfheart soon!
Anzu looked out the window. Inside, the teacher droned on, voice a monotone easy to ignore. Outside was gray, clouds looming over all.
The weather had been like this recently, as if wishing to fit her mood.
Had it really been only mere months since Atem had gone on to the Afterlife? It felt like years. Years of agony, and panicking whenever she saw the puzzle gone. She wanted him back!
She wanted her heart back.
A nasal buzzing cut the air, signifying that school was out. There was an immediate rushing as other students tried to leave. The gang followed at a more sedate pace.
"Why is life so down suddenly?" Anzu asked herself.
Yugi just looked at her briefly, before dropping his gaze. The leaving of Atem had confirmed a fear of his. Anzu was in love with Atem, and thought of him as only a friend. They were both in the clutches of the creature known as heartbreak.
"Let's go guys." Jounochi called.
They walked down the sidewalk, and Anzu felt the gray of her world settle over her.
As they walked by a park, a cat appeared. It was a tabby, black with gray stripes. It gazed at her.
"What, kitty?"
It flicked an ear, then its eyes widened. It backed up, then scrambled into the park.
"Follow the cat!"
And the gang scrambled into the park, following the little creature as it ducked, weaved, and used every trick it probably knew, pushing through trees, bushes and brambles.
Then it stopped, probably exhausted, and wailed. The gang was mere feet from it as they all suddenly blacked out, a swarming darkness filling vision...
They woke in darkness. A thick swirling darkness, filled with shades of purple, blue, and especially black.
"What the hell?" Honda's voice echoed back to them.
Jounochi groaned. "Shut up Honda. My head's pounding..."
Anzu sat up gingerly. Her head hurt too, but she'd dealt with lots of headaches and migraines every time the gang "played" with shadow magic, so she was used to it. "Let's just figure out where we are." She muttered, noting the angry looks on Honda's and Jounochi's faces. How could they go at it now? Really.
"Agreed." Yugi said, albite quietly. The echo was rather painful to hear.
Being the adventurous people they were, the gang began the slow job of looking around.
A while later, both Jounochi and Honda collapsed. "Does it ever end? I need food." Jounochi cried, clutching his stomach. Honda did the same.
Anzu, her headache having not left, snapped. She kicked them both sharply in the ribs. "Stop thinking of your stomachs, and help figure out where we are!"
The gang jumped, staring at Anzu.
"Um... Well... What's the last thing we remember?" Yugi offered.
Anzu blushed, realizing that she had been thinking of Atem.
"I don't remember a thing." Jounochi whined.
The cat mewed, as if not to be forgotten, which it unfortunately already had.
Anzu bent down. "Hi kitty. Who're you?"
"We should test to see if Anzu's bipolar." Jounochi whispered.
"I heard that!"
"Wait, wasn't the cat there?"
"So let's ask the cat!" Jounochi said triumphantly. This got him a few looks. "So. What were you doing?"
The cat mewed. "So you admit it!"
The cat shook its head.
"Oh. Ok. I understand."
Yugi, Honda and Anzu all stared at him.
"What?"
Collective stares.
The cat rubbed up against Anzu, purring. It had the effect of soothing her head slightly, enough for her to think.
"Guys..." she whispered, "I think... We're... In the shadow realm..."
"What?"
"How?"
"But... You need millennium items for that... Don't you?" Yugi whispered.
Anzu shrugged. "Who knows. Come on. Let's see if anything friendly is here."
"Remember? Back when we were in that game? Atem's father was sent-"
"Yug. You said it yourself. That was a game." Jounochi cut him off.
"But it could be real!"
They sighed, but it was Yugi. They trusted his intuition, and sanity. Especially his sanity.
"If you're so sure..." Anzu whispered. She picked up the cat. "Let's get looking."
They began to trudge through the darkness, softly calling.
"Hello?"
"Anyone there?"
"Someone..."
The voices faded eventually, Anzu clutched the cat closer, suddenly filled with a wave of emptiness. As if all she cared about had left, and all was loneliness. Not that there was much left. She'd been having fits of depression lately.
Looking around, she could see why this sudden wave. The gang was suddenly gone. It was like her nightmares come real. All there was was one strange cat in her arms and the urge to cry, which she did.
"Mew?"
"Why is everything like this?" she whispered to damp black fur. "Everybody leaves me. Everyone I care about."
There was a sudden sound of footsteps. Anzu looked up at the approaching figure. It was human, definitely, and wandering about.
She called out, too late realizing it might be a trick of the realm.
S/N: I wonder who it could be... Eh. You'll find out. Please review with comments, critiques, and anything else that comes to mind. But no spam or flames.
D/N: Sorry Wolfheart is taking so long