Scars and Impressions

Yami Bakura wandered through the twisted catacombs of the underground tomb, idly fingering the walls as he passed. He knew he would soon reach the Pharaoh and his little friends.

Feeling a sting, he noticed that he had cut his left hand on a jutting rock in the wall. He absentmindedly licked the blood off, when he noticed the back of the hand.

A scar.

But not just any scar, this was the scar that this body received during the Monster World RPG. Bakura turned the pale hand around, admiring its perfect round symmetry. He remembered the disobedience of his little host. Ryou had wanted to save his precious friends, so he tried to oppose the spirit. Bakura therefore had to unceremoniously put an end to his host's impudence, and impale the hand upon the resin spire.

The spirit sighed. He could've finished his work right then and there at the RPG, if it wasn't for the meddling of his do-good host.

"Little matter," he thought. "My work will soon be coming to a close anyway."

Bakura remembered that he had left other scars as well. He peered down his shirt, and sure enough, 5 crescent-shaped scars formed a larger crescent across his chest. And directly over his center, the faint outline of the ring, including the pyramid and eye in the middle.

The sadistic man let a deep-throated chuckle come out as he remembered the look of horror on his host's face, when the frail boy had found the sharp spines under his skin, keeping the ring bound to his flesh.

Bakura wished that he just stabbed the spines in again after that; it would have saved him a lot of trouble the next time he wanted to take control of the boy's body.

The spirit was thoughtful as he remembered the last scar, perhaps the worst of them all.

He lifted the corner of his left sleeve, as he found the large, jagged scar spanning the top of the arm, from Battle City.

Bakura remembered stabbing into the tender flesh, and dragging the knife across, making a gash about 4 inches across and 2 inches deep.

The centuries-old spirit had learned to ignore pain. His host, however, wasn't so lucky.

During his battle with the Pharaoh in the Battle City finals, Bakura allowed Marik to release Ryou's consciousness. He remembered the agonizing pain that his host felt when he came to.

Bakura laughed harder at this memory. He enjoyed watching his host squirm. He only regretted that he was forced to spare his pathetic host further pain by taking the life-threatening blast from Slyfer the Sky Dragon

But what ths bitter spirit relished the most about all of this was the fact that all of these "memories" would forever remain imprinted upon his host's flesh.

"I've made quite an impression," he thought. "My dear host will never be able to forget, as long as he lives."

But Bakura frowned. He felt as if these things weren't enough. He wanted to make sure that he would NEVER be pushed out of his host's mind.

The spirit needed only a moment to think. And the thought dawned upon him. He allowed himself a deep, bitter laugh, as he raised the sharp spines of the ring...

Ryou heard sounds coming from the distance. All of a sudden, he felt cold stone beneath him, and he realized that he was on an angle. Stairs. He was on a flight of stone stairs.

The teen opened his eyes, and pushed himself off of the ground. Sitting up straight, something crimson on the stairs caught his eye.

Blood. Fresh. His own.

"Probably broke my nose when I fell," Ryou mused.

But he realized that his nose didn't hurt. A quick check and it was still in place.

He then felt the sting on his right cheek.

The boy frowned. He tore off a small corner of his shirt, and wiped off his cheek. He wondered if he had hit a rock when he fell.

And a horrible thought dawned upon him.

With trembling hands, Ryou blotted the fabric against his cheek again. He slowly pulled it away.

And he saw it.

In an outline of blood, a long vertical line down, and two horizontal lines ran parallel across.

The Thief King's scar.

Ryou then noticed something else. It was too quiet.

There was no other presence in his mind.

The Spirit of the Ring was gone.

As he was trying to process all of this, another sight caught the eye of the former host.

Next to the red puddle of the blood from his cheek, he saw more blood.

In a formation.

Upon further focus, Ryou could see that it was a message.

It said, "I've left quite an impression, haven't I?"

Well guys, that was my first official written fanfic!

I realize that I blended the manga and anime, which I know you're not supposed to do, but I'm taking a bit of creative license.

I was inspired by this picture I found on tumblr ( post/37387216480/i-always-thought-that-it-would-be-interesting-if) I always thought that it would be interesting if, before Yami Bakura left Ryou's body, he left the Thief King's scar on Ryou's face.

Please note that I'm always looking to improve, so reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated!

Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! :3

~ HikariJinx13