Hey guys! Here's another new story! I know I'm just dishing them out like nobody's business, but I just have some many ideas and I want feedback...so please review! Thanks! I hope you like it!
Chapter 1
Sweat and blood trickled down the side of Yugi's face, leaving behind rivulets of grime. His exotic blond, ebony, and violet hair that normally stuck up at odd angles now hugged his head, matted with blood and mud. Shaking his head like a dog, he tried to rid his bruised face of the annoying droplets, but all the action accomplished was to further irritate the tight fitting iron collar hugging his neck in a painful, abrasive grip. The chain attached to the collar clanged lifelessly like a death rattle. Giving a yank on his bound hands, the man who was leading him down the dark alleyway grumbled.
Because the truth was that Yugi was a slave.
He had been one for as long as he could remember. The simple idea of his own freedom was as foreign to him as his current destination, which was very well hidden in the shadows of a maze of alleyways. Who knew where this man was leading him?
Thinking of said man, Yugi glanced up at the weather beaten fellow. He was well muscled, and black clothing shrouded him in further mystery. He had pale, icy blue eyes that commanded authority and slick brown hair that crowned his sharp hawk like features.
This man had bought him not moments before, muttering something to the slave master that not even Yugi's ears could hear. His slave master's eyes had widened in pure fright, and he had gulped before scrambling over to Yugi and thrusting him before the man for inspection.
"He's our best fighter, sir." His slave master had blurted as the man looked him over. Yugi's trained amethyst eyes followed his movements. Yugi was small, and quite eagerly underestimated by his opponents when slave masters pitted slaves against each other for entertainment. He had always been the "secret weapon" as his former master liked to call him.
As the man continued to size him up, Yugi stiffened when his senses caught a whirl of air behind him. Yugi's hyper-sensitive ears however, easily picked up the three slices of cutting air heading towards the man.
Leaping up, despite the 60 pounds of chains he carried on his shackles, he snatched the first two daggers in his hands and than caught the last knife in one of the iron loops in his chains.
Landing gracefully, Yugi immediately knelt, placing the deadly blades in front of him. Moving without permission was prohibited, and he silently waited for punishment.
Instead, the man bought him.
His slave master had only gulped and nodded, offering a small price for him. Even Yugi blinked at the price. This man must hold some sort of importance that he did not know of.
Yugi continued to study said man, his new master. The stern set of his jaw was drenched in pride, and a long, straight nose seemed to always be above anyone who dared look at him.
Tall and proud. Maybe no such a good thing.
He wore a long, black trench coat which swept up at the edges as if billowing in an unseen wind. While his one hand casually gripping his chains, the other adjusted his collar. Yugi's amethyst eyes were drawn by the movement, and he almost gasped.
There, tattooed on his neck, was an upside down pyramid with an eye in the middle. The symbol of the millennium puzzle! Which only meant one thing…
Suddenly, Yugi knew where he was going.
That symbol was well known throughout the country, if not throughout the entire world. Everyone knew it, slave and noble alike.
It was the symbol of Birch, the assassin's guild.
The name Birch rang with the same familiarity as 'death' and 'cold.' If you wanted someone dead, pay the right price, and the next day they would be but pictures on the mantel and tears in their lover's eyes.
The government turned a blind eye, for fear of a massacre.
They were lawless.
They were unforgiving.
They were murderers.
Bloodthirsty, money hungry, uncontrollable murderers.
Yugi gulped.
Of all the people to be bought by, it just had to be a member of Birch. He probably wouldn't even last the night.
Yugi felt fear eat him.
Fear.
As comfortable and well known as pain, it was an author that had penned out his entire life. His sense of smell became even more acute with adrenaline, taking in the putrid scents of the alley way that flooded the shadows like gas. He could practically taste the odors. His amethyst eyes caught the glint of death in the nocks and crannies of the dark. His hearing sharpened, picking up the short in takes of breath from the man leading him and the quiet, oh so quiet, footfalls of the man. The clanking of his chains seemed so loud, it threatened to break his eardrums as the deep clanging resonated within him.
He felt death.
He felt fear.
He felt nothing.
He almost felt like laughing at himself.
How many times in his eighteen, long years had he found himself begging for death to steal him away in the midst of some brutal torture? And now here he was, wishing not to die. How many times had he wished for this all to end? He could not say. All he could do was painfully stumble along as the man gave another jerk on his shackles.
And then soon, too soon, there it was.
The huge building towered over the ramshackle homes around it like a crown in the mud. It was dark, but drenched with grandeur and obvious wealth. Dark paint covered the gold and silver etched walls. The windows gaped with large maws, but they were few in number.
But the most impressive feature of the structure were the massive oaken doors. Monumentally enormous, they guarded the guild's secrets with their sheer size.
And there, above those colossal doors, was the glinting gold symbol of the millennium puzzle.
The man strode forward as if he was not walking straight into the home of death. Grasping one of the massive, curving door handles, the man swung open the door as if it weighed nothing, which it most certainly didn't.
What Yugi saw next, he would never forget.
The gargantuan doors opened up into an enormous hall. Tables and chairs scattered around the nearly infinite amount of space, and a huge bar sat like an old man in the corner. But the center of attention lay in the middle of the vast room.
Men and women were gathered around a depression like arena were two men were fighting. Shouts of encouragement and cursing nearly deafened Yugi, whose ears were highly attuned at the moment.
The man leading him harrumphed and continued to lead Yugi past the crowd jeering at the two fighters, who Yugi quickly recognized as slaves upon seeing the callouses on their collarbones, wrists, and ankles.
Yugi gulped, swallowing the tangy, metallic taste of blood.
Another yank of his chains brought him back to the man in front of him.
"You're to report to the slave master, Mokuba. Understood?" The man's voice was deep, demanding, and just as proud as he appeared.
Yugi nodded, keeping his gaze low.
"I hate running errands…" the man muttered before walking off, tossing him his end of his chains and leaving Yugi in the middle of the Birch guild all alone.
He really was dead, wasn't he?
...sort of a short chapter, but I hope you liked it! Please review! ;)