The stench of death hung heavily in the air as screams resonated off the stone walls of the underground compound. A fairly short girl around the age of seventeen hung nearly lifelessly by cuffs that were strung up on a hook attached to the ceiling. Blood dripped from her chin and down her arms as well as down her back from the torturous treatment that she had just recieved and the sound of the whip signalfied that it was not yet over. As the whip slashed across her flesh once more, she flinched slightly; no sound coming from her other than the soft grunt of pain. The man that was delivering the harsh punishment moved so that he was now in her line of sight as he let out a growl of irritation.

"You might as well tell me Huntress or believe me...I can do this all day," he snapped.

"Go...screw...yourself, Seerath," she breathed out, her spirit not once broken. She had been living in this hell for the last seven years and had become use to her 'punishments.' She was kidnapped when she was ten after she accidentally hacked into a company causing it's downfall along with the suicide of the business owner. Seerath had siezed the opportunity to obtain her and to harness her computer intelligence for his own evil purposes. She had been caught escaping more times than she could count on her fingers and beaten accordingly for it. She was made to do terrible things; such as, stealing business information and technology, assasination work, hacking, and playing the seductress. She had been trained to do these things, to fight and to survive. Her ninjeti training gave her the ability to channel her energies to avoid feeling pain...her alias is Silent Huntress. A most feared name in all of North America and Japan. It was a name that sparked the imaginations of those that would try to follow in her footsteps and one that was greatly sought after by the governments. She never cared for that title, nor did she want it. All she wanted in her life was to make it back home to her twin brother and her grandfather.

Her thoughts were broken when a harsh sound echoed off the stone walls as she felt a harsh sting across her left cheek. She weakly picked her head up and glared dangerously at him; all years of her training shining through her violet eyes. Her blonde bangs starting to match the red part of her hair from the blood streaming down her face. Seerath smirked evilly and then chuckled as he walked closer to her; picking her chin up so that he could look into her eyes better.

"After all these years, you are still defiant as ever. How many times have I beaten you so far? yet you still defy me...if it weren't for you being my favorite, I'd kill you now. That wouldn't satisfy me though...I know you're not afraid of death," He sneered.

"I...do...what I can...to torment you," she smirked, trying to make herself appear more amused than in pain. Seerath growled angrily, the murderous intentions in his eye; but instead of causing anymore damage to her...he chose to walk away. She knew that Seerath would be in huge trouble with his boss if he harmed her. It was not the fact that she was Seerath's favorite...she was Aries the God of War's favorite. Seerath had once been his right hand man until he managed to piss off Zeus resulting in the stripping of his powers and damned to live like a mortal for the rest of all eternity.

The door to the dungeon like place opened, revealing a boy with light brown spikey hair and sort of a scowl on his face. "Let's go...I don't really care what those sons-of-bitches say...I'm getting you the hell out of here Yuri," he snapped with an Australian accent as he took out a set of keys and released her. He caught her as she slumped to the ground from the blood loss and the pain she was now starting to feel. The guy picked her up and wrapped her arm around his neck so that he could help her to walk.

"Valon...I can't let you...do that...they'll kill you," Yuri breathed out.

"I say, let them come...but I'll be damned if these assholes cause you anymore anguish," he growled as he walked out of the door with her. There was something different in his eyes though as if he were being forced to do this...but she counted it as the pain starting to affect her mind. Her conscious mind started to fade away as the blood loss started to effect her. Valon seemed to pick up on this and picked her up into his arms.

"Y...Yugi," was the last word she spoke before slipping into unconsciousness.

To be continued...