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Silence covered the desert, but it wasn't a normal silence; the silence almost seemed like death, as if no one lived on Earth anymore. Like always, it was barren in the deserts of Egypt. It seemed like nothing but sand, cloudless skies that touched the ends of the earth, and the bright moon that looked down on the land.

Through this silence, barren desert appeared a girl. Although she was running through the desert, she did not break the silence with her tearful eyes and crying heart because of sorrow and pain. She knew that her life could no longer be the same. What went wrong for such violence to erupt? The girl thought melancholy thoughts as tears cascaded from her light tan cheeks. He just came with his band of rogues and… took the lives of the only ones I had close and dear to me!

As she began to run out of breath, the girl stumbled her feet as she tried to stop herself from running anymore. She fell on her knees in the smooth sand and eventually landed on her stomach, falling into a deep sleep. The memories of what had happened to her that evening replayed in her mind.

Late during the night, with the moon slowly rising up high in the sky to look down on the village, the mother and father of the girl Nathifa were still awake; they were discussing on what to do for their daughter if anything were to happen to them. "I know this has to be thought out, but… this is a frightening thing for me to think or even talk about."

"I know, Halima," Thabit said to his wife, "but if we don't get anything settled now, who knows what Nathifa would do for herself once we're gone."

Halima sighed quietly, although she couldn't help but get the feeling of an upset stomach. The last thing she ever wanted to think about was seeing her only child in such misery and despair. She nodded very lightly and said, "Wh-What should we do then?"

Thabit was thinking of any ideas that would run through his mind to help Nathifa. "… Well, she needs to be married soon, that's for sure." He thought aloud.

"But, Thabit, I don't feel that she's ready for such a life-changing experience." Halima protested.

"She's at that age though. Besides, with a man by her side, he would be able to take care of her into his household if anything ever happened to us."

As the parents continued to discuss amongst each other quietly, Nathifa was having trouble falling asleep, so she sat up from where she laid; she thought deeply, unsure if it was anything she was thinking about that was giving her lack of sleep. She rubbed her tiring eyes, feeling both confused and restful. After a couple minutes, Nathifa decided to get up and walk into the room where she found her parents talking. Once they heard her, they turned to see their living daughter. "Why are you up this late?" Her mother asked softly.

Nathifa shrugged lightly. "I couldn't get to sleep." She answered.

Halima and Thabit glanced at each other before looking back at Nathifa. "Nathifa… your mother and I have been talking about… your future." Thabit tried to explain as well as he could. Nathifa felt butterflies in her stomach, unsure of where they were trying to go with this discussion.

"We want to make sure that you have a good life to lean on if… anything happened." Halima added. Now Nathifa felt worried; what were they going to tell her? She had her hands folded in front of her in a relaxing fashion, although her grip tightened in a way of trying to relieve her own paranoia.

"So… we talked it over, and decided… that you should get married." Nathifa's father said.

Nathifa blinked her sudden grown eyes in surprise. Her mouth opened slightly rather than dropping her jaw; she always felt that she shouldn't be married to any man by her parent's order. She loved them to pieces, but the thought of getting married wasn't the best thing she wanted to do. "I-I understand why would bring that idea up, but being married so soon is… a bit superfluous, don't you think?"

"But, love, how else are you supposed to be able to live on your own if-"

"Mother.." Nathifa interrupted, looking at her parents, "father… I know you both mean well to me, but how did this idea of getting me married… I just can't see it at a time like this."

Her parents looked at each other, oddly thinking the same thing. "Nathifa… there's something we need to tell you." Thabit said softly.

"And you must listen to us about what we're gonna tell you." Halima added.

"Wh-Why…?" Their daughter asked with a confused look on her face.

"… Because it's about your life and its purpose." They answered.

Out of the blue, a murderous scream suddenly erupted the night sky, but the source of the scream was not too far from Nathifa's home. Thabit got up and went outside; he looked to see a group of shady men riding on their horses (or running on feet) around their village; one of the men stood in front of a terrified woman shaking in fright on the ground in front of her house. Thabit didn't approve of the vibe he was feeling and ran back into his home.

"You two go and hide!" He ordered to his wife and child.

Their eyes grew in fear. "Wh-What's going on?" His wife asked.

"I'm not sure, but I know it's not anything good!"

Nathifa looked up at her mother. "But we don't want to leave you, father."

"I want you to be safe!" Her father protested.

"FIRE!" Another villager shouted across from Nathifa and her family's house. Thabit, as well as Halima and Nathifa, ran outside to see what was going on now. Flames were consuming a few houses a yard or so away from their home. The burning atmosphere and smell of smoke told everyone else in the village who were screaming and running for their lives that they had to leave before anything happened to them. Thabit turned to his family (as they returned inside their home) and said in his most serious tone, "Grab whatever you can hold and carry on our backs, and meet me at the south end of the village."

The women nodded and rushed to their rooms without a word. As the family started collecting their belongings that they needed, they heard feet stomping into their home.

Before anything else could be done, the man Thabit had spotted earlier entered their household. He had the look of a killer with his bright, yet sharp orange eyes, glaring at the family who were preparing to escape from their village. After looking at the three, he looked back at the parents with a look of… betrayal. Why did he have such a look on his face? "… How could you?"

They were all confused about what the man had asked them. "How could we what?" Thabit asked, standing close in front of his wife and child.

"You know very WELL of what you did to me fifteen years ago!" The boy hissed, almost sounding like an angry snake.

The family's eyes grew in more confusion. They took a step back, but the boy charged at Thabit, pinning him to the ground. Halima and Nathifa gasped, rushing to help their father and husband. The young daughter had enough courage to grab the boy's arm and bite the boy's arm with all her might.

"AUUGHH!" He growled, glaring over his shoulder to see Nathifa. He hissed again and quickly grabbed her neck, lifting her high up to cut off her breathing. Nathifa's face became pale as she could feel each breath be her last, but suddenly fell to the ground. She gasped for air again, but looked up to see her father pin the boy to the wall.

"If you EVER touch my daughter again-" Before Thabit could say more of his threat, he cried in excruciating pain, letting go of the boy. He looked down to see a snake, it's sharp fangs digging into his own skin. He tried to yank the creature off his leg, but it was to no avail.

"THABIT!" Nathifa's mother gasped, running towards him.

"You get near him, and the same thing will happen to YOU!" The mysterious boy hissed.

Nathifa stumbled back onto her feet, standing protectively in front of her mother. "Leave now! You will never come near and my family again!" She ordered, though she was truly frightful of what she was going through upon that night.

The rogue snickered. "I'm not giving you a choice, for not only am I gonna get rid of you that I once called family, I am also in need of something here for my good friend."

Nathifa was shaken a bit still by what was all happening. "It d-doesn't matter! You will NOT get near u-" Before finishing her order, the fierce rogue grabbed her by the collar of her raggedy dress and tossed her aside like a doll. She fell on the floor by the exit of her home. She got up and turned to help her parents, but to her misfortune, she was too late.

The girl gasped but had her hands covering her mouth as soon as she saw her father curl his body shaking a bit on the ground. She spotted blood flowing from his leg and onto the ground; she looked over more to see that it was a snake that had bitten Thabit.

"Hmm… I shouldn't have made my pet bite you." The invader said before kneeling down beside Nathifa's father.

"Don't you touch my husband!" Halima threatened. After a snap of the rogue's fingers, the snake who recently bit Thabit then attacked Halima and bit her in the arm. She screamed and fell on her knees; she looked over to her daughter, terrified of what she had to see. "Run, Nathifa!" She cried.

"As I was saying…" the rogue, who must have been a snake charmer, turned back to the father of the family, "I'll be nice and give you a quick death!" He then sat Thabit up, grabbed his head, and …POP! His neck was snapped out of place.

"FATHER!" Nathifa screamed, seeing her father fall to the ground, dead.

The snake charmer turned to the remaining two and looked at them carefully. "Which one of you will go next? Who wants to step up and fall upon the corpse of their beloved?"

"Nathifa, I want you to leave now!" Halima told her daughter with fright in her voice.

"No! I can't leave you with this monster!"

The rogue looked at Nathifa, starting towards her. "NO! Take me!" Nathifa's mother cried, tears down her cheeks. She shook with fear as she thought of losing both her husband and daughter. The rogue stopped then, a smirk spreading across his face. He quickly stepped behind Halima, holding her in a head-lock. "Now, would you like to die like your dear husband did? …Or should I say like my father?"

Halima gasped in shock, realizing now who this rogue was. Before she could say anymore, though, another pop was heard and her body, too, fell to the ground dead right upon her very husband.

"NOOOO!" The poor child screamed in horror, seeing her only family die in front of her young eyes. She felt coldness run through her body, which was also shaking in fright. Her eyes couldn't look away from her parents' breathless bodies; she felt almost as if she fell on her knees at that moment, then she would sink through the dirt floor and continue to fall through the earth.

"Ready to join them?" The murderer hissed, suddenly standing right in front of Nathifa. He summoned his snake to slither towards his next victim, but Nathifa snapped out of her blinded state of mind and, out of first reaction, slapped the man across the face. After doing so, seeing what she had done, gasped and stepped back.

Then a voice in her head told her to start running… but where would she run to? She couldn't go to anyone for safety, so would she have to just run to where time took her? She had no more time to think, for she had to get away from this murderer staring at her with blood in his eyes. Nathifa made the decision and turned, running away from the man.

While she was escaping from the chaos in her village, she looked to the sides of her to see what was going on; tears cascaded her cheeks as she saw the people getting beaten and kidnapped by other rogues that were invading the village. She just wanted to wake up, wake up from the awful nightmare she was in… but it was all reality to her misfortune.

Nathifa cried more but this time breaking the silence that had followed her around for who knows how long she had been wandering the desert that night. With all that had happened to her within a short amount of time, she didn't know how to continue on with her life. Should I just wander the desert until I die of starvation? Should I run away more into a different village? What should I do?

The girl was growing more and more exhausted with every few steps she took; her eyes were so heavy that she couldn't tell whether she was still in the desert or in another village, for she could see blurs of pillars and a structure in front of her. She then fell on her knees and right onto her stomach. Her eyes finally closed all the way, falling into a deep sleep.

She didn't know if she was safe or not before falling asleep, but she just hoped that she would wake up in a safe place. When she awoke from her peaceful slumber, she would be living a new life.

Author's Note:

Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi!

Nathifa, her parents, and mystery murderer belong to me!

I hope you enjoyed this! ^-^ *first time writing suspense/violence, so don't judge me -_-; *