SANDS OF TIME

- 1 -

"Meri! Hey!" Bakura ran across the road to the street urchin he had befriended several years ago. Meri, who was about Bakura's age, was sitting atop a garbage can with her eyes closed. Bakura was shocked at her condition. She was wearing torn jeans, a T-shirt 3 sizes too big and shoes bound with duct tape. She was filthy and her long unkempt hair hung in oily jet black strands. She usually didn't look this bad. Meri opened her eyes and gave Bakura a tired smile.

"What ya doin' in my neck of the woods, Bakura?"

"Looking for you." He pointed over his shoulder at a group across the street, "My friends and I are part of a scavenger hunt and I thought you would be the best person to help us with it." He looked at her hopefully as he pulled out the list. "We only have two items left – a white, spotted cat and a picture of the smallest of us (that would be Yugi) holding the cat. The picture needs to be taken at warehouse block 2273, while Yugi is standing in a circle that is drawn in the middle of the floor, at exactly midnight tonight."

Meri frowned at him, "A white spotted cat?"

Bakura nodded. "You told me before a white spotted cat adopted you at your usual hangout – which is in the warehouse district, right?"

"Don't you think it's just a bit too specific? How many white spotted cats do you think there are in the city?"

"If the scavenger hunt would be easy, the prize wouldn't be so great. All expense paid trip to Egypt to witness the return of their king. Just think of it!" Bakura's eyes glowed with excitement.

Meri grinned at him. She couldn't refuse her only friend anything. "Okay, let's go see if Mau is at our hangout. He's probably sleeping in a patch of sunlight. And yes, I know where block 2273 is."

Bakura whooped and Meri laughed at him. He turned and motioned his friends over to meet the scraggly girl. Meri was amazed that Bakura's friends, Téa and Yugi, accepted her so quickly. They all talked animatedly as she led them through the back alleys of the city.

Why can't people just leave Mokuba alone? It isn't fair that, if they want me to do something, they always go after him! Mokuba had been taken again. The guards who were supposed to protect him were in the hospital. Seto's knuckles were white from gripping the desk so he would not jump over it and tear the messenger limb from limb. "You better leave the office NOW!" he barked in barely contained fury. White-faced and sweating nervously, the man stumbled over himself in his haste to leave.

Seto took a couple of deep breaths to calm his breathing and settle his stomach. He picked up the handwritten note to read it again:

Your presence is requested at block 2273 in the warehouse district.

Be there tonight at midnight

or

your loved one will not survive.

Kaiba's rage went cold. Someone was going to pay!

After a while, Bakura became aware of the smell of the warehouse district. Being next to the waterfront, the smell of fish, gasoline, decay, oil and who knows what else was overpowering.

"The place where I stay is this way, away from the waterfront and is almost never used. It is the same way with 2273." They continued down another block and Meri turned down a narrow alley. "The entrance I found is through the roof," she said as she grabbed a rung to the fire escape and scrambled up it.

It was no wonder Meri was filthy and smelly. The fire escape was rusty, the roof had decaying whatever covering it, the passage into the warehouse had dust, dirt, and cobwebs. The smell of the waterfront permeated everything.

"Here we are – home away from the streets. We can hang here until closer to midnight." They looked around. Meri had a pile of blankets piled up behind some abandoned crates. There was a oil lantern and a box of matches next to it, which she used as it was getting dark. Téa shrieked as, in the new light, she saw the blankets move. Her fear was forgotten though as she stared in amazement at the most beautiful cat she had ever seen worked his way out of the blankets, performed a toothy yawn, stretched and rubbed up against her legs. She picked him up and put him on her lap as she sat on one of the crates.

"Good evening, Mau." Meri said as she scratched him behind the ears.

"The white spotted cat." Yugi said in a hushed whisper.

"Beautiful, isn't he?"

"Never seen anything like him. He is almost … regal." Bakura was awed too.

To pass the time until midnight, the friends talked for a while, then watched Yugi and Bakura duel. Meri watched the duel with increasing interest.

"The game is familiar to me, but I don't remember where I have seen such cards before." The expression on her face was one trying to remember a long forgotten memory.

Seto had cleared his calendar. Other than that, he had been at a loss of what to do until the drive to block 2273. But now, it was time. He sat in the back of the limo, his thoughts turned inward. I'm coming, Mokuba. I won't fail you.

With the lit, but shuttered, lantern in her hand, Meri led the gang to block 2273. It looked to be the most run down of the warehouses and the door leading inside did not even close all the way. They quietly entered the main room. It was almost midnight. They were all giddy with excitement. It looked like no one else had succeeded in the scavenger hunt, the prize would be theirs. Meri unshuttered the lantern to increase the lighting. They walked around the room and found the circle. Yugi took Mau from Téa and Téa took out her digital camera.

Seto climbed out of the limo, wrinkled his nose in disgust, and told the driver to wait for him as he didn't know how long he would be. He entered the open door and followed a dim light coming from the main room. He heard a familiar voice say "Hey, this looks like the Spellbinding Circle from my deck." What is Yugi doing here? He quickened his pace and stepped into the room. Yugi was in the middle of the room holding … something, Téa was on one knee between Yugi and Kaiba and looked like she was going to take a picture, and more of Yugi's friends seemed to be standing before some crates against the far wall.

"Where's Mokuba!" Seto yelled. Yugi looked up in shock. And several things happened at once. Yugi went to step out of the circle, Téa took the picture and the circle erupted into a beam of light that lit up the whole warehouse. Yugi's scream was almost drowned out by the screeches of a furious cat. A silent concussion exploded through the room throwing everyone against whatever was behind them.

Unconsciousness reigned.