Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, I would be rich, but I'm not, so don't sue me.

Note: This is my first fan-fiction, so please keep that in mind.

The Sounds of Silence~ Chapter 1

When Kaiba walked into his office that day, it was in utter chaos. Two people stood arguing, a package sitting on the table between them. The rest of the workers stood gathered around watching them. When they noticed his presence, they shifted nervously, but it was too late.

"What is going on?!" he yelled at them, "You two," he motioned to the quarrelling people, "Follow me." He turned to the rest of the workers, who looked at him fearfully. "You all are paid to work, you know. Get to it!"

He stalked off into his office. The two followed hesitantly. One scooped up the package and brought it along.

He sat down at his desk, and began to work at his computer. The two people stood expectantly. Finally, he turned to them.

"What was going on out there?" he asked.

One of the men shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Um. . . there was this package for you today, left at the front of the building."

He raised an eyebrow. "All of this over a package?"

"Not exactly, Mr. Kaiba." The other put in, "We thought it might be a bomb or something. . . and-"

"No, he thought it was a bomb." The first man put in.

"So what is it?" he snapped.

There was a nervous silence, and then, "We don't know yet."

He sighed. Such a fuss over something they were not even sure about. He reached for the package that had been set on his desk. It was wrapped with plain paper, and scrawled on top was 'Kaiba'.

He tore open the package, despite complaints and protests from his workers. Inside lay a wooden carving, the size of the palm of his hand. He looked up at them, and the one who was afraid it was a 'bomb' shifted nervously.

"Get back to work." He told the other man. To this one he only said. "You're fired."

As soon as his office was empty, he closed the door and got a good look at the carving. It was in the shape of a wolf, but more slender, with a dignified look. Vines curled about its feet, each detail exquisite, exact. As he picked it up, he found a note underneath. It said:

Kaiba-
Thank you for your help at Duelist Kingdom. Consider this gift a
payment. (I don't like having to thank people too often, so don't be
expecting anything like this again. I hope I won't be needing your
help again.)

The note was anonymous, but he knew who'd sent it.

***flashback***

When he woke up, he found himself in a cell in Pegasus' castle. The first thought that flashed through his mind was I've got to find Mokuba. He tried to open the cell door. Naturally, it was locked. His second thought was How do I get out?

He tried to reach the lock, to see if he could maybe pick it, but it was beyond his reach. Suddenly, a shadow fell across the cell. He looked up to see a girl looking at him.

She was tall and slender, but he couldn't see her face through the gloom. Wordlessly, she bent down to the lock on the door, and took out a knife. Using its point, she quickly opened it. The door swung open. She stepped aside and he got out.

She turned and headed for the flight of stairs at the end of the hall. There, the path split two ways, right and left. She stopped.

"Where do we go now, to get out?" he asked her.

She said nothing, only shrugged.

"Not much for words, are you?" he sneered.

            For the first time, she spoke, and she wasn't very happy. Kaiba eyed the knife in her hand. Maybe its not a good thing to get a person, holding a knife that's about two inches from myself, angry.

            "Not much for intelligent conversations, are you?" she asked. Her voice was soft, but held and edge to it.

Kaiba drew back. For the first time in many years, someone dared speak to him like that. He was ready to shoot back a reply, but stopped. If she knew a way out, maybe it was best to not make her too mad. Seeing that he was not about to reply, she turned, and led the way. As they neared the exit, there was a shout.

Kaiba turned, and saw guards coming at them, running down the corridor. From the exit, more guards burst in. They were surrounded. As much as he hated to admit it, he owed the girl a favor.

"They're getting away. Catch them!" one guard called.

"Go on," he told her. "I'll take care of these losers."

"What? And miss a good fight? I don't think so." She said calmly, but then added, "Besides, I don't trust you to be able to fight them all."

"You're insulting my intelligence and my ability to fight as well?" he asked angrily.

"That's right, Kaiba." She challenged.

He gasped. How did she know my name? Wait. I'm pretty much world famous, aren't I?

But she wasn't finished. "Were you planning to fight me, instead of those people?" she asked, gesturing to the nearing goons. "If you weren't, then you'd better prepare yourself."

"I was born ready." He said loftily.

"I'll bet." She murmured.

He wanted to say something back, but there was no time. The guards were getting too close. The first one threw a punch at him. He blocked it, and then swung at his attacker. The guard went down, and stayed down. He turned to face a second attacker.

Beside him, the girl had her back to him, fighting off the guards coming at them from the other direction. As much as he hated to admit it, she was good-about as good as he was. That gave her good reason to question his own skill, which he didn't like too much.

Then, there came a lull in the fighting, and seizing the chance, she grabbed him, and jerked him towards the door. The guards scrambled after them, but it was too late. The door clang shut, and was locked-from the outside.

They were outside Pegasus' castle. She steadied herself against the wall, catching her breath. As she turned, she came into the sunlight, and he got a good look at her face.

She was pretty, with light, gold-brown skin. Her dark, black hair hung down to her shoulder blades. Shadowy, black eyes locked with his, their gaze keen and searching. They held his eyes for a minute, before he had to look away. They held a certain emotion he could not place. Their look would haunt him for weeks to come, like a puzzle he could not solve.


They headed through the forest, to where he had landed his helicopter. As they neared it, a goon came up from where he was waiting, and grabbed her. He laughed as she struggled, and then spoke, "Hah. I knew you would be coming here, Kaiba."

Kaiba gasped. It was Kemo. The girl struggled in his grip, but he was too strong. There was a movement too fast for him to follow, and then Kemo cried out in pain. He let go of her with his right hand. Kaiba moved to help her, but then, Kemo drew something out of his pocket, and clasped it over the girl's wrist.

She made no sound, but from the look on her face, it hurt. Suddenly, it seemed as if the strength had drained out of her. She stopped fighting. Before he was sure of what he was doing, he had attacked Kemo. A while later, the man lay sprawled on the ground, unmoving.

The girl sat with her back against a tree, working to get the thing off. He went over. Sweat poured down her face. She held her knife in one hand, but her hand would not stop shaking enough to work it into the lock.

"Give me your knife." He said.

She handed it to him gratefully. He examined the thing on her wrist. It was a metal band, its surface dark and rough. Unlike normal metal, it glinted dully in the bright sunlight. Where it pressed against her wrist, the skin was raw, and swelling.

Gingerly, he touched the metal, but was startled to find that he didn't feel anything.

"It won't do anything to you." She said, through gritted teeth.

He opened his mouth to ask, but though hurt, she had enough of... something left to glare at him. "Don't ask."

He shut his mouth and swallowed the question. Silently, he picked at the band's lock until he heard a click, and it opened and fell to the floor.

She stood up, rubbing her wrist.

"Now can I ask?" he asked plaintively.

She looked at him. "I'm not changing my mind now. No, you may not ask now."

Her tone was sharp, but he saw that her face was shadowed, as if remembering something dark. He didn't bring the question up again.

She's hiding something. He thought.

But if she doesn't want to talk about it, I'll respect that.

Whoa. There's a first.  He thought ruefully. Me, Seto Kaiba, respecting someone. A girl too, on top of that. Then again, this will probably be the only time I meet someone like that. I sure hope it is.

Yet, he couldn't help but think too, In a way, she is a lot like me, independent, confident, and strong, mentally and physically.

He shook his head, catching the direction his thoughts were turning to. I really need to take a break some day.

He broke out of his thoughts to see the girl looking at him strangely.

"Don't you want to look for your brother?" she asked.

"Oh yeah!" He had almost forgotten. Keyword- almost. "Do you know where Mokuba is?" he asked.

"What am I?" she growled, "All powerful and all knowing? I don't think so."

It took a minute for him to realize she had been joking. He suppressed a smile. She might actually be human. He'd been having his doubts.

"Actually," She said, "your brother is probably looking for you in Pegasus' castle. You should look for him there."

"Alright." He turned to go. Then, remembering something, turned back. "By the way," he asked, "What is your name?"

"They call me Tammy." she said.

            "Tammy," He murmured to himself. "Hey," he called, "Do you need a ride of the island?"

She shook her head. "There's a boat heading off the island now. I'll catch up to it." She turned to go, but then called back, "Kaiba . . . thanks."

He looked at her, startled, "Same to you."

She gave a short nod, and then disappeared into the trees. Within seconds, she was gone.

He turned and headed to Pegasus' castle. I'm coming, little brother.

***end flashback***

He put the note down and sighed. He couldn't help but laugh a bit, though. It would be like her, to add a comment like that at the end. He wondered where she was now. He hadn't seen her after he'd left Duelist Kingdom. It was rare that he met someone like that. Especially since he lived around a bunch of extreme losers, like that dog, Joey. He wished he could see her again sometime. Little did he know, that he was about to get his wish real soon.