Bloodied Waters

DISCLAIMER! o_O There must be something wrong if you think I've even met a voice actor for Yu-Gi-Oh, let alone own it...

=*=

He could only stare at the dagger poking at a strange angle from the center of his chest, dark red blood flowing freely from the wound it had made, soaking in to his pristine white robes. His white-feathered wings began to drop lower and lower to the ground, decreasing to a shade of bland grey. He knew he was dying. But it was too early… his mission was not finished.

Where did his kind go when they died? He had only heard stories of what the disgusting humans had told of heaven and hell. Those of their souls being put into another body. Many different kinds that all sounded so… preposterous, pompous, and so unreal.

"Yugi…" a raspy voice called to him from the shadows, snapping him from his complementation. "Yugi…"

"Who's there?" he yelled at the darkness, even though it pained them. He winced as the sting shot through his veins. "What do you want from me?"

A cloaked figure slinked out from the blackness beyond the room. His hood covered his eyes, so Yugi could not make out his captor. From what he could see, there was a scar that went from his cheek and down to his chin, still pink and turning yellow. The sign of healing. The hidden man shuffled through his robes until his hand found it's destination. Over a brown bag sealed with red and gold twine. He opened the bag, making his way towards Yugi all the while. Tan fingers ran through the sack's contents bringing them to Yugi's face so he could see.

Sand. Glowing, shining sand.

"I want revenge for what you did to me. To me and my people. You will pay the ultimate prices of the deed you have done upon me." The man paused, smirking, making his canine teeth glint in the purple and green fire of the lanterns that hung on the stone walls. "I will take away your memories. I will take away your soul." He began to pour the sand onto the obsidian dagger that had made the winged-creature bleed so profusely.

Yugi hissed as the grains of sand stuck deep into his bleeding flesh. "What… will this accomplish?"

"I will take away your memories." the man chanted, ignoring his prisoner's cries.

The sand he continued to pour on the dagger began to swirl, flashing white. Then blue. Then the color of sand.

"I will take away your soul."

White. Blue. Brown.

"I will take away your memories."

White. I'm losing consciousness. Blue. I can't feel any longer. Brown. My wings… my feathers…

"I will take away your-" the cloaked man was cut off abruptly.

"Stop this madness!"

He turned to the source of the shouting to see a man and a woman in front, carrying staffs. About ten other men clamored in behind them, also wielding wands and staffs. The woman began to chant, and her staff, eyes, and necklace began to glow a gentle forest green. The room pulsed, and the men charged.

"It looks like my session with you, Yugi dearest, is over. If only half of the process is complete, then I must do the second worst thing." the cloaked figure murmured something, before Yugi's entire body vanished. And the only thing that remained was the echoing clatter of the dagger and the grey, decaying feathers that lie in the blood pooling on the stone floor.

=*=

Students flowed out of the building, like milk from a cup. They chattered on as if nothing else mattered, walking home or to the mall or to the new pizza plaza or wherever else. But one boy continued to distance himself from the crowd. Away from the gossip. Away from the accusing eyes.

"Atemu!" someone yelled from behind him. He could hear their footsteps pound on the cement. Anzu, he groaned.

Anzu Mazaki, third, fourth, and sixth period classmate.

'Atemu' turned around on his heel to face the worn-out girl. "Oh, hello, Anzu. Please, call me Yami."

"Alright… Yami." she giggled. "Jonouchi, Honda, and I are heading over to the arcade. Would you like to come? It would be a refreshing change on your second day of school. We have enough money for all of us, so you wouldn't have to bring any. What do you say?"

Yami sighed, his feet becoming very interesting to look at. He didn't want to go and be surrounded by the student body in which he was trying to rid himself of. Now how to put this nicely? "Anzu, my parents really are expecting me to be home soon. We're going to take a walk around town, you know?" he lied.

Anzu's face brightened even more. "Can't you come with us, and your parents meet you there?"

"No, no. Maybe another time." Yami said, politely as possible. The girl only sighed and nodded, still smiling, before she walked away, merging with the students still hanging around the school's entrance. Yami grinned like the Cheshire cat in his accomplishment. He began his journey home.

The truth was, he didn't have parents. Just a parent. His father, who was currently back in America, was finishing and tying up loose ends before their move. 'I can't believe he trusts me.'

The day had been stressful. English was horrible. He had a hard time as it was with the damned language, but having a teacher that yelled at you for the slightest sound you made? It did not help. Later that day, someone had tripped him, although accidental, and he had been called the 'newbie klutz' for the entire day. 'Thank goodness those dolts will forget it all by tomorrow.' he thought.

Yami sighed. "I hate having to walk all this way." he mumbled.

Ten minutes later, Yami reached the medium-sized thicket of trees and over-grown bushes that separated his neighbor hood from the others surrounding them. This way, he didn't have to go through the metal gates up front and walk all the way to the end of the street.

Moments later, Yami found himself going the opposite direction of his house. He willed his feet to stop and turn around, but his brain wouldn't send off that command. Something was… was drawing him here.

He winced as he felt water soaking into his shoes. "There's a… pond?" Yami said to the air. Sure enough, there was a small-sized pond with sharp, craggy rocks surrounding it. Right behind it, there was a large stone slab with patterns etched into it. They swirled here and there, not a straight line in sight. They seemed to dance on the slab of rock, like… "Magic." he whispered.

Suddenly, the patterns on the slab began to glow dark red, then turned white. The bright light was too much to look at. Yami closed his eyes tightly, having the feeling of being blown back by a large gust. His blonde bangs moved with the invisible wind.

Splash.

The light slowly faded away, replaced by the normal sunlight.

Yami opened his eyes and gasped. In the middle of the pond lay a body, sprawled out across the water. He could see blood seeping through the clear liquid, making it become slightly discolored. Yami ran up to the person, eyes showing his utter confusion.

It was a little boy.

Placing two fingers under the unconscious boy's neck, he frowned. There was a pulse, but it wasn't too strong. That of course, must be the effect of that huge wound on his chest.

"I've gotta help him…" Yami murmured, throwing down his backpack. He leaned over and placed his arm under the boy's neck and his other arm under his legs. He had seen it done in many movies. Bridal style, they called it. He picked him up and began walking as fast as he could.

=*=

Yami sighed as he pulled the chair over to the bedside. He plunged the white cloth beneath the water in the bowl he had filled earlier. He fished it out of the bowl a moment later and slapped it over the injured boy's head.

He has brought him up to his room and inspected the chest wound. It had been a pretty deep gouge, coated in gritty sand. So he had the task of vigorous cleaning. Yami was thankful that the boy was unconscious so he couldn't feel the cleansing alcohol's burn.

'He looks just like a smaller version of me… we could be twins.' Yami thought, staring at the boy's eyelids. That was true. Both of them had red tipped, star shaped hair. Although, Yami's blonde bangs were much wilder than the other's.

A sound snapped him from his thoughts. He glanced down at the boy, who was starting to move around. He groaned again, something that sounded like 'no, no'. It was dead silent for another moment for the boy bolted upwards, succeeding in making his legs tangle in the blankets.

"A-are you okay?" Yami shot up, placing a hand on the boy's back.

(More or less switching views here!)

Yugi felt an icy cold hand pressed against his back. His eyes flew open as far as they could, before he moved away from the cold fingers. He moved a little too fast and ended up on the wooden floor with a very nice thump!, tangled even more in the bed sheets.

That evil, cruel person who had decided to freeze his backside off was laughing at him. "What's so damn funny?" Yugi snarled.

Their laughed settled down to a chuckle, "You are really feisty, aren't you? I'm Yami by the way."

"Yugi." he mumbled, just loud enough for Yami to hear.

"Here, let me help you." Yami sprinted around the bed and latched onto Yugi's arm, pulling him up. "AH! Sorry, I'm really sorry…" Yami apologized quickly when Yugi hissed in pain for being pulled up with too much force.

Yugi nodded briskly before actually getting a good look at this 'Yami' person. It was amusing for them to have identical hair, but Yugi was immensely disappointed that Yami was much taller than him. His eyes were a bright and beautiful crimson, unlike his own shining purple eyes. Yugi scanned the man's back, eyes widening in shock to see them bare. 'He has no wings!' His brain connected two with two. This person didn't have the appearence of any creatures where he lived. That only left one option...

"You're… you're a human." Yugi strained out.

Yami gave him a quizzical look. "Yeah, thank you for noticing."

Yugi staggered backwards, clutching his chest. He was in front of a human… a species that he had always been told that would want to kill their kind if they were ever found. But why wasn't this human lashing out at him, trying to rip off his wings to send to the nearest 'exa-ham room'?

"What's wrong, Yugi?" Yami frowned, walking towards the boy.

"Stay back, I… I don't know what you want with me. But I'm not afraid to use my powers." Yugi threatened. Sure, it would make him go unconscious once more, because he wasn't fully healed, but desperate times call for desperate measures. "Just stay away from me."

Yami's frowned deepened, but he stopped walking towards they boy. Was he clinically insane and had somehow ended up in that pond? No, it had only been after the flash. "Yugi… I think you may have hit your head back there and gotten a concussion. Why don't you get a little more rest? I promise that I won't hurt you…" he trailed off, seeing Yugi's face become even more bewildered.

"I warned you." He was appalled at how Yami dared to even challenge the power of his magic. "I feel sorry that you're going to die. Hrnani gyua hrteri nani…!" Yugi rasped out. He waited for the tingly feeling of magic to flow through his body and for his vision to blur immensely, but nothing happened.

"Please tell me you aren't insane…" Yami murmured, looking at the scuff mark on the floor.

But the boy did not hear the remark. Yugi noticed that his own back was feeling very airy, not shielded by his large white wings. He couldn't feel the tips of the soft feathers brush against his pale skin, bringing him comfort as they usually did. "What have you done to me?!" he shouted, crying out in pain right after. He felt a warm sticky liquid running down his chest, making lines through his now-not-so-white robe. Yugi ignored it, deciding to confront Yami once more. "What… have you done to me, you monster?"

"Nothing!" Yami snapped, "Now come here, you've opened your wound. I don't want to keel over and die on me, Yugi."

"I… you're lying. I cannot… trust… a… a…" Yugi tried to finish. But he was suddenly sent into a coughing fit. When the spluttering subsided, he began to sway. Yami's face lit up in surprise before he ran up to the boy before he fell face-first. Yami sighed, picking him up bridal-style for the second time to day. He looked down at the innocent child face, and couldn't help a small smile.

Yami gently placed Yugi on the bed, then went to go fetch the medical supplies. Stopping at the doorway, we turned and stared at the form of the boy.

"Yugi, I promise I'm going to find out what's wrong with you. I have too many questions, now, to let it slide." he murmured, before switching off the lights and leaving the dark bedroom.

===*===

Ghosteh: Ehehe… hmm. First chapter of 'Bloodied Waters.' What do you think? Don't be afraid to tell me in a review! But please don't flame, it hurts my soul. ;~; Even chicken soup can't fix that.

Yes, I know that they both seem OOC, but I am going to smooth that out over the next few chapters. Just let me get used to writing them, okay? And the next chapter should be longer, this is just diving you into the mystery of what is… -dramatic pause- YUGI!

Anyways, thank you for reading and listening to my ramble and possibly reviewing! Tune in next time for 'Bloodied Waters'!