Disclaimers: I obviously don't own Yu Gi Oh or Yu Yu Hakusho...or do I?
Chapter 1: The Awakening
Ryou looked worried as he paced back and forth. Isis was wrapping Kaiba's hand in absorbent, white cloth to stop the persistent bleeding. Yami was looking through every book he had on Shadow Realm Effects.
"No, this isn't right. Maybe this… no." he muttered as he tossed more useless books aside.
"Want some help?" Ryou asked, quitting his pacing.
"No, unless you found a counter curse with Hawkeyes." Yami snapped.
"Hey!" Malik looked up from the book he was reading, giving Yami a hurt look. "You know I'm helping, don't you? If you want me to help find a counter, stop calling me Hawkeyes!" he said angrily, turning to a new page in his book.
"Boys, quit arguing. You're acting like children." Isis said. She finished up and grabbed her brother's ancient book. "Here's something. 'The Shadow Realm can affect mortals in many difficult and deadly ways. One way is if mortals are maintaining a mind shuffle, their mental/magical energies will drain quickly. If the mortal in question is over their endurance level, their spirits will fade and (I cannot read the rest.) There is no known counter. If one is found, use quickly or it will be too late.'"
"No known counter! It can't…no, no, no!" Yami collapsed, stunned.
"Look on the bright side, now you can duel without…" Kaiba stopped when he saw the expression on Yami's face. He abruptly changed the topic. "Has anyone seen Mokuba?" Isis nodded and pointed to the attached room. Kaiba walked in and surveyed the room. Mokuba sat alone next to a messy bed of torn, stained sheets. His eyes were red and swollen while his skin was blotchy white.
"Mokuba? It's me." Kaiba said as he entered.
"Seto?" Mokuba whispered.
"Yes, little brother. I'm here." Kaiba answered as he took a seat next to him. Mokuba turned to look at him then promptly collapsed into his brother's arms, sobbing.
"He's gone, Seto! I tried healing him but nothing happened! It's hopeless."
"It's all right. He'll be fine, trust me." Kaiba said. In his heart, he knew it was hopeless and lying to his brother just made Kaiba feel worse.
A spirit listened unconsciously to Mokuba's wails. In his weak state, the noise made no sense. Mokuba had awakened him when he had laid in an unconscious sleep with the healing spell. 'Could someone calm down the noise maker?' he thought, annoyed. 'I would do it myself but (sigh) I am too weak.' he thought sadly, feeling useless. The wails stopped while he sulked.
Isis walked over to where Yami sat and patted his shoulder.
"It's okay, my friend. You tried your best to protect him."
"No. I didn't, Isis. I should be in his place. It's what I deserve." Yami said.
SLAP! "Don't you dare say such things! Your head is filled with cotton! I know you're sad, but this isn't your fault!" Isis yelled. Yami touched his stinging cheek and looked down. 'Boys.' Isis thought as she moved away. Kaiba walked in holding his little brother's hand. Yami ignored them as they entered. Ryou sensed them and suddenly whipped around, catching the brothers' attention for mere moments.
"How is he doing?" he asked.
"I haven't seen or heard anything, Ryou. Why?" Mokuba asked.
"I sensed spirit activity near where he's sleeping. Was it you two?"
"No." the brothers answered. Curious, Isis went to the bedside to look for clues.
"Ryou's right. I sense something. Wait…" Isis suddenly apparated into a damp, foggy realm, possibly a spirit's resting place. It gave her the distinct impression that somebody or something was watching her through the dense, humid fog that started to snake around her feet. She heard something moan and whipped around, ready to defend herself. Instead of a demon, she found a spirit, struggling to sit up. He looked quite familiar.
"You're alive!" Isis cried. The spirit covered his ears.
"Keep quiet, whatever you are! I already have a headache and don't want it to be worse. Shoo, leave me alone!" he cried. Turning over, he spotted Isis. "Isis! I'm so sorry for that. I thought you were another demon coming to torture me."
"Are you all right?" Isis asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Can I get back? Can you help me?" The spirit asked.
"The answer to both of those questions is yes." Isis helped the spirit to his feet, catching him as his legs gave out.
"My head hurts and I feel dizzy. Everything's spinning." The spirit complained. Isis lowered him enough so he could sit up on the ground.
"Okay, listen carefully. If you want to return to your realm, revive the link between body and spirit." she said.
"Ok."
Isis apparated at the bedside in the real world seconds later. Three days later, the boy moaned and opened his eyes. He sat up with Isis' help.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Yami won against Pegasus and freed Kaiba, Mokuba and your grandpa. He won for you because you fainted after one of your monsters was destroyed." Isis explained.
"The last thing I remember was my Feral Imp being creamed by Relinquished, but then everything went black." he answered. After finding out that Yugi couldn't walk or stand, Isis lifted and carried him into the den. Suddenly, a large, silver wolf appeared out of nowhere. It growled, baring its teeth and raising its shackles. It inched cautiously forward, sniffed the boy then vanished. In its place stood a tall boy with ice like grayish blue eyes, silver waist length hair tied in a long ponytail braid, wearing long white robes and a violentpink beanie hat with a white fuzzball on top.
"Are you Yugi Motou?" the boy asked.
"I am." Yugi answered. The boy looked surprised.
"You are summoned to the Pharaoh immediately if you are able. Isis Ishtar, you are also summoned." he said, regaining his composure in seconds. Yugi eyed the boy's hat.
"It isn't cold. Why do you wear that hat?" the boy pulled it off. This boy turned out to be a Wolf Demon. His gaze fell on Isis holding Yugi like a small child.
"If you visit the young healer, he could have you walking in no time." He led the way with Isis and Yugi behind him. They walked for hours across large grassland until they reached Yami's summer home on the edge of the woods. Ryou was on lookout duty when he spotted the demon.
"Yami! Your friend is back, and he's got Yugi!" Surprised, Yami looked through his spyglass.
"He should get looked at first. Ryou, take Yugi to see Mokuba."
"Ok." Ryou came out of hiding. "Yugi! Thank Ra you're okay. Why is Isis carrying you? Yami said to visit Mokuba. Kura, Mokuba lives down two trees." Kura nodded and beckoned Isis to follow. Mokuba welcomed them with open arms.
"Yami was right. You did need to see me. There! Try walking now." Yugi stood up and walked around. After taking ten shaky steps he collapsed, breathless into Isis' arms.
"Hmm. Get some rest then come back and see me, ok? Yami wants to see you, go on!" Mokuba said, shooing them all out.
"Why were you smirking?" Yugi asked the demon as they walked back to Yami's house.
"I couldn't help it. You were acting funny." Kura answered, fighting to keep a straight expression. Demon wolves are usually quite serious, but Kura had an uncontrollable sense of humor. He became his red haired, human self as the party entered the tree house.
Yami sat in a chair, polishing his amber spyglass that was used on lookout duty. Now that he was in view, he looked like a starved wolf; sitting there looking tired. Thin as a stick, Yami's ribs showed and there was no sign of muscle anywhere on his body. His face was shadowed, partly sunken with his skin stretching like a glove that was too tight. The only part of him that looked alive was his eyes, glowing dully in his shrunken frame. When Yugi had last seen him, he looked quite different. His stature was horrifying, but his outfit looked a bit royal. Yugi cringed a bit when he saw Yami, amazed that he was still alive due to how he looked.
"Yugi! Are you okay? What happened to you?" Yami rasped.
"I'm fine. I can see that you are not okay. How did you get like this?" Yugi asked, looking scared.
"He'd tell you, Yugi, but he really needs to eat lunch." Ryou carried in a salad for Yami. The pharaoh refused it, even though his stomach acted like a volcano.
"No, …no thanks. I must speak with Yugi. No… (gasp)…lunch for me."
Shrugging, Ryou set down the salad and left.
"What's wrong, Yami? You've got to eat something! Please?" Yugi pleaded.
Yami took a shuddering breath and answered, "Yugi. (sigh) I…I thought Pegasus had…had…" Yami slumped, his eyes closed.
"Yami?" Yugi yelled. Kura walked forward and took the pharaoh's limp hand.
"He's out cold. Yelling won't help now. He needs a special medicine that only elves know how to make. He was poisoned."
"How? Who? Why?"
"I don't know." Kura said sadly, his emerald eyes looking dull.
"Where's Kaiba? Maybe we could ask him if he's seen anything. Also, I need to give this to him." Yugi said quickly, pulling one of Kaiba's prized cards (a Blue Eyes White Dragon) out of his pocket. Kura's eyes widened at the sight of the rare card in Yugi's hand.
"Hmm. Kaiba left. He said that he would be back when he could." he said.
"I did say that, but meant that I would return when Yugi had been revived." Kaiba limped inside the tree house.