Hey! Welcome to my new fic: Shadows of Light! Weird title, I know. Well, I'm a little stuck on Brothers to the End. Reason- Writers block! Well, in the meanwhile, I decided to post this. It's been a plot bunny that just won't stop hopping around in my head! So, I'm getting rid of it. I hope… I hope that you all like! If you do, review, and I might post the next chapter… At some point…
Words...
English... ... ... ... Japanese
Surface... ... ... ...Sora
Ocean... ... ... ... Taiseiyo
...That's all for now.
"Yugioh!" – talking
Yugioh! – thinking
Prologue -- Shadows of Light
Two boys silently swam away from the palace and into the city beyond. They were brothers, princes of Antaria and heirs to the throne. They were alike, but had differences both in appearance and personality.
The elder of the two had jet black hair that spiked up and seemed as if it was dipped in blood. Lightning blond bangs elegantly framed his face and streaked through his hair. His face was slightly round, enough so that it still resembled the eight-year-old it belonged to, though slightly angular. Narrow, crimson eyes gazed ahead, analyzing his surroundings, calculating every twist and turn. Behind his bangs where ears should be were two fin-like appendages that were each a deep violet, the membrane between matching his eyes. They were especially useful when determining changes in water currents.
His tail flitted as he darted in between houses, a dark violet melting into a hypnotic indigo and a ruby fin to top it off.
And when he wanted… He was just as dangerous as he looked.
The younger, however, was the image of innocence (though perhaps that was due to the fact that he was only 6 years old.) The hair was softer and tipped with violet. Wide, amethyst eyes stared up at the other as they hid from a guard. "'Temi, I don't think this is okay," he whispered, emerald fin twitching anxiously.
Atemu squeezed the younger's hand reassuringly as they swam away from their hiding place. "Don't worry, Yugi," he said. "I know exactly what I'm doing."
"If you say so," Yugi said unsurely. They swam around another house. "I just have a bad felling about all this, 'Temi. What if someone catches us?" His brother laughed lightly.
"Yugi, no one will catch us. I promise," the Prince assured him. They came up to a narrow pass that marked the entrance – or exit – to the outer territories. "We're almost there." He pulled his brother through the pass.
Yugi blinked at the colors he saw. Yellow, green, red, blue – every color you could imagine was in those reefs, on those fish. It took his breath away. "'Temi, it's… it's…."
"Beautiful," Atemu finished. "I know. Come on, we're still not quite there."
"T-there's more?" Yugi asked, watching as Atemu pulled him deeper into the waters. "H-how much m-more?"
Atemu smirked. "A lot more." He began swimming up.
Yugi's eyes, if possible, widened more. "S-Sora?!" he cried. It was too late though, for they had already broken through. They were on the surface.
Atemu smiled, arms spread out as if embracing the cool night air. "Isn't it wonderful?"
"Yes," Yugi murmured. "But do you know how much trouble we could get in if Mother and Father found out?"
"Yes," Atemu agreed. "But it's so worth it."
He let go of his brother's hand and swam over to a large rock rising out of the ocean. Yugi followed and climbed up beside him.
"So this is where you're always hiding," Yugi thought aloud.
"Yes," Atemu replied, chuckling.
They sat there for a while, just feeling the air and watching the stars. They each believed that to be the greatest night in the world.
Atemu wrapped an arm around his brother and pulled Yugi to him. He sighed, resting his head on the others.
"Happy birthday, Yugi."
Neither sensed the flash storm coming.
The clouds were coming even closer, bringing the storm with it. A little boy, no more than 5 or 6, gazed out at the approaching storm. A hand grabbed his and he cried out, startled.
"Shuddup!"
His father. The boy whimpered and squirmed, trying to escape the beating he knew was coming.
"I said, Shuddup!" The child stopped struggling.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The boy whimpered, earning a sharp SMACK from his father. His honey-brown eyes stung with unshed tears, but he wouldn't let them show. He learned long ago not to let them show.
His father began pulling him toward the on-deck cabin, shouting all sorts of things at him. The drunken man spun around and slapped him again. "Do ya hear me, Jou?! You listen when I'ma talkin' ta ya, boy!" He smacked Jou a third time, but still, he refused to cry.
CRAAAACKLLLLZZZZZZZZZE! BOOOOOOOM!
Lightning flashed, illuminating the sea, quickly followed by another roll of thunder. Waves crashed into the small boat, nearly throwing the occupants overboard. Rain pelted the deck, soaking everything.
The man grabbed the handle of the cabin door and yanked it open just as a wave crashed onto the boat. The handle slipped from his grasp as he was thrown overboard along with his son.
CRASH!
A wave descended upon the boy, pushing him under. His lungs cried out for air and he thought he was going to explode when he surfaced again.
He looked around for his father and saw him floating in the water on a piece of their boat. Another wave came down, only this time taking the man into the ocean's hungry jaws. Jou didn't think anymore after that.
He started thrashing wildly, for he did not know how to swim. At that point, he was just hoping somebody would find him. If his father found him first, then he'd be in big trouble. But then, if he wasn't found, he'd be in trouble then, too.
He didn't know which was worse.
"'Temi!"
"Yugi! Hang on, I'm coming!"
Atemu fought desperately against the waves. He had never before been on Sora in the middle of a storm, and was becoming more exhausted with every burst of speed he gave. But he had to help his brother, no matter what.
He would have gone under the waters, but then it would have been even harder to find Yugi, for he would not have known to do so as well. So, he was stuck to searching Sora.
"Yugi!" he called again, hoping to pinpoint the younger's location.
No reply.
Another wave came, and he used what strength he had to mount it in an attempt to get a better view. It was a fruitless attempt, however. The rain and dark sky made a very effective cover. Oh, Poseidon, no. Please, no…
He did however make one discovery: humans. Well, one. A rather round man was spotted floating face down in the water, dead. But other than that, there was no one.
A wave pulled him under and caused him to crash his head into a rock. He knew nothing more.
Yugi's mind was numb. All he could comprehend was the rolling thunder and crackle of lightning. That, and the thought of being totally helpless and on Sora.
It was impossible to see anything through the rain, his vision worsening only when lightning flashed and left him seeing spots.
Waves crashed into him with all of Taiseiyo's fury. Yugi felt all of Taiseiyo's antipathy – towards him, for disobeying his parents and coming to Sora; towards the humans, for dirtying its waters; and towards the entire world, for treating it so harsh. If he ever made it through this, Yugi thought, he'd never disobey his parents again. He'd find the humans and talk to the about the waste. And he would try to speak with his own people. But considering what was happening, that was a very big "if."
Yugi swam forward, not really sure where he was going, but then, not really caring either. He called out to the elder prince, but received no reply save for another roll of thunder. He began panicking. What had happened to his big brother? What if he was all alone in the middle of a storm and on Sora? If that was the case, he thought, then he was a goner!
Another wave came down, followed by a blast of wind. That wind carried four words that made the young prince's heart stop in fear for the life of the owner:
"Somebody, pwease! Help me!"
Jou thrashed and thrashed, calling out for help every chance he got. That wasn't very often, though, considering he was underwater most of the time. His throat was becoming dry, and his voice hoarse from his screaming. The salt from the wind and water didn't aid that, either.
He was lost. He was going to die. But if he died… he'd get to see his mama again, right? No. If he died, there in that storm, he would see his father; his father, who hated him with all his being. That was what kept him calling. That thought was what kept him hoping that someone, somewhere, would find and rescue him.
"Somebody, pwease! Help me!" he called again.
Another wave pulled him under, his breath catching in his throat. He held it and started his ascent to the surface. Jou felt a tug on his leg. He looked down and saw it had been caught in come coral. He pulled on it, trying to get free, but to no avail. He looked back up at the surface. His vision was getting dark, and he was running low on air. He gave his leg one last tug before letting himself fall into semi-consciousness. His eyes remained half-open, though.
As he was floating, waiting for Death to claim him, he saw a dark shape right above him. His eyes snapped back open and he regained full consciousness. He flailed his arms, kicked his one leg, anything to get the person's attention. He was going to run out of air if he couldn't.
Then he felt weight on his captured leg. He was already unconscious by the time his body was brought to the surface of the raging waters.
The young merboy glanced up at the sky to see that the storm had stopped for the most part. The body in his hands fell limp as soon as he surfaced. He looked around for a place to put it. To his left, he spotted something that looked like a large wooden reef. (1) The amethyst-eyed merboy flicked his tail and sped off towards the object.
When he reached the wooden reef, he set the blond human on it. He stared at it for a long while, amazed. It wore strange kelp-looking things on its body that were tattered and ripped. He also had a single piece of oddly colored coral on one foot. (2) The merboy reached out a hand a traced its ears.
Where are its fins? How does it detect currents? he wondered, disgusted by the fleshy protruding object.
He grabbed it between his finger and thumb and moved it slightly, causing the human's eyes to flicker briefly beneath the lids. The merboy saw this and wriggled it some more.
Its eyes flickered some more.
He grabbed its non-tail and shook it a little.
The human's head turned to the opposite side, eyes clenched tightly.
The merboy smiled and grabbed the human's hand, shaking it almost violently. The human jerked awake, coughing up water and gasping for air. Its eyes flickered from side to side for a moment before coming to rest on the 6 year old merboy. It blinked.
The merboy blinked.
The human raised its right hand.
The merboy raised his right hand.
They both smiled. "Yoo funny lookin'," the human said.
The merboy gasped. "You can speak?" he asked.
"Yup." The human seemed to think for a moment. "Yoo don' look like de angels Mama tol' me 'bout."
"Angel?" The merboy scrunched up his face in a confused manner. "What's that?"
"Dey're really pwetty. Dey have big white wings and fly around in heaven," the human said, stretching his arms wide at the wing part.
The merboy thought a moment. "What's your name?"
"Jou," the human answered. He liked the creature. It was a lot nicer than his father was. "Who are yoo?"
"I'm… uh…" the merboy trailed off. What was his name? He looked down, ashamed. "I don't know."
Jou gasped. "Yoo don't?" The merboy nodded. "Dat's bad." The merboy nodded again.
Then, Jou's eyes brightened. "I know! We can make up a name for yoo!"
"A… new name…?" the merboy repeated uncertainly.
"Yeah!" Jou pursed his lips in serious thought. "Wat about… Hikari?"
"Hikari?" The merboy repeated. "What's that mean?"
"Mama said it a lot. She tol' me it was 'light.' " He studied the fish creature seriously. "Yoo have hair dat looks like light."
The merboy thought it over for a second. "Light… Hikari…" He nodded. "I like it."
"Yay!" Jou grabbed the newly dubbed "Hikari" and hugged him tightly. "Yoo gonna be my new friend, 'kay?"
Hikari pulled back just far enough to looks into the human's eyes. "Yes. Friends." He smiled and hugged his new friend again.
Bakura darted among the rocks, looking for any humans that might have been unlucky enough to fall into the waters during the storm. He'd had enough of humans and had made a vow to drown any human he found.
He glanced up and spotted a round human floating upside down in the water. He shrugged and went kept swimming. Oh, well. Taiseiyo just did his job for him.
Bakura took a sharp left and a piece of ruby caught his eye. He flicked his dark tail and swam up to it, discovering it to be an eight year old merboy. There was blood coming from the back of his skull and the rock behind him, so the silver haired merman assumed he had hit his head.
His silver tail-fin swished in thought. What was he going to do with the boy? There was always the option of taking him back to Khek. Bakura was sure the young boy had lost some part of his memory due to the rock. He turned so his back was facing the merboy. He could contact Marik, though the blond merman would probably want to torture him in some way.
Bakura was startled out of his thoughts by a hand on his arm. He spun around to see the merboy had awakened. Bakura hid a smirk.
"Do you remember anything that just happened?" he asked in his grating voice.
"I-I…" the boy stuttered. He glanced around as if looking for an answer. His eyes settled back on the silver-haired merman. "To be truly honest, no."
Bakura smiled, this time not bothering to hide it. It made the crimson-eyed merboy visibly edgy.
"That's quite all right," he said, placing his hand on the small of the boy back. He began leading him back the way he came. "I'll help you remember everything… Yami."
(1) He was referring to the pier
(2) A shoe.
DD: Wow, was that hard. As you can tell from this fic as well as Brothers to the End, I like Yami and Yugi as brothers.
Yugi: That was pretty good.
Yami: It could have been better.
DD: -glares at Yami- Watch it, fish boy.
Yami: Hey! Who are you calling fish boy?!
DD: You!
Yami: -lunges at DD and grabs her neck.
DD: R… -choke- and… R… -choke-
Yugi: -sigh-