Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Nor will I ever, so I can stop pretending now. I do own Anuba though.
YSF: I figured it out. I figured my bloody dilemma out. I keep writing new stories, so my mind is super stretched too thin. Expect a story or two to be removed. Ah yes, I got this from reading my Yugioh the movie ani-manga for the umpteenth time.
Summary: Everyone always thought Anuba was strange and never paid her any heed. That's going to change, however, when Anubis, the God of the dead takes a peculiar interest in her.
… time change
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"Don't look now."
"Her parents should keep her shut up."
"They shouldn't let a demon child wander around so."
Anuba sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Even though she was only five, she was well used to those comments. "I don't know what they're so worried about, it's not like I can curse them," she grumbled to herself once she got the last of the items on her shopping list and headed home. Little Anuba's parents sent her out often to get their food in hopes that the town will become used enough to her to accept her.
"Mommy, I'm home," Anuba called as she entered and let her cloak's hood down.
"Anuba-falla, how was your day in town? I hope the townsfolk didn't give you a hard time today," her mother said coming in and relieving her daughter of the basket.
"No…At least, no more than what is usual."
"Poor falla," her mother said using Anuba's nickname, patting Anuba on the top of her head.
Anuba giggled and shifted her ears so that they were in a more comfortable position. You see, Anuba had been born differently. When she was born, her skin was as black as night, and her ears were like that of a jackal's, not to mention her unusual golden eyes. Her parents were apprehensive at first, but came to love their daughter.
That night, a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows and looked at the house. Knocking on the door, the cloaked figure waited patiently until the door was opened. "Can I help you sir?" Anuba's father asked.
"Is this the house of Anuba?" came a smooth voice from under the cloak.
"Who wants to know?" Anuba's father asked curiously.
The cloaked figure pulled back his hood and Anuba's father dropped immediately to one knee. "My lord, I did not know it was you," Anuba's father exclaimed, "please forgive my ignorance."
"Forgiven, now. Is this where Anuba lives?" the figure demanded.
"Yes sir."
"Bring her to me."
Anuba's father let the figure in and after a hurried explanation to his wife, disappeared into Anuba's room. "Anuba-falla my darling, wake up," he murmured, shaking the prone form.
"Hmm? Daddy, what is it?" Anuba asked sleepily as she woke up.
"There's someone very important here to see you," her father explained, picking the little girl up.
"The pharaoh?"
"No, a god," Anuba's father answered as he entered the living area with Anuba still in his arms.
Anuba was then set on the floor and she backed away in fear when she saw which god wanted to see her. "A-Anubis!" she squeaked.
Anubis' jackal mouth formed into a smile when he saw the ebony-colored girl cower. "Come here little falla," he said in a soothing tone as he kneeled down, "I will not harm you in any way."
Anuba peered at him from between her fingers and then stood and approached the god. "You look just like me. How strange," Anubis murmured, fingering Anuba's right ear. Looking at her parents, his expression turned serious. "You do realize that she can't stay here," he probed.
"But she's only a baby! She has no one to love her if she goes!" Anuba's mother protested. Anubis curled his lips away from his teeth and Anuba's mother fell silent.
"I never said that you would have to turn her out on the streets," Anubis growled softly, "I am willing to take her in and train her to be a priestess of Anubis."
"That's the highest position available besides the item holders, correct?" Anuba's father questioned.
"Yes," Anubis confirmed, "She will also be revered and worshiped like she should be. She's a special girl. She deserves it."
"Then…she's yours," Anuba's father sighed. "Don't fret my love, Anuba will be perfectly safe, and we can always have another little one," he then said to his wife. Anuba's mother bowed her head and nodded her consent.
Anubis allowed Anuba to grab her favorite possession and then left, the little girl following close behind. "Umm, sir?" she asked timidly.
Anubis looked over his shoulder at Anuba, his own golden eyes glittering in the hood's depths. "You may call me Anubis, there's no need to be formal," he said stopping to let the little girl catch up.
"All right then. Anubis, why do I look like you? Why was I born differently than everyone else?"
Anubis winced and then scooped Anuba into his arms. "You look like me because you were supposed to be my daughter…a goddess. Ra didn't want another god to keep track of, so he sent your essence down into the woman who you call your mother in hopes that you'd be normal. Unfortunately, there was too much of me in your essence for you to be born normal. Does that answer your questions?" Anubis explained.
"I just have one more. Can you make me look exactly like you?" Anuba asked. Anubis chuckled and waved his hand over Anuba's face. Anuba started when she felt and saw her face stretch out into the jackal muzzle.
"All right my little pup, let's go home," Anubis said with another chuckle as he headed out into the desert. When Anubis reached the entrance to the underground temple, he smiled again when he noticed that Anuba had gone back to sleep. 'At least she won't be lonely,' he mused as he started down the stairs and heard a crash that sounded suspiciously like one of the statues in his temple falling over.
"Boys!" he growled when he entered the main chamber and saw two boys wrestling. Well, maybe not wrestling, more like the bigger one attempting to choke the life out of the other.
"Anubis! Don't test my patience! Let Bakura go immediately!" Anubis snarled in impatience.
The boy named Anubis looked up and sullenly released his hands from Bakura's throat. Getting up, fifteen-year-old Anubis paused, looked down at the eight-year-old gasping for air, and grabbing the snowy hair, pulled, and then pushed back down, smacking Bakura's head firmly against the stone floor.
"Ow! Sir, who's that?" Bakura asked once he recovered from both assaults.
"This is Anuba. She's going to become a priestess of Anubis," the god of death explained, amazed that Anuba could sleep through the racket that Bakura and Anubis had made.
Bakura stood and made his way to the god. "She looks like you," he observed. Anubis had to smile at the little boy. Three years ago, Bakura had come to live with him and the mortal Anubis when his villiage was destroyed. The god was currently training him to live up to his future title of King of Thieves.
Anuba stirred and opened her eyes to stare straight up into the reddish-brown eyes of Bakura. "Anubis, who...?" Anuba started to ask but cut herself off with a yawn.
"Anuba, this is Bakura, and over there is Anubis. He is on his way to becoming a priest of mine," Anubis explained.
"Oh boy, two people named Anubis. I'm just going to call you Anubis and the other Anub."
"Anub? Why Anub?" Bakura asked.
Anuba grinned with her jackal muzzle. "Because, he's the inferior one," she replied with a shrug. Bakura and Anubis laughed, Bakura already liking Anuba.
"Oh? Inferior am I? What about you, freak?" Anubis, or now Anub spat. Anuba flinched and tears started welling in her eyes.
"Anubis!" the god snapped, "I will not tolerate you calling my own daughter a freak!"
Anub flinched and visibly paled, his stringy blond hair matching his face better than what it did before. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Anubis growled a little further, and Anub thought it best to retire for the night. "You okay?" Bakura asked Anuba once Anub left. Anuba nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Bakura, stay with Anuba. I don't trust Anubis around you two. By the way, what were you two fighting about?" Anubis asked as he set Anuba on the floor and beckoned for the two children to follow him
"Well, I remembered that you told me to practice my sneaking and stealing, so…I…" Bakura trailed off as he grabbed hold of Anuba's hand and helped the girl along when she started lagging behind.
"Go on," Anubis pressed.
"Okay, I snuck into Anubis' room and stole his pyramid while he was sleeping. Unfortunately he woke up and proceeded to pummel me," Bakura finished sheepishly.
Anubis sighed. "That was, to put it bluntly, incredibly stupid," he said to Bakura. Anuba giggled at the look on Bakura's face as Anubis showed them into a room. The two children entered and Anubis closed the door behind them with a simple 'Good night.'
"This is probably the most lavishly decorated room I have ever seen," Bakura said dryly as he looked around.
Anuba looked around as well and held Bakura's hand tighter. "It's really big and too dark," she whimpered, even though her Jackal eyes could penetrate the dark well enough.
Bakura looked down at Anuba and his expression softened. "How old are you?" he asked, guiding Anuba to the big bed and helping her up onto it.
"Five," came the little reply.
Bakura thought for a minute and then lit a candle that he found on the table beside the bed after feeling around the table for a minute. "Better?" he asked.
Anuba nodded and the two snuggled under the blankets together. "Bakura?"
"Yeah?"
"How did you get that scar over your eye?" Anuba asked, tracing the scar from Bakura's forehead to a little past his mouth.
"Promise you won't get nightmares? It's a pretty gruesome tale," Bakura asked skeptically, propping himself up with an elbow.
"If I do get nightmares, you can protect me from them," Anuba answered simply. Bakura smiled and ruffled her hair.
"Fair enough. I'm cutting it down though, too long for the remainder of tonight. Okay, there was a town northeast of here, not too far away. It was called Kuru Eruna. The town was full of thieves and other people that society frowned upon. The leader of the town, my father, was titled the King of Thieves because…"
"He was the best thief."
Bakura laughed. "Yes he was. The town thrived on stolen goods and black market trade that my father regulated. We left the other towns alone, except to sell our goods, and they ignored us in turn. One day, three years ago when I was your age, palace guards and soldiers stormed our town and just started mercilessly slaughtering the villagers." Here Bakura stopped and blinked rapidly. Anuba cocked her head and nuzzled Bakura quickly, pulling back when she realized what she was doing.
"Thanks," Bakura murmured, "Anyway, when the slaughter started, my mother tried to run with me, but a guard stopped us. He was on horseback, so when he slashed down, his aim was slightly off. The tip caught me and made the cut that formed into this scar, and the rest of the sword…the rest of the sword decapitated my mother. While he busied himself with dragging her body into a growing pile of bodies, I managed to run away and hide until they left. They took all 99 bodies of my village, me being the only survivor, and boiled them down with other ingredients to form the seven Millennium items," Bakura finished.
Anuba shuddered and clung to Bakura. Bakura just sat there, comforting her, until Anuba stopped shaking. "Bakura?" Anuba whispered finally.
"Yeah?"
"Why did you come to Father then?" Anuba asked.
Bakura smiled softly. "Anubis found me half dead a few days later and he brought me back here, promising to train me enough to reclaim my father's title one day."
Anuba nodded, and her eyes closed, her grip loosening on Bakura's shirt as she fell asleep. Bakura remained awake a little longer, watching Anuba sleep. It amazed him that she could talk normally with that jackal's mouth. Fingering one of the pointed black ears, Bakura yawned and fell into a peaceful sleep, not having to worry about Anub jumping him in the middle of the night.
…
Ten-year-old Bakura sat at the table in his room, looking into the small mirror that he kept there. Fingering his scar, Bakura remembered the deal he had made with Anubis. When Bakura turned eleven, he would leave the sanctuary of the shrine, Anubis being unable to train him any farther. Unfortunately, that was three days away. Sighing, Bakura got up and stretched his lanky frame. All this training had made him grow quickly, him being the height of someone maybe three years older than him. However, his weight stayed on the thin side, so he looked incredibly stretched out.
'Anuba should be done with her training for today by now,' Bakura thought, heading out of his room and heading to Anuba's. Seeing the door was open, Bakura approached it and looked in. Anuba was sitting on a comfortable cushion, meditating. Creeping up behind her silently, Bakura opened his mouth to scare her, but was cut off by Anuba.
"I know you're there Bakura," she said with a little laugh as she turned and looked at Bakura with her golden eyes, "You should know by now that sneaking up on me will never work."
"Damn, how do you always know? Here I am, thinking that I'm good at sneaking, I try it on you, and you know every time!" Bakura complained, flopping down next to his friend.
Anuba looked at him with a mix of sympathy and humor. "Do you finally want me to tell you after two years of wondering?" she asked. Bakura nodded and Anuba's eyes glittered. "Well," she started, fingering her ear, "These ears aren't just for decoration, nor is my nose. My hearing and smell are as good as a regular jackal's."
"You mean you're wonder dog," Bakura snorted.
Anuba smiled a very toothy grin. "Basically. I learned your scent quite quickly after I came here, and my hearing recognizes your distinctive footfalls and breathing," she explained.
"Mutt," Bakura muttered, causing Anuba to laugh.
Three days later, Anuba and Bakura were sparring in the main temple trying to stay away from Anub, who was in a really bad mood that day, when the huge statue of Anubis started glowing. Bakura and Anuba stopped and looked at each other.
"Doesn't your father always come later?" Bakura asked. Anuba shrugged and watched as a figure started forming.
When Anubis was fully formed, Anuba and Bakura bowed on one knee respectfully. "Bakura, you remember what today is, right?" Anubis asked once he waved both of them up from bowing.
Bakura only looked down at the floor and nodded. "Father, what's going on?" Anuba asked.
"Bakura and I struck up a deal when he came to live here. When he turned eleven, I would have taught him all he needed to know and he would leave the Shrine forever. Today is his eleventh birthday," Anubis explained.
"No!" Anuba shouted, hugging Bakura tightly, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears from flowing, "I refuse to believe it!"
"Anuba, you certainly must have sensed that Bakura was distracted all day," Anubis said, trying to calm his daughter down.
"I won't let you take him away!" Anuba cried ignoring Anubis, and squeezing Bakura tighter. Bakura buried his face in her hair between her ears and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. He hated it when she cried, it just seemed so much more pitiful.
"Anuba, this is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want to upset you, you know I hate doing that. I would stay if I could, but that's impossible," Bakura soothed.
Anuba pushed away from Bakura and wiped her eyes. "But why can't he visit?" she demanded, becoming angry.
Anubis sighed. "When Bakura leaves, I will be taking him myself and situating him in Thebes. He will be under an enchanted sleep when he leaves here. He won't know the way back," Anubis said.
Anuba looked stricken and then ran off. Bakura sighed and looked back at Anubis. "Sir? Can I…"
"Yes, we'll leave tonight," Anubis replied dismissing Bakura.
Bakura headed down the hall to Anuba's room. When he reached it, he sighed and knocked on the door.
"Go away," came Anuba's voice. Bakura, of course, ignored her and entered. Going over, he sat on the bed next to the eight year old and rubbed her back.
"Anuba, please listen to…ow! Why'd you bite me?" Bakura demanded, holding his own hand.
"I told you to go away," Anuba replied with a growl, looking at Bakura. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying, and the short hairs on her face were damp from tears.
Bakura reached for her again but shot his hand back as she snapped again. As Anuba recovered from her bite missing and jarring her teeth, she felt Bakura grab one of her ears as a distraction and wrap an arm firmly around her torso.
"Calm down," Bakura said softly yet firmly.
Anuba struggled but then stopped, turning and laying her head on Bakura's chest as he laid back, and started sobbing again. Bakura held her and just let her cry. Eventually, Anuba's cries lessened and Bakura hear her mumble, "You're going to forget me, I just know it."
"I'll never forget you!" Bakura exclaimed in astonishment, "You're my first friend. Besides, how could I forget someone as unique as you, mutt?"
Anuba gave a soft giggle at her nickname. "I'm going to miss you," she murmured as Bakura stroked one of her ears.
"I know, and I'll miss you too. Maybe one day we'll meet again," he murmured as she fell asleep, exhausted from crying. Around nightfall, Bakura woke from a nap to find Anubis standing at the door, watching them.
"Are you ready?" Anubis asked quietly, noticing that Anuba was still asleep. Bakura nodded and carefully detached himself from Anuba and stood. Stopping in his room as he and Anubis passed it, Bakura grabbed his bag of possessions and slung it onto his back.
"I'm reluctant to leave Anuba to Anub," Bakura admitted finally, once they were at the stairs that led to the outside world.
"She'll be fine," Anubis replied as he cast the sleep spell and caught Bakura as he fell. Taking the thief to be to Thebes, Anubis set him in an empty house and turned to go. "Oh yes, happy birthday," he said softly and with a wave of his hand, made a coat appear out of thin air and cover Bakura. With that, Anubis turned and left.