AHA! Along with a newChapter, I've decided to edit my rambling in the first chapter of SoC. Ain't that grand?

Leyla: Hm. . .Grand. . .

Oh, hush you. Anyway, I decided that I was changing somethings about the story, like the fact that it takes place DURING Battle City and not after. Expect anything else to be slow, but not AS slow as the second chapter got posted. Now, something I failed to do last time is make a disclaimer. You won't get anything for sueing me, but I don't want you to try anyway. MARIK! Do the disclaimer.

Marik: Vicki does NOT own Yuugiou or the characters. After all, do you see me tied up with a Ribbon attached to my neck as a Christmas Present to her Friend? I didn't think so.

The streets of Cairo were bustling with the normal business. Merchants shouting for people to see their products, Locals shouting back, and Tourists trying to hide from the scorching Desert heat. All three were disturbed by the young girl running through the streets, her bright Auburn hair flowing untamed behind her. She kept running until she got to the outskirts, where a Sandy-haired boy was sitting on a stack of blocks, eyes closed behind crudely made goggles.

"Malik! Malik!" The girl cried, running over to him. The boy opened his eyes to look at her as she caught her breath on the blocks. Seeing who it was, he greeted her warmly.

"Oh, hey Leyla. What's going on?" She looked back up at him, her bright green eyes sparkling as she spoke.

"My new Brother was born! He's so cute and only this big," She said holding her hands really close together. Malik grinned and hopped down from his blocks.

"Cool! Can we come over and see him?" Malik asked still grinning.

"Yeah! As soon as you can get away come see! Momma gave him this really long and cool name, but we just call him Kono," Leyla replied, clapping her hands together happily. Malik nodded.

"We will, don't you worry!" She hugged him, and he hugged her back, both laughing and giggling in that special type of happiness meant only for children.

"Well, I better get going. Momma needs my help ya' know, now that she has to take care of Kono." Leyla said pulling back. Malik nodded again, sadly this time.

"Yeah. You'll come back tomorrow, won't you?" Leyla looked down.

"Well, I'm not su-" She began before Malik's frantic voice cut her off.

"But, you promised! You promised that you'd be there!" He protested. Leyla thought for a moment before looking up, her trademark impish grin back.

"Alright! I'll be there!" She said happily. Hearing someone at the hatch to Malik's home, Leyla pecked him on the cheek and quickly ran off, waving to Malik who was furiously waving back.

You see, for the longest time both children had been alone. Uncaring parents, no one to play with, not even any toys. Malik was training to become a Tomb keeper for the Pharaoh, while Leyla's family was extremely poor. It was merely by chance that the two met around three years ago. She was five, he six. Leyla had been trying to get food for her family by taking it from a local cart and was caught. Barely able to escape, she headed for the nearest place possible to hide. It was a storeroom that put her in a dead end. The Cart keeper on her tail, she quickly lifted a trapdoor on the floor and crawled out of sight. Now inside, she had no choice but to follow the tunnel. The tunnel happened to lead right into Malik's room. Believe me, it was hard to tell who was more surprised as Leyla came up from the Tunnel, her or Malik. Somehow, both managed to contain shouts. Leyla quickly began to climb back down when Malik stopped her. He simply asked her name, she asked his and a wonderful friendship began. Now, at the time of his tenth birthday Malik was going to receive his Tomb keeper's initiation and Leyla had promised to be there for him. In secret of course, his Father would never allow him to have any connection with the outside world.

Leyla waited, her eyes wide open all night, unable to sleep, able to think only of the pain that would be caused to her best friend tomorrow. As soon as the sun rose she made her way quietly from the house and down the eerily vacant streets. Through the old tunnel she crawled, careful to check for any inhabitants of the room other than herself. No one. She crawled from the hole, quickly covering the stone that was her exit, and peaked down the hall. She could hear voices from a nearby room and went towards it. Isis, Malik's older sister, stood in the Hallway, her hands covering her mouth horrified. Leyla crept over to her trying to see what she was looking at. The sight, some say, still haunts her to this day.

Malik stood over the body of his Father, blood smeared on the wall behind him. He held a golden rod with a blade on each side of the top, both covered in blood. But what scared her the most was the look on his face. Malik didn't seem upset or remorse, he was laughing! Leyla froze in shock and pure horror as his laughing face turned to her. Something was wrong, she knew Malik's face and this wasn't it. The usually pale lavender eyes were navy, maybe even black. His smile was cruel and harsh as he walked towards her. Instinctively she tried to walk backwards from him, only to find that she couldn't move. That rod was glowing and she saw from the corner of her eye that she was as well. She could do nothing but stand there as he stood in front of her and looked her up and down. It seemed like he was about to let her go because her muscles loosened and she could move. Instead he looked to her with an angered look, something about her face had caused 'this imposter' to loose control. She tried to run when he brought the rod back, but she wasn't fast enough. The blade struck her across the face, her eyes to be exact, and with such a force to throw her across the room. She tried to pull herself back up, but couldn't see to do so. All she could do was listen to Rishid comfort Malik, whose voice was back to its normal pitch. When she got up, she stumbled to where she thought the doorway was. She could hear Malik begging her to come back, but she was too frightened to turn back. She somehow found her way back to her Tunnel and outside. After that she was lost. She staggered around hopelessly before finally crumpling to the ground, crying.

-Six years later-

"Master Malik?" Rishid's questioning voice disturbed Malik from his thoughts.

"What?" He snapped unintentionally.

"We found something that we think you should see, another person who controls Ra." With these words Malik was up, his attention fixed on Rishid.

"Who?" Malik demanded, his eyes alight at the thought of someone else invading on his control with Ra.

"We don't know her name, but Taro is dueling her. You could-" Rishid began, but could tell from the look on his Master's face that he was already reading the Rare Hunter's mind . . .

-Mind-reading-

The girl stood across from Taro, her eyes hidden by a pair of dark glasses. She held herself well, confident in her ability. Her clothes were simple, a sky blue tee and jeans, but her light Auburn hair blended enough with it to change that thought. Her hand rested on her cards as she drew from the Duel disk on her tan arm. Without even looking at it she put it on the field in attack position. Taro was nervous; Malik could feel it. She was a strong duelist with sturdy moves, but it was the fact that she played her cards without looking at them that was making Taro uneasy. Malik waited hoping that soon he would see Ra as Rishid had said. He got his wish as the girl dealt the final blow to her opponent, a direct attack from her apparently favored Feral Imp. Standing straight, an odd caw came from her, answered by one deeper. As a shadow went over Taro's head Malik forced him to look up. The unmistakable form of Ra glided down, though on a much smaller scale. It appeared the same as the Ra that listened only to Malik, but it was the size of a Bald Eagle. It landed on the girl's now outstretched arm with a cross between a happy chirp and a roar. Seeing the girl's connection with Ra, Malik decided that he would learn about her and her miniature God no matter what.

Vicki: So? It'll have another chapter soon, I promise. I wanted to get this uploaded before my computer crashed and I lost it.