A very whole hearty thank you goes out to: Tyran masterof shadows, Sorrynoaccount (Guest), Chaos Twin of Destruction, and M-Preg Angel for the fast feed back! And no, it's not weird to love this story. ;) I've been working on this story for a while now, so I already have the first few chapters ready for you!

Chapter 2

"Art thou pale for weariness

Of climbing and gazing on earth

Wandering companionless"

- 'To the Moon ' by Percy B. Shelley

Yugi took in a deep breath at the sight before him, silently cursing himself for running away to a place so close to the forest and so close to the road.

There, sitting on the floor beneath a smear of blood, was a man.

The more Yugi stared at him, the more his breath hitched. The man looked almost identical to him. He had similar spiky hair like his, though he noted the extra blond bolts that shot up through his ebony hair and up to the red tips. Yugi's hair was similar-and natural, he might add- although he had blond bangs that framed his childish face. The two looked about the same age. Yugi was 18, though he looked more like he was thirteen.

The man was dressed all in black, making it hard to see the rest of his body. Judging from his closed eyes, Yugi figured he had fallen unconscious. He thought that he had heard him say something, whether he had said "Please" or "Cheese" was a silent debate he was having with himself, though after a few seconds he was sure he had said "Please."

An ugly, black arrow jutted from his shoulder, causing a pang of pity to painfully tug at his chest. Yugi could never bear seeing someone else hurt, no matter who that person was.

Taking a deep breath, Yugi took the few steps down the hall until he was in front of the stranger. Examining him for more injuries, Yugi decided that besides a hair-thin cut on his cheek, his only visibly wound at the moment was that horrid arrow.

Yugi had to remove it in order to staunch the blood flow. He was very good with healing and bandaging as he had had to do it for himself many times. The scars that jaggedly crossed his body were proof. Positioning himself in line with the arrow, he jerked it out as swiftly as he could without tearing more flesh than was necessary. At that moment, he was thankful that this stranger was unconscious, otherwise that definitely would have hurt.

Scurrying around his small home, Yugi retrieved a damp cloth and bandaging. The man was wearing a black shirt, but Yugi had to take it off in order to reach the wound. But in order to take it off, he would have to move the man's shoulder.

Taking the knife that he kept on his belt, Yugi ripped the shirt away from the man's body, revealing a well toned chest. Blushing slightly, Yugi cleaned the wound and bandaged it.

The man was cold-no, he was freezing! Just touching him left Yugi's fingers so numb that they burned in pain. Still, he continued to take care of the wound. Promptly ignoring the blood spreading down the wall from where the man had supposedly leaned against the wall and slid down, Yugi decided that he would have to move him to the bed in his room. He couldn't just leave him in the hallway.

There was only one problem: his room was three rooms down.

Yugi wasn't super strong, but he was strong enough to lift heavy things and so forth. But he had never tried carrying the dead weight of an unconscious man taller than him before. Well, there was a first for everything, the saying goes.

Sighing, Yugi tried to figure the best way to carry the stranger to his room without harming his shoulder. As he was not tall enough to sling him over his shoulder, he would have to carry him bridal style.

Grunting with effort, he lifted the man up, his muscles straining. Walking as fast as he could to his room without dropping the man, he placed him on his bed as gently as possible (which wasn't very gentle, unfortunately). Collapsing on the ground, Yugi heaved for air. He had just come back from gathering more of the wild blueberries he had found near the very edge of the forest where the sun shone brightly all day. He was already exhausted, but now…

Turning his amethyst gaze, for he had violet, innocent eyes, towards the man now resting on his bed in the splashes of moonlight from the large window on the opposite wall. Who was this man anyway? For all he knew, he could have just helped a fugitive running from the law.

But that was ridiculous. Than another thought struck him. What if this man knew his father?

Yugi paled. If that was the case, he had just sealed his fate. Taking deep breathes, he calmed himself down. If this man worked for his father, he might not know what his father probably intended to do with him when he was found. He could not blame this man from simply doing what he was told, even if it was for money. He might need the money for his family, or something like that.

Another thought popped up into his head. What if this man was from the forest? Yugi looked at the sleeping face, slightly taught with pain, and felt his heart soften. Even if he was from the forest, he didn't deserve to die. But even Yugi knew that there was only one thing that lived in the forest.

Vampires.

Yugi wasn't particularly scared of them, despite all the horrible tales that he heard. To him, they just sounded lonely. Just like himself.

Besides, being eaten by a vampire sounded much more appealing than being found by

his father. Not that Yugi wanted to be eaten by a vampire, if he even was a vampire.

But, if this man was a vampire, wouldn't he need blood? He had just been severely

injured after all. Then again, he had heard that flesh wounds didn't affect vampires unless the blade used to wound them was coated with a special poison.

But as far as Yugi knew, only vampire hunters had such blades, or arrows, in this case. Was the man running from a vampire hunter? Was this man even a vampire?!

There was one way to check, Yugi guessed. Vampires had longer canines than humans did, in order to bite and feed from humans. Yugi grimaced from the picture that appeared in his head, but he didn't completely blame the vampires. It wasn't their fault that their survival depended on eating people, or draining them, or whatever. After all, Yugi had seen what humans could do, and as far as he was concerned, being drained of all your blood in an instant was a million times better than that, especially since it went to a good cause like keeping someone else alive, whoever that was anyway.

Yugi's curiosity grew about whether or not the bare-chested man laying on his bed really was a vampire. Standing up, Yugi tentatively reached for the man's lip, and pulled the corner up slightly. To his surprise, his canine extended all the way down and over his bottom teeth. The fang flashed in the pale moonlight, sharp as thought. Retracting his hand, Yugi felt his heart racing.

"Oh. My. God." he muttered.

This man was a vampire!

Taking a step back, Yugi calmed himself down. It made sense after all-he was so cold! Yugi took another deep breath.

Okay, he had an injured vampire in his house- on his bed, no less- and he had nothing to defend himself with except for a small belt knife which was barely sharp enough to cut cloth.

All in all, he was screwed.

Maybe if he gave him blood now, than he wouldn't be compelled to eat him later…

The only problem was Yugi didn't have any blood. He hadn't put up his traps for a while, preferring to live off what he could find in the fields and the edges of the forest. He was quite knowledgeable when it came to plants, as he had studied them for most of his life. He once had fancied the thought of becoming a healer, but the only person he ever got to consistently heal was himself after his father was done with him.

He did have his own blood, he remembered. Should he just cut himself and give it to the vampire? That seemed like the only option. If not, the vampire might die, or even if he did live, he might kill Yugi. Both options were not appealing to him in the least.

Taking out his knife from his belt, he stared at the blade for a moment before deciding that he would do it over a glass. That way the vampire wouldn't bite his arm.

Leaving his room in favor for the relatively clean kitchen, Yugi searched for a glass. When he had first been running away from his father, he had stumbled upon the house and decided to make it his home. Leaving the outside in its sorry state kept away unwanted visitors, and even if someone did come inside, Yugi would immediately know because the door creaked so loudly.

Finally finding a glass, he placed it on the counter and took a deep breath. The darkness around him seemed to look over his shoulder, while moonlight from the single window in the kitchen glinted on the knife and on the glass. Rolling up his sleeve, he looked down at his already scarred forearm, wincing slightly at the memory of how he got such cuts and of the man who gave them to him.

He brandished his arm over the glass and took in another deep breath for the hundredth time that night. Raising the knife, he swiftly sliced downwards.

Yelping in pain, he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before focusing on keeping the stream of blood down into the glass. Dropping the knife with a clatter he grabbed the skin around the wound, forcing more crimson to roll down his arm and into the glass.

When the glass was full, Yugi quickly bandaged himself. Wiping the counter free of blood that had splattered here and there, he finally picked up the cup and returned in darkness to his room, thankful that the house only had one floor so that he didn't have to go up stairs with a glass of blood in the dark. Upon reaching his room, he nearly dropped his glass.

The vampire was awake, though he hadn't moved from his position on the bed. Yugi only knew he was awake because his eyes were open.

Oh, his eyes! They were deep, deeper than hell, as if Yugi could see straight into the other's cold soul. They were red-no, they were ruby! No, no, no they were crimson, or a dark scarlet. Or perhaps burgundy would be a better word? Yugi was lost, and the vampire hadn't even looked at him straight on yet.

But when he did notice the human in the doorway and his gaze landed on the wide amethyst eyes staring at him, Yugi could almost feel the weight of those eyes upon him. He could not look away.

After a moment of silence between the two as they simply stared into each other's eyes, Yugi finally made the first move.

Walking over to the vampire lying on his bed as if he was simply a friend with a cold and not a bloodsucking "monster," Yugi held up the glass of blood.

"Are you feeling better? You should probably have a bit of this, and it's really fresh, you know…if that's…um…important…"

Without a word the handsome vampire snatched the glass out of Yugi's hand and drained it in two seconds flat. Sitting up more, the vampire watched him. They had not broken eye contact through the entire thing.

"Um…my name's Yugi…not like it matters…and you can stay here for as long as it…um…takes for you to heal…uhh…yeah…do you need more?" Yugi gestured to the glass the vampire was holding. The vampire hesitated, before shaking his head.

Yugi took the glass from him. Standing there, the air taught, Yugi struggled for a thing to say.

"What's your name?" he inquired. If he was crazy enough to allow a vampire to stay in his home, than he at least wanted to know his name.

Again, the vampire hesitated, as if saying so would be too risky.

"Yami."

Yugi nodded. That meant darkness, didn't it?

"A fitting name." he murmured. The vampire nodded in agreement.

"Where did you get such sweet blood?" Yugi blushed. Yami's voice was a deep baritone, and seemed to rumble.

"It was my own."

Yami's crimson eyes narrowed.

"You're lying. A human would never willingly give their blood to a vampire." His voice was colder than his skin had been.

Yugi shook his head. Rolling up his sleeve once more, he revealed the new bandage he had placed there not minutes ago. Crimson eyes widened.

Silence enveloped them once more. Yugi set the empty glass down on the nightstand next to his bed and leaned forward, pointing at Yami's shoulder.

"Can I check your bandage quickly? You were bleeding pretty badly and I want to make sure I don't have to change the dressing."

Yami looked down at his shoulder, as if for the first time he realized that he had been bandaged. His eyes only doubled in size. It was almost funny, but Yugi kept his giggles to himself. This was a serious situation. This guy could kill him the moment he turns around.

Yami nodded, eyes narrowing once more. Ignoring him, Yugi peeled the white cloth to look at the wound. It was doing well; Yami didn't need a new one. Reapplying the bandage, Yugi sat back and eyed his handiwork. It wasn't half bad. Just as he was about to stand back up, Yami grabbed his forearm and pulled him closer.

Unknown to Yami, he had grabbed Yugi's bad forearm, causing Yugi to wince slightly in pain. He didn't let it show on his face however. He had been through worse. Much worse.

"What are you planning? Are you keeping me alive so that you can call in a vampire hunter to slowly torment me before killing me? Or are you in league with the Council? Who else wants me dead?" Yami hissed in his face, spitting the last word out like poison. Yugi gritted his teeth in pain as Yami tightened his grip on his forearm.

"I'm not working for anybody. All I know is that you came into my house and you needed help, so I helped you. What's so unbelievable about that?" Yugi retorted, a lot less threateningly however. It almost sounded like a plea.

"You humans hate my kind. What reason would you have for helping a vampire?" Yami spat.

Yugi paused. What was his real reasoning for helping the man?

"Well, I can't stand seeing others in pain," he answered honestly. "And I don't think that vampires are nearly as bad as some humans are…" he trailed off, images of his father's laughing face haunting his mind. His father had enjoyed watching him scream and writhe so much. He would watch him after a bad day, to cheer himself up. Yugi's eyes grew distant, and he visibly paled. His father had a lot of bad days.

"Hey kid, snap out of it."

Yugi blinked, amethyst eyes refocusing on crimson ones. Looking down, he murmured a "sorry" and couldn't meet Yami's eyes.

Finally Yami released his forearm. Yugi finally looked at him, surprised.

"I believe you." Yami said simply, crimson eyes softening slightly. But suddenly they widened.

"I smell blood."

Yugi chuckled slightly, knowing what he was smelling. Rolling up his sleeve, the bandage he had used earlier was now completely soaked in his blood. He gritted his teeth slightly as he began to remove the bandage.

When Yami saw Yugi's bleeding forearm, he gasped slightly before looking away, the moonlight casting his face into shadow.

"I'm sorry." he muttered.

Yugi smiled at him.

"It's okay. I've been through worse, and you didn't really know. I'll just go redo it."

Yugi got up and redressed his arm. Sadly, some blood had gotten on his shirt and he silently cursed.

"Darn it! I love this shirt!" he whined, momentarily forgetting that Yami was still in the same room with him.

"You like that shirt? It's not all that great."

Yugi shot a glare over at Yami who was still reclining on his bed.

"It reminds me of my mother." Yugi said indignantly, before freezing. He had never told anybody that before. Nobody.

"Aww, the little guy misses his mom." Yami teased.

Yugi glowered at him.

"I'm not little! And don't talk about my mom like that!"

Yami smirked.

"Where is your mom anyway? Does she live here too, because if she does, you'll have a lot of explaining to do little one."

As soon as he said it, Yami immediately realized that he had said something wrong along the way. Yugi was not moving, was not breathing. He simply stood there, eyes closed.

"My mother is dead." he whispered.

Silence pervaded the room like a heavy mist. Yami mentally kicked himself. He barely knew Yugi, but there was something about him that made him want to know more. The thought of leaving didn't seem quite so important to him anymore, and for some reason, Yami actually felt bad that he had made Yugi upset.

"I'm sorry." Yami breathed. Yugi shook his head and gave a weak smile.

"No its alright…You didn't know. She died when I was fourteen. Things only got bad after that…" Yugi sighed.

Yami frowned.

"How old are you boy?"

Yugi looked at him skeptically, before putting a hand on his hip.

"How old do you think I am? And don't call me boy."

Yami looked at him for a minute, studying his baby features and the soul stealing amethyst eyes that glowed with a light of their own.

"I'd guess…15?"

Yugi scowled.

"I'm 18! Why does everyone always think I'm younger!"

"It's because your so short!"

"I'm not that short!"

"Yes! Yes you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Finally Yugi sighed.

"Oh, who cares? What about you Yami, do you have parents?"

Yami nodded his head.

"Yup. But they abandoned me when I was 15."

"That's awful!"

"Not really. It's a vampire custom. I see them every now and then."

"How old are you Yami?"

Yami pulled a vicious grin.

"Guess."

Yugi looked at him. He looked like he was 18, but Yugi knew better. He knew that vampires could live a very long time and not look like they'd aged a day. Still Yami looked young, perhaps he was in his three hundreds? Three thirties? Three fifties? Maybe he should just say a random number.

"I don't know, maybe…uhh…332."

Yami gaped at him.

"How the hell did you know that?!"

"I don't know, I guessed!"

"Who guesses 332?!"

"I do! At least I got it right!"

Yami harrumphed and looked away. They remained silent for a moment before Yugi started giggling, and than Yami was laughing as well until they were both roaring with laughter. Yugi couldn't remember laughing this hard in a long time, not since...well. As the laughter died down, Yugi continued to smile.

Yugi was starting to think that Yami wasn't all that bad.

...please review! You have the power to change the outcome of this story if you communicate with me! Seriously, I am easily persuaded! Thank you!