Hey! I'm back with another chapter... This one came quickly but the next couple ones will be a little harder. I hope you all enjoy!
Yami woke and he was not in the cave that he fell asleep in. He could tell that he was in the same clothes he was in earlier, his near thermal jacket with many layered t-shirts, his black jeans, and his black boots but he was being crushed by a multitude of blankets and he was sweating like it was summertime. He had a hard time catching his breath and it took all of his strength to push the top blanket off.
Hikari had heard the blankets move from the guest room and all but ran to go check on the man. She poked her head inside the small cavern and made a small frown. The man had gotten a fever from being in the cold. Hikari ran to get a bowl of cool water and some towels. When she finally returned she saw the man's eyes for the first time. His eyes were a stunning shade of crimson, not unlike the satins that her ancestors brought when they first settled onto the mountain. Hikari composed herself and entered the cavern.
"How do you feel?" Hikari asked as she approached the bed.
Yami gave the girl a confused look. She had long black hair with red and gold highlights thrown in. Her pale skin glowed in the dim firelight and her light amethyst eyes glimmered. She was wearing a dress that seemed like it was made of furs. 'Did I die?' He thought. Hikari giggled at his expression. "You're not dead, though you would be if I didn't bring you here." Yami made a light smile, hoping it would show her that he was grateful. She understood and smiled back.
Hikari drowned a towel in the cool water and placed it on the man's forehead. Yami made a small sigh as the water cooled his heated body. He wished he could speak, he wanted to ask her where he was and what her name was. Many minutes passed and Yami felt some of his strength return.
"Who are you?" He managed.
Hikari smiled at him. She took the towel off Yami's forehead and wet it again. She didn't speak until she put the towel on his head again.
"My name's Hikari. You're inside the mountain; I found you asleep in a cave. Is it normal for you to try to sleep in near subzero temperatures?" She said with her eyebrow raised.
Yami made a sheepish smile and felt a blush spread across his cheeks, luckily the fever hid it.
"Normally, no." Yami said with more strength, "My tent was washed away by a freak accident."
"Rex and Weevil probably did it." Hikari muttered distastefully. She personally hated the two dweebs and always asked her friends Joey and Tristan to play pranks on them in her stead.
Yami heard the comment and made a small chuckle. Hikari changed the towel one more time and Yami could tell that he was starting to feel better. "Since I answered your question, will you answer mine?" Hikari asked. Yami nodded. "Who are you?"
"I'm Yami. I was visiting the villages at the bottom of the mountain for my vacation." He said.
Hikari smiled and took away the towel. Yami felt immensely better, no muscle in his body ached.
"You're going to need to rest for another day or so before you can head back down….." Hikari started.
"You want me to go back down the mountain?" Yami asked surprised, he was going to miss out on his dream because of a stupid accident?
"Yes, I do." Hikari said sharply, "I know this mountain very well and the summit is much colder than the place you were. And without your tent, you will have no warm place to rest during the nights. I'm going to give you supplies that will last you till you reach the foot of the mountain."
Yami wanted to argue but he reconsidered. He was still grateful that she rescued him even if he was angry. Yami didn't respond and listened as Hikari left the room.
Hikari felt bad when she saw Yami's expression about leaving the mountain. It was safer than still climbing. Another night in the cold would do more harm than help.
Hikari cleaned the water bowl and put away the towels she was using. She didn't go back to the room since she figured Yami would need time to calm down. She walked aimlessly around the inner caverns of the mountain until she heard Rex and Weevil laughing.
"That avalanche was a lot of fun." Weevil snickered.
Rex had some sense to stop laughing after a moment. "Though, we're gonna be in big trouble when the chief finds out what we did."
"I don't care." Weevil sneered, "He's getting old and is starting to lose his touch."
That comment made Hikari flinch in anger. How dare they insult her and Yugi's grandfather as such. She walked out to where Rex and Weevil could see her and they both paled.
"Care to repeat that, Weevil?" Hikari growled.
The two teens looked at one another and ran in the other direction. Hikari didn't bother chasing, it wasn't worth her time. She kept walking, she soon entered the main cavern. People could see the bottom of the mountain; stairs linked opposite sides of the mountain and fires roared from the sides at all times. The original tribesmen worked together with their guardian spirits to create the elaborate caves.
During her trek, Hikari bumped into the head shaman, Pegasus. He had cared for Hikari when her parents and grandparents were busy so she was used to his oddness.
"Hikari-girl!" Pegasus exclaimed, "It's like I haven't seen you in forever!"
"You saw me yesterday, Pegasus." She said with a laugh.
"It's too long!" He said dramatically.
Pegasus had always thought Hikari was lovely but he brushed away the thoughts after her and Yugi's parents died in the accident. He became a father figure for both of Solomon's grandchildren. Pegasus then noticed the guilty look on the young girl's face. "What's wrong, Hikari-girl?"
Hikari looked up at him. Pegasus must have noticed her change of mood. Her thoughts had trailed off to Yami, she still felt horrible about not letting him go to the summit.
"It's nothing, Pegasus. I must have dozed off for a second." Hikari fibbed.
Pegasus gave a small frown, he knew when Hikari was lying and he didn't like it.
Did you have another night terror?" He asked.
"No!" Hikari whined, "Seriously, I'm ok."
Pegasus wouldn't let it drop but he stopped asking her questions. They walked together in silence until they reached Pegasus' workroom. Some children were sleeping, Pegasus had been off getting medicine to care for them. Their death-like sleep reminded Hikari of the ceremony to get in touch with the guardian spirits.
You drank a potion mixed from a multitude of herbs and you slept for varying amounts of time. The spirits put the person through a trial to show that they were worthy of the spirit and if they were found worthy they woke with a small tattoo that covered the inside of their right wrist that told everyone what their spirit was. Hikari didn't like to think about if you weren't found worthy, the person never woke again.
"Hikari!" Joey called to her when he turned the nearby corner.
Hikari turned to face him and noticed that Ryou, Malik and Tristan were all with him. Joey had fluffy blonde hair and hazel eyes; Ryou was an albino so he had white hair but his chocolate eyes shone; Malik had platinum blonde hair and his violet eyes sparkled in the small light; Tristan was tanned and his dark hair stood and made a point. All of them wore the signature tribal wear of men with small variations between them.
"Hey." She greeted with a smile.
Joey huffed and puffed then gave her a smile.
"Are you going to have the ceremony?" He asked.
Hikari flinched and looked away. Members of the tribe were supposed to have the ceremony when they turned 12, Hikari was almost 18. The reason why she hasn't gone through the ceremony was because she was deathly afraid of it. She had lost her best friend because of the ceremony, not because she wasn't worthy but because her frail body wouldn't allow her guardian spirit enough strength to survive.
Hikari shook her head and looked away. Joey sighed, she needs to get over this fear, he thought. He rubbed her head and smiled.
"Don't worry, Hikari." Joey soothed, "One day you'll be able to go through it."
Hikari smiled and then Joey told her that Yugi was looking for her. She said farewell to Pegasus and went on her way. It didn't take her long to catch sight of her tricolored haired cousin.
"You needed to see me, Yugi?" Hikari asked.
Yugi nodded and dragged her off to a secluded part of the cavern they were in.
"You are going to need to be a little more careful with the person you're caring for." Yugi whispered to her.
"What's going on?" Hikari asked.
"Grandpa has given more power to Dartz. I've heard that he is going to start investigation people's rooms to see if he can find modernized items."
"That's ridiculous!" She hissed, "Grandpa wouldn't give him that much power!"
"I was there during the ceremony. Grandpa apparently doesn't know yet, but I don't think Dartz is going to let him find out."
Hikari thought for a moment. She couldn't let Dartz find Yami, he'd have him publicly executed.
"Please help me, Yugi. If you can warm me if Dartz come then I can get him to safety." Hikari pleaded.
Yugi looked torn for a moment then nodded.
"I'll help as much as I can." Yugi said with his signature smile.
Hikari hugged him tightly and ran off. She needed to check on Yami.
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Yami still sat in the bed but he was sitting up now. He took off many of the layers of clothing he was wearing to cool off a little more and hid them in a pile of blankets that he had put in the corner of the room. 'I actually thought I was going to reach the summit.' He thought, angry at himself
Voices started to come around the corner and were starting to approach the room he was in. Yami figured he should hide but there was no good hiding spaces. He saw another cavern adjacent to the one he was in and ran inside.
"I don't see the big deal about checking out the chief's granddaughter's guest room." Espa Roba said, "No one is visiting her."
Espa Roba had shoulder length blue hair and small dark blue eyes. His normal tribal wear was a light violet.
"Indeed." Dartz said in his normal drawl, "But you know that she has a heart of gold, and based on the lack of a body in that tent you found, I can finally get my hands on her."
Dartz tied his emerald green hair back with a piece of twine; his eyes were two different color, one was green while the other way yellow; he refused to wear normal tribal wear, instead he wore intricate white robes with bright greens and blues. Dartz held a deep lusting for Hikari and would often try to accuse her of crimes so that he could show that he had a 'heart of gold' and spare her, but only if she married him. Dartz knew that the fool her grandfather was would agree to anything to keep his grandchildren alive.
"Ohhh." Espa Roba said, "Now I get what you're saying."
Yami heard Dartz's chuckle in response to Espa Roba's statement and his stomach twisted. 'This man is crazy!' He thought.
The two men arrived at the guest room and proceeded to tear the room apart. Searching in every nook and cranny to find the person they were looking for. After a few minutes of searching, the two men sighed and were about to leave when Hikari spotted them.
"What are you two doing!" She said angrily, "What a major invasion of privacy!"
Dartz smiled at the young lady and tried to take her hand but she pulled it away.
"My lady," he drawled, "I had heard rumors of a modernized item being in this room, I was doing it for the good of the tribe."
'Only good for yourself.' Hikari thought.
"Just go." She ordered, her good mood utterly soured.
Dartz and Espa Roba bowed and left the room without a word of complaint. Hikari huffed and looked around the room. "Yami?" She whispered just in case Dartz was outside.
Yami poked his head out of the small entrance of the room and he sighed.
"Thank Ra that's over." Yami huffed now walking into the room.
Hikari made a small smile, grateful that Yami Hid from Dartz, and pulled out the small she had brought for him. She wasn't able to take much from the kitchens without getting caught but she got a good amount, a loaf of bread and some cooked meat.
"I brought you something to eat." Hikari said holding it out to him.
Yami thanked her, took it lightly in his hands and sat down on the bed. He was so hungry he could have eaten a horse but he decided to play it down since he was in front of Hikari. Speaking of Hikari, she was standing awkwardly on the side of the room.
"You can sit down if you want to." Yami said gesturing to the spot next to him.
Hikari sat down quickly, she had been fighting the urge leave as quickly as he had come but she also wanted to know more about Yami, like where he came from, what kind of things surrounded him on a daily basis. His life had to be more interesting than her's, always being surrounded by rocks and seeing the same faces over and over. "You seem to be be thinking about something very difficult, what's up?" Yami's voice made her jump. Yami noticed that she was very quiet and it bothered him strangely.
"I….." Hikari started, "Nevermind, it's nothing."
"It doesn't seem like nothing." Yami pried.
Hikari sighed, Yami bugged her about her problems just as much as Pegasus did.
"I was thinking whether or not to ask you questions about your background." Hikari mumbled.
Yami heard her and he smiled. Nobody usually asked questions about backgrounds unless you were at some sort of interview but reminding himself about where she lived, he found it fun.
"Go ahead, ask away." Yami said, "I've got nothing to hide."
Hikari beamed and immediately dropped more than a dozen questions on the man. Many of them were completely random like does he have a middle name?
"My full name is Yami Atem Sennen. I am 21 years old and I was born in Domino City, Japan. I work as a treasurer in my cousin, Seto's, company. I have two siblings, my older brother, Mahad, and my younger sister, Mana."
Hikari continued to plow him with questions until horns blew around the caverns.
I know... I'm cruel... I gave you all a cliff hanger... At least it's not as bad as the 'Mark of Athena' cliff hanger...
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