AN: This took longer than I wanted due to some personal stuff, but its here now and that's what matters. Also just so you know Amasis means "Child of the moon" name meaning were pretty big in ancient Egypt, so yeah.

Disclaimer: Again, typed on a rented laptop. The amount of things I actually own in this world is sad.

Chapter 2: Bargain

"I asked you a question," He lowered his voice and placed the knife under the shorter boy's chin.

Atem glared. "You think you frighten me? Without your Ka you would be no better off than me." The Ka in turn hissed from behind its master and lurched forward with its snake half to look over the other's shoulder.

The man pressed the knife harder and a small crimson line appeared. Small droplets dripped down, but did little more than sting as the fresh air hit it. Atem still refused to answer his question or show fear. The hand was shaking, and Atem knew he was winning.

"Is that so?" The Ka vanished from behind him. He raised the blade now drizzled with Atem's blood and rubbed it across the youth's cheek. "Am I still no better off?"

Atem raised the corner of his lips in a smirk. "You wear that billowing coat to make yourself seem bigger, and use these scare tactics and grand gestures to intimidate people into thinking of you as some nightmarish creature."

Up close like this with a clear mind, something the people this man frightened likely never bothered to keep, he saw the truth. He was muscled, but it was lean with a narrow set of shoulders and a small waist. His height also wasn't as impressive from a distance, Seto was still much taller than this man even if he was still a good bit taller than Atem.

"You know so much about me you petulant child?" The man said. His lips twisted into a dark grin, and he slid the blade across a dark cheek. Not hard enough to cut, but enough to make most people nervous. He placed the blade right under a ruby eye.

"Bakura stop!" Namu called out from somewhere behind them in the wagon. The two had forgotten the boy was even there with them. "This man helped me, he saved me from the slavers earlier. Is this how you intend to repay him?"

The man, that Atem now knew was named Bakura stared over him, likely at Namu for a moment. It wasn't as cold or hardened as it was at him, but it wasn't anything akin to soft. He turned his attention back to Atem, the reprieve of callousness vanishing instantly. Atem recalled their captors calling Namu a thief, by association it was likely Bakura was. Probably his partner even.

"You saved Namu?" He mused moving the knife down under his bottom lip. "Well then I'll just cut off your lips instead of your eyes. After all I'm not an ingrate. Unless you can help me get into the palace that is."

Atem raised a brow. "Why would you need to get into the palace?"

"I seek an audience with the Pharaoh," Bakura said. There was obviously more to it, but he doubted Bakura would tell him if he asked.

"I might be able to get you that," said Atem. "I'm from a noble family important to the Pharaoh's court." The best lies were hidden in layers of truth.

Bakura for his part looked like he'd found the treasure of a life time. "Then how about you do that, or I start cutting?" The blade dug into the soft skin under his lips.

"I have a better idea," said Atem. "Let's play a game."

"A game?!" Bakura scoffed. "Why would I bet something so important on a silly game?"

"Because you hate to lose."

Bakura paused and seemed to be thinking it over. Atem already had him right where he wanted him though. "If you win I tell you everything you want and you can throw me in the sand for the scorpions and vultures to deal with. If I win, you take me and a friend of mine back to Kemmet, and I might personally get you the audience you want."

Bakura eased up on the pressure of the knife and his face became less expressive. A gambler's façade, for better bluffing. So he was fonder of games than he let on. Perfect.

Atem knew he would have to be a fool to trust this man, no, worse than a fool. Most fools were cowardly enough to stay clear of cut throats like him no matter how desperate they were. Atem never shied away from danger or a challenge though, and the thief was both. A game of deception for him to conquer or die trying. "So do we have a deal?"

"What game did you have in mind?" He asked.

"I guess how you got that scar," Atem said. The thief laughed in turn.

"You really do think you know everything don't you brat?" He bellowed out it was a cracked and disturbing sound instead of gleeful. "Well then go on, guess." He put a hand around the prince's throat and moved the knife over his own scar under his eye. "A brawl maybe? One of the royal guards caught me with sticky fingers?"

"You did it to yourself," Atem took great satisfaction in the way the man's face fell. He moved the knife away from his own face. "You keep making a point to call me brat, and child…you want to sound older. You're not that much older than me and you have a naturally slight build, so you gave yourself that scar to make people think you were older and more experienced in life. It's a gimmick, no different than your coat." When Bakura looked ready to actually strike him he knew he'd won. "It's too clean and straight to be from a fight, and guards would have done worse if it were a legal punishment."

Atem watched for any sign of how the thief would react. Namu hadn't spoken a word through the entire bargain. He was tempted to look back and get a read of what the other man who clearly knew Bakura was expecting. Instead he kept eye contact with his savior turned captor. The man raised the knife above his head, and let it slip from his fingers. It gave a dull sound on impact with the floor. Bakura removed his hand from Atem's throat and stood up.

"You win," he said. Bitterness bleeding into his tone.

"I always win," Atem said as he stood. He heard a relieved sigh from Namu in the back and the taps of his footsteps to join up with them. "My friend was dragged off to one of the tents I think, is he still alive?"

"We'll just have to go look for ourselves won't we?" Bakura said. He jumped out of the wagon and onto the sands outside.

Namu tapped on Atem's shoulder. "I'm glad you're alright, and thank you."

Bakura rolled his eyes, "Kiss his feet while you're at it." Namu was either very brave or very familiar with the other with the way he punched the other's shoulder in retaliation. Bakura let out a small pained sound and rubbed the spot he'd been struck. Namu was unaffected by the angry gaze thrown at him. "Fine, does your new friend have a name?"

"Amasis," Atem answered. The other man crossed his arms.

"I wasn't asking you."

"If you have questions about me, ask me yourself," Atem jumped out of the wagon. "Now if this introduction is done with we need to find – Seto!"

His friend and future high priest was already in sight a few meters away. When Bakura and Namu turned around they caught sight of the tall brunette with steely blue eyes. There was another boy, yellow haired like Namu, but a darker shade and paler. Seto held a small dagger in his hand against the boy's neck. The boy looked more embarrassed than anything, red faced and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

"You incompetent imbecile!" Bakura shouted at the man. "How did you manage to get captured by a prisoner?" The thief inched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep groan.

"He took my dagger!" The boy said.

"Shut up!" Seto took that moment to hold the other closer and glare at Bakura. "Who are you people, answer me or I slit this dog's throat."

"I told you not to call-"he slammed the handle on the boy's head.

"And I told you to shut up," he sneered down at the boy. The blond boy he held captive appeared to be the tallest aside from Seto out of the group gathered in the desert, only a few inches below Seto's height.

Bakura began to reach for his own dagger, and he noticed Namu out of the corner of his eyes maneuvering back to the wagon. At least one of their dead captors had probably had some sort of weapon on them. The situation could get out of hand quickly if Atem didn't settle it.

"Seto," he called out to his friend. "Let him go."

Seto's mouth went agape. "You trust these bandits?"

"Not in the least," Atem said. "But we have a deal, you kill one of their men and that deal will be void."

"A broken arrangement will be the least of your worries if Jono is killed," Namu warned. There was a dark edge in his words Atem had yet to hear from the gentler of the two thieves he'd interacted with.

Seto's hand shifted on the knife and looked at the group. It was clear that his future priest didn't feel comfortable trusting or even associating with their accidental saviors. However, surely he had to acknowledge they didn't have many other options. They were weeks' worth of travel at the least away from Kemmet, unaware of how they had ended up in the situation. Seto loosened his hold on Jono, and finally pushed him away into the sand.

The boy landed with an oomph and shot the taller one a dirty look. He rushed to stand, dusting his clothing off before running over to his companions. Bakura gave the other a firm smack on the head followed by a kick to the shin by Namu.

"Be more careful fool!" Namu scolded.

"Me?!" Jono waved his arms wildly for emphasis. "You were the one who got captured in the first place remember? We only ended up here because we were saving you!"

"I was caught off guard!" Namu shouted. He stepped forward into Jono's personal space and poked a finger against his chest. "You were just reckless! You got pick pocketed by some bratty noble!"

"Both of you shut up!"

The argument ceased and both fell silent at Bakura's order. They turned their heads away from each other and both took a step in the opposite direction. It was clear who the leader of the group was, which meant that was who Atem needed to focus on. The other two would fall into line with whatever Bakura agreed to.

"We let your lackey go," Atem said. "Is our deal still on?"

"If you can get us an audience with the Pharaoh," Bakura said, "then definitely." The thief began to walk off towards the tents.

"Where are you going?" Asked Seto eying him suspiciously.

"To loot the camp," he answered as he kept walking. "If you want to survive the to our camp tonight I suggest you do the same. Or are your noble hands to delicate to handle swords?" The last part didn't lack any insult. Namu and Jono followed, still ignoring each other and trying to simultaneously turn their noses up at each other.

The three young men scampered to the camp of abandoned tents and burning corpses in the near distance. They were undisturbed by the burnt flesh around them and had no issue bending down to see if there were any items not melted into cooked skin. Atem looked over to his friend; Seto spoke quietly to avoid the others over hearing them.

"Are we really going to travel with these thieves?"

"We don't have a choice," said Atem. "Walk with me, it will look suspicious if we lag behind, plus we need to find supplies for ourselves." The other nodded and they slowly walked towards the campsite.

"The one with pale hair in the red coat," whispered Seto. "Did you get his name?"

"Bakura."

Seto visibly tensed. He stopped Atem dead in his track with a firm grip on his arm. "This is no ordinary bandit. We are playing with fire." Atem raised a brow gesturing for him to elaborate. "There is a man, a tomb robber who travels across Egypt. The treasures he's taken from the living and the dead have made him infamous. They call him the King of Thieves."

"Pathetic king to have only two subjects," Atem commented smugly. He slipped from the other's grasp. "I can handle him; you worry about the other two."

"This is serious Atem," his whisper was raspier. "Or shall I keep calling you Amasis?" He lightly tugged on the other's golden bangs. "You are as much a child of the moon as Osiris."

He swatted his hand away. "It could simply mean I was born at night, and my eyes are red, Seth's color. It's a believable alias." He argued with the other becoming irate at his mistrust in him. "You have more than enough power to deal with them if they double cross us not to mention mine."

"Except neither of us can even summon Ka or use magic."

"What?" Atem asked. They were drawing close to the camp.

"It's sealed off," said Seto. "I can't feel any connection, to my Ka or magic."

Without their Ka, they had no defense against the powerful creature the thief had summoned. Plus, whatever had been summoned to decimate this camp was obviously their work as well. They only had their physical skills and their wits against the thieves if things turned sour. The game was getting interesting.

Preview: "Did you think I was charitable man?" Bakura teased. "If you're going to follow us around you're going to pull your weight." He approached Seth until they were chest to chest and tilted his head up at the taller boy. "So if you have a problem with stealing you better get over it quickly."