Thank you all for your kind reviews. I'm happy you like the virtual world.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Chapter Four

The mountain trail seemed to go on forever. The group tirelessly walked up steep cliffs and down others though the tip of the mountain still remained unreachable. Jounouchi found himself becoming frustrated with the endless stone trail. Every step became more labored with increasing frustrated sighs. He was tempted to be that annoying child in the backseat screaming, "Are we there yet?" but he refrained from speaking those useless words. Voicing his complaint would not get them closer to the top. He stopped for a moment, allowing the others to catch up. With the other's small stature, it became difficult for them to keep up with Jounouchi. The only one that seemed capable was Baby Dragon who flew just above the blond's head.

Baby Dragon landed directly beside Jounouchi, choosing to take a break while the other's caught up to them. Putting his hand over his eyes, Jounouchi glanced up at the bright sun. He blinked several times, wondering if there was a black spot in the sun or there was something wrong with his vision. It took him only a second to realize that the object was moving quickly towards them. He glanced down at the part of the cliff where the other's were still climbing to get up to him. "Look out!" he shouted.

Jounouchi grabbed Baby Dragon and pushed him in-between two stones. He only managed to get to the edge of the cliff before a large emerald dragon flew away, taking Yugi with them. "Yugi!"

"Jounouchi, help me!" Yugi shouted back, struggling to get out of the clawed feet that held him.

"Damn it! Mokuba, what's with your brother? Does he enjoy watching people getting kidnapped by dragons?" He didn't allow the other to answer before he shouted down to the others, "Catch up when you can. I'm running ahead."

Baby Dragon took to flight while Jounouchi ran up the side of another cliff. "That isn't supposed to happen. Luster Dragon Number Two is suppose to peacefully guide you to the Land of the Dragons. Maybe Baron is affecting more of the program the closer we get to his castle. Don't worry. The Land of the Dragons is just beyond this cliff. We'll be able to talk to the leaders there."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. Three Blue Eyes White Dragons."

"Actually, you'll be surprised to see who they are."

Jounouchi didn't have time to figure out Mokuba's riddles. He slid down the last cliff and stared in awe at the valley. Hundreds of dragons moved about the ground and flew in the area. There were several large nests, some filled with eggs and guarded by their protective parent. He saw the emerald dragon drop Yugi in a nest and landed directly beside it. Yugi tried several times to get out of the nest, but the stubborn dragon just grabbed the back of his tunic with his mouth and pulled him back.

The blond moved further into the valley until he was stopped by a medium sized blue dragon with a large snout. "State your business."

"Luster Dragon kidnapped my friend," Jounouchi answered Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress.

The dragon snorted and shook his head. "Luster, you need to stop stealing people that look like your baby," he shouted while walking over to the nest. "I do apologize," he said more softly. "Luster's baby was a black pointy head dragon. He died a few weeks ago."

After a few growls and snorts, Winged Dragon managed to get Yugi away from Luster. The smaller man looked back at the dragon who lowered her head. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not your baby." He reached up and stroked her snot before she spread her wings and flew off.

"Are you hurt, Yugi?" Jounouchi asked just as Beaver Warrior and Swordsman of Landstar entered the valley.

"No, she didn't even scratch me with the long claws."

"I'm glad you're not hurt," Winged Dragon said, glancing at the other members of their party. "For a human and two creatures to run after her that quickly, you must have been on the mountain. Did you have business with us?"

"We were passing through on the way to rescue our friend," Yugi answered.

"In order for you to do that, you must first get permission from our leaders and even if they do grant you that right, we are unable to grant that request."

"Why?" Jounouchi asked, glancing around at all the dragons.

"Hitosu-Me Giants guard the other side. They throw boulders at people trying to pass and damage the cliffs making it impossible in some places to cross."

"Can't one of you fly us down the cliff?"

"That would be impossible. We don't interact with them and they don't interact with us. That is how we keep our valley safe. There are too many young dragons and eggs to risk a battle."

Jounouchi growled and Yugi walked up to the dragon. "May we talk to the leaders and see what they can do for us?"

"Of course, right this way." The dragon walked along the valley, moving between dragons and finally up a slight cliff and into the mouth of a large cave. The cold cave barely had any light and smelt a little like moisture. The remained there while Winged Dragon stood in the cave. "Red, Blue, we have company."

"Red?" Yugi asked.

"Blue? You have got to be kidding me the two dragons that rule this land are..." Jounouchi didn't even have a chance to answer before two large dragons flew by them with a gust of strong wind and landed directly outside. "Blue Eyes White Dragon and Red Eyes Black Dragon are the leaders? Mokuba, is that what you were...Mokuba?"

The blond looked around, attempting to find Baby Dragon. "We'll search for him later," Yugi whispered. "He should be fine in this valley. We need to pay our respects." Yugi bowed to the two dragons followed by Jounouchi and the other two warriors. "Great Dragons, we come pleading before you. We need permission to cross your lands and climb down the other side."

"You may have permission to cross our lands, however, climbing down the mountain may cost you your lives," a female voice answered, belong to Blue Eyes.

Red Eyes nuzzled her cheek with his snout. "My love, let's hear them out first."

Jounouchi blushed and turned his head away from them. "Remind me to kill Kaiba when I find him."

Yugi bit his lip to stop the laughter from flowing through his mouth. He cleared his throat and looked at them. "Our friend was kidnapped by Baron the Fiend Sword. We received a map from Wingweaver showing us the location of his castle. The quickest route is across your mountain and through the Land of Magic. Is there nothing you can do to help us?"

Red Eyes closed his eyes and sighed before turning to the mass of dragons. He hated asking this question, but he knew the importance of saving a friend. "These travels need assistance going down the cliff. Who is brave enough to join them as they battle with the Hitosu-Me Giants?"

A purple dragon with red wings, a brown dragon and a black dragon stepped forward followed closely behind by a man with a large javelin. "We pledge to help them."

Blue Eyes nodded and turned back to the four travelers. "Gaia the Fierce Knight, Koumori Dragon, Cursed Dragon and Darkblaze Dragon will help you. Gaia has been here from some time also wanting to leave the same route as you, but he was unable to get past the giants and even lost his horse in one of his attempts. We are not saying you have to defeat the giants, but if you do, we would be extremely grateful. Now, show me the map that Wingweaver gave you."

Jounouchi pulled the parchment from his waist and unrolled it. Blue Eyes placed her claw on the parchment which instantly lit up with hundreds of dots. "Now you will see what we see from the skies. The red dots are enemies, the blue dots are members of your party and your allies and the yellow dots are creatures that have no side."

Red eyes pointed on the map with his claw. "These are the giants. Since the dragons are easily spotted and would get in the way, we are giving you another option to summon us."

The black dragon leaned forward, picking something up and placing it in Yugi's hands. The small blue and white dragon cooed at them. "This is Decoy Dragon. He will be able to summon any dragon you call, but only one can come at a time. You will have those three dragons to choose from. They can be summoned at any time, and the spell that Decoy uses will instantly transport them to you. This is all we can do for you. We hope your quest is a success."

The two dragons spread their wings and flew back into the cave. Winged Dragon flapped his wings and landed on the ground before them. "I can guide you to the edge of the valley."

"We are missing someone from our party. Baby Dragon."

"I traded," Decoy Dragon answered.

Yugi blinked and looked down at the small dragon. "Mokuba?"

"Yes. I knew that you would be granted Decoy Dragon so I left Baby Dragon here and moved my control over to Decoy Dragon that way I can summon quicker than the programmed dragon."

"That sounds like a plan. Never mind, Winged Dragon. We have everyone," Jounouchi answered quickly, not wanting to delay them any longer.

Winged Dragon nodded and walked through the crowd of dragons much like he did before. The party followed closely behind until they reached the edge of the mountain top. Below them was a small ledge that led to a pathway. "Thank you," Yugi said, patting Winged Dragon on the shoulder before looking down at the jump he would have to make.

"Stay up here. I'll go down first," Jounouchi said. He slid himself off the side of the cliff and lowered himself onto the pathway. He looked up at Yugi and reached his arms up. "Okay, nice and easy."

Yugi placed Decoy Dragon on his shoulder and slid like Jounouchi did off the edge. The blond gripped Yugi's legs and braced him until his feet touched the ground. Gaia jumped down beside Jounouchi and helped him bring the other two members of their party down. Yugi took one last look at Winged Dragon before walking off with them. "I was surprised to see that Kaiba chose both his and your dragons as the leaders."

"I can understand that, but it shocked me that he made them lovers."

Decoy Dragon laughed. "Nii-sama thought you would like that."

"Oh did he? I'm going to kill him."

Mokuba snickered, hiding the real truth about the dragons from the others. The only time he would ever tell them something like that would be if Kaiba wanted them to know. The raven haired teen looked over at the clock before sneaking a peak at his brother. The brunet stopped pacing and now sat directly under the window. "Don't worry, Seto. We're almost there," Mokuba thought before turning his attention back to the game.

It took them several minutes to climb down the cliff before they got close to one of the red dots. Jounouchi glanced over at the large trees, seeing the giant clinging to the trunk, shouting at something below him. "We've been spotted," Jounouchi said.

Yugi took another arrow out of his seemingly endless quill and shot the giant. It didn't kill the blue creature nor cause it to fall. "They have strong skin or their attack points are higher than normal."

"Thick skin and higher attack points," Decoy Dragon said. "We are getting further in the game, and it's expected that you would have leveled up several times before reaching this part.

"Look out!" Gaia shouted just as a large stone boulder hit directly beside Yugi. The tri-hair colored man ducked, feeling the rubble falling over him.

Yugi groaned as a few larger rocks hit his back and head. He got up quickly and moved away from the edge. "I'm okay," he said, answering several of their questions.

Mokuba reached for a controller and pressed several buttons. Using a cheat code, he managed to summon all three of the dragons at once. "Everyone get on a dragon. Their base has to be on the ground."

Jounouchi ran over to Yugi and grabbed him before jumping onto the back of Curse Dragon. Gaia and Beaver Warrior jumped onto Darkblaze Dragon while Swordsman of Landstar ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped on Koumori Dragon just as the dragon started to descend with the others. The dragons swerved away from the boulders and arrows. The blond slid off the dragon just as it landed. "Yugi, stay on the dragon with Mokuba and attack from the sky."

Yugi didn't have time to respond as Curse Dragon took to the skies. "I hate it when he does that," the King of Games commented.

"I find it strange that he is taking control. I know that I gave him the knight's job, but I thought you would still be giving orders."

Yugi nocked another arrow and fired it just before Jounouchi stabbed on of the Hitosu-Me Giant. "Jounouchi is better at these types of games. It plays to his strengths." He spotted Beaver Warrior struggling against his foe. He shot an arrow. The giant reared back from the pain giving the warrior a chance to roll away and flip back on his feet. "This is more of a physical game than a strategy game. The game relies on his strength. It's like Kaiba designed this specifically so Jounouchi could be the master of it."

Decoy Dragon glanced at Yugi. Mokuba didn't want to tell him any of Kaiba's secrets. He knew his brother had Jounouchi mind for this game. That's why his dragon was one of the leaders and why the knight's quest was more physical than the others. Mokuba watched in amazement as the blond flipped from one of the giants he just killed and wrapped his legs around the neck of another. He used his momentum to knock the one eyed giant off his feet and to the ground. He twirled his body and stabbed that giant in the stomach. Decoy Dragon moved from Yugi's shoulder to sit on the head of Curse Dragon. "Can he do that in real life?"

"Do what?" Yugi fired another arrow, managing to hit a giant in the eye. Gaia brought that one down to the ground and killed it.

"Wrap his legs around someone's neck and bring them down."

Yugi glanced at Jounouchi for a second before bringing his focus back to the others. "Probably. He knows how to fight. Well, he would have to know how to fight with the neighborhood he lives in. Gangs want him to join, but he keeps telling them no. His father taught him how to fight so he could protect himself."

"I'm glad he's never fought Seto like that."

"Jounouchi wouldn't hurt Kaiba. He might get mad and yell at him. Maybe even shove him, but he would never hurt him. Curse Dragon, take us down. There's only one giant left."

Jounouchi hissed as he held his shoulder. His body ached, but not nearly as bad as his shoulder. He rotated it, feeling the stabbing pain. Yugi ran over to him and placed his hand on it. "Is it dislocated?"

"I don't think so. It's probably strained. It took more force to stab those giants than any other monster. Mokuba, time check."

"Twenty-nine minutes."

Jounouchi took the map out of his waistband while the others gathered together. He looked around at the monsters that still wondered through the forest separating them from the Land of the Magic. "We should move out of this clearing and into the nearby trees to take a small break. Yugi, when we get there, can you look at this shoulder? I need to be able to use it."

"I was planning on it." Yugi walked side by side with Jounouchi while Decoy Dragon rode on his head. The other warriors followed closely behind them, keeping an eye open for any enemies. Mokuba released the spell on the three dragons, allowing them return to the valley until they are needed again. They were another step closer.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

We are getting closer to Baron's castle, but that's not the end of the story. Thank you for reading. Please review.

Angel Dove