We didn't find another village for quite some time, but instead, we broke from the sandy plains and stumbled upon the greenery that lined the Nile. We used the canopy of the trees for shade and the current of the Nile for direction, and for a moment, I almost forgot we had lost one of our own.
Bakura was leading the way, although he never said where we were going, the three of us just blindly followed. We walked this way for a whole day and through a break in the greenery, we could see an upcoming town, larger than the previous, with a wall surrounding half of it in a semi-circle and fields of crops lining the bank of the river.
"Bakura, wait…" Teana whined, stretching out her hand in a blasé attempt to reach him, "we'll be there in less than twenty minutes. Can't we take a moment to rest?"
Bakura turned on the girl with his trademark scowl. "We can rest at the Town."
Teana tried to match his expression, but quickly broke it off and looked longingly at the Nile. "I haven't seen any hippos for a while… or crocodiles," and then suddenly, her intentions were clear. "We're muddy and filthy. We can't walk into the town like this."
Bakura looked like he could really care less about the state in which he approached any situation, but suddenly, the idea of bathing greatly appealed to me also.
"We'll take only a few minutes. It's not even noon yet," I bargained and Bakura threw his hands up in defeat, knowing he was out numbered. "Whatever."
Amunet and Teana wandered off a little way behind a band of trees and reeds to bathe, away from Bakura and me, for modesties sake and we put all of our belongings in a little dip in the bank, out of sight.
I sighed in contentment as the cold water hit my baked skin and I wasted no time dipping down low until the water touched my chin. I ran my parched hands over my body a few times and through my hair and felt the sand falling out of my white tresses, but all the while, careful not to drink any of the muddied water. When I stood up again, I saw Bakura was still on the bank besides our belongings, making no sign of intentions to join me.
"You're so stubborn," I bit out as I poured a handful of water over my head.
"What was that?"
"I said…" I turned to face him, "you're so stubborn."
He sat, in silence. His legs were outstretched in front of him and his hands stretched behind him to hold him up. "Because I don't want a bath?"
I just scoffed and turned my back on him to continue running water over my body, watching the water become clear in my hands then muddy again as it reached the river. My lack of response annoyed Bakura, who sat up straighter and folded his arms in defiance.
"Why am I so stubborn?" he persisted. I knew Bakura hated being criticized and that was exactly what I was getting at. Bakura longed for approval, to be accepted and seen as an equal, but this was impossible. No one saw a homeless orphan as an equal so instead, Bakura challenged them. That's why he would walk through a new town filthy dirty, because he couldn't fit in, so he would rather stand out by his own doing. And that's why I thought him stubborn. But I wouldn't dare tell him any of that, I opted to continue playing with the water, now making tiny splashes, and ignoring him once more. I watched the water ripple and waver under the influence of my hand and, for a second, I was allowed to be lost in child-like whims that I had long since been denied. I was so mesmerised by the changing rippling water that I didn't notice Bakura slink off of the bank and into the water until he was behind, me grabbing my shoulders and pushing me under the water.
I gasped and spluttered as I reached the surface of the water again and turned to glare at my attacker. "What was that for?!" I demanded, splashing at him furiously.
"You ignored me." He said bluntly before asking again. "Why am I stubborn?"
I laughed at that. "Look at you! You're the embodiment of stubbornness. You can't just let it lie that I think you're stubborn; you have to know why!" With that, I flung my arms to cause a mini tidal wave to drench Bakura and his still dry hair. When the water settled, he didn't move and neither did I and I suddenly felt a little apprehensive. Again, I felt that child-like spark. That feeling when playing hide-and-seek and you know you're just about to be found out, or when you've successfully stolen some of your dinner under your mother's nose before it's ready to be eaten. And I saw it in his eyes too. We were ten and eight when our childhood was stolen from us and now; standing together sixteen and fourteen, our childish tendencies seemed to have caught up on us. Bakura tackled me and, again, I fell under the water, but this time I clung to his arms dragging him down with me. We both wrestled under the water trying to keep the other down for longer, but eventually our lungs were bursting, so we both rushed to the surface. As I reached air, I took in a large gasp for breath and fitfully pushed my long hair out of my face and once I was composed again, I was stunned to hear the very rare sound of Bakura's laugh. Grinning to myself, I took it upon myself to attack him this time, while he was distracted and we continued like that for a while, wrestling under the muddy water. The only sounds that of furious splashing, the occasional yelp or scream, and Bakura's continuous laughter.
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
When the girls were finished bathing, they came back to find both Bakura and me spread out on the bank, panting and exhausted from our play fighting.
"Honestly!" Teana had scolded. "We were meant to be resting!"
Bakura made an off hand remark about it being her that wanted to rest and that he didn't need a break, ever.
And so we continued the short journey to the upcoming village. The village was a very lively one, full of hustle and bustle. A market greeted us as we entered and we barely made it five steps before we had all sorts of trinkets and foodstuffs being advertised to us rather forcefully. I picked Amunet up and held her on my hip so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd and followed Teana and Bakura as they pushed through the throng of people. Teana and I would politely refuse the 'bargains' we were being offered, whereas Bakura just rudely grunted and pushed people away if they stood too close.
"This is crazy," Teana remarked once we'd found solitude in an alley that branched off from the main street.
"We should find shelter early on, and then wait until the market has died down and-…" Bakura had begun his normal instructions, but trailed off, as if annoyed with his own words.
"What? What is it?" I asked, trying to readjust my sister on my hip.
"Wouldn't it just be easier to just take things?" he asked, looking up at Teana and me. For a moment, I was too busy trying to keep hold of my sister, who was now becoming restless and fidgety, but Teana was not distracted from Bakura's meaning.
"We don't steal," She said in an icily cold tone.
I snapped my head up to look at my two companions whose eyes were now fixed on each other, both silently forcing their opinion on the other. Eventually I broke the tense silence.
"No, we don't…"
Bakura broke away from Teana's gaze to look at me. "Are you always going to side with her?" he asked, exasperated.
I huffed and finally got too frustrated to keep a hold of Amunet and put her down on her feet. "I will if she's right."
"Well, she's not right!" Teana opened her mouth to interrupt, but Bakura raised his hand to keep her quiet. "Why don't we steal? We're already treated like thieves! People already spit on us and treat us like crap. People already try to kill us!" Bakura stared pointedly at me and I felt my hand raise and touch the fresh cut that circled my throat like a necklace. "They've stolen everything from us. Our home. Our families. Our friends… so why don't we start taking back? We deserve to eat! To have nice clothes and to own things."
"Nothing we steal will ever belong to us…" Teana said timidly, but her quiet remark was enough to cause Bakura to throw his hands up in a rage and storm off down the alley.
"Bakura!" I yelled after him, but he didn't turn back.
"Ryou, you wouldn't make me steal, would you?"
I avoided Teana's gaze and focused on the top of Amunet's head.
I wouldn't. I would never make anyone steal. It was dangerous and difficult but that's not to say it didn't have its advantages. I thought about what Bakura had said. Last night those men had literally stolen Kisara away from us. So why shouldn't we steal? Just things like food… just to eat and to actually be full. I put my hand on Amunet's soft white head and looked up to face Teana. "No. I would never make you steal. And neither would Bakura."
But that doesn't mean you can stop us.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo
So the last chapter was a day late and this one a day early.
Can't you tell I'm going to be great with upkeeping this?
Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews I've received so far. I haven't asked for reviews at all throughout this but I wont lie when I say they really made me feel great so thank you so so so much!
Not much to say on the actual chapter! Hope you enjoyed it :D
(revised)