A/N: So...There's not really a good explanation for letting a fic go years without updating, or for trying to revive it after such a period. Suffice to say that this fic is now more than half planned out, pretty much scene by scene, and will be completed. I don't blame you if you're thinking something to the effect of 'I'll believe it when I see it'.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Be glad for that.

Chapter 4

Sometime after Jounouchi left him alone, Ryou made a decision. It wasn't all at once so he wasn't sure exactly when he'd decided on it, only that he had.

He'd been trying his best not to puzzle over the reasons for his being in the foxes' castle. Hopefully, it would all become clear with Yugi's arrival. Until then all he could do was speculate, so it was best not to think of it at all or he'd only get himself worked up. The best thing he could do was to remain calm.

But then he thought 'why do I need to wait for Yugi?'. He definitely trusted his friend to give him an honest account of why he was here, but it could be a while before he arrived. And, before that, the fox king was going to be asking him for his support. He would give Ryou some explanation for why he was being involved in this matter, and then he would ask for Ryou's support when Yugi came. That much the white haired boy felt he could say without calling it 'speculation', it had been made fairly clear.

Ryou couldn't afford to wait for Yugi, he was talking to Yami today. He was going to have to judge this situation for himself, or he was going to end up some pawn in the foxes' game. Reserving judgment until Yugi showed up would just mean that they knew exactly what to expect from him and he'd have nothing to say to Yugi when he got there besides 'they haven't treated me badly'.

Yami had ordered Ryou kidnapped, he didn't get a 'they haven't treated me badly' unless he had a very good explanation.

Ryou decided he wasn't leaving his meeting with the monarch until he had that explanation.


Malik did not like the way the conversation was going. The queen seemed like she couldn't decide between his idea of intercepting this 'Yugi' and using him as leverage and Marik's idea of doing stupid things that wouldn't help. The spy thought that his first-hand undercover experience should give him more credibility than some overrated bouncer. The other tom cat's only job was to defend them from invasion, and they'd never been invaded. He actually had a feeling that that was why Marik had come up with the 'more diplomatic' alternative that he had – it allowed him to get more involved. After all, Marik didn't care about diplomacy – Malik knew that for a fact – so that only left having personal reasons to push a particular plan. He probably didn't even expect it to work and just wanted to get his hands dirty when it fell through.

"If I may interject, my lady?" Malik couldn't have been more pleased to hear his elder sister's voice. She'd be the tie breaker – whatever she agreed with would probably be what Mai went with. And there was no way she'd choose Marik over her dear sweet baby brother.

"Go ahead Isis...and quit the 'my lady' thing. Unless we're in the bedroom." Malik wondered what that last part was supposed to mean. He definitely knew what it sounded like, but that couldn't be right...Well, no matter! His big sister was coming to the rescue and saving them all from Marik's plan that he only made up to be an asshole!

"I think Marik's idea is a good one." Traitor!

"Sister, you can't! Not even he thinks it's a good idea!"

Marik looked far too amused for Malik's liking. "Why would I say it if I didn't think it was a good idea?"

"Because you're you! You just want in on the action."

"I think you're confusing me with yourself, dear Malik. Isn't that why you are where you are right now?"

Just because he was right didn't mean Malik was wrong. And now Marik was laughing...jerk.

"Brother, I know you are closer to the situation than the rest of us, and I don't doubt your claim about Marik's motivations. Mai and I know him to, remember? However, if we go with your plan and it ends badly I don't think I could live with myself knowing there was another option and we didn't even try it."

Mai seemed to agree with this. "That's exactly what I was concerned about, love. You put my thoughts into words better than I do sometimes."

Malik, besides feeling generally not-good about the conversation, was now starting to get a bit worried about the way his queen was looking at his sister. And what was this 'love' business about? Mai called people 'hun' sometimes; maybe she was just expanding to newer and even more unnecessary endearments?

"How about we try my plan first – classic negotiation. We try to barter for information like where they are and what sorts of things they could attack us with and gage whether they want to attack us at all. If I'm not getting anywhere by the time this 'Yugi' leaves again – or by the time her majesty gets impatient – we move on to Malik's plan and there can be no saying we didn't try the nice way." Marik's smirk as he spoke confirmed what Malik thought – Marik wanted his own plan to fail.

"...Couldn't you at least send someone else?" Malik already knew the answer would be no. Most cats were afraid of the foxes, no one else would volunteer. That's probably how Malik got his own job.

"Now now Malik, you look like someone dumped water on you. Cheer up, your sister and I have some good news we've been meaning to share!" Mai's grin was quite possibly more disturbing than Marik's.


"Hey, has Namu come through here lately?"

"Not unless he learnt how to be stealthy over night –there's some food missing, but I haven't seen that boy."

Jou wasn't really that surprised when the cook shook his head. He hadn't passed the human servant in the halls on the way, and he obviously wasn't still in the kitchen. He must have gotten side tracked somewhere along the way to get Ryou's lunch. Shaking his head at the degree to which Namu's brain was scattered, Jou grabbed some bread and a piece of fruit before saying goodbye to the kitchen staff and heading off in the general direction of the servant's quarters. He knew he should probably just take the food to Ryou so he'd be ready to meet with Yami sooner, but he was curious about what had side-tracked the other blond.

Jou nodded to a few of the castle staff who he was familiar with as he entered the area where the servants lived. Kind hearted and outgoing, he didn't usually have trouble getting along with people. Well, ok, he could be sort of hot-headed and brash. He tended to overreact and, when he got mad, he wasn't the kind of person who could internalize it. Still, Jounouchi was the type who made friends easily. It had never been a problem for him to hold a position of authority and still be liked by those he had some power over.

Rounding the corner on to the hall where Namu's room was located, the guard heard a smashing noise. It sounded like something had been knocked over, or maybe someone had dropped something? Jou knocked on the door to the room the sound had come from and there was no answer. He was about to open it, to make sure no one was injured inside, when he heard a scream from a bit further down the hallway.

"GET OFF MY SISTER!"

It sounded like his human friend's voice, but Namu didn't have any sister he knew about and definitely didn't have one living in The Den. Maybe it was someone else? Well, whoever it was, something was obviously going on and as a member of the king's personal guard it was part of Jounouchi's job to keep the peace inside the castle. He took off running down the remaining length of the hall to the room the scream had come from, his boots smacking loudly against the stone floor.

Flinging the door open, Jou was surprised to find...nothing out of the ordinary. Just an irritated looking Namu glaring down at a mirror.

"What's with all the yelling?" The guard slumped against the doorframe, looking confused.

"Bad hair day." Namu stated in an annoyed manner, adjusting a pale blond strand and continuing to stare down at the mirror. "This one piece is being a real pain."

"...So you told it ta get off your sister?" Jou blinked.

"...It's an expression." Namu was acting sort of weird, even for him. Since when did he have bad hair days?

"That's not any expression I've ever heard." Jou raised an eyebrow in a manner he usually reserved for when he was doing his Seto impression.

"It's a human expression."

"Oh, ok. You humans sure are so strange sometimes." Jou smiled, amused by the other's antics, and held up the food he'd grabbed for Ryou. "Forget something?"

"...Ah! Oh, shit, I guess I did. Sorry Jou! I'll run that up to him right away!" Namu sprung up, shoved his mirror under a pillow, and was standing in front of Jou, bouncing from foot to foot, in a flash.

"Don't worry about it, Namu. I'll go up with you. I've got ta take 'em to see Yami after he eats." The fox laughed a bit to himself and continued in a joking manner. "He's probably going to have to rush now, all because of someone's hair emergency."

"Oh, but it was an emergency! Hair this good takes time, you know?" Namu met Jou's amusement with a smirk of his own as they began to walk down the hall. "...Oh, wait, of course you don't. How silly of me."

The two continued to banter playfully all the way back to the guest room Ryou was being kept in. When they got there the green eyed young man was sitting on the edge of his bed, hands folded neatly in his lap. He smiled politely to the two blonds and greeted them with a pleasant 'hello'. The nerves that had taken hold of him earlier in the day seemed to have vacated, their guest was completely calm. He also seemed to have been waiting for them. Not that he really had anything else to do, but the air he had about him in that moment...He wasn't just a prisoner who knew he was going to be taken somewhere, he was an individual agent awaiting a meeting where he would represent his own interests. Jou wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Sorry it took so long, Ryou, I sort of had to, umm..." Namu scratched the back of his head, embarrassment clear on his face. His light purple eyes flicked over to Jou as if to say 'help me?'.

"Namu here was taking a break to fix his hair." Jounouchi smirked and ruffled the darker skinned boy's golden tresses. Namu ducked away from the offending hand quickly and immediately began patting down his hair, trying to fix the damage, while sending Jou a look he translated as a sarcastic 'thanks a lot'. Jou replied with a 'no problem, buddy' grin.

"You two seem like really close friends." Ryou observed with a small chuckle.

"As if! I'm only using him for his connections." Namu, once again satisfied with the placement of his hair, remarked in a teasing voice and stuck his tongue out at the fox.

"I wouldn't be surprised, nosy pest that you are." Jou rolled his eyes, though his grin remained in place. He walked over to Ryou and handed him the bread and fruit he'd brought from the kitchen, only to have the other set it aside.

"I'm not really that hungry. I'd like to have that meeting with King Yami now, if it's not too much trouble."

"Nah, no trouble. He said to bring you when you were ready." Jou couldn't help wondering why Ryou was so eager to see Yami. He'd seemed uneasy about it when he'd left him only a bit earlier.

"Right then." Ryou stood and waited to be led out of the room. "Let's go."


Malik sighed and flopped down on Ryou's bed after the fox and human had left him. That had been way too close for comfort. If Jou hadn't come running down the hall – his boots making a lot of noise – the feline spy probably would have been caught in the act. He'd had just enough warning that someone was coming to hide his cat-like features and remove the images from his mirror.

He did not lay there a minute before he was up again. He stretched in a way that would be just as revealing of his true identity as his ears and tail before heading back down to his own room. Mai had a letter she needed him to write.

Only a few minutes later, Ryou found himself sitting on a small balcony off the king's personal study in a purple plush chair, the wooden arms and legs of which were a red-toned wood. In front of him was a similarly toned wooden table with a shiny varnish and a tray with a teapot, two cups, cream and sugar resting in on it. On the other side of that table was a man who looked something like Yugi sitting in a chair identical to his own. Everything from the way he crossed his legs to the way he sipped his tea was regal.

"So, I assume you're wondering why you're here." The red-eyed fox king stated with an exasperated sigh, like he thought it was beneath him to converse with the human. Ryou was tempted to judge him a terrible snob, before he continued in a kinder voice. "Please know that I don't intend for any harm to come to yourself or Yugi. I wasn't planning on involving you at all, it was an improvisation an advisor of mine thought up in the moment."

"I feel confident at this point that you don't want to hurt me or Yugi, don't worry about that." Ryou smiled and took a drink of his beverage. He really didn't think the king's goal was to hurt anyone, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen. "But other than that I'm afraid I'm at a loss to understand this situation."

"I suppose I should start from the beginning." Yami set his teacup in its saucer before continuing. "As I'm sure you've gathered by now, Yugi is a 'fox' and was once a resident of this castle. His grandfather was an advisor to my father, we grew up as friends. When I became king, he became one of my advisors. He was liked and respected by everyone in my court – by everyone who knew him, even – and had many close friends."

"Yugi is a very sweet person." Ryou reflected fondly on his friend.

"He is." Yami nodded his agreement. "That's why it was such a shock when he left us. He didn't even say goodbye, just left a note saying that he'd be living in a human village we were close to at the time and that we shouldn't worry about him."

Ryou didn't like the implication that Yami was making. He didn't sound worried so much as angry that he'd been made to worry, like he thought Yugi selfish for leaving. If things were as simple as Yami described them Ryou may have been inclined to agree, but he knew Yugi and he knew that his roommate was not a selfish person. There had to be more to it.

"I'm sure he had a good reason." Ryou defended.

"I'm not." The king's cold tone made it clear that the subject was not to be debated. His voice lost its icy edge when he continued. "But that isn't the issue. The issue lies not in the past, but in Yugi's present happiness."

"I'm not sure I understand..." As far as the white haired man knew Yugi wasn't unhappy.

"Do you really think someone can leave behind their entire life, everyone they've ever known and cared for, and not feel displaced and homesick?" Yami sighed and shook his head. "Yugi is the type to keep smiling so that the people around him feel better, so it might not be obvious, but I don't believe he can be completely happy living among humans. If you truly consider him a friend then I hope when he arrives you won't make things hard on him."

As the fox king spoke, Ryou had become more and more sympathetic to his situation. He was worried about someone he cared about, that was no crime. However, in his last sentence any progress Yami had been making with him was erased. He had the nerve to think Ryou might make the situation difficult for Yugi, when he was the one forcing Yugi into it?

"You're the one making him relive what I imagine must have been a very painful experience. Please don't tell me not to 'make things hard on him'." A whisper can be more scathing than a scream sometimes.

"I already told you, this isn't how I'd intended things." Was Yami trying to sound pacifying? To Ryou it just sounded patronizing. "Seto and Jou were supposed to find him lonely and lost, he was supposed to w-"

"Would you have really preferred that? You wanted him to be unhappy just so you could save him?"

"I don't like your tone."

"And what are you hoping will happen now? That you can guilt him in to staying by making him face the people he left behind?"

Ryou wasn't usually one for arguments, mostly because most arguments weren't about anything important. He didn't like conflict and he was frightened more easily than angered, but...He knew how to pick his battles. The emotional manipulation of a friend wasn't something he could back away from.

"I was trying to be kind in explaining the way of things to you, but I can see that it's pointless." Yami stood and went inside, walking across his study and opening the door to the hallway where Jou was waiting. "This conversation is over, take him to his room."

Ryou nodded to the king and followed Jou without another word. 'I don't need any more explanations; it's fairly clear at this point why Yugi left.'

'It was to get away from you.'


Yami watched the human leave with more than a small amount of distain. It was clear that he wouldn't be any help. How could he claim to care about Yugi? This was all obviously for his own good. Yami could only hope the white haired annoyance didn't have too horrible an effect on things.

For Yugi's sake.

The king's brooding was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Speak."

"It's Kaiba."

"Come in."

Seto entered with an expression that made it clear they had business to discuss. When he looked at Yami, however, a degree of discomfort made itself visible as well. "...You're upset."

"I am."

"You don't want to...talk about it, do you?"

"Not particularly."

"Good."

Seto proceeded to hold out an envelope. There was a wax seal on it with a cat's eye design – the symbol of Bubastis.

"It was found near the front entrance. I thought you'd want to be the first to read it." Seto explained as he handed his king the letter.

As the seal implied, the letter was from the cat queen. In it, Mai expressed her regrets at having taken so long to reply after Yami had sent his messenger, Anzu. She confessed that their first reaction had been to take the girl prisoner, but that she'd had time to think since then and realized that had been rather paranoid of her. Paranoia was a problem for both of them. Mai wished to address both of their concerns and felt that exchanging ambassadors might be a good way to open up a dialogue. To reply Yami need only write his answer on the back of the letter, reseal the envelope, and leave it where it had been found. It was a very intricate enchantment that had allowed the delivery of the letter to a location Mai did not know and Yami was advised not to try guarding or keeping track of the parchment when he was replying – its magic was fragile and sensitive.

While it was true that transportation spells tended to be finicky and could conceivably react to someone's attitudes about them, both Yami and Seto were suspicious about that last part. Neither of them had heard of a way to enchant something to deliver itself when you didn't know the exact place it was to be delivered to. Would Anzu have given up their location? No, she knew better than that. That combined with the fact that any transport spell at all was complicated and nearly impossible without another caster working to receive the item...It would have made more sense to take the extra time and send Anzu back with the message. Unless the message hadn't really been magically delivered at all and someone had dropped it off. Both men decided that that didn't make any more sense than the spell – they were confident the cats didn't know their location. Even if they sent out scouts to search a number of places that they thought it might be one did not find The Den unless they already knew where it was or the king had given his consent, as was the case with lost human travelers.

Since both explanations were equally unlikely, they decided to go along with Queen Mai's instructions. Yami did insist on heightening security for the next few days, however.

The king and his advisor discussed the letter at some length and, though Yami's distrust of the cat's had grown at learning how Anzu had originally been treated by them, they both agreed that establishing a dialogue with the felines was a step in the right direction. That had been what they were trying when they'd first sent a messenger, after all. Yami penned a reply that stated his agreement and desire that an ambassador be sent to The Den in three day's time. He gave a place where their new guest would meet with people who would guide him to the fox castle.


A/N: Has my writing changed at all in the last couple years?

Also, Jou's accent – it's awkward to write and I'm worried that it's distracting to read. In this chapter I used it where it sounded like if flowed well to me, and dropped it where it didn't. Should I even bother with it?

Next chapter should be up this time next week, at the latest.