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Alright, so this is a quick update and I'm not sure how this one will turn out. Please review and please be honest! Thanks!
Chapter Six
No Where Left to Turn
Sagira carefully made her way out of the house that night. Bakura had stayed home and Malik was asleep in his chair at the table. Sagira was worried about her brothers more than she was about what they were going to end up having to do. When she had gone to get the eggs from the chickens earlier in the evening and to feed them as well, she overheard Malik speaking to someone in one of the houses. She was now planning on finding out what her brothers have actually done last night.
Yes, Sagira knew that Malik was gone with Bakura. He spoke last night in his sleep. She also understood why Malik was doing what he was doing. He wanted to protect Bakura from danger, from the same thing that happened to him before. Sagira sighed as she closed her eyes tightly. She had made it past the house they kept the chickens in. She would have to go farther and check each house as she went. She wasn't expecting to hear anyone breathing or anyone talking.
Sagira opened a door and poked her head inside. "Hello?" She asked. There was no response so she went on. Sagira repeated her method of getting someone to answer. Five houses down from where she had began her search, someone actually answered her.
"Hello?" Sagira questioned as she stepped into the darkened house.
"Hello?" a male voice asked, cracked with what seemed to be pain and thirst.
Sagira gasped as she hurried forward. "Keep talking so I can find you. I have food and drink." Sagira commanded.
The voice did as he was told and began to babble. "I do not know exactly where I am. Malik would not tell me. He said that if I found out, Bakura would kill both of us. I would not endanger the life of the man that actually brought me nourishment and hated what he had to do to me."
Sagira smiled as she found the man and fell to her knees before him. "I am so sorry for what Bakura has done to you as well. I promise to help you out of here as soon as Bakura goes back out. For now, however, I have food." Sagira stated as she held up pieces of meat and left over pastries from dinner. "I also brought water. I thought that if someone was really in one of these houses, they would prefer that to wine." Sagira smiled brightly as she began picking pieces of the meat apart with her fingers.
"Can you eat yourself or are your hands tied?" Sagira questioned politely as she offered the food.
"My hands are tied. Your brothers were very careful to make sure I could not escape. However, Malik was kind enough to make to the ropes were not too tight." The man responded and Sagira smiled.
"Malik is always very gentle. I am shocked that he was even able to take you hostage. Here, eat this." Sagira lifted the piece of meat up and felt the man take it into his mouth.
"My name is Sagira." She said gently after she had finished feeding the man and had started giving him his water.
"I know. Malik told me about you. I have been in search of you, actually. My name is Set." The man responded just as gently and Sagira felt her heart leap.
"You are Set? Are your eyes blue by chance?" Sagira questioned and then felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.
"Yes, they are. My mother used to call them sapphires." Set chuckled lightly.
"I have dreamed of you." Sagira whispered as she gave him another drink. She would have to hurry back soon or she would be in trouble, more than she ever had been in before.
"I have dreamed of you as well." Set returned and Sagira could hear the warmth of a smile in his voice.
She allowed him to finish his water and then stood. "Are you warm enough?" She questioned.
"Malik had brought me a blanket but I cannot reach it from where it fell." Set replied as he tried to shift again.
"Where is it?" Sagira questioned as she knelt back down and felt around on the dirt floor for the fabric of her missing blanket.
"A little to your left." Set said and Sagira found it.
She stood up with the blanket and shook it out before placing it over Set carefully making sure that she had him covered perfectly. Sagira then took a step back and looked down at him in despair. "I promise to free you from here as soon as I can. I do not know when Bakura will leave again." Sagira stated calmly as she turned.
"I shall wait for the day, Sagira, and then I shall take you to the palace." Set returned.
"I would like that, Set. Thank you." Sagira turned slowly to smile at him before she left the house quietly and hurried back to her home.
Sagira awoke slowly the next morning. She could hear Bakura yelling in the kitchen and she winced at the sound. Gereh was standing guard at her door. She strained to hear Bakura's exact words.
"You are not to feed that man, Malik! How many times must I tell you?" Bakura was screaming at the top of his voice.
"I did not feed him last night, Bakura. I do not know where the pastries went. Perhaps Gereh got hungry in the middle of the night." Malik responded and Sagira could hear the shrug in his answer.
"If that tiger got hungry it would have eaten Sagira!" Bakura yelled out and the contact of skin on skin caused Sagira to jump from her bed and Gereh to lunge out the door.
"Do not hit my brother!" Sagira screamed as she ran from her room.
Gereh was parked in front of her, not letting her get any closer to Bakura. She knew that she was out of arms reach and Bakura knew that if he were to take one step closer that tiger would take off his arm. Malik took an intake of breath and seemed to stand up from where he had fallen. Sagira moved carefully around her tiger and towards her fallen brother. She reached up to find his wound, but Malik moved her hand away. "I'm fine, Little One." Malik whispered.
It had been so long since Sagira had been called that and it caused her heart to leap into her throat before she turned back towards Bakura. She narrowed her eyes at him and clenched her fists. "Our parents were nothing but kind to you, Bakura, and this is how you repay them? You hit their son and steal from people that have worked all their lives to get to where they are now? How does that make you feel when you look at yourself in the looking glass?" Sagira whispered at him, her anger clear on her face.
"You know that there is no reason to play strong, Sagira. You do not care for Malik. He is weak and you always come to his defense. You need someone that is strong and can take care of you." Bakura replied and the smugness in his voice made Sagira want to become violently sick.
"No, Bakura. I want someone who will take care of me but also someone who can love me. You cannot love and I see that now. I may not have eyes to see you but I can tell that your heart can never beat for a woman. Your heart can only beat for gold and finery." Sagira whispered sadly, her anger gone and pity for her oldest brother saturating her face.
"That is not true!" Bakura yelled once again and took a step towards the young woman.
Gereh moved quickly to move Sagira from her place. The blind woman and Malik were pushed back towards the door. Gereh stood growling at Bakura, the lowlife thief. Bakura did not care to be stopped in his vendetta by some jungle cat and drew a sword. Sagira gasped as she ran forward and quickly put herself in front of the blow. She closed her eyes as she buried her face into her tiger's fur. However, she never felt the pain of the sword biting through her skin. She did, in fact, hear the sound of metal clashing. Gereh quickly pulled her onto his back and moved towards the door. Sagira tried to get her tiger to stop or to roll off of his back, but Gereh would not have it. He continued to quickly move towards the exit and out to the desert.
Set moved quickly when he heard yelling. Sagira did not realize it but she had left the cup she had given him water in. When she had left he had begun trying to break it. Once that method was finished and successful, Set began to pick at his ties. Set was able to free himself and moved out of the house and back into the desert. He was not going to leave Sagira here, but he had to get far away from the village.
Set had been watching the village and when he heard Sagira yelling for her tiger to stop, he began to move quickly towards the sounds. He had found a sword in another house on his way, the moon glinting off the metal. He was pleased that he at least had that. He would need to find his staff when he returned and dispatched of Bakura. Set walked carefully towards where the tiger was taking Sagira. When the tiger saw him, however, it made a quick turn in his direction.
Set knelt down to bring Sagira from the tiger's back when they had finally met. "Are you alright?" Set questioned as he saw the tears fall from her eyes and she shook her head.
"No, Malik is fighting Bakura. They are going to kill each other." Sagira sobbed.
Set looked up to see the village. He was shocked that there was fire engulfing the houses. Set replaced the young woman next to her tiger and grabbed up his sword. "I will go and stop their fight." Set stated before running off towards the burning village.
He could feel the heat on his skin before he even entered the village. He could not understand how the village was engulfed so quickly. It was almost as if Sagira's tears had caused it, but he knew that was hardly the case. Sagira could not have controlled this fire that was now threatening to kill her brothers. Set grimaced as a flame licked his bare arm. He moved quicker towards the house he had last known Malik to be. Set pushed through the door and saw Malik and Bakura both on the ground with the flames starting to come towards them.
Set grabbed them both and pulled them out of the house and towards the desert that could be seen from their front door. Set finally made it to safety with his charges and fell to the ground coughing. The smoke had affected him far more then he had previously thought it would. Not to mention he felt as if he had many burns covering his entire body. Set moved to look at the two men beside him. Bakura was beginning to stir.
Set stood quickly and held his sword at the ready. Bakura jumped up when he realized that his prisoner had escaped and charged him down. Set moved quickly out of the way of Bakura's fists and slashed his sword. Bakura was able to dodge it, but it sliced his cheek perfectly. Set watched as the thief circled him and then pulled out a dagger. Set felt himself growl as he set his teeth and began to circle the white haired man.
Bakura lunged at Set and the priest was able to parry the blow quickly. Set realized that with that dagger Bakura would have to come closer to him. That would help Set out in the long run. Set smirked as he realized this and was about to attack when Bakura lunged once more. Set was ready to block the blow when Bakura quickly changed directions and kicked him in the side. Set gasped in pain as he felt a rib crack and fell to one knee. Bakura leered over him as he brought up his dagger once more. Set was just able to stop the blow and saw that he cut Bakura's face once more. An X of blood dripped from his cheek as Bakura stepped backwards away from the priest.
Set took in a careful breath and winced as the pain was overwhelming. He would have to get out of here before he wasn't able to protect Sagira in the desert. Set looked quickly at Malik who was still unconscious on the ground. Set cursed his luck to the gods and readied himself for his final attack. Bakura had given him an idea. Set lunged this time, hiding his pain in the back of his mind to worry about later. Bakura dropped low as to avoid the sure to be decapitating blow from Set's sword, but instead was kneed in the face.
Set fell to the ground on the other side of Bakura as the said man fell forward into the sand. Set breathed heavily, wincing at the pain in his side as he stood. Bakura would not wake until the morning. Set moved as carefully as he could back to where Sagira would be waiting for him when the sound of a horse stopped him. He looked to his left and saw a brown and white mare running from the flames and towards him. Set backed up to let the horse to pass, but instead she stopped before him. Set was not going to complain as he climbed onto the back of the animal and led her to where Sagira would be waiting.
Sagira's sobs had quieted now and she was astride Gereh's back when she heard a horse approach her. She cocked her head to the side as she listened carefully to the breathing of the horse and the footfalls it permeated. "Why do you have my horse?" Sagira questioned with a light smile on her face.
"Your horse found me." Set returned with a smile as he moved to catch hold of Sagira.
Gereh moved Sagira away from Set's reach and growled lowly. Sagira only chuckled as she patted the tiger's head. "He is protective of me. He allows no one to touch me until he gets to know them. He is more protective of what happened in the village now I am supposing." Sagira whispered quietly. "I hear the fire. Are Malik and Bakura alright?"
Set was shocked to know that she still cared for Bakura after what he had done to her and her family. However, Set nodded his head and spoke his affirmative. "They are both unconscious at the moment. Nothing should harm them this close to a fire." Set replied simply as he began to head towards the Golden City. "We must hurry though. I do not want anyone else to try to follow us. We must return to the palace quickly." Set spoke urgently as he began to ride away into the desert.
He was momentarily shocked to find that the tiger was keeping pace with a horses' gallop. However, he supposed the tiger would have to find a way to keep up with his mistress while she was on a horse. Set smiled to himself as he took his time to look at the pair. Sagira had already begun to doze off on the back of the white animal. She seemed to be unconcerned that there was a large animal that could harm her anywhere close to her. She also seemed unconcerned about the fact that she could fall off the animal with each stride it took. Set was actually surprised at how little Sagira seemed to be getting jostled. It was almost as if the tiger understood that he had a sleeping human upon his back and was trying to make it as easy for her as possible. Set smiled at the animal as he turned his eyes back towards the direction they were heading. "Thank you, Gereh, for protecting Sagira when I was unable." Set whispered to the tiger and the tiger returned with a small purr.
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