Oh my, I have stopped writing since February and now it's June already! I'm terribly sorry to those who have waited for an update so eagerly but I thank you for being such a patient person (and thanks so much for the wonderful faves and alerts!) hence as I promised in Chapter 6, I will update Chapter 7 after I finish my May-June exam so here it is! I hope everyone enjoy this chapter as much as I do and by the way before I forget, I have a surprise to all my dear readers so please read on before I show you this special gift! But before that…

Beta: Natoya

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Keys:

"Talks"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 7: Search

"Where am I?" A boy called from a far away distance…

"I can't see anything…" All he can see was darkness…

"Anybody here?" And yet, no one answered him…

…But…

Suddenly out of nowhere, he heard someone…coughing.

"Who's that?" Asked the curious teen as he felt himself slowly walking towards the source of that sound.

As he walked closer, more coughs were heard and it seemed louder and clearer with every step he took. Before the youngster could say anything, the coughs stopped and at that moment, he heard his name being called…

"Yami…"

His ruby eyes expanded the moment that frail recognizable voice reached his ears.

"I know that voice…" Gasped the stunned adolescent as he felt both feet fastened its pace. "It's…"

Without warning, an incandescent light embraced the young adult like an invisible rope coiling around his body, preventing him from going any step closer to his destination but he saw it. About 5 steps ahead of him, was a weary old man sitting on a wheel chair staring at the empty space.

While the young stubborn teen trying to reach out for him, the emotionless man looked at him. His eyes showed nothing but misery before shadows took place once again and the last thing the boy saw was the vulnerable man coughing terribly and then cold, red blood spitting out from his quivering mouth. "No, wait!"

"Father!" The red-eyed stripling screamed as he quickly sat up while letting sweat dripping down his worried face.

"Ouch…" Yami cried and at the same time, placing a hand on his forehead. "Why is my head felt so painful?"

After taking a few deep breaths, Yami laid his head on the nearest tree trunk and shut his eyes. "Thank goodness, it was just a bad dream." However, as soon as the image of his father entered his mind, his body trembled uncontrollably. "But that dream felt so real…"

When Yami opened his exhausting eyes, the first thing he saw was a familiar 'twin' walking towards him carrying fruits. "Oh, I see you're awake." Yugi smiled adorably which made Yami smiled back as well.

"Hmmm…" The amethyst-eyed boy bent down to get a closer look of Yami's face. "You don't look too good, is something wrong?"

The older 'twin' shook his head immediately before he stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. "No, I'm fine."

However, Yugi's expression clearly told him that he disagreed with him. "Are you sure? You look…"

In that instant, a loud grumbling sound was heard.

"You must be hungry." The shorter of the two said with a chuckle. "I brought you some fruits." He then gave a fresh, red apple to Yami who gladly took it. "Thanks."

While they had both finished their breakfast and were having a nice chat with each other, a question surged through Yugi's mind. "Where are we anyway?"

To his dismay, Yami gave him a disappointed answer. "I don't know." He spoke noticeably while looking round the surroundings. "I've never been here before."

"You don't?"

The sight of the older look-alike shaking his head was the only response he gets.

'I think it's the place where father told us not to go before our departure to the forest. It's a hazardous, forbidden part of the forest where many wild animals lived and could easily get lost when it's dark. There even have stories and rumors saying those who've been to this place never returns or even survives.'

Yami's spine tingled in trepidation when the thought of no one successfully escape invaded his mind. Before the tri-colored haired teen could think any further, he heard an audible voice calling for him.

"Yami, Yami? Earth to Yami!" The sound of Yugi's fingers snapping instantly brought Yami out from his thoughts. "Are you alright, Yami?"

Without thinking, the ruby-eyed stripling raised both hands up and smiled nervously. "I'm okay, I'm just thinking…that's all."

What he didn't expect to see was Yugi's look that abruptly changed from concern to flabbergast. "Oh my, Yami!" He gasped in shock. "Your hands!"

The surprised teen looked at his bruised hands before realizing that he got these wounds from pressing the ground too hard back when they're in their 'little' adventure. Nonetheless, he gave a reassuring smile to his worried friend. "My hands are fine, they're just…"

"Oh no you don't, mister!" Yugi for the first time glared at his red-eyed companion with a finger pointed in front of Yami's blank face. "You keep telling me you're okay with this, you're fine with that but not this time."

The amethyst-eyed youth stared at his speechless friend for a moment before he continued. "I can clearly see that you have cuts and bruises all over your hands and if they don't get treated, infection will soon occur or maybe even worse, you can get sick anytime."

Yami couldn't help but smiled after hearing Yugi's speech as no one except his cousins and family would have cared so much about him, so the taller tri-colored haired adolescent had nothing to say but to let out an inward sigh before saying,

"Alright, I listen to your advice this time." He said with a nod. "So do you bring any bandages or antiseptic?"

Yugi swiftly remembered something after hearing that comment. "Crap, I left my bag in my tent." He groaned while slapping a hand on his forehead. "The only stuff I have is the laser pen and a mini torchlight."

Then again this did not worried Yami at all so he calmly said,

"It's fine, I'm okay with it. Besides, it's just a…"

"I've got it!"

Yami's speech was soon cut off when Yugi out of the sudden, cried in delight.

"I remember there's a plant that can help you cure your wounds." The younger look-alike exclaimed while giving a cheery smile to his comrade. "And thankfully, it can be found in the forest so hopefully I can find it around here."

Before the taller teen could say anything, Yugi quickly added,

"You stay here, Yami while I go get the plant."

Then Yugi was gone like a vanishing ghost, leaving Yami all alone in the woods but not before he heard Yugi's voice telling him that he'll be back soon.

The red-eyed teenager stared at the forest where Yugi had disappeared to a while ago before he shook his head and gazed at the clear blue sky above him.

"Now how should I get out of this place?"

Meanwhile, in the cottage…

"What?"

Both Bakura and Marik woke up as soon as they heard Seto's startling shout.

"What is it? Are the mice stealing our food again?" Marik drawled with a somnolent voice while lazily scratching his head.

The tall brunet spun round to face his two lethargic cousins whose expressions swapped to anxiety when they saw Seto's infuriated look.

"Yami hasn't come back." Was all he said.

"Oh, is that all?" Replied Bakura as he lay on his bed, ready to fall asleep again. Seto was obviously getting even more enrage after hearing the white-haired boy's comment thus without a second thought, he pulled Bakura's shirt up and glared at him.

"Is that all you say? What if Yami is in danger or get ambushed by the wild animals? What if he got into some kind of trouble and fell off the slope? Or even…" The blue-eyed youth paused for a moment before he whispered to his idiotic cousins. "Captured by the new 'friends' of ours?"

The chocolate-eyed stripling pushed his older cousin away before crossing his arms and said,

"You worry too much."

Before Seto could protest, Marik hastily patted his shoulders, hoping to calm him down.

"I'm sure Yami is fine, he knows how to take care of himself after all. Plus, maybe he's staying with Yugi and the others."

After seeing his cousin finally getting relaxed, the Egyptian walked towards the small round wooden table and took a fresh pear from the basket. However, Seto was still feeling doubtful even if what Marik said was reasonable.

"But he could have told me before he leave the cottage…" The brown-haired adolescent wondered aloud while placing a hand on top of his chin. "Where could he be without coming back here for breakfast?"

Unexpectedly, a knock on the door was heard, resulting the startled boys snapping out from their thoughts.

"That must be Yugi and the others." The blue-eyed stripling spoke audibly while the other two devils nodded in response. Seto had decided to tell the 'newcomers' the cottage's location in case they needed to find them but lied about the cottage being a disguised tent since the cottage looked pretty old and they didn't want their friends to think that they had been living in the forest for years.

"Bakura, go open the door."

The white-haired teen was obviously staring at the brunet with a look of anger, so he just sat on his bed without moving and retorted in a deathly truculent tone.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the closest to the door."

"Well, you're near to the door either and you're easy to get it since you have long pairs of hands."

'Oh no, not again.' Thought the Egyptian while at the same time, slapped a hand on his face.

You see, whenever they received a knock on the door, Yami was always the one who opened it but when he's not in the house, Seto would tell Bakura or the maid to open the door since he didn't like doing those things and he's always busy with the computer back when they were at home. Plus, Seto was the second cousin and so, was older than Bakura and Marik. However…

Bakura was apparently a person who dislikes people ordering him to do things except his parents because only he can order people and not people order him. That's also one of the top 10 rules that everyone who knew him must obeyed or else he'll buried you alive…except his parents and cousins of course.

"Me? I'm the eldest here and you, being younger than me should listen to people who's older than you."

"Why you…"

"Hey guys…" Marik was about to stop the fight when suddenly, two knocks on the door were heard and this time was louder than before.

"I go get it." The purple-eyed adolescent said with a saddened sigh before he walked towards the door and opened it, revealing his annoyed 'twin' and his friends standing impatiently.

"What took you so long?" Malik said in an intolerant tone whilst crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Sorry about that, please come in." The taller golden-haired stripling answered before he allowed the boys to enter the room. "So what brings you here?"

"I was wondering if Yugi's with you." Ryou asked and at the same time, looking around the small narrow room. Even though he showed a calm expression, they could clearly hear the fearful tone behind his voice.

"No, Yugi is not with us." Seto replied solemnly before he stood up and walked towards Ryou. "Is Yami with you?"

"No, Yami is not with us too." After saying those words, the white-haired teen felt even more anxious than before.

"I was afraid you were going to say that." The tallest man in the room said before cogitating. "So that means they're..."

"Eloped?"

Immediately, all eyes set on the taller lilac-eyed Egyptian.

"I was only joking."

"This is not the right time for jokes, you moron!" The younger look-alike quickly smacked his head as soon as he heard those words, earning a yelp of pain from Marik.

"I suggest we split up and look for them in different locations, that would be the quickest way to find them." The smartest brunet suggested while everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go before it gets dark!" Malik being the most impatient one sputtered aloud and was ready to go towards the door if his stronger 'twin' hadn't grabbed his arm and told him to stay.

"Ryou and Bakura, you two search at the East Wing. Malik and Marik, you guys search at the West Wing while Wheeler and I go to the South Wing." Seto paused for a moment to see everyone nodded in understanding. "We'll meet at the entrance before sunset, got it?"

As expected, the teenagers nodded in response before they walked out of the door, split up and searched on their own ways. At that same moment, Seto whispered something to himself.

"Yami, where the heck are you?"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest…

"Achoo!" Exclaimed a sneezing Yami as he cuddled his chilly body, hoping to warm himself up.

'For some reason, I feel as if someone is talking about me.' Wondered the red-eyed stripling. He then glanced round the surroundings and thought,

'The others must have started searching for us, I better find a way back quick before…'

"I found it, Yami!"

As soon as he heard his look-alike's voice, Yami spun round to see Yugi running towards him with the usual excited smile on his features.

"Here it is." Yugi panted and at the same time, wiping sweat from his forehead. "This plant could help you heal your wounds."

He then showed his taller 'twin' the flower that he had been looking for the past few minutes. The soft bright purple petals glowed as soon as the sunlight shone on them and if you look closer, you will see round bright red berries positioned below the petals and leaves that seemed to look tasty to eat, but it was actually those berries that possessed the amazing healing abilities.

"I think I've seen that plant in encyclopedia. Many people use it for making juices or medicines because it's full of nutrients and vitamins that could help us fight harmful bacteria in our body system."

"That's right and I was lucky that it isn't hard to find here." As soon as he spoke his last word, the shorter tri-colored haired teen swiftly plucked the berries out from the plant and squished them with his small bare hands. Blood-like liquid slowly flowing out from his fist and before its droplets reached onto the ground, Yugi pasted the red berry's juice onto Yami's injured hands. "You just sit still while I do the rest of the work."

Yami had nothing to say so he just nodded whilst watching the younger boy's hand slowly and delicately pasting the juice on his wounds.

'He really do look like a complete different person when he's doing his work.' Yami thought as he was gazing at Yugi's serious expression. 'Calm, collected and careful are the only things I see in him now, unlike his usual happy-go-lucky self.' The taller adolescent smiled secretly when an image of Yugi smiling at him flashed through his mind.

Just then, Yami noticed something he didn't realized for so long since he first met Yugi. 'Those pure angelic purple eyes of his seem even more attractive if I wasn't sitting that close to him now and his skin…'

While Yugi was so concentrated at doing his work, he didn't realize that his taller friend was watching him the whole time. 'His skin is as smooth as silk, wonder what it feels like if I touch it.' Yami thought silently whilst at the same time, unconsciously jerked his face an inch forward. 'Those soft rose-like petal lips of his…I wonder what it taste like too.'

"There…I've done it, Yami." Yugi said while giving his look-alike's hands a few massaging treatment but just then, he gasped distinctly when he felt something happened to Yami's hands in an unpredicted way.

"Yami, your hands!" Exclaimed the alarmed Yugi as he stared at his taller companion who had just snapped out from his thoughts.

"Your hands, they're getting hotter than before." The amethyst-eyed stripling told him with an apprehensive expression. "Did you get a fever?"

Without thinking, Yugi quickly touched Yami's forehead, then his cheek with both hands. "They're hot too!"

Those actions had already struck Yami into a speechless unmovable doll as no one except his parents had touched his face before. Not only that, Yugi had moved a few inches closer whereas at the same time, touching Yami's forehead and cheek over and over again without knowing how close the distance was between Yami and himself. This subsequently caused Yami's body temperature to increase rapidly like a shooting rocket.

At this moment, all the older tri-colored haired boy could think of…was Yugi's sweet rosy lips as one more step closer; their lips would have connected to each other.

"Yami, are you having a cold, or have you…" As soon as Yugi looked up and realized how close he was to Yami's face, he instantly took his hands off the ruby-eyed adolescent and looked away shyly. "Sorry…"

In that instant, Yami brought out from his thoughts once again. "Erm, it's alright." Was all he could say before he let his gaze set onto the grassy ground.

A few minutes passed by without delay and no one spoke a word ever since, until the shorter of the two decided to break the silence. "Erm…"

Yami looked up as soon as he heard his younger comrade's fragile voice.

"Your hands are healed now."

The taller youth smiled when he heard that comment.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Yugi quickly replied, still not daring to meet his gaze. "I'm…going to wash my hands at the river."

"Okay."

As soon as Yami spoke that one word, the younger 'twin' hastily ran towards the forest in a split second without waiting for a reply but Yami could see the red blush that stained on Yugi's cheek. 'Yugi looks pretty cute when he's blushing…wait, cute?'

Yami mentally smacked his own head to get rid of that thought. 'What am I thinking? I have never react like this before…'

When he looked at his healed hands, he remembered the feeling he had felt when Yugi was healing his wounds. 'That reminds me, why did my body temperature increase so much back then?' Yami wondered as more questions swimming through his mind. 'Why did I feel this way every time when I'm with Yugi?' He then ogled at the clouds above him like he thought he could get some answers just from seeing it.

'Why?'

Meanwhile, in the South Wing…

Two youngsters were found strolling around the forest with their alerted eyes looking for two persons, Yugi and Yami.

"Hey, do you think those two had gone back to the cottage or the tent while we were searching for them?"

Sadly, the brunet was being too apprehensive that he kept on searching without answering Joey's question. 'I have to find Yami quick before he does something careless, I'm worried that he will reveal our identity.' Was all he was thinking whereas Joey kept bombarding him questions.

"Maybe they got lost in some part of the forest that we've never seen before…hey Seto, are you listening?"

"It's Kaiba." The blue-eyed teen retorted sharply as no one was allowed to call him by his first name except his parents and cousins.

"Fine, Kaiba…" The blond-haired playboy grumbled before crossing his arms in front of his well-built chest. "So do you think…"

"I think it's best if you stop talking and search for them quickly before it gets dark, you're wasting time here."

Perceptibly, those offensive but plausible words made Joey enraged straight away as he glared at his so-called companion and furiously spoke,

"Why do you have to be so rude, iceberg? I would appreciate if you could answer back to me politely."

"Polite you say?" Kaiba enquired as he stood up from the ground and spun round to meet the Newcastle student.

"I don't have to be polite in front of a boy who keep getting detention all week at college, not getting any achievement whether in academic or in sports, thinks of food all the time and can't even get to solve a simple Biology question."

"Hey, don't you think you're going a bit too far?" Said the infuriated Joey while his hands slowly formed into a fist. 'No one has ever said those things to me and if someone did…' The belligerent teen then looked at his powerful fist and smirked. 'He'll earn his little 'reward'.'

Just as Joey was about to spin his head round and ready to punch Kaiba's back, something caught his eyes. 'What was that?'

A few seconds later, the object moved tardily but the honey-brown eyed youth saw it clear enough and his eyes widened as big as an egg when he saw a deathly poisonous snake slowly making its way to its target – Kaiba.

'Oh no, it's a snake. What should I do? What should I do?' Thought a panic Joey as he tried to look for a sharp object somewhere nearby but luck wasn't on his side as all he could see was tall trees and grasses. 'Come on, Joey. Think.'

Too late…when the brunet was busily looking through the bushes, the snake had already reached his leg.

'Yummy.' Was the only word that displayed in the snake's wicked eyes and as it was about to take its action and plunge its venomous fangs into that juicy leg, a loud shout was heard throughout the tedious shadowy forest.

"Look Out!"

When Kaiba spun his head round, Joey had already grabbed the annoyed snake and with all his courage, threw it on the nearby tree aggressively and knocked the snake out of its consciousness. As a result, the creature was beginning to feel lackadaisical and was later dead.

"Phew, that was close." Thought the blond-haired stripling as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his dirty hands.

"How can you do that without thinking about your safety?" Kaiba exclaimed, shock written all over his face. "You can get poisoned you know!"

"I don't have time to think of that!"

Those words alone shut Kaiba's mouth instantly as he could only watch the angry teenager who straightened himself and brushed the dirt off his hands.

"When I saw the snake is about to attack you, all I can think of is to safe you from getting poisoned." Joey said truthfully, his gaze never leaves the ground. "I hadn't even thought about my safety at that moment."

Silence took place since Joey's last speech, until the taller of the two decided to speak up,

"Thank you."

Did he just hear Kaiba saying thank you to him?

When Joey looked up, the blue-eyed adolescent had already looked away and watched the bright blue sky above him. A few seconds later, a genuine smile painted on the honey-brown eyed boy's face. However, just as he was about to say something to Kaiba, a strange feeling suddenly gave his body a shiver before pain took place on his left leg.

A loud shriek of hurt caught the brunet's attention and as he spun round, Joey was already dropped to the ground.

"Hey, what happen to you?" The Oxford student enquired but his question was soon answered when he saw a larger snake gliding beside Joey's injured leg, its mouth opened wide to show blood marked on its vicious fangs.

Surprised switched to fury as without a second thought, the brown-haired youth gripped the frightened snake in a mighty fist and forcefully used a hard wooden stick to hit the reptile.

"Die you evil creature, die!" Chanted Kaiba as he continued to knock the poor snake on the ground repeatedly as Joey observed his comrade's actions in bemusement. 'Remind me never to get on Kaiba's bad side from now on.'

As soon as the lifeless snake had been beaten into as thin as a paper, The taller boy threw the stick away and rushed over to check Joey's condition. "Hey, are you alright?"

"I'm…fine." Joey said as he tried to strangle his words out from his tremulous mouth. "Don't worry."

"No, you're not. I can see your body trembling really badly and your hands are getting cold." Kaiba snapped indignantly as he held Joey's injured leg and before Joey could stopped him from doing anything, the Water Elemental speedily sucked the venom out from his wound before spitting the blood out.

"Hey, Kaiba you…"

"Don't say anything and let me do the work."

The blond-haired youngster had nothing to say but to obey Kaiba's orders. Minutes passed by in a blink of an eye and only the sound of the birds chirping happily and small wild animals running round the forest looking for food could be heard until…

"Done." The taller brunet said as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "You're fine now."

"Thanks for saving me."

"You don't have to thank me. After all, you saved me first so I was only paying the 'debt' back to you."

As soon as those hurtful words spoke from his companion's mouth, Joey's hatred for Kaiba was back in a flash. However, when Joey tried to stand up, his injured leg was shaking like a jelly before he fell onto the ground with a howl of pain.

"Can't stand?" Kaiba asked before he kneeled in front of his so-called friend. "Of course you can't, you've just got injured from a snake's bite."

Before the Newcastle student could protest, Kaiba spun round and gestured Joey to climb on his back.

"Hey, I can walk you know."

"Don't be so stubborn and just hop onto my back, will you?"

After releasing an inward sigh, the honey-brown eyed stripling did as he was told and Kaiba grabbed Joey's heavy legs as he began to walk back to the entrance.

"We're going back to the entrance already?"

"Of course dummy, it's getting late now and I believe we've searched through the whole place."

The speechless Joey let out a disappointed pout before he coiled his hands round Kaiba's neck and laid his head on his back. 'Hmm, I didn't know laying on Kaiba's back can be so comfortable.'

The rest of the journey then went on silently… but then,

In the West Wing…

"Marik, stop running around right this instant!"

"No way, not when they keep chasing me from behind!"

Marik was having trouble dealing with angry-looking bees while his 'twin' watched him from afar in a frustrated look. It seemed that while Marik was searching for their friends above the trees, he accidentally stepped onto a beehive and tripped. Thus, the beehive dropped to the ground and tons of irritated bees started to chase him for revenge and they had been playing chases for as long as 30 minutes.

"Don't you even know that if you stop moving around, the bees won't chase after you?" His younger look-alike whispered as he looked away when he heard Marik's scream above one of the trees.

"Idiot."

To Be Continued…

Hurray! The end of Chapter 7 has finally arrived! (Throws confetti) I finally done it and I hope everyone enjoy reading it so far. Oh, and before I forget, if you guys want to read more of my upcoming stories, you better go vote for my poll now! I'll be waiting for new votes from you! :)

I'm sorry that Bakura and Ryou aren't showing much of a scene here but I will in the next chapter! :D Also, I want to say sorry to the Puppyshippers out there for not showing much scenes of them in Chapter 6 so I add more of them in here, I hope you enjoy it! XD

That's all for now and I'll update Chapter 8 in December as I've said in Chapter 6 so stay tune and as always, faves and alerts are welcomed! (Laughs)

So, stay tune for Chapter 8: Obstacles!

P.S: Did you guys enjoy the Puzzleshipping fluff and Puppyshipping fluff so far? :D