Chapter seven: Learning the Rules

Tamara opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times to finally discover someone laying next to her.

She quickly sprang up to find a very asleep Melvin, and as she sat up staring in disbelief, he stirred.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Tamara nearly screamed, but lowered her voice. Melvin opened one eye, and spoke with a horse voice, low and deep.

"You were sad and crying, I didn't want to leave you like that. Besides, I'm not perverted. I didn't do anything." He yawned, and closed his eyes again.

She felt compelled to say 'thank you', but as well conflicted with saying 'get out'.

She decided on neither, and laid her head back down, surprised to find Melvin's body much longer then hers.

Melvin opened one eye again, watching as she laid her head back to the pillow they each had half of. He stretched, and listened to her breathing, finding satisfaction that she was watching him as he was watching her.

A thought came into his mind, and as he gently parted his eyelids, he found she was gently falling back to dream land, hopefully peacefully this time.

During the night, her sleep was flooded with tears, silent words that screamed in Melvin's ears. He held her close, secretly, almost crying with her. Her pain was too easily read, too easily similar, it made Melvin want to stroke her hair more for comfort. He worried Akefia was too hard on her, especially with how he had altered the relationship he had with her, he made her question everything she knew, and seeing her like she was before...Melvin knew she wasn't able to handle anything like that. With what she was hiding with the boy she had loose ends with, something was there, something that she didn't want to happen again.

"Tamara..."Melvin whispered, and she opened her eyes lazily, looking to him.

"Hmm?"

"Forgive me if this isn't the right time, nor my place at all to ask...But why were you crying?" Melvin disguised the question with a mask and air of something innocent. She was immediately more awake, and looked to the ceiling, rolling on her back, seeming to think back.

"I'm not exactly sure...It was all just a rush of bad things and emotions..."

"Everything has a reason..."Melvin tired again, not wanting to sound out of his normality. She didn't seem to notice, and instead sighed.

"It's a long story that was way back when..."

"We've got a long time before anyone else is up..." Melvin's eyes flickered to the window right above them on the ceiling, looking to the dark and deep purple sky with red stars above themselves.

"With this world, I have no clue what time is what."

"Just like the human world, just different colors...Right now it's about midnight..."

"We do have a lot of time then..." She mumbled, and Melvin bent his head down a little more to look at her.

"Here, come with me..."

"Where?" As he stood up and she looked to him, he turned and motioned toward the door.

"Come." she followed, and Melvin smiled. She was adorable at some moments, almost like a child.

In fact, she still was, compared to him. A simple fetus while he could have been a thousand year old dragon. Experience had aged him, but coming to this world made him ages old in human years.

As he led Tamara up to the roof, and brought her up into the night air, she looked all around to the vast, endless sky in wonder.

"Whoa...This place looks awesome at night..."She gaped, and Melvin smiled.

"You get used to the beauty, but you are new...You've been here a while, but never really saw the night, have you?"

"Nope." She finally looked up to him, and he walked to the edge, looking back to her.

He wore a smile Tamara had never seen with his cool and calm nature. No one ever talked about Melvin smiling in this way, let alone mention it.

"Want to see one of the best pleasures of flying?" He asked, reaching a long hand back to her, and as she took it carefully, he pulled them both off the edge, transforming into half demon, the gray wings coming back.

As she also changed to her form, her wings of fire spearing wide light in the purple sky.

The night air whipped her hair, blowing it back in locks of wonder, as if playing with it. Melvin watched in wonder, laughing to himself.

Her marks burned with delight, a favorite sensation to be let out.

"Wonderful, right?" Melvin asked and Tamara looked to him with molten eyes.

"How did you know about this?"

"It's the only real time I fly, well, before you came along in this world...lately you've got me flying left and right." He looked to her with an almost playful look, but she looked down ignoring a spiteful comment and apology.

"Well, what makes it this way?"

"The world itself. The Dark Side of the Moon is a wonderful place to be if you just sit back and look at it all. Sure there may be some huge bumps in the way things work...but you get used to it."

"How did you get here?" Melvin fell silent, before his past being said, he wanted hers.

"That's for another time, right now, enjoy this night air." He let it go, and flew to the top of the mountains.

"What's this?" She asked before landing, and as she looked to Melvin, she fumbled, missing the ledge and falling backwards.

Like the snap of fingers she was brought back up to the ledge, Melvin's wings carefully spread wide, his arms holding her at a forearms length.

"Careful..." His voice took on a hint of sweetness, and as he let go, turning as his wings folded back into him, she blinked a few times.

She looked down to her feet, and Melvin turned his head over his shoulder, speaking softly.

"Are you coming?" He whispered, nearing the edge of a dark forest.

"Where?" He fell into the shadows, yellow eyes gleaming in the dark, blinking slowly and calling her toward him.

"Fold your wings in, and take my hand." He held out a hand, the moon light brightly bouncing off it to show the contrast of the shadows.

As she reached for his hand, her wings falling in ashes, he pulled her into the darkness, leading her further into it.

She breathed a little uncertainly, letting him guide her through the shadows, not a noise other then their breathing, nothing in sight, and nothing but ground under their feet. Her hand felt heavy on his, with what seemed nothing ahead or behind her, she'd wondered where they were going.

"Melvin?" She whispered, and the footsteps stopped as she saw the yellow eyes ahead of her turn to look into hers, leaning down and coming closer.

"Yes?"

"Where are we going? We're in the middle of a dark forest, I don't think there's anything ahead."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see." He turned back to the front, pulling her behind him.

"You don't know where we're going?"

"I know about as much as you do..." She couldn't see his smile in the dark, and Melvin took it in stride. He knew where they were going, she was just so much fun to play with.

He felt her hand on his, small, but not smooth. Her hand was rough, life hadn't treated her fair, life hadn't treated her at all. She more the ignored toy life didn't want, just like everyone here in the Dark Side. Melvin felt her hand squeeze his gently as they finally came to a sign of light, and he stopped, turning to her.

"Looks like we've gotten somewhere..."He moved behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and pointing ahead, whispering in her ear.

"Want to go see what it is?"

"I already know what it is..."She said, and Melvin raised his eyebrows in surprise, a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Oh really, what is it?" He asked, and she turned around to him.

"It's light, which means we've walked through a forest." She turned back, and started toward it, Melvin on her heels.

She nearly ran to the light, and once she made it to the light, she looked around.

It was a spring, a tiny river with a little pool of water in the center, that didn't look very deep. Moonlight bounced off the tiny ripples in the water, caressing every blade of grass as the wind danced with them. She gaped a bit, turning to Melvin, who still lurked in the edge of the shadows.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and a smile.

Melvin didn't respond, but instead took a step forward, watching her carefully, eyes glowing like an alley cats.

He had taken on a gray skin tone, his hands stretched a little larger, fingernails now claws. Almost paw like, his feet took on the same shape, his ears pointy and teeth sharper then usual. His wings were out, the skin looking like tough leather, stretching over the bones and claws.

"When I'm here...I change a bit..." He spoke, and watched as she looked him over.

"You don't look so scary." She scuffed, and he smiled at her simplicity.

"You're not scared?"

"Why should I be?" She looked him in the eyes, and Melvin shook his head.

"Because you're in danger right now."

"How so? You won't hurt me."

"I'm much older then you, much more trained. My hands are blood stained with the blood of innocent people, the blood of many many, many people." He took a step closer to her, peering down into her eyes and his hands just barely touching right above her elbows.

"Doesn't mean you'd hurt me."

"One wrong move and I could..."

"Don't try to be the bad boy here, we both know you're not. You probably just lied about all that." She scuffed, and Melvin frowned.

"I wouldn't lie about that."

"How can I know you aren't?" Melvin frowned, and walked behind Tamara, gently kneeling down next to the pool of water, dipping his hands in.

Tamara turned just as he took them out, showing them to her.

Where the water had touched, his hands were now stained red, blood dripping off his claws to the ground, only to be turned back to water by the touch of the grass.

"Blood stains my hands..."

"How did you do that?"

"It's the water of truth, it shows those who have done the worse in life, whether that be in blood or a vision."

Tamara looked at his hands, her hands reaching out to them, and as her fingers brushed his, he pulled them back, a slight hiss in his voice.

"Don't." He warned, and she looked to him, meeting his eyes.

"Why?" She hated the word, but she hadn't meant to say it, it just slipped out.

"It's just best..." He backed away into the shadows, yellow eyes watching hers.

"Who's to decide that?" She took a step towards the shadows, and the eyes looked down.

"It just is."

"Well I don't think so...So far I haven't been told much, but I can gather there's much more that I don't know going on. Fine, go ahead and leave me out of it. But don't pretend to be nice to me then just go and blow me off." She glared, and Melvin's heart sank. What did he wish to accomplish with all this? Even he didn't know, but he just said what came to mind, and unfortunately she had to see him, and a tiny peak into his past.

"Don't think that's what happened." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into an embrace in the shadows. His eyes peered into hers, and he breathed, fighting back three options, going with the forth, letting her go.

"Think what? She spat, and he sighed, pulling her back into the moon light, walking near the pool of water.

"Alright, fine, you want to see what I mean? Fine." He jumped into the pool, what looked like it might have broken his ankle, but instead, swallowed him whole.

Melvin sank in the endless water, feeling it all around him, seeping into his pores and transforming him. This was a really bad idea, but he knew in order to have her believe him, it must be done.

His wings ripped out of his back, his eyes glowing red, his hands forming into stretched out paws, with long thick nails.

He was an animal, a demon, and as he grew horns, his tail grew long tiny little horns on the ends, almost spikes. His teeth grew sharper, and he let out a growl, looking up and launching above the warm water into the cold crisp air, high in the sky, right above the white moon.

He hovered there, twenty feet above the ground that Tamara looked up in wonder from.

"This. This is what I am. I am a demon, a monster...A born killer."

"How can you be a born killer when you were mixed with its DNA?" She asked, and he landed in front of her, now seven feet tall, and looked at her with a blank expression, almost scary, but she knew he was under control. As long as the eye wasn't shinning, she should be safe.

"Because, it's still born a killer. And being mixed with me, makes me a killer as well...Do you not see the blood dripping off my skin?" She averted her eyes from him for only a second, to quickly look down at his claws, the water turned to blood, dripping off quickly.

"What is this supposed to prove?"

"Why it's best not to touch me...You're still innocent."

"Innocent? Hardly, my innocence was taken...A long time ago..." Melvin raised his eyebrows, and sighed, forming back.

"I suppose that it's not something you want to say?"

"I'd prefer not to, but if you want to hear my story..."Melvin kept an indifferent face, his mouth a flat line as she looked up to him.

"Well don't look so uninterested. Akefia's been trying to get this out of me since I got here." She scuffed and looked down to her right.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable..."

"I'm going to be uncomfortable no matter when I talk about it. But first, I'm going to make you promise me one thing...And you MUST keep it, you can't tell anyone."

"Why would I tell someone?"

"Because you're Akefia's favorite. You could go and tell him...But I already trusted someone long before this, and they failed to meet the requirements of my trust..."

"That still wouldn't give me a reason...No matter what Akefia has done to you, he needs to earn your story himself." Melvin took a step closer to Tamara, and she nodded. She shivered at the mention of his name, her heart beating like a humming birds wing. Melvin noted this, and put a hand on her shoulder, making her look up to him in a flash.

"What has he done?" Tamara bit her lip, unsure whether or not to tell him or not. Akefia had mentioned not to tell anyone, but Melvin seemed a little more...understanding. Not to mention the only one who hasn't really pissed her off. When he almost killed her wasn't his fault either, and he hadn't tortured her like Akefia, but that was a part of Akefia's job.

But Ryou said he didn't normally do that, therefore, seeing something in Tamara.

Which earned Tamara a kiss later on.

She gulped, not knowing who to tell what. She didn't want to tell her past just yet, to anyone. No, she wasn't ready for that. But she didn't really want to tell him what happened between her and Akefia either.

Because she wasn't sure how she felt about him yet.

"Melvin...I want you to train me."

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing, just train me. You of all people should know it would still be a little weird after he tortured me." She spat, and he nodded, accepting that.

"So you want me to train you? Right now?"

"Yes, I want to be as strong as Marik, Bakura, Ryou, Akefia and you."

"Quite a dream for one night."

"It'll take time, but I want it."

"So you're going form sad little girl being held by here against her will to wanting to be a part of us?"

"You could say that. Now train me."

"I can't train you like this...I'm almost near the eye point again..."

"You can try. What better way to defend myself then to actually fight for my life?"

"I don't want either of us dead."

"We won't push it that far, now just shut up and train me." She said, and her wings grew from what seemed to be air, burning bright, as she jumped to the sky, Melvin almost exactly on the same step.

"Fine, but I will find a way to stop if it gets too far." Melvin knew this was wrong, and bad, very very very bad, but she was right. What better way to train to fight for her life, then actually having to fight for her life?

Her story would have to wait for another time.

Authors Note:

I really enjoyed writing this one as well, but I love writing all my stories XD I guess its because I love the stories themselves, but anyways this chapter was a little more insight to Melvin and Tamara. Maybe this will be a thing between them? Even I'M not sure. But who knows?

Not me XD

Don't forget to Read and review :D

I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh characters, the people who created yu-gi-oh own them, but I own Tamara and the Dark Side of the Moon and this story. I do not allow anyone to use anything I own.

Song for Dark Side of the Moon:

Been to hell- Holly Wood Undead. (theme song)