Hey guys! Back with chapter nine of this thingy!

I'm also excited to see the new movie! My sisters and I are going to order tickets and see it during it's limited release and I'm screaming every time there is something spoilery out there on youtube. I'm going to scream and cry... But mostly cry.

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything that is familiar to anything else that is referred to in this chapter (I don't think there is but what do I know?). I only own Christine, OC.

The island became a lot creepier as the sun fully set though nobody felt unsafe with the darkness. I relaxed myself as I thought about all the times I had been out in the woods at night. Once we couldn't see the path directly in front of us, we all decided to settle down and rest for the night.

"I'm hungryyyyyy….." Jounouchi whined. "Christine, do you still have some food?"

"Yeah." I said as well as nodded because of the darkness. "But I'd like it if we still had some food for tomorrow."

Jounouchi huffed but said nothing against my rational decision.

"Hey, what time is it?" Honda asked.

"Just around 8:00." Bakura replied, glancing at his watch.

"Wow, it got dark and quiet really fast!" Yugi gasped.

"It's nice…" I thought aloud as I reclined looking to the sky.

"How so?" Anzu asked.

"It's nice being out of the city for a little bit." I explained. "Being with nature for a while."

I'm pretty sure people would have agreed with me if we were here on better conditions. Yugi hadn't pulled out the camcorder that had Grandpa's soul in it all day but after the day was over, the strangeness of the situation came back.

"Haven't seen any other Duelists for a while…." Honda commented, mostly to himself.

"There aren't any guys who'd duel when it's dark out…." Jounouchi's stomach growled loudly. "I'm still hungry."

Jounouchi jumped up to his feet and shouted to the sky. "Shit, man! Screw star chips! I want some freaking food!"

"I'd like some potato chips instead of star chips…" Yugi moaned softly.

I felt bad that my friends were hungry but tomorrow was another day full of dueling and some food during the day was important if we wanted to remain strong when we made it to the castle. I wasn't going to say 'if', both Yugi and Jounouchi would make it to the castle and fight for the people they cared about.

"Hey, a mushroom!" Jounouchi crouched down to look at where the, thankfully edible, mushrooms were. "I'm gonna eat it!"

"Hey, don't Jounouchi!" Yugi called against the blond's actions.

There was a crack of a stick behind us and I turned around slightly. I nearly sighed. Her again?

"Jeez, what a crowd…." Mai chuckled as she finally stepped out of the shadows. "All of you seem so hungry!"

"Ack!" Jounouchi jumped. "Mai Valentine!"

Mai was smart…. To piss off every boy in that clearing, she took a bite of chocolate bar. "What the hell are you here for?!"

"This chocolate bar is really good!" Mai ignored the question. "How 'bout it, Jounouchi? I'll trade you my chocolate bar for your star chips!"

"Like hell I'd do that!" Jounouchi snapped. "These star chips are like my life!"

Mai simply chuckled at that.

"I'm just joking. Hey, if I really was that much of a low-life Duelist, I wouldn't have made you guys my enemies in the first place!"

Jounouchi flinched and made a light growl. How on earth would they become one of my favorite ships at this rate? "Don't look at me with that starving expression like you're going to bite me!" I was so concerned that Jounouchi was going to pounce on Mai that I had to grab Yugi and have him help me keep Jounouchi in his spot. Then Mai surprised me with her next question. "How about this? Why don't we call a truce for tonight? All of us are Duelists, right? We need to take it easy once in a while!"

"Huh?" Jounouchi stopped fighting Yugi and I so the both of us nearly fell over.

The both of us glanced at each other for a minute, questioning Mai's intentions, and when we found nothing wrong, Yugi walked into the line of vision.

"That's true!" He chirped. "We're all tired from dueling all day…"

"So you guys want something to eat?" Mai asked, pulling her bag off her back. I have all sorts of stuff! If we get a fire going, we can cook something."

If only to prove her point, Mai flipped over her bag and the contents of the sack came crashing to the ground. It was an impressive array of noodles, carefully packaged meat, protein and snack bars. She even managed to bring along a full sized tent and even a shower! Dang, she is awfully prepared.

"Wow!" Jounouchi gasped. "Awesome!"

"Food…. A tent… A lantern…." Honda listed aloud. "She has everything!"

"You brought all of this stuff yourself?" Anzu asked as she stared at the large array.

"Well, all the Duelists here are strangers that you can't trust." Mai replied. "So it makes sense to bring this much!"

Despite my internal misgivings that some of the Duelists here could be trusted, like Mako once you got to know him, but then I thought about Weevil and Rex and then I could understand where she was coming from. Mai turned to the boys, a bright smile on her face. "Alright, boys! The cooking is all your job!" Yugi didn't seem bothered by the thought but I added a thought in.

"Be careful that Jounouchi doesn't mess with the fire." I ordered sweetly. "We don't want a repeat of Jounouchi's Amazing Cream Pie."

"Shaddup!" Jounouchi huffed at me.

Yugi, Honda, Anzu and Bakura all laughed at the reaction. Mai simply looked confused but said nothing about it.

"You can leave the cooking to me!" Bakura announced as he picked up a few of the noodles and meat packets. "I'm pretty good at it!"

"And you can fetch some water!" Mai ordered Jounouchi and Honda.

I heard Jounouchi complain but Honda was quick to berate him, saying that they were going to get food and not to complain. Yugi and Bakura had walked over to where the two would set up a fire pit and get the food going and soon enough, it was only Anzu, Mai and myself left standing still.

"Yugi…." I heard Mai mutter. "I've only heard rumors about him… but right now, he's like a different person compared to this afternoon…."

Well, Mai could somewhat tell them apart. I looked over to Anzu to see what we should do but her eyebrow was raised nearly to her hairline.

"Same goes for you." Anzu said, her eyebrow still raised. "Why are you suddenly acting so nice to us?"

She looked over to the both us, a confused expression on her face. She soon smiled, a lonely smile.

"I'm a girl too…" She simply said. "24 hours is going to pass by really fast…"

Anzu and I turned to each other again. Well, she wasn't teasing us…. "You're all a strange bunch." Mai commented. "How come you two always hang out when them?" Strange? I tilted my head owlishly again.

"How come…?" Anzu trailed off before coming back. "Well, cause we're all friends!"

"And who says strange is a bad thing?" I asked. "Strange just makes things interesting."

The expression on Mai's face immediately said 'Uh-huh…' I shrugged it off. We definitely were a strange bunch.

"You're name was Anzu, right?" Mai asked, dropping our previous conversation. "And you're Christine? Once they come back with water, you can use it to take a shower. There's a shower tent right there."

Anzu and I both gushed thanks, taking a shower would feel fabulous after walking around in the sun all day! When both Honda and Jounouchi came back with the water, Anzu took a quick shower first then she and Mai guarded the tent for me. Mai was the tough chick that I know and love when she threatened the boys with coming over when Anzu was showering and the blush on Yugi's face was the cutest thing I had ever seen! While I washed up, I let my mind wander on nothing in particular until I heard a gasp of pain.

"Is everything ok out there?" I called.

"Yes!" Yugi was quick to cry back.

I didn't like the way he said that…..

"I may trust you, Yugi, but I don't trust the way you said that."

There was a bunch of shushing on the other side of the curtain; I figured that someone was nearly burned on a piece of hot pottery and brushed it aside. I finished my shower, changed and then joined my friends again. The food wasn't ready yet so I was able to brush my hair without worrying about spilling my food. Mai watched me curiously as I brushed it out. "Can I help you, Mai?"

"Do you do anything to your hair before you fall asleep?" She asked.

I pulled my brush away from my hair. Huh?

"No, I normally just leave it down. Why?"

"Come over here." She waved at me. "I have something that'll help with your hair."

Without a second's hesitation, I stood from my seat on the log near Yugi and walked over to Mai. She pulled at the strands, arranging them into what I thought was a braid. From my seated spot, I could see the entirety of our little campsite. Bakura and Yugi were still playing with the stew while Anzu was making sure Jounouchi and Honda didn't hurt themselves putting away the cooking knives. It reminded me of being back at the game shop with the gang and Grandpa. It was bittersweet. I shook off the thoughts, I didn't want anyone to catch on to my dark thoughts when we were actually in a bright moment. Mai played with my locks for a few moments longer before finally dropping her hands. I didn't get to thank her because the food was finally ready.

"Wow, this is really good, Bakura!" Anzu happily said as she took another bite.

"Thank you!" Bakura visibly brightened at the compliment.

It was good, though hot. We all took a few more bites before Mai spoke up.

"Better eat up, you'll need it for when the duels start up again in the morning." Mai told us.

"Yes, ma'am!" Honda cheered.

"The hell, Honda!" Jounouchi snapped at his friend. "You're not a Duelist!"

We all laughed at the exchange and continued to eat. In an attempt at small talk, Yugi began a conversation with Mai.

"You already have eight star chips, Mai, so you might be the first to reach the castle tomorrow!"

Mai remained silent for a second before looking up from her soup to look at Yugi.

"But I'll eventually fight you too, Yugi!" She reminded.

There was a small awkward silence that was broken by Anzu.

"Hey…." She began. "Forget the dueling for now."

"Nope." Mai interrupted.

"But we have a truce for right now…"

"In the morning, everyone's an enemy!" Mai looked at Anzu as she spoke. "That's what it means to be a Duelist!"

Nobody said anything at that. Mai must have really had no one if she thought life was all like this. It was a little sad. None of us, except really Jounouchi, could possibly have a chance to understand what she may be going through. "Thanks for the food." Mai said as she stood. "I'm heading back to my tent. Anzu and Christine, if you want, you can bunk with me. You never know what could happen with these guys around!"

"What was that?!" Jounouchi nearly shrieked.

I rolled my eyes at that.

"You're gonna need to watch your temper when Mai is around." I patted his shoulder. "She winds you up a little too easily."

"Apparently." Jounouchi huffed. "What an annoying girl."

I sat with the gang for a little while longer before wishing them all goodnight and settled down with Mai and Anzu. I took the spot farthest away from the opening to lay down and closed my eyes. It was nice to relax for a while after the crazy day we had today. We started with getting revenge on Weevil, then Jounouchi winning his first real duel, Yugi dueling Mako, us learning that Pegasus was after more than just Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and Mokuba's kidnapping, and Jounouchi beating Rex before we all settled down for the night. Mai and Anzu eventually joined me and I opened my eyes just as they began to talk.

"So you've always worked with cards, Mai?" Anzu asked.

Mai shrugged lightly. Maybe she didn't like to talk about it?

"See..." She eventually said. "I was a casino dealer on a cruise ship that travelled the world. Everyday brought rich opponents with experience and cards. All the time were countless men coming to make a quick buck."

Mai ran a hand through her hair, letting it then fall beside her. "Every single one of them fell for my aroma card trick. Eventually, I just came to hate people! All these greedy people looking only for money." Anzu and I glanced at each other, pity in her eyes, then we both looked back to Mai. "The reason I came to this island… was to restore my Duelist's pride… and my pride as a woman and also… to find something that used to be important to me way back when…" The blonde woman gave the both of a wistful look. "It's strange. Just looking at you all, for some reason, I keep thinking back…" She stopped herself there and gave a soft smile. "By the way…" She smirked over at Anzu. "You have a crush on Yugi, don't you?"

I burst out laughing at the bright blush that appeared on Anzu's face. The girl spluttered to argue against the question.

"Wh… What?! What's that got to do with anything?!" Anzu nearly shrieked.

"My woman's intuition is never wrong!" Mai continued to smirk at the brunette.

That did nothing to calm Anzu who continued to splutter and blush brightly. I finally stopped laughing but was in no mood to stop the hilarity.

"Calm down, Anzu!" I whispered. "We don't want Yugi to hear anything."

Mai sniggered but then the tables were turned. And the teasing was pulled to me.

"And what's with you?" She asked with a delicate eyebrow raised. "Yugi stood awfully close to you all day. Anything to add?"

I quickly shook my head, nothing was going on between Yugi and myself. The only thing was the spirit that took over his body every once in a while. That's a different story.

"There is one thing…" Anzu began and trailed off with a smirk when she saw my blush.

"Don't…" I began to threaten.

"Oh, I have to hear this." Mai smiled brightly. "Do tell."

"Christine is seeing someone." Anzu said vaguely.

"Oooh." Mai giggled. "Christine? Any details?"

My blush refused to go away. I knew I shouldn't have told Anzu about Yami and I being together. Bad Christine, bad! "Christine?" Mai pressed. Nope! Not talking about it!

"I'm going star gazing!" I quickly jumped up from my sleeping spot and ran out of the tent.

Even from a few feet away, I could hear Mai and Anzu snickering. I should just freeze them inside… Nah, that is where I'm sleeping as well. I'd best leave it be. You two win this round, but mark my words; I'll be back. I walked over to where the gang could still see me if they needed but I could see the stars much easier than through the trees.

Being this far away from Domino, the stars were much brighter than they would be with all the light pollution. I could see many of the constellations in the sky and it calmed me. I sighed though. It was depressing that the place that had the most visible stars had to be the place where we have to deal with Pegasus. A haven with a devil living on it. I sighed again, leaning my head onto my bent legs.

Suddenly, a stick snapped behind me and I quickly raised my head to turn around. I was relieved to see a scared expression and large amethyst eyes. "Oh, Yugi." I breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me!"

"Sorry." He smiled sheepishly as he walked over to sit beside me.

"You should be asleep." I told him, a slight stern tone in my voice. "We have a big day tomorrow."

"I know." Yugi nodded. "Having trouble sleeping."

I hummed in understanding. I didn't have anything to help with sleeping so Yugi was on his own. "How come you're not asleep?"

"Mai and Anzu are picking on me." I sighed. "Stinking Anzu. I let one thing slip and now she's holding it over me."

Yugi chuckled at my dramatic sigh. He then fell silent and the silence spread to me for a few minutes. I looked back to the stars though the comfort didn't come all that easily.

"Hey, Christine?" Yugi finally asked. "I… Do you prefer to hang out with the other me?"

I straightened my spine and gave a confused look to Yugi. He kept his head toward his knees, like he was nervous to see my expression. Where had this come from?

"Why do you say that?" I asked, resisting the urge to try and take his shoulders to forcefully make him look at me.

Yugi didn't reply. My mind whirled as I tried to think through what was going through Yugi's head. "Yugi, I don't understand…."

"You always seem happier when he is out so I thought…. Yeouch!" Yugi shrieked in pain when I yanked his ear. "Not this again!"

"Ah, so you do remember that!" I chuckled but didn't let go. "I was worried that your silly other-self had gone and memory wiped that."

"Hurts!"

I let him go with one last chuckle then moved the arm to wrap around his shoulders in a loose hug. Yugi tensed slightly, probably afraid that I would do something to pick on him again, but he eventually relaxed. Based on his statement, I got the gist of what he was worried about.

"Yugi, both you and your other self are very important to me." I said softly. "I could never choose one of you over the other; I just couldn't!"

I stopped talking there; I was just embarrassing myself. Yugi was one of my closest friends now, especially for everything that he has done for me the entire year that I had been here. I couldn't and wouldn't abandon him. I tightened my hug and Yugi understood what I meant to say.

"EEEYAAAAAH!" A scream permeated the air suddenly and the both of us jumped.

It wasn't a scream that I could identify right off the bat as one of my friends but it did seem familiar…. Wait a minute….

"That was Mai's voice!" Yugi exclaimed as he jumped up.

Oh no! Anzu!

"Anzu was with her!" I nearly shrieked. "Oh, I shouldn't have run off!"

We both jumped to our feet and back to our campsite. While Yugi went to check on the rest of the guys, I checked the tent and was horrified to see that it was empty. Crap, crap, crap! Where could they have gone!? I nearly went into panic attack mode when I heard laughter a little ways away.

"This way!" Yugi cried and the both of us shot off into the trees.

We eventually came across a Battle Box and I thanked my lucky stars when I saw Anzu unharmed. She stood completely still with her back facing us.

"Anzu!" I called and the brunette girl turned around to gasp at us running toward her. "Thank Hecate you're ok!"

I pulled her into a hug and while Anzu accepted it, she fought to be released quickly.

"Yugi!" She gasped to the boy next to me. "It's terrible! Mai…."

"Yugi!" I heard Mai gasp and we all turned to where her voice was coming from.

Mai was seated inside the Battle Box with a shadowed man. She seemed awfully spooked, her eyes wild with…. Fear? The shadowed man stood from his seat and the light reflected from the moon revealed his features. A shiver ran down my spine much to my dismay.

"Ho ho…" The man chuckled. "This one should be easy! I have orders from Mr. Pegasus to beat this brat at all costs!"

The man went to climb out of the battle box and Mai called to us again.

"Be careful, Yugi!" She cried. "This guy's a player killer from the island staff that goes around and steals star chips from Duelists!"

Oh! I remember this! It was the guy who used the darkness as his advantage to intimidate other Duelists. At least this wasn't the situation where he used the flame spouts, I probably would faint it that were the case. The player killer finally stopped a few steps away from us, holding the double tiered duel glove out toward us.

"Yugi!" The man called down to him. "I'll eliminate you just like I did this woman! Let's duel!"

Eliminate…? We all glanced to Mai and she nodded dismally.

"This is as far as I go…" She told us sadly. "I can't make that dream of mine to fight you real…"

No… I shook my head, as if that would make this whole thing go away. We weren't even allowed to grieve for a moment when the player killer shouted unnecessarily.

"C'mon!" He shouted. "Get in the Battle Box!"

Yugi's fist clenched and a more comfortable shiver ran down my spine. I glanced over, seeing Yami glare at the player killer. Mai seemed to notice that something about Yugi changed, as her eyes widened, but said nothing.

"Don't worry, Mai." Yami said to Mai, though he didn't look at her. "I'll beat his fat ass and get back the star chips he stole from you!"

Can you? This guy seemed really creepy and something just was not right. I didn't say anything against it because, despite my fear, I knew he could do it.

This was just a bit of character interaction before more duels and more insanity. With writing, I'm all the way up to Jounouchi's duel with Bandit Keith! I'm almost done with season 1, holy cow! Never thought I'd get this far!

Now, with saying that, I would like to tell you all that I'm messing a wee bit with the cannon of this story. I love things that the anime does and things that the manga does so I'm gonna flip flop on some of the things. Hopefully you all don't mind my doing that.

Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Years and see you all in the next update!

RobynHood3