The days that followed were long, miserable, and tedious. Construction had begun on a new bath house; the hammering, sawing, talking, and beeping of work trucks sent the dragons in to constant fits of rage. They were irritable, exhausted, uncomfortable, and for Joey, a complete nightmare.
Seto was at the heart of the disruptions, insisting Joey care for each dragon from morning until night. Many of the other stall hands had been laid off, or moved to another stable - a direct punishment for Addis's escape, Joey was sure. The young blonde felt horrible about the situation, but couldn't help his rage that seeped through anytime the brunette came walking through the barn. It wasn't like he had let the dragon go on purpose!
"Stinkin' Kaiba…" Joey muttered furiously to himself as he shoved a pile of dirty hay into a wheelbarrow, "Safe his life… Save his dragons… End up shovelin' shit!" He practically yelled the last word as he slammed the rake down.
Beside him, a jade colored dragon bellowed smoke in displeasure, Joey coughing at the intrusion as he evacuated the stall, knowing he was about to get himself into trouble with the reptile. As he backed into the hall he bumped into something, or someone, rather, as he was not paying attention to his surroundings as he swatted the smoke away from his face.
Stumbling around to avoid the collision, Joey realized it was Yugi, one of the few people who had stuck around to help him after the incident. "Sorry, Yug'," he apologized.
"Don't worry about it, Joey. I'll take care of Murku's stall. You take a break," he offered happily, knowing how thinly-stretched Joey had been lately. Even Ciaran was keeping her distance!
"You sure?" Joey asked, feeling guilty about leaving his work half-finished, although he still yearned for a bit of down-time.
Yugi merely shooed him away with an uninterested wave. "Don't worry about it."
"...Thanks," Joey eventually sighed in relief, sliding a pack out cigarettes out of his back pocket. Yugi's nose scrunched up in distaste.
"I thought you quit?" his friend questioned unpleasantly. While Yugi wasn't the type to judge someone for their habits, he really did hate when Joey came back from his smoke breaks smelling like an ashtray.
Joey shrugged as he popped an unlit Newport into his mouth, the long cancer stick hanging between the corner of his lips. "What can I say? I've never been a quitter." He threw Yugi a friendly wink, the shorter teen rolling his eyes in response, before turning and heading outside, lighter in hand.
Putting his back against the side of the barn, Joey cupped a hand around his cigarette to shield the lighter's flame from the wind, lit up his smoke and inhaled. He exhaled with a sigh a few seconds later, beginning to unwind a little. Trying to take a moment to relax, Joey closed his honey colored eyes and flicked his cigarette, more out of habit than anything. If he had been paying more attention he might have realized Seto had just walked up, taking a break from barking orders at the poor construction workers.
"Wheeler, you're supposed to be cleaning my barn." His tone was sharp and cold, right back to how it was when they'd first met.
Opening one eye lazily Joey exhaled a large cloud of smoke, giving himself a moment to settle his already aggravated nerves. "I'm taking a break…"
"I didn't say it was your lunch break!" Seto snapped back quickly.
Joey's free hand clenched absentmindedly in frustration. "Does it look like I'm eating?"
There was a miniscule pause. "Fine." Joey was seemed surprised when he let the subject drop so quickly, his eyebrows raising in a questioning look.
For a moment, neither of them spoke, Joey taking another, long drag from his cigarette, trying to ignore the uncomfortable silence.
"You're going with me to find Addis." Seto shattered the silence like a stone thrown through a window.
Going to find Addis?! What the hell? Joey just starred at his rival, a stupid expression on his face. "Huh?"
"I am going to find Addis, and since you are responsible for this mess, you're going with me," Seto repeated, his tone of voice more sure-footed then before.
"Like hell! I'm staying here, you go on your own damn-!"
Seto cut into his verbal assault, putting a hand out to silence him quickly. "I already hired people to look after the barn, and unless you want to find yourself out of a job and without a place to live, then you are going with me. Get over it, we're leaving now."
The fact that Seto brought up Joey's living arrangements stopped him from shooting off another nasty remark. At night, when he couldn't sleep, Joey would wonder if Seto knew about him living in Ciaran's stall. His father didn't pay room and board for the black dragon, but Seto never once bothered to kick him out, or hassle him for money he didn't have. Before Joey just assumed Seto was ignorant about it, but now he knew the truth.
"Fine," he spat, flicking his cigarette to the ground and stepping on it, crushing it into the gravel before spinning on his heel to head back inside.
Once inside he wasted no time in gathering, then throwing the few possessions he had in a backpack Tristan had given him. An extra pair of socks, underwear, two shirts, a sweater and a pocket knife. It wasn't a lot, but it was something.
"What's up?" Yugi asked, peeking into the stall where Joey was zipping up his backpack. Fresh hay now covered the ground, and Ciaran sat happily eating a pile of scrap metal.
"Kaiba is making me go on a stupid trip. Thinks he will find Addis or some shit," Joey muttered, not looking at Yugi or Ciaran. Even though he loved and trusted Yugi like a brother, he wasn't happy about having to leave his dragon alone. The thought of not having her by his side made his stomach churn uneasily. As she had grown, Joey knew her protection was always something he could rely on.
Yugi laced his arms together and leaned against the doorway. "Yeah. We figured he probably headed toward the mountains."
Joey dropped his bag on the floor are stared at Yugi, his eyes wide in disbelief and his jaw was practically hanging on the ground. "You knew 'bout this?!"
A guilty blush crept onto the young boy's face, and his looked down uncertainly. "Well... Yeah… I mean, my grandpa and I agreed to watch over things while you were gone and stuff…" Yugi finished lamely, bracing himself for the outburst he knew was quickly headed his way, courtesy of his irritable friend.
"Unreal! You knew about this asshole's plans and didn't tell me?!" Joey was now red in the face, his voice echoing down the hall. Although Yugi hadn't intentionally done it, Joey felt betrayed, which led to hurt, and inevitably to pain.
"Joey, it won't be that bad!" Yugi tried to reason with his hot-headed friend, who had snatched his bag up off the floor and was now trying storm past him into the hallway.
Knowing better than to block his path, Yugi quickly stepped aside, but followed in close pursuit. "I'm serious, Joey! Seto is going to need some help, and we all know how good you are with dragons... even if he won't admit it."
"Save it, Yug'," Joey said harshly, stepping into the cold afternoon air outside. "Just make sure Ciaran is taken care of."
Defeated, Yugi stood back and watched as Joey went and leaned against Seto's car, backpack slung over his shoulder. It didn't take long for the brunette to join Joey and slide into the driver's side of the car, the engine of the red Tesla S purring to life.
Not sparing Yugi a second glance, Joey opened the car door, sank down into the black leather seat, and slammed the door shut. Still in a foul mood, he shoved his backpack onto the floor board and crossed his arms, trying to ignore the fact he was being driven around in a car that was easily priced over one hundred grand, not to mention that it was being driven by the extremely famous Seto Kaiba.
Back at the barn, Yugi sighed heavily, and as he turned around to go back to his chores, realized Ciaran was standing in the hall, a look of distress evident in her eyes. Her lithe body swayed uneasily from side to side, and her tail swished against the concrete floor.
Knowing the dragon to be as rash as her owner, Yugi tensed, trying to keep calm and failing miserably. "N-Now, Ciaran… Settle do-" he didn't have time to finish.
The dragon trotted over to the door, pushing Yugi aside carelessly and stood in the gravel driveway, watching her master being driven away. Frantic, the reptile let out a desperate roar, and when it wasn't met with a response she began to trot after the vehicle.
"Ciaran, come back!" Yugi had managed to get back on his feet and outside just in time to see the dragon take flight into the air, following after the sleek, red sports car.
Half an hour later, Joey was sitting in the driveway of Seto Kaiba's house. The door to the small, two-story house sat open, and occasionally Joey would see the form of Seto's little brother, Mokuba, dash by.
Without any consideration, Joey rolled his window down and lit another cigarette, hearing the younger Kaiba's yells from the open door.
"Seto, you promised not to be gone long!"
There was a muffled reply, followed by Seto placing a bag by the door.
"What if you don't find him?" he heard Mokuba ask, following after his brother.
Another door could be heard closing, Joey guessed it was a closet, then came Seto's voice, in about mid-sentence. "-not that far away."
"Yes, it is! You'll have to search the whole mountain range!" Mokuba and Seto stood at the front of the open door, Seto with his arms crossed and Mokuba standing on his tip toes, desperately trying to not feel so intimidated by his older brother's stature.
"Mokie, listen, if I don't find him in a week, I'll come home. I promise." Seto let his arms drop to his sides, understanding what his brother was saying, but knowing there wasn't any other choice.
The younger boy wrapped his arms around Seto's waist, and said something, but it was muffled by Seto's shirt. Joey watched from the car, blowing out a cloud of smoke. The thought of being alone, on a mountainside, for an entire week with Seto sent his blood rushing. It was worse than a bad idea - it was horrible.
Joey was sure he would forever remember this week as the seven days he spent in Hell. Sighing, he flicked his cigarette out of the car as Seto approached, both hands clutching two large, black backpacks. He went around to the back of the car and lifted the hood to the trunk. Tossing the items inside, he slammed the trunk shut before slipping back into the driver's seat of the car.
As they pulled out of the driveway, Joey looked back in his mirror and noticed Mokuba standing in the doorway, watching them leave.
"We could'a brought him with us, you know," Joey mumbled. He knew that, if in the same situation, there would be no way he could have left, with Serenity standing alone like Mokuba was.
Seto snorted dismissively. "He will be fine. I have someone watching him."
"Whateva'," Joey shrugged, figuring what Seto did was his own business.
"You know, the least you could do is not be miserable the whole time." Seto glanced over at Joey, who was now clearly sulking about the whole ordeal. The blonde was sunk into his seat, arms crossed, with his feet pressed against the dashboard.
Mouth ajar, Joey's honey eyes looked at Seto with disbelief. "You drag me away from work, and my dragon, and expect me ta' be happy about it?"
Seto's eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed together. "You lost my dragon. The least you can do is help me find him."
Joey's feet slipped off the dashboard and his hands fell to his legs, his eyes wider. "I saved your life, and three other dragons!" He couldn't believe what this asshole was saying!
"So? You still lost my dragon, Wheeler." Seto kept his eyes on the road, ignoring Joey's little charade.
"You're such an ass," Joey muttered, putting his feet back up on the dashboard, resuming his previous position. He reached into his pocket again for his pack of cigarettes, thinking maybe he could just smoke himself to death and end this whole nightmare.
Moving to hit the button and roll the window down, he frowned when the glass pane didn't move. His finger pressed on the automatic button harder, then he looked around to Seto, puzzled by the vehicle's disobedience.
"Don't smoke in my car," Seto grunted, pointing down to a button that Joey recognized to be the child safely lock - one that prevented anyone from rolling the windows up, or down.
Unlit cigarette in-hand, Joey glared at his traveling companion. "You didn't care before when you were comin' outta' the house," he pointed out with a grumble.
"I wasn't in the car, so there wasn't anything I could do about it," Seto explained, somewhat snidely.
With one last roll of Joey's eyes, the two settled into silence, the brunette driving and the blonde watching scenery as it passed by. The thin line of trees along the side of the road grew thicker, and the occasional farmlands began to space out, replaced by small patches of forest.
Joey's ears popped a few times as the road twisted up the mountain, away from the valley farm lands below.. Occasionally Joey would catch a glimpse of river, or a deer. It was obvious they were heading deeper into the mountainside.
After Joey had put his pack of cigarettes in his backpack, Seto had unlocked the windows, and Joey cracked it open, inhaling the smell of pine and oak. Although they had only been driving for an hour or so, it was completely different from the dry, grassy smell that Joey was accustomed to, back at the barns. Also, it was darker, the thick canopy of the trees blocking out the worst of the sun's rays. With the lack of sunlight came cooler weather, and soon Joey dug in his bag for a sweater, slipping it on in his seat.
Another hour crept by, and finally Seto took a turn down a dirt road, one that clearly wasn't traveled as often. Large potholes littered the ground, trees looming dangerously over the car. Twigs and branches lay lifelessly in their path, before being crushed under the sports car's tires.
Bored, Joey began to wonder if he would come across Bigfoot, or something, wishing he would have brought some beef jerky with him. At least he could have kept himself occupied when in such poor company. He let out an aspirated sigh, shifting around in his seat, quickly becoming restless.
Finally, after another hour, the car slid to a stop along the road. It had been a while since Joey had seen a light post, or even a house, for that matter. Opening the car door and stepping outside, he was willing to bet they were in the middle of nowhere, completely separated from the world.
"Kaiba, if I'm eaten by a bear and left to die, never to be found, I am finding you in the afterlife and re-killing you," Joey drawled casually, joining Seto, who was getting the two backpacks out of the car.
"Who says I am going to let a bear kill me? I'll just trip you and let it eat you," Seto retorted with a smirk, shoving one of the packs into Joey's hand.
Joey gave him a questioning look, prompting the brunette to explain. "It has everything you'll need, water purifier, GPS, cell phone, jacket, sleeping bag... You get the idea," Seto said offhandedly, shutting the trunk and pressing a button on his keys, the car beeping as it locked.
Like anyone was around to break into the car, anyways.
Joey sighed again and pulled the backpack onto his shoulder, gripping it as he looked out into the thick brush and woodlands.
Well... This was going to be fun.
