Did I fall asleep?
Marik cracked his eyes open just a sliver when suddenly his face was met with cool water. He blinked his eyes a couple of times as he slowly sat up, noticing that his body was drenched with sweat. He could feel his hair stick to the back of his neck as well as his clothes sticking to his body rather uncomfortably. He rubbed his eyes as the cool droplets of water slid down his face making their way down to his neck. Upon opening them he saw Bakura sitting next to a good sized watering hole, picking up water with his hands and drinking a bit.
I'm not in the sun anymore….What's this?
His eyes widened to see that behind him was a small orchard of trees that created this nice overhanging shade.
He was interrupted from his thoughts by being hit with a wave of water from behind.
"Good to see you're awake." Bakura said as the blonde turned around.
Marik opened his mouth to talk but only let out coughs as his throat was dry. He crawled over to the sparkling pool of water and brought a handful of it to his lips. The water went down soothing his throat. It was then that he realized how thirsty he was and so he dunked his head in and drank without any hesitance.
"Slow down…" Bakura said as he pulled Marik's head out of the water. "….Or you'll make yourself sick."
Marik nodded and started to take slower sips. Once he was finished he scooted away from the water and turned to face Bakura.
"Where are we anyway?"
"An Oasis…..I used to hide out here sometimes because it was a long walk from the market to home. That was before I had my horse of course."
Marik nodded as he looked around searching for the ebony stallion, until his eyes nestled on a nearby tree which the horse was tied to.
"You feeling better?"
Marik nodded as he turned to face the white haired boy. "Yea, a little….I still feel a bit warm though."
Bakura nodded as he reached into his robe and pulled out a white bag made of linen.
"Here…"
Marik took the bag from his hands, looking at it questionably.
"What is it?"
"Some new clothes for you….They should be a lot cooler."
Marik nodded as he opened the bag. Inside was a magnificent purple robe with a matching sarong.
Bakura stood up while the blonde was looking at his new attire.
"I'm going to collect some firewood…we're going to camp here for a few days. That should give you plenty of time to get cleaned up."
Marik nodded as Bakura started to walk away.
Once Marik was sure that Bakura was out of sight, he reached for the bottom of his shirt and started to peel his clothes from his skin. When he got done undressing, he threw his clothes into a pile next to the white bag. Once he made sure everything was in order, he stepped into the water. Gauging the depth of the water with his foot, he found that it was quite deep and without hesitation he jumped in the water with a small splash. He sighed as the cool water surrounded him, making him feel ten times better than he had.
This feels great…..I wonder how deep this pool is…
With that thought Marik dove down to the bottom and looked around a bit. It was quite deep and there wasn't very much at the bottom just a lot of sand and rocks. He slowly slid his hand through his hair as it floated around his head. As he did so he found dirt and sand coming off and into his hand.
Whoa, that's a lot of sand, It's been a while since I had a bath. I'd better get this gunk out.
Marik closed his eyes as took hold of his hair in both his hands, Making sure he was touching his scalp before violently shaking his hair out. His hands worked through his hair to make sure he ridded his hair of all the dirt and grime. Once he was satisfied, he resurfaced to catch his breath. Now that his hair was no longer grungy, he contented himself just to swim about for a moment, enjoying the contrast of the hot air from the sun to the nice cool pool of water he was in.
After he had finished with his bath he opened the linen bag and took out his new clothes that Bakura had gotten for him. They felt really soft and light weight to the touch, as he put them on.
Compared to my other clothes, these make me feel light as a feather. They also breathe a bit easier, so hopefully they won't stick to me as much.
He thought as he tied the sarong around his waist. He then slipped into his robe, admiring the color of the fabric. Purple was his favorite color after all. He straightened out the sleeves over his gold arm bands and then fixed his hair to lay on top of the robe's collar. As he did so, he felt something strange.
"What's this?"
He asked as he lifted it and found that it was a hood, just like Bakura's robe had. When he got done, he lifted the bag and felt that there was still something in it. He opened it and saw that there was a pair of slipper-sandals. He quickly took them out and put them on. He smiled, as they were quite comfortable and stood up. He walked over to his pile of dirty clothes, put them into the linen bag, tied it off and then slung it over his shoulder to carry.
"Now to find Bakura."
Bakura had finished collecting enough firewood for the night and decided to go ahead and set up camp. He already had a fire going thanks to his magic and was even starting to make preparations for dinner. He looked over the food that he and Marik had stolen and was trying to figure out how to ration the food to last a few days. So far they had two fish, a couple loaves of bread, three onions and a few dates. He decided upon splitting a fish and half a loaf of bread between them. He looked towards the sun as it started to sink slowly toward the horizon. He liked these calm moments where he could just sit there and look at the sky with the sun shining over the desert giving it a look of vibrant hues of different colors throughout the day. Right now, the sun's reflection on the sand made it look a bright shining gold. He simply enjoyed it as he continued to look out at the shining sand. That is until he heard someone calling him.
He turned to see Marik, making his way towards him. Bakura watched as the blonde approached and couldn't help but stare. His hair was shining in the sunlight rivaling the golden look of the sand. Once Marik was just a few feet away Bakura could see that the clothes he had picked suited the blonde well. It made his skin seem to glow in the contrast it had to the light mixture of lavender and violet colors of the robe. He noticed that the blonde was a lot smaller looking now than he had when he had worn his other garments. He soon found that Marik was not only slender but fit as well as his clothes seemed to fit but hang loosely on his frame at the same time.
"What is it?" Marik asked, his face puzzled as he stood in front of the Thief.
Bakura suddenly felt his face flush and quickly turned his head to look at the fire as he tried to focus his mind on the sparks that would occasionally make a popping noise.
"Nothing….You feeling better?" The white haired boy muttered.
Marik noticed the slight tinge of pink on the Thief's face as he looked away, but decided not to ask him about it.
"Yeah, I feel ten times better. Thanks…for helping me. I really like these new clothes you got me, they are a lot cooler than the others. Not to mention that you've managed to pick out my favorite color." Marik smiled as he sat down beside Bakura.
"Really?" Bakura mumbled, keeping his gaze on the fire.
"Mmmmm Hmmm, So what's for dinner?" Marik asked as he noticed that the food was in front of the other and divided into sections.
Bakura shook his head as he looked down at the food with a calculating gaze.
"I figured that we could split a fish and half a loaf of bread and save the rest for tomorrow."
"Sounds like a plan." Marik said as he watched Bakura pack away the rest of the food.
Bakura pulled out his knife as he made careful slits in the fish's tail and neck. Then he reached towards the pile of extra firewood that he had set aside and grabbed one of the smaller sticks. He then poked the stick through the fish and set it beside the fire without it being to close that it would burst into flames.
"It'll only take a few minutes and then we can eat." Bakura stated as he used his knife to cut the loaf of bread in two.
"You can cook?" Marik asked surprised as Bakura handed him his share of bread.
"Yea…..What of it?"
"Who taught you?" Marik asked curiously.
Bakura sighed before looking into the night sky as the first stars started to appear.
"My mother."
"Ah, You're lucky….The only person in my family that could cook was my sister and she refused to teach me." Marik stated as he looked down the fire.
"But what about your mom? Couldn't she cook?" Bakura asked as he turned his gaze on the blonde.
"She died when I was born."
"Oh…..Well, it's not normal for men to cook anyways. It's supposed to be a woman's job. That's probably why your sister didn't teach you."
Marik nodded his head.
Bakura kept his gaze on Marik as he scratched his head in thought before nodding his head in decision.
"If you want…..Maybe I could teach you…." Bakura stated as he continued to look at the blonde's face.
"Really?...You would do that?" Marik asked, his voice brimming with excitement and his eyes flaring with enthusiasm as he faced Bakura.
"Sure, Why not? That's what partners do isn't it? Help each other?"
"Yeah." Marik nodded.
Bakura turned his attention back to the fish, they were perfectly brown and looked to be ready to eat. He grabbed the stick and pulled his knife back out and cut into the middle of the fish. When he saw no blood coming out, he knew it was finished. He proceeded to cut the stick in half where he halved the fish and handed one to Marik.
Marik held the stick in his hand and looked over the fish. It smelled delicious and soon his mouth was watering. He blew on it before taking a bite. It was slightly crunchy on the outside while the inside was warm goodness. Marik ate the rest of his fish while taking breaks to chew on some of his bread.
Bakura ate his food and then took a swig of water from the goatskin before offering it to Marik. Marik took it and drank some before handing it back. It was quiet for a while as the two sat there taking turns looking at the flames or up at the sky.
Marik looked up at the night sky, gazing at all the stars and the moon. When suddenly the moon started to change color, it's usual white light was turning red.
What the….The moon is turning red…..That doesn't make sense….
"Hey Bakura, Look at that!" Marik exclaimed as he pointed at the moon.
Bakura looked up to see that the moon was turning red.
"What the…" Bakura stared at it confused.
Why's the moon turning red?...What sorcery is this?...
Suddenly a shadow started to make its way over the moon turning it red as it went along.
Bakura's eyes widened astonished that the moon was changing color before his very eyes.
"Oh, I see…That's why it was turning red." Marik stated.
"What do you mean? Why is it doing that?" Bakura asked looking at Marik, his eyes still wide.
"It's a lunar eclipse."
"A lunar eclipse?..." Bakura asked as he blinked his eyes in confusion at the blonde.
"It's when the earth comes between the moon and the sun, creating a shadow on the moon and making it turn red." Marik explained.
"But look at it…That's not supposed to happen!" Bakura pointed at the now halfway hidden moon.
"Just watch….Once it's over the moon will return to normal."
Bakura and Marik continued to watch the sky as the moon changed from fiery red to a light yellow and finally back to bright white.
"It's normal….." Bakura stared at the moon with wide eyes, astonished.
"Yeah, It's beautiful isn't it? That was your first one wasn't it?" Marik smiled as he looked over to the amazed thief.
Bakura nodded his head. He was so confused…..he had never once seen the moon do that.
"You're lucky….Your first eclipse was a perfect one…"
Marik continued to look at the white haired boy, he had to work very hard to hold back his laughter. He wasn't used to seeing Bakura look so confused but he had to admit that in a way this look suited him.
That was a wonderful eclipse…..
"Hey that's the perfect name for your horse!" Marik exclaimed as he jumped to his feet.
"What?" Bakura asked as his focus on the moon had been broken.
"Eclipse….That's the perfect name for your horse."
"You're still thinking about that?" Bakura asked.
"Of course, I told you that the horse needed a name and it's perfect because an eclipse comes and goes during the time of darkness, just like you and your horse do when you are off thieving under the cover of the night." Marik explained.
"Oh, I better go see if that's ok with him though." Marik said as he ran excitedly towards the horse.
"How would you like to be called "Eclipse"? Better than "horse" isn't it?"
The stallion whinnied and neighed in response and quickly put its head under Marik's hand. Marik started petting it as Bakura walked over and stood beside him.
"You see….I think he likes that name. Isn't that right Eclipse?"
The horse licked Marik's hand in agreement which caused Marik to laugh.
Bakura just shook his head and smiled. At least the blonde was feeling better.
