Warning(s)

Puzzleshipping: Rated G

Kidnapping, Bakura madness, semi-transformation, and Arkana madness

Yami held his mate close as he felt Yugi trying to squeeze the life out of him. "Little Light, I'll be gone for a few days not forever," he assured him. It had been two days since Malik had gotten kidnapped and he, Shadi, Bakura, and Duke were going after Arkana and Seeker for kidnapping Malik and Yugi's grandfather and hopefully find Kisara and Odion.

"I know," Yugi said quietly. He knew he shouldn't be so clingy, but he was scared of Yami not returning to him. A lot had happened these past few weeks and he felt like he was losing everyone close to him. First, his grandpa getting kidnapped then Joey got attacked and nearly died. Now, Malik got kidnapped and Odion and Kisara were missing, most likely going after the men who took their brother. It was too much for him.

The older man cupped his face and kissed his forehead. "I promise, I will get your grandfather back and I will return to you." He had to give Yugi credit for being to handle this whole situation with great patience.

Yugi just hummed softly, closing his eyes as rested his ear against Yami's chest, listening to his heartbeat. "You better come back alive and unharmed. I don't want to see anybody else get hurt."

Yami chuckled and nuzzled his hair. "I can't promise to come back unharmed, but I promise I'll come back alive…with your grandfather and Malik."

They separated when they heard someone knock on the door. "My pharaoh, it's time for us to go," Shadi said from the other side.

Both of them walked out of the room, seeing the others waiting for them. Set and his brothers along with Marik were staying behind to protect Yugi and his friends. Since Bakura couldn't be trusted with Ryou, he was going with Yami and his group though Yami admitted that he preferred Marik since he was going to need a good…'interrogator' should they manage to capture Arkana or Seeker. But nonetheless, he was sure Bakura could get answers out of them.

"Is everyone ready?" Yami asked. He saw them nod and turned to Yugi. "We'll be back. Please listen to Set and the others while I'm gone. Don't do anything that'll put your life in danger."

"You too," Yugi said to him.

Yami and the others transformed into their demi-human forms and flew off. They knew where they were going since Shadi had used a spell to locate Odion and Kisara and they were heading to wherever Arkana and Seeker took Malik. They would just have to use them to find the hideout and hope that Yugi's grandfather was still alive too.

Yugi sighed as he watched Yami and the others fly off. These past few weeks had been stressful. Though Yami had tried to make his new life easier, but Yugi was worried sick for his friends and his grandpa. A part of him feared that he was dead and that Yami would be coming back with his dead body.

"Yugi?" Ryou called out to him. The white-haired boy put a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. "They'll come back…with your grandfather and Malik alive. You know Yami is going to do everything he can to bring them back."

"I know, but I can't help but worry about them," Yugi said quietly. "Joey almost died on us, Malik and my grandpa were kidnapped, and now with you, Tristan, and Bakura not getting along…"

Ryou stiffened a little at the mention of Bakura, remembering the glare that the man gave him every time they saw each other. He would always feel waves of anger and betrayal coming from him. But he never talked to him and hadn't said anything since the day Malik was kidnapped and it helped that Tristan was with him at all times so Bakura never bothered to talk to him. He only hoped that one day Bakura could probably find peace despite their relationship not working out. "Don't worry about the three of us. I can take care of myself and Tristan is looking after me," he assured his friend.

"But who's looking after him?" Yugi asked as he saw Tristan sleeping on the couch in Yami's living room. He felt bad that he hadn't noticed how exhausted Tristan must've been between looking after everyone and guarding Ryou from Bakura. This is where Joey would come in and help, but now with Joey still recovering from his assault and Seto Marking him, he would be out for a while. Tristan had taken on the responsibility of watching over all of them by himself. Yugi knew his friend didn't completely trust Yami and his comrades, but for obvious reasons.

The white-haired boy looked over at his sleeping boyfriend and sighed. "It's my fault. I shouldn't go to him every time Bakura harasses me. He's already stressed as it is. I wish I could make him feel better, but I don't know how."

"I think he just needs you to be there," Yugi told him. "He needs someone to take care of him emotionally. I don't know how he manages to take care of all of us and stay sane."

Ryou wanted to point out that Tristan was hanging on by a thread. Though his boyfriend kept his emotions in check most of the time, he was able to feel them when they were at their strongest. But he knew that if Tristan couldn't protect him then his younger sister would step up and guard him. Though it should've been the other way around, but Amane has always been stronger than him, physically and mentally. He sat down next to him, gently lifting Tristan's head to rest it on his lap. "He's barely hanging on, Yugi. Everything is slowly catching up to him," Ryou said. "I've tried what I can, but he's always so careful with me."

Yugi felt his heart drop at that. He should've known that Tristan wouldn't tell anyone how he felt about everything going on. "Maybe once this is all over…we can go somewhere."

"When will it be over?" Ryou asked quietly.

Yugi didn't say reply to that, not knowing what he could say to assure him. He had a feeling that all of this was just the beginning.

Yami and the others arrived at an abandoned building outside of Domino, but there was no sign of Odion and Kisara. All of them went back to their human forms, looking around the area. "Are you sure they are here?" he asked Shadi.

The keeper nodded and looked at the building. "Yes, I can feel them. I had a feeling that this family do things on their own terms so I made sure to cast a spell that would let me know where Odion is at all times. And through him, I know where the others are at. Though it seems Arkana is also using a spell to keep Malik from being found, but I don't think he knows how strong the bond is between them."

"They could be a future threat," Duke told Yami. "This Ishtar family, they're not normal. The man didn't even know he was of dragon blood and who knows what the other three can do. The woman, Ishizu, holds the Millennium Necklace and Malik has the Millennium Rod, and they both know how to use them. I imagine the woman, Kisara, has some trick up her sleeve. We need to gain control of them before they can do anything."

"I doubt they'll do anything," Yami stated. "They're loyal to Yugi and the others. They won't do anything to hurt them."

"They don't think highly of us," Duke pointed out as they walked inside the building. "None of your mate's friends seem to think highly of us. But I supposed it's not for good reason considering that the sadist here and Seto have not exactly made us look good."

Bakura growled and turned around to look at him. "What did you call me?"

"A sadist," Duke said coolly. "You obviously enjoy causing your would-be mate pain just because he's an empath. Some of us would kill to have a mate at this point, regardless of their abilities."

"You're not the one stuck with a weakling," Bakura snapped and took a step toward him.

"Enough!" Yami raised his voice. "You two will stand down at once. You can fight about this later after we rescue the boy and Yugi's grandfather."

Both men glared each other down for a few seconds then backed away. "I don't know why you brought him along," Duke muttered as he walked away.

"Silence," Shadi said. "The Ishtar siblings were here a few minutes ago."

"How do you know that?" Yami asked him.

"I can smell them," he replied. "They were here not too long ago and I'm sure that I can sniff the path they took." He began walking down the path they took and his comrades followed him. None of them knew how Odion and Kisara knew where to go, but they assumed the siblings had a way of finding each other no matter what.

They walked down a long hallway, faintly smelling Odion and Kisara's scents. But it stopped once they reached the end of the hallway. "Where did they go?" Bakura asked.

It was then they heard someone grunting. It almost sounded like the person was trying to hold back a cry of pain, but they couldn't be sure. Shadi was the first one to push a nearby door open, seeing Odion and Kisara freeing their brother and Solomon Moto. "How did you two manage to get past Arkana and Seeker?" Yami asked them. He immediately ran to help Yugi's grandfather stand as soon as Kisara got him free.

"We don't know where they're at, but we had to help them. Solomon is dying," Kisara told him.

Yami looked over Yugi's grandfather, seeing that she was right. He was bleeding slowly, but he could tell that the man had been bleeding for a long time. Knowing Arkana, he probably kept making shallow wounds to make him suffer. "Let's get them out of here." He saw Odion pick up his brother, holding him close.

"Now, pharaoh, surely you and the others aren't going to leave so soon? The party hasn't even started yet!" Arkana said from the doorway as the lights turned on.

Before any of them could react, the magician held out a jar and all of the dragons, minus Yami, turned into smoke and were sucked into the jar. Malik fell to the floor, groaning in pain as Kisara grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him to her. "What did you do to them?" Yami growled, letting go of Yugi's grandfather.

"It's a Dragon Capture Jar," Arkana replied. "Surely you know what this is for. I can choose whatever dragons are near me and capture them. All of your little friends are inside this jar right now."

Yami growled and took a step toward him. "Give them back, Arkana. Do you really think Zorc is going to bring Catherine back to you? She's long dead, passed on into the next world after living a long happy life."

Arkana glared at him. "Happy? How could she have been happy without me? We were each other's true loves! She always swore that she would love me forever! Me and no one else!"

"That was before you went mad and drove her away. She saw that you were more in love with power than her," Yami pointed out. "You're the one who drove her away and into another man's arms. Had you not gone mad, you could've lived a happy life together."

The magician glared at him and summoned the same dragons that he used against them last time. "Die," he hissed and pointed at him. The dragons flew at him.

Yami dodged them, transforming into his demi-human form and pushed one of the dragons back, making it crash into the other dragons coming at him. He knew if he fully transformed then the whole building could possibly collapse due to his size so he had no choice but to fight in his demi-human form. "I won't let you win, Arkana. You'll never beat me."

Arkana just gave him a smirk as he summoned more dragons, making the walls break and began backing away. "I don't want to defeat you, Yami. I just need to keep you occupied long enough to snatch something very important to you."

"Yugi…," Malik whispered.

Yami looked down at the young Egyptian boy then looked at Arkana. "No…"

Before he could say anything, Arkana disappeared and the dragons attacked.

Author's Notes/Rambles

FINALLY! Another chapter! Yes, I'm still alive and balancing two jobs. So yeah, sorry this is a short chapter, but next chapter will be longer, I promise!

And I will fix any and all mistakes later. :)