Chapter 10, and we begin to get the measure of things…I think.
Rainwalker, thanks for the review! I always do a happy dance when I get a review—my parrot must think I'm crazy. I hope everything went swimmingly for you—real life comes first. :) And pretty much—a Guard Dragon Chaos in a location generally indicates that it's a good place to be. As you're the second person to ask, yes: Téa does make an appearance, but not for a while.
Blanket disclaimers are in Chapter 1 (I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, I don't own Avatar, I do own Chaos Creatures, etc., et al…).
"You're kidding."
"Nope," Yugi said triumphantly, shaking his head before biting into his sandwich. He was in the lunch room with Vivian, Valon, and Mai sitting around him listening intently, although his story had drawn an audience.
Mai and Vivian were enthusiastic. "This is great," Vivian said.
"This is wonderful," Mai agreed.
"We've been calculating the possibility of a Chaos nest—"
"And this proves it."
"Can you imagine the possibilities?"
"You have to stay there."
"You can learn so much about Chaos culture!"
"And what you learn, you can bring back here, and we can finally bridge the gap!"
Yugi made a pensive noise and glanced at the skylight. The sky was beginning to brighten. "So…anything in particular I should be nosy about?"
"Customs," Vivian said, at the same time Mai said "Genetics."
The crowd was beginning to murmur as well, giving suggestions at times. Yugi was beginning to grasp how big this was, really, that these Chaos had accepted him in. "When should I start?" Yugi asked. "We don't really know Chaos sleep patterns—"
Mai hopped up. "Come on—we've got to get you back in the Avatar right away."
Yugi woke up in the Avatar, feeling refreshed.
That feeling vanished when he realized he had "Creelie" in his mouth.
He spat the stuffed animal out and stretched, marveling at how much better he felt in this body.
Don't think of that, he chided. You start thinking like that, and that's what leads to the Desertion. Remember that.
He opted to glance about instead, and noted that Joey and Tristan were both gone. Kelsey was sitting there, though, straightening out the stuffed animals again while keeping one eye on Yugi.
"Oh, good—you're up. You sleep pretty soundly."
That made Yugi feel like he had screwed up again—but if Chaos Creatures were light sleepers, there was nothing he could do about it. Instead, he opted to ignore that question, instead picking up the stuffed animal Creelie and taking it over to Kelsey. "Um, what eh, what is this exactly?"
"Creelie, remember?" Kelsey said, straightening out a stuffed animal that looked like a cross between a manta ray and a Chaos Creature. "Or were you looking for 'stuffed animal'?"
"I meant, what kind of creature is this?"
Kelsey looked at it, her head tilted. "It's called an Eldritch, I think. They like science, so Wilson gets along with them well."
Yugi decided not to ask what a Wilson was. "About last night—when I rubbed my nose, you said it was rude."
Now Kelsey was looking at him with her head tilted, although her expression had now shifted to you idiot. "How do I explain this," she muttered. Then, slightly louder. "Chaos Creatures…scent each other as part of a greeting—your nostrils flaring. If you rub your nose when you're doing that, it means you don't like that person."
Yugi imagined doing that the next time he met the Corporal, but decided against it—he didn't like the idea of being shot. He decided to ask about another stuffed animal, holding up a large yellow bird with small wings and strong-looking legs.
"That's a Chocobo," Kelsey told him. "They're native to the plains."
"How far away is that?" Yugi asked, glancing out of the large knothole. "It looks like trees for miles."
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing."
Yugi blinked and looked at her. "Huh?"
She had her arms crossed in a decidedly belligerent stance. "I know what you are, really—you're one of those sleepwalkers. You fall asleep here, you wake up in that compound, and vice-versa."
Yugi blinked again. "Wait—what? How—"
"—Do I know? It was explained to me." Her glare deepened. "What, did you think Chaos were stupid?"
"No—"
"Did you think a Chaos Creature couldn't tell the difference?"
"No—"
"Then what were you thinking, lying like that?"
"I was thinking about self-preservation," Yugi said, feeling his face flush and hating it.
"Then you shouldn't lie."
"If you knew, then why even bring me here?" Yugi asked, gesturing. "Why risk exposing this place?"
Kelsey's expression was thunderous, but at the same time…. "Because you sleepwalkers never stay that way."
That gave Yugi a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach; he resisted the urge to shudder. "I don't think that's true—whoever told you might be mistaken."
Kelsey shrugged and turned her back to him; it was obvious she was done with him.
"Hey, don't be that way," Yugi said, her approval suddenly important to him. He walked around until he was in her line of sight again. "Okay, so maybe I am a 'sleepwalker'—did it ever occur to you that humans just want to make meaningful contact with Chaos?"
Kelsey looked away, but it was obvious she was dying to ask him something. "What's a human?" she said finally, tone saying it was killing her to ask.
"You know those beings at the compound? Those are humans," Yugi explained, settling in to a cross-legged position. "They don't have wings or tails or claws, but they're pretty ingenious. I'm human, technically—when I wake up there."
She was glancing at him now. "How smart can they be?"
"They devised a way to travel light-years from Earth to here."
"That tells me nothing."
"They devised a way to take a human mind and put it in a Chaos body."
"That seems marginally impressive."
"You seem pretty determined not to be impressed."
"I do."
"I'll tell you what," Yugi said, picking up one of the stuffed animals and holding it in front of her. "You answer my questions, and I'll answer yours. Sounds fair?"
Kelsey stared at him for a long time, to the point that he had to fight to keep from fidgeting.
"Deal," she said finally, taking the stuffed animal away and shaking his hand.