Chapter 14: Past Memories

~Medieval Ages~

A baby's cry echoed through the air. The direction it was heard in was some place out in the woods.

At the time of night, a woman wandered the woods from returning home from another village close by. She could hear the cries of the baby, though it was difficult to pinpoint its location.

After minutes of searching, she found the baby wrapped up and lying inside a broken dead tree. Releasing a relieved breath, she reached into the tree, pulling the baby out "Hush my dear, are you hungry. You must be."

The child stopped crying at her touch, gazing up at her face, tears clouding his eyes.

"Let's get you home, my husband would love to see a baby as I can't have my own." She said opening her coat and placing him inside, keeping the cold off him, taking him home with her to show her husband what she had found.

~Five Years Later~

The house the woman and her husband who had taken the child into their family, naming the boy Yugi, was filled with terror screams and cries of pleading.

The couple who took Yugi in was considered wealthy to the village. Very few were, and when people found out they had more wealth than they did, people went after them and any other people who had wealth.

The people never killed the children, only the parents. They only did this to prevent those kids from becoming wealthy themselves if they survived to adulthood.

So, many minutes before, three men had barged in during the evening just before dark. One forced Yugi to watch the other two men kill his parents in cold blood, not once blinking as they cut and or stabbed the adults, slitting their throats once they had their fun.

The three stayed till the two were dead, searching the house for their wealth the two, now dead people laying on the floor, had stashed away.

Once found the men split the loot and left, the last man commenting "Now listen boy. People who have tons of wealth will only die like your parents. So for future references, and if you would like to live a long life, don't keep your wealth stashed away, understand." The man explained, swinging the door shut.

Yugi was left kneeling on the floor, crying over his parents bodies. Their blood seeped closer and closer till it had pooled around Yugi's legs and hands.

The next day around noon, some friends of the mother and father, found out what happened the day before. They wanted to see if their child was alright and went to the house, opening the door to the house.

The smell quickly found its way to their noses as well as the sight they saw. Yugi huddled up in the corner of the room, still crying at the fact that his parents were dead. To the left were their dead friends.

Grimacing they backed up. One man went into the house, grabbing Yugi and taking him outside, though Yugi did not want to leave the house and began screaming and kicking at being moved. He still cried.

Outside the wife of the husband who had grabbed Yugi, took Yugi into her arms, hugging him, trying to comfort him in some way.

"Find some shovels. We are not leaving those two like that." The man who went in stated.

The other woman went in search of the shovels, while the two men went back into the house, wrapping the two up in a blanket to be moved once the holes were dug.

After a few hours passed the holes had been dug as well as the bodies being placed in and buried. A good sized rock was placed near their heads to signal that their was a body near by it.

The four prayed before going home. The couple who had gotten Yugi out had taken on the role of parenting, though when they told this to Yugi later that day, he did not want them to, running out of the house, never to be seen by them for years.

~Two Years Later~

In another town, Yugi being seven years old now, stole from stores and people on the streets.

Today was not a good day to steal from anybody as everybody in the village was sick of Yugi stealing from them everyday. Nobody offered to take in the child because of his constant stealing.

"Get back here you little shit!" One man shouted.

For Yugi's age, he sure knew how to run faster than an adult man. Running into the woods was the only way Yugi knew how to shake his chasers off as he knew them better than anyone. Within minutes the man caught up to him, one man who Yugi stole from that day beat the living shit out of him till death's door. Not even Yugi's pleads of apologizes stopped the man. The only thing that did stop him was Yugi's still body and slow breathing.

Standing up the man whipped his forehead and face, panting.

Taking his last breath it began down pouring just as Yugi closed his eyes.

"Serves you right you little shit. You don't steal from me and get away from me." The man who beat Yugi said.

Another man remarked "You shouldn't have been born if you resorted to stealing. Nobody likes kids who steal."

The three men stayed for a few minutes, checking to make sure the kid was not faking his death on them. Once those minutes passed the roar of the thunder roared overhead, signaling them to leave the area.

Beginning to leave the woods, lightning struck down in a few area's, causing the men to jump in fear, though continued to walk back to the village.

Another bolt of lightning shot down, this time striking the man who beat Yugi to his death. As the light faded, it left the man burnt to a crisp. The man dropped to the ground, dead.

The other two shouted in terror at the man's death by lightning.

The sky above Yugi's body opened up into clear skies, light shining down over Yugi, no rain falling over him.

The two men saw the light and watched what it would do. In the next few moments Yugi's wounds healed and he was brought back from the dead, blinking his eyes open in question to why he was awake again.

The men yelled in fear, not expecting the boy to be brought back from death's door. The two ran as fast as they could, hightailing it back to town, yet before they could even get forty feet away, lightning struck them down, killing them on impact.

Yugi sat up, hearing a mans voice ring in his mind. The voice ordering /Leave this town you are already living in./ A bag full of apples appeared before Yugi.

From the village, people heard the screams and shouts of the older men who ran after the child being hurt. Most of the people from the village went towards the direction of the commotion, alerting Yugi.

Hearing the people Yugi stood up, grabbed the bag of apples and ran deeper into the woods, never looking back as the voices got closer. He ran as far as he could away from that village that treated him lower than dirt.

~Four Days Later~

Yugi finally arrived at a new village, having some help from the voice in his head in which direction he should go.

Letting out a tired breath Yugi looked around the village, examining everything that it would give him.

The village was much nicer than his past two homes, yet still dirty enough.

Passing a man on the streets, the man spotted the bag this new kid carried, spinning around as he passed the boy "Hey boy, where did you get that bag from." He questioned, reaching for the bag and pulled it off Yugi's back.

"Give me that back. It's mine!" Yugi shouted.

"Yeah right. With the way you dress and how elaborate this bag is, you probably stole it from royalty." The man stated.

Angry "It is mine. Somebody gave it to me. Give it back!"

This time the man became angry, kicking Yugi to the ground as hard as he could, causing Yugi to gasp for breath "Yeah right. Rich people don't just give things to worthless kids like you. If you had any sense of respect for adults, you would have asked me to keep this bag, but you had to make me use force. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving." He said making his leave.

The door Yugi lay near opened, a woman with long red hair stepped out of her house, obviously seeing everything that transpired in front of her house "Give that bag back to this boy!" She demanded.

The man froze in his tracks, slowly turning around in fear of the woman everybody in this village had respect for.

"He had done nothing to you, yet you take his stuff. I can tell that he got it from someone very special. Now, give it back to him." She demanded once again.

This time the man walked over and dropped the bag next to Yugi, walking as fast as he could away from her house.

Turning around from her door "Come inside young one. From today onwards, I will take care of you." She said entering inside her house.

Slowly standing up Yugi grabbed the bag, entering the strange woman's home. Closing the door the smell of food passed his nose. His stomach growled loudly.

"Are you hungry young one. I just made lunch." She asked, though set a bowl for him anyway.

Sitting down without arguing "Lady, who are you?" Yugi asked.

Pouring some stew into each bowl "First off, it is not lady. My name is Viva. This village calls me Mistress Viva because I am a healer, or what you may know as a doctor. I am the only one in this village so they all respect me, and they will also respect you soon enough as you will be living with me for a while. How about you, what should I call you." Viva questioned.

"Yugi" He answered. Yugi could tell that this woman was okay. She held a kind mother's tone in her voice and knew that he could trust her even though they just met each other.

~Two Months Later~

"Viva! Come quick!" A boy with dirty blonde hair yelled, running into the house.

A young girl and four boys trailed close behind the first boy. A boy with pure white hair was being helped by a boy with Platinum blonde hair and a boy with black hair.

Viva entered the room from the kitchen "Yes Joey, what is it?" She asked seeing the other five standing behind him.

"Ryo slipped off a cliff the other day. His leg won't stop bleeding." The boy known as Joey answered.

Shocked "Place him in the living room. I'll go get my things." Viva ordered leaving to a different room to get a few things.

Doing as they were told they placed Ryo on the floor in the living room. Viva returned moments later, Yugi following inches behind, though stopped at the frame to the room he had just came from. Once he saw the blood, he high tailed it back to the other room.

Viva got to work "Viva, who was that behind you?" The girl, Ishizu asked.

"That was Yugi. He's been here for two months now. As for his past before he got here, I don't know that yet. He won't say anything to me about what happened."

After twenty minutes of patching Ryo up, Viva had finished, going to wash her hands while Ishizu stayed with Ryo. Joey, Odion, Malik and Duke followed after her.

From the corner of her eye, Viva could see Yugi watching the other kids in the room, not sure if he should come out from where he was.

Smiling lightly "Yugi come out here. These kids will not hurt you. All of them are my other children who have lost their parents, or were abandoned on the streets just like you were."

Yugi did not trust them, though questioned the ones in the kitchen with Viva "Is that true."

Duke and Malik answered "Yes we were" Duke said "The one in the living room does too, the one unconscious."

"What about the blonde, the girl and you." Yugi said pointing to Odion with the ponytail.

Joey growled "I ran away from my folks. They did nothing for me. All they cared about was my looks." Joey answered.

Yugi was confused.

"That's right, you don't know yet. In this village, if you are not born with beauty of some kind, the parent abandons the child for others to take, or takes them to another village for that village to deal with them. That reason is why that man tried stealing from you the moment you came to this village. They think they are all special and can get away with anything they do." Viva explained.

Yugi now understood, nodding his head.

Ishizu entered the room "As for me, I was one of those children who was beautiful. My parents had me first. Odion was found abandoned near my old house and my mother brought him into the family. She asked my father about Odion and he said no. He did not want any non perfect children in his family so he left. A few months after father left, mother found out she was pregnant with Malik. When Malik was born she left him in the village, taking me and Odion with her. Knowing she left Malik to die, the two of us left her to take Malik in search of help, and we ended up in this house till we could fend for ourselves." Ishizu explained.

In the other room, Ryo woke, Viva going to him as did the others.

Yugi followed seconds after.

"Ryo sweaty, don't push yourself. You hurt your leg pretty bad so don't try walking on it just yet. You will be staying here tonight so I can check on you till this leg of yours heals." Viva said.

Ryo nodded just as he spotted Yugi, though looked to Viva in need of answers.

Smiling "His name is Yugi, he's seven years old. He'll be staying with me for a while." Ryo nodded.

Joey was excited "Seven. I'm eight and the name is Joey."

Malik chuckled "I'm nine as well as Ryo. My name is Malik." Malik introduced pointing to Ryo as he said his name.

Duke smirked "I'm ten, names Duke by the way."

"Odion, I'm eleven."

Smiling "Ishizu, I'm twelve and the oldest. Odion, Duke and I take care of these other three when Viva can't or is busy with her work." Ishizu answered, earning a small nod of understanding from Yugi.

~One Year Later~ (Yugi-8, Joey-9, Ryo/Malik-10, Duke- 11, Odion-12, Ishizu-13)

Duke and Odion were playing keep away from Malik, Ryo and Joey with an apple, laughing at the three since they could not jump as high as the older kids.

Ishizu had promised Viva to look after Yugi for today "So how are your lessons going with Viva. Do you like them?" Ishizu asked in wonder.

Nodding "I like them so far, though…" Yugi trailed off.

"What is it. You can ask me anything."

"It just, why does she only let us stay with her till we are ten. Why not much longer. I just met her a year ago, yet she wants me gone." Yugi said, sadness evident in his voice.

"I know what you mean. I never got why Viva only lets us stay for that long, but she does care for us like her own children if she did have any. She never told me if she did."

Malik tripped over Joey's feet as he turned towards Duke to jump for the apple, causing the both of them to fall over. "Joey! Tell your feet to stop growing."

"Well excuse me, but I'm not the one who has longer legs than the rest of us!" Joey snapped back.

In the next second the two were rolling around in the dirt, still shouting remarks at each other till one or both were extremely exhausted.

Ishizu, Odion, Duke and Ryo laughed at the two, knowing those two sometimes did this.

Yugi, however, did not laugh. He didn't know what to make of the two rolling around fighting, yet somehow, at the corners of his mouth a small smile formed, laughing lightly in not laughing in a long time. Yugi after being around these six kids for a year now, could finally tell them what his past was like. He trusted them to understand his pain just like he did when they told him theirs. Once they all calmed down, Yugi told them everything from the point his adoptive parents were killed right in front of him to the point he showed up in the village last year.

To Yugi's surprise, they accepted him no matter if he did tell them or not.

~Seven Years Later~ (Yugi-15, Joey-16, Ryo/Malik-17, Duke-18, Odion-19, Ishizu-20)

One day while walking in the woods Yugi came across a girl, crying her eyes out. Her clothes were completely dirty, though nicer than his own.

'She must be from a wealthy family, a perfect child, but why is she in rags and crying?' Yugi thought 'Well, can't hurt to see what is going on.' Yugi thought again. Walking over "Excuse me, what seems to be troubling you. Why are you crying?"

Startled she turned around seeing who it was. Seeing Yugi's face she stood up "You're one of the kids Mistress Viva cared for." Bowing "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb your walk. I'll be going now." She said running away, though didn't get that far.

"Wait, don't go. I want to talk with you. I mean, you seem troubled by something. I'd like to help you somehow." Yugi called after her.

Stopping she was surprised, yet didn't want to believe it "Will-Will I have to repay you in anyway." She asked, hoping she didn't have to.

Shaking his head "No, not at all, though maybe in the future we could be friends. It would depend on you if you would want to call me a friend."

Sighing in relief "May I ask you your name by chance?"

"Yugi, what about you?"

"Yuka, it's nice to meet you."

"Same to you." Yugi said, kind of surprised that their names sounded the same even if it was only the first two letters.

Taking a seat Yuka explained to Yugi that her parents were having wealth problems and could no longer care for her unless she went hunting with her father. Yuka also left a valuable piece of information out of the conversation that Yugi would not find out for a long time.

~Six Months Later~

Yugi and Yuka have been friends for six months now. Every time Yugi met up with Yuka, she never once brought up how her family was keeping the wealth flow coming into the house. The subject was non-existent after she told him about it.

In this month it was snowing, freezing people who walked outside their homes to the bone.

Yugi walked towards the outskirts of the village towards Yuka's home. A few months ago he had met with her parents and they seemed normal to him. They even welcomed him in their home without bothering to knock from how nice Yugi seemed to them.

Arriving at the door Yugi walked into the house. What he was met with was two men screwing his friend, two men waiting for their turn while Yuka's father watched.

They all stopped moving, staring at Yugi who stand in the doorway, looking extremely pissed at a certain someone.

The father stood, paling at seeing that Yugi had come earlier than expected.

"What do you think you are doing to her!" Yugi exclaimed.

The man at Yuka's legs "What does it look like kid, grownup stuff. So why don't you go back home and play with your toys." He pretty much ordered, not knowing who Yugi was to this village now that Mistress Viva is gone.

Yuka's father paled even more. Sweatdropping as the other men laughed at their friends remark.

Yugi was really pissed now, running forwards and punching the man in the nose, breaking it on contact.

The man never attempted to get up. He knew when something was broken.

The other three men got up and attacked, sending their own punches at the kid, though Yugi made quick woke of them as well, leaving them with bloody noses and a hurting groin.

Facing Yuka's father "What is wrong with you! You are her father yet you let other men touch her like that. You are suppose to protect her from any man that walks into this house. What will your wife say once she finds out!" Yugi snapped loudly. He could have sworn his shouts could be heard by the entire village.

Yuka had grabbed a blanket and covered herself, replying "She already knows about this. She was the one who said to do this for wealth."

Nodding in disappointment "I see, this all comes back to that point. Know wonder you never told me of what happened with the shortage of wealth." Yuka turned her head away, ashamed that Yugi was disappointed with her "Well, I am not letting you treat Yuka this way any longer." Yugi proclaimed, shocking Yuka that he still cared for her even though she was tainted. Picking Yuka up bridal style, Yugi turned for the door.

Panicking, stepping forwards "You can't just take her. Like you said, I am her father and I will not let anybody have her. I own her, not you who was abandoned by your own parents!"

Stopping in his tracks, turning his head around "Well you are not any father I approve of. You will not keep Yuka any longer just so you can use her for more of this. If you need wealth so bad, use you own whore of a wife of yours since she clearly does not care what happens to her own daughter." Smirking "You can make more with her than a girl with no experience." Yugi started, walking out of the house with Yuka, going back to his place where his mother used to use as her own. The house he grew up in from seven to ten.

Arriving at the house Yugi went in, setting Yuka in a chair, going to his room to find some clothes that might fit her as well as going to fix up a bath for her that took almost twenty minutes to pump water into some kind of tub and heating it with fire.

Returning to the room "I'm sorry, Yugi. I thought that my parents would stop this once they got enough wealth, but men kept asking for me and they caved in." Yuka apologized looking to the floor, blanket wrapped tightly around her.

Sighing "When did all of this start. Was it the time I met you in the woods, crying?" Yugi asked.

Turning her head away, not denying his words.

"You lied to me. God Yuka, I told you the day I met you that I could help. I could have gotten you out and away from your parents the moment you told me they were selling you to people."

Shaking her head, shaking as tear fell "But you couldn't have. The moment they told me that I was to be sold to men for wealth, they threatened me to never tell nobody. The day I met you I couldn't say anything, not if it meant that I could not have kids."

Confused "What did they threaten you with." Yugi asked.

Sniffing "Mother said that if I told anybody of what they were doing to me, she would have take me to the village doctor to remove what makes my babies. She knows I want children so she threatened me with that."

"Tsk, well she wouldn't have gotten that far."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for starters, I am the village doctor. And for me to remove that, I need a very good reason for it to be removed, as well as the one getting it removed to be dedicated to the removal. Someone else deciding that for someone else does not count and I will not do anything to that person, even if the other person offers me everything in the world." Yugi said.

Whipping her tears "So you were the one to continue Mistress Viva's work. I though the oldest child she cared for would continue it."

"Doctors and healers can come in different shapes and sizes." Yugi stated "But still, I am surprised that your father looked so surprised when he saw me walk in. They did say I could walk right in whenever I wanted, right."

Chuckling "Yes, they did." Scratching her cheek, sweatdropping "Though once I told my parents that I had feeling for you, they cut the time I could be out with you. They thought they could change my mind of you." Yugi said.

Blinking "Wait, you like me. Why though, what did I do for you."

Smiling "You make me feel happy. You understand me, helped me forget the bad stuff that was happening to me behind your back. From all the men that have looked at me with lust, you are the first to think of me as a friend, not that I am a perfect child, or a wealthy one at that."

Yugi blushed lightly "You are right that every man who looks at you gets horny, I've seen it while with you. When I met you I did think that you were one of those wealthy kids, a perfect unlike me and my friends, but you know you aren't perfect anymore. Men in this village have gone behind their wives backs and used you, a girl who isn't a woman yet for adult actions. Your parents knew this, and yet they stepped on your future to find a man who will love you for who you are, not for what had happened to you by force of your parents."

"Yugi, did you really mean what you said to my father."

"Yes, every word to what your mother was. Yuka, those two are not your parents anymore. They are demons trapped in a human body to lust after all the wealth in the world."

"I know, I just had to make sure." Yuka said, sighing a relieved breath.

Turning around "Even if I never found out that they were doing this to you, I won't have what happened to me, watching my parents being murdered right in front of me because they had more wealth than the rest of the village, happen to you."

Yuka was shocked, but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Anyways, how do you know I won't turn out like someone who will use you for my needs when we're older. You could easily leave this village and go someplace else. You could find somebody besides me to keep you safe."

Annoyed Yuka stood up, wobbly a little bit, yet steady "I'd rather have you than having ugly old men shoving their dick wherever they please!" She proclaimed "Every time I am around you, I feel safe. I don't know why but I do. When I'm around strangers I first meet I don't, but when I met you it wasn't like when I'm with a stranger, but a friend that I've known for years." Walking for the bath "Just think on it. I don't expect you to accept my feeling right away." Yuka said, disappearing to the back room.

Sighing "You say that as if I have no choice in denying your feelings at all." Yugi mumbled lowly.

~Two Years Later~ (Yugi-17, Joey-18, Ryo/Malik-19, Duke-20, Odion-21, Ishizu-22)

Joey, Ryo, Malik, Duke, Odion and Ishizu came and visited Yugi. They hadn't seen each other in half a year from dealing with their own lives.

"Yugi, you here!" Ryo called, entering the house as the others followed him in.

"Yeah, I'll be right there!" Yugi called from the back room. He walked out moments later "What's up guys. Haven't seen you in a long time."

Duke chuckled "Dealing with life that is all. What about you?" He asked.

"Same, though I have someone I'd like for you to meet in a while. She's taking a bath right now." Yugi said, seeing the surprised and shocked expressions from them all.

Twenty minutes later, Yuka came out from the bedroom. The bath was connected to that room from the outside. Entering the room Yuka was surprised that there was company over at the time of day "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had company over Yugi."

"Don't be, besides I want you to meet these people. These are my friends, the ones I told you that I grew up with, with Viva." Yugi explained.

"So...these six won't hurt me?" Yuka questioned.

Shaking his head "No, they won't." Staring from the oldest down "This is Ishizu, Odion, Duke, Malik, Ryo and Joey." Yugi said pointing to each one as he said their name.

Each one gave her a small gesture of hello.

"Nice to meet all of you. My name is Yuka. Hope we can get along." She said bowing her head.

"So how did you meet Yugi, Yuka?" Ishizu asked.

"I'm sorry, I'd rather not say right now. I don't trust you all enough to tell you." Bowing once more Yuka went for the door "Excuse me."

Malik questioned once Yuka was gone "So what is her deal. To me I'd say you are dating her and that is why you wanted us to meet her."

Exhaling "We are dating. Two in a half years ago I met her. It wasn't until six months later that I found out the real reason why she was out in the woods that day, though I will leave Yuka to tell you guys. I don't want her feeling uncomfortable when around you because I told you."

Odion nodded as well as the others "So, how long has she lived here?"

"Two year to be coming up. She is also my age." Yugi replied, earning surprised expressions from his friends.

To Be Continued...

I will say right now, that I am positive that the people in the past did not care if a child was beautiful or not. The people in this village is protected by the King, so they prefer to be better than outsiders, as such look better than them.

Next chapter will continue on through mainly Yugi's life with Yuka.