Hello! You didn't think I had forgotten about this story, did you?
This took me a lot longer than I thought it would to type this chapter out, mostly because my spring break was so much busier than anticipated and I ended up having little to no time to work on it. Then, of course, my plot bunnies had so many different ideas as to how they wanted this chapter written; I had to sift through all their ideas and figure out what would be in this chapter.
Everything is sorted out now, though, so now I'm posting it. I have a poll for those of you following, "Come Together", so if you haven't looked at it yet please feel free to do so :D
EDIT: there was an error on the chapter upload and I had to re-post it. Hopefully access to it is available now.
Bakura folded his arms behind his head and waited patiently, leaning against the tree and closing his eyes. The sun had just started to set and he had been traveling all day to begin with, so the lull in action was welcome.
It had taken him longer than he would have liked to evade the guards in pursuit, but he'd finally managed it earlier that afternoon and had returned to the camp—only to find it completely obliterated. Clearly Kaiba's dragons had found it and he'd initially harbored a small amount of concern that the remains of his few followers would be in the wreckage. It had not taken him long to figure out they had returned to the main lair, however, and he'd made his way here in time to see the dragon in the clearing.
He'd have a word with them later about leading a dragon back to his perfectly hidden lair.
He was quite comfortable where he was now and it would have been a perfect way to doze off, except the angry threats of his captive kept filtering into his ear and he was rather fed up with it.
He opened his eyes again and glared at the child with unwonted venom. They'd moved out of the tree to the ground below to wait for Kaiba, but this had not deterred Mokuba's threats in the slightest. "I do not particularly like harming a child, but in your case I will make an exception," he said. "If I have to get up, boy, you won't like it."
"Do your worst!" said Mokuba fiercely. "I'm not afraid of you!"
Bakura's glare intensified and a hand tightened around the hilt of his sword.
Ryou turned his head to watch the other two and sighed. He had been watching the sky for the inevitable appearance of the White Dragon, but so far there had been a surprising lack of signs that they were coming; if it weren't for the fact that they knew how Kaiba operated they'd be inclined to say that he'd decided to wait until morning.
But they did know how Kaiba operated, and they both knew that when it came to matters concerning his brother he never delayed. So what was taking him so long?
"'Fly beneath the clouds because it's warmer' my friggin' foot!" roared Marik over the wind, scowling up at the dragon from his new position in the Jou's hand. "If we live through this I'm going to kill you, lizard!"
"I'm the one who suggested it, Marik, don't take it out on Jou!" Mai shouted indignantly, yelping as Jou's claws momentarily covered them. He rolled and the two humans ended up on the underside of his claws for a few seconds before the world flipped around again and they were once more situated on his palms.
"Oh yeah? He only did it because you told him to!" said Marik angrily, resuming their argument the moment they were back in his palm. "He didn't have to take your advice—which oh by the way was wrong!"
"You would have preferred freezing to death?"
"Given the alternative? Yes!"
Jou did not bother replying to either of the humans, instead turning his head to fire off another ball of red lightning at the dragon pursuing them. The larger white dragon dodged it easily and swooped down, fangs barely missing one of Jou's wings, and Jou's tail slammed into the other dragon's side to push it away from them.
Jou had made remarkable time getting back to the cave; though he was battered and beaten from earlier combat he was not terribly hindered in flight by his wounds. Jou had flown straight back to the mountain and within the hour had reached it; it was also easier to access the cavern where the healing spring was because of the massive hole above it (the one that had been made when Jou had inadvertently brought the ceiling of the cave down on their heads).
The entire way there Marik and Mai had pointedly ignored each other, speaking only when absolutely necessary and avoiding looking at each other as much as possible. Even so the two of them ended up snapping at each other for most of the flight back—neither of them had forgotten what had happened in the clearing and the underlying tension between them was almost suffocating.
Marik had brought along two goatskin pouches to hold the healing water in and after Mai had filled them they had been ready to leave minutes after their arrival (though Jou had taken his chance to quickly soak in the spring, allowing his recently opened wounds to close again). From there they had made a beeline straight for the thief's lair. They had stayed above the clouds for most of the journey back, but when the sun started going down Mai had begged Jou to go below them; she remembered what had happened the last time they had traveled in the sky above the clouds and she wanted to stay warmer for at least a little longer.
Things had been going fine until they reached the river closest to the thief's lair.
It had been unclear as to what on earth they had been doing—likely waiting for Jou to show up, since they seemed to think Jou had allied himself with Bakura—but the smaller dragon had only seconds to dodge the steady stream of lightning from the White Dragon that had barreled up at them from the ground, and then the White Dragon was airborne and they were being chased further and further away from the forest clearing.
The rider atop the other dragon did not seem bothered at all by Jou's attacks. In fact, the larger dragon seemed to be capable of swatting Jou's lightning attacks away as if it was nothing more than a fly; the rider had not bothered trying to transfer himself to safety, instead remaining on its back and carrying himself with all the regality of a king atop his mount (which, based on what Mai had heard, was not that bad of a description).
"Jou, we've got to get back to Bakura!" Mai called over the roar of the wind.
The dragon rumbled, ducking lower to the treetops and firing another blast at their pursuers. The White Dragon's derisive snort was clearly heard as it batted the lightning away lazily; above them, the darkening sky was illuminated by the red lightning for a brief moment.
"That won't work!" Marik replied, his eyes swiveling to the forest beneath them. "They're likely under the assumption that we're going back to the lair anyways. That dragon recognizes me and must think I know where Mokuba is."
"Why would he—?"
"Outside of Ryou I'm the only one Bakura trusts—though at times that's debatable—and Kaiba knows it. That's why they haven't truly tried to take us down yet."
"Oh great," she groaned, looking up at their attackers. "And you're sure we can't reason with them?"
"I'd bet my life on it," Marik replied, still scanning the forest below.
Mai was irritated by the fact that Marik was not even paying attention to the dragon anymore. "Is there something below us that is more important than the dragon chasing us and trying to kill us?"
"We've got to be careful in this neck of the woods, especially since the sun's going down. This is where Yugi's—"
Whatever Marik had been planning on saying was lost as Jou abruptly rolled through the air. Because Jou had momentarily forgotten about the humans he'd left his hand open; Mai had enough time to grab one of the dragon's fingers, but Marik had no time to grab anything and found himself falling through the air.
Mai let out a distinctly unladylike curse before she wrapped one arm around Jou's finger, reached out with her other hand, and barely managed to catch the Enterran's wrist as Jou righted himself. There was a loud pop as Marik's hand tightened in hers and something in Mai's shoulder lit with a fiery pain as she was nearly dragged out of Jou's palm, but she did not let go of either of them. "Haul yourself back up, you stupid Enterran!" she ground out, trying desperately to tug him back up and ignoring the flaring pain beginning to course through her shoulder.
Marik stared at her in surprise before he grunted and used his other hand to grip at the edge of Jou's palm, hauling himself back onto the dragon's hand and dragging Mai with him. "Hey, dragon, quit rolling around without warning!" he yelled. "You almost killed me!"
Mai clutched at her throbbing arm and looked back up at Jou with watering eyes. They were getting further and further away from Bakura and they needed to find a way back. The sun was down and twilight was coming on. They needed to try and lose Kaiba before the night fell completely—it was hard enough dodging him in daylight and she did not fancy trying to flee from their attackers in the dark.
As if it had read her thoughts, however, the other dragon executed a perfect turn and doubled back, hovering in the air behind them for a moment before flying in the opposite direction. Mai exchanged a surprised look with Marik and opened her mouth to ask what was happening—and then Jou barreled into something neither of them had seen.
She had no idea what Jou had flown into, nor why not one of the trio had seen it, but in either event Jou had hit something akin to that of a wall. Red, gold, and purple sparks flew along Jou's scales and the dragon roared in pain, half closing his fist over the humans in his hands to shield them.
"What's going on?" Mai yelled over the sound of the dragon's roars and the crackling of electricity.
"We've hit Yugi's barrier!" Marik shouted back, wincing as sparks began dancing along Jou's scaled talons. "Dragon, you've got to get out of here! Back out!"
But Jou could not. It seemed that he was trapped in between the barrier, neither fully inside it nor fully outside; as a result the dragon was stuck and unable to do anything more but writhe in pain. He remained suspended in the barrier for a few more seconds before finally falling forward. The sparks stopped flying and Mai felt as if a large pressure had been abruptly broken, but she did not have much time to dwell on it—Jou was plummeting alarmingly fast toward the ground, stunned and disoriented.
Mai screamed as the two humans found themselves clinging for dear life to one of Jou's claws. "Jou! JOU!" she nearly shrieked as the ground below rushed to meet them. "JOU, SNAP OUT OF IT BEFORE WE ALL DIE!"
Just as they reached the tops of the trees Jou regained his bearings and managed to pull out of the nosedive they'd been in, but it wasn't enough to avoid the crash altogether and they found themselves tumbling through the nearby forest, Jou's body uprooting trees and boulders as they rolled. Jou's hand closed over them before they hit the ground and tucked it close to his chest to shield them as best as he could. Even so, Mai still found herself getting battered and bruised inside the dragon's clenched talons and every jarring impact made the pain in her injured arm even more intense.
Somewhere along the way Jou's paw flew open and the two humans found themselves hitting the ground with enough force to knock the breath from their lungs. Thankfully there was nothing for them to slam into and break bones, but nonetheless Mai could not make herself move from her facedown position nearby a fallen oak tree and simply lay still. She could taste blood in her mouth and her arm throbbed and spiked with pain; she had no idea of where Marik was, nor did she care at that particular moment.
She had no idea how long she lay there and no idea of where she was, but in what felt like hours someone started shaking her uninjured shoulder. "Mai?" asked a breathless and familiar voice, though she couldn't place where she'd heard it before. "Mai, don't be dead. I'm sorry, I didn't even know it was there and then bam we hit it and—"
"Who are you?" snapped Marik's voice from off to her right. "Let go of her, demon!"
"Demon? What demon? What are you on abou—oh."
"Oh? Is that all you can say? Who are you? Answer before I put an arrow through your eye!"
"It's me, you nimrod!"
"'Me' is not specific enough."
"Oh come on! How many people do you know with black wings, black scales, and red eyes?"
"None. I know a dragon with that description, but you certainly are not a dragon."
"…Why does everyone leap to that conclusion first? Mai did the exact same thing—except, of course, she didn't have a bow and arrow."
She groaned, making herself move her head in the direction of this new voice. Her vision was blurred and coupled with the dark night around her that made seeing the other man difficult. "Shuddup, you two. Lemme die in peace," she mumbled thickly.
A long pause followed this statement, and then she heard a noticeably relieved sigh. "You're okay, then. Thank God, I thought…but no. You aren't going to die," said the first voice. Why was it so familiar?
Marik seemed to have recognized whoever was holding her. "Wait a minute. It's you? I thought you were a dragon."
An irritated huff. "Weren't you paying attention to the part where that white-haired friend o' yours was tellin' you I was cursed?"
"I was, but I didn't think…you can change at will? Are you human or dragon?"
"Human, and only when there's no moon out. I don't understand why I am not a dragon right now."
Oh. That's why his voice was so familiar: it was Jou. But why isn't he a dragon?
There was a long pause and then she heard footsteps coming toward her. "Do you know how to treat wounds, dragon?" asked Marik, and there was the sound of grass rustling near her.
"Haven't you been listening to Mai? My name's not dragon," retorted Jou indignantly.
"Do you or not?" he asked with an insistent edge to his voice.
"…No."
"Move, then. I won't hurt her," he added in exasperation. Jou must have been glowering at him or something akin to it. "I'm only seeing how badly she's hurt."
She felt someone's hand resting lightly on her shoulder and she groaned. "Lemme 'lone."
There was a long pause and then a pair of hands carefully moved her into a sitting position. Directly above her she could see a pair of red eyes that were glowing faintly in the darkness and to her right was Marik's outline. The Enterran's hands started parting her hair and he leaned in close to examine her head, and then he began rolling up her sleeve to peer at her arm.
"Geddoff, pervert," she said irritably, though her voice was nothing more than a slurred grumble.
There was a derisive snort. "I am only seeing how badly you're hurt. Don't get so worked up, Highness. It won't do Bakura any good to have a dead hostage."
Marik remained silent for a few moments, prodding her injured shoulder in particular (and causing blinding flashes of pain every time it was moved), before he sighed. "It is not as bad as it could be, though your shoulder's dislocated. Does the healing water work if I pour it on your skin, or do you have to drink it?"
Mai stared up at him groggily. "Wha…?"
"You don't have to drink it," Jou said brusquely. "It seems to work on contact."
"Good. I don't fancy making her drink anything," Marik said flatly, pulling something away from his side. She dimly recognized the goatskin pouch that held the water from the healing spring. Seconds later something cold and tingling soaked her shoulder.
Almost instantly something inside her shoulder shifted. This was followed by an odd but sharp pressure that traveled down her arm, and then there was a loud pop as her shoulder fell back into place. Though she had not felt too much while this had happened it was enough to clear her vision and bring her out of the semi-dazed condition she was in. She rolled her shoulder experimentally and accidentally elbowed Jou.
"Glad to see your arm still works, Mai," remarked Jou, sounding both exasperated and relieved. He was a little harder to make out, since the scales on his body matched up perfectly with the darkness around them and the moon had not yet risen. "So where are we?"
"We're somewhere nearby Yugi's shop," said the Enterran. "We ran into his barrier. There's a village not too far from here that he keeps watch over—and no, it's not a village of the forest folk, it's one on the furthest border of the kingdom. The barrier normally is around the perimeter of the village, but it expands further out when the sun goes down. It only activates if something—"
Marik's head shot up as something rustled in the bushes nearby and Mai could see a floating light coming toward them. She tensed, not certain at this point of who was coming at them and what intentions they had; behind her she heard a defensive, dragon-like growl coming from Jou.
The Enterran, though, relaxed once he got a clear view of who was coming toward them. "Yugi?" he called hopefully.
"Who is that?" came the newcomer's reply almost immediately. "Marik?"
"Yep. One and the same," he replied, grinning when someone finally pushed their way through the bushes.
The figure was shorter than Mai expected, only just barely taller than Mokuba. The floating, glowing orb they had seen earlier was coming from the top of the staff the newcomer was carrying, dimly lighting his features; she could see the cobalt blue and black garments that he was wearing, and even from here she could see something surrounding his head that looked like…fire?
"What on earth are you doing here at this time of night?" he asked, coming closer to them. She could see a rather large pair of purple eyes that were lit by the light coming from his staff; upon closer inspection Mai realized that what she thought was fire was actually his hair (and she'd thought Valon had a weird hairstyle—at least his hair color was not a combination of red, yellow, and violet).
Marik started to explain, but then Yugi caught sight of a still-growling Jou and an alarmed expression flashed across his features. "How did a demon get inside my barrier?"
"I'm no demon," Jou snapped indignantly, scowling at him. "Why does everyone keep thinking that?"
"You look like one. He's cursed, apparently. Her Royal Highness here knows the full details behind that," explained Marik sardonically.
"Cursed?" This time Yugi sounded interested. "How so?"
Seconds later, though, he scowled (and Mai thought that he looked rather cute more than intimidating). "Someone broke my barrier earlier…I'm assuming it was you?" he asked, sounding annoyed. "I've warned you before—"
"I know, I know: 'don't come in this area at night if you're carrying anything either cursed or bearing dark magic unless you have express permission from me.' That's how you keep Bakura out of your shop, you've warned us before," Marik grumbled.
"It takes hours to weave the spells for the barrier, you know. I don't know what on earth you did, but whatever you had with you completely shattered it. It took me the better part of an hour to reconstruct the basic tier of my barrier and put it back up before I came here," said Yugi, frowning at Jou. "What kind of curse are you under?"
"The bad kind?" asked Jou, somewhat sarcastic.
Yugi frowned and Mai wondered if he had taken the other man's comment as being snide. She knew the real reason that Jou was not being more cooperative—she remembered all too clearly what had happened the last time Jou had answered a question that the curse had reacted to. Besides, Jou was not exactly friendly to wizards (given his past encounters with them).
To her surprise, though, Yugi nodded as if it had been a serious answer. "Well, yes, curses are generally bad. I take it the ones you are under won't let you answer certain questions?"
She did not need to turn around to see the disbelief on Jou's face.
"And let me see…there's a shape-shifting curse, coupled with a lycanthra reversum curse, and then we have a modified gag spell…the magic weaving is certainly an intricate one," Yugi murmured, frowning. "That's not even counting the other two curses I can see, though I don't know what those are. Yami probably knows."
Marik caught sight of Mai's baffled expression and leaned in close. "Magic users, like Yugi, can clearly see magic. I don't know entirely how it works, but Yugi's able to see the magic that surrounds people or objects—helpful if there's hidden curses inside objects," he explained quietly
Mai sat up straighter, suddenly excited.
A magic user. Here at last was someone who could help Jou. Surely he had to know how to undo the spell Jou was under without using the spell book Bakura currently had—for all she knew he probably had a spare copy of it.
Jou's face darkened in distrust and he was watching Yugi warily. Clearly he did not trust the other man, likely because he was a magic user; it occurred to Mai that she had no idea of whether or not Yugi was a member of the Wizard's Council, but then again she could easily work around it. She'd figure out a way to get Yugi's help without having Jou reported to the council.
Yugi seemed to notice her for the first time and he pointed his staff to her curiously. Not surprisingly, Jou let out another warning growl and Mai leaned backwards—at least until she remembered Jou was shirtless (at which point she sat bolt upright).
"Oh no, don't worry! It's only a simple lighting charm, it is not meant to harm," Yugi explained hastily, noticing her discomfort.
He studied her for a moment before turning pink and Mai raised an eyebrow. She followed his gaze to what remained of her dress and inwardly repressed a groan—the skirt had been practically ripped away and fell to the middle of her thighs, while the blouse had lost a sleeve and some of its length to expose her waist; it had also gotten ripped across the bust (though thankfully it was not enough to be indecent). No wonder he was staring.
Mai took this in for a moment longer before smirking at the staring young man. She could shriek in outrage if she liked or make some sarcastic remark as she usually did in these situations, but to be honest there was something adorable about his gaping stare and she did not feel like yelling at him.
"What's wrong, hun? Never seen a woman before?" she teased, and Yugi's face turned an even darker shade of red. "I bet you've never seen a woman wearing the latest fashion."
Jou snorted but moved away from behind her. "If that is the latest fashion in the courts I will gladly stay cursed," he said, though she noticed he looked almost as flustered as Yugi did.
She smirked. It was almost too easy to fluster them—this seemed to be the beginning of a new game she could play if she got bored.
The sight of Jou standing in front of her though brought a question that had been bouncing around in her mind since she had realized Jou was once again in his human(ish) form. "Yugi, is it?"
"Yes?" asked Yugi, still not entirely looking at her.
She smiled in spite of herself. "It's a serious question, hun. Jou here was cursed to remain in the form of a dragon unless there's no moon out—why is he human right now?"
Yugi blinked, all traces of embarrassment vanishing and his eyes lighting up. "Oh, that's simple to explain," he said with visible relief. "My barrier's designed to keep out dark magic, and if it can't do that it absorbs the majority of the dark magic. The brunt of the curses that your friend's under went up against my barrier and when the barrier broke those particular curses were weakened. As long as my barrier's up the affected curses will remain weakened, but if he steps outside it again the curses regain their strength."
Mai honestly believed her brain had melted. "Umm…explain that again?"
"Look, I know that you have your own agenda, Highness, but we've got more pressing issues," Marik said impatiently. "Yugi, do you still have your half of the communication amulet?"
"Of course I do," said Yugi, showing something close to irritation for the first time since he had arrived. "Its sister half was one of the many things Bakura's stolen from my shop."
"Do you have it on you?" the Enterran asked. At Yugi's half skeptical expression he continued with an exasperated, "I need to get in touch with Bakura, unless he's been blown up by Kaiba already."
The comment caused a sober expression to cross Yugi's features. "Kaiba's still after you guys?"
"A mother grizzly bear has nothing on an angry dragon lord," replied Marik dryly. "We were trying to head back to our lair when he ambushed us."
Jou snorted. "That prissy guy on top of that other dragon? Please—I could take him."
"Sure you could. That's why you were flying in the opposite direction."
"I had you two to look after," said Jou irritably, scowling at the Enterran. "It's not like I could just drop you and go merrily on my way."
Marik's face darkened and he muttered under his breath in his native language. Jou looked back at him smugly and said, "My point exactly."
"Didn't you hear what I said? You did drop me, dragon."
"Oi! My name's Jou!"
Marik rolled his eyes and then hauled Mai to her feet. "We need to get going," he said brusquely. "Yugi, we need to borrow your half of the communication amulet. Can we stop at your shop for a while?"
"Of course," replied Yugi almost instantly. "You all seem to be hurt anyways. I have a few healing potions on hand that can help."
"Thanks," said the Enterran, sounding slightly grateful. "We have something of our own, but to be honest I need to wait and see if…well, we need to find out how much of it will work."
Yugi looked baffled, but Mai understood what Marik was hinting at: they had no idea how much of the healing water would be necessary to heal the baby White Dragon and until they did it would be best not to use anymore of it. Marik likely had deemed her dislocated shoulder a good reason to use the healing water, but they could not afford to use any more of it.
Mai took a step forward but then bit back a yelp as pain shot up her ankle. She had not noticed it before because of her shoulder, but her tumble through the forest had resulted in a twisted ankle; traveling on foot would be difficult because of the injury.
Jou had heard the sound, as had Marik. "Mai?" asked Jou with concern. "You okay?"
Marik scoffed. "She probably broke a nail or something," he said dismissively, already striding down the path Yugi had traveled on. "Don't worry over it, dragon. She's simply not used to such a rugged lifestyle and those fingernails of hers are fragile."
Mai bristled. One minute he had been worried about her, the next he couldn't care less if she was dying or not—they were right back to being enemies. "Stupid Enterran," she muttered.
She lifted her chin and then started walking after him, making certain that her limp was undetectable. The pain made her grit her teeth but she obstinately kept walking; Marik was under the assumption that she was some spoiled little princess who needed constant supervision and she was not going to further that belief by asking for help.
She heard footsteps behind her and realized that Jou and Yugi had fallen into step on the path behind her. Yugi had started talking to Jou, a friendly note to his words as he spoke; she was more focused on walking at the moment, but from what it sounded like it seemed that Jou was caught off guard that a magic user was being so nice to him. In fact, it almost seemed like he was warming up to the other teenager.
She smiled to herself. I told you so, Jou.
Marik was watching her intently when she finally caught up to him. He had stopped at a crossroads of sorts and was clearly waiting for the rest of the group. "You're hurt," he said flatly when she reached him.
She regarded him haughtily. "I can handle myself."
The Enterran studied her for a moment before he sighed, strode over to her, and then, much to her surprise, scooped her into his arms. "You'll only slow us down and time is of the essence," he said by way of explanation.
Mai stared at him, completely caught off guard. "Would you please make up your mind as to whether or not you're going to be nice to me?" she asked indignantly.
"I could drop you, Highness," he replied as he started walking down one of the paths. "So unless you want that happening you'll be quiet. The faster I get to Yugi's the sooner I can put you down."
…Seriously. Marik needed to figure out whether or not he was her ally—she was getting tired of the back-and-forth behavior he was showing her.
Bakura kept his eyes shut even as he felt the wind blow against him; from above him he could hear the sound of the dragon's wings as they beat the night air to stay aloft. "Don't be a stranger, Kaiba," he remarked loudly, still keeping his eyes closed. "Come on down."
He heard the White Dragon descending and felt the vibration through the tree trunk he was leaning against as its weight contacted the earth. He opened one eye lazily as he watched the tail end of Kaiba's dismount from the dragon. "I see you found your way all right. I was beginning to think you were lost."
Kaiba glared at him and strode forward. Bakura did not bother rising to his feet, leaning comfortably against the tree and pillowing his head with his arms. "I was late because I bumped into your pet dragon and some of your lackeys. I've dealt with them accordingly."
Ah. So Kaiba had bumped into Her Highness and Marik, either on their way to the spring or on their return journey. It was clear he hadn't killed them, though—he would have brought back something for Bakura to see. He'd have to find out where those idiots had gone off to, but that was later.
Aloud, he said, "You assume that I had an alliance of sorts with that flying lizard? Please—I merely have something he wants."
"Speaking of which…my brother. Where is he?"
Bakura unfolded his arms from behind his head and shrugged carelessly. "Somewhere in this clearing," he said nonchalantly.
There was a blur of silver and Bakura found that the tip of the other man's sword was digging into his throat, the blade lit with a faint light—characteristic of a sword fashioned from the scales of the White Dragon. "Try again, thief."
Bakura's eyebrow rose and there was a golden flash from the inside of his shirt.
Kaiba did not flinch when the shadows pooled around him and then rose, directing several sword-like projections at his own throat. "Cute trick, Bakura," he said conversationally. They could hear the warning snarl from the dragon behind them. "Stand down, Kisara."
Neither one of them spoke, one glaring and the other looking distinctly bored. At length, Kaiba said coolly, "Name one reason why I shouldn't end your pitiful existence where you stand."
Bakura grinned. "Because if you did, Kaiba, you'd never find your precious Mokuba again."
The other man's dark blue eyes narrowed.
"Now I have your attention. How about you sheathe that weapon of yours and I'll do the same," said Bakura calmly, looking completely at ease. The shadows receded back into the night. "See?"
Kaiba debated, then slowly sheathed his sword and folded his arms. "I'm listening, thief."
Bakura tutted. "Ah ah, my name's Bakura. It would do you well to remember that. You may be lord of your dragons, but I am a king amongst thieves. Respect for nobles, remember?"
"What do you want, thi—Bakura?" asked Kaiba, looking as if he swallowed poison when he said the white-haired man's name.
Bakura grinned again. "Ah, there we go. See, not so hard," he said cheerfully. The grin, however, did not enter his eyes. "Now, as for your question…"
Now Bakura's eyes narrowed and all traces of his uncaring attitude vanished. "I would like to know what on earth would possess you to think that I of all people would bring harm to one of your dragon's kits."
Kaiba glowered and from behind him Kisara bared her fangs. "I would think that obvious, Bakura. Of everyone in this forest you are the one who stands the most to gain from that endeavor."
"Why not Yugi? Why not one of the forest folk?" countered Bakura sharply. "No, you've assumed that I had everything to do with your kit's misfortune. Granted, I have stolen from you in the past, but you've never seen me harm one of your precious charges then."
"Explain this, then," said Kaiba icily, and he reached into his cloak to toss out an ornate dagger, the blade stained with dried blood. "All of your thieves carry these daggers on them at all times."
Bakura's eyebrows rose again before he booted the knife and casually used his foot to toss it in the air. He caught it and examined it, his mahogany eyes moving over the dagger and taking in the details. "It is similar to one that my men would carry, but this blade is not ours," he said at last. "The weight's wrong, the hilt is stiff, unyielding, the leather on it is wrapped incorrectly, and the tip of the blade is blunted and curved."
"How do I know you aren't making this up, Bakura?" asked Kaiba.
"You don't. Since you and your brother seem to be ignoring me anyways you might as well assume I'm lying," he replied flatly. "But if you are attacking us simply because of one bloodstained dagger then you are not as smart as everyone thinks you are."
Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Then how about you explain what I saw for myself that night? I saw your Enterran friend fleeing the cave with a white-haired man beside him. Given the fact that you don't go anywhere without either your twin or that Enterran I'd say it's a safe assumption you were involved. There are a multitude of white haired men I've seen before, but the features on the Enterran are ones I've only seen on him."
Bakura's eyes narrowed, keeping his face clear.
"Since I've explained my reasoning, thief, how about you return my brother and I'll consider letting you live?" said Kaiba coldly, and Kisara snarled.
Kaiba had seen someone looking like them fleeing the cave where the kit had been attacked. Mokuba had claimed that the dragons had not picked up a scent, which implied that someone with powerful magic had been involved—not many could brew a potion that would work against the White Dragons. Yugi would never deliberately bring harm to anyone unless there was no other alternative; Ryou had been by his side for months, as had Marik. There was no way that either of them had been there that night, but without the proper proof Kaiba would not be convinced that the thieves had not been involved.
"All right, Kaiba. I've gotten my answers," he said aloud, resuming his nonchalant air. "I don't think I can counter anything you throw at me for the moment, so in lieu let me offer you a deal."
"A deal?" Kaiba looked skeptical.
"Yes. Come now, I seemed to have caused you grief, so let me do something about it," he said calmly. "You are aware of what a healing spring is?"
At this the brown-haired man's gaze sharpened. It was quite clear he had heard of one before.
"I have a young woman in my company who knows where to find one and went with Marik to fetch some. Return to this clearing tomorrow evening with your injured kit in tow and we'll see if the healing water works on it. If it does, you stop attacking us and allow us to find out more about the two men you saw."
"And if not?"
Bakura shrugged. "Then your dragon has my permission to kill us all. I'll even go first, if that seals the deal."
Kaiba mulled this over silently, his eyes betraying nothing of his thoughts. At last, he said, "Sounds agreeable. I'll humor this little bargain of yours on one condition."
"And that would be?"
"Release my brother."
Bakura's eyebrows rose.
"I won't attack you and I will leave this clearing the moment he is safely at my side," Kaiba said calmly, understanding the silent sentence that was hanging in the air. "Now release him."
There was a rustling in the space behind him and Ryou emerged from the bushes, holding onto a bound, silently fuming Mokuba (Bakura had gotten annoyed with the child's constant threats and had finally gagged him). He untied the boy with a soft apology and the child ripped the cloth from his mouth before running to Kaiba's side, glaring at them both once he was safely behind his brother.
"Are you all right, Mokuba?" asked Kaiba quietly, resting a hand on his brother's shoulder and briefly glancing down at him.
"I'm okay," he replied, suddenly much meeker in his older brother's presence. "I'm sorry I made you come out here and that I was an inconvenience. I was trying to find them and ended up captured," he continued in an almost inaudible mutter.
"It's fine," he replied, a barely noticeable note of gentleness coloring his words. "We'll talk later, all right?"
He looked back at Bakura, who was smirking at him, and asked a cold but polite, "Can I help you with something, thief?"
"Nothing at all," said Bakura airily.
He waited until the two brothers had gotten onto the dragon and it had taken flight before turning on his heel and heading into the shadows of the forest. "Come, Ryou," he said over his shoulder, "we have a bunch of idiots to track down."
The rabbit sniffed at something in the underbrush, then hopped closer.
C'mon, now.
It came a little closer, but at the sound of a snapped twig its head shot up and it looked around wildly for a moment before resettling, once more nibbling at a patch of grass.
Easy now, fella. I'm not 'ere…jus' come a little closer…
The rabbit moved closer to the hidden snare and now it was but mere inches away from the trap.
This was one of his better traps, since he had figured out how to mask the smell on the rope by rubbing a green oak branch against it. He would just shoot it with the bow and arrow at his side, but he only had one arrow and he had never been proficient with the weapon; he preferred hand to hand combat. Alister had always been better with the weapon then he had…oh wait, it was nearly on top of the snare.
Almost there…come on, bunny, hop on in—
And then there was a highly undignified shriek from somewhere off to his right and the rabbit bolted in the complete opposite direction of the snare. By the time he got a hold of his bow and arrow the rabbit had disappeared into the underbrush.
Valon cursed under his breath. There went his dinner. Now what kind of fool would scream at this time of night? Sure, there were wolves and bears and the occasional mountain lion, but they stopped coming here because of Yugi's barrier. There was no reason to scream.
It took him a moment before he realized that it had been a woman shrieking—and that he recognized this particular woman's voice as it started coming through the trees.
Valon took up the bow and nearly empty quiver, slinging them both over his shoulder before making his way through the forest, easily picking his way through the fallen trees and bushes. He reached the game trail that he'd made a while ago and then moved up the path, heading slightly uphill; he'd made the path last spring, when the rains had carved a natural path through the undergrowth, and the newly formed pond at the bottom of this path was perfect for attracting game.
He traveled through the trees for several more minutes before he finally reached the thin road that led to Yugi's home. Once there it was easier to travel and as he got closer he could hear her indignant voice getting stronger.
Yugi's home was a two story wooden structure surrounded by a wooden fence (he often wondered if it was taller than Yugi), a wooden turtle carved into the front gate; at one point the area had been populated with turtles, which was why many referred to it as "the turtle shop".
The building had been built with the intention of being an inn, but Yugi's grandfather had purchased the building and turned it into a shop; a part of the lower level had been converted into the shop and at times doubled as a tavern. Items that varied between being common goods, weapons, potions, and rare artifacts were sold inside the shop. Valon had been in the lower level multiple times, whenever Raphael had needed to get something that could not be found in the forest.
The upper level was strictly off limits unless otherwise noted, but based on what he knew about Yugi he figured that it doubled as both the living area for Yugi and his grandfather and where the two wizards performed their spells or brewed their potions.
The torches along the path were lit, casting the area in a warm glow; there were a few floating lights that were suspended in the air without anything holding them up (he snorted—that practically screamed magic. Really going incognito there, Yugi).
In the front of the shop he could see a familiar blonde woman sitting in the middle of the path, snarling in outrage at Marik; she was yelling something about how Marik had dropped her. His eyebrows rose when he noticed how little she was wearing—that was an interesting improvement, he thought with a grin. Yugi was trying to curb the argument but with little success, while someone he didn't recognize stayed to the shadows. Beyond them, though, he did not see anyone else
He grinned and bounded forward. "Well 'ello, fellas. Whatcha doin' in this part of the woods?"