Sorry for the long delay, life has been quite unstable as of late. However, I'm hoping to post a few new one shots and chapters in the near future. Thanks and enjoy!

For the organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.- Albus Dumbledore

The Fool climbs down from the tree and leaves his friend behind, traveling through the night. As he moves on, the air grows colder, with a darker more sinister tinge to the air. The trees once so full of life and vibrancy, become bare and lifeless, stripped down and naked limbs breaking away.

The Fool shivers slightly, whether from the cold or the anxiety he can feel he isn't sure. Most likely both. His brown eyes scan the horizon, the rising sun glimmers between the distant mountains. For a moment he believes the field he walks through is completely empty, a barren wasteland. But as he glances back towards the rising sun, he notices a black smudge against the bright yellow background.

A dark figure approaches.

/

The pure white steed tosses its magnificent head, nostrils flaring and sending smoke dancing into the cold air. In stark contrast to the majestic beast, his rider was dressed in the purest black; a long cloak billowed and spilled over its hindquarters. The dark armor sported a high reaching collar, and a golden eyes stared from the chest, burning itself into the minds of all who dared to oppose the rider.

But for all the power and strength inspired by the armor, one began to notice the long, white hair that sprouted from the head was tangled and knotted, but still retained the care of a nobleman's. The hands that held the reins sported unnaturally long fingers, rotting and decaying like those of a long dead corpse.

He has become monster-like, but he is nothing but skin and bones, and all his magical powers are sealed away. Now, "he is only a corpse."

Many can agree with the knowledge that death is life's major conclusion. And that is what this man has seen, represents, feels. A change that is monumental - an ending of circumstances that were dragging on for far too long and the only way to make a clean break is to have a sharp ending. The conflict that had arisen so long ago among the desert sands threatened the world's existence. It would have caused a never-ending flood of darkness that would have spread like a disease until not even the smallest microscopic life had escaped.

So, someone decided to end it. Seal it all away so that the tragedy was avoided, and the world could continue on as if nothing had happened.

But, where there is an ending, there is also a beginning. As the sun in the distance rises, it signals a new beginning, a new day that brings all the promises of change.

The game moves forward, the pieces are in place, and the man knows that fate has provided him with one last chance to achieve his goal.

A goal which is most certainly noble, and who could ever say it was wrong for parents to want the best for their children?

The problem was not his goal, but his actions to achieve it.

For all the good the man tried to bring about in the world, he had only ended up causing more pain and suffering, more harm than good. He hid a jealousy that festered in the darkest shadows of his heart. Cancerous and invisible, it began eating him from the inside out, corrupting and destroying what noble and wise traces remained.

Temporary, stagnation, death of political figure or upheaval. Changes for the worse.

So with the end of the first round, it was no longer a war of action, but of waiting. Waiting in an in-between state, a prison of the soul. Here he sat for countless millennia, brooding over his failure. Why, why was he denied his wish? No… his wish was granted, but he was not there t enjoy it.

Perhaps his kin were right and he was going about this the wrong way…

No. He had slaved too long, had done so so much without any acknowledgement; Sacrificing that entire village, abandoning his wife and son, so they would be spared any repercussions. He would erase the stain of failure in his blood and give his son what he deserved. Resisting changes, clinging to the old ways, never letting the past go, letting it die so the new could be reborn.

So he waits until fates wheel began moving again.

And just like the rising a sun, a new chance was born.

This was fate, destiny, the world would be caught in the path of sweeping change, as he ushered in the new age of shadows. Though he may have died long ago, it did not stop him nor his foe. They were both trapped in a prison, and though their forms may have changed they were still continuing that long forgotten war.

Death is but a doorway to a new life- We live today, we shall again, In many forms shall we return.* That was a prayer from their lost religion, their way of life. But they emphasized it, were living it, as the once noble priest watched more and more familiar faces appear on the board.

So he fought, plans millennia old were tried and tested, new magicks, heka, light and shadow, all of it was brought to bear against his foe, against that vile offspring of his brother.

But in the end he lost.

And with a second death, came a true new change. Just as the horse he rides is clean and pure, so is he, Death. He is the ultimate purifier. All things are reborn fresh, new and pure. Death is really just a change, and the sun represents that. The sun appears to die every night, but is reborn fresh and new every morning.

Yes, his people know this well. The goddess Nut, the sky, swallowed the sun, Ra, and giving birth to it again each morning. Gone was the influence of the demon, servant of Apep. His soul was clean, stripped of all the contaminating shadows down to his very core.

Now clean and pure, he could be welcome in the Blessed Fields, make amends with those he had wronged.

That is the true nature of death. In general, people tend to take the meaning of his appearance far too literally and fear that the indication is for the death of either themselves or others. Relax! Death can be one of the most fruitful and positive aspects of life. Death is a symbol of the ending of some phase or aspect of our lives that may bring about the beginning of something far more valuable and important.

Now he rides on his pure white steed, intent on continuing to make amends and changes for the world, which he almost condemned.

/

The small boy stops, his warm brown eyes wide. The figure approaches him on a mighty white steed, monstrous and grotesque. A rotting and decaying corpse, dressed in thick black armor and long flowing cape. He recognizes it as Death.

Feeling fear beginning to creep up inside him, like bile in his throat, he waits for the figure. As it stops before him, he humbly asks, "Have I died?" He feels, in fact, rather empty and desolate.

The Mummy inclines his head, staring with empty sockets and answers, "Yes, in a way. You sacrificed your old world, your old self. Both are gone, dead."

The Fool reflects on that, his normally glowing face dimming and becoming somber. "How sad," he answers in a quiet tone. Death acknowledges this with a nod.

"Yes, but it is the only way to be reborn. A new Sun is rising," here the man raises a decaying limb and points towards the horizon, "and it is, for you, a time of great transformation."

The man turns forward, his face still plastered with the skeleton grin. As Death rides away, the Fool can feel the truth in those words. He, too, feels like a skeleton, all that he was stripped away. This, he understands, is how all great transformations start, by stripping things to the bone, and building fresh upon the bare foundations.

He lifts his head and looks forward, silver hair glistening like the morning dew as he heads towards his rising sun.

*Ancient Egyptian prayer. I feel it not only goes well with this card, but with the plot of Yu-Gi-Oh! as a whole.

R&R, thanks for the support!