The Little Sprite
Chapter 25
Weary Travellers
The group had been walking almost non-stop the entire day and the exhaustion was driving out complaints from the travellers, the humans mostly. Even though Otogi had been the first one to complain about how he was not used to such physical strain, Yugi and Ryou also started to show signs of growing tired. Fortunately both of the smaller boys had a stronger counterpart that was more than happy to carry his better side on piggyback.
Yami was having some difficulties with carrying Yugi because the small boy had tired out quite some time ago and Yami had been carrying the ex-sprite around for hours now. The star-haired teen was pressing on, however, since Bakura had claimed loudly that he could carry Ryou all the way to the sprite village.
The sprites had no trouble with travelling the long distance, since they were nit weighted down by gravity. Hiroto had actually slipped to Otogi's side, clearly curious about the human that could have thought to look strange by any standards. Yami knew that Otogi absolutely loved being the centre of attention and that it was not big deal for him, so the star-haired boy was rather surprised to see the raven-haired teen acting almost shyly towards Hiroto's intense curiosity.
Malik and Marik were travelling at the end of the group, behind Jou and Seto. At least they had been there the last time Yami had glanced behind him. They had been conversing together silently for some time now, which caught Yami off guard. The crimson-eyed youth had gotten the impression that the two did not get along. Perhaps the punch Seto had given Marik had given the duo a valuable opportunity to bond.
Seto had been sticking next to Jou throughout the entire day, tormenting the blond with various comments that caused Jou to blush brightly from embarrassment. Yami wondered what was the kick that Seto got from the act. It was clear that Jou could not get enough of him, so why keep up the act of teasing? If Yami had been in Seto's shoes he would have thrown all pretences out the window a long time ago and jumped Jou. The blond seemed like he would not mind much, at least not after the beginning.
A soft thud reached Yami's ears but he paid no attention to it, since the forest around them was full of all kinds of noise. But when Seto released a worried exclamation of Jou's name the star-haired teen knew something was wrong. He turned around quickly and saw Seto picking up Jou's unconscious form.
"Seto?" Yami questioned loudly, making sure that his cousin heard his voice. "What's wrong?"
"He fainted", Seto replied back as he tugged Jou's body against his chest. The blond actually looked very small while he was unconscious and silent. "He's been really tired all day. I don't think it's anything more serious than lack of sleep."
Well, that explained it, Yami thought to himself. Seto had been teasing Jou in order to get an excuse to stay close to the blond and keep an eye out for an occasion just like this. Still, Yami felt rather annoyed. It seemed that the one thing Jou did best to catch Seto's attention was faint. The star-haired boy wondered if the blond had ever been held by Seto when he was actually aware of what was going on around him.
"Can you carry him?" Yami questioned from his cousin, who instantly started to move ahead with long and confident strides.
"Of course I can", the brunet snapped defensively. "You would be surprised by how light Jou actually is."
"Not to mention you have a lot of experience with carrying him around", Yami added, earning a shrug from his cousin.
"I guess so", Seto muttered before turning his head to Hiroto, who had actually let his attention turn away from Otogi, to whatever it was that was going on. "How long is it until the village?"
"Twenty minutes, I believe", Hiroto replied after thinking about it for a moment. "We will have to take it into account that you will be travelling more slowly since you have to carry your comrades."
"I can handle it that long", Seto commented before turning his gaze back to Yami. "How about you, cousin?"
Yami glared at his cousin as he growled: "I'm fine." It was such an annoying habit, really. The way Seto called Yami 'cousin' only when he was making another one of his taunting comments was infuriating in Yami's personal opinion.
"Did you hear that, Yugi?" Yami questioned as he turned his attention to the boy on his back, his tone instantly changing into a loving one. He was not sure if Yugi was awake but this was a good time to check. "You'll be back home in twenty minutes."
"Home", Yugi repeated groggily and Yami was not sure if Yugi had actually been awake until when Yami had addressed him. The small boy sounded very tired as he spoke: "I'll see grandpa again…I wonder if he's mad at me?"
"Of course he will be", Hiroto spoke in a scolding tone of voice that Yami could only translate to 'the big brother voice'. Seto also used that same tone of voice when speaking to his younger brother. Hiroto really seemed like he was Yugi's older brother as he spoke: "I mean, you disappeared without a word, for days I might add, and now you show up with a bunch of humans, not to mention you are a human now as well."
"I don't want to see him if he's mad…" Yugi grumbled into the back of Yami's neck and the taller star-haired boy turned his head slightly to the side as he comforted the other: "Don't worry, Yugi. I will be beside you the whole time. I will protect you and no one will harm you."
"Oh, his grandpa wouldn't harm him", Hiroto commented before snickering slightly. "He will just ground him." The comment was followed by a distraught groan from Yugi.
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If it had not been for the small change in the air around them, then Malik would have completely missed their arrival at the sprite grounds. Kirusae was protected by strong delusion spells that were difficult to break through. Either Malik or Hiroto would need to manipulate the protective charms in order to allow their other friends to see the village. Not that they could see much in the deep darkness of night that had once again fallen over the forest.
"We're here", Malik heard Hiroto say from the front of the group. Everyone's walk came to a stop then and Ryou and Yugi climbed off of their counterparts' shoulders. The only one who was still being carried was Jou, who was apparently still unconscious in Seto's arms.
When everyone had looked around in confusion for a short while Hiroto spoke again: "There have been spells cast around here that prevent you from coming across the village. You could walk straight forward from here and the spell would confuse you in a manner that you will suddenly be walking on the other side of the village and never notice a thing."
"Then how do we get in?" snapped the brunet human, apparently tired of carrying the blond teen in his arms. Hiroto did not seem to be bothered by the human's impatient behaviour and merely continued: "There is a form of sprite magic that will create a hole on the magic wall. We will pass through there after I'm finished with the spell." With that Hiroto turned to the empty forest in front of the group. The brunet waved his arm in a slow and wide gesture and suddenly the air around them rippled.
Then there it was. There was a high, red, wooden gate rising in front of the group, the entrance to Kirusae. Of course, Malik only knew it was red because he had seen the gate before. In the deep night shadows the gate looked ominously black and uninviting. Much like the people of the village would be towards the new arrivals. Malik only hoped that the humans would draw everyone's attention so that no one paid Marik any mind. The blond frowned at that thought, scolding himself for worrying about the wolf.
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While entering the village side by side with Yami, Yugi felt a feeling of dread kreep up his spine. The anticipation was killing him and he really wanted to turn around and run away. He did not want to meet his grandfather, who would surely hate him now. Yugi was a human and Sugoroku hated humans. Yugi felt his hands shake when he thought about the terrible possibility that his own grandfather might chase him out of the village.
A warm hand wrapped around Yugi's cold one and at that instant Yugi felt a lot stronger. The terrible fear that had rivalled the one he had felt in Mai's dwelling dissipated as Yugi stepped closer to Yami, resting his head against the other boy's arm. It was so much easier to be brave with Yami by his side, Yugi realized then. He also realized that he would never give this up, no matter what his grandfather did. With that thought in mind Yugi started to lead the way through the village and even though he could not see much in the darkness, he still remembered very clearly where his grandfather's house was located.
It could not be seen in the darkness, but Kirusae village looked actually more like a small town than a village. All the houses were completely made of wood and the windows did not have glass panes. This was because the sprites had had limited resources when building their village. And the Mutou house was the largest house in the village, closer to being a mansion with its multiple rooms and two stories. The reason Yugi's family was living in such a luxurious establishment was because the head of the Mutou family had always taken care of the duties of village leader and the current leader was Yugi's grandfather who had had to reclaim the title after Yugi's father's demise.
Since it was in the middle of the night, it was not very likely that their group would attract much attention. Everyone was asleep at the time but Yugi knew very well that as soon as the sun had risen the next morning there would be a large crowd of curious people who had somehow managed to hear that there were humans in the village. If Sugoroku allowed them to stay, that was.
"Okay", Yugi spoke softly when the group stopped in front of a large house. "This is where my grandfather lives."
"Nice place you got here", came Bakura's comment from behind Yugi but the small boy did not look into his direction. He was too busy trying to gather the courage he needed to knock.
"Do you want us to stay with you, Yugi?" Hiroto questioned from Yugi's left side, the side that was not occupied by Yami who was still holding Yugi's hand. Yugi looked up at his old friend's shadowed face and thought about the proposal for a moment. Finally he nodded his head and said: "I would really appreciate it if you were there to support me, Hiroto." Yugi offered the brunet a grateful smile. "Thank you."
There was a responding smile from Hiroto and the brunet spoke: "You can always count on us, Yugi. You should know that by now."
"That's right", came Malik's voice from right beside Hiroto. The fox sprite had come up right beside Hiroto and was grinning at Yugi brightly. As usual, Marik was hovering behind Yugi's tan friend.
"Thanks guys", Yugi spoke again and then steeled his expression before lifting his hand and knocking on the wooden door for a couple of times. Then he stepped back to wait for the door to open.
The door opened only a little bit at first and a bright green eye peeked out through the crack. Yugi instantly recognized the round, female eye and when the eye widened the small boy guessed that he had been recognized as well. A second later the door was swung open with such force that it almost knocked Yami straight on his forehead but the human was fortunately fast enough to tilt backwards before the impact.
"Master Yugi!" the girl in the doorway exclaimed breathlessly. She was around Yugi's height, but at that time the top of her head was higher than Yugi's since she was levitating. She had golden blond hair that stuck around into many directions, though it was not as bad as Yugi's hair was. The girl's skin was pale and she had two brown and pointy ears that could be recognized as those of a squirrel from the tufts in the very tips of the ears. The girl also had a long, fluffy tail.
"Hello, Mana", Yugi greeted the girl with a gentle smile. He had also liked Mana. She took care of the house since there had not been any other women in the house for years. Yugi suspected that at least at one point Sugoroku had been trying to pair Yugi and Mana up, probably in an effort to assure that Yugi was happily married before it was time for him to pass on.
Yugi gestured to the large group standing behind him as he questioned: "Do you think you could let me and my comrades inside? It's not very nice here in the dark."
It seemed like Mana only just now noticed that there were other people present in addition to Yugi. She covered her mouth with her small hand, gasping, before she immediately moved inside the house, giving everyone room to enter. As she did this she spoke in an urgent tone of voice: "Hurry up, hurry up! It will not do to have humans of all things walking around the village in the middle of the night."
"We're not things", Yugi heard Otogi grumble from nearby but Mana did not seem to hear as she hissed once again: "Hurry up and come inside! There will be a mass panic if someone sees you."
After that there was not as much need to usher anyone to move. It was with fairly enough speed that the group made their way into the mansion. The bright lights of the entrance hall blinded Yugi momentarily and that was why he jumped slightly when Mana suddenly released a terrified shriek. After that Yugi heard running steps and attempted to turn his head to the direction they were headed to. When Yugi regained his sight he noticed that he was about a metre off and turned the rest of the way to see Mana gushing over Jou, who was still lying limply in Seto's arms.
"Oh, your friend really doesn't look good!" the blonde uttered worriedly before looking up at Seto. "You come with me. We will put him into one of the guest rooms to rest."
"Are you sure grandpa will allow a human to sleep in his house?" Yugi questioned warily form Mana, thinking that the girl had not taken Sugoroku's dislike for humans into account. Mana turned around the give Yugi a surprisingly stern glance as she spoke: "Of course. Master Sugoroku will not throw guests outside into the night, no matter who they are." And with that the girl turned back to Seto and signalled for the brunet to follow her. Seto did actually start walking after the girl and Mana quickly shot over her shoulder, before starting up the stairs: "Master Sugoroku will be down in a moment. I'm sure he has heard all this commotion by now."
Yugi nodded his head at the girl's words, knowing his grandfather's tendencies of staying up late better than well. The former sprite had always tried to sneak out during the late hours to play with Malik in the night, but his plans had been foiled time after time when his grandfather had been awake to hear Yugi either leaving through his window or coming back in. Either way Yugi had always ended up in trouble and had had to suffer from whatever punishment his grandfather assigned him.
Shaking his head slightly Yugi cleared his head of the distracting thoughts of his childhood and early teenage years. The action earned him a questioning glance from Yami but Yugi shot the taller teen a quick smile to assure the other that here was no need to worry. Yami seemed to relax then, finally allowing his by now sweaty palm slip from Yugi's own equally wet one.
It had not been a long time since Yugi was last here, yet he felt like a lifetime had passed since his transformation into a human. Up until now Yugi had not had the time to think about his former home, family and friends. Now the former sprite realized that he had been missing Kirusae and the other sprites, even though he had not truly appreciated them when he had chosen the life by Yami's side. The only reason for Yugi to suddenly remember so many meaningless things that had not been remembered in a long time was that being in his home again awakened those memories. It was now more clearer to Yugi than ever that his life as a sprite had been completely different from the one that awaited him in the human world. For the first time since running away from his grandfather Yugi doubted his decision of becoming human.
"Yugi…" a deep, and greatly missed voice spoke out hesitantly but still loudly enough to be heard. Yugi turned to the direction of the voice instantly and gazed up the wide staircase that led the way to the second floor. There, right above the topmost steps, stood Sugoroku Mutou.
"Yugi", the old man spoke again, this time a bit more surely. "You're home."
To be continued…
Ending Notes: This story has reached over ten thousand hits! Thank you everyone! I can't believe how popular this story has become and I would like to give you all a huge thanks for reading the story. I love you guys, without any of you there would not even be any point in writing this thing. So, thanks again and I hope this chapter was to your liking as well and that you will be sticking around until the end.