The early morning found the soldiers standing at a line. The red-eyed slave was among them. This was their first day of training. Some of them seemed nervous while some others a bit overconfident about themselves. Only the red-eyed man was standing completely calm, showing no emotion at all. Some meters away the Centurion Aimilius was talking to another man. They were whispering.
"Okay my friend" the fellow Roman centurion said
"I am counting on you, Antonius" Centurion Aimilius said
"You can rest assured my friend. You acted really wisely for bringing those future soldiers to train. I will make sure that they will become perfect soldiers!"
"Good. But also you must take care of the spiky-haired one…"
Discreetly the man named Antonius looked over his friend's shoulder to take a small glance of the red-eyed slave and then he looked back at his friend
"He is really interesting" Aimilius said, "He is a slave but he is an excellent fighter"
Antonius scoffed a little.
"It's a different thing fight brutally in the arena as gladiator and completely different in a battlefield! Being a soldier needs discipline, not only skill!"
"That's exactly the reason I brought him to you… You see…"
He leaned closer to him to whisper with even more secrecy:
"My friend Ilai told me some things about him. He is an excellent fighter but overconfident. In the arena he acts as if he is some kind of king. He needs to learn to behave and obey."
"Rest assured my friend. In the name of our Emperor, I will inflect that ego of his!"
"There is something else…"
Aimilius looked around for a second as if he was afraid that someone would overhear some top secret of Rome and then added
"He also told me that he is a living mystery. Not only don't they know about him but also they say that once every month he refuses to go out and fight…and in the morning…they would find him with the rag around his waist being torn and his chains broken…however he has never attempted to escape before…"
"Hmm…really strange indeed my friend…"
"Take care of him. He is my precious slave"
"I will my friend…"
Aimilius left with his chariot along with his soldiers, leaving them all behind.
Some days later the future soldiers were practicing with their fighting techniques, without using any weapons though. The red-haired gladiator seemed the best of them, or at least well trained since he was throwing them to the ground quite easily. Antonius was watching them the entire time. The red-eyed man threw another one to the ground.
"That's enough!" Antonius yelled.
The red-eyed man turned slowly to look at him with narrowed eyes. They brought him here to train and become a soldier. What was his problem now?
"You're doing it wrong! We're not arena here! You're supposed to learn discipline and honor! Not just slaying your opponent!"
The man on the other hand frowned more. He didn't like how bossy Antonius was to him. They started again and again he did the same.
"Stop!" Antonius stopped him again, "I told you, this is wrong! Besides we are not fighting with Egyptian wrestling style here! Forget the damn Kuta! Focus on the real soldier's training!"
However the red-eyed man simply growled and threw to the ground his next opponent. Antonius sighed.
"We've got long way to go!" he said in a low voice.
The training started soon after. Antonius was trying to make the future soldiers as tough as possible.
"I will make the man out of you" he was saying
However his real purpose was to break red-eyed man's arrogance and make him obedient soldier…which means…he was making the training as hard as possible… However no matter how long distances he was making them run, no matter how many rivers he was making them to cross swimming or walking, no matter how many hours he was training them and making fight each other with wooden swords, the red-eyed man was passing every test easily and the arrogance wasn't erased from his eyes. He wasn't ready to obey to orders yet. The one time they were running in the forest in difficult ground…but the red-haired man was always first… The other time they were making them running in a mountain narrow path while holding two heavy sacs connected with a wood on their shoulders, however not only it didn't work but also when the last one collapsed tired from the track and the weight, the red-haired man grabbed his weights too and continued running up the path fast as if he was holding nothing… At night Antonius would insult him in every way, but that was simply making the man angrier and even more arrogant. Antonius would watch at them sighing in disappointment…
One night the red-eyed man was walking to his tent after the day of hard training and saw Antonius coming… Antonius pushed him once angrily and walked away. The man looked at him and growled angrily. He then saw…the high cliff that was always close to the camp. He had seen it again…but tonight… He bent down and gathered dirt with his hands and rubbed his hands together… He then jumped and…started to climb to the cliff! It had almost nowhere to hold on…his hands and legs would bleed and hurt…sweat would run down his body…it was hard…even for him…and the golden sun had started to rise slowly…and others had gathered under that cliff watching him climbing…
Antonius got out of his tent and then…a rock fell to his feet and he would turn upwards to see…the red-eyed man sitting at the edge of the cliff with a satisfied smirk on his face…and Antonius knew…there was no way they would tame that man…that man…was meant to rule…
So the training became better…and the red-eyed man was doing better…because his climbing had taught him…that many things can overpower you…and it's okay to obey once in a while…and you must always move forward and don't stick at the past…good or bad… And the training moved… They trained in swords…in horse riding…and then the red-eyed man was always the best…even training others… But he no longer wore slave's clothes…he was now wearing the clothes of a Centurion…
He had won a position again…
Yami's eyes slowly trembled and he mumbled in pain. His head was heavy from alcohol and the new dream. Another dream…another part of his past maybe… However then he sensed something. His eyes shot open and the next moment he had drawn a dagger under his pillow and he was holding it at the neck of the intruder
"Oi! Oi! Calm down…" Bakura said with a smirk
"What are you doing here?" Yami growled.
His voice was like dangerous whisper. Bakura just grinned
"Relax. You can't kill me with this!" he said meaning the knife Yami was holding to his neck
"It's silver!" Yami growled again
Bakura gulped once but his grin was still there
"Alright! Maybe you can…but you won't right? I am not transformed!"
"You have no idea what I am capable of doing…" Yami growled again
The last thing he wanted was that damn werewolf in his room in the middle of the night, while he had such a serious hangover! Bakura just chuckled and then sniffed around and snorted.
"Are you drunk Yami? Oh for sure… Any common human would be dead now after so much alcohol!"
"What are you doing here?" Yami demanded, stopping him from continuing, "I thought I told you-…"
"You told me to stay away from the village Yami!" Bakura chuckled and leaned closer to Yami, "You didn't tell me to stay away from you, haven't you?"
Yami growled.
"I am asking you one last time: What. Do. You. Want!" he emphasized every single word in a low whisper
"To know you better, Yami. After all we're both the same. We're not humans!"
"I am nothing like you!"
"Weather you like it or not, you are Yami! Remember…we met years ago and still you look the same as back then! And remember also the things you can do! You are not human!"
"Get out!"
"Continue to run away from reality and you will die!"
"I said get out!"
Yami had snapped out of his bed and he had pinned Bakura against the wall holding his neck! However Bakura just smirked.
"I hit a nerve right?" he mocked him, "It hurts doesn't it? To know that you are not human…that you will live forever… Now you know how I felt…when because of you I was tortured and then I lost my life! Now though I got power!"
And without a warning he had pinned Yami to the floor holding his throat instead!
"I will make you suffer!" he hissed to the spiky-haired man and his breath was hot on his face, "I will make you suffer every day! And then you'll die! When I find the perfect way to kill you! Mark my words Yami!"
Yami kicked Bakura off him but Bakura never fell to the ground…because when he was kicked up he jumped out of the window releasing a low laughter… Yami ran to the window and hissed.
"You're wrong!" he thought, "I am nothing like you!"
However he couldn't help but think…that Bakura was right after all… He was no human that was for sure… He was stronger, he could jump higher, he wouldn't age, he could speak many different languages (ancient and new), he could see in the darkness, he could hear from kilometers away…he had no memories and he was seeing strange nightmares… He walked to the small table and grabbed his flask. He took a good sip of it
"I am a monster after all…like those I had been killing…I am like him deep inside…" he thought
And the moon outside was painting everything in silver
At the same time, Kisara was sitting alone in the gardens. She was watching at the moon… She was mumbling some soft song… She always liked to sing…and she had sweet voice… She didn't even notice someone close to her…
"Nice moon tonight…"
She gasped as she saw him…standing beside her…
"You scared me!" she whispered
"I apologize…" he said courteously
Kisara took a deep breath. She was still afraid of him…that dark man…but she couldn't help but to start feeling all the more comfortable with him around… He hadn't killed her yet and he was really nice to her…
"You have a really beautiful voice" he said in a low voice
Kisara felt her cheeks becoming pink
"Th-thank you…I always sang back at home…"
However she then remembered and added
"Did your…w-wife…sing too…?"
Seto Kaiba's brows frowned. Kisara wasn't sure what it was: guilt? Was it sadness? Was it anger?
"She did…" he finally whispered and his tone was absolutely calm, "She sang like an Archangel from the sky…her voice was clear like a loud bell…even if she was young… She was really proud of it…"
"I see…" Kisara mumbled
Seto Kaiba was looking straightforward to the moon…and it was impossible for her to read his face… The air that was blowing softly was bringing to her nose the smell of the roses…those beautiful red roses… However their beauty was haunted…now that she knew why there were there…or who liked them so much… She shivered an it wasn't only the cold climate that was making her feel this way…it was the sudden cold in her heart… It was the cold HE was causing wherever he was…the cold that seemed to be coming straight from the Dead…straight from that crypt he was sleeping in… Suddenly she felt something around her and realized that Seto Kaiba was above her and was covering her with the cape that was around his shoulders as if he was a spider…that was making a cocoon around the fly…
"You…you don't need to-…"
"But I want to…" he stopped her
Kisara felt a tear running down her cheek. She was afraid of him…she always was
"He will kill me one day…like he killed his wife…like he killed all those people in my village…! However why…and how…how can someone so…gentle and courteous be such a devil…?"
Seto Kaiba looked at her and she avoided his eyes. She always felt that he can see in her soul…
"You are beautiful…" he whispered to her
She didn't answer…
"…And so kind…" Seto Kaiba whispered again, "…If they knew you…even those who don't believe in God, they would for sure believe in angels"
"Do you…?" Kisara heard herself whispering
Her voice was foreign even to her ears
"…Do you believe in God…?"
"I do…" came the answer right away and he was so calm that scared her even more.
Seto Kaiba was still looking at the silver moon that was in the middle of the clear sky
"I do believe in Him…however…I am someone that is away from Him…I chose to be…I denied Him…when I asked for eternal life…"
He was speaking as if he was sad…or if he didn't care at all… Kisara felt another shiver
"He is a demon…no…the Devil…but then…why…why I…"
She was feeling like being dirty…for being his favorite from all village…for being the reason so many people got killed…
"I won' harm you, Kisara…" he said in a low voice, "I promise and my word is my bond…"
"How can I believe you…?" she whispered, "When you have slain my village…"
"I had given my word. Weather they give you to me or they would suffer. I kept my word…"
Kisara couldn't take it anymore…
"I want to go to sleep…" she said and she walked out of his cape…
However she tripped and lost her balance. She shut her eyes to feel the frozen kiss of the snow to the ground…but that never came. She opened her eyes to see…Seto Kaiba. He had held her before she fell… His arm was around her waist. She felt her cheeks flush from embarrassment and fear at the same time…and her heart was beating loudly
"Do we mean so little to you…? All of us…?" she whispered, "Have you…no heart…"
"No…" Seto Kaiba whispered, "I have no heart…"
He leaned closer…
"…I am hollow… And I'll live forever…"
He leaned closer…
"…Maybe…you can fill my chest with some of your heart…"
He leaned closer…and their lips were inches apart…millimeters apart…and then he stopped… He pulled back and helped her up. Once she was to her feet Kisara looked at him with fear and surprise…and the next thing she did was to run inside the castle…leaving only her footprints behind… Seto Kaiba watched her leaving…her hair silver from the moonlight… Her blue eyes like crystals… He made no move to chase her…he made no move to stop her… He did the opposite… He remained in the same position without reacting at all…holding his calm face…
He turned up at the moon again… And the breeze was blowing cold…and calm…
I can't believe it I finally updated! I am so sorry it took me so long!
Apparently we have the end of his dream (inspired from Mulan song "Make the man out of you". You can imagine it playing when the training starts)...a Yami and Bakura moment and...a Seto Kaiba x Kisara moment...
You expected a kiss? Too bad I was evil!
An early birthday gift for my friend Kassandra-21
Please review me...Enjoy!