IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! - This is the Yu-Gi-Oh! Yaoi portion of the Shipping List in order. Be forewarned. Some "pairings" will not be fluffy and cute. But they will all, hopefully, be believable. Rating's will vary.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi

Author's Notes: I have been throughly wrapped up in Pokemon Platinum lately, the game and the manga and cards and thinking about it. Don't worry, I probably won't start writing fanfics for it and it's not the only thing I can think about, though I am stuck -again- on the current fic for this. Fear not! I shall work my way through the fog. Has anyone seen Nim's Island? I got a kick out of the writer and her relationship to her character. I wish I could talk to my characters like that! But I concentrate too much on their interactions with eachother to ever imagine them interacting with me. One more thing, did everyone see the last episode of Supernatural? I loved it. Sam had to explain slash to Dean and how it pertains to their fandom. Hilarious! When the author read over his work and found a word repeated I sighed and was like, yup, I know how that goes. Sometimes you write so fast those things don't even register until you're reading it over for the first time (no, writing it and having read it aren't always the same thing). ANYWAY... For anyone new here, Thief King Bakura is aka Dorobo Bakura aka Touzokou aka Akifa. They all mean the same thing. Thief.

Rating: T-PG13

Yu-Gi-Oh! Shipping List #34 - "Priceless"

--------------------------------------------

Boundshipping (Doroboo Bakura x Yuugi)

Yugi did not have official duties in the palace of the Pharaoh. Officially, he was kept as the Pharaoh's double, a decoy presented to the public in potentially dangerous situations in the Pharaoh's stead. Within the sanctity of the palace, Yugi was the Pharaoh's favored bedmate, writ off as Pharaoh Atem's (hopefully) temporary whim. And within the Pharaoh's personal chambers, away from meddling officials and advisors who's hearts were generally in the right place, Yugi was Atem's only love, the keeper of his heart and entwined with his very soul. But Yugi did not have duties within the walls of the palace. Lying with the Pharaoh was his choice, granted him by his lord, and aside from the public appearances that continually put Atem on edge and more often than not resulted in a righteous tirade from said Pharaoh over the injustice and morally corrupt act of putting his one and only love in harm's way for his protection, Yugi did not have much to fill his days. He had friends in the palace, to be sure, but even they had duties to attend and Yugi often found himself wandering the palace gardens alone, simply admiring the beauty of the plants there.

So habitual was Yugi's routine, that it would have been a simple matter for anyone who took an interest to know exactly when he would be there, and exactly how long it would be before anyone found him.

Dark and dangerous eyes, like a storm on the horizon at dusk, followed Yugi's every movement until he seated himself upon a stone bench amid a patch of whiter-than-linen flowers and closed his eyes to take in their scent in reverence.

The menacing figure slipped toward his unsuspecting target with unparalleled stealth. A desert jackal could not have sensed him coming and Yugi…was completely helpless. The figure struck with precision, silencing Yugi's startled yelp with a firm hand over his mouth even as Yugi's back hit the stone bench hard, knocking the wind from him and sending a jarring pain throughout his head as his skull connected with the unyielding surface below him.

Above Yugi, terrifying eyes widened with a predator's triumph at the hunt, eyes blazing with hate and Yugi struggled, panic filling his senses and fueling his futile attempt against the much larger, much stronger man holding him down. Dirty, shaggy hair that may once have been white hung down framing a youthful, hardened face. A scar carved out below the right eye was Yugi's confirmation of the nightmare. This was the infamous King of Thieves who stole from both the living and the honored dead and who slaughtered all who got in his way. Tears streamed down Yugi's face at his fate as he began to feel the edge of unconsciousness close in around him from lack of air. Feebly he clawed at the hand denying him air and amazingly, the criminal spoke.

"Would you like to breathe?" he asked, mockingly and Yugi tried to sob verbally but found he could not. "Promise not to scream?" the thief offered and Yugi could only nod in fear.

The Thief King removed his hand and Yugi gasped several times, filling his lungs with erratic gulps of air.

"You know me?" the thief questioned and Yugi nodded, too afraid to speak. The King of Thieves was knelt above him, pinning his waist to the stone beneath him. Hardened muscle shone beneath a sand-colored cloak and Yugi knew he could not hope to escape.

"And I know you as well." the thief continued conversationally. "You are the favored one of the great Pharaoh of the Sun, he whose father slaughtered my people, women and children alike. Restitution must be paid for that; for the souls set to wander in eternal damnation for the sake of power! All I am has been fashioned by the greed of royal blood. I deserve compensation for all that was taken from me, don't you think? So I shall make the Pharaoh's most precious treasure mine own, and he will know the pain of loss and of suffering!" The Thief King yanked on Yugi's linen wrapping harshly and, anticipating the cry from him at the action, covered his mouth so that it caught in Yugi's throat as he thrashed against his captor with renewed vigor.

"Be glad for my mercy!" the thief said, pinning his wrists above his head with one hand. "Thank your precious Ra that I don't throw your screaming body into boiling gold as my family were, that I don't whip you or snap your neck; I'm only taking your soul!"

"YUGI??!"

Both heads turned to find the Pharaoh standing at the center of the garden path and no sooner had the situation sunk in on both sides than he was screaming for the guards and drawing the ornate dagger he always carried as he advanced with incredible speed, driven by fear for his love.

The King of Thieves stumbled back in the same movement that he unsheathed his own blade but Yugi cried out, halting the Pharaoh in his advance. The guards arrived and the Thief King saw his only chance. Surging forward, he grabbed Yugi and held the dagger to his throat. The Pharaoh immediately ordered his guards to stand down and the thief slowly backed away with his captive, easing them toward the outer wall, warning the Pharaoh not to follow. As they rounded a corner in the scenery, they lost sight of the Pharaoh and once they reached the wall, the thief stopped, slowly taking the dagger away from Yugi as he regarded the other curiously.

"Why did you stop him?" He had to know. "I would be dead had you not stopped him."

Yugi looked to him with wide, haunted eyes and the King of Thieves found himself in awe. "Hasn't there been enough?" Yugi asked quietly, almost desperately. "Hasn't there been enough killing?"

The Thief King was stunned. Finally he settled to think that he could expect nothing less than pricelessness of the Pharaoh's treasure. Bowing his head, the King of Thieves admitted a defeat. Yugi had proven himself to be of far greater worth than he had ever imagined, so great, that not even the King of Thieves could defile it.

The great thief made his escape that day, taking with him the only fond memory he would ever know; the memory of the one human being who had seen his life as having been worth something.

Post whatevers: Next up, our first main pairing! YAY! Bronzeshipping - Marik x Malik. Look forward to another rated M.