Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Vampire Hunter D.

Here's the newest chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Vagabonds

The next morning, after Bakura had taken D around to barter for better wintertime supplies (in promised favors via those who would stay for the day), they waved off the first set of their divided travelers. Etsu, of course, did not approve of the separation, but Yugi cuddled her sobbing form close as he kissed the rest of his family goodbye. The rest of the farewells were brief, knowing that time would be of the essence if they wished for this plot to have any worth. D remembered many of the people he negotiated with questioning the decision to travel during such a time, and only hoped that they would not recognize that some of the strangers had left already. Bakura had been careful to instruct him to make it seem like they would be paying off their debt before they left, which with Bakura's estimations seemed easy enough to achieve with those who were left behind.

And D agreed, hopeful that the secret decision had been altered. Keeping that information close and away from his two same-aged friends pained him. Yet, waving at the backs of the first group, his face rimmed with a heavy hood, D kept up that hope while occasionally eyeing the great brimmed traveler's hat that Theo wore with a hint of envy. That was, he kept it until Yugi turned to the rest when the first group was far out of earshot.

"Now we pick the next group."

"What?!" Claire exclaimed. "Why are we picking groups? Is that why they left? Not because they're scouting ahead?"

Yugi frowned. "Who told you they were scouting ahead?"

"No one," Claire said with a frown to match. "But based on how we traveled last year I can tell you that it's a dumb idea to go out into the cold alone. Especially if people are hurt."

D did not need to see Bakura to know his cheeks had flushed with embarrassment. Still, the boy agreed with her. They had gotten into enough trouble back then with few people on their side. Vampires had been a factor then as well.

"We are doing what we need to do. Please understand."

"No." The girl stomped closer to D and snatched his left hand in hers. Amami had just claimed his right. "We are sticking together!"

"Claire…" Bakura warned. "If this decision was made, it was made for a reason."

"Did youuu make it?" Claire questioned, her eyebrow disappearing past her faded bangs. When Bakura folded his arms and cocked his head, she broke eye contact. Her frown deepened.

"I'm not leaving you," she muttered, kicking at the ground.

"If we have to be split up, it will only be for a short while," Mai said, patting her on the head. "You trust me, right?"

"This is dumb."

"It's not perfect," she agreed. "But if Bakura and I have faith this will make it safer in the long run, can you?"

"I'm going to have to."

D saw Bakura's eyes widen, and the shared look between him and Mai. That smile that jumped across his entire face. Claire had come a long way from her usual outbursts…although D thought she still needed work. Then again, it might have had to do with the fact it was Bakura and Mai making the request and not another adult. It would be the same reason D was tolerating the moment.

Figuring that the complaints were silenced for now, Yugi pulled a bag out of his pocket and shook it around. "Before we start, I want everyone aware that one group has a chance to meet the other much sooner than with another. There are multiple routes we drew up, and only the first one was chosen with us aware. The next maps were rolled up by Mokuba, so I don't know which one is which, and which route anyone is taking."

"That's probably a lie," Claire grumbled out of the corner of her mouth. D let out a silent laugh, no more than a slight breath of air, but the girl nudged him with her shoulder in acknowledgement.

This grouping was made much quicker, like a band-aid being ripped from the skin—for good reason. The call was Yugi, Etsu, Amami, and Theo.

The quiet girl beside D paled almost to his own complexion, and he had to move to keep her standing. She had been ripped away from her father so soon, and now from her closest circle of friends. He saw Bakura's brow-line furrow and express an unspoken question to Yugi, who only shook his head. The request and denial were clear enough. If they made moves now, it would seem unfair for the first group who had to leave.

Not that the number of people left over made sense in whatever scheme they had made.

"We leave in the afternoon. Then Mai, you'll explain the rest once we're gone."

"Passing off the torch to me, huh?" she said with a laugh, although D noted the bitterness there. And the silence that replied when she took the name bag from Yugi.

Although the ability to uphold the promise of manpower was questioned, the decision was final. By that afternoon, after more tears and a promise that Amami would see her friends soon, the second group had departed. D watched as they disappeared past a line of trees and unused buildings, their backs loaded with supplies. Whatever map they had had dictated this route. The scent of fish and cleaner battered out the fresh scent of the trees and soggy earth, and D did not know why he suddenly remembered Amami's eyes glaring down at him as he rocked to and fro, small in the vast sea, as the others sailed away on the larger boat. What a difference those tears had been.

"Are you crying?" Claire whispered, and D shook his head. Nothing had fallen, so he did not feel like he was lying. When he looked to his friend who remained, though, he saw she was unabashedly letting the tears stream down her cheeks. Sometimes her bouts of compassion left him feeling more human than he felt himself to be. Even if his tears did not fall, he let his eyes burn with them.

"We need to prepare, don't we?" she added. "There's a high chance that we won't be with him, huh."

D's lips trembled in debate. Black eyes swiveled toward Bakura, who seemed deep in thought. To Mai, who looked like she could have killed someone, given the chance. To Jounochi, whose face wrinkled as it scrunched in some internal pain. To Albert, the singular outlier. The stranger. The last one that a group so tight knit would invest their trust.

"They did this on purpose."

As the soft-spoken words left him, Claire's eyes widened and the tears there pooled at the corners, shut off like a leaky faucet. Her mouth moved, forming words without saying a thing.

"Who is they?"

D remained silent.

"Bakura?"

He allowed himself to shake his head in a negative.

Before she could question him further, Mai raised her arms with a flashy wave of her hands, stretched, and interrupted the silence that had befallen them.

"Now that I'm in charge again—thank you, thank you everyone," she said, her teeth glinting in her not so humorous grin. Jounochi let out a laugh, but it died much like the gentle breeze from that morning: faltering, then nothing.

"What is going to happen now?" Albert asked. "When do we leave? We aren't just going to stiff these people, right?"

"There's one more group split," Mai replied.

Her words fell around them like dead leaves. Bakura's eyebrow quirked upward, and the whispers of the night prior echoed in the boy's mind. Leaving someone here alone…

"I thought they said three, though?"

"That is information that the first group got to know, much like the one who planned our routes does not know which map the others will get. There were multiple made with a bunch of routes. Decoys leading to different ends; things that were left behind in Kaiba's and Mokuba's room. I am in possession of the last two true maps."

"If all the routes converge, though, won't our enemies just have to wait for everyone to show up at the rendezvous point if one of our groups are caught? Or if they get our cartographer, won't they learn which route is real and which isn't?" Albert questioned, and D thought he could see why he had been a monitor for the comings and goings of businesses and people in his previous city. At least, that is what the boy gathered from what Bakura told him. For all their travels together, D did not know him well personally.

"That is why we are so lucky they left early. Unless our possible pursuers knew exactly where we were going in the long run, which I doubt—"

"Frankly, I don't even know where we're going."

"—they will be out of harm's way. We are the ones who need to worry more. Which brings me to this," she lifted the name bag. "Start a fire. We're burning it."

"What?" While the response had been a chorus, it was Jounochi that grabbed ahold of Mai's hand, his face tight and imploring. She snatched it away in a huff and coolly peered at him past her nose, a queen with dwindling subjects.

"We have to go through with this."

"No," she replied, and D saw that annoyed curve in her lip, that flash and narrow of her eye. He could imagine the mask that once graced her face as she stood there confident and a prime example of what her Counsel had aimed for. "We don't. There's no point in it. We all will know who's in whose group. We know what they'll be most concerned with, which is why I will tell you how we are going to split up."

The snap in her voice whipped the remaining people into submission more than the facts she spoke. D's chest welled with something like respect—and definite approval. From the slumped posture of Jounochi, the boy could surmise that her "unheard" promise last night would be honored. He gripped Claire's hand with resolve.

"We have enough to split us, three and three," she started. "Normally, I'd think the wisest choice would be two adults to one child. Normally."

She looked to Claire, then to D, and sighed. "Jounochi, Albert…the two of you are staying with Bakura to help with the promises that we made. You guys are the fastest at getting things done, and no matter who was going, we have to protect the children first. They need to leave as soon as possible. That means you all will not have much time to even our bartering odds before the language barrier takes hold. I'll take the children and we will leave late tonight. D has the eyes for it, and Claire…"

"I'll get used to it," she replied with a slight hint of protest.

"Good." Mai lifted her head to the others. "Any complaints?"

"No," Bakura said first. He flaunted his liar's grin. "They're in good hands."

"You're the boss," Jounochi replied, shrugging. D raised an eyebrow at his lack of a fight, but let it go. The boat was already rocked—no need to tip it over.

"Whatever. I can tell I've stumbled into the weird shit I've been trying to avoid…ever since I decided to live past the apocalypse," Albert said, "If everyone is agreeing to do this, who am I to change our minds."

"It's only for a little while."

Bakura took the time then to stoop and hug his charges. The two clung to him as saplings to a parent tree. D resented that he was being pulled from Bakura's side, but he could not help but agree. Mai was capable. And they would see each other soon. Just as she promised.

Hopefully.

"There might not be much of a chance to say this before you guys leave, since we've got a few promises to keep," Bakura started, as he pressed each of their heads to either side of his neck. With the man's shortened hair needling his face, and his natural scent pulling away from the insistence of the blood flow below, D relaxed and burrowed deeper into the sensation. "But I trust you both, just as I trust Mai…Don't hesitate to defend yourselves. I will not think less of you. You aren't terrible people or monsters for trying to save yourself or one another's lives. If you have to play dirty to win, you do it. While that might seem obvious, it doesn't hurt to repeat it. D, be sure to eat something when you can, and keep Claire from being too impulsive. Claire, keep up your willingness to compromise and be sure to watch after D, you know how he stubborn he can get.

And remember…I love you both."

They were off not long after.

Darkness meant little to D, but as muddy tracks turned to ice, he slowed to help his sight impeded friends dance around ankle-breaking dips and slips. A thick and biting scent harsher than rain surrounded them, but with the high clouds' snowlike smudges against brilliant stars, distance proved their ally. All they had to contend with was the frigid night.

"So," D said as dew formed and iced while the dawn grew nearer. He pointed toward the flattened grass under his foot as he spoke, continuing his aid while asking, "Are you going to explain?"

Mai adjusted the strap of her bag, pinching it between the heavy cloth of her winter coat and stepped right where the boy motioned. The innards of the pack clattered with the force of her leap. "What needs to be explained? No one wins in this situation, but we don't have the worst-case scenario."

"You knew I was listening, then?"

She laughed, offered her hand to Claire, who took it. With an assisted jump, they all managed to get past the rocky traps of undergrowth and the burrows of underground creatures. Nature had, much like everywhere else, begun to reclaim all. "When aren't you listening?"

D pursed his lips and flicked his wrist for them to follow. The land lay flat and sprawling before them. Whether the land they traveled had been fields or just unplanned acreage was anyone's guess.

"Somewhere along the way we decided there was a change in who to follow, it seems," Mai continued, "This wouldn't have been my idea, but I suppose I get it. That's why I'm following part of their plan."

"Which was?"

"To separate all of the 'problems.'"

"But you didn't leave him alone?"

"No, I didn't."

D turned on his heel. "Is that safe for the others?"

"It would have been safer to stick together, period." Mai shrugged and then shoved her gloved hands between her armpits to conserve heat. "But this is the hand we're dealt. Thank your father for that one."

"I do, every day," he stated dryly.

"Why don't we mope a bit more on stuff we can't change," Claire interrupted, her teeth chattering. "Really seems to be warming us up and getting us places quicker."

Drawn silence followed them that day, and the day after. D observed the countryside with a new appreciation for part of his heritage, however distant in time it was, and sourly wished he could be sharing the view with Bakura. Even unkempt the dead plants and stunted growth spoke of a beautiful spring that he would not get to see. Claire hummed the tune of the song they had danced to while Mai tucked her wildly whipping hair to either side of her ears. D grinned despite himself, knowing her true purpose but finding the timing humorous. 'Deaden the sound?' he thought, lifting his scarf above his nose as his cheeks betrayed his stoic expression further.

Their trail took them between two cities—rather, maybe a town and a city. The boy could not discern from their vantage point or where the horizon was broken by empty buildings, but he did know that they were further inland, and the coastal swells were barely echoes to his ears. As he moved, he tried not to trample on the tiny white and purple flowers that were fighting so hard to last against the oncoming freeze. He bypassed these kindred warriors with measured steps. A ringing laughter filled his mind while he was internally mocked for the thought.

Disinterested in holding an argument with his offensive baggage, the boy scanned their intended route and his eye caught something further in the distance. The multi-colored grasses and flat ground, occasionally lumping up to maybe a hill of inches, abruptly ended with a darkened line. The others trudged along beside him, unworried. They could not see it.

D raised a hand. The silent command left Claire radiating with heat; at least that was what temperature change he felt beside him. Red blotches of barely checked rage would greet him if he were to turn. 'Good,' he thought, 'let her warm up.'

"Is someone coming?" Mai asked, unabashedly using the boy's skills to monitor the situation. A fair trade-off—by supplying her information, he relied on her experience. Her plans would get them wherever they needed to go faster and safer.

"No."

"Then why are we stopping?" Claire grumbled.

"The ground is missing."

"Excuse me?"

"I said," D repeated with a hint of annoyance, "the ground is missing."

"Can you see how far it stretches?" Mai asked, shivering against a cold blast of wind.

"No. But if you guys make camp here, I can try to climb that telephone pole to see if I can get an idea."

"Make camp?"

"You both are freezing," he said, "and we might have to rethink our route if this is something we can't get around."

"If this wind keeps up, it'll knock everything over," Claire argued. "And we shouldn't risk what materials we have for a fire if it's just gonna get blown out. You tell us what's up over there, and if it's bad, we should go to one of the cities that the map says exist here."

"If they wanted us to stay on the path—"

"Oh, come on. You already said we might have to change what they want, and it's not like we care. If we really wanted to, we could just turn around and go back to the others. Just hurry your butt up there and tell us how far our detour is looking."

The boy looked to Mai, who shrugged and nodded. She was fine with it, then. D returned the gesture, dropped his bag to leave with them and Claire's catlike grin of victory before moving to size up his climb. Now was not the time to practice his balance. While the wind was not so strenuous at this lower level, he could not think of a reason to risk placing either of the pair in a position to do something stupid if he somehow stumbled when reaching the top.

Approaching the pole, D imagined what it must have seen in its years of existence. The cars that had driven by it. The elements that had beaten its wooden shape. The cycles of the moon. If he leaned toward it and breathed deep, he could even smell a snatching of smog and rubber. Ever hazy, his childhood filled in distant sounds of honks and revving, pretending that the wind was a large semi-truck passing him by. More beeps and honks, a traffic jam. Everything that he had never really experienced but for strained memories of movies.

There was another beep that haunted him, leaving a cut that made him pull from his imagination. A beep of medical equipment. Bakura's drained face flashing before him, then another, one with dark hair and caring eyes. A smile much like his own when he decided to share it. Fingers running through his hair…and then his father's sorrowful expression paired with cold words. He shook his head. He did not have time for this. His friends were cold, and they were hardly three miles into their daily travels.

Even now, the light of day bled away to night. Frost would sharpen the land, and nocturnal creatures would begin their roam. There were few safe places to hide out there, and the ever-present threat of vampires among them. The boy pursed his lips and gripped the pole, feeling each crack with his fingertips. He pressed in and his young limbs bulged with new effort as he pulled himself up with his arms alone. Once clear from the ground he set his feet to either side, shifting each sole until he felt just enough catch for him to hoist himself up in swift repetition. He heard Claire gasp and grinned to himself. She always made him feel impressive when he pulled such natural feats.

Reaching the mid-point, he paused as a stabbing blast of wind sent his locks flying behind him. Another gasp came from below. Mai this time. Apparently, she had less confidence in his abilities. His eyes watered with the dry chill and he shifted his weight once more before returning to his task. He mused that it must have been the flatness of the land that made the shift in pressure so forceful. Then youthful curiosity and derailment spiked. He might be wrong. If he ever got the chance, he would look it up in a book. Or maybe…ask someone?

His thoughts followed him to the top. Placing his feet on either side of the T section, he remained careful not to touch the wires. Perhaps it would have been nothing, meant nothing. Yet, there was a strange charge around him that warned him against it. The boy, following an instinct, wrapped his arm around the rest of the pole that remained. He was glad he did because just as suddenly, all thoughts of electricity dropped from his mind. A stranger sight welcomed him.

Along their assigned path, the ground took a vicious dive, so deep that the boy could barely see the bottom from his angle. That bottom spanned a large dark track that stretched miles to either side. Remnants of scorched earth littered the rim of this strange occurrence, but odder still was the straight line of this indentation. The boy hopped to one side of his roost and pressed his toes into the wood, forcing himself forward in the very balance he had not wished to try.

"What do you see?" Mai's voice called. The wind whistled between the cables.

"It's not good," D returned. "This was man-made, and I can't see why anyone would need to do this unless they had major backing for a project."

"What?"

D rolled his eyes and slid down the wooden pole. The two ran up to him, muttering like nervous ducks about his lack of care. He ignored it. "That's not human made, unless these people have been less affected than the rest of the world."

"A bomb perhaps?" Mai offered.

"No." D shook his head. "Too clean. We need to go around this."

"Do you think that Yugi's group…?"

"How would I know? I don't know the routes. But if we all were looking for a quick way to meet up again, this place would definitely be one where at least two groups would have to pass through."

"Did you see any vampires?" Claire asked.

"No. I could barely see the bottom of whatever they're doing."

"Which way do we go, then?"

After a moment of silent introspection, Mai decided for them. Drawing a new line on their shared map, she pulled them further from the coast, hitting a diagonal onto a highway. "I'll figure out the rest as we go along. There might be a chance they've gone even that far, right?" she mused into her hand. The children did not respond but followed her as she began walking in the direction she designed.

They traveled through much of the night, down the remains of a relatively well-paved road. D had kept his eye on the area they skirted around and whispered affirmations that their plan to change course had been the right one. Lights flickered in the distance enough that all could see, but D watched as these far-off workers appeared from seemingly nowhere to diligently work on their unknown tasks, livening up as the night went on and never once pausing due to the cold. Still, he and Mai waved Claire's hand away from pulling her weapon from its makeshift cloth carrying case. Stealth was the favored option here.

Aside from this, all appeared to be going well on their journey further south. That was, at least, until they passed through the innards of the next abandoned city.

The red sign had welcomed them to the silent burg and enticed them with its Y-formed road to rest amongst the leafless trees, but still they pressed on. So long as they focused on the main road, they would be able to hurry back to their pre-planned adventure. D was at present hugging Claire close as he piggybacked her down the tree-lined road. She murmured sleepily, still unused to their most recent switch of being awake at night. Unfortunately, until they found a place safe enough and far away from their perceived threat, a proper rest would elude them all. Mai walked next to him, exhausted in her own way, but acting as their main protection. She held a gun at her side as they continued, holding the crook of her elbow with her free hand. D uttered that he heard nothing, but she still stood at the ready. Anything could pop up during their short time in an area once populated.

They passed by trees, homes, businesses with graveled driveways…All with the same dead gray hue about them as dawn waffled on its true arrival. Still, there was nothing. D strained his hearing and thought that there was something up ahead, but with the way the plants rustled he thought any sound may have come from animals.

As they approached a red building where signs on the opposite side of the road pointed three directions—what the boy thought may have been the end of the city itself—the innocuous sounds had changed. In an instant, D practically threw his half-asleep friend to the ground. Mai raised her gun and pointed it in the direction D's focus had snapped towards. The boy reached for his sword on his back, his hand held around the hilt at the ready, his sights fixated on a cluster of trees. Claire fumbled and tore the fabric away from her rifle, kneeling in practiced preparation.

A bird fluttered in its nest above them.

"What?" Claire whispered. "Where?"

"Sounded like a struggle," D replied.

"This way?"

He did not need to reply. A cacophony of screams did for him.

They all bolted forward, spurred on by the voices. Now shouting was in full force, and snarls punctuated each shriek. Gunfire broke the former peace of the early morning even before they surrounded the area where the trouble was occurring. Heartbeats raced. Blood scented the air. And they all realized—they knew these voices.

"Yugi!" Mai shouted, and D ran forward without giving the others time to react. He thrust his blade where neck met skull and slashed the vampire's neck in half before it could disengage from their attempt to pin Yugi to the ground. It swirled around and shrieked with a blood soaking spray before the boy's blade cut the dim and took care of the rest of its work. The head lolled and thumped to the ground. Purple stared into black for seconds before the man rolled to his knees.

Bullets whizzed past D as he watched Yugi take off and heard Theo cry out in pain. He spun to assist those in trouble before being dragged down by another undead creature that came at him from the side. Yet another bullet flew by. D felt the cool blood of his opponent slap his cheek. He heard Claire reloading, and did his best to tug away before the being came to its senses. He could see the arms of the one whose head had just received removal flailing and jabbed his blade into its heart. The vampire's floundering ceased.

"D!" Amami screamed, calling his attention. "Help! Help us!"

D twirled and slashed at another vampire that descended upon him. Gripping his sword with both hands he lunged forward to counteract the other's center of gravity and swiftly backed away. The boy danced toward the sound of his friend; fearful he would not get the chance to rescue her. 'How did this happen?' his mind raced before he gasped aloud as he was slammed to the ground by yet another creature. 'Were we followed? Were they? Where's everyone's position?!'

With a kick, he barely managed to free himself from one vicelike grip and felt his coat tear with the force. He kicked again and again, swimming on the dirt to loosen himself from his attacker further. Flicking his sword into his left hand he stabbed backwards and, once he did not hear an immediate counter coming his way, scrambled to his feet.

The small, encircled area was in full chaos. Amami was running by screaming, Etsu crying in her arms. Mai was backhanding the vampire that had been after the pair with her pistol before unloading into its face. Claire had repositioned herself into a new sniper's nest and had inconvenienced at least three of the beasts. Yugi and Theo were each fighting off separate vampires, both bleeding profusely. Their efforts were valiant, but it was clear. They were surrounded.

D heard a whistling sound behind him and spun just in time to see a blade flash before his nose. In the time it took to blink, the boy had dipped his head just far back enough to miss being pierced between the eyes. Another swordfighter?

The boy parried and was knocked back with the effort. He stood, only to be launched back again with a greater attack. Whoever his attacker was knew more than he, and it was all the boy could do to keep his footing. D dared not cry out for help, fearing that it would be the death of another to do so, but he could not help himself from a panicked shout as an unavoidable attack aimed for his heart.

A breath of wind registered in his senses and arms reached over his head. A pair of hands snatched the offending blade between their palms. D fell on his backside and scooted away in awe and fear as those same hands snapped the metal as if it were mere wax to launch the remaining steel into the heart of its owner. The boy barely felt his own sword in his grasp as he stood on shaky legs, dark eyes wide with insensible emotion—the foal before his sire.

"Well, well, well," the deep voice rumbled through the air. The massive frame pivoted as he considered the damage around him, his boots soundless even as bloody mud squelched under his heel. All attacks had ceased. Now everyone was looking to the dark-haired traveler. "How unexpected…but fortuitous. What is this group of vagabonds I see?"

D swallowed audibly.

A chittering laugh came from the darkness of his mind. It set every vein to ice and his stomach dropped. He could feel his left hand twitching, it also realizing the danger of this fearful change. For that laughter was not its own, but a reminder of something Bakura had asked of him not so long before their separation.

His father's attentions turned to him. D clutched at his blade, his right hand growing white with his grip. His left hung freely at his side, shivering against an unfathomable chill. The one they all were running from opened his mouth and bared his fangs in a perceivably friendly gesture. A hand was offered; like a parent coaxing their child from the latter's playdate.

"It's time to come home."