You would think since I have these chapters saved I would be getting them up faster. Apparently not.

Anyway, I finally got chapter three edited, so let's get back on track.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX or Night World. I only own the idea and my OC's.

Chapter Three: Past Meetings

Sometime during the night, Jaden woke up, feeling that something was wrong.

He sat up and looked around, trying to figure out what it was that felt off when his eyes fell on Bastion. His face was scrunched up in a grimace like he was having a bad dream.

Jaden wouldn't be surprised if he was having a nightmare, after what had happened that day. But everything seemed to stop and become incredibly cold when Bastion started muttering in sleep.

One word stuck out. "Judai."

Jaden almost fell back on the bed when he heard that. Judai had been his name, nearly several thousand years ago in his first life.

Jaden's worry and fear shot through the roof. The only way Bastion would know that name would be if he started to remember the past, which history has shown, was a dangerous thing.

The main reason is that those memories contained a lot of trauma and deadly knowledge for any human, even if Bastion was an Old Soul.

Jaden's whole body was tense, and he clenched his fists, as grief and fury overflowed in him. Rage at that… that woman who caused all this. If she had never done that ritual, none of this would have happened… and Bastion wouldn't have had to suffer for it.

He was also furious with himself for never being able to save him. He was supposed to be the reincarnation of one of the most powerful witches in history, but he couldn't even protect the person he loved.

He sighed, all he could do now was try to wake Bastion up before he could remember something genuinely damaging.

Like how his first life had ended.

Bastion had no idea what was going on.

One minute everything was dark; the next, he was in a tunnel of color and light. Everything was swirling and spinning, and he started to feel dizzy and sick.

Somehow, as all of this was going on, Bastion just knew that what he was seeing was important.

The colors kept swirling faster and faster, getting brighter and brighter, almost blinding Bastion. Then suddenly, everything went black.

Finally, a picture started to form. It opened up like a tiny leaf unfolding from a seed and getting bigger until it surrounded him. It was like a scene from a movie, only it was all around him, and he seemed to be floating in the middle.

He looked around, trying to figure out where he was when he saw a boy about his age kneeling not that far away from him. When he got closer, his blood turned cold when he saw that the boy looked almost exactly like him. Same skin tone, same height and build, same eye color, and same hair color. The only difference was that the boy's hair was longer and messier than his.

Bastion wasn't sure what his doppelganger was doing, but he noticed that he was wearing clothes made from some kind of animal skin. The outfit consisted of a shirt and pants, and he was barefoot.

He seemed to be holding something, a rock possibly, and he was striking something else with it. He looked behind him and realized there was a cave behind him.

Curious as to what he was seeing, Bastion moved closer to the boy, to see what he was doing.

That was when he realized that was a mistake. He felt like he was falling, dissolving, merging with the scene around him. He was becoming the boy in front of the cave.

Bastion began to panic and struggled against the pull he was feeling, but it was too strong.

When he finally merged with the scene, who he really was became a distant thought as he soon became focused on what he as the boy was doing. He was holding a flint burin, a tool used for drilling. He was boring holes into the tooth of an Arctic fox, though he felt very anxious doing it.

He knew his mother would be furious if she found him doing this instead of preparing the meat, but one of the hunters had come back with a fox and gave it to his friend, Kaida. He and his childhood friend, Hatsu, had spent the whole morning knocking out the teeth and making them into a necklace for her. Kaida needs to always have something new to wear at every festival, as always.

He told Hatsu he would finish this for her since her mother had told her to sort fruit for the gathering. Better if only one of them got in trouble.

He kept hearing someone, very distantly like a whisper in the wind, calling him Bastion, but he felt that was wrong. His name was Daichi of the River People.

While he had wanted to be a hunter like his father, Old Mother, the leader, had insisted he become a shaman, which was uncommon for the males in their clan. He should become a hunter and get married, granted there was no one he wanted.

Kaida kept saying he'll meet someone at the Spring Gathering, but he didn't think so.

Suddenly he shivered, getting the chills thinking about it. Old Mother had wanted him to become a shaman because she couldn't clearly see his destiny. She wanted him to be prepared in case the spirits had something rotten planned for him.

He was jolted from his thoughts when he heard laughter in front of him. He looked up to see two girls standing there.

The first girl had long, soft blond hair and beautiful gray eyes. The second girl had short dark hair and dark eyes. Both of them wore a dress made of the same skins he used for his clothes.

These were his friends, Hatsu and Kaida.

Both girls were giggling, but Kaida was the one who spoke. "Daichi, you're daydreaming again."

Daichi rolled his eyes before looking down at his hands and realized she was right since he had wrecked the hole in the tooth he was working on.

"How's the fruit for the festival?" He asked, changing the subject at hand.

"There's not much left, and it's mostly rotten," Hatsu said, thoughtfully.

Before Daichi could respond, they heard some kind of commotion coming from the river. He stood up. "Everybody's all excited down by the river."

"Maybe Yoru fell in," Kaida suggested, then shook her head. "No, that's too much to hope for. What am I going to do, Hatsu? Yoru wants to mate with me, but I just can't picture it."

She said something else after that, but Daichi didn't hear it because he was already making his way to the river.

The river was wide and fast, with white waves because it had been joined with three other new rivers. Daichi's people had lived by these rivers for longer than anyone could remember.

The girls were soon right behind him as he made his way through the green cattails to get to the bend in the river. That's when they saw what all the excitement was about.

A stranger was crouching in the reeds, which was exciting enough since strangers didn't come around here often. But this stranger was like no man the trio had ever seen.

"It's a demon," Kaida whispered, awed and frightened.

It was a young man, a boy not much older than Daichi himself. He might have been handsome under different circumstances. His hair was strange, almost white as the clouds compared to Hatsu's hair. His face was well-made, and his tall body was lithe. Daichi could practically see all of that body since the stranger was only wearing a brief leather loincloth.

That didn't bother him since, in the summer, everyone went naked when it got hot enough. But this wasn't summer, it was spring, and the days were still chilly. No sane person would go traveling without clothes.

But that's not what left Daichi shocked. It was the rest of the boy's appearance.

Kaida was right; he was clearly a demon. His eyes were wrong, more like the eyes of a lynx or a wolverine instead of a person. They seemed to throw the pale sunlight back at you when you look at them.

However, it was his teeth that got the most attention. His canine teeth were long and delicately curved, and they came to a sharp and non-human point.

Daichi looked at the fox tooth he still had in his hand. It looked just like that, only bigger.

The boy was also filthy, covered in mud from the river. His hair was ruffled crazily, and his eyes looked from side to side wildly, looking very much like a trapped animal. There was blood on his mouth and chin, which caused a slight fear to rise in Daichi.

"He's a demon, all right." One of the men said. Five men surrounded the boy, some with spears, others with hastily grabbed rocks. "What else could have a human body with animal eyes and teeth?"

"A spirit?" Hatsu said, in a slight daze. She then got a look of surprise, which told Daichi that she hadn't realized she had spoken aloud.

When she saw the eyes on her, she squared her shoulders. "Whether he's a demon or spirit, don't hurt him. It's Old Mother who should decide what to do with him. This is a matter for shamans."

"You're not a shaman, yet." Another man said.

It was Aero, a broad-shoulder man who was the leader of the hunters. Hatsu and Daichi didn't like him.

Daichi wasn't sure why Hatsu spoke up for the stranger. He also felt slightly embarrassed when she said "shamans" because the whole clan knew about his "fate."

He looked off to the side and saw a figure standing on the other side of the river. The second stranger appeared to be male and was wearing an outfit like Daichi's, with a shirt and pants. However, he couldn't make out the material of the garments, and it was the color of the night sky. He also couldn't make out the other stranger's face because he wore a cloak of the same material covering his head and hair, shadowing his eyes.

"She's right, we should take him to Old Mother," One of the hunters agreed with Hatsu. "Should we hit him on the head and tie him up, or do you think we can just herd him?"

Before anyone could decide, a sound was heard over the rushing water. It was a woman screaming. "Help me! Someone come help me! Riko's been attacked!"

Hatsu turned and ran up the river with Daichi right behind her.

The woman screaming was Safia, the sister of Hatsu's aunt and Daichi's mother. However, she wasn't Daichi's mother by blood. She had taken him in after his parents perished during a fierce winter when he was a child.

The little girl stumbling beside her was her daughter, Riko, Hatsu's little cousin, and Daichi's little sister, who he protected like she was blood kin. Riko was a pretty girl at the age of ten, but right now, she looked dazed and almost unconscious. She had blood on her neck and the front of her tunic.

"What happened?" Hatsu gasped, running to put her arms around her cousin.

Daichi took one look at his sister, and instantly he felt rage at whoever or whatever had done this.

"She was looking for new greens! I found her lying on the ground! I thought she was dead!" Safia spoke rapidly, almost incoherently, and her face appeared to be grief-stricken. "And look at her neck!"

On Riko's neck, where the blood seemed to be coming from, Daichi could see two holes similar to a large snake bite.

"It had to be an animal," Kaida breathed from behind Daichi. "But what animal leaves only the marks of two teeth?"

Daichi's chest tightened. He was starting to have a sneaking suspicion about who did this.

Safia began speaking again. "It wasn't an animal! She said it was a man, a boy! She said he threw her down and bit her and drank her blood!" She began to sob, holding her daughter close. "Why would he do that? Oh, please, someone, help me! My daughter's been hurt!"

Riko just stared dazedly over her mother's shoulders.

"A boy…" Kaida whispered.

Hatsu gulped. "Let's get her to Old Mother…" But then she stopped and looked toward the river, Daichi following her gaze.

The men were driving the stranger up the bank. He was snarling, terrified, and angry, but when he saw Riko, his expression changed. He stared at her neck, his animal eyes looking sick like he couldn't stand the sight of her. He then turned away, looking in total anguish.

Daichi looked in horror at the blood on the girl and boy. The connection was obvious and didn't need to be said aloud.

Daichi glanced across the river to where he had seen the other stranger, only to find that he wasn't there anymore. The clan boy gazed along the riverbank in both directions, but there was no sign of him.

Before Daichi could say anything, Riko started screaming. He turned to see the little girl trying to bury herself deeper into her mother's arms for protection, and she was staring right at the stranger.

Kaida had begun crying along with Safia, who was clutching her daughter close to comfort her. Some of the men started shouting at the stranger, jabbing him with spears. Hatsu started trembling, reaching for her cousin to comfort her but not knowing how. People soon started coming from their caves to see what all the commotion was about. And through it all, the stranger just huddled on the ground with his eyes shut in grief.

Daichi was frozen, unsure of what to do. He had never been in a situation like this before, his stress and fear were rising by the minute.

Suddenly, he felt something like a wave come over him. It caused his heartbeat and breathing to slow, calming him down.

He then felt a wave of authority come over him. He needed to take control of the situation, to make the commotion stop.

"Enough!" Daichi said firmly, and louder than he realized because everyone soon had their eyes on him.

The clan boy had no idea what it was that had come over him, or why he was suddenly taking charge, but the words kept coming from him, and he couldn't stop them. "Since he is most likely a demon, we take him to Old Mother and have her decide what to do with him."

"This is none of her business!" Aero spoke, making it clear that he was not going to argue about this.

Daichi would usually never argue with Aero, since he respected him as a hunter, but this new confidence that had taken over him wasn't going to stand for. "It's her business if he's a demon! You're just co-leader, Aero. You take care of the hunting, but Old Mother takes care of spiritual matters."

Aero's face went tight and angry, but Daichi knew he had won the argument. "Fine then. We take him to Old Mother."

Jabbing him with spears, the men drove the stranger to the cave where Old Mother lived. By now, many people had gathered and were muttering angrily. Some were also murmuring in surprise by how Daichi, the "reluctant shaman," had spoken out against Aero.

Daichi just followed behind the group. Hatsu came up beside him, thanking him for standing up for the stranger, but he was wondering why he had done it in the first place.

Old Mother was the oldest woman in the clan and great grandmother of Hatsu and Riko, making her Daichi's great grandmother as well. She had a face covered in wrinkles and a body like a dried stick, but her dark eyes were full of wisdom.

She was the clan's shaman. She was the one who spoke directly with the Earth Goddess, the Bright Mother, the Giver of Life who was above all other spirits.

She listened to the story seriously, sitting on her leather pallet while the others crowded around her. Hatsu edged closer to her, Riko on her lap, and Daichi taking the right side of her.

"They want to kill him," Hatsu whispered to the old woman's ear when the story was over. "But look at his eyes. I can tell he's sorry, and I think he didn't mean to hurt Riko. Can you talk to him, Old Mother?"

Old Mother knew many different languages, she'd traveled far as a young woman. But after trying several, she shook her head.

"Demons don't speak human languages," Aero said with disdain. He was standing by the entrance with his spear ready, but the stranger didn't appear to want to run.

"He's not a demon," Old Mother stated, giving Aero a look before looking back at the stranger. "But he's certainly not a man either. I'm not sure what he is. The Goddess has never told me about people like him before."

"It's obvious the Goddess isn't interested," Aero said with a shrug. "Let us hunters deal with him."

Hatsu gripped the old woman's shoulder. Daichi could see the answer of what's to come in her sad, grave eyes.

"The one thing we do know is that he is capable of great harm," She said softly. "I'm sorry, child, but I believe that Aero's right."

She then turned to Aero. "It's getting dark. We should shut him up somewhere for tonight, then in the morning, we shall decide what to do with him. Maybe the Goddess will tell me something about him while I sleep."

Daichi knew better. He saw the look on Aero's face as the hunters led him away and heard the cold muttering of the others in the clan. In the morning, the stranger would die, unpleasantly if Aero had his way.

Daichi didn't understand why he was so disturbed by that. The stranger had attacked his family, he deserved it.

So, why did he feel like this was all wrong?

Daichi couldn't sleep that night, his mind going back and forth between the stranger with the blood and the stranger across the river.

After some time, at around moon high, Daichi got up and walked outside the cave, being careful not to wake Safia and Riko. He wasn't worried about Hatsu since she seemed just as restless as he was.

He walked down the hillside to a spot by the river bank where he would sit and look at the stars. He laid down on the ground and did just that. His mind was still playing through what had happened today and what tomorrow could bring.

'What force had come over me today?' Daichi wondered as he continued to stare at the sky. 'I've never spoken like that to anyone before, not even in anger. Was it the Goddess speaking her will through me? If so, why me and not Hatsu?'

So many questions were swarming his head like angry bees. At some point, though, he became tired enough to fall asleep.

When he woke up, he noticed that the sky was starting to brighten, meaning dawn was approaching. "I should go back to the cave before anyone notices that I'm missing."

Just as Daichi got up, what he saw across the river made his heart stop. The stranger he had seen earlier had reappeared directly across the river from him.

This time though, his cloak hood was down so he could see his face. The newcomer had brown hair that was as long as his and brown eyes that were currently watching him.

The brunette then smiled at him and stepped forward like he was going into the river.

"Wait!" Daichi called, trying to stop him. The river was way too fast to cross by wading through it, and it was also quite cold and deep.

When the boy approached the water, he closed his eyes like he was meditating. Then, he set his foot on top of the water and began walking across the river.

Daichi just stood there, frozen, as the stranger made his way across the river and came to a stop a few feet away from him.

The clan boy became frightened when the other male began to walk towards him. He turned to run away but was stopped when something cold wrapped around his ankle, nearly making him fall on his face. He looked down and was horrified to see that the grass had somehow wrapped around his ankle, cold due to the early morning dew.

Daichi was so busy trying to get his foot out that he didn't see the other boy approach him until he felt a hand brush against his cheek. His head was turned toward the stranger, making him look directly into each other's eyes.

Daichi started trembling slightly, frightened at how close he was. 'What… is he?' He wondered, thinking he might be a demon.

"Are you cold?" The stranger asked softly as if he didn't want to scare him further.

Daichi was startled to hear him speak, thinking he wouldn't be able to understand him. He didn't get the chance to answer, the brunette just removed his cloak and draped it over his shoulders.

The young clan boy was surprised by how soft and smooth it was. It didn't feel like any kind of animal skin he had ever touched before. And it was warm, making Daichi realize how cold he was previously.

Daichi's fear had died down a little, though now he was confused. "W-what's your name?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly from the cold air.

The mystery boy stepped forward and embraced him, making him go stiff. He tried to pull away, but the stranger just held him tighter.

Daichi could feel his face heating up and hear his heart pounding against his ribcage. He wondered if the stranger could feel it too. 'What's going on? Why am I feeling like this?'

"Judai." He felt the other person whisper into his ear, his warm breath causing the young shaman to shudder at the feeling.

Daichi knew he should pull away, but the longer they stood there like that, the more he felt like he didn't want to.

The stranger, Judai, pulled back slightly so he could look at the other boy's face. Daichi stared into the mystery boy's brown eyes, going into a type of mind-numbed state. He didn't even feel the grass release his ankle.

Suddenly, Judai leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Daichi jumped in surprise but didn't back away.

He felt stunned and dazed at first, but soon started to feel numb like he had just been pulled from the river in the dead of winter. His eyes drooped closed, becoming trapped in the flow of the moment. He vaguely realized that Judai was guiding his body to the ground and soon realized he was lying on his back in the grass, all without breaking the kiss.

Soon though, after what felt like an eternity, they ended the kiss, breathing heavily for air. Daichi opened his eyes and saw Judai looking down at him in a loving manner.

"I never thought I'd find you in this lifetime," He spoke in a voice just barely above a whisper.

Daichi didn't say anything, just stared back at him in dazed confusion. 'What do you mean?' He wanted to ask, but his voice wouldn't work.

Judai then leaned down and held him in a kind of hugging position, his face turned into the nap of his neck, and inhaled deeply as if taking in Daichi's scent. The clan-boy shuddered at the feeling, giggling a little because it also tickled. Daichi returned the hug, and with that, they just laid there, Daichi watching the sky grow brighter as the sun rose.

As they lay there, though, Daichi kept hearing this faint sound in the back of his mind, somebody calling the name Bastion. Daichi just ignored it as best as he could, but then there was another voice.

It was more commanding than the other but also kind of caring, gentle, and familiar for some odd reason.

"Bastion, you don't need to remember this. Wake up."

With that, Daichi's eyes fell closed, and everything went black.

Bastion woke to the feeling of someone shaking him. He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to see Jaden shaking him, looking very concerned.

"Bastion, are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?" Bastion asked, still partially out of it.

"You were moaning in your sleep, and then you started crying!" Jaden answered, fear lacing his voice.

Bastion brought his hand up to his face and felt crust in the corners of his eyes. That meant he had indeed been crying. His full awareness had come back at that point, along with the recollection of what he had just dreamed.

The realization made him sit up suddenly, startling Jaden a bit. "Bastion?"

'What was that?!' Bastion wondered, feeling confused and slightly embarrassed, mainly because Judai looked remarkably like Jaden.

He had never thought of Jaden or anyone in that light before. Heck, up until then, he had believed he was straight.

"Bastion?" Hearing his name, the Ra turned to the brunette next to him, who looked more concerned than before. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Not wanting to worry his friend and rival further, Bastion forced a smile to reassure him. "Uh, yes, I'm fine. I just had a strange dream, that's all…"

Not convinced but also knowing he wasn't going to get an answer, Jaden let it go. This time.

"Do you wanna change rooms, go back to mine?"

"No, no. I'm just gonna try to go back to sleep."

"All right…"

When Bastion laid back down, Jaden did the same and feigned sleep. He wanted to make sure Bastion didn't end up haunted by the past again.

He was surprised, however, when Bastion shifted closer to him. But he didn't complain deep down and moved over to make room for him.

Bastion was confused by that dream, but he was too tired and drained to think about it. He actually didn't even realize he had moved.

Soon, both fell asleep. However, for one of them, it took a lot longer, and the sleep was going to be restless either way.

Okay, chapter three is done. Hopefully, I'll finally get this done and some of my other projects off the ground.

Also, I have a simple message for everyone in America right now; Stop hating each other!

I just saw in the news there has been another mass shooting, the third in two weeks! I didn't even bother reading the article because I'm tired of the hate! And I swear, if I find out it's anti-Asian, anti-Black, or anti-anything related, I'm going to scream!

The violence needs to stop!

Now that I got that out, I'll update as soon as I can. So, read, review, and stay tuned!