The entire trip, Yugi found himself glancing at Yami and almost copying his firm stance. He had always been so good at seeming strong, even in the worst of times. Yugi knew how fragile the Pharaoh actually felt. He would never mention it to him, but Yugi knew.

Now, out of seemingly nowhere, Yami handed over his puzzle to another person. It had been the biggest show of weakness Yugi had seen from Yami in… a long time. It honestly shook Yugi down to his core. Dad didn't understand; he just took the item. But Yugi knew.

Yami still didn't open up to Yugi. The spirit had never been good at playing things off as jokes. Seriously, "brooding over his past?" Yugi knew this had to be much more. But he also recognized Yami's expressions well. The Pharaoh would not be giving answers. He must have thought the family was in too much danger, Yugi supposed, maybe hoped. Hoped that it was only the situation that caused Yami to not confide in Yugi, and not because he didn't think Yugi could…

They were just going to have to be strong together, as they always had been.

Then the three dogs woke up.

"Dark Magician Girl? She's in trouble?" Yugi asked as he stepped around Zara's feet to talk to the three.

"Yugi…" Yami warned. Yugi could feel his and his family's hesitant stares, but Yugi continued on. Thanks to his time in the spirit world, Yugi knew monster body language pretty well. These beasts were not hostile, just scared.

For the first time in probably forever, Yugi felt like he knew what he was doing.

"You three, stop," Yugi said in a stern voice. It was the same voice he used when dueling.

It did the trick, and the dogs stopped wildly flailing and stood at attention, even with their tails still under Zara's claws.

"I promise you three are safe, and we will do everything we can to keep it that way. But to help, we need to know what happened. Could you start from the beginning?" Yugi asked.

The dogs paused for a moment and then jumped right into obeying. They excitedly explained it, all at the same time. Their wild barking was indistinguishable, and what's more, it was loud enough to maybe attract unwanted attention.

"One at a time!" Yami ordered in as he came up behind Yugi.

The dogs immediately snapped their jaws shut when they saw the Pharaoh. They then did a hasty bow to both of them.

As the three dogs calmed down, whimpering and growls could be heard from the other beasts as they began to wake too. Yugi wondered if the family would have to go into hiding again. But Dark Magician, Red-Eyes, and Grandma Blue-Eyes seemed unfazed. They immediately began going to the monsters' side and helping who they could.

"About time they woke up," Red-Eyes said as he collected the monsters and started sorting them by who was hurt.

The three dog spirits seemed worried for their companions, and Yugi wanted to let them go to their friends. But he needed information first.

"You can go to your friends soon, please just tell us what you saw first. Who are you three, and how did you end up here?" Yugi asked. The dogs took in a deep breath and seemed ready to begin the chaos over again, so Yugi pointed at the smallest one. "You first."

The grey pup absolutely lit up at being acknowledged. "Hi, hi! I am Tribulldog! And we were originally stuck in the human dimension. Then we suddenly appeared on this mountain!"

"Is that why they smelled funny? They came from the human world?" Yami whispered to Yugi.

"They also smell of Atlantean magic. Meaning they came through the rift the Knights made." Grandma Blue-Eyes added from across the clearing. She was still calming down the waking beasts and herding them together.

Tribulldog tilted his head in confusion at the dragon's comment. "Rift? Maybe. The beasts that stay in packs assembled in the human world when we realized we couldn't get back. Together we tried to figure out what was going on, but most of us lost consciousness as our energy was depleted. I remember collapsing and closing my eyes for what felt like hours."

"Then we were suddenly back to our domain!" Another dog that looked like Tribulldog but colored black spoke. "It was like, bang! From plains to Domain of the Beasts in an instant!"

Tribulldog snapped at the taller dog for interrupting him and continued. "We awoke with many other beasts like us. We were originally howling in delight when a band of Silents found us!"

"Silents? Was one of them a Silent Magician?" Yugi asked.

"Of course not! We'd never attack our domain guardian. But these three…." Tribulldog growled. "When we saw those tyrants back in our home domain, of course, we attacked! A good thing we did because that was when I saw our leader trapped!"

"Dark Magician Girl?" Yami asked. He didn't miss how Dark Magician floated slightly closer, dropping the beast he was levitating on a surprised Red-Eyes.

"I remember more," the black dog said. "Hi! I'm Tribulldog Mark II! And I remember Dark Magician Girl doing some magic as we fought the Silents. Or I think so… while two Silents fought us, a little one stayed near Dark Magician Girl. He even helped her, I think."

"That wasn't another Silent, you fleabag! It was the Mad Builder!" The third Tribulldog barked.

"No, it wasn't! I saw the blue and white he wore!"

Yugi and Yami glanced at each other as the dogs began fighting over who saw what. Who was by Dark Magician Girl went from another Silent to Marshmallon to even Kuriboh. While Yugi tried to get the dogs to talk sensibly, it was clear the three spirits were more focused on being right than accurate. So Yugi sighed and called for the dogs to settle down again.

"Let's focus on what was said earlier. What was Dark Magician Girl doing while you fought the Silents?"

Tribulldog Mark II spoke. "I think she was trying to use her magic to activate something, a spell maybe. I don't know what happened to her." The three dogs then glanced at each other. "I only remember the sound of whips after that."

"Whips?" Mom asked. The three adults had been slowly inching closer to the dogs the more Yugi spoke to them. Yugi understood why they might have needed some time before they trusted these strange monsters.

"How did you get here then?" Dad asked.

For the first time, no spirit answered. The three seemed honestly confused, tilting their heads back and forth.

"You don't remember?" Yami tried.

"Yes, yes! We don't remember!" The small Tribulldog tried to wag his tail, but Zara's foot stopped him.

The family then looked to the other monster for any insight. At this point, all the beasts had been rounded up and were trying to lick their wounds. Grandma Blue-Eyes was the closest to the interview and seemed to be thinking.

"A whip crack, wild beasts…." Grandma Blue-Eyes then snorted. "Of course, Silent Beast Master."

Zara finally let go of the dogs' tails. She then went to help with the injured beasts so Grandma Blue-Eyes could come over.

"His ability is to take control of beast monsters under a certain star count." Grandma Blue-Eyes said.

"There's a Silent for everything, ain't there?" Dad groaned.

"One Silent can't control this many monsters at once." Red-Eyes gestured to the field of hurt monsters.

Grandma Blue-Eyes nodded. "Yes… Perhaps he simply made them all aggressive against anything he didn't like."

Yugi then noticed Grandpa stroking his beard, a look he well remembered from his childhood (usually when Yugi was about to beet him in a game). Grandpa was about to say something when his breath hitched. He patted his chest as he breathed slightly heavier. Dad immediately came over to help him sit down. Grandpa's pain didn't seem to go away, but he spoke nonetheless.

"So, all these beasts came from the human world, appearing right on top of Dark Magician Girl and a... number of others. The beasts attacked the Silents, and Silent Beast Master made them hostile to anything against him. Let us assume Dark Magician Girl was something the beasts were made to attack. In desperation, she then used one of Yugi's traps to send the pack away. They ended up near this location, and the cave-in attracted them to us." Grandpa listed. "Does that sound plausible?"

Sadly to Yugi, it did. He swallowed hard, but he made sure his voice was light. "Well… we know for sure duel spirits are making it back to this dimension safe for the most part. And we still have a direction to go now. We could find Dark Magician Girl!"

"Or those Silents," Dad muttered.

"It's better than nothing," Yami quickly jumped to defend Yugi's idea. "If we leave now, we might be able to head them off and help Dark Magician Girl if she's still there."

"Quite right." Grandma Blue-Eyes said as she looked to the sun and the landmarks to figure out where they needed to go. "But before we go, I think we should ask the other beasts what they saw-"

Grandma Blue-Eyes was cut off by Mom having another coughing fit, this one she couldn't stop in her usual few seconds.

"Dear?" Dad asked as he came up to her. At that exact moment, Grandpa groaned again. He did his best to hide his pain as both he and Mom waved away everyone's worry.

"I'm fine." They said at about the same time, Mom even through her forced hacks.

Yugi, Yami, and Dad all had the same worried expression. They were torn between which to help if they could help either. That dreaded feeling of helplessness sunk deep into Yugi.

"Looks like we beasts aren't the only ones hurting." A red-furred monster said as they watched the family.

As Yugi's eyes looked over the other beasts, he found many spirits in about the same state Grandpa and Mom were in.

"We can't just leave them all here," Yugi said as he looked out at the small band of beasts. Some couldn't even walk, while others were still having a hard time regaining consciousness.

"Going up the mountain won't be safe for them either," Grandpa said. He, like the beasts around, was trying to work his way to his feet.

Yugi was distracted by a series of heavy thuds. Red-Eyes was looking over the injured, his tail curling up and down as he thought. Grandma Blue-Eyes saw him too. It looked like she wanted to ignore him and focus on getting every beasts' story. But Yugi could feel the bit of friendly affection she had for the black dragon. Grandma Blue-Eyes knew just as well Red-Eyes going quiet was out of the norm for him. So she went to his side and whispered.

"What is bothering you?"

Red-Eyes didn't respond at first. He instead looked up at the darkening purple sky, the rift still hanging above them. "I really caused all this, didn't I?"

"What could you possibly mean?"

"All of this. The Lockdown and the Knights being gone. I may not have seen the Silents coming, but them being such a threat is also because of me." Red-Eyes shook his head. "I know you always thought little of me, but now I see how true it is. I caused all this trouble with one wish. All to flirt."

Grandma Blue-Eyes hissed between her teeth. "Yes, but… you are fixing it now. I also refuse to believe you broke so many rules as the Wishing Well Guardian just to court. You wanted to give those Gandora that were on the run a safe haven. And while where this all led is something the Knights are going to have a long chat with you about, I would still feel good in that knowledge. It was to help a group that desperately needed it."

Red-Eyes chuckled. "Now you're giving me too much credit. I had nowhere near as good of intentions as that." He scanned the injured spirits and then looked down the mountain. "I should make sure these guys are taken care of. It's all I could do in the human world, and I believe it's the most important thing now."

Before Grandma Blue-Eyes could ask, Red-Eyes pulled away and spoke to the crowd.

"I will lead any injured down the mountain! If we can get to Dark Magician Girl's castle, we'll have more supplies and can better regroup with other monsters. Maybe we can even send monsters up to help the Mutos."

"Red-Eyes? Is it really a good idea to split up?" Yami asked.

Red-Eyes looked at the limping and injured beasts and nodded. "I can't leave them here for whatever Silent finds them next."

"But you'll have no backup if you're hurt," Yugi added. "We don't know who could have been teleported down the mountain."

"Well, he'll have me," Grandpa said. "I'm not as young as I used to be. Just this journey has thrown out my back again, and now even my heart feels off." He said as he patted his chest. "Climbing a mountain might be pushing it. But with Red-Eyes, I can act as a radio for you guys with my mental connection with Blue-Eyes."

"Grandpa." Yugi ran up to him. He wanted to beg him not to leave them, that they could find some way to make sure he kept up. But the way Grandpa had to bend forward just to stand, coupled with the obvious pain he was in, made Yugi stop. "Are you sure?"

Red-Eyes then came up to Grandpa. The dragon kneeled so the older man could safely clamber onto his shoulder. Grandpa visibly relaxed once he was in place and Red-Eyes stood. "Perfectly. I'm not backing down from this adventure out of any fear. I simply know my limits. I need a different role if this is going to work."

Both Dad and Mom also attempted to talk Grandpa out of his plan, but there was no budging him. He had a goal, and he was going to follow it, stubborn as always.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon! We need all the fighters we can get. Especially if we are fighting Silents." Grandma Blue-Eyes argued, Zara silently standing beside her.

Red-Eyes didn't meet either Blue-Eyes's gaze. "I owe it to these beasts."

Grandma Blue-Eyes seemed determined to disagree, but before either could fight, Zara took a step forward. She rubbed her head below Red-Eyes's chin. She then pulled away with one final nod. If dragons could blush, Yugi thought Red-Eyes would have.

"Ah, thanks, Zara. I know you two will be more than enough for anything this mountain has in store." Red-Eyes managed to stammer. Dark Magician then tapped Red-Eyes's side with his wand. "Sorry, you three. I'd never forget you, battle buddy."

Grandma Blue-Eyes still didn't seem happy about this, but Zara's and Dark Magician's confidence made her relent. "Fine! But I'll be checking on your progress every five minutes. You better be prepared with an update." Grandma Blue-Eyes even stood on her back feet to look at Red-Eyes and Grandpa face to face. Grandpa only smiled and nodded.

Yugi stood back with a frown. He didn't hide it even when Yami came to his side.

"I'm not a fan of this either. We are about to lose two of our strongest members." Yami then nudged Yugi's side. "But I trust them."

Yugi had to take a deep breath and release it. "I do too. I trust them."

"I'm not being left behind!" Yugi and Yami turned to see it was Mom that shouted that.

Dad tried to speak with his hands defensively held up. "It's going to get strenuous the higher we go, Yui. Now that we have other options, maybe it would be best if you went down with-"

"Oh? You think I can't do it? Too feeble?"

"You know I don't mean that."

"Well! We need all the help we can get, and I am more than willing. You are not abandoning me for my 'safety' again!"

Dad shrunk back, and Mom nodded with a humph. She then collected more herbs in the area and forced them into her pocket. "I fought this illness all my life. A little coughing and a twisted wrist won't stop me." When she realized the boys' eyes were on her, she smiled at them and then strutted away.

"Twisted? It's a fractured wrist," Dad said, knowing Yui wasn't listening to him. "And it's what sometimes comes after your coughing that I'm worried about."

Dad then glanced at the boys and shook his head. He followed after Mom and didn't try to dissuade her again, only apologized. Yugi knew there wasn't much else he could do.

With everyone accounted for, the groups were prepared to depart. Every beast ended up going with Red-Eyes, even the three dogs. Following the pack, Yugi supposed. Yugi decided it was better for their safety anyways.

"Thanks for letting me ride you, Red-Eyes," Grandpa said as he still sat on Red-Eyes's shoulder. The other injured beasts were carried on the dragon's back or followed behind.

"Anytime! But I know you don't need it at your age." Red-Eyes said, obviously trying to make Grandpa feel better. "You don't look a day over ninety-nine!"

"I'm in my seventies,"

"Really? Wow, humans are short-lived things."

Yugi chuckled and then finally smiled. It was about this moment Yugi realized Grandpa was just as good as the Pharaoh at looking strong when he undoubtedly felt weak. The boy hoped it was hereditary.

Yugi watched the groups separate. He then turned to see Dark Magician. The spirit gave a slight smile. This was the first time Yugi had seen such an expression from the spirit. It was such a small change, but it instantly made Yugi feel better. He guessed this was the mage's way of trying to comfort him. When Yugi nodded at him, Dark Magician gave a slight bow and floated to Zara's side. He silently communicated with her and then flew ahead. Grandma Blue-Eyes translated and told the group that Dark Magician was going to scout ahead.

Yugi hurried to catch up with the family. He then noticed that Yami had initially wanted to remain back by Yugi but seemed forced to stay with the front. In fact, Yami was slightly stumbling just to keep up. Yugi then saw his Dad staying up near the dragons, the rocky puzzle jangling off his hip. Yugi remembered Yami's five-foot rule. Yami being his proud self wasn't going to ask Dad to slow down. Thankfully Yugi wasn't the only one that noticed.

"Dear, this isn't a march." Mom gently touched Dad's shoulder.

Dad then looked back and saw the struggling Yami. He wordlessly slowed down, letting the dragons take the lead. Yugi could almost feel Yami's relief. But that didn't stop Yugi from worrying about the whole situation.

Yugi kept his mouth shut and walked along with Yami. And he really did try not to pry. The reason Yami wanted to be separated from the puzzle was obviously something he didn't want to tell. But as they got farther and farther up the mountain, the thick forest turning into brush and cliffs, Yugi couldn't stand it anymore.

"Yami, are you ok? And be honest." Yugi asked.

Yami paused and seemed to be thinking when a growl interrupted him. Both slightly jumped, only to giggle when they realized it was Yami's stomach.

"Sorry, I haven't been very focused on eating these last few days," Yami said.

"I don't think any of us have." Mom said as she rubbed her own stomach. Yugi could tell Dad was probably just as hungry with how he glanced back at the others.

"We can't stop to forage for fruit." Grandma Blue-Eyes said. Her tail then ripped off a branch from one of the nearby bushes. She pushed it into Mom's arms as the dragons kept walking forward. "We will do with the leaves around."

"Excuse me?" Mom asked as she dropped the branch.

"You are excused. Grab some leaves, and don't dally." Grandma Blue-Eyes answered with a tail flick.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, Mom." Yugi piped up as he ran to the front of the group. "Remember, this is a perfect land. Humans can eat just about anything." He then whispered to Yami, who had followed him. "It... doesn't taste the best." Yugi then returned his attention to his family. "But it fills and gives a surprising amount of energy."

Everyone stared at Yugi.

"You've been only feeding him leaves?!" Mom gasped as she glared at the dragons.

"Of course not! We gave him fruit when we could." Grandma Blue-Eyes tutted.

"That's not near enough for a growing boy!" Mom said.

"It's not like I could get meat with nearly everything here having some form of sentience." Yugi quickly put in.

Zara got the group's attention and then proceeded to take a chomp out of some bushes on the cliff face they were traveling around. She spat out the branches and chewed the leaves as she went. It then looked like she tried to give a leather-winged form of a thumbs up.

Yugi could see everyone's horrified face and knew that examples may not have been what they needed.

"I promise just a few of these leaves will be all we need. See?" Yugi then grabbed some foliage and quickly chewed and swallowed it. Doing his best to not make a sour face. (He remembered how Silent Magician had soundlessly laughed at his first time eating these leaves). "Now Yami will prove it too."

Yami's royal countenance was the only thing stopping him from looking green. But Yugi knew the more that tried it, the more the family would follow. So Yugi gave the most enormous panda eyes he could. Yami stared at him for a few moments before chuckling. He then gently pushed Yugi's face away.

"I know what you are doing. Those eyes won't work on me."

"What eyes? These are my normal eyes." Yugi then licked Yami's palm when he wouldn't take it off of Yugi's face.

"Oh gross!" Yami's voice became a lot less regal as he rubbed his palm on his jacket. "You truly have turned wild out here."

Yami's stomach growled again. Everyone heard it, no matter how uncaring Yami tried to seem. So he stopped in the shadow of the cliff wall. There, a perfect bush grew out of the rocks. Yami sighed, plucked a few choice leaves, closed his eyes, and chewed.

The family was speechless as Yami's face scrunched. The adults looked aghast; the dragons treated this like it was an everyday thing. Slowly Yami's chewing got faster, and he even opened one eye as he swallowed.

"It's… not terrible," Yami said.

"If he keeps eating, in about five minutes, he will have all the energy of one of your earth meals." Grandma Blue-Eyes said as she used her tail to push the other Mutos to the bush. "I will not have you at less than your best, particularly where we are going."

Dad and Mom looked still just as trepidatious as before. So Yugi grabbed some more leaves and ran up to his parents, once again busting out the panda eyes.

"Please eat. I know it's bitter, but you can think of it like the medicine you used to give me. It tastes bad, but it's for your own good."

Mom was the one to reach out first. She took the food and looked at Dad, maybe to see if he would stop her. He didn't, and she forced the greenery into her mouth. Like Yami, it took time, but she seemed surprised that it wasn't too bad. Yugi then tried to give some to Dad, but he pushed it away.

"Come on, Dad. From all your work stories, I know you have eaten worse."

"I have. I've eaten rats, snakes, and insects as big as my hand! But I am not eating random hocus-pocus leaves!"

"Dear, the boys are right." Mom tried. "It's not bad. And we trust Yugi's word, right?" But when she reached for his hand, he pulled away.

"Please eat," Yami added as he came to Dad's other side. Dad was cornered by the one enemy he couldn't fight.

Dad threw his hands in the air and walked past his family to the stone wall. "Fine, FINE! Just eat random things we find because, you know, magic. That's just how things work now."

Dad reached behind him, but instead of grabbing leaves, he ripped some rocks from the wall and started crunching. His scowl soon turned into surprise. "You know what? This really isn't bad. Kind of reminds me of rock candy-"

The duel spirits were the ones to look horrified this time. Zara was the only one to keep a straight face, and even that was a tenuous blank expression.

"Did I just poison myself?" Dad asked with a surprisingly steady voice for a man that just ate rocks.

"No…" Grandma Blue-Eyes said. "Simply... why? Stones are not for eating."

Dad began sputtering with what he had left in his mouth as Mom started laughing. "Oh honey, it looks like your childhood need to eat shiny rocks returns."

"It was one time!" Dad spat out, along with the rocks.

"Now, two times." Yugi snickered as he brought Dad some real food. That being random, hocus-pocus leaves. "Here."

Dad chewed the leaves, trying to hide his embarrassment, as Yami looked to the rock wall.

"This must be some soft minerals if you could crunch it so easily," Yami commented.

Yugi looked at the cliff as well. It was then he realized Dad hadn't grabbed rocks, but crystals, clear crystals. There was a long vein of it that traveled around the next bend.

"I… I might recognize these," Yugi said as he started following the vein.

"Wait! Stay with the group, Yugi!" Mom called.

Yugi was too focused to stop, but he knew his family would follow him. And follow him, they did. All the way to a crevice in the mountain. It was big enough for only Yugi to slip into, but what he found inside made him gasp.

In front of him were nearly monolithic crystal structures that stood taller than Yugi. When the family caught up to him, he had managed to chip off a piece as thick as his arm. It was surprisingly lightweight. Yugi could easily lift it and throw it despite its size.

"Yugi?" Yami asked as he put a hand on one of the crystals growing outside the crack.

"Yugi should indeed recognize these crystals. They are all throughout the domain." Grandma Blue-Eyes explained. "Most of the monsters here use it as a building material since it's so strong."

"Really?" Yami asked as he broke off his own piece with one hand.

"Well, to duel monsters, it is a tough substance." Grandma Blue-Eyes grumbled.

"I actually remember them from something else," Yugi explained as he handed his mom a crystal and started breaking off another.

Yugi was about to retell the story he heard from Giga, the legend of how the Gandora got their red orbs. But when his eyes fell on his dad, Yugi suddenly felt a lot less talkative, especially with this specific gem's backstory.

"But I suppose it doesn't matter where I heard it from," Yugi said as he pulled out two more crystal pieces, one about the same length as his earlier chunk and one much smaller. He decided to hand both to Dad since Yami already had a chip.

"What matters now is that we humans now have a way to defend ourselves," Yugi said as he held out another piece he broke off. Grandma Blue-Eyes quizzically sniffed the chunk and then pushed a claw against the crystal.

"Could you push harder, please? Like you were attacking it," Yugi asked. Grandma Blue-Eyes still looked confused but did as asked.

After a swipe from Grandma Blue-Eyes, the crystal started glowing in white light. Yugi smiled and walked away from everyone. He then smashed the gem against the rock wall. The crystal sparkled briefly and then sent a burst of energy out into the rock. It caused a chunk of the wall to fall and reveal more crystal.

"You are right, Grandma Blue-Eyes. To duel monsters, this is a strong substance. But as you said earlier, we humans don't have ATK. And that seems to be the only thing these crystals can absorb."