Bakura didn't see the big deal – the dark was nothing to be afraid of. In fact, for his "hobby," it was often a friend. So Joey's declaration that they'd have to stop for the night seemed only like wasted time. He'd even almost offered to drive the wagon but didn't want it to become an expectation. So, stopped they did, on the vestiges of some small unaligned town.
Marik was predictably intrigued by everything that moved, and Serenity found the town cute. Yami had sobered up enough to be decent, if a bit boring. Gone were his jovial gait and sense of humor, replaced by an introspective and solemn attitude that made him significantly less fun. At least Joey, the group's de facto leader (well, more like shepherd) kept things interesting.
For example, Bakura noted, the blond was talking quickly and quietly with one of the townsfolk. Joey had gone to ask for directions to a general store, but this conversation was far more grave than simple instructions. Curious, he sauntered over to the pair.
"– by the woods," the young woman was saying. "I-its too dangerous."
"Well, are there any campsites we can use?" Joey replied.
The woman pursed her lips. "You'd be best off in the next town, but riding this time of night is just asking for trouble."
"And what's wrong with staying here, exactly?" Bakura asked. The two conversationalists jumped, and the woman used the momentary distraction to escape, scampering off toward a cabin down the way. "What was that all about?"
Joey shook his head. "She said the town's in some trouble. Folks have gone missing overnight lately."
Bakura raised an eyebrow. "That's more than 'some trouble.'"
Joey was silent. "Let's not tell the others for now. I don't know what to do just yet, and there's no use freaking them out."
It was, again, obvious to Bakura what they should do, but he simply shrugged and agreed. If the time came, he could always break off from the group. No need getting snatched for a few friendly and horribly naïve faces.
The group had unofficially decided to reconvene for dinner. The sun was just beginning to set, but already the townspeople were disappearing into their homes for the night. Bakura looked at the others; if they thought something was strange, they didn't show it. He shook his head at their obliviousness, catching Joey's attention from the other side of their commandeered benches. The blond narrowed his eyes in warning, and that was that.
"There!" Yami said, dusting off his hands on his thick pants. In front of him, a bonfire started to grow and crackle. They were all drawn by the light and warmth and sat around the fire in comfortable silence, munching away on the mealy dishes Joey had bought for them.
"Anyone remember to get something stiff to drink?" Yami asked as he set his bowl down beside him.
"No," Joey said sternly. "You've probably drunk a week's worth already. You're cut off."
Yami sighed. "Fine, fine. But can we do something? All this silence is eating at me."
"Why don't we tell stories?" Serenity suggested." It'd be a waste of a bonfire not to."
"Sure," Bakura agreed. "Why don't you start? Why do you two want to cross the Betwixt so badly?" He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
"Oh, um..." She glanced at Joey, who shrugged. "Well, we're on a quest to save the Black Magician King. He's sick, you see, and we have to get the other three Sorcerers to help."
"Ah, the Kingdom of Black," Yami said. "That explains the robes." He nodded to Joey's Acolyte uniform. "Though that doesn't explain why you three are embarking on this quest."
"You mean us two," Joey corrected. "Serenity and I are on the quest. We picked up Marik along the way, like you guys."
"What made you tag along?" Bakura asked the ex-Golem.
"She freed me," and Marik nodded to Serenity. "Also, I wanted to see the world, and they were already traveling to new places."
"A Golem, eh?" Yami said, stroking his chin. "That's powerful dark magic."
Marik nodded eagerly. "My former master was a strong mage. He helped many in our town."
"And then abandoned you," Joey mumbled under his breath. Marik didn't respond, but Serenity and Yami winced. Even Bakura side-eyed Marik with newfound sympathy. "Doesn't matter," Joey said quickly, "you're with us now."
"It's okay, Marik, I'd... I'd know a thing or two about abandonment." Yami closed his eyes and sighed, then continued. "Shameful as it is to admit it now, I was a Sentry some time ago."
"Wow!" Joey said. "A real life Sentry. That's so –!"
"I assure you that it is not."
Joey looked shocked, then crestfallen.
"Wait, what's a Sentry?" Serenity asked.
"They're only the most notorious law enforcement band in the Betwixt!" Joey said, perking back up. "See, the towns and villages in the Betwixt are unaligned, meaning that none of the Sorcerers claim them – or protect them. The Sentry rose up to help protect the Betwixt from invaders, criminals, you name it."
Bakura was unimpressed. He folded his arms and turned to look back at the town. The people there were terrified of their friends and families disappearing – and the Sentry was nowhere to be found, as usual.
"That does sound cool!" Serenity said.
"Please, don't," Yami insisted. He held up a hand. "I quit being a Sentry after...after they stopped being what they were about."
This regained Bakura's attention. A Sentry on the precipice of admitting fault? This he had to see.
"They started out as a noble band, which is what drew me in to begin with. But after a while, they started to lose their way."
"What do you mean?" Joey asked. "What happened?"
"Well, they...ugh, I need a drink." Yami looked down at the ground and massaged his temples.
"He means they turned into criminals themselves," Bakura spat, and everyone turned to him. "They were no better than the people they locked up. Worse, they started selling their services to the highest bidders." He huffed. "Nothing more than a gang of mercenaries hopped up on self-righteous authority."
Yami's lips pressed together; he couldn't deny the truth. "That's why I left," he said quietly. "Anyway, what do you do?" His tone had a bit more bite than he probably intended, but Bakura indulged him anyway.
"I'm a woodsman, I do seasonal work." He grinned. "And in between jobs, I earn my keep with some honest thieving. More than what you can say, I'm sure."
Again, Yami looked as though he wanted to say something but was conflicted. The others waited for him to speak, but eventually he sighed and dropped his gaze to the fire in silence.
Bakura scowled; it was no fun if your opponent wouldn't fight back, so he decided to change the subject. "You think the King will reward us for saving him?"
"I never thought about it," Serenity said. "Especially since it was kind of my fault he's sick to begin with." At her companions' questioning expressions, she continued, "I'm...actually from another world. I was very sick when I was brought here somehow, and the King must have caught it from me. So I vowed to help him." She scratched her cheek. "It's nothing, really. I owe it to him."
There was something in the girl's tone that resonated with each of them. Here she was, this young, innocent thing from some foreign land (was it really another world?) dedicating herself to saving a King she owed no loyalty to. The least they could do was help her.
"Reward or not, I'll help," Marik declared. "You saved me, so it's the least I could do."
Serenity waved her hands. "N-no, it's okay. Besides, you saved yourself –"
"I'll help, too," Yami said. "I can start to wash away my sins and those of my former comrades with this noble deed."
"Have at it, man," Joey said with wide smile.
Marik and Yami turned expectantly to Bakura, who chewed his lip in thought before throwing caution to the wind. "To hell with it," he said, standing up. "I'm sure I could use a Sorcerer's good favor for profit. I'm in."
The rest of the group let out a cheer, and then laughed at their own enthusiasm.
Their merriment was cut short by a shrill scream from the other side of town. Without thinking, Bakura took off toward the sound to see what was going on, already fearing the worst with his knowledge of this town's predicament. He briefly registered that the others had jumped up to follow him (that was a first), and together they ran to the town's forest border.
A lonely cabin sat there with its front door bashed in. A woman was crumpled on the ground in front of the cabin, sobbing, and there were drag marks leading out of the house. Bakura traced the marks toward the forest and saw rustling in the foliage.
"Stay and help her," he told Serenity. "You," and he pointed to Yami, who happened to be the closest to him, "come with me."
The pair dove into the forest where Bakura had seen the rustling. On the other side of the dense line of bushes was a small clearing, and in the center of it were two figures. One was a boy; the other was an inhuman creature with its arm wrapped around the boy's neck so it could continue dragging him away. At the intrusion, both boy and creature stopped and looked up.
"Unhand him!" Yami shouted. "Now!"
The creature hissed and proceeded to drag the boy deeper into the woods. The boy squirmed and gasped, unable to make a single utterance with how tight the thing was squeezing his throat.
Bakura unsheathed a dagger and lunged after the creature. He slashed at its arm, forcing the thing to release the boy with a howl. Weirdly, though, instead of slicing flesh like he expected, the dagger sank into what felt like sludge. When he pried the blade back, he was surprised to see nothing staining the silver, not even blood.
The creature got over the temporary pain and was angry now. It started lashing out wildly, and Bakura had no problem dodging and deflecting the attacks. Finally, he drove the dagger into the thing's chest, and before he could wonder whether it had a heart that could be pierced as such, the creature went limp and collapsed to the ground.
Black tendrils fell from its body, as though unraveling, and vanished in wisps of dark smoke. When it was gone, the only trace of it was a faint impression in the grass where the scuffle had happened.
"It...it just vanished," Yami said, clearly in awe. He was cradling the boy, who was shivering and watching the spot where the creature was just moments ago with wide eyes.
"I noticed," Bakura replied, though for once he hadn't meant to be sardonic. "What was that thing?"
"A Shadow Ghoul. I haven't seen one of those since the early days of the Sentry."
The three made their way back to the cabin, where Marik and Joey were standing guard outside the front door. When they saw the group, they visibly relaxed.
"We didn't know what to think," Marik said when they were close enough.
"Is he okay?" Joey asked, nodding to the boy.
"Just in shock," Yami said. He put his hands on the boy's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "You're okay now, you understand? You're home, safe and sound."
The boy hesitated, then nodded. Then, the door burst open, and the woman from earlier rushed to scoop the boy up in her arms. "Oh, Lyle, you're okay!" She turned to Bakura and Yami tearfully and mouthed a "thank you" before ushering the boy inside. "Everyone will know of your act of heroism," she said behind her. "Please stay with us tonight. We haven't much room, but it's warm."
Once the travelers were settled in the front room, Lyle's mother, Luria, bade them a good night and trudged back to bed. When she was out of earshot, Yami turned to the group.
"This town is safe for now, but that Shadow Ghoul could not have been working alone."
"Shadow Ghoul? Is that what took the boy?" Serenity asked.
Yami nodded. "They're nasty creatures summoned by only the worst kind of magic. They feed off of life energy and have a particular taste for humans." Serenity shuddered.
"If it was summoned like you say, then there must be a mage somewhere around here," Joey pointed out. "And a powerful one at that."
"I wonder..." Marik said, tapping his chin. "Small children kept disappearing in my town, as well, until everyone decided to move. I wonder if it was the same Shadow Ghoul and it moved further west because it needed to feed."
"Not likely," Bakura said, "the town has been dealing with this for a while now."
"Wait, how do you know that?" Yami asked, arching an eyebrow.
Bakura exchanged a look with Joey. "He, uh, overheard a villager warning us not to camp here," Joey replied. "I made him promise not to say anything, I didn't want to scare you guys over nothing."
"Well, it wasn't nothing," Yami grumbled.
"But there's a bigger problem here," Serenity interrupted. "If there was a Shadow Ghoul behind the disappearances in Marik's town, then it couldn't be the same one that's been here the whole time. That means there are more than one. Who knows how many?"
They went silent. Serenity was right – someone had summoned these Ghouls and were letting them run amok, and they didn't even know how many there were or where they'd strike next.
"Well, we're not gonna solve the mystery in a night," Joey said. "Let's get some sleep. We're already on one quest, and we need to be well rested for it."
