Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! I do own Maude, Lilith, Othai, Shai, and Devi, though. Enjoy!
THANKYOU ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED!!! I LUV U ALL!!!
GETTING READY TO LEAVE
Five month later, Ryou was sitting on his cot reading Where There is no Time. Maude and Lilith came in just as he reached the third chapter, The Places Where Time Stops . He looked up and said, "When is the next meal? This time freezing thing is confusing."
Maude chuckled. "Not for a while, youngster. Right now you have to stop reading that fascinating book of yours," Ryou snorted, "and help us with Devi She's been ill. And you know she'll let only you near her." Maude put out her hand to help him from his cot. "Come."
Ryou put down his 'fascinating' book and sighed. "I think you've cursed me. You made me heal her and gentle her and now she follows her around like a puppy whenever she can." He grasped Maude's hand and let her pull him roughly off his bed.
Lith grabbed his other arm and they marched down the hall, Maude and Lith on either side of Ryou.
When they came to where Devi was kept, she flung herself at the door and began letting off little puffs of smoke. Ryou carefully opened the door and protected himself against the enthusiastic greeting of the black phoenix. "Easy, girl, if you murder me I won't come and see you." She flew gracefully over to her perch. Ryou looked at her and saw that her feathers were
a bit dim and her eyes were cloudy. Lith and Maude all sat on the bench and watched as Ryou used all they had taught him.
Ryou sat down on the floor and mindcalled Devi over. She nestled herself into his lap and held still as he placed both of his hands on either side of her head and began his meditation.
He pictured in his mind the way her body looked from the inside. He searched her whole body until he found the patch of shadow. He burned it away with the fire that was his core. He conducted a second search, but found nothing.
He opened his eyes and set her sprained wing. She did look better, he noticed. Her feathers shone and the icy blue of her eyes was clear. Devi cooed in pleasure as he scratched right on the back of her cold-fire neck.
Lith applauded and Maude set down a tray of food. She winked. "Food for the poor, hungry healer." Ryou grinned back and began wolfing down his food. Devi ruffled her feathers and perched herself on his shoulder.
Afterwards, Lith went to check on Shai, her white dragon and Maude, accompanied by Ryou and Devi, went to go pack. There journey back to the upper world was soon to come.
Maude took out a small pack and began putting things in it. She checked things off while she put them in. "Reading material, brush for Othai, don't want him shedding all over the place now do we. Ahhh, here it is." Maude pulled out a long, intricately, if a bit roughly, carved walking stick. She looked at it lovingly. "Wouldn't go anywhere without it." She laid
it on her bed and went on packing. By the time she was done, her pack was only about half full.
Ryou stared at it. "Is that all? I didn't see you put in a change of clothes."
Maude looked at him, startled. "Clothes take up room. And plus, I don't need to change my clothes. They're magicked against dirt and grit. I'm the only thing that needs washing." She looked around, seeing if she'd forgotten anything. "Oops. Can't forget the money." Maude pulled out a bag of ancient coins.
Ryou stared at them. "You can't use those! You might be able to sell them to a museum, but the currency has changed quite a bit since you came down here." He pulled a small bag out of his pocket. "These are still in currency."
Maude frowned at her handful of silver coins. Then she sighed. "I should have known. I guess you don't really think of that stuff, when you're a thousand eighteen years old. In fact, I'm surprised we speak the same language."
Ryou nodded and smiled faintly. He began putting his stuff in another bag when Lilith came in with Shai curled up on her shoulders. She glared at Maude. "Must we bring that evil wolf of your's?"
Maude groaned. "What's he done this time?"
"He tried to frighten poor Shai to death by having a long conversation with her about how hungry he was!"
Maude groaned and sat on her cot. She put her head in her hands. "Why, oh why, did I have to bond to that creature? Why couldn't I have had a nice creature, like Shai or Devi?"
Ryou patted her sympathetically on the shoulder. "We'll live. Othai's not that bad."
Lith began packing and ended up with about as much in her bag as Maude. Ryou wasn't having such luck. It wasn't that he had a lot of stuff, it was that it all seemed important. Finally he just put in what was absolutely necessary and left the rest behind. His pack still looked huge compared to Maude and Lith's packs.
Furg, the giant thing that had found Ryou, was going to be taking care of their domain while Maude and Lith were away. He snorted goodbye to them as they left.
Maude led them through the crystal tunnel and back to where the stone circle was above their heads. She started chanting and the circle came down. They stepped onto it and it began to rise. Ryou found himself not far away from where Maude had found him.
They began their trek to the mouth of the cave. Lith conjured up witch-lights so that they could see. Ryou started seeing flecks of blood on some of the stones and realized that this must have been the path he had walked nine months ago. Othai was stalking ahead of them, sometimes running off into the shadows in search of imaginary quarries.
When they finally reached the opening, Lith had to cast a spell to shade their eyes from the sun. Ryou had forgotten how green the leaves were and how blue the sky could be. Maude was running barefoot in a green field, laughing like a young child. Lilith was walking through a small stream with her shoes under her arms. Ryou just watched them, smiling, as they seemed to grow younger, surrounded by things of their ancient memory. Maude then went over to the stream and splashed Lith playfully. Lilith, surprised, fell backwards. Maude couldn't help but howl with laughter. But Lith got her back by raising a sheet of water and letting it drop on her head. Finally, once they were both soaking, they came over to Ryou with delighted grins on
their faces.
Maude went over to a rock and sat down to dry off and engaged herself in a conversation with a rock squirrel. Lith climbed up a tree and sat talking to an eagle. Ryou felt immediately out of place and started to talk to Devi. But she was too excited to say much.
Once Maude and Lith were dry, Lith put her shoes back on and they began traveling down the road towards his home. As they walked, he began worrying about his stolen Millennium Ring. And Ratri He shivered as he thought of her, which caused him to get a funny look from Maude, since it was quite warm. What was Ratri doing with it? Did he really want to know? He decided he did. He felt as if that thing was his responsibility and any evil the world was suffering from it was partly his fault.
Maude and Lith didn't looked nearly as worried. They were singing songs in ancient tongues and joking with each other. Shai was flying above, enjoying the sensation of the wing under her wings, and Othai was chasing rabbits. Devi was staying on his shoulder, though she was always chittering in his mind about all the odd things.
By midday Lilith was able to take the shading spell of their eyes. By nightfall Maude and Lilith seemed like they had never have been given such a large treat as sleeping on the ground. Lith made a fire and Maude gathered wood. Ryou found that they wouldn't let him do anything. As they sat around the fire, Maude roasting a rabbit Othai had caught, Lith began
singing in elvish. Her voice rose above the wind in an eerie soprano.
"Ai! Laurie lantar lassi surien,
Yeni unotime ve ramar aldaron!
Yeni ve linte yuldar avanie
mi oromardi lisse-miruvoreva
andune pella, Vardo tellumar
nu luini yassen tintilar ieleni
omaryo airetari-lirinen."
She took a drink of water, then continued,
"Si man i yulme nin enquantuva?
"An si Tintalle Varda Oiolosseo
ve fanyar maryat Elentari ortane,
ar ilye tier undulave lumbule;
ar sin danoriello caita mornie
i falaminnar imbe met, ar hisie
untupa Calaciryo miri oiale.
Si vanwa na, Romello vanwa, Valimar!
"Namarie! Nai hiruvalye Valimar. Nai elye hiuva. Namarie!"
She finished and then the rabbit was done. They spent some time quiet, stuffing their faces full of rabbit and taking long drinks of water.
To Ryou it all seemed like a story. The song had woven a spell around the evening, making it the magickal kind of time where all you wanted to do was sit and look at the stars.
When they finally lay down on the soft earth to sleep, Lith let out a long sigh of contentment. Maude rolled onto her back so that she could watch the stars and it seemed like nothing could ever go wrong.
That was when the dreams started. That peaceful, magickal night. Ryou had fallen asleep with a full stomach and had Devi for warmth. That was when Ratri came dancing across his minds eyes. In his dream she had his Millennium Ring and was taunting his with it. "Come and get, little child." Ratri's hate filled face contorted into sick joy when Ryou found himself to be
tied by his ankles and wrists. He struggled, but that only made Ratri begin singing and dancing around him. After one horrified second, he realized that she was singing the song Lilith had been singing. Only now it was warped and mangled, all the quiet joy squeezed out of it by the words Ratri had substituted. The dream held him fast, no matter how hard he tried to wake up. It held him all night.
In the morning he found a concerned Maude bending over him. He tried to sit up, but found that he had managed to stick both of his wrists into tree roots and Othai was spread across his ankles. Maude took out one of her knives and hacked his wrists out of their prison and made Othai get off his feet. She helped him to his feet and offered him breakfast. When he
didn't respond she looked at him worriedly "Ryou, are you all right?"
He looked into the real worry in her eyes and wanted to cry. Why did they have to be so good to him? Half the time he was with them they made him want to cry by being tender and kind.He shook his head. "I just had bad dreams, that's all." More that anything he wanted to tell her, but he didn't want her to think he was soft and scared easily. But, he chided himself, he knew them too well to think that they wouldn't believe him. Maude herself had had some seemingly ludicrous dreams about part of the cave falling in, right outside their door. And she had been terrified by them. But they had come true. Part of the tunnel had collapsed. Surely she would believe him. But he just couldn't tell her. "Sure. Breakfast sounds great,"
he said after a very long pause. She got him some berries and bread in silence.
Later, when they were about to go, Lith came back from the long hike she had taken. She said she had scouted ahead and that, if they wanted to make good time, she would have to Change.
Ryou found that confusing. Change? Why did she need to change? Lilith, like Maude, always wore the same clothing. But Lith set him straight by changing into a black dragon before his very eyes. He and Maude mounted her and she took flight.
THANKYOU ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED!!! I LUV U ALL!!!
GETTING READY TO LEAVE
Five month later, Ryou was sitting on his cot reading Where There is no Time. Maude and Lilith came in just as he reached the third chapter, The Places Where Time Stops . He looked up and said, "When is the next meal? This time freezing thing is confusing."
Maude chuckled. "Not for a while, youngster. Right now you have to stop reading that fascinating book of yours," Ryou snorted, "and help us with Devi She's been ill. And you know she'll let only you near her." Maude put out her hand to help him from his cot. "Come."
Ryou put down his 'fascinating' book and sighed. "I think you've cursed me. You made me heal her and gentle her and now she follows her around like a puppy whenever she can." He grasped Maude's hand and let her pull him roughly off his bed.
Lith grabbed his other arm and they marched down the hall, Maude and Lith on either side of Ryou.
When they came to where Devi was kept, she flung herself at the door and began letting off little puffs of smoke. Ryou carefully opened the door and protected himself against the enthusiastic greeting of the black phoenix. "Easy, girl, if you murder me I won't come and see you." She flew gracefully over to her perch. Ryou looked at her and saw that her feathers were
a bit dim and her eyes were cloudy. Lith and Maude all sat on the bench and watched as Ryou used all they had taught him.
Ryou sat down on the floor and mindcalled Devi over. She nestled herself into his lap and held still as he placed both of his hands on either side of her head and began his meditation.
He pictured in his mind the way her body looked from the inside. He searched her whole body until he found the patch of shadow. He burned it away with the fire that was his core. He conducted a second search, but found nothing.
He opened his eyes and set her sprained wing. She did look better, he noticed. Her feathers shone and the icy blue of her eyes was clear. Devi cooed in pleasure as he scratched right on the back of her cold-fire neck.
Lith applauded and Maude set down a tray of food. She winked. "Food for the poor, hungry healer." Ryou grinned back and began wolfing down his food. Devi ruffled her feathers and perched herself on his shoulder.
Afterwards, Lith went to check on Shai, her white dragon and Maude, accompanied by Ryou and Devi, went to go pack. There journey back to the upper world was soon to come.
Maude took out a small pack and began putting things in it. She checked things off while she put them in. "Reading material, brush for Othai, don't want him shedding all over the place now do we. Ahhh, here it is." Maude pulled out a long, intricately, if a bit roughly, carved walking stick. She looked at it lovingly. "Wouldn't go anywhere without it." She laid
it on her bed and went on packing. By the time she was done, her pack was only about half full.
Ryou stared at it. "Is that all? I didn't see you put in a change of clothes."
Maude looked at him, startled. "Clothes take up room. And plus, I don't need to change my clothes. They're magicked against dirt and grit. I'm the only thing that needs washing." She looked around, seeing if she'd forgotten anything. "Oops. Can't forget the money." Maude pulled out a bag of ancient coins.
Ryou stared at them. "You can't use those! You might be able to sell them to a museum, but the currency has changed quite a bit since you came down here." He pulled a small bag out of his pocket. "These are still in currency."
Maude frowned at her handful of silver coins. Then she sighed. "I should have known. I guess you don't really think of that stuff, when you're a thousand eighteen years old. In fact, I'm surprised we speak the same language."
Ryou nodded and smiled faintly. He began putting his stuff in another bag when Lilith came in with Shai curled up on her shoulders. She glared at Maude. "Must we bring that evil wolf of your's?"
Maude groaned. "What's he done this time?"
"He tried to frighten poor Shai to death by having a long conversation with her about how hungry he was!"
Maude groaned and sat on her cot. She put her head in her hands. "Why, oh why, did I have to bond to that creature? Why couldn't I have had a nice creature, like Shai or Devi?"
Ryou patted her sympathetically on the shoulder. "We'll live. Othai's not that bad."
Lith began packing and ended up with about as much in her bag as Maude. Ryou wasn't having such luck. It wasn't that he had a lot of stuff, it was that it all seemed important. Finally he just put in what was absolutely necessary and left the rest behind. His pack still looked huge compared to Maude and Lith's packs.
Furg, the giant thing that had found Ryou, was going to be taking care of their domain while Maude and Lith were away. He snorted goodbye to them as they left.
Maude led them through the crystal tunnel and back to where the stone circle was above their heads. She started chanting and the circle came down. They stepped onto it and it began to rise. Ryou found himself not far away from where Maude had found him.
They began their trek to the mouth of the cave. Lith conjured up witch-lights so that they could see. Ryou started seeing flecks of blood on some of the stones and realized that this must have been the path he had walked nine months ago. Othai was stalking ahead of them, sometimes running off into the shadows in search of imaginary quarries.
When they finally reached the opening, Lith had to cast a spell to shade their eyes from the sun. Ryou had forgotten how green the leaves were and how blue the sky could be. Maude was running barefoot in a green field, laughing like a young child. Lilith was walking through a small stream with her shoes under her arms. Ryou just watched them, smiling, as they seemed to grow younger, surrounded by things of their ancient memory. Maude then went over to the stream and splashed Lith playfully. Lilith, surprised, fell backwards. Maude couldn't help but howl with laughter. But Lith got her back by raising a sheet of water and letting it drop on her head. Finally, once they were both soaking, they came over to Ryou with delighted grins on
their faces.
Maude went over to a rock and sat down to dry off and engaged herself in a conversation with a rock squirrel. Lith climbed up a tree and sat talking to an eagle. Ryou felt immediately out of place and started to talk to Devi. But she was too excited to say much.
Once Maude and Lith were dry, Lith put her shoes back on and they began traveling down the road towards his home. As they walked, he began worrying about his stolen Millennium Ring. And Ratri He shivered as he thought of her, which caused him to get a funny look from Maude, since it was quite warm. What was Ratri doing with it? Did he really want to know? He decided he did. He felt as if that thing was his responsibility and any evil the world was suffering from it was partly his fault.
Maude and Lith didn't looked nearly as worried. They were singing songs in ancient tongues and joking with each other. Shai was flying above, enjoying the sensation of the wing under her wings, and Othai was chasing rabbits. Devi was staying on his shoulder, though she was always chittering in his mind about all the odd things.
By midday Lilith was able to take the shading spell of their eyes. By nightfall Maude and Lilith seemed like they had never have been given such a large treat as sleeping on the ground. Lith made a fire and Maude gathered wood. Ryou found that they wouldn't let him do anything. As they sat around the fire, Maude roasting a rabbit Othai had caught, Lith began
singing in elvish. Her voice rose above the wind in an eerie soprano.
"Ai! Laurie lantar lassi surien,
Yeni unotime ve ramar aldaron!
Yeni ve linte yuldar avanie
mi oromardi lisse-miruvoreva
andune pella, Vardo tellumar
nu luini yassen tintilar ieleni
omaryo airetari-lirinen."
She took a drink of water, then continued,
"Si man i yulme nin enquantuva?
"An si Tintalle Varda Oiolosseo
ve fanyar maryat Elentari ortane,
ar ilye tier undulave lumbule;
ar sin danoriello caita mornie
i falaminnar imbe met, ar hisie
untupa Calaciryo miri oiale.
Si vanwa na, Romello vanwa, Valimar!
"Namarie! Nai hiruvalye Valimar. Nai elye hiuva. Namarie!"
She finished and then the rabbit was done. They spent some time quiet, stuffing their faces full of rabbit and taking long drinks of water.
To Ryou it all seemed like a story. The song had woven a spell around the evening, making it the magickal kind of time where all you wanted to do was sit and look at the stars.
When they finally lay down on the soft earth to sleep, Lith let out a long sigh of contentment. Maude rolled onto her back so that she could watch the stars and it seemed like nothing could ever go wrong.
That was when the dreams started. That peaceful, magickal night. Ryou had fallen asleep with a full stomach and had Devi for warmth. That was when Ratri came dancing across his minds eyes. In his dream she had his Millennium Ring and was taunting his with it. "Come and get, little child." Ratri's hate filled face contorted into sick joy when Ryou found himself to be
tied by his ankles and wrists. He struggled, but that only made Ratri begin singing and dancing around him. After one horrified second, he realized that she was singing the song Lilith had been singing. Only now it was warped and mangled, all the quiet joy squeezed out of it by the words Ratri had substituted. The dream held him fast, no matter how hard he tried to wake up. It held him all night.
In the morning he found a concerned Maude bending over him. He tried to sit up, but found that he had managed to stick both of his wrists into tree roots and Othai was spread across his ankles. Maude took out one of her knives and hacked his wrists out of their prison and made Othai get off his feet. She helped him to his feet and offered him breakfast. When he
didn't respond she looked at him worriedly "Ryou, are you all right?"
He looked into the real worry in her eyes and wanted to cry. Why did they have to be so good to him? Half the time he was with them they made him want to cry by being tender and kind.He shook his head. "I just had bad dreams, that's all." More that anything he wanted to tell her, but he didn't want her to think he was soft and scared easily. But, he chided himself, he knew them too well to think that they wouldn't believe him. Maude herself had had some seemingly ludicrous dreams about part of the cave falling in, right outside their door. And she had been terrified by them. But they had come true. Part of the tunnel had collapsed. Surely she would believe him. But he just couldn't tell her. "Sure. Breakfast sounds great,"
he said after a very long pause. She got him some berries and bread in silence.
Later, when they were about to go, Lith came back from the long hike she had taken. She said she had scouted ahead and that, if they wanted to make good time, she would have to Change.
Ryou found that confusing. Change? Why did she need to change? Lilith, like Maude, always wore the same clothing. But Lith set him straight by changing into a black dragon before his very eyes. He and Maude mounted her and she took flight.