Kestrel: *smiling shyly* Seto, darling, would you please do the honors of the disclaimer?

Kaiba: *scowling* Why me?

Kestrel: *best puppy face* Because you love me.

Kaiba: *gives in and sighs* Oh, all right. Kestrel does not own Yu-Gi-Oh, though sometimes I feel like she owns me. She does, however, own the Circle of the Shakkan and the rest of the originality of this story. Steal it and I'll- I'll-

Kestrel: You'll what, dear?

Kaiba: *slumps shoulders and looks very dejected* I don't know.

Kestrel: *hugs Kaiba* That's okay, just the fact that you cared enough to threaten them is enough for me.

Kaiba: *looks surprised, then gratified* Thanks.

Kestrel: You're welcome. On with the ficcy!

Chapter Four

Since it was well after midnight, we were all glad we had keys to our houses. Shadi had been standing alone when Ryou walked off, and I felt so sorry for him that I hugged him as I left. I thought it would make him feel better, and it did. He smiled sadly and kind of stroked my head. But why did Ryou's outburst make him feel that bad?

Most of the people my age would have fallen asleep, and in the morning, wake up, and forget all about it. But I wasn't about to forget one of the greatest moments in my life! (As well as the most embarrassing.)

As soon as I got up, I gobbled down my breakfast and dressed in a flash. As I raced in and out of the bathroom, I upset my sister Isis and her lipstick arm, causing an extra streak on her face. She yelled, but I was already out the door and running pell-mell to the field. As I ran, surprisingly, my home flashed before my eyes. I saw the blue and yellow kitchen, the living room with it's skylights and comfy sink-in-halfway-to-the-floor furniture, and the forest green den with all my dad's hunting trophies. The den was my favorite room, with its big fireplace and the stag head hanging above it. I used to climb up into dad's big armchair and sit staring at the stag convinced it was alive. I would sit and try to see it blink, and when it never did, I came to the conclusion that it blinked exactly when I did. I also saw my bedroom, the one I shared with my seventeen year old sister, Isis.

One half of the room was blue for me, the other was purple for her. It smelled like Juniper Breeze. We both had one of those plug-in scent things from Bath and Body Works. I shook my head to clear it as the meadow came into view. I wanted answers, and I needed to think clearly.

When I arrived at the edge of the towering pine forest that bordered one side of the meadow, Shadi saw me and galloped over. He seemed unaware of last night, but I could trace tear—tracks over his entire face. I decided not to mention it.

Good, you're alone. he said. I wanted to tell you something without the others breathing down my neck.

"So what do you want to tell me?"

Well, I was never much of a storyteller. Heck, I'm still not, but here goes nothing.

Your hreftas are signs of power. And this power, once unleashed, cannot be withstood by any mortal ("What, you're saying I'm immortal? Cool!" No, Tea, It's just true. If they were turned on you, you wouldn't survive. "Oh, man! I was thinking I could do one of those sweet Superman-saving-the-world type things."). You saw last night how they let out sparks of anger. With some training, your hreftas would make even the most notorious villain cower in fear. By the way, that Maela pattern was neatly done, for a beginner. Where did you learn it?

"I didn't. I just sort of...knew. It was weird, like, I knew I'd seen it done somewhere, and that I'd seen it done so many times that I'd memorized how to do it."

That's strange.

"Yeah."

Okay, now, where was I? Oh, yes. Beings with 'the power' are few and rare. That is why they formed a secret gathering called the Shakkan, where the masters can teach, and young apprentices can learn, so that the power, and the hreftas, would live on forever, passed down through generations that have been and generations to come.

I plopped down in the ground and stared thoughtfully at a blade of grass. A caterpillar was slowly inching its way up to the top of the blade, and with each small distance it crawled, the grass bent. In a way, I envied the caterpillar. All it had to do was eat, and then one day it would hole up in a cocoon to become a butterfly. Freedom is something I've come to remember, like a thing of the distant past. I used to take it for granted, never thinking that someday lose it and end up talking like somebody's parent. 'You need to appreciate what you've got! Think of all the people who haven't got what you have!' But during the talk with Shadi, I wasn't thinking about losing my freedom. Then, the Shakkan was a new revelation to me, and I still had questions. "Even with my hreftas, what does this have to do with me?"

Folding his long legs in a sort of laying position, he replied. I'll tell you, Tea, I'll tell you. Now brace yourself. Ryou, as he is called, is actually age old spirit, commonly referred to as Bakura. He was my friend, but that all changed.

"What? Am I supposed to believe—" I gasped, as the clues slid into place— the moon, Ryou's anger, the cruel remarks I had heard in another language, a language I had understood... "So that's why you were crying." Shadi sighed. Yes, when I heard him say what he did, my worst fears were confirmed. I had hoped that I was mistaken, and that the fact that Ryou was Bakura in disguise was just a tale. But what I'm telling you now is the truth.

Anyway, I've got to tell you the rest of his story. At school we had always been the best of friends, laughing and crying together. One day, however, we were crying separately. Bakura walked in with a tear-stained face, and didn't talk to me until lunch. He had been sniffing all day and I was anxious to hear what happened.

A few years ago, his father just left. That I knew, but when he told me his mother had just died, I knew why he had mentioned his father, whom he never used to talk about. Since his father was Bakura's only legal guardian, he had been tracked down and contacted, which was very easy, because by then, he was owner of a large firm. So the government sent Bakura to him, and it was at that point in the story that Bakura broke into a fresh wave of tears.

I sat back, stunned. "How is this possible? I mean, no offense, but you and Bakura are, well, not human. Why is this happening here? Did you just choose Japan?" I thought for a moment, then added, "And why me? Why did he have to love me?" Seeing the look on his face, I growled, "Don't give me any of that stars-aligning jazz. I want answers."

Shadi smiled in his quaint way, and continued. And you will get them, but that is another story, so don't ask again. He caught my expression and laughed. You'll hear it soon enough.

After I had gotten him to dry his face, he said that when he had finally seen his father he had been shocked not to find the father he had known and doted on. Instead he came face to face with a money-hungry tyrant who had no time for 'children' because they 'got in the way of an honest business'.

"What happened then?"

Shadi shook his head sadly. Nothing, I'm afraid. Bakura, after he told me his story, seemed to tighten up. Like he was in a shell no emotion could crack open. And that was the end of our friendship. He then resolved that all others were his enemies. Bakura swore to kill all those opposing him in his search for something he called the Millennium Items.

That struck me as odd, even though I knew what Millennium Items were. "Then why hasn't he killed us?"

You might think this is funny, maybe even a little frightening.

Bakura is in love.

"In love?" I repeated. "In love with who?" But even as I asked, I knew the answer.

You, Tea. In his own twisted way, Bakura loves you.

I was right. I turned the thought over in my mind, realizing that there had been certain softness in his eyes when he looked at me, and a tenderness in his voice when he spoke. But—

"What about Yugi?"

Shadi gazed at me. That's the catch, Tea. When he kills your friends, his first victim will be Yugi.

I almost fainted, to tell you the truth. I had just never really thought that a boy like Ryou could be dangerous. And I knew all too well what would happen were Yugi's Millennium puzzle to fall into his hands.

I regained my composure. "You still haven't told me how to get in to the gatherings, or where they are, or anything."

He shrugged. That's about all I know, so far as that is concerned. But I can show you the robes I've got for y— what the— GET DOWN!

TSSSEEEWWWW!

I ducked just in time. A blaster shot tore through the air, hitting Shadi with enough force to kill any lesser human. But he did fall. Hard, upon the rock he had been sitting on. He collapsed, a smoking hole in the side of his lower body, his wings bending and tearing on the rocks. I screamed, trying to remember my horse anatomy before I remembered he wasn't a horse.

A maniacal laugh came tearing through the hazy cloud the blaster had made. I knew that laugh, too.

Shadi pulled himself up and grabbed my hand. His was slick with sweat. He managed to whisper, Bakura is raving mad, Tea. He only wants me, but he may kill you too when he gets these insane fits. Run! Seeing the look on my face, he added, Don't worry, I'll be fine. Run, now! I tried, but my feet were rooted to the ground. I shot a frantic glance at Bakura, but he was gone. A figure was making its way through the vapor, calling my name. I could have died when I saw it was my dad.