Disclaimer: Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh!, not WookieeBeta…
Unknown Identity
Chapter Five: An Endless Forest
"It's been ten days, and we still don't know where we are," Anzu said desperately. "We'll never get home at this rate!"
"Don't start thinking that way," Bakura said sternly. "That's the road to defeat. Didn't you learn that from Yami?" They were seated with their backs against a tall tree, taking a short break before continuing their long and seemingly pointless walk. The forests around the mountain looked endless, and they had seen no signs of civilization at all. Jounouchi had been the first to despair, but one mention of Yami had been enough to reinforce his unfailing spirit. Now he was the only one who really thought they had a chance. Sure, Bakura was putting up a tough front, but he had opened his heart to Jounouchi three days before, and Jounouchi knew that in his heart he agreed with Anzu.
"Bakura's right," Jounouchi said. "Even now Yami can still help us. He never gave up, not even when it was completely hopeless, remember? And he always pulled through, just like we're going to do now."
"Jounouchi…" Honda's voice was tired and thin. "We're in the middle of nowhere with no food, no water, and no map. We haven't eaten anything but berries for ten days, and now even those are getting hard to find. We have no idea where we are or where we're going. How can you keep thinking we'll make it?" Jounouchi lowered his eyes and didn't reply. He, too, had been considering all of that for a while, and he didn't have a good answer. He just knew that if he kept believing that they would make it, they would.
"Believe in the heart of the cards," Bakura muttered. He pulled Yami's deck from his pocket. It was now the one thing that gave him hope. It wasn't a real deck, of course – Yami couldn't carry anything physical unless he was in Yugi's body – but even so it had substance and weight. Bakura believed that its close proximity to his millennium ring was what kept it semi-real.
Wait a second, he thought. My millennium ring! If my yami could use it to bring us here, maybe I can use it to take us home! It's a risk, and it may destroy me, but still… He stood and gestured for Jounouchi to come with him. They walked into the shadows of the trees, out of easy earshot of the others, and Bakura motioned for them to speak in low voices.
"Jounouchi…my millennium ring."
"Is he trying to take over again?" Jounouchi blurted softly, his eyes worried. Bakura grinned slightly.
"No, it's not that. He's trapped in the Shadow Realm. But Jounouchi, if he could use it to bring us to the mountain, maybe I can use it to take us home!" But Jounouchi shook his head.
"Bakura, last time you used that thing you couldn't walk on your own for a day, and that was just to release a soul. Transporting four physical forms from an unknown point…it might kill you!"
"But you and the others would survive," Bakura pressed. "Do you think we're the only ones suffering from this? How do you think your families feel? We've been gone for over a week, Jounouchi! And Honda's right, we're not going to be able to make it out of this forest without a miracle. It's just too big."
"Wait a week," Jounouchi begged. "We're still alive. We still have a chance." But it was Bakura's turn to shake his head.
"Jounouchi, in a week I won't be able to harness its power, much less use it four times. It's iffy enough as it is."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I'm getting tired, too," Bakura said sharply. "I used almost all of my energy releasing your souls, and I haven't had a decent sleep since."
"What?"
"It's him, Jounouchi. He haunts my dreams now, forever calling to me to come to him, to release him. I'm afraid to sleep." Bakura dropped his head. "But that's not important. Jounouchi, listen to me. If we do it now, today, I can at least get the three of you home before I run out of energy or he takes over." He looked his friend full in the face, his eyes pleading.
"One week, Bakura," Jounouchi said flatly, his tone making it clear that the discussion was over. "If we haven't made it out of here in one week, you can try. Now, go get some sleep." He turned and walked back to the others without another word. Bakura followed meekly a moment later, his determination vanishing into the wind to be replaced by his normal subservient attitude.
"Two weeks in this damned forest," Honda spat weakly as he sat down on a moss-covered log. "And no end in sight." His hair was wild and unruly, being too short to tie back but long enough to keep getting in his eyes. None of them had escaped the tortures of the last seventeen days without harm. They were all thin and getting thinner, and their clothes were torn almost beyond recognition. Jounouchi had taken to leaving his shirt off most of the time, preferring to use it as a bandana to keep the hair out of his face. Surprisingly enough, Anzu had stopped telling him to put it back on.
"Bakura!" Anzu cried as the light-haired boy collapsed. He moaned slightly.
"I'm all right," he gasped, sitting up. "Don't worry about me." He sent a glance to Jounouchi, who refused to meet his gaze. Bakura's pale hair was filthy, matted with twigs and leaves. Anzu carefully pulled it away from his face for him and tied it back as well as she could with a vine creeper.
"We all need a rest," she said. "Here's as good as any other place."
"No water," Honda said.
"No berries," Jounouchi added.
"No predators, either," Anzu pointed out. "Bakura needs sleep more than nutrients right now. Food won't help when he's too weak to chew it."
"Really, Anzu, I'm fine," Bakura protested. "Jounouchi…" For the first time in three days, Jounouchi looked him in the eyes.
"I should have listened to you earlier, Bakura," he said softly. Honda and Anzu looked back and forth between the two of them, confused. "Now I've killed us all…" Bakura shook his head.
"I can still try, Jounouchi," he said. "At least one of you can get home, to tell them what happened…."
"And kill yourself in the process? No, Bakura! Not while we can still make it."
"What are you two talking about?" Anzu asked blankly.
"Bakura wants to try using his millennium ring to send us home, but he doesn't have enough strength," Jounouchi said darkly. "Just releasing Yugi's soul exhausted him for days, and that was when he was in decent shape."
"Jounouchi's right, Bakura," Honda said unexpectedly. "It would kill you."
"But you'd survive!" Bakura said. "Don't you understand? What's worse, one death or four? Besides, think of your families! They must be going insane by now, not knowing. At least this way my dad would know."
"Then why don't you go back, Bakura?" Anzu suggested. "You could tell them what happened just as well as we can – probably better, seeing as how you were the only one not trapped in a soul card."
"What, and leave the three of you here? I can't do that!" Bakura cried desperately. "Please…it's better this way, believe me…"
"Bakura, there's something you're not telling us," Jounouchi said. "You're more determined now than you were when you asked me alone. What's going on?" Bakura hung his head.
"It's him. He's trying to leave the Shadow Realm, to replace his soul with mine. I…I don't know how long I can hold him off. And if he takes over while we're in this forest…" He shrugged helplessly. "If we do it now, I can keep him back long enough to send you three home. After that, I don't know what will happen."
There was a long silence.
"So you're saying you're pretty much sunk either way," Jounouchi finally said. Bakura nodded.
"There's no good answer," Anzu said slowly. "No matter what we decide, there's a good chance that you'll die." A tear slid down her cheek. Bakura pulled her into his arms and she buried her face in his shoulder. Bakura's eyes lit up with a fierce fire, and his ring began to glow brightly. The dark clouds of the Shadow Realm closed in around them.
Bakura felt the shadows begin to eat away at his energy, and he knew he had to act quickly. He fought to concentrate on a secluded bench in Domino City Park where he knew there wouldn't be any people. Jounouchi yelled as he faded and finally disappeared. Bakura disentangled himself from Anzu's arms and sent her next, then the wide-eyed Honda. His strength was almost gone. He fell to his knees, trying to summon the strength to follow them, but the presence of an all-too-familiar spirit interrupted his efforts.
"So you've finally come," Yami Bakura said. Ryou scrambled frantically to collect the last of his strength, but a bolt of his yami's energy caught him in the side and he fell prone to what served as the ground in the Realm. He felt his energy disappearing.
"Still a weakling," Yami Bakura sneered.
"Stay away from me," Ryou snarled, stalling for time. "I didn't come for you."
"Oh you didn't?" Yami Bakura said. "Then why did you come?"
"None of your business!" Ryou snapped. Finally! Concentrate…concentrate…
Yami Bakura shouted in rage as his other's form faded quickly, disappearing from the Shadow Realm once more.
Lying on the ground near the park bench, Ryou Bakura opened his eyes and looked around blearily. Anzu was unconscious a few feet away, and Jounouchi was trying to wake Honda. Bakura closed his eyes and fell instantly into a deep sleep.
A/N: Yay, back to the fun people (and decently long-ish chapters)!