Yami shuffled the cards in his deck, looking at each of the people that had
bound themselves to him. He smiled, as he went through them, pleased that
he had taken the time these past few weeks to learn everything he could
about them, not just the kind of card they would be.
His smile faltered a bit when he came to one specific card.
Celtic.
He sighed and wondered how the elf was faring. A few days ago he had had some cause to be worried as he had felt the fear coming from the young card. But the link had been silent since then, which meant that he was still all right. He shook his head.
"Such a strong heart in one so young." He smiled. "Well young for an elf at least." He was about to move on to the next card when something caught his eye. It was the Attack power. It had risen and was now 1400.
'When did that happen? And what caused it?'
He set the card aside, wanting to watch and see what happened. It seemed the elf was full of surprises. He continued going through the cards well into the night, only stopping when he had gone through them all and had put them away in safe keeping. But he left Celtic's out and kept it with him. It was only right that he watch over the elf that was out in danger because of the Pharaoh's wishes.
Celtic dipped his weary feet into the stream and let the cool water wash away the stress of walking. He sighed in contentment as he heard birds singing as they flew by. He knew it wouldn't last.
"ARGH! You little Imp! Get back here!"
"Catch me if you can mutt!"
"KURRR!"
Celtic sighed again, but it held a hint of annoyance. Ever since they had escaped danger from the Fiends, his three friends had started arguing. Fiends naturally like playing pranks, their strength determined the amount of damage they caused.
'I guess I'm lucky that they're both low level.'
He smiled and got up, leaving his boots by the stream and heading over to the fighting trio.
"Hey! It's too early for this!" He first picked up Kuriboh and placed it on his shoulder. He knew it would stay there because it liked being up high and playing with his hair. It seemed many fiends were attracted to light colours.
With the little fur ball out of the way he stepped in between the wolf and imp, a dangerous move, but he knew neither would hurt him. And he was right. They both stopped and looked at him. He looked over at Silver first.
"So, what did he do this morning?"
"Hey! Why am I always the guilty one?" Looking briefly over his shoulder the elf smiled. "Because you always are." He turned back to Silver while the Imp pouted. The wolf had calmed down and held out his tail.
"He kept pulling my tail and then tried to tie it around that thing." He pointed his muzzle up to Kuriboh. Celtic fought a smile at the picture that presented him with and turned back to Feral.
"Why can't you leave him alone for once?"
"Needs to loosen up. Can't take jokes." Celtic just nodded his head and looked over at Silver and shrugged. It was best not to waste your breath lecturing a Fiend, especially this one.
"Shall we get going, and forget about this for now." They nodded, but at that moment Kuriboh started going nuts.
"KURR! KURR!"
Celtic turned to the direction the little creature was pointing and caught a quick glimpse of something shiny take off with his boots and into the water.
"Hey!" he yelled and rushed over, but it was too late. Whatever it had been was gone now. "Just my luck." He slumped down on to the bank of the stream. "My only pair of boots and no village to go buy another pair." Feral walked over to them.
"Do you really need them?" Silver snorted.
"Of course he does. He doesn't have pads on his feet, just normal flesh. They'll get ruined and sore, maybe even permanently damaged." Celtic frowned.
"Hey, I'm not that."
"Really?" Feral asked. "Me want to see."
"KURR!" Feral rushed up and grabbed the elf's feet examining the bottom and running a hand across it which caused Celtic to laugh. He was ticklish there. Kuriboh seemed to find this amusing and brushed his fur against the ticklish foot and squeaked in happiness while Celtic laughed and tried to get away. Silver finally saved him by pulling him out of Feral's grasp. Celtic quickly kneeled, placing his feet underneath his body and glaring at the two fiends, but Feral wasn't looking at him.
"Silver right, way too sensitive for walking with boots." He seemed to stop and think for a few minutes and then he jumped up and clapped his hands. "Me know! We go get them back for Elf. Pharaoh would not be happy if elf damaged." Silver seemed to be laughing and Celtic heard him mutter.
"I'd be worried about a certain magician instead." Celtic blushed a deep red and reached out and smacked his friend lightly across the nose causing him to yelp in surprise. Kuriboh was the only one who noticed this and he cocked his head, err, body? To the side and watched them.
"Kurr?" Celtic sighed and patted him on the head and the little fiend forgot about everything and curled up in the elf's lap.
'Weird little thing.' He looked over at Feral who was looking into the water with great interest.
"What are you up to Feral?" The imp just looked over at him and grinned, then jumped into water. "Feral!" Celtic ran over to where the wet fiend was swimming down stream.
"Me will find boots so Pharaoh doesn't get mad." Celtic sighed.
"I'll survive without them!" He shouted but Feral wasn't listening and he continued on down the stream. Elf looked at wolf and they both shrugged.
"Fiends." The said at the same time and started after him, staying on the dry bank instead of the stream. They traveled like this for some time until Feral finally cried out victoriously and dived under the water.and didn't come back up. The three on the bank waited, and waited and waited.
"He's not coming up."
"I noticed."
"I think we should go in after him."
"Do we have too? Wet fur is horrid to take care of."
"Silver."
"Fine." Celtic was the first to enter the water and he dived down, silver close behind him with Kuriboh holding onto his tail. They quickly found the reason the fiend had disappeared. A cave led into the bank and they went in, moving quickly because of their rapidly depleting air source, but once out of the cave they didn't have to worry. Celtic blinked, then blinked again.
"Beavers?"
On the bank where the three had entered the water a lone figure stood, smirking into the crystal clear depths. Large wings unfurled and lips curled back into a smirk.
"Found you."
Dark's head shot up and a growl escaped his throat, causing the knight across form him to look up from his cards in surprise.
"Come on Dark, your cards can't be that bad." He then noticed the glazed over expression on his friend's face and swore as anger covered the mage's usually calm expression. "Dark, what.?" But before he could finish the magician was on his feet and heading for the door. But the Pharaoh blocked his way.
Red met violet and both held the same expression. The Pharaoh held out Dark's staff and Gaia's sword. The two looked at him for a moment, but neither said anything.
"Go to him. He can't do this alone, not now." Dark nodded.
"I take it you felt it too then, Pharaoh?"
"Yes. I give you permission to leave and to stay with him, till his task is complete." Gaia raised an eyebrow at this exchange.
"Am I too understand that our little blond is in danger?" they both nodded. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" The two headed for the door but the Pharaoh stopped them once more.
"Gaia. Curse of Dragon has offered to help you get there faster." The knight nodded and they made their way outside were the gold coloured dragon waited for them. Gaia stepped up to it first.
"I thank you for giving us leave to fly with you." The dragon nodded and they both climbed up on it's back. The Knight turned to the Magician. "You know where we're going?" Dark nodded and pointed towards the plains past the Dark Forest.
"He's there, but he's not alone."
His smile faltered a bit when he came to one specific card.
Celtic.
He sighed and wondered how the elf was faring. A few days ago he had had some cause to be worried as he had felt the fear coming from the young card. But the link had been silent since then, which meant that he was still all right. He shook his head.
"Such a strong heart in one so young." He smiled. "Well young for an elf at least." He was about to move on to the next card when something caught his eye. It was the Attack power. It had risen and was now 1400.
'When did that happen? And what caused it?'
He set the card aside, wanting to watch and see what happened. It seemed the elf was full of surprises. He continued going through the cards well into the night, only stopping when he had gone through them all and had put them away in safe keeping. But he left Celtic's out and kept it with him. It was only right that he watch over the elf that was out in danger because of the Pharaoh's wishes.
Celtic dipped his weary feet into the stream and let the cool water wash away the stress of walking. He sighed in contentment as he heard birds singing as they flew by. He knew it wouldn't last.
"ARGH! You little Imp! Get back here!"
"Catch me if you can mutt!"
"KURRR!"
Celtic sighed again, but it held a hint of annoyance. Ever since they had escaped danger from the Fiends, his three friends had started arguing. Fiends naturally like playing pranks, their strength determined the amount of damage they caused.
'I guess I'm lucky that they're both low level.'
He smiled and got up, leaving his boots by the stream and heading over to the fighting trio.
"Hey! It's too early for this!" He first picked up Kuriboh and placed it on his shoulder. He knew it would stay there because it liked being up high and playing with his hair. It seemed many fiends were attracted to light colours.
With the little fur ball out of the way he stepped in between the wolf and imp, a dangerous move, but he knew neither would hurt him. And he was right. They both stopped and looked at him. He looked over at Silver first.
"So, what did he do this morning?"
"Hey! Why am I always the guilty one?" Looking briefly over his shoulder the elf smiled. "Because you always are." He turned back to Silver while the Imp pouted. The wolf had calmed down and held out his tail.
"He kept pulling my tail and then tried to tie it around that thing." He pointed his muzzle up to Kuriboh. Celtic fought a smile at the picture that presented him with and turned back to Feral.
"Why can't you leave him alone for once?"
"Needs to loosen up. Can't take jokes." Celtic just nodded his head and looked over at Silver and shrugged. It was best not to waste your breath lecturing a Fiend, especially this one.
"Shall we get going, and forget about this for now." They nodded, but at that moment Kuriboh started going nuts.
"KURR! KURR!"
Celtic turned to the direction the little creature was pointing and caught a quick glimpse of something shiny take off with his boots and into the water.
"Hey!" he yelled and rushed over, but it was too late. Whatever it had been was gone now. "Just my luck." He slumped down on to the bank of the stream. "My only pair of boots and no village to go buy another pair." Feral walked over to them.
"Do you really need them?" Silver snorted.
"Of course he does. He doesn't have pads on his feet, just normal flesh. They'll get ruined and sore, maybe even permanently damaged." Celtic frowned.
"Hey, I'm not that."
"Really?" Feral asked. "Me want to see."
"KURR!" Feral rushed up and grabbed the elf's feet examining the bottom and running a hand across it which caused Celtic to laugh. He was ticklish there. Kuriboh seemed to find this amusing and brushed his fur against the ticklish foot and squeaked in happiness while Celtic laughed and tried to get away. Silver finally saved him by pulling him out of Feral's grasp. Celtic quickly kneeled, placing his feet underneath his body and glaring at the two fiends, but Feral wasn't looking at him.
"Silver right, way too sensitive for walking with boots." He seemed to stop and think for a few minutes and then he jumped up and clapped his hands. "Me know! We go get them back for Elf. Pharaoh would not be happy if elf damaged." Silver seemed to be laughing and Celtic heard him mutter.
"I'd be worried about a certain magician instead." Celtic blushed a deep red and reached out and smacked his friend lightly across the nose causing him to yelp in surprise. Kuriboh was the only one who noticed this and he cocked his head, err, body? To the side and watched them.
"Kurr?" Celtic sighed and patted him on the head and the little fiend forgot about everything and curled up in the elf's lap.
'Weird little thing.' He looked over at Feral who was looking into the water with great interest.
"What are you up to Feral?" The imp just looked over at him and grinned, then jumped into water. "Feral!" Celtic ran over to where the wet fiend was swimming down stream.
"Me will find boots so Pharaoh doesn't get mad." Celtic sighed.
"I'll survive without them!" He shouted but Feral wasn't listening and he continued on down the stream. Elf looked at wolf and they both shrugged.
"Fiends." The said at the same time and started after him, staying on the dry bank instead of the stream. They traveled like this for some time until Feral finally cried out victoriously and dived under the water.and didn't come back up. The three on the bank waited, and waited and waited.
"He's not coming up."
"I noticed."
"I think we should go in after him."
"Do we have too? Wet fur is horrid to take care of."
"Silver."
"Fine." Celtic was the first to enter the water and he dived down, silver close behind him with Kuriboh holding onto his tail. They quickly found the reason the fiend had disappeared. A cave led into the bank and they went in, moving quickly because of their rapidly depleting air source, but once out of the cave they didn't have to worry. Celtic blinked, then blinked again.
"Beavers?"
On the bank where the three had entered the water a lone figure stood, smirking into the crystal clear depths. Large wings unfurled and lips curled back into a smirk.
"Found you."
Dark's head shot up and a growl escaped his throat, causing the knight across form him to look up from his cards in surprise.
"Come on Dark, your cards can't be that bad." He then noticed the glazed over expression on his friend's face and swore as anger covered the mage's usually calm expression. "Dark, what.?" But before he could finish the magician was on his feet and heading for the door. But the Pharaoh blocked his way.
Red met violet and both held the same expression. The Pharaoh held out Dark's staff and Gaia's sword. The two looked at him for a moment, but neither said anything.
"Go to him. He can't do this alone, not now." Dark nodded.
"I take it you felt it too then, Pharaoh?"
"Yes. I give you permission to leave and to stay with him, till his task is complete." Gaia raised an eyebrow at this exchange.
"Am I too understand that our little blond is in danger?" they both nodded. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" The two headed for the door but the Pharaoh stopped them once more.
"Gaia. Curse of Dragon has offered to help you get there faster." The knight nodded and they made their way outside were the gold coloured dragon waited for them. Gaia stepped up to it first.
"I thank you for giving us leave to fly with you." The dragon nodded and they both climbed up on it's back. The Knight turned to the Magician. "You know where we're going?" Dark nodded and pointed towards the plains past the Dark Forest.
"He's there, but he's not alone."