Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any songs mentioned in this story. I also don't own the Nintendo 64, Gamecube or any related games or any words from Sonic Underground. Saidi Mishimori is mine. I also don't own any movies mentioned in this story.
*thoughts*
^Yami talking to Yugi^
^^Yugi talking to Yami^^
**Bakura talking to Yami Bakura**
^*Yami Bakura talking to Bakura*^
(Explanations)
)(Joey talking to Yami Joey)(
()Yami Joey talking to Joey()
~ Bitto (Bakura's AI) ~
*~ Kaiba's computer ~*
Yami and Yami Bakura faced a large window in the second level study. They sighed.
" I wish they would tell us what this white stuff is," Yami sighed.
" I was only able to get one word out of that runt," Yami Bakura replied.
" And that was?"
" Snow," Yami Bakura said flatly.
" And how exactly did you get this information?" Yami asked, staring at Yami Bakura with accusing eyes.
" Like you need to ask," Yami Bakura replied.
Something ran into the room. All the two Yamis could see was a black blur.
" Wanna go skiing?!"
Yami and Yami Bakura spun around.
" Oh it's just you Mokuba," Yami calmed down.
" Don't ever to that again!" Yami Bakura obviously didn't like the scare.
Yami looked at Mokuba. " What's skiing?"
" You mean you don't know?!" Mokuba was surprised. " Seto and the others can explain!"
" Great! Now that runt and his friends have to explain," Yami Bakura mumbled.
Mokuba led the two confused Yamis down the hall and into the living room.
" You two don't have a clue what skiing is!?"
" No."
Joey was practically rolling around on the ground, hugging his sides. This was obviously humorous. Yugi tried not to smile and insult his Yami. Bakura was having the harder time. He, like Joey, was laughing so hard his side were hurting.
" Shut up! It's not funny!"
It took a few minutes before they stopped laughing. Seto was choking from the lack of air.
" You two know everything but you have no idea what skiing is?" He asked.
" Yes," Yami replied.
" Well I wouldn't be so hard," Bakura said. " Mine had to beat the answer out of me."
" Like there's another was to get the answer?" Yami Bakura asked.
" You could have asked."
" Too easy."
" Whatever." Bakura sighed.
" Skiing is a sport were you have two long flat poles and you place your feet on them. Then you have two poles to help you move," Yugi explained.
" I think we are gonna need a visual," Joey said smiling as he saw the Yami's confused look.
" Then we need a person," Tristan said. He looked around the room. " And I think I know the exact person..."
" I'm not coming out!"
" Oh come on! You don't look that bad," Joey replied.
There was a sigh. Kaiba walked out wearing a ski suit, ski boots, skis, goggles, and holding two ski poles.
" I'm gonna kill you later," Kaiba muttered.
" Your gonna have to catch him first," Bakura taunted.
Yami and Yami Bakura walked over to Kaiba and looked at the outfit.
" This is skiing?" Yami asked.
" No you moron! This is what you wear to ski," Yami Bakura snapped.
There was a loud bang on the door. Then another. Then another. Even shouting was heard.
" What is that?" Yami Bakura asked, covering his ears.
" I'll go find out," Bakura and Yugi got up and walked over to the door. Bakura opened it. Three people fell in.
" Mai? Weevil? Rex? What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.
" That Pegasus guy is messed!" Rex yelled. " He's after us!"
Mai got up, brushed her self off and looked at Bakura. " I think I remember you. Bakura right?"
" Ya."
Weevil got up. " Yugi! You gotta help us! Hide us! Please!"
Yami wandered over. " Look! We can help, just stop freaking out!"
Weevil and Rex calmed down.
" Okay," Rex sighed. " What are you guys doing?"
Kaiba struggled to walk out. Yami Bakura and Mokuba pushed him out.
" Skiing? You guys are going skiing?" Mai asked looking at Kaiba's outfit.
" Don't ask," Kaiba replied.
"Mokuba got us into it," Yami Bakura complained.
" That doesn't sound that bad," Weevil said looking at Kaiba's outfit.
" If we can keep Mokuba out of the sugar," Kaiba mumbled to himself.
" Why don't you guys come?" Yugi asked.
" I should be fun," Bakura added.
" What do you mean 'should'?" Mai asked.
" He means if we go," Yami Bakura replied.
" And what do you mean 'if'?" Mai asked.
" I mean if Kaiba gets off his butt and gets the stuff for the rest of us," answered Yami Bakura.
" I'll get this stuff off and go get the gear," Kaiba waddled off into the other room. The others walked out.
" Well we haven't seen you guys since the tournament," Tea said.
"How have you guys been?" Tristan asked.
" Fine besides the fact that some guy wants us dead," Rex muttered.
" Well now we have something in common," Yugi said.
" Besides a love for dueling," Bakura finished.
" And that is?"
" We are all being hunted down by the same guy," Yami Bakura replied.
" Oh."
Kaiba returned in his normal clothes carrying a few large bags.
" This is the most of the gear. There's a second ski resort a few thousand miles from here. we can get the skis there."
" That's good," Bakura picked up one of the bags.
The group returned, dress in the ski gear. The outfits were different shades of blue, from a light sky blue to a dark blue. They were airlifted to the ski resort and got their skis. then they registered.
Almost everyone there was registered as beginners. They would have Kaiba to instruct them on how to ski. Bakura began to leave before the lesson begun.
" Bakura!"
Bakura jumped a little. He turned around. " Ya.."
" Where are you going?" Kaiba asked.
" Some of the runs," Bakura replied.
" If your like every one else here," Kaiba said, ' you have no idea how to ski!"
That nearly crossed the line in Bakura's books.
" Have you even seen what I registered under?" Bakura asked through clenched teeth.
" No and I don't need..."
Bakura showed him his registration forms. Everyone looked at it.
" I've been skiing for a while now. I don't need to re-learn it. " Bakura turned around and stopped. " now if you'll excuse me, I'll be back in a few hours."
Bakura skied off. Kaiba looked stund like everyone else. He came back to his senses.
" L..let's get back to the lesson," Kaiba stuttered. He shook his head and began the lesson.
In almost an hour, Yami and Yami Bakura had learned to stop. Getting to move was easy but stopping took time. Yugi, Joey and the others were at the same stage.
" Now we learn how to move in different directions."
This took yet another hour to complete. After that, Kaiba held a test to make sure they were ready for the runs.
" First off, we need to find Bakura," Kaiba said.
As if on que, Bakura came over the hill and stopped in front of them.
" Hey guys!'
" Yes, now, anyway, Bakura will set the standard. Then you will go to the top and go down the hill. if you make it, you can go on the runs."
Yami went first. He came in a few seconds before the standard. Yugi fallowed. Joey came behind Yugi. Tristan, who was fallowed by Tea, fallowed Joey. Yami Bakura came after tea.
" Come on! You can do it!" Bakura yelled.
* Only if you shut up *
Yami Bakura fallowed the path that Bakura had left in the snow. He had complete concentration as he fallowed the path. he was possibly the only person to come in at the same time as Bakura. He stopped in front of Kaiba and smiled.
" I'll take your silence as a sign that I passed," Yami Bakura skied over beside Bakura and waited for the others to finish.
After everyone came back down, Kaiba announced something.
" We are going to go with a buddy system that was preplanned," Kaiba said. " I will announce who you are partnered up with. Unless anyone here has some weird mind reading ability and don't need me to say this."
Yami inched over to Yugi.
" Never mind. Joey, you're partnered with Tristan. Tea's partnered with Mai. Weevil is partnered with Rex. Yami obviously knows his partner. I have to go with Mokuba. Not that I don't trust you, it's just that I don't trust some of you. That leaves..."
Yami Bakura looked at Bakura and Bakura looked at Yami Bakura.
" You two," Kaiba finished.
" This is just great," Yami Bakura mumbled.
Bakura just sighed.
Yugi brought Yami over to the ski lodge. It had two levels and a concession on the second level. The second level was an observation deck. There was a bar in one corner and a TV in the public area. A bunch of teens sat around it, watching some weird comedy show. Yugi brought Yami some hot chocolate and sat down across from him. They sat next to the large window that over looked the resort. Yami looked out and noticed two people.
Bakura and his Yami came down one of the runs. it was easy to tell them apart from other people due to the fact their hair nearly blended in with the fresh snow.
" Where do you think they've been?" Yami asked.
" Probably the black diamond runs," Yugi replied.
" What are they?"
" Each run is identified with a different shape and color. The hardest being the double black diamond," Yugi answered.
" What are the others?" Yami asked.
" I have no idea. You may want to ask Bakura or Kaiba later."
" oh," Yami went back to looking out the window.
By the end of the day, the group returned to the ski lodge to rest.
" Hey Joey. Hey Tristan. What happened? Your covered in snow." Tea asked.
" We tried one of the black diamond runs. We tumbled down most of it," Joey said.
" Oh. I guess you should be leaving that to Bakura," Yugi said.
" Or even his Yami. I heard he's gotten good," Kaiba muttered.
" Speaking of Bakura and his Yami, where are they?" Tristan asked.
" I don't know," Yugi answered. " We saw him earlier but that was it."
Someone walked over to them. " Excuse me. I'm Marcus Micomora. I own this resort. are you looking for someone?"
" Yes. We are looking for two youths. Both with past-shoulder length, messy, white hair, wearing ski suits. One with a Light blue headband," Kaiba explained.
" I saw those two two hours ago. They rented cross-country skis and left for the trails," Marcus replied.
" So can you help us find them,"Yugi asked.
" Yes but I'm gonna need their names and registration forms."
" We can give you their names but not the forms," Rex replied.
" Why not?"
" Cause they have them."
" Well then, come to my office an well find their forms."
" Names," Marcus asked.
" Bakura and Yami Bakura Ryou," Yami replied.
" Twins?"
" Ya you could saw that,"Kaiba replied.
" Family members?"
" Father," Yugi said.
" His occupation?"
" We aren't too sure," Yami replied.
" Their ages?"
" Both are 15," Joey replied.
" Level of skiing?"
" Bakura is an expert and i think Yami Bakura is somewhere close to expert."
" Well we'll send a search crew to find them," Marcus said. " You can wait in the lodge."
They left the office.
" That helped," Yami said sarcasticly.
" We should go find them," Kaiba mummbled.
"That's a good idea Seto!'
" Mokuba, we are not going into the forest after them."
" That's what you think," Joey said. Him, Yugi, Yami, and the others ran down the hall. Kaiba stood there.
" Hey wait up!"
Bakura slid down a small hill. His yami fallowed.
" Where are we?" His Yami asked looking at the surroundings.
" Well we must have left the trail. This place isn't on our map," Bakura replied moving his ski googles away from his eyes.
" So lets go back to the path," Yami Bakura replied.
" It's not that simple," Bakura said. " We took a lot of turns. We could be anywhere."
" So what now?"
" We can make camp and wait until someone finds us," Bakura suggested.
" I hate this," Yami Bakura mummbled as they skiied off to find a suitable camp area.
Yugi, Yami, Kaiba, Joey and the others skiied through the darkness, looking for any sign of Bakura or his Yami.
" Well so far no blood," Joey said. " At least we know Bakura is alive."
" Joey! That wasn't funny," Tea scolded.
" It wasn't ment to be!" Joey replied. " I was saying that in the good way! Anyone besides me notice that Bakura has an awful lot of bruses lately?"
" Ya, I've noticed," Yami said. " He also doesn't look directly at his Yami eather. It's like if he looks at his Yami, he'll die or something bad will happen."
" Maybe not die," Mai said, " but get beat up."
" I'll look into it," Yami said, not taking his eyes off Yugi, who spotted a path off the main trail.
" Guys, this way," Yugi led the group down the second path.
Bakura managed to find some dry wood to use to make a fire. Yami Bakura sat on the opposite side of the fire, shivering and huddled in a small ball.
" I'm f-freezing," Yami Bakura muttered through his frozen lips.
" I'm working on it," Bakura searched his backpack for the matches. He found one and lit the fire.
" There, that should help," Bakura looked at his yami. " You may want to get closer."
" I ca-can't m-m-move," His yami muttered.
Bakura brought a few blankets out of his bag and draped them on Yami Bakura's shoulders. His Yami looked at him.
" Try using these until you can move," Bakura said walking back over to another area to sit down. " I'll keep the fire going."
* What is this kids problem?* Yami Bakura thought. * He has grown to fear me, hate me, never stand up to me, and now, knowing that I'm possibly going to die of cold, he comes though and saves me. I know i don't deserve this. I should be dead right now. Or, that's at least what everyone else wants. Unless... unless he is different. He sees something in me that ever I don't see. Well even if i live, he's not getting off easy.*
Yami Bakura shivered wildly.
" Maybe you should return to the ring," Bakura suggested.
" That's a g-good idea," Yami Bakura muttered.
Bakura dug through this bag and then stopped.
Yami began to fall back. He was freezing. Something told him, and the others, 5000-year-old Egyptians hate cold weather. Yugi stopped and skiied back over to Yami.
" Do you want to go back into the Puzzle and warm up?" Yugi asked.
" Okay, why not?"
Yugi searched his backpack and then stopped.
" What's the problem Yug?" Joey asked.
" Ummm," Yugi stuttered. " We got the..."
Yugi held up something that made everyone freak.
Bakura looked at the item. His Yami couldn't believe it. He had struggled for years trying to get that and now, at the worst moment, some unlucky moron got the items switched. Bakura held the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi held the Millennium Ring.
" What do we do now?" Yami Bakura asked.
" Wait and see if the ring finds us before we freeze," Bakura sighed.
Yugi looked at the ring.
" Can we use it to find the others?" Kaiba asked.
" I don't know," Yugi replied. " Some guy told me that we probably can't without being punished."
" That only works with stealing the items," Yami corrected.
The ring glowed and one tassel pointed in one direction.
" Dare to see if it's pointing in the right direction?" Tristan asked.
Yugi skiied in front, everyone fallowed.
Bakura put out the fire. His Yami was placing his skis back on.
" The only way to find the others, is to go see if we can find the path," Bakura said as his yami got back up. Bakura stopped to cough. It was getting worse.
He had been coughing for a while now. Bakura had guess it was just from the cold air, but it was getting worse with each passing second.
" And the puzzle?"
" Well we can't keep it," Bakura said. His Yami glared at him. " No matter how much you want it."
" Fine. I won't touch the puzzle," Yami Bakura said flatly.
Bakura was about to say something when he stopped and passed out. His yami caught him before he hit the snow.
" Bakura?" He asked , shaking Bakura. " Bakura?"
No response. Yami Bakura panicked, a little. He grabbed Bakura backpack, put it on, took all four poles, placed two in one hand and two in the other. He picked up Bakura and placed one hand behind Bakura's back and under his (Yami Bakura's) arm and placed Bakura's arm behind his (Yami Bakura's) head. He looked a head of him, placed the puzzle in one hand and began to ski into the woods.
Yugi watched the ring. he was hoping this wasn't some trick. He wasn't the proper owner of the item and it could cause some problems. Then again, if this item was messing them up, his might be doing the same. He looked into the woods and stopped. the ring pointed in a different direction, the one they had just come from.
" Can't this stupid ring get anything right?!" Joey yelled.
" I'm agreeing with the mutt," Kaiba said. " Where does this thing think it's going?"
" We must have just missed them," Yugi replied. " They must be trying to get back to the lodge."
Yugi turned around and headed back in the direction the ring was pointing.
It led them into a dense forest. They could barely see. Now, more then before, did they have to trust that the Millennium Ring was leading them to Bakura and not in some maze.
Yami Bakura paused. Bakura had mentioned about a whistle. He looked at Bakura.
His skin had become pale and cold and the tips of his lips where becoming blue. Something told Yami Bakura that wasn't a good sign.
Yami Bakura searched Bakura's pockets. Nothing. He checked to see if Bakura was wearing a necklace or something close. He tugged on a small white piece of string. He slowly removed it from around Bakura's neck and looked at the whistle.
* How does this work?* he though. He remembered what Bakura had mentioned earlier on the ski hills.
" If you ever get caught in the woods and you can't find you way back, use this. It may scare you at first but it will get peoples attention."
* Wish be had shown me, but I'll have to figure it out on my own.*
He placed one end to his lips and then blew into it. A piercing screech came out. he jumped a little.
" He was right about it getting peoples attention," he muttered as he tried it again.
Yugi's ears perked up. Everyone looked around.
" Three long sounds," Kaiba wondered.
" It's an S.O.S," Tea looked up.
" But where is it coming from?" Mokuba looked around.
" That way," Weevil pointed to the west of the group.
They skiied off.
Yami Bakura stopped. In some remote corner of his mind, he hoped someone heard that. He skiied forward and kept blowing the whistle.
Yami pointed.
" Over there! I see something!"
" I see it too!" Mai said. then she though for a minute. " My lipstick froze!!!"
Yugi skiied ahead to check. Yami Bakura skiied out, holding the unconscious Bakura.
" What happened?" Yugi asked.
" You tell me," Yami Bakura replied. " One minute he's coughing his head off and the next, he passes out."
Kaiba looked at Bakura. " Looks like hypothermia."
" Hypo-what?!" Joey asked.
" It's when your body temperature drops below normal," Tristan said. " If it gets too low, you can die from it."
" How bad is it?" Tea asked.
" He'll live for now," Kaiba replied, " but he needs serious medical attention."
" How are we going to get him back?" Mai asked.
Yami walked over to Yami Bakura. Joey had taken Bakura so Kaiba could see how bad his condition was. They looked each other in the eyes for a few minutes. Yami Bakura smiled.
" I'd like to make a deal with you..."
" And that is?" Yami asked. He kept a close eye on him.
" My Millennium Ring for," He held one hand up, " Your Millennium Puzzle."
" You mean," Yami was surprised at this.
" I have no use for it if I'm freezing to death," Yami Bakura replied.
Yami and Yami Bakura switched items. Before they could retreat to their soul rooms, the ski patrol finally arrived.
" You the kids who reported two missing youths?" One asked.
" Ya," Yugi replied.
" These to two?" The man looked at Bakura and then Yami Bakura.
" Yes," Yugi replied.
" You can come with us," another one said, " You'll need to be treated for Hypothermia though but you'll be fine."
They climbed onto the snowmobiles. Kaiba dialed his cell phone.
" I'll call for our doctor," Kaiba said.
Kaiba talked with the doctor the whole way back to the lodge.
Bakura lied down in a bed. Yami Bakura had kept his distance ever since they had returned. Yugi and the others had been treated for hypothermia, explaining to Yami what it was. Yami store at Yami Bakura.
" What's with him?" Yami asked.
" I dunno but he's been like that for a while," Joey replied.
* Bakura, I wish i knew why i saved you. I could have let you die out there. I could have gotten away with the puzzle and then later, found Yugi and got that Ring back. Then i could have gone off, gotten the other items and ruled the world, but no. I have to save you instead. Wish i had a reason. If i did then i don't remember it. Maybe it was the fact that you where more helpless then ever. Or maybe it's because you were sick and possibly dying. What ever it was, you some how got through to me. You don't know what you are gonna go through after you wake up... *
Yami Bakura walked over to the bed. He slowly summoned the Shadow Realm around him and Bakura so that no one could look in on this. Yami Bakura went back into the ring. He walked down the hallway between his soul room and Bakura's. He walked into Bakura's soul room.
It was an interesting soul room. There were hanging plants, a few large and a bunch of small stuffed animals. It was almost like stepping into Yugi's soul room only this one had plants and nature sounds all over. The bed, with a large, fluffy sky blue blanket and an equally fluffy pillow, sat in the far left corner of the room. Yami Bakura walked over, brushing the plants out of his face and watching that he didn't step on anything.
Bakura had got it last time Yami Bakura stepped on something and ended up falling and spraining his wrist. Bakura did have a lot of explaining to do about the cuts, bruises and the sprained wrist to his father. Lucky for both of them, Bakura's father didn't yet know about Yami Bakura.
Bakura's soul rested in the bed, curled up like a ball, hugging some sort of teddy bear-like doll. Yami Bakura recognized it.
Saidi, ( * Was that her name?* He thought,) had made two one-of-a-kind dolls, one that looked like Bakura and one that had the image of Yami Bakura. The one Bakura had kept was the one that looked like his Yami, Yami Bakura kept the one that looked like Bakura.
He looked at Bakura. He always looked peaceful when he slept. of course, this was probably the only peaceful time he has, when he's not in school. Yami Bakura sighed and walked back out of the room and into his own soul room.
Bakura awoke a few hours later. He was lying in his bed. The Millennium Ring was on the bedside table. He looked a little puzzled. He put this hand up to his forehead.
* It's not warm,* He though. he looked at his clock.
* 3:46am. I wonder how long i was out.* He shook his head wildly. * What's wrong with me? I can't remember anything. It's like my yami took me over again.*
He tossed the covers aside and sat on the edge of the bed. He felt weak and tired but had no idea why. He got up and walked out of his room.
The hallways were pitch black. Bakura had to watch where he stepped so that he didn't hit anything. He slowly found the west staircase and walked down it.
The main hall was pitch black with a small light coming from the moon. He wandered around the darkened room until he found the door to the living room.
Tea sat near the fireplace reading a book. The fire burned brightly as Bakura walked over to her.
" Oh hi Bakura," Tea said. " I see your fine."
" Not really," Bakura replied. " What happened to me?"
" Well we went skiing but you vanished with your Yami," Tea explained. " You caught hypothermia and passed out. You've been asleep for almost a day and a half."
" That long? How....... Who brought me back?" Bakura asked.
" Your Yami brought you to us and then the ski patrol found us," Tea replied. " Yami Bakura acted weird afterward."
" Must have wanted to know why he saved me," Bakura sighed. " So who switched the items?"
" Weevil did," Tea sighed. " He knew which item went to who but he couldn't tell your backpacks apart. so he shoved the puzzle in one and the ring in the other."
" Yami Bakura must have had a fit," Bakura said.
" No."
" No?"
" Yami Bakura hasn't been seen sence the incident," Tea said.
" Weird. I checked his soul room earlier but he was sleeping."
" Now that is odd," Tea yawned. " I'm going back to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."
" Bye," Bakura watched Tea walk off. He sighed and closed his eyes. He entered his Yami's soul room. the first thing he noticed was a doll, stained with water.
* Water?* Bakura thought. He touched the doll and tasted the liquid.* No, wait, salt water. tears? Yami Bakura was crying?*
He walked over to Yami Bakura. He noticed the black rings under his eyes, and....
Tears. a few silver tears slid down Yami Bakura's cheek and he seemed to be worried. Bakura placed the doll under one of Yami Bakura's arms and walked back out of the soul room.
He entered the real world. He walked back upstairs and into his room.
* Guess i better get more sleep tonight.*
Bakura closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
*thoughts*
^Yami talking to Yugi^
^^Yugi talking to Yami^^
**Bakura talking to Yami Bakura**
^*Yami Bakura talking to Bakura*^
(Explanations)
)(Joey talking to Yami Joey)(
()Yami Joey talking to Joey()
~ Bitto (Bakura's AI) ~
*~ Kaiba's computer ~*
Yami and Yami Bakura faced a large window in the second level study. They sighed.
" I wish they would tell us what this white stuff is," Yami sighed.
" I was only able to get one word out of that runt," Yami Bakura replied.
" And that was?"
" Snow," Yami Bakura said flatly.
" And how exactly did you get this information?" Yami asked, staring at Yami Bakura with accusing eyes.
" Like you need to ask," Yami Bakura replied.
Something ran into the room. All the two Yamis could see was a black blur.
" Wanna go skiing?!"
Yami and Yami Bakura spun around.
" Oh it's just you Mokuba," Yami calmed down.
" Don't ever to that again!" Yami Bakura obviously didn't like the scare.
Yami looked at Mokuba. " What's skiing?"
" You mean you don't know?!" Mokuba was surprised. " Seto and the others can explain!"
" Great! Now that runt and his friends have to explain," Yami Bakura mumbled.
Mokuba led the two confused Yamis down the hall and into the living room.
" You two don't have a clue what skiing is!?"
" No."
Joey was practically rolling around on the ground, hugging his sides. This was obviously humorous. Yugi tried not to smile and insult his Yami. Bakura was having the harder time. He, like Joey, was laughing so hard his side were hurting.
" Shut up! It's not funny!"
It took a few minutes before they stopped laughing. Seto was choking from the lack of air.
" You two know everything but you have no idea what skiing is?" He asked.
" Yes," Yami replied.
" Well I wouldn't be so hard," Bakura said. " Mine had to beat the answer out of me."
" Like there's another was to get the answer?" Yami Bakura asked.
" You could have asked."
" Too easy."
" Whatever." Bakura sighed.
" Skiing is a sport were you have two long flat poles and you place your feet on them. Then you have two poles to help you move," Yugi explained.
" I think we are gonna need a visual," Joey said smiling as he saw the Yami's confused look.
" Then we need a person," Tristan said. He looked around the room. " And I think I know the exact person..."
" I'm not coming out!"
" Oh come on! You don't look that bad," Joey replied.
There was a sigh. Kaiba walked out wearing a ski suit, ski boots, skis, goggles, and holding two ski poles.
" I'm gonna kill you later," Kaiba muttered.
" Your gonna have to catch him first," Bakura taunted.
Yami and Yami Bakura walked over to Kaiba and looked at the outfit.
" This is skiing?" Yami asked.
" No you moron! This is what you wear to ski," Yami Bakura snapped.
There was a loud bang on the door. Then another. Then another. Even shouting was heard.
" What is that?" Yami Bakura asked, covering his ears.
" I'll go find out," Bakura and Yugi got up and walked over to the door. Bakura opened it. Three people fell in.
" Mai? Weevil? Rex? What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.
" That Pegasus guy is messed!" Rex yelled. " He's after us!"
Mai got up, brushed her self off and looked at Bakura. " I think I remember you. Bakura right?"
" Ya."
Weevil got up. " Yugi! You gotta help us! Hide us! Please!"
Yami wandered over. " Look! We can help, just stop freaking out!"
Weevil and Rex calmed down.
" Okay," Rex sighed. " What are you guys doing?"
Kaiba struggled to walk out. Yami Bakura and Mokuba pushed him out.
" Skiing? You guys are going skiing?" Mai asked looking at Kaiba's outfit.
" Don't ask," Kaiba replied.
"Mokuba got us into it," Yami Bakura complained.
" That doesn't sound that bad," Weevil said looking at Kaiba's outfit.
" If we can keep Mokuba out of the sugar," Kaiba mumbled to himself.
" Why don't you guys come?" Yugi asked.
" I should be fun," Bakura added.
" What do you mean 'should'?" Mai asked.
" He means if we go," Yami Bakura replied.
" And what do you mean 'if'?" Mai asked.
" I mean if Kaiba gets off his butt and gets the stuff for the rest of us," answered Yami Bakura.
" I'll get this stuff off and go get the gear," Kaiba waddled off into the other room. The others walked out.
" Well we haven't seen you guys since the tournament," Tea said.
"How have you guys been?" Tristan asked.
" Fine besides the fact that some guy wants us dead," Rex muttered.
" Well now we have something in common," Yugi said.
" Besides a love for dueling," Bakura finished.
" And that is?"
" We are all being hunted down by the same guy," Yami Bakura replied.
" Oh."
Kaiba returned in his normal clothes carrying a few large bags.
" This is the most of the gear. There's a second ski resort a few thousand miles from here. we can get the skis there."
" That's good," Bakura picked up one of the bags.
The group returned, dress in the ski gear. The outfits were different shades of blue, from a light sky blue to a dark blue. They were airlifted to the ski resort and got their skis. then they registered.
Almost everyone there was registered as beginners. They would have Kaiba to instruct them on how to ski. Bakura began to leave before the lesson begun.
" Bakura!"
Bakura jumped a little. He turned around. " Ya.."
" Where are you going?" Kaiba asked.
" Some of the runs," Bakura replied.
" If your like every one else here," Kaiba said, ' you have no idea how to ski!"
That nearly crossed the line in Bakura's books.
" Have you even seen what I registered under?" Bakura asked through clenched teeth.
" No and I don't need..."
Bakura showed him his registration forms. Everyone looked at it.
" I've been skiing for a while now. I don't need to re-learn it. " Bakura turned around and stopped. " now if you'll excuse me, I'll be back in a few hours."
Bakura skied off. Kaiba looked stund like everyone else. He came back to his senses.
" L..let's get back to the lesson," Kaiba stuttered. He shook his head and began the lesson.
In almost an hour, Yami and Yami Bakura had learned to stop. Getting to move was easy but stopping took time. Yugi, Joey and the others were at the same stage.
" Now we learn how to move in different directions."
This took yet another hour to complete. After that, Kaiba held a test to make sure they were ready for the runs.
" First off, we need to find Bakura," Kaiba said.
As if on que, Bakura came over the hill and stopped in front of them.
" Hey guys!'
" Yes, now, anyway, Bakura will set the standard. Then you will go to the top and go down the hill. if you make it, you can go on the runs."
Yami went first. He came in a few seconds before the standard. Yugi fallowed. Joey came behind Yugi. Tristan, who was fallowed by Tea, fallowed Joey. Yami Bakura came after tea.
" Come on! You can do it!" Bakura yelled.
* Only if you shut up *
Yami Bakura fallowed the path that Bakura had left in the snow. He had complete concentration as he fallowed the path. he was possibly the only person to come in at the same time as Bakura. He stopped in front of Kaiba and smiled.
" I'll take your silence as a sign that I passed," Yami Bakura skied over beside Bakura and waited for the others to finish.
After everyone came back down, Kaiba announced something.
" We are going to go with a buddy system that was preplanned," Kaiba said. " I will announce who you are partnered up with. Unless anyone here has some weird mind reading ability and don't need me to say this."
Yami inched over to Yugi.
" Never mind. Joey, you're partnered with Tristan. Tea's partnered with Mai. Weevil is partnered with Rex. Yami obviously knows his partner. I have to go with Mokuba. Not that I don't trust you, it's just that I don't trust some of you. That leaves..."
Yami Bakura looked at Bakura and Bakura looked at Yami Bakura.
" You two," Kaiba finished.
" This is just great," Yami Bakura mumbled.
Bakura just sighed.
Yugi brought Yami over to the ski lodge. It had two levels and a concession on the second level. The second level was an observation deck. There was a bar in one corner and a TV in the public area. A bunch of teens sat around it, watching some weird comedy show. Yugi brought Yami some hot chocolate and sat down across from him. They sat next to the large window that over looked the resort. Yami looked out and noticed two people.
Bakura and his Yami came down one of the runs. it was easy to tell them apart from other people due to the fact their hair nearly blended in with the fresh snow.
" Where do you think they've been?" Yami asked.
" Probably the black diamond runs," Yugi replied.
" What are they?"
" Each run is identified with a different shape and color. The hardest being the double black diamond," Yugi answered.
" What are the others?" Yami asked.
" I have no idea. You may want to ask Bakura or Kaiba later."
" oh," Yami went back to looking out the window.
By the end of the day, the group returned to the ski lodge to rest.
" Hey Joey. Hey Tristan. What happened? Your covered in snow." Tea asked.
" We tried one of the black diamond runs. We tumbled down most of it," Joey said.
" Oh. I guess you should be leaving that to Bakura," Yugi said.
" Or even his Yami. I heard he's gotten good," Kaiba muttered.
" Speaking of Bakura and his Yami, where are they?" Tristan asked.
" I don't know," Yugi answered. " We saw him earlier but that was it."
Someone walked over to them. " Excuse me. I'm Marcus Micomora. I own this resort. are you looking for someone?"
" Yes. We are looking for two youths. Both with past-shoulder length, messy, white hair, wearing ski suits. One with a Light blue headband," Kaiba explained.
" I saw those two two hours ago. They rented cross-country skis and left for the trails," Marcus replied.
" So can you help us find them,"Yugi asked.
" Yes but I'm gonna need their names and registration forms."
" We can give you their names but not the forms," Rex replied.
" Why not?"
" Cause they have them."
" Well then, come to my office an well find their forms."
" Names," Marcus asked.
" Bakura and Yami Bakura Ryou," Yami replied.
" Twins?"
" Ya you could saw that,"Kaiba replied.
" Family members?"
" Father," Yugi said.
" His occupation?"
" We aren't too sure," Yami replied.
" Their ages?"
" Both are 15," Joey replied.
" Level of skiing?"
" Bakura is an expert and i think Yami Bakura is somewhere close to expert."
" Well we'll send a search crew to find them," Marcus said. " You can wait in the lodge."
They left the office.
" That helped," Yami said sarcasticly.
" We should go find them," Kaiba mummbled.
"That's a good idea Seto!'
" Mokuba, we are not going into the forest after them."
" That's what you think," Joey said. Him, Yugi, Yami, and the others ran down the hall. Kaiba stood there.
" Hey wait up!"
Bakura slid down a small hill. His yami fallowed.
" Where are we?" His Yami asked looking at the surroundings.
" Well we must have left the trail. This place isn't on our map," Bakura replied moving his ski googles away from his eyes.
" So lets go back to the path," Yami Bakura replied.
" It's not that simple," Bakura said. " We took a lot of turns. We could be anywhere."
" So what now?"
" We can make camp and wait until someone finds us," Bakura suggested.
" I hate this," Yami Bakura mummbled as they skiied off to find a suitable camp area.
Yugi, Yami, Kaiba, Joey and the others skiied through the darkness, looking for any sign of Bakura or his Yami.
" Well so far no blood," Joey said. " At least we know Bakura is alive."
" Joey! That wasn't funny," Tea scolded.
" It wasn't ment to be!" Joey replied. " I was saying that in the good way! Anyone besides me notice that Bakura has an awful lot of bruses lately?"
" Ya, I've noticed," Yami said. " He also doesn't look directly at his Yami eather. It's like if he looks at his Yami, he'll die or something bad will happen."
" Maybe not die," Mai said, " but get beat up."
" I'll look into it," Yami said, not taking his eyes off Yugi, who spotted a path off the main trail.
" Guys, this way," Yugi led the group down the second path.
Bakura managed to find some dry wood to use to make a fire. Yami Bakura sat on the opposite side of the fire, shivering and huddled in a small ball.
" I'm f-freezing," Yami Bakura muttered through his frozen lips.
" I'm working on it," Bakura searched his backpack for the matches. He found one and lit the fire.
" There, that should help," Bakura looked at his yami. " You may want to get closer."
" I ca-can't m-m-move," His yami muttered.
Bakura brought a few blankets out of his bag and draped them on Yami Bakura's shoulders. His Yami looked at him.
" Try using these until you can move," Bakura said walking back over to another area to sit down. " I'll keep the fire going."
* What is this kids problem?* Yami Bakura thought. * He has grown to fear me, hate me, never stand up to me, and now, knowing that I'm possibly going to die of cold, he comes though and saves me. I know i don't deserve this. I should be dead right now. Or, that's at least what everyone else wants. Unless... unless he is different. He sees something in me that ever I don't see. Well even if i live, he's not getting off easy.*
Yami Bakura shivered wildly.
" Maybe you should return to the ring," Bakura suggested.
" That's a g-good idea," Yami Bakura muttered.
Bakura dug through this bag and then stopped.
Yami began to fall back. He was freezing. Something told him, and the others, 5000-year-old Egyptians hate cold weather. Yugi stopped and skiied back over to Yami.
" Do you want to go back into the Puzzle and warm up?" Yugi asked.
" Okay, why not?"
Yugi searched his backpack and then stopped.
" What's the problem Yug?" Joey asked.
" Ummm," Yugi stuttered. " We got the..."
Yugi held up something that made everyone freak.
Bakura looked at the item. His Yami couldn't believe it. He had struggled for years trying to get that and now, at the worst moment, some unlucky moron got the items switched. Bakura held the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi held the Millennium Ring.
" What do we do now?" Yami Bakura asked.
" Wait and see if the ring finds us before we freeze," Bakura sighed.
Yugi looked at the ring.
" Can we use it to find the others?" Kaiba asked.
" I don't know," Yugi replied. " Some guy told me that we probably can't without being punished."
" That only works with stealing the items," Yami corrected.
The ring glowed and one tassel pointed in one direction.
" Dare to see if it's pointing in the right direction?" Tristan asked.
Yugi skiied in front, everyone fallowed.
Bakura put out the fire. His Yami was placing his skis back on.
" The only way to find the others, is to go see if we can find the path," Bakura said as his yami got back up. Bakura stopped to cough. It was getting worse.
He had been coughing for a while now. Bakura had guess it was just from the cold air, but it was getting worse with each passing second.
" And the puzzle?"
" Well we can't keep it," Bakura said. His Yami glared at him. " No matter how much you want it."
" Fine. I won't touch the puzzle," Yami Bakura said flatly.
Bakura was about to say something when he stopped and passed out. His yami caught him before he hit the snow.
" Bakura?" He asked , shaking Bakura. " Bakura?"
No response. Yami Bakura panicked, a little. He grabbed Bakura backpack, put it on, took all four poles, placed two in one hand and two in the other. He picked up Bakura and placed one hand behind Bakura's back and under his (Yami Bakura's) arm and placed Bakura's arm behind his (Yami Bakura's) head. He looked a head of him, placed the puzzle in one hand and began to ski into the woods.
Yugi watched the ring. he was hoping this wasn't some trick. He wasn't the proper owner of the item and it could cause some problems. Then again, if this item was messing them up, his might be doing the same. He looked into the woods and stopped. the ring pointed in a different direction, the one they had just come from.
" Can't this stupid ring get anything right?!" Joey yelled.
" I'm agreeing with the mutt," Kaiba said. " Where does this thing think it's going?"
" We must have just missed them," Yugi replied. " They must be trying to get back to the lodge."
Yugi turned around and headed back in the direction the ring was pointing.
It led them into a dense forest. They could barely see. Now, more then before, did they have to trust that the Millennium Ring was leading them to Bakura and not in some maze.
Yami Bakura paused. Bakura had mentioned about a whistle. He looked at Bakura.
His skin had become pale and cold and the tips of his lips where becoming blue. Something told Yami Bakura that wasn't a good sign.
Yami Bakura searched Bakura's pockets. Nothing. He checked to see if Bakura was wearing a necklace or something close. He tugged on a small white piece of string. He slowly removed it from around Bakura's neck and looked at the whistle.
* How does this work?* he though. He remembered what Bakura had mentioned earlier on the ski hills.
" If you ever get caught in the woods and you can't find you way back, use this. It may scare you at first but it will get peoples attention."
* Wish be had shown me, but I'll have to figure it out on my own.*
He placed one end to his lips and then blew into it. A piercing screech came out. he jumped a little.
" He was right about it getting peoples attention," he muttered as he tried it again.
Yugi's ears perked up. Everyone looked around.
" Three long sounds," Kaiba wondered.
" It's an S.O.S," Tea looked up.
" But where is it coming from?" Mokuba looked around.
" That way," Weevil pointed to the west of the group.
They skiied off.
Yami Bakura stopped. In some remote corner of his mind, he hoped someone heard that. He skiied forward and kept blowing the whistle.
Yami pointed.
" Over there! I see something!"
" I see it too!" Mai said. then she though for a minute. " My lipstick froze!!!"
Yugi skiied ahead to check. Yami Bakura skiied out, holding the unconscious Bakura.
" What happened?" Yugi asked.
" You tell me," Yami Bakura replied. " One minute he's coughing his head off and the next, he passes out."
Kaiba looked at Bakura. " Looks like hypothermia."
" Hypo-what?!" Joey asked.
" It's when your body temperature drops below normal," Tristan said. " If it gets too low, you can die from it."
" How bad is it?" Tea asked.
" He'll live for now," Kaiba replied, " but he needs serious medical attention."
" How are we going to get him back?" Mai asked.
Yami walked over to Yami Bakura. Joey had taken Bakura so Kaiba could see how bad his condition was. They looked each other in the eyes for a few minutes. Yami Bakura smiled.
" I'd like to make a deal with you..."
" And that is?" Yami asked. He kept a close eye on him.
" My Millennium Ring for," He held one hand up, " Your Millennium Puzzle."
" You mean," Yami was surprised at this.
" I have no use for it if I'm freezing to death," Yami Bakura replied.
Yami and Yami Bakura switched items. Before they could retreat to their soul rooms, the ski patrol finally arrived.
" You the kids who reported two missing youths?" One asked.
" Ya," Yugi replied.
" These to two?" The man looked at Bakura and then Yami Bakura.
" Yes," Yugi replied.
" You can come with us," another one said, " You'll need to be treated for Hypothermia though but you'll be fine."
They climbed onto the snowmobiles. Kaiba dialed his cell phone.
" I'll call for our doctor," Kaiba said.
Kaiba talked with the doctor the whole way back to the lodge.
Bakura lied down in a bed. Yami Bakura had kept his distance ever since they had returned. Yugi and the others had been treated for hypothermia, explaining to Yami what it was. Yami store at Yami Bakura.
" What's with him?" Yami asked.
" I dunno but he's been like that for a while," Joey replied.
* Bakura, I wish i knew why i saved you. I could have let you die out there. I could have gotten away with the puzzle and then later, found Yugi and got that Ring back. Then i could have gone off, gotten the other items and ruled the world, but no. I have to save you instead. Wish i had a reason. If i did then i don't remember it. Maybe it was the fact that you where more helpless then ever. Or maybe it's because you were sick and possibly dying. What ever it was, you some how got through to me. You don't know what you are gonna go through after you wake up... *
Yami Bakura walked over to the bed. He slowly summoned the Shadow Realm around him and Bakura so that no one could look in on this. Yami Bakura went back into the ring. He walked down the hallway between his soul room and Bakura's. He walked into Bakura's soul room.
It was an interesting soul room. There were hanging plants, a few large and a bunch of small stuffed animals. It was almost like stepping into Yugi's soul room only this one had plants and nature sounds all over. The bed, with a large, fluffy sky blue blanket and an equally fluffy pillow, sat in the far left corner of the room. Yami Bakura walked over, brushing the plants out of his face and watching that he didn't step on anything.
Bakura had got it last time Yami Bakura stepped on something and ended up falling and spraining his wrist. Bakura did have a lot of explaining to do about the cuts, bruises and the sprained wrist to his father. Lucky for both of them, Bakura's father didn't yet know about Yami Bakura.
Bakura's soul rested in the bed, curled up like a ball, hugging some sort of teddy bear-like doll. Yami Bakura recognized it.
Saidi, ( * Was that her name?* He thought,) had made two one-of-a-kind dolls, one that looked like Bakura and one that had the image of Yami Bakura. The one Bakura had kept was the one that looked like his Yami, Yami Bakura kept the one that looked like Bakura.
He looked at Bakura. He always looked peaceful when he slept. of course, this was probably the only peaceful time he has, when he's not in school. Yami Bakura sighed and walked back out of the room and into his own soul room.
Bakura awoke a few hours later. He was lying in his bed. The Millennium Ring was on the bedside table. He looked a little puzzled. He put this hand up to his forehead.
* It's not warm,* He though. he looked at his clock.
* 3:46am. I wonder how long i was out.* He shook his head wildly. * What's wrong with me? I can't remember anything. It's like my yami took me over again.*
He tossed the covers aside and sat on the edge of the bed. He felt weak and tired but had no idea why. He got up and walked out of his room.
The hallways were pitch black. Bakura had to watch where he stepped so that he didn't hit anything. He slowly found the west staircase and walked down it.
The main hall was pitch black with a small light coming from the moon. He wandered around the darkened room until he found the door to the living room.
Tea sat near the fireplace reading a book. The fire burned brightly as Bakura walked over to her.
" Oh hi Bakura," Tea said. " I see your fine."
" Not really," Bakura replied. " What happened to me?"
" Well we went skiing but you vanished with your Yami," Tea explained. " You caught hypothermia and passed out. You've been asleep for almost a day and a half."
" That long? How....... Who brought me back?" Bakura asked.
" Your Yami brought you to us and then the ski patrol found us," Tea replied. " Yami Bakura acted weird afterward."
" Must have wanted to know why he saved me," Bakura sighed. " So who switched the items?"
" Weevil did," Tea sighed. " He knew which item went to who but he couldn't tell your backpacks apart. so he shoved the puzzle in one and the ring in the other."
" Yami Bakura must have had a fit," Bakura said.
" No."
" No?"
" Yami Bakura hasn't been seen sence the incident," Tea said.
" Weird. I checked his soul room earlier but he was sleeping."
" Now that is odd," Tea yawned. " I'm going back to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."
" Bye," Bakura watched Tea walk off. He sighed and closed his eyes. He entered his Yami's soul room. the first thing he noticed was a doll, stained with water.
* Water?* Bakura thought. He touched the doll and tasted the liquid.* No, wait, salt water. tears? Yami Bakura was crying?*
He walked over to Yami Bakura. He noticed the black rings under his eyes, and....
Tears. a few silver tears slid down Yami Bakura's cheek and he seemed to be worried. Bakura placed the doll under one of Yami Bakura's arms and walked back out of the soul room.
He entered the real world. He walked back upstairs and into his room.
* Guess i better get more sleep tonight.*
Bakura closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
