Chapter Five: Ensnared Hunter

Rain pounded heavily as T'Kai darted to and fro among the underbrush, feeling a freedom she hadn't felt in millennia. The rain meant nothing to her leopard form, which was used to the rainy season on the savannas of Africa. It had been six weeks since A'Kuna so rudely barged in on her privacy with that amateur of a witch, what had A'Kuna called her? Ah yes, Tabitha and that annoying bite-sized fur ball called Saryon. She had tricked them every time they came in search of her. A'Kuna was beginning to grind her nerves like she had back in Egypt when she kept sneaking into the palace with Bakura at night.

A crash of thunder broke T'Kai's brooding and brought her to a halt. Turning white hot orbs towards the sky, she snarled, her ears flat against her skull. She trained her white, void-like eyes on the surrounding area and saw only the orphanage that Audrey had been placed in after being released from the hospital. T'Kai had visited her there once, just a short meeting between the two. She still didn't know why she had gone to see the girl in the first place; Audrey should have meant nothing to her! But the sad fact remained that Audrey was her last link to the human life and then there was that silver thread that connected her to the girl.

Slinking forward towards the building T'Kai pondered why now of all times she was being drawn to the girl. After darting across the single lane road she shifted to the form of an owl and perched in the tree near the window that, ironically, was nailed shut. She could see into the building easily, could see Audrey huddled in the corner, apart from the other children and teens while an adult fussed at her for something or other that she had done. T'Kai felt her blood begin to boil as well as a sick feeling churn her stomach; Audrey didn't understand why people yelled at her when she did something that she thought was right, like refusing to eat or when she tore up book since she now hated them ever since her step father had struck T'Kai with one. She couldn't help the way she was! She hadn't been let out of the house in over three years and had forgotten how to interact properly with other people. Her step father had starved her as punishment and over time she just stopped eating altogether, claiming that she wasn't hungry when in reality her body was screaming at her mind to eat something, anything.

T'Kai dug her talons in the soft bark beneath her as she tried to control her temper. She knew that Audrey had to learn how to interact within society again, but that didn't seem to mean anything to her sense of right and wrong. Strange; only a few weeks ago T'Kai didn't think that the girl meant anything to her and now she was ready to break the glass and take the girl with her. But then again, something didn't seem quite right about this picture. T'Kai didn't remember a tree being by the orphanage and she didn't hear anything from inside. No voices, no crying, no anything. She lightly dropped down to the ground, shifting to leopard before hitting the ground. She could not smell anything while in owl form.

She had taken two steps when her hide leg suddenly gave way under her, sending her to the ground hard. She shook her head and looked over her shoulder to see what had happened. There, clamped securely to her hide foot, was a bear trap. Not the kind with the teeth but it had trapped her none the less. She couldn't shift; none of her forms would be able to break out of the trap. Her cobra form would still be trapped when her hind legs melted together to form the cable like animal while her bird forms wouldn't be able to stand up against the pressure being put on her hind leg. Slowly she stood up and tried to pull her foot free to no avail. The orphanage suddenly disappeared; it had been a hologram! No wonder she couldn't hear anything, there was nothing to hear!

The smell of human and something that she couldn't place was soon detected by her sensitive sense of smell. She snarled and put her ears flat against her skull, drawing her lips back and bearing her fangs. Her claws dug into the ground beneath her as she roared a warning. It didn't matter, they weren't afraid of her. T'Kai yowled in surprise as a tranquilizing dart hit her left flank and struck out with a clawed paw, grabbing only air. She paced, snarling for all she was worth, even when she began to get drowsy and couldn't walk straight. Within a span of five minutes she finally found it too hard to remain on her feet and collapsed. With a soft growl she attempted to bat feebly at the men who surrounded her and lifted her into a plastic box with holes drilled in it to supply air but that were not big enough for any of her forms to escape through. The last thing she saw was a pair of yellow eyes that swirled menacingly from outside of the box before her eyes got too heavy and she had to close them.

*Change in POV 0.o;*

The man who had darted T'Kai turned to face the owner of the whirling eyes T'Kai had seen before she had given in completely to the drug. The creature was certainly not human, had never been. Standing on all fours with a long neck and tail, it was about the size of a German Shepard with a head faintly resembling that of a small dragon with foot long horns starting just above her eyes and going straight back with a slight curve upwards. Its front feet were more like hands, with a thumb like appendage and three 'fingers' while its hind feet were similar to that of a cat. Its tail twitched back and forth, looking like a snake slithering in the damp ground. Ridges ran from behind its head to the near tip of its tail. Its royal purple fur seemed to be resistant to the rain that pounded from the sky as it observed the leopard in the box.

"Tell your master that I don't think this is such a good idea to capture the beast. If it turns on him there is very little that will keep it from killing him." One man said to the creature, clearly the leader of this operation. The creature turned its head to look at him, silently studying him for several minutes.

"Do you doubt that my master can not handle this so called man killer? Was it not he who devised the plan to capture it?" it replied in a harsh feminine voice that was dripping with un-said threats.

"N-no R-Rykuu. I-I wasn't i-implying that!" the man stuttered nervously, looking quickly to the others in the group. The other men ignored him and looked elsewhere, as if saying that they did not share his idea. The man let out a relived sigh as the creature called Rykuu got to her feet and turned as if to leave. In the blink of an eye she turned on him, leaping on him with claws out stretched and knocked him to the ground. She pinned him down, watching him shudder and snivel beneath her. She turned her head slightly, her eyes glistening with dangerous mischief.

Slowly she let him up and backed away from him. She turned to the others and bid them good hunting after making sure that they would deliver T'Kai to her master. The men nodded and promised to have T'Kai transported to him within a few days then went to retrieve the drugged beast in the plastic box and prepare it for transport. Rykuu casually walked past the man that had voiced his doubts about her master. Casting a sideways glance at him she kept walking, opening a portal to the Shadow Realm while doing so. The purple creature walked directly into the portal while a different shadow creature leapt out and tackled the man, dragging him to his death into the dark abyss. With that the portal closed; the other men didn't even glance at where their comrade had once been. Once you crossed a creature from the Shadow Realm there was no apologizing. You had signed your own death warrant.

*Yet another change in POV._.;*

Pegasus sighed boredly as he awaited the return of his pet. He had sent the Shadow Fiend to accompany those bumbling idiots so that they would succeed in capturing the spirit that he had found out about from his pet when she had returned one night from surfing the information highway in the Shadow Realm. He silently mused about how much Rykuu had grown since he had found her a mere year ago. At the time she had been a kitten-sized ball of fur and horns that had fallen into the human realm while exploring the outer rim of the Shadow Realm. Now she was a graceful creature loyal only to him. Her twin sister Meikyuu would visit from time to time but the blue fiend seemed rather annoyed to be anywhere near Pegasus and left within a half hour after saying something that would make Rykuu pin her on the ground, standing over her and snarling like an angry dragon.

In reality, Rykuu was the only one Pegasus considered a 'friend'. She had grown on him when he was lonely and depressed. She always had a kind word to say and seemed almost better at dishing out punishments to his employees then he was at times. Pegasus admitted that perhaps he had spoiled her, but seeing as he had no children Rykuu had taken on that role as well. He had found her at the young age of only a few weeks old and had raised her since then, serving her every whim and encouraging her whenever she failed to do something he asked of her, which was rare. She loved nothing more then to do his bidding, whether it be good or bad. If he wanted something done he knew that he could depend on her to get it done.

As he was thinking over all the roles Rykuu had taken on over the past year she returned, bearing the news that T'Kai had been caught. Pegasus smiled and gently stroked the soft fur under her eyes. She sat patiently for this favorite pass time of hers that had developed during the times that her 'master' had needed to encourage her and now it was a sign of Pegasus being proud of her work or simply a sign of affection.

"When she arrives we will release the girl on the separate side of the island. T'Kai can be manipulated quite easily if the girl is involved, proven by the way that she fell for the hologram tonight. I will restore the child's soul to her after T'Kai is released." Pegasus told his friend as he moved his hand away from her eye towards the silken fur of her neck. Rykuu closed her eyes and rested her head in his lap.

"They pulled off the capture without much trouble. You were right about her weakness being the girl and that she was over-confident that she could avoid human traps. However, I had to get rid of one man. He doubted you and would have squealed if the group was caught." She said off-handedly, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"Its alright Rykuu. You didn't need to go through all that work. I could have paid someone to keep the matter out of court. If T'Kai can be tricked into believing that Yugi Boy would hurt her dear girl she will try to do away with him and anyone that stands in her way." He assured her. She thought this over for a minute before agreeing. If Rykuu had thought ahead she might have seen that there were plenty of things that could go wrong with this plan, but seeing as how it was her master's plan she wouldn't question it. She would never question her master for in her eyes he could do no wrong.

A/N: Well, there is another chapter done. I know that a lot of you people hate Pegasus, but I for one like him, why else would Rykuu being serving him ^_^? Pegasus isn't all bad, just a bit misguided and Rykuu sees him as the ultimate master. Kinda like Mokuba and Seto; Mokuba doesn't believe that Seto can do anything wrong and idolizes his big brother. Rykuu doesn't believe that anything Pegasus does is wrong, even if it hurts others. As for T'Kai, well, you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out and guess what! Yugi and co are in the next chapter (finally .;) so you'll get to see how they play a part in all of this. There will be a slight bout of Tea/Anzu bashing but it wont be much...yet.