Chapter Three- Champion
Notes- (blinks) Dude, you mean Silver Wolf really DOES exist? Well, uh, in that case, I don't own it! But for the case of this story it's still gonna stay at attack of 600, merely cause I wish to be consistent. ^_~ Please enjoy!
Oh, warning! Yugi will get a bit OOC later in the chapter. He'll be better later, I promise!
~*~
Yugi took a long, hard look at the man who kneeled next to him. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than Yugi was; perhaps eighteen, or nineteen perhaps?
And the man, for some reason, deeply resembled him. The young man shivered at that idea. Yes, that hair looked a lot like his; with many different colors that made the hair look almost unnatural on one's head. And those eyes... Yes, they were filled with experience, and a sense of wisdom and humor that Yugi knew he probably would never have, but they were the same shade of violet as his own.
The young man realized he'd been staring and blushed slightly. "S-sorry. Maybe I heard you wrong." He smiled. "I thought you said you were my champion."
"I did."
Yugi blinked.
"Here, let's move further into the woods and find somewhere to camp for you. Then we can ease your throat."
The younger man blinked again, noticing that his throat was parched and scratched from his earlier coughing fits. "Um... okay. But-"
"I can explain if you wish, but only if we get moving. You would not survive another attack, little one."
Yugi swallowed and nodded, pulling himself up by way of a nearby tree. Yami nodded at him, and the two continued through the dark woods.
For a while, all Yugi could make out was Yami, who led him through the brush and trees of the forest. He nearly ran into a tree once, and stumbled over bushes countless times, but every time Yami would catch him and wordlessly right him before moving on.
/Who is this?/ Yugi wondered. /And what did he mean 'my champion'? What am I, a princess? Really!/ He bristled at that thought. /Maybe I'm smaller than other boys but I'm still obviously not female!/
"Indeed you are not," replied Yami.
"Wh-what?!" /Did I say that out loud?!/
Yugi could almost picture Yami smiling at him. "You said I thought you were female. Obviously not. A female would have great difficulty calling me."
"Uh... why?" /I could have sworn I didn't say that out loud. What's going on? This is so creepy!/
"You ARE full of questions, aren't you? No matter." Yami caught Yugi before he ran right smack into another tree without missing a beat. "While it's not impossible, it's hard for one of one gender to call one of the opposite. The caller in question would need to be balanced almost perfectly in masculine and feminine qualities."
"So you ARE saying I'm female?!" A vein popped up on Yugi's forehead.
Yami sighed. "That's not what I said. Males can call upon me more easily than female, for I am male. A female calling on me would have to have a great amount of will, and a great amount of masculinity- or something resembling that."
"...Okay..."
"Come. We're nearing a clearing."
The two reached said clearing in a few moments, and Yugi could once again see. Thankfully, the trees allowed the stars to twinkle through their branches here, and Yugi could once again see his rescuer.
"Do you have flint?"
"Uh... yes..." Yugi scrambled to take off his pack and look for it. "Blast, even in moonlight I can't see a thing..." /Another quality I lack,/ he thought bitterly.
"Here." Yami walked over and looked through. "Ah! Here." He pulled it out. "Great, that'll make it easier to make a fire." He turned away, then glanced back. "Say, do you suppose wood would help?"
/? Is he being serious?/
Yami sighed. "Not much of a sense of humor. Ah well. I am not the chooser here. Yugi, will you help me gather wood?"
"Sure."
In a short while, a fire was crackling merrily as it worked its way through a small pile of branches that the two had collected. Yugi sat on one side of the fire, staring at it. Yami sat on the other, watching both Yugi and their surroundings.
Finally, Yugi spoke. "You said... you're my champion."
"Yes."
"Can you explain that?"
"Yes." Yami gestured to the necklace Yugi wore. "You got that tonight, correct?"
Yugi blinked. "Yeah, how did you know that?" /Is he a stalker?/
Yami chuckled. "Relax. We have not met before." He leaned back on his hands, glancing up at the sky.
"Years ago, a Healer had to care for a very weak man. This man was not a villager, or even a lord. No, he was a king.
"Well, this man's kingdom was always being invaded by rival countries. The kingdom, Domino, suffered many occupations. The king wanted to prevent this, but he could do little but help give out commands to his men. Often, he was too sick to even do that!
"The Healer hated to see her king push himself so hard." Yami's eyes softened for a moment. "So she called upon many fighters to come to her, to guard her king.
"However, the first man hired ended up being a spy. The second was an assassin. The third was a mercenary; when another king offered a higher price for his services, he left. So you see, the king had littler and littler trust in humankind.
"Finally, at wits' end, the Healer called upon the Mages of her time for help. One such Mage, the greatest of his time, created the Champions."
"Champions?" Yugi asked. He poked the fire with a stick to keep it going.
Yami nodded. "Champions. He searched for the greatest qualities of men, then created seven Champions. Afterwards, he gave them each an item to live in."
"Item? What do you mean?"
"I live in your puzzle necklace. Another Champion lives in an eye, while another lives in a rod."
"...Oh. Wait, this is a puzzle? It doesn't look like one."
Yami smiled. "That's a bit off topic, Yugi."
"Sorry."
"No, I'll tell you quickly. The puzzle does not show once it's been solved, and it's been solved for years. Decades, even.
"Now, back to the story. The king was given these seven items to protect him. With a stronger counterpart to protect and heal him, he could go into battle with the rest of his troops.
"Morale improved. Battles were won, wars were victorious. Invasions from other countries were subdued. The king was soon known as the greatest man to ever rule."
"Wow," Yugi whispered. "And you're one of those champions?" Yami nodded. "Then why are you helping me? I'm no king or prince. I'm not even a lord yet..."
"Just because we were made originally for a king, doesn't mean we only serve those of pure royalty. I have served the lowest scullery maid, the highest mage on the Council. I have fought for lords of the tiniest provinces, and kings of the biggest lands. So when you picked up my 'home', I became yours."
"Oh. Wow." Yugi looked away, into the darkness. "A Champion," he whispered. "My Champion..."
/It still sounds like he's supposed to be one of the knights of old serving a lady, not me. But... he DID save me, and he DID give me my first card. But.../ Yugi closed his eyes as a small breeze played with his bangs. /But I didn't get it myself./
The young man turned to look back into the fire. Noticing that it was dying again, he poked it, then added a couple small sticks to it. It started up again.
/What a fool I was. To think that I, the weakest boy in the village, could fight and defeat a monster of my own. The others are right; I'm not meant for this./ Yugi lowered his head to inspect his hands. /So white, so smooth... these hands are not meant to hold a sword. They never were./
To his surprise, Yugi saw and felt warm hands cover his. He blinked and looked up to see Yami looking at him. "Yami...?"
Yami was silent for a moment, inspecting Yugi's hands. "I don't know, they don't seem so smooth to me. Merely inexperienced, in need of practice," Yami said, pulling away.
"You... You read my mind!"
"Did I not mention that?" Yami ^_^ed. "I suppose I forgot to mention that sometimes I can read your mind, especially when you project strong emotions. As you are now."
Yugi fell over. Then he sat back up. "Well, stay outta my mind. I got enough to worry about," Yugi said. He turned away.
"Yugi."
The younger man was silent.
"Yugi. You are not a weak person. If you were, you would have been destroyed by that wolf, and I never would have appeared. I would be in the puzzle necklace still, waiting for a new master."
"Then why do I need you?"
"To represent you."
"For what?!"
"I guess I didn't mention that, either. Not only should you have masculine qualities to summon me, but you need a very strong will, and a stronger spirit. That's how I'm formed, you see." Yugi heard him chuckle. "Call me an alter ego, if you will."
"...Oh. So you're me, only better?"
Yami sighed. "You're going to take everything I say badly, aren't you?"
Yugi remained silent.
"I showed up because you wanted to defeat something, you wanted to show yourself and others that you could-"
"But I didn't! I didn't do all that fighting, YOU did. I didn't do a damn thing!" Yugi turned to snap at his "alter-ego". "Not me. Did I defeat that wolf? NO! I didn't! I STILL need help. I need help from some ancient alter-ego spirit thing that's a better version of me!"
"You're blowing this out of proportion-"
"No, I'm not. Why don't you go and, and, and, stick this puzzle where the sun doesn't shine! Go away!" Yugi started to yank off the puzzle.
"Yugi!" Yami's eyes widened. "Don't, you fool! You'll-"
"I can do things myself. I'm glad you rescued me, but..." Yugi pulled the necklace over his head and threw it into the fire. "If I'm gonna show anyone anything, I'm gonna show them myself!"
"Yu-"
Yami disappeared.
Yugi blinked at this. Then he shrugged. "Good. Find someone who will want your help." He turned away.
Suddenly, Yugi felt a tickling sensation in the back of his throat. /Oh, no.../
Oh, yes.
/My, my herbs!/ he thought, and then began to cough.
Using one hand to cover his mouth, he began searching in his pack for his herbs to ease his throat. However, with the puzzle thrown in the fire, the flames were dying, then soon dead. Yugi could barely see a thing, could no longer tell where the herbs he should use were.
/Damn it!/ The coughing got worse. /I... I can't breathe! Someone... No! I have to do this!/
He continued to scramble through his stuff. Then, he suddenly collapsed. Warmth trickled down from his mouth.
/I'm... bleeding. Can't stop it. I gotta try.../ Yugi's eyes teared up from coughing so hard. /If I don't stop.../
However, he couldn't get back up; the coughing had weakened his entire body.
/Damn... I can't do this. I need help./
Yugi's eyes closed as he fought to remember how to breathe properly. He was feeling more and more lightheaded.
/Please... I'm sorry. I need help.../
He weakly lifted one arm to reach out to the puzzle. Ignoring the burning sensations on his hand, his fingertips brushed against the chain, which was still remarkably intact.
/Please... Yami, I'm sorry.../
At first, he was sure that Yami wouldn't show again. Then, he heard some quiet cursing as something was ground into a paste. Then he felt Yami gently pry his mouth open and practically shove the paste down his throat.
A cool sensation attacked his senses. Almost immediately, he stopped coughing and gasped as he began to breathe freely once again. His tears of pain slowly turned into tears of relief as he collapsed against Yami, gasping and trying to stop shuddering.
"Apology accepted, little one," Yami said. "But we need you to sleep. I don't need it, but you certainly do. Especially after this little episode."
Yami patted the younger man on the back, then pulled away to arrange a bed for Yugi. Yugi, meanwhile, watched with a detached sort of expression.
He suddenly realized he was very, very tired; he'd gotten up early that morning, and it had to be late by now. So when Yami offered him the bedding, Yugi immediately tumbled into the collection of leaves and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yami..."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
Yami smiled and kneeled down to pull the puzzle necklace out of Yugi's hands- the younger man had been holding onto it tightly the entire time. Then he placed it back on Yugi's neck.
"It's all right. You can pay me back by sleeping."
"...Also."
"Yes?"
"...Thank you. For both times."
Yami smiled. "It was all you. Now sleep. I will keep watch for you." He turned away to start up the fire again.
Yugi felt his eyes getting more and more heavy. The herbs had completely eased his throat; he knew he wouldn't have any coughing fits as he slept.
/A Champion. A Champion that once served a great king,/ Yugi thought, smiling slightly to himself. /I didn't really think of that earlier. He's not like the guys back home, who try to 'help' me with their 'advice'. He really HELPS me. He served kings before, and now he's serving ME!/
By and by, Yugi slowly sank into unconsciousness and was soon sleeping so soundly that an earthquake couldn't wake him.
Yami smiled faintly at his ward's resting, then turned to watch the ever-present night.
/My Champion of Kings.../
~*~
Notes- (blinks) Dude, you mean Silver Wolf really DOES exist? Well, uh, in that case, I don't own it! But for the case of this story it's still gonna stay at attack of 600, merely cause I wish to be consistent. ^_~ Please enjoy!
Oh, warning! Yugi will get a bit OOC later in the chapter. He'll be better later, I promise!
~*~
Yugi took a long, hard look at the man who kneeled next to him. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than Yugi was; perhaps eighteen, or nineteen perhaps?
And the man, for some reason, deeply resembled him. The young man shivered at that idea. Yes, that hair looked a lot like his; with many different colors that made the hair look almost unnatural on one's head. And those eyes... Yes, they were filled with experience, and a sense of wisdom and humor that Yugi knew he probably would never have, but they were the same shade of violet as his own.
The young man realized he'd been staring and blushed slightly. "S-sorry. Maybe I heard you wrong." He smiled. "I thought you said you were my champion."
"I did."
Yugi blinked.
"Here, let's move further into the woods and find somewhere to camp for you. Then we can ease your throat."
The younger man blinked again, noticing that his throat was parched and scratched from his earlier coughing fits. "Um... okay. But-"
"I can explain if you wish, but only if we get moving. You would not survive another attack, little one."
Yugi swallowed and nodded, pulling himself up by way of a nearby tree. Yami nodded at him, and the two continued through the dark woods.
For a while, all Yugi could make out was Yami, who led him through the brush and trees of the forest. He nearly ran into a tree once, and stumbled over bushes countless times, but every time Yami would catch him and wordlessly right him before moving on.
/Who is this?/ Yugi wondered. /And what did he mean 'my champion'? What am I, a princess? Really!/ He bristled at that thought. /Maybe I'm smaller than other boys but I'm still obviously not female!/
"Indeed you are not," replied Yami.
"Wh-what?!" /Did I say that out loud?!/
Yugi could almost picture Yami smiling at him. "You said I thought you were female. Obviously not. A female would have great difficulty calling me."
"Uh... why?" /I could have sworn I didn't say that out loud. What's going on? This is so creepy!/
"You ARE full of questions, aren't you? No matter." Yami caught Yugi before he ran right smack into another tree without missing a beat. "While it's not impossible, it's hard for one of one gender to call one of the opposite. The caller in question would need to be balanced almost perfectly in masculine and feminine qualities."
"So you ARE saying I'm female?!" A vein popped up on Yugi's forehead.
Yami sighed. "That's not what I said. Males can call upon me more easily than female, for I am male. A female calling on me would have to have a great amount of will, and a great amount of masculinity- or something resembling that."
"...Okay..."
"Come. We're nearing a clearing."
The two reached said clearing in a few moments, and Yugi could once again see. Thankfully, the trees allowed the stars to twinkle through their branches here, and Yugi could once again see his rescuer.
"Do you have flint?"
"Uh... yes..." Yugi scrambled to take off his pack and look for it. "Blast, even in moonlight I can't see a thing..." /Another quality I lack,/ he thought bitterly.
"Here." Yami walked over and looked through. "Ah! Here." He pulled it out. "Great, that'll make it easier to make a fire." He turned away, then glanced back. "Say, do you suppose wood would help?"
/? Is he being serious?/
Yami sighed. "Not much of a sense of humor. Ah well. I am not the chooser here. Yugi, will you help me gather wood?"
"Sure."
In a short while, a fire was crackling merrily as it worked its way through a small pile of branches that the two had collected. Yugi sat on one side of the fire, staring at it. Yami sat on the other, watching both Yugi and their surroundings.
Finally, Yugi spoke. "You said... you're my champion."
"Yes."
"Can you explain that?"
"Yes." Yami gestured to the necklace Yugi wore. "You got that tonight, correct?"
Yugi blinked. "Yeah, how did you know that?" /Is he a stalker?/
Yami chuckled. "Relax. We have not met before." He leaned back on his hands, glancing up at the sky.
"Years ago, a Healer had to care for a very weak man. This man was not a villager, or even a lord. No, he was a king.
"Well, this man's kingdom was always being invaded by rival countries. The kingdom, Domino, suffered many occupations. The king wanted to prevent this, but he could do little but help give out commands to his men. Often, he was too sick to even do that!
"The Healer hated to see her king push himself so hard." Yami's eyes softened for a moment. "So she called upon many fighters to come to her, to guard her king.
"However, the first man hired ended up being a spy. The second was an assassin. The third was a mercenary; when another king offered a higher price for his services, he left. So you see, the king had littler and littler trust in humankind.
"Finally, at wits' end, the Healer called upon the Mages of her time for help. One such Mage, the greatest of his time, created the Champions."
"Champions?" Yugi asked. He poked the fire with a stick to keep it going.
Yami nodded. "Champions. He searched for the greatest qualities of men, then created seven Champions. Afterwards, he gave them each an item to live in."
"Item? What do you mean?"
"I live in your puzzle necklace. Another Champion lives in an eye, while another lives in a rod."
"...Oh. Wait, this is a puzzle? It doesn't look like one."
Yami smiled. "That's a bit off topic, Yugi."
"Sorry."
"No, I'll tell you quickly. The puzzle does not show once it's been solved, and it's been solved for years. Decades, even.
"Now, back to the story. The king was given these seven items to protect him. With a stronger counterpart to protect and heal him, he could go into battle with the rest of his troops.
"Morale improved. Battles were won, wars were victorious. Invasions from other countries were subdued. The king was soon known as the greatest man to ever rule."
"Wow," Yugi whispered. "And you're one of those champions?" Yami nodded. "Then why are you helping me? I'm no king or prince. I'm not even a lord yet..."
"Just because we were made originally for a king, doesn't mean we only serve those of pure royalty. I have served the lowest scullery maid, the highest mage on the Council. I have fought for lords of the tiniest provinces, and kings of the biggest lands. So when you picked up my 'home', I became yours."
"Oh. Wow." Yugi looked away, into the darkness. "A Champion," he whispered. "My Champion..."
/It still sounds like he's supposed to be one of the knights of old serving a lady, not me. But... he DID save me, and he DID give me my first card. But.../ Yugi closed his eyes as a small breeze played with his bangs. /But I didn't get it myself./
The young man turned to look back into the fire. Noticing that it was dying again, he poked it, then added a couple small sticks to it. It started up again.
/What a fool I was. To think that I, the weakest boy in the village, could fight and defeat a monster of my own. The others are right; I'm not meant for this./ Yugi lowered his head to inspect his hands. /So white, so smooth... these hands are not meant to hold a sword. They never were./
To his surprise, Yugi saw and felt warm hands cover his. He blinked and looked up to see Yami looking at him. "Yami...?"
Yami was silent for a moment, inspecting Yugi's hands. "I don't know, they don't seem so smooth to me. Merely inexperienced, in need of practice," Yami said, pulling away.
"You... You read my mind!"
"Did I not mention that?" Yami ^_^ed. "I suppose I forgot to mention that sometimes I can read your mind, especially when you project strong emotions. As you are now."
Yugi fell over. Then he sat back up. "Well, stay outta my mind. I got enough to worry about," Yugi said. He turned away.
"Yugi."
The younger man was silent.
"Yugi. You are not a weak person. If you were, you would have been destroyed by that wolf, and I never would have appeared. I would be in the puzzle necklace still, waiting for a new master."
"Then why do I need you?"
"To represent you."
"For what?!"
"I guess I didn't mention that, either. Not only should you have masculine qualities to summon me, but you need a very strong will, and a stronger spirit. That's how I'm formed, you see." Yugi heard him chuckle. "Call me an alter ego, if you will."
"...Oh. So you're me, only better?"
Yami sighed. "You're going to take everything I say badly, aren't you?"
Yugi remained silent.
"I showed up because you wanted to defeat something, you wanted to show yourself and others that you could-"
"But I didn't! I didn't do all that fighting, YOU did. I didn't do a damn thing!" Yugi turned to snap at his "alter-ego". "Not me. Did I defeat that wolf? NO! I didn't! I STILL need help. I need help from some ancient alter-ego spirit thing that's a better version of me!"
"You're blowing this out of proportion-"
"No, I'm not. Why don't you go and, and, and, stick this puzzle where the sun doesn't shine! Go away!" Yugi started to yank off the puzzle.
"Yugi!" Yami's eyes widened. "Don't, you fool! You'll-"
"I can do things myself. I'm glad you rescued me, but..." Yugi pulled the necklace over his head and threw it into the fire. "If I'm gonna show anyone anything, I'm gonna show them myself!"
"Yu-"
Yami disappeared.
Yugi blinked at this. Then he shrugged. "Good. Find someone who will want your help." He turned away.
Suddenly, Yugi felt a tickling sensation in the back of his throat. /Oh, no.../
Oh, yes.
/My, my herbs!/ he thought, and then began to cough.
Using one hand to cover his mouth, he began searching in his pack for his herbs to ease his throat. However, with the puzzle thrown in the fire, the flames were dying, then soon dead. Yugi could barely see a thing, could no longer tell where the herbs he should use were.
/Damn it!/ The coughing got worse. /I... I can't breathe! Someone... No! I have to do this!/
He continued to scramble through his stuff. Then, he suddenly collapsed. Warmth trickled down from his mouth.
/I'm... bleeding. Can't stop it. I gotta try.../ Yugi's eyes teared up from coughing so hard. /If I don't stop.../
However, he couldn't get back up; the coughing had weakened his entire body.
/Damn... I can't do this. I need help./
Yugi's eyes closed as he fought to remember how to breathe properly. He was feeling more and more lightheaded.
/Please... I'm sorry. I need help.../
He weakly lifted one arm to reach out to the puzzle. Ignoring the burning sensations on his hand, his fingertips brushed against the chain, which was still remarkably intact.
/Please... Yami, I'm sorry.../
At first, he was sure that Yami wouldn't show again. Then, he heard some quiet cursing as something was ground into a paste. Then he felt Yami gently pry his mouth open and practically shove the paste down his throat.
A cool sensation attacked his senses. Almost immediately, he stopped coughing and gasped as he began to breathe freely once again. His tears of pain slowly turned into tears of relief as he collapsed against Yami, gasping and trying to stop shuddering.
"Apology accepted, little one," Yami said. "But we need you to sleep. I don't need it, but you certainly do. Especially after this little episode."
Yami patted the younger man on the back, then pulled away to arrange a bed for Yugi. Yugi, meanwhile, watched with a detached sort of expression.
He suddenly realized he was very, very tired; he'd gotten up early that morning, and it had to be late by now. So when Yami offered him the bedding, Yugi immediately tumbled into the collection of leaves and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yami..."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
Yami smiled and kneeled down to pull the puzzle necklace out of Yugi's hands- the younger man had been holding onto it tightly the entire time. Then he placed it back on Yugi's neck.
"It's all right. You can pay me back by sleeping."
"...Also."
"Yes?"
"...Thank you. For both times."
Yami smiled. "It was all you. Now sleep. I will keep watch for you." He turned away to start up the fire again.
Yugi felt his eyes getting more and more heavy. The herbs had completely eased his throat; he knew he wouldn't have any coughing fits as he slept.
/A Champion. A Champion that once served a great king,/ Yugi thought, smiling slightly to himself. /I didn't really think of that earlier. He's not like the guys back home, who try to 'help' me with their 'advice'. He really HELPS me. He served kings before, and now he's serving ME!/
By and by, Yugi slowly sank into unconsciousness and was soon sleeping so soundly that an earthquake couldn't wake him.
Yami smiled faintly at his ward's resting, then turned to watch the ever-present night.
/My Champion of Kings.../
~*~