The Heart of A Dragon Tamer

Authoress: RyouBakura'sDark Angel *a.k.a. Aisling Kaiba*

Aisling: Yay! I'm back with the next part of this! *chibi smile*

Yami: You don't know when to quit, do you?

Aisling: *sticks her tongue out at him and pushes him out of the room* There, now that that's settled...can someone do the disclaimer for me?

Rishid: *Trying to very discreetly sneak away*

Aisling: Oh Rishi-chan! Please?

Rishid: *Sigh* Very well. Lady Aisling does not own YGO, but anything original is hers.

Aisling: *Glomps him* Arigatou, Rishi! And now, on with the fic!

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*Chapter 2: Rescue And A Fated Meeting*

Meanwhile, a group of duelists happened to be walking that way, searching for a place to set up camp for the night. Well, only two of them were actually officially competing in the Duel Monsters tournament. The others--two boys and one girl--had somehow managed to stow away on the ship that was en route to the Duelist Kingdom.

One was a tall boy with blonde hair and light caramel brown eyes wearing a green jacket, white t-shirt, blue denim jeans and sneakers. Another boy walked right next to the blonde. He was about the same height as the blonde, give or take a few inches. His brown hair was slightly spiky, and came to a point in the front. He also had brown eyes, though his were a slightly darker shade than those of the blonde. He wore a white shirt--which was more or less concealed by his long tan trench coat--as well as dark pants and brown boots.

Beside the brunette was a girl who was only slightly shorter than him. She had shoulder-length brown hair, and her bangs dangled slightly above her ocean-blue eyes. She wore a long-sleeved beige and pink jacket-type blouse, a short skirt that was a dark shade of purple, and brown, calf-high boots.

Walking right in front of them were two other boys. The taller of the duo was a shy, albino boy. He was paler than the rest of his group, and appeared to be almost fragile, like porcelain. Mysterious chocolate brown eyes peered out from underneath white bangs, the rest of his snow-colored hair falling just past his shoulders and framing his pale face in an almost endearingly cute way. He wore a long-sleeved white sweater with a green shirt underneath, the collar clearly visible above the top of the sweater, blue denim jeans and sneakers. A strange-looking necklace dangled from a length of brown cord around his neck. It was a gold ring, inside which was a golden pyramid. A slightly odd version of the Egyptian Eye of Ra was engraved in the middle of the pyramid. Five gold pointers dangled in more or less of a semi-circle from the bottom and sides of the pendant.

The other boy was shorter than the rest of the group. He had spiky, tri-colored hair that was an odd combination of crimson, ebony and gold, and large, innocent violet eyes. He wore a white shirt, a dark blue jacket, dark blue pants, and sneakers. Around his neck was a black choker with a silver buckle adorning it. Dangling from a length of brown cord was what looked like a gold, upside-down pyramid with the Eye of Ra symbol engraved in the center of the pendant. Both he and the blonde each wore a red glove with gold stars adorning the silver wristbands of the gloves.

"Hey, Yugi? You all right?" the blonde, Joey Wheeler, asked.

Yugi Motou didn't answer, but instead her merely nodded, not even looking up at his best friend. He had caught a glimpse of something several feet away. He stopped short in his tracks, and so did the others, staring at their friend in concern.

"What's wrong?" Tea Gardner asked, giving her friend a confused look.

"Look over there," Yugi muttered.

The others followed his gaze, and that was when they realized why he had stopped. Several feet away from them, a young girl lay in a crumpled heap on the ground, though whether she was merely unconscious or dead, they couldn't tell from their vantage point.

"What in the world?" Tristan Taylor muttered under his breath.

"I wonder who she is?" Ryou Bakura spoke up.

"I don't know, Ryou, but she might need our help," Yugi replied. "Come on, guys."

The others nodded in agreement and hurried over to the fallen girl. When they reached her, Ryou knelt down on the ground next to her as the others looked on in concern. He gently shifted her delicate, motionless form slightly, not wanting to worsen any damage there may have been if she was hurt, and moved her so that she was lying on her back now. He brushed her dark brown hair back from her face so that it splayed out around her like some kind of dark halo and they saw her face. She struck them as familiar somehow, but none of them could quite say how or why. But the faint rise and fall of her chest with her still-labored breathing reassured them that she was still alive, merely unconscious, and any resemblance between the mysterious girl and anyone else was immediately forgotten.

"What do you think we should do, guys?" Tristan asked, breaking the silence.

"Why don't we set up camp here tonight?" Tea suggested.

The others nodded their agreement, Ryou doing so almost absently before turning his attention back to the girl lying on the ground next to him. His innocent, chocolate brown eyes had taken on a distant, almost dreamy expression. He stayed like that for a long time, lost deep within his own thoughts.

There was something about her that seemed familiar to him, something more than just a physical resemblance. Something in her soul was calling out to him, though he was hard-pressed to say just what it was that drew him to her.

Suddenly he was brought out of his reverie by a strange glow coming from his Millennium Ring. Ryou glanced down and realized that the gold Ring was pointing towards the mysterious girl. Then he saw the necklace that she wore and gasped softly. The others watched in sheer confusion, wondering what was going on.

"Hey, Ryou, you all right? What's the deal with your Millennium Ring?" Joey asked, waving his hand in front of the albino's face to get his attention.

Ryou shook himself mentally as the glowing stopped and the Ring became lifeless once again. Before he realized what he was doing, he reached over and gently stroked the girl's silken cheek once in a loving gesture. His brown eyes held traces of unshed tears, and it seemed as if for just a brief moment, their spirits seemed to wrap themselves around each other.

"Umm, Yugi? What do you think is going on? Does he know her or something?" Tea asked quietly.

Yugi just shrugged. "I don't know, it's possible, I guess," Yugi replied.

"Hey, look, Yug. She's got one of those Millennium Items, too," Joey suddenly pointed out.

"You're right, she does!" Yugi said.

"My sweet desert angel," Ryou muttered softly as he clasped the girl's smaller hand gently in his own.

Just then, he seemed to notice that the others were staring at him. He shook his head, wondering what had just happened, then glanced up at his companions.

"What happened?" Ryou asked.

"We were just about to ask you the same thing," Tristan spoke up.

"Yeah, you looked like you were out of it or something, and you called her your 'sweet desert angel.' Do you know her?" Tea said quietly.

Ryou blushed crimson as he glanced back down at the girl, only vaguely aware of the fact that he was still clasping her hand. He blushed deeper--if that was even humanly possible--and let go of her hand. Luckily for him, he was saved from having to answer them when a soft, agonized moan broke through the unnerving silence.

"Hey, she's waking up," Tea said.

The girl shifted slightly, and her eyelids fluttered open. She sat up a little bit, her blue eyes focusing with slight difficulty upon the strangers who were gathered around her. She glanced around wildly as if looking for something. Her sapphire-blue eyes went very wide with her fear and she shied away from them, staring at them suspiciously.

"Are you all right?" Ryou asked softly, his voice filled with concern for the mysterious girl.

"Who are you people? What do you want from me?" she demanded.

To Be Continued...well, here's the second part, sorry if it was short. I'll try to get the next part up as soon as I can. And just to clear up any potential confusion, Aisling and Ryou were together back in ancient Egypt, and the memories have momentarily started to come back to Ryou. Please R&R! No flames, though, or I'll sic a drunk and horny Pegasus on you. (Sorry, woodelf!) Well, ja ne!

*RyouBakura's Dark Angel*