Author- I know it must be really annoying reading about my new character
being the center of attention, and all that will change soon, but how else
was I supposed to set up the story? I needed to get them all into the Dream
Realm somehow! ^^
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When Yugi called me that night, I couldn't help but feel very panicky. I have always been called a worry-wart, and I guess this was why. I could barely sleep that night because I was so worried about what Yugi had to tell us the next day. He told everyone to meet early by Domino High so he could explain it to us in person. I almost yelled at him because I was so frustrated that he would just call me and say Caitlin was in trouble, then not tell me about it till the next day. Caitlin and I had always been really close, being the two girls in the group of six, and we always stayed in the same house when she was in Domino. But I knew if Yugi didn't have to tell me in person, he would have told me over the phone. So, reluctantly, I just said 'ok' and hung up.
The next day we all met up at school early as planned, and Yugi took us to a place we could talk without being overheard. It was a small empty closet that was filled with cleaning supplies. But in spite of all the air fresheners, the closet smelled horrible. I had a feeling Ryou knew what the problem was already, because he looked as flustered as Yugi already did, and didn't seem to be in such a hurry to learn. Yugi finally took a deep breath and started to tell us the story.
"Ok, you know that Yami went with Bakura to Caitlin's house yesterday to see what was the matter with Bakura's item and why she wasn't calling us. And we found that the answer to it all is... completely out of the ordinary."
"What's up Yug?" Joey said, leaning in a little closer.
"Cami is a mortal again."
There was a stunned silence for a few seconds before Yugi answered what everyone was thinking.
"Yami and I don't know really what happened. He says Cami told him that Caitlin used her item power that night and didn't come back, then right before his eyes, Cami started becoming a mortal again."
"But how can that happen?" I said quietly just in case, "Cami is dead! He's been dead for 5000 years or whatever it's been now, how can he just...become human again?"
Yugi shook his head, "I'm not sure. Yami stayed up all night thinking about it, you know how he gets when he can't figure something out, and the only possibility he could come up with was that Caitlin somehow got...stuck or something in the Dream Realm."
"The Dream Realm?" Ryou said, speaking up for the first time.
Yugi nodded, "Yami says that the Dream Realm is a branch of the Shadow Realm that your spirit goes into whenever you dream. Whenever Caitlin goes into our dreams with that item of hers, she's going into the Dream Realm. We don't know how she got stuck there, but that's the only possibility that we could think of."
"How are we supposed to help her if she's in the 'Dream Realm'?" Tristen asked.
"Well...that's the problem. We've got to find the entry to the Dream Realm. It has to be somewhere in the Shadow Realm, but only Ryou and I can go there safely. I don't know what would happen if we took all of the rest of you guys with us, and it's too risky to try it out."
I nodded in agreement. I didn't want to be lost forever in the Shadow Realm when it wasn't absolutely necessary. Yugi looked glad we all understood. And now that I thought about it, we got the better side of the deal. We just had to stay put and wait, Ryou and Yugi had to go into a completely new realm alone, without the knowing that they would even be coming back.
"Yami says we'll have to leave as soon as possible if we even have the slightest bit of hope in saving Caitlin before it's too late. We're going to have to leave right after school."
The sound of the bell cut through his last words, and we said nothing more. We all hurried to our classrooms, and the school day went on as if nothing was out of the ordinary. When the day was finally over with, Ryou and Yugi left in the direction of Ryou's house to finish planning, and set off into the 'Dream Realm'. That was the last I would be seeing of them for a long time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I wasn't at all happy about what we had to do, but I knew it was for the best. And I also wasn't at all happy that my Yami had completely 'forgotten' to mention everything about Caitlin being trapped in a new realm and her Yami being mortal again. He told me that "we have a big job ahead of us" and that was pretty much all. It all came as a shock to me when Yugi called me up with the intentions of talking to me about it and planning what we were going to do about it, but my Yami was unfortunately, much less considerate. We decided to plan the whole thing over at my house because there wasn't anyone there that would interrupt us, and we needed as much quiet and concentration as possible.
Yugi and I walked without talking, although we had much to say, I guess we both felt like we couldn't trust ourselves not to say something that someone might overhear and get suspicious about. Luckily, Yugi was that one to break the ice.
"How are we supposed to pack?" Yugi asked suddenly, without warning.
I looked up from watching the sidewalk go by, "I haven't a clue. Food, water, and clothes perhaps? Those sound like universal packing items, don't you think?"
Yugi nodded, "For someone who doesn't have a clue, you seem to have more of a clue then I do." He sighed, "I feel a little nervous going somewhere no one knows about. Yami says its linked with the Shadow Realm, and I haven't been able to stand being in that place for more then a few minutes, maybe an hour if I'm really lucky."
I could see where he was coming from. I hadn't ever really experienced the Shadow Realm fully, my Yami won't let me. He doesn't want me to show any more signs of weakness then I have to, and he always takes over when we go there. I hadn't even felt the feelings Yugi did and I was apprehensive about going without any Yami's to help us. I absentmindedly played with the limp millenium ring under my sweater and changed the subject.
"What do you think will happen when we get there?" I asked.
"What?"
"Well, how do we know that we'll be able to get back out of there? And what happens if we don't come back, or we can't even find it?"
Well, I didn't end up changing the subject of all. Probably because all I had on my mind was that Shadow Realm.
Yugi smiled, "Don't be such a downer."
That was coming from someone who was just talking about being nervous about the realm. I had to admit, sometimes it got a little annoying that Yugi could change opinions so quickly to fit the situation. I just needed someone to talk to me about those things that I was worried about, it made me feel better if there was a backup plan. I ignored this, and walked on in silence. When we finally approached my house and I slid opened the door slowly. Some people might describe my house as...well...creepy when my father wasn't here. It always felt so empty and desperately lacked the warmth that usually filled it when dad was home. But, I had grown quite used to it by now, and lead Yugi to my room.
It was a good-sized room, but very plain. I kept it simple, white walls, a bed pushed off to the side, a dresser next to that, a closet, a desk with a clock and a lamp on it, and that was it. I didn't have much need of all the fancy gadgets they had now a days, and some people might even consider my taste 'boring'. But then again, when did I care what other people thought? Yugi looked around the room for a second; then he smiled at me and sat down on the bed.
"So where do we even start?" He said.
I sat down next to him and looked at the ceiling. It always helped me think when I was looking at something. "I don't know. Like I believe I've said before, I've never done this sort of thing before."
Yugi laughed, "There's a first for everything I guess. But...first thing is first. To be sure we do everything right, we'd better get our Yami's out. Just in case."
I nodded, "Good idea."
Yugi and I aren't exactly good at being demanding, so even though we said that WE would get out Yami's out, it was entirely up to them if they wanted to come out or not. Luckily, they usually wanted to get out of the items, so that wasn't much of a problem. As if this was rehearsed, both the puzzle and the ring started to glow and I felt a burst of warmth on my chest. The two spirits took ghostly forms beside us with a barely noticeable whooshing noise and the quick 'over view' began.
"So you're sure you want to go through with this?" Yugi's Yami asked us, looking me and Yugi square in the eye in turn.
"Yami, yes. Of course we want to go through with this. Besides," Yugi said with a sly grin, "-nothing moderately exciting has happened since Battle City."
"Yes that was certainly interesting wasn't it?" My Yami spoke, with no hint of guilt in his words. I wasn't ever as quick to let things go like that as Bakura was, and he said I had to learn how to soon or I would be trampled on in the 'real world to come'.
"So how do we get to this 'Dream Realm' again?" I said, looking mostly to Yugi's Yami for an answer. He seemed to know what was going on better then anyone else did.
I was right.
"You're going to have to go into the Shadow Realm and find the gate entrance to the Dream Realm. There might be someone guarding it, most gates are that way. And you'll have to be fast to get away from the main Shadow Realm before you..." He trailed off slightly, casting a hesitant look Yugi's way.
We knew exactly what he was talking about, so Yugi just interrupted him with a, "We will. And how are we supposed to find the gate? The Shadow Realm is a big place with no landmarks to follow."
Yami closed his eyes, probably trying for the 'I-know-all. You-just-need-to- ask-the-right-questions-and-give-me-time' effect. "I was hoping Ryou could lend us use of his Ring."
"My Ring?" I said quizzically, "What will that do?"
"I'm assuming that your Ring couldn't get a signal from Caitlin's item. I'm betting that the reason you couldn't get a signal from it before, is because she was in the Shadow Realm, so it seemed like half the item was being held by Cami and the other half by Caitlin. The Ring was confused and couldn't lock on the right item, and then it locked onto the item that 'now mortal' Cami holds. But if you're in the Shadow Realm, it might lock onto Caitlin's item instead."
"Might?" I said, my voice cracking a little bit at that lack of certainty.
He ignored my comment and looked at Yugi, "As I said before, The gate might be heavily guarded, so be to keep your items well hidden. They are sot after even in the Dream Realm, and if someone were to take them, they you might never be able to return."
I couldn't stress enough how unnerving it was to keep hearing those 'might's. The faith he had in us was a good thing, not that my Yami was joining in mind you, but I started to think that there wasn't anything he could say that would make me feel better. Strangely enough, no matter how unconvertible I felt about it, there also wasn't anything they could stay that would stop me from going with Yugi to save Caitlin. I was always very bad at making up my mind...I'm going to have to work on that...
"I don't think we'll be able to contact you once you're in the Shadow Realm, so you'll be on your own. You're sure you are ok with this?"
Yugi sighed and got up from the bed, "For the hundredth time Yami, yes."
"Well alright then, be careful Yugi and stay brave." He said, with a small smile.
Yugi returned it, and I couldn't help wishing my Yami would say something like that to me every once in a while. But that was probably a wish that would never come true, because Yami quickly sent me a look that said, 'Don't expect something like that from me.' I nodded, knowing deep inside that Yami wanted to same things for me too, he just didn't want to lose his reputation because I needed a few words of encouragement.
"This is it then." I said, at the same time concentration on making the Shadow Realm appear in my bedroom.
Yugi nodded and closed his eyes to help him tap into the shadow power. With the slight help of our Yami's, a cloud of thick dark smoke consumed us, and when we opened our eyes again, we were in the Shadow Realm.
I knew this was the Shadow Realm because...well, to be frank, I knew because it defiantly wasn't my bedroom. It was cold and dark and there was no sign of any human beings anywhere in sight. I didn't start to feel the effect of the Shadow Realm until I took my first step forward. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me and it hurt to blink or even to take a single breath or air. Yugi grabbed hold of my shoulder to keep me from falling when my legs buckled underneath me and told me that I had to do my best to walk or this whole trip was in vain. I knew he was starting to feel the power of the Shadow Realm as well, but because he had already been here before, it wasn't as intense and he was fighting it very well. He pulled me up onto my feet, and did his best to whisper that I needed to use the ring's power. I did my best to nod to him, afraid that saying anything would make it harder to last, and looked to the Ring lying on my chest.
Sure enough, Yugi's Yami was right in his hypothesis that my Ring would track Caitlin's item in the Realm. It pointed strongly to the north, and we did our best to follow it. Yugi still had to help balance me by letting me lean on his shoulder, which was very hard because he was so much shorter then I was, but at least I could walk. It was about fifteen minutes of pain and walking before Yugi noticed something different.
"Do you...feel that...Ryou?" Yugi panted.
At first I didn't know what he was talking about, but then I realized the sudden decrease in the pain of the Shadow Realm. I didn't need to lean on Yugi to walk anymore, and I could walk faster then I did. This wasn't so bad. The cold feeling, loss of breath, and splitting headache only lessened as we walked, and that encouraged us to walk faster and faster until we were almost at a jog. Yugi was completely puzzled and kept narrowing his eyes in thought.
"I wonder why the pain is going away." He said.
"Maybe it depends how long you've been here?" I said thoughtfully.
"No." Yugi said shortly, "That can't be it. I was in the Shadow Realm way longer then this in my duel with Pegasus and nothing like this happened. I almost died that day, and this feeling wasn't anything close to dying."
Our questions were hastily interrupted by a scream. Both Yugi and I stopped dead in our tracks. Blood-curdling screams like that in the middle of nowhere weren't ever a good thing. "What was that?" I asked Yugi, as if he'd know the answer.
"I don't know." Yugi answered, "But someone might need our help."
When he said these words, he instantly dashed off in the direction of the scream with me trailing reluctantly behind him. Why oh why did he choose now to play the hero? I called loudly to him as he sprinted.
"Yugi! We don't know who screamed! Maybe it's some evil guy trying to take over the world or a monster or something that eats people! It could be anyone! A duel monster even! Like the man-eater bug! We don't know who lives in the Shadow Realm! It could be-"
"Caitlin." Yugi finished in awe, stopping again abruptly and causing me to run into him because of his unexpected stop.
He pointed wordlessly at the pair of people about a quarter of a mile away from us. There was nothing for us to hide behind, but the two seemed very much distracted by one another's presence. One was what looked like an old medieval knight minus the shining armor, and the other was a girl about half his age with bright red hair. I recognized the girl at once to be Caitlin, and she looked to be surprisingly thinking very hard about what the knight was talking about. We were too far away to hear what the conversation was featuring, but we weren't too far away to know that that knight person was bad news.
Caitlin relaxed a bit, and I noticed the smirk the spread across her face as one she used right before making a smart remark. I must have been right, because then the knight person reached over and grabbed her roughly by the front of her shirt and thrust her up to his eye level, which unfortunately for Caitlin, was high enough up that her feet were dangling in the air below her. I didn't know whether or not to help her, because Yugi and I didn't have anything to defend ourselves with and there wasn't anything around that could help us.
"You have said enough! Now you can pay with your life girl!" The man bellowed, loud enough for the whole Shadow Realm to hear.
Apparently, Caitlin must have made more then one smart remark and now she looked horrified.
Yugi and I started to move to help her but someone touched us gently on the back.
"Quite a pickle that girl has gotten herself into isn't it?" The voice spoke pleasantly.
We jumped, and turned around to see a girl around our age with cotton candy pink hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, except for one strand, that was braided and hanging by her face. Her eyes were about the color her hair was, and she was smiling broadly with her hands now crossed politely behind her back. She was wearing modern day clothes, a short skirt and a tank top that said 'Help! I'm talking and I can't shut up!' in large (what else?) pink lettering. By the way she was smiling at us, you would think she had known us for her whole life. I didn't know what to say.
"Strange how she seems to enjoy taunting someone older and stronger then she is. And when I say older, I mean OLDER. I wouldn't be surprised if she thought he had just escaped from a costume party, after all she's only been here for about a few hours or something. Oh well, doesn't help that she's already made him really mad. Must have made record time for getting on a Dream Guard's nerves. Well, I guess it's a little late to notice yourself doing that anyway by now huh?" She said again, giggling a little.
She looked closely at our expressions and shook her hand in front of her, "Oh don't worry, she'll be alright. See that thing around her neck? That's what people around here call a Destiny Item. It's called something else in the Physical Realm but we call it a Destiny Item around here because all who wear one play a part in destiny see?"
She was talking so easily with us it was almost confusing to listen to. Did I know her from somewhere?
"Anyway like I was saying this guy Yukio, I'm sure you've heard of him, well he wants these Destiny Items because if you combine a few special ones together he'll be able to do a lot of damage or something strange like that. That guy over there is one of Yukio's cronies and if he kills the wielder of that Destiny Item then he'll be in deep doo doo lemme tell you."
I could see where earned that saying on her T-shirt and I cleared my throat quietly to stop her from talking, "Do I know you?"
She blinked, then laughed, "How silly of me! I forgot to tell you my- anywho! My name's Yoko! I live here and have a few friends, about fifty of them or so. You know, we're all on the same side and all so we're all buddy buddy. But two of my really close friends live here too and I'm sure they'd love to meet you! Sure they're kind of weird but...being weird is kind of the good thing about people you know? Otherwise they'd all be boring."
She held out her hand and I shook it half-heartedly. I could hardly understand anything she was rambling on and on about so instead I just smiled and nodded. She had the biggest grin on her face that I had ever seen, and she shook my hand so forcefully that I almost fell over. Yugi looked loath when she offered her hand, and when he finally tried to shake it she pulled it back and pointed at the area Caitlin was seen in.
"Wow she's really holding her own out there isn't she? I expected her to do well, having a Destiny Item and all but I didn't think she'd be able to stand THAT much of a chance against Hugo." She said, looking at the knight person when she said 'Hugo'. "Hugo is one of the most hot-tempered guys Yukio's got and I'm sure if she knew that Hugo wasn't going to kill her then she would stop moving around like that because it's only getting her into more trouble. Thina, Bryac, Darren and the whole crew would save her if she got captured so she doesn't have to worry. My, she certainly isn't the most graceful person in the world is she?"
It was true, Caitlin was now on the ground in front of the Hugo person. The tiniest trickle of blood was across her arm and she was covered in dirt. Hugo looked very angry and before I could truly understand what was going on, he did something with his hands and shouted something at the top of his lungs, although I couldn't make out what it was. At his command, a ball of red light seemed to came out of his fingers and straight at Caitlin.
"Uh oh spegettios." Yoko said quietly, "That wasn't very nice of him."
I was in utter amazement and full confusion. I had seen magic before, my Yami did it all the time, but it wasn't magic like THIS was. I had NEVER seen Bakura make a light ball come out of his fingers and I didn't think that Yugi's Yami could do it either. Yoko seemed to be overall enjoying the show, and she kept smiling and cocking her head to each side. I didn't know what was wrong with that girl, but she didn't seem at all normal to me. And I should know, I'm not exactly normal myself.
What stunned me more then the ball of light did, was that Caitlin put her hands up in front of her face to shield herself and when the ball hit her hands, it was sent right back at Hugo and he fell to the ground right then. Caitlin looked half amazed that she did what she did, and half aghast that Hugo fell to the ground like that. She lowered her hands very slowly.
"See?" Yoko chirped, "What did I tell you? She's fine."
We all watched intently as Caitlin started to get up. To check that Hugo wasn't dead, I was sure. But she fell down again almost instantly and landed face first in the dirt with no struggle to get up. This time, we all took action and ran down to when she was lying.
"Caitlin!" Yugi and I yelled.
She turned her head a little and looked straight at us, but then her eyes closed. Yoko bent down at once and touched the amulet carefully. Then she felt her pulse and let out a relieved breath of air. "She's just out of energy. I don't think she meant to do that deflecting spell. Poor little thing." She clicked her tongue in a motherly way.
"Spell?" Yugi said, "I didn't know it was possible to do spells."
"Oh yeah, welcome to the Dream Realm kid, where everything is possible and possibility is everything. Wait..." She ran over the thing again in her head, "Yes, everything is possible and possibility is everything. Yes, that's it. We have GOT to change the motto!"
She giggled, "Everyone here has to know some kind of way to defend themselves and here, most people decide to use magic. It's a whole lot easier to do magic here then it is in the Physical Realm for some reason, and it's very popular. Hugo over there is just knocked out, if he was dead he would disintegrate you know?" She rambled quietly about random things, hoisting Caitlin over her shoulder. This surprised me because Yoko didn't look like a very strong person, so I took it to mean that Yoko herself had learned some magic.
"Where are you taking her?" I asked, just now noticing that Yoko was carrying her away somewhere.
Yoko shrugged, which was a hard thing to do with someone over your shoulder, "Anywhere but here, if news got out that the third bearer of the Destiny item was in the Dream Realm people will be showing up all over this area trying to find her."
"People, so there are more people living here?"
"Oh yes, loads and loads of people. Maybe around a few million in the overall population?" She almost dropped Caitlin onto the ground so I went over to her.
"Here, let me help you." I said, grabbing half of the unconscious Caitlin and trying to hold her up.
It was a mistake, because as soon as I took hold Yoko dropped her end and gawked at me. I followed her vision to see what was the matter, and almost dropped my side as well. Sticking out, just enough to see, from my jacket was my Millenium Ring. I hurriedly tucked it away with a free hand but the damage was already done. Yoko bit her lip and glanced at Yugi, who took a step backward and a glint of gold was seen from under his shirt as well.
"Three." She whispered under her breath, "Three of the Destiny item holders. One to seek revenge in the beetle, one of which thieves can only dream of, and the last of gold to match the Pharaoh. The items of the sun, the beetle and the pharaoh. All three bring about the end."
We said nothing for a while, unsure whether or not Yoko seeing our items was a mistake, or a HUGE mistake. She finally snapped back to her regular train of thought and pulled a small vial of black liquid from her skirt pocket. She handed it to Yugi and told him to use that liquid to treat the wounds on Caitlin's arm. Then she turned and started to run off in the direction of what looked like a large forest.
"I have to talk to my friend! Right now it's an emergency I'm afraid!" She yelled to us from afar. "Please be careful what you do and who you talk to! In fact, don't talk to anyone! I'll be back as soon as humanly possible but- oh- I just can't stress to you how much you need to keep those Destiny items hidden because if anyone else were to find out on the wrong side...oh boy oh boy oh boy I really have to tell Bryac the destined ones are all here! All of them! He isn't going to like this at all!"
She left us then, disappearing into the dark forest in a great rush leaving us in the middle of nowhere still with no idea where exactly we where, or why the items we held were so important. I could only pray that this Yoko girl was trustworthy, because she was the only help we had at the moment. Yugi and I stood there, stunned for a moment, but decided it was a good idea to get away from where the guard person was...out like a light. Because a black barren plain of nothingness and colored smoke wasn't my idea of a good place to head, we started off into the forest of the Dream Realm, unconscious girl slung over my shoulder.
This was certainly turning out to be an interesting trip.
@*@*@*@*@*@
Author- There, now we're past the boring parts. Everything is going to be fun and interesting from here on! ^^ I'm going to have a lot of fun with the next chapter. *evil grins* The Yami's first day of being mortal again. Please R&R telling me what you think about my story so far! Thanx people!
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When Yugi called me that night, I couldn't help but feel very panicky. I have always been called a worry-wart, and I guess this was why. I could barely sleep that night because I was so worried about what Yugi had to tell us the next day. He told everyone to meet early by Domino High so he could explain it to us in person. I almost yelled at him because I was so frustrated that he would just call me and say Caitlin was in trouble, then not tell me about it till the next day. Caitlin and I had always been really close, being the two girls in the group of six, and we always stayed in the same house when she was in Domino. But I knew if Yugi didn't have to tell me in person, he would have told me over the phone. So, reluctantly, I just said 'ok' and hung up.
The next day we all met up at school early as planned, and Yugi took us to a place we could talk without being overheard. It was a small empty closet that was filled with cleaning supplies. But in spite of all the air fresheners, the closet smelled horrible. I had a feeling Ryou knew what the problem was already, because he looked as flustered as Yugi already did, and didn't seem to be in such a hurry to learn. Yugi finally took a deep breath and started to tell us the story.
"Ok, you know that Yami went with Bakura to Caitlin's house yesterday to see what was the matter with Bakura's item and why she wasn't calling us. And we found that the answer to it all is... completely out of the ordinary."
"What's up Yug?" Joey said, leaning in a little closer.
"Cami is a mortal again."
There was a stunned silence for a few seconds before Yugi answered what everyone was thinking.
"Yami and I don't know really what happened. He says Cami told him that Caitlin used her item power that night and didn't come back, then right before his eyes, Cami started becoming a mortal again."
"But how can that happen?" I said quietly just in case, "Cami is dead! He's been dead for 5000 years or whatever it's been now, how can he just...become human again?"
Yugi shook his head, "I'm not sure. Yami stayed up all night thinking about it, you know how he gets when he can't figure something out, and the only possibility he could come up with was that Caitlin somehow got...stuck or something in the Dream Realm."
"The Dream Realm?" Ryou said, speaking up for the first time.
Yugi nodded, "Yami says that the Dream Realm is a branch of the Shadow Realm that your spirit goes into whenever you dream. Whenever Caitlin goes into our dreams with that item of hers, she's going into the Dream Realm. We don't know how she got stuck there, but that's the only possibility that we could think of."
"How are we supposed to help her if she's in the 'Dream Realm'?" Tristen asked.
"Well...that's the problem. We've got to find the entry to the Dream Realm. It has to be somewhere in the Shadow Realm, but only Ryou and I can go there safely. I don't know what would happen if we took all of the rest of you guys with us, and it's too risky to try it out."
I nodded in agreement. I didn't want to be lost forever in the Shadow Realm when it wasn't absolutely necessary. Yugi looked glad we all understood. And now that I thought about it, we got the better side of the deal. We just had to stay put and wait, Ryou and Yugi had to go into a completely new realm alone, without the knowing that they would even be coming back.
"Yami says we'll have to leave as soon as possible if we even have the slightest bit of hope in saving Caitlin before it's too late. We're going to have to leave right after school."
The sound of the bell cut through his last words, and we said nothing more. We all hurried to our classrooms, and the school day went on as if nothing was out of the ordinary. When the day was finally over with, Ryou and Yugi left in the direction of Ryou's house to finish planning, and set off into the 'Dream Realm'. That was the last I would be seeing of them for a long time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I wasn't at all happy about what we had to do, but I knew it was for the best. And I also wasn't at all happy that my Yami had completely 'forgotten' to mention everything about Caitlin being trapped in a new realm and her Yami being mortal again. He told me that "we have a big job ahead of us" and that was pretty much all. It all came as a shock to me when Yugi called me up with the intentions of talking to me about it and planning what we were going to do about it, but my Yami was unfortunately, much less considerate. We decided to plan the whole thing over at my house because there wasn't anyone there that would interrupt us, and we needed as much quiet and concentration as possible.
Yugi and I walked without talking, although we had much to say, I guess we both felt like we couldn't trust ourselves not to say something that someone might overhear and get suspicious about. Luckily, Yugi was that one to break the ice.
"How are we supposed to pack?" Yugi asked suddenly, without warning.
I looked up from watching the sidewalk go by, "I haven't a clue. Food, water, and clothes perhaps? Those sound like universal packing items, don't you think?"
Yugi nodded, "For someone who doesn't have a clue, you seem to have more of a clue then I do." He sighed, "I feel a little nervous going somewhere no one knows about. Yami says its linked with the Shadow Realm, and I haven't been able to stand being in that place for more then a few minutes, maybe an hour if I'm really lucky."
I could see where he was coming from. I hadn't ever really experienced the Shadow Realm fully, my Yami won't let me. He doesn't want me to show any more signs of weakness then I have to, and he always takes over when we go there. I hadn't even felt the feelings Yugi did and I was apprehensive about going without any Yami's to help us. I absentmindedly played with the limp millenium ring under my sweater and changed the subject.
"What do you think will happen when we get there?" I asked.
"What?"
"Well, how do we know that we'll be able to get back out of there? And what happens if we don't come back, or we can't even find it?"
Well, I didn't end up changing the subject of all. Probably because all I had on my mind was that Shadow Realm.
Yugi smiled, "Don't be such a downer."
That was coming from someone who was just talking about being nervous about the realm. I had to admit, sometimes it got a little annoying that Yugi could change opinions so quickly to fit the situation. I just needed someone to talk to me about those things that I was worried about, it made me feel better if there was a backup plan. I ignored this, and walked on in silence. When we finally approached my house and I slid opened the door slowly. Some people might describe my house as...well...creepy when my father wasn't here. It always felt so empty and desperately lacked the warmth that usually filled it when dad was home. But, I had grown quite used to it by now, and lead Yugi to my room.
It was a good-sized room, but very plain. I kept it simple, white walls, a bed pushed off to the side, a dresser next to that, a closet, a desk with a clock and a lamp on it, and that was it. I didn't have much need of all the fancy gadgets they had now a days, and some people might even consider my taste 'boring'. But then again, when did I care what other people thought? Yugi looked around the room for a second; then he smiled at me and sat down on the bed.
"So where do we even start?" He said.
I sat down next to him and looked at the ceiling. It always helped me think when I was looking at something. "I don't know. Like I believe I've said before, I've never done this sort of thing before."
Yugi laughed, "There's a first for everything I guess. But...first thing is first. To be sure we do everything right, we'd better get our Yami's out. Just in case."
I nodded, "Good idea."
Yugi and I aren't exactly good at being demanding, so even though we said that WE would get out Yami's out, it was entirely up to them if they wanted to come out or not. Luckily, they usually wanted to get out of the items, so that wasn't much of a problem. As if this was rehearsed, both the puzzle and the ring started to glow and I felt a burst of warmth on my chest. The two spirits took ghostly forms beside us with a barely noticeable whooshing noise and the quick 'over view' began.
"So you're sure you want to go through with this?" Yugi's Yami asked us, looking me and Yugi square in the eye in turn.
"Yami, yes. Of course we want to go through with this. Besides," Yugi said with a sly grin, "-nothing moderately exciting has happened since Battle City."
"Yes that was certainly interesting wasn't it?" My Yami spoke, with no hint of guilt in his words. I wasn't ever as quick to let things go like that as Bakura was, and he said I had to learn how to soon or I would be trampled on in the 'real world to come'.
"So how do we get to this 'Dream Realm' again?" I said, looking mostly to Yugi's Yami for an answer. He seemed to know what was going on better then anyone else did.
I was right.
"You're going to have to go into the Shadow Realm and find the gate entrance to the Dream Realm. There might be someone guarding it, most gates are that way. And you'll have to be fast to get away from the main Shadow Realm before you..." He trailed off slightly, casting a hesitant look Yugi's way.
We knew exactly what he was talking about, so Yugi just interrupted him with a, "We will. And how are we supposed to find the gate? The Shadow Realm is a big place with no landmarks to follow."
Yami closed his eyes, probably trying for the 'I-know-all. You-just-need-to- ask-the-right-questions-and-give-me-time' effect. "I was hoping Ryou could lend us use of his Ring."
"My Ring?" I said quizzically, "What will that do?"
"I'm assuming that your Ring couldn't get a signal from Caitlin's item. I'm betting that the reason you couldn't get a signal from it before, is because she was in the Shadow Realm, so it seemed like half the item was being held by Cami and the other half by Caitlin. The Ring was confused and couldn't lock on the right item, and then it locked onto the item that 'now mortal' Cami holds. But if you're in the Shadow Realm, it might lock onto Caitlin's item instead."
"Might?" I said, my voice cracking a little bit at that lack of certainty.
He ignored my comment and looked at Yugi, "As I said before, The gate might be heavily guarded, so be to keep your items well hidden. They are sot after even in the Dream Realm, and if someone were to take them, they you might never be able to return."
I couldn't stress enough how unnerving it was to keep hearing those 'might's. The faith he had in us was a good thing, not that my Yami was joining in mind you, but I started to think that there wasn't anything he could say that would make me feel better. Strangely enough, no matter how unconvertible I felt about it, there also wasn't anything they could stay that would stop me from going with Yugi to save Caitlin. I was always very bad at making up my mind...I'm going to have to work on that...
"I don't think we'll be able to contact you once you're in the Shadow Realm, so you'll be on your own. You're sure you are ok with this?"
Yugi sighed and got up from the bed, "For the hundredth time Yami, yes."
"Well alright then, be careful Yugi and stay brave." He said, with a small smile.
Yugi returned it, and I couldn't help wishing my Yami would say something like that to me every once in a while. But that was probably a wish that would never come true, because Yami quickly sent me a look that said, 'Don't expect something like that from me.' I nodded, knowing deep inside that Yami wanted to same things for me too, he just didn't want to lose his reputation because I needed a few words of encouragement.
"This is it then." I said, at the same time concentration on making the Shadow Realm appear in my bedroom.
Yugi nodded and closed his eyes to help him tap into the shadow power. With the slight help of our Yami's, a cloud of thick dark smoke consumed us, and when we opened our eyes again, we were in the Shadow Realm.
I knew this was the Shadow Realm because...well, to be frank, I knew because it defiantly wasn't my bedroom. It was cold and dark and there was no sign of any human beings anywhere in sight. I didn't start to feel the effect of the Shadow Realm until I took my first step forward. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me and it hurt to blink or even to take a single breath or air. Yugi grabbed hold of my shoulder to keep me from falling when my legs buckled underneath me and told me that I had to do my best to walk or this whole trip was in vain. I knew he was starting to feel the power of the Shadow Realm as well, but because he had already been here before, it wasn't as intense and he was fighting it very well. He pulled me up onto my feet, and did his best to whisper that I needed to use the ring's power. I did my best to nod to him, afraid that saying anything would make it harder to last, and looked to the Ring lying on my chest.
Sure enough, Yugi's Yami was right in his hypothesis that my Ring would track Caitlin's item in the Realm. It pointed strongly to the north, and we did our best to follow it. Yugi still had to help balance me by letting me lean on his shoulder, which was very hard because he was so much shorter then I was, but at least I could walk. It was about fifteen minutes of pain and walking before Yugi noticed something different.
"Do you...feel that...Ryou?" Yugi panted.
At first I didn't know what he was talking about, but then I realized the sudden decrease in the pain of the Shadow Realm. I didn't need to lean on Yugi to walk anymore, and I could walk faster then I did. This wasn't so bad. The cold feeling, loss of breath, and splitting headache only lessened as we walked, and that encouraged us to walk faster and faster until we were almost at a jog. Yugi was completely puzzled and kept narrowing his eyes in thought.
"I wonder why the pain is going away." He said.
"Maybe it depends how long you've been here?" I said thoughtfully.
"No." Yugi said shortly, "That can't be it. I was in the Shadow Realm way longer then this in my duel with Pegasus and nothing like this happened. I almost died that day, and this feeling wasn't anything close to dying."
Our questions were hastily interrupted by a scream. Both Yugi and I stopped dead in our tracks. Blood-curdling screams like that in the middle of nowhere weren't ever a good thing. "What was that?" I asked Yugi, as if he'd know the answer.
"I don't know." Yugi answered, "But someone might need our help."
When he said these words, he instantly dashed off in the direction of the scream with me trailing reluctantly behind him. Why oh why did he choose now to play the hero? I called loudly to him as he sprinted.
"Yugi! We don't know who screamed! Maybe it's some evil guy trying to take over the world or a monster or something that eats people! It could be anyone! A duel monster even! Like the man-eater bug! We don't know who lives in the Shadow Realm! It could be-"
"Caitlin." Yugi finished in awe, stopping again abruptly and causing me to run into him because of his unexpected stop.
He pointed wordlessly at the pair of people about a quarter of a mile away from us. There was nothing for us to hide behind, but the two seemed very much distracted by one another's presence. One was what looked like an old medieval knight minus the shining armor, and the other was a girl about half his age with bright red hair. I recognized the girl at once to be Caitlin, and she looked to be surprisingly thinking very hard about what the knight was talking about. We were too far away to hear what the conversation was featuring, but we weren't too far away to know that that knight person was bad news.
Caitlin relaxed a bit, and I noticed the smirk the spread across her face as one she used right before making a smart remark. I must have been right, because then the knight person reached over and grabbed her roughly by the front of her shirt and thrust her up to his eye level, which unfortunately for Caitlin, was high enough up that her feet were dangling in the air below her. I didn't know whether or not to help her, because Yugi and I didn't have anything to defend ourselves with and there wasn't anything around that could help us.
"You have said enough! Now you can pay with your life girl!" The man bellowed, loud enough for the whole Shadow Realm to hear.
Apparently, Caitlin must have made more then one smart remark and now she looked horrified.
Yugi and I started to move to help her but someone touched us gently on the back.
"Quite a pickle that girl has gotten herself into isn't it?" The voice spoke pleasantly.
We jumped, and turned around to see a girl around our age with cotton candy pink hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, except for one strand, that was braided and hanging by her face. Her eyes were about the color her hair was, and she was smiling broadly with her hands now crossed politely behind her back. She was wearing modern day clothes, a short skirt and a tank top that said 'Help! I'm talking and I can't shut up!' in large (what else?) pink lettering. By the way she was smiling at us, you would think she had known us for her whole life. I didn't know what to say.
"Strange how she seems to enjoy taunting someone older and stronger then she is. And when I say older, I mean OLDER. I wouldn't be surprised if she thought he had just escaped from a costume party, after all she's only been here for about a few hours or something. Oh well, doesn't help that she's already made him really mad. Must have made record time for getting on a Dream Guard's nerves. Well, I guess it's a little late to notice yourself doing that anyway by now huh?" She said again, giggling a little.
She looked closely at our expressions and shook her hand in front of her, "Oh don't worry, she'll be alright. See that thing around her neck? That's what people around here call a Destiny Item. It's called something else in the Physical Realm but we call it a Destiny Item around here because all who wear one play a part in destiny see?"
She was talking so easily with us it was almost confusing to listen to. Did I know her from somewhere?
"Anyway like I was saying this guy Yukio, I'm sure you've heard of him, well he wants these Destiny Items because if you combine a few special ones together he'll be able to do a lot of damage or something strange like that. That guy over there is one of Yukio's cronies and if he kills the wielder of that Destiny Item then he'll be in deep doo doo lemme tell you."
I could see where earned that saying on her T-shirt and I cleared my throat quietly to stop her from talking, "Do I know you?"
She blinked, then laughed, "How silly of me! I forgot to tell you my- anywho! My name's Yoko! I live here and have a few friends, about fifty of them or so. You know, we're all on the same side and all so we're all buddy buddy. But two of my really close friends live here too and I'm sure they'd love to meet you! Sure they're kind of weird but...being weird is kind of the good thing about people you know? Otherwise they'd all be boring."
She held out her hand and I shook it half-heartedly. I could hardly understand anything she was rambling on and on about so instead I just smiled and nodded. She had the biggest grin on her face that I had ever seen, and she shook my hand so forcefully that I almost fell over. Yugi looked loath when she offered her hand, and when he finally tried to shake it she pulled it back and pointed at the area Caitlin was seen in.
"Wow she's really holding her own out there isn't she? I expected her to do well, having a Destiny Item and all but I didn't think she'd be able to stand THAT much of a chance against Hugo." She said, looking at the knight person when she said 'Hugo'. "Hugo is one of the most hot-tempered guys Yukio's got and I'm sure if she knew that Hugo wasn't going to kill her then she would stop moving around like that because it's only getting her into more trouble. Thina, Bryac, Darren and the whole crew would save her if she got captured so she doesn't have to worry. My, she certainly isn't the most graceful person in the world is she?"
It was true, Caitlin was now on the ground in front of the Hugo person. The tiniest trickle of blood was across her arm and she was covered in dirt. Hugo looked very angry and before I could truly understand what was going on, he did something with his hands and shouted something at the top of his lungs, although I couldn't make out what it was. At his command, a ball of red light seemed to came out of his fingers and straight at Caitlin.
"Uh oh spegettios." Yoko said quietly, "That wasn't very nice of him."
I was in utter amazement and full confusion. I had seen magic before, my Yami did it all the time, but it wasn't magic like THIS was. I had NEVER seen Bakura make a light ball come out of his fingers and I didn't think that Yugi's Yami could do it either. Yoko seemed to be overall enjoying the show, and she kept smiling and cocking her head to each side. I didn't know what was wrong with that girl, but she didn't seem at all normal to me. And I should know, I'm not exactly normal myself.
What stunned me more then the ball of light did, was that Caitlin put her hands up in front of her face to shield herself and when the ball hit her hands, it was sent right back at Hugo and he fell to the ground right then. Caitlin looked half amazed that she did what she did, and half aghast that Hugo fell to the ground like that. She lowered her hands very slowly.
"See?" Yoko chirped, "What did I tell you? She's fine."
We all watched intently as Caitlin started to get up. To check that Hugo wasn't dead, I was sure. But she fell down again almost instantly and landed face first in the dirt with no struggle to get up. This time, we all took action and ran down to when she was lying.
"Caitlin!" Yugi and I yelled.
She turned her head a little and looked straight at us, but then her eyes closed. Yoko bent down at once and touched the amulet carefully. Then she felt her pulse and let out a relieved breath of air. "She's just out of energy. I don't think she meant to do that deflecting spell. Poor little thing." She clicked her tongue in a motherly way.
"Spell?" Yugi said, "I didn't know it was possible to do spells."
"Oh yeah, welcome to the Dream Realm kid, where everything is possible and possibility is everything. Wait..." She ran over the thing again in her head, "Yes, everything is possible and possibility is everything. Yes, that's it. We have GOT to change the motto!"
She giggled, "Everyone here has to know some kind of way to defend themselves and here, most people decide to use magic. It's a whole lot easier to do magic here then it is in the Physical Realm for some reason, and it's very popular. Hugo over there is just knocked out, if he was dead he would disintegrate you know?" She rambled quietly about random things, hoisting Caitlin over her shoulder. This surprised me because Yoko didn't look like a very strong person, so I took it to mean that Yoko herself had learned some magic.
"Where are you taking her?" I asked, just now noticing that Yoko was carrying her away somewhere.
Yoko shrugged, which was a hard thing to do with someone over your shoulder, "Anywhere but here, if news got out that the third bearer of the Destiny item was in the Dream Realm people will be showing up all over this area trying to find her."
"People, so there are more people living here?"
"Oh yes, loads and loads of people. Maybe around a few million in the overall population?" She almost dropped Caitlin onto the ground so I went over to her.
"Here, let me help you." I said, grabbing half of the unconscious Caitlin and trying to hold her up.
It was a mistake, because as soon as I took hold Yoko dropped her end and gawked at me. I followed her vision to see what was the matter, and almost dropped my side as well. Sticking out, just enough to see, from my jacket was my Millenium Ring. I hurriedly tucked it away with a free hand but the damage was already done. Yoko bit her lip and glanced at Yugi, who took a step backward and a glint of gold was seen from under his shirt as well.
"Three." She whispered under her breath, "Three of the Destiny item holders. One to seek revenge in the beetle, one of which thieves can only dream of, and the last of gold to match the Pharaoh. The items of the sun, the beetle and the pharaoh. All three bring about the end."
We said nothing for a while, unsure whether or not Yoko seeing our items was a mistake, or a HUGE mistake. She finally snapped back to her regular train of thought and pulled a small vial of black liquid from her skirt pocket. She handed it to Yugi and told him to use that liquid to treat the wounds on Caitlin's arm. Then she turned and started to run off in the direction of what looked like a large forest.
"I have to talk to my friend! Right now it's an emergency I'm afraid!" She yelled to us from afar. "Please be careful what you do and who you talk to! In fact, don't talk to anyone! I'll be back as soon as humanly possible but- oh- I just can't stress to you how much you need to keep those Destiny items hidden because if anyone else were to find out on the wrong side...oh boy oh boy oh boy I really have to tell Bryac the destined ones are all here! All of them! He isn't going to like this at all!"
She left us then, disappearing into the dark forest in a great rush leaving us in the middle of nowhere still with no idea where exactly we where, or why the items we held were so important. I could only pray that this Yoko girl was trustworthy, because she was the only help we had at the moment. Yugi and I stood there, stunned for a moment, but decided it was a good idea to get away from where the guard person was...out like a light. Because a black barren plain of nothingness and colored smoke wasn't my idea of a good place to head, we started off into the forest of the Dream Realm, unconscious girl slung over my shoulder.
This was certainly turning out to be an interesting trip.
@*@*@*@*@*@
Author- There, now we're past the boring parts. Everything is going to be fun and interesting from here on! ^^ I'm going to have a lot of fun with the next chapter. *evil grins* The Yami's first day of being mortal again. Please R&R telling me what you think about my story so far! Thanx people!