Well, here's another chapter, hot off the press. ^^ I hope you liked that
last chapter! It took me a while to figure everything out. So, now we're
back to trouble and turmoil in the new Realm.
Just so you remember, Ryou and Yugi have arrived and are now stuck with an unconscious Caitlin, and the only person they think they can trust is a talkative girl whose name is Yoko. I don't know if I've already said this, but I don't think I'm going to pair anyone with anyone in particular, but if you'd like to see me pair someone with someone else. It doesn't matter who, I just would rather it not be Yaoi whatever it is. Remember that the Yami's are in control in the regular realm, and if you want to pair them with someone, I'll consider that too. Just review with an idea and I'll see what I can do. ^^ So...here we go with yet another chapter.
^&*^&*^&*^&*
I awoke to the feeling of leaves underneath my body and hands, cradling me like a bed. They might be itchy, scratchy, and really annoying, but if you can ignore that, there is a certain sensation of pure serenity that only comes from being in this sort of situation. I took a deep breath of clean air. Maybe that whole thing was a dream. A terrible, horrible dream that I had about being trapped and attacked by magical balls of light that I was able to shoot back at him with my bear hands. Yea, that was it. Come to think about it, the whole thing was too whimsical to be even remotely real. The smell of burning wood wafted over to me, and I was happy to note that there wasn't anything cooking on it. Preferably me. But I was hungry...maybe this was a campout?
"Ok, I think that I've almost got it..."
"No wait, you're holding the branch the wrong way."
"Why don't you use your hands to keep the wind from blowing it out alright?"
"Good idea, oh look!"
"Finally! Our second fire of the day!"
"Now if one goes out, then we have another one."
"Yup..."
A beat. A bird called in the distance and I heard one sigh.
"Now what?"
"I...uh...how about we make a third fire in case the first two go out?"
"Yes. Let us do that."
People. So it wasn't a dream. I refused to open my eyes for fear of what I might see. Although, they didn't sound menacing or bloodthirsty, they just sounded...normal. I listened to the two voices for some clues as to where I was. They sounded sort of familiar, but I couldn't be completely sure who they were.
"I wish that one Yoko girl would come back. Being alone in a new world with no idea what is edible or not isn't ever a good thing."
"Yes, but I can't help wonder if we should trust her. Maybe we're better off on our own."
I DID recognize those voices! I can't place exactly where, but I know that I've heard them before! I stirred a little on my bed of ground and the talking stopped. I froze, afraid I had attracted their attention and they weren't good people or something. What surprised me, was that then, I heard one of them laugh.
"It's quite alright you know, we'd rather have you awake anyway."
I opened my eyes the tiniest bit to see who spoke, but couldn't see much through my hair. Curses! Why did my hair have to be so very thick! I opened my eyes a little more and saw two people sitting down in front of a very sad looking fire that was about the size of a basketball, and an identical fire right next to it. I could now tell that they were both looking at me, so I shut my eyes tightly again. More laughter, I was started to get frustrated. I heard them move somewhere so I peeked again at the two, but they weren't where they were sitting before. Confused and panicky, I started to look around all over the area to see where they went. Then my vision lingered up a little and-
"About time you got up."
I jumped a little and gave up hiding. There was a huge face right above me that took me by surprise. Pushing the hair out from my eyes, I stared back up at none other then Yugi Motou, and slightly behind him, Ryou Bakura. They both grinned at me, and I couldn't help feeling very amazed.
"Yugi! Ryou!" I exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing here!"
Another laugh. I really wasn't in the mood, and as sad as it was to be thinking about it, I wanted to strangle them for laughing at me. Yugi was the first that answered my question.
"I'm glad we found you. When your Yami told us where you were and you didn't come back we started to get worried. We came after you because Yami seemed very worried about something concerning this place."
I had forgotten about Cami! I didn't know what happened to him, because he certainly wasn't with me; "How is my Yami doing?"
Ryou cast a hesitant glance Yugi's way, "Well, with you gone, your Yami has sort of, taken control."
I felt my jaw drop, "WHAT!? Control of what, my body!?"
Yugi nodded, "It's ok though, when we came after you our Yami's took over our bodies too, so at least Cami would have help."
And this was supposed to make me feel better? The fact that my Yami was with one tomb robber and a control freak? Sure, Yugi's Yami wasn't as bad, but RYOU'S Yami was going to be a very bad influence on Cami. I didn't say anything though, it wasn't like they could do anything about it now anyway.
Yugi continued "Turns out this place is a direct branch of the Shadow Realm, and we were able to find the gate and get to you."
"But how-"
I sat up, which was a stupid thing to do. I felt a sharp stab of sudden pain on my arm and yelped in pain, lying back down. So it wasn't a dream after all, I was positive now. I had forgotten about the cut I had that the knight person did to me. I didn't know why it hurt so much, it was just a sword, but sword or not I couldn't sit up straight without hurting. Yugi pulled a vial of this black liquid stuff from his pocket.
"Here, a...friend told me to put this on your arm." He said, uncorking it and pouring it all over my arm without warning.
It soaked in as soon as it touched my skin, and the pain didn't come too far after that. It was like when someone would say, 'This won't hurt' and it seems to hurt even more then it would have if they had kept their trap shut. It stung almost as much, probably more, then the cut itself. I pounded on the ground with my fist and did my best to bite my lip and not scream because of the intense cold feeling. It was like they were freezing my arm into an ice cube or something! It kept getting colder, until it was so cold it was hot.
"It burns, it burns, it burns..." I whimpered repeatedly, each time getting faster and louder until I was practically yelling at Yugi for putting this stuff on me, "IT BURNS!"
"I'm sorry!" Yugi said, drawing back a bit at my sudden outburst, "I didn't know!"
Luckily, the pain faded over a while, and miraculously, there was no evidence left at all that the cut had ever been there. I sighed, and smiled because it was all over. Then I turned to Ryou and Yugi again, who were relieved I didn't yell at them for putting me through that. I wasn't in the mood to yell either, I was in the mood to find out where I was, and how to get out. NOW.
"How long have I been...out of it?" I asked.
"Only about an hour, but one can't know for sure." Ryou said, looking up at the sky, "It's strange, the sky keeps turning different colors but the sun in the sky hasn't moved at all since we've been here."
"Oh..." Is it some kind of rule that I can't get ANY good news?
"We made a fire!" Yugi said proudly, jerking his thumb at the two tiny flames that were already dying, "It took us forever, but hey!"
Oh yeah, that news made up for everything else. I couldn't help laugh at his attempt though, "Uh, good, a fire could be very...handy."
"That's what I thought, but they seem to be more work to make one then they're good for." Ryou said sadly, watching as one flickered out.
"So do any of you have any idea how to get out of here?" I said, "I mean, if you came to rescue me do you have some sort of rescue plan?"
They shook their heads.
Great. Figures don't it? I've got a rescue team that doesn't even know how to rescue me. I was sorry that they just ended up stranding themselves in an effort to save me, but they should at LEAST know something about where they're going.
"Do you know anything useful about the Dream Realm?" I spoke.
"Nothing more then you do I'm afraid." Ryou sighed, "We didn't think that it would be a sort of place like this, we thought it would be easier to get out."
This just keeps getting better and better. Even though it was hard to balance, and my legs felt like Jell-O, I had to find something out about this place before...I don't know- we starve to death? I got up off the ground and picked up a long stick. "I'm going to have a quick look around ok? I'll be back in ten minutes, I promise, but if you don't see me by then or so, then you can worry. But not a second before then ok? I'll be fine."
Something about how I said that made me feel like I was talking to children, so I ended with a playful wink and headed out into the forest around us.
It was strange, the whole place. You wouldn't expect to find something like this in the Shadow Realm. I mean, this was a lush forest filled with the usual animals and plants, even though some were new, and it felt like the whole thing could go on forever! This forest, was in the middle of a barren wasteland. It was so quiet, and even stepping on a twig made you feel like you were letting off a cannon. I decided to make my way over to the lake I had seen before. That looked like a nice place to set up camp. So I didn't get lost, I broke down some branches on my way to follow.
A girl could get used to this. COULD being the keyword. I didn't WANT to get used to this, I wanted to go home. But, it was beautiful out here, like your own private paradise! What I saw ahead, added to my astonishment. It was a piece of land that took a steep decline into a small creek at the end. [1] It was a very pretty looking creek, and it sparkled in the sunlight like something you would see in a fairy tale book. I leaned over a little and looked down at it, marveling at the sight.
"Wow." I whispered, leaning over a little more to see more of the water.
Then, I heard something. The first sound that wasn't my own in this entire outing! It was a splashing noise, like someone was walking down there. I didn't want to run into another person who was intent on killing me with little magic fingers that shot deadly red lights at me. I tried to be as quiet as possible as I turned on my feet and-
Slipped.
I squeaked and flailed my arms around in large circles trying to keep my balance, failed, and tumbled head first down the steep hill into the creek. Luckily, something broke my fall.
A person.
It struggled like crazy when I landed on it, which made it a very bad landing spot, and threw me off it's back face first into the mud. I was happy to see that in the process of throwing me off it's back, it too fell face first into the mud. I resisted the urge to laugh as the person gurgled what sounded like a very wet growl in the mud, and came up gasping for air sending mud flying everywhere.
Now I could see that the person was a boy, about the age I was maybe a tiny bit older. A single red scar ran down his left cheek, and on of his ears were pierced twice and adorned with golden hoops that matched the pure gold looking sword on his side. He had ice blue eyes, and jet black hair that fell to almost his shoulders. Just long enough to look cool, and not just stupid. I felt almost sorry for him, because his face was caked with mud and various twigs and leaves. He glared at me and wiped as much of it off that he could.
"I didn't think," He grumbled, "That girls are supposed to just fall from the sky."
I blushed slightly, "Sorry. I slipped."
"Well be more careful! You're lucky I didn't have enough time to pull out my sword or you'd be in big trouble." He snapped, wobbling to his feet and shaking the water from his hands.
I scowled, "I said I was sorry, I didn't mean to slip you know."
"'Didn't mean to' and DID are two entirely different things."
Oooh he was started to get on my nerves. First person I met, and he was good at getting on my nerves. He didn't even offer to help me up or anything, he just sloshed his way over to the hill that I rolled down from and started to climb it like a rock-climbing wall. I didn't want to be left behind, and I wanted to get some information from him, so I climbed up after him.
"Wait!" I called, "I need your help! See me and my two friends are stuck here and we can't get out of wherever this place is."
"You aren't going to get out, it's impossible." He replied icily, "Once you're here, you're here. Might as well make yourself comfortable."
"But there HAS to be some way! Could you please help us! At least give us some tips, or some food or something?"
"I don't even know you!"
"My name's Caitlin, what's your name?" I said, as cheerfully as my temper would allow.
He turned and looked at me in disbelief, "Bryac if it will shut you up."
"Bryac huh? Man, that's a weird name isn't it, very unusual. Did you get made fun of when you were a kid?"
"Apparently not."
I opened my mouth to speak, and got a mouth full of dirt from Bryac climbing above me. I coughed and sputtered and lost my balance again. With the intentions of grabbing Bryac's leg and being able to keep me up, I grabbed his ankle. My plan backfired and I ended up pulling him back down with me into that creek which wasn't at all as nice and pretty as it was when I was just looking at it. Needles to say, he wasn't happy. He sent me a dirty look again, and I tried my best to ignore it.
"We aren't going anywhere." I said.
Way to be a moron Caitlin. Bryac muttered something under his breath and stormed off away from me, walking in the creek. I slid after him, determined to get some good information from him. Anything would be better then nothing! He didn't appreciate me coming after him and picked up the speed.
"Stop following me!" He snapped, clenching his fists getting faster.
"I NEED HELP SO STOP AND HELP ME!" I yelled back.
"There isn't anything you need to know that's special! Just keep your guard up and do your best to stay fed and hidden. I can't help you, I'm busy!"
"Could you at LEAST tell me what the hell is up with my Millenium Amulet and why someone has tried to kill me for it and who the hell Yukio is!"
Bryac stopped so suddenly that he slipped on the creek mud and ended up in a very painful looking split. I couldn't help it that I felt satisfied by his look of shock. He turned and looked at me, eyes resting on the amulet around my neck, and then cursed many times in many different languages. I bit my lip, wondering if I said something bad or not, and he slowly walked back over to me. He leaned over and whispered in my ear.
"Your name is Caitlin, correct?"
I nodded, not knowing why he was whispering like that.
"Listen to me Caitlin, whatever you do, DO NOT let anyone else see that beetle necklace you have. It is very important to a man of great power, and he will do anything to take it from you. Keep it hidden at all times, do you understand?"
I nodded, shocked at his sudden seriousness. He had one of those voices that when used correctly, could really freak somebody out. I didn't quite understand what he meant entirely, but I didn't dare admit it. I was just going to have to figure everything out along the way. I shivered a bit when he said,
"Good."
And with that, he left me standing there, alone in the creek, sopping wet and covered in mud. I trudged all the way back to where Ryou and Yugi were waiting for me and sat down on a log they had set up by the two fires, which were now, again, lit, and burning. They looked puzzled at my change of mood, and Ryou sat down next to me.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
I groaned, "Ryou, I have a feeling we are going to be here a whole lot longer then I planned."
*~*~*
That girl. She has no idea what she's going to have to go through in the future.
I didn't know it at first, I had no idea, but now I'm sure that she is the holder of the Destiny Item of the Beetle. She had mentioned being with two other people, I could only assume that they too, held a Destiny Item.
I felt sorry for them. So confused, and so nieve. I stayed quiet when I met back up with two girls, my friends, in a cave hidden behind thick vines and shrubbery. Yoko and Thina had been waiting for me while I searched for two males who Yoko said, held the item of the Pyramid and the Sun. Yoko smiled when I returned and had an eager look in her eye.
"So? Did you find them?"
I closed my eyes and sat down, "I found the girl you spoke of. The one called Caitlin. The one of the beetle."
"And?"
"She has no clue what's going on."
[A/N: Insert anime sweat drop here *LOL*]
Yoko beamed at the second girl, Thina, "She had red hair and blue eyes right? The one with the Beetle around her neck?"
I nodded, "Yes, and she's a pain to work with."
"She didn't seem to be that hard to work with."
"If your story is true, she was unconscious when you met her. How do you know what she's like?"
"I could just tell, I'm a good judge of character you know. There was a strange vibe about her that intrigued me. I have a feeling that she isn't as bad as she seems to be..."
"You DO realize that you're talking about the one girl who is supposed to bring about the downfall of the Dream Realm don't you? You do realize that you are defending someone who is supposed to kill many souls and send her very friends into a portal of light never to return again?"
"Maybe this is the wrong girl?" Yoko suggested hopefully.
"Yoko, how many girls walk around with an Egyptian Scarab Beetle around their neck bearing the eye of Ra?"
"I know it looks bad but don't we need more proof then that? What ever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?"
I didn't understand. What did Yoko see in Caitlin that I didn't? She was the first one to inform me that the bearer of the Destiny Item of the Beetle was here in the first place and now she was saying that the prophecy might be wrong.
"What do you want me to do about it?" I asked her.
"I just, don't want you to hate her before anything like that happens. I mean, I'm sorry Bryac but you are the champion of hating people before you really know them..."
"I don't do that." I shot back icily.
"It's a prophecy, Bryac, not fact. If it happens, it happens. Right now, I say that we just focus on the problem at hand."
"Which would be?"
Thina lifted her head, and everything went quiet. Thina didn't talk much, only when it was absolutely necessary. So when she was about to speak, everyone stopped to listen. She didn't really call herself anything positive, and some people might call herself pessimistic. In fact, she would have to be Yoko's foil. But 'Blessed and Cursed', if people asked, was all the information she'd share with most people. She didn't like talking much, and for a good reason.
[A/N: But I'm not going to tell you yet! ^^]
"The problem at hand." She said quietly, her voice flowing like soft silk, "You must protect them. The Destiny Bearers await you in the forest, and if Yukio gets a hold of just one of them, victory will be much harder to grasp."
Yoko nodded slowly, taking in all the information, "But we can't protect them alone, especially if Yukio gets wind of them coming and sends his guards after them. And we don't know why they came or what to do with them, we're going to need to get help."
I thought this over, and found that unfortunately, there was only one group that we could go to safely for help in this sort of situation. "Yoko, Thina, get your stuff ready, we're going to have to get going as soon as possible."
Yoko grabbed her black cloak, the only thing citizens could wear nowadays so they didn't get spotted by Yukio himself, "But what are you going to do exactly Bryac?"
"There's only one thing we can do. We're going to have to find them right away."
"And then what?"
"We're going to have to call a meeting, with 'The Alliance'."
~*~*~*~
Author- ^^ I'm worried about four chapters in this story. This chapter is one of them. I think it turned out a whole better then I thought it would, and it came easier to me then I thought it would. I finished in about two hours or so, anyway.
[1] If you're confused what that creek looks like, here's a little drawing thingamabob. I've seen one like this, so that's why I used it!
::: - Top: Where Caitlin was
:::::
::::::: ___.::::::::: - Bottom: where the creek is.
Here's a little game type thing, all the names in this story have a meaning, see if you can find out what they mean! You don't have to, I'll tell you eventually, *sly grin* but there are quite a few loopholes you might find if you could find out their name meanings yourself. Again, if you want to vote for a pairing, just put it in the review! Thank ya very much, I'll come up with the next chapter ASAP!
Just so you remember, Ryou and Yugi have arrived and are now stuck with an unconscious Caitlin, and the only person they think they can trust is a talkative girl whose name is Yoko. I don't know if I've already said this, but I don't think I'm going to pair anyone with anyone in particular, but if you'd like to see me pair someone with someone else. It doesn't matter who, I just would rather it not be Yaoi whatever it is. Remember that the Yami's are in control in the regular realm, and if you want to pair them with someone, I'll consider that too. Just review with an idea and I'll see what I can do. ^^ So...here we go with yet another chapter.
^&*^&*^&*^&*
I awoke to the feeling of leaves underneath my body and hands, cradling me like a bed. They might be itchy, scratchy, and really annoying, but if you can ignore that, there is a certain sensation of pure serenity that only comes from being in this sort of situation. I took a deep breath of clean air. Maybe that whole thing was a dream. A terrible, horrible dream that I had about being trapped and attacked by magical balls of light that I was able to shoot back at him with my bear hands. Yea, that was it. Come to think about it, the whole thing was too whimsical to be even remotely real. The smell of burning wood wafted over to me, and I was happy to note that there wasn't anything cooking on it. Preferably me. But I was hungry...maybe this was a campout?
"Ok, I think that I've almost got it..."
"No wait, you're holding the branch the wrong way."
"Why don't you use your hands to keep the wind from blowing it out alright?"
"Good idea, oh look!"
"Finally! Our second fire of the day!"
"Now if one goes out, then we have another one."
"Yup..."
A beat. A bird called in the distance and I heard one sigh.
"Now what?"
"I...uh...how about we make a third fire in case the first two go out?"
"Yes. Let us do that."
People. So it wasn't a dream. I refused to open my eyes for fear of what I might see. Although, they didn't sound menacing or bloodthirsty, they just sounded...normal. I listened to the two voices for some clues as to where I was. They sounded sort of familiar, but I couldn't be completely sure who they were.
"I wish that one Yoko girl would come back. Being alone in a new world with no idea what is edible or not isn't ever a good thing."
"Yes, but I can't help wonder if we should trust her. Maybe we're better off on our own."
I DID recognize those voices! I can't place exactly where, but I know that I've heard them before! I stirred a little on my bed of ground and the talking stopped. I froze, afraid I had attracted their attention and they weren't good people or something. What surprised me, was that then, I heard one of them laugh.
"It's quite alright you know, we'd rather have you awake anyway."
I opened my eyes the tiniest bit to see who spoke, but couldn't see much through my hair. Curses! Why did my hair have to be so very thick! I opened my eyes a little more and saw two people sitting down in front of a very sad looking fire that was about the size of a basketball, and an identical fire right next to it. I could now tell that they were both looking at me, so I shut my eyes tightly again. More laughter, I was started to get frustrated. I heard them move somewhere so I peeked again at the two, but they weren't where they were sitting before. Confused and panicky, I started to look around all over the area to see where they went. Then my vision lingered up a little and-
"About time you got up."
I jumped a little and gave up hiding. There was a huge face right above me that took me by surprise. Pushing the hair out from my eyes, I stared back up at none other then Yugi Motou, and slightly behind him, Ryou Bakura. They both grinned at me, and I couldn't help feeling very amazed.
"Yugi! Ryou!" I exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing here!"
Another laugh. I really wasn't in the mood, and as sad as it was to be thinking about it, I wanted to strangle them for laughing at me. Yugi was the first that answered my question.
"I'm glad we found you. When your Yami told us where you were and you didn't come back we started to get worried. We came after you because Yami seemed very worried about something concerning this place."
I had forgotten about Cami! I didn't know what happened to him, because he certainly wasn't with me; "How is my Yami doing?"
Ryou cast a hesitant glance Yugi's way, "Well, with you gone, your Yami has sort of, taken control."
I felt my jaw drop, "WHAT!? Control of what, my body!?"
Yugi nodded, "It's ok though, when we came after you our Yami's took over our bodies too, so at least Cami would have help."
And this was supposed to make me feel better? The fact that my Yami was with one tomb robber and a control freak? Sure, Yugi's Yami wasn't as bad, but RYOU'S Yami was going to be a very bad influence on Cami. I didn't say anything though, it wasn't like they could do anything about it now anyway.
Yugi continued "Turns out this place is a direct branch of the Shadow Realm, and we were able to find the gate and get to you."
"But how-"
I sat up, which was a stupid thing to do. I felt a sharp stab of sudden pain on my arm and yelped in pain, lying back down. So it wasn't a dream after all, I was positive now. I had forgotten about the cut I had that the knight person did to me. I didn't know why it hurt so much, it was just a sword, but sword or not I couldn't sit up straight without hurting. Yugi pulled a vial of this black liquid stuff from his pocket.
"Here, a...friend told me to put this on your arm." He said, uncorking it and pouring it all over my arm without warning.
It soaked in as soon as it touched my skin, and the pain didn't come too far after that. It was like when someone would say, 'This won't hurt' and it seems to hurt even more then it would have if they had kept their trap shut. It stung almost as much, probably more, then the cut itself. I pounded on the ground with my fist and did my best to bite my lip and not scream because of the intense cold feeling. It was like they were freezing my arm into an ice cube or something! It kept getting colder, until it was so cold it was hot.
"It burns, it burns, it burns..." I whimpered repeatedly, each time getting faster and louder until I was practically yelling at Yugi for putting this stuff on me, "IT BURNS!"
"I'm sorry!" Yugi said, drawing back a bit at my sudden outburst, "I didn't know!"
Luckily, the pain faded over a while, and miraculously, there was no evidence left at all that the cut had ever been there. I sighed, and smiled because it was all over. Then I turned to Ryou and Yugi again, who were relieved I didn't yell at them for putting me through that. I wasn't in the mood to yell either, I was in the mood to find out where I was, and how to get out. NOW.
"How long have I been...out of it?" I asked.
"Only about an hour, but one can't know for sure." Ryou said, looking up at the sky, "It's strange, the sky keeps turning different colors but the sun in the sky hasn't moved at all since we've been here."
"Oh..." Is it some kind of rule that I can't get ANY good news?
"We made a fire!" Yugi said proudly, jerking his thumb at the two tiny flames that were already dying, "It took us forever, but hey!"
Oh yeah, that news made up for everything else. I couldn't help laugh at his attempt though, "Uh, good, a fire could be very...handy."
"That's what I thought, but they seem to be more work to make one then they're good for." Ryou said sadly, watching as one flickered out.
"So do any of you have any idea how to get out of here?" I said, "I mean, if you came to rescue me do you have some sort of rescue plan?"
They shook their heads.
Great. Figures don't it? I've got a rescue team that doesn't even know how to rescue me. I was sorry that they just ended up stranding themselves in an effort to save me, but they should at LEAST know something about where they're going.
"Do you know anything useful about the Dream Realm?" I spoke.
"Nothing more then you do I'm afraid." Ryou sighed, "We didn't think that it would be a sort of place like this, we thought it would be easier to get out."
This just keeps getting better and better. Even though it was hard to balance, and my legs felt like Jell-O, I had to find something out about this place before...I don't know- we starve to death? I got up off the ground and picked up a long stick. "I'm going to have a quick look around ok? I'll be back in ten minutes, I promise, but if you don't see me by then or so, then you can worry. But not a second before then ok? I'll be fine."
Something about how I said that made me feel like I was talking to children, so I ended with a playful wink and headed out into the forest around us.
It was strange, the whole place. You wouldn't expect to find something like this in the Shadow Realm. I mean, this was a lush forest filled with the usual animals and plants, even though some were new, and it felt like the whole thing could go on forever! This forest, was in the middle of a barren wasteland. It was so quiet, and even stepping on a twig made you feel like you were letting off a cannon. I decided to make my way over to the lake I had seen before. That looked like a nice place to set up camp. So I didn't get lost, I broke down some branches on my way to follow.
A girl could get used to this. COULD being the keyword. I didn't WANT to get used to this, I wanted to go home. But, it was beautiful out here, like your own private paradise! What I saw ahead, added to my astonishment. It was a piece of land that took a steep decline into a small creek at the end. [1] It was a very pretty looking creek, and it sparkled in the sunlight like something you would see in a fairy tale book. I leaned over a little and looked down at it, marveling at the sight.
"Wow." I whispered, leaning over a little more to see more of the water.
Then, I heard something. The first sound that wasn't my own in this entire outing! It was a splashing noise, like someone was walking down there. I didn't want to run into another person who was intent on killing me with little magic fingers that shot deadly red lights at me. I tried to be as quiet as possible as I turned on my feet and-
Slipped.
I squeaked and flailed my arms around in large circles trying to keep my balance, failed, and tumbled head first down the steep hill into the creek. Luckily, something broke my fall.
A person.
It struggled like crazy when I landed on it, which made it a very bad landing spot, and threw me off it's back face first into the mud. I was happy to see that in the process of throwing me off it's back, it too fell face first into the mud. I resisted the urge to laugh as the person gurgled what sounded like a very wet growl in the mud, and came up gasping for air sending mud flying everywhere.
Now I could see that the person was a boy, about the age I was maybe a tiny bit older. A single red scar ran down his left cheek, and on of his ears were pierced twice and adorned with golden hoops that matched the pure gold looking sword on his side. He had ice blue eyes, and jet black hair that fell to almost his shoulders. Just long enough to look cool, and not just stupid. I felt almost sorry for him, because his face was caked with mud and various twigs and leaves. He glared at me and wiped as much of it off that he could.
"I didn't think," He grumbled, "That girls are supposed to just fall from the sky."
I blushed slightly, "Sorry. I slipped."
"Well be more careful! You're lucky I didn't have enough time to pull out my sword or you'd be in big trouble." He snapped, wobbling to his feet and shaking the water from his hands.
I scowled, "I said I was sorry, I didn't mean to slip you know."
"'Didn't mean to' and DID are two entirely different things."
Oooh he was started to get on my nerves. First person I met, and he was good at getting on my nerves. He didn't even offer to help me up or anything, he just sloshed his way over to the hill that I rolled down from and started to climb it like a rock-climbing wall. I didn't want to be left behind, and I wanted to get some information from him, so I climbed up after him.
"Wait!" I called, "I need your help! See me and my two friends are stuck here and we can't get out of wherever this place is."
"You aren't going to get out, it's impossible." He replied icily, "Once you're here, you're here. Might as well make yourself comfortable."
"But there HAS to be some way! Could you please help us! At least give us some tips, or some food or something?"
"I don't even know you!"
"My name's Caitlin, what's your name?" I said, as cheerfully as my temper would allow.
He turned and looked at me in disbelief, "Bryac if it will shut you up."
"Bryac huh? Man, that's a weird name isn't it, very unusual. Did you get made fun of when you were a kid?"
"Apparently not."
I opened my mouth to speak, and got a mouth full of dirt from Bryac climbing above me. I coughed and sputtered and lost my balance again. With the intentions of grabbing Bryac's leg and being able to keep me up, I grabbed his ankle. My plan backfired and I ended up pulling him back down with me into that creek which wasn't at all as nice and pretty as it was when I was just looking at it. Needles to say, he wasn't happy. He sent me a dirty look again, and I tried my best to ignore it.
"We aren't going anywhere." I said.
Way to be a moron Caitlin. Bryac muttered something under his breath and stormed off away from me, walking in the creek. I slid after him, determined to get some good information from him. Anything would be better then nothing! He didn't appreciate me coming after him and picked up the speed.
"Stop following me!" He snapped, clenching his fists getting faster.
"I NEED HELP SO STOP AND HELP ME!" I yelled back.
"There isn't anything you need to know that's special! Just keep your guard up and do your best to stay fed and hidden. I can't help you, I'm busy!"
"Could you at LEAST tell me what the hell is up with my Millenium Amulet and why someone has tried to kill me for it and who the hell Yukio is!"
Bryac stopped so suddenly that he slipped on the creek mud and ended up in a very painful looking split. I couldn't help it that I felt satisfied by his look of shock. He turned and looked at me, eyes resting on the amulet around my neck, and then cursed many times in many different languages. I bit my lip, wondering if I said something bad or not, and he slowly walked back over to me. He leaned over and whispered in my ear.
"Your name is Caitlin, correct?"
I nodded, not knowing why he was whispering like that.
"Listen to me Caitlin, whatever you do, DO NOT let anyone else see that beetle necklace you have. It is very important to a man of great power, and he will do anything to take it from you. Keep it hidden at all times, do you understand?"
I nodded, shocked at his sudden seriousness. He had one of those voices that when used correctly, could really freak somebody out. I didn't quite understand what he meant entirely, but I didn't dare admit it. I was just going to have to figure everything out along the way. I shivered a bit when he said,
"Good."
And with that, he left me standing there, alone in the creek, sopping wet and covered in mud. I trudged all the way back to where Ryou and Yugi were waiting for me and sat down on a log they had set up by the two fires, which were now, again, lit, and burning. They looked puzzled at my change of mood, and Ryou sat down next to me.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
I groaned, "Ryou, I have a feeling we are going to be here a whole lot longer then I planned."
*~*~*
That girl. She has no idea what she's going to have to go through in the future.
I didn't know it at first, I had no idea, but now I'm sure that she is the holder of the Destiny Item of the Beetle. She had mentioned being with two other people, I could only assume that they too, held a Destiny Item.
I felt sorry for them. So confused, and so nieve. I stayed quiet when I met back up with two girls, my friends, in a cave hidden behind thick vines and shrubbery. Yoko and Thina had been waiting for me while I searched for two males who Yoko said, held the item of the Pyramid and the Sun. Yoko smiled when I returned and had an eager look in her eye.
"So? Did you find them?"
I closed my eyes and sat down, "I found the girl you spoke of. The one called Caitlin. The one of the beetle."
"And?"
"She has no clue what's going on."
[A/N: Insert anime sweat drop here *LOL*]
Yoko beamed at the second girl, Thina, "She had red hair and blue eyes right? The one with the Beetle around her neck?"
I nodded, "Yes, and she's a pain to work with."
"She didn't seem to be that hard to work with."
"If your story is true, she was unconscious when you met her. How do you know what she's like?"
"I could just tell, I'm a good judge of character you know. There was a strange vibe about her that intrigued me. I have a feeling that she isn't as bad as she seems to be..."
"You DO realize that you're talking about the one girl who is supposed to bring about the downfall of the Dream Realm don't you? You do realize that you are defending someone who is supposed to kill many souls and send her very friends into a portal of light never to return again?"
"Maybe this is the wrong girl?" Yoko suggested hopefully.
"Yoko, how many girls walk around with an Egyptian Scarab Beetle around their neck bearing the eye of Ra?"
"I know it looks bad but don't we need more proof then that? What ever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?"
I didn't understand. What did Yoko see in Caitlin that I didn't? She was the first one to inform me that the bearer of the Destiny Item of the Beetle was here in the first place and now she was saying that the prophecy might be wrong.
"What do you want me to do about it?" I asked her.
"I just, don't want you to hate her before anything like that happens. I mean, I'm sorry Bryac but you are the champion of hating people before you really know them..."
"I don't do that." I shot back icily.
"It's a prophecy, Bryac, not fact. If it happens, it happens. Right now, I say that we just focus on the problem at hand."
"Which would be?"
Thina lifted her head, and everything went quiet. Thina didn't talk much, only when it was absolutely necessary. So when she was about to speak, everyone stopped to listen. She didn't really call herself anything positive, and some people might call herself pessimistic. In fact, she would have to be Yoko's foil. But 'Blessed and Cursed', if people asked, was all the information she'd share with most people. She didn't like talking much, and for a good reason.
[A/N: But I'm not going to tell you yet! ^^]
"The problem at hand." She said quietly, her voice flowing like soft silk, "You must protect them. The Destiny Bearers await you in the forest, and if Yukio gets a hold of just one of them, victory will be much harder to grasp."
Yoko nodded slowly, taking in all the information, "But we can't protect them alone, especially if Yukio gets wind of them coming and sends his guards after them. And we don't know why they came or what to do with them, we're going to need to get help."
I thought this over, and found that unfortunately, there was only one group that we could go to safely for help in this sort of situation. "Yoko, Thina, get your stuff ready, we're going to have to get going as soon as possible."
Yoko grabbed her black cloak, the only thing citizens could wear nowadays so they didn't get spotted by Yukio himself, "But what are you going to do exactly Bryac?"
"There's only one thing we can do. We're going to have to find them right away."
"And then what?"
"We're going to have to call a meeting, with 'The Alliance'."
~*~*~*~
Author- ^^ I'm worried about four chapters in this story. This chapter is one of them. I think it turned out a whole better then I thought it would, and it came easier to me then I thought it would. I finished in about two hours or so, anyway.
[1] If you're confused what that creek looks like, here's a little drawing thingamabob. I've seen one like this, so that's why I used it!
::: - Top: Where Caitlin was
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::::::: ___.::::::::: - Bottom: where the creek is.
Here's a little game type thing, all the names in this story have a meaning, see if you can find out what they mean! You don't have to, I'll tell you eventually, *sly grin* but there are quite a few loopholes you might find if you could find out their name meanings yourself. Again, if you want to vote for a pairing, just put it in the review! Thank ya very much, I'll come up with the next chapter ASAP!