Retaw- *twitch* ...*twitch* Nothing...to...talk about. *twitch*
Caitlin- O.O Nothing? Wow, that must be a record or something.
Retaw- I must go on with next chapter...before...I pop...
Caitlin- Kay. ^_^ If you don't want to talk, it's fine with me.
Retaw- WAIT! I REMEMBER SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT NOW!
Caitlin- Go to the chapter! GO! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!
~*~* Yugi *~*~
"This is where we'll be sleeping." Bryac announced, pushing the door open. "There isn't anyone else staying at the tavern, so we'll be alone tonight."
"That's good." Ryou said, looking around at the dirty room, "But...there's only three beds, how will we all fit?"
Bryac snickered, "The rules of the Tavern state that there can only be five to a bed. Someone will have to have a bedmate."
I shivered, thinking of having some old man that I didn't know having to sleep right next to me and suddenly being a ton more grateful that we would be alone. Everyone looked around in silence for a moment, having nothing else to say.
There were only six of us now, Yoko, Thina, Bryac, Caitlin, Ryou and me. It was almost a little awkward having so little amount of people with us. To tell the truth, I really felt sorta of...I don't know...alone. After being attacked by monsters and being stuck in a boat in a storm, I had grown to like being surrounded by a large number of people who knew what they were doing. Now I felt more vulnerable, and that made me nervous. Maybe it was something that Yami had told me a while back...
'You have good instincts on these sorts of things, aibou.' He had told me, 'If you feel like something bad is going to happen, then take caution. Because, young one, you should never doubt your feelings.'
I mentally sighed, wishing Yami could give me advice on this one. In spite of what Yami said, I couldn't help wonder if I was just overreacting. What could possibly happen?
Suddenly, Bryac broke the ice. "I'm going downstairs for a drink." He told us, "Coming Yugi? Ryou?"
I blinked a few times to snap myself out of 'lala land'. I knew I had to get my mind off bad omens, and went ahead and followed him back down to the food area of the tavern. Ryou had a huge hesitation moment before coming after us, and I couldn't help smile at the nervous look plastered on his face.
"Yugi," He whispered to me, "I don't know about this. Does he mean an alcoholic drink?"
"Calm down, Ryou, I'm sure they have other things here. You don't need to worry that much."
I don't know why, but I felt a little jealous that the worst Ryou had to worry about was what to drink. We all sat down at an empty table. There wasn't anyone left in the building but us, now, even the people who had been sitting at the bar when we had first come in had gone away. The whole place seemed...abnormally quiet. I looked around a few times before nudging Bryac.
"Where is everybody?" I asked quietly, feeling strange to speak any louder.
Bryac looked around carefully for a long time, observing every little detail before admitting, "I don't know."
"Oh! I'm so sorry, sirs, I'll bring your drinks to you right away!" A waitress exclaimed hurriedly, popping up from behind the bar and scaring the daylights out of me before I realized it wasn't someone come to kill us.
Bryac nodded to her to continue, and she shed a smile before going back underneath the bar once again. There were scattered sounds of clanging and crashing as the waitress rummaged through glasses rapidly and poured a green looking liquid into each. She smiled and took a breath before setting them down on our table and dashing away.
Ryou bit his lip, and poked at the glass a few times before Bryac turned to him and held Ryou's hand down.
"Don't drink it." He ordered, "Something isn't right."
He held the drink up to the candlelight and studied the bubbles as the floated through the lime green drink. His eyes narrowed a bit as he looked closer, and then, he poured his entire cup full out onto the candle. I gasped as the entire candle, which had been barely used before, melted instantly into a bubbling puddle on the wooden table.
Bryac took a deep breath, and nodded while saying, 'I figured as much.'
"What is that stuff?" I asked him uneasily.
Bryac cocked an eyebrow at me, as if forgetting for a moment how little I knew about this place. " Its Montaii blood. Burns you from the inside out and turns your bones into dust."
I felt my mouth fall open, "They tried to kill us? What do we do?"
"Get up." Bryac said, firmly but urgently, "We've got to get out of here. Now."
-=*=-=* Caitlin *=-=*=-
Yoko smiled down at me and sat me down on the bed.
"So..." She said.
Her grinning was starting to freak me out. Last time people grinned like that at me, I ended up having a surprise makeover where they cut my hair.
"So what?" I asked her.
"So, what do you think of Bryac?" She asked, grinning even wider.
I cringed at the name, "I think he's a conceited, arrogant, bossy, baka."
Yoko's smile faded, and Thina's eyes turned to me. It was always a little creepy to have Thina look at you. You always knew she was looking at you, but her eyes always looked off in the distance, and they were all translucent and always glowed slightly.
"It's natural for you to clash with him." Thina said, "You're used to being independent, Bryac is used to being a leader. You don't like following orders and he doesn't like orders to be ignored."
I shook my head, "I doubt it's anywhere as complicated as that. It's simple, really, I hate him, he hates me. And thus, the universe is in balance."
Yoko sighed, "You are very strange, Caitlin."
I grinned, "Ah, my very favorite quality of myself."
Yoko shook her head and started to bounce up and down on the bed. We were alone, almost. I was among friends, I could ask them a simple question.
"Hey Yoko, Thina?" I said, waiting till they both looked up, "Uh, I need you to be completely truthful with me on this one."
Yoko nodded, "Always."
I took a breath before continuing, "We ARE going to be able to get home, right? Like, soon?"
Both Thina and Yoko stopped, and looked at each other uncertainly. I instantly felt an icky feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. Did their looks mean we were stuck? I thought we could get home! Where are we going if we aren't going home!? I gave them both a warning glance before they could answer, because I really wasn't in the mood to hear I'd be stuck here for the rest my life.
"We...we're doing our very best to find a way to get you out of here." Yoko said, "We really are, believe me. But it's going to be a while yet. It's going to be very difficult to get you out of here. It means breaking the fabric in the boundary between life and death, and then closing it back up before souls find and go through it."
I groaned, and let my head fall back onto the wall behind me. This was just getting better and better every second I stayed. What's going on with my life while I'm gone? No one can be me better then I can, that's for sure. What if something happens? I was starting to feel a major yearning for OUT on this journey. Sure it was fun, but for what price?
"Are you starting to feel homesick?" Yoko questioned, leaning over to look at my face. "Missing your home? Your family?"
"Hm? Oh, nah. I don't really have much of a family to miss to tell you the truth. My mom and dad died a while back and I've been alone since."
"I'm sorry about that."
"No, it's not your fault. Actually I just want to know how things are going over on the other side of the realm. Other than that, I don't really have much of a preference where I am."
"...is that so..."
I stretched a little bit, and got up off the bare wooden floor. "I'm going to have a look around for a while, I'll be back soon though ok?"
"Fine with us." Yoko chirped with her usual happy nature. "Just be careful!"
I smiled and waved a quick goodbye before going into the hallway. Taking a look around, I snorted at Yoko's request. Be careful? What was there to be careful of? It was a building for goshness sake. There weren't a very large number of other rooms, just a few necessary ones. I walked past a food storage area, a bathroom looking place, (which didn't look very...clean) another bedroom that looked like it belonged to a manager, and a completely empty room.
...or so I thought...
"Help, somebody help me!"
I stopped in mid step. Was somebody just calling for help? I turned around slowly and stared in the empty room again. The voice sounded like it came from in there, but there wasn't anyone in there that needed help. I looked closer, just in case.
Nothing. Just a room with a small closet in the corner.
"Help me!"
There it was again! I swear, it sounded just like it was coming from the room, but even the closet didn't look big enough for a person to fit into. It was a tiny thing, barely able to fit a small dog into. But maybe it was just big enough for a small boy to get trapped inside...
"Where are you?" I asked, stepping deeper into the room.
"In here!" The voice answered, "Please help me! I've been locked in here for a lifetime!"
A lifetime? Maybe it was just an exaggeration. I took a step inside the room and felt a sudden chill on my back. It was freaky enough to make me want to leave, but I couldn't let that boy just sit there trapped. I had to help him!
"Hurry..." The young voice said, "Let me free...I can't wait any longer..."
Another chill. What the heck was up with this situation that made me feel like I was doing something wrong? I shrugged it off, and reached for the knob on the small closet.
"Hold on." I said, "I've almost-"
I touched the knob and drew my hand back quickly. That stupid thing BURNED me! I blew on my fingertips and jumped when I heard a loud thump coming from inside the closet.
"Let me out!" It cried, "Let me out please!"
"I can't!" I snapped, "The damn thing burnt my fingers!"
"Just hurry and open it, the pain won't last long, you must help me."
Shoot. How the heck did I know it was going to say something like that? Of course I guess it would plain lunacy for the boy to say, 'Oh, ok. But thanks for trying!' I closed my eyes and took a huge breath before reaching for the knob again with both hands.
I screamed out in agony as my hands hit the scorching knob. White hot pain seared through my veins and held my burning hands to the knob so I couldn't let go. Having enough common sense to save myself from being cooked alive, I yanked hard enough to open the closet door. As soon as the duty was done, the knob let me go immediately and I felt myself land hard back onto the floor. I whimpered and started to do everything possible to ease the pulsing pain, but it was no use. The voice chuckled.
"Thank you, mortal." It laughed, "I could have never freed myself from that prison without your help."
O...K, why am I getting that vibe that I did something wrong again? There was a hot whoosh of wind and the door was blown forcefully open, blowing my hair back and making it too hot for me to keep my eyes open. CRAPCRAPCRAP! What do I do now!? Reacting on instinct and a remembrance of where the closet was in front of me, I lunged for the door and pushed it back closed.
I clenched my teeth as the terrible pain returned. It was unlike anything I had felt before, and I hated it. It felt like someone was slowly sticking thousands of sharp needles into my skin and pushing them harder every second that I held the door closed.
"FOOL!" The voice bellowed, "LET ME FREE!"
Another hard hit of warm air flung me across the room and threw me against the wall. The door was open again, allowing whatever was inside a perfect chance to escape. The room itself started to get very hot, and I saw a large ball of something blood red and black getting bigger and bigger inside the closet thing. Wait a second, that wasn't a closet! It was a cage! CRAP! Why didn't I realize that sooner!! I scrambled to my feet and started to run for my life as the thick smoke billowed from the cage.
"Come back, girl!" He called as I ran, "I mean to thank you for letting me free, you cannot escape now!"
BOOM! I screamed as the entire room behind me exploded into a fiery death pit. Flames licked at my skin, and my hands were killing me, but it was either run or die. So I ran, fast and hard to the room Yoko and Thina were still in. I had to warn them. I had to get out of here before it was too late! I turned to look behind me and cursed loudly seeing the fire spreading on the walls
WHAM!
I ran face first into someone, knocking them into the floor. Luckily, I was able to keep my balance and stared at the boy on the ground.
"Yugi!" I exclaimed, "We have to get out of here!"
"That's just what we were coming to tell you!" Yugi said, getting up, "Someone was trying to kill us down at-" He caught sight of the fire and his eyes must have gotten as big as golfballs. Maybe bigger.
I couldn't wait anymore, and blurted my whole problem out at him, "Yugi I'm really sorry but I opened up some sort of cage and freed a fire monster person that's trying to kill me even though I was the nice one that let him out of the place in the first place and see it wasn't really my fault because I thought he was a little trapped boy in a closet and I didn't want him to be scared or stuck and now we have to RUN FOR OUR LIVES OR HE'LL KILL US!"
I felt a strong grip on my shoulder and was spun around to face Ryou and Bryac, who had just come up the stairs.
"You idiot girl!" He growled, "You just let the legendary fire demon!"
"Hey!" I yelled at him, "It's not my ENTIRE fault! What the hell are they doing with a fire demon in a STUPID TAVERN! They had no warnings or anything, I had no clue!"
"Did you just CHOOSE to ignore the seals on the cage!" Bryac shouted at me, "And contrary to YOUR belief, fire demons aren't a walk in the park to move once you've trapped one!"
"Guys!" Ryou shouted, "Don't we have more important things to worry about?!"
Bryac glared at me, and then grabbed me hard by the hand, "Come on!"
Before I could tell him that his grip was not only cutting off the circulation in my fingers, but also killing my burnt hands, he was yanking me down the hall. I kept my screaming to myself, so I wouldn't look like a wimp in front of this guy who thought from the beginning that women were wimps.
"But Thina and Yoko!" I shouted to him, "They're still in the room!"
"They'll be fine!" He said, "It's not like they're going to just do nothing in a flaming room. What we need to worry about now is getting out of here with our lives!"
"But it's a dead end!" Yugi shouted from behind us, pointing at the wall we were about to run into.
Bryac skidded to a stop and let me go at last. The fire was coming up fast, and random things kept falling off the roof and walls. It was a dangerous situation already, and now we were cornered between a wall and a wall of fire.
"Ryou!" Bryac barked. "I need you to cut through this wall!"
Ryou looked up with both half horror and half confusion. "Me? How could I-"
"You have to cut through the wall to the other side so we can get out of here!" Bryac barked, "You can do it with your dagger! The dagger of Kudsai can cut through anything!"
"But I can't cut through things yet!" Ryou protested, "I won't be able to do it!"
"Well I can't do it with my sword, so it's either you try or we die thanks to your little friend over here letting out a demon!"
"HEY! Since when did I get pulled into this?!" I said defensively.
"Come on Ryou!" Yugi said, "Even if you can't do it, at least you can try!"
...that's just something he would say while we were about to be burned to death.
Ryou took a breath, and murmured something I couldn't catch because of all the smoke. Then, thankfully, he pulled out his dagger and held it out in front of the wall. He closed his eyes, and started to concentrate. Only, it wasn't like a five second concentration thing, it was like a thirty second thing that was still going.
"Could hurry it up Ryou!" I shouted, feeling the ground start to crack underneath us.
His eyes shut tighter, trying his best to concentrate in the middle of a situation like this one. I couldn't help it though, I didn't want to fall down from the second floor! I saw Ryou's hand flinch once, and then he swung his armed hand around in a circle so fast that you could barely see that he moved.
Everyone held their breath as the wall stood as it was, and then, an oval shape crumbled from the wall onto the floor giving us enough room to escape. Ryou was shocked at first, but then he grinned and turned to us.
"I actually did it!" He said.
"Great job, Ryou, now jump!" Bryac told him, ushering to the hole in the wall, "We don't have much time!"
Ryou nodded, but looked out of the hole uncertainly. I could tell he was starting to have second thoughts about jumping from the second floor. He turned to say something, but Bryac gave him a push and sent him falling to the ground before he could get anything out.
"What the hell was that for!" I yelled at him. "You just, PUSHED him out like that!"
"We don't have time for talking!" Bryac told me, "You'll be fine if you jump-"
His words were cut off as a sickening crack ran through the air. We both turned around at the exact moment, and had one second to see the opening in the wooden floor, and one second the hear Yugi's shout for help as he fell down onto the first floor.
"YUGI!" I screamed.
Bryac advanced to the opening and I stopped him, "What do you think you're doing!?"
"Going down to save him, what else!" He snapped, "You go out the wall and wait for us out there!"
"But-"
"GO!"
He didn't leave me any room to object and dove into the flame pit visible from our floor. It took me all my will power not to jump in after him, but I didn't know for sure if I could be of any help. So reluctantly, I dashed to the hole in the wall that Ryou made, and jumped out that way. Screw diving after Bryac, I needed to find help.
-=* Yugi *=-
"What the hell was that for!" Caitlin yelled at him. "You just, PUSHED him out like that!"
"We don't have time for talking!" Bryac told her, "You'll be fine if you jump-"
Suddenly, I felt the ground underneath me crack and fall completely, making me drop right down with it into the hot first floor. Stray pieces of fiery wood rained down on me as I fell onto my knees, and I had to cover my head to keep my hair from catching on fire. Once they stopped, I got up quickly and tried to find a way back up. But there wasn't any.
I instantly panicked, and looked for any way out of the mess. The roof above me was burning like crazy, and even though *I* couldn't fall now, I was more nervous about having a large piece of wood fall on top of me. It made me very nervous, but I knew I had to keep moving.
I covered my mouth and nose with my shirt to filter the smoke best I could. The fire was everywhere, and there were hardly any places to step without burning yourself. I was afraid I'd never move, and die a slow and painful death, but then--
"Yugi!"
I jumped, and looked up hopefully to the voice. The shadowed figure came down from the hole I had made, and started to walk to me. I didn't need to see him clearly to know who it was instantly.
"Bryac!" I shouted, "I'm over here!"
He turned, and that's when I saw something terrifying. The burning pillar over him was teetering on its brace, and it was going to fall at any moment. He was oblivious to both where I was, and the burning pillar, and had no way of knowing what was going to happen! I ran to him as fast as I could, even over some patches of fire, but that wasn't fast enough. It was going to fall on him any moment!
"LOOK OUT!" I yelled, desperate for a way to warn him.
But it was too late, the pillar fell on top of him and I watched horror as the wood scorched his back and held him down at the same time. Bryac started frantically trying his hardest to get the wood off, but it was too big. He needed help. Snapping myself out of the shock, I made my way quickly over to him and tried to pry the wood off his back.
"I CAN'T GET IT OFF!" I shouted in frustration, "I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH!"
He screamed out in distress as the fire continued to cook his back, and I kept frantically trying to get it off him. I HAD to do something! I've been stuck in a fire before; I should know how to fix this!
~ FLASHBACK ~
"Come on Yugi!" Joey said, trying to pull my hands off the puzzle, "It's not use! He won't let go!"
"Then we've got to get the puzzle free!" Tristen said, picking up a pole and handing another to Joey. They started to hit the chain hard with the poles, but it wasn't working.
"It's no good!" Tristen shouted.
"Hey Tristen, how about we stick the pole in the hole and pull!" Joey brought up.
~ END ~
I blinked. That's it! I ran over to a chair on the floor that wasn't burning, and pushed the legs under one side of the wood. The legs were elevated enough to lift it enough off Bryac's back and I was able to pull his limp body out from under the wood.
He cried out in pain when I helped him up, but he was able to walk enough to get over to the door. I wasn't tall enough for him to lean on me, but I could help keep him standing. I was almost ready to celebrate surviving two fires, when Bryac had to announce really bad news.
"The door's locked!" He yelled, "I can't get it open!"
"Bryac! Yugi! Is that you?!" A muffled voice called from outside.
"Ryou!" I exclaimed, "We're in here! But we can't get out! The door's locked!"
"Hold on!" Ryou shouted back, "I'll get it open, just stand back!"
There was a blinding light as the dagger cut through the door like it had done for the wall, and Ryou stood right outside the opening. With the door open, we were able to get back out into the open and take a breath of fresh air at last. Bryac smiled, but winced when I accidentally brushed against his back.
"Are you guys alright?" Ryou asked, allowing me to hand Bryac over to someone taller to lean on.
"Do I LOOK alright??" Bryac groaned.
"Bryac got burned." I explained, "We need to get him some help, and fast."
Ryou nodded, "Caitlin went looking for Thina and Yoko, they should be here soon."
I let out a breath of relief, and with Ryou's help; we got far enough away from the Tavern to be able to watch it burn to the ground and still be safe. We had gone out the back way, so endless plains were the only thing we could see, now that it was night again. All the shops on the other side of the tavern either had their lights off, or had very little light still on. Ryou helped me lay Bryac down on his stomach, and the swordsman hissed softly as he got down.
"This isn't good." Ryou said, taking a look at Bryac's back, "It looks like the skin was melted in the fire."
I cringed at the unwanted visual image, and didn't dare look at it with my own eyes. Luckily, that's when I heard footsteps coming our way on the grass. Thina, Yoko, and Caitlin were all running our way. Yoko had a long branch of some sort that she was clutching tightly when she came up. But Caitlin got there first.
"Yugi!" She squeaked happily, grabbing me and giving me a big hug so quickly I felt like I got the wind knocked out of me, "I was so worried you were going to roast in the fire like some sort of oversized chicken! And- Bryac?"
Bryac flinched as she got near, and she was amazingly able to keep the smile on her face for about five whole seconds before looking at his back, then at me, then at Bryac again. That's about when she lost her cool, and before anyone could stop her, she smashed Bryac hard in the head with her foot.
"YOU IDIOT!" She yelled, "You won't let me go in after him because you're afraid I'll get hurt and then THERE YOU GO HURTING YOUR OWN STUPID SELF! Who was supposed to be saving who!"
"It's only a flesh wound!" He protested. "Besides, it's not like you could have done any better!"
"Could so!"
"Yeah right!"
"I COULD!"
"THIS WHOLE THING WAS YOUR FAULT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!"
Bryac yelled as Caitlin stepped on his head again.
"FOR THE THIRD TIME, IT WASN'T MY FAULT, BAKA!" She shouted.
"Please Caitlin!" Yoko said, pulling her back, "Bryac is in pain!"
"SO AM I!" She shrieked, "WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK I DIDN'T STRANGLE HIM BY NOW!?"
"Please!" Yoko said again, "We can't have too much violence amongst our selves! It isn't a good thing at all! I have a nut that can heal both your wounds."
"Good, hand it over." He grunted.
"Ah ah ah, what about the magic words?" Yoko said with a smile, digging around in her pockets until she found a small walnut looking thing.
"I'm not in the mood, Yoko..." Bryac said threateningly.
"Just say the words, couldn't kill you to-"
"JUST HAND IT OVER YOKO BEFORE I RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!"
Yoko took a step back in shock as the hugely overwhelmed Bryac snatched the walnut from her hands and cracked it open. We all looked at each other wide- eyed as Bryac continued to mutter angrily and opened up the walnut enough to gush out something that looked like grape jelly. He rubbed most of it onto his back, by himself (not like he would let anyone get near him) and before long, it looked like he hadn't ever been in a fire.
"Damn." He said, getting up and staring off into the distance, "The fire demon's gone. He's undoubtedly gone to find Yukio by now, and that only makes the current circumstances worse. If only you wouldn't have been stupid and broken the seal."
Caitlin looked at him angrily at first, but then gave in, and said, "Sorry..."
Bryac glared at her, "You should be."
"Bryac-" Thina began.
He interrupted her with an icy gaze, "We have to keep moving. The blood in our drinks, I'm sure the person who put it in there was in league with Yukio. And I wasn't counting on Yukio knowing our whereabouts down to the tavern we were staying in. If we don't keep moving he'll be sure to send his men after us and be happy to chop us to pieces."
He started walking in the opposite direction of the village, and didn't even bother looking behind him to make sure we were following. Judging by the looks on everyone's faces, no one had any idea where we were going or why Bryac felt so up tight all of the sudden. We could only gawk, and then hurry after him with the hopes he knew where he was going.
~*~*~
Retaw- ^_^ So, I had fun writing this chapter. And I'm going to have a TON of fun writing the next DR [Dream Realm] chapter! And that flashback Yugi had wasn't word for word or action for action, I just did my best to remember and write it pretty well.
~ I saw a fic that did this, and I thought it was a good idea so...here is what you should expect in the next chapter ~
IN THE NEXT D.R CHAPTER- The six have been walking for a long time, and Bryac decides (with Yoko's persuasion of course) that they should take a break at a close nightclub, The Drop of Star. But will the stop do more harm than good?
Next Time, 'The Drop of Star'. See you soon!
... -lol- Sorry, I couldn't resist. ^__^
Caitlin- *rolls eyes* You've been watching way too much Inu-Yasha...
SUNC!
Caitlin- O.O Nothing? Wow, that must be a record or something.
Retaw- I must go on with next chapter...before...I pop...
Caitlin- Kay. ^_^ If you don't want to talk, it's fine with me.
Retaw- WAIT! I REMEMBER SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT NOW!
Caitlin- Go to the chapter! GO! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!
~*~* Yugi *~*~
"This is where we'll be sleeping." Bryac announced, pushing the door open. "There isn't anyone else staying at the tavern, so we'll be alone tonight."
"That's good." Ryou said, looking around at the dirty room, "But...there's only three beds, how will we all fit?"
Bryac snickered, "The rules of the Tavern state that there can only be five to a bed. Someone will have to have a bedmate."
I shivered, thinking of having some old man that I didn't know having to sleep right next to me and suddenly being a ton more grateful that we would be alone. Everyone looked around in silence for a moment, having nothing else to say.
There were only six of us now, Yoko, Thina, Bryac, Caitlin, Ryou and me. It was almost a little awkward having so little amount of people with us. To tell the truth, I really felt sorta of...I don't know...alone. After being attacked by monsters and being stuck in a boat in a storm, I had grown to like being surrounded by a large number of people who knew what they were doing. Now I felt more vulnerable, and that made me nervous. Maybe it was something that Yami had told me a while back...
'You have good instincts on these sorts of things, aibou.' He had told me, 'If you feel like something bad is going to happen, then take caution. Because, young one, you should never doubt your feelings.'
I mentally sighed, wishing Yami could give me advice on this one. In spite of what Yami said, I couldn't help wonder if I was just overreacting. What could possibly happen?
Suddenly, Bryac broke the ice. "I'm going downstairs for a drink." He told us, "Coming Yugi? Ryou?"
I blinked a few times to snap myself out of 'lala land'. I knew I had to get my mind off bad omens, and went ahead and followed him back down to the food area of the tavern. Ryou had a huge hesitation moment before coming after us, and I couldn't help smile at the nervous look plastered on his face.
"Yugi," He whispered to me, "I don't know about this. Does he mean an alcoholic drink?"
"Calm down, Ryou, I'm sure they have other things here. You don't need to worry that much."
I don't know why, but I felt a little jealous that the worst Ryou had to worry about was what to drink. We all sat down at an empty table. There wasn't anyone left in the building but us, now, even the people who had been sitting at the bar when we had first come in had gone away. The whole place seemed...abnormally quiet. I looked around a few times before nudging Bryac.
"Where is everybody?" I asked quietly, feeling strange to speak any louder.
Bryac looked around carefully for a long time, observing every little detail before admitting, "I don't know."
"Oh! I'm so sorry, sirs, I'll bring your drinks to you right away!" A waitress exclaimed hurriedly, popping up from behind the bar and scaring the daylights out of me before I realized it wasn't someone come to kill us.
Bryac nodded to her to continue, and she shed a smile before going back underneath the bar once again. There were scattered sounds of clanging and crashing as the waitress rummaged through glasses rapidly and poured a green looking liquid into each. She smiled and took a breath before setting them down on our table and dashing away.
Ryou bit his lip, and poked at the glass a few times before Bryac turned to him and held Ryou's hand down.
"Don't drink it." He ordered, "Something isn't right."
He held the drink up to the candlelight and studied the bubbles as the floated through the lime green drink. His eyes narrowed a bit as he looked closer, and then, he poured his entire cup full out onto the candle. I gasped as the entire candle, which had been barely used before, melted instantly into a bubbling puddle on the wooden table.
Bryac took a deep breath, and nodded while saying, 'I figured as much.'
"What is that stuff?" I asked him uneasily.
Bryac cocked an eyebrow at me, as if forgetting for a moment how little I knew about this place. " Its Montaii blood. Burns you from the inside out and turns your bones into dust."
I felt my mouth fall open, "They tried to kill us? What do we do?"
"Get up." Bryac said, firmly but urgently, "We've got to get out of here. Now."
-=*=-=* Caitlin *=-=*=-
Yoko smiled down at me and sat me down on the bed.
"So..." She said.
Her grinning was starting to freak me out. Last time people grinned like that at me, I ended up having a surprise makeover where they cut my hair.
"So what?" I asked her.
"So, what do you think of Bryac?" She asked, grinning even wider.
I cringed at the name, "I think he's a conceited, arrogant, bossy, baka."
Yoko's smile faded, and Thina's eyes turned to me. It was always a little creepy to have Thina look at you. You always knew she was looking at you, but her eyes always looked off in the distance, and they were all translucent and always glowed slightly.
"It's natural for you to clash with him." Thina said, "You're used to being independent, Bryac is used to being a leader. You don't like following orders and he doesn't like orders to be ignored."
I shook my head, "I doubt it's anywhere as complicated as that. It's simple, really, I hate him, he hates me. And thus, the universe is in balance."
Yoko sighed, "You are very strange, Caitlin."
I grinned, "Ah, my very favorite quality of myself."
Yoko shook her head and started to bounce up and down on the bed. We were alone, almost. I was among friends, I could ask them a simple question.
"Hey Yoko, Thina?" I said, waiting till they both looked up, "Uh, I need you to be completely truthful with me on this one."
Yoko nodded, "Always."
I took a breath before continuing, "We ARE going to be able to get home, right? Like, soon?"
Both Thina and Yoko stopped, and looked at each other uncertainly. I instantly felt an icky feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. Did their looks mean we were stuck? I thought we could get home! Where are we going if we aren't going home!? I gave them both a warning glance before they could answer, because I really wasn't in the mood to hear I'd be stuck here for the rest my life.
"We...we're doing our very best to find a way to get you out of here." Yoko said, "We really are, believe me. But it's going to be a while yet. It's going to be very difficult to get you out of here. It means breaking the fabric in the boundary between life and death, and then closing it back up before souls find and go through it."
I groaned, and let my head fall back onto the wall behind me. This was just getting better and better every second I stayed. What's going on with my life while I'm gone? No one can be me better then I can, that's for sure. What if something happens? I was starting to feel a major yearning for OUT on this journey. Sure it was fun, but for what price?
"Are you starting to feel homesick?" Yoko questioned, leaning over to look at my face. "Missing your home? Your family?"
"Hm? Oh, nah. I don't really have much of a family to miss to tell you the truth. My mom and dad died a while back and I've been alone since."
"I'm sorry about that."
"No, it's not your fault. Actually I just want to know how things are going over on the other side of the realm. Other than that, I don't really have much of a preference where I am."
"...is that so..."
I stretched a little bit, and got up off the bare wooden floor. "I'm going to have a look around for a while, I'll be back soon though ok?"
"Fine with us." Yoko chirped with her usual happy nature. "Just be careful!"
I smiled and waved a quick goodbye before going into the hallway. Taking a look around, I snorted at Yoko's request. Be careful? What was there to be careful of? It was a building for goshness sake. There weren't a very large number of other rooms, just a few necessary ones. I walked past a food storage area, a bathroom looking place, (which didn't look very...clean) another bedroom that looked like it belonged to a manager, and a completely empty room.
...or so I thought...
"Help, somebody help me!"
I stopped in mid step. Was somebody just calling for help? I turned around slowly and stared in the empty room again. The voice sounded like it came from in there, but there wasn't anyone in there that needed help. I looked closer, just in case.
Nothing. Just a room with a small closet in the corner.
"Help me!"
There it was again! I swear, it sounded just like it was coming from the room, but even the closet didn't look big enough for a person to fit into. It was a tiny thing, barely able to fit a small dog into. But maybe it was just big enough for a small boy to get trapped inside...
"Where are you?" I asked, stepping deeper into the room.
"In here!" The voice answered, "Please help me! I've been locked in here for a lifetime!"
A lifetime? Maybe it was just an exaggeration. I took a step inside the room and felt a sudden chill on my back. It was freaky enough to make me want to leave, but I couldn't let that boy just sit there trapped. I had to help him!
"Hurry..." The young voice said, "Let me free...I can't wait any longer..."
Another chill. What the heck was up with this situation that made me feel like I was doing something wrong? I shrugged it off, and reached for the knob on the small closet.
"Hold on." I said, "I've almost-"
I touched the knob and drew my hand back quickly. That stupid thing BURNED me! I blew on my fingertips and jumped when I heard a loud thump coming from inside the closet.
"Let me out!" It cried, "Let me out please!"
"I can't!" I snapped, "The damn thing burnt my fingers!"
"Just hurry and open it, the pain won't last long, you must help me."
Shoot. How the heck did I know it was going to say something like that? Of course I guess it would plain lunacy for the boy to say, 'Oh, ok. But thanks for trying!' I closed my eyes and took a huge breath before reaching for the knob again with both hands.
I screamed out in agony as my hands hit the scorching knob. White hot pain seared through my veins and held my burning hands to the knob so I couldn't let go. Having enough common sense to save myself from being cooked alive, I yanked hard enough to open the closet door. As soon as the duty was done, the knob let me go immediately and I felt myself land hard back onto the floor. I whimpered and started to do everything possible to ease the pulsing pain, but it was no use. The voice chuckled.
"Thank you, mortal." It laughed, "I could have never freed myself from that prison without your help."
O...K, why am I getting that vibe that I did something wrong again? There was a hot whoosh of wind and the door was blown forcefully open, blowing my hair back and making it too hot for me to keep my eyes open. CRAPCRAPCRAP! What do I do now!? Reacting on instinct and a remembrance of where the closet was in front of me, I lunged for the door and pushed it back closed.
I clenched my teeth as the terrible pain returned. It was unlike anything I had felt before, and I hated it. It felt like someone was slowly sticking thousands of sharp needles into my skin and pushing them harder every second that I held the door closed.
"FOOL!" The voice bellowed, "LET ME FREE!"
Another hard hit of warm air flung me across the room and threw me against the wall. The door was open again, allowing whatever was inside a perfect chance to escape. The room itself started to get very hot, and I saw a large ball of something blood red and black getting bigger and bigger inside the closet thing. Wait a second, that wasn't a closet! It was a cage! CRAP! Why didn't I realize that sooner!! I scrambled to my feet and started to run for my life as the thick smoke billowed from the cage.
"Come back, girl!" He called as I ran, "I mean to thank you for letting me free, you cannot escape now!"
BOOM! I screamed as the entire room behind me exploded into a fiery death pit. Flames licked at my skin, and my hands were killing me, but it was either run or die. So I ran, fast and hard to the room Yoko and Thina were still in. I had to warn them. I had to get out of here before it was too late! I turned to look behind me and cursed loudly seeing the fire spreading on the walls
WHAM!
I ran face first into someone, knocking them into the floor. Luckily, I was able to keep my balance and stared at the boy on the ground.
"Yugi!" I exclaimed, "We have to get out of here!"
"That's just what we were coming to tell you!" Yugi said, getting up, "Someone was trying to kill us down at-" He caught sight of the fire and his eyes must have gotten as big as golfballs. Maybe bigger.
I couldn't wait anymore, and blurted my whole problem out at him, "Yugi I'm really sorry but I opened up some sort of cage and freed a fire monster person that's trying to kill me even though I was the nice one that let him out of the place in the first place and see it wasn't really my fault because I thought he was a little trapped boy in a closet and I didn't want him to be scared or stuck and now we have to RUN FOR OUR LIVES OR HE'LL KILL US!"
I felt a strong grip on my shoulder and was spun around to face Ryou and Bryac, who had just come up the stairs.
"You idiot girl!" He growled, "You just let the legendary fire demon!"
"Hey!" I yelled at him, "It's not my ENTIRE fault! What the hell are they doing with a fire demon in a STUPID TAVERN! They had no warnings or anything, I had no clue!"
"Did you just CHOOSE to ignore the seals on the cage!" Bryac shouted at me, "And contrary to YOUR belief, fire demons aren't a walk in the park to move once you've trapped one!"
"Guys!" Ryou shouted, "Don't we have more important things to worry about?!"
Bryac glared at me, and then grabbed me hard by the hand, "Come on!"
Before I could tell him that his grip was not only cutting off the circulation in my fingers, but also killing my burnt hands, he was yanking me down the hall. I kept my screaming to myself, so I wouldn't look like a wimp in front of this guy who thought from the beginning that women were wimps.
"But Thina and Yoko!" I shouted to him, "They're still in the room!"
"They'll be fine!" He said, "It's not like they're going to just do nothing in a flaming room. What we need to worry about now is getting out of here with our lives!"
"But it's a dead end!" Yugi shouted from behind us, pointing at the wall we were about to run into.
Bryac skidded to a stop and let me go at last. The fire was coming up fast, and random things kept falling off the roof and walls. It was a dangerous situation already, and now we were cornered between a wall and a wall of fire.
"Ryou!" Bryac barked. "I need you to cut through this wall!"
Ryou looked up with both half horror and half confusion. "Me? How could I-"
"You have to cut through the wall to the other side so we can get out of here!" Bryac barked, "You can do it with your dagger! The dagger of Kudsai can cut through anything!"
"But I can't cut through things yet!" Ryou protested, "I won't be able to do it!"
"Well I can't do it with my sword, so it's either you try or we die thanks to your little friend over here letting out a demon!"
"HEY! Since when did I get pulled into this?!" I said defensively.
"Come on Ryou!" Yugi said, "Even if you can't do it, at least you can try!"
...that's just something he would say while we were about to be burned to death.
Ryou took a breath, and murmured something I couldn't catch because of all the smoke. Then, thankfully, he pulled out his dagger and held it out in front of the wall. He closed his eyes, and started to concentrate. Only, it wasn't like a five second concentration thing, it was like a thirty second thing that was still going.
"Could hurry it up Ryou!" I shouted, feeling the ground start to crack underneath us.
His eyes shut tighter, trying his best to concentrate in the middle of a situation like this one. I couldn't help it though, I didn't want to fall down from the second floor! I saw Ryou's hand flinch once, and then he swung his armed hand around in a circle so fast that you could barely see that he moved.
Everyone held their breath as the wall stood as it was, and then, an oval shape crumbled from the wall onto the floor giving us enough room to escape. Ryou was shocked at first, but then he grinned and turned to us.
"I actually did it!" He said.
"Great job, Ryou, now jump!" Bryac told him, ushering to the hole in the wall, "We don't have much time!"
Ryou nodded, but looked out of the hole uncertainly. I could tell he was starting to have second thoughts about jumping from the second floor. He turned to say something, but Bryac gave him a push and sent him falling to the ground before he could get anything out.
"What the hell was that for!" I yelled at him. "You just, PUSHED him out like that!"
"We don't have time for talking!" Bryac told me, "You'll be fine if you jump-"
His words were cut off as a sickening crack ran through the air. We both turned around at the exact moment, and had one second to see the opening in the wooden floor, and one second the hear Yugi's shout for help as he fell down onto the first floor.
"YUGI!" I screamed.
Bryac advanced to the opening and I stopped him, "What do you think you're doing!?"
"Going down to save him, what else!" He snapped, "You go out the wall and wait for us out there!"
"But-"
"GO!"
He didn't leave me any room to object and dove into the flame pit visible from our floor. It took me all my will power not to jump in after him, but I didn't know for sure if I could be of any help. So reluctantly, I dashed to the hole in the wall that Ryou made, and jumped out that way. Screw diving after Bryac, I needed to find help.
-=* Yugi *=-
"What the hell was that for!" Caitlin yelled at him. "You just, PUSHED him out like that!"
"We don't have time for talking!" Bryac told her, "You'll be fine if you jump-"
Suddenly, I felt the ground underneath me crack and fall completely, making me drop right down with it into the hot first floor. Stray pieces of fiery wood rained down on me as I fell onto my knees, and I had to cover my head to keep my hair from catching on fire. Once they stopped, I got up quickly and tried to find a way back up. But there wasn't any.
I instantly panicked, and looked for any way out of the mess. The roof above me was burning like crazy, and even though *I* couldn't fall now, I was more nervous about having a large piece of wood fall on top of me. It made me very nervous, but I knew I had to keep moving.
I covered my mouth and nose with my shirt to filter the smoke best I could. The fire was everywhere, and there were hardly any places to step without burning yourself. I was afraid I'd never move, and die a slow and painful death, but then--
"Yugi!"
I jumped, and looked up hopefully to the voice. The shadowed figure came down from the hole I had made, and started to walk to me. I didn't need to see him clearly to know who it was instantly.
"Bryac!" I shouted, "I'm over here!"
He turned, and that's when I saw something terrifying. The burning pillar over him was teetering on its brace, and it was going to fall at any moment. He was oblivious to both where I was, and the burning pillar, and had no way of knowing what was going to happen! I ran to him as fast as I could, even over some patches of fire, but that wasn't fast enough. It was going to fall on him any moment!
"LOOK OUT!" I yelled, desperate for a way to warn him.
But it was too late, the pillar fell on top of him and I watched horror as the wood scorched his back and held him down at the same time. Bryac started frantically trying his hardest to get the wood off, but it was too big. He needed help. Snapping myself out of the shock, I made my way quickly over to him and tried to pry the wood off his back.
"I CAN'T GET IT OFF!" I shouted in frustration, "I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH!"
He screamed out in distress as the fire continued to cook his back, and I kept frantically trying to get it off him. I HAD to do something! I've been stuck in a fire before; I should know how to fix this!
~ FLASHBACK ~
"Come on Yugi!" Joey said, trying to pull my hands off the puzzle, "It's not use! He won't let go!"
"Then we've got to get the puzzle free!" Tristen said, picking up a pole and handing another to Joey. They started to hit the chain hard with the poles, but it wasn't working.
"It's no good!" Tristen shouted.
"Hey Tristen, how about we stick the pole in the hole and pull!" Joey brought up.
~ END ~
I blinked. That's it! I ran over to a chair on the floor that wasn't burning, and pushed the legs under one side of the wood. The legs were elevated enough to lift it enough off Bryac's back and I was able to pull his limp body out from under the wood.
He cried out in pain when I helped him up, but he was able to walk enough to get over to the door. I wasn't tall enough for him to lean on me, but I could help keep him standing. I was almost ready to celebrate surviving two fires, when Bryac had to announce really bad news.
"The door's locked!" He yelled, "I can't get it open!"
"Bryac! Yugi! Is that you?!" A muffled voice called from outside.
"Ryou!" I exclaimed, "We're in here! But we can't get out! The door's locked!"
"Hold on!" Ryou shouted back, "I'll get it open, just stand back!"
There was a blinding light as the dagger cut through the door like it had done for the wall, and Ryou stood right outside the opening. With the door open, we were able to get back out into the open and take a breath of fresh air at last. Bryac smiled, but winced when I accidentally brushed against his back.
"Are you guys alright?" Ryou asked, allowing me to hand Bryac over to someone taller to lean on.
"Do I LOOK alright??" Bryac groaned.
"Bryac got burned." I explained, "We need to get him some help, and fast."
Ryou nodded, "Caitlin went looking for Thina and Yoko, they should be here soon."
I let out a breath of relief, and with Ryou's help; we got far enough away from the Tavern to be able to watch it burn to the ground and still be safe. We had gone out the back way, so endless plains were the only thing we could see, now that it was night again. All the shops on the other side of the tavern either had their lights off, or had very little light still on. Ryou helped me lay Bryac down on his stomach, and the swordsman hissed softly as he got down.
"This isn't good." Ryou said, taking a look at Bryac's back, "It looks like the skin was melted in the fire."
I cringed at the unwanted visual image, and didn't dare look at it with my own eyes. Luckily, that's when I heard footsteps coming our way on the grass. Thina, Yoko, and Caitlin were all running our way. Yoko had a long branch of some sort that she was clutching tightly when she came up. But Caitlin got there first.
"Yugi!" She squeaked happily, grabbing me and giving me a big hug so quickly I felt like I got the wind knocked out of me, "I was so worried you were going to roast in the fire like some sort of oversized chicken! And- Bryac?"
Bryac flinched as she got near, and she was amazingly able to keep the smile on her face for about five whole seconds before looking at his back, then at me, then at Bryac again. That's about when she lost her cool, and before anyone could stop her, she smashed Bryac hard in the head with her foot.
"YOU IDIOT!" She yelled, "You won't let me go in after him because you're afraid I'll get hurt and then THERE YOU GO HURTING YOUR OWN STUPID SELF! Who was supposed to be saving who!"
"It's only a flesh wound!" He protested. "Besides, it's not like you could have done any better!"
"Could so!"
"Yeah right!"
"I COULD!"
"THIS WHOLE THING WAS YOUR FAULT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!"
Bryac yelled as Caitlin stepped on his head again.
"FOR THE THIRD TIME, IT WASN'T MY FAULT, BAKA!" She shouted.
"Please Caitlin!" Yoko said, pulling her back, "Bryac is in pain!"
"SO AM I!" She shrieked, "WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK I DIDN'T STRANGLE HIM BY NOW!?"
"Please!" Yoko said again, "We can't have too much violence amongst our selves! It isn't a good thing at all! I have a nut that can heal both your wounds."
"Good, hand it over." He grunted.
"Ah ah ah, what about the magic words?" Yoko said with a smile, digging around in her pockets until she found a small walnut looking thing.
"I'm not in the mood, Yoko..." Bryac said threateningly.
"Just say the words, couldn't kill you to-"
"JUST HAND IT OVER YOKO BEFORE I RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!"
Yoko took a step back in shock as the hugely overwhelmed Bryac snatched the walnut from her hands and cracked it open. We all looked at each other wide- eyed as Bryac continued to mutter angrily and opened up the walnut enough to gush out something that looked like grape jelly. He rubbed most of it onto his back, by himself (not like he would let anyone get near him) and before long, it looked like he hadn't ever been in a fire.
"Damn." He said, getting up and staring off into the distance, "The fire demon's gone. He's undoubtedly gone to find Yukio by now, and that only makes the current circumstances worse. If only you wouldn't have been stupid and broken the seal."
Caitlin looked at him angrily at first, but then gave in, and said, "Sorry..."
Bryac glared at her, "You should be."
"Bryac-" Thina began.
He interrupted her with an icy gaze, "We have to keep moving. The blood in our drinks, I'm sure the person who put it in there was in league with Yukio. And I wasn't counting on Yukio knowing our whereabouts down to the tavern we were staying in. If we don't keep moving he'll be sure to send his men after us and be happy to chop us to pieces."
He started walking in the opposite direction of the village, and didn't even bother looking behind him to make sure we were following. Judging by the looks on everyone's faces, no one had any idea where we were going or why Bryac felt so up tight all of the sudden. We could only gawk, and then hurry after him with the hopes he knew where he was going.
~*~*~
Retaw- ^_^ So, I had fun writing this chapter. And I'm going to have a TON of fun writing the next DR [Dream Realm] chapter! And that flashback Yugi had wasn't word for word or action for action, I just did my best to remember and write it pretty well.
~ I saw a fic that did this, and I thought it was a good idea so...here is what you should expect in the next chapter ~
IN THE NEXT D.R CHAPTER- The six have been walking for a long time, and Bryac decides (with Yoko's persuasion of course) that they should take a break at a close nightclub, The Drop of Star. But will the stop do more harm than good?
Next Time, 'The Drop of Star'. See you soon!
... -lol- Sorry, I couldn't resist. ^__^
Caitlin- *rolls eyes* You've been watching way too much Inu-Yasha...
SUNC!