Ever Snow
By Seena
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Author's notes:
Yay, chapter 3, FINALLY! It's called , meaning . I'm already working on chapter 4, where I will again attempt to write for Ankhkare. ^_^ I'm sorry I didn't update this sooner... Indigo finally got on my case about it, though. I had it done, I just... didn't post it. ^_^ Which reminds me... I know you people aren't reviewing! I can see you! Come on, is my writing THAT bad? ^_^
Hmm... Senui was... nice, for himself, last chapter. *glomps him happily* He appears again later. He's much meaner then... ^_^ You'll see why, and I'm sure many of you can already guess! And then his sealing... that'll be in the last chapter. I'll have to bug him for the details about it sometime...
Oh! And apparently Mana has brown hair and blue eyes. Who knew? ^_^ So if I mentioned her looking otherwise earlier, disregard that, because I was wrong. (It's not like I COULD know before, anyway. ^_^) On some day I'm not amazingly lazy, I'll go back and look for those changes to make in the last two chapters.
Hmm... not much else to say. ^_^ How boring! That's okay, though... I'm sure most people scroll right though the author's notes anyway.
Disclaimer [courtesy of fellow author Mikazuki Kagaya]:
{ahem} Just to get all the legal stuff out of the way, Seena does not own or profit from Yu-Gi-Oh!; that's Takahashi Kazuki's. Ancient Egypt belongs to the Ancient Egyptians, and Ankhkare and Senui are the marvelous creations of Indigo Tantarian. Seena does, in a sense, own Chibi Zora, but I dunno if and when she'll be in this. And now, without further ado, the Utena to my Anthy, the Ankhkare to my Senui (well, her Senui, really {evil grin}), Seena da yo!
Ever Snow
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Chapter 3: Tchamaau
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Mokuba whispered to Mana, as the two children turned around a corner into the depths of the courthouse. The younger boy nodded to a door on their right, practically on top of the intersection they had just gone through. This one's Takhnashum's office.
The girl nodded slowly and put a hand on the door handle, willing the door not to creak as she opened it. Mokuba followed stealthily behind her, glancing both ways down the hallway once more before closing the door behind them. So... you can read his papers, right? he asked, going over to Takhnashum's desk and pulling out a drawer.
More or less, yes... she answered as she walked over to a stone box in the opposite side of the room, and took off the heavy lid.
the boy mumbled, staring hard at a couple of sheets of papyrus. After almost a full minute, he frowned and held them up for his companion to see.
Mana glanced over at him and nodded, squinting at the paper. Looks like it, yeah. She went back to searching the box.
The younger magician frowned, scratching his head through his unruly black hair. Then this money must be his salary... He held up a sack of gold that had been stuffed in the corner of the drawer.
Mana blinked and turned back to him. What money...? she asked, then pointed to the hieroglyphs her box-lid with a frown. This says that this is where he keeps his money... ... ...Let me read those records... Mokuba nodded, walking over to hand her the papyrus.
After a moment, she nodded slowly. Yeah... these are just the records of the trials he's judged in the last year. ...I guess I was wrong. ... ... ...Unless there's something else in the drawer?
Mokuba shrugged and walked back over to the desk. No... just this scrap of papyrus. It looks like a shopping list or something.
The older mage frowned slightly. Oh...? Let me see.
Mokuba shrugged again, and picked up the note, looking it over a bit. Yeah... it's some kind of shopping or trading thing. See, this says, heqet', right? He pointed at a symbol.
Mana nodded as she took the papyrus. Yeah, that looks right... She blinked at the symbol next to it. ...Fifteen barrels of it.
The boy blinked in surprise, then frowned. Fifteen barrels of beer?! ...Are you sure?
She nodded. That's what it says... And ten foot-lengths of... fleece. That, and... a direct payment of twenty gold coins. But those two are crossed off...
Mokuba poured the bag of coins onto the table, then bit his lip. ...There's twenty... Mana, do you realize what this is...!?
She nodded slowly, a funny look on her face as she read the bottom of the papyrus. For: Sawaratari. Guilty, death sentence.' ...A bribe... involving the execution of an innocent man...!
The boy paled. We... we can't let him DO that!
Mana nodded firmly. Right. We'll take this back to the palace, and- she stopped in mid-sentence. A faint string of curses resounded outside in the hallway, reaching the ears of both children.
Mokuba paled even more. Takhnashum's coming...!
The frightened girl hastily slipped the note into her shoe, then ran over to the stone box and replaced the lid; her companion quickly stuffed the other parchment records away and retied the bag of coins.
The cursing grew louder. The two magicians swiftly ducked behind some large vases near the door, finding nowhere better to hide in the three seconds before Takhnashum burst through the door. Not even bothering to close the door behind him, he muttered, How DARE he...!? That insolent little...! Crocodile dung'?! Oh, I'll give that ingrate crocodile dung! Mokuba and Mana exchanged glances before their eyes wandered back to the door. To freedom.
Neither of them hesitated when the older judge looked the other way, still angrily hissing to himself and cursing over one insult or another. Within the blink of an eye, the children were gone. They stealthily but hastily crept down the corridors, making their way through the labyrinth of the courthouse...
**********
Mana sighed softly. We're lost, aren't we? she whispered, afraid to raise her voice.
Mokuba replied, glancing around and trying not to look worried. After a moment, he amended,
The girl bit her lip. ...Well, if we travel one way as far as we can, we're bound to find some place we can go through to get on the other side of the wall, right? There are windows everywhere...
Mokuba nodded slowly. All right, that could work. Do you have any sense at all of which way might be closest to- ah! he blinked at a sudden approaching shadow coming around the corner up ahead. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Mana's hand and opened the nearest door, pulling her inside with him.
But it was too late.
Who's there...? the voice of a middle-aged man called out. The owner of the voice made his way toward Mokuba and Mana's door, left slightly ajar...
Inside the room, which Mana noted had turned out to be a stockpile for unused papyrus, the terrified girl looked around for an exit - or at least a place to hide. Finding none, she bit her quivering lip hard, and her thoughts came tumbling out of her lips in a not-completely-coherent rush. Oh gods, this is it... Ra save us, they're going to find us and Takhnashum will know we took his note and he'll take it back and make up some lie and tell Master Mahaado that- Mokuba... what are you doing? Too busy worrying about what was going to happen to them, she hadn't been paying attention to her companion's actions.
Mokuba had turned his tunic inside-out, hiding the golden designs embroidered into it that displayed his status; he put it back on again the wrong way around. Busily rubbing some sand and dirt from the ground into his hair and smearing it onto his face and arms, he frowned. Listen, you've got the note about Sawaratari, right? We can't let them find it, or an innocent man - and who knows how many more after him - will die! I'll distract this guy and get him to chase me. And YOU'D better run out of here as fast as you can!
Mana blinked and bit her lip. But... Mokuba, what if they catch-
They won't, he interrupted, yanking off his necklaces and thrusting it at her - along with two bracelets, a ring, and his headpiece. And see that you're not, either.
Mana nodded slowly, seeing there was no other option. ...Be careful...
The boy nodded back, lowering his voice even more as the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder. Meet me two streets down from the courthouse's main entrance when you get out. If I'm not there within ten minutes, get back to the palace alone... I'll meet up with you later. Not having more time for talk, he grabbed a handful of papyrus and ran out the door - right in front of the very surprised judge.
Who are you? ...And give me back that papyrus, he ordered.
Mokuba responded with a lopsided grin, his eyes full of innocence. I wanna a be a scribe! he cried, slurring his words together slightly like a commoner.
The judge frowned. Then buy your own papyrus, or carve on a stone. Give that back to me.
The boy laughed in response. Not if you can't catch me!
The man blinked, obviously not expecting that as a response.
Mokuba grinned and chanted in a singsong voice, Come and get me~! SCAA! With that, he spun around and ran away down the hall, waving his papyrus wildly and giggling like mad.
The judge blinked again. he cried, giving chase and yelling something about how common children didn't know their places.
Mana slipped out of the storage room a minute later, holding Mokuba's belongings tightly and glancing around nervously. Taking a deep breath and keeping here eyes and ears peeled for any signs of approaching danger, she quickly snuck down the hallway, heading the opposite direction...
**********
About four minutes later, the young magician reached the rendezvous point two blocks away. Seeing no sign of her friend, Mana settled for anxiously looking up and down the streets, carefully avoiding any passerby who looked a little too... interested... in Mokuba's belongings.
After a couple more minutes of waiting, a loud commotion drew her attention back to the courthouse. There was Mokuba, shrieking with laughter and being tailed by five out-of-breath, rather miffed judges. The boy grinned wildly as he dashed down the stares, throwing the papyrus up into the air behind him like a madman. He the ducked into the mass of people onto the streets. Weaving his way around various townsfolk, most of which were too busy with their own matters to be paying attention to a rambunctious common boy, Mokuba quickly lost himself in the crowd. The judges, now preoccupied with gathering the papyrus before someone else snatched it up or the wind blew it away, didn't see the youth meet up again with his accomplice a couple of blocks away.
I... told you... I wouldn't be caught! Mokuba triumphantly told his friend between winded gasps, turning his tunic back around.
I'm glad... Mana replied, handing him back his jewelry.
Me too! he grinned. ...You still have the note?
Mana nodded, reaching into her shoe and pulling out the scrap of papyrus. Yeah, right here.
Mokuba nodded back, adjusting his headpiece a little and starting to walk back towards the palace. Good. ...But listen, I was thinking...
she prompted, falling into step beside him.
He sighed slowly. ...If we... just go Pharaoh Anknumkanon, we'll get into trouble, I mean... we weren't REALLY supposed to be prodding around in Takhnashum's files...
Mana nodded slowly. Right... but he has to get the note about Sawaratari, still... After a moment of walking in thoughtful silence, she hesitantly ventured, We could get a courier, maybe?...
Mokuba frowned slightly. We... COULD, but that could easily be traced back to us. Pharaoh Anknumkanon rules all of Egypt; all he'd have to do is order the courier to tell him who sent him, and it'd be over... ... ...I think we're better off leaving the papyrus where he'll find it for sure - maybe on his bed, right before he turns in for sleep. What do you think, Mana? ...Mana?
The youth suddenly noticed his companion was no longer walking with him. Blinking around in worry and alarm, he quickly retraced his steps... and found her standing in the middle of the intersection they'd just walked through. Mokuba breathed a sigh of relief; his friend had not been caught - or worse.
Mokuba whispered, poking her lightly. However, she continued to stare down the adjacent street with wide, unblinking eyes.
After a moment, she finally found her voice. ... ... ...Mokuba... ... ...it's... him... ... ...
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Translations
tchamaau: papyrus
heqet: beer
Scaa: ...Okay, it's not an official word. It's a nonsense-word that young children used to scream at each other when chasing each other/being chased around... kind of like how some children these days make growling and roaring noises at each other. It's the same concept. ^_^
Oh, and on an interesting note, I didn't just make up Sawaratari's name. For those of you familiar with the Japanese version, Sawaratari is actually the name of Pegasus' bodyguard, the one with the big spike of hair... I believe his name's in the USA, but I could be wrong. ^_^
...PLEASE review...?