Author's Note:
Um... yeah I ran out of creative things to say here, heh heh. Just refer to the last chapters ::nods:: and I hope you enjoy the story so far.
Chapter 3: Revealed
"Keep Down" Aquilus spoke to Sapphire telepathically "and don't get too close."
"Okay" replied Sapphire with the same telepathic connection. "I believe he's heading towards the castle. Do you think that is where the Pegasus lives?"
"We will find out soon."
They had finally caught up to the guy they had seen earlier and had been following him for some time. It was already growing dark but he still continued on with that rigid determination and showed not a sign of weariness. They took great care to stay silent in the forest and never drew too close but also never let him out of sight.
"Do you still have those cards?" Sapphire asked.
"Indeed, I do." Answered Aquilus. "But I dare not use them until we know how."
"Yes. That would be wise." agreed Sapphire. "Look. He's stopping."
Their telepathic conversation grew silent as they watched the guy. He put down his briefcase and with one last glance to the castle on the distant hill he grasped a small locket that hung from a chain around his neck and opening it up, held it before him and for a long time looked at the picture within. At this, Sapphire felt a singe of guilt for spying and regretted ever coming up with the whole idea. Then her heart skipped a beat, for she thought they had been found. His eyes shifted straight in their direction as he closed the locket and her panther ears flattened as she cowered lower into the shadows of the trees.
"Do you think he saw us?" she asked Aquilus.
"No I don't believe so." Was his reply. "Look to the path behind us."
Sapphire did as Aquilus said and hearing the faint noise of crunching leaves she was able to distinguish through the trees behind them someone running towards the bend of the path. Sapphire soon noticed him as the person Aquilus had taken the cards from. He seemed frantic and kept glancing behind him as if chased by something and rounded the corner to almost bang right into the guy they had followed... but he was ready and expertly seized the boy, flipping him on his back.
The boy perched his hands behind him, shocked and furious as he yelled hysterically.
"Hey! You stupid jerk what was that for! You pract-" but he stopped instantly as he looked to the guy and his eyes grew wide with realization. "Kaiba?" He said in awe. "The Seto Kaiba." Scrambling to his feet he bowed apologetically then held out his hand to shake. "I'm so sorry Mr. Kaiba, it is truly such an honor to meet such a magnificent duelist as yourself."
Kaiba merely glanced to the boy's hand without the slightest movement to shake and gave a slight grunt of disgust. "and you're nothing but a nuisance" he replied coldly. "I'd suggest you get out of my way, you've already wasted enough of my time."
With a look of shock the boy uneasily lowered his hand and, without a word, obediently stepped off to the side. Seto picked up his brief case and made to walk on but stopped and turned to look as the shocked scream of a deep, male voice filled the air.
A glistening light sparked behind Sapphire and she turned to watch it grow into a swirling portal of shimmering colors. The scream came from inside the portal and out of it flew a haughty warrior just before it closed. Sapphire was able to duck as he flew over her but the sheathe of his sword at his side caught on to her wing and dragged her over as they tumbled out of the forest. The shock surged an unintentional magical energy from her horn that transformed her back into her human form just before falling into the path.
The warrior she knew as Slade, Aquilus' brother, managed to stand up from beside her and shook his head out of dizziness as he offered a hand to help her up.
"Sorry 'bout that Sapphire" he said as she took the hand and he hoisted her back up. It took a while for her to recover from the fall and realize where she was: standing before Kaiba and the other boy Aquilus had stolen the cards from. Both looked at them with absolute confusion.
"Where did you come from?" Asked Kaiba, speaking no less coldly than he had to the boy and directing it mostly to Slade.
"Well, if you'd really like to know" answered Slade frankly. "I just came from-" Sapphire knew Slade would have told them the truth, that he came through the portal from the world of Sarendia and that would have only complicated things even more. But Aquilus must have telepathically contacted him or something because he then paused to alter his story. "Well, er... I just fell from the trees. Why?"
"Dude!" commented the boy beside Kaiba. "What were you doing up in the trees?!"
"Well... er... you see..." began Slade uneasily.
"We were looking for our pet." covered Sapphire, telling them what Aquilus had telepathically told her to say and uncertain of any of it. "Our pet bird escaped..."
"Right" said Kaiba, who could have cared less and was obviously agitated by all this. "I've been pestered by too many morons today."
"Oh hey and dudes!" Said the boy running up to be face to face with Slade and Sapphire. "Well, dude and dudet. Have you seen a strange lookin' guy in a black cloak!? I think he stole my deck because he like knocked me out or something because when I woke up my deck was missing!"
"A strange looking guy in a black cloak?" asked Slade. "You mean Aquilus?"
Sapphire sighed and shaked her head. This was not good, not good at all. She could hardly believe what was happening, everything was going so wrong.
"Dude, I don't know his name." said the boy. "He just appeared, maybe I was dreaming or something because he looked really scary like something you'd dream about in a nightmare... but all I know is that when I woke up my deck was missing."
"Heh, how pathetic." It was obvious Kaiba was about ready to turn and leave but he stopped at the mention of something by the boy.
"Hey dude..." said the boy, looking rather confused at Slade and Sapphire. "Where are ya guy's dueling gloves?"
Slade and Saphire exchanged confused glances. "Dueling gloves?" they asked.
"Yeah dude! This!" exclaimed the boy holding up his hand for them to see. He wore a fingerless, maroon glove clasped at the wrist by a metal ring that held slots for small golden star gems. Three gems occupying the spaces on his glove.
Slade stared at the glove with a look of stupor. "Are we suppose to have one of those?" he asked with an idle scratch of his head, "and why do you keep calling me dude? My name is Slade."
"Dude sorry, you don't have to get all critical Slade and yes you're suppose to have one of these."
Slade merely blinked with a blank confusion until Kaiba finally explained.
"This is Duelist Kingdom." He said. "Pegasus, the creator of duel monsters, held this as a tournament where the best duelists will use the island to compete for star chips. Any who run out of star chips are disqualified and the ones who gain enough can enter the castle where the real tournament begins. Only the ones invited were able to arrive and he has a strong security to filter them." His eyes lingered on Slade's sword and unusual warrior outfit. "How is it you were able to get here without even being duelists?"
"What, dude!" exclaimed the boy. "They're not duelists?"
"Quiet, amateur!" snapped Seto, strictly waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry..." spoke up Sapphire uneasily, "we don't fully understand. What exactly is a duelist?"
"A duelist has a deck and duels in a game called Duel Monsters. It is obvious neither of know anything of it. Now answer my question."
"Well..." started Sapphire, unable to find the words to finish. Slade just kept silent, evidently too confused to dare say anything and Kaiba seemed to be growing impatient.
"That" came a dark voice from the shadows of the forest, "Is none of your concern."
Kaiba turned to face the owner of the voice and they watched as Aquilus stepped out of the darkness, obscured in his hooded black cloak. He was not ghostly like last time, but appeared more solid and his cloak was not tattered. The silver glow of his eyes had diminished but now held a different shine, the iris of his eyes were a misty grey like the cool light of a full moon, the rest of his concealed face was outlined in the shadow of his hood.
"Eveyone on this island you say is a duelist?" he stated rather than asked.
"And who are you?" asked Kaiba.
"My name is Aquilus," came the reply. "and you said this game is called duel monsters, where they summon monsters out of cards?"
Kaiba looked over Sapphire, Slade and Aquilus as if he were looking at aliens who he couldn't believe he was waisting his time talking to.
"They don't actually summon the monsters..." he said reluctantly. "The Dueling arenas create virtual monsters. Realistic holograms, not the real things."
"You mean to tell me... they're illusions?" asked Aquilus in surprise.
"Not that I'd expect anyone as ignorant as yourselves to know," replied Seto.
Sapphire could tell that Aquilus' anger was sparking by a red flare that blazed in his eyes, yet he was able to let it slide. "Then let me ask." He changed the subject. "If you're a duelist, how come you don't have a duelist glove?"
"I'm not here for the tournament." Answered Kaiba icily. "My matters are my own and before any more of my time is wasted by this nonsense, I'd suggest you stay out of my sight." and with that he turned and walked off down the road.
With a flaming glare of anger Aquilus flared out into a more ghostly appearance, the shadow phantom form, his ripped cloak swayed as he hovered above the ground and his eyes gained back their piercing silver glow. Calming a little he drifted closer to Sapphire and Slade.
"Not a very friendly fellow is he." commented Slade.
No one replied, Aquilus was too furious to speak anyway.
"He sort of acts you like you." Directed Slade to Aquilus with a quirk of humour.
Aquilus replied with no more than a glare, then faced someone who they appeared to have forgotten. The boy who Aquilus stole his cards from was staring at Aquilus with that same look of terror on his face as before.
"Y-y-you're..." said the boy stumbling a step back and pointing at Aquilus, but he never finished his sentence for the next thing they knew he was back on the ground, fainted.
Aquilus looked down at the boy, the flame in his eyes gradually diminishing. "Seeming these monsters aren't real, there's no more need for this." He said, the deck appearing in his sleeve as he let it drop in a dark light that contained the cards together until it landed beside the boy. "He'll figure it all a dream upon awakening." Then stalely he turned on them and started to drift down the road in the same direction Seto went.
"Well I'm lost" commented Slade before running to catch up to Aquilus, Sapphire following him.
"Don't be so angry Aquilus... it's not all that bad" said Sapphire almost in a plead when she noticed the frustration in Aquilus' eyes.
"Not all that bad?" asked Aquilus. "We're trapped in a world where we obviously don't belong, we know practically nothing about, with practically no course and we still have to get on the right track to find the millenium items we were searching for in the first place. On top of that, we're stuck right in the midst of an island that they've turned into a huge game."
"Sapphire has a point though" spoke up Slade. "I mean you most likely know even more of this place than what I do at least."
"We have to find a way back." Aquilus responded indifferently. "Like Seto said, this has all been a waste of time."
Um... yeah I ran out of creative things to say here, heh heh. Just refer to the last chapters ::nods:: and I hope you enjoy the story so far.
Chapter 3: Revealed
"Keep Down" Aquilus spoke to Sapphire telepathically "and don't get too close."
"Okay" replied Sapphire with the same telepathic connection. "I believe he's heading towards the castle. Do you think that is where the Pegasus lives?"
"We will find out soon."
They had finally caught up to the guy they had seen earlier and had been following him for some time. It was already growing dark but he still continued on with that rigid determination and showed not a sign of weariness. They took great care to stay silent in the forest and never drew too close but also never let him out of sight.
"Do you still have those cards?" Sapphire asked.
"Indeed, I do." Answered Aquilus. "But I dare not use them until we know how."
"Yes. That would be wise." agreed Sapphire. "Look. He's stopping."
Their telepathic conversation grew silent as they watched the guy. He put down his briefcase and with one last glance to the castle on the distant hill he grasped a small locket that hung from a chain around his neck and opening it up, held it before him and for a long time looked at the picture within. At this, Sapphire felt a singe of guilt for spying and regretted ever coming up with the whole idea. Then her heart skipped a beat, for she thought they had been found. His eyes shifted straight in their direction as he closed the locket and her panther ears flattened as she cowered lower into the shadows of the trees.
"Do you think he saw us?" she asked Aquilus.
"No I don't believe so." Was his reply. "Look to the path behind us."
Sapphire did as Aquilus said and hearing the faint noise of crunching leaves she was able to distinguish through the trees behind them someone running towards the bend of the path. Sapphire soon noticed him as the person Aquilus had taken the cards from. He seemed frantic and kept glancing behind him as if chased by something and rounded the corner to almost bang right into the guy they had followed... but he was ready and expertly seized the boy, flipping him on his back.
The boy perched his hands behind him, shocked and furious as he yelled hysterically.
"Hey! You stupid jerk what was that for! You pract-" but he stopped instantly as he looked to the guy and his eyes grew wide with realization. "Kaiba?" He said in awe. "The Seto Kaiba." Scrambling to his feet he bowed apologetically then held out his hand to shake. "I'm so sorry Mr. Kaiba, it is truly such an honor to meet such a magnificent duelist as yourself."
Kaiba merely glanced to the boy's hand without the slightest movement to shake and gave a slight grunt of disgust. "and you're nothing but a nuisance" he replied coldly. "I'd suggest you get out of my way, you've already wasted enough of my time."
With a look of shock the boy uneasily lowered his hand and, without a word, obediently stepped off to the side. Seto picked up his brief case and made to walk on but stopped and turned to look as the shocked scream of a deep, male voice filled the air.
A glistening light sparked behind Sapphire and she turned to watch it grow into a swirling portal of shimmering colors. The scream came from inside the portal and out of it flew a haughty warrior just before it closed. Sapphire was able to duck as he flew over her but the sheathe of his sword at his side caught on to her wing and dragged her over as they tumbled out of the forest. The shock surged an unintentional magical energy from her horn that transformed her back into her human form just before falling into the path.
The warrior she knew as Slade, Aquilus' brother, managed to stand up from beside her and shook his head out of dizziness as he offered a hand to help her up.
"Sorry 'bout that Sapphire" he said as she took the hand and he hoisted her back up. It took a while for her to recover from the fall and realize where she was: standing before Kaiba and the other boy Aquilus had stolen the cards from. Both looked at them with absolute confusion.
"Where did you come from?" Asked Kaiba, speaking no less coldly than he had to the boy and directing it mostly to Slade.
"Well, if you'd really like to know" answered Slade frankly. "I just came from-" Sapphire knew Slade would have told them the truth, that he came through the portal from the world of Sarendia and that would have only complicated things even more. But Aquilus must have telepathically contacted him or something because he then paused to alter his story. "Well, er... I just fell from the trees. Why?"
"Dude!" commented the boy beside Kaiba. "What were you doing up in the trees?!"
"Well... er... you see..." began Slade uneasily.
"We were looking for our pet." covered Sapphire, telling them what Aquilus had telepathically told her to say and uncertain of any of it. "Our pet bird escaped..."
"Right" said Kaiba, who could have cared less and was obviously agitated by all this. "I've been pestered by too many morons today."
"Oh hey and dudes!" Said the boy running up to be face to face with Slade and Sapphire. "Well, dude and dudet. Have you seen a strange lookin' guy in a black cloak!? I think he stole my deck because he like knocked me out or something because when I woke up my deck was missing!"
"A strange looking guy in a black cloak?" asked Slade. "You mean Aquilus?"
Sapphire sighed and shaked her head. This was not good, not good at all. She could hardly believe what was happening, everything was going so wrong.
"Dude, I don't know his name." said the boy. "He just appeared, maybe I was dreaming or something because he looked really scary like something you'd dream about in a nightmare... but all I know is that when I woke up my deck was missing."
"Heh, how pathetic." It was obvious Kaiba was about ready to turn and leave but he stopped at the mention of something by the boy.
"Hey dude..." said the boy, looking rather confused at Slade and Sapphire. "Where are ya guy's dueling gloves?"
Slade and Saphire exchanged confused glances. "Dueling gloves?" they asked.
"Yeah dude! This!" exclaimed the boy holding up his hand for them to see. He wore a fingerless, maroon glove clasped at the wrist by a metal ring that held slots for small golden star gems. Three gems occupying the spaces on his glove.
Slade stared at the glove with a look of stupor. "Are we suppose to have one of those?" he asked with an idle scratch of his head, "and why do you keep calling me dude? My name is Slade."
"Dude sorry, you don't have to get all critical Slade and yes you're suppose to have one of these."
Slade merely blinked with a blank confusion until Kaiba finally explained.
"This is Duelist Kingdom." He said. "Pegasus, the creator of duel monsters, held this as a tournament where the best duelists will use the island to compete for star chips. Any who run out of star chips are disqualified and the ones who gain enough can enter the castle where the real tournament begins. Only the ones invited were able to arrive and he has a strong security to filter them." His eyes lingered on Slade's sword and unusual warrior outfit. "How is it you were able to get here without even being duelists?"
"What, dude!" exclaimed the boy. "They're not duelists?"
"Quiet, amateur!" snapped Seto, strictly waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry..." spoke up Sapphire uneasily, "we don't fully understand. What exactly is a duelist?"
"A duelist has a deck and duels in a game called Duel Monsters. It is obvious neither of know anything of it. Now answer my question."
"Well..." started Sapphire, unable to find the words to finish. Slade just kept silent, evidently too confused to dare say anything and Kaiba seemed to be growing impatient.
"That" came a dark voice from the shadows of the forest, "Is none of your concern."
Kaiba turned to face the owner of the voice and they watched as Aquilus stepped out of the darkness, obscured in his hooded black cloak. He was not ghostly like last time, but appeared more solid and his cloak was not tattered. The silver glow of his eyes had diminished but now held a different shine, the iris of his eyes were a misty grey like the cool light of a full moon, the rest of his concealed face was outlined in the shadow of his hood.
"Eveyone on this island you say is a duelist?" he stated rather than asked.
"And who are you?" asked Kaiba.
"My name is Aquilus," came the reply. "and you said this game is called duel monsters, where they summon monsters out of cards?"
Kaiba looked over Sapphire, Slade and Aquilus as if he were looking at aliens who he couldn't believe he was waisting his time talking to.
"They don't actually summon the monsters..." he said reluctantly. "The Dueling arenas create virtual monsters. Realistic holograms, not the real things."
"You mean to tell me... they're illusions?" asked Aquilus in surprise.
"Not that I'd expect anyone as ignorant as yourselves to know," replied Seto.
Sapphire could tell that Aquilus' anger was sparking by a red flare that blazed in his eyes, yet he was able to let it slide. "Then let me ask." He changed the subject. "If you're a duelist, how come you don't have a duelist glove?"
"I'm not here for the tournament." Answered Kaiba icily. "My matters are my own and before any more of my time is wasted by this nonsense, I'd suggest you stay out of my sight." and with that he turned and walked off down the road.
With a flaming glare of anger Aquilus flared out into a more ghostly appearance, the shadow phantom form, his ripped cloak swayed as he hovered above the ground and his eyes gained back their piercing silver glow. Calming a little he drifted closer to Sapphire and Slade.
"Not a very friendly fellow is he." commented Slade.
No one replied, Aquilus was too furious to speak anyway.
"He sort of acts you like you." Directed Slade to Aquilus with a quirk of humour.
Aquilus replied with no more than a glare, then faced someone who they appeared to have forgotten. The boy who Aquilus stole his cards from was staring at Aquilus with that same look of terror on his face as before.
"Y-y-you're..." said the boy stumbling a step back and pointing at Aquilus, but he never finished his sentence for the next thing they knew he was back on the ground, fainted.
Aquilus looked down at the boy, the flame in his eyes gradually diminishing. "Seeming these monsters aren't real, there's no more need for this." He said, the deck appearing in his sleeve as he let it drop in a dark light that contained the cards together until it landed beside the boy. "He'll figure it all a dream upon awakening." Then stalely he turned on them and started to drift down the road in the same direction Seto went.
"Well I'm lost" commented Slade before running to catch up to Aquilus, Sapphire following him.
"Don't be so angry Aquilus... it's not all that bad" said Sapphire almost in a plead when she noticed the frustration in Aquilus' eyes.
"Not all that bad?" asked Aquilus. "We're trapped in a world where we obviously don't belong, we know practically nothing about, with practically no course and we still have to get on the right track to find the millenium items we were searching for in the first place. On top of that, we're stuck right in the midst of an island that they've turned into a huge game."
"Sapphire has a point though" spoke up Slade. "I mean you most likely know even more of this place than what I do at least."
"We have to find a way back." Aquilus responded indifferently. "Like Seto said, this has all been a waste of time."