Disclaimer: Don't own anything of Yu-Gi-Oh except my ability to draw the characters. .

(Though, I suppose if Kazuki got a court order telling me I could never draw his characters again, I suppose I'd have to obey.)

This Yu-Gi-Oh story is based on an old poem that gave me an eerie idea. The poem is below and the story starts after it.

Beware the Erlking!!

Who rides so late through the grisly night?

'Tis a father and child, and he grasps him tight;

He wraps him close in his mantle's fold,

And shelters the boy from the piercing cold.

"My Son, why thus to my arm dost cling?"

"Father, dost thou not see the erlie-king?

The king with his crown and his long black train!"

"My son, 'tis a streak of the misty rain!"

"Come hither, thou darling! Come, go with me!

Fine games know I that I'll play with thee;

Flowers many and bright do my kingdoms hold,

My mother has a robe of gold."

"Oh Father, dear Father! And dost thou not hear

What the erlie-king whispers so low in mine ear?"

"Calm, calm thee, my boy, it is only the breeze,

As it rustles the withered leaves under the trees!"

"Wilt thou go, bonny boy, wilt thou go with me?

My daughters shall wait on thee daintily;

My daughters around thee in dance shall sweep,

And rock thee and kiss thee and sing thee to sleep!"

"O Father, dear Father! And dost thou not mark

The erlie-king's daughters move by in the dark?"

"I see it, my child; but it is not they,

'Tis the old willow nodding its head so gray."

"I love thee! Thy beauty it charms me so;

And I'll take thee by force, if thou wilt not go!"

"Oh Father! Dear Father, he's grasping me—

My heart is as cold as cold can be!"

The father rides swiftly—with terror he gasps—

The sobbing child in his arms he clasps;

He reaches the castle with spurring and dread;

But alack! In his arms the child lay dead!

———Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

That's the eerie poem; now comes the story. I hope ol' Johann won't mind me improvising on his work.

Enjoy!

Quick now and sound the drums, for something Evil this way comes!

Yu-Gi-Oh!

The Desire of the Erlking

Chapter: 1

A Chilling Claim

Yugi shivered; the Autumn was colder than usual. The leaves of the barren trees surrounding him were now upon the ground, and had created a crunching carpet beneath his feet.

He rubbed his arms vigorously, chilled despite his warm coat. "Now, what are we looking for again?" he asked.

"Yes," said Yami, turning to Duke Devlin, "You never did make that entirely clear."

Yami and Yugi looked at the boy with jagged black hair; Duke's lips curved into a slight smile. "We're looking for something I stashed OK. Now the tree I hid it in is very recognizable, it's big and black."

Yugi and Yami stopped. "A black tree??"

"Yeah," Duke said, jerking his head down in a nod, "Like it got burned or something. Anyway, come on!" He turned, eyes darting back and forth in an attempt to spot the landmark.

The "twins" looked at each other, then noted the dimness of the horizon. "Uh Duke, as much as we'd like to help and all, it's getting late. The sun's going down and we gotta get back to the Game Shop before my Grampa starts worrying."

"Ahh, just a little bit longer, please." Duke pleaded, "I'll make it worth your while! Just help me, okay?"

Yami looked at Yugi, and Yugi sighed. "Oohh fine! But if the sky turns navy before we find your thing, we're leaving anyway."

"That's fine!" Duke smiled, "Now help me find the black tree!"

So off went the three again.

'I wonder what Duke stashed that's so important.' Yugi thought to himself.

The sun was only a sliver on the horizon and the whole sky went golden. Back and forth Yami, Yugi and Duke ran.

'This is useless,' thought Yami, 'When the sun sets we won't be able to see anything anyway, let alone a black tree!'

Duke kicked a large dead branch out of his path. 'It's around here somewhere!' he called in his mind.

"Are you sure this is the right forest?" Yugi called across the way.

"Positive!" Duke replied.

Yugi sighed, and was then aware that he could see his breath. 'Oh great! The temperature's dropping! But then what did I expect?' Yugi turned and as he did, saw something black out of the corner of his eye.

He turned to face it, ready to call out that he'd found it, but — there was nothing remotely black in the vicinity. Yugi frowned. 'That's odd. Oh well,' he shrugged, 'It is getting dim.' and ran on.

Soon, he found he was upon the crest of a hill that then went slopping down; the trees continued on in that direction, and so did Yugi.

Quite soon, he came to a small creek, with its edges iced and the water, frigid. As he looked down at the dark water, his breath came as a whitish whiff again.

"Ah, come here, you darling! Come, go with me! Fine games know I that I'll play with you. You shall see!"

Yugi stopped, slowing raising his head; when he spoke, he sounded a bit breathless. "What?" He looked up and thought he saw some movement amongst a thicker clump of trees ahead. "Who's there?!" he demanded.

But there came no answer, and no movement.

'I gotta get out'a here!' Yugi thought to himself, 'It's late anyway.' He looked at the sky and turned, starting back the way he'd come.

"Flowers many and bright do my kingdoms hold. And my mother does have a robe of gold." The voice came again to Yugi, like a whisper of wind in his ears, and he stumbled in his stride. He stopped momentarily, and looked behind him.

The scene was still, and chilled.

"Will you go, bonny boy, will you go with me? My daughters shall wait on you daintily!"

Yugi's eyes widened; the voice was unlike any he'd ever heard. And that included Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood. It was a soothing voice, and yet at the same time spooky. A sound that was like that of something deep and old, and yet energetic as the season of spring.

"My daughters around you in dance shall sweep, and rock you and kiss you and sing you to sleep!"

"Who are you?" Yugi croaked, and didn't know why, for his voice had been working fine several minutes earlier.

"The Erlking am I, and the time is nigh."

Yugi began to back away again, slowly; he couldn't explain it, but it felt as though the frost that was gathering on the trees around him, was also starting to gather – around his heart.

"I love you! Your beauty it charms me so, and I'll take you by force, if you will not go!"

Yugi felt his heart skip a beat; he turned and fled. "Yami! Duke! Yami!! Duke!!"

Out of nowhere Pharaoh Yami was pricked to the core, and he spun 'round, baring the whites of his eyes. "Yugi––"

"What is it?" Duke asked, now cradling a small mahogany case in his arms. Without bothering to respond, Yami tore off in the direction he was facing.

"Yo! What's up?!" Duke cried, trying to give chase. Yami ran with his head and with his heart, far faster than Duke could to catch up.

Yami could sense his Light was in dire peril, and it made his own heart cold; the sense had come so suddenly, Yami didn't understand it.

"YAMI!" came Yugi's voice, sharp and clear in the frigid air. "YAMI!" he shrieked again, in such a manner as to make the Pharaoh think his young friend was being tormented by all things evil in this world.

"YUGI!!" he sounded, his foot then colliding with an unseen tree-root. Yami's leg twisted, as he sailed forward, plowing right into the mess of earth and leaves before him.

Yami gasped in pain, but immediately forced himself up to his knees. And then he went rigid, for there ahead of him, stood Yugi, back facing toward him.

"Yugi!!" Yami cried, and there saw his counterpart's body fall, with a thud, to the earth; like a puppet whose strings were cut.

"NO!" Yami bellowed, crawling forward with a sudden frenzy; Duke had nearly caught up to him.

"What happened?!" he called.

Yami sat upon the cold ground and took Yugi in his arms; Duke ran up, noticing that, for some reason or other, Yugi didn't have his jacket on.

Yami looked up. " . . . He's – dead . . ."

Duke went stark. "WHAT?!"

King Yami looked down and hugged his heart-brother to him; he began rocking back and forth, tears sliding down his chilled cheeks.

"Dude, why're you doing that?! You don't know if he's dead or not! Now come on! We gotta get him to the hospital!!" shrilled Duke.

Yami seriously doubted he was wrong, but he hated to give up so quickly.

Duke grabbed Yami to his feet, and they ran from the forest, the last of the sunlight ebbing from the sky.

The doctor sighed heavily, and looked down at Yugi's body. "I am sorry, but, he is dead. There's nothing we can do."

Yami felt like he would go mad; the pain was such that it felt as though the doctor had just shoved a knife into his gut.

"It can't be . . ." he uttered, eyes glassed. Duke Devlin stood beside the Pharaoh, equally breathless.

Yami's knees began to quiver, and his shoulders, shake. He began looking from side to side; he felt faint, overwhelmingly so. His hand suddenly slipped from gripping the metal rail along Yugi's bed – and he collapsed to the floor, limp and unmoving.

"Oh cripes!" screamed Duke, "Not him too!!"

The doctor quickly ran around, and knelt, reaching his hand to check Yami's vitals. The physician breathed outward. "He's alive, he just passed out."

All at once, Yami's hand balled itself into a tight fist; his brow clenched until it was furrowed with deep lines, and his eyes open.

He looked around a moment, before adopting a very pained look. "Oh Anubis!" he gasped, throwing his hands over his face, "It wasn't a dream."

Duke tried to swallowed the lump in his throat, unsure of what to say at a time like this.

The doctor stood. "I'll leave you." he said gravely, and then stopped. "Wha–?"

Yami threw his hands from his face and let them slap down against the cold, shiny floor.

"Wha —where? Where did he go??" the doctor puffed.

"Huh??" Duke glanced up at the physician as the man began to look wildly about the room. Devlin stood and then saw what the doctor was going on about. "What the–?!"

Yami saw their startled expressions and quickly got to his feet. He looked at the bed, and his jaw fell; the pulse in his veins was pounding with a sudden intensity — Yugi's body was gone.