Fieren: Jeez. I have received no reviews. It's sort of disheartening actually. Oh well, I shall continue to write! It's actually difficult to tell if people have even been reading it. Oh well, I needed to get that out. If anyone is even reading, thanks for listening ^.^.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh! Though I wish I did T.T This is a work of fiction,

Chapter 4: Dark Jackals

Yuugi tossed and turned in his sleep. Ever since Yuuhi stepped back into his life, he'd been plagued with nightmares, and he couldn't seem to shake the feeling of déjà vu. Sweat began to pour from his hairline, making his forehead glisten in the moonlight shining in from the window. His amethyst eyes snapped open and he shot up into a sitting position. Heavy breathing and quickened pulse rate gave away feelings of fright.

//Nightmares again?// Yami asked from his sitting position on Yuugi's desk chair.

"Yeah." Yuugi murmured to himself, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his pyjama sleeve. He knew Yami would hear him, no matter how low he spoke.

//The key to dealing with them is to tell yourself it's all nothing but a dream.// Yami said reassuringly.

Yuugi stood up and slipped his feet into his bunny slippers. "You have nightmares too, right?" Yuugi asked the spirit.

//I do, however… With all I've seen from my past, even though I don't remember it, something tells me to not fear them.// Yami replied quietly.

"It's too bad we lost the God Cards. I can't believe I let them be stolen from me…" Yuugi said mournfully.

//There was nothing to be done about it… We'll just have to find them again.// Yami said.

"Malik's organization has been looking into it, I received a letter from him about it yesterday, but the only thing about the thieves he's been able to dig up was their name." Yuugi said.

//The Dark Jackals.// Yami finished Yuugi's sentence.

Yuugi nodded as he opened his bedroom door and attempted to quietly make his way to the kitchen for a glass of water. He cringed as he stepped on the one floorboard that creaked. He mentally cursed himself as he continued on his way. As Yuugi entered the small, tidy kitchen, he flicked the light switch into the on position, and then adjusted the brightness with the dimmer switch. Having done that, and giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the change, he made his way to the cupboard, where the glasses were kept. Taking a small one, with some writing on it, he made his way to the tap and adjusted the faucet until cold water poured from it. As soon as the glass was as full as he'd wanted it, he turned off the taps, and heartily drank the water, allowing it's cold goodness soothe him. Yuugi always came to the kitchen after a nightmare to fetch a glass of water.

After downing the contents of the glass, Yuugi glanced at the microwave for the time, and found that it was 1:00 am. With a sigh, he put his glass into the sink, and made his way back to his room, making sure to steer clear from the creaky floorboard. As he re-entered his room, he shot a quick glance to his computer screen, and found that he'd received a new e-mail message. He went to his desk and sat, Yami had moved from the chair to make way for him. With a movement of the mouse, and a few clicks of the keyboard, Yuugi had accessed his mail. Surprisingly, it was from Malik. Yuugi clicked the link to open the page, and began to read the message:

Pharaoh,

I have managed to get a hold of a computer as you can clearly see. I will also be moving to Domino soon with Isis and Rishid. That is not why I am sending you this message, however. I am sending this to extend a warning. Before Isis gave you her Millennium Item, she had received one last vision. She saw an impending danger for you, but since it seemed to be unimportant at the time, thanks to Marik, she neglected to tell you. She has brought this vision to my attention now: A danger from the past will return to haunt you, and through a familiar presense, it shall act to hurt you. I've no idea what this could possibly mean, as most of the vision has blurred over the course o f the year, secondly, Isis received this vision after her loss to Kaiba, when she thought that the Necklace was lying to her, or showing incomplete futures. There is no real telling what it could possibly mean then. I am sorry that this warning was so vague, and the most I can do is offer support when I return to Domino.

There is another reason I sent this message. My Ghouls have closed in on the thieving Dark Jackals. Last sighted, they were in China, and moving steadily east. I can only assume at this point that they are returning to Domino to attempt to take from you your vessel to this world: The Millennium Puzzle. They are most likely going to be armed with the Egyptian God's as well. Exercise extreme caution, my Pharaoh. The Dark Jackals are far more dangerous then they appear to be, and I fear they may be in possession of a Millennium Item, though I cannot even begin to guess which one. You are in possession of three, Bakura possesses two, and that mysterious individual, Shadi, is supposed to have the other two. The most I can assume, is Bakura is linked to the Dark Jackals, or they have stolen Shadi's, unless you have lost one or two of yours.

Once again, I apologize for not being as helpful as a servant of the Pharaoh should be. I hope in your forgiving nature that you forgive me.

Your Servant,

Malik Ishtar.

Yuugi saved the e-mail away, and turned to Yami. The Pharaoh seemed deeply concerned, and deep in thought. Yuugi decided not to disturb him, as he made his way back to his bed and after kicking off his slippers, climbed into bed, where he slept for the rest of the night, in undisturbed peace.

****

At a desk, in a poorly lit room, sat a tanned man, in possibly his early twenties, with platinum blonde hair and deep violet, almost blue, eyes. With a pained sigh, he turned off the computer and ran a hand through his hair.

"I hope the Pharaoh received this." he said, not knowing if he had typed in the right address.

From the door in the back of the room, came a slight knock. The blond turned and looked, as it eased open.

"Master Malik, you should sleep." Came a deep voice from beyond the door. He poked his head in the door. The man was more tanned then Malik, and had his hair almost entirely shaved off. On his face, were scars from a ritual that he had performed some few years ago.

"I know Rishid, we're moving tomorrow. I'll get some sleep." Malik replied in a near aggravated tone. Malik had appreciated Rishid's gesture, but deemed it unnecessary, as he was about to sleep anyway. "You know, you don't have to call me Master anymore." Malik chided.

"Old habits die hard, brother." Rishid said with a smile. His entire life had led up to the moment when he would officially become an Ishtar. "Isis was just wondering what you were up to as well."

"Exactly what she asked of me, I just finished sending a message to the Pharaoh." Malik said as he stood from the chair and stretched, his black shirt lifted slightly as he did so. "I'm off to bed." Malik said tiredly.

Malik eased past Rishid and made his way down the hall to his room, which was sparsely decorated. All there was really was a mattress, and some pillows and blankets. His suitcase was also laying, opened on the ground away from the door. Clothes, dirty and clean were scattered everywhere. Malik didn't mind the mess though, he would clean it in the morning. As he slipped under the blankets, he soon drifted off into a deep sleep.

Out in the den, seated on the sofa sat a woman dressed all in white. Her dress opened in the front slightly, revealing tanned legs. She was reading a rather large book, her pale, blue eyes scanning the pages. She had black hair, pulled back away from her face, and it's length spilled out down her back. She looked up only briefly when her brother entered his room. Normally she wouldn't have noticed, but the floor creaked slightly. These were not the best living arrangements, but since they were only temporary, she, Malik and Rishid would put up with it. She turned back to her book before she was disturbed again, this time by Rishid.

"He sent the message, Isis." Rishid said, seating himself on a chair across the room.

"Good." Isis said, she was preoccupied with her book, otherwise she would have said more on the subject.

Rishid, realizing the conversation wasn't going anywhere, stood and left for his room, which was actually a storage closet. He didn't mind though, all he did was sleep in it anyway, and Rishid would sleep on just about anything, if it would give more comfort to his "siblings". He laid down on his sheets, and also soon fell into a sleep.

Out in the den, Isis had fallen asleep with her book as well. The Ishtar home was in silence, save only for the light snoring coming from Malik's room.

****

It was early morning, and Yuugi and Yuuhi had just arrived at school. They walked in through the front door, and Yuuhi angled off towards the office, presumably to pick up his uniform. Yuugi, on the other hand decided to go to the roof, where his friends always met him in the mornings. As he trekked up the roof-access stairs, he saw various groups talking and exchanging notes. As he opened the door to the roof, he looked out to see Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda and Ryou.

"Good morning, Yuugi." Ryou said cheerfully.

"Yeah, right." Yuugi snorted. "I got no sleep last night. Weird dreams kept me awake." Yuugi yawned.

As he finished, Jounouchi piped up. "The teacher's pissed at me. He found out I'd skipped out on my detention from yesterday."

"You should've gone. I appreciated having you all come see me, but you should have gone and served your time." Ryou chided meaningfully.

"Clearly you've never had detention before." Jounouchi said as he stretched.

"No, I haven't. That's what you get for being a good student." Ryou said as he folded his arms across his chest. "By the way, how come you didn't come to see me yesterday, Anzu?" Ryou asked.

"I was with Yuuhi." Anzu replied, slightly evasively.

"What did Kaiba want, anyway?" Yuugi asked.

"You can probably guess he was angry." Anzu said.

"Thanks Captain Obvious." Jounouchi snorted.

"Let me finish. He basically wanted to settle accounts with a duel." Anzu finished.

"It seemed like Yuuhi wanted to put some boot to ass for his brother though." Jounouchi finished.

"Yuuhi was surprised that Kaiba didn't want to fight him. So, they dueled." Anzu said. "There's really nothing more to say about it then that." She shook her head from side to side, her hair swaying along with it.

"They dueled, eh?" Honda asked. "Who won?"

Anzu was about to tell them of Yuuhi's victory, when the conversation they had flooded back to her.

~~~~~~

"…Can we keep this between us, Anzu?" Yuuhi asked, using her name for the first time. Her cheeks flushed slightly. "As far as I'm concerned Kaiba can tell everybody he won this match. It doesn't matter to me really."

"A secret then?" Anzu asked, confused.

"Yeah. A secret. Can you keep it?" Yuuhi asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

~~~~~~

"Because of a test they were performing on the new Duel Disk models, I wasn't allowed to watch." Anzu supplied, somewhat hastily. "I was kind of irked about it myself, and when I asked Yuuhi about it when he left, he wouldn't tell me."

"I hope that doesn't mean he lost. I was looking forward to having someone putting Money Bags in his place. I'd have gladly done it myself, but, I had detention." Jounouchi said.

"Jou, you skipped your detention and went to visit Ryou." Yuugi said, slapping a hand to his forehead.

Jounouchi just chuckled, and stood up, dusting the dirt off of the part of his pants he'd been seated on. He opened the door that led down onto the stairwell, and the door closed behind him. The group of four looked down in confusion, as their normally loudmouthed friend left them without a word.

As he descended the stairs, Jounouchi thought about what could have happened between Yuuhi and Kaiba, he knew so little. He'd only just met Yuuhi two days ago, and he already regarded him as almost as close a friend as Yuugi or Honda. That nagging feeling that something interesting had happened kept gnawing at him. Something interesting, that he didn't get the chance to see. He clenched his fists in his pockets as he thought about what he'd say to his new friend. He didn't have much time to think, before Yuuhi appeared on the landing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning, Jounouchi." Yuuhi said with a friendly smile.

"Yuuhi, we gotta talk." Jounouchi said as he led Yuuhi away by his arm.

They made their way down the halls, and soon came to a deserted hall, with many unused lockers.

"What's up?" Yuuhi asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Why did you stand up for me?" Jounouchi asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Yuuhi asked.

"Kaiba was directing his smug arrogance at me, not you, but you diverted his attention, and got him away from me. I was looking forward to him picking a fight, I wanted a chance to show him I wasn't as lame as he thinks I am." Jounouchi gritted his teeth.

"What're you saying?" Yuuhi asked.

"What I'm saying is, next time: Stay out of it. Kaiba is my problem."

After a moments consideration, Yuuhi nodded. "Okay Jounouchi, you have my word."

"Cool." Jounouchi grinned. "How did the duel with him go anyway?"

"It went all right."

"You didn't lose did you?"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't."

"GIMME A STRAIGHT ANSWER!" Jounouchi raged.

"I won." Yuuhi said simply. "Because you're my friend, Jounouchi, I trust you with that secret. I don't want others knowing, because I hate being in the spotlight, okay? Can I have your word that this'll stay between you, Anzu, and me?" Jounouchi nodded his reply. "Good." Yuuhi smiled. "By the way, I came up for this way for you to sleep in class without snoring, or closing your eyes, it goes like this…"

****

Meanwhile, in the harbor, a magnificent yacht pulled in to the docks. On it were many odd symbols, but the most prominent, was the Jackal emblazoned on both sides of the vessel. On the decks, several men and women in robes were gathered. They stood in silence as a tall dark-haired man with a jackal tattooed on his face stood before them.

"The Master wishes for us to seize the Pharaoh's friends. All research indicates that most of his courage stems from his friends, remove them, and we have ourselves a weak child, scared and alone. Have I made myself clear?" The dark-haired man said.

Each robed-person placed their right hand atop their hearts and took a knee. "Sir!" They said in unison.

"Go forth into the town of Domino and make the Master proud! Your first target: Jounouchi Katsuya!"

End of Chapter 4

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