Ch. 3: The Terror

Yugi gulped. There stood Yami, and he wasn't happy at all.

"H-h-h-hi, Yami," Yugi stammered, backing away.

Yami said nothing and just let Yugi back into the hollow trunk of a tree, and then advanced forward. Yugi squirmed. He tried to get out, but to no avail. He was trapped. Trapped between the tree, and his angry brother. Yugi flattened his ears back to his head in fear. But Yami did not stop coming. He wore a look of anger on his face. Just when Yugi thought he was going to squish him against the back of the trunk, Yami stopped. He just stood there for a second, looking at his cowering younger brother and then, he spoke.

"WHAT do you think you were doing?!?!?" he asked, enraged.

"I, uh, was, uh," Yugi sputtered.

"You deliberately disobeyed me!" Yami shouted.

"I'm sorry," Yugi cried.

"I told you not to talk to that wolf, ever! And what did you do?!" Yami went on relentlessly.

"Big brother, please," Yugi whimpered.

"Yugi, I've had enough of your disobedience! You WILL be punished this time!" Yami yelled as he raised his paw and struck Yugi across the face.

Yugi cried out in pain as the claws dug into his skin. The sting was almost too much for him. He could feel the blood dripping down his face from his wound.

"Promise me that you'll never talk to her again!" Yami demanded.

"Yami, I-"Yugi started.

"PROMISE ME!" Yami growled again.

And when Yugi didn't respond, he raised his paw to strike Yugi again, but a body rushed underneath him and now stood protectively in front of Yugi.

"It's not his fault, I talked to him first," a harsh voice answered.

Yugi looked up. It was Jamie. She stood protectively over Yugi. She was protecting him from his protector. His big brother had always been there to protect him from the world. But now, he needed protection from him.

"Yugi, is this true?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded weakly. Yami gave Jamie a last warning look and left. When she was sure Yami was gone, she turned her attention to Yugi, who now lay limply on the ground with his back against the trunk.

"Yugi, you okay?" Jamie asked, sitting down in front of him.

"Y-yeah, just a little stunned," he replied looking up at her.

Jaime noticed the wound on Yugi's face. Four claw marks, and they were deep; Yami had sharp claws. The cluster started just above the eye and extended to about mid-way on the neck. If that went untreated, it would get infected and then he wouldn't be able to go on the hunt. She leaned her head down and began to lick the wound in an attempt to clean it. Yugi, still in shock, didn't resist, and let her continue to clean the wound.

"I'm afraid," Yugi whispered. "He's never attacked me before."

"Shhhh, Yugi, hush, just calm down," Jamie told him soothingly.

But Yugi couldn't. His heart seemed to refuse to slow down. He was terrified. However, Yami wasn't afraid; he didn't even think twice about Yugi.

"How could he have done that," he growled as he stalked along.

"Hey, Yami!" another wolf cried, coming over to Yami.

"Not now," Yami growled menacingly.

The other backed off.

"Dude! Grandpa's back!" Hawkeye, the lookout of the pack, called out.

Yami sighed. Maybe Solomon, or Grandpa, as everyone called him, would know what to do.

Grandpa was a wanderer. He could almost be considered a lone wolf except for the fact that he had his ties with this pack. It was his family now.

Yami pressed his way to Grandpa.

"Ah, Yami good to see you," Grandpa greeted.

"Can we talk, a lone?" Yami asked in a low key.

"Why certainly," Grandpa nodded.

Grandpa promised he would tell stories of his travels once he got back and followed Yami to a secluded area where the two sat down to converse.

"So, what is it you need to talk about?" Grandpa asked.

"Yugi," Yami stated.

"Oh really, is he sick?" Grandpa asked, sounding very concerned.

"No, it's just, today, I told him that he should never talk to Jamie, you know her," he paused, and Grandpa nodded in acknowledgment. "And yet, I caught him talking with her today."

"And what's so wrong with that?" Grandpa wondered.

"She's from the eastern mountains," Yami told him as if it were as plain as night and day.

"So?" Grandpa pressed.

"So, she could be dangerous," Yami bluntly put.

"No, she's not, that pack is not," Grandpa explained. "I've been to the eastern mountains. The wolves there are very nice and kind. They wouldn't hurt anyone unless the were defending themselves."

"But don't they have magic powers?" Yami pressed.

"Yes, but they don't use them for harm," Grandpa calmly stated.

"She might, she's not from here, we don't know how she'll act," Yami growled.

"It's about time I told you this," Grandpa sighed. "You and Yugi are not from this pack either. I found you both after the great fire. I was hunting when the fire broke out. I raced across the river to safety and found you two. You told me that your parents had gone to hunt on the other side, the side of the fire. That's when I took you in. Not long after, we found this pack. It was so long ago, I'm not surprised you don't remember, but the truth of the matter is, you're not from here either."

Yami was stunned.

"Listen Yami, she's not bad at all," Grandpa whispered in his ear. "I saw her taking care of Yugi when I walked in. By the way, what happened to him?"

"I, I hurt him because he went against my wishes, anger got the best of me," Yami hung his head.

"Hmmm, well, I'll say this, if she really was heartless and all those other things you've either said or implied, why would she be doing that?" Grandpa questioned. "I would let this take its course and let Yugi see her, talk to her, hunt with her, if he so desires," Grandpa paused and then got up. "Something to think about."

He walked off.

WE'RE OUTSIDERS TOO? Yami thought to himself, stunned. SO, IF WE'RE OUTSIDERS, THEN THAT MAKES US JUST THE SAME AS JAMIE. AND THAT MEANS, I HARMED YUGI FOR NO REASON.

Yami got up and quickly went off to find Yugi. He found him, still in the tree trunk with Jamie. He was sitting up now, and seemed to be happy just sitting with Jamie. The two were talking happily until he walked up. Then, Yugi shied away as Jamie stepped over him in a gesture to protect him.

Yugi looked up at Yami with an expression towards him that Yami thought he would never see; it was a look of terror and fear. Yugi feared him. He was scared of him.

WHAT HAVE I DONE? thought Yami.

Shadu: Getting interesting yet?

Hokage & Ish: YES!

Shadu: Okay, if you want more, review.

Hokage: It's really good.

Ish: CONTINUE!

Shadu: I meant the readers, not you two.

Hokage & Ish: Oh.

Shadu: --;