Ch 7: The Fierce Fighter

Jamie and Yami traveled through the night and into the next afternoon. They were traveling through a thick forest. To keep themselves fresh, they kept trading the burden of carrying Yugi. Some times he was awake, but he was too weak to walk on his own, and definitely not sane enough to. Yami was sure they weren't out of the southern mountain territory just yet. But they were getting close.

It was nearly nightfall. They sky was an eerie blood red. Jamie was now carrying Yugi. And it was a good thing. Yami was treading cautiously. The fur on the back of his neck stood on end and he was alert. Something was out there. But he pressed forward. He had to get to the Spring of Life before time ran out, and he didn't know how long Yugi could hold on.

They were making their way, minding their own business, when a low, warning growl came out of nowhere. Yami looked around. He could see no one, not a single thing. Yami reluctantly turned back to the path when an even fiercer growl came again. Yami spun around. Something was definitely out there. He nosed around the bushes cautiously, looked for whatever made that noise. He was about to leave when he was brutally attacked by a creature out of seemingly thin air. Yami was knocked back in shock, but quickly recovered, standing and facing the attacker.

He was a brown wolf with deep blue eyes. He bore his teeth viciously at Yami. The little light that there was glinted off his razor sharp teeth as if they were made out of diamonds. His ears were flattened against his head and there was a crazed look in his eyes. The shag on the back of his neck was raised and made him looked as though he were half porcupine.

"Look man, we don't want any trouble," Yami warned.

But the wolf did not listen. Instead, he lunged himself towards Yami again, this time aiming for the neck.

"You've crossed into my territory, Kaiba's territory, and now, you must face me," the wolf snarled.

"I don't want to fight," Yami stated. "We are just passing through."

"Fight if you want to go past, but keep in mind that if you don't win, you don't pass, you die," Kaiba growled.

"Yami, I don't think you have much of a choice," Jamie whispered. "You can take him."

Yami nodded.

"Fine, if you insist, I shall fight you," Yami stepped up.

But Kaiba's posture did not change. He keep himself close to the ground, his muscles tensed and ready to jump. His ears remained flattened against his neck and his teeth stayed bored. Yami made the first strike towards Kaiba, who skillfully dodged. Kaiba lunged himself at Yami's back and Yami felt Kaiba's sharp teeth sink into his back. Yami let out a howl of pain and tried to throw Kaiba off.

The fight raged on. Neither of them wanted to give into the other. They took blow after blow after blow in their attempts to defeat the other. But neither succeeded. And just when the other thought one had lost all his energy, they would get their second wind and start at it again.

They bit and ripped and tore at each other until both stood in the clearing, panting for breath.

Yami was bleeding in many places and had sustained many more cuts and bites than Kaiba. Kaiba, however, had sustained many more blows that did not create an open wound. He had many more internal wounds.

"Do you give up yet?" Kaiba growled.

"Do you?" Yami asked back.

Kaiba growled a little in his throat, and the started forward as though he were going to attack again. But his attack was never carried though because in the middle of carrying out the attack, his stopped and blacked out. Falling to the ground with a thud, Kaiba fell into the darkness of the unconscious mind, meaning he lost the match.

Yami himself staggered a little bit and sat to regain his bearings and stop the spinning in his head.

"You did it Yami!" Jamie cried happily, going over to Yami's side and licking his face affectionately.

"Let's go," Yami stated, standing up.

"What? Do you mean we're just going to leave Kaiba like that? He could die," Jamie said suddenly.

"What else do you purpose we do?" Yami snapped back. "We can't take him with us, he'll just slow us down, and we can't stay here until he's better, Yugi'll run out of time for sure. We have to keep moving towards our goal."

"Yami, you need a chance to rest, let's sleep here for tonight and at least keep an eye on Kaiba for tonight," Jamie suggested.

"Fine," Yami grumbled.

Picking a spot by a tree at the edge of the clearing, Yami laid down and curled up in a tight ball. Soon, he was fast asleep dreaming of things unknown.

Jamie set Yugi on the ground, who was, unbenouced to her, on the verge of waking again. Then, she went to inspect the damage Yami had done to Kaiba.

Kaiba had a few cuts here, some bite marks there, but nothing serious like what Yami had undergone. In fact, most of Kaiba's open wounds had already stopped bleeding and were close to being healed. But Jamie suspected that most of his serious injuries were internal. She could tell he had broken some ribs, at the very least. She couldn't determine anything else until he woke.

"W-where am I?" Yugi sputtered, sitting up abruptly.

"Hey Yugi," Jamie greeted, turning around to him.

However, Yugi backed up, acting in the scared manner he had since this had started.

"Yugi, it's me, Jamie, I'm your friend," Jamie said slowly.

"How can I tell?" Yugi asked cautiously.

"I'm just like you, I can use magic," Jamie coaxed.

"But how do I know you won't hurt me with it?" Yugi asked.

"I'm about to help Kaiba using it," Jamie stated plainly.

"Who's he?" Yugi inquired.

"This stranger," Jamie motioned towards Kaiba.

Yugi came over in curiosity as Jamie put her paws on Kaiba's rib cage.

Shadu: What's Jamie about to perform? Guesses? Anyone, anyone?

Hokage: I know.

Ish: DUH!

Shadu: Be nice you two. And to the readers, be nice and review.