The Thief
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own. Don't sue, please.
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Kura woke in the morning in one of the inn's rooms upstairs…on the floor. Well, rug anyway. It was better than a moldy wooden board in a damp prison cell. And his blanket was clean and didn't smell like rat droppings.
Kura realized with a start that Odion must have carried him up here from the table. Kura groaned and lay an arm over his eyes. He could only imagine the pathetic figure he had made, being carried like a sleeping baby.
Kura pushed his hair out of his eyes, pausing to examine the long stands. The previous night's wash had gotten rid of most of the dirt, but the color was still dingier than it was before he got into jail.
And it was tangled and knotted to absurdity. Kura had always liked wearing his hair long, but this looked ridicules. He idly thought of asking to barrow Odion's knife and cut off a few inches, but he changed his mind. Odion would never give Kura his knife and could probably sheer Kura's hair short. And he didn't want that.
"You're up."
Kura looked up, startled. He hadn't realized that Odion had come in the room. Then he scowled. "What do you want?" Kura asked.
"The Magus says you need to wash again."
~~~~~~~~
Kaiba, Ryou, and Malik looked up from the breakfast table in surprise when they heard a yowl of protest and the sound of breaking pottery. Ryou looked at Kaiba for an explanation.
"Odion is just making sure the thief washes this morning," Kaiba said smoothly. He was sure that the thief would not want to wash again so soon, but he had seen the grime still in his hair and between the folds of his skin.
"Gods damn you! I can wash myself!"
Ryou flinched and looked up the stairs. "Are you sure Odion will be okay?" he asked.
Malik rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a baby, Ryou," he said. "Odion can take care of himself."
"I know that," Ryou replied softly.
A suddenly heavy clump of feet coming down the stairs made them all look up. The heavy cursing that followed the angry steps affirmed that it was Kura.
Kura stomped down the stairs, trying to shake Odion's firm hand off this shoulder. His scalp felt raw from all the scrubbing Odion had put him through and the waistband of his trousers was wet. He shook his head furiously, sending water droplets all over the others seated at the table. He felt like a half drown cat, still coughing up water from when Odion had pushed his head under. Then he felt the eyes.
Kura looked up and saw everyone starring at him. Useless the Younger, no, Ryou, his mouth was hanging open like a gaping, breathless fish.
"What's the matter with you all?" Kura snarled.
"Dear sweet mother of Ra," Malik said at last, breaking the silence. "Ryou, he looks just like you. Well, minus the demon horn thing he's got going on. Holy cowness, I had no idea."
"The 'horns' as you so nicely put, are natural," Kura said, combing his fingers through his hair and getting them stuck on tangles. "And yeah," Kura agree sarcastically, plopping down in an empty spot at the table, "It's amazing what a little dirt will do to white hair, isn't it, Ryou." Then he scowled. "Now shut your mouth before you start catching flies."
Ryou's mouth snapped shut, a bright blush coloring his cheeks, and nodded.
"Now," Kura said, folding his hands on top of the table. "I'm hungry."
To the delight of Kura's stomach, the oatmeal, though a little gloppy, had lots butter and honey on top. Kura ate two bowls of it without taking a breath. He heard Kaiba mutter something under his breath about a 'bottomless pit,' but Kura ignored him.
There was a bowl of yogurt near Kura'a arm, and though he wasn't sure if it was meant for him, he ate that as well. Ryou had a smaller bowl and when Kura was sure that Kaiba was distracted, he slipped Ryou's bowl right out from under his spoon and replaced it with his own empty bowl.
Ryou looked startled and Malik stifled a snicker, but neither of them said anything to Kaiba and Kura finished it before reaching for the bowl in the center of the table that held oranges.
"Haven't you had enough?" Kaiba asked Kura with a scowl.
Kura smiled disturbingly sweetly and tucked two into his pocket and peeled the other and was eating it when the owner's wife came over to the table.
"Now then," she said, drying her hands on her apron. "Will you be needing anything…" She dropped off mid sentence and looked at Kura.
Kura smirked and flipped a lock of his hair over his shoulder. "Yes, I know. I clean up nice, don't I?"
The woman's face broke out into a smile and she chuckled. "For a second there, I thought I was seeing double," she said, nodding over to Ryou. "Where in heaven's name did you get so dirty?" she asked Kura.
"Prison," Kura said with a shrug.
"Ah," she said, understanding. "People go to prison all the time now-a-days. I expect you're glad to be out."
"Hell yea."
The woman laughed and shook her head. "You're an odd one, that's for sure." Then she turned back to Kaiba, who looked like he had just eaten a lemon. "Will you be needing anything else, sir?" she asked him.
But Kaiba shook his head stiffly. "No," he said, "We'll be stopping in Evisa for lunch."
"But thank you," Ryou added for his master.
The woman smiled at him and pat him on the head on her way out.
"Awwww," Malik teased as they all made their way outside to the horses. "She thinks Rwyou's a wittle Kwtty Cwat."
"Shut up," Ryou said, blushing brightly. "I was just being polite."
"Neko-Chan, Neko-Chan!" Malik chirped as he ran across the courtyard.
Over by Dumb Beast III, Kura looked around in frustration. Mounting block or no, three to one if he tried to get on the horse himself, he'd end up being dragged several meters in the dust. "Will someone help me with this stupid thing?" he called at last.
Ryou hurried over and held the stirrups still while Odion held the horse's head. "You're no going to fall off," Odion commented when he saw the way Kura tried to slither onto the horse. "She's not going to move out from underneath you."
"She might," Kura replied with a sour frown.
With Kura finally up on his horse, the party rode out of the courtyard only to be stopped at the Inn's door by the Inn Owner's wife. She stepped right in front of Kura horse, which almost gave him a heart attack, and stopped the beast like it was no big deal.
"Here," she said to Kura, handing him a bundle wrapped in a white linen napkin. "You'll probably get hungry before long. It's a long way to Evisa."
Kura looked at her suspiciously, but took the food.
"My youngest, Honda, is in the prison right now," she admitted, when Kura continued to demand an explanation with his silent stare.
Ah, Kura understood. They probably didn't bribe the tax collector enough. Typical.
"He's been there for almost three months," the woman continued, her eyes lowering with the memory.
"Don't worry," Kura found himself saying, "Prison isn't so bad."
The woman smiled a little and Kura's horse followed the others out.
"Why the hell did I say that?" Kura grumbled under his breath. "Had to be one of the best lies I ever told, and for what? To assure some peasant woman? Ra, cure me soon!"
Kaiba glared back at Kura and as soon as they were out of site of the inn, he turned and snatched Kura's snack bundle and smacked both Kura and Ryou on the head.
"Hey, that's mine!" Kura howled in protest, trying to grab his food back. Ryou just winced and rubbed his head where Kaiba's heavy ring had caught him.
"I don't want either of you talking to anyone. You might give away what we're doing and you," Kaiba turned to Ryou, "Just keep your civility to yourself."
"Yes, Magus," Ryou said, nodding to emphasize his agreement.
"Fine, fine, fine. Whatever," Kura grumbled. "Do I get my food back?"
"No."
Kura was so busy sulking over the loss of his food that he didn't notice Ryou ridding beside him until the other boy spoke up.
"Was it really not so bad?" Ryou asked softly, peering at Kura through large brown eyes.
Kura looked Ryou over quickly, taking in the boy's polished look and well-bred mare. Ryou's frame seemed slightly fragile, not even athletic like Malik's. He wouldn't even be able to imagine what prison had been like.
"Prison," Kura said at last, "Was absolutely the worst thing that has ever happened to. So no, I lied, you idiot."
"Oh," Ryou squeaked, figuring that Kura's life must have been filled with one terrible thing after another.
"Ryou," Kaiba called back, "Stop chatting with the thief and get up here." Malik, who was ridding beside Kaiba turned back and smirked.
"Yes, Magus," Ryou said, urging his horse forward.
"I have a name," Kura snapped, glaring at Kaiba's back. "It's Kura."
The Magus ignored him and proceeded to first lecture and then quiz the two boys on different topics. Kura became hungry somewhere around tree classifications, but complaining didn't earn him an early lunch. So he ate one of the oranges he had with him.
Then he ate the next. By the time the conversation in front of him moved onto history, Kura was exhausted and still hungry.
"I'll jump off the horse and start eating grass," Kura threatened.
Finally Kaiba relented, or just got sick of hearing Kura complain, and opened the bundle of food. But he insisted on dividing it between Kura, Ryou, and Malik.
"That's not fair," Kura complained, "I'm hungrier than they are!"
"Tough luck," Malik said with a smirk, taking a large bite out of the meat tart.
"Ryou," Kaiba said warningly, "No sharing with the thief."
Ryou blushed and nodded guiltily. He had been thinking of doing just that. The Magus just knew him too well.
"If he wants to give his food to the thief, let him!" Kura protested loudly.
It was late in the afternoon when the group finally reached Evisa and, more importantly to Kura, food.
"We aren't making good time," Kaiba remarked with a scowl as they all sat down at the tables set up under the trees. "I hadn't counted on the thief's outstanding skill with horses."
Ryou blinked at the food set down before them and then looked back up quickly at Malik. "Are we really supposed to eat this?" he whispered, hoping the old woman who had served them hadn't heard him.
Malik poked distrustfully at the bowl of yogurt and took a tiny taste, shuddering as he did. "Blahck! There's enough garlic in here to kill every vampire in the country!"
Before he could say another word, Kura simply took the bowl from him and began eating it. "What?" he asked with his mouth full when he saw the two boys starring at him. "You try to be a picky eater in Prison and tell me how well you fare."
The other food on the table consisted of wrinkled olives, hard cheese, and bread. Kura ate most of what was put before the party, though the boys and Kaiba did eat the bread, which had been made fresh.
"You're going to make yourself sick," Kaiba said suddenly pulling the bowl of olives away from Kura.
"Just a few more," Kura said, trying to pull the bowl back, but Kaiba moved faster and handed the bowl to Odion, who promptly ate them all before Kura could get to them.
Kura pouted, but he knew that Kaiba was right. If he forced much more into his stomach it was going to rebel and then he'd be hungry all over again.
That decided, Kura got up from the table and lay down in the grass. All too soon, Odion was nudging him awake and Kura opened one eye to glare at him. "Go away," he snarled.
"Get up," Odion replied, keeping his foot not so gently on Kura's ribcage.
"I don't want to," Kura shot back, rolling over, "Go away."
A second later, Kura found himself making hard contact with the ground as Odion easily picked him up a few inches, and dropped him. "I hope you get bitten by something poisonous next time you try to sleep," Kura grumbled, rubbing his head.
Now quite awake, Kura got up and climbed onto the table where he had eaten lunch. "Hey," he called to Malik, who was standing with the horses, "Bring that dumb beast over here for me."
Malik turned to look at Kura and then with a high classed 'sniff' turned his back on him.
"Hey, Blondie," Kura shouted, shaking his fist at Malik, "I'm talking to you. Get my damn horse over here." Kura didn't care how high Malik belonged on the social hierarchy and where he thought Kura belonged (the very bottom), as far as Kura was concerned, the thief was his own hierarchy of one.
The boys glared at each other, neither of them moving and Kura quickly judged the situation. Malik was only a little older than him and was not much taller. Malik had health on his side, but Kura was sure that he could put up a vicious and embarrassing fight should Malik try and force him over to the horse.
In the end, it was Ryou that broke the starring contest. He brought Kura's horse over to the table and held it still while Kura got on the blasted beast.
"You shouldn't have done that, Ryou," Malik said as they made their way back out onto the road.
But Ryou shook his head. "I didn't mind," he said softly.
"Why didn't you bring a cart," Kura called loudly to Kaiba from behind them.
Ryou turned abound and blinked at the thief, confused. "A cart?" he asked.
Kura rolled his eyes. "Yes, a cart. You know, a big wooden box on wheels? Usually pulled by horses?"
Malik flicked his hair over his shoulder. "Now while would we have done something stupid like that?"
"I don't know," Kura shot back, "Maybe so I could be sleeping in the back right now?"
"We didn't plan this trip with your comfort in mind," Kaiba spoke up, intending to end the debate between the three boys. But Kura couldn't resist getting one last jab in.
"Damn right."
Sigh.
~~~~~~~~~
The sun began to set before long and Kaiba swore furiously. "We can't walk to our destination," he snapped, turning back to Kura, "Do you think you could at least stay on the damn horse if it trotted?"
Kura looked at the Magus with blurry, tired eyes. "Probably not," he said flatly, too tired to be optimistic.
"Tough," Kaiba said, "You're going to learn. Malik," he motioned the boy over to him, "Show him how to trot."
Malik gathered the reigns and had his horse trot a few yards away before turning it back around and return to the group.
"Nice job," Odion commented.
Malik smirked at Ryou and Kura. Praise was rarer from Odion than it was from Kaiba.
"Ryou," Kaiba said, drawing out the quiet boy, "Your turn."
Kura wasn't much of a horse master, but even he could see that Ryou didn't ride nearly as well as Malik. Beside him, Odion winced.
"Yes," Kaiba said to Odion as they watched Ryou turn the horse around and start back, "It's a shame that you can't take Malik back home to be Duke and let me keep Ryou to be Magus."
Kura looked up in surprise. "He's going to be a Duke?" he asked, looking suspiciously at his timid look-a-like. It was rare to see a future Duke apprenticed to anyone.
"He will be," Malik snorted, "If his father doesn't kill him first."
Kura's lesson in horseback ridding turned into a lesson for Ryou as well, Odion giving them pointers while Kaiba and Malik rode on ahead.
"Odion thinks you ride like a sack of potatoes," Malik called to Ryou as he followed Kaiba. Ryou blushed and hung his head in embarrassment. Kaiba took a swipe at Malik, but the boy quickly ducked out of the way, laughing. Kura knew that one: It you think you are going to get hit, at least try to move out of the way. Kura's father had taught that to him with the flat side of his sword though, not his hand.
The group moved quicker for a little while, thought they had to walk to horses often to rest them and more so, Kura.
By the time they finally stopped for the night, Kura felt like he was half dead. He didn't see much of the inn and despite being hungry, he was asleep at the table before he had finished his dinner.
"He almost looks harmless when he's a sleep," Ryou commented as they watched Odion pick up the sleeping thief and carry him up the stairs.
"Appearances, Ryou," Kaiba warned sternly, "Can be deceiving."
~TBC